Sis&rC THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT THE ESSENCE OF M ALONE, OR, The "BEAUTIES" OF THAT FASCINATING WRITER, EXTRACTED FROM HIS IMMORTAL WORK, IN Five Hundred, Sixty-nine Pages,. and a Quarter, JUST PUBLISHED, AND (With his accuftoTned felicity) ENTITLED, *' Some Account of the Life and Writings of John Dryden !!" lUmtiost : SOLD BY T. BECKET, PALL MALL. Price 2s. 6d. PRINTED EY J. SMEETON, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, 1800. $^DEDICATION. -/ the celebrated author of " Coryatt'j Crudi* ties," revived in his prefent Majejly's reign: To all the Dutch Critics of all ages, particu- larly to him, who wrote a folio volume de particuld ye, et fatellitibus ejus : To the late ingenious and ingenuous Editor, Critic, and Man, George Steevens, Efq. To all the other Editors in general, pajl, prefent, and future, of that William ** Shakfpeare," (as we muft fiowfpell the name " ex adytis") whom their talents, more than his own, will have immortalized : Not forgetting the Society of Antiquaries- the late facetious, though light moralijl, James Bofwell, Efq. or thofe amiable gojjips, Mr, Spence, Bimop Newton, Mrs. Piozzi, and other blue- flocking writers of Memoirs : 21? Dr. Burney, and the Concert of Ancient Mufic: To Heralds, Coach Painters, Bookfellers, and other luminaries of Genius : This " Fleur-de-Malone" is infcribed, with enthufiafm, by his, and their pupil, as well as idolator, Minutius Felix. C * ] may reform the obfolete practice of Thucydides, Livy, and others, who are of the oldfchool. An almoft prophetical type of this reform was hinted in the M Calais Calqfium Cale/ium, &c." of Sterne, who makes his traveller note the mea- fure of fteeples with geometrical precifion, but with a difdain of the 6 ] " That his tutor was Mr. George Walker, " That he was 16 years of age." which is written Sex-decim. (that no part of the entry may be loft.) But we find alfo, that his name was " Teat. 1 ' Then comes this profound and fagacious re- mark worth half the book for it's ingenuity for it's weight, and for it's pertinent applica- tion to John Dry den I " Being called by the lefs polifhed of his country- men Tate according to the ordinary Irijb pro- nunciation he probably, when he came to Eng- land, adopted the new fpelling of his name II" Example IV. Southerne was patronized by the famous Dryden. The firft remark of E. Malone upon the former is, " that ^o^miftakes his birth-place that he was born in the county of Dublin, 1659." Then comes a Latin regifter (as in the cafe of Tate) at length proving, that he was admit- ted ftudent there in his 17th year. But who mall fay, that a point of fuch con- fequence (as the birth-place of Southerne) can be too much, or too well proved ? Ant: Wood's falfe account is annexed after it had been ref.ited And a letter of Southerne himfelf upon the L.^ic of this very miftake to Dr. Rawlinfon. It contains 27 lines, and the date of the letter, with everv local circumftance of it, in detail ! " from Mr. White's, Oilman, in Tothill Street, * againft Dartmouth Street, &c. &c." Example C i.7 3 Example V. This, perhaps, is the moft extraordinary and beautiful trait of an epifode-life-hunter that 8 3 Then follows a very elaborate vindication of this Gentleman's moral character, in a note of near five pages, with a newfpaper account of his death ! Example VI. Congreve's Life is the next, in five or fix pages ; and if Edmond had only told us of important circumftances relating to that in- genious author, (who was Dryden's friend) we fhould have faid, vetus credidi, and thanked him for this "flapper" to our memories. But he has done more, and better. He has enriched hiftory with two fails, which are both of them " detections" into the bargain. I need not fay, that " Ex pede Herculem" is here (as upon every other occafion) his motto. The lawyers (I wifli they had kept their word) have told us, that law dc minimis non curat. The biographer (of the Malon-ian fchool) for minimis reads maximis. i ft. Congreve had left it in doubt, whether he was more than twenty-one when he firft brought out the Old Bachelor. It is proved by Sir Ifaac Malone, that he was twenty-one when he wrote it ; but that when it was firfl performed he was twenty-three: that when he produced his fourth play, he was in his ** twenty-eighth" year not in his " twenty -fifth." 2. It has been a vexata qu and had the fale of Dry den's Life by Edmond Malone to recommend, I mould fay, Cf why, Gentlemen, the bookfeller's/^/ are " worth half the money remember the corns I " and the left-legged bookfeller ! a guinea more " is bid ; in feveral places !" Minutius Felix. PART C 24 3 PART the FOURTH. CANON III. Biographer cannot be too minute in what relates to his Hero. Example I. Dryden's name appears to have been Jpelt four different ways Driden, Dryden, Dreyden, Dreydon. See p. 3, 40, 322. By the way, this hetero-graphy of cf Drey den" with its Malon-ian key, is a moll beautiful ex- ample of Canon the firft ; which is, in other words, the art of differing with him/elf: polTcfled, by the ingenious perfonage before us, to a degree almoft unexampled in the annals of truth, we mall therefore take that firft Canon in tow, with- out prejudice to the rights of Canon the third , which is more immediately our prefent object. Page 3 of the Life, note 3, we are told, ft that " y had been fubftituted by the poet in place of * i, which belonged originally to his name. " But [ *S ] " But that in books of the laft age % it was inac- " curat ely written Dreyden." Yet, au coup de bague t the inaccuracy is changed, (by the amiable caprice of this fanciful Proteus,) into the poet's own manner of fpelling the name in cold blood j as he infers > by a mode of de- duction, very characteriftic of his acutenefs. For he difcovers firft i that in the advertifement, A. D. 1679, which offers a reward for the de- tection of thofe who aflaulted him, the name is written 4 5> and 6 - N. B. I deprecate hoftility againft. a com- petitor like Edmond, who is a giant in thefe polemics, and would make no more of me than a good-natured grenadier made of little >uarme, who demanded fatisfadtion of him for prefling againft him in a mob, which claim, the offender anfwered by taking him up, then holding him, as Rolla balances the child in Pizarro, carrying him out of the mob, and placing him gently upon the earth at the diftance of many hundred yards from the fcene of action. But I muft, though with trembling humility, affure Sir Ifaac Ma/one and the world, (fynoni- mous terms, " ilium, et Regem fuum") that I believe Dry den was born 1 629, though at fo late a period in that year, that it may almoft be confidered as a birth in 1630, which is Congrcve's report, if he meant to be correal ; and why he fhould not have fo meant, I cannot imagine : though if he had fpoke of his own birth, I fhould have [ 2 9 ] have doubted him, as, being a male beauty , he might wiih to be thought younger than he was. The hour of his birth is not afcertained with punctual accuracy, but I know it was pajl eleven, March 25, 1628-9 '> anc * tne doubt is, whether he came into the world before or after the hour of twelve. There I am a little puzzled, but in- cline to fome few minutes before twelve. The reader will fee more of this in a work by itfelf, in which I can venture to allure him before hand, that all the authorities, notes, reafonings, errata included, will not occupy more than a hundred and four pages. Example IV. Dryden was born at Aldwinkle, in the County of Northampton. Fuller, the hijlorian, was born at the fame place. Who would think Aldwinkle a generic name, with branches and varieties that are full of intri- cacy 1 Yet we mail find the " Dignum vindice nodum" before we are much older. " Tradition fays, that he was born at the par- fonage Houfe of -Aldwinkle- All-Saints. '* He (Dryden himfelf) has told us, that he was .born in a village belonging to the Earl of Exeter. '* That village mull have been Aldwinkle, St. Peter's." " But [ 30 ] " But Dryden might not have known it !!!" cc i. e. might have thought it was the eftate of Lord Exeter, when it was not." We attribute here, to a celebrated poet, the moft poetical confulion of local names, and the fublimeft ignorance of local facts, refpecting his own place of nativity, that perhaps the Mufes ever produced, as living marks of their indif- ference to hiftorical truth, where even the poet they love, condefcends to deal with it, and affefls compliance with it. The editor of a poet im- bibes a little of that cup, and every fuppolition of fuch a mijlake, though in profe, is poetical ; He is himfelf the Jublime, that he delineates, which is the character given, if I recollect, of his lineal anceftor, Longinus. " Tet Aldwinkle- All-Saints, has tradition for it (belides the author's aflertion, which if he had not been a poet would have had its weight.)" " This tradition, however, may have arifen from the fact, that Pickering, his maternal grandfather, was Rector of that parifh ; but he did not obtain his preferment till 16 years after Dryden** death." He might, however, have been curate of Ald- winkle- All-Saints, and perhaps rented the parfo- nage houfe of the Rector. What luminous doubts are thefe ! and how they jump over (licks backwards and forwards ! No certainty can equal the effect of fuch per- hapfes, ?nays, and mights. But let us refume the village. " It is a village if indeed it fliould not rather be called villages upper and lower." It [ 3' J ct It is on tlfe wejiern bank of the Nen.'* cc It has two hundred families !" " It comprehends a part of the two villages of Aldwinkle St. Peter's, andAldwinkle All-Saints" Mark the delightful intricacy of thefe branches from the generic tree ! " Aldwinkle the genus." l ft. Species upper and lower Aldwinkle. 2d . Aldwinkle All-Saints Aldwinkle St. Peters, i ft. Subdivision of the firft and 2d. branch. The parts of All-Saints and St. Peter's, lying in upper and lower Aldwinkle, Subdivision 2d. Parts of A. All Saints, and A. St. Peter's, not in upper nor in lower Aldwinkle. II <( It is about a mile and a half diftant from Tichmarjh." f< But near five miles from Oundle. Who would now conceive that Malone doubted of Dryden'% birth in fome one of thefe Aldwinkles. But all of a fudden, like Bays, to " elevate and furprize," the editor archly whifpers, that if it was not inconfiftent with Dryden's own account, (which as Malone affirms does not apply to the village he names) ,c I (quoth Edmond) fhould fuppofe him born in Tichmarjh." Mark the rea- fons, and mew me the man who would or could refift them ! 1 ft. Gilbert Pickering, his maternal great grand- father, had a feat there !! 2. Sir Erafmus Dry den, his paternal grand- father, lived there, pp. 3, 4, and 5. Probatum eft. 5 Example r 32 ] Example III. The Family of Dryden had migrated from Cumberland but not from the County of Hun- tingdon as Dr. John/on had fuppofed, in which he was probably mifled by Dr. Birch > who had been mifled by Lord Lanfdozvn, Example IV. " The poet's grandfather, Sir Erafmus, was batchelor of Arts at Oxford, June 17, 1577, p. 11. " Anth. Wood * is ignorant of the College. " It is extraordinary that he was not B. A. till he was near twenty-four years of age 1" The fagacious Malone then begins to fufpeft (which indeed is the habit of thofe who are acute) " that he was bred at Cambridge //" a fufpicion, for which no reafon is directly af- ferted, nor obliquely infinuated. There is dig- nity in fufpicions like thefe ! " Sir Erafmus probably derived the name from c< his uncle Sir Erafmus Cope ! to whom the ce- M lebrated Erafmus was godfather!" If I were a candidate (which I am advifed by fome partial friends to be) for F. A. S. and could fend this chain of the Eraftni to the Earl * Edmund Smith took the fame degree, at the fame age, and it the fame Univerfity, as Minutiolus, my fourth fon, informs me. See Jobn/bri 's Life of Smith. Of C 33 3 of Leicejler t (as my own) ; that accomplished Herald (as well as Prefident of rujly pipkins) would leap over the etiquette* produce the chain as an ample teftimonial, (though deftitute of its formal maturity), and call for the ballot. Example V. One of Dry den's ten lifters married Shermar- dine a bookfeller in Little Britain. The hufband of another was Jofeph Sandwell, a tobacconift of Newgate Street ! $g- I beg leave (but with no vanity that is unbecoming) to announce a difcovery known perhaps to none but me (in this age,) viz. Mr. Shermandine's other name !!: $3- It will be inferted in the next edition of thefe Maloniana, Example VI. " From whatever caufe it proceeded he was not a Fellow of Trinity College. tf His cousin Jonathan was." This reminds, me of a tale, which has always diverted me for it's Epifode vivacity, and is much in the (beft) manner of Malone. " A gentleman vifited his friend, who had " a miftrefs, that bore the name of " Col." (If I * was like Edmond, in lefs than fifty pages you * mould be told why ihe bore that name and " whether it was endearment -ridicule or ab- D I* breviation) C 34 ] " breviation) fhe had a fifter who went (for fome ' rcafon or another, which has eluded all refearch) by the name of" Tit" " Both were prefent, and the vifitor faid in tf a whifper ; upon my word ! that's a very fine cc creature! and very engaging in her man- " ners !" to which in a loud voice his friend replied, ' why yes " Col'* is a good girl " Her fifter " Tit" (who was behind him, and at cc whom he pointed with his reflected thumb) is " a B ." Example VII. (p. 1 8) Dryden was not one of the contributors to the Oliva Paris, in 1634, verfes in honor of the Ufurper. By the May, this produces another Canon, which a Malonian writer of lives cannot fail to adopt. He muft relate the negative aclions of his hero, his negative exi/lence, and his negative exprejfwns. I remember Doffor John/on, in his very amu- ling Cf Tour of the Hebrides" obferves (and with perfection of mock-heroic humour) that one of the inns prefented him with a " negative catalogue cc of proviftons, extremely copious" " no eggs no butter no cheefe, &c." We have heard of " negative quantities" and in martial achieve- ments, we have been metaphyfico-politically told of tr negative fucce/s. ' ' But [ 35 ] But thefe are trifles to the negative hijlory of a man's life, i. e. what he did not, was not, and faid not, propofitions more ufeful to the caufe of truth and the ufe of the example, than politive incidents. To refume the negative contribution w he was ' probablynot a contributor, becaufe his father the faff, or the reverfe of it, in perfect equilibrium, if " perhaps , he was a committee man" perhaps he was not, fo that a merchant in this venture, may fucceed, and cannot fail. j Example IX. " Dryden's, contract was, to give three plays in one year." Not as Colley Cibber aflerts, two Not as John/on aflerts, -four. But, N. B. John/on is again let eafily down " he was milled by the Key to the Rehearfal !'* Example X. The undertaker's bill for Dryden's funeral came to forty-nine pounds and feventeen fhillvtgs ! The bill is given at length, and with all the particular modes of fpelling ; in that bill j for example. " %f carves for 8 muficioners t 2. os. od." Example XI. There is a payment of 268. 15J. annexed by the poet himfclf, to one of his receipts, and the payment is noted as follows : w A bag C 37 ] s. d. " A bag injilver - IOO " Infiher, belides - 021 15 9 u 66 Louis d'ores, at i 7 s. 6d. O57 15 rc 83 guy nee s at 1. is. 6d. 268 15 * * 3 1 5 300 Example XII. His patent as poet laureat, in hac verba, and without one particularity, occupies with its notes, to fill the time -/even pages. Example XIII. His difpenfation for the degree of A. M. has been found, and the original obtained for his friend, Malone, by no lefs a perfonage than Sir William Scott, &c. &c. &c. ! Was ever this great and good man fo ufefully occupied ! The difpenfation refers to a letter of Charles thefecondy which letter cannot be found, " {uis taliafando, at the end of Bow Street. " It is occupied by a perfumer. " It is number 23. * Urwin was probably a corruption from Irwin. ' * We have then, by way of note, verfes to " Will" and (by way of note upon a note) i. e. in a note upon the verfes, after a double parenthefis, re- flecting negus , (firft, as not being known in thofe days; next, as having been invented by u Colonel Negus") we have this " Will's nut- meg" explained in fo curious a manner by our dab at a key (with his old friend "probably" at his (elbow) that I beg leave to give it in his own words, " nee illi detrahere aufim t &c." " Will's Nutmeg was probably employed in ad- d\ng flavour to punch. He was not a fellow of Trinity College / His coufin Jonathan was. " ' He was EFORE I bring forward the examples of this play-fully goflipping Canon, I would remind the " curious reader" of a fimile, which I think would be an excellent poetical motto for it. As Elijah the prophet, by ravens was fed. So, the wholefome clean air is my daily bread; As Sampfon loji his flrength by cutting off his hair, So J recover mine, by going to Hampjlead, for the benefit of the air. The ritbm is irregular, but the turn of the Jimile is uncommonly ingenious. " Fluellin" had a little fmattering in this figure of " By the way. 3 * Laureat :" agreed. " By the way the name of Laureat" (" pho ! f< what fignifies the name!'* fays my ill-natured and fnarling friend) " the name I fay of W Laureat (Malone proceeds, and the Cynic leaves the room) i( fprung from degrees in the C7;- '* verfities, where the laurel-wreath being pre- W fented in ceremony to the new graduate in " grammar, which included poetry, he was af- f terwards called poet -laureat." " By the way poets laureat in Strajburgh were laureat ed as follows." Then comes the form, word for word, E 3 Then t 54 ) Then we have the hiftory Cf of Henry de Avran- ehes, the king's verfifier" " This Henry had an annual ftipend of ten pounds per annum, from Henry III." " By the by, Chaucer " perhaps" was not foet laureat.'* Here we have an excellent key to the word (t perhaps " a word, in general, too familiar to the modeft humility of this profound and faga- cious writer. u It is acknowledged (he fays) that none of the publilhed grants to Chaucer were made upon account of his poetical talents and that Skel- ton, defcribing him with great particularity, fays " he wanted nothing but the laurel." ,( There- fore (fays Edmond) I have laid "perhaps"- which he gives in Italics." Yet he adds, in a fubfequent page, that in Dry den' & patent, Chaucer is defcribed as one of his predeeeflbrs, which (as the patent bore date, A. D. 1670, and we are now in A. D. 1800) feems a good authority that a patent of Chaucer's ap- pointment could then have been found (or proved in fome other way) though it may have been loft or miflaid between that period and this. Malone proceeds. * Andrew Bernard was poet laureat in the reign of Henry VII." w By the way, he was blind, and he had a falary of ten marks." N. B. Says one of my fons a very arch little critic-i n-embrio " By theway, Papa! how came " it L 5S ] ,r it that Bernard mould have only ten marks, x< when Henry de Avranches, who lived as far ,f back as the reign of Henry the 'Third, had a " falary of ten -pounds /" This cavil (though it was rather fmart) I in- troduce (as Malone feldom introduces other cavil- lers) " ut exiret" I rebuked the boy's flippancy, and fent him out of the room. Apropos (to refume the negative hi/lory of lau- reats) c< Churchyard was not poet laureat Daniel was not (though ^W fays he was) Drayton was not." This may be called (in Jobnfon's phrafe, above commended) a negative Catalogue of Lau- reats which is very interefting. Example XI. What is now coming is the only inftance of true and perfect wit, that I ever faw in Malone; for though a writer in profaic fancy almoft poetical, he is not zfayer of good things. But you will fee how arch he could be if he chofe it Of his wit it may be faid, tc non d'ieft fed abejl." By the way tr when Dry den was made poet fC laureat, Edmund Earl of Manchejfer, was Lord * f Chamberlain. And whether he paid as much ft attention to the Muses as to sublunary ladies " (for he married five wives) I have not f* been able to ascertain." A witty companion of mine (who hates a good $hirtg, if it is not his own) looked yellow when E 4 J read [ 5 ] I read him this^///VaIlufion, was evidently piqued and vented a little fpleen upon it, by afking me " what analogy there was between the conjugal " duties of fuch a marrying earl and a poet's " attention to the Mufes unlefs in the number " of the wives !" however, cannot find of the or- gan a more ancient proof, than Julian the Apof. tate's Greek Epigram.'* A. D. 364. to write a fecond Ode, to be fung at the celebra- tion of St. Cecilia's day." Why f 69 ] Why not " becaufe, when this epigram was *' ( firft publiihed, little Mafter Dryden was but <( three years of age." But as that circumftance was not proof enough, he adds " that in that very publication Dryden is excluded, becaufe CraJJjdw is there made the writer of this identical epigram. Example VI. cc It has been /aid that he took no degree in the Univeriity of Cambridge. c< That is not an accurate Jiatement he took the degree of Batchelor at the regular time ; and in 1657 WAS MADE MASTER OF ARTS." In the note upon this dire ft and very oracular afTertion, we are told, or Black Oofely, fo called becaufe the river Oofe ran through it !" Example VIII. " He did not leave Cambridge from an appre- henfion of being expelled. c< It is a lampooner's afTertion. But when a man's name is up, he may lie in bed ; and this eminent writer may difpenfe with his own rules ad libitum. Thus he gives to his hero a fat and Jhort figure ," becaufe a lam- pooner calls him (f Poet Squab /" j and he accredits other lampoons when it fuits him. This, vulgar and profane obfervers may call verfatility and caprice : I call it the dignity of a fuperior mind. Example IX. iK Sir Gilbert Pickering was not a military com- mander. "His younger brother, John Pickering t was. He (John) was a little man t who died in Devon- Jhire of the new difeafe^ as it was then called !! F 4 Example C 72 J Example X. " Dry den is/aid to have been Clerk or Secretary to Sir Gilbert Pickering, and a Committee-man." This too comes from a lampooner, and feems to be refuted ; for he adds, that Villiers, (another lampooner), with Cf more probability," makes his father a Committee man. ft But if he was (which leaves the point in doubt) he was a merciful one, becaufe he was a good-natured man." Example XI. " He is /aid to have been fucceflively " for the " Anabaptijls, and for the Independents." The lampooner again ! But Malone accredits him, and thinks it pro- bable from his family connexions. Example XII. " Herringman entered three Poems that he lodged at Herringman 's houfe ! ,? Example XIV. y (by Mr. Smeeton, of St. Martin's Lane) " I went ft on (as the Reaper faid before me) with my " refearcbes, when I entertained any doubt ;" and my later difcoveries are the molt curious part of this work. CANON I. Example I. page 8. " Lysideius" (in the jiff itious Dialogue upon Dramatic Poetry) meant (or "Jhadowed") Sir Charles Sidley- "Sidley, " SlDLEYIUS, J name thus, but writes it in that manner himfelf, and then fpcaks of the Peer as giving a por- trait of the character. I muft, on the other hand, (with candour emulating the Malonian) admit, that Mulgrave does call him little Sid which, however, being evidently a term of ridicule, cannot prove, that his name was written Sidley in 1682, and much lefs in oppofition to other proofs, that Sedley then was the name. Edmond is, however, mone fortunate in Bur- net's Hijiory of his own Times. For there (and it is molt propitious for the anagram-builder) fpeaking hiftorically of A. D. 1668, (the very date re- quired) i. e. the identical year in which Lijideius was made the colloquift) Burnet introduces the baronet, and writes the name Sidley. But this lucky hit, as it may be called, when it is a little analyzed, proves nothing, becaufe it proves too much. It is true, that Burnet is noting the events, and is even defcribing the Wits of that period (of that year, if you will) amongft whom Sidley or Sidly (as it is afterwards written) is pro- duced, and is compared with two other Wits. But the men all three of them Dorfet, Ro- chejler, and Sidley, exifted long after that period, and were known to the Bifhop. He would, therefore, unlefs by mijlake, of courfe, write the name as he found it recently and generally written, when he wrote his book, or this part of it. He [ 87 ] He Began to write this entertaining work in 1693, as we learn from himfelf; and the work ends at 171 3; fo that unlefs he wrote it Sedley, he wrote it erroneotifly : and one may account for it from another fact afTerted by Malone him- felf, that Lady Dorchcfter's name appears to have been Sidley in 1685, the date of her pa- tent, which, though it may have milled Burnet, cannot prove that Sir Charles, the father, had then adopted that mode of fpelling the name again, after he laid it afidc, as far back at leaft, as A. D. 1673. But if the hiftorian's mode of fpelling the name proves it fpelt in that manner at the pe- riod he defcribes, viz. in 1668, becaufe he is reprefenting facts and characters of that year (which is Edmond's insinuated argument) I fhall fct againft him an oppofite proof, on his own prin- ciples, in the evidence of his brother Antiquarian, Wood, who is more likely to be correct, in fuch a punctilious nicety of a letter in a baronet's name, than Burnet, who was an hiftorian of another clafs, and lefs minute. Before we introduce this great man, I rnuft again (but honoris gratia) produce another, and fimilar fineffe in Edmond's, allufion to Wood. In the text he fays, cc It occured to me, that " Sir Charles Sidley for fo his name was then " written being a very intimate friend of " Lord Buckhurji" &c. In the note upon this text we are told, that we are to fee " Wood's, account of their indecent G 4 " behaviour [ 88 ] " behaviour at a cook's houfe in Bow Street, " Covent Garden , A. D. 1663. Thcfe words are added : " Sir Charles Sidley's portrait is in the Dorfet " collection at Knowle." Would not any reader, who was not familiar to Edmond's addrefs, infer that Wood fpelt the name Sidley ? efpecially as we had been pre- vioufly told, that " Sedley" was an after thought, which took place at a period later than 1668. But it happens, that Wood, and where he de- fer ; bes, not a general character, but a fact, of A. D. 1663, in which the baronet was deeply implicated, writes the name " Sedley." If therefore Burnet's character of Sidley, as being drawn when he is treating of A. D. 1668, proves that mode of fpelling the name to have been then correct, Wood, upon the fame principle, deftroys the fact aflumed by carrying back thefub- ftitutedf to a period earlier than 1668, and confe- quently gives a death's blow to the anagram which aflumes, that Sedley was a new mode of fpelling the name introduced at a later period of the ba- ronet's life. Another circumftance occurs in the evidence of Anthony Wood, as arifing from it's local nature and connexions. He took the name (one mould imagine) as he found it academically written. The baronet, we know, was entered at Ox- ford 1655-6. If the name by which he was entered was that " of Sedley," it follows, that fuch a name was prior [ 89 ] prior even to 1663 (when this frolic happened, which is related by Wood) and of courfe, prior to 1668. Here let us leave Anthony for a mi- nute or two, and refume Edmonds his rival an<- tiquarian than whom (Argus alone excepted with a hundred eyes, or Lynceus with two) none have a fharper fight. He has overlooked another, and cotemporary Peer, who has alfo written verfe who has introduced the fame ba- ronet, and with his name at length I mean the Earl of Rochejier, who is the writer of that cele- brated character, which is no lefs familiar to the ladies than it is to the fine gentlemen of this age, who fee themfelves in the mirror. " Sedley has that prevailing art, " That can with a refiftlefs charm impart, *' The loofeft wifhes to the chaftefl heart." \ The poem in which this paflage is, was pub- lifhed in 1680, juft after the Earl's death. But the name Sedley, as written by him, when he wrote the poem, was of courfe prior to 1680, though in what precife year is not afcertained. The fame Peer and poet fpeaks of him in the fame poem again I loath the rabble, it's enough to me, That Sedley, &c. Not having feen the Dedication of the Mul- berry Garden figned by Sir Charles himfelf, and figned in 1668, I can give no remark upon it more than to fay (Malonice) that I fuf- pett 9 ] pen it either a mi flake of Edmond, or of the Baronet himfelf, or of his copyift. As to the name Sidly, given to the Countefs of Dorcbejler in her patent, A. D. 1685, if it is there, as I have before obferved, it cannot prove that Sir Charles then wrote his name in that manner (when it is known that he did not, or any others for him) but it may afford room to conjecture that he, or fhe might choofe that variance be- tween the refpective fignatures of each, on ac- count of thofe peculiar merits which entitled the daughter to her peerage. Since the foregoing paffage was printed off, I have feen now the Mulberry Garden, but not the edition of 1668, (if it ever did exifl which I Jufpecl it never did) and I obferve in Wood, a query after 1668 qu. 1675. The edition which I have feen is publifhed 1675, anc * nas every ap- pearance of being xhefirft edition. It is printed for " Herring?nan,'* (of whom we have read fo much) Cf at the flgn of the Blew t Anchor y New Exchange." In the title page of this edition, and alfo in the dedication, we have Sidley. But this can be no proof, that in 1675 tne name was generally fo written by others, and lead: of all can it prove that it was then fo written by John Dry den, who, in 1673, dedicates (and 1 appeal to Malone, who is accuracy itfelf) to Sir Charles Sedley. That in 1677 the name was written Sedley, we have a Malonian proof, in the title page of Anthony and C 91 ] and Cleopatra, dated 1677, with a licence of April 24, in that year, and printed by Ton/on. In the title page this work is faid to be written by Sir Charles Sedley ! But we have proofs to come, that are decifive againft the anagram. 1. Sir Charles was entered at Oxford (as I had fufpe&ed) by the name of Sedley, in Wadham College. In the Bur/br's book of Admiffions and Cautions is the following entry: " 1655, March 22, ** Mr. Charles Sedley, Fellow Commoner, 5." 2. The Sedleian Lecture, founded by Sir Wil- liam, who was grandfather to Sir Charles, was the donation of " Sedley," by will, and rati- fied by " John Sedley" the fon, A. D. 1622, who defcribes himfelf in a deed, preferved at Ox- ford, as the fon of Sir William Sedley the founder. 3. Before I produce what is now to come, I muft quote the paiTage in the Poetical Hiftorian. '* The grant of the title of Baronet in June 161 r, was to Sir William Sidle y, Knight." This is round, and full 1 I, on the other hand, aflert, " that in Sir William's patent at the Rolls, are thefe words, Wills. " Sedley" de Alisford in Com. Kane. Miles llll I muft therefore be of opinion, that Sidley is not proved fufficiently to be the general mode of fpelling the name in 166 3, for the purpofe of this anagram. *3 I have C 9* 1 I have confuted him in his own beft manner, as far as I could hope to catch it, and with a generous emulation. He can bear to lofe fifty fuch anagrams as thefe, and will not fhare the fate of the lover, who loft his wits by the following cataftrophe. Spef/ator, N. 60. r< I have heard of a gentleman who when the " Anagram was in fafhion, endeavoured to gain * r his miftrefs's heart by it. She was known by "' the name of the Lady Mary Boon." tf The lover not being able to make any thing *' of Mary ; by certain liberties indulged to tc this kind of writing, converted it into Moll ; U and after having fliut himfelf up half a year, " produced his Anagram." * On prefenting it, he was told, t ] wife me is called loving in his will, and beloved in the certificate. N. B. As to unaccommo- dating wives ; qu. if fuch a phenomenon is to be found in the conjugal world ? I never heard of it but in Dryden's Life by Malone y and the ladies will not thank him for intimating fuch a diflionor to them ! It is clear too that Sir John, called " the Virtuofo" * This John was father to Sir William Sedley, the foun- der of the Leflurc. I have C *7 ] I have not feen Sir Charles' sfirjl return as M. P. if it was in the Long Parliament. The later ones according to the lift in Chandler's Debates, com- mencing after 1670, (but in what year I forget) write the name Sedley with obdurate pertinacity ; and his mother certainly gave to him the hint of writing Sedley by writing it herfelf in 1649, when fhe takes notice, and with much affection, of the pofthumous Charles by name whofe bro- ther William was then living. More (till! I cannot help taking notice of a fuppofed ana- gram in the name of Rosalind, Spencer's fa- vorite. Kerke had faid " that Rosalind was a. feigned Cf name, which, if " well ordered," would betray not 3 : to note this erratum, gratifies curious readers, and marks the improvement of Min. Felix in arithmetic I A POLITICAL ERRATUM. Page 62, " as three per cents, would /tf// if news cr arrived that Buonaparte was mafier of Italy V* Well done ! fagacious prophet ! The news to which M. F. alludes, did arrive fince he wrote and three per cents, have rifen!" George Rofe, M. P. Father and Son, Omission ! Page 44. my Lord Leicejler has not a doubt, from the papers I have laid before him. The Cynic often ridicules me for pride in a de- fcent from that General; but I will give the world my reafons for it* A fact is recorded of him^ which proves him* to my conceptions, the fublimeft Hero that ever nature produced. It is true, that as I am often reminded by the Cynic (in both ears) he difobeyed the com- mands of the dictator, his commanding officer, though he atchieved a victory by this incoor- dination. It is true, that he took part, either direct or oblique, in a mutiny againft Fabius and procured himfelf to be chofen Go-DicJator- t (in which office, though his election was irregular he was confirmed by Fabius himfelf.) It is true, that he was firft outwitted by Hannibal t and then defeated.- -It is true, that he would then have been Cut off, had not Fabius relieved and faved him. But in what followed he was greater than if he had never erred ^or, as Martial quaintly fays of another hero, " Si non efrafTet fecerat ille minus*" I Me C 4 ] He addrefled his troops in the following man- ner ; and as moft of the Ladies now are adepts in Greek, I fhall give the original for them before I take tjie liberty of tranflating it "for the benefit " of the Country Gentlemen.'* uvoptg (rvg-oa,TtcoToii ; to [tev oifJLctoTEZv ftydev bv Tir^ocf^cx.^1 pefccXoig pz^ov y\ holt a,v9pu7rov l$i to de ufiocarov r ex, xpygctgQou Tog TTTougfjLotgiv didxf- fAotgi irpog to Xoi7Tov f uvooog ocyocQa koh vav e^ovTog eyto f&ev ovv opoXoyct ^likdoc TVjV TO'/rp [JLZfJLtyHV, 7TSpt fteifyv 00V B7T0ilVStV Ot yOCD OVK ygdopctixpovov TogvTOV, yfAeoccg pepei [aikoco ne'srociotvy.oti, yvovg tpocvTov ovx ocp^eiv btbouv dvvoifxevov, ctpvovTog ereovv oeopevov, x.oci py (piXo^tfxaf^evov vmolv v(p av viKOigdoci xaWiov. 'Tfx.iv obt &)v pev ccWuv eg-iv ctpytov o Am- toltwq Tyg de itpog exeivav Bvxapig-iag otuTog yyepuit sgopoti, irpuTOv epuvTov bvtth^ xou to xeXevopevov TTOlVVTCt U7T BiCStVH TTOtoe^OfjCBVOg. For the Country Gentlemen ! " My Fellow Soldiers ! To commit no faults in great enterprizes would be more than human ; but that he who has committed a fault fhould make the failure which it has produced, a leflbn to him in future is the conduct of a good and fenfible man. " As C us 3 Cf As to me, I confefs that I have in little points blamed fortune ; but that in greater occurrencies I have blefied her influence. " For example what I had not conceived for fo long a time, I have learnt in the little fpace of a day. I have difcovered that I have not the power to command others, but that I want the fupport of thofe who have that power. I have been taught, never to be a competitor again where to confefs inferiority is more becoming. " Tour commander is the dictator, who is the commander of others. " I will be your leader in the example of grati- tude, complacent humility, and implicit obe- dience to him." Fond as I am of Collins' s Peerage, let me a(k with pride, if all the Courtenays, the Neviles and the Howards, will find amongft their an- ceftors a conduct fo elevated. Malone truly fays of it, that it reminds him of himfelf, in thofe frequent confeflions of his, that he has been mi/informed ; or at later periods, that his apology was thrown away, and is full as incorrect as the error for which that apology was made. As to thtfecond Minutius, it would really give me pain to injure him But there is too much reafon to fear that he was a Lawyer f He has, however, told us in five pithy words, to whom we owe the worfhip of Cloacina! " Tatius, C "6 ] " 'Tatius Cloacinam invenit et coluit-^ and his lively defcription of the Atoms would be an excellent receipt for a modern biographer ! I will not affront the ladies by an Englijl verfion of it. Here it is in the original and pure Latinity of my anceitor