The evidence in favour of these three claimants has been well examined by the Rev. John Hannah (see Poems by Sir Henry Wotton, Sir Walter Raleigh, and others, 12mo. 1845, pp. 89-99.), and completely set aside. The same gentleman has printed a curious poetical piece, from an old MS. Miscellany in the Chetham Library at Manchester (8012. p. 107), which does something to establish Raleigh's claim. It commences as follows:—
"Go, Eccho of the minde;
A careles troth protest;
Make answere yt rude
Rawly No stomack can disgest."
"In these verses (remarks Mr. Hannah) three points especially deserve attention; first, that they assign the disputed poem to Raleigh by name; next, that they were written when he was still alive, as is plain from the concluding stanza; and lastly, that they give the reason why it has been found so difficult to discover its true author, for the 13th stanza intimates that 'The Lie' was anonymous, though its writer was not altogether unknown."
Many MS. copies of "The Soul's Errand" exist. Two of them have been printed at the end of Sir Harris Nicolas's edition of Davison's Poetical Rhapsody; the one from Harl. MS. 2296., the other from a manuscript in the same collection, No. 6910.; the readings of which not only differ materially from each other, but in a slight degree also from the printed copies. The title in Davison is "The Lie," which is retained by Percy; that of "The Soul's Errand" was taken by Ellis from Sylvester's Works. In some copies it is called "The Farewell."
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
The lines reported to have been written by Sir Walter Raleigh the night before his execution were not, I think, those alluded to by ÆGROTUS. In the Reliquiæ Wottonianæ are some few "poems found amongst the papers of Sir Henry Wotton," one of which is headed "Sir Walter Raleigh the Night before his Death," and is this:
"Even such is time that takes on trust