OUR SHAKSPEARIAN CORRESPONDENCE. We have received from a valued and kind correspondent (not one of those emphatically good-natured friends so wittily described by Sheridan) the following temperate remonstrance against the tone which has distinguished several of our recent articles on Shakspeare:— Shakspeare Suggestions (Vol. viii., pp. 124. 169.).— "Most busy, when least I do." I am... more...

RIGBY CORRESPONDENCE. [We are enabled, by the kindness of their possessor, to lay before our readers copies of the following characteristic letters from the well-known Richard Rigby, Esq., who was for so many years the leader of the Bedford party in the House of Commons. They were addressed to Robert Fitzgerald, Esq., a member of the House of Commons in Ireland, and Judge of the Court of Admiralty in... more...

PROCLAMATION OF HENRY VIII. AGAINST THE POSSESSION OF RELIGIOUS BOOKS. The progress of the Reformation in England must have been greatly affected by the extent to which the art of printing was brought to bear upon the popular mind. Before the charms of Anne Boleyn could have had much effect, or "doubts" had troubled the royal conscience, Wolsey had been compelled to forbid the introduction or... more...

"THAT SWINNEY." Junius thus wrote to H. S. Woodfall in a private note, to which Dr. Good has affixed the date July 21st, 1769 (vol. i. p. 174.*) "That Swinney is a wretched but dangerous fool. He had the impudence to go to Lord G. Sackville, whom he had never spoken to, and to ask him whether or no he was the author of Junius: take care of him." This paragraph has given rise to a great... more...

JACK. I wish to note, and to suggest to students in ethnology, the Query, how it comes to pass that John Bull has a peculiar propensity to call things by his own name, his familiar appellative of Jack? Of all the long list of abbreviations and familiar names with which times past and present have supplied us, that which honest Falstaff found most pleasing to his ears, "Jack with my familiars!"... more...

ON TWO PASSAGES IN "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL." Among the few passages in Shakspeare upon which little light has been thrown, after all that has been written about them, are the following in Act. IV. Sc. 2. of All's Well that Ends Well, where Bertram is persuading Diana to yield to his desires: "Bert. I pr'ythee, do not strive against my vows: I was compell'd to her; but... more...

SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESERVING A RECORD OF EXISTING MONUMENTS. When, in the opening Number of the present Volume (p. 14), we called the attention of our readers to the Monumentarium of Exeter Cathedral, we expressed a hope that the good services which Mr. Hewett had thereby rendered to all genealogical, antiquarian, and historical inquirers would be so obvious as to lead a number of labourers into the same... more...

To judge of this question fairly, it will be necessary to cite the passage in which it occurs, as it stands in the folio, Act III. Sc. 8., somewhat at large. "Eno. Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer; Th' Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, With all their sixty, fly, and turn the rudder; To see't, mine eyes are blasted. Enter Scarus. Scar. Gods and goddesses, all the whole... more...

THE ROLLIAD. (22d Ed., 1812.) Finding that my copy of The Rolliad ("Notes and Queries," Vol. ii., p. 373.) contains fuller information regarding the authors than has yet appeared in your valuable periodical, I forward you a transcript of the MS. notes, most of which are certified by the initial of Dr Lawrence, from whose copy all of them were taken by the individual who gave me the volume. W.... more...

HIGH CHURCH AND LOW CHURCH. A Universal History of Party; with the Origin of Party Names would form an acceptable addition to literary history: "N. & Q." has contributed towards such a work some disquisitions on our party namesWhigandTory, andThe Good Old Cause. Such names asPuritan,Malignant,Evangelical, can be traced up to their first commencement, but some obscurity hangs on the... more...