442 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S. X. Dec. 8. '60. 



Smedley authorises Birch to " dispose of as he 

 pleased" were copies of the GuUiveriana or the 

 Alexandriana. 



That there had existed some connexion between 

 Birch and Smedley is evident from the following 

 passage in Nichols's Lit. Anec, v. 282., where, 

 speaking of Dr. Birch, he remarks : " It is farther 

 said that he went to Ireland with Dean Smedley, 

 but in what year, and how long he resided with 

 the Dean, cannot now be ascertained." On this pas- 

 sage Nichols has a note describing Smedley as one 

 "who published in 1728 A Specimen of an Uni- 

 versal View of all the Eminent Wi-iteis on the Holy 

 Scriptures ; being a Collection of the Dissei-tations, 

 Explications, and Opinions of learned Men, in all 

 Ages, concerning the difficult Passages and Obscure 

 Texts of the Bible : and of whatsoever is to be met 

 with, in Profane Authors, which may contribute to- 

 wards the better understanding of them* This 

 extensive undertaking was to have been composed 

 in two large folio volumes. Had the plan pro- 

 ceeded, it is no very far-fetched conjecture to 

 suppose that Dr. Birch was to have been an 

 assistant." 



I have not had an opportunity of examining the 

 Gidliveriana or Alexandi'iana to see what they 

 may contain, either written by Smedley, or cal- 

 culated to add to the scanty information which 

 we possess with respect to him. 



But in A Compleat Collection of the Verses, 

 Essays, Letters, and Advertisements which have been 

 occasioned by the Publication of Three Volumes of 

 Miscellanies by Pope a7td Company, Sfc, I find the 

 bitter verses entitled The Devil's Last Game, and 

 ending — 



" ' Lord be prais'd,' quoth the Devil, ' a fig for all 



grace ! ' 

 So he breathed a new brogue o'er the Bronze of his 



face, 

 Lent him Pride above Hope, and Conceit above Spleen, 

 Slipt him into Church Service, and called him a 



Dean," 



which Scott attributes to Smedley, admitting that 

 they " possess considei-able point and vivacity as 

 well as a distorted resemblance to the Dean's cha- 

 racter." 



Can the follo^ting verses, which also appear in 

 this collection, from the Flying Post, April 23, 

 1728, be from the same pen ? 



* The following is a list of the other theological works 

 published by Dean Smedlej', recorded by Watt : — 



1. Accession Sermon, on Gen. xii. 1-3. 8vo. 1714. 



2. The Original Freedom of Mankind, Sermon at the 

 Irish Massacre, on Deut. xxx. 15. 4to. 1715. 



3. Sermon on 1 Sam. xv. 25. 8vo. 1716. 



4. Sermon on the Prince of Wales' Birthday, on 1 Peter 

 ii. 17. 4to. 1716. 



5. An Account of the Principle which gave Birth to the 

 late Rebellion, and the present Controversies of the Eng- 

 lish Clergy: a Sermon. 4to. London, 1716. 



6. Sermons. 8vo. 1719. 



" I sing a noble Ditty 

 Of London's noble city, 

 Where Wits are all so witty 



That Common Sense can't reach 'em. 



There's D'Anvers, S , and P , Sir, 



With whom no men can cope, Sir, 

 And if thej' cou'd, we hope, Sir, 



They'd yield to Polly Peachum. 



" The Dean's a fine 3Iercator, 



And P 's a fine Translator, 



The Squire a Calculator, 



And Poll, too, has her talents. 

 To know what Trade and Coin is. 

 No man like the Divine is, 

 And Sawny's Wit as fine is, 



As Polly's Gay and Gallant. 



** Squire D'Anvers has his merits, 

 He Roger's gifts inherits, 

 And gives his Masters spirits. 



When Polly scarce can raise 'em. 

 These four in strict alliance 

 Most bravely bid defiance 

 To Virtue, Sense, and Science ; 



And who but needs must praise 'em. 



" The Dean his Tales rehearses, 

 The Poet taggs his Verses, 

 The Squire his Flams disperses, ' 



And Poll her parts has shown; 

 They thus all Humours hit, Sir, 

 The Courtier and the Cit, Sir, 

 And thej' are both so bit. Sir, 



The like was never known." 



D. J. S. 



HIGHWAYMEN, TEMP. CHARLES L 



The following transcript of a letter addressed 

 by the Lords of the Council early in the reign of 

 King Charles I., having for its object the sup- 

 pressions of the frequent highway robberies at 

 that time common in the vicinity of London by 

 armed bands of highwaymen, at the head of whom 

 was one John Clavel, a young gentleman by birth 

 and education, only five-and-twenty years of age 

 (nephew and heir of Sir William Clavel, Knight- 

 banneret), who was apprehended, tried for, con- 

 victed of a highway robbery, and sentenced for 

 that ofience to be hanged, but reprieved, and 

 afterwards pardoned, principally through the in- 

 tercession of Queen Henrietta on his behalf, may 

 probably be read with interest by some of your 

 metropolitan correspondents : — 



" After our very hartj' Commefidacons, The frequent 

 and insolent Robberies \v'='» have lately been committed 

 in the highwayes neere London, now upon the ceasing ofy« 

 Sickness in such companies, and so arm'd (as we are in- 

 formed) as if it were to the px^blique affront to justice 

 and all authoritie doe give us occasion to thinke of ex- 

 traordinarye remedies to mischiefes which grow to an 

 unusuall height. And therefour we have thought fitt to 

 pray and require j'O" w'^^in yo"" county as wee have 

 written the like to the other Counties adjoyning neere 

 London, that you doe cause the Innes, Alehouses, and 

 other hosteris upon the highwa\'es, or in such other 

 places as yo" shall iudge to be suspitious, to be searched, 

 and all such psSng (especially as doe keepe horses or are 



