Chapter C: F. Secretan

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LUTHER AND ERASMUS.

Mr. Editor,--The following lines, written in a hand of the early part of the seventeenth century, occur on the fly-leaf of a copy of the {28} _Translation of Luther on the Galatians_, edit. London, 4to. 1577. Can any of your readers oblige me by informing me who was their author?

"Parum Lutherus ac Erasmus differunt
Serpens uterque est, plenus atro toxico;
Sed ille mordet ut cerastes in via,
Hic fraudulentus mordet in silentio."

Your obedient servant,

ROTERODAMUS.

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TOWER ROYAL--CONSTITUTION HILL--COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE'S LETTER--TENNISON'S FUNERAL SERMON ON NELL GWYNNE.

Sir,--I should be glad to obtain answers to any or all of the following Queries:--

1. What is the origin of the name TOWER ROYAL, as applied to a London locality, and when did our kings (if they ever inhabited it) cease to inhabit it?

2. When was CONSTITUTION HILL first so called, and why?

3. Is there any contemporary copy of the celebrated letter said to have been written by Anne Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, to Sir Joseph Williamson? It first appeared in _The World_.

4. Does a copy exist in MS., or in print, of the sermon which Archbishop Tennison preached at the funeral of Nell Gwynne?

PETER CUNNINGHAM.

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GROG--BISHOP BARNABY.

Mr. Editor,--I hope you intend to keep a corner for Etymologies.

Query, the origin of the word "Grog?"--And why do the people in Suffolk call a ladybird "Bishop Barnaby?"

If you can enlighten me upon either of these points, I shall feel encouraged to try again.

Yours, &c.

LEGOUR.

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NOTES FROM FLY-LEAVES, NO. II.

DR. FARMER ON DRAYTON'S WORKS.

The following bibliographical memoranda, in the well-known hand of Dr. Farmer, occur in a copy of the edition of Drayton's _Poems_ published in 1619, in small folio, by John Smethwick, which contains "The Barons' Wars; England's Heroical Epistles; Idea; Odes; The Legends of Robert Duke of Normandie, Matilda, Pierce Gaveston, and Great Cromwell; The Owle; and Pastorals, containing Eglogues, with the Man in the Moone."

They may be of use to some future editor of Drayton, an author now undeservedly neglected, whose _Nymphidia_ alone might tempt the tasteful publisher of the "Aldine Poets" to include a selection, at least, of his poems in that beautiful series:--

"The works of Michael Drayton, Esq., were reprinted in folio,
1748. The title-page 'promises all the writings of that
_celebrated author_,' but his Pastorals (p.433. &c., first
published imperfectly in 4to. 1593) and many other of his most
considerable compositions (Odes, the Owle, &c., see the Appendix),
are not so much as spoken of. See his article in the _Biog.
Brit._ by Mr. Oldys, curiously and accurately written.

"Another edition (which is called the _best_) was printed in 4
vols. 8vo. 1753. Robson, 1765.

"A Poem Triumphant, composed for the Society of the Goldsmiths of
London, by _M. Drayton_. 4to. 1604. _Harl. Cat._ v.3. p. 357.

"Charles Coffey was the editor of the folio edit. 1748, he had a
large subscription for it, but died before the publication; and
it was afterward printed for the benefit of his widow. See
Mottley, p. 201.

"The print of Drayton at the back of the title-page, is marked in
Thane's Catalogue, 1774, 7s. 6d.

"N.B. The copy of the _Baron's Warres_ in this edition differs in
almost every line from that in the 8vo. edit. 1610.

"It was printed under the title of Mortimeriados, in 7 line
stanzaes.

"Matilda was first printed 1594, 4to., by Val. Simmes. Gaveston
appears by the Pref. to have been publish't before. Almost every
line in the old 4to. of Matilda differs from the copy in this
edit. A stanza celebrating Shakespeare's Lucrece is omitted in the
later edition.

"Idea. The Shepherd's Garland. Fashion'd in 9 Eglogs. Rowland's
sacrifice to the 9 Muses, 4to. 1593. But they are printed in this
Edition very different from the present Pastorals.

"A sonnet of Drayton's prefixed to the 2nd Part of _Munday's
Primaleon of Greece_, B.L. 4to. 1619."

[The stanza in _Matilda_, celebrating Shakespeare's _Lucrece_, to which Dr. Farmer alludes, is thus quoted by Mr. Collier in his edition of Shakespeare (viii. p. 411.):--

"Lucrece, of whom proud Rome hath boasted long,
Lately revived to live another age,
And here arrived to tell of Tarquin's wrong,
Her chaste denial, and the tyrant's rage, {29}
Acting her passions on our stately stage:
She is remember'd, all forgetting me,
Yet I as fair and chaste as e'er was she;"--

who remarks upon it as follows:--

"A difficulty here may arise out of the fifth line, as if
Drayton was referring to a play upon the story of Lucrece, and
it is very possible that one was then in existence. Thomas
Heywood's tragedy, _The Rape of Lucrece,_ did not appear in print
until 1608, and he could hardly have been old enough to have been
the author of such a drama in 1594; he may, nevertheless, have
availed himself of an elder play, and, according to the practice
of the time, he may have felt warranted in publishing it as his
own. It is likely, however, that Drayton's expressions are not to
be taken literally; and that his meaning merely was, that the
story of Lucrece had lately been revived, and brought upon the
stage of the world: if this opinion be correct, the stanza we have
quoted above contains a clear allusion to Shakespeare's _Lucrece_;
and a question then presents itself, why Drayton entirely omitted
it in the after-impression of his _Matilda_. He was a poet who, as
we have shown in the Introduction to _Julius Cæsar_ (vol. viii.
p. 4.), was in the habit of making extensive alterations in his
productions, as they were severally reprinted, and the suppression
of this stanza may have proceeded from many other causes than
repentance of the praise he had bestowed upon a rival."]

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BODENHAM, OR LING'S POLITEUPHUIA.

Sir,--The following is an extract from a Catalogue of Books for sale, issued by Mr. Asher, of Berlin, in 1844:--

"Bodenham? (Ling?), Politeuphuia. Wits commonwealth, _original
wrapper, vellum_. VERY RARE.

"80 fr. 8vo. London, for Nicholas Ling, 1597.

"This book, 'being a methodical collection of the most choice
and select admonitions and sentences, compendiously drawn from
infinite varietie,' is quoted by Lowndes under Bodenham, as first
printed in 1598; the Epistle dedicatory however of the present
copy is signed: 'N. Ling', and addressed 'to his very good friend
Maister I.B.,' so that Ling appears to have been the author, and
this an edition unknown to Lowndes or any other bibliographer."

This seems to settle one point, perhaps a not very important one, in our literary history; and as such may deserve a place among your "NOTES."

BOOKWORM.

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COLLEY CIBBER'S APOLOGY.

Mr. Editor,--No doubt most of your readers are well acquainted with Colley Cibber's _Apology for his Life_, &c., first printed, I believe, in 1740, 4to, with a portrait of himself, painted by Vanloo, and engraved by Vandergucht. Chapters IV. and V. contain the celebrated characters he drew of the principal performers, male and female, in, and just before, his time, viz. Betterton, Montfort, Kynaston, &c. Upon these characters I have two questions to put, which I hope some of your contributors may be able to answer. The first is, "Were these characters of actors reprinted in the same words, and without additions, in the subsequent impressions of Cibber's _Apology_ in 8vo?" Secondly, "Had they ever appeared in any shape before they were inserted in the copy of Cibber's _Apology_ now before me, in 1740, 4to?" To this may be added, if convenient, some account of the work in which these fine criticisms originally appeared, supposing they did not first come out in the _Apology_. I am especially interested in the history of the Stage about the period when the publication of these characters formed an epoch.

I am, Mr. Editor, yours,

DRAMATICUS.

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A MAIDEN ASSIZE--WHITE GLOVES.

Mr. Editor.--I forward for insertion in your new publication the following "Note," taken from the _Times_ of the 20th of August, 1847:--

"A Fortunate County.--In consequence of there being no prisoners, nor business of any kind to transact at the last assizes for the county of Radnor, the high sheriff, Mr. Henry Miles, had to present the judge, Mr. Justice Cresswell, with a pair of white kid gloves, embroidered in gold, and which have been forwarded to his lordship; a similar event has not taken place for a considerable number of years in that county. His lordship remarked that it was the first time it had occurred to him since he had been on the Bench."

And I beg to append it as a "Query," which I shall gladly see answered by any of your correspondents, or my professional brethren,--"What is the origin of this singular custom, and what is the earliest instance of it on record?"

A LIMB OF THE LAW. {30}

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BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE

JONES (EDMUND) GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND RELIGIOUS ACCOUNT OF ABERYSTWITH. 8VO. Trevecka, 1779.

CARTARI.--LA ROSA D'ORO PONTIFICIA, ETC. 4to. Rome. 1681.

SHAKSPEARE'S DRAMATIC WORKS.--The _Fourth_ Volume of WHITTINGHAM'S Edition, in 7 vols, 24mo. Chiswick. 1814.