GOSSIPING HISTORY. "This is the Jew That Shakspeare drew." I do not know by whom or when the above couplet was first imputed to Pope. The following extracts will show how a story grows, and the parasites which, under unwholesome cultivation, adhere to it. The restoration of Shakspeare's text, and the performance of Shylock as a serious part, are told as usual. "In the dumb action of... more...

LORD HALIFAX AND MRS. CATHERINE BARTON. Those who have written on the life of Newton have touched with the utmost reserve upon the connexion which existed between his half-niece Catherine Barton, and his friend Charles Montague, who died Earl of Halifax. They seem as if they were afraid that, by going fairly into the matter, they should find something they would rather not tell. The consequence is,... more...

KENNINGTON COMMON. Before all traces be lost of Kennington Common, so soon to be distinguished by the euphonious epithet of Park, let me put a Query to some of your antiquarian readers in relation thereunto; and suffer me to make the Query a peg, whereon to hang sundry and divers little notes. And pray let no one ridicule the idea that Kennington has its antiquities; albeit that wherever you look, new... more...

ON THE PROPOSED SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESERVING A RECORD OF EXISTING MONUMENTS. The following communications have reached us since the publication of our remarks on the proposed Monumentarium Anglicanum (No. 73. p. 217. et seq.). They serve to show how much interest the subject has excited among those best qualified to judge of the great utility of some well-organised plan for the preservation of a record... more...

ON CHAUCER'S KNOWLEDGE OF ITALIAN. In the Memoir prefixed to the Aldine edition of the Poetical Works of Chaucer, London, 1845, Sir Harris Nicolas expresses an opinion that Dan Geoffrey was not acquainted with the Italian language, and therefore not versed in Italian literature. "Though Chaucer undoubtedly knew Latin and French, it is by no means certain, notwithstanding his supposed... 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...

OLD POPULAR POETRY: "ADAM BELL, CLYM OF THE CLOUGH, AND WILLIAM OF CLOWDESLY." I have very recently become possessed of a curious printed fragment, which is worth notice on several accounts, and will be especially interesting to persons who, like myself, are lovers of our early ballad poetry. It is part of an unknown edition of the celebrated poem relating to the adventures of Adam Bell, Clym... 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...

ON THE USE OF THE HOUR-GLASS IN PULPITS. George Herbert says: "The parson exceeds not an hour in preaching, because all ages have thought that a competency."—A Priest to the Temple, p. 28. Ferrarius, De Ritu Concion., lib. i. c. 34., makes the following statement: "Huic igitur certo ac communi malo (the evil of too long sermons) ut medicinam facerent, Ecclesiæ patres in concionando... 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...