NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 114. 



the succeeding Steward, from Jan- 

 uary, 1662, to Januarj-, 1667 - clxi'. xiiij*. x<>, 

 " For several Bottles, Corkes, and 

 Glasses, bought by Mr. Butler, late 

 Steward, from January, 1661, to 

 January, 1662, vj". xiij^ j'l., and 

 for two Saddles and furniture for 

 the Catererand Slaughterman, xxvj'. 

 viijd. In both - - . . yiju. xix'. ix<'." 



" I was at Ludlow Castle last autumn, and thought 

 (of course) of Comus and Hudibras. I bought at 

 the same time the three parts of my friend Mr. 

 Wright's excellent History of Ludlow Castle, and 

 paid in advance for the concluding part. Pray let 

 me ask Mr. AVright (through " N. & Q.") by 

 what time (I am a hungry antiquary) we may 

 hope the concluding part will be published? 

 I will gladly show Mr. Wright Lord Carbery's 

 Account. Peter Cunningham. 



DK. FKANKLIN S TRACT ON LlBERXr AND 

 NECESSITY. 



_ 111 Dr. Franklin's Autobiography, he mentions as 

 his first work a pamphlet printed in London in 

 1725 on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. 

 It was written by him when he was eighteen years 

 of age, and partly in answer to WoUaston's 

 Religion of Nature. The object was to prove, 

 from the attributes of God, his infinite wisdom, 

 goodness, and power, that nothing could possibly 

 be wrong in the world ; and that vice and virtue 

 were empty distinctions, no such things existing. 

 He printed, he says, only a hundred copies, of 

 which he gave a kyf to his friends ; and after- 

 wards disliking the piece, as conceiving it might 

 have an ill tendency, he burnt the rest except one 

 copy. Tliis tract, most curious as the first publi- 

 cation of this extraordinary man, seems to have 

 eluded hitherto every search. In Jared Sparks's 

 elaborate edition of Dr. Franklin's Works in 

 10 vols., it is of course not to be found. In a 

 note (vol. viii., p. 405.), the editor observes, "No 

 copy of this tract is now known to be in existence." 

 Nor do I find that any writer on the subject of 

 Franklin, or the history of metaphysics, or moral 



Philosophy, appears to have seen it. Sir Jas. 

 lackintosh was long in search of it, but was com- 

 pelled ultimately to give it up in despair. 



I am happy to inform those who may take an 

 interest in Dr. Franklin's first performance — and 

 what is there in literary history more attractive 

 than to compare the earliest works of great men 

 with their miturer efforts? — that I fortunately pos- 

 sess a copy of this tract. It is bound up in a 

 volume of tracts, and came from the library of the 

 Rev. S. Harper. The title Is, " A Dissertation on 

 Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, in a 

 Letter to a Friend: 



' Whatever is, is in its causes just, 

 Since all things are by fate; but purblind man 

 Sees but a part o' th' chain, the nearest link, 

 His eyes not carrying to the equal beam, 

 That poises all above.' — Dryd." 



It is addressed to Mr. J(ames) R(alph), and 

 commences : " Sir, I have here, according to your 

 request, given you my present thoughts on the- 

 general state of things in the universe ; " and con- 

 cludes, " Truth will be truth, though it sometimes- 

 proves mortifying and distasteful." The pamphlet 

 contains sixteen very closely printed pages ii> 

 octavo ; and the author proceeds by laying down 

 his propositions, and then enlarging upon them, 

 so as to form. In his opinion, a regular chain of 

 consequences. It displays, as might be anticipated^ 

 considerable acuteness, though the reasonings, as 

 he admits In his Autobiography, were such as to hl» 

 maturer Intellect appeared Inconclusive. He sub- 

 sequently wrote another pamphlet, in which he- 

 took the other side of the question ; but It was 

 never published, and I suppose is not now iik 

 existence. Jas. Crossley> 



EARLY FLEMISH ILLUSTRATIONS OF EARLY 

 ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



The commencement of a new volume of " Note* 

 AND Queries" affords a favourable opportunity 

 for " tapping " (to use an expressive phrase of 

 Horace Walpole's) a subject, on which it is rea- 

 sonable to suppose much light may be thrown by 

 some of your learned correspondents. I allude to- 

 the connection which formerly subsisted between 

 the literature of England, and that of the Low 

 Countries. Fortunate, indeed, would It be If any 

 communication to "Notes and Queries" might 

 be the means of drawing some illustration from 

 one qualified beyond all others to treat every 

 branch of this most Interesting subject. Those oC 

 your readers who had the pleasure of hearing the 

 admirable speech of a distinguished diplomatist at 

 the Centenary Dinner of the Society of Anti- 

 quaries, will probably understand to whom I refer. 



Reserving for a future occasion some observa- 

 tions on the manner in which our English anti- 

 quaries have hitherto overlooked the materials 

 illustrative of our popular literature, our popular 

 superstitions, our early drama, our legends, and 

 our traditions, which may be had for the gather- 

 ing, from the popular literature, the popular 

 superstitions, the early drama, the legends and 

 traditions of the Low Countries — those Low 

 Countries from which Chaucer married his wife — 

 those Low Countries from which Caxton brought us 

 his printing-press, and its long train of blessings — 

 those Low Countries, in which, as I believe, and 

 hope one day to prove, Shakspeare himself added 

 to his vast stores of knowledge — I shall for the 

 present content myself with one example, and 



