362 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
In his account in the Worthzes of Sir William Coffin, Knight, 
of Portledge, Prince has a reference to the person to whom he 
wrote this letter. It is as follows: 
“The heir of this family was always called Richard, of which name is the 
present heir and possessor of this ancient seat Portledge, a right worthy and 
worshipful gentleman of great piety and virtue, and for his quality of 
excellent learning, especially in venerable antiquity, which hath been much 
his delight and study. He hath a noble library, and knows well how to 
make use of it. He was High-Sheriff of the county in the 2nd year of 
K. Jam. 2.’’ 
It is evident that Mr. Coffin, notwithstanding his ‘excellent 
learning ’’ and ‘noble library,” preferred to allow Prince to com- 
plete for the good of the country his noble work; and the worthy 
divine on receiving back Hooker’s volume with such an assurance 
would settle himself down to his task. And no mean task it was, 
~ as a glance through the volume, which treats of no less than one 
hundred and ninety-four Devonian celebrities, and under their 
heads of many more of their descendants, will show what time it 
must have occupied. Information was not only gleaned from the 
works of other authors, but from inspection of family documents, 
and from correspondence with any one likely to give particulars 
which would add to the completeness of the work. Though there 
were, without doubt, many errors in the book when published, 
the work was not slurred over, but one which must have occupied 
a great portion of a lifetime, and one, notwithstanding mistakes 
and blunders, honestly and faithfully carried out by Prince. It 
was not simply a work compiled with scissors and paste, but one 
to which he brought all his energies. In many cases he brings 
in particulars from his own personal observation. For instance, to 
satisfy himself as to the birthplace of John Prideaux, p.p., Lord 
Bishop of Worcester, he purposely visited the house where he was 
born. He refers to having heard Sir William Morice, Knight, act 
as his own chaplain, though he kept a domestic chaplain. Speaking 
of Col. Bluett, who was killed at the siege of Lyme Regis, he 
says, ‘‘ He was soon stripped, and his scarlet coat fell to the share 
of a common centinel whom I knew;” and again, speaking of 
Sir Thomas Bodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library, he says, 
‘¢Sir Thomas Bodley was born in the city of Exeter, as appears 
from the history of his life, which I shall here offer to your view 
in his own excellent words, from a manuscript (on probable 
