1825.] St. Columb. Sir Thomas Wilson's Epistola. "The Rector's parlour and school-room, on the left of the entrance, now form a parlour, kitchen, and pantry; the three dormitories for the Rector, Deacon, and pupils, which are approached by a stone staircase to the chamber over the porch, have become servants' bed-rooms; the hall on the right is now a parlour and lobby; the State bed-room for the reception of ecclesiastical dignitaries, and the spacious and undoubted chapel of the whole are both approached by the grand staircase; the former has been altered into two stories, the latter is become a drawing room." St. Columb is the most considerable town in the hundred of Pyder; the parish is a large one, and contains several villages. A market and fair were granted in the 6th of Edw. III. (1333) to Sir John Arundel of Lanherne. The windows of the Church were elaborately adorned with painted glass, bearing a representation of St. Columba with a dove in her hands, in allusion to her name; but they were all destroyed in 1760 by the explosion of a barrel of gunpowder kept in the rood loft; an accident attributed to the carelessness of school-boys, three of whom unfortunately perished. Renfrey Arundel, who died in 1310, made considerable additions to the Church, and his successor Sir John founded and endowed a chantry of five priests, 25 Edw. III. (1351.) In 1681 the lofty steeple was destroyed by lightning, and has not since been replaced. There were five chapels in the neighbourhood situated at Tregoos, Tresythney, Lauhinzy, Ruthos, and Bospol van. In the time of Norden's survey (1584), there were twelve seats of the Arundels in Cornwall; at present, however, the name of this celebrated house is extinct in this county, and I cannot close Bishop Arundel moated the house round with rivers and fish-ponds (Hals 63), and emulating the castellated style of building adopted by the neighbouring gentlemen, he erected an arched gateway and drawbridge, the former of which "remained a few years since all mantled with ivy."(Whitaker, 1804.) 205 this paper without transcribing an extract from one of the unpublished manuscripts of the late Dr. Borlase, on the Cornish families. The works of that gentleman, both as an historian and naturalist, are truly valuable; but they cannot convey a sentiment more honourable to his memory than that contained in the following passage: "It is a melancholy reflection to look back on so many great families as have formerly adorned the county of Cornwall, and are now no more. The most lasting have only their seasons more or less, of a certain constitutional strength;-they have their spring, and summer sunshine glare, their wane, decline, and death; they flourish and shine, perhaps for ages; at last they sicken, their light grows pale, and, at a crisis when the offsets are withered, and the whole stock is blasted, the whole tribe disappears, and leaves the world as they have done Cornwall. There are limits ordained to every thing under the Sun ;-man will not abide in honour,-of all human vanities, family thy way,-secure thy name in the Book of pride is one of the weakest.-Reader! go Life, where the page fails not, nor the title alters nor expires ;-leave the rest to heralds and the parish register." Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, T. H. July 1. R. DIBDIN in his "Library MR. Companion," p. 588, tells us, speaking of Sir Thomas Wilson and his writings, that "his slender little volume, entitled 'Epistola de vitâ et obitu duorum fratrum Suffolciensium, Henrici et Caroli Brandon,' 1552, 4to, is a volume to rack the most desperate with torture, as to the hopelessness of its acquisition. The Bodleian Library possesses it; so does the British Museum; and so does Earl Spencer. Another copy is not known to me." It happens, however, that a copy has by accident come into my possession. It was a duplicate for sale in 1769, from the British Museum. My copy, however, is without date, and the colophon has "Excusum Londini in Edibus Richardi Graftoni, typographi Regis, cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum." As the book is scarce, some of your readers may not be displeased to see an extract or two from it. The first shall be a character of the two brothers, written by Dr. Walter Haddon, regius professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge, which is prefixed to the "Epistola" Thos. Wilson. 206 Extracts from Sir Thomas Wilson's “ Epistola.” [Sept. Græcè et Latinè conscripta," from : Carole, morte tuâ spes ultima incesta refugit, "Dux ipse, licet nondum plane vir, tamen et annis ad juventutem pene adoleverat, et ingenio ad omnes res gerendas ita ematuruerat, ut ex his omnibus nihil illi abesset, quibus illustrem personam vel ornari deceret, vel institui conveniret. Gravis erat sine superbia, comis sine levitate, docilitate summâ, minimo ut studio esset opus: diligentiâ tamen ejusmodi quæ naturam posset etiam ex tarditate incitare. Sermo verò penè omnis et de doctrina fuit, & cum viris doctis, quos & honoratissima cura matris illi multos circumfuderat, & ipse plures humanitate asciverat sua. Nam cum dignitate principibus esset par, tamen generosa quadam ingenuitate animi se cum infimis exequebat, si quidem ullas eruditionis aut ingenii notas in illorum orationibus inesse intellexisset. Jam congressus nec muti illi erant, nec vulgares, nec rerum colloquia ludicrarum aut levium, sed proponebat aliquid semper de quo & ipse dicebat, ut poteret, & alios audiebat libenter, si quid illis in mentem veniret. Oratio fuit illius sanè prompta & explicata, nec se ipsa jactans, nec alios excludens, gravi quadam perfusa modestia, quam mentis æquabilitate perpetua sic turbatur, ut nec se ipse unquam desereret in dicendo, nec acerbè quenquam insectaretur. Reliqua vita quæ quidem nobiscum acta est, vel tota literis transmissa, vel illis certè condita fuit, quarum studio sic exarserat, ut nec collegia, nec scholas, nec otia, nec negotia, uno nec mensam, uno nec lectum, prorsus illarum expertes esse siperet. Itaq minimo tempore, maximarum in rerum doctrinâ sic evolaverat, ut ejus etiam extemporalem in dis serendo facultatem, multi possent metuere, nemo contemnere deberet, laudarent sanè omnes, & admirarentur, quicunq' laude ipsi aut admiratione digni aliquando sunt habiti. Erunt fortasse, qui vel hæc in illo non fuisse, vel non tanta fuisse credant, quanta meis ego verbis illa facio. Sed hii quicunq' sunt, aut illum ignoraverunt, cujus vera virtus omnem orationis vanitatem repudiebat, aut me profecto non norunt, qui ad publicum tam nobilis personæ testimonium, minimè sanè mendatium accommodare velim. Talis igitur certè, talis Henricus ille Suffolciensis fuit, reliquis prestans universis adolescentibus, ipse tum adolescens, & jam appropinquans, ut aliis omnibus viris, ipse vir ante ferratur. Talis illi succrevit frater Carolus, pubescens quidem adhuc, ut in vitâ gemma, sed qualem nostræ vites gemmam aut parem, vix habent, aut certè preciosiorem omnino non habent." If the above character can be at all depended upon, and why may it not? the sons of Charles Brandon appear to have been young men of great promise. And this does not seem to have been a singular opinion. The "Epistola" is followed by "Epigrammata varia, tùm Cantabrigiensium, tùm Oxoniensium rerum, Quales, vix toto sol viderat aureus orbe, "Memorabile est quòd Dax Henricus valens & incolumis horâ cœnæ dixit optimæ matronae dominee Margareta in mensa illis assidenti, quæ utrumq' materna pietate amplectebatur. Ubi conabimus (inquit) sequente nocte? Illa modestè respondit, vel in istis ædibus (spero) mi domine, vel alibi apud aliquem amicum tuum. Nequaquam (inquit) ille. Nunquam enim post hać, unà hic conabimus. Cum matrona valde hue voce perterrita fuisset, ille ad tollendam ægritudinem jussit bono animo esse, & vultum ridens exporrexit. Tandem mater (vel invidia judice) laudatissima, summo vespere Bugdinum venit, & mox exosculata est filios, quod utrumq' vivum offendisset. Verùm Dux Henricus statim post in morbum incidit, & tam graviter cruciatus est sudoris ardore, ut dolor tantus lacrymas vel durissimo exprimeret. Mater attonita medicum consulit, quem secum habebat, & omnes vias persequítur, quibus possit mederi. Quid multis opus? Post quinq' horas elapsus ex hac vità est Princeps illustrissimus. Carolus eodem tempore graviter exæstuans, quo frater mortuus est, & nihil de illo ex cujusq sermone intelligens, separato nimirum collocatus & longè a fratre semotn cubiculos tacitè apud se commentabatur. Medicus interrogat quamobrem sic cogitabundus esset. Ego vero (inquit) cogito, quàm grave sit destitui charissimo amico. Quamobrem quæso (inquit)? Respondit, rogas? Frater mortuus est. Verùm non ita refert, brevi subsequor. Atque ita post semihoræ spatium animam Deo commendavit, & frater fratrem sequutus est, minor majorem, & Dux Ducem." At the end of the volume are the two following epitaphs: In Ducem Carolum Brandonum Patrem Suffolciensibus, Joannes Parkehurstus. Carole te stravit Mors, quem Mars ipse nequebat: Est magnum, Mortis scilicet, Imperium." "Thomas Wilsonus in Clarissimam Janam, Anglia Reginam, & Serenissimi Regis nostri Edwardi Sexti matrem. Pignore 1895.] Baron Maseres.-Successes of the Greeks. Pignora jam nato, cecidit mox optima Jana. "H. S. E. Franciscus Maseres, Armig. Aul. Clar. apud Cantab. olim socius, Quinti Baronis in curia Scaccarii, Munus, annos 50 execu tus est. Viri hujus egregii et amabilissimi fides, integritas, æqualitas, liberalitasque omnibus, quibuscum, erat versatus, iuno tuêre. Eximiis his virtutibus accedebant tanta sermonis morumque suavitas, tanta comitas facilitasque, ut nihil supra. Humanitatis studiis, et literis reconditioribus colendis omni præconio dignissimus. Exemplaria Græca et Latina quorum Juvenis fuerat perstudiosus, senex in deliciis habebat. Sui seculi mathematicorum clarissimis parem indubitanter dixeris. Multa quæ accuratè, copiosè, cogitatèque scripserat prelo dedit; et in communem fructum attulit. Articulos fidei, qui dicuntur in minimum reduxit. Deum Unum, ens entium, omnium patrem, Christo duce, sanctissimè adoravit. Quam immortalitatem toto pectore cupierat placida lenique senectute, et integrå mente consecutus est, anno Domini 1824, ætat. suæ 93. Vale, Vir optime! Amice vale carissime! et siqua rerum humanarum tibi sit adhuc conscientia, Monimentum quod in tui memoriam, tui etiam in mortuis observantissimus Robertus Fellowes, ponendum curavit solita benevolentiâ tuearis.” 207 published in English by a Greek named Elias Habeski; but was not, as might at first be apprehended, a garbled aecount from the Baron de Tot, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and others: on the contrary, he is successful in combating some of the Baron's statements, especially as regards the Turkish ladies.-A curious and important particular respecting the marine of the Sublime Porte is, that, to compensate for their gross ignorance of the mechanical powers, the Turks have re course to an extraordinary quantity of grease. This, he says, is in the proportion of six to one, compared with what is used in the British Navy. If this practice still prevails, it may be easily conceived that rigging so saturated with unctuous matter must present an inflammable surface singularly fitted for the enterprises of their assailants; in furtherance of which, though in a slight degree, their sails, according to this writer, are of cotton, a material more combustible than flax or hemp, and which, by the way, he observes, "holds wind better than canvas, but it soon wears and tears.” novelty, let us turn to the celebrated In direct opposition to the preceding engagement of the Centurion with the Marilla galleon. In the early part of which, the mats with which the galleon had stuffed her netting took fire, and burnt fiercely, blazing half as high as the mizen top." It certainly taxes our belief to the utmost, that this should have happened without communicating most injuriously to the rigging, even though, as subsequently appears, the ensign was singed off the staff! Yet no work could be received with more respect than was Lord Anson's voyage, which is understood to have been compiled from his Lordship's papers under his own inspection; not by Richard Walter, whose name it bears, but by Robinson, a Quaker, a man of abilities, who afterwards embarked with Falconer and the commissioners in the unfortunate Aurora frigate. Not one of the officers, who bore a part in the engagement, several of whom afterwards became eminent, ever intimated, as far as the publick know, that there was any thing overcharged in the above account, or in the sequel to it; by which we find "the Spaniards at length freed themselves from the fire by cutting away the 208 " Family of Greaves.Cheapness of Provisions. the netting, and tumbling the whole Mr. URBAN, A HANS HIJORNOR. 20, Pall Mall. LLOW me to remark on the letter of I. E. in p. 28, that the author of the very interesting work on the Pyramids, and other publications, so far from being Richard Graves, was not even named Richard, but was Mr. John Greaves, a learned traveller, geometry professor of Gresham College, and Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and who formed Archbishop Laud's splendid collection of MSS. There is a small etching of his portrait by Sir Edm. Marmion. He died in 1652, twenty-eight years before Mr. Richard Graves was born.-The latter was, however, as the Rev. (not Sir) P. Meadows stated in vol. xciv. ii. 602, a very eminent Antiquary and genealogist, and intimate with Thoresby and Hearne, the latter calling him "his egregious friend." I beg also to add an account of the following very scarce monumental print engraved by Vertue, which appears to be unknown to Mr. Meadows. It is inscribed at top: "The Monument of Mrs. Eleanor Graves, her father-in-law, mother, and four sons." Under the busts of herself, mother, father-in-law, and small figures of her four sons, appears the following: "Here under are interred the bodyes of John Bentley, esq. and Ellenor his wife, the relict of Thomas Bates, gent. by whom she had issue an only daughter Ellenor (here also interred); she married to Richard Graves of Lincoln's Inne, esq. by whom she had issue six sonnes and nine daughters, of whom foure, viz. Richard, John, Richard, and Benjamin, are here likewise buried. The said John Bentley dyed the 26th of Feb. 1660, aged 65 years. Ellenor his wife dyed the 12th of Aug. 1657, aged 63 years, Ellenor, her daughter, dyed the 4th of May, 1656, aged 39 years." and And at the bottom of the engraving: "In the parish church of Richmond in Surry-G. Vertue sculp." [Sept. may likewise be seen in Lysons's En- Mr. Meadows also informs us that he has met with another portrait of one of this family, bearing the following inscription: "Lucilla Anna Maria Graves, daughter of the Rev. R. Graves, Rector of Claverton and of Croscombe, Somerset, and granddaughter of Richard Graves, esq. of Mickleton, Gloucestershire, died March 10th, 1822, aged 57.-S. Baptiste, Lith. de G. Engebriann." On the back of the engraved portrait of John Graves, gent. who died in London, aged 103 years, in 1616, as noticed in vol. xcrv. ii. 602, is the following memorandum : "Hugh Graves, a younger brother of the venerable John Graves, was Lord Mayor of York, and M. P. for that city in several Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth." Hugh Graves was Sheriff of the city of York in 1559, M. P. for the same in 1570 and 1571, and Lord Mayor in 1578. He was the ancestor of the Yorkshire branch of the family, and of the late celebrated Admiral Lord Graves. From John Graves his brother, the Gloucestershire Graves derived their pedigree. Mr. Meadows enquires when Sir Philip M. became Latin Secretary. I Mr. URBAN, ÉDIT. Enfield, Aug. 9. HAVE in my possession various documents respecting the cheapness of Provisions in the olden time. If you think the following worthy to occupy a niche in your imperishable H.J.S. it is at your service. pages, A description of this Monument 1 leg of Mutton |