814

I

Mr. URBAN,

66

Sept. 8. N anfwer to Antiquitatis Confervator, p. 401, I have in my poffeffion a heart, which varies from his in fome particulars, which I will enumerate. On one outside is engraved, "I live and die in loyaltye," and a heart pierced by two arrows. On the infide of the fame half is a fkull (with an infcription, now illegible, close encircling it), with a coronet upon the top, and refting upon a crown. On the other outfide is engraved Prepared bee to follow mee," CR, and an eve dropping tears. On the inside of this half a very good relieved head of Charles I. upon an oval of black enamel, but no mark under the head. The heart has a ring at the top, to which is hung a very fmall filver feal, on which is engraved a Bend, contain ing three birds like Martlets or Popin. jays, which are the Curfon arms. The heart has been in my family many years, 1 fhould fuppofe from the time it was made. Yours, &c. W. W.

ΤΗ

Mr. URBAN, Sept. 9. HE burial-ground of St. George, Bloomsbury, furnishes the following brief memorials of two eminent perfonages; of whom one is recorded in your vol. L. p. 347; the other in vol. LVIII. pp. 564, 656.

I. "Here lies the body of
SAMUEL MUSGRAVE, M.D.
who departed this life July 5, 1780,
in his 48th year."

2. "In memory of
Mr. BENJAMIN WILSON,
of Great Ruifel-freet, Bloomsbury,
who departed this life June 8, 1786,
aged 66."

THE

Mr. URBAN, Chelsea, Aug. 2. HE fufferings of humanity at all times, and at all teafons, loudly call forth the compaffion of the generous and humane; but when unprotected vouth, when an injured, beauteous female, is the object of commileration, what genuiue fon of freedom will refute the tribute of a paffing tear?

Your valuable Magazine has long been looked-up to by thoufands, as the receptacle of whatsoever may bid fair to cultivate genius, to improve the understanding, or to amend the heart. The Antiquary looks to it with an eye to alliftance

[Sept.

towards fatisfying his curiofity; the Philofopher adverts to it as a key to knowledge; the Man of Feeling perufes it, and often finds therein the fairest fubjects on which to exercife the emotions of tenfibility. Struck with the truth of this affertion, permit me to addrefs myself to the hearts only of your readers, whilft I leave it to your other numerous correfpondents to inftruct their minds.

Accident fubmitted the following recital to my perufal. The pitiablencfs, would I could fay the novelty, of the cafe, infenfibly caught my attention, and forced a figh. I with it had been in my power to prefent you with it fooner.However, though the young writer was a fpectator in the year 1789, and hence to fome the whole may appear fiction, fince fo long patfed over in filence; the tale is, nevertheless, every fyllable fact: but my youthful friend never thought of prefenting to the public eye, what ftruck the feelings of innocence as difagreeable and inhuman.-The 1ubject is as fol. lows:

Tuesday, the 7th of July, 1789, (fays my young friend,) I was at the City of London inn, at Dover, whither I had rode with fome friends the day before. I rofe from sleep at fix. The weather was warm and fine.When I went down ftairs, I faw a very interefting fpectacle. At first I thought fome one was finging, and, liftening, heard notes inexpreffibly foft, though wild and plaintive. I defcended, and went into the kitchen, for from thence I perceived the founds proceeded.

And there I faw a young woman out of her mind, apparently about eighteen years of age. She had a pretty bouquet of flowers in her hand; he was foiting them, and finging at the fame time: this reminded me of a young lady named Ophelia, in Hamlet. The flowers were intended, the faid, for her Lo

ver.

The particulars I could collect concerning her were very few, as follows. She was feduced from humble parents when very young, and carried off to London, where fhe was kept fome time, but how long I could not exactly learn. The man who perfuaded her to elope with him, finding that the bore no living fruits of their loves, cruelly abandoned her. The confequence of which inhuman unexpected ufage was the lofs of her fenfes. She had been fince confined in a private mad houfe in or near the town of Lover, but had fome way or other got out, and escaped to the inn.

She fang very fweetly; and being asked why the left her late habitation, antwered, "Because the was obliged to work." Some ftander by enquired how the employed her time last night -"I walked all about Dover."-"What, not fleep at all ?”—“ No t

nol

no! I could not close my eyes. Give me a strong stick and a nice lantern, and I will be your watchman. Oh, I fhall make a very good watchman. You must let me fleep in the day, you know." She had fome flips of paper in her hand, and these the called fairings the diftributed them among fome ducks and other poultry in the yard, which the tenderly and emphatically ftyled her children! But, alas, her children were as unfeeling as her feducer! When they found nothing left to fatisfy their appetites, they fpurned her proffered favours, and feemed to quit her with filent, ungrateful contempt.

She fang "The ocean wide, &c." and then burft out inftantaneously into "Push about the joram." Finding at length her little heedlefs charge of fowls basking in the morning fun, the tenderly exclaimed, but in a wild accent, "My pretty children are all gone to fleep-they have no hard-hearted lovers; but I can't fleep-Macbeth has murder'd fleep-ah! he was a naughty man, was he not ?"

There was a young woman of the inn

wathing fome coarfe cloths. She went up, and fhook hands with her, faying, "I love to fee my friends; come, come, shake hands, let me shake hands; perhaps you know it is the last time." Then fhe would needs wash : "I ran away from work-but I can work for amusement, you know.-Heigho' working people fhould have a deal of fleep."

A young man of the yard approached, when her young friend faid, "Look! here's your Lover come!"-"Oh now! do not give me too many Lovers, they will break beart My fate, you know, is very hard; is it not?"

my

We could bear this fcene no longer; but, leaving her to the care of an all-feeing, merciful Providence, withdrew.

Yes, fweet, injured innocent, thy fate

is hard! but there is a God above, who will moft furely afford thee one day relief, avenge thy wrongs, and punish thy vile feducer--He may perhaps enjoy himfelf, and triumph in his wicked courfe. Yet-could be but once imagine the condition of his forfaken fair-one,could he but picture to himself his once dear Jenny M**b, in the yard of a country inn, bereft of understanding, and expofed-even to the pity of the meaneft oftler-could he but fancy to himself the bitter execrations of all around, on the curfed caufe of her fall :-could he but hear her finging fo plaintively, talking fo movingly, wathing coarfe clothes after a whole night's fad vigil, and complaining of the hardship of her lot:what must be bis feelings, if perchance he has any? What heart of adamant could endure fuch cutting reproaches ?I know of no fituation more contempti

ble, more felf-abafing, more agonizing, than his. To know himfelf the guilty caufe of all. To have occafioned the difgrace of a virtuous family, the wretched ftate of tender parents, the ruin of their fondeft hopes; to heal away, and butcher, the poor man's little ewe-lamb ! To know himself the bittereft perfecutor of her, whofe chief crime was that of loving him too well! Thefe, and many more fuch like ideas, muft perpetually harrow up his foul with remorfe, without the fmalleft melancholy hope of relief. Such a perfon's mind no poet can trace, no language defcribe! His horror, anguifh, and unavailing purposes of amendment, are all in vain! No words can give full vent to his lamentations! His is the worm that dieth not. Death alone can allay, fincere repentance alone appeale, the forgivenefs of an all-merciful God alone finally make ceafe, the torments he W. B.

endures.

Mr. URBAN,

ME

Trait of the Court of Charles II. in 1689. Sept. 1. EETING with the following striking anecdotes in a mifcellaneous French work, printed at Amfterdam in the fucceeding year, the author a gentleman of fashion; I thought the turning them into English might be fome gratification to your hittorical readers.

W. HAMILTON REID.

WE have been (fays Mr. Le Pays) at Hampton Court, where the Court is at prefent, and which is the Fontainbleau of England. We have feen their Majefties there. The young Queen (Catherine of Portugal), though rather fall, is a pretty brunette, and has a countenance very expreffive of goodnefs and sweetnefs of temper. She has brought with her four or five Portuguese females, who are by much the moit ugly apes + that have ever borne the name of women! When one fees them among the Englifh girls who wait upon them, one might fay, that Hell and Paradife had atfembled themselves together, and that Angels and Devils were in the fame company. But this is not all that the Queen has introduced of the ridiculous: fhe has a fpecies of Portuguese mufick, by which a concert is fuftained by harps, which is by far the most pitiful harmony that I have ever heard; for, during the celebration of a Mafs where we were admitted to thew ourselves, my ears, which are, however, not the most delicate, fuffered more than ever they had fuffered before.

As for Hampton Court, it is a house magnificent enough; but by my faith it does not * Intituled, "Amitiez, Amours, & Amourettes, par M. Le Pays." + Guenons.

approach

816

Mr. URBAN,

Aug. 18.

N antient monument, fuppofed to A have been erected to the memory of Sir John Chidioc and his lady, has been Jately removed from the North tranfept of the parish church of Christchurch, Hants, to a little chapel adjoining, in order to make room for a large gallery, to hold the children of the Sunday Schools lately established in that parish. As the tomb was over the bone-house, an arched vault, it was fuppofed by fome, that the crown of the arch came too near the furface to admit of a fufficient depth for a vault or grave, and that the bodies were not laid there. The workmen, however, in a grave five feet deep, found the bo dies, having a layer of fine chocolatecoloured duft, which had been the coffin, betwixt them and the earth. On comparing the bones, it appeared that those of the skeleton on the left-fide were the largeft, and the teeth (two only miffing) were perfect. On the other hand, there were no teeth in the other skull, nor were the fockets perfect. The inference from hence feems to be, that the man died young, and the woman in more advanced life. But why the pofition of the bodies fhould be different from that of the effigies on the tomb, in which the man is placed on the right-fide, feems of difficult explanation, unless accident, and not defign, occafioned it.

If any of your readers can throw any light upon the hiftory of this monument, and of the perfons whom it is faid to commemorate, more than in Hutchins's Hiftory of Dorfetfhire, and will have the goodness to do it, by means of your Magazine, it will be very acceptable information, and thankfully received by

[Sept.

tached, and on which his hands, in a pofture of devotion, rest. ENJAS.

I

Mr. URBAN,

Oxon, July 18.

HAVE read the two letters from Brefpecies of bigotry, and am forry that fuch chin, p. 524. I am no friend to any

a reftriction as occationed those letters fhould take place under any religious establishment. However, I would beg leave, Mr. Urban, to ask the Rev. Mr. Brown, the Epifcopal Minifler at Brechin, whether he would have thought fo uncandidly of the Scotch Minifters, or have been fo refolute in the purpose he mentions, if he had known and confidered, that the Diffenters in England, who have a right to bury their friends in the church vards of the parishes to which they belong, do not expect to have them buried in any other way than according to the ufage of the Eftablished Church; and that, if they were to defire it, they would not be allowed to do it? If Mr. Brown knows of any inftances to the contrary, I fhould be glad to be informed of them. But perhaps Mr. Brown thinks, that it would be right in him, though a Diffenter in Scotland, to do that there, which would be thought wrong in a Diffenter in England, if he were to do it here.

Mr. URBAN,

H. G.

Sept. 9.

As S the obfervation of your Faunic correfpondent, p. 725, respecting our imperfect knowledge of the Natural Hiftory of England, has often occurred to me, and excited a fimilar with of feeing it removed by the means he propofes, I have followed his example by contributing my mite towards it in the fol lowing fhort defcription of the lacertus vulgaris, or common land eft.

This animal is usually about 5 inches long; the back is of a reddish brown, fpotted with black, with a black ftreak running down the middle from the head to the tail, having a row of fmall white fpots at a little diftance on each fide of it; the under-jaw is white; the belly of a fine fhining deep yellow, with black fpots; the body is covered all over with fmall fcales, thofe of the tail being difpofed in rings round it, and there are ufually about forty of thefe rings in the tail, which is longer than both the head and body; there are five toes on each foot, thofe on the hind-feet are longer than the others; the eye is black, and rather fmall; the mouth is very large, and the tongue bipartite, or divided in

two

two. They caft their skins about the middle of Auguft, and, during the winter season, bury themfelves in holes in the ground, and under ftumps of trees. In fummer, they are very fond of bafking in the fun on heaths and warm banks, and will lie without ftirring for a long time, as if dead; but, upon the approach of any one, they immediately retreat with great fpeed into the nearest bush or furze, and will not fir out again for a long time. On laying hold of them by the tail, or ftriking them on it, they very eafily part with it; which, like the claws of lobsters, &c. will in a little time be renovated.

The country-people in general regard thefe little animals as very dangerous creatures; but, among fome hundreds I have observed, I never perceived either inclination or power to do any mischief.

A1

Mr. URBAN, Sept. 10. LLOW me to infert a remark on the following lines in Milton's Lycidas:

[done?

Ah me! I fondly dream
Had ye been there, for what could that have

Dr. Newton explains the paffage thus: I fondly dream of your having been there, for what would that have fignified ?"But furely," obferves Mr. Warton, "the words, I fondly dream had ye been there, will not bear this conftruction." He then fubjoins the following explanation : "Ah me! I am fondly dreaming! I will suppose you had been there—but by fhould I fuppofe it, for what would that have availed? The context is broken and confuled, and contains a fudden elhpfis, which I have fupplied with the words in Italicks."

Had the expreffion been elliptical, as is here fuppofed, Milton would probably

have written,

Had ye been there-but what could that have done?

Such an ellipfis may be eafily filled up, and fuch we meet with in the beft claffic writers. But there appears to me to be no deficiency whatever. The paffage, though fomewhat obfcure, is certainly complete. In this fenfe :

Ab me! bad ye been there, i. e. admitting ye had been prefent, as I have fuppoled, fill I do but fondly dream in making that fuppofition; for what could that, what could your having been there,

bave done? In Latin thus: Væ mihi! inner fomniâlle videor, etiamfi aufueGENT. MAG. September, 1791.

Mr. URBAN, Tottenham, July 6. PERCEIVING that you have, in your valuable Repertory for December laft, honoured the authors of the History of Tottenham by reviewing that morceau of British Topography, and from the perufal of which (as an inhabitant) I' have received much pleafing information; permit me to request your infertion of the following general remarks on that work, which, I prefume, many of your readers who have fubfcribed thereto may poffibly have overlooked.

In the Lift of Subfcribers, read, J. Burrell, Efq.

Rev. Dr. Farmer, read Canons, fine apoftrophe.

In the Contents:

Divifion into wards fhould refer to
Rivers
Manors

Infert Marshes

Charitable foundations Whitehall

Page

3

4

27

39

79

104

The metal pot fhou'd face p. 103. Page 2, lines 6, 22, and 25; and many others.-It must be unpleasant to all readers, except Antiquaries, to be interrupted by the frequent quotations which oc cur in the reading of this work, fuch as vol. part, pp. 24, 25, &c. &c. In a fecond edition, the authors will do well to infert nothing of the kind, except by references to the bottom of the page. P. 4, line 8, read brook.

P. 6, in the note, read Miles.

that the value of the parish is computed Pp. 8 and 9. How comes it to pafs, to the total exclufion of the three ounces of gold? the prefent worth of which, were it calculated with the 251. 155. would increafe the laft fum 1620). to 25201. odd.

P. 10, . 18, a comma after Le Neve. P. 30, 1. 21 Jane, dau hter of ——, probably Sir Thomas Nevill. Sec Topo graphic sketch of Widdiail, Here, pub

lished lately.

P. 38. I think Totenham fhould here be To'tenbam.

P. 42. I have reafon to think, that the repair, which has lately been done to the veftry, was much forwarded in the execution through the appofite hints given here, by Meff. Oldfield and Dyson, concerning it; and they have faid, its outfide hath the appearance of a mausoleum. This word the vicar and churchwardens have introduced in their tablet, which, by the bye, is fluck in the frieze over one of the columns, like the fign of the Pewter Platter in Gracechurch treet. It now appears probable, that the inhabitants of Tottenham have at laft met with a churchwarden who has taken fome pains to investigate the papers relating to the fupport and repair of this building, which had fo long lain dormant.

P. 49. Perhaps the letters on Pagitt's feal mean Deo reftituit.

P. 53, 1. 5, read seraphick.
Ib. 1. 23. The twig of myrtle is not
Fructed Or in the plate.

P. 54, 1. 26, read Umfray, as in plate.
P. 57, 19, read Lincolnshire.

P. 58. No doubt but there are some papers to be found, which will inform wherein Mr. Billington was a benefactor to this parish.

P. 59, 1. 7, read MCCCCXIX. P. 61. It appears by Newcourt's lift, that Bedwell was vicar 24 years.

P. 63. Arthur Deane, Efq. died June 21, 178..

P. 72, l. 16. Wm. Wimpen was most probably vicar of this parish. See Newcourt's lift; where, I think, Edw. Spark fhould be p. ref. and not p. m. Wimpew.

P. 76, L 22. And it appears by this paffage, that Thomas Symfon was vicar between Wimpew and Spark; therefore Newcourt is imperfect here again.

Ib. 1. 33. This Mrs. Hufbands was doubtlefs the wife of Mr. H. vicar.

P. 81, note, read reference to Keep, not Kemp.

P. 91, 1. 7. The initials of the four cardinal points are omitted in the engraving.

P. 98. We are here told, that Sir Abraham Reynoldfon built the houte 1590-1; and p. 99, that he was born 1590.

mean

R P. 99. Perhaps the letters A E Abraham and Eleanor Reynardfon, who was his fecond wife. This chimneypece was likely an improvement to the boule at her marriage with bon.

CHARLES THORNDON.

I

Mr. URBAN,

June 16. HAVE lately read, with much picafure, the learned Mr. Wakefield's "Remarks on the internal Evidences of the Chriftian Religion." In a note fubjoined to Remark XXIX, the author expreffes his fatisfaction in Dr. Price's acknowledgement of an error; observing, at the fame time, that “to errors we are all liable." He will not, therefore, be offended, if I prefume to point out what appears to me to be an error in his own valuable work.

In Remark V, commenting on Matt. X, 29, 30, "Are not two fparrows fold for a farthing?" &c. he fays, "If the philofopher contemplates with aftonishment this idea of God's indifcriminate and perpetual providence over the univerfe, the philologift is no lefs delighted with the energy and plainnefs of the language in which it is conveyed."— "Which," he continues, "is the more predominant feature in this ftriking picture of the Supreme Being, the affection of the parent, or the power of the Creator? What, let me afk, what could proclaim fuch glad and aweful tidings. but a voice from the bofom of the Father?" Now it appears from Buxtorf, as quoted by Whitby, that, in these words, our Saviour alluded to a common faying of the Jews; confequently, no inference can be drawn from this paffage for the fuperlative and peculiar excellence of his doctrine.

Permit me, Mr. Urban, to take notice of another paffage in Mr. W's book, which feems to be involved in fome obfcurity. In Remark XXI, he lays, "After our Saviour's refurrection from the grave, he appeared to his dif ciples at the fea of Tiberias, as they were fishing. They appear to have been fenable ibai it was their mafter: but their attonishment at fo extraordinary an interview feems to have got the better of their inquifitiveness; and none of them ventured to fay, Who ait thou? For it must be remembered that, notwithstand. ing his repeated and pofitive predictions to this purpose, the difciples had yet in their own minds no decided conviction of bis rejurrection from the grave."

If Mr. W. means to affirm, that the difciples had not, at that time, any decided conviction in their own minds of their Maller's refurrection, he not only appears to contradict himielt, but to have lot fight of what the Evangelift

* jobu 1. 18.

relates