If Sir Harris Nicolas had examined the writings of Chaucer with any care, he would scarcely have formed or expressed so strange an opinion, for he must necessarily have discovered that Chaucer was not only well acquainted with the language, but thoroughly well versed in Italian literature, and that he paraphrased and translated freely from the works of Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio. Chaucer would naturally quote Latin and French, as being familiar to his cotemporaries, and would abstain from introducing Italian, as a knowledge of that language must have been confined to a few individuals in his day; and he wrote for the many, and not for the minority. The circumstances of Chaucer's life, his missions to Italy, during which he resided several months in that country, when sent on the king's business to Genoa, and Florence, and Lombardy, afforded {518} him ample opportunities of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the language and literature of Italy; the acquisition of which must have been of easy accomplishment to Chaucer, already familiar with Latin and French. So that it is not necessary to endow Chaucer "with all human attainments as proof of his having spoken Italian." Chaucer's own writings, however, afford the strongest evidence against the opinion entertained by Sir Harris Nicolas, and such evidence as cannot be controverted. Chaucer loves to refer to Dante, and often translates passages from the _Divine Comedy_. The following lines are very closely rendered from the _Paradiso_, xiv. 28.:-- "Thou one, two, and thre, eterne on live, That raignest aie in thre, two, and one, Uncircumscript, and all maist circumscrive." Last stanza of _Troilus and Creseide_. "_Quell' uno e due e tre che sempre vive,_ _E regna sempre in tre e due ed uno_, _Non circonscritto, e tutto circonscrive._" Dante, _Il Paradiso_, xiv. 28. "Wel can _the wise poet of Florence_, That highte _Dant_, speken of this sentence: Lo, in swiche maner rime is _Dantes_ tale. _Ful selde up riseth by his branches smale_ _Prowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse_ _Wol that we claime of him our gentillesse._" _Wif of Bathes Tale_, 6707. "_Rade volte risurge per li rami_ _L' umana probita: e questo vuole_ _Quei che la da, perche da lui si chiami._" _Purgatorio_, vii. 121. After relating the dread story of the Conte Ugolino, Chaucer refers to Dante, from whom perhaps he derived it. (Conf. _Inferno_, xxxiii.) "Who so wol here it in a longer wise, Redeth the grete poete of Itaille, That highte _Dante_, for he can it devise Fro point to point, not o word wol he faille." _The Monkes Tale_, 14,769. "Bet than Vergile, while he was on live, Or _Dant_ also."--_The Freres Tale_, 7101. The following lines refer to the _Inferno_, xiii. 64.: