OF THE Early English Poets, TO WHICH IS PREFIXED AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH POETRY AND LANGUAGE; IN THREE VOLUMES. BY GEORGE ELLIS, ESQ. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. FOR G. AND W. NICOL, BOOKSELLERS TO HIS AND J. WRIGHT, PICCADILLY. 1801. 2.80.0. 0.732. PREFACE. THE first edition of this Miscellany, which appeared in 1790, was intended as an attempt "to comprise, within the compass of one "volume, all the most beautiful small poems "that had been published in this country 66 during the sixteenth and seventeenth cen"turies;" but it was at the same time admitted, that the completion of the publisher's plan had been prevented by the difficulty of "procuring a sufficient stock of materials." This difficulty has been since removed, by the kind assistance of my friends; and the work in its present state contains a selection, made with some care and attention, from a considerable number of the best poetical |