his lowly origin which made him wish to conceal as far as possible the place of his birth, and so in one of the three entries to register himself as a native of Middlesex; though the name of no town is given-whilst, in the original entries in both the other places, he is spoken of as having been born at Wimborne in Dorset. And indeed, there is no such place as Wimborne in Middlesex. The Index Villaris gives only Wimborne in Dorset. But, more probably, the suggestion made by a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1779 (Vol. XLIX., pp. 640—1) gives the reason; alluding to the question whether Dorset or Middlesex was Matthew Prior's native county he says "Had it been thought of at "election time he would have been rejected as incerti "comitatus. Only two (Fellows) can be chosen from a "county by the college statutes." If already there were two Dorset men who were Fellows of the College, he would not as a third Dorset man be qualified by election. In the two entries, which register his admission to the College, Wimborne, Dorsetshire, is mentioned. But in the entry, which chronicles his election, 5 years later, to a fellowship, his county is given as Middlesex-that is the county in which he then resided, and not that in which he was born. In all probability it was to make the earlier register agree with this that in one of the other entries the name Middlesex was substituted for Dorset. He took his B.A. degree in 1686. In the same year, with his friend Charles Montagu, he published "The Story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse," a parody of Dryden's "The Hind and the Panther." In 1688 he obtained a fellowship at his college, and wrote the annual poem which St. John's College each year sent to its benefactor, the Earl of Exeter. As a result he paid a visit to Burleigh, and became for a short time tutor to Lord Exeter's son. In 1690 he obtained a diplomatic appointment, and went as secretary to the ambassador to the Hague. He had a corresponding appointment in connection with the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, and then for some time held a similar position in Paris, where he was a persona grata at the French

Court. He became M.P. for East Grinstead in 1701.

Under Queen Anne he changed his politics and became a Tory. In 1711 he was employed in connection with the Peace of Utrecht. But on the death of the Queen, the Whigs triumphed. And Prior, returning to England in 1715, was impeached and for a time imprisoned. He was released in 1717, but his sole income was that derived from his college fellowship, which, he had prudently retained, although he had given the income to another. His friends arranged about the publication of his poems, of which an issue of 2,000 copies in 1718 brought him in 4,000 guineas. To this Lord Harley added a similar sum, and Down Hall was purchased for him (in Essex). Here, for the most part, he resided during the remainder of his life. He died of a fever at Lord Harley's seat at Wimpole, in Cambridgeshire, on the 18th of September, 1721. The lengthy Latin inscription, consisting of 65 lines, on his monument in Westminster Abbey, was written by Dr. Robert Freind; and over it was placed his bust by Antoine Coysevox, which had been presented to him by Louis XIV. The epitaph is given in full by Dr. Johnson. Notice that here he is described as Armiger.

I have tried in this paper simply to speak of the birthplace and early life of the poet, and to give a very brief account of his later life; but not in any way to comment upon him as a poet. In his writings, he did but bear witness to the habits of his time. May I conclude with the words of the Duchess of Portland (cf. Works of Lady M. W. Montague, Vol. I., p. 63), that he was "beloved by every living thing in the house, master, child, and servant, human creature, or animal."

The following is a list of some of the works which might be with advantage consulted by those wishing to know more of Matthew Prior :

"Lives of the Poets," by Dr. Samuel Johnson.

"Matthew Prior," by George A. Aitken, "Cont. Review," May, 1890, Vol. LVII., pages 715-729.

Austin Dobson's Introduction and Notes, prefaced to the "Selections from Prior," published in the Parchment Library, 1889.

"Matthew Prior," in Austin Dobson's Eighteenth Century Vignettes, Third series: Chatto & Windus, 1907

Dictionary of National Biography," Austin Dobson. Thackeray's "English Humourists," Oxford Thackeray, Vol. XIII., pp. 579 to 586.

Weld Taylor's article, entitled "Was Matthew Prior a Dorsetshire Man?" in "Longman's Magazine," October, 1884.

Bell's Aldine Edition of Prior (2 vols.), with Mitford's introduction.

"Encyclopædia Britannica."

Seward's "Anecdotes," II., 285-7.

Boswell's "Life of Johnson."

"North British Review," November, 1857.

Grosse's "English Literature," Vol. III., pp. 208-212 (with portrait after Sir Godfrey Kneller's, and facsimile of his handwriting, extract from a letter to Secretary Blaythwayt).

Courthope's "A History of English Poetry" (Macmillan, 1905), Vol. V., pp. 26-30, 108–121.

"Cowper's Letters to Unwin," Jan. 5 and 17, 1782, and March 21, 1784.

Calendar of MSS. of the Marquis of Bath at Longleat (Historical MSS. Commission), especially Vol. III. (Prior Papers).

"Cont. Review," July, 1872.

"Poems, &c., by Matthew Prior, to which are added memories of his life, his last will and testament," &c. Dublin, Grierson, 1723.

"Gentleman's Magazine' especially Vol. XLIX. (A.D.

1779).

The later edition of Hutchins gives the following list of engraved portraits :—

Painting by Richardson, given by him to St. John's College, Cambridge,
Engraved by G. Vertue.

Portrait after Richardson, by Vertue, 1710.

A mezzotinto, after Richardson, 1718, by J. Simon.

Portrait prefixed to his poems, 1721, 12mo, after H. Rigaud, by Du Floi. Another, folio, by Clark, 1722.

Another, after Kneller, by J. Faber, 1728, mezzotinto.

A small one by Fourdrinier, prefixed to the duodecimo edition of hs poems 1741

Dorset Chantries.

(CONCLUDED FROM VOL. XXX., p. 57.)

By E. A. FRY.

Section D.

PARTICULARS OF KINE AND SHEEP IN VARIOUS DEANERIES.

The following is the only Sale or Grant of the Cattle mentioned in the Chantry Roll as given for finding lights and other purposes that I have come across in the course of my investigations into Chantry lands. It would have escaped my notice altogether, as it is not indexed in Vol. 68, but that I went through Vols. 67, 68, 258, and 259 page by page to see that nothing had been omitted. I have arranged it under the various Deaneries for easier reference. This list does not account for anything like the total, £99 4s. 8d., given in the Chantry Roll and there can be little doubt that the Churchwardens of the other places (who, according to this list, had the charge of the cattle) did not account for them to the Commissioners. The prices obtained by the sale differ from the valuation in the Chantry Roll and much of the money seems unaccounted for.