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But when I am to have this satisfaction is partly uncertain, as my motions depend upon my mother's health. She is tolerably well at present; and, if she continues so, I hope to be in Lisle-street the latter end of next month. My mother and sisters join in their compliments and good wishes of the season; and I am, dear Sir, Your affectionate friend and brother, THO. NORWICH." Dr. BIRCH to Bp. HAYTER.

"MY LORD, Norfolk-street, July 7, 1752. "The lateness of the season having determined the Proprietors of Abp. Tillotson's Life to suspend the publication of it till October, their apprehensions from their piratical brethren will restrain me for some months from distributing the presents which I intended. But I cannot deny myself the honour of transmitting my own copy to your Lordship, whose curiosity is, I know, justly excited by the subject, and to whose candour I can safely trust the performance, however unequal to it. I am, my Lord, "Your Lordship's most obliged and obedient humble servant, THO. BIRCH."

DAVID GARRICK, Esq. to Dr. BIRCH.

DEAR SIR,

Saturday, 10, o'Clock, [Dec. 21, 1751.] "I hope you will excuse the liberty I shall take in this Letter, since the motive is only to bring you and a most intimate Friend of mine better acquainted. You mentioned yesterday evening your Life, Letters, &c. of Archbishop Tillotson, that you were preparing for the press. If you have not yet made any engagement about them, I should take great pleasure in bringing you and my Friend together, who is a Proprietor in the Works of the same Author, and who wishes to be known to you and concerned with you. I should not have ventured to have proposed such a thing to you, had I not been well assured that both Mr. Birch and Mr. Draper would thank me for bringing them acquainted with each other. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, "D. GARRICK." Thursday, Oct. 9, 1755.

"DEAR SIR, "As some particular business will call me into the Country next Saturday, I beg that I may have the pleasure of Dr. Birch's company to-morrow night, after the Play. Mr. Payne will come. "I am most sincerely yours, D. GARRICK." Wednesday, [April 13, 1757.]

"DEAR SIR,

The bearer Mr. Leech is a Printer, whom I have known a long time. He is a very careful honest man, and has desired me to speak to you in his behalf. He has been recommended to Dr. Knight to be concerned in printing for the Museum, who has promised to use his interest for him. His types are all new cast by Mr. Caslon; and he has given great satisfaction to Mr. Tonson and others, to whom I have recommended him. I should not have dared to have troubled you about this affair, had not the poor man been in distress to get himself mentioned to you.

Were

Were I not well assured of his skill and integrity, I should not have presumed to write in his behalf; and I am persuaded, if Dr. Birch is not otherwise engaged, that he will not favour him the less, for my not having a right to ask so great a favour.

"I am, dear Sir, your most humble servant, D. GARRICK." "Monday, 11 o'Clock, July 13, 1761. Mr. Garrick's compliments to Dr. Birch, and should be greatly obliged to him if he would be so good as to inform him, where he may meet with the best printed Forms of the King's Marriage."

Substance of a Letter to Mr GARRICK July 13, 1761.

Upon an hasty consideration of your question, I am inclined to think that no Form of Marriage, suitable to the circumstances of his present Majesty, can be produced, either in print or manuscript. You will judge of the reasons of my doubts from a review of the several Sovereigns of this Kingdom since the Accession of Henry VIII. to the Throne. He was undoubtedly married to every one of his wives according to the Ritual of the Church of Rome. His example in this point was followed by his daughter Mary, who was married to Philip Prince of Spain at Winchester, in July 1554, by Bp. Gardiner, Archbishop Cranmer being then in prison. Her brother, Edward VI. and her sister Elizabeth, you know, died both unmarried. James I. was married, several years before he came to England, to the Princess of Denmark, at Upstow in Norway, the ceremony being performed by Mr. David Lindesey, Minister of Leith, in the French language. Charles I's marriage was solemnized at Paris, the Duke of Charcuse being his proxy: Charles II's Queen scrupling the offices of the Church, he only took her by the hand in the Presence chamber at Portsmouth, and said the words of Matrimony in the Common Prayer-book, I Charles take thee Catherine, &c.; the Queen declaring her consent, and Dr. Sheldon, Bishop of London, standing forth and declaring them Man and Wife in the name of the Father,' &c. This I have seen a particular account of, in a Letter of Weston Earl of Portland to Lord Clarendon and Bp. Kennett in his Register and Chronicle,' p. 696, cites a MS to the same purpose. The first Marriage of the Duke of York, which was to Lord Chancellor Clarendon's daughter, was a private one, performed at Worcester House, Sept. 3, 1660, by Dr. Crowther, the Duke's Chaplain. The second, to the Princess of Modena, was performed at Dover, in November 1673, on the day of her arrival, by Dr. Crewe, then Bp. of Oxford, and afterwards of Durham. The Marriages of his two Daughters to the Princes of Orange and Denmark, and those of the late Prince of Wales and his Sisters, seem not to be within the limits of your inquiry; but the Ceremonials of them, if wanted, may, I presume, be easily procured. The two last Kings, George I. and II. were married before they came to the Throne.

"This is the best answer I am at present able to give. If I shall procure any farther light on the subject I will communicate it to you; and only and, that there are two eters in the third volume of the "Memorials of State" of Sir Ralph Winwood,

VOL. I.

3 H

p. 421,

p. 421, and 434, which contain the particulars of the form of contracting and marrying the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. to the Elector Palatine; of which Sir John Finett likewise takes notice, in the book which your brother will deliver to you. I am, dear Sir, &c. THO. BIRCH, July 13, 1761." "DEAR SIR, Tuesday Evening, [July 14, 1761.] "I think myself most particularly obliged to you for your kind Letter. It is a very satisfactory one indeed, and will answer the end in every respect. Let me assure you that I did not give you so much trouble wantonly, or impertinently. My commission was of the greatest consequence*, and I applied where I was sure of the best intelligence; and where I flattered myself I should meet with a friendly reception. Dr. Birch will make me happy whenever he will honour me with his commands. I am, dear Sir, your most sincerely affectionate humble servant, D. GARRICK."

JOHN WILKES, Esq. to Dr. BIRCH.

"DEAR SIR, Paris, Rue St. Nicaise, Sept. 10, 1764. "Monsieur de Beaumont, who has merited so highly of humanity by employing the powers of a most persuasive eloquence in the case of the unfortunate Calas's family, is happy enough to be setting out for England. He is no less amiable in the private walk of life, than distinguished and admired by the public; and I persuade myself that I cannot do you a more acceptable service than by the honour I now beg of introducing to you a gentleman of virtue and genius. Mons. de Voltaire, and the greatest men of this country, have vied with each other in their testimonies of his singular worth; and the Memoire lately printed, in which he endeavours to establish the validity of the marriages of Protestants in France, ought to endear him to us. May I take the liberty of whispering to you that I wish a gentleman of so much merit was a Member of our Society †? I think the Society might felicitate themselves on such an acquisition, and it would be mentioned very honourably here.-May I beg the last Volume of the 'Transactions,' and a List of the Members, by Monsieur de Beaumont ?

"I embrace with pleasure this opportunity of assuring you, dear Sir, that I am, with a real sense of your superior worth and merit, your very humble servant, JOHN WILKES *."

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.

P. 8. 1. 13, 14, for Lady Lucas, r. Countess De Grey.

P. 25. 1. 5. Mr. Wray speaks of correcting a Philosopher, which Mr. Hardinge refers to the Athenian Letters. It refers, I am informed, to a scheme laid by Mr. Charles Yorke and Mr. Philip Yorke, of writing Essays under the title of "The Philosopher;' but, not possessing those Essays, I cannot speak with certainty.

It was preparatory to the marriage of their present Majesties King George III. and Queen Charlotte.

Mons. Jean Baptiste Jaques Elie de Beaumont, Avocat à Parlement de Paris, was elected F. R. S. in April 1765; and died Jan. 10, 1786, æt. 54.

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P. 31. Of Rawthmell's Coffee-house, in Henrietta-street, see vol. II. p. 88. The names of several of the gentlemen who frequented it are given in the “Literary Anecdotes," vol. III. p. 537. P. 34, note Mr. Heaton died in 1777; see the Literary Anecdotes," vol. IX. p. 499. It was the letter 66 H." deceived Mr. Hardinge, which stands there as the initial of the Second Earl of Hardwicke.

P. 48. note, I. penult. r. " April 21."

P. 73, 17, for “ vicar” r. "rector of Barnes."

P. 77. The allusion in 1. 19 is to the Coffee-house, in Cambridge-contrasted with Rawhmell's, noticed above.

P. 78. On Caryl Mr. Wray has noted, “This is Caryl upon Job, I suppose, whom Milton handled so well upon refusing a licence." P. 82. 1. 12—14. Strike out the inverted commas, those lines not being Dr. Birch's, but Mr. Hardinge's.

P. 85. After having seen a proof of the Engraving of Mr. Wray's Shade, Mr. Justice Hardinge observed, "I have a Letter from a Sister, who knew Wray, and had reason to know him, for he gave her 1000l. She says, the Shade is alive in resemblance. The Shade is, I suppose, the work of Mrs. Wray, who had a peculiar talent for those Portraits. It was given to me by Mr. Salter, my agreeable Correspondent, who has all my enthusiasm for my Hero. Perhaps it was copied from one by her. I have Dr. Fisher's permission to copy the Portrait at the Charter-house.-MyWRAYANA are wonderful enough to astonish myself; and I have written a Dedication to Lord Hardwicke, which I hope you will approve, as he has been so courteous and liberal to me. I have pleasure in telling you that, as far as materials extend, the DAVIESIANA will not be less interesting than WRAY. I have a most brilliant prospect of Davies's Picture in my hands before it is long. G. H."

P. 139, The Inscription of Cleander, mentioned 1. 41, refers to a fanciful Greek Inscription, written by Mr. Wray, and placed at Wrest, on a supposed Votive Altar, in remembrance of the Athenian Letters." It is very simple, and only says, " Cleander of Ephesus, Servant of the great King, dedicates this Altar to the god Mithras. Telephanes of Samos was the Architect." But Mr. Wray made it curious, by choosing the most antient Greek characters he could find; and writing the lines alternate from left to right, and right to left. It was devised from the front of an Altar which he had seen on his travels; and the idea much transcends all other imitations of the same kind, especially the Boustrophedon part *; and is to be read thus :

ΑΝΙΚΕΤΩ, : ΘΕΩΙ : ΜΙΘΡΑ, : ΚΛΕΑΝΔΡΟΣ

ΗΡΜΙΠΠΟΥ : ΕΦΕΣΙΟΣ : ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ

ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ : ΔΟΛΟΣ [δυλος] : ΤΕΛΕ

ΦΑΙΝΙΣ : Η : ΟΦΟΙΝΑΔΟ : ΦΟΚΕΥΣ : ΕΠΟΙΕΙ.

The inscription exhibits a specimen of one of those pleasantries with which men of taste in Literature amuse themselves in deceiving the visitants of their agreeable retreats;

See a fac-simile of it in Gent. Mag. vol. LIII. pp. 393; and some remarks on it in vol. LIV. pp. 567; vol. LV. pp. 337, 512, 689. 3H 2

and

and it was said at the time to have deceived some Antiquaries. It stands in the same retired part of Wrest Garden, where Mr. Edwards afterwards built a Root-house, on which he wrote the following elegant Sonnet:

"Stranger, or guest, whome'er this hallow'd Grove

Shall chance receive, where sweet Contentment dwells,
Bring here no heart that with ambition swells,
With avarice pines, or burns with Jawless love:
Vice-tainted souls will all in vain remove

To sylvan shades, and hermits' peaceful cells:
In vain will seek Retirement's lenient spells,
Or hope that bliss, which good men only prove :
If heaven-born Truth, and sacred Virtue's love,
Which cheer, adorn, and dignify the mind,

Are constant inmates of thy honest breast,
If, unrepining at thy neighbour's store,

Thou count'st as thine the good of all mankind,

Then welcome share the friendly Groves of Wrest." P. 145. Mr. Holwell was one of those who escaped from the miseries at Calcutta. He erected, at his own expence, a monument to his suffering friends; and published, "A genuine Narrative of the deplorable Deaths of the English Gentlemen, and others, who were suffocated in the Black Hole, in Fort William, at Calcutta, in the Kingdom of Bengal, in the night succeeding the 20th day of June, 1756; in a Letter to a Friend;" a most shocking tale, affectingly and well told, by a principal person among the unfortunate sufferers; one of the few who had the happiness to survive a trial which one would have thought it impossible for human strength to sustain.

P. 149, 1. 20. for "Robra's," r." Robins's account;" for Robins was the real Author of Lord Anson's Voyage (not Walter the Chaplain), and has given an unfavourable account of the Chinese at Canton.

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P. 158. note, 1. penult. strike out “ actually."

P. 165. Earl Stanhope died Dec. 15, 1816.

P. 167. l. 32. “P. Tornemine" should be " Pere Tourminine," a French Jesuit, who wrote the old " Journal de Trevoux."

P. 168. When the Memoir of Mr. Wray was completed at the press, Mr. Hardinge observed, "I am not a little surprized, that, after our joint researches, a jeu d'esprit of my Hero can have escaped us both. I refer you to the "Surrey" of Manning and Bray, vol. III. p. 127. But the serious piety of the Philosophical, though comic Satirist, WRAY, makes it necessary for his honour, that we should either drop this excellent badinage (which I am loth to do), or qualify it as a mere whim of an impromptu; and perhaps of a moral, though laughing ridicule, upon the ambition to be inscribed upon a tomb-stone, which is amply shared with rich and great, by the poor and the obscure. At Ockham, the seat of the Lord King (the second who bore the title), Mr. WRAY (whose comic

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