Feb. 5. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



131 



married, and had six sons and thirteen daughters. 

 It does not give the Christian names of any of 

 the children, and leaves it uncertain whether the 

 Richard Graves who died in 1731 was a child of 

 the first or second marringe. This last-mentioned 

 Richard was an antiquary of some note, and a 

 correspondent of Hearne, who calls him " Grave- 

 sius noster." 



Query 1. Is the full pedigree of this family 

 anywhere to be had ? 2. Is there a record of any 

 of the six sons of the Richard who died in 1669 

 having settled in Ireland, as a soldier or other- 

 wise, in the time of the Commonwealth? Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Editoi-'s excellent arrangement, I 

 transmit to him a stamped envelope, and shall 

 feel much obliged to any correspondent of 

 " N. & Q." who will give me the desired inform- 

 ation. In the life of the Rev. Richard Graves, a 

 younger son of Richard the antiquary (^Public 

 Characters, Dublin, 1800, p. 291.), it is stated 

 that his collections for the History of the Vale of 

 Gresham came, after his death, into the hands of 

 James West, Esq., President of the Royal Society, 

 at whose death they were purchased by the Earl 

 of Shelburne, a.d. 1772. Query, Are they still in 

 existence ? James Graves. 



Kilkenny. 



SEARSON S POEMS. 



The Query of G. C. (Vol. vi., p. 578.) relative 

 to Mrs. Mackey's Poems, has induced me to 

 trouble you with a similar one respecting the 

 author of a volume in my possession. It is en- 

 titled Mount Vernon, a Poem, &c. &c., by John 

 Searson, formerly of Philadelphia, Merchant; 

 Philadelphia, printed for the author by Folwell. 

 After the title-page (which is too long to be given 

 in extenso) follows a dedication to General Wash- 

 ington, in which the author, after recording that 

 he last returned to America from Ireland in 1796, 

 and that having been established for several years 

 at Philadelphia as a merchant, he had been sub- 

 jected to unforeseen losses in trade and mer- 

 chandize, proceeds as follows : 



" Having a pretty good education in my youth, 

 from an uncle, a clergyman of the Church of England, 

 I published two poems in Ireland, was well received, 

 and two publications since my last arrival in America, 

 having disposed of the last copy of one thousand, Jrt 

 of Contentment, and did myself the honour to visit your 

 Excellency 15th May last [1799], so as to obtain an 

 adequate idea of Mount Vernon, wishing to compose a 

 poem on that beautiful seat, which I now most humbly 

 dedicate to your Excellency, with your likeness," &c. 



Next follows a "Preface to the readers of 

 Mount Vernon, a Poem," in which he says : 



" I published a rural, romantic, and descriptive poem 

 of Down Hill, the seat of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop 

 of Londonderry, in Ireland ; for which the gentlemen 



of that country actually gave me a guinea per copy, 

 and Sir George Hill, from Dublin, gave me five 

 guineas in the city of Londonderry ; more, I am as- 

 sured, as feeling from my having seen better days, 

 than from the intrinsic value of it." 



Besides Mount Vernon, the book contains se- 

 veral other poems, &c., and extends to eighty - 

 three pages, 8vo., with four pages subsequently 

 inserted at the end. It is, I believe, a very scarce 

 book in America, and the copy I possess is pro- 

 bably unique in this country. Like Mrs. Mackey's 

 poems, it seems to have been written in earnest, 

 and it is impossible within the limits of an article 

 of this nature to give an adequate idea of the 

 vein of self-complacency which pervades the 

 book, or of the high estimation in which the 

 author evidently held his own productions both in 

 prose and verse. 



A few quotations Illustrative of his descriptive 

 powers must suffice : 

 " Mount Vernon ! I have often heard of thee, 



And often wish'd thy beauties for to see." — P. 9. 



" The house itself is elegant and neat, 

 And is two stories high, neat and complete." — P. 10. 



" A thought now strikes my mind, of Mount Vernon, 

 That happiness may ever shine thereon ; 

 For, Nature form'd it pleasing to the mind ; 

 Therefore, true earthly bliss we here might find: 

 Or, in a cottage, if our God be there. 

 For He is omnipresent, everywhere. 

 A garden was the first habitation 

 Of our parents, and near relat'on," (sic) &c. — P. 14. 



Of Alexandria he informs us that — 

 " The buildings here are generally neat, 



The streets well pav'd, which makes walking com- 

 plete. 



I've seen their houses, where they preach and pray. 



But th' congregation small on stormy day." — P. 38. 



Of George Town he says : 

 " A pleasing rural prospect rises here. 



To please th' enquiring mind as we draw near. 



The building in George Town is very neat ; 



But paving of the streets not yet complete. 



Some rural seats near to the town is fine, 



"Which please the fancy and amuse the mind." 



P. 39. 

 And lastly, from his Valedictory, we learn that — 

 " Poets, like grasshoppers, sing till they die. 



Yet, in this life, some laugh, some sing, some cry." 



P. 83. 



These extracts are not given as the worst spe- 

 cimens. Is anything more known of John Searson, 

 and of his other valuable productions, either in 

 Ireland or America? As I perceive you have 

 correspondents at Philadelphia, they will perhaps 

 kindly afford me some information on the subject. 



Leicestrien sis. 



[Another work by this author may be found in some 

 of our public libraries, entitled Poems on various Sub- 



