excel any thing extant on that head; and for her writing, Sir Henry Savile affirms, that he had feen fome Tranflations of hers, which far exceeded the Originals *.' Never Prince kept greater ftate with lefs ftateliness. Her Penfioners and Guard were always the tallest and goodlieft gentlemen and yeomen of the kingdom; her Maids of Honour, and other women about her, the fairest and most beautiful ladies of the realm; and yet herself a Diana among her Nymphs +." A curious fpecimen of her handwriting, from a letter to her brother King Edward VI. may be feen in our vol. LIX. p. 1186; an anecdote of her vifting the King's Head in Fenchurch-ftreet (where a fine print of her from Holbein is preferved), and one refpecting her conduct to the unfortunate Queen of Scots, LX. 219, 1083. 155. CURIALIA: Or, An Hifiorical Account of fome Branches of the Royal Household, &c. &c. Parts IV. and F. Confifiing of, 1. A fuccinct Hifiory of Somerset Houfe, from the Commence ment of its Erection in 1549. 1. A Differtation on the antient Efablishment and Function of the Serjeant at Arms. In Two Letters, addreffed to the Prefident of the Society of Antiquaries, from Samuel Pegge, Efq. F.S. A. "THE publication of thefe Collections is ftriétly conformable to the teftamentary wishes of their worthy Author, who configned them for that express purpose to [Mr. Nichols] their prefent Editor. Long and intimately acquainted both with the accuracy and the diffidence of Mr. Pegge, I might have hefitated in offering his pofthumous Effays to the Publick, if the plan of them had not been clearly dened; and if even fuch of them as are not actually completed were not fufficiently outlined to be creditable to the reputation he had already acquired by the former parts of his "Curialia," and by his "Anecdotes of the English Language," a réputation which had defcended to him by hereditary right. The Hiftory of Somerfet Houfe was with him a favourite fubject; and to this, with the exception of the two concluding pages, be had put the finishing hand." The former Parts of Mr. Pegge's "Curialia" have been duly noticed in * "Two fpecimens of her Majefty's talent for tranflation occur in Nuga Antiquæ, vol. I. and will not be found to bear out Sir Henry Savile's " hyperbolical praife," as it was juftly termed by Bolton in his Hypercritica." +"So fays Sir Robert Baker, in his Chronicle, p. 422," our vol. LII. p. 340, LIV. 703, and LXXII. 782. His "Somerfet Houfe" is thus introduced in a Letter to the Prefident of the Society of Antiquaries: "Dear Sir, After the intereft you have taken in Old London, including Weftmintter, I hope I may be excufed in addreffing to you an account of a building now no more; but which embraces a larger portion of hiftory than ever fell to the lot of a private edifice, when taken with all its concomitant circumftancesI mean Somerfet Houfe; which, having been founded in the middle of the fixteenth century, and begun to be demolifhed at the latter end of the eighteenth, is now become within the pale of Antiquity. That alone, however, is not what places it within my cognizance; for in a very few years after its foundation it be came the property of the Crown, and has ever fince carried with it fuch Royal Ap、 pendages as may, with no impropriety, work. All that has been hitherto faid of bring it under the general title of this of writers of different complexions and it is fo very much difperfed in the works parties, that no difpaffionate account has been given of it; nor has any been compreffed into an uninterrupted narrative. obliged to combat fome received opiIn this attempt I forefee that I fhall be nions; but fuch muft always be the cafe where liftorians have implicitly copied each other; for, when traditions have paffed mufter for three centuries, their verity is feldom afterwards brought to the teft." The great Duke of Somerfet's per• fonal hiftory is in the firft place very ably inveftigated by our diligent Antiquary, to "the clofing fcene of his life on the fcaffold, Jan. 22, 1552-3, on a charge which amounted to no more than a doubtful act of felony, and which the King's Minifters would not allow him to pardon." "This fatal conclufion of the Duke's life, immaterial as it may appear to us at this diftance of time, had an excellent and invaluable effect on our criminal laws, from which every unfortunate culprit, at this day, receives a very effential benefit. The evidence against the Duke confifted merely of written depofitions, unfupported by oral teftimony, and was withal to weak, that a law was made, in confequence of it, which enacted that witneffes, in all cafes, fhould hereafter be brought face to face with the prifoner, and examined in his prefence." Mr. Pegge next proceeds to enquire what buildings were demolished to make room for it, and what other' Aructures collaterally aided its erection. "Thofe "Thofe which occupied the space on which Somerfet Houfe originally food were, principally, 1. an Inn of Chancery, promifcuously called Strand Inn and Chefter's Inn *; 2. the Epifcopal House of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, then alfo known by the name of The Bifhop of Chefter's Inn; 3. the Epifcopal Houfe of the Bishop of Landaff +; 4. the Epilcopal Houfe of the Bishop of Worcefter; 5. the Church of St. Mary-le-Strand, and its Cemetery; 6. the Strand Bridge." Of thefe feveral places a particular account is given. "What is now a ftreet, called The Strand, was at that time no more than a high-way, leading from London Wettward to the village of Charing, where ftood Queen Eleanor's Crofs, and a few houfes; from whence, in a right line, you was led on, through open fields, to St. James's Houfe, lately an hofpital, but then a Royal Houfe. This high-way, being the property of the Crown, as fuch was cafily modified to accommodate the King's Uncle, and confequently there was little difficulty or hardship upon the fubject in the change it underwent by leveling; and on the whole, perhaps, the road was rendered better by the change. By Stowe's account there was not any current of water under this bridge; for, fays he, in the autograph remaining in the British Mufeum, "Then had ye, in the high street, a fair bridge, called Strand-Bridge, and under it a lane, which went down to the Strand, fo from being a banque of the riyer of Thames §." But here Stowe speaks of it as if it were in, his own time, and not with reference to the reign of King Edward VI. or to any prior period. Mr. Maitland, on the other hand, tells us, that there was a rivulet under the bridge; for, fays he, "a little to the Eaft of the prefent Catherine Sreet, and in the High Street, was a handfome bridge, denominated, from its fituation, Strand Bridge, through which ran a fmall water-courfe from the fields, which, gliding along a lane below, had its influx to the Thames near Somerset-Stairs."-In this account * "Maitland confounds Chefter Inn and Strand Inn; "which, from its neighbourhood to the Bishop of Chefter's houfe and the Strand, was indifferently denominated Chefter's, or Strand Inn," p.739. +"Almost contiguous to this Inn, on the Weft, was the city manfion of the Bihop of Landaff." Maitland, Iliftory of London, edit. 1739, p. 739. "The New Church is in the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester, the Weft end being oppofite to the place where the old church ftood." I should incline to believe Mr. Maitland; because lanes do not often become rivers, though the beds of rivers, by a diverfion of their courfes, may become lanes." (To be continued.) 156. An Introduction to Geography, intended chiefly for the Ufe of Schools: including a jhort Account of the Solar Syjiem, and the Ufe of the Terreurial Globe; with fome Remarks on the Pronunciation of the Names of Foreign Countries, &c. By Ifaac Payne. THIS Introduction appears to be well calculated to inftruct young perfons in the elements of Geography. The prominent features of the feveral Divifions of the Globe are given in feparate paragraphs, and the faune order of arranging thefe fubjects is obferved in each chapter, with a view to allift the memory of the pupil. This modė we confider to be judicious. The numerous Afiatic Ifles, which are often omitted, or obfcurely noticed, in moft introductory works on Geography, are here enumerated in a clear and diftinct arrangement. The remarks on the pronunciation of the names of foreign countries, though fhort, will be of fervice to the Learner. 157. The fingular and interefting Trial of Henry Stanton, Efq. of the 8th (or King's) Regiment: on Charges for Unofficer-like Behaviour, as preferred again him by Lieut.-col. Young, commanding the faid Regiment. Tried by a General Court Martial held at Doncafter, Aug. 14, 1805, and feveral fubfequent Days. IT would ill become us to review the conduct of a Court Martial; but Mr. Santon feems to have made out his cafe, when he ftates that he has 66 fuftained injurious treatment." He adduces, alfo, a respectable "Memòrial to the King" in his behalf, from the Mayor, Corporation, Fre-holders, Houfe holders, and moft of the principal inha bitants of Doncafter; and many other honourable artefiations to the propriety of his general conduct. "Dittreffing and forlorn indeed (fays Mr. S.) my fituation would have been, if I had not refided in a town where difinterefted Justice reigns. (p. iv.) A ADMINISTRATION. H! where fhall we a Worthy find, On reading the Account of the V1OTORY'S ON A REPORT OF SOME CHANGES IN G Chief, A vanquish'd Fleet, a Victory in tears. United fquadrons trembled at the shock, When NELSON led his war-worn hofts to fight; [rock, From bleak Trafalgar's Cape to Calpe's Iberia faw her fons in wild affright. High o'er the furge the British enfigns ride, [and Spain, Beneath them cower the flags of France Whilft many a fhatter'd bulwark flaming wide, [main. Gilds the dark horrors of the angry Heard ye the dread prophetic found of death? [ftorm; Deep tones of forrow fwell the fullen, The Mufe fits weeping o'er the bloodftain'd wreath, [form. And PITY points to NELSON's mangled Your fea-green mantles rent, your treffes [his clay; Spirits who haunt the Ocean, guard And thou, lov'd Monarch! bow thy head, and mourn [day. The dear bought laurels of this fatal Thy NELSON's high achievements Egypt faw, [lefs powers, When fhouting Arabs hail'd his matchAnd antient Memphis heard, with trembling awe, [towers. The midnight roar that shook Aboukir's Let the rough Baltic, and the Cimbrian Ifles, [triumphs tell, And Denmark's guarded ftraits, his And Baftia's mounds, and Calvi's rocky piles, torn, And let Trafalgar fay how great he fell! BRITAIN! thy martial fons shall crowd the shore, [glow; Their loyal breafts with gratitude fhall But when they learn their GUARDIAN is no more, [rous woe. The gallant band shall melt in gene Thy daughters, too, with fongs fhall rend the sky, [crown'd fleep; And chaunt fweet pæans from the oakBut when the folemn triumph paffes by, In filent grief the lovely train fhall weep. Sweet fleeps the brave whom patriot tears embalm, [Buft; His Country's Genius bending o'er his A Nation's Bleffings and a deatniefs Palm, And Kings and Senates confecrate his duft, I. With equal virtue, equal mind, A foul of equal firmnefs trace, To ftand on Power's feductive height, To find her Statesman undefil'd, Still, then, fhall Greece and Latium 3 Is emulation taught to burn While Kings and States the poifon quaff'd, While o'er the Statefman's early grave As Earth's cold arms receive their friend; O Mufe of Hiftory! from whom When pictur'd in thy faireft lines Yet, Britain! if thy fertile plains JEHOVAH fpeaks, and Heaven and Earth obey; [dead: Th' Almighty trumpet wakes the pious Behold th' illuftrious train bursting the bands [eye Of Death, and in the twinkling of an Leap from their dark domains to life and blifs: Victorious now o'er ev'ry foe, and all The dire effects of guilt and fin, in vain The Powers of darknefs frive; Hell and the Grave Unite in vain to hold the captives now; Honour and triumph crown the glorious day: [cave Ah, lovely fight! lo, from the dreary Th' angelic forms in beauteous order rife, Perfect and pure, array'd in light divine; See, every countenance with fweet furprife [new'd And facred fplendour fmiles. Rifing reWith animated and immortal powers, Hark how the conquerors triumphant fhout,[is "Inglorious and infatiate GRAVE, where Thy boafted victory, thy mighty power, Thy once refiftlefs and rapacious grafp? Why thus voracious and inceffant cry To men of every rank and name, give, give, [mand, If, at the Almighty and fupreme comThy vaft dominions must be all deftroy'd, And the long-hoarded treafures thus refign'd [prov'd? To life, and bliss, and beauty, much imThy dreary dungeons give new vigour to The mind behold thy loathfome, deadly damps Shed an immortal bloom on every face! Remorfelefs DEATH, where is thy venom'd fting, [breaft? Plung'd with inveterate rage in ev'ry Where's the tyrannic fway thy potent [fcenes Difplay'd on human frames in direful Through all the ages from the first offence? [fell; At thy dread ftroke the mean and mighty Alike the blooming youth, thoughtless arm and gay, In all the mad career and prime of life, And the grave fage, burden'd with years and toil, [pall'd. Arrefted by thy fummons, ftood apRapacious Tyrant, now exult no more! In vain thy blandifh'd fcythe fwept o'er the plain Of Life, and cut its myriads down, if blifs And beauty fo divine elude thy rage, And triumph o'er the long-ufurp'd controul." [race, Thus rapturous fang the pious rifing Leaving with unknown joy their dark abode. Behold th' uplifted and expanded hands Of the dear Father! with what ardent looks And ftedfaft eagernefs he reaches forth, Wing'd with impatience to be gone! What holy zeal has fir'd his nobleft powers! His pious foul feems big with expectation. With what intenfe defire his sparkling eyes Fix on the diftant fhore of perfect Peace, Where, from the fount of bleffednets, pleafures Unceafing flow to all the happy minds. o'er To the pure manfions of eternal joy, And welcome home her pious progeny. How bright and beautiful her heavenly mien [feat. Appears! Hafte, facred fair one, to thy 'Mongft Saints and Seraphim of highest rank. [breaft Lo! the fweet babes clos'd gently to her With tend'reft care! her clafping arms fuftain [cements The much-lov'd twins; affection clofe The facred nat'ral tie, and much endears.' The fudden but celeftial rapt’rous flight. Behold the lovely cherubs twine around The mother's heart; and looks of inno[foft cence And love in ev'ry feature smile: how And grateful falutations rend the air. Concern'd t'unclofe the earthen heavy, clods So many ages thick'ning faft around. Behold his looks! he pants, he longs to breathe In purer air, among the fons of lightTunbolom all his joys with kindred minds And antient friends and ancestry on high. Blefs'd refurrection of the pious dead From dreary caverns, darknefs, worms, and duft, Tq |