(John), one of our most ancient English poets, was contemporary with Chaucer, and his intimate friend. Of what family, or in what county he was born, is uncertain. He studied the law, and was sometime a member of the society of Lincoln's-inn, where his acquaintance with Chaucer began. Some have asserted that he was a judge; but this is by no means certain. In the first year of Henry IV. he became blind; a misfortune which he laments in one of his Latin poems. He died in the year 1402; and was buried in St Mary Overie, which church he had rebuilt chiefly at his own expense, so that he must have lived in affluent circumstances. His tomb was magnificent, and curiously ornamented. It still remains, but hath been repaired in later times. From the collar of SS round the neck of his effigies, which lies upon the tomb, it is conjectured that he had been knighted. As to his character as a man, it is impossible, at this distance of time, to say anything with certainty. With regard to his poetical talents, he was undoubtedly admired at the time when he wrote, though a modern reader may find it difficult to discover much harmony or genius in any of his compositions. He wrote, 1. Sepulchrum meditantis, in French, in ten books. There are two copies of this in the Bodleian library. 2. Vos clamantis, in Latin verse, in seven books. Preserved also in the Bodleian library, and in that of All-Souls. It is a chronicle of the infurrection of the commons in the reign of Richard II. 3. Confessio amantum; printed at Westminster by Caxton in 1493, Lond. 1532, 1554. It is a sort of poetical system of morality, interspersed with a variety of moral tales. 4. De rege Henrico IV. Printed in Chaucer's works. There are likewise several historical tracts, in manuscript, written by our author, which are to be found in different libraries; also some short poems printed in Chaucer's works.