A JEORNEY TO DOVER For the charge of a Jeorney to the the shippes shalbe, the some of (torn) The lower part of the page is quite torn away. Indorsed, Thoffice of the Shippes. The charge of a paye to all her Mates shippes servinge on the Narrowe Seas, to ende the 31 Auguste 1595, 2540-03". -04a. And then, in Lord Burghley's autograph, an order to pay this, W. BURGHLEY. Mensis Maij anno Regis Jacoby Decimo Octavo 1620. Thomas Cooke one of the gromes of the Prince his Chamber beinge sent in his Highnes service by the com'and of Mr Peter Newton, Gentellman Usher Daily Waiter to the Prince his Highnes, of one messag from the Court at Grenwich to Whitehaell for his Highnes bowes & arrowes, web service being Don he Retorned to the Court a foer said wth answer, allso beinge sent a nother time by the lick com'and from Whithalle to the Banckside to warn the Mr of his Highnes Barge to a tend at Lambeth that daye wth one barge, wch service beinge Don he Retorned to the Court a foer said wth answer, for weh services he praieth to have a lowance for his boot hier and chargis to & fro for both messages to be Rated by the honerable S Robart Cary, Knight, Chamberlin to the Prince his Highnes, & to be paid by the Right worshipfull S Addam Newton, Knight Baronet, Recevor Generall of his Highnes Tresur. viij.. (signed) Ro: CARY. This casual memorial of the youthful amusements of King Charles the First (at this time twenty years of age) is written in a plain hand, the penmanship being superior to the orthography. It was probably drawn by some "clerk of the cheque," or official scrivener attached to the Prince's Household; and the amount of reward allowed was apparently added by Sir Robert Cary (afterwards Earl of Monmouth) when he signed the bill. Again, among the documents "reserved" (see p. 414) are returns of the "Number of Persons touched for the King's Evil, and Medals delivered to the same. Signed by the Clerk of the Closet. Various dates, from 1669 to 1675." Our present specimen is The Right honble the Lords Com'iss" of the Treasury, having required from time to time an Account of the numbers touched by his most sacred Matie for the Evill, and ordered that it be delivered into the Excheq' These are to certifie That upon Friday the sixth day of March 1667 there were touch't One hundred Thirty and Three Persons, and so many healing Medalls given. (signed) WALT : OXON Indorsed, Healing Medalls 6th March 1667. Clerke of ye Closett. J. KNIGHT, serjeant Chyrurgion. The first signature is that of Dr. Walter Blandford, Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards Bishop of Worcester. To the right Honoble Thomas Earle of Southampton, Lord High Treasurer of England. The humble Petic'on of Edward Cocker, SHEWETH, That, about six months since, His Matie was gratiously pleased to accept of yor Petic'on's writing, and to grant him a Privy Seale for 150 to encourage his further Progress in the Arts of Writing and Engraving, which he was never taught. And your Honor Petic'oner, by reason of extreame want and necessity, being hindred of performing such Workes as he humbly conceives would be to the honour of the King and the good of his Maties Kingdomes. Yo' Honors Petic'oner doth therefore humbly beseech your Honor to order his immediate receipt of the said 150', whereby he may be enabled to proceed in the aforesaid curious Arts, and releeve his present necessities. And the Petic'oner shall ever pray, &c. The date of this Petition must be placed between Sept. 8, 1660, when the Earl of Southampton was appointed Lord High Treasurer, and May, 1667, the time of his death. According to Alex. Chalmers, the best account of Cocker is to be found in Massey's "Origin and Progress of Letters," and some further particulars were communicated by Mr. Halliwell to our Magazine for May 1839, p. 496. This renowned calligrapher, who appears to have valued himself more highly on his Writing than his Arithmetic, not prescient of the verdict of (the booksellers of) posterity, died in 1677, and was buried in St. George's, Southwark. Mr. Halliwell, in his letter, has quoted Manning's History of Surrey, as stating "that the tombstone of Cocker was then [by which must be understood the time of Manning's writing] in St. George's church; " but it does not appear there was ever any inscribed stone; on the contrary, it is stated there was none. The words in the History of Surrey are, "In the passage.... are the remains,"-an expression by no means clear, and the authority for which should have been given. We have traced it out, and now present it to Mr. Halliwell: "In the Passage at the W. end within the Church, near the School, was buried (as I am told by the Sexton) the famous Mr. Edward Cocker, a Person well skilled in all the parts of Arithmetick, as appears by his Books, and the late ingenious Mr. John Collins, F.R.S. his testimony of one of them. He was also the most eminent Composer and Engraver of Letters, Knots, and Flourishes in his time.” Edw. Hatton's New View of London, 1708, p. 247; where see further what is said of Mr. John Hawkins, author of Clavis Comercii. Even the following affidavit, though it may detail no new fact, is not without interest as connected with the deathbed-our readers will recollect how memorable a deathbed, of the once gay and witty Earl of Rochester : Sarah Blancourt, late servant of John Earle of Rochester deceased, maketh oath that shee this Deponent did see & was p'sent att the death of the said John Earle of Rochester, who departed this life on the Twenty-sixth day of July last past, about Two of the Clock in the morning of the same day. (Signed) SARAH BLANCOURT. Jurat' Nono die Novembris, Anno D'ni 1680, cor' (Signed) W. MOUNTAGU. Indorsed, Cert. of the Earle of Rochester's death. Obijt 26 July, 80. Our extracts will conclude with another memorial of an eminent author, recording a Free Gift bestowed by King George the First on Sir Richard Steele. It was formerly the practice of the Crown to confer such favours at pleasure, without creating an annual pension. Lists of the Free Gifts during the greater part of the reign of King James the First, were published in "Truth brought to Light by Time,' and they have been reprinted, with biographical notes, under the respective years, in Nichols's " Progresses, &c. of King James the First." When they ceased we are not aware. RICHARD STEEL, ESQR. Order is taken this xth day of Jan', 1714, By virtue of his Mats Gen11 Lr'es of privy Seale, bearing date the 29th Sept, 1714, And in pursuance of a Warrant under his Mats Royall Signe Manual dated the 6th instant, That you deliver and pay of Such his Mats Treasure as remaines in your charge unto Richard Steel, Esq. or to his Assignes, the sume of Five Hundred pounds, without account, as of his Matys free Guift and Royall Bounty, and these, together with his or his Assignes Acquittance, Shall be your Discharge herein. [The signatures of the Lords of the Treasury signing this order have been broken off.] Receipt indorsed, 12 Jan'y, 1714, Received the full contents of this order, per me, RICHARD STEELE. Witness, J. Fox, H. COLLET. In illustration of this document it may be remarked that its date is that of the height of Sir Richard Steele's success as a political writer, as will be seen by reference to the Biographia Britannica. King George (whose accession was on the 1st of August preceding) had already rewarded him with the place of Surveyor to the Royal Stables at Hampton Court, and a license for being Chief Manager of the Royal Company of Comedians. This license bore date Oct. 18, and on the 19th Jan. following (a few days only after the date of the present grant,) Mr. Steele exchanged it for a patent appointing him Governor of the same Company during his life, and to his executors, administrators, and assigns, for the space of three years afterwards. The biographer also proceeds to mention that in August 1715 he received five hundred pounds from Sir Robert Walpole for special services. The authority quoted for this fact is the Report of a Select Committee of the House of Commons, so long after as 1741 and 1742, where, "In a table of monies expended by Sir Robert Walpole, among other articles, there is one for special services, in which is the following article; Aug. 27, 1715, 500l. to Leonard Welstead, Esq. But this gentleman some years declared, that he received the money for Sir Richard Steele, and paid it to him. (Communicated by Mr. Walthoe, Alderman of St. Alban's.)" Whether Sir Richard received two sums of 500l., one in Jan. 1714-15 and another in Aug. following, and with what other grants or pensions he and the other political writers of the day were, from time to time, rewarded by Sir Robert Walpole, it would have gratified the inquirers into biographical and literary history to have ascertained: but under present circumstances we must be contented to gather up merely the crumbs which have fallen on the way to the pig-stye. We may here mention that the two papers relating to Cocker and Sir Richard Steele were rescued from the general destruction by a gentleman, who, with the view of increasing his collection of Autographs, has been at the trouble of looking over a very large mass of the mutilated papers, from which he tells us he has "" selected upwards of one hundred and fifty pounds weight of paper, each sheet or scrap of which contained much curious and interesting matter, or the autograph signature of some eminent person." A "Literary Humane Society" ought to be founded for the occasion, in order to reward such meritorious services with a firstclass gold medal; but, until this be done, we can only offer him and the two other friends to whom we have been indebted for the preceding papers, our best thanks, on the part of every historian and biographer present and to come. Before we conclude, we must record that a whole day's sale of these " carefully mutilated" took place in papers the auction-room of Mr. S. Leigh Sotheby on the 11th of April. They chiefly consisted of Treasury warrants and receipts, which were curious only from their signatures; but such papers as these were sold at prices ranging from two to ten shillings apiece. We will specify a few of the more important lots : 9. Three documents of the expenses of William Davison, Esq. her Majesty's Agent in the Low Countries, in 1577. Sold for 17. 1s. 27. An order signed by ten members of the Privy Council for repayment to the Earl of Hertford, Lieutenant of Somerset, the sum due to the County for levying and clothing troops, 3 Nov. 1616. 31. 15s. 28. A similar order of Council for repaying to Edm. Nicholson his disbursements in levying and clothing troops embarked at Bristol for Ireland; dated 28 Feb. 1601. 17. 18. 32. A warrant signed by fifteen Privy Councillors for the payment of 3000l. to Sir John Fortescue, late Master of the Wardrobe," for things necessarie for the Coronation" of James I.; dated 1 Mar. 1603. 21. 68. 43. Five documents relating to Theobald's Park, 1617, 1622, and 1634. 21. 28. 48. The charges for the entertainment of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 22 Feb. 1626; and an order for 3007. expended in enter1630. 17. 168. taining the Spanish ambassadors, &c. 55. The Book of Reparations of the Castles of Montorgueil and Elizabeth in Jersey, signed by Bishop Juxon; 1637. 17. 28. 69. Order of Council, with the order of President Bradshawe, 1659; and another. 178. 73. Account of the Reparations of the Cockpit Lodgings, for the Duke of Albemarle, Keeper of St. James's Park, 1622-3; and two others. 17. 28. 82. An assignment of monies to Robert Ryves, by "WILIAM PENN," the Founder of Pennsylvania, 1671. 17. 168. 93. An authority by James Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, Master of the Horse, authorising Francis Watson his attorney, to receive two sums of 80001. and 20001. granted to the Duke by the King, 1676. 21. 28. 96. A warrant to issue Tallys under the Great Seal for paying the yearly rent of 250037. 98. 4d. to Sir Robt. Viner, Knt. and Bart. allowed under the Act for taking away the Court of Wards, 1677. 12s. 112. A receipt of Elionora Gwynn, for 500l. towards the support of herself and Charles Duke of St. Alban's, for one quarter ended at Christmas, 1688. 11.3s. 142. An Exchequer acquittance for monies received for the Mint, 1718, with the signature of Sir Isaac Newton. 17. 18. 171. A bull of Leo X., 1517, with the autograph of his Secretary, Cardinal Bembo; and a bull of Adrian VI., 1522, addressed to Henry VIII. POETRY. LINES TO ETON. BY THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY. ME, when thy shade, and Thames's meads and flowers My Memory bring to me my long past hours, Back to thy sacred fountain crowned with bays! To the steep solid heights of lasting fame, That brighten round the Greek and Roman name. And wake the lyre to strains of faith divine. Nor sway'd by novelty, nor public breath; And guide my steps through honour's paths to death. Impregnable, a bulwark of the state! Above the vain, and ignorant, and great. And spread thy gifts through Ages yet unborn, Thy country's pride, and Heaven's parental care. W. 497 REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The New General Biographical Dictionary, projected and partly arranged by the late Rev. Hugh J. Rose, B.D.: Edited by the Rev. Henry J. Rose, B.D. 8vo. 1839-40. Parts I-IV. being Vol. I. [Reviewed by a Correspondent.] IT cannot fail to be a source of gratification to every lover of sound literature, notwithstanding the great and prevailing taste for vulgar fiction which forms the disgraceful characteristic of the present age,―to perceive in the reading world a growing fondness for biographical compositions. When Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, died, their contemporaries did not care to inform us even of the leading features of their lives; but now, where is the little great man who quits the scene without a memoir? Even Grimaldi's memory is embalmed in two thick 8vo. volumes; and we look forward (not without alarm) to the day when the very scene-shifters of the theatre will find appropriate chroniclers. Meantime, of the great of modern days, it may be safely declared that a lifetime would be insufficient for the perusal of their several biographies. The two solid quarto volumes, it is true, have disappeared, but they have left behind a more numerous progeny; so that it has become an act of injustice to transmit the memory of an esteemed writer to posterity in less than six closely printed octavo volumes, luxuriously bound, and still more luxuriously embellished. That a Dictionary of General Biography should have been projected, while the public showed itself so ripe for Biography in particular, is but natural; and we have accordingly seen two such schemes announced. Little can be said concerning that which Mr. Murray, in conjunction with "our brothers in the Row," has in contemplation; since nothing beyond an advertisement has hitherto appeared. Concerning the other DicGENT. MAG. VOL. XIII. tionary, "projected and partly arranged by the Rev. Hugh James Rose, and conducted by the Rev. Henry John Rose," his brother, we propose saying a few words. But before doing So, it may not be improper to offer some preliminary suggestions concerning the nature and true objects of a Biographical Dictionary. Now, it is not difficult to sketch out to one's self the outline of a scheme, which seems calculated to ensure the production of an almost perfect Dictionary; and we have sometimes indulged ourselves with the idea that the time has arrived when such a seeming desideratum might be obtained. The continental lives, we have thought, should be contributed by continental literati,-translated, and incorporated into the great mass of lives which the annals of our own country and the records of antiquity would supply. Of British worthies, not one, of course, should be suffered to escape. Contributors on the several subjects of divinity, science, the fine arts, letters, arms, law, and physic might be instructed to omit from their catalogues no name on which fame had smiled ever so faintly. The memorable brave who fell in any action; the divine who had published a single sermon; the literary man who had been guilty of a single book; the poet who had perpetrated a solitary copy of verses, and those signed with his initials alone; the lawyer who had pressed the bench at any period, however remote; the author of a single discovery; all these, we have sometimes thought, should be recorded. Nay, in so huge a temple of Fame, even local worthies might find a niche. To have been painted by Vandyck or Sir Joshua might perhaps be considered to constitute a sufficient pretext for admission. While it must be superfluous to add, that, of the truly great, the lives should be original compilations at once critical and copious, 3 S |