HISTORICAL AND LITERAEY CURIOSITIES, CONSISTING OF FACSIMILES OF ORIGINAL DOCU^MENTS; SCENES OF REMARKABLE EVENTS AND INTERESTING LOCALITIES ; AND TUB BIRTH-PLACES, RESIDENCES, PORTRAITS, AND MONUMENTS, EMINENT LITERARY CHARACTERS; WITH A VAHIETV OP EELIQUES AND ANTIQUITIES CONNECTED WITH THE SAME oJUJECTS. SELBCTBO AND EKMHATBD BY THE LATE CHARLES JOHN SMITH, F.S.A. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCLir. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 3»fo. 1. — View of the House, No. 10, High-street, Portsmouth, in which George Villiers, Duke of Buckingliara, was assai^sinated by Felton. A fac-simile of the paper found in Felton's hat, when he was apprehended. This interesting docu- ment was discovered anjong the papers of John Evelyn, by one of whose descendants it iva3 pre- sented to Mr. Upcott, and in his possession it now remains. The two notes arc in the liaiid-writing of Evelyn ; one of them is the endorsement of the paper. " That man is cowardly, base, and deserveth not the name of a gentleman or souldier, that is not willinge to sacrifice his life for the honor of his God, his KInge. and his Countric. Lette iioe man commend me for doeinge of it but rather discommend themselves as the cause of it, for if God bad not taken away u' harts for o' sinnes, he would not have gone so longe vnpunished. Jous I'eltos." No. 2. — Part of a Letter from Horace Walpole to the Rev. Mr. Cole, respecting the genius of Chatterton, and his pretended poems by Rowley. No. 3. — Part of a Letter from Thomas Chatterton to Horace Walpole, inclosing some account of his pretended discovery of Rowley's Poems, &c. No. 4. — View of the Residence of Elwood, the friend of Milton, at Chalfont St. Giles, in Buckingham- shire. View of Jordaens, the meeting-house of the Society of Friends, in Buckinghamshire, and the burial- place of William Penn of Pennsylvania, from original drawings by De Cort, in the possession of the Editor. No. 5. — A Letter from William Penn of Pennsylvania. From the Collection of Mr. Upcott. No. G. — Part of a Letter from Matthew Prior the Poet, respecting his portrait painted by Richardson and engraved by Vertue. Extract from Dean Swift's Journal, addressed to Mrs. Dingley, containing an account of the Duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun. No. 7.— View of the House at Chelsea, in which Smollett wrote his " Roderick Random." A Letter from Smollett to Richardson, denying that he was the AiMhor of an article in the Critical Review, reflecting upon the talenU of the Author of " Clarissa." No. 8. — Richardson's answer to the above-mentioned Letter from Smollett. Both from the Collection of Mr. Upcott. ii DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. No. 9.— Extracts from the Will of the Emperor Napoleon, with varieties of his signature, and the sig- natures of the Empresses Josephine and Maria Louisa. No. 10.— An Extract from the original Manuscript of Pope's translation of Homer, containing the parting of Hector and Andromache. Part of a Letter from Gay to Dean Swift, describing the success of the Beggar's Opera. No. 11. — View of Sterne's Residence at Coxwold in Yorkshire. A Note from Sterne to Garrick, written immediately before his departure upon the " Sentimental Journey." No. 12. — Part of a Letter from Bishop Warburton, respecting the Poems of Milton. Part of a Letter from Dr. Robertson concerning his History of Scotland. No. 13. — Portrait of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk. The ferewell papers were written immediately before his execution in 1572 ; the first, addressed to William Dyx, his steward, is on the leaf of a New Testament, now in the possession of his Grace the present Duke of Norfolk, who has most graciously allowed the copy to be made. The second appears in a copy of " Grafton's Chronicles," obligingly communicated to the editor by Henry Jadis, Esq. Nos. 14 and 15. — The Poem of " Queen Mary's Lament," in the hand-writing of Robert Burns. From Mr. Upcott's Collection. ' No. 16. — View of the Birth-place of John Locke, at Wrington in Somersetshire. Part of a Letter from John Locke to Sir Hans Sloane, respecting the alteration of the Calendar. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 4052. ' No. 17. — A Letter from Jfi7e« Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter, addressed to Thomas Lord Cromrvell, respect- ing his Annotations on the Bible. Harl. MSS. No. 604. No. 18. — Fac-simile of an Epitaph on Benjamin Franklin, written by himself. From Mr. Upcott's Collection. No. 19. — View of Austin's Farm at Sapiston, Suffolk, the early residence of Robert Bloomfield, with a fac-simile of the first eight verses of his Poem of " Richard and Kate." From Mr. Upcott's Collection. No. 20.— Fac-simile of part of Shenstone's poem of " The Snuff Box." Some additions to the comic part of the " Midsummer Night's Dream," in the hand-writing of Garrick. Both in Mr. Upcott's Collection. No. 21. — Lord Chatham to Garrick, in answer to his verses from Mount Edgcumbe. From Mr. Upcott's Collection. No. 22. — The Monumental Bust of Shakespeare, from his tomb at Stratford-upon-Avon, with the signa- tures of a few celebrated Actors. The Autographs are from the Collection of Charles BritifTe Smith, Esq. No. 23. — Part of a Letter from Potter, Bishop of Oxford, to Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, concerning a passage in St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 5943. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. Ill Part of a Letter from Bishop Atterbury to Trelawney, Bishop of Exeter, respecting the time of the writing of St. John's Gospel. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 5943. No. 24.— View of the Cottage at Ilaverstock Hill, the residence of Sir Richard Steele, from a drawing by R. Schnebbelie, taken in 1809. Part of a Letter from Sir Richard Steele to Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 25. — Views of the Birth-place of Sir Isaac Newton at Wolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, and of the Interior of his Observatory in St. Martin's Street, London. Fac-simile Extract from Sir Isaac Newton's I,etter to Dr. Briggs, respecting his " Theory of Vision." Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 4237. Nos. 26 and 27. — Fac-simile of a Letter from Graliame of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, written upon liis arrival at Glasgow, immediately after the flight at Drumclog, and giving an account of his defeat by the Covenanters, in June 1679. This very interesting document is in the Library of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, at Stowe, and it is here engraved by His Grace's kind permission. It forms an admirable illustration to Sir Walter Scott's Tale of " Old Mortality." No. 28.— Portrait of Francis Grose, F.S.A. A Letter from Grose to Mr. Gough, the Antiquary, requesting information about Corfe Castle, &c. Nos. 29 and 30. — A Letter in rhyme from Cowper, the Poet, to the Rev. John Newion. No. 31. — View of the Birth-place of Addison, at Milston, in Wiltshire. A Letter from Addison, respecting a passage in Statins. No. 32. — Fac-simile of a Poem by Dr. Doddridge, and a Letter from Dryden the Poet. The four preceding subjects are from Mr. Upcolt's Collection. No. 33. — Extract of a Letter from Lord Halifax to Dean Swift, with promises of promotion. Extract of a Letter from Lord Orrery to Dr. Birch, on the Character of the English Nation. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. Nos. 4303 and 4804. No. 34. — View of the Residence of the Rev. James Granger, (Author of the Biographical History of England) at Shiplake in Oxfordshire. Extract of a Letter from Granger to the Rev. Mr. Cole, on the Mania for Collecting English Portraits, Add. MS. Briu Mus. No. 5992. No. 35. — Extract of a Letter from Dr. Beattie to Garrick, presenting his poem of " TIte Minstrel." Part of a Letter from Sir William Jones, on the Study of English Law. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 5996. No. 36. — The Agreement between De Lolme, and Robinson the publisher, for the Copyright of his " Treatise on the English Constitution." In Mr. Upcott's Collection. No. 37. — Declaration of eight of the Bishops in favour of King Henry the Eighth's power in ecclesiastical affairs, and that Christian Princes may make ecclesiastical laws. iv DESCHIPTION OF THE PLATES. Signed by Tliomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canteibury ; Cutlibert Tunstall, Bishop of Durliam ; John Stockcsley, of London; John Clerk, of Bath and Wells; Thomas Goodrich, of Ely; Nicholas Shaxton, of Salisbury ; Hugh Latimer, of Worcester ; John Hilsey, of Rochester. " This beinn- sit^ned," says Burnet, " by John Ililsey, Bishop of Rochester, must be after the year 1537, in which he was consecrated ; and Latimer and Shaxton also signing, it must be before the year, 1539, in which they resigned."— History of the Reformation, "ind edition, London, 1681, vol. 1. p. -249 (History), p. 177 (Records). In the Library of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, at Stowe. No. 38.— View of the Residence of Edward Young, Author of " The Night Thoughts," at Welwyn, Hertfordshire. A Letter from Edward Young, addressed to Dodsley the Bookseller. From the Collection of Mr. Upcott. No. 39.— Report of Sir Christopher Wren to the Committee of the City Lands, respecting the finishing of tlie Monument. Dated July 28, 1675. From the Collection of Mr. Upcott. No. 40. — View of the House in which John Howard, the Philanthropist, was born, at Clapton, Middle- sex ; and of his Residence at Cardington, Bedfordshire. Part of a Letter of John Howard, addressed to No. 41. — Letter from David Hume, addressed to the Countess de BouiBers, dated Edinburgh, 20tli of August, 1776 ; supposed to be the last written by that great Historian, as he died only five days afterwards, August 25. Letter from Edward Gibbon to David Garrick, respecting his introduction to Lord Camden, dated March 11, 1776. Both from the Collection of Mr. Upcott. Nos. 42 and 43. — A Letter from George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, addressed to the Lord and Deputy Lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire, respecting the fire of London, dated Sept. 6, 1666. In the possession of Thomas William Budd, Esq. of Bedford Row. No. 44. — View of the Tomb of William Hogarth, in Chiswick Church-yard, Middlesex. Memorandum by William Hogarth, respecting his picture of Sigismunda, dated June 12, 1764. No. 45.— Part of the Poem of " The Wicker Chair," by William Somerville. Part of a Poetical Epistle to Mr. John Gray, from Allan Ramsay. Both from the Collection of Mr. Upcott. No. 46. — A Letter from Dr. Johnson, on his finishing the Lives of the Poets. In the possession of Mr. Linnecar, Liverpool. Part of a Letter from James Boswell to David Garrick, dated Edinburgh, April 11, 1774. In tlie possession of George Daniel, Esq. Islington. No. 47. — Fac-simile of a Letter composed of Hieroglyphical Drawings, by the Princess Louisa Hollan- dina, second daughter of Frederick V. Prince Palatine of the Rhine and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth of Great Britain, eldest daughter of James I. The Princess Louisa was born at the Hague, April 18, 1618, whither her father was again forced to retreat, after being expelled from his Kingdom in 1G20; and from this retirement this letter appears to have been sent to the Lord DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. V Goring, afterwards Earl of Norwich. Slie was instructed in painting, with the rest of tlie Royal Family, by Gerard Honthurst, and arrived at such considerable excellence in the art, that it was commonly observed of the Princesses, daughters of the King of Bohemia, that Elizabeth was the most learned, Louisa the greatest artist, and Sophia one of the most accomplished ladies in Europe. Tliough she was originally educated as a Protestant, the Princess Louisa embraced the Roman Catholic faith in 16(34, and died in 1709, at the age of 86, Abbess of Maubissot, at Ponlhoise, near Paris. The signification of the emblems is presumed to be as follows : Good Master, /• haue receaued your'' letter by my 'La.die's' Maid, Wbelling upon my Teacher, n-ldcli'^ was uery 'painfaW un [to] me, because I can doe the Book of Music, when I stand' \hinkin(] in the fireplace Itere,^ and leave^ the 7-esl^ to^ fortune and fools : meane tiine I remain* Your loueing cossun, "'Hague, the 4 of January. Louise. Si vous m'aues ensaigne I'ortografe Englise come I'alphabet, i aurois escrit une lettre plus in- telligible. 'Eye. ''Ewer. "^Dice. * Witch. 'Panes. ' A forestriand in a tree, for shooting deer from, s Ear of wheat. i" Leaf. ' A rest for a match-lock musket. ''Toe. '.Mane. ""Hay. From the Collection of Mr. Upcott. No. 48. — A Note from Captain Coram, the Founder of the " Foundling Hospital," addressed to the Steward or Matron. In the Library of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, at Stowe. Fac-simile of a Certificate for the electing of Mr. John Nichols (the Historian of Liecestershire) to the Society of Antiquaries, in the hand-writing of Richard Gough, Esq. Director of the Society. In the possession of John Bowyer Nichols, Esq, F.S.A. No. 49. — View of the Residence of Abraham Cowley, the Poet, at Chertsey, in Surrey, with a Fac-similc of part of his Autograph Poem of " The Garden ;" addressed to John Evelyn. No. 50. — View of the House occupied by the Royal Society in Crane Court, Fleet Street, from 1678 until about the year 1760. No. 51. — View of the Residence of Sir Isaac Newton in St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square. No. 52. — View of the Tomb of John Rich, at Hillingdon, the Founder of Covent Garden Theatre, with a Fac-simile of his Autograph attaclied to an Agreement with Charles Fleetwood in 173-5. No. 53. — Illuminated Initial Letter L, from the commencement of the Editio Princeps of the " Historia Naturalis" of Caius Plinius Secundus, printed at Venice by Johannes de Spira, in 1469. From the Collection of the Rev. Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode, in the British Bluseum. No. .54. — Enamelled Jewel presented by Slary Queen of Scots to George Gordon, fourth Earl of Huntley, probably about 1548. No. 55. — Representation of the Bible used by King Charles I. on the scaffold, January 30th, 1649, and presented by him to William Ju.xon, D.D. Bishop of London. No. 56. — Fac-simile of the Calligraphic Exhibition-Bill of Matthew Buchinger, the Dwarf of Niirnburg, sent by him to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, in 1717. From the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. Tl rESCRIPTlON OF THE PLATES. No. 57. — Fac-simile of an Original Drawing of Designs for the Armorial Ensigns and Cyphers for the Royal Society, by John Evelyn, Esq., one of the Founders and a Member of the first Council. No. 53. — Fac-simile of a Letter from Thomas Barlow, D.D. Bishop of Lincoln, to the Rev. George Thoniason, relating to the removal of the Collection of Pamphlets, now called " The King's Tracts," in the British Museum, from the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Dated February 6th, 1676. .Xo. 59. — Part of a Letter from Charles Spencer, third Earl of Sunderland, to John Holies, third Duke of Newcastle. Dated August 9th, 1708. Part of a Letter from Thomas Seeker, D.D. Bishop of Oxford, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, respecting the last illness of Martin Benson, Bishop of Gloucester. Dated August 17th, 1752. No. 60. — Part of a Letter from John, first Baron Somers, to Sir Hans Sloane, respecting the admittance of Count Lorenzo Megalotti as a Member of the Royal Society. Part of a Letter from Henry St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, to Dr. Swift. No. 61. — The Pulpit of John Knox, in the Parish Church of St. Andrew's, in the County of Fife ; with his Signature, and those of several eminent Personages connected with the Reformation of Religion in Scotland. No. 62. — The Exterior of Don Saltero's Coffee-House, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea; with the Signatures of James Salter, Sir Hans Sloane, and of some remarkable frequenters of the house. ■ No. 63. — Exterior of the Last Residence of Charles Macklin, Comedian, in Tavistock Row, Covent Garden. No. 64. — Exterior of Ivy Cottage, Highgate, the Residence of the late Charles Mathews, Comedian. With a Fac-simile of his Signature. No. 65. — A Ground-Plan, exhibiting the whole of the Apartments of the Theatrical Picture-Gallery at Ivy Cottage, and the particular disposition of the Collection of Histrionic Portraits, now in the possession of the Garrick Club. No. 66.— A Representation of the Carved Cassolette, made from the Wood of Shakespeare's Mulberry Tree at Stratford-upon-Avon, and presented to David Garrick by the Corporation of the Borough, at the Shakespeare Jubilee, May 3rd, 1769. Drawn from the Original in the possession of George Daniell, Esq. formerly in the Collection of Garrickiana belonging to the late Mr. Mathews. No. 67. — A Fac-Simile of the Freedom of Stratford-upon-Avon, presented to Garrick, enclosed in the same Cassolette. No. 68. — The Illuminated Initial and Commencement of the Epistle of St. Paul addressed to the Romans ; from the Fragment of a Bible executed in the Ninth Century for Charles le Chauve, King of France, preserved with the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. Nos. 69 and 70.— Two illuminated Paintings of the Sacred Furniture and Vessels of the Tabernacle of Israel ; executed by a Spanish Jew in the Fifteenth Century. From a Manuscript in the Harleian Collection of MSS. in the British Museum. Nos. 71 and 72. — Two Fae-Similes from the Prologues and Text of the celebrated Manuscript of Corpus Cliristi Plays, or Sacred Dramatic Mysteries, performed at Covent.-y and other Cities, written about the reign of Edward IV. From the Original preserved with the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. DE8CniPTI0N OP THE PLATES. VH No. 73. — Frost Fair on the River Thames. From an Original Sketcn by Thomas Wyck, taken February 4th, 1G84. Willi a Fac-Simile of a Specimen of Printing executed on the Ice at the same Fair for King Charles the Second. No. 74.— A View of the Church of Stoke-Pogeis in the County of Buckingham, the scene of Gray's Elegy in a Country Church Yard ; with a Fac-Siraile of some of the descriptive stanzas from the Original Manuscript of the Poem, finished in 1750. No. 75. — Fac-Simile of an Original Letter from Thomas Gray, concerning the edition of his poetical pieces, published in 1753, by Bentley. No. 76 View of the Exterior of Astley's Riding School, in Westminster Road, before a permanent building was erected. From Original Drawings made on the spot by the late William Capon. No. 77. — View of the Interior of the same. No. 78.— Standing Bowl and Cover of silver-gilt, presented by William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, to the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers. No. 79.— Carvings on the ends of the Cassolette made from the Wood of Shakespeare's Mulberry-tree, and presented by the Mayor and Council of Stratford-upon-Avon to David Garrick. No. 80. — Carvings on the cover of the same. No. 81.— Fac-Simile of the Commencement of the Book of Genesis, from the Manuscript called " Alcuin's Bible," in the British Museum. Nos. 82 and 83.— Illuminated Drawings of Two Banners attributed to St. Edmund, King of the West Saxons, with Fac-Similes of poetical descriptions of the devices represented upon them, composed by John Lydgate. No. 84.— Fac-Simile of an Original Letter addressed to Titus Otes to the Honourable Charles Howard. son of Henry Frederick Howard, Earl of Arundel. From the Archives of the Howard Family at Norfolk House. No. 85.— Head Quarter's of Prince Rupert, at Everton, during the Siege of Liverpool, 1644. No. 86. — Thomson the Poet's Alcove, Richmond, Surrey. No. 87.— Birth-place of the Rev. James Hervey, Hardingston, near Northampton. No. 88.— Upper Flask, Hampstead Heath, the rendezvous of Pope, Steele, and others, and subsequently the Residence of George Steevens, Esq. No. 89.— Garrick's Cup, carved from Shakespeare's Mulberry Tree. No. 89*— General View of the Cassolette, made from Shakespeare's Mulberry Tree, and presented at Stratford-on-Avon to David Garrick, Esq. (described in No. VI.) No. 90.— Mill at Bannockburn, in which James III. of Scotland was killed. No. 91.— Tomb of Edmund Waller, at Beaconsfield. No. 92.— Trotton, Sussex, the Birth-place of Otway. » No. 93.— Lochleven Castle, the Prison of Mary, Queen of Scots. No. 94. — Wallace's Nook, Aberdeen. No. 95.— Graves of Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, near Perth. Till nESCniPTION OF THE rr.ATES. No. 96.— Curious Memento- Mori Watch, presented by Mary Queen of Scots, to her attendant Mary Setoun. No. 97. — Exterior View of the Italian Opera House, before it was burnt down in 1789, from an original drawing by the late VVilliara Capon. No. 98. — The Residence of John Hoole, the translator of Ariosto, &c. in Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. No. 99.— The Monument of Margaret Woffington, the Actress, at Teddington. No. 100. — Monument to Charles Holland, the Actor, at Chiswick. THE HOUSK IN WMlfH (iEOUOE Vll.I.ir.KS DVliE OV lilTHlS'GHAM WAS ASSASSINATED ^y^ o I Lf> 9^ 'n 6fm^. o/C a. '^:i^..L'/:£:^/^^^^ 7 ^^• r ^ A7 r^A^. ^, ^,./^.'^^:^^V.. i jC^/u^)i>i^ u^ i^ JUrC^'i^^i^t^^t^^^^ uiu/^W^ ^i^jc^ ^^^^^^h>^ ni umht Jvr-^r>u>%^. 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AT STRATFORD UPON AVOTI. ^{U^"^y^^^^-^V^ /...^—/^^-^^--^ tit- '-^ ■ .\r(L> Al"JiOtiaAi1l OK FHAX; y^,^ >^ *^ (T^o.,^^ y**-u^ A^^C^ ,^?u^ •^-*-5r> ^ ^*^/^o^^^ 30 y ^dJy-A^ 30 X (. (f~^ a/ti^ c.4_^ /^ 't^ ^>-i<, /»^^ i> A/^ C^ i/ ^5<^ <' /^ ^ '^/-^ «»^^ ^ y ^fMt ^^ttt//^,-/i Z,-/!/. tn J/ti?J /^f/^^^/jl?Kt/^ ffivarg// /'^/^.^^ -^^ j^/ W^-Ze^ /^^ ^^f- -yk^/ A/-L^cy'/ ^/tc/^ /nn^ [^j a/hr i ^r^JH- J^iJ-^ C^cta/ JU/^J^^ ^ ^,^ r^/4/ ^/V- Moj^ ^A^ "30 M 4 '3 4 ^^.V ^ ^ ^ % lists Sit H F X i" ^ 1 a.5 i ,• >=3 .3 -J -5 ?.l'> . /J J^-/.^ ^. ^ ^^^ ^/ ^ .^ ^ ^ ^^rU, lAM^rior ^MilU^ TU/'-n/i^ a/iDJ^/ ^'/^?rY^;i//y^ yA^ ^i^ UaaJ^. J^rr(^/niy0^ 22. 1/4/r J-l lAr.. t>rr'->?.ljSIllItE. '■/y/' 0-' / V^;"^ /; ^>^ cd^Ttc-cPy^- ^.t^ ^/-.^^ .^^^ ^--'^-^ ^^^^ '^ ^'^'/^ "y ^^ If-^ta.,^^ iv ccc^i^ ^'^^ ,^^ (/^ J-yyr.^JL -t^i^O <^ yCOu, c ^^ , *--»t-'^ tx «<* /, ^i- t A^jCtTh^ ^^ y^Cf- i4«-«-'?t^ «.-»t!Z-^ -^-«-e^yr iZ^ir-T* 'v****^ 1 r bd^yjdM .3* THE JtEsmurcE OP i>»]Eir>yr?yonTG at ytelwyn.iiehts. ^S Uv^U^U—c^fr^'-G>rrt-^lt^Or^i/'^— lA- p,...,T^f^ ^-^ '^'^r^' "^'"^"^ ^a^^^i^<<.^«W^, c^.pi'f^-^'r''''''^'^ fn^n. '^^^j'-^^'»^^%^. ^^r^uJ-%^Unc^y rr.i- h^U ^^ J!^ "^isCc^ ^ fh^u^; ^> ,f ^2W'/..>f; ^^>^#<^ ^ '^ f^^^ f^ loco ^ /.V.'tcJ. 1^1-3^^"^ «^^ ^ ''^"''^ ^ ^'^ axci^ln^^Cf^ ^/^ TO!>ra OF T»TIJ,IAJT WOfJAlR-nf AT llcrr Iw'lli llii- l«id\- of wiu.iAM nor.Ainii ksq" uliodird Ocu.l..*r On :\V''176-I M** JANE IKHiXRTIl \MG- of vrtLLiAH iloo-wni t;so* ifhfjf pulurJ ituvais tMarm th^muu*. /biJ tkrt' ikf tvr cfrr*»l tAf Anirl , I Ir iimiM tin ihnt. rra^t^r .tttu/ /rSatuTf tfurfx rtrt- Jr.'f ,t tmr. Sf tuithrr ntftf thr* tui-n attar J \^ ^ }li^^ r ^ _^ ^^ 9 V I ^ J t 7<1 Q ^ JTll52}v Ifl^jl- ^ 4r6 1 '^ P t ^ ^ ^ % i i A ^ -^ ^ 4 i 4 A i ^ •-1 SP ^ I o I --*^>. /•.:' ^^^Mut- rtii^tuciX, ftjj UOffKttW '^^ rty . :^B, p. ^ UV'W ;A<^. ' cAg/ ^^ _^i^_ifc^ o ] \^jlr (^irf^^^i/p^ 48 4 /^y y/Y ' (^^ irl^J/icl^ j.A^^^^(^ ILvi w\r-(fi^^ n. '^^ VIE W S. View of the Residence of Abraham Cowley, at Cliertsej', in Surrey, with a Fac-sunLE of the com- mencement of the Autograj)h Manuscript of his Poem of" The Garden," addressed to John Evelyn, Esq., dated " Cliertsea, August IGth, 1GG6," and originally prefixed to the Second Edition of liis Kalendarium Hortense, The Autograph from the collection of Mr. Upcott. VIEW of the House occupied by the Roval Society in Crane-court, Fleet-street, from 1678 until about the year 1760. Exterior View of tlie Residence of Sir Isaac Newton, in St. Martin's street, Leicester Fields. A view of the Interior of the Observatory in this house has been already published in the Third Part of the present •work. View of tlie Tomb of John Rich in the churchyard of Hillingdon in Middlesex ; exhibiting in the back- ground an ancient mansion called "The Cedar House," from a celebrated cedar growing in the garden, supposed to have been one of the earliest planted in England. A particular account of this ancient tree will be found in the Rev. Daniel Lysons' Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of 3Iiddlesex, which are not described in the Environs of London. London, 1800. 4to, pages 156, 157. On the monument is engraven the following inscription, surmounted by the armorial ensigns assigned to Rich, impaling those of his third wife, Priscilla, sister of Edward "Wilford, Esq. ; namely. First coat, a chevron between two lions passant Second coat three leopards heads Crest, out of a ducal coronet a demi-Iion rampant . . Sacred to the Memory of John Rich, Esq. who died November 26th, 1761, aged 69 years. In him were united the various virtues that could endear him to his Family, Friends, and acquaintance: Distress never failed to find relief in his bounty, Unfortunate merit a refuge in his generosity. Here likewise are interred Amy, his second wife, With their two young children, John and Elizabeth, who both died in their infancy. The Residence of Rich in the parish of Hillingdon was at a place called Cowley Grove ; which is said to have been the dwelling of Barton Booth, the celebrated tragedian of the early part of the eighteenth century, the original performer of Cato. Beneath the view is a Fac-Simile of an Autograph Agreement between Charles Fleetwood and John Rich, for a division of the receipts of the Theatres Royal in Drury Lane and Covent Garden, for theremaindcr VIEWS. of the season of 1735 1736, to commence on Saturday, December 13th. Rii-h was tlie founder and patentee of the latter playhouse, his plan for the erection of which he appears to have brought before the public in 1730, by exhibiting the designs of Mr, James Shepherd, his architect, and stating the principal features of his Eciieme. The building was raised partly by subscription, and was opened on Thursday, December 7th, 1732 with Congreve's comedy of The Way of the World. A copious account of the erection and opening of the Theatre will be found in the Times newspaper, published on the hundredth anniversary of the opening, December 7th, 1832, which was reprinted, with several curious notes, in the Supplement to TAe Gentleman's Magazine of the same year, volume cii. part ii. pages 585—590. The Autorjraph from the Collection of Mr. L'pcott. \ \ . sr:^.^^.- './I///: //, „ v ■, / ^ I / ^^^^^ ^^V^^ t?<^^^ <=z-^fc^ y^ift^Z^^yy y^(Tr/t.:l u' ,•// //'' Piv Authority ^ Lately arnv' d, and to Stfeen at the Globe and ^uAey Marlborough's H in Fleet-flrt&t A German born wifhoKlHands, Feeb, or ThigKs , yV Ql^at newr was in tkis Kingiom belbre^ Who does fuckmiracalous Actions as none elfe, can dowitk Hands and Feet : He has Kad the Honour to perform before mofl Kings and, princes, particularly fever al Times bSore Kintf Ceoroe He makes a Pen, and Writes fever at Hands as s'^'^'^ ^"^ *S Well as any Wntm^- [yi after, and wilt write witK an)/ for a Wa^er; He draw's Faces to the Life, andCoats of/lTmes, pictures, Flowers^ £57i>./ With a Pen, very curi- oufly; He Threads a fine Needle Ver^ cjuicR; (huffles a Pack of Cards, and deals tKem very fwift He plays upon the Dulcimer as Well as . any Mufician : He does manj/ furpri^intf Things with Cups and^alls, andpivesthe Curious great Satisfaction thereby : He plays at Skittles feveral Wa_ys very Well ; /haves himfelF very/ dexteroafly : and many olher Things, too tedious to infer t. c^fij o ;^fi Ly^ali/uv^tJiO'^i- at London i7' f, l!om 10out /^"O'i. .^■£ f^Mi i\;>.y ''."' - ■;< FAC-SIMILES OF OEIGINAL DOCUMENTS. FAC-SIMILES of an Original Drawing of Designs for the Armorial Ensigns and CyrHEHS for the Royal Society, by John Evelyn, Esq. one of the Founders and a Member of the First Council. From the date of 1660 being inscribed on this Drawing, and from the following entry in Evelyn's Diary, it is not improbable that it was presented to the Members of this Association on the day of Evelyn's election ; when it already appears to have been placed under the Royal patronage. " 1660—1661. January 6th. I Tvas now chosen, (and nominated by his Majesty for one of y" Council,) by suffrage of the rest of y« members, a Fellow ofy" Philosophical Society now meeting at Gressham College; and where was an assembly of divers learned gentlemen. This was the first meeting since the King's return, but it had been begun some years before at Oxford, and was continued, with interruption, Iiere in London during the Rebellion." The princijile on which the annexed sketches were designed, was evidently allegorical rather than heraldic, and the mottoes were especially intended to express the purpose for which the Royal Society was instituted, that of improving Science by means of extensive communications verified by actual experiment only. The first shield, therefore, bears a vessel under sail, with the motto Et Atigehitur Srientia: and Science shall be advanced. It is possible that these words, with the ship, have a reference to the passage in Daniel, chap. xii. V. 4. " Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased:" but there is not any resemblance to the verse as it stands in the Vulgate Latin. The second escutcheon is ])arted per fesse, Argent and Sable, issuant from clouds in chief a hand holding a plumb-line ; the motto being from the Vulgate tran- slation of the New Testament, L Thessalonians v. 21. Omnia probate : Prove all things. In this sketch there appears to have been an intention of introducing the Royal Augmentation afterwards given to the Society, upon either a canton or an escutcheon in the dexter chief. The third shield would be blazoned Sable, two telescopes extended in saltire, the object glasses upwards; and on a chief Argent the earth and planets : the motto is Quantum ncsciinus! How much we know not I The fourth shield bears the sun in his splendour, with the motto Ad 3Iajorem Lumen— To the Greater Light ; but on one side of this sketch is written part of the verses 463 — 465 from the first book of the Oeorgics of Virgil, (^Solcm) Quis dicere Falsum — Audeat? Who dares accuse the Sun of Falsehood ? As the succeeding shield bears a canton only, with the motto Nullius in Verba — On the report of none — as at present used by tlie Royal Society, it is probable that this sketch was intended to shew the disposition of the Arms subsequently adopted. The last shield is charged with a terrestrial globe, with a human eye in chief; and above is inscribed another motto from the Gcoryics oi\ug\\, book 2nd, verse 490, Iterum cognosccre causas, To know the causes of things. Beside these inscriptions appears the word Experiendo — By Experience, — with a repetition of the motto adopted. The signature of Evelyn is added to these interesting sketches, and the originals of all are in the possession of Mr. Upcott. None of these designs were adopted, the King himself proceeding in the very unusual manner of granting the Royal Society a much more honourable Armorial Ensign in the Charter of Incorporation ; the reason for which appears to have been, that no member of the College of Arms would have considered himself autho- rised in issuing the heraldic bearings assigned to the Association. The first notice of these Arms appears thus recorded in Evelyn's Diary, August 20th, 1662 : — "The King gave us the Armes of England to be borne in a canton in our Armes; and sent us a mace of silver-gilt, of the same fashion and bigness as those carried before His Ma'y . to be borne before our President on meeting dales. It was brought by Sir Gilbert Talbot, Master of His Ma'>'», Jewel house." — Another entry in the same Diary, on September 17th in the same year, states that, " We resolved that the Armes of the Society sho"". be a field Argent, with a canton of the Armes of England ; supporters, two talbots. Argent; crest, An Eagle Or, holding a shield with the like .\rmes of England, viz. three lions. The word, yullius in Verba. It was presented to his Ma'-' f-jr FAC-SIMILES OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. Ins approDntion, and orders given to Garter King of Armes to passe the diploma of their office for it." At the lower part of the annexed Engraving is given a reduced Fac-siniiie of tiie sketch of the Armorial Ensigns thus ordered, as entered in the official volume of Royal concessions in the College of Arms, marked Second D. 14. fol. 1. in which, instead of the usual form of a grant of heraldic bearings, issuing from the Principal and Provincial Kings of Arms, the drawing is preceded by the following confirmation. "Whereas His Ma'ie, by his Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, bearing date at Westminster, the 2ind day of April, in the loth year of his reign. Hath ordained and constituted a Society, consisting of a President, Council, and Fellows, called by the name of the President, Council, and Fellows, of the Royal Society of London for the advancement of Natural Science ; to whom, amongst other things. His said Sacred Matie hath therein gianted a Coat of Aims, Crest, and Supporters. The said President, Council, and Fellows, being desirous to have the clause whereby the same are granted unto them, together with a trick thereof, entered among the records of this office, — It was this day, being the thirtieth of June, Anno Domini 1663, in full Chapter, npon the motion of Ellas Ashmole, Esq^e. Windsor Herald, and one of 'he Fellows of the said Society, (by whom the said request was made, and the said Patent sent hither to be viewed,) agreed and consented unto, and thereupon ordered to be entered as foUoweth : — " Damus insuper, et Conccdimus per Prsesentes, Pra^sidi, Consilio, et Sodalibus Hegalis Societatis proedictte, eorumque in perpetuum successoribus, in fiivoris nostri Regij erga ipsos nostrieque de ipsis peculiaris existimationis proesenti et •■uturis aetatibus testimonium, hiEC honoris Insignia sequentia ; videlicet. In parmce Argentece angulo dextro, trea Leones nostras Anglicos ; et pro Crista, Galeain Corona Jiosculis interstincta adornatum, cui supereminet Aquila, nativi coloris, altera pede Scutum Lbonibus nostris insignituni tenens ; Telamones scufarios, duos Canes sagaces Albos, colla coronis cinctos ; (proot in margine luculentius videre est) ;\ praidictis PrsEside, Concilio, et Sodalibus, ipsorumque successoribus, prout feret occasio, in per- petuum gestanda, producenda, possidenda. "Examined by Ellas Ashmole, Windsor. 30th June, 16G3." Fac-simile of a Letter from Thomas Barlow, D.D. Bishop of Lincoln, to the Rev. George Thomason, .dated Cxford, February fith, 1670, relating to the removal of tlie Collection of Pamphlets, now called "The King's Tracts," in the British Museum, from the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The very interesting and remarkable history of the collection and preservation of those most important books, is related in two papers inserted in the first volume of the manuscript catalogue of their contentii, which appear to have been drawn up with the design of making the collection publicly known for sale. The principal of these papers is in manuscript, written in a very small law text by a copyist, containing many errors, and was most probably composed by the original collector, the father of the clergyman to whom Dr. Barlow's letter was written. The other paper forms a single printed page, in small folio, and consists of an abridgment of the former, as if designed for a more extended circulation. A copy of it will be found in the Rev. William Beloe's Amcdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, London, 1807, 8vo. vol. II. pages 248 — 251 ; but as the manuscript statement is so much more copious and interesting, as it has never yet appeared in print, and as it contains the annexed leter, with an account of the causes for which it was writter, — a copy of the wliole paper is here inserted, including all the original peculiarities and errors. Mr. Thomason's Note about his Collection. An exact Collection of all the Books and Pamphlets printed from the Beginning of the Year 1641, to the Coronation of King Charles the Second, 1C61, and near one hundred Manuscripts never yet in Print, the whole containing 30,000 Books and Tracts uniformly bound, consisting of 2,000 Volumes, dated in the most exact Manner, and so carefully preserved as to have received no Damage. The Catalogue of them makes 12 Vols, in Folio, they are so marked and numbered that the least Treatise may be readily found, and even the very day on which they became publick, wrote on most of llu'm. This Collection cost great Pains and Expenee, and was carried on so privately as to escape the most diligent Search of llie Protector, who, hearing of them, used his utmost endeavours to obtain them. Tliey were sent into Surry and Essex, and at last to Oxford, the then Library Keeper, Dr. Barlow, being a Friend to the Collector, and under his Custody they remained, till llic Doctor was made Bishop of Lincoln, as appears by the underwritten Litter from the Bishop to the Collector. A Copy of the Bishop of Lincoln's Letter. My good Friend, Oxon. Feb. G, l')7G. I am about to leave Oxford, my dear Mother, and that excellent and costly Collection of Books which ha\e so long been |n my Hands ; now 1 intreat you either to remove them, or speak to my Succissor, that they may continue there till you can FAC-SIMILES OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. otherwise conveniently dispose of them. Had 1 Money to my Mind, I would be your Chapman for them ; but your Collection Is to great, and my Parse so little, that I cannot compass it. It Is such a Collection (both for the vast Number of Books, and the exact Method they arc bound in) as none has, nor can possibly have, besides yourself. The Use of that Collection might be of cicecding Benefit to the Publick both in Churcli and State were it plac'd in some safe Repository, where learned and sober Men might have access to, and the Use of it ; the fittcft Place for it (both for Use and Honour) is the King's, Sir Thomas Bodlie's, or some publick Librarj-, for in such Places it might be most safe and usefuU ; 1 have long endeavour'd to find Benefactors and a Way to procure it for Bodlie's Librarj-, and I do not dispair but such a Way may be found in good time by Your afiectionate Friend, TuoMAs Lincoln. There have been grete Charges Disbursed and Paines taken in an Exact Collection of Pamphletts that have been Published from the Beginning of that long and vuhappy Parlcm' wch Begun Novemb"' 1640, v/cb doth amount to a very greate Numb'' of Pieces of all Sorts and all sides from that time vntill his Majties happy Restauracion and Coronacion, their Numb' consisting of neere Thirty Thousand seu'all peeces to the very greate Charge and greater Care and Paines of him that made the Col- lecclon. The vse that may be made of them for the Publiq" and for the prsent and after ages may and wille prove of greate Advan- tage to Posterity, and besides this there is not the like, and therefore only fitt for the vse of the Kinge's Maj'ie. The rrcb Col- leccion will Necessarily employ Six Readers att Once, they Consisting of Six Severall Sorts of Paper, being as vniformely Bound as if they were but of one Impression of Bookes. It Consists of about Two Thousand Severall Volumes all Exactly ."Marked and Numbred. The Method that hath been Observed throughout Is Tymc, and such Exact Care hath been taken that the very day is written vpon most of them that they came out. The Catalogue of them fairely written doe Containe Twelve Vollumes in Folio, and of the Numbrs aforesaid, «■<:'' is so many that when they stand in Order according to their Numb'*, whilest any thing is asked for and shewed in the Catalogue, though but of one Shccte of Paper (or lesse), it may be instantly Shewed : this Method is of very greate vse and much Ease to the Reader. In this Numbr of Pamphlettes is Contained neorc One hundred and Seu'all peeces that never were Printed on th' one Side and on th' other, (all or most of which are on the King'3 Side), wch no man durst venture to Publish here, without the Danger of his Ruine. This CoUeccon was so privately Carried on, that it was never knowne that there was such a Designe in hand, the Collect' in- tending them onely for his MajU^s vse that then was, his Mflj"e once having Occasion to vse one Pamphlett could no where Obtainc or Compasse the Sight of it but from him, wch his Maj''>^ haveing Scene was very well Sattisfied and pleased with the Sight of it, hcc commanded a Person of honour (now) neere his MnjU" that now is, to Restore it Safely to his handes from whom hee had it, who faithfully Restored it, together with the Charge his Maj'''^ gave him, w^h was with his owne hand to Returne it to him, and withall Expresst a Desire from his then Maj'ie to him that bad Begun that worke, that hee should Continue the same, his Maj""^ being very well pleased with the Design «ch was a greate Encouragem' to the Undertaker, Els hee thinks hee should never have been Enduced to have gon through so difficult a Worke, w<:li he found by Experience to prove so Chargeable and heavy a Burthen, both to himself and his Servts that were Imployed in that busincs, wd Continued above the Space uf Twenty yearcs, in w^h time hee Buryed three of them, who tooke greate Pains both day and night w'h him in that tedious Imploy. ment. And that hee might prevent the Discovery of them when the Army was Northward, hee Packt them vp in Seuerall Trunks and by one or two in a Week hee sent them to a Trusty freind in Surrey, who safely preserved them, but when the Army was Westward, and feareing their Returne that way, hee was faigne to have them sent back againe, and thence Safely Received them but durst not keepe them by him the Danger was so greate, but packt them vp againe and sent them into Essex, and when the .trmy Ranged that way to Triphleheath was faigne to send for them back from thence, and not thinking them Safe any where in England, att last took a Ressolucion to send them into Holland for their more safe preservation, but Considering v/ii' bimselfe what a Treasure it was, vpon Second thoughts he durst not venture them att Sea, but Ressolved to place them in his Warehouses in forme of Tables round about the Koomes Covered over with Canvas, Continueing Still without any Intermission his goeing on ; nay, even then, when by the Vsurper's Power and Comand hee was taken out of his Bed and Clapt vp Close Prisoner att Whitehall for Seaven weekes Space and aboue, hee still hopeing and looking for that Day, w''' tbankes bee to God is now come, and there hee putt a Period to that vnparallelled Labour, Charge, and Paines, hee had been att. Oxford Library Keeper (that then was) was in hand n't" them, ab' them a long time, and did hope the Publiq« Library might Compase them, but that could not bee then Effected, it riscing to so greate a Same as had been Expended on tliem for so long a time together. And if that Traytcrous Vsurper had taken Notice of them by any Informacion, hee to secure them had made and signed an Ac- quittance for One thousand pounds, acknowledged to be received iu parte of that Bargaine, and haue Sent that Imediately FAC-SIMILES OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. thither and they to have Challenged by virtue of that as Bought by them, who had more Power than hee had that Collected them to have Contended wili him for them by tlie Power that they and their friends could have made. All theis hard Shifts and Exigents hath hee been putt vnto to preserve them, and preserved they are (by Providence) for the vse of Succeeding Ages, w^b will Scarce have ffaith to Believe that such horrid and most detestable Villanyes were ever Committed in any Christian Comon Wealth since Christianity had a Name. The following memorandum is annexed to the preceding : — "This is erroneous. The Collector, Mr. George Thomason, died in 16G6. See his Will at Doctors' Commons, wherein a par- ticular mention is made of the Pamphlets, and a Special Trust appointed. One of the Trustees being Dr. Barlow. George T. to whom this letter was addressed, was eldest son of the Collector, and a Fellow of Queen's, Oxon. "Q. G. Stonestreet, lineal descendant of the Collector." A subsequent notice of the Collection of Tracts is contained in the following document, whichis also preserved in the British Museum. '• At the Court at Wliitehall, the 15th of May, 1684, '' By the King's Most Excellent Ma'y and the Lords of His Ma'ii's most honourable Privy Councill. " The humble petition of Anne Mearne, Relict of Samuel Mearne, His Ma'ies Stationer, lately deceased, being this day read at the Board settin" forth that His Maty was pleased by S^ Joseph Williamson, the Secretary of State, to command the Petitioners husband to purchase a collection of severall bookes, concerning matters of state, being above thirty thousand in number, and, beino- uniformly bound, are contained in two thousand volumes and upwards;— and that by reason of the great charge they cost the Petrs husband, and the burthen they are upon herself and family by their lying vndisposed of soe long, — therefore most humbly prays His Ma"cs leave to dispose of the said Collection of Bookes as being a ready way to raise money upon them to sup- port herselfe and family : — His Maiy in Council was graciously pleased to give leave to the Pef^ to dispose and make sale of the said Bookes as she shall think fit. " Pui. Llotd." After the period therein mentioned, no further information appears to have been preserved concerning it, excepting that it was bought by John Stewart, Second Earl of Bute, for a sum under ^G-iOO, and again sold to Kino- Georo-e III. for the same amount in 1761, by whom the volumes were presented to the British Museum, which had been then recently founded. Part of a Letter from Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, to John Holies, Third Duke of Newcastle. Dated August 9th, 1678. Lansdowne MSS. Brit. Mbs. No. 123G. Part of a Letter from Thomas Secker, D.D. Bishop of Oxford, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, respecting the last illness of Martin Benson, D.D. Bishop of Gloucester. Dated August l/tli, 1652. Additional MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 4318. Part of an Original Letter from John, First Baron Somers, to Sir Hans Sloane, respecting the admission of Count Lorenzo Magalotti, Councillor of State to Ferdinand (II.) De' Medici, Sixteenth Grand Duke of Tuscany, a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was elected May 4th, 1709. Sloane MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 40C0. Part of a letter from the Right Hon. Henry St. John, First Viscount Bolingbroke, to Jonathan Bwiff, D.D. Sloane MSS, Brit. Muf.No. 480.i. O^ ^ a^- #-i.6^^^ & t/^/^ ^-en^ W itoy :./t«Kv^.; .^ /t, e^>«^i-^/^r.a. .r-y^Ha-i^^ ,..f,rylf^^^ ^^C.^ „^;,^ 7^» /.:■ : y>-. f ;'••/ t- V , f \W^k , V^.» 'J^'fj^Ufl Ivy Cottage, Kentisu Town, with Some Accoun of the Life and Genius of the late Charles Mathews, Comedian. Communicated bj George Daniel, Esq. of Islington. The world is the stage ; men are the performers ; chance composes the piece ; fortune distributes the parts; the fools shift the scenery; the philosophers are the spectators; — Folly makes the concert, and Time drops the curtain ! . . . . The " insatiate archer" has smote that prince of humorists, Charles Mathews ! How many pleasant recollections are awakened by that name I The tear that we once paid to his pathetic impersonations, we pay to his memory ; and now, when the voice of praise cannot reach him, let me throw a o-arland on his tomb. The hero should fall in the battle-field, if he would fall gloriously ; the actor's mortal exit should follow hard upon his dramatic, if he would depart with his theatrical honours in full bloom. We lose, in the Lethe of retirement, remembrance of the man ; and it is not until we are reminded by an announce- ment of his death, that we inquire what have been his habits and occupations — what his joy or sorrow, since the curtain finally dropped on our once-cherished favorite, and a crowded theatre sent back a joyful response, mingled with sighs of regret, to his inspiring mirth. Gratitude is a plant of slow growth, and quick dissolution ! We missed Charles Mathews, for one season only; and then lost him for ever. This ornament of the English stage was the son of the late Mr. James Mathews, who was for many years a respectable bookseller in the Strand, where our comedian was born, on the 28th of June, 177G. The father's principles would have directed the son to any other pursuit than that of the stage. Had young Mathews followed parental advice, he might peradventure have stood " contagious" to His Majesty's subjects, and charged them on their "apparel" to touch a hair of his wig! But Momus claimed him for his own ; and who shall say, the laughing god ever enlisted a merrier disciple? On the 9th of September, 1793, Mr. Mathews first "smelt the lamps" at Richmond, in Surrey, in the character of Richmond, in " Richard the Third," and Borvkitt, in the " Son-in-Law." This was as an amateur. His ])rofessio)ial bow was on the 19th of June, 1794, on the Dublin stage, in Jacob Gawky and Lingo. His success was complete ; but the manager, Mr. Daly, so far from appreciating the talents of his young recruit, placed him on the list of " walking gentlemen." He soon quitted a situation so humiliating ; and, after a tour through Wales, engaged with Tate Wilkinson, the eccentric manager of the York theatre, where, in the year 1798, he made his first appearance in Silhy and Linrjo. For five years the risible faculties of the York audiences were kept in perpetual motion under the influence of Mr. Mathews. But this monopoly of fun was not to last till doomsday — for George Colman, seeing no just cause or impediment why the good folks of the Haymarket should not be merry too, deputed Mr. Mathews to relax their muscles, which he did most efl^ectually, on the 16th of May, 1803, as Jabal in " The Jew ;" and in his old favorite character of Lingo — " the master of scholars ! " On tlie 18th of September, 1804, Mr. Mathews made his entr6e on the boards of Old Drury, in the part of Don Manuel, in Gibber's comedy of " Slie would and she would not," and for eight years continued a leading member of that company. His first appearance at Covent Garden was on the 12th of October, 1812, as Buskin, in Hook's Farce of " Killing no Murder." No actor assumed a wider range of characters, or supported them with greater ability. Flats, Sharps, Tall-boys, Dotards, Countrymen, Cocknies, Eccentrics of all ages and nations, were represented by VIEWS. Mr, Mathews with true comic fidelity. His imitative talent occasionally indulged in the pleasant mischief of takincr off his brother actors. He might have sat for Incledon's portrait. If he was not the identical Dicky Suett, there's no purchase in money I Considering, however, that his talents were not sufficiently called into action, for, like Richard, " his soul was in arms, and eager for the fray," he took khnsclfoff; and in March, 1818, invited his friends to an " At Home," at the English Opera House ; realising all that has been said of Proteus ; and exhibiting more /ace* than Argus had eyes. Some wiseacres have labored hard to prove that Mathews, though a consummate mimic, was no actor : and Pope, by the same rule, has been pronounced a tolerable versijier but no poet ! To adopt the sen- timent of Dr. Johnson, — if Mathews was no actor, where is acting to be found? Was Lingo nothing? ^i> Fretful Plagiary nothing ? Morbleu and Mallet nothing? The Old Scotckmoman nothing? " If these were nothing ; Why, then, the world, and all that's in 't, is nothing !" Mathews was the Hogarth of the stage ; his characters are as finely discriminated, as vigorously drawn, as highly finished, and as true to nature, as those of the great painter of mankind. His percep- tion of the eccentric and outre was intuitive ; — his range of observation comprehended human nature in all its varieties ; he caught not only the manner, but the matter of his originals ; and while he hit off with admirable exactness the peculiarities of individuals, their very turn of thought and modes of expression were given with equal truth. In this respect he surpassed Foote, whose mimicry seldom went beyond personal deformities and physical defects,— a blinking eye, a lame leg, or a stutter. He was a satirist of the first class, without being a caricaturist; exhibiting folly in all its Protean shapes, and laughing it out of countenance — a histrionic Democritus ! His gallery of faces was immense : the extraordinary and the odd, the shrewd expression of knavish impudence, the rosy contentedness of repletion, the vulgar stare of boorish ignorance, and the blank fatuity of idiocy, he called up with a flexibility that had not been witnessed since the days of Garrick. His most remarkable expression lay in the elevation of the eye-brow, which instantly gave to his features a totally different character. Many of his most admired portraits were creations of his own ; the old Scotchwoman, the Idiot playing with a Fly, Major Longbow, &c. &c. The designs for his " At Homes" were from the same source; — meaner artists filled in the back-ground, but the figures stood forth in full relief, the handiwork of their unrivalled impersonator. Mr, Mathews was an eminent tragedian : who but remembers his narration of the story of the Gamester, his Monsieur Mallet, and particular parts of Monsieur Morbleu ? — Nothing could be more delightful than his representation of the " pauvre barbiere." He had the air, the bienseance of the Chevalier who had danced a minuet at the " Gourde Versailles." His petit chanson, " C'est I' Amour !" and his accompanying capers, were exquisitely French. His transitions from gaiety to sadness — from restlessness to civility; his patient and impatient shrugs, were admirably given. The infinite variety of Mathews's countenance was true to every emotion. As a performance, it was unique of its kind. In legitimate comedy, his old men and intriguing valets were excellent ; while Lingo, Quotem, Nipperkin, Midas, Sharp, Wiggins, &c. &c. in farce, have seldom met with merrier representatives. His broken English was superb; his country boobies were unsophisticated nature; and his Paddies the richest distillation of whiskey and praties. He was the finest burletta singer of his daj', and in his patter songs, his rapidity of utterance and distinctness of enunciation were truly wonderful. His Dicky Suett in pawn for the cheesecakes and raspberry tarts at the pastry-cook's, in St. Martin's Court, was no less faithful than convulsing ; and Tate Wilkinson, Cooke, Jack Bannister, and Beusley, were absolute resurgams. VIEWS. He was the first actor tliat imported the ludicrous peculiarities of Jonathan into England, for the entertainment of his laughter-loving brothers and sisters. They were a species of humor perfectly unique, and were relished with an epicurean gout. Their vraisemblance was unquestionable, and their effect prodigious. Few men said smarter things, or related a comical story with more superficial gravity. Innumerable anecdotes are told of him.— His first interview with Tate Wilkinson, when the veteran casting up his gooseberry eyes to Mathews's tall, lank figure, (in prime twig to take a journey down a pump!) exclaimed " You won't do for low comedy !"— and then " Your mouth's all on one side ; " with Mathews's apt reply — (suiting the action to the word !) " Is it ? Now it's all on fotlter ! " which instantly procured him from the humorist an engagement of a guinea a week ! Manv were his tricks of ventriloquism. His alarming the Brighton folks with cries of " Murder !" from every room in a house; his strange metamorphosis at his friend the pawnbroker's, at whose bouse he had been dininT, to whom, with a hat lightly dashed over his brow, an eye wickedly winking, the mouth twisted, a screw (alias, a tooth!) loosened, and shoulders upshrugged — he pledged, for twelve shillings, his (the pawnbroker's!) own spoon ; and his adventure as the mock ambassador, (as extravagantly ludicrous as the delicious episode of the Russian Princess, great Rusty-Fusty, in O'Keefe's wild farce,) are among the raciest of his frolics. I remember him at Covent Garden giving a fac-simile of Cooke in the entire part of Sir Archy M'Sarcasm, without making a single trip ; and a true tale is told of him, that, personating an ancient male eccentric, a family friend, he drank tea with his mother— (" O, wonderful son, that can so astonish a mother!") — without the old lady finding out the cheat ! His manly spirit was not to be put down by ignorant and illiberal clamour. A Mr. Mawworm, at Shefl5eld, with sanctified garb and elongated visage, — held him up to censure, and libelled his profes- sion — he attacked the lank-haired, crop-eared Jack Presbyter in his strong-hold, and quilted him soundly. And when a few Yankies, on his second visit to America, attempted an opposition, in revenge for his vivid sketches of some of their absurdities, mark how a plain tale set them down ! His judicious and uncompromising address shamed the blockheads into silence, amidst a shout of applause ! Of the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund he was a liberal supporter. He knew the importance and usefulness of his profession — that to make the vivid conceptions of the poet start into life ; to give feature, form, and motion to thoughts and words ; and draw smiles and tears simultaneously from thousands assembled to hail the rare union of these sister arts, is the triumph of the player : — that the highest authorities have borne testimony to its moral influence upon society ; and that it needed no vindication on the score of intellectuality, unless the infinite variety of Garrick be a fable, and the transcendant powers of Siddons and Kemble a chimera and a dream ! He knew, too, its many and sad vicissitudes; that the broad sunshine of public favor is a dazzling and dangerous light ; that he, whose presence is hailed as the signal for mirth — whose vivacity and whim seem to indicate all absence of disappointment and sorrow, is too often a prey to those very evils he labors so successfully to dispel in others ; — that, with a shattered frame and a broken spirit, he is called to the exercise of physical and mental energies; to be "a fellow of infinite jest," his " occupation gone" — to crave endurance, where he once commanded applause!— To see Hamlet dwindled to the " lean and s!i[)pered Pantaloon" — to hear Falstaff whistle his rich conceits in childish treble— and behold the awful Lear, too truly ! a " very foolish, fond old man, fourscore and upward," — were a sorry sight ! Better men, if they could not applaud, would pity and be silent; but the million, if they could not shout, would play the serpent, and hiss ! We hav'^ lived too long not rightly to estimate the world's gratitude, and the bitterness of its compassion. The versatile talents of Mr. Mathews on the Fund's anniversary festivals attracted a large company ; and he was equally happy when appealing to his auditors in behalf of the " poor player," whose VIEWS. " gambols, songs, and flashes of merriment," are passed away, as when making their lungs " crow like chanticleer," with the drolleries of one in the zenith of his fame, admired by the public and liberally rewarded ; anticipating a long and brilliant career, and, ere the curtain finally drops, an lionorable retirement in competence and peace. A kindred taste for pictures, prints, and theatrical relics, often brought the writer into his company. At his Tusculum — the pleasant Thatched Cottage at Kentish Town, rising in the midst of green lawns, flower-beds, and trellis-work fancifully wreathed and overgrown with jasmine and honey-suckles ! At this retired homestead was collected a more interesting museum of dramatic curiosities than had ever been brought together by the industry of one man. Garrick medals in copper, silver, and bronze ; a lock of his hair ; the garter worn by him in Richard the Third ; his Abel Drugger shoes; his Lear wig ; his walking stick ; the managerical chair in which he kept his state in the green-room of Old Drury ; and the far-famed Casket, now in the possession of the writer) carved out of the mulberry-tree planted by Shakspere. Kemble was no less the God of his professional idolatry. The sandals worn by that great actor in Coriolanus on the last night of his performance, and presented by him to his ardent admirer on that memorable occasion, were regarded by Mathews as a precious relic. He was glad of his sandals, he wittily remarked, since he never could hope to stand in his shoes ! The Penruddock stick and Hamlet wigs were also carefully preserved. So devoted was he to his art, and so just and liberal in his estimation of its gifted professors, that he lost no opportunity of adding to his interesting store some visible tokens by which he might remember them. These, with his collection of engravings, autographs, and unique gallery of Theatrical Portraits, (the latter is now the property of the Garrick Club,) he felt no less delight in shewing to his numerous visitors, than in possessing; and when the mind had been abundantly recreated with the intellectual feast, the body came in for a substantial entertainment at his cheerful and hospitable board — where, surrounded by his books, pictures, and a few select friends, he turned aside from mere ostentatious luxury, and e.xclaimed, with the Spectator, " These are my companions ! " His theatrical career commenced during the meridian of the stage. He beheld it in its glory, and he witnessed its decline. " A merrier man. Within the limit of becoming mirth, I never spent an hour's talk withal. His eye begat occasion for his wit, For every object that the one did catch The other turn'd to a mirth-moving jest." In spite of a nervous irritability, which his premature death too sadly proved was constitutional, he was the friendliest of men. The facetious companion never lost sight of the gentleman ; he scorned to be the buffoon — the professional lion of a party, however exalted by rank. It was one of his boasts — l noble and a proud one too ! — that the hero of an hundred fights, the conqueror of France, the Prince of Waterloo! received him at his table, not as Punch, but as a private gentleman. He had none of the low vanity that delights to attract the pointed finger ; — he knew the vast popularity that his eminent talents had earned for him — that he could not appear in the streets without being among " the observed of all observers ;" he therefore took the by-ways, to avoid the (to him) painful eft'ects of public curiosity. He was content with his supremacy on the stage — an universal imitator, himself inimitable ! At his pressing invitation, and with no small difficulty on my part, (for the veteran was anything but locomotive,) I once all but succeeded in bringing King George the Third's favorite comedian, Quick, VIEWS. to the cottage. I was however more successful with Mr. Mathews, who, in my company, visited Tony Lumpkin's snug retreat at Islington, to spend a day, « a summer's day, as Millstone says !" Quick, with little round body, flaring eye, fierce strut, turkey-cock gait, rosy gill, flaxen wig, blue coat, shining buttons, white ve-st, black silk stockings and smalls, bright polished shoes, silver buckles, and (summer and winter) blooming and fragrant bouquet ! This last of the Garrick-school, marvellously buckish and clean ! received us at the door, with his comic treble ! The meeting was cordial and welcome— the talk capital I No man than Quick was a greater enthusiast in his art, or more inquisitive of what was doing in the theatrical world. He was in full song, and Mathews made him chirrup and chuckle right merrily ! Of Ned Shuter he spoke in terms of unqualified admiration, as an actor of the broadest humor the stage had ever seen ; and of Edwin, as a surpassing Droll, with a vis comica of extraordinary power. He considered Tom Weston, though in many respects a glorious actor, too rough a transcript of nature — true, indeed, to the very letter, but coarse, and occasionally ofiensive ; and Dodd (except in Sir Andrew Aguecheek, which he pronounced a master-piece of fatuity,) too studied and artificial. He could never account for Garrick's extreme partiality for Woodward, (Davy delighted to act with him,) whose style was dry and hard ; his fine gentleman had none of the fire, spirit, and fascination of Lewis ; it was pert, snappish, and not a little ill-bred. His Bobadil and Parolles were inimitable. Moody was far surpassed by Jack Johnstone ; except in the Irishman in the Register Office, which somehow admirably fell in with his drawling, sluggish humour. He pronounced liis guest's Sir Fretful Plagiary equal to the best thing Parsons ever did (Davy in Bon Ton, always expected) ; yet Parsons's Old Doiley was for ever on his lips, and his " Don't go for to -put vie in a passion, Hetty .'" was his favorite catch-word, when mine hostess of the King's Head, Islington, put too much lime in his punch He gave due praise to Yates, in Lovegold ; but accounted (somewhat whimsically) for his peculiar excellence in that part — he and his wife (the great tragic actress) being notorious misers! He awarded to Suett the palm of originality. Such an actor, so indescribably singular and queer, he had never seen before or since. He could trace imitation in most of his contemporaries ; (he confessed that he himself had not seen Shuter in vain !) but Suett was himself alone. — (Here Mr. Mathews borrowed one comical page from Dickey's Drolleries ; a resuscitation of Endless and Gossip!) — He called Joe Munden a face-maker, depending too much upon that enemy to all good acting, " distort :" but highly praised his Sir Francis Gripe, and, above all, Old Dornton, the wonderful eff'ects of which, on both actors and audiences, he had often witnessed when he played Silky in the same comedy. He thought King the best prologue-speaker, (not excepting Garrick) of his time ; his words flew from his lips with admirable distinctness and point. In characters of bluff assurance and quaint humor — Brass, Trippanti, and Touchstone — he had no superior. Garrick, or, as he pronounced it, (for the loss of his front teeth had turned the R into a W) Garwick, was his idol. His acting was a subject which called forth that day triplicate bumpers of his favorite beverage : — " Age could not wither it, nor custom stale Its infinite variety." .... His sitting-room was hung round with representations of this great master in different characters — Drugger, Richard, Sir John Brute, Kitely, cheek-by-jowl with his own comic self in Sancho, Tony Lumpkin, " Cunning Isaac," Spado, &c. &c. — The time too swiftly passed in these joyous reminis- cences. Quick promised to return the visit, but increasing infirmity forbade the pleasant pilgrimage : and soon after he became the Quick and the dead ! My last visit to Mr. Mathews at Kentish Town was in the middle of March, 1833. " 'Tis agony VIEWS. point with me iust now," lie writes. " I have been writing from morning till night for three woeks. I am hurried with my entertainment ; my fingers are cramped with writing ; and on my return I find twenty- five letters at least to answer. I shall be at home Tuesday and Wednesday, can you come up? Do. Verv sincerely vours, in a gallop I Chaules Mathews. — P.S. It will be your last chance of seeing my gallcrv here." I accepted the invitation, and spent a delightful day. I saw him twice or thrice since, but never after did I behold him in such buoyant spirits, so full of glee and anecdote as on that occasion. Our only sad moment was at parting, when I took a last lingering gaze at his gallery. Then did bis eye moisten, his hand tremble in mine, and his voice falter when he bade me adieu. His second visit to America, the change of climate, and the severity of the voyage out and home, accelerated the progress of that fatal disease, which had been silently preying upon his constitution, already shaken by his long and arduous professional exertions. He never saw London again, but reached his native land just in time to breathe in it his last breath. He died at Davenport, on the 27th of June, lS3o, of an ossification of the heart, wanting one day of fifty-nine years. The curtain drops, and thus closes the busy scene of the actor's triumph ! What record remains of him, save that which tradition gives, and the painter's art, that transmits his lineaments to posterity ! — Farewell, incomparable humorist ! In thee the stage lost one of its brightest ornaments ; and could Diogenes revisit the earth, be might hold up his lantera, and look in vain to find an honester man ! The very characteristic letter of Mr. Mathews, engraven beneath the present view, was obligingly furnished to the Proprietor of this work by James Thomson, Esq., to whom it was addressed. (kcy^y^ •/%• fiHuf—. Jm. four /W-^7v/^.//, if^ ^eyiA^ipJ^ ^ •^vOz-^ ity 4^. ^ C^0'^^J2^^ (T'^M^ OVL^ .1^ 1 1 Hill ills sfiJI js - - -. ^ s: ►. ^ * > - 'S -; = 5? i 5; :; 5; k ; -^ •< *^ •«. -s; - .2 * ' ? 1 •? "S 4 5 ^ ^ 5 -S ? 5 5 5 } I S 1 S ? ' ^5 ? "= ^ *■< E* ^ '-c ^ ; ^ ^ ^"^ '.^ M- -i v ' ^ ^ r E > 5 ;$ •_- 5 V; -^ -= J. 5. >, Sl^. ?5 ■;■<=« :j < '^ '^ *= r = •> -s ^ ^ ■-. ■'. '^ ■". ^ i »5 H^ 3- K: S S 5 " ■ ■, •> 4! = ■T S « 5; ; ~-- -. -j s 's : "^ ^ ^ 'S -? ^ ^ e n ^ S S * 6- ?■ Ill i 5 ^^ ^ 53 ! 5^ ^i 'i •^ ^ 4 -i € u as«if?=s =^ "^ •-, ^ ^ S n b S » He: ; :; y Sj 3; s ^ .^1 I i. ! c ^ • 1 ^ ■ a» c ! J 1 1 1> -^ 5 •§ ^ = ^ ■• S =1 S T 'i ^ ^ ^ =? S ^ =5 ^ ^■iSJ.^P f s %■-:•* s ^ =5 ^ ^^ ■551 • sss » ?• S "^ -£ ^ ■* ^ '-22^ -1 »• *■■ ■^ •^ ^ "^ ^1 '1 5-t M >1 ~i /,T|I| AcIjI'.'JLJ '•'// RJ !'/■/ (R /if ; // .7/ //■: : '// u ■ r ' ... ^ J .':.-/ 1 Em ^ 3 CIDCZ] h~ 1 II 1 p* — — " [Z'^^-: GI '^^ .,./ .',// .y,> IIVJ,/ I'll J ^ s ^ ■.:\ ^■'^« ''J ■ >> \ x"; X v^ V- > 1 . ^ 1 S ?? ^ ? >\ ■£ ^ 1 < •^ ^ ^' \ ^ v^ v ANTIQUITIES. Description of the Cassolette made from the AVood of Shakespeare's Mclberiiy Thee Contributed by George Daniel, Esq. op Islington, Evert object derives interest from association. The localities that were once hallowed by tbe presence of genius are eagerly sought after and fondly traced through all their obscurities; and regarded with as true a devotion as the sacred shrine to which the Pilgrim, after his patiently-endured perils by sea and land, offers his adoration. The humblest roof gathers glory from the bright Spirit that once irradiated it; the simplest relic becomes a precious gem when connected with the gifted and the "ood. We haunt, as holy ground, the spot where the muse inspired our favourite Bard ; we treasure his hand-writin"- in our cabinets ; we study his works, as emanations of the Poet ; we cherish his associations, as remem- brances of the Man In those day-dreams of fancy, which persons of a certain temperament are wont to indulge, I have pictured to my imagination Shakespeare and his times. His majestic countenance, from the contem- plation of which Dryden caught inspiration, has been rudely, yet faithfully preserved; his mind is best seen in his works. On the few incidents recorded in his life, I dwell with fond enthusiasm. His boy- hood, courtship, marriage, his wild exploits in the park of Sir Thomas Lucy (the scene of " As ycu like it"), his bitter lampoon on the " Parliament Jlember," his retreat from Stratford, arrival in London, accidental encounter with the players, his appearance as an actor and author, and the first dawning of his mighty genius. That the Muse had vouchsafed him her inspirations, and opened to his infant eyes the gates of immortality ; that she had haunted his visions by day, and his dreams by night ; is not the fiction of an idle brain, but an inference fully warranted by events. In disgrace and penury, the world before him, but its prospects gloomy and uncertain, Shakespeare quitted his native town, his family and kindred. His feelings who shall imagine ? who shall describe ? I should say they partook of melan- choly mingled with hope, relieved by the curiosity of a young and ardent adventurer strong in the emotion of genius, anticipating a wider field for the exercise of his talents, and not without some partial glimpses of" The All Hail Hereafter!" If such were his aspirations, never was vision more prophetic. In aid of this illusion, his contemporaries pass in review before me: Elizabetli, "the expectancy and rose of the fair state;" the munificent Southampton, "the observ'd of all observers;" the gallant Raleigh; the rare Ben Jonson ; and his Jelloms, Alleyn, Armin, Burbage, Green; and that prince of clowns, Dick Tarlton ; whose true effigies have passed to posterity, and enough of whose history remains to give me some insight into their characters. Their very places of resort, convivial and theatrical, though for the most part destroyed by time, are transmitted by the graver's art ; and so minutely has description set forth each particular, that I pace the deserted chambers of the Falcon and the Devil — I hear the wisdom and the wit, and the loud laugh — I visit the Bear Garden, the Globe, and the Fortune — I listen to Tarlton, with his wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, exteraporal humour, exchanging gibes with our merry ancestors — I behold Burbage, such a player " as no age must look to see the like," in his original character of the crafty Richard — 3Iaister Greene, than whom " there was not an actor of his nature, in his time, of better ability in performance of what he undertook, more applaudent by the audience of greater grace at the court, or of more general love in the Citty," in his crack part of BiMle, in *' Tu Quoque !" — the merry and frolicksome Bob Armin, in simple John, in the Hospital — and " Alleyn playing Fmislua, With the Cross upon his breast." a ANTIQUITIES. The age of Shakespeare was the age of Romance, Of pomp, and feast, and revelry, , With mask and antique pageantry ; Such sights as youthful poets dream On summer eves by haunted stream. As yet, frigid philosophy had not reduced man's existence to one dull round of sad realities ; but some magical drops were distilled in the cup, to make the bitter draught of life go down. Shakespeare had drank deep in this fountain of inspiration ; hence the high-toned sentiment, the noble enthusiasm, the perfect humanity, that make the heart tremble and the tears start, in the works of this mighty enchanter. The age, too, was a joyous one ; the puritanical ravings of Gosson and Stubbes, and the snarling of Prynne, had not disinclined the people to their ancient sports and pastimes ; and England, in her holy-days and festivals, well deserved her characteristic appellation of " Merrie." These national peculiarities were not lost on a mind so excursive as Shakespeare's : — his works abound in curious illustrations of the domestic habits and popular superstitions of our ancestors ; and he who has attentively studied them, may claim more credit for antiquarian knowledge than is generally conceded to the readers of fiction and fancy. From all that I can learn of his personal history, his disposition was bland, cheerful, and humane; by one who best knew him, he is styled the "gentle Shakespeare." He loved the merry catch and the mirth-inspiring glee, — the wine and wassail, the cakes and ale, which warmed the hearts of that immortal triumvirate, Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, and the Clown, and extracted from the taciturn Master Silence those precious relics of old ballad poetry that erst graced the collection, " fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whipcord," of that riglite cunninge and primitive bibliographer Captain Cox, of Coventry ! and how deeply has he struck the chords of melancholy ! — yet no marvel thereat ; since there never was a true poet who did not feel the presence of this sublime spirit — a spirit that dwelt in Shakespeare in all its intensity. " To him the mighty mother did unveil Her awful face ; the dauntless child Stretch'd forth his little arms and smiled. This pencil talic (she said), whose colours clear Richly paint the vernal year : Thine, too, these golden keys, immortal boy ! This can unlock the gates of joy ! Of horror, that, and thrilling fears. And ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.' Shakespeare is the volume of mankind. Search his pages, and where shall we find such a school of eloquence, so rich, so passing rich in that trinity of supreme attributes, passion, imagination, and wisdon* ? Do we desire the noblest examples of patriotism and virtue ; all that is beautiful in fancy, and brilliant in wit? his eternal dramas are the treasury where such gems will be sought and found. They present us with every object in nature's landscape, with the added charms of philosophic and metaphysical lore. The springs of passion are unlocked, the inmost recesses of the heart explored, and every thought, however deeply seated there, revealed and analysed. The veil that separates the material from the immaterial world is drawn aside, and we behold the wonders of that mysterious region. We are subdued by sorrow that we would not exchange for mirth, and exhilarated by merriment that might have unbent the dull brow of melancholy, and softened it into a smile. We see morality and science in the many- coloured vesture of poetry ; and philosophy, erect, not elated, cheerful, benevolent, and sublime. But envy hath no fancy to the rose of the garden, and what careth malice for the lily of the valley ? Of Voltaire, and his host of infidels and buffoons, let me speak with temper. There are certain men to whom we cannot afford our anger; but charity demands something, and we throw them our contempt. This is the only feeling provoked by the French critics. Beautiful Spirit ! what griefs hast thou not ANTIQUITIES. alleviated and charmed ? what sympathies hast tliou not awakened and subdued ? In liealth and in sickness, in joy and in sorrow, in the busy turmoil of every-day life, in the silent tranquillity of reflection and solitude, the infirmities of our nature have in thy brightness been glorified and transfigured. Shakespeare did not wait for the sear and yellow leaf, ere he bade a final adieu to the theatre of his glory. If ever pride became a virtue, it was that which glowed in the poet's bosom at this auspicious moment. Of fame he possessed a greater share tlian ever fell to the lot of human being. A splendid retirement was before him ; — " And that which should accompany old age. As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends." With what emotions must he have revisited tliat sacred pile, the last object where perchance he fondly lingered, when he went forth a wanderer 1 Too soon it was to become his mausoleum! tiie shrine of adoring votaries, through distant ages ; who, led thither by the divine spirit of his muse, account it no idolatry to bow before the dust of Shakespeare. What but a mind highly cultivated and intelligent can illustrate his glorious conceptions ? whether in his deepest sorrow or his broadest mirth ; in madness laughing wild — when the griefs of Lear, and tlie philosophy of Hamlet dignify the scene ; when we dance to the inspiring catches of Sir Toby and the Clown, and merrily " hend the stile" with the laugliing Autolicus. Something then belongs to the " poor player," whose magic art calls them forth frotn the seclusion of the closet ; and with voice, feature, and action, exhibits to assembled thousands a living picture of human character, in all its eccentric varieties. An art, that is associated with the choicest recollections of antiquity ; that, to the scholar proves a model of commanding eloquence and classic grace ; that to the painter presents objects of matchless dignity and expression — that to those who would be instructed, offers the noblest lessons for intellectual improvement, while those, whose onlj' ambition is to be amused, may have their desire gratified, without any sacrifice either of sense or virtue. Garrick was born to illustrate what Shakespeare wrote ; — to him Nature had unlocked all her springs, and opened all her stores ; and no passion was too elevated or profound, too sordid or ridiculous, for his genius to pourtray. We behold him writing, or speaking a prologue ; enacting Richard ; studying Macbeth; and in each, and all, we discover the same variety of expression, assuming by rapid transitions the diflferent characters of the scene, and his far-beaming eye filling up every pause in word and action. We want indeed but his ever-varying cadences and tones, to complete the illusion, and bring us back to the period when the terrors of Macbeth, and the absurdities of Abel Drugger shook the nerves, and cracked the sides of our grandfathers. David Garrick was born at Hereford in the year 1716. He received the first rudiments of his edu- cation at the Free School in Lichfield, where his father, who was of the military profession, had settled with a numerous family. While a boy, he was much noticed by Gilbert AValmsley, registrar of the ecclesiastical court of that city ; wlio was highly diverted with the vivacity, humour, and lively sallies of his young friend. His extraordinary predilection for theatrical amusements discovered itself at an early age. His first stage attempt was in 1727, upon which occasion he got up " The Recruiting Officer ;" one of his sisters playing the part of the Chambermaid, and himself Serjeant Kite. Not long after, he was invited to Lisbon by an uncle, who was a considerable wine merchant in that city ; but though his stay was short, for he returned to Lichfield the year following, he contrived to render his company extremely agreeable to the resident merchants by his frankness of disposition, and the ready display of his precocious talents. In the beginning of the year 17.36, Dr. Samuel Johnson, then an obscure individual, undertook the instruction of some young gentlemen of Lichfield in the Belles Lettres. David Garrick became hia scholar— and hence arose that intimate connexion between those illustrious men— a connexion that ANTIQUITIES. continued through a long series of years unimpaired till the death of the latter. The fame of the actor " swells the loud trump of universal praise" — that of the moralist shall descend to the latest posterity. If to Garrick, in his professional capacity, belong the eloquent eulogium passed on Shake- speare by the author of " Niglit Thoughts" — that " he was master of two books, which the last conflagration alone can destroy — the book of nature and that of man :" to Johnson, the great exemplar of religion and motels, — the sage, the philosopher, and the poet, — we may justly apply that beautiful apostrophe to Hope, by a modern writer — " When wrapt in fire the realms of ether glow, And heaven's last thunder shakes tlie world below; Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile, And ligiit lliy torch at Nature's funeral pile." David relates, that after a trial of six months, Johnson grew tired of teaching the classics to three or four scholars ; and he and Garrick agreed to try their fortunes in the great metropolis. The circumstances that led Garrick to abandon the Law for the Stage it is unnecessary to repeat. His first public appearance before an audience was in the summer of 1741, at Ipswich, in the character oi Ahoan, in OrooHoAo, under the assumed name of Lyddal. He afterwards played Chamont, Captain Brazen, Sir Harry IVildair, and even Harlequin, on the same stage — all of which he acted with applause. On the 19th of October, 1741, he made his entree on the boards of the Theatre in Goodman's Fields, in the arduous character oi Richard the Third. There is not, on dramatic record, a success so instantaneous, brilliant, and complete. Colley Gibber was constrained to yield unwilling praise ; and Quin, the pupil of Betterton and Booth, openly declared, "That if the younq fellow was right, he, and the rest of the players, had been all wrong." The unaffected and familiar style of Garrick presented a singular contrast to the stately air, the solemn march, the monotonous and measured declamation of his predecessors. To the lofty grandeur of Tragedy, he was unequal; but its pathos, truth, and tenderness, were all his own. In Comedy, he might be said to act too much ; he played no less to the eye than the ear — he indeed acted every word, Macklin blames him for greediness of praise; for his ambition to engross all attention to himself, and disconcerting his brother actors by "pawing and pulling them about." This censure is levelled at his later efforts, when he adopted the vice of stage-trick ; but nothing could exceed the ease and gaiety of his early performances. His extraordinary success alarmed the managers of Drury Lane and Covent Garden : they threatened !Mr. Giffard and Mr. Garrick with a law suit ; a compromise was effected between the contending parties, and Garrick entered into an engagement with Fleetwood, the patentee of Drury Lane, for the annual income of five hundred pounds. From a revolution that took place in the Drury Lane company, the year 1747 beheld Garrick, Quin, Jlrs. Gibber, and Mrs. Pritchard at Covent Garden. Tliis constellation of genius produced to the pro- prietor, Mr. Rich, in one season, a clear profit of eight thousand five hundred pounds. But Harleqtdn L,un was so wedded to his pantomimes and raree-shows, that he even grudged to put money into his pocket at the expense of his favourite entertainments. At this juncture, Mr. Lacy, proprietor of Drury Lane, fully appreciating the value of Garrick, offered him a moiety of his patent: the purchase-money ■was fixed at the moderate sum of eight thousand pounds : and on the 20th of September, 1747, Garrick opened the theatre of Drury Lane, with a prologue, the noblest but one in the language, written by his friend Samuel Johnson. On these boards a brilliant career of thirty seasons awaited him ; during which, his range of characters, tragic and comic, was unexampled. He was tlie delight of every eye, the theme of every tongue, the admiration and wonder of foreign nations ; for when (as has been hinted), to renew his popularity, he took a journey for two years to the continent, all who witnessed his transcendent talents declared that he ANTIQUITIES. carried the histrionic art to a higher degree of perfection than they had ever beheld or contemplated; and naro7i, Le Kain, and Clairon, the ornaments of the French Stage, bowed to the superior genius of their illustrious friend and contemporary. In private life be was hospitable and splendid : he entertained princes and peers— all that were eminent in art and science. If his wit set tlie table in a roar, his urbanity and good-breeding forbade any tiling like offence. Dr. Johnson, who would suffer no one to abuse Davy but himself, bears ample testimony to the peculiar charm of his manners ; and, wliat is infinitely better, to his liberality, pity, and melting charity. By him was the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund for decayed actors founded, endowed, and incorporated. He cherished its infancy by his muni- ficence and zeal ; he strengthened its raaturer growth by appropriating to it a yearly benefit, on wliich he acted himself; and his last will proves that its prosperity lay near his heart, when contemplating his final exit from the scene of life. In the bright sun of his reputation there were, doubtless, spots : transient feelings of jealousy at merit that interfered with his own ; arts, that it might be almost necessary to practise in his daily commerce with dull importunate playwrights, and in the government of that most discordant of all bodies, a company of actors. His grand mistakes were his rejection of Douglas and The Good Natured Man; and his patronage of the Staij-maker, and the school of sentiment. As an author, he is entitled to favourable mention: his dramas abound in wit and character; his prologues and epilogues display endless variety and whim ; and his epigrams, for which he had a peculiar turn, are pointed and bitter. Some things he wrote that do not add to his fame ; and among them are The Frihbleriad, and the Sick Monkey. One of the most favourite amusements of his leisure was in collecting every thing rare and curious that related to the early drama ; hence his matchless collection of old Plays, which, with Roubilliac's statue of Shakespeare, he bequeathed to the British Museum: a noble gift I worthy of himself and of his country ! The reward of his professional labours exceeded one hundred thousand pounds ; and in the bequest of this large fortune he was guided by feelings of liberality and justice. The lOth of June, 1776, was marked by Mr. Garrick's retirement from the stage. With his powers unimpaired, he wisely resolved {theatrically speaking) to die as he had lived, with all his glory and with all his fame. He might have, indeed, been influenced by a more solemn feeling — " Higher duties crave Some space between the theatre and grave That, like tlie Roman in the Capitol, 1 may adjust my mantle, ere I fall." The part he selected upon this memorable occasion was Don Felix, in the Wonder. We could have wished that, like Kemhle, he had retired with Shakespeare upon his lips; that the glories of the Immortal liad hallowed his closing scene. His address was simple and appropriate — he felt that he was no longer enactor; and when he spoke of the kindness and favours that he had received, his voice faltered, and he burst into a flood of tears. The most profound silence, the most intense anxiety prevailed, to catch every word, look, and action, knowing they were to be his last ; and the public parted from their idol with tears for his love, joy for his fortune, admiration for his vast and unconfined powers, and regret that that night had closed upon them for ever. Mr. Garrick had long been afflicted with a painful disorder. In the Christmas of 1778, being on a visit with Mrs. Garrick at the country seat of Earl Spencer, he had a recurrence of it, which, after his return to London, increased with such violence, that Dr. Cadogan, conceiving him to be in imminent danger, advised hira if he had any worldly affairs to settle, to lose no time in dispatching them. Mr. Garrick replied, <'that nothing of that sort lay on his mind, and that he was not afraid to die." And why should he fear ? His authority had ever been directed to the reformation, the good order, and propriety of the Stage ; his example had incontestibly proved that the profession of ANTIQUITIES. a player is not incompatible with the exercise of every Christian and moral duty, and his well-earned riches had been rendered the mean of extensive public and private benevolence. He therefore beheld the approach of deatli, not with tliat reckless indiU'erence which some men call pkilosoplnj, but with resio-nation and hope. He died on Wednesday, January 20ih, 1779, in the sixty-second year of his age. " Sare his last end was peace, how calm his exit! Night dews fall not more gently to the ground. Nor weary worn-out winds expire so soft." On Monday, February 1st, his body was interred with great funeral pomp in Westminster Abbey, under the monument of the divine Shakspeare. On the Gth of December, 176S, Mr. Francis Wheler, the Steward of Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote to Mr. Garrick the following letter. "Sir, " The old Town Hall of Stratford-on-Avon, where you very well know Shakespeare was born and lies buried, hath this present year been rebuilt by the Corporation, assisted by a liberal contribution of the nobility and gentry of the neighbour- hood. The lower part of the building is used as a market-place, and is of great benefit to the poorer sort of people. Over this is a handsome assembly room. It would be a reflection on the town of Stratford to have any public building erected there, without some ornamental memorial of their immortal townsman ; and the corporation would be happy in receiving from your hands some Statue, Bust, or Picture of him to be placed within this building. They would be equally pleased to have some picture of your- self, that the memory of both may be perpetuated together in that place which gave him birth, and where he still lives in the mind of every inhabitant. " The Corporation of Stratford, ever desirous of expressing their gratitude to all who do honour and justice to the memory of Shakespeare, and highly sensible that no person in any age hath excelled you therein, would think themselves much honoured if you would become one of their body. Tliough this borough doth not now send members to Parliament, perhaps the inhabitants may not be the less virtuous; and to render the freedom of such a place the more acceptable to you, the Corporation propose to send it in a box made of that very Mulberry Tree planted by Shakespeare's own hand. The story of that valuable relic is too long to be here inserted; but Mr. Keah, who is so obliging as to convey this to you, will acquaint you therewith, and the writer hereof flatters himself it will afford you some entertainment, and at the same time convince you that the inhabitants of Stratford are worthy of your notice. " Brkk Court, Inner Temple, " I am, December 6, I7G8. " Your obedient humble servant, " Francis Wheler." This letter is thus indorsed by Mr. Garrick : " The Steward of Stratford's Letter to me, which pro- duced the Jubilee." On the 3rd of May, 1769, the freedom of Stratford-upon-Avon was presented to Mr. Garrick, by the Mayor, Alderman, and Burgesses, enclosed in the far-fliraed Cassolette, or Casket, made from the veri- table Mulberry Tree planted by Shakespeare. This precious relic is beautifully carved with the foUowingdevices : — in the front, Fame holding the bust of Shakspeare, and the three Grace? crowning him with laurel ; the back, Garrick, exquisitely delineated, in the character of King Lear, in the storm scene ; the sides, emblematical figures representing Tragedy and Comedy ; the top and corners, with devices of Shakespeare's works. The four feet are silver griffins, with garnet eyes. The carver of the Casket was T. Davies, a celebrated artist of Birmingham ; the price for carving it, paid by the Corpo- ration, was fifty-five pounds. It was purchased by Mr. Mathews, the eminent Comedian, at Mrs. Garrick's sale. On the '22nd of Augustl835, it was again brought to the hammer, when Mr. Mathews's library and curiosities were sold. Amidst a cloud of bidders, anxious to secure so matchless a gem, it was knocked down to Mr. George Daniel, of Islington, its present possessor, at forty-seven guineas. ANTIQUITIES. On receiving the Freedom, thus appropriately inclosed, Mr. Garrick sent the following reply :— "To the Itayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Town of Stratford-upon-Avon. London, Southampton Street, "Gentlemen, May S, 1169. " I cannot sufficiently express my acknowledgments for the honour you have done me in electing me a Burgess of Stratford-upon-Avon ; a town which will be ever distinguished and reverenced as the birth-place of Shakespeare. " There arc many circumstances which have greatly added to the obligation you have conferred upon me. The freedom of your town given to me unanimously, sent to me in such an elegant and inestimable Box, and delivered to mo in so flattering a manner, merit my warmest gratitude. It will be impossible for me ever to forget those who have honoured me so much as to mention my unworthy name with that of their immortal townsman. " I am, Gentlemen, Your most obliged, and obedient humble Servant, "David Garrick." Such was the happy Prologue to the " swelling scene," that opened to the lovers of Shakespeare, in the autumn of 1769. During the previous summer, great preparations had been made for the approaching festival : a large and magnificent octagonal amphitheatre was erected on the Bankcroft, close to the River Avon, capable of holding more than one tliousand spectators, and an orchestra for the accommo- dation of one hundred performers. Upon the margin of the Avon were ranged thirty cannon, to be fired during the jubilee, and fireworks and variegated lamps were exhibited in endless variety. A medal in gold, silver, and copper, was struck to commemorate the event, with a finely-engraved head of Shake- speare, and the words, " We shall not look upon his like again," on the one side ; and on the reverse, "Jubilee at Stratford in honour and to the memory of Shakespeare, September, 1709. D. G. Steward." Five o'clock on Wednesday morning, the 6th of September, 1769, witnessed the opening ceremonies of Shakespeare's Jubilee. Cannons were fired ; the ladies were serenaded under their windows by young men fantastically dressed, singing Garrick's " Warwickshire Lad," &c. &c. accompanied by flutes, hautboys, clarionets and guitars. At 8 o'clock the corporation assembled, a public breakfast was held at the Town or Shakespeare's Hall, where Garrick, with his Shakespearian medal and wand, presented to him by the corporation, received the numerous company of nobles and gentry. From the Hall they proceeded in regular order to the Church, where the Oratorio of Judith, composed by Dr. Arne, was finely performea m a temporary orchestra erected under the organ ; and such was the thrilling effect of the solemn sounds reverberating along the high arched roof of the venerable pile itself, — the mausoleum of Shakespeare ! that it produced a simultaneous and involuntary tremble among the audience, which only found relief in expressive silence and tears. A sumptuous banquet followed this intellectual treat, during which were sung a variety of songs, catches, and glees, adapted to the occasion. In the evening, the whole town was splendidly illuminated, a grand ball succeeded, and thus ended the first day's entertainments. Cannonading, serenading, and merry peals, welcomed the following morn. After a public breakfast, the company repaired to the amphitheatre, where the Dedication Ode was performed. In the centre of the orchestra sat Garrick, in a full-dress suit of brown, embroidered with ricli gold lace; and in a similar dress stood Dr. Arne, by whom the music was composed, as conductor of the band. High and aloft rose the majestic statue of Shakespeare, the Genius of the Scene! Garrick recited his portion of the Ode with all the fascination and witchery of his enchanting elocu- tion ; and the vocal parts were admirably sustained by the prime melodists of the day. Tlie air, " Thou Boft-flowing Avon," written with such tenderness and truth, gave especial delight, and afterwards became a great favourite with the public. A prose address succeeded, in which Garrick challenged the detractors of the Bard to state their objections. On this, rose the comedian, Mr. King, who appeared among the company in a great coat, and desired to be heard. Those who comprehended the joke ANTIQUITIES. naturally expected sometLing -whimsical, while the ignoramusses were not a little astonished at the hardihood of such an unseasonable attack on their great dramatic poet. Mr. King went round to the orchestra, and, having taken off his great coat, appeared in a suit of bliie, ornamented with silver frogs Cthe fashionable dress of the day), and commenced a pleasant attack on Shakspeare, styling hira a domineerino- ill-bred fellow, for exercising such absolute sway over the passions, and making people lau"-]! and cry at his will. The smartness and wit of this encomiastic reproof, and the peculiar piquancy with which it was delivered, caused infinite mirth ; when Mr. Garrick, turning to the ladies, eloquently exhorted them, in a poetical epilogue, to vindicate the character of Shakspeare, in gratitude for those lovely portraits of female virtue, that give such sweetness and dignity to his works. A banquet succeeded as before, and the illuminations were repeated with equal brilliancy. In the centre window of the Hall was a transparent whole-length of Shakspeare ; on the right of which were Lear, pronouncing his withering curse, and Caliban, drinking from Trinculo's keg ; and on the left, stood Jack Falstaif and his "tame-cheating" ancient, Pistol. The humble birth-place of the Bard was adorned with an emblematical transparency, in which the sun was seen struggling through the thick clouds, to pour its resplendent flood of light upon the world ; an apt emblem of the majestic abundance of the stores of his inexhaustible mind ! A masquerade concluded the second day's carnival, in which nobles and high-born dames personated the characters of Shakspeare. Yates and his wife figured away as a wago-oner and a petit-mmtre ; and Boswell appeared in a Corsican habit, with pistols in his belt, a musket at his back, and in the front of his cap were inscribed, in gold letters, "Paoli," and " Viva la Liberia !" The unfavourable weather sadly marred the projected pageant of Shakspeare's principal characters. The race for the jubilee cup, value fifty guineas, was run with great spirit at Shottery race-ground, a beautiful meadow, where the silver stream of the "soft-flowing Avon," the verdant lawns, and the rising hills and woods, gave enchantment to the scene. In the evenino- there was a brilliant attendance at Shakspeare's Hall. Mrs. Garrick danced a minuet with her wonted grace ; and at four o'clock on the following morn, amidst the mutual gratulations of all parties, this memorable jubilee concluded. Garrick soon after produced a representation of it at Drury Lane; and innumerable shafts of wit were pointed against the manager. Foremost among the satirical laughers was the facetious Sam Foote, who imputed the original jubilee to Garrick's vanity, and its "picture in little" to his avarice. But let those laugh that win : Davy (" futile fellow !") earned abundance of fame and money by both exhibi- tions, and at the same time paid a heart-felt tribute of admiration and gratitude to the sublimest of human intelligences. \ N^ ^a4f e^irm /!m^ \ ,1 {^/ut^tAtf tA^a^a'^^t' - ~ - i UVt4/l^£;^^t^. c FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCEIPTS AND HISTOEICAL DOCUMENTS. ItLUMixATnD Initial Letter and Commencement of St. Paul's Epistle addressed to the Romans : from a Fragment of a French-Saxon Bible of the Ninth Centuht, executed for Charles LF Chauve, King of France, preserved with the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. Tlie very rich and ancient relique of literature represented on the annexed Plate, is executed in that remarkable style of ornament, which appears to have been common to all those varieties of Saxon illu- mination prevailing in England, Ireland, France, and even in Italy and Germany, between the eighth and the twelfth centuries. Initial letters were then most elaborately decorated, with tessellations or mosaics of rich colours and gilding; and the characters themselves were often formed of twisted or platted lines, or animals wreathed into knots and fret-work of singular intricacy and elegance." The principal words of the coniinencenient, also, were traced in golden or painted capitals; the letters being still farther embellished by a series of red points placed round their edges, a feature which may be also observed in some parts of the ])resent example. The interesting and splendid specimen here exhibited, has been selected from a number of fragments of the Vulgate Latin Version of the Apostolical Epistles, ■written on leaves of vellum in large capitals, containing several golden letters, preserved in the volume marked No. 7751, article 2, of the Harleian MSS, in the British Museum. The book to which these leaves originally belonged, has been discovered by Sir Frederick Madden, one of the Keepers of the MSS. in the British Museum, to have been a Bible of Charles le Chauve, King of France, formerly belonging to the Abbaye of St. Denis, and transferred to the Bibliotheque du Roi in 1595 ; the date of which book is placed, by the same authority, between A.D. 8G5 and A.D. 87G, though stated by Humphrey "Wanley, in his Catalogue of the Harleian MSS., to be of the tenth century only. The » The peculiar character of tliia stjie of illuminating, is very happily anil forcibly described by Giraldus Cambrcnsis, in the twelfth century, in his account of a raanuscript volume which he saw at Kildare, supposed to have been the productiou of an angel in the sixth century ; of which passage the following is a tninslation. "This book contains the concordant testimony of the four Evangelists, as it is given by Jerome ; and nearly all the pages therein are most richly adorned with as many diverse figures painted in various colours. In this place may be seen impressed the featrires of the Divine Majesty; in that the myste- rious spiritual forms of the Evangelists, sometimes having six wings, sometinus fuur, and sometimes only two ; here appearing as an eagle, there as a calf; now with tlie face of a man, and elsewhere as a lion ; with almost an infinity of other figures. All these are so softly traced, and yet in so much less laboured a manner than is commonly to be seen, that they seem to be only touches rather than connected lines. Yet none who sees this book will dwell entirely on the exquisite art shewn therein, because there is nothing else but exijuisite art to be seen. The whole, therefore, invites a close inspection of the most curious sight, and jjenetrates into the most inward arcana of pictorial skill ; the ornaments being as well delicate as cunning, bold and open as well as minute and close ; linked together with twisting knots and lines, and so brightly illuminated with rich and vivid colours, that, even to this day, all the iutricacies of the devices may be traced. Truly, then, all this work seems to have been wrought rather by angelical than by human diligence." Topngra/ihia Hibernia:, live de Mirabilibut Hibemite; Authore Sylvestro Giraldo Cambrense : lib. ii. cap. 3S. apud Anglica, Normanlca, Hibernica, Cambrica, a Veterihus scripta, pleriqite nunc plurimum in liiccm editi, ex Bibimtheca auUelmi Camdcni. Edit. Francofurti, 1603, Folio, p. 730. I'erhaps the finest illuminated manu- script of nearly the age and character here described, is that known by the name of The Durham Booh, or St. Cuthbcrfs Gospels; which was probably written between A.D. 098, and A.D. 721, by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarn, in honour of St. Cutlibert. It is now preserved in the Cuttonian Library of MSS. and is marked Nero D. it. e FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS, leaves to which this specimen belongs are now numbered in a recent French hand from 40S to 420, and formed a part of the spoils carried away from the Royal Library of France, " and from other places, bv M. John Aymon, a Protestant Divine, when he escaped to Holland upon the pretence of religious ])ersecution early in the eighteenth century. His depredations were even then, however, generally believed ; and he was in particular known to have cut out from the Bible of Charles le Chauve the Apocalypse, with the seven Canonical Epistles, and that addressed to the Romans ; the commencement of which latter book is represented on the annexed Plate. Almost the whole of these manuscripts were bought by Lord Harley ; who appears to have been desirous of procuring for his collection even imperfect specimens of ancient and curious books and illuminations. i) Such is the history of this fine fragment of literature and art, as related by ^ir Frederick Madden.c That portion of the manuscript here copied, exhibits the first few words of the Epistle only ; smce it was a frequent practice with the scribes and illuminators of tlie period, to decorate and display a part of the opening sentence and title of a book, so as entirely to fill up the commencing page, the initial letter extending the whole depth of it at the side. The two upper lines in the present specimen contain the title, " iNC«p«T EP/sTOLA AD uoMaNOS," Written in purely Roman capitals of gold, without any spaces between the words, and contracted by the omission of the letters here inserted in small italics. Then follows the initial P, succeeded by the letters A V interlaced, in more of a Longobardic character, the latter havinn- the heads of eagles and hounds at the extremities, forming with the ne.\t line, again in continued Roman capitals of gold, the beginning of the Epistle, Paulus servus. The fifth line is placed on that remarkable kind of back-ground, which forms a sort of pavement of lines drawn in various direc- tions ; the capitals thereon being of the sort called French-Saxon, or Mixed-Saxon, united together with o-reat intricacy. The first three represent I H V ; the next character is a monogram of the name of Christ, composed of the Greek letters x, p, ' interlaced; and the last capitals are a u enclosing an o, and c and a. In connection with the concluding line they express, by supplying the letters here inserted in small italics, mesv cnnisti uocatvs apo«tolvs. The whole of the words, therefore, contained upon this Plate, nre " Incipit Epistola ad Romanos. Paulus, servus JesuChristi, vocatus Apostolus." ii The Manuscripts numbered 1850, 1851, 1852, in tlie Harleian Library, are described in tiie Preface to the Catalogue as "Three remarkable volumes, being the original Registers of the Roman Chancery fecretly brought from thence on the death of Pope Innocent XII. (September 27th, 1700), by Mons. Ayraone, who was Apostolic Prothonotary of that Court.'' A very cirious account of " MSS. possessed by M. John Aymon," drawn up by Sir Frederick Madden, was published in The Gentle- man's Magazine for January, 1832, volume CIl, part i, pajjes 30—32. The fragments of the French Vulgate Bible are not the only instances of manuscripts belonging to the Royal Library of France, being partly preserved in the Harleian collection, since the splendid books numbered 4379, 4380, are described in the Preface to the Catalogue as copies " of the fourth and last part of Froissart's Chronicles, in two folio volumes, finely written and illuminated, the other volumes of which are in the Royal Library of France." b The following instances of the Earl of Oxford's desire to procure literary fragments, occur in the very curious letter of instruc- tions addressed by Wanley to Mr. Andrew Hay, on his departure to France and Italy, dated April 2Gth, 1720, inserted in a note to the Preface of the Catalogue of the Harleian MSS. " In Paris Father Bernard Montfaucon has some Coptic, Syriac, and other MSS. worth the buying. Among them is an old leaf of the Greek Septuagint. Buy these, and the leaden book he gave to Cardinal Bouillon, if he can procure it for you or direct you to it." " Remember to get the fragments of Greek MSS. you left with the bookseller who bought Mafifeo's Library." " At Milan, in the Ambrosian Library, is a very ancient Catullus ; part of Josephus, in Latin, written upon bark ; a Samaritan Pentateuch in octavo ; part of the Syriac Bible, in the ancient, or Estran- gele, characters ; divers Greek manuscripts, being parts of the Bible, with other books of great antiquity. You may look upon them and send me some account." c The preceding particulars have been entirely derived from Sir Frederick Madden'e two very elaborate and interesting papers connected with illuminated manuscripts, printed in The Gcntleynan's Magazine ; one of wliicli has been already referred to, and the other consists of a descriptive list of Manuscript Bibles, which claim to be of the same age as that of Alchuinc in the British Museum. Ibid. December 183G, vol. vi. New Series, page 458. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Illuminated Paintings of the Sacred Vessels and Furniture of the Tabernacle op Israel. From a Spanish Hebrew Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, preserved with the H arleian Manu- scripts in the British Museum, No. 1528. The splendid and interesting illuminations which form the subject of these Engravings, now first introduced to the public, are contained in a large volume of the Old Testament Scriptures, written on vellum in Hebrew. From the peculiar style of art exhibited in the paintings, and from the richness of the embossed gold, the manuscript may be safely referred to the fifteenth century, whilst the small and cursive character of the writing is indicative of the Jews in Spain : the book was therefore most pro- bably executed before the year 1492, when the Jews were banished from Spain ; or, perhaps, even pre- viously to 1483, when the ofiice of the Inquisition was first established in that nation. The Catalogue of the Harleian MSS. compiled by Humphrey Wanley, describes in Latin the volume in which tirese paintings are contained as " a vellum book in a rather large folio, and written in a Spanish hand in Hebrew, many hundreds of years since ; in which may clearly be read Sepher Berith Juh, the Book of the Lord's Covenant, or the Bible : it contains the whole of the books of the Old Testament, with certain others." The paintings which are here copied, occur near the commencement of the volume, imme- diately after a syllabus of the Parashoth and Haphtaroth, or sections of Scripture accordin"- to the Sab- batical lessons of the Jews, which ought to be read every year; and the illuminations are entitled in the Catalogue " Pictures of the sacred vessels and utensils, splendidly delineated by a Jewish illumina- tor." This description, however, does not express either the actual subject or value of these verv im- portant paintings; since they are in reality perhaps the only figures of the Furniture and Ve.-sels of the Tabernacle constructed by the direction of Moses, which accurately agree with the Scripture account and the traditions of the Jews themselves. Engravings on wood of the Tabernacle and the Temple, with figures of the most remarkable articles placed in them, appear to have been first introduced into the English version of the Scriptures in Williara Tyndal's translation, printed in Germany in 1530 ; and the more recent representations of them have been derived chiefly from Doni Augustine Calmet's Dictionnaire de la Bible, first published in 1722. In both instances, however, the furniture and vessels represented partake considerably of the character of the time and nation in which the drawings were made, and are often quite inconsistent with the age of either Moses or Solomon, as well as with the established tradition of the Jews. It has been supposed that really accurate and contemporaneous figures of the Table of Sliew-bread, the Seven-branched Candlestick, and the silver Trumpets, as shewn in the Second Temple, are to be found in the sculptures on the Arch of Titus which exhibit his triumph over Jerusalem ; but even these have failed in explaining the text in connection with the received notions of the Jews. A\'lietlier those descriptions may be entirely elucidated by the present Plates is certainly doubtful ; but the value and curiosity of these interesting reliques of Hebrew antiquities, will perhaps be allowed by all who may pursue the ensuing illustrative remarks. It may be regarded as one of the most remarkable features of these illuminations, that they form the highest testimony of praise to the distinctness and accuracy of the authorised English Translation of that part of the Pentateuch to which they refer, though they were probably executed nearly a century and a half before it. Plate I. In accordance with the well-known principle of Hebrew writing proceeTi?n rraro (G>^(Q^ p:xra ^i^v£yp)i°j &C^ jn»p jnimp i|£Jx..4r\v:7>o|£|i' KlliaiT2/13>^<^ iisi/'^iKS^iairis (51iia> (caSnl^rri-w) > w r -n>p3D jn^pac JlfyfUr/JXyi fdw fiS. a ^A^^ ^ ]j\>m^, ^4*^^^ f^f— 71 72 Jf^jtaryJdVI Folio HO. «• VIEWS. First Fair on the River Thames. From an Original Sketch by Thomas Wyck, taken February 4th, 1684, preserved in the Illustrated Pennant's London, formerly belonging to J. C. Crowie, Esq. in the Print-Room of the British Museum. — A Fac-Simile of a Specimen of Printing executed ON THE Ice at the same Fair for King Charles the Second. The very memorable Frost represented in the annexed view, commenced in the December of tho year 1683, and by the 23rd of that month tiie Thames was frozen, but it is probable that the Fair erected on the River did not begin until January 1st, 1G84, when Evelyn records in his Diary, that, " the weather continuing intolerably severe, streetes of boothes were set upon the Thames, and tiie aire was so very cold and thicke, as of many yeares before there had not been the like." On the 6th he observes, that the ice had " now become so thick as to beare not onely streetes of boothes in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops of wares quite acrosse as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses, passed over." At this time there was a foot-passage quite over the river, from Lambeth-siairs to the horse-ferry at Westminster ; and hackney-coaches began to carry fares from Somerset-house and the Temple to Southwark. On January 23] d, the first day of Hilary Term, they were regularly employed in going on the ice between the Temple-stairs and Westminster Hall, at each of which places ihty stood for hire, where the watermen were accustomed to be found. In this arrangement, the means of conveyance only, and not the ordinary way, was altered ; since the use of boats to Westminster was almost universal at the period, as the rough paving of the streets rendered riding through them in coaches very uneasy. By the 16th the number of persons keeping shops on the ice had so greatly increased, that Evelyn says, " the Thames was fill'd with people and tents selling all sorts of wares as in the Citty ;" and by the 24th the variety and festivities of a fair appear to have been completely established. "The frost," he states, "continuing more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planted with boothes in formal streetes, all sorts of trades, and shops furnish'd and full of commodities, even to a printing- j)resse, where the people and ladys tooke a fancy to have their names printed, and the day and ycare set down when printed on the Thames ; this humour tooke so universally, that 'twas estimated the printer gained £5 a day for printing a line onely at sixpence a name, beside what he got by ballads, etc.* Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires, to and fro, as in the streetes; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet-plays and interludes, cookes, tippling, and other lewd plaies ; so that it seem'd to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water." This traffic and festivity were continued until February 5th, when the same authority states, that " it began to thaw, but froie again. My coach crossed from Lambeth to the horse-ferry at Millbank, Westminster. The booths were almost all taken downe ; but there was first a map or lan^ • In a poem commemorative of this frost, published at the time, there occurs the following passage relating to these Trintcrs ; the concluding four lines of which have been used in some of the verses produced at every Frost-fair, from that in 1G84 down to *.lie last in 1$14. " to the Print-House go, Where men the Art of Printing soon do know: Where, for a Teaster, you may have your name Printed, hereafter for to shew the same ; And sure, in former ages, ne'er was found A Press to Print where men so oft were drown'd !" ITiamesia'a Advice to the Painter, from her Frigid Zone : or \Vonder3 on the Water. London : Printed hy G. Croom on the Miver of Thames. Small folio half sheet, 74 lines. PART VII. d VIEWS. skip cut ill copper, representing all the manner of the camp, and the several actions, sports, ar.J pastimes thereon ; in memory of so signal a frost." The very curious Original Drawing of this Fair, engraven on a reduced scale on the annexed Plate, represents the Thames, looking from the -vrestern side of the Temple-stairs, appearing on the left, towards London Bridge, which is faintly shewn in the centre at the back with all the various buildings standing upon it. The time when the view was taken, was the day previous to the first thaw, as the original is dated in a contemporaneous hand at the top in the right hand corner, " Munday, February the 4th, 1683-4." The drawing consists of a spirited though unfinished sketch, on stout and coarse paper in pencil, slightly shaded with Indian-ink ; which was the well-known style of an artist of the seventeenth century, peculiarly eminent for his views, namely, Thomas Wyck, — usually called Old Wyck, to distinguish him from his son John — who sjjent the greater part of his life in England. This sketch is preserved in the Illustrated Pennant's London, formerly belonging to John Charles Crowle, Esq. in the Print Room of the British Museum, Volume VIII., after page 262, and measures 28 inches by 9|. On the right of the view is an oblique prospect of the double line of tents which extended across the centre of the river, called at the time Temple Street, consisting of taverns, toy-shops, etc. which were generally distinguished by some title or sign ; as the Duke tf York's Coffeehouse, the Tory -booth, "the booth with a phenix on it, and insured to last as long as the foundation stands," the Half-way house, the Bear-Gardenshire booth, the Roast-beef booth, the Music booth, the Printing booth, the Lottery booth, and the Horn Tavern booth, which is indicated about the centre of the view by the antlers of a stag raised above it. On the outsidcs of this street were pursued the various sports of the fair, some of which are also shewn in the annexed Plate; but in the nearer and larger figures introduced in the pictorial map mentioned by Evelyn, there appear extensive circles of spectators surrounding a bull-baiting, and the rapid revolution of a whirling-chair or car, drawn by several men by a long rope fastened to a stake fixed in the ice. Large boats covered with tilts, capable of containing a considerable number of passengers, and decorated with flags and streamers, are represented as being used for sledges, some of them being drawn by horses, and others by watermen in want of their usual employment. Another sort of boat was mounted on w heels, and one vessel called " the Drum-boat," was distinguished by a drummer placed at the prow. The pastimes of throwing at a cock, sliding and skating, roasting an ox, foot-ball, skittles, pigeon-holes, cups and balls, etc. are represented in the large print as being carried on in various parts of the river ; whiLst a sliding-hutch propelled by a stick, a chariot moved by a screw, and stately coaches filled with visitors, appear to be ra])idly moving in various directions ; and sledges with coals and wood are passing between the London and Southwark shores. The gardens of the Temple and the river itself are both filled in the large Plate with numerous spectators, as they are also shewn in the present view ; but, in addition to its originality, the Drawing now engraven is perhaps more pictorially interesting than the Print, from the prospect being considerably more spacious and carefully executed ; as it exhibits the whole line of the Bankside to St. Saviour's Church, with the Tower, the Monument, finished in 1677, the Windmill near Queenhythe, the new Bow Church, and some others of the new Churches, the vacant site and ruins of Bridewell Palace, and Ohl London Bridge. Beneath the present copy of this interesting Drawing is introduced another equally curious relique of the same Frost-Fair, from the collection of Henry Hyde second Earl of Clarendon, and now in the possession of Mr. William Upcott, by whose kind permission the annexed Fac-Simile is now published for the first time. It consists of an impression of the specimen of Printing on the Ice, executed for King Charles the Second and the Royal Family who visited the Fair with him. The names upon tlie paper are Charles, King : — James, Duke (of York, his brother, subsequently King James II.)— VIEWS. Kathehine, Qteen (Catharine, Infanta of Portugal, Queen of Charles II.) — Mary, Ditchess (Mary D'Este, sister of Francis, Duke of Modena, the second Duchess of James) — Ann, Princess (the second daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards Queen Anne)— George, Prince (the Princess's liusband, George of Denmark.) The concluding name, Hans in Kelder, was no doubt dictated by the humour of the King: it literally signifies Jack in the cellar, and alludes to the pregnant situation of the Princess Anne. It is not improbable tliat King Charles visited Frost-Fair more than once; since a contemporaneous notice of it contained in a Diary cited in The Gentleman's Matjazine for February 1814, Vol. Ixxxiv. Part 1. Page 142, Note, states that on February 2nd an ox was roasted whole over against Whitehall, and that the King and Queen ate a part of it. He appears to have taken much pleasure in viewing the lively scene from his palace, since in the poem also printed upon the ice, entitled "Thamesis's Advice to the Painter," there occur the following lines. " Tlieu draw the King, who on his leads doth stray To view the throng as on a Lord Mayor's day. And thus unto his nobles i)leased to say : With these uieii on this Ice I'de undertake To cause the Turk all Europe to forsake ; An army of these men arni'd and complete Would soon the Turk in Christendom defeat." The Print of Frost- Fair, referred to in the Diary of Evelyn, is entitled " An exact and lively JTapp or Representation of Soothes and all the varieties of Showes and Humours upon the Ice on the River of Thames hy London, during that memorable Frost in the Soth Yeare of the Reigne of His Sacred Majesty King Charles the 2>id. Anno Dili, M.D CLXXXIII. With a?i A Iphaletical Explanation of the most remarhabltfgures." It consists of a whole-sheet copper-plate, the prospect being represented horizontally from the Temple-stairs and Bankside to London Bridge. In an oval cartouche at the top of the view, within the frame of the print, appears the title ; and on the outside, below, are the alphabetical references, with the words " Printed and sold by William AVarter, Stationer, at the signe of the Talbott vnder the Mitre Tavern in Fleete Street, London." An impression of this Plate will be found in the Royal Collection of Topographical Prints and Drawings given by King George IV. to the British Museum, Vol. xxvii. Art. 39. There is also a variation of the same engraving in the City Library at Guildhall, divided with common ink into compartments, as if intended to be used as cards, and numbered in the margin in type with Roman numerals in three series of ten each, and two extra. A descrijitive list of the other Print?, Printed Papers, and Tracts, relating to the Frost-Fair of 1G83— 1G84, will be found in the Londina Illustrata, commenced by the late Mr. Robert Wilkinson, London, 1819—1834. 4to. Volume I. Article 9, whence the preceding notices have been derived; and another list is contained in the Catalogue of the Sutherland Collection of Prints and Drawings inserted as illustrations in Lord Clarendon's Life and History of the Rebellion, and Burnet's History of his Own Times. London, 1837, 4to. Volume II. Page 420. VIEWS. A View of the Chcrch of STOKE-Poor.s, in the County of Buckinsrham, the scene of Ghat's "Elegy in a Country Ciiurch-Yard :" with a Fac-Simile of part of an Original Transcript OF THE Poem, in the hand-writing of the Author. Fac-Simile of an Original Letter from Thomas Gray to Dodsley ; from the collection of George Daniel, Esq. The most appropriate literary illustration of these engravings, appears to he some account of the orio-inal composition and publication of that very celebrated Elegy with wliich tliey are both so intimately connected ; and which has imparted so deep and lasting an interest to the village cemetery on which it was written. The interesting materials of such a narrative, are to be found in the affec- tionate and elaborate Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Gray, prefixed to the edition of his works published by his friend William Mason in 1775 ; and the present notices have been therefore derived from that copious and excellent authority. The first acquaintance of Gray with the spot which suggested his immortal lines, appears to have taken place in June 1742, when he went to visit his mother and her sister ; who, on the death of Mr- Philip Gray, the father of the Poet, had retired to Stoke, near Windsor, previously the residence of another sister, a widow. At this place and period he composed his beautiful Ode to Spring, concerning which a memorandum in his common-place book slates that it was "written at Stoke, the beginning of June 1742, and sent to Mr. West, — not hnowinglie was dead!" To this extremely afflicting circumstance, INIason traces the origin of the Elegy in a Country Church-Yard, in the following observations. "As •to Mr. Grav, we may assure ourselves that he felt much more than his dying friend, when the letter, which enclosed the Ode, was returned unopened. There seems to be a kind of presentiment in that pathetick piece, which readers of taste will feel when they learn this anecdote ; and which will make them read it with redoubled pleasure. It will also throw 'a melancholy grace,' — to borrow one of his own expressions on the Ode on a distant prospect of Eton, and on that to Adversity, both of them ■written in the August following : for, as both these poems abound with pathos, those who have feeling hearts will feel this excellence the more strongly when they know the cause whence it arose ; and the unfeelinn' will, perhaps, learn to respect what they cannot taste, when they are prevented from imputing to a splenetick melancholy, what, in fact, sprung from the most benevolent of all sensations. I am inclined to believe that the Elegy in a Country Church-Yard was begun, if not concluded, at this time also : thouo-h I am aware that, as it stands at present, the conclusion is of a later date : how that was originally, I have shewn in my notes on the poem." The illustration to which Mason here refers, is contained in his account of the imitations and variations of a number of passages in Gray's poetical works ; and on this particular part of the Elegy, he states that it was or'ginally intended to conclude with the four stanzas following, the last of which exhibits the present nineteenth verse, as it appeared when it was first composed. The subsequent form of the same lines, is shewn in the last of those verses represented in the annexed Fac-Simile. " The thoughtless world to Majesty may bow, Exalt the brave, and idolise success ; But more to innocence their safety owe Than power or genius e'er conspired to bless. And thou who, mindful of the unhonour'd dead, Dost in these notes their artless tale relate, By Highland lonely contemplation led To wander in the gloomy walks of fate :— VIEWS. Hark ! how the sacred calm that breathes around, Bids every fierce tumultuous passion cease ; In still small accents whispering from the ground, A grateful earnest of eternal peace : — No more, with reason and thyself at strife, Give anxious cares and endless wishes room ; But through the cool, sequester'd vale of life Pursue the noiseless te no ur of thy doom." " And here," adds Mason, " the poem was originally intended to conclude, before the happy idea of the ' hoary-headed swain,' etc. suggested itself to him. I cannot help hinting to the reader, that I think the third of the rejected stanzas equal to any in the whole Elegy." In the well-known form in which these verses are at present published, they were most probably completed about the middle of the year 1750 ; since, in a Letter addressed by the Author to the Hon. Horace ^Yalpole, dated June 12th, he says " I have been here at Stoke a few days, where I shall con- tinue a good part of the summer ; and having put an end to a thing whose beginning you have seen \on^'=\y ^^ . (Cou^rUrJ^ (SCcnnL. to ^< O-r '^ erH. cAui-rufy_u-n.d I ^/iuh tie- (7o^<^ <^f -^i ^a/r /rerrtt^ tHe^ rruiddtyno Cr(rrv^'-na iAjl, Caere ferjy<-Vt<;c ta tKa. {/aXL o^ the- /»*-/C . «■ ^fiiti^Y ^'■^ 7^*^^ tntt^ JAt-i^-t- te ^£-/c a- fiayf*\¥oKCe,-t: '^ a- ^h-*-^CZn^ (rr if^i> ; tn i. ihlf *rf yxirt tf- / // / ^/ /• / /•/'^ tv^yJim^-y S^. UrxXd ti^-o-e-i^ 4&OL (-u-ir f-rvrt^ Ih-t- rx.ct*^''^^ ihU. ->.t tJ> >ir«-fc^ iL-rC»- CtfULJ'-^ , t>^» ^ ^ >"** yv-ijL ^e.H4 «-•-« , f>- AxAr) Atf. }-C.lr^ i^^ ^ a.Cft--»-^y*^ y^ r»r^ r«. i^ /t-rj it , ^ y*"^^ Mrill U^ ■rr%t. Kncxr ifi^ e r i n 1 '^ '^a-y iA-t'Y, nriXC (io-w-we. i>-w-^ «- CiMZe^ in ma. /^^ffrr-oA'^no , rM ou^m, ^L*^ten^ , jH- : ^: »* J2f u.r k in some of his subsequent advertisements, he solicited the public attention, as well as to his entertain- ments." At this time the whole of Astley's musical accompaniments consisted of a single drum and fife, which were played in an elevated building, standing on pillars and resembling a pigeon-house, erected in the centre of the ride, the ascent to it being by a ladder. In the spring of 17G9, Astley first engaged that situalion witli which his name has been so long and so permanently connected. The ground on which his first place of entertainment at Stangate was built, was at the period a timber-yard, and the freehold property of a person named Lawton, who had formerly kept a preserve for pheasants on the same spot ; but the whole character of the vicinity had been altered by the formation of the great southern road leading from Westminster Bridge. Astley advanced ^6200 to the owner of the land, who also had the timber and erections secured to him by a mortgage ; but he soon afterwards left England, and was never again heard of. About the same time Astley found a diamond ring on Westminster Bridge, which was never advertised nor claimed, and ■which he disposed of for £70 ; and he then enclosed the timber-yard with a higli paling, and erected a •wooden house in the situation of the entrance to the present Royal Amphitlieatre.b The lower part of this building was made into stables, and the upper part into a long room for superior visitors to the riding-school, and subsequently for exhibitions. Behind the house was formed the ride, around which were erected three rows of seats with a sort of penthouse covering ; and the bills and advertisements stated, in consequence, that " a slight shower would not hinder the perfoi'mance, as there are numbers of dry seats ;" as also that there was " a commodious apartment for the nobility," and that proper music was engaged. The hour for commencing the performances probably varied according to the season, since the doors of the riding-school in 1770 were advertised to be opened at four, mount at five ; and » " Tlie true and perfect seat on hursebaek. There is no creature yields so much profit as the horse; and if he is made obedient to the hand and spur, it is the cliicf thing that is aimed at. He (Astley) undertakes to break in the most vicious horse in the kingdom for the road or field; to stand fire, drums, &c. and those intended for ladies to canter easy. His method, between the jockey and the menage, is peculiar to himself. No gentleman need despair of being a complete horseman that follows his directions, having had eight years practice in Lieutenant-General Elliott's regiment. For half-a-guinea, he makes known his method of learning any horse to lay down at the word of command; and defies any man to equal it for safety and ease." An advertisement, published in June 1775, announces " Astley's Melhod of Riding, a preventative of accidents on horseback, to be had of him, price Is." June 1776. " Ladies and Gentlemen instructed, at is. Gd, per lesson." The time of instruction was from eight until eleven o'clock every morning. '' It is affirmed that the timber with which Astley's first permanent building was erected, had formed the platform and covered way leading from the Painted Cliamber to Westminster Abbey, constructed for the funeral procession of Augusta of Saxe Gotha the Dowager Princess of Wales, who died February 8th, 1772. VIEWS. subsequently to be " opened at five, and begin at six." The prices of admission were two shillings to the )ong-roona, and one shilling to the riding-school. At this periodthe porfonnanees were principally by Astley alone, as they are stated in the ensuing list, taken from a bill without a date, but evidently referring to about the year 1770. " Horsemanship. This and every day at six o'clock in the evening, Sundays excepted, Mu. Astley, the Original English Warrior from General Elliott's Light Horse, and Mrs. Astley, will exhibit the most surprising performance, scarcely to be believed without seeing, on One, Two, and Three Horses, at the foot of Westminster Bridge, Surry. Several new feats.' 1. Mr. Astley makes his horse lay down at the word of command. The horse actually appears dead. Here Mr. Astley speaks a comic prologue.'' 2. He rides on full speed, with only the bridle in his hand, standing with one foot on the saddle. 3. He balances himself without holding the bridle, on full speed, in a most surprising manner. 4. He, on full speed, picks up a number of different things from the ground, a shilling, a sixpence, etc. 5. He springs from his liorse to the ground, and, like a tennis-ball, which rebounds, flies on his horse again several times ; then sweeps his hands on the ground for h;ilf a mile together, flies olF his horse and jumps clear over him in a most amazing manner. G. He stands with one foot on each saddle, and takes a flying-leap over tlie bar. 7. He sits on both saddles and takes a leap, his head on one horse his feet on the other. 8. Mrs. Astley rides two horses with one foot on each saddle, and leaps over the bar, etc. etc. etc. 9. He rides three horses, standing and sitting on all the saddles at one time. 10. Lays across the three horses on full speed, and in many more different positions. 11. The posture of offence and defence, sword in hand, as in real action.c 12. Makes his horse set up like a dog, in a » These feats are ropre-sented on the bills issued by Astley about 177-2, in a number of small wood-cut figures; and in an adrertisemcnt of July 17th, in that year, he refers to his descriptive bills in the following terms, alluding to Hughes, who was then opposing him in Blackfriars Road. " It being the practice of pretenders to horsemanship to insert in their bills and represent on their show-cloths a number of feats they cannot do, in order to take-in the unwary and impose on the public ; Mr. Astley therefore begs the nobility, gentry, and others, will ask for a bill at the door, and see that the number of Fifty different feats are exhibited, without repetitions ; and it is well known that Mr. Aslley's horses go on full speed, not a gentle amble neither is he tied fast to the horse by a strap when he sweeps both hands on the ground." One of the small woodcuts, nu bered 14, represents Astley in this part of his performance. * The address referred to consisted probably of the following lines. [Spoken by Mr. Astley as his horse lays doion imitating death.'] " My horse is dead apparent at your sight, But I'm the man can set the thing to right: Speak when you please, I in ready to obey. My faitliful horse knows what I want to say; But first pray give me leave to move his foot, — That he is dead is quite beyond dispute. The horse appears quite dead. This shews that brutes by Heaven were designed To be in full subjection to mankind : Rise young Bill, and be a little handy To serve that warlike hero Granby ! The horse ofhisotm accord rises. When you have seen all my bill cxprcst. My wife, to conclude, performs the rest." . •■ Mr. Astley," says an advertisement of April Gth, 177-i, referring to this part of his performance,, " has "» """^ j''; any other place but Westminster Bridge ; and if any should puff off Astley's broad-sword a, a rea engagement ^^^^^ with the cards, the taylor, the shilling bUndfoIded, S.C. they are impostors ; becose the broad-sword .s on such a prmc.ple (tho VIEWS. droll attitude, with a cap on. 13. The humours of tiie little horse. 14. To conclude with that comic piece called The Taylor riding to Brentford, in dress and cliaracter. Many more feats will be exhibited, which cannot be inserted for want of roora.-~N.B. Several feats of horsemanship by Mr. Griffith, being liis first appearance." For several years these performances constituted the principal features of the personal exhibition of Astley ; but, as he appears to have been equally imitated and decried liy his contemporaries and rivals,* he increased the number and nature of his entertainments, and in August 1772 their extent and variety are described in tlie fol'owing advertisement. " Every Evening till furtlier notice. Several of the Nobility now in town having solicited Mr. Astley, at tiie foot of Westminster Bridge, to make a general display of all his various amusements, and to exhibit the whole of tliem on one night ; — he, willing to oblige them, gives the following notice that he will cause the whole of every performance to be exhibited under the following titles : viz. Horsemanship or activity ; exiiibition of Bees, by Mrs. Astley and Mr. Wildman ; the broad-sword and heavy balances ; Comus's, Jonas's, and Breslaw's tricks with cards, watches, money, purses, letters, &c. by the Little Horse; the Magical Tables, or the Little Military Horse in his study, '' in four grand changes; with a variety of other amusements, in order to make the general night more complete. There never was an exhibition of this kind in one place in Europe. Admittance on this occasion only one shilling in the Riding-school, though not the tenth part of the value of such an extraordinary performance. To begin at a quarter past six precisely. Servants to keep places for the general exhibition to be at tlie Riding-school at four, in order to secure places. Admittance in the galleries as usual." In the season of 1772, " Master Astley, only five years old," made his first appear- ance as an equestrian. An advertisement issued by Astley in August 1771, announced that " as numbers of the Nobility could not get admittance last Monday, Mr. Astley has been at a great expense in enlarging the ground for the better accommodating them this evening ;" but it was probably not long before 1776 that the riding-school presented the appearance exhibited in the annexed views. In June 1775, the advertise- ments of Astley notice his " Automaton Figures playing on German-flutes," which were probably the commencement of those mechanical performances which he afterwards displayed in tlie principal upper room of liis centre gallery. At this time Cox's Museum was in its liighest celebrity, and Astley appears, in some degree, to have imitated both the inflated terms in which that exhibition was described. army excepted) tliat few, except taught by him, can defend themselves much more than their horse : and if a man never was sword-in-hand in action, Ijow can he tell wliat it means?" » An advertisement, issued Jlay 17th, 1772, from Huglies the inveterate opponent of Astley, declares that the latter " never performed one capital feat at or near the metropolis. First, he never rode witli his back to the horse's head ; secondly, he never leaped back over one horse ; thirdly, he has never rode one horse with one foot on the horse's head, the other on the saddle ; fourthly, he has never stood with one foot on asingle horse, and in that position taken a leap, returning with only one foot on the saddle, the horse in full speed. In short, Astley cannot mount a single horse with his feet on the saddle, without creeping up on his knees and tlien on his feet, as the horse walks round. Mr. Hughes, with liis other performance, exhibits the above four feats ; also mounts a single horse with both feet on tlie saddle, the liorse in full speed ; leaps over two horses as they leap a bar three foot liigli : also leaps over three horses, and leaps over a single horse backwards and forwards, twenty times, without stopping between the springs. Now if Astley can perform only the above feats in presence of any three men of character, Mr. Hughes ■will give him a premium of £100." Two days after the appearance of this statement, an advertisement was published that Hughes and Astley had consented to make up their disputes in an amicable manner. ■■ It is probable that this part of Astley's exiiibition was introduced partly in ridicule of Breslaw's performances at Hughes's Riding-school in the Suircy-rojd,near Westminster Bridge; since an advertisement of June 1773 states tliat " the little military horse will tnke oft' tlie present conjuiors to admiration." One of the artists referred to was Jonas, whose name appears upon tlie upper show-cloth on the right of the eiitniuce in the exterior view : iu January 1772, he exhibited " in a commodious and warm room up one pair of stairs at his house. No. liO, in Ilouiids-litcli." iver- VIEWS as well as some of the articles of wliich it was composed. He accordingly commenced one of his adv tisements with the word?, "At the Riding-school, Westminster Bridge, the grandest exhibition that was ever exhibited in Europe ! As soon as the doors are opened, at 5 o'clock, the Great Room will be superbly illuminated ; in which is placed a most extraordinary, new, pleasing mechanical exhibition, con- sisting of several large Automaton Figures, which are animated to play on German-flutes in a manner beyond conception. Also another Figure, that plays on an instrument resembling a harpsichord; with a variety of Figures, the work of the greatest masters. The curtain of the above exhibition will ascend at five, and descend at six, o'clock ; at which time a general display of the whole FeaU of Activity will be presented, in a manner never attempted before." As the season of 1776 advanced, Astley protracted the hour of this part of his exhibition ; and in the same year he also brought forward that old feat of strength and dexterity which has been found in China," but which was principally known as being per- formed on a stage supported on boats on the Canal Grande at Venice. It consisted of four men supporting three others on their shoulders, who again supported two more, who in their turn held up one. This exploit was for a long time a very favourite and attractive entertainment in London, and Astley accordingly erected a large representation of it at the south end of his Riding-school, as it is shown in the exterior view annexed : in June 177G, therefore, his advertisement thus notices this per- formance in connection with his mechanical figures: " This evening, at Astley's Riding-school, West- minster Bridge, will be displayed the grandest performances that were ever exhibited at any public place of entertainment, particularly comic tumbling; and the new pleasing exhibition of the Egyptian Pyramids, or La Force d'Hercule : never seen in England. If the ladies and gentlemen who frequent the above entertainments, will make it convenient to themselves to be there before six o'clock, they will have an opportunity of seeing those grand Pieces of Mechanism which compose Minerva's Temple, consisting of various Automaton Figures, &c. far superior to any in Europe : in short. Nature in this exhibition is rivalled by Ait !" Another advertisement for September 4th, 1776, will complete the description of Astley's entertainments for that season, and connect the present notices with the period at which the annexed views were taken. '' This evening, at the Riding-school, Westminster Bridge, a variety of amusements, several of which are taken from the Boulevards of Paris ; particularly many deceptions, experiments, and operations, after the manner of the Sieur Comus. Also the Magical Tables, in four grand changes, with birds, lemons, cards, and watches. The brilliant Temple of Minerva, consisting of varions capital Pieces of Mechanism, never exhibited in Mr. Cox's Museum, will be open for inspection. On the Slack Rope will be exhibited the Roasted Pig. Great variety of new feats of activity on horseback, by Mr. Astley, Mr. Grifiin, Mr. Philips, Mrs. Griffin, and the Clown. Mr. Astley will go through the different exercise of the broad-sword. Towards the conclusion of the evening's entertainment, the Grand Saloon will be illuminated with several hundred lights, in imitation of the Colossa at Paris. Likewise lofty Tumbling and Vaulting, in a manner truly entertaining. The Lion and Salmon's leap, flying over chairs and tables by several capital performers. The Egyptian Pyramids, or La Force d'Hercule, will be displayed with considerable alterations. In short, the entertainments will be exhibited in a most brilliant style." The Views of Astley's Riding-school, engraven for this work, represent its appearance a year after the time of the last advertisement, as they are dated in July and September 1777. Beneath each of the original drawings the artist has added some descriptive particulars in writing, according to his usual prac- tice ; with a copy of which the present notices may be a|)])ropriately concluded. • MUUary Reminiscences. By Colonel James Welch. LontU 1830. 8to. vol. 2, pages 130, 130. VIEWS, Exterior View. " William Capon, del'. July 31, 1777. Pinx< August 1818." In this manner appeared tlie outside of Philip Astley's Amphitheatre, on the Surrey side of Westminster Bridge. It was only of upright boarding over a frame-work of timber, and whitewashed. On the outside used to be hung, during the day, painted representations of some of the feats of tumbling and posture-masters. Thev used to exhibit on a temporary stage erected in tlie ride before and after tlie horsemanship. Tiie representations of horses, &c. seen on the top of the building, were painted and cut out to the form required. You ascended from the road five steps, which was to the level of the middle tier of boxes. There was a green curtain, as shewn (at the doorway), where Mr. Astley used to receive the money for entrance. The price to the boxes was two shillings, to the pit one shilling. The white painted posts and rails shown before the building on the side of the road, are a part of those which were put all along the new distri- bution of the roads throughout the whole of St. George's Fields; and they diverged from the Obelisk, as a common centre, to all the then three Bridges. The ground of the Amphitheatre was on the original soil; of course much lower than the present road is." Interior View. " William Capon, del'-. September 1777. Pinx" Ant/' 1818." The Inside View of Astley's Amphitheatre, on the Surrey side of Westminster Bridge, as it then appeared, September 1777. The performances were only by day-light, as there was then no fixed stage, but only a temporary one erected in a few minutes on trussels, and platforms for the tumbling, and a few other feats ; and some were on a large carpet or cloth on the ground. The whole area or ride was covered over with sawdust, for the ease of the horses' feet. The diameter then was much more than now. It was then sixty feet, and every alteration or rebuilding these Amphitheatres has been accompanied by a con- traction of the area, and an increase of the plot allotted for the stage-performances. After they had covered «?«^e-performances at this place, they gradually increased in excellence, and sometimes in their pantomimes almost equalled the regular theatres. The very remarkable drawings which are thus described, and for the first time exhibited to the public, were copied for the present work by the express permission and condescending courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. They are contained in that splendid collection of Prints, Drawings, and Original Letters, in the Illustrated copy of the Private Correspondence of Horace Walpole, in the Duke's Library at Stowe ; in which magnificent work the four octavo volumes, published in 1820, are extended into Twenty-three volumes of inlaid text on leaves of elephant folio. Some of the margins are decorated with armorial ensigns : and the places and persons mentioned are illustrated by Portraits, Views, and many hundred Original Letters. The passage at which these representations of Astley's Amphitheatre are inserted, is contained in a Letter addressed by Horace Walpole to the Earl of Strafford, dated September 12th, 1783, printed in vol. 4, pages 340, 341, " I could find nothing at all to do, and so went to Astey's, which indeed was much beyond my expectation. I do not wonder any longer tiiat Darius was chosen king by the instructions lie gave to his horse : nor that Caligula made his consul. Astley can make his dance minuets and hornpipes, which is more extraordinary than to make them vote at an election, or act the part of a magistrate, which animals of less capacities can perform as dexterously as a returning officer or a master in chancery. But I shall not have even Astley now. Her majesty, the Queen of France, who has as much taste as Caligula, has sent for the whole dramatis personce to Paris." n * THE CAMDEN CUP. The annexed engraving represents the Silver-gilt Standing Cup and Cover bequeathed by the celebrated historian, William Camden, Clarencieux King at Arms, to the Worshipful Company of Painter Slainers. Camden's will is recorded in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (in the register designated III Swann 3, probate granted November 10, 1623), and it has been printed by Hearne, in his Collection of Curious Discourses, Ox. 1720. After directing the sum of eight pounds to be given ' to the poore of that place, (Chislehurst) when it shall please God to call me to his mercie,' Camden continues — ' I bequeath to Sir Foulke Greville, Lord Brooke, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who preferred rae gratis to my Office, a peece of plate of tenn pounds ; Item, to the Company of Painter-Stayners of London, to buy them a peece of plate in meraoriall of mee, sixteene pounds;' the inscription upon which is directed to be — " Guil. Camoenus ClARENCEUX, FILIDS SaMPSONIS, PiCTORIS LOXDINENSIS, DONO DEDIT." This stately and richly-decorated cup and cover is used on Corporation Festivals, in memory of the illustrious donor. In height, it is altogether twenty-three inches and a quarter, the cover only being eight inches and three-quarters; and the cup, independent of the stand, five inches and a half, its greatest diameter being five inches and a half. The inscription encircles the upper rim of the cup ; and directly under it is an engraved escutcheon of Camden's arms; Or, a fess engrailed, between six cross crosslets fitchee. Sable. The cover presents an object of much elegance, a richly ornamented open pyramid, based on the heads of birds, the breasts bending gracefully with cartouche ornaments : the pinnacle of the pyramid surmounted by a female figure, the right liand resting on a shield, charged with tlie same arms as shewn on the side of the cup. The birds' heads have apparently a reference to the phoenix heads in the second and third quarters of the armorial ensigns and to the crest of the Company of Painter-Stainers. ttJl.^\iuiA'hMie huif. ^/i J^.. l"/,.:- ^^Ai* ^v / n/ffe a. '^ ' m^<^o:^;smmmg: '^, ■ "'"^ - :- •,- ■ - ElfD VIEW. '^i. ^. V W^ c ; :(':a c^ N-*-' ^^:z_^i--^^^,._ " r'^'-^'x-^ -_/ :^v^N- ^ " /.I.V^//r- f/„ ^vy- .vr^A. ;:x :n> ^ \ FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCKIPTS AND HISTOEICAL DOCUMENTS. Fac-Simile of the Commencement of the Book of Genesis, from the Manoscbipt called " Alchuine's Bible," in the British Museum. In the very curious, interesting, and elaborate account of iliis Manuscript by Sir Frederick Madden, inserted in The Gentleman's Magazine for 1830 (Vol. vi. New Series, October, pages 3."j8— 3G3 ; November, pages 468—477,) there is expressed some doubt whether the copy were actually written by the hand of Alchuine himself; or whether it was not rather produced by some of the students in the Scriptorium of the Monastery of Tours, under the careful superintendence of the Abbot. The writing of two bands, however, it is added, can be distinctly traced in it; one of which is larger and not so elegant as the other. An epistle written by Alchuine to Gisla, sister of the Emperor Charlemagne, and to Richtrudis, otherwise called Columba,— the date of which is ascertained to have been a.d. 799, — represents the Prelate as still occupied with the emendation of St. Jerome's Vulgate Latin of the Holy Scriptures, which he had commenced by order of the Emperor, and which, he adds, had been corrupted by the ignorance of transcribers. He appears to have completed his labours in the following year ; since, on the day of Charlemagne's Coronation as Emperor of Rome, December S-Jth, a.d. 80t), — at that time regarded as the first day of the year 801,— he presented the Monarch with a copy of the revised text. " After deliberating a long time," says the Latin epistle which Alchuine sent with the volume " what the devotion of my mind might find worthy of a present equal to the splendour of Your Imperial Dignity and increase of your wealth, that the ingenuity of my mind might not become torpid in idleness, 'whilst others were offering various gifts of riches, and that the messenger of my littleness might not come empty-handed before the face of Your Sanctity, — I found at length, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what it would be competent to me to offer and fitting for Your Prudence to accept. For to me, thus enquiring and considering, nothing appeared more worthy of Your Peaceful Honour than the gift of the Sacred Scriptures ; which, by the dictation of the Holy Spirit and the mediation of Christ God, were written with the pen of celestial grace for the salvation of mankind ; and which, knit together in the sanctity of one glorious body and diligently amended, I have sent to Your Royal Authority by this your son and faithful servant, so that with full hands we may assist in the delightful service of Your Dignity." Another letter from Alchuine discovers that the name of the messenger by whom this copy of the Scriptures was sent, was Nathanael, otherwise called Fridugis, a native of the same province in Yorkshire as the Prelate himself, and his favourite pupil : he afterwards selected him to be his successor as Abbot of Tours; and he also became Abbot of Berlin, and Chancellor to Louis le Debonair. It is likewise a point of much uncertainty whether Alchuine wrote with his own hand even the volume presented to Charlemagne, though he is known upon contemporaneous authority to have copied out the books of the Evangelists. M. J. H. De Speyr Passavant, however, the late possessor of the Manuscript whence the present Fac-Simile is taken, assumed that this was written by him, and was also the very book given to the Emperor ; from whom it passed into the possession of his grandson and suc- cessor in the Empire, Lothaire ; being the identical Bible, " having figures and large capital letters of gold at the beginning of each book," which that Monarch gave in a Cliarter to the Benedictine Abbey of Pruen, in the Diocess of Treves, about the middle of the ninth century. After the dissolution of that Religious House in 1576, and the appropriation of its revenue to the Elector of Treves,— the Benedictines PART VII. ^ FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. conveyed the Emperor's book to Switzerland, and deposited it in the Monastery of Moutier Grand Val. near Ba.le. the Chapter of ^hich was transferred to the town of Del«mont, in the Canton of Berne. T'le onlv authority on ^vhich thii statement is founded, is a Latin note written on the reverse of the last leaf of "the Manu;cript, containing an Act of the Chapter of Grand Val, declaring that the volume was the property of the Saints Germanus and Randoabdus, and of their College and Church, whence it was ,ieyer to be alienated nor otherwise carried away. This act is authenticated by the names of Johannes Henricus MoUifer, the Pra^positus, and of Paulus Des Boys, Archidiaconus, of the Fratern.ty, wub the consent of the whole Chapter. The former of these officers is stated to have been elected m the year 1.5S9 and to have died in 1G07 ; within whicli time, therefore, the act must have been written, and the Bible appears then to have been in the Monastery of Grand Val. It is further said to have remained thereuntil 1793, when the French army occupied the Episcopal territory of Basle, and sold tUe possessions of the brclhren, by which means the volume became the property of M. Bennot, Vice-President of the Tribunal of Delemont, from whom it was bought by M. De Speyr Passavant. After many meffectual attempts to dispose of the Manuscript to the French Government, it was first brought to England m January. 1836, and offered to the Trustees of the British Museum for the .mmoderate sum of £ 2,000. but wa; at length procured for that establishment for £750.. and now forms No. 10.546 of the Additional Manuscripts. . ,i j i ♦ The te.t of this stately volume, as will be seen by the Facsimile, is written in the small and elegant German characters improved by Charlemagne, and thence called the Caroline Minuscules extremely distinctly and beautifully formed, with very few and simple contractions : every page being of the largest ■folio size mea^urin- 2o"inches by 14|, and containing two columns of fifty lines each. The whole book compri.e^ 449 leaves of remarkably fine vellum, and is adorned with several large illuminations, rich initial letters, and titles to the several divisions in Roman capitals of gold: of these ornaments, however, a most minute description will be found in the last of the papers of Sir Frederick Madden, already referred to whence also the materials of this account have been derived. The part represented m the present Fac-Simile is the left-hand column of the seventh page of the Manuscript, and commences with the words « iNCipit Ubct Geneseos," in Roman capitals of gold, the letters expressed in small Italics beinn- omitted. Immediately above this title is the Greek Monogram of IHSOYS XPI2T0S placed between the symbolical letters A and ii (o,) expressing that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of the Holy Scriptures. Down the whole length of the left hand of the page extends a very larae initial letter I, elaborately decorated with the ornaments of leaves, flowers, and wreathed fretwork, which are peculiarly characteristic of illuminations executed between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The text contained in this column consists of the first thirteen verses of the first chapter of the book of Genesis according to the Vulgate Latin, of which the following is a copy printed line for line with the Fac-Simile, but having all the contractions supplied in Italics, to assist the reader in perfectly understand- ine: tlie oriiiiiial. (Verse 1.) IN PRINCIPIO CREAVIT D^rS caelum et terrain. (2) Terra autem erat in- anis et vacua, et tenebrae super faciem abyssi, et Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas. (3) Dixitq?te Beus: Fiat lux. Et facta e«< lux. (4) Et vidit De;ts lucem quod esset bona : et divisit Dews lucem a tenebris. (5) Appellavitq«e lucem diem, et tenebras noctem : Factunique est vespere et mane dies unus. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. (6) Dixit quoque Dews : Fiat firmamentum in me- dio aquarum ; et dividat aquas ab aquis. (7) Et fe- cit Dews firmamentum, Divisitqjie aquas quae erant sub firmamento ab his quae erant su- per firmamentum. Et factum est ita. (8) Vocavit- que Dews firmamentum caelum : Et factum est vespere et mane dies secundus. (9) Dixit vero Deus : Congregentur aquae, quae sub caelo sunt, in locum unum ; et appareat arida. Factumqwe est ita. (10) Et vocavit Dcms aridam, terram ; congregationesque aquarum appellayji maria. Et vidit Deiis quod esset bonum. (11) Etait: Germinet terra herbam virentem et fac\entem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suura, cujus semen insemet ipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita. (12) Et protulit terra herbam virentem, et ferentem semen juxta genus suum lig- numque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodqi(e semen secundum speciem suaw. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum. (13) Factumque est vespere et mane dies tertius. The text of this version varies in a few particulars from the Vulgate Latin published by the authority of the Pontiffs Sixtus V. and Clement VIII., as in the following passages. Verse 2, for tenehrcB super, read teiiehrce erant super. Verse 9, tor factumque est ita, read et factum est ita. Verse 12, for et ferentem semen, read et facientem semen. Verse 13, for Factumque est, read Et factum, est. The very beautiful and accurate manuscript of this volume, is to be attributed not less to the careful superintendance which Alchuine bestowed upon the Scriptorium, cr writing-chamber, attached to his school and monastery at Tours, — than to the general improvement which Charlemagne liad effected in the German characters of the period. In particular, Alchuine appears to have required from the scribes a close attention to the words of the copy before them, with a due separation placed between each, and a careful insertion of the points proper to the subject ; the latter of which appear to have been greatly neglected in his time, since, in an epistle addressed to the Emperor, he has the following remarks concerning them. " The force of expressions is most excellently set ofif by the distinctions and small differences of the points which should be employed ; but yet, by reason of the rudeness of ignorance, their use has almost entirely disappeared from our writings. All the graces of wisdom, however, as well as the wholesome ornaments of learning. Your Nobility has diligently begun to renew ; so that the use of those points is to be seen restored in the hand-writings of the best manuscripts." Some of the directions of Alchuine for the transcription of books, are still extant in one of the metrical Latin Inscriptions which he composed for the Monastery at Tours ; and as it is so far connected with the Manuscript Bible forming the subject of these notices, that the volume was in all probability copied in the very chamber wherein that poem was suspended,— an imitation of it in English verse is here subjoined. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Inscription lxvii. For the 31useum for the Writing of Books. Here, as thou readest, those Transcribers sit, Whose pens preserve the words of Sacred Writ ; And to the Sainted Fathers lore divine This quiet chamber also we assign. Let them that write those holy truths beware Their own vain words that they insert not there ;— Since, when frivolities the mind engage, They lead the hand to wander from the page But let them ask of learned studious men, And cross the hasty fault with faithful pen. Distinct and clearly be the sense convey'd, And let the points in order be display'd. Nor falsely speak the text when thou sbalt be Reader before the good Fraternity; When to the Church the pious Brethren come,— And for a casual slip with shame be dumb. Write then the Sacred Book, — 'tis now a deed Of noblest worth which never lacks its meed. 'Tis better in transcribing books to toil. Than vines to culture, and to delve the soil : Since he who lives to meaner works confined May serve his body, but that feeds his mind. Yet whatsoe'er thou writest, old or new. Some master-work should be brought forth to view The praise of numbers on such labours fall, The Fathers of the Church are read by all. V > w c k G •D V s^ , ^ c g r I ^ ^ I- J i ^ ^ u (< si W -f P ."J — ( \<, B B ■!> f^ r FACSIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Illi'minated Drawijjgs of Two Banners attributed to St. Edmund, Kino of the West Saxons; with Fac-Simil£3 of a Poetical Description of the devices delineated upon them composed by John Lydgate. From a Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century in the Ilarleia.i Library in the British Museum. The origin of bearing banners with religious devices, as the national standards of the English Array, is most probably to be assigned to a period when it was the ordinary custom to consecrate the principa' ensigns of the host at the altar of a Church previously to an engagement ; or when a peculiar force and efficacy were attributed to the bearing of a sacred emblem. At the Battle of the Standard, in the reign of Stephen, in 1138, the English ensign which gave name to the conflict, consisted of the mast of a ship fixed upon a carriage having four wheels, at the top of which was placed a silver pix contaiuinc a consecrated wafer ; and immediately beneath it were suspended three narrow pennons, dedicated to St. Peter, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfred ofRippon. The very interesting heraldical poem of the Siege of Caerlaverock in June 1300, which recounts in French verse the blazon displayed bv every person capable of bearing a banner in the English army, — states also that King Edward I. Iiad in his own standard three lions of fine gold set on red ; and that there were three other ensigns carried as belonging to the host, namely, the banners of St. George, of St. Edmund King of the West Saxons, and of St. Edward the Confessor : to these was subsequently added another charged with the heraldical device of the Holy Trinity. The same authority likewise adds, that when the fortress of Caerlaverock was captured, the king caused his own banner, with those of St. Edmund, St. George, and St. Edward, to be displayed on higii; and with them, by established right, were the banner of Lord Segrave, who then executed the office of Earl-Marshal, and that of the Earl of Hereford, Constable of the Army, with that also of Lord Clifford, to whom thecustody of the castle was committed. It is a remarkable circum- stance that the banners of neither St. Edmund, nor of St. Edward, appear in any of the paintings of the illuminated ^lanuscripts in the British Museum ; but there is the contemporaneous evidence of Lydgate and others, that they were borne by Henry V. at the Battle of Agincourt, in 141-5, when the national banners carried in the army appear to have been five in number; that of the Holy Trinity, of St. George, of St. Edmund, of Edward the Confessor, and another charged with the armorial bearings of the Sovereign himself.* It was probably partly from the remembrance that the ensign of St. Edmund had been borne with un- varying prosperity in the French wars of Henry V., that induced the poet, John Lydgate, to promise it to the young Henry V., his son, for a certain signal of success whenever he should go forth to battle; for in the verses and illuminations represented in the two Plates annexed, he exhibits the devices of two banners attributed to St. Edmund, and describes tiio figures wrought upon them, with their history and virtues. The Manuscript in which the poem and paintings are contained, is marked No. 2273 in the Harleian Collection in the British Museum, and consists of a volume written on vellum of a large quarto form, comprising several of the Poems of Lydgate the Monk and Poet of the Abbe)' of St. Edmund, at Bury in Suffolk. The book is decorated with one hundred and twenty illuminations, with rich initial letters, executed in the best manner of manuscript painting of the early part of the fifteenth century, and the youthful appearance of Henry VI. in two of the pictures, agrees with the period of time at which * The substance of these notices has been derived from a very curious and originul paper '' On the Banners used in Iho Englisli Army," printed in the Second Series of The Betrospectice Beview, Part I. volume I. for October, 1827, pages OD— 1 17, by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas; and also from his History of the Battle if Aijincourt, and of the Expedition of Henry the F'flh into France in 1415. Second Edition. London, 1832. 8vo. page 115, Note c. .\n ancient representation of the Standard displayed by Stephen, will be found in Roger Twytdcn's Hiiioria Anglicance Svriptores Decern. Lend. 1052. Folio, col. 339. 34U. FACSIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Lydgate translated the principal poem contained in the book, namely, the Life of St. Edmund, from the Latin of Abbo Floriacensis. Lydgate's own account of the work, as inserted in the prologue, states — «' When I first 'gan on this translation. It was the yearby computa tion, — When Sixte Herry in his estate royal. With his sceptre of England and of France, — Held at Bury the Feast principal Of Christemas, with full great abundance : And after that listed to have pleasance, As his council 'gan for him to provide, There in this place till Easterne for to abide." The year thus commemorated was 1433, at which time Henry was twelve years old ; and a very curious original account of the Royal visit, from All Saints day, November 1st, to St. George's day, April 23rd, 1834 — will be found in The Rev. Richard Yates' Illustration of the Monastic History and Antiquities of the Town and Abbey of St. Edmund's Bury. London, 1805, quarto, pages 150 — 154. At the time of the King's departure a grand mass was performed, with some other religious ofiices ; after which the Sovereign, with the Duke of Gloucester and certain nobles, was conducted to the Chapter- House, and there admitted a member of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Edmund. It was probably some time during this visit, that the Abbot, William Curteys, directed Lydgate to translate the Latin legend of St. Edmund, contained in the manuscript whence the present plates have been selected, " in full purpose," as he states, " to give it to the king." The volume was no doubt also illuminated at the same period; since one of the drawings inserted in it exhibits the presentation of the book to Henry, attended by the conventual fathers and his own court," and such an offering formed both a rich and most appro- priate gift to the young and royal brother of the Abbey. It may be hence regarded as a very probable circumstance, that the very interesting illuminations with which the volume commences, and which are here engraven, — were faithful representations of two banners dedicated to St. Edmund, actually pre- served at tlie Abbey, and regarded there as reliques of the highest worth and of a miraculous virtue. The remarkable device delineated on the first, is probably not to be found on any other ancient standard. Lydgate states that it was celebrated for possessing the power of extinguishing fires, and declares that it should be borne in tlie royal wars as an ensign of success ; for it must be rememliered that tlie carryino- of religious standards in the King's army was always attended with considerable honour and profit to the establishment to which they belonged. i) The second banner is of Azure, charged with three ancient .crowns, two and one. Or, the original arms borne by the Abbey of St. Edmund until about a century before the dissolution : these were afterwards increased by transfixing each crown with two arrows ^ A copy of this illumination is engraven in Joseph Strait's liegnl and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Enrjhtnd. Lonil. 1793. 4to. Plate xli. page 81. '' In this manner was borne the banner of St. Cuthbert in the Scotch wars of Edward I., in 1299 — 1300, by William Do Gretham, a Monk of Durham Abbey, where it was kept, the standard being also attended by four men, and divers others who carried it. In the 24th year of Edward I., also, the banner of St. John of Beverley was borne in a similar manner by one of the Vicars of Beverley College, the bearer receiving eight pence half-penny per diem mr carrying it after the King, and one penny per diem for bringing it back: and so late as the year 1613, when tlie Earl of Surrey commanded the English forces in the North, Hall states that he " appointed" or arranged the sum to be piiid to the Prior of Durham " for Saiiicte Cutbcrd's banner." FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. in saltire. Argent, in memory of the manner of St. Edmund's martyrdom.^ It will hence be observed, if these conjectures be accurate, that the present illuminations are of great value and interest, as being undoubted contemporaneous representations of two ancient Church -banners no longer in existence: and the description of Lydgate connected with them, may be regarded of equal importance from its containing the legendary history and interpretation of the ensigns, as received at the Abbey where they were preserved. The writing of this beautiful manuscript, as will be seen by the annexed Fac-Similes, is the ordinary Gothic running-hand of the fifteenth century, with few contractions, and having the lyric measures of the stanzas generally indicated by a small and light diagonal line to point out the breathing-place. The character is large and distinct, but the following copy of the entire poem descriptive of St. Edmund's banners is inserted that the text of the Engravings may be made completely intelligible. Plate I. Manuscript folium 2 a. B lyssyd Edmund, kyng, martir, and vyrgy'ne, Hadde in thre vertues by grace a souereyn prys (price), e (&?/) which he vanquysshed al venymes serpenty'ne; Adam, baserpent, {It/ a serpent) banysshed fro paradys, Eua (Eva) also, be cause she was nat wys (wise), Eet off an appyl of flesshly fals pleasance; Which thre figures Edmund by gret auys ((jreat advice) Bar in his baner for a remembrance. Lyk a wys iyng peeplys (peoples) to gouerne, Ay (aye — alrvai/s) vnto reson he gaif the souereynt6 Figure of Adam wyssly to dyscerne To oppresse in Eua sensualite: A lamb off gold hygh vpon a tree, An;heuenly signc, a tokne offmost vert(i. To declare how that humylite Above alle vertues pleseth most Jhesu. Off Adamys synne was wasshe away the rust Be (by) vertu only off this lambys blood ; The serpen tys venym and al flesshly lust Sathan outraied (outrvrayed — displayed) ageyn man most wood (mad) Tyme whan (at tite time) this lamb was offred on the rood For our redempcion ; to wliich having reward (regard) This hooly martir, this blyssyd kyng so good. Bar this lamb hiest alofi"te in his standard. <: Aotitia Monastica. By Thomas Tanner, D.D. Bishop of St. Asaph. Edit, by the Rev. James Nasmith. Cambridje, IT S7 . I'oVio. Notes on the Arms of tbc Munastcries, page xxiii. No. civi. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Folium 2 b. The feeld of gowlys, {Jidd of gules — rcfi)tokne of his suffrance Whan cruel Danys were with hym at werre {tvar) ; Ami for a signe off royal suffisance, svfficicnc)/ — completeness) That no vices neuer maad hym erre, Tlie feeld powdryd with many a heuenly sterre (star). And halffcressantis off gold, ful bryht and clear; And wher that euere he iourneyde, nygh or feric. Ay in the feeld with hym was this baneer. Which, be influence off our Lord Jheiu, — As it hath be preued {been jjroved) offte in deedc. This hooly Standard hath power and vertii. To stanche f^res, and stoppe fiawmys redo {jlames red) By myracle ; and who that kan take heede : God grantyd it hym for a prerogatyff; Be cause al heele off lust and flesshly heede Were queynt {quenched) in hym duryng al his lyff. This vertuous Baner shal kepen and conscrue {conserve') This lend from enmyes, dau«te ther cruel pryde ; Off Syxte Herry the noblesse to preserue. It shall be born in werrys be his syde T' encresse his vertues, Edmu«d shal been his guyde. By processe t' enhance his royal lyne. This martir shall by grace for hym provyde To be registered among the worthy nine. Plate II. T Manuscript folium 4 a. his other Standard, feeld stable off colour Ynde^ In which off gold been notable crownys thre : he firste tokne in crony cle men may fynde Grau7ityd to him for Royal dignyte; And the seconde for virgynyte ; For raartirdom the thrydde in his suffryng. To these annexyd feyth, hope, and charyte In tokne he was martyr, mayde, and Kyng. A permanent unfading field of the colour of India ur Azure. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. These thre crownys Kyng Edmund bar certeyn, Whan he was sent be grace of Goddis hond At Geynesburuh (Gainsborough) for to slen Kyng Sweyn; By wliich myriicle men may vndirstond De]yuered was fro trybut al this lend, Mawgre Danys in ful notable wyse ; For the hooly martyr dissohiyd hatli that bond, Set this regiou« ageyn in his franchise. j4pplicacio. These thre crownys historyaly t' aplye, By pronostyk notably souereyne, — To Sixte Herry, in tigur signefye How he is born to worthy crownys tweyne Off France and Ingland, lynealy t' atteyne In this lyff beer ; — afterward in heuene The thrydde crowne to receyue in certeyne, For his meritis aboue the sterrys seuene. PART VII. FAC-SIMILES OF MANUSCRIPTS. Fac-Simile of an Original Letter addressed by Titus Otes to The Honourable Charles Howard, son of Henry Frederick Howard, Earl of Arundel. From the Family Archives at Norfolk House. The present very curious document has been most obligingly contributed to this work by The Rev. M. A. Tierney, by whom the contents of the Letter were first introduced to the public in his Eutory and Antiquities of the Castle and Town of Arundel. London, 1834, 8vo. Volume 2, pages 539, 540, Note. The circumstances which caused it to be written are also carefully and perspicuously related in the same authority ; and, therefore, the most appropriate illustration which can be attached to the annexed Plate, will be to extract the particulars concerning the Letter from Mr. Tierney's own account. At the period of the developement of the Popish Plot, in November 1C78, an Act passed the two Houses of Parliament, prohibiting the Members of each from sitting or voting in their respective places, until they should have made and subscribed the instrument commonly known as " the Declaration against Popery ;" upon which Henry Howard, Eleventh of the name, Duke of Norfolk, withdrew to Bruges to place himself beyond the reach of the effects of the Bill. A person named Wilcox, an associate of Titus Otes, had made a claim of money on Charles Howard, one of the younger brothers of the Duke, for some pretended service, which was naturally resisted; when Otes, who was evidently to partake of the spoil, was called in to decide the dispute. The terrible power entrusted to this infamous informer, appears to have soon extorted a promise of payment ; and Howard's only resource was to address himself to the compassion of this new plunderer, entreating that he would "a little consider the wrongs he suffered," and , engaging that he would consent to the decision which should be pronounced. The award was, of course, speedily settled ; but the victim of the conspiracy appears to have faltered in his compliance, and Otes, in the fear of losing the expected prey, addressed him in the following Letter ; a copy of which is also here inserted, printed line for line with the original. I haue taken paines in yo"' buisness and haue had not any advantage but my labour for my Paines you may haue an occasion to vse me in p'l't when your cause may come before either Lords or Com'ons or both but if you break yo'' word with mee at this rate you will finds mee but cold in appeareing for you there or in any other occasion I haue done you Justice in this and if you stand not to that award you will finde mee severe in other respects, for in plaine termes I cannot keepe friend'pp with any man that values not his word, and further let mee tell you that your house will not protect you from mee — howeuer if you comply with your word vpon honour to me I will appere S'- Y'- Affec'o. Ser' June SOtli Titus Otes. 81 f ^ Z '^ '-^^ "^ » @ o r. H r 2 2 Q um i: P «D <3^ «! -50 ■B - g < 84- /• I^^Ji^ tjf^h/f^ Ucru^ ^^£cxiJ\, /ynzcy ^:i^77t^t-^ ^*r7-^ iiJAz^ ^^