Nov. 25. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



417 



L02fD0N. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1854. 



OKIGINAIi LETTEE FROM SIR SEVILLE GRENVILLE. 



Among the Original Letters 'to -which you have given 

 publicity, the inclosed may perhaps deserve a place. It is 

 a copy of a Letter from Sir Beville Grenville to his wife, 

 giving an account of the Battle of Bradock Down near 

 Liskeard, in which the Parliamentar}' Forces urder 

 Kuthen were defeated, 19th of Januarv, 1842. See 

 Clarendon, Book VI. ' T. E. D. 



My deare Love, 

 It hath pleas'd God to give us a happie 

 victory this present Thursday being y'' 19"^ of 

 Jany., for which pray join w"^ me in giving God 

 thanks. We advanced yesterday from Bodmin to 

 find y'' enemy yv'^^ we heard was abroad, or if we 

 miss'd him in the field we were resolved to un- 

 house them in Liskeard or leave our boddies in 

 the highway. We were not above 3 miles from 

 Bodmin, when we had view of two troops of their 

 horse to whom we sent some of ours, w"^'' chased 

 them out of the field while our foot march'd after 

 our horse ; but night coming on we could march 

 no farther then Boconnocke Parke, where (upon 

 my CO. Mohum's kind motion) we quartered all 

 our army by good fires under the hedge. The 

 next morning (being this day) we march'd forth, 

 and ab* noone came in full view of the enemies 

 whole army upon a fair heath between Boconnocke 

 and Braddock Church. They were in horse much 

 stronger than we, but in foot we were superior, as 

 I thinke. They were possest of a pretty rising 

 gi'ound which was in the way towards Liskeard, and' 

 we planted ourselves upon such another against 

 them w^'in muskett shot, and we saluted each other 

 with bulletts about two hours or more, each side 

 being willing to keep their ground and to have the 

 other to come over to his prejudice ; but after so 

 long delay, they standing still firm, and being 

 obstinate to hould their advantage, Sir K,a' Hopton 

 resolved to march over to them, and to leave all 

 to the mercy of God and valour of our side. I 

 had the van ; so after solemne prayers in the head 

 of every division, I led my part away, who followed 

 me w**" so good courage both down one hill and up 

 the other, as it strooke a terror in them, while the 

 seconds came up gallantly after me, and the wings 

 of horse charged on both' sides, but their courage 

 so fail'd them as they stood not our first charge of 

 the foot, but fled in great disorder, and we chast 

 them diverse miles ; many were not slain because 

 of their quick disordering, but we have taken 

 above 600 prisoners, among which S' Shilston 

 Culmady is one, and more are still brought in by 

 the soldiers ; much amies they have lost, and 

 colours we have Avon, and 4 pieces of ordinance 

 from them, and without rest we marched to Lis- 

 keard, and tooke it •w*''out delay, all their men 



flying f "" it before we came, and so I hope we are 

 now again in y" way to settle the country in peace. 

 All our Cornish Grandies were present at the 

 battell w**" the Scotch * Generall Ruthen, the 

 Somersett Collonels, and the hoi^e Captains Pirn 

 and Tomson, and but for their horses' speed had 

 been all in our hands ; let my Sister and my Cos- 

 sens of Clovelly, w**" y* other friends, understand 

 of God's mercy to us, and we lost not a man. So 

 I rest 



Y" ever, 

 Liskerd, Jan. 19. 1642. Bevill Gbbnvile. 

 For the Lady Grace Grenvile, 

 at Stow, d. d. 



The messenger is paide, yet give him a shilling 

 more. 



Alexander Pope. — Much valuable information 

 may be drawn from printed catalogues of books, 

 and all that Aristarchus Bibliographicus has said 

 to the contrary must be considered as romance — 

 as much so as a tale in Ariosto. Without at- 

 tempting to justify this opinion, which may have 

 no substantial opponents, I shall proceed to ex- 

 tract, from scarce printed catalogues, two curious 

 items relative to a subject now under discussion : 



(1.) " * 1646. Pope's Works, large paper, crown octavo, 



MS. notes by 3Ir. Orme, 9 vols. 1740. Note in this 



book. The gift of Alexander Pope to the Society at Marsh- 

 gate, 1741."— Cat. Eobert Orme, F.A.S., 1796. 



The above note seems to prove that the edition 

 of 1740 was made with the sanction of Pope, and 

 if Mr. Orme annotated the volumes as carefully 

 as he did the Histoire des Iiides Orientales par 

 M. Souchu de Rennefort, which is now in my pos- 

 session, the discovery of the copy in question is 

 desirable. My own volume would serve to iden- 

 tify it. 



(2.) " Essay [sic] sur la critique, trad, de I'anglois de 

 Pope, en vers francjois, par Ant. Hamilton. In-4. cart. 



" Manuscrit de vingt-sept feuillets. — Imprimant Hamil- 

 ton je crus trfes suffisant.de donner quatre-vingts vers de 

 cette traduction, trop foible pour meriter d'etre imprimfe 

 tout entifere, et de laquelle je n'eusse rien imprim^ du 

 tout, si son existence n'eut ete dejb, connue." — Catalogue 

 de la bibllotheque d'un amateur [A. A. Renouard], Paris, 

 1819, III. 127. 



This translation was made in 1713, or earlier; 

 and Pope told Hamilton that he could not " resist 

 the temptation of printing it," but it has remained 

 inedited except as above-stated. The library of 

 M. Renouard, le doyen des bibliographes, is now 

 on sale at Paris, and the MS. will be sold on 

 Thursday the 14th of December. I hope some 

 Enyflish collector will secure it. Bolton Cornet. 



