Notes and Queries, Number 37, July 13, 1850

THE AUTHOR OF THE "CHARACTERISTICS."

Lord Shaftesbury's Letters to a young Man at the University, on which Mr. SINGER has addressed to you an interesting communication (Vol. ii., p. 33.), were reprinted in 1746 in a collection of his letters, "Letters of the Earl of Shaftesbury, author of the Characteristicks, collected into one volume: printed MDCCXLVI." 18mo. This volume contains also Lord Shaftesbury's letters to Lord Molesworth, originally published by Toland, with an introduction which is not reprinted; a "Letter sent from Italy, with the notion of the Judgment of Hercules, &c., to my Lord –"; and three letters reprinted from Lord Shaftesbury's life in the General Dicionary, which was prepared by Dr. Kippis, under the superintendence of Lord Shaftesbury's son, the fourth earl.

In my copy of the original edition of the Letters to a young Man at the University, two letters have been transcribed by an unknown previous possessor. One is to Bishop Burnet, recommending young Ainsworth when about to be ordained deacon:—

"To the Bishop of Sarum.

"Reigate, May 23. 1710.

"My Lord,—The young man who delivers this to your Lordship, is one who for several years has been preparing himself for the ministry, and in order to it has, I think, completed his time at the university. The occasion of his applying this way was purely from his own inclination. I took him a child from his poor parents, out of a numerous and necessitous family, into my own, employing him in nothing servile; and finding his ingenuity, put him abroad to the best schools to qualify him for preferment in a peculiar way. But the serious temper of the lad disposing him, as I found, to the ministry preferably to other advantages, I could not be his hindrance; though till very lately I gave him no prospect of any encouragement through my interest. But having been at last convinced, by his sober and religious courage, his studious inclination and meek behaviour, that 'twas real principle and not a vanity or conceit that led him into these thoughts, I am resolved, in case your lordship thinks him worthy of the ministry, to procure him a benefice as soon as anything happens in my power, and in the mean time design to keep him as my chaplain in my family.

"I am, my Lord, &c.,

"SHAFTESBURY."

The second letter inserted in my copy is to Ainsworth himself, dated Reigate, 11th May, 1711, and written when he was about to apply for priest's orders. But the bulk of this letter is printed, with a different beginning and ending, in the tenth printed letter, under date July 10th, 1710, and is there made to apply to Ainsworth's having just received deacon's orders. The beginning, and ending of the letter, as in MS., are—

"I am glad the time is come that you are to receive full orders, and that you hope it from the hands of our great, worthy, and excellent Bishop, the Lord of Salisbury. This is one of the circumstances" [then the letter proceeds exactly as in the printed Letter X., and the MS. letter concludes:] "God send you all true Christianity, with that temper, life, and manners which become it.

"I am, your hearty friend,

"SHAFTESBURY."

I quote the printed beginning of Letter X., on account of the eulogy on Bishop Burnet:—

"I believed, indeed, it was your expecting me every day at – that prevented your writing since you received orders from the good Bishop, my Lord of Salisbury; who, as he has done more than any man living for the good and honour of the Church of England and the Reformed Religion, so he now suffers more than any man from the tongues and slander of those ungrateful Churchmen, who may well call themselves by that single term of distinction, having no claim to that of Christianity or Protestant, since they have thrown off all the temper of the former and all concern or interest with the latter. I hope whatever advice the great and good Bishop gave you, will sink deeply into your mind."

Mr. Singer has extracted from the eighth printed letter one or two sentences on Locke's denial of innate ideas. A discussion of Locke's views on this subject, or of Lord Shaftesbury's contrary doctrine of a "moral sense," is not suited to your columns; and I only wish to say that I think Mr. Singer has not made it sufficiently clear that Lord Shaftesbury's remarks apply only to the speculative consequences, according to his own view, of a denial of innate ideas; and that Lord Shaftesbury, in another passage of the same Letters, renders the following tribute of praise to the Essay on the Human Understanding:—

"I am not sorry that I lent you Mr. Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, which may as well qualify for business and the world as for the sciences and a University. No one has done more towards the recalling of philosophy from barbarity into use and practice of the world, and into the company of the better and politer sort, who might well be ashamed of it in its other dress. No one has opened a better or clearer way to reasoning; and, above all, I wonder to hear him censured so much by any Church of England men, for advancing reason and bringing the use of it so much into religion, when it is by this only that we fight against the enthusiasts and repel the great enemies of our Church."

A life of the author of the Characteristics is hardly less a desideratum than that of his grandfather, the Lord Chancellor, and would make an interesting work, written in connection with the politics as well as literature of the reigns of William and Anne; for the third Lord Shaftesbury, though prevented by ill-health from undertaking office or regularly attending parliament, took always a lively interest in politics. An interesting collection of the third earl's letters has been published by Mr. Foster (Letters of Locke, Algernon Sidney, and the Earl of Shaftesbury), and a few letters from him to Locke are in Lord King's Life of Locke. I subjoin a "note" of a few original letters of the third Lord Shaftesbury in the British Museum; some of your readers who frequent the British Museum may perhaps be induced to copy them for your columns.

Letters to Des Maizeaux (one interesting, offering him pecuniary assistance) in Ags. Cat. MSS. 4288.

Letters to Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax1, (one introducing Toland). Add. MSS. 7121.

Letter to Toland (printed, I think, in one of the Memoirs of Toland). Ags. Cat. 4295. 10.

Letter to T. Stringer in 1625. Ib. 4107. 115.

In Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, neither the Letters to a young Man at the University, published in 1716, nor the collection of letters of 1746, are mentioned; and confusion is made between the author of the Characteristics and his grandfather the Chancellor. Several political tracts, published during the latter part of Charles II.'s reign, which have been ascribed to the first Earl of Shaftesbury, but of which, though they were probably written under his supervision, it is extremely doubtful that he was the actual author, are lumped together with the Characteristics as the works of one and the same Earl of Shaftesbury.

Some years ago a discovery was made in Holland of MSS. of Le Clerc, and some notice of the MSS., and extracts from them, are to be found in the following work:—

"De Joanne Clerico et Philippo A. Limborch Dissertationes Duæ. Adhibitis Epistolis aliisque Scriptis ineditis scripsit atque eruditorum virorum epistolis nunc primum editis auxit Abr. Des Amorie Van Der Hoeven, &c. Amstelodami: apud Fredericum Muller, 1843."

Two letters of Locke are among the MSS. Now it is mentioned by Mr. Martyn, the biographer of the first Earl of Shaftesbury, in a MS. letter in the British Museum, that some of this earl's papers were sent by the family to Le Clerc, and were supposed not to have been returned. I mention this, as I perceive you have readers and correspondents in Holland, in the hope that I may possibly learn whether any papers relating to the first Earl of Shaftesbury have been found among the lately discovered Le Clerc MSS.; and it is not unlikely that the same MSS. might contain letters of the third earl, the author of the Characteristics, who was a friend and correspondent of Le Clerc.

CAXTON'S PRINTING-OFFICE

The particular spot where Caxton exercised his business, or the place where his press was fixed, cannot now, perhaps, be exactly ascertained. Dr. Dibdin, after a careful examination of existing testimonies, thinks it most probable that he erected his press in one of the chapels attached to the aisles of Westminster Abbey; and as no remains of this interesting place can now be discovered, there is a strong presumption that it was pulled down in making alterations for the building of Henry VII.'s splendid chapel.

It has been frequently asserted that all Caxton's books were printed in a part of Westminster Abbey; this must be mere conjecture, because we find no statement of it from himself: he first mentions the place of his printing in 1477, so that he must have printed some time without informing us where.

With all possible respect for the opinions of Dr. Dibdin, and the numerous writers on our early typography, I have very considerable doubts as to whether Caxton really printed within the walls of the Abbey at all. I am aware that he himself says, in some of his colophons, "Emprinted in th' Abbey of Westmynstre," but query whether the precincts of the Abbey are not intended? Stow, in his Annals (edit 1560, p. 686.), says,—"William Caxton of London, mercer, brought it (printing) into England about the year 1471, and first practised the same in the Abbie of St. Peter at Westminster;" but in his Survey of London, 1603 (edit. Thoms, p. 176.), the same writer gives us a more full and particular account; it is as follows:—

"Near unto this house [i.e. Henry VII.'s alms-house], westward, was an old chapel of St. Anne; over against the which, the Lady Margaret, mother to King Henry VII., erected an alms-house for poor women, which is now turned into lodgings for the singing men of the college. The place wherein this chapel and alms-house standeth was called the Elemosinary, or almonry, now corruptly the ambry, for that the alms of the Abbey were there distributed to the poor; and therein Islip, abbot of Westminster, erected the first press of book-printing that ever was in England, about the year of Christ 1471. William Caxton, citizen of London, mercer, brought it into England, and was the first that practised it in the said abbey; after which time the like was practised in the abbeys of St. Augustine at Canterbury, St. Albans, and other monasteries."

Again, in the curious hand-bill preserved in the Bodleian Library, it will be remembered that Caxton invites his customers to "come to Westmonester into the Almonestrye," where they may purchase his books "good chepe."

From these extracts it is pretty clear that Caxton's printing-office was in the Almonry, which was within the precincts of the Abbey, and not in the Abbey itself. The "old chapel of St. Anne" was doubtless the place where the first printing-office was erected in England. Abbot Milling (not Islip, as stated by Stow) was the generous friend and patron of Caxton and the art of printing; and it was by permission of this learned monk that our printer was allowed the use of the building in question.

The old chapel of St. Anne stood in the New-way, near the back of the workhouse, at the bottom of the almonry leading to what is now called Stratton Ground. It was pulled down, I believe, about the middle of the seventeenth century. The new chapel of St. Anne, erected in 1631, near the site of the old one, was destroyed about fifty years since.

Mr. Cunningham, in his Handbook for London (vol. i. p. 17.), says,—

"The first printing-press ever seen in England was set up in this almonry under the patronage of Esteney, Abbot of Westminster, by William Caxton, citizen and mercer (d. 1483)."

Esteney succeeded Milling in the Abbacy of Westminster, but the latter did not die before 1492. On p. 520. of his second volume, Mr. Cunninghan gives the date of Caxton's death correctly, i.e. 1491.

SANATORY LAWS IN OTHER DAYS

In that curious medley commonly designated, after Hearne, Arnold's Chronicle, and which was probably first printed in 1502 or 1503, we find the following passages. I make "notes" of them, from their peculiar interest at the moment when sanatory bills, having the same objects, are occupying the public attention so strongly; especially in respect to the Smithfield Nuisance and the Clergy Discipline bill.

1. In a paper entitled "The articles dishired bi y'e comonse of the cety of London, for reformacyo of thingis to the same, of the Mayer, Aldirmen, and Comon Counsell, to be enacted," we have the following:—

"Also that in anoyding the corupte savours and lothsom innoyaunc (caused by slaughter of best) w'tin the cyte, wherby moche people is corupte and infecte, it may plese my Lord Mayr, Aldirmen, and Comen Counsaile, to put in execucion a certaine acte of parlement, by whiche it is ordeigned y't no such slaughter of best shuld be vsed or had within this cite, and that suche penaltees be leuyed vpo the contrary doers as in the said acte of parlement ben expressed.

"Also in anoyding of lyke annoyauce. Plese it my Lord Mair, Alderme, and Como Councell, to enact that noo manor pulter or any other persone i this cytee kepe from hinsforth, within his hous, swans, gies, or dowk, upon a peyn therfore to be ordeigned."—pp. 83, 84, 3d. ed.

I believe that one item of "folk-faith" is that "farm-yard odours are healthy." I have often heard it affirmed at least; and, indeed, has not the common councilman, whom the Times has happily designated as the "defender of filth", totally and publicly staked his reputation on the dogma in its most extravagant shape, within the last few months? It is clear that nearly four centuries ago, the citizens of London thought differently; even though "the corupte savours and lothsom innoyaunc" were infinitely less loathsome than in the present Smithfield and the City slaughter-houses.

It would be interesting to know to what act of parliament Arnold's citizens refer, and whether it has ever been repealed. It is curious to notice, too, that the danger from infuriated beasts running wild through the streets is not amongst the evils of the system represented. They go further, however, and forbid even the killing within the city.

Moreover, it would really seem that the swan was not then a mere ornamental bird, either alive or dead, but an ordinary article of citizen-dinners, it being classed with "gies and dowks" in the business of the poulterer. At the same time, no mention being made of swine in any of these ordonnances or petitions, would at first sight seem to show that the flesh of the hog was in abhorrence with the Catholic citizen, as much perhaps as with the Jews themselves; at any rate, that it was not a vendible article of food in those days. When did it become so? This conclusion would, however, be erroneous; for amongst "the articles of the good governaûce of the cite of London" shortly following we have this:—

"Also yf ony persone kepe or norrysh hoggis, oxen, kyen, or mallardis within the ward, in noyoying of ther neyhbours."—p. 91.

The proper or appointed place for keeping hoggis was Hoggistone, now Hoxton; as Houndsditch2 was for the hounds.

There is another among these petitions to the Lord Mayor and corporation, worthy of notice, in connection with sanatory law.

"Also in avoydîg ye abhomynable savours causid by ye kepîg of ye kenell in ye mote and ye diches there, and î especiall by sethig of ye houndes mete wt roten bones, and vnclenly keping of ye hoûdes, wherof moche people is anoyed, soo yt when the wynde is in any poyte of the northe, all the fowle stynke is blowen ouer the citee. Plese it mi Lord Mair, Aldirmen, and Comen Coûcell, to ordeigne that the sayd kenell be amoued and sett in sô other côuenient place where as best shall seme them. And also that the said diches mai be clensed from yere to yere, and so kepte yt thereof folowe non annoyaunce."—p. 87.

Of course "Houndsditch" is here meant; but for what purpose were the hounds kept? And, indeed, what kind of hounds were they, that thus formed a part of the City establishment? Were they bloodhounds for tracking criminals, or hounds kept for the special behoof and pleasure of the "Lord Mair, Aldermen, and Comen Coûsel?" The Houndsditch of that time bore a strong resemblance to the Fleet ditch of times scarcely exceeding the memory of many living men.

I come now to the passages relating to the clergy.

"Also, where as the curatis of the cyte have used often tyme herebefore to selle their offring (at mariag), whereby the pisshês where such sales be made comenly be lettid fro messe or matyns, and otherwhiles from both, by so moch as the frendis of the pties maryed vsen to goo abowte vij. or viij. dayes before, and desiryg men to offryg at such tymes as more conuenyent it were to be at diunyne seruice. Plese it my Lord Mair, Aldirmê, and Comê Coûseile, to puide remedy, so that the sayd custume be fordone and leid aparte."—p. 86.

"Also, to thentent that the ordre of priesthood be had in dew reuerence according to the dignite therof, and that none occasions of incontinence growe bee the famylyarite of seculer people. Plese it my Lord Mayre, Aldirmen, and Comon Counsyll, to enacte that no maner persone beyng free of this citee take, receyue, and kepe from hensforth ony priest in comons, or to borde by the weke, moneth, or yere, or ony other terme more or lesse, vpon peine thervpon to be lymytyd, prouided that this acte extêde not to ony prieste retayned wyth a citezen in famyliar housolde."—p. 89.

"Also, plese it my Lord Mayre, Aldyrmen, and Comon Counseylle, that a communication may be had wyth the curatis of this citee for oblacions whiche they clayme to haue of citezens agaynst the tenour of the bulle purchased att their owne instance, and that it may be determined and an ende taken, whervpon the citezens shall rest."—p. 89.

"Also, yf ther be ony priest in seruice within the warde, which afore tyme hath been sette in the toune in Cornhyll for his dishoneste, and hath forsworne the cyte, alle suche shulde bee presentyd."—p. 92.

Upon these I shall make no remark. They will make different impressions on different readers; according to the extent of prejudice or liberality existing in different minds. They show that even during the most absolute period of ecclesiastical domination, there was one spot in England where attempts to legislate for the priesthood (though perhaps feeble enough) were made. The legislative powers of the corporation were at that time very ample; and the only condition by which they appear to have been limited was, that they should not override an act of parliament or a royal proclamation.

Is there any specific account of the "tonne in Cornhyll" existing? Its purpose, in connection with the conduit, admits of no doubt; the forsworn and dishonest priest had been punished with a "good ducking," and this, no doubt, accompanied with a suitable ceremonial for the special amusement of the "'prentices."3

I have also marked a few passages relative to the police and the fiscal laws of those days, and when time permits, will transcribe them for you, if you deem them worthy of being laid before your readers.

FOLK LORE

Midsummer Fires.—From your notice of Mr. Haslam's account of the Beltein or Midsummer fires in Cornwall, I conclude you will give a place to the following note. On St. John's eve last past, I happened to pass the day at a house situate on an elevated tract in the county of Kilkenny, Ireland; and I shall long remember the beauty of the sight, when, as dusk closed in, fire after fire shot up its clear flame, thickly studding the near plains and distant hills. The evening was calm and still, and the mingled shouts and yells of the representatives of the old fire-worshippers came with a very singular effect on the ear. When a boy, I have often passed through the fire myself on Midsummer eve, and such is still the custom. The higher the flame, the more daring the act is considered: hence there is a sort of emulation amongst the unwitting perpetrators of this Pagan rite. In many places cattle are driven through the fire; and this ceremony is firmly believed to have a powerful effect in preserving them from various harms. I need not say, that amongst the peasantry the fires are now lighted in honour of St John.

Kilkenny.

MINOR NOTES

Borrowed Thoughts.—Mr. SINGER (Vol. i., p. 482.) points out the French original from which Goldsmith borrowed his epigram beginning—

I find, in looking over Swift's works, a more literal version of this than Goldsmith's:—

I should like to add two Queries:—Who was the Chevallier de Cailly (or d'Aceilly), the author of the French epigram mentioned by Mr. Singer? And—when did he live?

An Infant Prodigy in 1659.—The following wonderful story is thus related by Archbishop Bramhall (Carte's Letters, ii. 208.: Dr. Bramhall to Dr. Earles, Utrecht, Sept. 6-16, 1659):—

"A child was born in London about three months since, with a double tongue, or divided tongue, which the third day after it was born, cried 'a King, a King,' and bid them bring it to the King. The mother of the child saieth it told her of all that happened in England since, and much more which she dare not utter. This my lady of Inchiguin writeth to her aunt, Me brow van Melliswarde4, living in this city, who shewed me the letter. My Lady writeth that she herself was as incredulous as any person, until she both saw and heard it speak herself very lately, as distinctly as she herself could do, and so loud that all the room heard it. That which she heard was this. A gentleman in the company took the child in his arms and gave it money, and asked what it would do with it, to which it answered aloud that it would give it to the King. If my Lady were so foolish to be deceived, or had not been an eye and ear witness herself, I might have disputed it; but giving credit to her, I cannot esteem it less than a miracle. If God be pleased to bestow a blessing upon us, he cannot want means."

It can hardly be doubted that the Archbishop's miracle was a ventriloquist hoax.

Allusion in Peter Martyr.—Mr. Prescott, in his History of the Conquest of Mexico vol. i. p. 389. (ed. 8vo. 1843), quotes from Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 1. c. l., the words, "Una illis fuit spes salutis, desperasse de salute," applied to the Spanish invaders of Mexico; and he remarks that "it is said with the classic energy of Tacitus." The expression is classical, but is not derived from Tacitus. The allusion is to the verse of Virgil:—

Æn. ii. 354.

Hogs not Pigs.—In Cowper's humorous verses, "The yearly Distress, or Tithing-time at Stoke in Essex," one of the grumblers talks

Upon this I have to remark that an intelligent grazier assures me that pigs are never subject to the evil here complained of, but that lambs of a year old, otherwise called "hogs" or "hoggets," are often infested by it. It would appear, therefore, that the poet, misled by the ambiguous name, and himself knowing nothing of the matter but by report, attributed to pigs that which happens to the other kind of animal, viz. lambs a year old, which have not yet been shorn.

A QUERY AND REPLIES

Plaister or Paster—Christian Captives—Members for Calais, &c.—In editing Tyndale's Pathway (Works, vol. i. p. 22.), I allowed preceding editors to induce me to print pastor, where the oldest authority had paster. As the following part of the sentence speaks of "suppling and suaging wounds," I am inclined to suspect that "paster" might be an old way of spelling, "plaster." Can any of your correspondents supply me with any instance in which "plaster" or "plaister" is spelt "paster" by any old English writer?