Chapter M: Coquebert De Montbret (5)

The ancient inhabitants of the British Islands, painted their skins in
various grotesque figures, with the juice of woad. This custom of
tattooing was in use both by the Britons and their first invaders, the
Belgæ, and I believe it will be found, that the warriors of all those
nations which practised tattooing, invariably threw off their garments
in the hour of battle. The name of Picts, is said, though erroneously,
to have been given by the Romans to the Caledonians, who possessed the
East coast of Scotland, from their painting their bodies. This
circumstance has made some imagine that the Picts were of British
extraction, and a different race of men from the Scots. That more of
the Britons who fled northward, from the oppression and tyranny of the
Romans, settled in the low lands of Scotland, than among the Scots of
the mountains, may be easily imagined, from the very nature of the
country. It was these people who introduced painting among the Picts,
From this circumstance, some antiquaries affirm, proceeded the name of
the latter, to distinguish them from the Scots, who never had that art
among them, and from the Britons, who discontinued the practice of
tattooing after the Roman conquest.

The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, at this day, paint upon
their bodies various grotesque figures, for the purpose of striking
terror into their enemies, in the day of battle. J. S.

Footnote 49:

From the Classical Journal.

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS.

Among the insipid legends of ecclesiastical history, one of the most memorable is that of the Seven Sleepers, whose imaginary date corresponds with the reign of the younger Theodosius and the conquest of Africa by the Vandals, or sometime about the year 440. When the Emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus concealed themselves in a spacious cavern in the side of an adjacent mountain; where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of huge stones. They immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged, without injuring the powers of life, during a period of one hundred and eighty seven years. At the end of that time, the slaves of Adolius, to whom the inheritance of the mountain had descended, removed the stones to supply materials for some rustic edifice; the light of the sun darted into the cavern, and the Seven Sleepers were permitted to awake. After a slumber, as they thought of a few hours, they were pressed by the calls of hunger; and resolved that Jamblichus, one of their number, should secretly return to the city, to purchase bread for the use of his companions. The youth, if we may still employ that appellation, could no longer recognise the once familiar aspect of his native country; and his surprize was increased by the appearance of a large cross triumphantly erected over the principal gate of Ephesus. His singular dress and obsolete language, confounded the baker, to whom he offered an ancient medal of Decius as the current coin of the empire; and Jamblichus, on the suspicion of a secret treasure, was dragged before the judge. Their mutual enquiries produced the amazing discovery that two centuries were almost elapsed since Jamblichus and his friends had escaped from the rage of a Pagan tyrant. The Bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, the magistrates, the people, and as it is said, the Emperor Theodosius himself, hastened to visit the cavern of the Seven Sleepers, who bestowed their benediction, related their story, and at the same instant peaceably expired. The origin of this marvellous fable cannot be ascribed to the pious fraud and credulity of the _modern_ Greeks, since the authentic tradition may be traced within half a century of the supposed miracle. James of Sarug, a Syrian bishop, who was born only two years after the death of the younger Theodosius, has devoted one of his two hundred and thirty homilies to the praise of the young men of Ephesus. Their legend, before the end of the sixth century, was translated from the Syriac into the Latin language, by the care of Gregory of Tours. The hostile communions of the East preserve their memory with equal reverence; and their names are honourably inscribed in the Roman, the Abyssinian, and the Russian Calendar. Nor has their reputation been confined to the Christian world. This popular tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is introduced as a divine revelation, into the Koran. The story of the Seven Sleepers has been adopted, and adorned, by the nations, from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion; and some vestiges of a similar tradition have been discovered in the remote extremities of Scandinavia.

JOHN RAY, THE NATURALIST.

Ray was the son of a blacksmith, at Black Notley, in Essex, where he was born in 1628. He received his education at Braintree school, at Catharine Hall, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge. His intense studies, requiring country air and exercise, occasioned his predilection for botany; his first rambles in search of plants were confined in extent, but subsequently diverged throughout England and Wales; and at length passing the channel he visited many parts of Europe. His books of instruction were the works of Johnson and Parkinson, and the Phytologia Britannica. His friend and companion, Francis Willoughby,[50] was a gentleman as amiable as scientific, their souls seeming to be blended together. Ray having been ordained, did not chuse to accept of the emoluments of the church, with which he did not entirely unite; but just before his death, when it was too late to gain, he became reconciled to it. Mr. Willoughby, who died in 1672, left him an annuity of sixty pounds, but it does not appear what other property he possessed, except his fellowship of Trinity. Though the generations which have followed him have produced a Linnæus, a Buffon, and a Pennant, yet Ray’s fame is too well established ever to be supplanted. He was a wise, a learned, as well as a pious and modest man, and ever ready to impart that knowledge which he had taken so much pains to acquire. He died in 1705 with a devout humility that had ever distinguished him, wishing that he had spent much more of his life in the immediate service of his Creator. There was no task too arduous for Ray; if Lister, a contemporary naturalist, would have gone to the bottom of the ocean for a shell, Ray would have climbed to the extreme point of the Alps for a new plant. In the church-yard of Black Notley, his native place, there is a long and elegant inscription to the memory of this great man, and in the library of Trinity College, there is a fine marble bust of him, in company with Bacon and other splendid ornaments of that magnificent foundation.

Footnote 50:

This eminent naturalist and excellent man, was justly admired both at
home and abroad for his virtues and knowledge in every branch of human
learning, more particularly in natural history. He was the son of Sir
Francis Willoughby, Knt. of Wollaton Hall in the county of Nottingham.
Observing in the busy and inquisitive age in which he lived, that the
history of animated nature had in a great measure been neglected, he
made the study and illustration thereof his unceasing object. For the
promotion of this branch of science he went abroad with Mr. Ray, for
the purpose of searching out and describing the several species and
productions of nature. He travelled over most parts of France, Spain,
Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, in all which countries he was so
diligent and successful, that not many sorts of animals described by
others escaped his observation. He drew them with a pencil, and they
were afterwards engraven on copper-plates, at the expense of his
widow. His labours were printed in latin under the title of
“_Ornithologiæ libri tres, &c._ London, 1676,“ folio. This work was
afterwards translated into English by Mr. Ray, with an appendix, and
printed at London, in 1678. Mr. Willoughby also wrote the “History of
Fishes,” which was published by Mr. Ray, at London, in 1686, in folio.
He likewise printed several papers in the Philosophical Transactions.
Mr. Willoughby died on the third of July, 1672, leaving issue by his
wife, Emma, daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry Bernard, Knt. two Sons,
Francis and Thomas, and one daughter Cassandra, married to the Duke of
Chandos. The second son Thomas was in 1712 created Lord Middleton,
from whom is descended the present peer of that title.

LONDON BANKERS, AND THEIR ORIGIN.

The company of Goldsmiths, in London, appeared as a fraternity, as early as 1180, but it was in the reign of Edward the third, that they were first incorporated. They became, in time, the bankers of the capital. The _Lombards_ were the first and greatest, and most of the money contracts, in old times, passed through their hands. Many of our monarchs were obliged to them for money.—The three blue balls, now used by pawnbrokers, but converted by them into golden ones, are, in reality, the arms of the Lombards.

Lombard-street, in the metropolis, took its name from being the residence of the Lombards, the great money-changers and usurers of early times. They came out of Italy into this kingdom before the year 1274; at length their extortions became so great, that Edward the third seized on their estates; perhaps the necessity of furnishing himself with money for his Flemish expedition, might have urged him to this step. They seem quickly to have repaired their loss; for complaint was soon after made against them, for persisting in their practices. They were so opulent in the days of Henry the fourth, as to be able to furnish him with money, but they took care to get the customs mortgaged to them, by way of security.

They continued in Lombard-street till the reign of queen Elizabeth, and to this day it is filled with the shops of eminent bankers. The shop of the great Sir Thomas Gresham stood in Lombard-street; it is now occupied by Messrs. Martin and Stone, bankers, who are still in possession of the original sign of that illustrious person, the _Grasshopper_.

The business of goldsmiths was confined to the buying and selling of plate, and foreign coins of gold and silver, melting them, and coining others at the mint. The banking was accidental and foreign to their institution.

Regular banking by private persons resulted in 1643 from the calamity of the times, when a seditious spirit was incited by the acts of the parliamentary leaders. The merchants and tradesmen who before trusted their cash to their servants and apprentices found that mode no longer safe; neither did they dare to leave it in the mint at the tower, by reason of the distresses of majesty itself, which before was a place of public deposit. In the year 1645, they first placed their cash in the hands of goldsmiths, who then began publicly to exercise the two professions of goldsmiths and bankers. Even of late years there were several very eminent bankers who kept the goldsmith’s shop; but they were more frequently separated.

The first regular banker was Mr. Francis Child, goldsmith, who began business after the restoration. He was the father of the profession, a person of large fortune, of most respectable character, and he was knighted by the king. He lived in Fleet-street, in the house adjoining Temple-bar, where the banking business is still carried on in the same firm, though by different persons. Granger, in his Biographical History, mentions that Mr. Child succeeded Mr. Backwell,[51] a banker in the time of Charles the second, noted for his integrity, abilities, and industry; who was ruined by the shutting up of the Exchequer in 1672.[52] His books were placed in the hands of Mr. Child, and still remain in the family.

The next ancient shop was that possessed at present by Messrs. Snow and Co. in the Strand, a few doors westward of Mr. Child’s, who were goldsmiths of consequence in the latter part of the same reign. Mr. Gay celebrates the predecessor of these gentlemen, for his sagacity in escaping the ruin of the fatal year 1720, in his epistle to Mr. Thomas Snow, goldsmith, near Temple-bar:—

O thou whose penetrative wisdom found
The _South Sea_ rocks and shelves where thousands drown’d,
When credit sunk and commerce gasping lay,
Thou stoodst; nor sent’st one bill unpaid away.

To the westward of Temple-bar the only other house was that of Messrs. Middleton and Campbell, goldsmiths, who flourished in 1692, and is now continued with great credit by Mr. Coutts. From thence to the extremity of the west end of the town there were none till the year 1756, when the respectable name of Backwell rose again, conjoined with those of Darel, Hart, and Croft, who with great reputation opened their shop (afterwards the house of Devaynes, Noble, and Co.) in Pallmall.

Footnote 51:

He was an alderman of London, and after the Exchequer was shut retired
to Holland, where he died, and was brought over to be interred in the
church of Tyringham, in Buckinghamshire, where he lies embalmed. A
glass is placed over his face, so that it is likely he may even be
seen at this time. There is a small portrait of him at Tyringham
House, in which he is represented in long hair and a flowered gown,
with a table by him.

Footnote 52:

A part of the national debt, amounting to £664,263, is as old as this
iniquitous transaction of Charles the second and his ministers. This
sum was all that those persons received, who had placed their property
and their confidence in that monarch, for the loss of £1,328,526, and
26 years interest thereon at 6 per cent. about £2,100,000 more.

ELUCIDATION OF THE ORNAMENTS WITH WHICH THE GREEKS AND ROMANS ADORNED
THE HUMAN HEAD ON COINS AND MEDALS.

THE DIADEM.

The chief of these ornaments is the diadem, or vitta, which was a ribband worn about the head, and tied in a floating knot behind. This was anciently the simple, but superlative badge of kingly power. It is observable upon the Greek monarchical medals, from the earliest ages, to the last, without any other ornament, and is almost an infallible sign of kingly power, and that the portrait, if there be no other characteristic, is that of a prince. In the Roman coins it is seen on the Consular ones with Numa and Ancus; but never afterwards till the time of Licinius. So great an aversion had the Romans to this kingly distinction, that their emperors had for more than two centuries worn the radiated crown, peculiar to the gods, before they dared to assume the diadem, which was considered as the symbol of tyranny. In the family of Constantine, the diadem becomes common, though not with the ancient simplicity, being ornamented on either edge with a row of pearls, and various other decorations.

The Greek queens used the diadem, but the Roman empresses never appear with it; however, the variety of their head dresses more than compensates for the want of this ornament.

THE RADIATED CROWN.

The radiated crown was, at first, as on the posthumous coins of Augustus, a mark of deification, and in little more than a century after, was put upon most of the emperors’ heads on their several medals.

THE CROWN OF LAUREL.

The crown of laurel was at first the honorary prize of conquerors, but was afterwards commonly worn, at least on their medals, by all the Roman emperors, from JULIUS CÆSAR, who was permitted by the senate to wear it always, to hide the baldness of his forehead. This perhaps gave rise to the first emperors always appearing with it on their coins, a circumstance continued even to our times, and looking at its origin is now a little laughable. The laurel employed by the ancients in forming their crowns, is apparently what we term the Alexandrian laurel, a most beautiful evergreen, of a fine tender verdure. In the lower empire the laurel is often held by a hand above the head as a mark of piety.

THE ROSTRAL CROWN.

Agrippa appears on his coins with the rostral crown, a sign of naval victory or command, being made of gold, in resemblance of prows of ships, tied together.

THE MURAL CROWN.

Agrippa is likewise seen with the mural or turretted crown, the prize of first ascending the walls of an enemy’s city.

THE CIVIC CROWN.

The oaken or civic crown is frequent on reverses, as of Galba and others; and was the badge of having saved the life of a citizen, or of many citizens.

THE HELMET.

The helmet appears on coins; as in those of Macedon under the Romans, which have a head of Alexander, sometimes covered with a helmet. Probus also has often the helmet on his coins; and Constantine the first, has helmets of different forms curiously ornamented.

THE NIMBUS OR GLORY.

The nimbus or glory, now peculiar to the saints, was formerly applied to emperors. A nimbus appears round the head of Constantine the second, in a gold coin of that prince; and of Flavia Maxima Fausta, in a gold medallion; and of Justinian in another. But the idea is as ancient as the reign of Augustus, and is found in Roman authors, before it appeared on coins. Oiselius gives a coin of Antoninus Pius, with the _nimbus_, but this however is doubtful, and may have been some flaw in the coin from which he engraved his representation.

OTHER ORNAMENTS OF THE HEAD.

Besides the diadem, the Greek princes sometimes appear with the laurel crown. The Arsacidæ, or kings of Parthia, wear a kind of sash round the head, with their hair in rows of curls like a wig. Tigranes and the kings of Armenia, wear the _tiara_, a singular kind of cap, but the well known badge of imperial power in the ancient eastern world. Xerxes, a petty prince of Armenia, appears in a coin extant of him in a conical cap, with a diadem around it. Juba, the father, has a singular crown, like a conical cap, all hung with pearls.

The successors of Alexander assumed by way of distinction, different symbols of the Deity, to be observed on the busts of their medals, such as the lion’s skin of Hercules, which surrounds the head of the first Seleucus; the horn placed behind the ear, an image of their strength and power, or of their being the successors of Alexander, called the son of Jupiter Ammon; the wing placed in like manner behind the ear, symbolic of the rapidity of their conquests, or of their being descendants from the god Mercury.

Some authors, however, have doubted if all these heads be not of gods, except those with the horn. Eckhel observes, that even the horn and diadem belong to Bacchus, as on a coin of Nuceria Alfaterna. Bacchus, according to Diodorus Siculus, invented the diadem, to cure his head-aches, and was horned like his father Jupiter Ammon. The only king who appears on coins, according to Eckhel, with the horn, is Lysimachus. Pyrrhus had a crest of goats’ horns to his helmet, as we are informed by Plutarch, in his life, and the goat was the symbol of Macedon. It is likely that the successors of Alexander took this badge of the horn in consequence.

Besides the distinctions of supreme power, or honorary reward, there are other symbolic ornaments of the head, observable on some Roman coins. Such is the veil, or, more properly, the _toga_ drawn over the head, to be seen on the busts of Julius Cæsar, when Pontifex Maximus, and others. This shews that the person bore the pontificate or the augurship; the augurs having a particular gown, called _laena_, with which they covered their heads, when employed in observing omens. Latterly the veil is only a mark of consecration, and is common in coins of empresses, as Faustina, Mariniana, and others. In the coins of Claudius Gothicus we first find it as a mark of the consecration of an emperor; and it continued in those of Constantius the first, Maximian the first, and Constantine the first.

The remarkable part of the Roman head dress among the ladies, was the _sphendona_, or sling, on the crown of the head; answering to the modern hair cushion. But it was of gold, and so prominent as to be even remarkable in a coin. The hair appears in many fashions, as now. Sometimes the bust of an empress is supported by a crescent, to imply that she was the moon, as her husband was the sun of the state.

Generally, only the bust is given on ancient coins; but sometimes half the body or more. In the latter case the hands often appear, with tokens of majesty in them. Such is the globe, said to have been introduced by Augustus, to express possession of the world. The sceptre, sometimes confounded with the consular staff. The roll of parchment, symbolic of legislative power; and the handkerchief expressing that of the public games, where the emperor gave the signal. Some princes even hold the thunderbolt, shewing that their power was equal to that of Jupiter in heaven. Others hold an image of victory.

Most queens of Egypt, on their coins, have the sceptre. It appears at the top of their head; and would seem part of the dress, were it not that in other coins, it passes beneath the neck transversely, so that both ends appear.

The victors, at the sacred games among the ancients, had bound round the head, an ornament called _anadema_, which has sometimes been confounded with the diadem worn by the ancient Persian kings.

THE TRADESCANTS.

The Tradescants, father and son, were among the first eminent gardeners, and were the very first collectors of natural history in this kingdom. John Tradescant the elder was, according to Anthony Wood, a Fleming, or a Dutchman. We are informed by Parkinson, that he had travelled into most parts of Europe, and into Barbary, and from some emblems remaining upon his monument in Lambeth church-yard, it appears that he had visited Greece, Egypt, and other Eastern countries.

In his travels, he is supposed to have collected not only plants and seeds, but most of those curiosities of every sort which formed his collection, which afterwards became celebrated, and is now the Ashmolean museum, at Oxford.

When he first settled in this kingdom, cannot at this distance of time, be ascertained; perhaps it was towards the latter end of the reign of queen Elizabeth, or the beginning of that of king James the first. His portrait, engraven by Hollar, before the year 1656, represents him as a person very far advanced in years, and seems to countenance this opinion.

He lived in a large house at South Lambeth, where, there is reason to think, his museum was frequently visited by persons of rank, who became benefactors thereto; among these were king Charles the first, to whom he was gardener, Henrietta Maria, his queen, Archbishop Laud, George, Duke of Buckingham, Robert and William Cecil, Earls of Salisbury, and many other persons of distinction.

John Tradescant may, therefore, justly be considered as the earliest collector in this kingdom,[53] of every thing that was curious in natural history, namely, minerals, birds, fishes, insects, &c. &c. He had also a good collection of coins and medals, besides a great variety of extraordinary rarities. Some of the plants which grew in his garden are, if not totally extinct in this country, at least become very uncommon.

This able man, by his great industry, made it manifest, in the very infancy of botany, as a science, that there is scarcely any plant existing in the known world, that will not, with proper care, thrive in this kingdom. The time of his death cannot be ascertained, no mention being made of it in the register of Lambeth church.

John Tradescant the son, and his wife, joined in a deed of gift, by which their friend Elias Ashmole was entitled to this collection after the decease of the former. On that event taking place, in 1662, it was accordingly claimed by him, but the widow Tradescant refusing to deliver it, was compelled so to do by a decree of the court of Chancery. She was, a few years after, found drowned, in a pond, in her own garden.

His house at South Lambeth, then called Tradescant’s Ark,[54] thus coming into the possession of Ashmole, he came to reside there in 1674, and added a noble room to it, adorning the chimney with his arms, impaling those of Sir William Dugdale, whose daughter was his third wife. Ashmole was much respected by his contemporaries, and was frequently visited at South Lambeth by persons of very exalted rank, particularly by the ambassadors of foreign princes, to whom he had presented his book on the Order of the Garter.

It is well known that Tradescant’s collection was given by Ashmole to the University of Oxford, where it forms the principal part of the museum that goes by his name, the house, in which it is contained, having been built for its reception.[55]

A monument was erected in the south east part of Lambeth church-yard, in 1662, by Hester, the relict of John Tradescant, the son, to the memory of her husband, and the other members of his family.

This, once beautiful monument has suffered so much by the weather, that no just idea can now, on inspection, be formed of the north and south sides; but this defect is supplied from very fine drawings[56] in the Pepysian library, at Cambridge. On the east side is Tradescant’s arms; on the west a hydra, and under it a skull; on the south, broken columns, Corinthian capitals, &c. supposed to be ruins in Greece, or some other Eastern country; and on the north, a crocodile, shells, &c. and a view of some Egyptian buildings; various figures of trees, &c. in relievo, adorn the four corners of the monument.

In a visit made by Sir W. Watson and Dr. Mitchell to Tradescant’s garden, in 1749, an account of which, is inserted in Philos. Trans. vol. xlvi. p. 160, it appears that it had been many years totally neglected, and the house belonging to it empty and ruined, but though the garden was quite covered with weeds, there remained among them manifest footsteps of its founder.[57] They found there the _Borago latifolia sempervirens_ of Caspar Bauhine; _Polygonatum vulgare latifolium, C. B_; _Aristolochia clematitis recta, C. B._ and _Dracontium_ of Dodoens. There were then remaining two trees of the _Arbutus_, which from their being so long used to our winters, did not suffer by the severe cold of 1739-40, when most of their kind were killed in England. In the orchard there was a tree of the _Rhamnus catharticus_, about 20 feet high, and nearly a foot in diameter. There are at present no traces of this garden remaining.

The Tradescants were usually called Tradeskin by their contemporaries, and the name is uniformly so spelled in the parish register of Lambeth, and by Flatman the painter, who in a poem mentions Tradescant’s collection;

“Thus John Tradeskin starves our wond’ring eyes,
”By boxing up his new-found rarities.“

The following is a list of the portraits of the Tradescant family now in the Ashmolean Museum; both father and son are in these portraits called Sir John, though it does not appear that either of them were ever knighted.

1. Sir John Tradescant, sen. a three quarters piece, ornamented with fruit, flowers, and garden roots.

2. The same, after his decease.

3. The same, a small three-quarters piece, in water colours.

4. A large painting of his wife, son and daughter, quarter-length.

5. Sir John Tradescant, junior, in his garden, with a spade in his hand, half length.

6. The same with his wife, half length.

7. The same, with his friend Zythepsa of Lambeth, a collection of shells, &c. upon a table before them.

8. A large quarter piece inscribed Sir John Tradescant’s second wife and son.

These pictures have neither date nor painter’s name. They are esteemed to be good portraits, but who the person was, who is called Zythepsa is not known. He is painted as if entering the room, and Sir John is shaking him by the hand.

Hollar engraved two portraits of the Tradescants, father and son, which are placed as frontispieces to the little volume, mentioned in the preceding note.

Granger (2. 370) says he saw a picture at a gentleman’s house in Wiltshire, which was not unlike that of the deceased Tradescant, and the inscription was applicable to it:—

Mortuus haud alio quam quo pater ore quiesti
Quam facili frueris nunc quoque nocte doces.

Footnote 53:

Tradescant was the first English collector of curiosities in a private
rank. Thoresby was the second. _Gough’s Topogr_.

Footnote 54:

The late James West, Esq. told Mr. Bull, that one of the family of
Roelans, of which there are four or five prints by Hollar, lived a
long while at Lambeth, in the house that afterwards belonged to
Tradescant, to whom Roelans sold it. _Granger’s B. II._ 2. 371.

Footnote 55:

In the year 1656 the younger Tradescant, published a small volume,
entitled “Museum Tradescantianum, or a Collection of Rarities
preserved at South Lambeth. London, 1656, small octavo.” This book is
divided into two parts, the first containing a catalogue of the
museum, and the second an enumeration of the plants, shrubs, and
trees, growing in the garden at South Lambeth. Among the natural
curiosities here preserved are “a dragon’s egg—the claw of the bird
_Rock_, which, as authors report, is able to trusse an elephant,” &c.
&c.

Footnote 56:

These drawings are engraven in the Philosophical Trans. vol. 63, p.
88; and printed from the same plates, in Bibl. Topogr. Brit. vol. 2.
in Dr. Ducarel’s Hist. of Lambeth.

Footnote 57:

Tradescant’s was the next botanical garden in England after Gerard’s.

Gerard seems to have been the first that cultivated a botanical
garden. He had a large one near his house in Holborn, London, where he
raised nearly eleven hundred different trees and plants. He published
his history of plants in 1597 under the patronage of Lord Burleigh.
His herbal was republished in 1636 by Johnson.

ORANGE TREES.

The first orange trees seen in England, are said to have been planted by Sir Francis Carew, at Beddington, in Surrey. Sir Francis died in 1607, aged 81. Aubrey says they were brought from Italy by Sir Francis, but the editors of the Biographia Britannica speaking from a tradition preserved in the family, tell us that they were raised by him from the seeds of the first oranges which were imported into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had married his niece. The trees were planted in the open ground, and were preserved in the winter by a moveable shed. They flourished about a century and a half, being destroyed by the hard frost in 1739-40.

In the transactions of the Linnæan Society there are some notices relating to the progress of botany in England, written by the late eminent naturalist, Peter Collinson. Speaking of the orange trees at Beddington be says—“In the reign of queen Elizabeth the first orange and lemon trees were introduced into England by two curious gentlemen, one of them Sir Nicholas Carew, at Beddington. They were planted in the natural ground, but against every winter an artificial covering was raised for their protection. I have seen them some years ago[58] in great perfection. But this apparatus going to decay, without due consideration a green-house of brick work was built all round them, and left on the top uncovered in the summer. I visited them a year or two after in their new habitation, and to my great concern found some dyeing, and all declining; for although there were windows on the south side, they did not thrive in their confinement; but being kept damp, with the rains, and wanting a free, airy, full sun, all the growing months of summer, they languished, and at last all died.

“A better fate has attended the other fine parcel of orange trees, &c. brought over at the same time, by Sir Robert Mansell, at Margam in South Wales. My nephew counted 80 trees of citrons, limes, burgamots, Seville and China orange-trees, planted in great cases all ranged in a row before the green-house. This is the finest sight of its kind in England. He had the curiosity to measure one of them. A China orange measured in the extent of its branches fourteen feet. A Seville orange-tree was fourteen feet high, the case included, and the stem twenty one inches round. A China orange-tree twenty two inches and a half in girt.

“I visited the orangery at Margam, in the year 1766, in company with Mr. Lewis Thomas, a very sensible and attentive man, who told me that the orange-trees, &c. in that garden were intended as a present from the king of Spain to the king of Denmark; and that the vessel in which they were shipped, being taken in the channel, the trees were made a present of to Sir Robert Mansell.”

Footnote 58:

This was written in the year 1754.

ARTICLES OF USE AND LUXURY INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE BY THE ROMANS.

Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended with some beneficial consequences to mankind; and the same freedom of intercourse which extended the vices, diffused likewise the improvements of social life. In the more remote ages of antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The east was in the immemorial possession of arts and luxury; whilst the west was inhabited by rude and warlike barbarians, who either disdained agriculture, or to whom it was totally unknown. Under the protection of an established government, the productions of happier climates, and the industry of more civilized nations were gradually introduced into the western countries of Europe, and the natives were encouraged, by an open and profitable commerce, to multiply the former, as well as to improve the latter. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the articles, either of the animal or vegetable kingdoms which were successively imported into Europe from Asia and Egypt; it is only intended here to touch on a few of the principal heads. It is also not improbable that the Greeks and Phœnicians introduced some new arts and productions into the neighbourhood of Marseilles and Cadiz.

1. Almost all the flowers, the herbs, and the fruits, that grow in our European gardens, are of foreign extraction, which in many cases, is betrayed even by their names; the apple was a native of Italy, and when the Romans had tasted the richer flavour of the apricot, the peach, the pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented themselves with applying to all these new fruits the common denomination of apple, discriminating them from each other by the additional epithet of their country.

2. In the time of Homer, the vine grew wild in the island of Sicily, and most probably in the adjacent continent; but it was not improved by the skill, nor did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of the savage inhabitants. A thousand years afterwards, Italy could boast, that of the fourscore most generous and celebrated wines, more than two thirds were produced from her soil. The blessing was soon communicated to the Narbonnese province of Gaul; but so intense was the cold to the north of the Cevennes, that in the time of Strabo, it was thought impossible to ripen the grapes in those parts of Gaul. The intense cold of a Gallic winter was even proverbial among the ancients. This difficulty, however, was gradually vanquished; and there is some reason to believe that the vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age of the Antonines. In the beginning of the fourth century, the orator Eumenius speaks of the vines in the territory of Autun, which were decayed through age, and the first plantation of which was totally unknown.

3. The olive, in the western world, followed the progress of peace, of which it was considered as the symbol. Two centuries after the foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangers to that useful plant; it was naturalized in those countries; and at length carried into the heart of Spain and Gaul. The timid errors of the ancients, that it required a certain degree of heat, and could only flourish in the neighbourhood of the sea, were insensibly exploded by industry and experience.

4. The cultivation of flax was transported from Egypt to Gaul, and enriched the whole country, however it might impoverish the particular lands on which it was sown.

5. The use of artificial grasses became familiar to the farmers both of Italy and the provinces, particularly the lucerne, which derived its name and origin from Media. The assured supply of wholesome and plentiful food for the cattle during winter, multiplied the number of the flocks and herds, which, in their turn, contributed to the fertility of the soil.

To all these improvements may be added an assiduous attention to mines and fisheries, which by employing a multitude of laborious hands, serves to increase the pleasures of the rich, and the subsistence of the poor. The elegant treatise of Columella describes the advanced state of the Spanish husbandry, under the reign of Tiberius; and it may be observed, that those famines, which so frequently afflicted the infant republic, were seldom or never experienced by the extensive empire of Rome. The accidental scarcity, in any single province, was immediately relieved by the plenty of its more fortunate neighbours.

ACCOUNT OF THE ESCAPE OF THE EARL OF NITHSDALE, FROM THE TOWER, IN THE
YEAR, 1716.

Lord Nithsdale was one of the Scottish noblemen who were concerned in the rebellion headed by the Earl of Mar, in the year 1715. The House of Commons preferred articles of impeachment against him, and several others, who all, except the Earl of Wintoun, pleaded guilty, and on the 9th of February, 1716, received judgment of death. The countess of Nithsdale and lady Nairne threw themselves at the king’s feet as he passed through the apartments of the palace, and implored his mercy in behalf of their husbands; but their tears and entreaties were of no avail. The countess finding that nothing would appease the king but the death of her husband and the other lords, planned the earl’s escape from the tower in woman’s apparel, which she safely effected. The letter, of which the following is a copy, written by herself and addressed to her sister lady Lucy Herbert, abbess of the Augustine nunnery at Bruges, giving an account of that transaction is still preserved in the family, and was in the possession of the late Marmaduke Constable Maxwell, Esq. of Everingham in Yorkshire.

”_Palais Royal de Rome, 18th April, 1718._

“Dear Sister,

“My Lord’s escape is now such an old story, that I have almost forgotten it; but since you desire me to give you a circumstantial account of it, I will endeavour to recal it to my memory, and be as exact in the narration as I possibly can; for I owe you too many obligations to refuse you any thing that lies in my power.

“I think I owe myself the justice to set out with the motives which influenced me to undertake so hazardous an attempt, which I despaired of thoroughly accomplishing, foreseeing a thousand obstacles, which never could be surmounted but by the most particular interposition of Divine Providence. I confided in the Almighty God, and trusted that he would not abandon me, even when all human succours failed me.

“I first came to London upon hearing that my Lord was committed to the Tower, I was at the same time informed that he had expressed the greatest anxiety to see me, having, as he afterwards told me, nobody to console him till I arrived. I rode to Newcastle, and from thence took the stage to York. When I arrived there the snow was so deep that the stage could not set out for London. The season was so severe, and the roads so extremely bad, that the post itself was stopt; however, I took horses, and rode to London through the snow, which was generally above the horse’s girth, and arrived safe and sound without any accident.

“On my arrival I went immediately to make what interest I could amongst those who were in place. No one gave me any hopes; but all to the contrary, assured me, that although some of the prisoners were to be pardoned, yet my lord would certainly not be of the number. When I enquired into the reason of this distinction, I could obtain no other answer, than that they would not flatter me; but I soon perceived the reasons which they declined alleging to me. A roman catholic, upon the frontiers of Scotland, who headed a very considerable party—a man whose family had always signalized itself by its loyalty to the royal house of Stuart, and who was the only support of the catholics against the inveteracy of the Whigs, who were very numerous in that part of Scotland, would become an agreeable sacrifice to the opposite party. They still retained a lively remembrance of his grandfather, who defended his own castle of Carlaverock to the very last extremity, and surrendered it up only by the express command of his royal master. Now having his grandson in their power, they were determined not to let him escape from their hands.

“Upon this I formed the resolution to attempt his escape, but opened my intentions to nobody but my dear Evans. In order to concert measures I strongly solicited to be permitted to see my lord, which they refused to grant me, unless I would remain confined with him in the Tower. This I would not submit to, and alleged for excuse, that my health would not permit me to undergo the confinement. The real reason of my refusal was, not to put it out of my power to accomplish my design; however, by bribing the guards, I often contrived to see my lord, till the day upon which the prisoners were condemned; after that we were allowed for the last week to see and take our leave of them.

“By the help of Evans, I had prepared every thing necessary to disguise my lord, but had the utmost difficulty to prevail upon him to make use of them; however, I at length succeeded by the help of ALMIGHTY GOD.

“On the 22d of February, which fell on a Thursday, our petition was to be presented to the House of Lords, the purport of which was to intreat the lords to intercede with his majesty to pardon the prisoners. We were, however, disappointed the day before the petition was to be presented; for the Duke of St. Alban’s, who had promised my Lady Derwentwater to present it, when it came to the point, failed in his word: however, as she was the only English countess concerned, it was incumbent upon her to have it presented. We had one day left before the execution, and the duke still promised to present the petition; but, for fear he should fail, I engaged the Duke of Montrose to secure its being done by the one or the other. I then went in company of most of the ladies of quality who were then in town, to solicit the interest of the lords, as they were going to the house. They all behaved to me with great civility, but particularly my Lord Pembroke, who, though he desired me not to speak to him, yet promised to employ his interest in our favour, and honourably kept his word; for he spoke in the house very strongly in our behalf. The subject of the debate was, whether the king had the power to pardon those who had been condemned by parliament? And it was chiefly owing to Lord Pembroke’s speech, that it passed in the affirmative: however, one of the lords stood up and said, that the house would only intercede for those of the prisoners who should approve themselves worthy of their intercession, but not for all of them indiscriminately. This salvo quite blasted all my hopes; for I was assured it aimed at the exclusion of those who should refuse to subscribe to the petition, which was a thing I knew my lord would never submit to; nor, in fact, could I wish to preserve his life on such terms.

“As the motion had passed generally, I thought I could draw some advantage in favour of my design. Accordingly, I immediately left the House of Lords, and hastened to the Tower, where, affecting an air of joy and satisfaction, I told all the guards I passed by, that I came to bring joyful tidings to the prisoners. I desired them to lay aside their fears, for the petition had passed the house in their favour. I then gave them some money to drink to the lords and his majesty, though it was but trifling; for I thought that if I were too liberal on the occasion, they might suspect my designs, and that giving them something would gain their good humour and services for the next day, which was the eve of the execution.

“The next morning I could not go to the Tower, having so many things in my hands to put in readiness; but in the evening when all was ready, I sent for Mrs. Mills, with whom I lodged, and acquainted her with my design of attempting my lord’s escape, as there was no prospect of his being pardoned; and this was the last night before the execution. I told her that I had every thing in readiness, and I trusted that she would not refuse to accompany me, that my lord might pass for her. I pressed her to come immediately, as we had no time to lose. At the same time I sent for Mrs. Morgan, then usually known by the name of Hilton, to whose acquaintance my dear Evans had introduced me, which I looked upon as a very singular happiness. I immediately communicated my resolution to her. She was of a very tall and slender make, so I begged her to put under her own riding-hood, one that I had prepared for Mrs. Mills, as she was to lend her’s to my Lord, that in coming out he might be taken for her. Mrs. Mills was then with child; so that she was not only of the same height, but nearly of the same size as my lord. When they were in the coach, I never ceased talking, that they might have no leisure to reflect. Their surprise and astonishment, when I first opened my design to them, had made them consent, without ever thinking of the consequences. On our arrival at the Tower, the first I introduced was Mrs. Morgan; for I was only allowed to take in one at a time. She brought in the clothes that were to serve Mrs. Mills, when she left her own behind her. When Mrs. Morgan had taken off what she had brought for my purpose, I conducted her back to the staircase; and in going I begged her to send me in my maid to dress me; that I was afraid of being too late to present my last petition that night, if she did not come immediately. I despatched her safe, and went partly down stairs to meet Mrs. Mills, who had the precaution to hold her handkerchief to her face, as was very natural for a woman to do when she was going to bid her last farewell to a friend on the eve of his execution. I had indeed desired her to do it, that my lord might go out in the same manner. Her eyebrows were rather inclined to be sandy, and my lords were dark and very thick; however, I had prepared some paint of the colour of her’s, to disguise his with. I also brought an artificial head-dress of the same coloured hair as her’s; and I painted his face with white and his cheeks with rouge, to hide his long beard, as he had not time to shave. All this provision I had before left in the Tower.

The poor guards, whom my slight liberality the day before had endeared to me, let me go quietly with my company, and were not so strictly on the watch as they usually had been; and the more so, as they were persuaded, from what I had told them the day before, that the prisoners would obtain their pardon. I made Mrs. Mills take off her own hood, and put on that which I had brought for her; I then took her by the hand and led her out of my lord’s chamber; and in passing through the next room, in which there were several people, with all the concern imaginable, I said, “My dear Mrs. Catherines, go in all haste, and send me my waiting maid; she certainly cannot reflect how late it is; she forgets that I am to present a petition to-night, and if I let slip this opportunity I am undone, for to-morrow will be too late. Hasten her as much as possible, for I shall be on thorns till she comes.” Every body in the room, who were chiefly the guards’ wives and daughters, seemed to compassionate me exceedingly, and the sentinel very officiously opened the door to me. When I had seen her out I returned back to my lord, and finished dressing him. I had taken care that Mrs. Mills did not go out crying as she came in, that my lord might the better pass for the lady who came in crying and afflicted, and the more so, because he had the same dress she wore. When I had almost finished dressing my lord in all my petticoats excepting one, I perceived that it was growing dark, and was afraid that the light of the candles might betray us, so I resolved to set off; I went out leading him by the hand, and he held his handkerchief to his eyes; I spoke to him in the most piteous and afflicted tone of voice, bewailing bitterly the negligence of Evans, who had ruined me by her delay. Then, said I, “My dear Mrs. Betty, for the love of GOD run quickly, and bring her with you; you know my lodging, and if ever you made despatch in your life, do it at present, I am almost distracted with this disappointment.” The guards opened the doors, and I went down stairs with him, still conjuring him to make all possible despatch. As soon as he had cleared the door I made him walk before me, for fear the sentinel should take notice of his walk, but I still continued to press him to make all the despatch he possibly could. At the bottom of the stairs I met my dear Evans, into whose hands I confided him. I had before engaged Mr. Mills to be in readiness, before the Tower, to conduct him to some place of safety, in case we succeeded. He looked upon the affair so very improbable to succeed, that his astonishment, when he saw us, threw him into such consternation, that he was almost out of himself, which Evans perceiving, with the greatest presence of mind, without telling him any thing, lest he should mistrust them, conducted him to some of her own friends, on whom she could rely, and so secured him, without which we should have been undone. When she had conducted him, and left him with them, she returned to find Mr. Mills, who, by this time, had recovered himself from his astonishment. They went home together, and having found a place of security, they conducted him to it.