^"d S. VIII., Oct. 15. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



307 



Timbs, in his Curiosities of London, alludes to the cir- 

 cumstance that after the Fire of London Sir Christopher 

 Wren found the greatest difficulty in removing the im- 

 mense fragments of remains of Old St. Paul's, prepara- 

 tory to laying the foundation of the new structure. 

 Gunpowder was therefore employed by him for the pur- 

 pose, and many of the adjoining places were paved with 

 stones thus detached from the remains. Tradition tells 

 that Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, being then ecclesiastical 

 property, was not forgotten in the distribution from the 

 remains of Old St. Paul's of the materials which had 

 contributed to its composition centuries long before. 

 These stones have travelled but a stone's throw during 

 nearly two centuries, but ere this reaches the reader's 

 ■eye they will have become for ever scattered, and that 

 tradition which has hung to them so long will know them 

 no more." — Citt/ Press. 



Shadows. — Those who are interested in tracing 

 ideas apparently original to older sources may be 

 amused by an instance which occurs in Bewick's 

 ^sop, where, on p. 47. of the original edition, the 

 fable of the " Thief and the Cock " is illustrated 

 by the figure of a man decamping with his prey, 

 und casting behind him, on the ground, a shadow 

 in the form of the Devil, the body and baggage 

 of the thief being so arranged as to assume this 

 form. F. H. P. 



DryderCs Recantation. — In lately looking over 

 the Life of Dryden, by Walter Scott, prefixed to 

 the edition of his Works^ is the following narra- 

 tive, which is much to Dryden's credit, especially 

 when we consider how he was exalted by his 

 contemporaries and how rare such admissions and 

 recantations are. 



After mentioning Collier's Short View of the 

 Immorality and Profaneness of the Stage, pub- 

 lished in 1698, and quoting Johnson, who says, 

 " the effect was so great that the wise and pious 

 caught the alarm, and the nation wondered that it 

 had so long suffered irreligion and licentiousness 

 to be openly taught at the public charge," the 

 memoir thus proceeds : — 



" Dryden, it may be believed, had, in his comedies, 

 well deserved a liberal share of the public censure, but 

 had the magnanimity to acknowledge its justice. In the 

 Preface to the Fables, he makes the amende honorable : 

 ' I shall say the less of Collier, because in many things he 

 has taxed me justlj', and I have pleaded guilty to all 

 thoughts and expressions of mine, which can be truly 

 argued of obscenity, profaneness, or immorality, and re- 

 tract them. If he be my enemj-, let him triumph : if he 

 be my friend, as I have given him no personal occasion 

 to be otherwise, he will be glad of mj' repentance. It 

 becomes me not to draw my pen in defence of a bad 

 cause, when I have so often drawn it for a good one." — 



P. 42G. 

 Islijj. 



Francis Trench. 



JACOBITE MANUSCRIPTS. 



Through the kindness of the Rev. J. H. A. 

 Philipps I have been permitted to peruse the 



contents of a packet of MSS., which have been 

 carefully preserved among the muniments at 

 Picton Castle. From the character of the writing 

 and the frayed condition of the paper, I assume 

 them to be quite as old as the date which they 

 bear. They are enclosed in a tattered envelope, 

 which is superscribed " Papers of consequence." 

 The MSS. are evidently copies, and consist of 

 the following documents : — 



1st. A Commission of Regency, granted by the 

 old Chevalier under the style and title of James 

 R. to " our dearest Son Charles, Prince of Wales ;" 

 and dated from " our Court at Rome y^ 23'^ day 

 of December, 1743, in y^ 43^ year of our Reign." 

 2nd. A Proclamation signed " C. P. R.," and 

 dated "Paris,^ the IG*'^ of May, 1745," in which 

 " in His Majesty's name, the King, our Royal 

 Father," he grants a free, full, and general Par- 

 don for all Treasons, Rebellions, and Offences 

 whatsoever, " committed at any time before y® 

 Publication hereof; " and calling upon all loyal 

 subjects to flock to the royal standard ; pro- 

 mising the Army and Navy all arrears, and in 

 addition, a gratuity of a year's pay. It farther 

 goes on to pledge the sovereign to call together a 

 free Parliament, wherein no corruption nor undue 

 influence shall have been used, to settle the Ec- 

 clesiastical and Civil Rights of the respective 

 Kingdoms, and permits " all Civil Oflicers and 

 Magistrates now in place and office to continue 

 until further orders." 



3d. Two letters from the Young Chevalier to 

 his Father ; one bearing the date of " Perth, 10"' 

 Sepf, 1745," and the other that of " Pinkey 

 House nearEdinb. Sept. 21. 1745." These let- 

 ters, if genuine, do equal credit to the head and 

 heart of the young struggler for his father's 

 throne. The first letter, after some introductory 

 matter, goes on to say : — 



" I have occasion every day to reflect upon Y"" M — ty's 

 last words to me that I would find power, if it was not 

 accompany'd with Justice and Clemencj', an uneasy thing 

 to myself, and grievous to those under me. It's to y® 

 observance of this Eule, and my conforming myself to 

 y8 Customs of these people, that I have got their" Hearts 

 to a Degree not to be easily conceived by those who do 

 not see it." 



He says farther : — 



" There is one thing, and but one, in which I have had 

 any Difference with my faithfull Highlanders. It was 

 about setting a price upon my Kinsman's Head — which, 

 knowing Y"" Ma — ' generous humanity, I am sure will 

 shock you, as much as it did me. When 1 w&a shewn y« 

 Proclamation setting a price on my Head, I smil'd '& 

 treated it with y^ Disdain it deserv'd. Upon which they 

 flew into a most violent Rage, & insisted upon my doing 

 y<' same by him. As this flow'd solely from y^ poor 

 Men's love and concern' for me, I did not knoAV how to 

 be angry with them for it, and tried to bring them to 

 Temper by representing to them that it was a Mean Bar- 

 barous practise among Princes, that must dishonour them 

 in y Eyes of all Men of Honour : that I could not see 

 how my Cousin's having set me y^ Example, would jus- 



