Mr Horne says—
"But every farthing that his friends e'er lent."
They did not lend, they gave outright to the poor scholar.
The Reve's Prologue opens thus in Chaucer—
"Whan folk han laughed at this nicè cas Of Absalom and hendy Nicholas."
Mr Horne says—
"Of Absalom and credulous Nicholas!"
He manifestly mistakes the sly scholar for the credulous carpenter, whom on the tenderest point he outwitted! To those who know the nature of the story, the blunder is extreme.
What is to be thought of such rhymes as these?
"And for to drink strong wine as red as blood, Then would he jest, and shout as he were mad."