Southwick Vicarage, near Oundle, SIR,-The accompanying sketch is copied from 66 צבדא 4490 The true sense of the word on this signet is Servus ; and by referring to the prophet Isaiah lii. 13; ix. 6; Genesis xlix. 9, 10; and Revelation v. 5, we obtain the following translation, which will also serve as a key to the reading of very many of the most ancient Egyptian monuments; they being composed, for the most part, of a mixture of alphabetic letters and symbols. "The servant of God, the lion of the tribe of Judah, shall bear the government upon his shoulder." The signet must have been engraved soon after the time of Isaiah, as the letters are the same as those of the celebrated Atlantic or Ogygian Tablet of the Deluge. The Egyptian, &c. monuments teach us that the circle, when applied, as in this place, denotes frequently both the spiritual kingdom on earth and the eternal kingdom in heaven. Mr. Willis. T. R. BROWN. TRADE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE PUBLISHERS AND Edinburgh, 12th May. AN Author and possessor of some literary property presents his compliments to Mr. Willis, and begs to acquaint him that, so far as the interests of literature are regarded, or those of the author respected, the real question is between "TWEEDLE DUM AND Tweedle Dee." "FREE TRADE," on the same subject, requires consideration. It is too personal in many respects. FRANKS AND FRANKING. May 1, 1852. SIR,-Is there any work that will give me a brief and correct account of franks and franking? My chief object is to know the earliest period of its having taken place, as well as the various forms adopted, for I perceive they are rather numerous. Your polite attention to my request will greatly oblige, "A MODERN COLLECTOR." Mr. Willis. 10 REMBRANDT'S PRINT OF CHRIST HEALING THE SICK IN THE TEMPLE is usually called the hundred guilder print, on account of his valuing it at that price. When complete, it measures 15 inches long by 11 inches wide, and as it is by far the best of Rembrandt's works is worth, according to its state, from ten to two hundred and fifty guineas. After being long mislaid, the plate was discovered about seventy years since in Holland by Captain Baillie, an excellent amateur artist, who finding it very much corroded, retouched it himself, and took off a few impressions, which may be obtained at about thirty shillings each. He then cut the plate into four pieces, of which the print sent by G. W.'s correspondent, "H. K. T." is the largest, and contains the principal group in the composition. LORD BROUGHAM'S OPINION UPON THE STAte of FRANCE. "THE French nation is at present slumbering; but when it awakes, let Louis Napoleon stick a pin in his nose and look sharp." WIERX, THE ENGRAVER. ENQUIRY RESPECTING AN ENGRAVING. May 10th, 1852. SIR,-An engraving of a curious kind has lately fallen into my hands which I may thus describe:-It is divided into four compartments. One, the upper left hand one, has two Egyptian obelisks and devices. The corresponding one to the right has a lady, and apparently her maid. The lady's back is adorned with a spade, and the bottom of her dress also has the same Tuesday, 27th April, 1852. device of spades, some with coats of arms. In the third SIR,-Your Correspondent W. W. C. ("Current compartment on the right hand a lady is represented Notes," p. 29) will find an account of Jerome (Hierony-kneeling with the coronet of a marquis, and an open mus) Wierx, and a Catalogue of four hundred of his works, in the twenty-first volume of "Nagler's Künstler Lexicon," printed last year. Mr. Willis. Your most obedient, WIERX. 66 W. H. C. Somerset House, May 1st, 1852. SIR,-If your correspondent, W. W. C. will refer to Bryan's Dictionary of Engravers he will find a good account of Hieronimus or Jerome Wierx. Bryan, who seems to have chiefly copied Strutt, informs us that he was born at Amsterdam, 1552. He is supposed to have learnt the art of engraving from his brother John, whose style he imitated so exactly that it would be difficult to distinguish their works if they were not differently marked. They are executed in the same neat and finished style, and characterised by the same stiffness and formality. His prints consist chiefly of devotional and allegorical subjects, saints and fathers of the church, many of which are from his own designs." They are sometimes marked with the initials of his own name, thus:-Hi. W. or Hi. W. F. or I. Hieronimus W. Fe. and sometimes with this monogram HEW The following are his principal works :— Subjects from his own designs.—St. Cecilia; Temptation of St. Anthony; St. Bruno; St. Charles Borromeo; the Virgin and Infant Christ with St. Francis and St. Anthony; Crucifixion; Death of Lucretia; the Virgin and Infant, with a glory of angels. Subjects after various masters.-Christ dead, supported on the lap of the Virgin, after Mabuse; Christ calling to him the Little Children, after C. Van de Brock; the death of the Virgin, after Otho Vænius; Christ at table in the house of Simon the Pharisee, after the same; Christ crowned with thorns, after G. Mostaert; the Four Doctors of the Church, after M. Lucas Romanus; Scourging of Christ, after the same (according to Strutt one of his best prints); Baptism of Christ by St. John, after Hondius; Vision of Daniel, after Van Haecht, &c. &c. book before her supported by the ace of hearts. The Mr. Willis. MRS. BODDINGTON. SIR,-As one of the readers of your "Current Notes" for April, I can readily supply the information requested by your Correspondent W. at p. 31. Mary Boddington was the daughter of Patrick Comerford, a Cork merchant, and niece of Sir William Glendowe Newcomen. She was born at Cork in 1776, and having married in 1803, Mr. Boddington, a West India merchant, left her native eity. After the peace of 1815, Mrs. Boddington travelled much on the Continent, and the result of her observations have been communicated to the public in the agreeable works mentioned by your Correspondent, and which were published, I believe, by Messrs. Longman and Co. Mr. Willis. I. V. T. THE PERCY SOCIETY is no more, and the adjustment of its pecuniary affairs somewhat extraordinary, as every member will, beyond having a sum of money returned to him, and receiving two books, for his annual subscription of £1. be supplied with a duplicate set of books, for which G. W. will be happy to give that sum. The number of issues by the Percy Society during the time of its existence (twelve years) is no less than ninety-three, and another will appear with title-pages, &c. &c. edited by W. H. Black, Esq. Assistant-Keeper of the Public Records of England. These ninety-four issues have been, in most instances, gratuitously contributed and edited by twenty members of the Percy Society, and it appears that out of this number, five members, or one-fourth of the number of the editors, had produced exactly two-thirds of the number of books issued by the Society, namely-Mr. J. O. Halliwell, 22; Mr. Wright, 14; Mr. Payne Collier, 10; Mr. Crofton Croker, 9; Mr. Fairholt, 7; when its most honourable dissolution was determined upon by the noble President, Lord Braybrooke. ENGLISH TOMB AT ATHENS. THE following inscriptions, copied from the tombstone of three Englishmen who died at Athens, have been sent to Dr. Winterbottom, of South Shields, by a very interesting and talented Greek girl, Elizabeth Contaxaki, the adopted daughter of the Rev. John (and Mrs.) Hill, Chaplain to the British Embassy at Athens. "The tomb stands," Miss C. observes, "in the buryingground of a small chapel, called Ayia wrεiva, St. Lucia, which formerly made part of the Christian burying-ground, and where, it would appear, the deceased were buried by special licence. The chapel stands in front of the Iɛpov ẞnua, by the banks of the Ilissus stream, close to the rocks near the ducts or pipes, of the Enneakrounos. The slab of marble looks as if it has never been moved since the day it was first placed there. Mr. Hill proposes to apply to the Greek Government for the permission to remove the remains, with the stone, to the Protestant Cemetery, opposite to the Stadium." Miss C. adds a benevolent wish, that "if any of the descendants of the deceased be still alive, it may afford them pleasure to hear that the remains of their deceased relations, after 167 years, have been taken care of by a Chaplain of the English Embassy at Athens." Could any readers of the "Current Notes," point out where the names of the Consuls may be found, and also whether any epidemic raged at Athens about that period ?* ΓΕΟΡΤΙΟΖ ΤΟΥ ΙΓΓΛΕΖΟΥ. TO CORRESPONDENTS. R. B. New York, 13th April. Lot 116, in March Catalogue sold. If applied to, it would be very ungracious, after the communications made to the lady named, should her publisher refuse complying with the request; but certain Trade reasons oblige G. W. to decline making it. "A SUBSCRIBER," Reform Club. April 12, (with extract from Daily News) requires enquiry, but will receive respectful attention. Literary and Scientific Obituary. ALLASON, Thomas. "Antiquities of Pola," &c. Architect - additions to Alton Towers, Alliance Fire Office in Bartholomew Lane, &c. Connaught Square. 9th April. Aged 62. BISSETT, Rev. John Collinson, (Vicar of Leysdown cum Harty, Sheppey). "The Conquest of China," a Poem. 22nd April. BREMNER, David. Engineer, Clyde Trust. Glasgow. 14th March. Aged 33. CARPENTER, James. Publisher and Bookseller, (late of DALRYMPLE, John, F.R.S. Secretary and Librarian to the St. James's Square. 4th May. Oculist and Scientific Writer. 60, Grosvenor Street. 2nd May. Aged 49. DOWNES, Henry (Commander R.N.) Founder and Director of the United Service Institution. Ladbroke Terrace, Notting Hill. 3rd April. Aged 62. EYLERT. First Bishop of Prussia. Theology. Potsdam. Aged 82. FLETCHER, Rev. William (Vicar of Harwell, Berks). "Excursions of a Village Curate," &c. Malmesbury. 24th March. Aged 58. FORSTER, Frank. Engineer, Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers. Elm Lodge, Kilburn. 13th April. Aged 52. GILBERT, Richard. (Firm of Messrs. Gilbert and Rivington, Printers, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell). "Liber Scholasticus." Editor of Clerical Compilations; one of the Auditors of the Royal Literary Fund. Euston Square. 26th February. Aged 58. HUNTINGTOWER, Catherine Rebecca (Dowager) Lady. (3rd daughter of Francis Grey, Esq. of Lehena, County of Cork, and mother of the Earl of Dysart). Poetry. Leamington Spa. 21st March. Aged 85. JEWITT, Arthur. Topography and Periodical Literature. Headington, near Oxford. 7th March. Aged 80. KELLY, Mrs. Ann. Actress. Lewisham, Kent. 15th March. Aged 103. O'CONNOR, Arthur, (General in the French Service.) PAYNE, Howard. Dramatist and Actor. Recently. Secretary of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres of Paris. Biography, &c. Recently. No. XVIII.] WILLIS'S CURRENT FOR THE MONTH. "I will make a prief of it in my Note-Book."-SHAKSPERE. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. G. WILLIS gratefully acknowledges the various interesting documents and letters he has received. He is anxious that it should be perfectly understood that he is not the author of any statement, representation, or opinion, that [JUNE, 1852. the residence of a Mr. Vanderplank, a name which frequently occurs in Richardson's Correspondence. The recent inhabitants of Richardson's house were the late Sir William and Lady Boothby, a favourite actress, better known to the public as Mrs. Nisbett. The perusal of Richardson's Correspondence, which I may appear in his "Current Notes," which are merely selec-perceive I have purchased from you for 7s 6d, induced me to seek out the locality, and from this very voluminous Correspondence I think a few extracts may interest the readers of your Notes. tions from communications made to him in the course of his business, and which appear to him to merit attention. Every statement therefore is open to correction or discussion, and the writers of the several paragraphs should be considered as alone responsible for their assertions. Although many notes have hitherto appeared anonymously, or with initial letters, yet wherever a serious contradiction is involved, G. Willis trusts that his Correspondents will feel the necessity of allowing him to make use of their names when properly required. LITERARY RESIDENCES AT NORTH END, FULHAM. THE house of Richardson, the once popular Novelist, but whose Pamela Clarissa Harlowe and Sir Charles Grandison, though translated into French, and German, and Dutch, are now almost merewaste paper upon a bookseller's shelf -whose Correspondence has been published in six volumes, illustrated by Caro line Watson's exquisite engraving of Richardson, and which six volumes may now be had for about as many shillings, resided for several years in a mansion of William III.'s period, the appearance of which may be recognised from the annexed sketch, by any one of the readers of Mr. Willis's Notes, who will turn off at the second turnpike gate on the road to Hammersmith, and enquire his way to Walham Green. How little the exterior has been altered in nearly the last fifty years, a comparison of your Correspondent's sketch with the print prefixed to the 4th volume of Richardson's Correspondence will shew at a glance. My sketch was made in a very recent ramble, and Sir Richard Phillips's print was published by him May 26, 1804. Then, as now, this mansion was divided into two houses, and the half nearest to the eye was that occupied by the Novelist, the other half was VOL. II. One of the most romantic incidents in the businesslike and hospitable life of Richardson, was his correspondence with, and introduction to, Lady Bradshaigh, the wife of a Lancashire Baronet, whom he sought to seduce to visit him at North End. After the appearance of the fourth volume of Clarissa Harlowe, a lady who signed herself Belfour, wrote to Richardson, stating a report that prevailed, that the history of Clarissa was to terminate in a most tragical manner, and requesting that her entreaties may avert so dreadful a catastrophe. This correspondence with Mrs. Belfour commenced in October 1748, and she thus concludes her letter to the novelist, her Ladyship taking care to mystify her identity by giving her address, Post Office, Exeter, "If you although resident at Haigh in Lancashire. disappoint me," she writes, "attend to my curse." 46 "May the hatred of all the young, beautiful, and virtuous for ever be your portion, and may your eyes never behold any thing but age and deformity! May you meet with applause only from envious old maids, surly bachelors, and tyrannical parents; may you be doomed to the company of such! and after death may their ugly souls haunt you! "Now make Lovelace and Clarissa unhappy if you dare. "Perhaps you may think all this proceeds from a giddy girl of sixteen; but know I am past my romantic time of life, though young enough to wish two lovers happy in a married state. As I myself am in that class, it makes me still more anxious for the lovely pair. I have a common understanding, and middling judgment, for one of my sex, which I tell you for fear you should not find it out."" The Correspondence thus commenced goes on, until the vanity of Richardson induces him to describe to his unknown Correspondent his private circumstances; and to a hint given in the January following by Lady Bradshaigh, of her intention to visit London before she is a year older, when she "shall long to see" Mr. Richardson, and "perhaps may contrive that, though unknown to him," he replies, "But do not, my dear correspondent (still let me call you so) say, that you will see me, unknown to myself, when you come to town. Permit me to hope, that you will not be personally a stranger to me then." G This is followed by an acknowledgment from Madame Belfour, that she is not his "Devonshire lady," having but very little knowledge of the place, though she has a friend there; observing archly, "Lancashire, if you please;" adding an invitation, if he is inclined to take a journey of two hundred miles, with the promise of "a most friendly reception from two persons who have great reason to esteem" him "a very valuable acquaintance." Richardson responded to this invitation by another"But I will readily come into any proposal you shall make, to answer the purpose of your question; and if you will be so cruel as to keep yourself still incognito, will acquiesce. I wish you would accept of our invitation on your coming to town. But three little miles from Hyde Park Corner. I keep no vehicle," (This was before the age of busses.) And Lady Bradshaigh proceeds to present, as if in ridicule of Richardson's portrait as drawn by himself, her own. "In surprise or eagerness she is apt to think aloud; and since you have a mind to see her, who has seen the King, I give you the advantage of knowing she is middle aged, middle sized, a degree above plump, brown as an oak wainscot, a good deal of country red in her cheeks; altogether a plain woman, but nothing remarkably forbidding." Any one might think that a meeting would immediately have followed these communications, and that the novel writer and the novel reader would have presented themselves to each other's gaze for admiration, at the time and place appointed, and thus the affair which their letters have left upon record might have been satisfactorily wound up in one volume. But this did not accord -"but one should be at yours, and at your dear man's with the sentimental typographical taste of the times, command, as long as you should both honour us with your which required the dilution of an idea into seven or presence. You shall be only the sister, the cousin, the eight volumes to make it palateable. For we are told niece-the what you please of my incognito, and I will never address you as other than what you choose to pass for. If that a young Cantab, who, when asked if he had read Clarissa, replied, “D-n it, I would not read it, though you knew, Madam, you would not question that I am in earnest on this occasion; the less question it, as that at my And that a lady reading to her maid, whilst she curled to save my life," was set down as an incurable dunce. little habitation near Hammersmith, I have common conveniences, though not splendid ones, to make my offer good." her hair, the seventh volume of Clarissa, the poor girl let fall such a shower of tears that they wetted her Richardson in the letter, from which this passage has mistress's head so much, she had to send her out of the been extracted, is again led away by his vanity into a room to compose herself. Upon the maid being asked description of his person, and very plainly hints at a the cause of her grief, she said, "Oh, Madam, to see meeting in the Park, through which he goes once or such goodness and innocence in such distress," and her twice a week to" his "little retirement." He describes lady rewarded her with a crown for the answer. himself as "Short, rather plump than emaciated, about five foot five inches; fair wig; lightish cloth coat, all black besides; one hand generally in his bosom, the other a cane in it, which he leans upon under the skirts of his coat usually, that it may imperceptibly serve him as a support, when attacked by sudden tremors or startings and dizziness." "Of a light brown complexion; teeth not yet failing him; smoothish faced and ruddy cheeked; at sometimes looking to be about sixty-five, at other times much younger; a regular even pace, stealing away ground, rather than seeming to get rid of it; a grey eye, too often overclouded by mistiness from the head; by chance lively-very lively it will be if he have hope of seeing a lady whom he loves and honours; his eye always on the ladies"-and so on. January the 9th (1749-50) has arrived-the tantalizing Lady Bradshaigh, the unknown Mrs. Belfour, has been in London six weeks, and the novelist begins "not to know what to think" of his fair correspondent's wish to see him. May be so," he writes, 66 "But with such a desire to be in town three weeks; on three weeks more to elapse, yet I neither to see or hear of the 16th December to be in sight of my dwelling, and the lady; it cannot be that she has so strong a desire?" Let any one imagine the ridiculousness of the situation of " dear, good, excellent Mr. Richardson" at this time. He had, he confesses, "Such a desire to see one who had seen the King, that" (he speaking of himself, says) "though prevented by indisposition from going to my little retirement on the Saturday, that I had the pleasure of your letter, I went into the Park on Sunday (it being a very fine day) in hopes of seeing such a lady as you describe, contenting myself with dining as I walked, on a sea biscuit which I had put in my pocket, my family at home, all the time, knowing not what was become of me.-A Quixotte! "Last Saturday, being a fine warm day, in my way to North End, I walked backwards and forwards in the Mall, till past your friend's time of being there (she preparing, possibly, for the Court, being Twelfth Night !) and I again was disappointed." On the 28th January, nineteen days after this was written, Lady Bradshaigh, in a letter full of satirical |
