238 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 202. 



regalarla a Gio. Marsili, prof, dell' Universita di Pa- 

 dova, che nel 1757 si trovava in Londra. II ms. del 

 Marsili servi a questa ristatnpa che porta in fronte 

 quella stessa prefazione in inglese che stava nel ms. 

 Marsiliano." 



The authority alluded to is the fourth edition of 

 the Serie dei testi di lingua of Bartolomnieo Gamba, 

 Venezia, 1839, royal 8vo. — one of the best biblio- 

 graphical compilations ever produced. I was led 

 to suspect, on glancing at the note, that Gamba 

 himself was the editor of the volume, and now 

 consider it as certain, for La Una appears under his 

 name in the index. As copies of the work must 

 have reached England I hope to see the dedication 

 reprinted, and am sure it would be received as a 

 welcome curiosity. 



I cannot commend Mr. Fellowes as a translator 

 of Milton. To Carolo is a solecism ; Deodati 

 should be Dati ; the period which precedes the 

 extract is entirely omitted ; and the five names 

 which follow Cha?-les, besides being mis-spelt, have 

 the termination which can only be required in 

 Latin composition ! I believe we should read 

 Coltellini, Francini, Frescobaldi, Malatesti, and 

 Clementini. On Coltellini and Malatesti there is 

 much valuable information in Poggiali and Gamba. 



Bolton Corney. 



" THAT SWINNEY." 



(Continued from p. 215.) 



Swinney was the devoted servant of all men in 

 power — of all who had been or were likely to be in 

 power — except, perhaps, the peace-makers, who, 

 curiously enough, did not please this minister of 

 peace — of all, perhaps, who subscribed to his pub- 

 lications, or had the means to subscribe ; and 

 who, if they did not, might hereafter. Swinney's 

 volume of Fugitive Pieces was dedicated to the 

 Duke of Grafton. A third edition contains additions 

 which show how Swinney's great zeal outran his 

 little discretion. The following verses appeared 

 originally in The Public Advertiser on the 27th of 

 May, 17G8, and are bad enough to be preserved 

 as a curiosity : 



" An Extempore Effusion on reading a Scurrilous In- 

 vective against t/ie Duke of G n [ Grafton^, 



published in yesterday's Newspapers. 



Cursed be the Wretch, and blasted rot his name, 



Who dares to stab an injured G n's fame ! 



Who (while his public virtue stands confest, 

 And lives within his Royal Master's breast) 

 Can rake for Scandal in liis private life, 

 And widen breaches between man and wife ; 

 Who casts a stone (like some unthinking Elf), 

 That liaply shall recoil against himself! 

 Anguish, Remorse, and Terror seize his Soul, 

 And waste it quick where fiends malicious howl ; 

 May those rank pests through which his father fell, 

 Announce his coming to the Gates of Hell ! 



And yet, or ere he plunge into tlie Lake, 

 Where no cool stream his endless thirst can slake. 

 May Christ in mercy deprecate his doom, 

 And may to Him his promised Kingdom come ! 

 " Sidney Swinney." 

 Not content with future punishment, the Doctor, 

 in another poem, threatens present vengeance : 

 " But hark thee, wretch ; believe him while he swears; 

 Sid (by the gods) will crop thine asses ears, 



Should thou persist a G n to impeach, 



And blast those virtues thou canst never reach." 

 As Draper had taken Granby under his pro- 

 tection, so Swinney must needs play the chivalrous 

 in defence of Grafton. The dedication of The 

 Battle ofMinden is dated 20th May, 1769, and the 

 poet in the exordium goes out of his way to notice, 

 as I suppose, the attacks of Junius : 



" His [Sid's] blood recoils with an indignant rage, 

 'Gainst the base hirelings of a venal age. 

 Wretches ! tliat spare nor ministers nor kings, 

 Blend good with bad, profane with sacred things ; 

 Whose vengeful hearts, with wrath and malice curst. 

 Blast virtuous deeds ; and then, with envy burst, 

 They dart their arrows, innocence traduce. 

 And load e'en G n with their vile abuse." 



To this passage he appends the following note, 

 which occupies, in his magnificent typographical 

 volume, a whole quarto page : 



" It is observable that this amiable personage [the 

 Duke of Grafton], and most consummate states'.nan, 

 has been bespattered with as inuch low calumny and 

 abuse, from various quarters, as if he had been the 

 declared enemy of his country, instead of having man- 

 fully and courageously stood up in support of its true 

 interests. — S." 



Let us consider now, What are the probabilities 

 of Swinney never having spoken to Lord George 

 Sackville ? 



That he did on that occasion speak to Lord 

 George — that he did ask him " whether or no he 

 was the author of Junius" — may be assumed: 

 and it is very probable that Junius heard of it, at 

 first or at second hand, from Swinney himself ; for 

 the impertinent blockhead that would ask such a 

 question, was just the man to tell what he had 

 done, and to think it a good thing. But had he 

 never before spoken to Sackville ? ^Vas this a 

 fact or a flourish — an affectation of secret in- 

 formation, like the "sent" and "went" about 

 Garrick — the "every particular next day" — 

 which we now know to have been untrue. 



That Swinney had been chaplain to one of the 

 British regiments serving in Germany is manifest 

 from twenty different references in the poem and 

 the notes. I lay no stress on his poetical flights 

 about Euphorbus ; but he speaks repeatedly from 

 personal experience — specially refers to circum- 

 stances occurring when quartered at a farm-house 

 near Embden — at the camp at Crossdorf — ac- 

 knowledges personal favours received during the 



