Changing his trowel for a gun, Wrote straight the temper, not the dirt of men. He honor'd once: square him a tomb, may say THE FAIR THIEF.-BY THE EARL OF EGREMONT. THE following beautiful verses, which appeared in the European Magazine, vol. iii. pp. 63, have been since assigned to Charles Wyndham, earl of Egremont, the son of the celebrated Sir William Wyndham, minister to queen Anne. Before the urchin well could go, Still, to reveal her artful wiles, These were her infant spoils,-a store Apollo's wit was next her prey; Great Jove approv'd her crimes and art, THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE. MARGARET, duchess of Newcastle, so celebrated as a loving wife and voluminous scribbler, has, in an epistle appended to Sir William Musgrave's copy of the life of the duke her husband, (a rare work) preserved in the British Museum, given the following amusing character of his grace and herself. Whatever may be thought of its modesty, no one can deny its claims to an extraordinary share of inge nuousness. "My lord is a person, whose humour is neither extravagantly merry nor unnecessarily sad; his mind is above his fortune, as his generosity is above his purse; his courage above danger, his justice above bribes, his friendship above self-interest, his truth too firm for falsehood, his temperance beyond temptation: his conversation is pleasing and affable, his wit is quick, and his judgement is strong, distinguishing clearly without clouds of mistakes; his discourse is always new upon the occasion, without troubling the hearers with old historical relations, nor stuft with useless sentences; his behaviour is manly without formality, and free without constraint, and his mind hath the same freedom; his nature is noble, and his disposition sweet. His loyalty is proved by his publick service to his king and country, by his often hazarding of his life, by the loss of his estate and the banishment of his person, by his necessitated condition, and his constant and patient sufferings. But, however our fortunes are, we are both content, spending our time harmless; for my lord pleaseth himself with the management of some few horses, and exercises himself with the use of the sword, which two arts he hath brought, by his studious thoughts, rationall experience, and industrious practice, to an absolute perfection. "For my part, I had rather sit at home and write, or walk in my chamber and contemplate. But I hold it necessary sometimes to appear abroad; besides, I do find that several objects do bring new materials for my thoughts and fancies to build upon. Yet, I must say this in behalf of my thoughts, that I never found them idle; for, if the senses bring no work in, they will work of themselves like silk-worms, that spin out of their own bowels. Neither can I say that I thinke the time tedious when I am alone, so I be near my lord, and know that he is well. I always took delight in a singularity, even in acoutrements of habits; but whatsoever I was addicted to, either in fashions of cloths, contemplation of thoughts, actions of life, they were lawful, honest, honourable, and modest, of which I can avouch to the world with a great confidence, because it is a pure truth. As for my disposition, it is more inclining to melancholy than merry, but not crabbed or peevish melancholy; and I am apt to weep rather than laugh, not that I do often either of them. Also, where I place a particular affection, I love extraordinarily and constantly, yet not fondly, but soberly and observingly; but this affection will take no root but where I think or find merit, and have leave both from divine and moral laws. Yet, I find this passion so troublesome, as it is the only torment of my life, for fear any evil misfortune, or accident, or sickness, or death should come unto them, insomuch as I am never freely at rest. Likewise, I am gratefull, for I never receive a curtesie, but I am impatient and troubled until I can make a return. Also, I am chaste, both by nature and education, insomuch that I do abhorr an unchaste thought. Likewise, I am seldom angry, as my servants may witness for me, but, when I am angry, I am very angry, but yet it is soon over, and I am easily pacified, if it be not such an injury as may create a hate. Likewise, I am neither spiteful, envious, nor malicious. I repine not at the gifts that nature or fortune bestows upon others, yet I am a great emulator; for, though I wish none worse than they are, yet it is lawful for me to wish myself the best, and to do my honest endeavours thereunto; for I think it no crime to wish myself the exactest of nature's works, my thread of life the longest, my chain of destiny the strongest, my mind the peaceablest, my life the pleasantest, my death the easiest, and (myself) the greatest saint in heaven." The duke amply repaid the partiality of his lady, by an epistle which he published, to " justifie the lady Newcastle, and truth against falsehood, laying those false and malicious aspersions of her, that she was not author of her books." "This lady's philosophy," says the uxorious peer, "is excellent, and will be thought so he eafter; and the truth is, that it was wholly and only wrought out of her own brain, as there are many witnesses, by the several sheets that she sent daily to be writ fair for the press. As for her Poems, where are the exceptions to these? Marry, they misse sometimes in the numbers, and in the rimes;-it is well known by the copies, that those faults lie most upon the corrector and the printer. But, put the case, there might be some slips in that kinde, is all the booke damn'd for it? No, mercy, gentlemen; when, for the numbers, every schoole-boy can make them on his fingers; and for the rimes, Fenner would have put down Ben Johnson; and yet, neither the boy nor Fenner so good poets. No; it is neither of these either makes or condemns a poet: it is new-born and creating phansies that glorifie a poet; and, in her booke of poems, I am sure there is excellent and new phansies as have not been writ by any; and that it was onely writ by her is the greatest truth in the world. 66 Now for the book called, the World's Olio, say somehow is it possible that she should have such experience to write of such things so? I answer, that I, living long in the great world, and having the various fortunes of what they call good and bad, certainly the reading of men might bring me to as much experience as the reading of books; and this I have now and then discourst unto this lady, who has wisely and elegantly drest it in her own way, and sumptuously clothed it at the charge of her own phancies and expressions. I say, some of them she has heard from me, but not the fortieth part of her book; all the rest are absolutely her own in all kindes. This is an ingenuous truth, therefore believe it. "As for the book of her Philosophical Opinions, there is not any one thing in the whole book, that is not absolutely spun out by her own studious phancy; and if you will lay by a little passion against writers, you will like it, and the best of any thing she has writ: therefore, read it once or twice, not with malice, nor to finde a little fault, but with judgement to like what is good. 66 Truly, I cannot believe so unworthily of any scholar, (honouring them so much as we both do) that they should envie this ladye, or should have so much malice or emulation, to cast such false aspersions on her, that she did not write those books that go forth in her name. They will hardly finde out who else writ them, and I protest that none ever writ them but herself. Here's the crime-a lady writes them; and to intrench so much upon the male prerogative is not to be forgiven; but I know gown-men will be more civil to her, because she is of the gown too. I had not troubled you with this, but that a learned doctor, our noble friend, writ us word of the infidelity of some people in this kinde. Whatsoever I have writ is absolutely truth, which I here (as a man of honour) set my hand to. "W. NEWCASTLE." THE DUNMOW BACON. THE Custom at Dunmow, of giving a gammon of bacon to any couple, who would swear that they had been married a year and a day, without having "offended each other in deed or in word," or wished themselves unmarried again, is well known, though its origin is very doubtful. The whimsical institution, however, is not peculiar to Dunmow. There was the same in Bretagne :-" A l'abbaie saincte Melaine, près Rennes, y a plus de six cens ans sont, un costé de lard encore tout frais, et ordonné aux premiers qui, par an et jour, ensemble marie, ont vescus sans debat, grondement, et sans s'en repentir."* We need not, however, go to Bretagne for an instance of this custom, since we find that, in England, it is not confined to Dunmow. "Sir Philip de Somervile, knight, held the manor of Wichnour in com. Stafford, of the eirle of Lancaster, then lord of the honour of Tutbury, by these memorable services, viz. by two small fees, that is to say, when other tenants pay for relief (of) one whole knight's fee, one hundred shillings; and when escuaget is assessed throughout the land, or ayde for to make the eldest son of the lord knyght, or for to marry the eldest daughter of the lord, the sayd Sir Philip shal pay bot the moty of it, that other shal paye. Nevertheless, the said Sir Philip shal fynde meynteinge and susteinge one bacon flyke, hanging in his halle at Wichenour, ready arrayed all tymes of the yere, bott in Lent, to be given to everyche mane or womane married after the yere and day of their marriage be passed; and to be given everyche mane of religion, archbishop, prior, or other religious, and to everyche priest, after the year and day of their profession finished, or of their dignity reseyved, in form following, whensoever that ony such before-named wylle come for to enquire for the baconne in their owne person, or by any other for them, they shall come to the bayliff or to the porter of the lordship of Whichenour, and shall say to them, in the manere as ensewethe. Bayliffe or porter, I doo you to knowe, that I am come for myself, (or if he come for any other, shewing for whom) to demand one bacon flyke, hanging in the halle of the lord of Whichenour, after the forme thereunto belonginge.' "After this relation, the bailiff or porter shal assigne a day to him, upon promise by his feythe to returne, and with him to Contes d'Entrap. tome ii. p. 161. † A pecuniary satisfaction, instead of personal military service. |