THE BIRTHPLACE OF MATTHEW PEIOR. 73 



of the volume, and that each page has been so neatly repaired, 

 and the missing words so carefully re-writteii with the pen, 

 that in many instances it is scarcely noticeable that the page 

 has suffered any damage, excepting a slight discolouration, 

 unless the attention is especially drawn to it. 



What adds to the interest is the tradition that the injury 

 to the volume in question was caused by Matthew Prior, 

 who is said, in the days of his boyhood, to have been reading 

 in the Library ; and, falling asleep over his studies, to have 

 upset his candle, and thus inadvertently to have seriously 

 damaged the book. Report adds that, in order as far as possi- 

 ble to atone for his carelessness, the future poet set himself 

 to repair the charred portion of each page (there are in all 

 about 100 pages which have suffered), and to fill up with his 

 pen the missing portions of the history. 



That the book has suffered from burning is a fact ; but that 

 it was done by the carelessness of the youthful Prior in the 

 manner above stated cannot have been the case ; and that 

 for two reasons : 



(1) When he was quite young, his father, as will be seen 

 presently, removed from Dorset to London. But as Matthew 

 Prior was born in 1664, and the Chained Library was not 

 established until 1686, when he would be 22 years of age, 

 it follows that he must have left Wimborne some number of 

 years before this time. 



(2) A slight examination of the book would show that the 

 injury could not have been done by a fallen lighted candle ; 

 but that it must have been caused by a red hot iron ; and that 

 the hole must have been produced intentionally, even if it 

 was not made maliciously. 



But, although this picturesque tradition of the damage 

 having been inadvertently done to the volume in question 

 by the drowsy boy and its subsequent reparation, must be 

 put aside as baseless, yet I venture to think that the evidence 

 is conclusive that Matthew Prior may be claimed as a native 

 of Dorset ; and, what is more, that his birthplace was as 

 certainly Wimborne itself. 



