2'"' S. No 39., Skpt. 27, '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



253 



gradually from the smallest consideration to the fjreatest. 

 All the Problemes or Propositions are well weigh'd, per- 

 tinent and clear, and not one of them throughout the 

 Tract taken upon trust ; therefore now, 



" ' Zoilus and Momus lye you down and dye, 

 For these inventions your whole force defy.' " 



Now, although this Preface can scarcely be the 

 production of the same hand which wrote the pre- 

 ceding Address, still there is nothing in all this 

 which militates against the doubts of Professor 

 Db Morgan that Cocker was the author of the 

 Ariihmetick, which Ilavvkins gave to the world in 

 his name. This, however, is only half the case, 

 and I would now request attention to so much of 

 the remainder of it as is drawn alone from the 

 contents of the book before me. 



The Preface is followed by a Certificate and a 

 Commendation. Upon the latter I do not lay 

 any particular stress ; but the former, to my 

 mind, offers strong, if not wholly conclusive, evi- 

 dence that Hawkins was, in truth, simply what 

 he professed himself to be, the publisher only, 

 and not the writer, of the manual in question. I 

 transcribe these documents in extenso : 



" Courteous Reader. Being well acquainted with the 

 deceased author, and finding him knowing and studious 

 in the Mysteries of Numbers and Algebra, of which he 

 had some choice Manuscripts, and a great Collection of 

 Printed Authors in several Languages, I doubt not but 

 he hath writ his Arithmetick, suitable to his own Pre- 

 face, and Avorthy acceptation, which I thought to certifie 

 on a request to that purpose to him that wisheth thy 

 welfare, and the progress of Arts. 



" John Collins. 



« Novemb. 27th, 1G77. 



"This manual of Arithmetick is recommended to the 

 World by us whose names are subscribed, viz. ; 



Mr. John Collins, "i 



Mr. James Atkinson, >Math. 



Mr. Peter Perkins. j 



Mr. Richd. Noble of Guilford, 



Mr. Rich. Laurence, Sen." And twelve others. 



Passing over the latter of these documents, 

 which, though not wholly unimportant, only re- 

 motely touches the point at issue, by offering a 

 negative testimony to the fact that its subscribers, 

 at any rate, believed the Arithmetick to be the 

 genuine work of Cocker, I would insist upon the 

 consideration that Collins, a well-known and 

 honourable man, an early F.R.S., and the friend 

 and correspondent of the most celebrated mathe- 

 maticians of the day, would not certainly have 

 given the sanction of his name to such a declara- 

 tion as the above, if he had not been personally 

 cognisant of the entire circumstances of the case. 

 He was, unquestionably, as well acquainted with 

 Cocker's handwriting as he was with his mathe- 

 matical attainments, and could not have been 

 deceived, either in whole or in part, in the matter ; 

 for, be it observed, this manual was professedly 

 left complete and ready for the printer by its al- 

 leged author, and Collins only does not expressly 



say that it was seen by him, in such form, during 

 Cocker's lifetime. Nor can the idea be for a 

 moment entertained, that Hawkins, with the cer- 

 tainty of immediate detection and exposure, forged 

 this certificate ; for Collins did not die until 1683, 

 after the fourth, if not the fifth, edition of the 

 Arithmetick had been published. 



I may add that my copy, though partially in- 

 jured by damp, and much soiled by the unwashed 

 hands of its former possessors, is, as applies to the 

 letter-press, quite perfect from " Title-page to 

 Colophon." It numbers 334 pages ; and on one 

 of its well-scrawled-over fly-leaves, we have, 



" Samuell Winn his booke ann. 1690. 



" Whosoever on me look, 

 I am Samuel Winn his booke ; 

 And whatsoever on me you say, 

 I pray you bear me not away ; 

 For here my owner did me lie 

 And will come fetch me by and by." 



At the end is an advertisement by the publisher, 

 setting forth that " there is in the Press, and will 

 be speedily published Mr. Cocker's Decimal Arith- 

 metic," &c. " As also his Artificial or Logarith- 

 metical Arithmetic," &c. " To which will be 

 added his Algebra," &c. 



It is also made known that " on Rotherith-wall, 

 against Cherry garden stairs, are taught Arith- 

 metick, Geometry," &c., " by James Atkinson," 

 the second name in the foregoing list. 



There are likewise the bookseller's advertise- 

 ments of Kersey's Algebra, Newton's English 

 Academy, and Cocker's Morals. 



Wm. Matthews. 



Cowgill, 



BATH CHAUACTBBS, 1808. 



(2"i S. ii. 172.) 



The following is a key to the characters, and 

 the author of the work is still living : 



Ramrod. Mr. King, M. C. New Rooms. 



Sir Gregory Croaker. Sir George Colebrooke, who suf- 

 fered by a speculation in alum, personified as " Pshaw 

 Alum," p. 23. 



Rattle. Captain Mathews. 



Mrs. Vehicle. Mrs. Carr. 



Bufo. Mr. Balthoe. 



Signora Rattana. Miss Wroughton. 



Sir Clerical Orange. Rev. Sir. Lemon. 



Lady Lofty. Lady Belmore. 



Dr. Vegetable. Dr. Gardiner. 



Dr. Fuddle. Dr. Gibbes, afterwards Sir Geo. Gibbes, 



Mixum. Mr. Bowen, apothecary. 



Rev. Mr. Chipp. Rev. Mr. Wood. 



Bow- Wow. Rev. Mr. Bowen. 



Dick Sable. Rev. R. Warner. 



Drawcaimir. Dr. Daubeney, D.D. 



Gaffer Smut. Rev. Stafford Smith. 



7'/te Gemini, Messrs. Boissiers. 



Counsellor Morose. Counsellor Morris. 



Dr. Skipper, Dr. Sheppard. 



