1812.] Wrentham Hall, Suffolk.-Johnsonian Fragments. 313 Mr. UREAN, WRENTHAM Hall, in the coun ty of Suffolk, was the seat of the antient family of Brewster from the reign of Edward VI. to 1797, when, by the sudden death of the last heir male, this venerable mansion, and the estates belonging to it, became the property of Mrs. Meadows and John Wilkinson, esq. aunt and first cousin of the deceased, by whom the whole was sold in 1910 to Sir Thomas Gooch, bart. The Brewsters were gentry of consideration in their county for a long period; but they appear to have attained their highest elevation during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, to whose party Robert Brewster, esq. the then possessor of Wrentham Hall, was a warın adherent, He sat in the Long Parliament which dethroned the monarch, for the borough of Dunwich, in the room of Heary Coke, esq. disabled for his loyalty. The writ issued for his election, by vote of the house, bears date Sept. 2, 1645. Among the five gentlemen of Suffolk to whom the representation of that county was granted by Oliver Cromwell and his officers in July 1653 (the assembly commonly called Barebone's Parlia ment) appears the name of Francis Brewster. In the parliament of the succeeding year, Robert Brewster, esq. of Wrentham, sat again for Dunwich: and in that of September 1656, he was one of the ten representatives of Suffolk, and voted for conferring the title of King upon the Protector. To preserve the memory of an antient family, and their residence, which has recently been taken down by the present proprietor, you are requested to insert this brief account, and the view of Wrentham Hall which accompanies it. (See Plate I.) T. B. "The 14th day of December, Received of Mr. Ed. Cave the sum of FifteenGuineas, in full, for compiling and writing "The Life of Richard Savage, esq." deceased, and in full for all materials thereto applied, and not found by the said Edward Cave. I say, received by me, Dec. 14, 1743. SAM. JOHNSON." "Mr. CAVE, Bristol, March 17, 1749. According to your request, I have purchased Savage's Play, and have here sent The. it you with a receipt inclosed. person of whom I purchased the play is a particular friend of mine: he assures me, the play is perfect, and never was copied. I hope you will find it to your satisfaction. Please to give my account credit for the Five Guineas. I am, Sir, your humble servant, THO. CADELL." "To all people to whom these presents shall come, 1 Samuel Johnson, of Gough's-square, London, gentleman, send greeting: Whereas Edward Cave, Citizen and Stationer of London, has bought paper and printed for me an edition, in folio, of a periodical Work called 'The Rambler,' and is now about to re-print Seventy Numbers of the same work in twelves, at his own Expence : Now know ye, that I, the said Samuel Johnson, do hereby authorize and impower the said Edward Cave to sell and dispose of the said second Edition of the Rambler, in twelves, and to receive and apply to his own use so much of the mo ney arising from such sale as shall fully repay and reimburse to him such sums as upon a just reckoning he shall appear to have expended on account of the said Work; provided that the names of John Payne and Joseph Bouquet be inserted in the new edition in twelves, as the persons for whom the said edition is printed, as is inserted in the said folio edition. In witness whereof, 1, the said Samuel Johnson, have to these presents set my hand and seal this first day of April, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of our sovereign. lord George the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one. SAM, JOHNSON. hand seven hundr being first duly stampt DAVID HENRY, informed that they were selected by book called Youth Behaviour, translated the late Rev. Dr. Lort. "In those days (temp. Henry VI.) it was thought sufficient for Noblemen's sons to wind their horn and carry their hawk fair, and leave study and learning to the children of mean people. See Caxton's Life in Biographia Britannica." "Bolton Village and Castell is 4 miles from Midleham. The Castell standithe on a roke syde; and all the substaunce of the lodgings in it be included in 4 principall towres. Yt was an 18 yeres in building, and the expencis of every yere came to 1000 marks. It was finished or Kynge Richard the IId. died. "One thinge I muche notyd in the Haulle of Bolton, how Chimeneys were conveyed by tunnelles made on the syds of the wauls bytwixt the lights in the Haull, and by this meanes, and by no covers, is the smoke of the harthe in the Hawle wonder strangly convayed. Moste parte of the tymber that was occupied in buyldynge of this Castell was set out of the Forest of Engleby in Cumberland, and Richard Lord Scrope, for conveyaunce of it, had layde by the way dyvers drawghts of oxen to cary it from place to place till it cam to Bolton. There is a very fayre Cloke at Bolton, cum motu solis, &c. lunæ, and other conclusions. From Leland's Itinerary, viii. 19." from the French by Francis Hawkins, a boy of ten years old, 1663, 12mo. p. 60." Sir William Temple says, vol. I. p. 268, I think I remember, within less that married into the City for money, than 50 years, the first noble families and thereby introduced by degrees this public grievance, which has since ruined so many estates by the necessity of giving great portions to daughters, impaired many families by the weak or mean proof that warmth and spirit that is given ductions of marriages made without any them by force of inclination and personal choice, and extinguished many great should have continued them. Quoted by ones by the aversion of the persons who 6 Brown in his Estimate of the Times'." "In the time of the Great-grandfather of the present Duke of Devonshire, Wine handed round on a salver after dinner, Then the Duke withdrew. Company entertained with strong beer by the Steward, and smoking. Hence the origin of Salver Wine. "Lambeth Palace; old customs broke through. Chaplains entertain." Throckmorton at Paris, May 1561, says, "Sir Wm. Cecil, in a letter to Sir N. The Queen wishes some Goldsmith might be induced to come hither, with furniture of Agrets, Chains, Bracelets, ladies here to be gay in this Court to&c. to be bought both by herself and wards the Progress. He shall be free of Custom for all he shall not sell," Mr. URBAN, Feb. 12. YOUR Correspondent John Forbes, In Saiden's edition of the Fleta (see Yin p. 24, has favoured your readers Book 2.) every thing minutely described appertaining to the office of every household servant of our old nobility; Cook, Ox-driver, Shepherd, Swineherd. "Fleta was written in Edward the Second's reign; best edition 1685." "J. Loecenii Antiquitates Sueo-Gothier, in quibus prisci ævi Sueorum et Gothorum mores, status regni, et institutiones, cum hodiernis comparantur. Upsali, 1670, 8vo.-See Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. II, and the 1st vol. 1. vi. p. 30." "The Exchange (that arsenal of choice vanities) is furnished with a daily supply and variety of beauty spots cut out in diminutive moons, suns, stars, castles, trees, birds, beasts, and fish. with a copy of a Licence for Lent, granted in Scotland; and speaks of an antient branch of revenue arising from thence, which no longer exists in that country. Perhaps the same Act of Parliament, which passed since the Union, and authorized Clergymen in this country to grant Licences of this kind, gave the same power to the persons in Scotland who issued the Licence which your Correspondent copies. It may be amusing to some of your Readers if you will insert the following Licence granted in England in the year 1639, by the Rector of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, King London. I have copied this Licence verbatim from the oldest Register of the above-named Parish. James affirmed that whoever used these patches either was, or would be, a whore. "When yellow starched bands and cuffs were in fashion, Lord Chief Justice Coke commanded the common Hangman to do his office in that dress, and thus put a stop to the idle fashion.-From a 1812.] Licences for Meat in Lent.-St. Bartholomew's Register. 315. wherby it is very priudiciall (prejudi- THO. WESTFEILD, S. T. D. What the usual fee to the Clergy was for such grants, I do not know. The Churchwardens received on behalf of the Poor for such Licences to common people a Noble, 6s. 8d.; but from great personages 17. 6s. 8d.; as will appear from the following items, which I have carefully copied from the original account of the receipts and disbursements of Dr. John Anthony (the husband of the above-named Mary Anthony, to whom the Licence was granted) who was Churchwarden of the above-named parish in the year 1631. "Received, March 12. Of my Lord Herbert for his Licence for Lent March 15. It. (Item) of my Lord of Middlesex in pte (part) for the same March 24. It. of my Lady Bennett for the same Description of IVINGHOE, BUCKS. (Concluded from page 210.) N the North and South ailes of the families of Duncombe and Neale. In the centre of the N. aile is a plain high table-tomb, the stone of which is inlaid with several brasses of effigies and inscription.-Near it a handsome table-tomb, inclosed with iron rails, Neales, with the arms only carved at with a gray slab on the top, for the top; above which is placed a mural monument of white marble, of excellent workmanship, supported by an1 6 8 gels' heads, with the following inscrip £. s. d. 068 068 March 28. It. of Mr. Roberts March 29. It. of Mr. Barkham for the same 068 There is remaining in errerages from my Lord of Middlesex for the poore upon his Licence xxs. And from my Lady Bennett VIS. VIII." The following items also appear in this Churchwardeus' accounts for the year 1631: "It. given to divers poore schollers and ministers It. given to two women for carrieng one out of the Parishe that was neere her travell Given to a poor Minister from Dr. Westfeild 086 006 tion: "Here lyeth the body of Deborah, late wife of Francis Neale, esq. one of the daughters of John Kidgell, gent.; who departed this life March 26, 1714, in the 66th year of her age. She had issue three daughters, Marthanna, Deborah, and Frances; whereof Marthanna, who died an infant, lyeth buried by her. In memory of whose piety towards her, God, charity to her neighbours, loving deportment to her said husband, and motherly care and affection to her children, he the said Francis Neale, her said husband, hath caused this monument to be erected." Against the E. side are two piscina for holy water in the wall; above which, over a pointed window, are two circular windows intersected with stone circles, something like a Katharinewheelwindow. On the opposite side are two long lancet windows, in which two or three pieces of painted glass still remain, and a few pieces in some of the other windows. On the N. side is a large window, three lights, long mullions, pointed and ramified head. On the floor, a stone to the memory of the Blackheads, on brasses, with 0 0 6 their effigies, in very good preserva 050 July 17. It. for a pint of Sacke for a Minister that preached - 006 It. given to the Workmen of the Church for Breckfaste Nov. 6. It. for the thanksgiving for the Queen's delivery 008 tion. The stairs up the tower, and to the temporary ringing-floor, stop up the view from E. to W. through the lofty arches of the tower, which stands on four massy columns or piers, In the floor beneath is a large blue stone, the oldest in the Church, date 1368, supposed to be Norman-French by the inscription, which, as well as the effigies, are on brass. her, Henry, his only son and sole heir, an infant about a month old. He was a person pious in his life, peaceable in his conversation, and just in all his dealings; a most dutiful son to his mother, tenderest of husbands to his wife, the best of masters to his servants; and is deser vedly lamented by all that knew him. He departed this life the 20th day of March, anno Domini 1714, in the 35th year of his age. them run, [was done; Time turn'd the slender glass, and all Death them cut off the fruitful branch, [grow." Left all our hopes from one fresh bud to and so In the South aile near the tower isan-Thus quick the nimble sands between other table-tomb, for the Duncombes, covered with a marble slab of a hard green mottled cast, with inscriptions and effigies on several brasses; close to which is a piscina on the E. side: on the other side of a banister-rail, on the floor, a blue stone with this inscription: "Here lies the body of William, the son of John Duncombe, of Barley-end, gent. and Sarah his wife; obiit 9 Sep tembris, 1739, ætatis 11." Above, on the S. side another piscina. The windows in this aile are the same as the N. aile. The Lucys of Earley-end, the last family in that house, lie buried here also; but no stone nor a memorial. The Chancel is divided from the other parts by an oak screen, painted and gilt, with six of the Apostles pourtrayed at the bottom, three on each side of the folding doors. Within, are old oak stalis; two on each side of entrance, against the screen, for superiors, aud a long seat, with a front, on each side against the wall. In the centre of pavement a stone as follows: "Here lieth the body of Henry Cooley, gent, who departed this life March the 28th, anno Dom. 1714." Against the N. side, above it a mu ral monument of white marble, of exactly the same form as in the North aile, and of equal workmanship, with this inscription: "Near this place lies interred among his ancestors, the body of Henry Cooley, of Seabrooke, in the parish of Chaddington, in the county of Bucks, gent. son of Francis Cooley, gent.; by whose death he became heir and next successor to Henry Cooley, his late grandfather, of grateful memory, whom he truly repre sented in all virtuous qualifications. He married Mary, the daughter of Wm. Jarman, of Little Gaddesden, gent, with whon, but the short space of one year before, Death dissolved the bands of their inviolable affections, and parted the most united and happy paire; leaving issue by Above the other, in the pavement, another for the Cooleys, but not legible. Near to which, in the N. wall, is a very antient altar-tomb, under an arch, with a rich cornice, on which lies a stone effigies, in episcopal or canonical robes; his head rests on a pillow laid angle-ways upon another laid straight; his bands in the attitude of prayer, arms bare to his elbow, and a kind of apron, pointed at the bottom, to his knees upon his vestment, over which is a kind of gown, and a wig very much like what is called a Welsh wig. No inscription is to be discovered: it is generally supposed to be the tomb of the founder of the Church, or somebody from the abbey of Ashridge, called the Bonhomes. Some have said, that it is Peter Chaceport. I suspect that the tomb was not originally placed here, but removed from another part of the Church. The arch and figure do not correspond, the figure appearing more an tient. Within the rails at the South corner of the table, a small stone for "Win. Eastbury, Vicar, died Oct. 1st, 1728, aged about 80 years," There are a few ornamental tiles (one inscribed, "I. C. 1706.") in the pavement, which is two steps higher than the other part of the chancel. There is no altar, nor piscina here; a painted table only, of oak, rather curious, and always covered with fine green cloth. The walls above and daubed to represent wainscot. around it, on each side, are miserably large E. window above, four lights, ramified head; two windows on the S. and one on the N. The roof is open to view, ornamented with angels, full length, each bearing shields charged with a cross or circular wreath, |