OLD MANUSCRIPTS.—­If he could be believed, he found a variety of material in this old collection.  To a credulous and weak acquaintance, Mr. Burgum, he went, beaming with joy, to present the pedigree and illuminated arms of the de Bergham family—­tracing the honest mechanic’s descent to a noble house which crossed the Channel with William the Conqueror.  The delighted Burgum gave him a crown, and Chatterton, pocketing the money, lampooned his credulity thus: 

    Gods! what would Burgum give to get a name,
    And snatch his blundering dialect from shame? 
    What would he give to hand his memory down
    To time’s remotest boundary? a crown! 
    Would you ask more, his swelling face looks blue—­
    Futurity he rates at two pound two!

In September, 1768, the inauguration or opening of the new bridge across the Avon took place; and, taking advantage of the temporary interest it excited, Chatterton, then sixteen, produced in the Bristol Journal a full description of the opening of the old bridge two hundred years before, which he said he found among the old papers:  “A description of the Fryers first passing over the old bridge, taken from an ancient manuscript,” with details of the procession, and the Latin sermon preached on the occasion by Ralph de Blundeville; ending with the dinner, the sports, and the illumination on Kynwulph Hill.

This paper, which attracted general interest, was traced to Chatterton, and when he was asked to show the original, it was soon manifest that there was none, but that the whole was a creation of his fancy.  The question arises,—­How did the statements made by Chatterton compare with the known facts of local history?

There was in the olden time in Bristol a great merchant named William Canynge, who was remembered for his philanthropy; he had altered and improved the church of St. Mary, and had built the muniment-room:  the reputed poems, some of which were said to have been written by himself, and others by the monk Rowlie, Chatterton declared he had found in the coffers.  Thomas Rowlie, “the gode preeste,” appears as a holy and learned man, poet, artist, and architect.  Canynge and Rowlie were strong friends, and the latter was supposed to have addressed many of the poems to the former, who was his good patron.

The principal of the Rowlie poems is the Bristowe (Bristol) Tragedy, or Death of Sir Charles Bawdin.  This Bawdin, or Baldwin, a real character, had been attainted by Edward IV. of high treason, and brought to the block.  The poem is in the finest style of the old English ballad, and is wonderfully dramatic.  King Edward sends to inform Bawdin of his fate: 

    Then with a jug of nappy ale
    His knights did on him waite;
    “Go tell the traitor that to daie
    He leaves this mortal state.”

Sir Charles receives the tidings with bold defiance.  Good Master Canynge goes to the king to ask the prisoner’s life as a boon.