6

is, however, given in the Memoir of James the Second published by Dr. Clarke: 'It seems, upon the King's withdrawing from London, the lords

' about town met at Guildhall to consult what was 'fit to be done. They looked upon the present state of affairs as an interregnum, that the govern'ment was in a manner devolved upon them, and were in great haste to make a present of it to the Prince of Orange.'* Other acts of this Assembly are then mentioned; and its proceedings are among the most interesting and important events in English history, not only from their forming a precedent in a conjuncture of affairs for which no express provision is to be found in the constitution, but from the first regular offer of the throne to the Prince of Orange having emanated from this Convention. No Record of its proceedings has, it is presumed, been hitherto known to exist; and the fact that so valuable a Document is extant, cannot be too generally stated, for it is obvious that it has high claims to

the attention of historians.

"Sir Thomas Miller possesses the original Minutes of this Assembly of the Peers in the handwriting of a Mr. Glyn, who acted as secretary. His appointment to that situation is also preserved; and, as it is signed by all the Lords who were present, it affords evidence of the names of the Peers who took part in the business of the Assembly, and contains a very interesting collection of autographs.

"The MS. itself is a small folio, but not above

fifty pages are filled. It comprises the period between the 11th and the 28th December, 1688, both days inclusive, and appears to be a perfect Record of every Act of that memorable Assembly. The indorsement on the cover merits notice: it states with singular minuteness the precise hour of James's abdication, namely, at one in the morning of the 11th of December, 1688."

Sir Thomas Miller also possessed a manuscript, containing an "Account of the Earl of Rochester, Captain Kendall, and the Narrator's Journey to Salisbury with King James, Monday, Nov. 19. to Friday, Nov. 23. 1688,

inclusive."

In connection with this subject, it may be

mob, and the arrest of Judge Jefferies, Bishop Burnet says: "The Lord Mayor was so struck with the terror of this rude populace, and with the disgrace of a man who had made all people tremble before him, that he fell into fits upon it, of which he died soon after,

"To prevent the further growth of such disasters, he called a Meeting of the Privy Councillors and Peers, who met at Guildball," &c. The pronoun he must relate to the Lord Mayor, but the sentence is obscurely expressed.

Vol. ii. pp. 259, 260.

Sir, I have from time to time made a few notes on our historical writers rather I should say the conflicting opinions of critical writers on their relative value, and the dependence to be placed on them as historical guides. They are so opposite, as would in a great measure confirm the opinion of the celebrated statesman above quoted. I send, as a specimen, the opinions upon Burnet, and, should its insertion in your "NOTES AND QUERIES" be deemed advisable, I will from time to time send others which I have in my note-book. M.

Burnet, "A good historian and an honest man.' Lord Brougham.

"The History of his Own Times, which Burnet left

behind him, is a work of great instruction and amusehim into some errors, it would be absurd to deny, but ment..... His ignorance of parliamentary forms has led these faults do not detract from the general usefulness of his work."— Lord John Russell.

"The most partial, malicious heap of scandal and misrepresentation, that was ever collected for the laudable design of giving a false impression of persons and things to all future ages."-Lord Dartmouth: note in Dr. Routh's edition.

"A rash and partial writer."— Macaulay.

"It is a piece of justice I owe to historical truth to say, that I have never tried Burnet's facts by the tests wrong."- Sir J. Dalrymple. of dates and of original papers, without finding them

"Burnet had all the merits and all the faults of an ardent, impetuous, headstrong man, whose mind was honest, and whose objects were noble. Whatever he reports himself to have heard or seen, the reader may be assured he really did hear and see.

But he must

[Our correspondent should have added exact references to the places where these passages are to be found. Mr. Macaulay may have written these words quoted by our correspondent, in some hasty moment, but his summary of the character of Burnet in his History of England, ii. 175. 2nd edition - a very noble and well considered passage- gives a very different and far juster estimate of Burnet's character.]

ham Deanery, and Chancellor to the most Reverend Father in God, William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, who commanded this uniformity to be general throughout the kingdom. 1638. This time of Lent being to be kept holy by fasting and abstinence from flesh, notwithstanding Sir Roger Twisden, Kat and Baronett and Dame Isabella his wife, being both very sick and weake, in my judgement and opinion [are] to be

tolerated for the eating of flesh.

FRANCISC. WORRALL, Vicar. A similar entry occurs for the three following years. 1648. Upon the third of June the following Infants

all born in the parish of Brenchley were bap

tized in this parish Church, by an order granted

from Sir John Sedley, Knight and Baronett, Sir John Rayney, and Sir Isaac Sedley, Knights: "Whereas complaints have often been made unto us by many of the principal inhabitants of the Parish of Brenchley, that they having desired Mr. Gilbert, minister of the said Parish, to baptize their children, and according to the Directorie offered to present them before the Congregation, he hath neglected or refused so to do; whereby divers infants remain unbaptized, some of them above a year old, expressly contrary to the said Directorie.

"We do therefore order that the parents of such children do bring them unto the Parish Church of East Peckham, where we desire that Mr Topping, minister of the said Parish, would baptize them according to the sayd Directorie, they acquainting him with the day they intend to bring them beforehand. "Dated ye 25th of May 1648.

of the Medici of Florence. They bore pills on their shield, (and those pills, as usual then, were gilded,) in allusion to the professional origin from whence they had derived the name of Medici; and their agents in England and other countries put that armorial bearing over their doors as their sign, and the reputation of that house induced others to put up the same sign.

THE LIONS IN THE TOWER.

H. W.

Mr. Editor, Some one of your readers may be interested in knowing that there was a royal menagerie in the Tower of London in the reign of Edward III. In the Issue Roll of the forty-fourth year of his reign, 1370, there are five entries of payments made to lions and leopards" there, at the rate of 6d. "William de Garderobe, keeper of the king's a day for his wages, and 6d. a day for each beast. — pp. 25. 216. 298. 388. 429.

The number of "beasts" varied from four to seven. Two young lions are specially mentioned; and "a lion lately sent by the Lord the Prince from Gascony to England to the Lord the King."

Φ.

[Our correspondent's NOTE is an addition to what Bayley has given us on this subject; who tells us, however, that as early as 1252, Henry III. sent to the Tower a white bear, which had been brought to him as a present from Norway, when the Sheriffs of London were commanded to pay four pence every day for its maintenance.]

NOTES ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, NO. 1.

THE BIBLIOGRAPHIE BIOGRAPHIQUE." A lover of literature, and aspiring to promote its extension and improvement, I sometimes form projects for the adoption of otherssensible, be it also said, of the extent of my own engagements with certain learned societies.

One of these projects has been a tabular view of the literary biography of the British Islands. In the midst of my reflections on the plans of Blair, Priestley, Playfair, Oberlin, Tytler, Jarry de Mancy, &c. I received a specimen of a Bibliographie biographique, by Edouard-Marie Oettinger, now in the press at Leipzic.

As books multiply, the inexpediency of attempting general bibliography becomes more

I have been in the habit of using slips of paper the blank turn-overs of old-fashioned letters before note paper came into fashionand arranging in subjects as well as I could; but many a note so made has often caused me a long hour's looking after: this ought not so to be; pigeon-holes or portfolios, numbered or lettered, seem to be indispensable.

Has any reader a Note whereby to tell who are the present representatives of Greenes of "Green's Norton?" or who was "Richard Greene, Apothecary," who was living 1770, and bore the arms of that family? H. T. E.

[Our answer to our correspondent's first Query is, send your Notes to us, who will print and index them.- ED.]

BUSTS OF CHARLES 1. AND JAMES I.

ANCIENT TAPESTRY.

1. Where is now the bust of Charles I., formerly in Westminster Hall, and engraved by Peter Mazell for Pennant's London, in which engraving the bust is attributed to Bernini, though Vertue thought differently? (See Dallaway's Walpole, 1826, ii. 109.)

2. Also, where is the correspondent bust of James I., formerly at Whitehall, of which there is an engraving by N. Smith?

3. What has become of the tapestry of the reign of Henry VI. which formerly adorned

the Painted Chamber in the ancient Palace of Westminster? It appears that it remained in one of the lower apartments from the time

when it was taken down in 1800 until the year 1810; that it was then sold to Charles Yarnold, Esq., of Great Helen's, Bishopsgate Street, for 101. After his death in 1825, in the auction of his collection at Southgate's (June 11. that year, lot 238), it was sold as "Seven Pieces representing the siege of Troy," for 77. to Mr. Matheman. Who was Mr. Matheman? and what has now become of his acquisition?

Another piece of tapestry in Mr. Yarnold's possession, but it may be presumed in far better condition, was bought by Mr. Teschmaker, his executor, for 631. This was described as "The Plantagenet Tapestry, in fine preservation, containing 23 full-sized portraits of the different branches of the Houses of York and Lancaster: among the most prominent are Margaret of Anjou; Cicely Duchess of York; the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III.; Edward of Lancaster; Henry VI.; Earl of March, son of Richard (Duke of York and) afterwards Edward IV.; Henry VII.; Clarence [?] Duke of York," &c. This description raises one's curiosity greatly, and query, has this tapestry been elsewhere described? At the meeting of the Archæological Association at Warwick in 1847, it was supposed to have come from St. Mary's Hall, Coventry; but that idea seems to have arisen merely from its similarity of design to the tapestry which is now there.

66

N.

ORIGIN OF EPITHET FACTOTUM." Sir, The following expression in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. 42.-"He was