538 
 
 A Complete Vindication of the 
 Mallard of All-Souls College. 
 
 By 
 Benjamin Buckler
 
 A COMPLETE 
 
 VINDICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MALLARD 
 
 O F 
 
 ALL-SOULS COLLEGE, 
 
 Againft the injurious Suggeftions of the 
 
 Rev. Mr. POINTER, Reftor of Slapton in 
 
 the County of Northampton and Diocefe of Peterborough* 
 
 tution 
 
 Nonnulli tadio veritatis Inveftiganda cuilibet opinion! potis 
 ignavi fuccumbunt^ quam exploranda, verltate pertinad diligentiii 
 perfeverare volant. Min. Foelix. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed for J. and J. R i v I N G T o N, in St. Paul's Church- 
 Yarci j and J. FLETCHER in Oxford. MDCCLI. 
 
 [Price One Shilling.] 
 
 - 
 
 <KL*( : M
 
 TO THE 
 
 DQ 
 
 Reverend Do&or 
 
 rO U 'will not be furpriz'd at an Addrefi 
 
 cc 
 
 Qu 
 
 DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 O U 'will not 
 
 of this Nature, 'when you reflect on the 
 Difcourfes we have lately had together on the 
 Subjeft of the enfuing Papers. 
 
 The ferious and unaffected Concern you ex- 
 prefs'd at the ungenerous treatment 'which the 
 Mallard had received from the Pen of Mr. 
 Pointer gave me the firft Thought of appear- 
 5 ing publickly in his Vindication. When I 
 intimated this my Defign at our -next Confer- 
 ence^ you 710 1 only encouraged me to purfue it y 
 
 A 2 (as 
 
 30G9S8
 
 (as you knew the Bent of my Studies had, for 
 feme Time, employed me in unlocking the Store- 
 houfes of venerable Antiquity) but was pleafed 
 alfo to give feme Directions which have been of 
 great Service to me in the Execution of it. If 
 there be any Merit therefore in this my Under- 
 taking, it is in a great Meafure to be afcrib'd 
 to You, and on that Account You have an un- 
 doubtedTitle to this Dedicatory Acknowledgment. 
 
 I expect to hear it faid by feme People that 
 
 it is but a poor Compliment to the Publick, to 
 
 fuppofe it at leifure to attend to a Matter of 
 
 fe private a Nature, and of fo little Concern to 
 
 it. But furely Gentlemen who talk thus do not 
 
 thoroughly confider the dreadful Confequences 
 
 which may enfue, fromfiiffering the moft dijlant 
 
 Attack upon received and long cftablijtid Truths 
 
 to go on unrepuls' d and unreprehended. " TRUTH 
 
 (fays a reverend and learned Divine, whofe 
 
 "Name and Title-page have entirely Jlipt my 
 
 Memory) " is a Lady of fe tender and delicate 
 
 " a Nature, that the mojl private Parts of her 
 
 " ought to be handled ivitb the great eft Pru- 
 
 * c dence and Difcretion. For if Men are fuf- 
 
 " fer'd to exercife their Wantonnefs or Malict 
 
 ee in oppofmg or ridiculing even thofe Truth 
 
 " which feemingly are of the leajl Importance to 
 
 " the
 
 (v ) 
 
 " the publick Affairs of the World, this 
 " neceffarily fuper induce a Habit of Scepticifm 
 " upon their Minds , which, by eafy Tranjitions, 
 ce may lead them on to Attempts of the like 
 " fort, in Things of the utmoft Confequence to 
 " to the religious and political Inter efts of Man- 
 " kind." Let me therefore ajk whether we can 
 receive any Affurance that the Succeflion of 
 the Crown in his Majefty's Royal Houfe ; 
 or, which is much the fame Thing, our whole 
 Conftitution both in Church and State, Jhall 
 not be attacked by the fame licentious Spirit 
 which Mr. P. has exerted againji the Mallard, 
 unlefs it be timely corrected and exposed, in 
 its proper Colours, to the Abhorrence and De- 
 tejlation of the World ? 
 
 Thefe are not Words thrown out at Random, 
 but contain a reasonable Sufpicion founded as 
 well on the Example of what hath already hap- 
 pen' d, as on our Conclufiom from the Nature 
 and Caufes of Things. We have frequently been 
 told by our PredeceJJors in All-Souls, that the 
 frjl Marks of Infidelity which foew'd them- 
 felves in the famous Dr. Tindal were hisfpeak- 
 ing difrefpe 51 fully of the Mallard, and his lay- 
 ing hold of any Occafion of abfenting him- 
 felf from the annual Celebration of it. Had 
 
 any
 
 ( vi ) 
 
 any one at that Time exerted himfelf with a 
 proper Zeal in the Defence of this venerable 
 Bird, I think I may be bold to fay, that the 
 World would never have heard of thofe perni- 
 cious Books, The Rights of the Chriftian 
 Church, or Chriftianity as old as the Creation. 
 
 And I have mujch Reafon to be furpriz'd 
 that this was not done at that Time, when I 
 conflder that the learned Antiquarian Dr. Tan- 
 ner, afterwards Bijhop of St. Afaph (whofe 
 Ability for this Work cannot be queftioned, 
 and who was frequently heard to exprefs great 
 Veneration for the Mallard) was Fellow of 
 All- Souls College, and Cotemporary with Dr. 
 Tindal. But, alas ! it too often happens that 
 very ingenious Men, immers'd in the Study of 
 Antiquities, have Ivery unfortunately bejiowed 
 all their Pains on the meft trifling and mfigni- 
 jicant Subjects, and overlooked thofe 0/*real Con- 
 cern and Importance to the World. 
 
 If the following Vindication foall be of any 
 Service to the Caufe for which it was under- 
 taken', if the Licentioufnefs of writing too com- 
 monly made ufe of on ferious and important 
 Subjects Jhall be in any Meafure reprefs'd by 
 it; if Mr. Pointer Jliall be made fenjible of his 
 
 Errors
 
 ( vii ) 
 
 Errors and retratt them ; and if you and the 
 reft of my Friends^ who beft underjland my Suh- 
 efty and for whofe Judgment I have the high- 
 eft Efteem y Jhall thoroughly approve the Method 
 I have made ufe of to bring about thefe good 
 Effefts ; I Jhall then begin to think that 1 have 
 employed my Pen in a Manner not wholly un- 
 worthy of the true Critick and Antiquarian, 
 <c my Intention will be anfwered, I Jhall have 
 my Reward. And then (to continue the 
 Words of our * Reverend Friend) the Cynick 
 may bark and the Infidel may ridicule-, the 
 Malevolence of the one will call for my Con- 
 tempt, the Folly of the other will provoke me 
 to no Pajfion but that of Pity.*' 
 
 / a m y dear Sir, 
 
 Tours Jincerely, &c. 
 
 Preface to the Rev. Mr. 's Sermons.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO avoid all Sufpicions of unfair and 
 partial Quotation, it is thought proper, 
 in this Place, to give the Reader the whole 
 PafTage relating to the Mallard of All-Souh, 
 extracted from the 57th and 58th Pages of 
 Mr. Pointer's OXONIENSIS ACADEMIA. 
 
 " 4. Another Cuftom is that of celebrating their Mal- 
 lard-Night every Year on the I4th of January, in Remem- 
 brance of a huge Mallard or Drake, found (as Tradition 
 goes) imprifon'd in a Gutter or Drain under Ground, and 
 grown to a vaft Bignefs, at the Digging for the Foundation 
 of the College. 
 
 * e Now to account for the Longaevity of this Mallard ; 
 Mr. Willughby, in his Ornithology, tells us (Pag. 14. 
 fpeaking of the Age of Birds) that he was alTur'd by a Friend 
 of his, a Perfon of very good Credit, that his Father kept 
 a Goofe known to be 80 Years of Age, and as yet found 
 and lufty, and like enough to have liv'd many Years longer, 
 had he not been forc'd to kill her for her Mifchievoufnefs, 
 worrying and deftroying the young Geefe and Goilings. 
 
 " And my Lord Bacon in his Nat. Hift. Pag. 286. 
 fays, The Goofe may pafs among the long Livers, though 
 his Food be commonly Grafs and fuch kind of Nourifh- 
 ment, efpecially the Wild-Goofe : Whereupon this Pro- 
 verb grew among the Germans, Magh Senex qiiam Anfer- 
 nivaliS) Older than a Wild-Goofe. 
 
 " And if a Goofe be fuch a long-liv'd Bird, why not 
 a Duck or Drake, fmce I reckon they may be both rank'd 
 in the fame Clafs, though of a different Species as to their 
 Size, as a Rat and a Moufe ? 
 
 " And if fo, this may help to give Credit to our All- 
 Souls Mallard. However this is certain, this Mallard is 
 the accidental Occafion of a great Gaudy once a Year 
 and great Mirth, though the Commemoration of their 
 Founder is the chief Occafion. For on this Occafion is 
 always fung a merry old Seng."
 
 VIN D I CATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Mallard of All-Souls College, &c. 
 
 1 
 
 Controverfies which have arifen 
 betwixt Men of Learning on Points 
 of Criticifm and Antiquity, have too 
 commonly been attended with Confequences 
 greatly derogatory to the Honour of Litera- 
 ture, and destructive to the Peace of the 
 Learned World. The Heat and Virulence 
 with which Difputes of this Kind have been 
 generally conducted, have afforded too juft 
 a Handle to the illiterate Part of Mankind, 
 to accufe the liberal Arts themfelves as mini- 
 ftring Occafions of Strife and DifTeniion, ra- 
 ther than, what is their boafted Character, 
 poliming the Manners, and mollifying the 
 B Paffions
 
 Pailions of the human Mind. It is therefore 
 the indifpenfable Duty of every one who draws 
 his Pen on Polemical Subjects, to take great 
 Care not to proftitute his Character as an Au- 
 thor to the low Employment of heaping A- 
 bufe and Scandal upon his Adverfary ; and to 
 admit no more Warmth into his Exprefiions, 
 than what may be necefTary to teftify his Zeal 
 for the Caufe of Truth, which ought to be 
 the Motive of all his Enquiries. 
 
 The Propriety of thefe Reflections will rea- 
 dily appear to any one who has been in the 
 leaft engaged, either as a Reader or an Au- 
 thor, in Contr overfull Writings ; and I have 
 the more willingly touch'd upon them in the 
 prefent Cafe, as they are a Leffon to myfelf, 
 and a Caution for the regulating my Beha- 
 viour towards the Reverend Gentleman with 
 whom I have now the Misfortune to differ 
 in Sentiments. 
 
 Mr. Pointer has long made a Figure in the 
 learned World as a Chronologer, an Hiftori- 
 an, an Antiquarian and an Almanack-Maker, 
 Upon this Account I am highly fenfible of 
 the great Advantages he may, at nrft View, 
 feem to have over me. He is in Pofleffion 
 
 of
 
 ( II ) 
 
 of a Reputation which he has been long 
 heaping together ; the World, I mean all the 
 reading Part of it, is prejudiced in his Favour; 
 his Judgment, Accuracy, Induftry, and Can- 
 dour, have hitherto been acknowledg'd by all : 
 Nothing therefore but the great force of Truth, 
 the Evidences which lie before me for the 
 clearing it up, and the Reputation of an in- 
 jur'd Society, to which I have formerly had 
 the ftrongeft Obligations, mou'd have drawn 
 me to enter the Lifts with him. And I truft 
 that the Goodnefs of my Caufe will compen- 
 fate for the want of Skill in it's Advocate. 
 
 I mall now, without farther Preface, pro- 
 cede to the Buiinefs of thefe Papers. 
 
 In the 57th Page of Mr. Pointer's laft Per- 
 formance *, where he is difcourfing of the 
 Cuftoms of All-Souls College, he has the fol- 
 lowing Words. " Another Cuilom is that of 
 " celebrating their Mallard- Night every Year, 
 * e on the 1 4th of January, in Remembrance 
 
 * Intitled OXONIENSIS ACADEMIA : Or, the ANTI- 
 QUITIES and CURIOSITIES of the Univerfity of OX- 
 FORD, &c. London ; Printed for S. Birt, &c. 1749. 
 
 B 2 Of
 
 ( 
 
 " of a huge Mallard or Drake, found (as 
 " Tradition goes) imprifon'd in a Gutter or 
 " Drain under Ground, and grown to a vaft 
 " Bignefs, at the digging for the Foundation 
 " of the College. 
 
 <e Now to account for the Longevity of 
 " this Mallard-, Mr. Willughby^ in his Orni- 
 <c thology, tells us (Pag. 14. fpeaking of the 
 " Age of Birds) that he was afTur'd by a 
 <c Friend of his, a Perfon of very good Cre- 
 " dit, that his Father kept a Goofe known to 
 " be 80 Years old, and as yet found and lufty, 
 <c and likely to have liv'd many Years longer, 
 " had he not been forc'd to have kill'd her 
 * for her Mifcbievoufnefsy worrying and deftroy- 
 <c ing the young Geefe and Gojlings. 
 
 <c And my Lord Bacon in his Natural Hif- 
 " tory, pag. 286, fays, The Goofe may pafs 
 " among the long Livers, though his Food 
 " be commonly Grafs, and fuch kind of Nou- 
 " rifhment, efpecially the Wild-Goofe. 
 
 u 
 
 And if a Goofe be fuch a , long - liv'd 
 " Bird, why not a Duck or a Drake ^ fince 
 < I reckon they may be both rank'd in the 
 
 "fame Clafi. - 
 
 Thus
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 Thus the Mallard of AH - Souls whofe 
 IRememfotaunce has, for thefe three Centuries, 
 been held in the higheft Veneration, is by this 
 forgd Hypothecs of Mr. Pointer's degraded 
 into a Goofe, or, at leaft, rank'd in the fame 
 C/afs with that ridiculous Animal ; the whole 
 Story on which the .Rites and Ceremonies of 
 the Mallard depend, is reprefented as merely 
 traditional ; more than a Hint is given of the 
 Mifehievoufnefs of the Bird, whatever he be j 
 and all this founded on a pretended Longevity, 
 in fupport of which Fiction the great Names 
 of Lord Bacon, and Mr. Willughby are call'd 
 in, to make the vilifying Infinuation pafs the 
 more plaulibly upon the World. 
 
 We live in an Age when the moft ferious 
 Subjects are treated with an Air of Ridicule j 
 when every Man fuppofes that he has a Right 
 of thinking as he pleafes on any QuefHon, and 
 of writing and fpeaking whatever he thinks. 
 I will not pretend to fay what Reftraint ought 
 to be laid on this Spirit of Licentioufnefs ; 
 forry I am to obferve, that though heretofore 
 it was the Characterise only of the young 
 and giddy Libertine, it has of late mixed itfelf 
 with fome graver Characters, and infected, as 
 in the prefent Cafe, even the Divine and the 
 
 Antiquarian.
 
 ( 14) 
 
 'Antiquarian. But I fhall go on to fet this 
 important Affair in its true Light, and for 
 that Purpofe I fhall produce fuch Authorities 
 as fhall entirely fubvert Mr. Pointer's Scheme, 
 and fuch as fhall be fufficient to convince the 
 mofl obflinate Incredulity. 
 
 And firfl I fhall beg Leave to tranfcribe a 
 PafTage from * Thomas Wal/ingham, a Monk 
 of St. Albarfs and Regius ProfefTor of Hiftory 
 in that Monaftery about the Year 1440. This 
 Writer is well known among the Hiftorians 
 for his Hiftoria Brevis written in Latin and 
 publifh'd both by Camden and Archbifhop 
 Parker: But the Tract I am quoting is in 
 Englifh, and intitled, Df foOnDerfUl ant) fUt* 
 ptifing <ZEfcentp0, and, as far as J can find, 
 has never yet been printed. The eighth 
 Chapter of his fifth Book begins thus. 
 
 foele foottljfe of JOote 10 tfjilfee fa 
 ntottg Cale of t6e Aii-Souien aHartie, tlje 
 lofifc&e, ftecattfe it fcm acteD in ottrDaie0, ami 
 of a fucetpe uoucljen uuto me, 3! loiil in fetue 
 relate* 
 
 * See Nicbolfon's Hiftorical Library.
 
 Henrye Chichele tf)C late 
 
 en artlj^iftope 0f Cantorberye ijan minUen ta 
 founnen a Contuse in oxenforde, foe tfie jjele 
 of 6$ >oule ann tfje Monies of all tfjofe urfja 
 perpffjen in tlje flBarres of Fraunce, figljteins 
 iialiantlpe tinner out moff gracious Henrye 
 tlje fiftfje, moclje toa0 fte nfffcaurtten concern* 
 ing t^e Place Se mp&te cljoofe fot tfjtlfee Put* 
 pofe. JWm tfiin^ptl; Come toftplel! fjolu 8c 
 ntpgbte place ft imt&outett tfje eaftetnporte of 
 t&e Citie, ftotft for tlje Pleafauntneflfe of tlje 
 $@eauottie!3 ann tfie clere dtteamj$ tljerebpe 
 nmnmge. ^gen 5fm tjtn^tl) onir 
 jolne 6e mote tjuiliien tt on tlje nortlje 
 for tjje fceleful ^ipre tljere coming from tlje 
 f teltif^ Botoe tofjfle Jje noubtetlj tljereon 
 Ije nremt, anti foefiolD tljere apperptlj unto ijim 
 one of rigljte gotielpe perfonage, fringe aun 
 atiiiffetng a0 ijotoe 6e mpgbte placen %i$ 
 Collttige in tlje ^iglje )trete of tfje Cttie, 
 nere unto tlje Cijirclje of our Ijleirpn lanie 
 tlje IHrgtne, ann in n^itnelTe tijat it Uia0 
 ann no uain ann neceitfttl Pljantafte 5 
 Ijim to lape tlje firft )tane of tlje 
 jfounnatton at tlje Corner tuljiclj turnptfj to- 
 Cattys-strete, tnljere in neftmtge ije 
 of a euretpe finne a fcljUioppinge 
 imprifon'n in tlje %>i\iU or <8>etocrc, 
 pfattenen ann almotl pbottein >ure 
 
 CoKen
 
 ( 
 Cofeett of tlje C&rtoauttce of ty$ future Col< 
 
 * Walfmgham takes Notice of the Goodnefs of the Omen 
 from the great Size and Fatnefs of the Mallard, to wit, that it 
 was afure Token oftheProfperity of the future College. We may 
 go farther, and obferve that even without this Circumftance, 
 which, to be fure, is no defpicable one, the Invention of the 
 Mallard muft have been efteemed a very happy Augury. 
 Ducks, both male and female, have always been rank'd 
 amongft the Birds of good Fortune, and held, in fome Mea- 
 fure, facred by our beft Ornithologies. It is a very remark- 
 able Story which Aldrovandus tells us f the Duck which 
 us'd annually to attend the Feaft of St. Nicholas, at Mont- 
 fort in France, and facrifice one of her Ducklings to the 
 Shrine of that Saint. Take it in his own Words. 
 
 In ea Gallia parte, qua olim fub Venetorum, Morinorum^ 
 que nomine cenfebatur (nunc Britanniam dicunt) prope urbem 
 Redonenfem oppidum ejl Monsfortis nomine, ubi Decembri menfe 
 cum S. Nicolal folennia celebrantur, a parvo lacu non longe ab 
 oppido, ea hora, qua vet mijja, vel vefpertincs orationes cantan- 
 tur, Anas templum init cum tredecim pullis j quce pojleaquam 
 aram circumdedit, ad eum lacum regreditur, uno pullorum, qua 
 fecum veniens duxit, deficiente, neque vero quo is fe recipiat 
 intelligitur. ^uod Ji quis, tit ret experimentum faciat, out 
 quia rei nuttam fidem habeat, comprehendere out occidere ten- 
 taverit, confejlim rabie corripitur, ac moritur, out in gravem 
 morbum fubito incidit. - Our Author goes on to aflure his 
 Reader that no Doubt cou'd be made of the Truth of this 
 Story, and appeals particularly to the Tefti monies of Bap- 
 tijla Campofulgofus, and Gaudentius Mtrula. (Aldrovandi 
 Ornithol. Lib. 19.) 
 
 The
 
 ( 17) 
 
 noubtetf) fte trrt)en Jje afoofce on t&e 
 Mature of tf# Oifion, tofjetfipr fee mote ptoe 
 fceae thereto or not* Cjjen antrifStf) 6e tfjereon 
 toitft monie *Do&erg ann learnpu Clerfcg0, 
 
 The following Circumftance which we have from Andreas 
 Fulvius is ftill more pertinent to the prefent Cafe. We find 
 that even the brazen Figures of Ducks and Mallards which 
 were difcover'd in laying the Foundation of a Church at 
 Rome, were thought to portend fo much good Luck, that 
 they were laid up among the Treafures and Relicks of that 
 Church. Dum temp/urn S. Marias in Aquiro Anajlafius Papa 
 conderet, area Anates in fundamentis ejus reperiebantur, qua ft 
 in ternplo etiamnum videntur. (De verbis antiq. Lib. 4.) 
 
 Nardini (P. 375 of his Roma Antica) fuppofes thefe brazen 
 Figures to have belong'd to the ancient Temple of Juturna* 
 to whom, probably, as ihe was a River Deity, thefe Birds 
 were facred. A very great Curiofity of this Kind, being an 
 antique glafs Figure of a Mallard, hath, I hear, been lately 
 found amongft the Ruins of one of Cbicbeies Foundations at 
 Higham Ferrers in Northamptonjhire, and prefented to All 
 Souls College by the Rev. Gentleman who had the good For- 
 tune to difcover it. 
 
 On the other Hand it hath been obferv'd to forebode fome 
 very grievous Difafter, when thefe focial and domeftic Birds 
 have on a fudden left the ufual Place of their Refidence. A 
 notable Inftance of the Truth of this Obfervation we have 
 
 trom the afore-quoted learned Ornitbologijt. Anatcs domef- 
 
 ticas (fays he) circa annum a nato Chrijio 1527, domejlices man- 
 fuetudinis oblitas, b" fubito efferaias, fyfoas petiijfe in Vindelicis 
 annalibus legitur ; b* fubfecutam infelicem promifcues mult it u- 
 dinis in Syrlam nai<igationem t domi famem-, & pejtem, (Aldrov, 
 Ornith. ibid.) 
 
 c all
 
 ( is ) 
 
 all fepue Jjotoe be ougbte to mafcen dial upon 
 it. Cfjen comptf) fje to Oxenforde, anu on a 
 Dape fir'D, after a^afle fepfce, proceenetf) be 
 in folemne topfe, toitf) g>paaes ant) Pick 
 ares for t(je nonce protiineti, to tjje B?lace afore 
 fpoken of. 113ut long tftep ban not mggeu ere 
 tFjeg fterue, a0 it mpgbte feme, toitfjin tfje toam 
 of tfce OBrtbe ftorritj^truggiingejs anti jhuttcr^ 
 inges, ann anon violent duaafeingea of t8e 
 ^9alIarDe Cfjen Chichele Ipftetb up 
 
 nn feptf) Benedicite, &c. & 
 
 tojjen tfjep brougjjte jrim fortf) ftefjolti tje 
 of fris 05oDie toas as tfjat of a 'Buflartie or an 
 SDfiringe, 3nn moclje tconner foms tfjereat, 
 for tfte ipcke baa not been feene in tins iLonne, 
 ne in onie onir 
 
 Here we have the Matter of Fact prov'd 
 from an authentic Record, wherein there is not 
 one Word faid of the Longevity of the Mal- 
 Jard, upon a Suppofition of which Mr. Pointer 
 has founded his whole Libel. The Mallard^ 
 'tis true, had grown to a great Size. But, 
 what then ? Will not the RichnefTe and Plen- 
 ty of the Diet he wallowed in very well ac- 
 count for this, without fuppofing any great 
 Number of Years of Imprifonment ? The 
 Words of the Hiftorian, I am fure, rather 
 difcourage any fuch Suppofition , Sure Token , 
 
 fays
 
 fays he, of the Thrivance of his future College ! 
 Which feem to me to intimate the great Progrefs 
 the Mallard had made in fattening, in a fhort 
 Space of Time. But, be this as it will, there is 
 not the leaft Hint of a Goofe in the Cafe. No : 
 The impartial Walfmgham had far higher No- 
 tions of the Mallard^ and could form no Com- 
 parifon of him, without borrowing his Idea 
 from fome of the moft noble Birds, the Buf* 
 tard and the Ojlridge, 
 
 I fhall not ufurp upon the Reader's Time and 
 Patience by producing any more Evidences of 
 this Kind, as I take this of Walfingham to be fo 
 full and clear in itfelf that it wants no Support 
 nor Explanation ; and tho' a few minute Cir- 
 cumftances relating to this great Event, which 
 are not here mention'd, might be retriev'd by 
 a Variety of Quotations from other Authors, 
 yet I muft confefs that I never met with any one 
 Single Account of this Affair fo compleat and 
 confiftent in all its Particulars. Here therefore 
 I reft my Htftorical Proof, and precede to one 
 of a different Nature, which will reflect great 
 Honour upon my Subject, and, in the unfold.- 
 ing of which, I fhall have an Opportunity of 
 correcting the Blunders of former Commenta*- 
 who have loft themfelves in the Mazes of 
 C 2 Errour,
 
 Errour, for Want of that Afiiftance which the 
 foregoing Piece of Hijlory might have fupply'd 
 them with. 
 
 There are few Nations in Europe but what 
 have boafted of prophetical Writings or Tradi- 
 tions peculiar to themfelves, fuch as have been 
 deliver'd down for many Ages from Father to 
 Son, and contain, or feem to contain, in them, 
 the legible Traces of every War, Peftilence, 
 Revolution, Famine and Earthquake that have 
 affected the Fortune of that Country they relate 
 to. Thus the Romans had their Sibylline Ver- 
 fes ; the French boaft of their Nojlradamus ; 
 our Fore-fathers, for many Centuries, placed 
 their Faith in Merlin; as we, their Spns, I 
 mean all the loyal and well-affected Part of us, 
 do in Nixon, or rather in Mr. Oldmixon's Edi- 
 tion of him. I mall not give my own private 
 Opinion of the Reafonablenefs of this Kind 
 of Faith, as I don't chufe to draw upon my- 
 felf the Laughter of thofe Scoffers with which 
 the Age we live in too much abounds ; but if 
 any of thjde Gentlemen mall find themfelves 
 ready to burfl at the firft mentioning of it, I 
 fhall only defire them to moderate their Mirth, 
 till they have attended me through the follow- 
 ing fhort Piece of Criticifm j by which Time, 
 
 I will
 
 I will engage to have gain'd their Wonder, 
 and Silence, if not their Belief. * 
 
 Whoever has feen the J Collection ofEngUJh 
 Prophecies publifh'd in Folio, Lond. 1666, 
 may poffibly remember the following Frag- 
 ment and the unfatisfactory Account there 
 given of it. The Compiler of that Collec- 
 tion afcribes it to Merlin. I cannot, for my 
 own Part, but join with thofe who believe it 
 to be of a much later Date, as J think the 
 Reafons urged for this Opinion are much 
 more cogent than any thing I have feen ad- 
 vanced againft it. There is not, however, 
 any Room to fuppofe it a Forgery of any 
 later Time than the Year 1437, when the 
 College of All-Souls was founded -, for, had 
 that been the Cafe, we mould doubtlefs have 
 feen it applied to the Story of the Mallard, 
 
 * If any Gentleman hath a ferious Mind to have his 
 Faith ftrengthen'd, with regard to this kind of Prophecy, 
 I would recommend to him a Perufal f the Appendix 
 to the Rev. Mr. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclefiafucal Hi/lory^ 
 where he may be equally entertain'd and improv'd with, 
 what Mr. Warburton thinks a Curiofity deferring to be 
 ^ the Vifions of Rice Evans. 
 
 Printed for John Hill and Henry Barker. 
 
 on
 
 on account of which it muft have been made. 
 For I can hardly conceive that any Man would 
 be at the Pains of inventing and framing a 
 mock Prophecy, without going through with 
 the Bufinefs, and taking a full Enjoyment 
 of the Impoflure by the Application of it. 
 The Verfes I am fpeaking of run thus : 
 
 ingionde's King ore ffieaulme of 
 Fraunce ijmll reigne 
 
 rittan nougitfe &g all fcer armes flmll gapn, 
 Cfje Freeft for pad anjD future foules ftall care: 
 cfjaunge for IPraiers aelc Councile of tfje 
 OOarre* 
 
 ' imprifon'D 15irue ftall toaunt ?)i0 Litertie, 
 ftall quake 
 
 No Words could more precifely point out 
 the Time, when this Tranfaction of the Mal- 
 lard happen'd, than thofe of the two firft 
 Verfes. Henry VI. the then reigning King, 
 had been crown'd and acknowledg'd King 
 of France in Paris, and the Sum total which 
 this Nation gain'd by that Conqueft, will, I 
 fuppofe, be own'd by every modern Politician, 
 to be fully exprefs'd in the fecond Line. 
 
 C&e lg>reeft for, &c.] In thefe two Verfes 
 we have the Account of Cbickele's founding 
 
 his
 
 his College almofl literally defcrib'd. I would 
 not be thought to hint here that there is any 
 Thing particular or furprizing in the PriefVs 
 caring for the Souls of Men. No : I have 
 too great a Veneration for the Clergy, to think 
 of throwing liich a Slander upon their Func- 
 tion. But the Rev. Mr. Pointer himfelf will 
 own, that the Circumflance of caring for paft 
 and future Souls is very precife and defcriptive 
 if applied to this Tranfaction; and the Propriety 
 of this Application will be flill more evident, 
 when we reflect on what is faid in the fecond 
 Line of changing for Prayers the Councils of the 
 War> which was exactly the Archbifhop's 
 Cafe, who had been very instrumental in ad- 
 vifing King Henry V. to aflert his Title to 
 the Crown of France by Arms, * and was pro- 
 bably induc'd to found his College by way of 
 expiating for the Blood fpill'd in that Contefl. 
 
 * Porro univerfos fuos alumnos juflit Hen. 511. Th. 
 Clar. Duels, procerum, militumque qui in bello Gallico 
 occubuiflent, et Chriftianorum demum omnium memori- 
 am celebrare inter divina officia pro ratione temporum 
 peragenda : religione uti videtur perculfus, quod illius belli 
 author et fuafor fuifTet, in quo homines inriumeri animas 
 cffudiflent, ideoque Collegium fuum Animarum omnium 
 fidelium defun&orum de Oxonia appellari juflit. 
 
 (Arthur us Duck, in Fit a Chichlat.) 
 
 I doubt
 
 ( *+ ) 
 
 I doubt not but that my Reader hath anti- 
 cipated the remaining Part of my Explana- 
 tion, and begins to think all farther Comment 
 unnecefTary. But in return for my Civility, in 
 admitting him fo foon behind the Cur tain, I hope 
 he will have Patience to fby out the Entertain- 
 ment j efpecially when he confiders that as 
 this Prophecy has hitherto been ufurp'd by a 
 different Hypothejis, and interpreted upon ano- 
 ther Plan, it is incumbent upon me to eject 
 the old Claimants before I can reckon myfelf 
 in full PolTeflion of it. 
 
 Cj)' imprifOtl'tJ T5irDe, &c.] Here, accord- 
 ing to my Syftem, we have an exprefs Pre- 
 diction of the Releafe of the Mallard. But 
 let us examine impartially what hath been 
 urg'd in favour of another Explication. 
 
 Mr. Lilly \ Dr. Dee, and others, have agreed 
 that the imprifon'd Bird muft mean the fa- 
 mous Charles V. Emperor of Germany, pre- 
 figur'd here by the Bird, that is the Eagle, 
 which every one knows to be the Enfign of 
 the Empire. This Prince, fay they, was 
 taken Prifoner by the French King, Francis I. 
 and carry'd into France, where he was de- 
 tain'd a whole Year, at the End of which 
 
 this
 
 this Prophecy was fulfill'd by the Treaty 
 
 which procur'd his Liberty. In anfwer to 
 
 which, I beg that the following Particulars 
 may be duly coniider'd. 
 
 i . That during the long Reign of Charles V. 
 (which was cotemporary with thofe of our 
 Henry VIII. Edward VI. Queen Mary, and 
 Part of Queen Elizabeth's) not one of our 
 Englifh Monarchs had any Pretentious to the 
 Crown of France. This Objection ought to 
 have flartled our wife Expofitors from the very 
 Circumftance which they mention of his be- 
 ing taken Prifoner by a French King. 
 
 2 t It will not be eafy, upon this Suppofi- 
 tion, to find out who the Prieft was that 
 was fo follicitous for the Welfare of paft and 
 future Souls. The Reformers of thofe Days 
 may indeed be faid to have taken great Care 
 of the juture Souls, by the Care they took in 
 purifying the Religion of their Country from 
 the Dregs of Popery, but the Romifh Clergy 
 who are the only People that pretend to ma- 
 nage the Affairs of the pajl^ that is the Souls 
 of thofe that are dead) were never more a- 
 bandon'd and profligate, as might eafily be 
 prov'd from the Hiftories of thofe Times. 
 
 D 3. The
 
 ( It ) 
 
 3. The laft Words of the Prophecy feeming 
 very positively to intend an Earthquake, our 
 Expofitors have been upon the high Search 
 for one correfponding with this Imprifonment 
 of Charles the fijth. But how unlucky have 
 they been in this Particular ? For, after all 
 their Pains, they have been able to difcover 
 but one fmall Shock, during the whole Year, 
 and that in Italy. And I fhall leave it with 
 my Reader to judge whether this Circum- 
 flance, in a Country where Earthquakes are, 
 in fome Seafons, as frequent as Hail-Storms 
 are in England, can be fuppofed to be of 
 fuch Importance as to deferve to be the Sub- 
 ject of a Prophecy. But, 
 
 Laftly, What muft put an End to this 
 Debate, and overthrow the whole Scheme of 
 our Opponents, is this -, that, by the concur- 
 rent Testimony of all the Hiftorians, the Em- 
 peror Charles V. NEVER WAS taken Prifonerby 
 Francis I. nor by any other Monarch ; but on 
 the contrary, that Francis was taken Prifoner 
 
 * ' 
 
 by Charl-es at the Battle of Pavia, and fent 
 into Spain, where he * was detain'd for the 
 
 * See Mezeray's Alrr.gc Cbrsnohgique. Tom 7. P. 351. 
 
 Space
 
 Space of thirteen Months. - - 1 am heartily 
 griev'd that the Purfuit of my Subject and 
 the Caufe of Truth, have laid me under a 
 Neceffity of expofing the palpable Ignorance 
 of thefe Gentlemen ; yet, at the fame Time, 
 I cannot but fay, that it gives me fome Sa- 
 tisfaction to reflect that though Mr. P. has 
 malicioufly endeavour 'd to traduce the Mal- 
 lard into a Goofe, others, equally fkill'd with 
 himfelf in Hiftory and Criticifm, have agreed 
 to miftake him for an Emperor ', or an Eagle. 
 
 CartFje tjmll quake, Gfr.] Thefe Words 
 
 will readily be explaned by looking back on 
 our Quotation from Walfingham, where he 
 mentions the violent Quaakinges of the dtftreffed 
 Mallarde pent up within the Bowels of the 
 Earth. Let us reftore therefore the original 
 
 Reading, l)e (Eartfce fjmli duaafce, 
 
 Thus, you fee, to the Honour of true Cri- 
 ticifm^ by the eafy Reftoration of one Letter, 
 which had been dropt, I fuppofe, by the 
 Negligence of Tranfcribers, this very difficult 
 Paffage is reconcil'd to the Context, all Ob- 
 fcurities are clear 'd up, and to the great Joy 
 of myfelf and the Reader, we have got rid 
 of the Earthquake. - We cannot but ob- 
 
 D 2 ferve
 
 ferve here that this Circumftance of the Earth' 
 quacking^ or, as it is better fpelt in our old 
 Englijh, Uiaafceinge, entirely deftroys Mr. 
 Pointer's Scheme of the Goofe - y as this Ex- 
 preffion cannot with any Propriety, be ap- 
 ply 'd to that Bird, or indeed to any other 
 but a Ducky or a Mallard. * I am 
 
 * We fee here a fad Inftance of the Want of a general 
 Knowledge, and general Reading. Our Author's favour- 
 ite Scheme In the Explication of this Prophecy, which he flat- 
 ters himfelf to be Jo well grounded as not to be fiaken by the 
 Force of any Criticifm, may be dejlroyd by an Obfervation 
 which his own, or any honeji Farmer's Wife in his Parijby might 
 have helped him to. Had he condefcended to have consulted 
 them upon this Subjefl, they would have aj/ur'd him that the 
 Loquacity of Ducks, which we commonly call Quacking 
 (which the Author of Philomela, exprejfcth by the Word tetrinire, 
 
 In Jluviifque natans forte tetrinit Anas j 
 Qnd Alciatus by that of garrire, 
 
 Garrit in illarum fe recipitque gregcm ; 
 and for which J. C. Scaliger adopteth the Epithet quiritatrixi 
 
 Herbilis Anfer^ atqite Anas quiritatrix ;) 
 
 M like the Loquacity of fome other Parts of the Creation^ 
 twfin'd entirely to the Females, and that the Mallard never 
 quacketh, or (as this Gentleman chufeth to write it) doth, 
 
 w. 
 
 Notwithftanding the petulant JJurance, with which this 
 
 Note
 
 I am not confcious to myfelf that I have 
 pverftrained any Part of the foregoing Expli-* 
 
 cation 
 
 Note hath been introduced into the World, and handed 
 about with an Air of Triumph, among the Critics, I will 
 be bold to affirm that it hath as little Truth or Reafon to 
 fupport it, as any that ever appear'd gt the Bottom of a 
 Page of Shakefpear, Cou'd it be prov'd that the male Duck 
 or Mallard never quacks, it would indeed take away the 
 yery Key-ftone of my critical Building-) and the whole 
 muft confequently fall to the Ground. But, from the bell 
 Enquiries I have been able to make, and the little Reading 
 I have had the Opportunity of beftowing on this Subject, 
 I am fo far from being inclin'd to give up the Point, that 
 I am, from every Confideration, more and more con- 
 yinc'd of the Truth and Stability of my Syftem. 
 
 The Mallard, 'tis well known, is a very grave, and fo- 
 
 lemn Bird, Adnwdum lente incedit (fays Aldrovandus) ut 
 
 quondam gravitatem f>r& fe ferre vidcatur ; and it had been 
 very abfurd in Nature, and very inconfiftent with the De- 
 corum and Oecqnomy of all her other Works, had me 
 made him, at the fame Time, a noify, loquacious, and 
 babling Animal. But is it, for this Reafon, to be con- 
 cluded that he has no Voice at all ? It will be found upon 
 Enquiry, to be far otherwife. The Mallard, as I am well 
 aflur'd, upon any great Emergency or prejjing Diftrefs^ 
 exerts a very ftrong and fonorous Throat. And this was 
 the Cafe of the Mallard of All-Souls ; and the Confidera- 
 tion of this Circumftance will lead us to obferve a very 
 great Propriety in Walfinghams Manner of relating thie 
 Story. But long they had not digged (fays he) ere they herde % 
 as it mote feme, within the Warn of the Erthe 9 horrid Strug- 
 
 glinges
 
 (30) 
 
 cation in order to fuit Things to my own Pur- 
 pofe. I would fcorn to impofe upon the 
 
 World 
 
 glinges and Flutteringes^ and ANON (i. e. after every other 
 Method of Complaint had fail'd) violent ^uaakinges of the 
 diflrejjjd Mallards. 
 
 But to determine this Queftion to the Satisfaction of the 
 Learned^ let us go on to examine what the moft celebrated 
 Philofophers and Inquirers into Nature have obferved on this 
 Head. Ariftotle^ Pliny^ and Solinus have faid nothing on the 
 Quacking either of Ducks or Mallards j fo that all we can 
 gather from them is, what indeed is a great Prefumption in 
 our Favour, that they, curious and inquifitive as they 
 were, had never heard of this notable Difference between 
 the Males and Females of this Species of Birds. - But, 
 to come a little lower. Aldrovandus^ whom we have be- 
 fore quoted, who is the moft famous of our more mo- 
 dern Natural?/}*, and who, according to M. Eayie^ 
 fpar'd no Pains or Expence in his Refearches, hath given 
 us a Philofophical and Anatomical Account of this Kind 
 of Vociferation. 
 
 Vocem Anas (fays he) cur tarn acutam^ atque magnam 
 cum apud meipfum mirarer, earn dij/ecui, caufam ejus fcruta- 
 turuSy baud dubio ex arteries afpens figura^ quam fane di- 
 verfam ejje al aliis reperi. >tia igitur bifariam dharicatur 
 in plumones, veficam quondam habet duram, cartilagineam^ 
 concavam, ubi major apparet dextrorsum vergentem. He then 
 goes on to defcribe thefe Parts more particularly by the 
 Help of a Copper Plate, and imputes, as we fee here, the 
 great Strength of the Voice to this hard^ cartilaginous t 
 wncave Subjiance. It doth not appear, indeed, from the 
 
 Words
 
 World by dif-ingenuous Mifreprefentations, 
 for the fake of eflabliftiing a favourite Hypo- 
 thefts. 
 
 Words of Aldrovandus himfelf, whether the Bird he dif- 
 fedted were a Duck or a Mallard; and it feems that he 
 was not apprehenfive of any Difference, in this Point, 
 between them. But by comparing this Account with a 
 PafTage or two in Mr. Pointer's Friend Willughby^ it is evi- 
 dent that it muft have been a Mallard or Drake. " The 
 " Drake (fays this Author, B. 3. Chap. 4. Se6L i.) hath 
 " a certain long Veflel or Bubble at the Divarication of 
 " the Wind-pipe, which we call a Labyrinth." He feems 
 indeed a little dubious (B. i. Ch. 2.) in accounting for 
 the Ufe of it : But the moft probable Conjecture he makes 
 coincides with the Opinion of Aldrovandus^ viz. " That 
 " it ferves to increafe the Force of the Voice." And af- 
 terwards, in the fame Page, he exprefsly confines, (from 
 the Information of a curious and ingenious Friend) this, 
 additional vocal Organ in Birds, " to the Cocks of the 
 " brcad-bill'd or Duck-kind." So that, we fee, if either 
 Sex can pretend to a Superiority in Force and Ener- 
 gy of Voice, it feems, from the connected Teftimony of 
 thefe two Ornithologies , moft eminently to belong, not to 
 the Duck, but to the Mallard. 
 
 But let us attend to our Author (Aldrovandus) when 
 he talks exprcfsly of the Quacking of Mallard^ and the 
 Difference between the Note of the male and female 
 Duck. Anatcs marcs quorum (fays he) vox rauca at gra- 
 v'n eft, feemtnarum acutlor., nt qnidtim putant ; this, it 
 feems, was the Opinion of fome, that the Quack of the 
 Mallard was hoarfe and deep, and that of the Duck 
 more (harp and piercing- But there is a very great Name, 
 
 no
 
 thefts, I think I may fay, without Prejudice* 
 that if this Prophecy be not fulfilled by the 
 
 furprizing 
 
 HO Jefs than that of Albcrtus Magnus, which fubfcribes to 
 the oppofite Sentiment. Et eft (fays he, Lib. 23. de natu- 
 ris avium) vox famines crajjior^ et vox marts acuttor$ in omni 
 anatum genere* But , be this as it will, there is no Hint 
 given that it ever was the Opinion of any Sect of Natural 
 Pbilofophers that the Mallard never quack 'd : And, ac- 
 cordingly, Aldravandus goes on, fpeaking of the whole 
 Duck-kind^ to obferve, Hoc autem prater omnem contrsver- 
 fiam eft) aves ejje valdc clamofasy unde Pontanus de garrufo 
 quodam ait 
 
 Hie clamore grues vicerity atque Anates* 
 
 Had there been any Truth in this Obfervation of the 
 Taciturnity of the Mallard^ I know of no Author fo like- 
 ly to have taken Notice of it as our Oxford Philofopher 
 Wotton de Dijferentiis animalium j and yet there is not the 
 leaft Trace of it to be found in him. He remarks in his 
 I4gth Ch. (De anatino genere} Anati gula iota ampla et 
 fata efty and all the Difference he obferves, between the 
 Male and Female, is Anas mas major e/tfamina, et colon 
 magis vario. From whence it ought rather to be infcrr'd 
 that, as the Mallard muft neceflarily have the wider and 
 larger Throat, it fhould feem probable that his Voice 
 might be proportionably Jlrong and fonorous. 
 
 I mall clofe thefe Authorities with enother Paflage from 
 Mr. Willughby^ wherein he notes the only Difference he 
 had obferv'd between the Duck and the Drake, and fhewa 
 himfelf as ignorant as Jfotton with regard to the ^uackingt 
 " Between the Duck and the Drake there is this Dif- 
 
 " ference
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 furprizing Hiftory of the Mallard, it never 
 Was and never will be fulfilled to the End of 
 
 the 
 
 " ference, that he hath growing on his Rump certain eret 
 " Feathers reflected backwards toward his Heady which fhc 
 hath not." (B. 3. Ch. 4. S. I.) 
 
 I might have given a very (hort, and, perhaps, unex- 
 ceptionable Anfwer to this ingenious Criticijm, had I been 
 pleas'd to have obferv'd, that the whole Hlftory of this 
 Tranfa&ion, as well as the Prophecy appears to have fome- 
 thing in it fupernatural and miraculous, and that, when 
 Things were in this Train, it could not feem in the lead 
 unreafonable that the Mallard of All-Souls (though dumb 
 all his Life before) fhou'd be allow'd, in that diftrejjed 
 State, to break out into violent ^uackings. To have cor- 
 roborated this Suppofition I might have quoted from Aulu* 
 Gellius (Lib. 5. Cap. 9.) the Inftance of the dumb Son of 
 Crtffus ; nay, had I allow'd myfelf the Liberties which 
 have been taken by fome late DifTertators, on very trifling 
 and very najty Subje&s, I need not have confin'd myfelf 
 to profane Hi/lory . But I fcorn to al fo unpbilofopbically as 
 to (helter myfelf behind an Hypothecs of this Kind, when 
 the bare Confideration of the pbyfical j^uaKties, Caufes^ and 
 Differences of Things^ is abundantly fufficient, in this Cafe, 
 to unravel every Difficulty ; 
 
 Nan tali aiixitio - 
 
 nee dignus vindice nodus. 
 
 I ought now to apologize to my Reader for detaining 
 him fo long on this Subject, as to have fwell'd this Note 
 
 E almoft
 
 ( 34) 
 
 the World. " If you have a Lock (faith the 
 " ingenious Dr. Eurnet in his theory of the 
 " Earth) that confifts of a great deal of Work- 
 " manmip, many Wards and many odd Pieces 
 " and Contrivances, and you find a Key that 
 ce anfwers to them all, and opens it readily, 'tis 
 " a thoufand to one that 'tis the true Key, 
 " and was made for that Purpofe." 
 
 But it is Time to return to our Author, who 
 purfues his Irrveffiives againft the Mallard, by 
 defending him (under the Character of the 
 old Goofe) as a very mifchievous Bird, that 
 ought to be kill'd. I remember to have feen 
 
 almoft into a DiJ/ertatlon. But when he confiders the 
 Importance of the Queftion that hath lain before us ; that 
 not only the Credit of this Vindication^ but the hitherto 
 unimpeached Veracity of Thomas Waljmgbam depends upon 
 it, which, unlefs the Mallard be found to have qiiacPd, 
 rnuft fink and be loft for ever with that of the Lucians, 
 the Geoffries of Monmoutb-, tlie Oldmixons, and the Burnetsof 
 Hiftory ; and when he further confiders that the Learned 
 in Natural Science have already begun to divide into Par- 
 ties upon it, and that very laborious Difquifitions and 
 Difcourfes are probably, at this very Time, compiling to 
 
 be laid before the next Meeting in C ne C / ; he 
 
 will not think it improper in me to have endeavour'd to 
 fet the Truth of the Cafe in a clear Light, nor that I have 
 thrown away my Labour, or He his Patience. 
 
 a Letter
 
 a Letter of Archbifhop Abbot's to the Warden 
 and Fellows of All-Souls, wherein he accufes 
 the anniverfary Celebration of the Mallard as 
 the Caufe of fome Riot and Diforder among 
 the younger People of the College, and the 
 fame injurious Sentiment Mr. P. hath adopted, 
 and endeavour'd to infinuate, by the Expref- 
 fions of worrying and dejlroymg the young 
 Geefe and Go/lings. And to give a better 
 Countenance to this Iniinuation, he is pleas' d 
 immediately after to intimate to his Reader 
 (as from Lord Bacon * ) the Probability of its 
 being a Wild-Goofe. " The Goofe (fays he) 
 * c may pafs among the long Livers, though 
 <{ his Food be Grafs and fuch kind of Nou- 
 * rifhment, ESPECIALLY the Wild-Goofe. ' ' 
 Now that the Archbifhop (whofe Principles 
 had too great a Tendency towards Puritan- 
 
 * I have not given myfelf the Trouble of examining 
 whether Mr. P. hath dealt ingenuoufly with his Reader in 
 thefe Quotations, or not. Indeed it is not a Point of much 
 Concern to our Debate. The Paflages are to be confi- 
 der'd, by us, as they lie in his Book, with that particular 
 Turn towards Sarcafm and Satyr, which he hath very art- 
 fully thrown upon them. If they are genuine, he hath 
 fhewn his great Skill at Application, and, if they are not 
 fo, the Fertility of his Invention. In either Cafe the 
 Slander is the fame. 
 
 E 2 ifm)
 
 ( 
 
 ifm) fhould exprefs himfelf with too much 
 Acrimony againft the Obfervation of a joyous 
 Feftival, howfoever innocent and fignificant 
 the Jnftjtution of it might be, is not much 
 to be wonder'd at j but, I own, I am greatly 
 fiirpriz'd to find an Orthodox Clergyman, like 
 Mr. Pointer, abetting the fame Errours, and 
 propofing (though obfcurely) the fame dan* 
 gerous innovations. 
 
 Mr. Pointer goes on thus" However, this 
 " is certain, this Mallard is the accidental 
 " Occalion of a great Gaudy once a Year 
 
 " and great Mirth For on this Occafion 
 
 " is always fung a merry old Song." Rem 
 
 tarn feriam, tarn negligent er ! Wou'd any 
 
 one but this Author have reprefented fo augujl 
 a Ceremony as the Celebration of the Mallard 
 by thofe vulgar Circumftances of eating, and 
 drinking, and finging a merry old Song ? Doth 
 he not know that the greateft States, even 
 thofe of Rome and Carthage, had their Infant 
 Foundations diflinguifh'd by Incidents very 
 much refembling thofe of the Mallard, and 
 that the Commemoration of them was cele- 
 brated with Hymns and Proceflions, and 
 made a Part of their Religious Obfervances? 
 Let me refrefh his Memory with a Circum- 
 
 fiance
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 llance or two relating to the Head of To/us, 
 which was difcover'd at the Foundation of 
 the Capitol The Romans held the Remem- 
 brance of it in the greateft Veneration, as. 
 will appear by the following Quotation from 
 Arnobius, in a Fragment preferv'd by Lipfais 
 " quo die (fays he, fpeaking of the annual 
 < Celebrity) congregati Sacerdotes, & eorum 
 " Miniftri, totum Capitolinum collem cir- 
 cc cumibant, cantilenam quandam facram de 
 * e Toli cujufdam capite, dum molirentur Fun- 
 " damenta invento, recitantes. Deinde ad cas- 
 <e nam vere pontificiam fe recipientes, &c." 
 Part of this merry old Song (as Mr. P. wou'd 
 call it) is preferv'd by Vojjlus in his Book De 
 facris Cantilenis Veterum Romanorum. The 
 Chorus of it mews fo much the Simplicity 
 of the ancient Roman Poetry that I cannot 
 forbear tranfcribing it for the Benefit of my 
 Reader, as the Book is too fcarce to be in 
 every one's Hand. It runs thus : 
 
 TOLI caput ijemrandum ! 
 Magnum caput & mirandum / 
 TOLJ caput refonamus, 
 
 I make no Doubt but that every true 
 Critick will be highly pleas' d with it. For 
 
 my
 
 ; 38 
 
 my own Part, it gives me a particular Plea^ 
 fure to refled: on the Refemblance there is 
 between this precious Relique of Antiquity, and 
 the Chorus of the Mallard. 
 
 Oh! by the Blood of King Edward, 
 It was afwopping^ *fwopptng Mallard ! 
 
 The 
 
 * The Epithet of fwopplng^ or, as Walfingham writes it, 
 fC6tJJOppitt$0, is with great Propriety applied to the 
 Mallard. The fejlival Song, or Ode of Commemoration^ 
 enumerates feveral Parts of him as remaikably deferring 
 this Character. One Circumftance of this kind, which 
 our Poet hath taken Care to celebrate, agrees exactly with 
 what the Naturalijl, whom we have already been fa 
 much oblig'd to, hath obferv'd as very wonderful, and 
 
 peculiar to this Bird. Hoc vero ( fays he ) in hac 
 
 ave valde mirum videri pojjlt, quod membrum genitale tarn 
 magnum habeaty ut diglt'i unius crajffitudinem quatuor vero out 
 quinque longitudinem <zquet, fangulms injiar rubrum. (Al~ 
 drov. Ornitb. L. 19. P. 85.) 
 
 Though probably nothing may be thought more honour- 
 able, by our modern Enquirers into Nature, than this Cir- 
 cumftance belonging to the Mallard, yet, I believe, I 
 Ihould not have mention'd it, but thac J flatter myfelf it 
 may be of fome literary Ufe in explaining a Medal of the 
 younger FAUSTINA, the Wife of M. Aurelius\ which 
 hath hitherto baffled the Conjectures of the moft know- 
 ing Antiquarians. The curious Reader may find it en- 
 grav'd (PI. 49. Numb, u.) in the Collection of the Dukes 
 
 f
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 The Greatnefs of the Subjeft, you fee, is 
 the Thing celebrated in both, and the Man- 
 ner 
 
 of Arfcbot) publifh'd by Gevartius. Let us hear what that 
 experienc'd Antiquary faith of it. Avis qutedam (fays he) 
 Concordiae conjugalis typus. Pierius 3" Politianus cornicem 
 ejje putant. For fan eji Turtur, cujus not a in compar em fides $ 
 aut Columba, quod genus amumfolet unius domus confortla nofle. 
 The Legend of this Reverfe is CONCORDIA, and the Figure 
 on it is (as our Author fays) fame Bird or other , and intend- 
 ed very probably as a Type of Conjugal Concord. lean- 
 not conceive on what Reafons Pierius and Petition founded 
 their Opinion of it's being a Rook or a Crow, Birds of 
 hoarfe and difcordant Voices, and always believ'd to be 
 of evil Omen. The Turtle and Pigeon are, indeed, very 
 proper Emblems of Matrimonial Ajfeflion or Concord \ but 
 then, if we confider the Chara&er of FAUSTINA, and the 
 Manner in which (he liv'd with her Hufband, I think they 
 will not do for our prefent Purpofe. The Reverfes we 
 find of this Lady (particularly the famous one of the Gla- 
 diator, or Mentis Viflrix) are generally much more agree- 
 able to the Reputation me bears in Hiftory. On lui donne 
 (fays Triftan) es reverfes defes medailles, des devijes fi c on for- 
 mes afes deportemens qu' il eft bien aiie dejuger qu elle n y avsit 
 
 run de defguiie en tout ce qui la comernoit. An ingenious 
 
 Friend, whom I have confulted on this Subjecl, feem'd in- 
 clin'd to think it a Phoenix^ and that Gevartius ought to 
 have wrote, RARA qutsdam avis, conjugalis Concord! <z typus: 
 But, if it be remember'd that the Phoenix never had a 
 Mate, and that he hath always been made ufe of on Coins 
 as an Emblem of Duration, Perpetuity, or Eternity, I be- 
 lieve it will not be thought probable that he fhoulil } in 
 this Place, at leaft, reprefent Matrimonial Concord. For 
 
 my
 
 ner of doing it is as nearly equal as the dif- 
 ferent GeniufTes of the two Languages will 
 permit. Let me hope therefore that Mr. P. 
 when he exercifes his Thoughts again on this 
 Subject, will learn to think more highly of 
 the Mallard than of a common Gaudy, or a 
 Merry-making: For it will not be juftto fup- 
 pofe that the Gentlemen of All Souls can have 
 lefs Regard for the Memory of fo noble a 
 Bird, found all alive, than the Romans had for 
 the dead Skull of the Lord knows whom* 
 
 As lam inclin'd to make this Vindication as 
 fatisfa&ory as poflible to all kinds of Readers, 
 
 my own Part, after my utmoft Endeavours to diveft myfelf 
 of all Prejudice on this Occafion, I cannot but be per- 
 fuaded, that it was intended for a Mallard. The Figure 
 on the Coin doth, I am fure, to any impartial Eye, more 
 refemble this Bird than it doth a Rook or Crow, a Turtle, 
 a Pigeon, or a Pbcenix. And if we lay together the Clr- 
 cumjiance mention'd by Aldrovandus, with the Tafte and In- 
 clinations of the Lady, I think there can be no Doubt of the 
 Propriety of the Emblem ; efpecially if the Reader will be 
 pleas'd to view it in that Light, in which, I own, I have 
 always been fond of feeing it, viz. As a Device of FAUS- 
 TINA'S own chufmg, and containing a mode/} Hint to the 
 good Man her Hufband, who ( notwithstanding his parti- 
 cular Turn for moral Pbilofophy ) might not have fufficiently 
 confider'd this great Truth, That CONJUGAL JUSTICE is 
 the beji, and only fure Foundation C/*CONJUGAL CONCORD; 
 
 I com
 
 . ( 4* ) 
 
 I come now to confider an Objection, or 
 two, which I am apprehenfive may be made 
 ufe of, by fome captious Critics, to invalidate 
 the Hiftory of the Mallard. And 
 
 Firft : It may be faid that Arthur Duck> 
 the Civilian, who wrote the Life of the Foun- 
 der, and who, from his Relation to the Mal- 
 lard (I mean as he was Fellow of All-Souls) 
 ought to have been well acquainted with 
 the Hiftory of him, hath pafs'd it by, with- 
 out beftowing one Word on an Event fo won- 
 derful and fo nearly related to his Subject. 
 To which I anfwer ; That every, even the 
 leafl, Circumftance relating to the Mallard,, 
 hath hitherto been thought too facred and 
 myfterious to be communicated to the Pub- 
 lick and fubmitted to every vulgar Reader. 
 Nothing but the manifeft Neeeffity * of a Vin- 
 dication 
 
 * The Reader will be convinc'd of the Necejfflty of refut- 
 ing Mr. Pointer's, Libel in this public manner, by perill- 
 ing; the following; Extracts from one of the foreign BibUs- 
 
 GO v-> 
 
 theqitss for the Month of 'June laft ; wherein he will per- 
 ceive that the Literati abroad have fur ionic Months been in 
 Expectation of fomething of this Kind. This Writer, ut- 
 ter giving us the Title of Mr. P's Work, goes on thiu : 
 II y a bug tempi que Mwjieur h Paint ir de Skip-tin, a qt-d 
 
 F nciu
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 dication of him from the unjujl AJperJlons 
 thrown out by Mr. P. fliould have induc'd 
 
 me 
 
 nous devons cet Ouvrage, a etc bien connu a tout le monde fa- 
 vant, par plujieurs Livres ecrits avec une Diligence & Soli- 
 ditie affiz agreable aux Sujets dont ih traitent. Mais dam 
 le Livre, dont nous agijfons et dont vous venez de lifer If, 
 Titre, il a tout d' un Coup, obfcurci tous fes autres Outrages. 
 
 (7' eft un Chef d? Ocuvre, &c. After having defcanted 
 
 thus on the Praifes of Mr. Pointer, he defcends to a par- 
 ticular Confideration of the Work, and comes to the Point 
 before us, on which he remarks in the following Manner. 
 11 a decouvri que, fcfr. " He (M. P.) hath difcover'd that 
 " the celebrated Mallard of All-Souh College was not a 
 " Mallard but a Goofe ; or, at leafl, that from his Longae- 
 " vity he muft have had much of the Nature of a Goofe 
 " in him. What fhall we fay to this Affair ? What will 
 " the World think of this Difcovery ? It feems that a 
 <c Reputation of 300 Years {landing, is not fufficiently fe- 
 ** cured againft the Pen of a Critic and Philofopher, aujji 
 44 habile & adroit que Monfeeur Pointer. The World is im- 
 *' patient to hear what can be faid on the other Side of 
 ** the Queftion. The learned Members of that College 
 " will certainly think themfelves obliged to vindicate the 
 " Character of their favourite Bird, and themfelves and 
 " their Predeceflbrs, from the Imputation of having, for Ib 
 *' many Generations, im'pos'd upon the Credulity of an eafy 
 " and believing World." This folemn Provocation muft be 
 part of my Excufe for employing fome of the little Leifure I 
 have from the neceflary Attendance I owe to my Parifh, a 
 young Wife, and a growing FamHy, in exerting; myfelf in 
 Defence of a Society, of whicrf I was, not many Years fmce, 
 an unworthy Member. And as I doubt not but that the 
 
 Expectations
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 me to let the World into the Secret by this 
 modejl Defence, which, at the fame Time I 
 cannot but regard as a kind of 'Profanation of 
 fo venerable a Subject. I have however been 
 very cautious not to divulge any Thing more 
 than was abfolutely neceffary on this Occafion. 
 The Silence therefore of Dr. Duck is rather 
 to be efteem'd an Argument of his Refpect 
 and Veneration for the Mallard^ than of his 
 Neglect or Difbelief of his Story. But 
 
 2dly, It hath been objected by fome pre- 
 tended Well- Wifiers to the Mallard^ that it 
 is to be lamented that this Story is not 
 authoriz'd by the Founder himfelf; and 
 that though the Proofs of it do indeed feem 
 to be drawn from very great and irreproach- 
 able Authorities ; and though the Rites and 
 
 Expectations of the fereign Literati will be thoroughly fa- 
 tisfied by this Vindication., I do now publickly apply to the 
 Authors or Compilers of the Nouveiles de la Republiqite des 
 Lettres, the "Journal des Scavam, the Bibliotheque Univerfeile, 
 the Bibliotheque choifte, the Memores pour /' Hiftotre des Sci- 
 ences & des beaux Arts, the Afta Eruditorum, the Univer- 
 fal Monthly Regijler, bV. &c. or any of them, who have 
 been fo complaifant to Mr. P. as to beftow their Eulogiums 
 upon his Book, that they would, if they are willing to 
 avoid the Imputation of great Partiality, immediately take 
 proper Notice of this my Performance^ and uflier it into 
 the World with its due Commendations. 
 
 F 2 Ceremonies
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 Ceremonies attending its anniverfary Celebra- 
 tion are very fignificant and well adapted to 
 the Inftitution j yet that Fellows of Colleges 
 ought to be careful how they inftitute Solem- 
 nities and Obfervances in which they cannot 
 be fupported by their Statutes. To which it 
 may be faid, that we are ready to prove, from 
 inconteftable Evidence, that H. Cbichek him- 
 felf inftituted the Solemnity of the Mallard, 
 In perpetuam rei Memoriam, and affifted per- 
 fonally at the firft Celebration of it ; and, 
 though the Statutes be filent, yet frequent 
 Hints are given of it in that Collection of 
 his Letters which are flill preferv'd in the Ar- 
 chives of the College. Particularly he begins 
 his thirteenth Letter to Dr. Andrewe the fir ft 
 
 Warden thus Collegium meum bono Alite 
 
 fundatum^ &c. From whence it is plain that 
 fome Bird y or other, had a Hand in the Foun- 
 dation of the College, and what that Bird 
 was hath, I hope, been demonftrated to eve- 
 ry impartial Reader. And this I mould think 
 Sufficient for the Satisfaction of thefe veryfcru- 
 fulous Gentlemen. 
 
 Let me fpeak a Word or two more with 
 Mr. P. before I conclude. 
 
 And
 
 And here let me advife him, and all other 
 Hypothetical Critics, and Pbilofopbers, imme- 
 diately to difcard that falfe Method of Rea- 
 foning which hath fo often exppied them and 
 their Syflems to the Ridicule of the World, 
 Nothing hath fo frequently fruftrated the En- 
 quiries of ingenious Men^ or been fo great a 
 Hindrance to the Advancement of ufeful 
 Knowledge ', as the taking what we affect to call 
 firft Principles upon Truil, and arguing upon 
 them, howfoever falfe they may be, as from 
 Matters of Fact and Demonftration. Thus 
 the Philofophers of the Golden Tooth * erected 
 feveral Syftems of natural and fuper-natural 
 Caufes to explane that wonderful Phaenome- 
 non ; till unfortunately for them, their inge- 
 nious Difquifitions were put an End to by an 
 inquifitive Goldfmith's demonftrating the faid 
 Tooth to be a mere Cheat and a Counterfeit. J 
 
 * Hiftoire des Oracles par M. Fontenelle ; DifT. i. Ch. 4. 
 
 J The moft elaborate DhTertation on this Subject is that 
 of HorftiuS) ProfefTor of Phyfic at Lipfic^ who very wifely 
 pronounces the Tooth to be partly natural, and partly fu- 
 pernatural. This curious Piece is intitled, Jacobi Horftil 
 D. De aureo Dente maxillarl Pueri Silefii ; Primum, utrum 
 ejus Generatio naturalh fuerit, nee ne : Deinde^ an dlgna 
 ejus Interpret atlo dart queat. Lipfi<s, 1596. At the End 
 of it, the Author hath very pertinently fubjoin'd a fmall 
 Treatife, De Noflambulonum Natura, Differentns^ & 
 Caujjs, &c. 
 
 Thus
 
 ( 4-O 
 
 Thus, in the laft Age, the Gentlemen of 
 the French Academy employ'd their Talents 
 in accounting for the Warmth of vaulted Cel- 
 lars in Winter and their Coolnefs in Summer; 
 till one more acute than the reft, by the 
 Affiftance of a common Thermometer, con- 
 vinced his Brethren that thofe fubterraneous 
 Rooms were nearly of the fame Tempera- 
 ture both in Winter and Summer. Thus 
 the Members of another Society, in the Reign 
 of Charles the Second, began to be as ingenious 
 in difcovering the Reafon why a Fifh of five 
 Pounds put into aVefTel of Water added nothing 
 to the Weight of the faid Veffel, till that fa- 
 gacious Monarch, who * fometimes honour'd 
 
 o ' 
 
 their Meetings with his Prefence, propos'd 
 that the VeiTel might be weigh 'd in both Cir^ 
 cumftances. And thus Mr. Pointer by taking 
 the Longevity of the Mallard for granted, 
 hath endeavour'd to eftablifh thereon the Hy- 
 pothefis of the Goofe, in Oppofition to all Truth 
 and Teftimony both Hiftorical and Propheti- 
 f/. I mall clofe this Head with a Reflection 
 from M. Fontenelle, which I humbly recom- 
 mend to the Confideration of Mr. Pointer. 
 " Je ne fuis pas fi convaincu de noftre igno T 
 
 * See Sprat's Hiftory of the R. S. 
 
 *' ranee
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 <e ranee par le chofes qui font, et dont la 
 " raifon nous eft inconnue, que par celles 
 " qui ne font point y & dont nous trouvons la 
 " raifon." 
 
 Let me farther advife him, if he thinks of 
 anfwering this Vindication^ to do it in a Man- 
 ner worthy the Gravity of his own Charac- 
 ter, and the Dignity of the Subject. It is too 
 commonly the Cafe, in Writing as well as 
 in Converfation, when Men are at a Lofs for 
 Reafon and Argument, to endeavour to get 
 off by raifing the Laugh on their Sides. 
 But I hope Mr. P. hath foil fo much of the 
 true Philofopher left in him as to difdain thefc 
 tittle Arts. He will reflect that Things of 
 this ferious Nature are not to be jefted with, 
 and that the Exercife of Wit and Imagina- 
 tion is fo far from being of any real Affiftance, 
 that it is the greateft Obftruction to all folid 
 Inquiries. He will conlider, when he takes 
 his Pen in Hand, whether he be able to de- 
 ftroy the venerable Authority of 'Tfwmas Wal- 
 fmgham ; whether he can fhew the leaft Sha- 
 dow of a Forgery in the Prophecy I have pro- 
 duc'd on this Occalionj or the leaft Incon- 
 fiftency or Abfurdity in my Explication of it ; 
 and whether he be prepar'd to attempt this 
 
 with
 
 
 
 With that ingenuous Frame of Mind, which 
 is apt to yield to the Evidence of Truth, and 
 not to be bias'd by any other Confiderations ? 
 An Anfwer drawn up upon thefe Principles, 
 and with this Temper will deferve, and mall 
 receive from me, a ferious and candid Reply. 
 And then let the learned World judge, whe- 
 ther the leajl Feather dropt from the Mallard^ 
 for fuch I have the Modefly to efteem myfelfi 
 be not an Over-match for the bejl Quill he 
 mall be able to pluck from his Goofe ? 
 
 But if, which I think may be expected 
 from a Man of his Candour and Sagacity^ he 
 mould be convinc'd of his Errours by the 
 Proofs I have here laid before him^ I fup- 
 pofe it will not be thought unreafonable in 
 me to defire him to make fome public Acknow- 
 ledgment of that Conviction. Opportunities of 
 doing fo cannot be long wanting to a Gentle- 
 man fo converfant with the Preis as Mr. Pom- 
 ter is. However, if I may by allowed to 
 hint the moft proper Method of giving this 
 Satisfaction, I would fubmit it to him whe- 
 ther he ought not, in the next Edition of his 
 Chronological Hijtory, to diftinguifh the 1 4th 
 of January in the Year 1437-8, as a Day 
 
 highly
 
 (49 ) 
 
 remarkable for that wonderful Event, 
 the Invention or Releafe of the Mallard. 
 
 Much more might have been faid, in the 
 Courfe of this Vindication, on the Danger and 
 evil Tendency of Mr. Pointer's Method of 
 writing on Things of foferious a Nature ; e- 
 fpecially from the Greatnefs and Authority of 
 his Example, which may be too liable to be 
 imitated by the many fuperficial and undifcern- 
 ing Wits of the Age we live in. But the Rea- 
 der will eafily perceive how cautious I have 
 been not to expofe my Adverfary to the Re- 
 fentment of the World, but have rather cho- 
 fen to defend my Caufe by plain, fimple Nar- 
 rative of Matter of Faff, than by throwing 
 out any warm Reflections on his Views and 
 Intentions. I cannot however forbear men- 
 tioning one other Inftance to be met with in 
 the Book now lying before us, from whence 1 
 am apt to fear that it is a fix'd Principle in 
 Mr. Pointer to ridicule every Ceremony and 
 folemn Injlitution that comes in his Way, how- 
 foever venerable it may be for its Antiquity 
 and Significance. Speaking ( P. 39. ) of the 
 Boards-Head of Queen's College^ he fays, " Ano- 
 " ther Cuftom is that of having a Boar's-Head, 
 " or the Figure of one in H r ood t brought up 
 G cc into
 
 ( TO ) 
 
 " into the Hall every Year on Chriftmas Day." 
 Now, notwithstanding this bold Hint to the 
 contrary, it feemeth to me to be altogether 
 unaccountable and incredible that a polite 
 and learned Society mould be fo far deprav'd 
 in its Tafle, and fo much in love with a 
 Block-head as to eat it. But as I have never 
 had the Honour of dining at a Boards-Head, 
 and as there are many Gentlemen more nearly 
 concern'd and better inform'd, as well as bet- 
 ter qualify'd, in every Refpect, to refute this 
 Calumny than I am, I mail avoid entering into 
 a thorough Difcuffion of this Subject. I know 
 it is given out by Mr. P's Enemies that he 
 hath been employ'd by fome of the young 
 Seceders from that College, to throw out this 
 Story of the Wooden-Head in order to coun- 
 tenance the Complaints of thofe Gentlemen 
 about foort Commons, and the great Deficiency 
 of Mutton, Beef, &c. And, indeed-, I muft 
 needs fay that nothing could better have an- 
 fwer'd their Purpofe, in this Refpect, than 
 the proving, according to this Injinuation, that 
 the chief Dim at one of their higheft Fefti- 
 vals, was nothing but a Log of Wood bedeck' d 
 'with Bays and Rofe?nary ; but furely this can- 
 not be credited, after the Univerfity has been 
 inform'd by the bcfl Authority, and in the 
 
 moft
 
 moft public Manner, that a young Nobleman, 
 who lately compleated his Academical Edu- 
 cation at that Houfe, was during his whole 
 Refidence, not only very well fathfied but ex- 
 tremely delighted with the College Commons. 
 
 I have now done with Mr. P. and have lit- 
 tle more to add than my Thanks to thofe 
 learned Gentlemen, who have been fo kind us 
 to offer me their Affiftance towards the com- 
 pleating this Vindication of the Mallard. 
 
 " There is, faith Cicero, * a certain natural 
 <c Connection between the polite Arts, where- 
 " by they are united in the Support of each 
 " other, as Members of the fame Family." 
 And what he fays of the Arts, is equally true 
 of the Artifts themfelves, I mean of all inge- 
 nious Purfuers of ufefnl Truth and Learning. Of 
 this I have receiv'd many remarkable Proofs 
 in the Inftance now before us. No fooner 
 was it rumour'd abroad amongft my Acquaint- 
 ance in the World of Literature, that I in- 
 
 * - etenim omnes artes quae ad humanitatem perti- 
 nent, habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quafi cog- 
 natione quadam inter fe continentur. 
 
 Pro Arch. Poeta. 
 
 G 2
 
 ( n ) 
 
 tended to undertake the Defence of the Mal- 
 lard, than I immediately met with the greateft 
 Encouragement from all Quarters to precede 
 with my Defign. The Caufe of the Mallard 
 became the common Caufe of all Men of 
 Tafte and true Learning. Some of thefe I 
 think myfelf, out of Gratitude, obliged to 
 particularize as far as I can fuppofe it will 
 be agreeable to their Modefty. The learned 
 and ingenious Antiquarian B. W. Efq-, and 
 L L. D. was pleas'd to offer me the Ufe of 
 many valuable Papers which he hath col- 
 lected on this Subject, and particularly a com- 
 fleat Lift of the Lords of the Mallard from 
 the Foundation of the College to this Time. 
 The Reverend and ingenious Mr. W e, the 
 
 R > ffe L TZ, who, fome Years ago, fo 
 
 worthily retriev'd the Honour of the Berk/hire 
 White Horfe, hath been pleas'd to tell me 
 that if I wanted any thing in the Saxon way he 
 fhould be very proud to furnim me with it. 
 The Rev. and learned Mr. S>- n hath been 
 fo good as to favour me with the Sight of a 
 very fine Gold Medal * (on which he is now 
 
 preparing 
 
 * I cannot thoroughly agree with Mr. S. in his Expia- 
 tion of this CW.- Iri the Exergue are the following Let- 
 ters,
 
 (5-3) 
 
 preparing a Latin Differtation) ilruck in Ho- 
 nour of the Mallard with a Galliard on the 
 
 Reverfe 
 
 ters, C. O. A. F. O. F. which he reads thus, Collegia 
 Omnium Animarum Faufta Omnia Fiant. This I own to be 
 very ingenious^ but it does not fufficiently point out the 
 Fact of the Invention of the Mallard^ for which Purpofe 
 the Medal was certainly ftruck. I would therefore chufe 
 to read it thus, Collegium Omnium Animarum Fetid Omine 
 Fundatum. 
 
 There is another of the fame Kind, but of Copper, in 
 the Hands of the above-mention'd learned Antiquarian 
 
 B ne W- j, Efq; with this Variation, that the fame 
 
 Letters are ftruck round the Edges inftead of being in 
 the Exergue* I am almoft amam'd to mention how much, 
 in my humble Opinion, Mr. IF. has miftaken this Coin. 
 He has plac'd it amongft his Traders (of which he has a 
 very valuable Collection) and infifts that the Letters ought 
 to be read backward and explaned thus, Francis Oliver 
 Farrier At Oxford City. This Francis Oliver^ (fays Mr. 
 W.} befides his Bufmefs of Farriery ', kept a publick Houfe 
 and liv'd at the Sign of the Swan. So, it feems, what 
 we have fuppofed to be a Reprefentation of the Mallard^ 
 on the Face of the Coin, is nothing but a Copy of the 
 
 Pifture on Frank Olivers Sign-Poft. 1 fhall not ftay 
 
 to refute this Hypothecs, but fhall refer the Reader to the 
 Differtation above-mentioned, where he will find it done 
 to his entire Satisfaction. 
 
 But if Mr. W. fhould ftill perfift in denying the Honour 
 of this Coin to the Mallard; if he is determin'd to make 
 it a Trader^ of the Name of Oliver ; and if Mr. Oliver 
 
 muft
 
 Reverfe of it, which he takes to be the fame 
 that was loft out of the * Cabinet of the great 
 Peirejkius when it was robb'd by his Father's 
 Gardiner ; the Lofs of which was feverely re- 
 gretted by that Prince of Antiquarians to the 
 
 laft Hour of his Life. But, above all, I 
 
 am oblig'd to a Gentleman who dates his 
 
 muft be a Farrier ; where yet is the Neceflity of perverting 
 the Order of the Legende, and making ufe of a Licence 
 never yet allowed in Infcriptions confuting merely of Ini- 
 tials? He hath, to my Knowledge, been long in fearch 
 of a Trader from Falrford, to complete his Collection for 
 the Towns of Glouctfterflrire. Why then will he not feize 
 on this favourable Opportunity ok finding one ? Let me, at 
 leaft, therefore obtain this from him, that he would think 
 of promoting his own moft important Defigns, by reading 
 it, for the future, according to the due Courfe of the Let- 
 ters thus, C. O. A. F. O. F. i. e. Charles Oliver A Farrier 
 
 Of Fairford. If he defires any farther Authority for this 
 
 Interpretation, I am ready and able to give him as gopd 
 Proofs that Charles Oliver liv'd at the Sign of the Duck in 
 Fairfordi as he can produce that his Brother Frank kept 
 fhe Siua n in the City of Oxford. 
 
 * The Reader may fee a particular Account of this 
 Robbery in the fourth Book of GaJJendus's Life ot Peirejkius. 
 I am furpriz'd at his making no Mention of this Gold 
 Medal of the Mallard, efpecially as he takes Notice of 
 fome Coins and Gems of lejjer Rarity; as the /Egyptian 
 Talent, or Arfinoe, the Sol d? Or of Kludovicus Pius, the 
 eruius Sulpitius^ the Aitlon^ &c. 
 
 Letter
 
 ( ft ) 
 
 Letter from Eton and afTures me that he hath 
 almoft compleated au Elogium upon the Mal- 
 lard, written in the choicer!: Latin, which he 
 fays mall be the Touch-ftone of all the E/ogiums 
 that have ever yet been written, and a Pattern 
 for all that mall be written hereafter. * 
 
 I have 
 
 * I ought to have made particular Mention, in this 
 Place, of the kind Benefaftion of the Gentleman at whofe 
 Expence the Copper-Plate Ornament of my Title-page 
 was engrav'd, but that he hath given JlriB Orders to have 
 his Name conceal'd. It is taken from an authentic Draw- 
 ing in the Margin of Thomas Waljingkam s MS. The En- 
 graver hath done his Part very well for a modern Artifi, 
 though I think he hath not hit off that Air of Majefty 
 which dignifies the Original. 
 
 The Tail-piece, which very aptly for my Purpofe, re- 
 prefents the cutting up of the Goofe, is copied from an 
 old Hieroglyphical Stone on the Eaftern Front of the Hall 
 of Balliol College, The Reverend Per fonage^ with a Knife 
 in his right Hand, was undoubtedly intended for a Monk ; 
 and as the Learning of thofe Times, when the Hall was 
 built, was entirely confined to that Set of Men, we have 
 here very intelligibly typified to us the utter Demolition 
 of Ignorance and Err our (i. e. the Goofe) by the Introduc- 
 tion of Arts and Letters. The Reader will be fatisfied 
 that this is no forc'd or arbitrary Conftruftion, if he will 
 be pleas'd to confult Pierius's Hieroglyphica, Pag. 1 74, de 
 Anfere. That learned Author gives us a natural Reafon, 
 why the Figure of this Bird was always made life of by 
 the ancient ^Egyptians (the great Inventors of Hieroglyphical 
 
 Learning)
 
 I have not hitherto had Occafion to make 
 Ufe of any of thefe Afliftances, and whether 
 
 I fhall 
 
 Learning) to exprefs Folly, Stupidity, &c. namely, from his 
 great Averfion to the Laurel. Averfum enim adeo eft a po* 
 eticis ftudils Anferis ingenium, ut Pbcebeum arborem Lau" 
 rum, quam fibi exitialem, Ji ejus folia vefcatur, intelligit, 
 
 pertinacijjime fugiat. So, it feems, however averfe the 
 
 Goofe' s Genius may be to Poetical Studies, we find that he 
 is in fome Sort of Favour with Apollo, and may be efteem- 
 ed a very notable Phyfician, as the poifonous Qualities of 
 of the Laurel-Leaf^ one of the boafted modern Difcoveries 
 of the Faculty, appear to have been known to this filly 
 Bird from all Antiquity. But to return to our Hierogly- 
 phick. Eafy, natural, and well authoriz'd as my Explana- 
 tion of it is, many Gentlemen of Learning, whom I have 
 talk'd with on this Subject, have been fo grofs as to ima- 
 gine it to be only a Reprefentation of a College-Cook, in 
 his culinary Occupation, of cutting out a Commons. So 
 far, indeed, there may be fome Truth in this, that from 
 the Circumftance of the Goofe appearing naked, and feem- 
 ingly juft taken from the Spit, the Rewards of Learning* 
 a good Maintenance, the Founder s Allowance, or a fat 
 Living, might be fhadow'd forth to the young Student. But 
 then this was but a fecondary Branch of Dottnne, and was 
 not to be touch'd upon till the Hieroglyphical Precept of 
 cutting up the Goofe had been comply'd with, in the more 
 fpiritual and refirid Senfe, I mean by a long and clofe 
 
 Application to Study. With this Comment upon it, I 
 
 hope it will not appear to be an improper or injignificant 
 Ornament of a Houfe of Learning ; and as the Engraving 
 I have given of it may be of Ufe to preferve the Memo- 
 ry of fo valuable a Curiofity (whenever the worthy Society, 
 
 to
 
 I mall hereafter muft be determin'd by Mr. 
 Pointer's recanting his Errors, or perfifting in 
 the Defence of them. Indeed the laft men- 
 tion'd Favour, I mean the EJogiu'm^ may pro- 
 bably be of great Service to me whether he 
 goes on with his Scheme, or not. For if, 
 from the general Decay of true Tafte, and a 
 Difregard for the Caufe of Truth in Matters 
 of the highefi Importance^ this fecond Edition 
 of my Vindication (for by the generous Pa- 
 tronage and Protection of his numerous Friends, 
 as well as the malevolent Curioftty of the Ene- 
 mies and Well-WiJhers to the Mallard^ we have, 
 without it, been enabled to ftruggle through the 
 firft) mould not happen to anfwer the reafon* 
 Able Expectations' of its Author and his Book- 
 feller, it may perhaps be advifeable to tack 
 the faid Elogium to the remaining Copies, and 
 by the Help of a new Title-Page, make a 
 Third. 
 
 to which it belongs, lhall be fo devoid of all Tajle for 
 Antiquity as to exchange the good old Building, tor the 
 newfangled Refinements of modern Architecture) I am in 
 great Hopes, that the Expence of it will be reimburs'd to 
 me, by the, newly incorporated, Society of Tfa Antiquaries 
 of LONDON. 
 
 H CONCLU-
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 AN D now, kind Reader, fuffer me to 
 congratulate Myfelf and Thee, if thou 
 haft any Regard for HifloricalCriticifm and^f- 
 nuine Antiquity ^Q^. the honefr, and, I hope, fuc- 
 cefsful Efforts I have here made, to retrieve 
 the blafted Credit of the Mallard, and the 
 Honour of that Houfe which owes its Foun- 
 dation to him. Indeed it gives me great Plea- 
 fure to reflect, that whilft fome have been 
 invidioufly endeavouring to annihilate an * ori- 
 ginal Britijb Emprefs, and "have purfued their 
 Malice fo far as to_difturk her Retirement in a 
 Cell of a Royal Cabinet of Medals j and J others, 
 in Breach of all DECENCY, have been raking 
 the B gb -fes, and fouling their Hands in 
 
 * A Diflertation upon OKI UN A, (aid to be Emprefs, or 
 Queen of England^ the fuppos'd Wife of Caraufiu^ &c. 
 LOND. Printed for J. Whijlon and B. White. 1751. 
 
 $ A philofophical Dialogue concerning Decency. To 
 which is added, a Critical and Hiftorical Diflertation on Pla- 
 ces of Retirement for neceflary Occafions, &c. LOND. 
 Printed for James Fletcher in the Tttrl, Oxford. 1751. 
 
 groping
 
 groping into the C7 -ft Is of the Ancients, it 
 hath been my happier Employment, without 
 giving Offence to the niceft Noftrils, to have 
 cleanfed the noble Bird from the Dirt thrown 
 on him by Mr. Pointer, (a worfe Filth than 
 that of the Sink from which he was at firft 
 releas'd) and to have engag'd my Talents in 
 the Behalf of a Society to which I owe the far 
 greateft Share of the Improvement I have made 
 of them. I am very fenfible how utterly in- 
 capable I am of repaying all the Obligations 
 I have to it. The Eafe and Happinefs I there 
 enjoy'd, the fincere Friendmips I there con- 
 traded, the chearful Hours, the heart-felt 
 Mirth, and every focial Pleafure (the Lofs of 
 which, notwithfianding the many Comforts 
 that attend the married State, I cannot recoi- 
 led: without fome Degree of Regret and Dif- 
 fatisf action) mall always keep awake my Gra- 
 titude, and lay the flrongeft Claim to my 
 Prayers for its Welfare and Profperity. 
 
 And that fome Token of my Zeal for its 
 Service may remain to lateft Succeffions, it is 
 my ambitious Requeft that this little TraSt 
 may be kindly receiv'd into that noble Repo- 
 Jitory of Learning^ which, with no unfavour- 
 able Omen, dates its Completion in the fame 
 H 2 Year
 
 Year with that of the Vindication of the Mal- 
 lard. It will not, furely, be too great an 
 Inftance of Vanity, to exped: that the HEARNS 
 and the TANNERS, the a WOODS and the 
 WILLISES, who, I am inform'd, have already 
 taken Poffeffion of their Shelves in that fuperb 
 Edifice, will eafily be perfuaded to clofe their 
 Ranks and contract their Dimenfions, and fuf- 
 fer one more Britijh Antiquarian to fqueeze into 
 their Company : One, who though not quite 
 equal to the leafl of them in Bulk, and 
 Variety of Matter, may yet there claim fome 
 Refpect, as well from the Propriety as Dig- 
 nity of his Subject, and, I hope, from the Per- 
 fpicuity, Accuracy and Integrity, with which 
 he hath treated it. 
 
 And though many Prejudices may, for 
 fome Time, remain againfl me, from the un- 
 common Character which my Antagonift hath 
 hitherto fupported in the Common-wealth of 
 Letters, yet let me hope that when the Blaze 
 of his Reputation, as a Writer, mail be quite 
 extinguifh'd, or at leaft fo much abated as 
 no longer to dazzle the Eyes of a prejudic'd 
 and ill-judging World, Men may be brought 
 to a more impartial Way of thinking on the 
 Subject before us, and learn to prefer TRUTH 
 
 in
 
 (61 
 
 jin her natural, unaffected Drefs, to Faljhood 
 and Err our though trick 'd out with all the 
 Embellimments of Conceit and Fancy. 
 
 But ? whatever may probably be my Fate 
 with this and the next Generation, yet will 
 I flatter myfelf that when the prefent Age 
 (modern as it now is) (hall, after fome Centu- 
 turies, be crufted all over with the reverend 
 Ruft of Antiquity, fome future Antiquarian 
 may be able, with indefatigable Pains, to 
 fcrape off enough of it to difcoyer my Name 
 and Labours to the Curiofity of his Cotempo- 
 raries, and charitably regifter both it and them 
 in the Fajii of OUR ATHENS. 
 
 And may I further hope that this my hq- 
 neft Attempt may not only redound to the 
 Fame and Reputation of its Author, but, in 
 fome Sort, to the Emolument of his numerous 
 and burthenfome Family ? That, at leaft, when 
 my eldeft Son Dick (who is now in his ninth 
 Year, and, by the uncommon Induftry of a 
 Country-Schoolmafter, hath already been flogg'd 
 into a thorough Tafte of the Beauties of Cato's 
 Diftichs, and Corderius's Colloquies) mall, af- 
 ter doubling his prefent Age under the fame 
 
 ivholfome
 
 wholfome Courfe of Discipline, have harden'd 
 his Gums and flrengthen'd his Stomach, fo as 
 to be able to fuck the Breajh and digeft the 
 Milk of Alma Mater^ he may be admitted 
 an humble Retainer to the Auguft Hoitfe of 
 CHICHELE, and allow'd to wait, as Clerk or 
 Cbori/ter, at that Table, where his Father had 
 once the Honour of prefiding as SUBWARDEN. 
 
 THE END,
 
 A N 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Books, Authors, and celebrated Perfons quoted 
 or mentioned in this Vindication. 
 
 ABbot, Archbifhop. 
 A&a Eruditorum. 
 Albertus Magnus. 
 Alciatus. 
 Aldrovandus. 
 Anaftafius, Pope. 
 Andreas Fulvius. 
 Andrewe, Dr. 
 Annales Vindelici. 
 Ariftotle. 
 Arnobius. 
 Aulus Gellius. 
 Bacon, Lord. 
 Bibliotheque choifie. 
 Bibliotheque univerfelle 
 Baptifta Campafulgofus. 
 Bayle. 
 Burnet, Bp. 
 Burnet, Dr. 
 Camden. 
 Charles II. King. 
 Charles V. Emperor. 
 Chichele, Archbifhop. 
 Chriftianity as old as the 
 
 Creation. 
 
 Chronological Hiftory. 
 Cicero. 
 
 Collection of Letters. 
 Collection of Prophecies. 
 Cato's Diftichs. 
 
 Corderius's Colloquies. 
 
 Craefus, his Son. 
 
 Dee, Dr. 
 
 Dick, the Author's Son, 
 
 Diflertation on Oriuna. 
 
 Divine, Rev. and learned. 
 
 Duck, Dr. 
 
 Dukes of Arfchot. 
 
 Edward VI. King. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen. 
 
 Evans, Rice. 
 
 Fauftina the younger. 
 
 Fontenelle. 
 
 Francis I. King of France, 
 
 Gaflendus. 
 
 Gaudentius Merula. 
 
 Gentleman of Eton. 
 
 Gentlemen of the French 
 
 Academy. 
 
 Gentlemen of another Sodety< 
 Geoffry of Monmouth. 
 Gevartius. 
 Henry V. King. 
 Henry VI. King. 
 Henry VIII. King. 
 HorfHus. 
 
 Inquifitive Goldfmith. 
 Jortin, Rev. Mr, 
 Lilty, Mr. 
 Lipiius.
 
 N 
 
 D E 
 
 X. 
 
 Lucian. 
 
 Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 Mary, Queen. 
 
 Memoires pour 1'Hiftoire, &c. 
 
 Merlin. 
 
 Nardini. 
 
 Nicholas, St. 
 
 Nicholfon, Bifhop* 
 
 Nixon. 
 
 Noftradamus. 
 
 Nouvelles de la Repub- 
 
 lique, &c. 
 Oldmixon. 
 Oliver, Charles. 
 Oliver, Francis. 
 Parker, Arcbifhop. 
 Philomela. 
 
 Philofophical Dialogue, &c. 
 Peirefkius. 
 Pierius. 
 Pliny. 
 
 POINTER, Rev. Mr. 
 Politianus. 
 Pontanus. 
 
 Rights of the Chriltiarl 
 
 Church. 
 Scaliger, J. 6. 
 Sermons, Rev. Mr. B'si 
 Sprat, Bimop. 
 
 S n , Rev. Mr. 
 
 Sibylline Verfes. 
 
 Shakefpear. 
 
 Solinus. 
 
 Tanner, Bifhop; 
 
 Tindal. 
 
 Tolus. 
 
 Univerfal Monthly Regifler. 
 
 Voffius. 
 
 Walfingham Thomas. 
 
 Warburton, Rev. Mr. 
 
 Well-Wimers to the Mallard, 
 
 Willughby, Mr. 
 
 W. B. Efq; and L L. D. 
 
 W e, Rev. Mr. 
 
 Wotton. 
 
 Young Nobleman. 
 
 Youna; Seccders. 
 
 ERRATUM. Page 30. Line 25. for plumonei read primaries* 
 
 Advert if ement. 
 
 Speedily will be publiftjd, (Price Three-pence) 
 
 AN Jpolegy for the Conduft of the Rev. J. S - //, A. M. 
 wherein the Reafons and particular Circumftances, \vhich 
 provok'd him to make ufe of fome unguarded .and unjuftijiablit 
 Expreffions, (highly reflefting on the Mallard of^ll-Souls, and the 
 Author of the Vindication) in a Sermon preach'd before the Uni- 
 <ve rfity of Oxford, at St. Mary's, on Sunday the 1 6th of December^ 
 1750, will be fully explain'd, and fubmitted to the Candour ot 
 the Publick,
 
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