108 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»'«» S. VII. Feb. 5. '59. 



beinjT the type then still used for the printing of 

 proclamations, statutes, and ordinances, both by 

 the English government and by the corpora- 

 tion of tlie City. Some dim allusion to the im- 

 pulse given by Cromwell to foreign commerce 

 may be in the lines — 



" For lie was free of the old Haunce," — &c. 



which end with a reference to the good conse- 

 quences to himself resulting from the free en- 

 trance of wine and sack from France and Spain : 



" Whereby he did more noses gaine 

 Under his banner for to be. 

 Than all the noses that be free, 

 And a very commodious nose had he." 



There was perhaps some dull significance also 

 in " the proceedings of a supposed Parliament of 

 Noses," from which Me. Collier does not quote 

 any example. I would observe also that while it 

 was reasonable, as part of the jest, to print a mock 

 proclamation in black-letter, and we may thus 

 concede a later date to the tract than otherwise 

 could be considered probable, the spelling rather 

 confirms than discourages a belief that the verses 

 may have been published so late as the year 1658. 

 The use of Latin, which leads Mr. Collier to 

 suggest that the author, with his libera nos and 

 his nos qui vivimus, was " something of a scholar," 

 also fairly belongs to the day of 



" English cut on Greek and Latin, 

 Like fustian heretofore on satin." • 



Let me again repeat, however, that I do not 

 offer this suggestion as an absolute opinion, but as 

 a first impression derived from the curious ex- 

 tracts which Mr. Collier has printed. 



The handbill of Jacob Hill and Mr. Richard 

 Lancashire, with a copy of which Mr. Collier 

 has obliged your readers, is another interesting 

 illustration of the wealth of information upon 

 Bartholomew Fair that lies outside the cover of 

 my Memoirs. Since the book was published a 

 mislaid volume has been found in the Guildhall 

 Library containing the official records of Bartho- 

 lomew Fair, kept by the officers of the Piepowder 

 Court, from about the year 1790 until its close. 

 This furnishes a few valuable addenda to its his- 

 tory, which, with your permission, I will forward 

 in a week or two to " N. & Q." Henry Morley. 



4. Upper Park Row, Haveratock Hill, 



THE PASTON LETTERS. 



(2»d S. vi. 289. 488.) 

 There can be no doubt whatever of the genuine- 

 ness of these Letters ; but in regard to their subse- 

 quent history, after they left tlie hands of Sir 

 John Fenn, something more definite may be stated. 

 My friend, Mr. Thoms, mentions a report that 

 they had been sent to the Prince Regent for in- 



spection, and lost ; but this will not stand in ac- 

 cordance with the facts. The first two volumes 

 of these Letters were published in 1787, and the 

 Dedication to George IIL bears date 23rd Nov. 

 1786. In 1789 the third and fourth volumes ap- 

 peared ; and the editor, in his Preface (p. xvi.) thus 

 speaks of the originals : — 



" After the publication of the first and second volumes 

 of these Letters, the Editor, in his advertisement to the 

 second edition, informed the public that the original 

 manuscript letters were lodged for a time in the library 

 of the Antiquary Society, for general inspection. During 

 their continuance in that repository, it was intimated to 

 the Editor, that the King had an inclination to inspect 

 and examine them ; they were immediate!}' sent to the 

 Queen's Palace, with an humble request from the Editor 

 that, if they should be thought worthy a place in the 

 Eoyal Collection, his Majesty would be pleased to accept 

 them; to this request a most gracious answer was re- 

 turned, and they are now in the Royal Library." 



This statement can scarcely be questioned, but 

 the actual day on which the originals of these 

 Letters were presented to the King is noticed in 

 the Morning Cln-onick, 24th May, 1787, in the 

 following terms ; — 



" Yesterday John Fenn, Esq. attended the Levee at 

 St. James's, and had the honour of presenting to his Ma- 

 jesty (bound in three volumes) the original Letters, of 

 which he had before presented a printed copy, when his 

 Majesty, as a mark of bis gracious acceptance, was pleased 

 to confer on him the honour of knighthood." 



Long after Sir John Fenn's death (1794), a 

 fifth volume of these curious Letters (which had 

 been previously prepared for the press by Sir 

 John Fenn himself) came into the hands of 

 Mr. Serjeant Frere, Master of Downing College, 

 Cambridge, and was given by him to the world in 

 1823. Of the contents, Mr. Frere writes: — 



" The originals of the fifth volume I have not been able 

 to find;" but adds, " some originals I have, which appear 

 not to have been intended by Sir John Fenn for publica- 

 tion. The originals of the former volumes were presented 

 to the late King, and were deposited in his Majesty^ s library." 



Tlie real question now is, what became of these 

 originals after George III. received them ? Had 

 they remained at Buckingham Palace, they would 

 probably have accompanied the Royal Library to 

 the British Museum, in 1823. They did not, how- 

 ever, come with that collection ; and the inference 

 was, that they had either been taken down to 

 Windsor by George III., or else kept back when 

 the Royal Library was presented to the nation by 

 George IV. The late Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. 

 Copleston) was extremely anxious to ascertain 

 the fate of these Letters, and often consulted me 

 on the subject about the years 1832-4. Repeated 

 inquiries were made at that time and since of 

 the librarians at Windsor, for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining whether these valuable Letters were still 

 in existence there, but without any favourable re- 

 sult. From the Morning Chronicle we learn that 

 tbey were bound in three volumes, and it seems in 



