2 1 " 1 S. IX. Mar. 31. 'GO.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



239 



and conversed familiarly with the prince for up- 

 wards of an hour. This condescension, however, 

 is the sole reward of my dedications. Yet I do 

 not repent of the journey, except because I did 

 not meet you. 



In another letter (Cent. iii. Ep. 50. p. 372.) he 

 corrects his friend Frederic Sand, by whom " nos- 

 ter Kichardus optimus virorum " had been con- 

 founded with George Thomson. 



Cent. iv. Ep. 38. p. 485. Cambridge. July 27, 

 1605. From Thomson. 



I have at last received your letter and the 

 parcel from Drusius. Since you left England, I 

 nave heard only obscure reports of you. Thank 

 you for the account of Arminius, who is not how- 

 ever so unknown here as you seem to think. He 

 was a familiar acquaintance of mine, before he 

 obtained the Leyden professorship ; and now, 

 whenever a student comes from you to us, our 

 professors diligently inquire about him. I con- 

 gratulate your university on possessing such an 

 ornament. Our English students rarely travel ; 

 so that it is no great wonder if few of them enter 

 your classes. I have seen Scaliger's Elenchus, and 

 have not yet been able to lay it down, though I 

 have read it through several times. He has made 

 the Jesuits wince ; what they will do, you shall 

 shortly hear. I despair of Scriverius's Martial. 

 Pray send me what has been published. I long to 

 see Scaliger's Greek translations from Martial, 

 Salute Scriverius from me, and " pluck him by the 

 ear." 



" Vale, mi optime et doctissirne Baudi, et me quod facis 

 ama. Uxori amicissima: salutem." 



Martial was one of the authors to whom Thom- 

 son devoted more particular attention, as appears 

 from a letter of his to Scriverius, dated " Canta- 

 brigiae & (?) ad* Kal. Jun. 1603; proxime otio- 

 siu3," printed in Epistolce celeberrimorum Virorum 

 . . . Ex Scriniis Literariis Jani Brantii. Amst. 

 1715. 8vo. 



P. 75. I have received your letter, thanking me 

 for my notes on Martial. I have a MS. Arno- 

 bius ; or rather I had it, for I lost it when shew- 

 ing my books to some strangers. I collected some 

 things relating to Hesychius in my late travels in 

 Italy, and am ready to send them for the use of 

 Heinsius. 



Thomson's merits as a critic of Martial are 

 loudly proclaimed by Tbos. Farnaby in his edition 

 (Lond. 1615). 



In the dedication to Sir Robert Killegrew he 

 says : — 



" To no one can these notes on Martial be so fitly 

 offered, as to the patron of him, 'qui, si mortalium alter, 

 magna eminuit Martialis lux, Ki.Tomsonius; Tomsonius, 

 nomen memorial, nobis qui Musas fovetis, gratae; nobis 

 qui Mu»as colimus, sacra*. Cujus nomine quantum tibi 



* The & seems to be a misprint for some figure, and 

 the ad must be a. d., i. e. ante diem. 



(nobilissime Killigixe) atque familia? vestra? debeant li- 

 ters; humaniores et quantum ubique est hominum venus- 

 tiorum, gratis animis testantur omnes qui te norunt, qui 

 norant ilium: me certe vel Manes illius tibi clientem de- 

 voverunt, te mihi patronum conciliarunt.' " 



In the preface'Thomson appears as the friend 

 of " rare Ben Jonson." I do not know whether 

 the passage has been noticed by Gilford. 



After commending Jonson's learning aud ac 

 knowledging his ready help, he adds : — 



" Ille, inquam, mihi emendationes aliquot suppeditavit 

 ex C. V. Scriverii Martiale, cujus copia illi facta Lugduni 

 Bat. a viro non sine doctrinse et humanitatis honorifica 

 praefatione nominando Dan. Heinsio, quaedam insuper 

 epigrammata acutius quam vulgo intellecta, qua? refert 

 accepta memorise doctissimi viri Rich. Tomsoni, ut et alia 

 suo ingenio feliciter excussa." 



It was the boast of the Dutch scholars of that 

 age that Holland had produced the three chief 

 restorers of Martial, Hadrian Junius, Gruter, and 

 Scriverius. The boast was reasonable enough ; 

 for until Schneidewin published his large edition in 

 1842, the text of Scriverius remained the standard. 

 " Dutch Thomson " must^ however, be admitted to 

 rank with his friends Gruter and Scriverius, as he 

 supplied them with collations of two of the best 

 MSS., the Palatine and a Florentine (the P. and 

 F. of Schneidewin). The former was removed 

 to Rome with the library of the Elector Palatine 

 in 1621, and was rediscovered by C. O. Muller 

 (Schneidewin, Prolegom. pp. xcvii., xcviii.) ; the 

 other is still in the Laurentian library. On the 

 manner in which the two editors used Thomson's 

 materials, see Schneidewin (ibid. pp. xliv., xlv., 

 xlvi., xlix. ; and about Farnaby, liv.). 



In P. Scriverii Animadversiones in Martialem. 

 Opus iuvenile, Sf nunc primum ex intervallo quinde- 

 cim annorum repetihtm, Lugd. Bat. 1618, I find 

 the following distinct references to Thomson : — 



P. 114. (On Lib. i. Ep. 29. 1. 9.) 



"'Tu quoque de nostris releges quemcunque libellis.' 

 Conjecturam elegantissimi viri Richardi Thomsoni, nota- 

 tum in ora codicis sui, quod mire nobis placeret, textui 

 immisimus, vicem vulgg. ' releges quascunque.' " A 



P. 132. (Lib. v. Ep. 19. 1. 18.): — 



" Venuste mehercnle atque argute MS. quem contulit 

 Richardu3 Thomson." 



P. 211. (Lib.ix. Ep. 90. 1. 5.): — 



"'Pertundas glaciem" triente nigro.' Palatini Codicis 

 scriptura hcec comprobatur auctoritate Codicis Florentini, 

 quo Ricbardus Thomsonius est usus: cujus doctissimi et 

 integerrimi (heu quondam !) viri fide hasc narro." 



"Florentinus Thomsonii" is also cited in pp. 

 214. and 253. 



Gruter in his Appendicula ad Martialem, pub- 

 lished by Scriverius in his third volume, says (p. 

 103.) that he had recollated the Palatine MS., and 

 found Thomson's collation erroneous in several 

 places. Two instances are given in p. 111., from 

 which we learn that Thomson collated the MS. 

 with a copy of Gruter's edition. 



