BEN JONSON.-Several of his minor poems have These been overlooked by the editors of his works. "waifs and strays" of genius, scattered in different old books, I have taken some pains to collect. In Bagford's Collections, 5931 Harl. MSS. is a broadside with music and words of the following Song, entitled "Bacchus turn'd Doctor, written by Ben Jonson." Let soldiers fight for pay and praise, And money be the miser's wish, Poor scholars study all their days, And gluttons glory in their dish. 'Tis wine! pure wine revives sad souls! Let minions marshal in their hair, And artificial colours wear, We have the native red and white. Give us a salt Westphalia gammon, 'Tis wine! pure wine revives sad souls! It makes the backward spirits brave, "Tis wine! pure wine revives sad souls! 'Tis wine! pure wine revives sad souls! Some men want youth, and some want health, 'Tis wine! pure wine revives sad souls! Ben Jonson has also prefixed some doggrel rhymes in illustration of the frontispiece engraved by William Hole. One specimen will suffice. But here neither trusting his hands nor his legs, VERSES BY FOX UPON GIBBON. The following was written in the first volume of Gibbon's History, which had been sent by the author to the Rt. Hon. C. J. Fox. The author of this book, at the delivery of the Spanish Rescript in the year 1779, declared publicly at Brookes' that there was no salvation for this country unless six of the heads of the Cabinet Ministers were cut off and laid upon the tables of the House of Parliament as examples. And in less than a fortnight after that declaration took an employment under that same Cabinet Council. C. J. F. Upon the promotion of the author to the Board of Trade in 1779. King George in a fright, Lest Gibbon should write The story of Britain's disgrace, Thought no means more sure His pen to secure, Than to give the historian a place. But his caution is vain, 'Tis the curse of his reign, That his projects should never succeed, Tho' he writes not a line, Yet a cause of decline In the author's example we read. His book well describes How corruption and bribes Overthrew the great Empire of Rome, And his writings declare A degeneracy there, Which his conduct exhibits at home. HYDROPATHY.-It is the opinion of most persons who have not examined the subject, and we hear it constantly Amongst the laudatory verses attached to Tom Cory-asserted by those who practise the art, that Hydropathy ate's Crudities, 4to. 1611, is the following acrostic. To the Right Noble Tom Tell Troth of his Travels, the Coryate of Odcombe and his books now going to travel. Trig and trust Roger was the word, but now S hews he dares more than Paul's churchyard durst do. E ver his thighs male then, and his brains she! See Before we is a new invention-a thing of yesterday-the invention of Dr. Priessnitz. Those who cling to the old traditions of medicine laugh at it for being of yesterday ;-while those who value everything in proportion to its newness say, "Here is a valuable and simple cure, which has always been at hand, yet never applied until now. how we are in advance of our ancestors." boast of our wonderful advancement in the healing art, it is as well, however, for us to look round for a moment, and we perhaps then shall see that what we consider a It is absurd new thing is but a renewal of an old one. to say that the curative properties of water were unknown in the early ages; any one who will take the trouble to investigate must see that the Roman people were much more impressed with the fact of its healing properties than are the inhabitants of England at this day. It is, how ever, to much more recent times that I would draw attention; the fact that a regular practice of Hydropathy was carried on during the early part of the eighteenth century seems to be unknown. There is, however, no doubt of the fact, as the following letter, extracted from the Gentleman's Magazine (vol. 7, 1773, p. 4) will prove. Caen in Normandy, December 30, 1736, N. S. My indisposition may justly be an excuse for my slowness in answering your last kind letter. For during almost three months last past I have been so afflicted with an ague and fever that it had nigh ruined my constitution and pocket, by the great quantity of bark I had taken; and to so little purpose that I thought myself nearer death than recovery. In this feeble condition I took a resolution to go to an old Abbé at Bayeux, who has for eight years practised with success the giving common water medicinally, and cured in that time all sorts of distempers. I became one of his patients, but with little confidence in water. However, I was persuaded it could do me no harm, if it did me no good; he began with giving me his emetic, which is nothing else but warm water, and a feather to tickle one's throat; I vomited heartily and found relief; he then sweated me four mornings together, the fifth morning, to my surprise, he told me I was cured, and that the ague would not return. I was over-joyed to hear it; but so unable to believe it, that I stayed three weeks after, and boarded with him, in which time he cured the dropsy, asthma, gout, colick, and other bad complaints, and all after the physicians had con. demned them. I had the pleasure to see these persons cured, and to enjoy by his method perfect health myself; and he has given me memorandums sufficient to be my own doctor during my life. The poor devil has been attacked by the physicians and apothecaries, but he answered them so well as to gain applause. When I have the pleasure of seeing you I will show you some of his writing. Yours, &c., C. D. It would be very interesting, and it may be instructive, if we could discover the memorandums given by the Abbé to C. D.; but of that there is little hope. It is, however, highly probable, that he may have published some work in defence of his system, which, if it exists, could not fail to be interesting. DRYASDUST. EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF STRAFFOrd. The Erle of Strafford's Speech on the scaffold before he was beheaded on Tower Hill, 4to. 1641. Rushworth's Historical Collections, part 3, vol. 1. page Few tragedies are more broadly marked in the of English history than the execution of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. From the rare engraving by Hollar it would seem that an immense crowd assembled on the occasion, and that platforms and stages were crected for the convenience of spectators. Rushworth, who was present, has minutely described the scene. Another account may be found in the fourth volume of Lord Somers' Tracts. As some little palliation for his death it may be remarked that this unrelenting eagerness for blood, this determined immolation of a degraded minister was no solitary act of cruelty of which the Republican party were guilty, but may be ranked amongst the common evils and practices of the age. "Vitia non hominum sed temporum." There was no humane Howard to sigh for the abolition of capital punishment, or plead against the terrors of execution; a feeling gradually fixing itself deeply in the hearts of the present century. Men 200 years ago were familiarised almost daily with the aspect of death. Blood flowed freely under the knife of the executioner. Unrelenting justice found the axe a potent charm to cure all social and political evils. A king is weary of his bride, and straightway royal lust hurries her to the block. A Chancellor will not acknowledge the royal supremacy; and his grey head pays penalty of his refusal. A priest has bent his knee to adore God after his own pious fashion and simplicity of heart, and he expiates his treason on a scaffold. Haunted by the old Tudor love of blood, a Queen signs the deathwarrant of her royal cousin. There was death for the thief, and death for the priest, death for the guilty and the innocent, death for the lowly and ambitious, for fair women and brave men. The hangman was the true social physician, and the grave concealed alike the crimes or virtues of his countless victims. HISTORICUS. Literary and Scientific Obituary. the London. Sud CHILDS (John). August 12. Aged 70. Bungay. Printer. Dublin. Medical Reformer. Works on Medicine. HARMER (James, formerly an Alderman of London). June. HAWKER (Col.) June 7. Aged 67. Dorset Place, Dorset Square. Works on Sporting. RICHARDSON (Mrs. Catherine). June 7. Aged 65. Proprietress of the Berwick Advertiser. ROGERS (Philip Hutchings). June 25. Aged between 65 and 70. Lichtentat, near Baden. Landscape Painter. SAINZ (Francisco). Lately. Aged 30. Madrid. The most celebrated Spanish living Painter. SANGIOVANNI (Benedetto). April 13. Aged 72. Brighton. Statuary. SAXE-WEIMAR (Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of). July 8. Aged 71. Weimar. Favourably known to Literature as the patron and protector of Göthe and Wieland in troubled times. SCATCHERD (N. C. F.S.A.). Feb. 16. Aged 73. TopoSIDDONS (F. J.) Lately. graphy and Antiquities. Calcutta. Superintendent of the Electric Telegraph. WALKER (John). June 23. Aged 51. York. He produced some of the most elaborate iron-work now extant in this country; among others the wrought iron gates at Kew Gardens and the palisades at the British Museum. WHO WAS "JUNIUS?" [SEPTEMBER, 1853. Junius to be on paper of the same size, quality, and THE Times, on the 26th ult., in an able review of the same date. This is a direction in which further eviwatermark, as was used by Lord Temple, within a week of the third and fourth volumes of the Grenville Papers, dence might be sought for with advantage. The question, edited by Mr. William James Smith, and published however, will still present itself, whether the talents geneby Mr. Murray, speaks of the twelve years over which rally displayed by Lord Temple were equal in degree to these volumes extend, as being chiefly occupied by the those which Junius undoubtedly possessed, if the internal Stamp Act, and its results at home and abroad; by the testimony were quite clear. On this point his morale, as escapades of John Wilkes; and by the invectives of far as we know, would be no hindrance to the suspicion. "Junius." The mass of these letters are communica- He had, alongside of his family arrogance, a special instinct tions to Lord Temple, or Geo. Grenville, his Majesty's of spite and secrecy, just as his brother had the austerity Prime Minister, from their scouts-Whateley, whose of Diogenes outside, and the distrust of a dastard within. descendant is now Archbishop of Dublin; Lloyd; Wil-author of Junius, more than the other, has been exalted by Nor would one be unduly exalted in reputation, as the liam Gerard Hamilton, better known as Single-speech Hamilton, and others. The latter more particularly defines the nature of his occupation and devotion, in tolerably clear terms: "Your Lordship may rely upon it, that in these active and interesting times, the Bee will be even more industrious than usual, and that he is never employed so much to his own satisfaction, as when he can contribute to your service, to your information, or even to your amusement." The reviewer in comment observes: "Mr. Smith has a theory, that Lord Temple was especially interested in procuring early and accurate information, both on public matters and private scandals, that he used both his influence, and his money, in obtaining such knowledge, and that the form in which he expressed what he had so collected, was by letter to the Public Advertiser, signed with the signature "Junius." Two hundred pages of Mr. Smith's third volume are devoted to the exposition of this theory. It would have been as well, if this separate question had made its appearance in a separate treatise; but the attempt itself, if not successful, is elaborate, and certainly brings another candidate, very close upon the heels of Francis. Mr. Smith shows correctly enough, that the evidence in favour of Sir Philip Francis, is not so conclusive, as has generally been assumed. But the nature of the case is such as to render the negative argument stronger than the positive, in nearly every instance. The mere fact, that so many individuals have had their several claims maintained with more or less plausibility, is a proof that phrases, quotations, sentiments, and what the Spectutor would have called "turns of thought," are much more the common property of an age, or a class, than a distinctive mark, by which man can be distinguished from But similarities of style, no less than comparisons of friendship and antipathy, admit, up to a certain point, the title of this new, or rather revived candidate to examination. There are also, two particulars in which the argument may sustain itself for some time-one, that the handwriting of the letters to Woodfall is a very close counterpart of some specimens of Lady Temple's hand; and the other, that Mr. Smith has discovered one letter of man. VOL. III. his colonial policy, or is exalted by the correspondence now given to the world." That the editor, Mr. Smith, is very near springing a mine is certain, but he is possibly wrong in supposing Lord Temple to have been the author of the Letters signed "Junius," notwithstanding his having discovered one of the original letters to have been written on paper of the same description, as that used by Lord Temple; but the fact appears to have been unknown to Mr. Smith, and to his reviewer, that Sir Herbert Croft, in his Love and Madness, printed for Kearsly in 1780; (a series of Letters, really written by him, but purporting to have been the correspondence of James Hackman, and his victim Martha Reay, the mistress of Lord Sandwich, and mother of the late Basil Montagu) recapitulates much of the literary history and the passing events that occurred from 1775 to 1779. A literary man himself, and moving in the best circles, he had ample means of obtaining information that might be relied on; and in one of these letters, dated June 18, 1776, he writes : : "Another slice of politics. Assert boldly that Junius was written by Grenville's Secretary. This is a fact, notwithstanding what Wilkes relates concerning Lord Germaine's bishop.' cient proof that Wilkes really knew little or nothing, The retrospect the lapse of time has afforded, is suffiand that at most, his presumptions were but surmises. Sir Herbert Croft, believing, or assumed he was in possession of the fact, expressed himself in such terms as that it should be so understood; and it is singular his assertion has not been noticed by any of the persons who have endeavoured to substantiate theories of their own, in support of persons whom they supposed, from some trivial cause, was the author or authors of the Letters of "Junius." Sir Herbert Croft's assertion is *Love and Madness, edit. 1780, p. 68. K no new crotchet of our day, and admitting it to be worthy of notice, does it, or does it not, account for the recognised similarity of the paper on which the letter of Junius," was written, and that stated by Mr. Smith to have been used by Lord Temple? Was the paper used by Mr. Grenville's Secretary any other than that that was in use by Lord Temple? Was it not Government paper, supplied officially? and therefore, supposing Mr. Grenville's Secretary to have been "Junius," more possibly of the letters may be found on the same paper, without exciting any particular surprise, and in no way corroborative of Lord Temple having been the writer. The names disclosed as the correspondents of Mr. Grenville and Lord Temple will go far to maintain Sir Herbert Croft's assertion. Whateley was the friendly associate and correspondent of David Garrick; and Single-speech Hamilton, generally well received in high society, appears to have had, fortunately for himself, a greater estimate of superior abilities awarded to him, than posterity is disposed to allow him he was at best nothing more than a culler of circumstances and memoranda, doubtless many of fact, but all tending to feed or support the bitterly sarcastic invectives displayed in the Letters signed "Junius," and those missives may yet probably be further substantiated as the productions of Mr. Grenville's Secretary, and not by Lord Temple, even by the papers in the possession of Mr. Smith. Who was George Grenville's Secretary? E. BRITISH GALLERIES OF ART (Current Notes, p. 30) strangers. is the work of C. M. Westmacott. HUGUENOTS. SIR,-Can any of your correspondents kindly inform me of the origin, or at what time, Protestants were in France called HUGUENOTS? I have not hitherto seen any satisfactory reason given; and the facility of your Current Notes, emboldens me to solicit a notice of my inquiry. E. B. Nottingham, Sept. 3. Protestants in France were by the Papists formerly called Tourengeaux, an appellation given to them of the City of Tours, where it was observed, those of the Protestant faith were in considerable numbers, till, in or about 1559, about four or five years before Calvin's death, an idle report obtaining prevalence, of a night spirit named King Hugon, being seen in the streets, caused one of the city gates to be called King Hugon's Gate; and the Protestants, passing for the most part that way, in the night, to their religious observances, were thereupon named HUGUENOTS.-See Pasquier's Recherches, lib. vii. cap. 52. Calvin died in 1564. EDITOR. Southwick Vicarage, near Oundle. August 8th, MOREL AND HIS WIFE.-A too close application to study, absorbs, like all other passions, much of our natural affections. FREDERIC MOREL, while busily employed in translating Libanius, was informed, his wife who had been for some time indisposed, was then very ill, and wished to speak to him. “I have,” said he, "but two periods of this chapter to translate; assure her I will then call and see her." Shortly, a second message came to apprise him she was near death. “ I have but two words to write," rejoined MOREL, “run back to her-I shall be there as soon as you." It again escaped him, and at last, a messenger came to tell him she was dead. "I am sorry for it," said he, "she was a worthy woman, and"- he went on with his translation. CIRCULATING LIBRARIES.-When were they established in the metropolis, and by whom? E. A. They are said to have been projected by S. Fancourt a dissenting minister, who, in or about 1740, established the earliest known to the writer, in Crane Court, * The reader may here probably be reminded of Gillray's Fleet Street. Notices from correspondents will be acprint, entitled "the Fall of Icarus." ceptable. EDITOR. HAIR OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST.-Mr. Willis having purchased on the 25th ult. at Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson's, a lock of hair cut from the head, and a portion of the beard, of King CHARLES THE FIRST, on the exhumation by order of the Prince Regent, in 1813, is induced to proffer the following notices relative to his execution, and to satisfy the numerous applicants who have desired an inspection, respectfully intimates they may for a few days be seen on application. On Tuesday, January 30th, 1648-9, the King came on the scaffold, accompanied by Colonel Tomlinson, who had charge of his person; by Colonel Hacker, who held the warrant for his execution; by Bishop Juxon, as his spiritual consoler in his last moments; and by Sir Thomas Herbert, the only one of his servants who was allowed to attend him. After having, at Bp. Juxon's suggestion, avowed that he died a Christian, according to the profession of the faith of the Church of England, as he found it left to him by his father, King James, he turned to Colonel Hacker, and said, "Take care they do not put me in pain, and Sir, this and it please you"-the address was abruptly discontinued, by the King's exclaiming to some one who came too close to the axe-"take heed of the axe, pray, take heed of the axe.' Then turning to Richard Brandon, the executioner, said "I shall say but very short prayers, and when I thrust out my hands"-the King then, as if in forgetfulness, called to Bp. Juxon for his cap, and having put it on, said to the executioner, "Does my hair trouble you?" Brandon desired him to put it all under his cap, which the King did accordingly, with the assistance of the executioner and the Bishop. Some words of solace, on the exchange of a temporal for an eternal crown, passed between the King and Bp. Juxon; the King then turning to the executioner, again asked, "Is my hair well?" and being assured in the affirmative, the King took off his cloak, and giving his George to Bishop Juxon, said, "Remember!" This would seem to have been a last enforcement of an instruction already entrusted to the Bishop, in reference to the retaining it, for his son Prince Charles.t The particulars of the execution disseminated on the following day, say a gentleman," but as no other persons than those named, appear to have been on the scaffold, the 66 gentleman was doubtless, Sir Thomas Herbert, who in his solicitude to render the King service, possibly took but little notice of the axe. That this was the purport of the King's injunction to Bp. Juxon there can be no doubt. Our correspondent's conjecture is sufficiently borne out by the papers printed in the late William Dorset Fellowes' "Historical Sketches of Charles the First, including the King's Trial and Execution, printed at Paris, 1828." 4to. At p. 185, it is there stated, that on the evening of Monday the 29th, the King being then at St. James's House, at his last meeting with his children, the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, he presented to them all his remaining jewels, excepting the George he then wore; it is described as being "cut in an onyx, and set about with twenty-one fair diamonds." The King's successors, Charles the Second and James the Second, wore subsequently, the same jewel; and in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1803, vol. Having placed the George in the bishop's hand, the King took off his doublet, and being in his waistcoat, again put on his cloak; then looking on the block, said to the executioner-" You must set it fast." Brandon replied, "It is fast." way," stretching them out, as he purposed, "then"—and The King then said, "When I put my hands out this having devoutly said two or three words, with raised hands, and eyes looking upward, immediately stooped down, and laid his neck upon the block-but the action having forced the hair from under the cap, Brandon, proceeded to replace it, when the King supposing he was then about to strike, said, "Stay for the sign!" The executioner replied, "Yes, I will, and it please your Majesty.” After a very little pause, the King stretching forth his hands, the executioner at one blow, severed the head from the body. The head being off, Brandon, doubtless so instructed, held it up, and shewed it to the people; it was then with the body, placed in a coffin, covered with black velvet,t and borne to his lodgings in Whitehall. ii. p. 1169, mention is there made of the bequests made by the Cardinal York, who had assumed the title of Henry the Ninth, King of England; to the Prince of Wales, of two from the wreck of his fortune: the order constantly worn objects most esteemed by him, and which he had preserved by King Charles the First; and the ring worn by the ancient Kings of Scotland, on the day of their coronation." To those who revere the memory of "the Martyr King," the work referred to in this note proffers a copious assemblage of documentary facts relative to this period, and is enriched with numerous plates.-ED. The thirtieth of January was a remarkably cold day, and the King was unwilling to have worn his cloak, even for warmth, till Bp. Juxon succeeded in persuading him that if he, while on the scaffold, should from the severity of the weather be seized with shivering, it would by his enemies be attributed to fear. The King submitted, and wore his cloak till the moment of his execution. Sir Philip Warwick, in his Memoirs, also states, that for a similar reason the King was prevailed on by the Bishop to take a slight refreshment-a glass of claret wine, and a piece of bread, after the sacrament.-ED. The narratives of the circumstances of this eventful period are, for the most part, perversions of fact, or at best, only falsified history. De la Roche's picture of the insults rendered to the King in the Guard Chamber at St. James's that has now so distinguished a position in the Ellesmere Gallery, is itself an insult to Englishmen ; it had no reality. Colonel Tomlinson, who had charge of the King, was a subordinate officer of the Parliament-did no more than his duty as a military man-and not only did due homage to the quality of his prisoner, but also took care that it should be so shown by others. The King had nothing to complain of, as regards the treatment he received from him, or his subordinates. The same artist's "Dreadful Necessity" picture of Cromwell raising the lid of the crimson velvet coffin, to have a midnight look at the King, is another pictorial falsehood; Cromwell, at that period, had no more exclusive power of obtaining that privilege, than any other Member of the House of Commons; and the only support the fiction obtains, is a loose note, a hearsay report, noted by Richard |