exhaust itself; how grateful then ought we to be to those considerate persons, who are so kindly doing their best to ensure us an additional supply. But we must now turn "from lively to severe." How affecting it is, at a time when a mortal disease is advancing towards us, nay has already entered our land, to see multitudes engrossed with the single idea of a political experiment, which after all will disappoint them as sadly as the Emancipation bill has done. While death is creeping nearer and nearer, it is nothing less than madness to waste our anxieties on elections, when we may not even live to give a vote. Franklin told a lady, who wished to enjoy pleasant dreams, that nothing would so much tend to procure them, as a good conscience: we believe that there is no such antidote for the cholera, as the tranquillity which a good conscience gives, nor, in fatal cases, any such alleviator of its violence. And the best new year's gift we can make to our readers, is the sincere wish that they may secure this most effectual of preservatives. He who possesses it, will experience the full value of Horace's lines, Si fractus illabatur orbis, Six months will elapse before we draw up another address to our readers. May they understand and appreciate our meaning; and we trust that, notwithstanding all gloomy prospects, we shall then meet them again. THE : i GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. London Gaz.-Times-Ledger Globe-Standard---Sun.. Star [PUBLISHED AUGUST 1, 1831.] Norwich, Oxf., Portsm.. Pres. ton, Sherb., Shrewsb., Southampton, Truro, Worcester 2... Aylesbury, Bangor, Barnst., Berwick, Blackb., Bridgew.. Carmar., Colch., Chesterf., Devizes, Dorch., Doncaster, Falmouth, Glouc., Halifax, Henley, Hereford, Lancaster, Leaming Lewes, Linc. Lichf. Macclesf. Newark, Newc.on-Tyne, Northamp.. Reading, Rochest., Salish., Staff., Stockport, Taunton, Swansea, Wakef., Warwick, Whiteh., Winches.. Windsor, Wolverhampton, 1 each. Ireland 61--Scotland 37 Jersey 4- Guernsey 3 Classical Literature. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.--New Books.......62 Miscellaneous Reviews........ Cambridge Prize Compositions.............22-32 King's College, London University, &c...63-65 Oxford Prize Composition-The Suttees......32 Sotheby's Homer.......... On the Greek Tenses..... Dr. Maltby's Greek Gradus....... SELECT POETRY....... ...25 26 ....27 Bushmen of South Africa.......................28 Review of New Publications. Lipscomb's History of Buckinghamshire.....33 Tytler's Lives of Scottish Worthies...........35 Vaughan's Memorials of the Stuart Dynasty 37 Brooke's Sketches in Spain and Morocco,...38 Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary.........40 Dr. Jeremy Taylor's Works....................... 42 .......66 Bill of Mortality.-Markets, 94.-Shares....95 Embellished with Views of the CHAPELS of ST. BARNABAS, Kensington, and the HOLY By SYLVANUS URBAN, GENT. Printed by J. B. NICHOLS and Son, Cicero's HEAD, 25, Parliament Street, Westminster; where all Letters to the Editor are requested to be sent, Post-PAID. MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. A CORRESPONDENT says: "The outcry of the moment in the several papers against Capital Convictions for Thefts to a small amount, without cruelty in aggravation, is based upon an error, to which Mr. Peel's well meant alteration of value from 40s. to 51. gave occasion. That great statesman forgot for an instant the very principle of British Jurisprudence, to protect by law what cannot otherwise be secured, the Poor Man's all, howeverlittle; and robberies, with burglary in the dwellings of small tenants, have been multiplied in consequence. Nothing can be more fallacious than the argument drawn from the low rate at which it is pretended the law estimates human life. The truth is, the law estimates the value of a subject's property, "according to that he hath, not according to that he hath not." HANS HIJORNOR observes that "in Don Quixote, Part the Second, book 2, chap. I. (Smollett's translation) a young gentleman is introduced preparing to contend for a prize at the University, where he was completing his education, by composing a glossary, or paraphrase, on a text either prescribed to or adopted by the candidate (the point being left uncertain). Considering the celebrity of Cervantes, it is surprising that exercises in this form, which seem to have been extremely common amongst the Spanish literati of that æra, do not appear to have attracted the attention of any of our poets; not at least in your correspondent's recollection. And yet a glance at a task of this kind may suffice to show it, beyond comparison, a more rational appropriation of time than that consumed in charades, conundrums, and riddles; which last Swift descended to write; and it was likened to 'Titian painting draught boards, which would have been inexcusable as long as a sign painter could be found.' This mode of composition, which approaches, in verse, to the general method of discourses from the pulpit, gives occasion for some sage remarks from the Knight, who is always a highly accomplished gentleman, apart from his infirmity, and may be regarded as the vehicle of those sentiments we might look for from his chronicler. From one passage, which shows that suppressing the names of the candidates in such exhibitions is a modern expedient, it seems the young nobility were often competitors for the palm of merit in scholarship, &c. I should wish to recommend this practice in our scholastic discipline." The miniature possessed by sir Joshua Reynolds, which was supposed to represent Milton, and proved by Lord Kaimes to represent Selden (as stated by B. in June, p. 502), was bequeathed by Sir Joshua to the Rev. William Mason the poet, and by the latter in 1797 to William Burgh, esq. LL.D. of York, as an acknowledgment for editing Mason's works:-" that the said William Burgh, esq. shall attend to the correct printing of the same, for which friendly trouble I desire him to accept the fine miniature picture of Milton, painted by Cooper, which was bequeathed to me by Sir Joshua Reynolds.' olds." Memoir of Mason, in Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 169. An OCCASIONAL READER observes: "having seen a statement in the newspapers respecting a large quantity of silver coin that was found about five weeks ago in the bed of the river at Tutbury, (see Part 1. p. 546) and an entire ignorance expressed of any historical event at that place, to which the concealment of such a treasure could be referred, allow me to turn your attention to Walsingham and Holinshed for a satisfactory solution of the question. In the year 1322, 14th of Edw. II. you will find that the whole of the ground between Burtonupon-Trent and Tutbury was occupied for three successive days by the force of the Duke of Lancaster and several Barons, in arms against the King and the Royal army, that several actions were fought in disputing and forcing passages of the river, and that Tutbury itself was a distinct point of contest, alternately occupied by the hostile armies. Can we for a moment doubt that the silver coins which have been recently taken out of the Trent at that place, were thrown into the stream on the abandonment of the town by one of the opposing parties ? The four coins, found some time since in excavating for the Saint Katherine's Dock, of which one has been sent us by ALEPH, is of billon, coined by one of the James's of Scotland, by which is uncertain. It is engraved both in Snelling and Cardonnell. Any account of the life and of the family of Sir William Clerk, Knt. killed at Cropredy Bridge, fighting for King Charles I. against the force of Sir William Waller, will much oblige F. Information is requested respecting the parentage and family of Benjamin Lovell, Rector of Preston Bagot, co. Warwick, cire. 1539. Leonard Hotchkis, A. M. Master of Shrewsbury School, died in 1754, [Literary Anecdotes, vol. VIII. p. 422,] mentioned in History of Shrewsbury, p. 357. Was he not the son or brother of Mr. Hotchkis, Master of the Charter House? What was the age of the former, and qu. if not a native of Bucks? where his father (if the Charter House Hotchkis, which from the singularity of the name is probable,) was vicar of Kingsey, during several years. An OLD SUBSCRIBER wishes to be in formed as to a family of Pomeroy, said to be of Engesdon in Devonshire ? James W. is requested to favour us with a sight of the article he alludes to. THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. JULY, 1831. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS, MSS. IN THE LIBRARY OF THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY AT HATFIELD HOUSE. IN our review of the volume of State Papers, recently published pursuant to Royal commission (see our number for May, p. 440), it was noticed that the imperfect state of the collections in the State Paper Office arose from the prevalent omission, in former times, on the death or retirement of ministers and secretaries of state, of that demand for the documents connected with their administration, the propriety of which will be apparent on the slightest reflection. Left in the custody of private families, these valuable records have been too often abandoned to all the accidents of fire, damp, and vermin, the base uses of the kitchen, or the cupidity of better informed peculators. The State Papers in Hatfield House chiefly extend through the successive administrations of those two eminent statesmen, Lord Burleigh and his son the first Earl of Salisbury. The papers relating to the preceding periods appear to be but unconnected portions which may have accidentally fallen into Lord Burleigh's hand from his connection with the Court during these periods, and his well-known spirit of universal enquiry. Of the portion relative to Lord Burleigh's time, two selections have been published, edited by the Rev. S. Haynes and the Rev. Wm. Murdin;* and a few that got astray from the present collection fell into Mr. Lodge's hands, were inserted by him in his Illustrations, and then honourably returned to the late Marquess of Salisbury. A large quantity, however, is still wanting, and must have been abstracted or destroyed previously to the two first mentioned gentlemen having examined the collection. * These form two uniform folio volumes, o volumes, printed in 1740 and 1759; a description of their contents will be found in the Retrospective Review, 1827, vol. i. pp. 204-230, 419-436. We are happy now to announce that Mr. C. J. Stewart, late of the firm of Howell and Stewart, booksellers, has been employed by the present Marquess of Salisbury in arranging and analysing "the vast treasures of state relics at Hatfield House," as they were justly termed by Mr. Lodge. Mr. Stewart has read and classed the whole of the collection, in which there are no fewer than 13,000 letters from the reign of Henry the Eighth to that of James the First. He has formed his catalogue in two portions: Vol. I. Miscellaneous MSS. and State Papers; Vol. II. Letters, Privy Seals. A column is introduced, showing the heads of the principal contents of each document, by the assistance of which the enquiries of those who have the good fortune to obtain access to the catalogue will be materially facilitated. Wherever any letter or paper has been found to be published, it has carefully been so specified. a Cordially thanking the Marquess of Salisbury for having caused a collection of MSS. so truly valuable to be set in order, we should most sincerely rejoice to witness the publication of third volume of Cecil Papers, or that at least the world was obliged with the excellent catalogue which has elicited these remarks; in order that the collection may be hereafter made readily available to the purposes of historical writers. In the mean time, by the obliging permission of Mr. Stewart, we shall endeavour to furnish a synoptical view of the contents of these historical treasures, hoping to retrace our steps, and give some further specimens on a future occasion. Among the early MSS. there is a copy of William of Malmesbury, &c.'s English History, one of Roger de Hovedon's, and others relative to the same subject; various rentals, cartularies, &c. &c. There is also a very splendid manuscript on vellum of the Acts and the Apocalypse, on 4 MSS. at Hatfield House. the first page of which is a beautifully executed miniature of Henry VII.; a translation from the French of the Pilgrimage of the Soul 1413, on which there is the autograph of Henry VI.; and a curious work on heraldry of the fifteenth century. Of Henry VIII.'s time there is a Treatise on General Councils, by Archbishop Cranmer. "The Oryginal Depositions subscribyd wth th'andys of such as here foloyth:" touching the Divorce of Anne of Cleves; copies of various Treaties, some of which are not in Rymer; documents relative to the expenses of the wars during that reign, &c. &c. Of Edward VI.'s there is a proclamation on his ascending the throne, which, if actually made public, is not noticed by historians; a copy of the Liturgy of St. James, apparently translated by Roger Ascham; the particulars of the expenses incurred during the wars in the preceding and this reign; treaties; historical documents, &c. Of the reign of Mary, the original Council Book, as published in Haynes's selection, is a most curious record; Lord Clinton's reasons for his being sent for by Philip II. to Brussels, &c. &c. ELIZABETH'S REIGN. Among the Theological and Ecclesiastical papers, there are some by the Jesuits Arrowsmith and Parsons; many relative to the Puritans, Recusants, Revenues of the Church, the question of the right of the Prince to seize Church Property, &c. &c. The historical portion contains memoranda in Lord Burleigh's hand, some of which are published in Murdin; the Norfolk Book of Entries, or copies of the Duke's Letters on the subject of Mary Queen of Scots' examination; opinions of Ministers on the proposed marriage of Elizabeth with the Duke of Alençon (Anjou); a copious official account of the Earl of Northumberland's conspiracies, the proceedings against him, his suicide in the Tower; numerous examinations of individuals respecting their knowledge of suspected persons, designs of foreign powers, &c. &c.; accounts and examinations touching the various conspiracies against the Queen, including Essex's; border matters; drafts of acts of Parliament, treaties, &c.; many curious papers relative to the internal government of Ireland, proceedings against rebels, their submissions, &c. Of Scottish affairs, there are many [July, regarding its internal state, and its relations with England; and others respecting the proceedings against Mary Queen of Scots. Several works on the subject of the succession to the crown, &c. &c. The papers relative to Military and Naval affairs are both numerous and curious, exhibiting all varieties, from the expense of equipping a fleet or army, to the freight of provisions for their use. They also contain the expenses of erecting or repairing fortifications, &c. With these may likewise be mentioned a quantity of curious plans, maps, charts, &c. from Henry VIII. to this reign, and generally illustrating this branch. Of the Public Revenue, its produce, the sources of it, means of collection, application, &c. there are also many illustrative papers; and connected with this head, others relative to the commercial affairs of these times. Under the heads of Local and Individual matters, will be found many curious papers illustrating the branches of county history, transfer of lands, rentals, genealogy, &c. &c.; but, besides what are contained in them on the latter subject, there are a number of regular genealogies, separately described. The head of Foreign Affairs exhibits negociations, intelligence from spies and open residents at foreign courts; what respects the various intentions against England, or what refers to passing domestic events. Under the last head of this reign, Miscellanies, are many original works and papers. Among these we find a Booke of the auncient orders of the Knights of the Garter," &c. "The Peregrination of one Anthony Jenkinson in the landes of Persia," &c. dedicated to the Queen; "Sir John Stanley's Travels in Spain and Portugal, 1592;" Particulars of the Presents sent by the Turkey Company to the Grand Seigneur in 1594 and 98, amounting to 11,014l. 18s. 4d.; "The unexpected accidentes of my casuall destinye discovered," by John Daniel; this gives the author's account of his affair touching the Essex Papers, for which he was at this time suffering imprisonment; various unpublished poems of Ægidius Fletcher's; addresses of the Westminster and Eton scholars to her Majesty, in Greek and Latin, beautifully written and subscribed by their various au |