Aug. 3. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



147 



and the place where it is now preserved. When 

 it was on sale, I had permission to copy the title 

 and a few of the sonnets, which were such as we 

 could not imagine would have given pleasure to 

 the chaste mind of Milton; each of them con- 

 taining, as the title indicates, an equivoque, which 

 •would bear an obscene sense, yet very ingeniously 

 wrapped up. The first sonnet opens thus : — 

 " Queste Sonnetti, o Tina, ch' i' ho composto, 

 IMe gl' ha dettati una Musa bulfona, 

 Cantando d' improviso, alia Cailona, 

 Sul suono, spinto dal caloi- del Mosto." 



The second may serve to show the nature of the 



equivoque : — 



" Tina, I' so legger bene, e rilevato 

 La Storla di Liombrune, e Josafatte, 

 Se ben, per esser note in queste fratte 

 Sotto il Maestro mai non sono stato. 



" E il lere del dificio m' ha giurato, 

 Quand' egli ha visto le Poesie ch' i' ho fatte, 

 Ch' elle son belle, e 1 piedi in terra batte, 

 E vuol ch' io mi sla in Pisa adottorato. 



" Io canto, quand' io son ben ben satollo, 

 Sul Chitarrin con voce si sottile, 

 Ch' io ne disgrado insien Maestro Apollo. 



" Vien un poco da me, Tina gentile, 

 Che s' egli avvien che tu ini segga in coUo, 

 M' sentiral ben tosto alzar Io stile." 



Antonio Malatesti was a man of mark in his time, 

 being distinguished for his talent as an improvi- 

 satore. Among his friends were Galileo, Coltellini, 

 and Valerio Chimentelli, who have all commenda- 

 tory poems prefixed to Malatesti's " Sphinx," a col- 

 lection of poetical enigmas, which has been frequent- 

 ly reprinted. Beside his poetical talent, he studied 

 astronomy, probably under Galileo ; and painting, 

 in which he was a pupil of Lorenzo Lippi, author 

 of the " Malmantile Raqquistato," who thus desig- 

 nates him under his academical name of Amostante 

 Latoni (canto i. stanza 61.): — 



" E General dl tutta questa Mandra 

 Amostante Laton Poeta insigne. 

 Canta improviso, come un Calandra t 

 Stampa gli Enigml, 'Strologia, e Dipigne." 



Malatesti was a member of the Academy dcgli 

 Apatisti, of which I^Iilton's friends Colfellini and 

 Carlo Dati had been the principal founders. Tlie 

 house of the latter was a court of the Muses, and it 

 was at the evening parties there that all who were 

 distinguished for science or literature assembled : 

 " Era in Firenzo la sua Casa la Magione do' Lette- 

 rati, particolarmente Oltramontani, da lui ricevuti 

 in essa, e trattati con ogni sorta di gentilezza."'*' 



* Salvino Salvini Fasti Consolari dell' Acadcmia 

 Fiorentina, 1717, p. .548. Milton's stay of two months 

 at Florence must have been to him a period of pure 

 enjoyment, .ind seems to have been always remem- 

 bered with delight : — " Ilia in urbe, quam pra; ceteris 



Heinsius, Menage, Chapelain, and other distin- 

 guished foreigners were members of this academy; 

 and it is more than probable that, were its annals 

 consulted, our poet's name would also be found 

 there. 



S.AV.SlNGEB. 



Mickleham, .Tuly 15. 1850. 



PULTENET S BALLAD OF " THE HONEST JURY." 



On the application for a new trial, in the case of 

 The King against William Davies Shipley, Dean 

 of St. Asaph (1784), wherein was raised the im- 

 portant and interesting question, whether in libel 

 cases the jury were judges of the law as well as 

 tlie fact. Lord Mansfield, in giving judgment, re- 

 marked in reference to trials for libel, before Lord 

 Raymond : 



" I by accident (from memory only I speak now) 

 recollect one where the Craftsman was acquitted ; and 

 T recollect it from a famous, witty, and ingenious 

 ballad that was made at the time by Mr. Pulteuey ; 

 and though it is a ballad, I will cite the stanza I re- 

 member from it, because it will show you the idea of 

 the able men in opposition, and the leaders of the 

 popular party in those days. They had not an idea of 

 assuming that the jury had a right to determine uoon 

 a question of law, but they put it upon another and 



much better ground. The stanza I allude to is this: 



' For Sir Philip well knows. 

 That his inmtendos 

 Will serve him no longer, 

 In verse or in prose ; 



For twelve honest men have decided the cause, 



Who are judges of fact, though not judges of laws.' 

 It was the admission of the whole of that party ; they 

 put it right ; they put it upon the meaning of the 

 innuendos ; upon that the jury acquitted the defendant; 

 and they never put up a pretence of any other power, 

 except when talking to the jury themselves." 



In Howell's State Trials (xxi. 10-38.) is a note 



on this passage. This note (stated to be from the 



Speeches of Hon. Thomas EisMne) is as follows: — 



" It appears by a pamphlet printed in 1754, that 



Lord Mansfield is mistaken. The verse runs thus ; 



' Sir Philip well knows. 

 That his innuendos 

 Will serve him no longer in verse or in prose : 

 For twelve honest men have determined the cause, 

 Wlio are judges alilie of the faets and the laws." 



propter elegantiam cum lingua; turn ingcniorum sem- 

 per colui, ad duos circiter menses substiti ; illic mul- 

 torum et nobilium sane et doctorum hominum fami- 

 liaritatem statim conlraxi; quorum etiam privatas 

 academias (qui nios illic cum ad literas lunnaniores 

 assidue frequentavi). Tui cnim .Tacobe Gaddi, Carole 

 Dati, Frescobalde, Cultelline, 15onmattha;i, Chimen- 

 tille Francine, aliorumquc jjlurium memoriam apud 

 uie semper gratam at<|ue Jucundani, nulla dies delebit." 

 — Dcfensiu Secunda, p. 90'., ed. 1G98. 



