day of iugement, that ar expremit in the foirsaid chep tour, ar by past, and the remanent are nou presently in our dais: " p. 55. Lindsay observes "For legionis ar cum, but dout, Of Antichristis, wer thay soucht out; And mony takins dois appeir, As efter schortly thow sall heir:" p. 153. He then proceeds to enumerate a variety of signs, chiefly figurative or allegorical, referring to the same 24th chapter of Matthew; and then concludes with observing "Sa be thir takinnis dois apeir, The day of iudgement drawis neir: " p. 157. In these passages, the minute and circumstantial coincidences are so numerous, that the argument deduced from them is little weakened, though we admit that the computation to which they both refer, is quoted from the same author, and also that such computations were agreeable to the taste of the age. The following is the original passage of Carion's Chronicle, according to Gwalter Lynne's translation, 1550. "He that wyll reade historyes to profyt, the same must comprehende all the tymes sence the foundacyon of the worlde into a certayn order. For there were some that diuyded the worlde therfore in seuen ages, and haue rekened them diuersly: but those where they endeuour to sett an order, they do nothynge but sett all thynges wythout order. As for me, I wyll folow the renowmed sayenge of Ely the prophet, whych hath excellently dyuyded the worlde into the ages; wyth the whyche he sheweth the greatest chaunges of the worlde, worlde, also what tyme it behoued Christ to come, and how longe thys state of the worlde ought to last: and thus it is The SAYENGE of HELIAS house: The worlde shall stande syxe thousand yeres, and after shall it falle Two thousand yeares wythout the lawe; Two thousand yeares the tyme of Christ : And yf these yeares be not accomplyshed, oure synnes shall be the cause, whyche are greate and many.” But, a coincidence of a still more remarkable na ture, is, that which subsists between the general design of Lindsay's MONARCHY, and that of the first five chapters of the Complaynt, which relate to "the cause of the mutatione of monarchis." Though the author of the Complaynt announces that it is his object "to reherse the cause and occasione of the onmersiful afflictione of the desolat realme of Scotland," p. 10, he soon digresses, as he proceeds to investigate the general cause of the mutation of monarchies. Now, if we suppose, for a moment, that Lindsay, who had retired from court in disgust, was, at the time of the publication of the Complaynt, employed in the composition of his Monarchy, nothing will appear more natural than this anticipation. It will likewise follow, that it is the Monarchy which is announced in the conclusion of the Prologue to the Complaynt, in these apposite terms— "Thy cheretabil correctione maye be ane prouocatione to gar me studye mair attentiulye in the nyxt verkis that i intend to set furtht, the quhilk i beleif in gode sal be verray necessair tyl al them that desiris to lyue verteouslye, indurand the schort tyme of this oure fra gil gil peregrinatione; and sa fayr veil:" p. 28.-This annunciation corresponds with the subject of the Monarchy; the prologue to which work presents the author meditating on the instability of human affairs. "Musing and meruelling on the miserie, From day to day, in eirth quhilk dois incres; Proceding of the restless besiness, Quhairon the maist part dois thair minde addres Vaine gloir, dissait, and other sensuall vice." And afterwards, in the Dialogue between Experience and the Courtier "Thou seis quhat mutabiliteis, Quhat miserabill calamiteis ; To greit princes and potestatis, &c.-p. 9. Bot ordourlie for to begin, This miserie proceidis of sin; He makis on us punitioun, With hounger, derth, and indigence; And And sum tyme with his bludy wand, Throw cruel weir be sey and land. ”—p. 10. "The mutations of euerye varldly thyng," says the author of the Complaynt, "is certane, quhou beit that prosperous men prouidis nocht to resist the occasions of the mutabiliteis; quhilk occasions ar ay vigilant to suppedit & to spulze al them that ar ingrate of the benefecis of gode :" p. 30.-" Euere thyng hes ane tyme; for mutations of varldly felicite is ane natural habitude, quhilkis is the cause that na thyng remanis lang constant in ane prosperus stait; and that is the special cause that al dominions altris, dechaeis, ande cummis to subuersione:" p. 32. In the same manner, the cause of these mutations of monarchies and dominions, is attributed to disobedience or sin, for the punishment of which they are inflicted-" As the hie monarchis, lordschips ande autoriteis, ar stablit be the infinite diuyne ordinance, and mentemit be the sempiternal prouidens, siclyik ther ruuyne cummis be the sentence gyffin be the souerane consel of the diuyne sapiens, the quhilk doune thringis them fra the hie trone of ther imperial dominations, ande garris them fal in the depe fosse of seruitude, and ther magnificens in ruuyne, and causis conquerours to be conquest, ande til obeye ther vmquhile subiectis be dreddour, quhome of befor thai commandit be autorite. This decreit procedis of the diuyne iustice, be rason that princis and vthirs of autorite becumis ambitius ande presumpteous, throucht grite superfluite of veltht; ther for he dois chestee them be the abstractione of that superfluite:" p. 29.-" The special cause of the scurge that hes affligit us, hes procedit of our disobediens contrar the commande of gode; ande the cause of of our disobediens hes procedit of ane varldly affec tione & cupidite that we haue touart the vile corruptione of the varld:" p. 48. Thus, also, Lindsay, in the Epistill Nuncupatorie― "And caus them cleirlie for till understand, That for the breiking of the Lordis command, Hes scurgit this pure realme of Scotland Be mortall weiris, baith be sey and land; Thairfoir mak to them true narratioun, That all the weiris, this derth, hunger, and pest, The enumeration of the miseries with which Scotland had been afflicted, is not only similar, but introduced both by Lindsay and the author of the Complaynt, in their respective prefaces. "The special cause of our afflictioune hes procedit of thre vehement plagis, quhilk hes almaist succumbit oure cuntre in final euertione; that is to say, the cruele inuasions of oure ald enemeis, the universal pestilens and mortalité that hes occurrit mercyles a→ mang the pepil, ande the contentione of diuers of the thre estaitis of Scotland: p. 1, 2.-What are these evils, but Lindsay's "Mortall weiris baith be sey and land, With monie terribill tribulatioun, -The weiris, this derth, hunger, and pest, -This mortall miserie, Be sword and fyre, derth, pest and pouertie?" The author of the Complaynt, p. 44, evidently con, siders a young prince as one of the curses of God; though |