Could not endure the May-pole should be seene He tooke it for an Idoll, and the feast By which the wicked merrie Greeks came in. But I doe hope once more the day will come That you shall mount and pearch your Cocks as high Shall bid defiance to your enemy; And that all Fidlers which in corners lurke, And haue beene almost staru'd for want of worke, He alludes to the celebrated May-pole, above one hundred feet high, formerly in the Strand, where the new church now stands, which was the last that existed in London. It was taken down in 1717 and conveyed to Wanstead Park in Essex, and is thus commemorated by Pope: Amidst the area wide they took their stand, Where the tall May-pole once o'erlook'd the Strand. Thus our present author: Fairely we marched on, till our approach Pearch vp more high his turning weather-cock. He also alludes to the restoration of the cross in Cheapside, the images on which having been broken and defaced by the populace in 1581, it was now repaired and restored by the Queen's command. The author is very severe upon the professors of the law for not contributing to perform the same kind office to the one at Charing which had been similarly defaced. The Burse of Brittaine left behind our backe Because the world of Charitie is sparing. Hang downe thy head, O Westminster, for shame, And all you Lawyers which passe by the same Blush (if you can) and are not brazen faced, Doe you not see how London hath repaired Braue Free men, I applaud you for this thing, Meane while my Muse in commendation tels, You keepe your wives most neate and all things else. It is a shame you Gownd-men of the Law, For 'tis with you that I must put the Case, I say, it is a shame, and ill befits That you should sell your shreds of Law and Writs At so deere rate, to many a poore mans losse, And not bestow one Fee to mend this Crosse. For many pious Acts and Monuments From zeale of Kings and Bishops are descended, And yet they say you are so honest growne And warme her selfe, that man no more may hold It will men's loue with admiration draw, And for the first good works of your deuotion As is the stately Crosse at Abington. Profit and honour certainely will spring To your vocation will arise from hence A good report, and greater reuerence, When with a crosse she's top'd, and faire carn'd vnder, This is the Lawyers Worke, (good Reader wonder). The writer afterwards gives a whimsical and entertaining version of the story of the Iliad and Odyssey, and the whole poem displays considerable humour. The lively and spirited song at the end "in praise of Sack, to the tune of the Tinker," was reprinted entire by Mr. James Boswell, as the first article in his little privately printed jeu d' esprit, called A Roxburghe Garland, which he presented, in 1817, to the members of the Roxburghe Club. It was taken from the edition of 1634. See Dibdin's Liter. Remin., pt. i, p. 389. The present is the first edition, and is of the greatest rarity, only one other copy, which is now preserved in the Douce collection at Oxford, being known to exist. It formerly belonged to Mr. Heber, from whose collection, pt. iv, No. 1795, it was procured in 1834. Bound by Charles Lewis. In White Calf. Gilt leaves. PASQUIL'S Palinodia, and his progresse to the Tauerne, &c. London Printed by Thomas Snodham and are to be sold by Francis Parke at his shop in Lincolnes-Inne Gate, in Chauncerie Lane. 1619. 4to, pp. 32. This is another copy of the same edition of 1619, but with a variation in the title-page, which was probably reprinted, the contents of the volume being exactly the same. The former has only the printer's name, Thomas Snodhom, whereas the latter has also the bookseller's name, Francis Parke, by whom it was to be sold in Lincolnes-Inne Gate in Chauncerie Lane. It is probable that other impressions ensued. A later edition we know was "printed by J. H. for Lawrence Chapman, and are to be sold at his Shop in Holburne at Chancery-Lane end. 1634." A copy of this impression was in the Bibl. Ang. Poet., No. 533, and priced at 77. 78. Another sold in Bindley's sale, pt. iv, No. 727, for 2l. 58. See Cens. Liter., vol. vi, p. 195. There was a copy in Brand's sale, No. 6677, to which no date was given, which sold for 17. 178. Another of a similar kind (probably the same copy) was sold in Mr. North's sale, pt. iii, No. 7010, for 2l. 1 is., to Mr. Perry, and at the dispersion of the library of the latter, pt. iii, No. 426, it became the property of Mr. Jolley for the same sum. The present copy is from the library of Sir Francis Freeling, bart., and is the one described in Fry's Bibliogr. Memoranda, 4to, p. 181. In Green Morocco, elegant, gilt leaves. PEACHAM, (HENRY.)-Minerva Britanna. Or a Garden of Heroical Devises, furnished, and adorned with Emblemes, and Impresas of sundry natures, Newly devised, moralized, and published, by Henry Peacham, Mr of Artes. London Printed in Shoe-lane at the signe of the Faulcon by Wa. Dight. (1612.) 4to. We have already noticed the works of one or two of our English emblematic writers; and we have here another volume of a similar character which deservedly claims our attention among the limited number of books of this kind by English authors. The title is within an elegant architectural compartment or tablet supported on two pillars, between which, in the centre, is an emblematical woodcut representing a hand issuing forth from a curtain in the act of writing, surrounded by a wreath of laurel entwined with a scroll on which is the motto, "Mente videbor Vivitur ingenio cœtera mortis erunt." At the top are two lights burning, and the motto "Ut aliis, me consumo." On the reverse of this is a large woodcut of the Prince's feathers, coronet, and motto, with the initials H.P., surrounded by the Rose and Thistle, with a Latin Epigram on the motto "Ich dien" underneath. On the next leaf is a dedication "To the Right High and Mightie Prince Henrie, eldest Sonne of our Soveraigne Lord the King, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Rothsay, and Knight of the most noble order of the Garter. In this Peacham says: It is now two yeares since I presented vnto your Highnes some of them (i.e., the Emblems) then done by me into Latine verse, with their pictures drawen and limned by mine owne hand in their liuely colours; wherein as neere as could, I obserued the Method of his Maiesties BASILICON DORON, but by reason of the great number I had since that, newly invented: with some others collected, (tieng my inuention to no one Subiect as before) I am here constrained as well of necessitie as for varietie sake, to intermixe (as it were promiscue) one with the other in one entire volume, the rather because of their affinitie and end, which is one and the self same, that is, the fashioning of a vertuous minde. I dare not discourse at large unto your Highnes, of the manifold Vse, Nature, Libertie, and ever esteemed Excellencie of this kind of Poesie: it being the rarest, and of all others the most ingenious, and wherein the greatest Princes of the world, many times haue most happily exercised their Invention: because I doubt not, but your Highnes already knoweth whatsoeuer I might speak herein. After this ensues a prose address from the author to the Reader; a Latin Poem to Prince Henry, by Peacham; and others to Peacham, in Latin, subscribed Tho. Hardingus, and Hannibal Vrsinus Neapolitanus; one in Italian by Giovan, Batista Casella; a sonnet in French by N. M. Fortnaius, and others in English by Tho. Heywood; Will Segar, Garter Principall King of Armes; and E. S. The emblems then commence, each occupying a page, and consisting of two six-line stanzas, with a neatly-engraved woodcut above surrounded by an elegant border with a motto in Latin at the top. Many of the emblems are inscribed to the king and other members of the royal family, to foreign monarchs, noblemen, ladies, and others of his friends and contemporaries, including one "To his Father, Mr. Henry Peacham of Leverton in Holland in the Countie of Linc." After the first one hundred emblems a new title occurs before the second part, with a woodcut of the royal arms in the centre, and a branch of palm and laurel on the sides encircled with the motto, "Princeps tibi crescit utrumque," on scrolls. This part is preceded by five seven-line stanzas, entitled "The Author to his Muse." At the end are five pages of verse in the octave stanza, containing "The Authors Conclusion." T |