The collection includes manuscripts in various European languages, dating from the sixteenth century to the twentieth. Most of them are, broadly speaking, of a literary, historical, or religious nature, but it is not easy to summarise the range of subjects they cover. They include, for instance, from the seventeenth century, notarial instruments in French relating to Charlotte de Beaune, an English translation of Den Spegel der Gherechticheit by Hendrik Niclaes of the so-called ‘Family of Love’, and a collection of English court poetry; from the eighteenth, papers on British trade, literary copyright, notorious criminals, and the French revolution; and from the nineteenth, a collection of papers and prints relating to the history of ballooning, items collected by Richard Burton on his travels, and a series of volumes recording the transactions of the Philobiblon Society.
Sin títuloOn the spine is stamped 'Rudd and Perreau: Original Documents'. For the contents see the separate descriptions.
Transcript
[In the margin:] Middlesex to wit
The Information of Margaret Rudd taken before Us this 17th. Day of March 1775
Who being upon Oath says that some few days before Tuesday the 7th. of March Instant Mr. Robert Perreau brought to her in Harley Street Cavendish Square a Bond for seven thousand five hundred Pounds from William Adair Esqr. to Robt. Perreau Esqr. ready filled up but not signed nor with any witnesses Names to it, that at the same time the said Robt. Perreau shewed to this Informant some Paper which seemed to this Informant to be a Letter on which was wrote the Name of William Adair asking this Informant if she could write any thing like that & saying that the Person who was to do it was out of Town or out of the Way & that he had no time to lose for that if he did raise the Money that he wanted upon that Bond he must lose his Life, that she desired him to leave the Paper & Bond with her which he did, that the same Day when Mr. Daniel Perreau came home she shewed the said Bond & Paper to him & told him of the Application Robt. Perreau had made to her, that the said Daniel Perreau begged she would do what Robert Perreau had desired her for that both his Life & his Brother’s Life depended upon having it done that from that time to Monday the 6th. of March Instant both the said Daniel Perreau & Robert Perreau made frequent applications to her to do it & so know whether she had done it, that at last on Monday Evening the 6th. of March Instant the said Daniel Perreau told this Informant that his Brother (meaning the said Robt. Perreau) had Occasion for Money the next day that he was sure Mr. Drummond wou’d advance him Money upon that Bond if it was signed & that if the Money was not obtained a Transaction would come out that would take away his Brother’s Life & might endanger his own, that she answered she would do any thing she could to save his Brother’s Life but begged him & conjured him on her Knees to spare her from doing that, that the said Danl. Perreau drew a Knife out of his Pocket & threatened to kill this Informant if she did not sign the said Bond for that his Brother must inevitably go to the Gallows & his own Life was in danger if that was not done, that under the Threats & Fears from the said Daniel Perreau she did accordingly sign the Name William Adair to the said Bond the said Daniel Perreau holding the said Knife over her Head in a menacing Manner whilst she did it, that she did not write the Names of the Witnesses which now appear to the said Bond, that the next Morning being Tuesday the 7th. of March Instant t[he] {1} said Robert Perreau came to the said House in Harley Street & asked fo[r] {1} the said Bond which was delivered to him & he took it away that she does not know directly or indirectly who wrote the Names of the Witnesses that now appear to the said Bond
Margt C. Rudd
Sworn before Us | March 17th. 1775
J Fielding
Sampn. Wright
—————
{1} Parts of these words are hidden where the document is pasted to the leaf of the volume.
(An earlier draft of the briefs on ff. 1-7.)
On the spine is stamped ‘M.S. Poetry of the 18th Century’. For the contents see the separate descriptions.
First line: ‘What fury, oh, thou wicked Bee’. A translation of Scott’s poem ‘In Apem quæ in E— B— aculeum fixerat’. See f. 16r below.
Motto: ‘Intermissæ Venus diu | Rursus Bella Moves. | Hor: ad Venerem | Od: 1ma. Lib: 4’. First line: ‘My little Lodge! tease me no more’. The anonymous author describes himself as being fifty-five years of age. References to Lord and Lady Hervey and to Fanny Feilding suggest that the lines were composed between 1723 and 1729.
—————
Transcript
Intermissæ Venus diu
Rursus {1} Bella moves.—
Hor: ad Venerem
Od: 1ma. Lib: 4
Edgecombe | to Mother Lodge {2}
1
My little Lodge! tease me no more
With promise of the finest Whore
That Condom e’re was stuck in:
Give Younger Men the Beauteous dame
Alas I’m past the amourous Flame
And must have done with F—ing
2
I’m not that Hero once you knew
When I the Tygress did Subdue
By Noble Feats of Vigor;
Why shou’d I now pretend to swive {3}
Mother, you know at fifty five
A Man can only Fr–g Her
3
Go to Sr. Paul that vigorous Knight
Equal in F—ing or in Fight;
Ready for each Encounter;
He can a Lady’s Cause defend
In Senates, when she needs a Friend,
Or he in Bed can mount her
4
He says an hundred tender things,
Is Generous, & gives Ruby Rings,
In Prowess never wanting:
To Opera’s He’ll take the Jades,
And F–ck them too—at Masquerades
Three times without disc–nting.
5
But Lodge, Cold Customers like me
Entirely lost to Gallantry,
I fear wou’d quickly Starve You;
I value not who’ere I toast,
Nor care a Rush which pleases most
Or Lord or Ly. Her—y
6
And yet what means my faultring Tongue,
Again I sigh, again am Young,
In dreams I found her yeilding:
Oh! were she so, in day time too,
Still cou’d I dangle still pursue,
My Charming Fanny Feilding {4}.
—————
{1} MS ‘Russus’, with ‘r’ added above the first ‘s’.
{2} Sally Lodge, a brothel-keeper, known as Mother Lodge. See A Genuine Epistle … to the late famous Mother Lodge (1735).
{3} MS ‘swire’, with ‘r’ underlined and ‘? v.’ in the margin.
{4} Probably Lady Fanny Feilding, daughter of the 4th Earl of Denbigh, who was said to have been ‘distinguished for her beauty and amiable manners’. She married Daniel, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham, in 1729 and died in 1734. See The Works of the English Poets, ed. A. Chalmers (1810), xvii. 589.
First line: ‘I’ll tell you a Story, a Story that true is’. A ballad, relating an imaginary dialogue between King George I and Bishop Atterbury, recently banished as a Jacobite conspirator.
—————
Transcript
I’ll tell you a Story, a Story that true is,
Concerning a Monarch whose name is George Lewis, {1}
And he is a Prince, & a Prince of great might,
Tho’ he cares not a half penny how be came by ’t.
More over good People a Story you’ll hear,
Concerning the Abbott of Westminster, {2}
And he is a Priest & a Priest of renown,
Tho’ now he is banish’d from fair London town. {3}
The King then to this Abbot he sent
And tax’d him with Treason against his Government,
And told him it was a most dangerous thing,
For a Priest to pretend to more sense than his King.
To the King then the Abbot would faine† have reply’d
Fore† surely the fact he would not have denyed
But the King bid him answer him questions three
Or his head should be Sever’d from his Body.
When I am seated on my royall Throne,
Surrounded by Kendal, {4} my Turks {5} & my Son, {6}
Trust up in my Robes, my Crown, & so forth
You must tell me directly how much I am worth
The Next without hesitation or doubt
How soon I may ride my Dominions throughout
The third Question you must not Shrink
But tell me truly on what I do think.
I need not set any Price on your Throne
The Abbot replyed, for it is none of your own,
But pay for the Stock, that your Whores & you bought.
And by just computation you’re not worth a groat.
The Next without hesitation or Doubt
How soon you may ride your Dominions throughout
Set out when Don Phœbus begins to Shine
And you’ll be out of Hanover eer you need dine.
Two questions resolved at the third I’ll not Shrink
But tell you directly on what you do think
Why now see his Highness coming in at the door
You think he’s not yours but the Son of a Whore
—————
{1} King George I.
{2} Francis Atterbury, Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Rochester.
{3} Atterbury was exiled by Parliament as a Jacobite conspirator in 1723. He left the country on 18 June.
{4} Melusine von der Schulenberg, one of the king’s mistresses. She was created Duchess of Kendal in her own right in 1719.
{5} Mustapha and Mahomet, the king's two favourite valets, taken captive during one of his Turkish campaigns (Dictionary of National Biography).
{6} The Prince of Wales, the future George II.
(i) ‘Jamaica in Miniature; or, a Collection of Impossibilities’, by Teresia Constantia Phillips.
First line: ‘When Beauty, Wit, and soft good nature’. For the attribution see Kathleen Wilson, The Island Race (2014), p. 157.
(ii) ‘Sequel’ (a continuation of the above), by Teresia Constantia Phillips?
First line: ‘When Study, Friendship and rewarded Merit’.
—————
Transcripts
Jamaica in Miniature; or, a Collection of Impossibilities.
When Beauty, Wit, and soft good nature,
Or Tongue unting’d with meanest Satire,
To Creole Women once belong,
Muse I’ll admit you’re in the wrong.
When John in sweet Behaviour is outdone,
Or G–bs–n by the Hope of Interest won.
When H–rr–s is to Black Dianna cold,
Or Speaker N–dh–m scorns the Love of Gold.
When Thoughts of Glory or his Country’s prize,
One Man-like Thought in H–mps–n’s {1} Soul can raise.
When aught that’s good in Ballard’s Story’s told,
Or Bessy to the Joys of Love grows cold.
When M–rk H–ll’s Wife’s unruly Members tired,
Or the poor Wretch with Wisdom is inspired.
When Archb–ld shall cease his Wife to prize,
Or Samms for Virtue you see cannonized.
When good Trel–wny all their Hearts can win.
Or James the third you see old England’s King.
When P–nny is no more his Friends delight,
Or Dr–per ceases to turn day to night.
When not one Scotchman in the Island’s found,
But modest Females in their room abound.
When Mother Ellis th’ Bawdry Trade gives o’er
Or in her House Intrigues are held no more.
When Master D–cky’s once with Wisdom tax’d
When B–ckf–rd {2} is afraid of Scandal’s Tongue,
Or cares who thinks him right or wrong.
When Patient Andrew once has learn’d to Spell,
Or D–ky B–th–rst {3} a true Story tell.
When Barnet’s Voice sweet Harmony Shall lose,
Or dirty B–ks a briming† Glass refuse.
When Kate the happy way to please has lost,
Or Bella one good Quality can boast.
When Andrew justly calls a man his Friend,
Or Sam for Hospitality commend.
When W–nter has no Scheme in view but one,
Or poor old Jacob is by play undone.
When Ch–rlt–n strives to please and striving fails.
Or H–rry D–wk–ns {4} against Whoring rails.
When Bl–r his Belly or a Rump forgets,
To ’s Friend is staunch or ever out of debt.
When Jack without his darling Pipe can rise,
Or Tom can aught above a Lac’d Coat prize.
When Pr–ce’s Fortune shall no Envy cause,
Or his best Action gain the least applause.
On Greenland Ice when you see Roses spring,
Or D–nn–s Kelly say a silly Thing.
When ill got gain can Mother Sharp affright,
Or H–rry N–dham can be unpolite.
When Mother Halsted’s Dancing days are done,
Or Wr–ght can be in Price’s praises dumb.
When Wh–t–h–am’s Jests are void of Ribaldry,
On Archer’s Ridge {5} shall Bees in Clusters fly.
In W–dst–ck’s lines when you no charm can see,
Or F–ll–r without low Brutality.
When Matt can please his Friends a second Hour,
Without repeating what he said before.
When Gr–g–ry to profit aught prefer,
Or fills with Approbation Justice Chair.
When M–rphy can his darling Play forbear,
Or Br–dy’s lookt upon a good Surveyor.
When Hay and Dick are in Marriage join’d,
Or St–w–rd’s Wife to Continence inclin’d.
When A–k–nh–d can live without Design,
Or aught to Gratitude his Heart incline.
Whene’er he moves but for the vilest ends,
Or to delude or to betray his Friends.
When P–le nor Avarice nor Eating Loves,
And by his Living his pure Morals proves.
Then we may hope to see the World amend,
And Men of Sense shall at his Lectures tend.
——
Sequel
When Study, Friendship and rewarded Merit,
Polite Behaviour or a Publick Spirit,
When this you see be sure our grateful Muse,
In noblest Flights shall Commendation use.
When Chill {6} unsteady to his purpose proves,
Or quits the Interest of the Man he Loves.
When Honour, Truth or Courage can be found,
In little Provost’s Selfish, mean Compound.
When empty Words can strengthen a Debate,
The Fees of Gordon’s sure to meet their Fate.
When Briscoe shall no more his Swearers vex,
With Words obscure, or a Discourse perplex’d.
When ought moves Andrew but his Country’s good,
Or Jeaks’s Puns for Wit are understood.
When Knowles is Bullied into mean Submission
Or bends for Favour to the Coallition†.
Whenere the Hero, Signs of Fear shall show,
Hibbert & Bayly shall turn Kingston’s Foe.
When Manning shall disown the People’s Cause,
Or hope for a Reward but their applause.
When gentle Cargil gives Mankind Offence,
Or Hicks grows Famous as {7} a Man of Sense.
When no more Parties in this Isle you see,
Or Beech ill-natured or ill-bred can be.
When prating Webley talks of Law or Sense,
Tom Edwardes shall Philosopher commence.
When Artful Fearon ought shall enterprize,
But what shall tend himself to aggrandize.
When Hay begins to lead an Holy Life,
Or Woodcock lives to kill another Wife.
When Tom forgets the Beau and once turns Sage,
Rogers dull Life may fill up half a Page.
When out of Character brave Cotes is seen,
Or losing Game is played by Dan Mc.Queen.
When John is Summoned to account with Heaven,
For the fair Talents by his Maker given,
Can heaps of Gold attone† for the misuse,
Or Heaven be bribed to pardon the abuse.
When humble Reason fills poor Bessy’s Head,
Then Hymen’s Torch shall light her to her Bed.
When Dowell speaks but by the Grammar’s Rule,
We may forget he has gone to School.
When Foster March an Hippocrite shall turn,
Edwardes no more shall be the People’s scorn
When Charles & Jane in Marriage Bonds are bound,
Or one just Action in Venn’s whole Life is found.
When little Wallin for his Wit is prized {8}
Old Jones and Whiting shall be Cannonized
Who the poor Puppies would have sacrifised
When Gordon’s Soul Humanity shall learn,
Fanny’s good sense shall lose the power to Charm
When Ned Morant {9} gives ore the Love of Change,
Or the Uncurious Pinnock likes to range.
When artful Taylor a bad Bargain make,
Or poor old Hume {10} his Bottle shall forsake.
When Morse turns Candidate for Singing Clerk,
Or the Sky falls then we may catch a Lark,
When White does ought that Merits just Applause,
Nelly’s fair Form shall no more Envy cause.
In am’rous Flames when you see Gregory burn
Then Prin to some significance shall turn
When Fuller’s Coat will no more bear a turning
For Dead Hypocricy we’ll put on Mourning.
When Clarke’s no more the Favourite of the Fair,
Or makes the Vulgar World his smallest Care.
When Taafe from Pride of Folly shall be free,
Whole Troops of Female Converts you shall see.
When Dawkins shall his soft good nature lose,
When Stott’s Chaste Wife with evil Fame is tainted
Or Harry Lord’s for Virtue shall be Sainted
When Guy’s Amours are in oblivion laid,
Or Miss shall lose the fire of her Head.
When this you see chaste fair ones have a Care,
You may be sure that Doomsday’s drawing near
The Sun shall back on its own Axis turn,
And all beneath the No[r]thern Pole shall burn.
—————
{1} Probably Sir George Hampson, 5th Baronet (d. 1754), or his son Sir George Francis Hampson, 6th Baronet (1731–1774). See Debrett’s Baronetage.
{2} Underlined in pencil, with a dash in the margin.
{3} Underlined in pencil. Richard Bathurst (1722/3–1762), physician and writer.
{4} Henry Dawkins (1728–1814), plantation and slave owner and politician. He was resident in Jamaica from about 1751 to 1759. See History of Parliament and ODNB.
{5} A ridge of hills between Sixteen Mile Walk (now in the parish of St Catherine) and St Mary’s. See Sir Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christopher’s, and Jamaica (1707), vol. i, pp. lxx, 74, 84, 86, 97, 99.
{6} The reading of the initial is uncertain.
{7} Interlined above a caret, after ‘for’, struck through.
{8} This line and the next two are braced on the right to ‘7:7’. The significance of these numbers is unclear.
{9} Edward Morant (1730–1791), the proprietor of substantial estates in Jamaica. He left the island for England in 1759. See History of Parliament, 1754–1790.
{10} Or ‘Hearne’?
† Sic.
(i) Verses addressed to George Cheyne, by John Wynter.
Headed ‘Dr Winter to Dr Cheney.’ First line: ‘Tell me from whom fat headed Scot’.
(ii) A reply to the above, by George Cheyne.
Headed ‘Dr Cheney’s answer.’ First line: ‘My System Doctor’s all my own’.
(iii) ‘A List of the Right Honourable The Earl of Kinneul’s Retinue received on board his Majesty’s Ship the Torrington | October the 30th 1729’ (author unknown).
In prose.
First line: ‘Lord: what indouments are inherent’. The lines refer satirically to King George II.
—————
Transcript
Lord: what indouments {1} are inherent
In King and Queen and Heir apparent
The second George like Magpye walks
And like that bird great C—e talks
Farr greater is the prince’s merritt
Who both these Virtues doos inheritt
Ancient and Modern Witts extoll
The Goose that saved the Capittole
But Magpyes are reservd by Fate
To Save Brittanias Sinking State
which no body can deney
—————
{1} endowments.
First line: ‘Oh! quis te furor aut malignus error’.
Headed ‘Ad D.D. Gul. Bennettum de Grubbet, Equitem, De Morte D.D. Gul. Scot de Thirlestane, Equestris itidem Ordinis, qui obiît Edini 8vo Octobris M D CCXXV. Jo. Kerrus.’ First line: ‘Mi Bennette, tuus jacet Sodalis’. Followed by detailed notes in Latin.
Headed ‘An Imitation of the Latin Poem on the Death of Sir William Scot of Thirlestane.’ First line: ‘Bennet, the Muses Ornament, and Friend’. This imitation is in the same hand as the original.
First line: ‘The Wrath of a desperate Monarch I sing’. A satire on King George II.
—————
Transcript
The Wrath of a desperate Monarch I sing
And the Wrath of a Monarch’s a desperate thing
Whole Nations it throws into Sorrow and Tears
And make even Kings outride Monsieur Bannieres {1}
’Twas this made the Prussian so saucy to think
He could swallow great George as easy as drink
His Troop of Golia’s he sends down in a Rage
But George was no David such Troops to engage
For George rousing up not his Courage but cunning
Thought in fight he might loose but cou’d beat ’em at running
To Horse then he sounds and from H—r {2} steals
When he cant shew his Head shews a fair pair of Heels
When arrived where he safely his Passion might Vent
In famed London City his Fury he Spent
Where now with more justice his mighty name rings
For nicking of Sashes than bullying of Kings
Poor Prince you much better had spared the poor City
Which was once the Worlds Envy but now is their Pity
But George when for Plunder he found ’em too poor
Broke window when owner had long broke before
Some Hundreds of pounds will not mend ’em its known
Now G— thow lov’st Money lay down but a Crown
The publick shall mend all the Windows you broke
Thus you’ll please the whole Nation & pay for your joke
—————
{1} Courrier du cabinet of the Court of France. See e.g. The Political State of Great Britain, xxxvi. 465 (Nov. 1728).
{2} Probably Hanover.
First line: ‘From easing females in their pain’. The title refers to the knighting of the queen’s physician David Hamilton in 1703.
(i) Untitled verses (author unknown).
First line: ‘But O! litle George thou struttest in vain’. A satire on King George II and Queen Caroline.
(ii) Untitled verses (author unknown).
First line: ‘Since England was England, sure never was seen’. A satire on King George II and Queen Caroline.
—————
Transcripts
But O! litle George thou Struttest in vain,
For this is not thine, but Q— Carolines Reign:
And thou govern’st England, as Phillip do’s Spain.
Then Strike a bold Stroke, as thy Dad did before thee,
Shut up thy fat Spouse, and we all shall adore thee.
——
Since England was England, Sure never was Seen,
So Strutting a K— and So prating a Q—.
But I cou’d o’erlook George’s green Velvet coat,
His feather, tho yellow, and dangling Sword knot;
Nay I cou’d forgive his masking with Polly,
His tawdry Reviews, and the rest of his Folly:
But his army and Fleets, and his Senators vile,
That disgrace and oppress this once happy Isle:
He’s So fond of his Knight, and his Knight of our Coyn,
And to ruin us all his Courtiers combine
That {1} We cant keep our pence and the Hanover Line.
—————
{1} Omitted by mistake, and added in the margin.
First line: ‘No joy I in these peaceful Shades can find’.
—————
Transcript
The Complaint …
No joy I in these peaceful Shades can find,
Their Gloom adds Sorrow to my tortur’d Mind;
There† flow’ry Borders Seem no longer Sweet,
And the Gay Birds in vain their Songs repeat;
That Brook which o’er the Pebbles murmurs by,
I with my Tears continually Supply;
And when the Sparkling Stars I chance to see,
Ask, if there is not one a Friend to me?
But cruel as they are, they all conspire
To curse my Being with a hopeless Fire,
And doom me thus in Absence to deplore
The Loss of every Joy I knew before:
For thus Secluded from the Sight of Thee,
The Universe is all a Blank to me;
Yet I with Patience will my Lot endure,
Till Death to all my Grief Shall bring a Cure;
For in a Region far above the Skies
A Realm of Joy and endless Pleasure lies,
Those happy Climes my drooping Soul will chear,
And yield that Peace which is deny’d me hear†.
—————
† Sic.
First line: ‘With other Countrymen, one Day’. For the attribution see the Dictionary of National Biography, under Charles Hamilton.
(i) Untitled verses (author unknown).
Three eight-line stanzas. First line: ‘To daunten me to daunten me’.
(ii) Untitled verses, by Henry Birkhead (adapted by another writer?).
In Latin. First line: ‘Dum Capitolinæ reservassem Nubila Turres’. The variations from the printed version are probably later alterations.
(iii) ‘Epitaph upon Moliere’ (author unknown.
In French. First line: ‘’Cy git Celuy qui parut dans la Scene’.
(iv) Untitled verses, by Archibald Pitcairne (adapted by another writer?).
In Latin. First line: ‘Tellurem statuere Dii, sua littora Belgæ’. The variations from the printed version are probably later adaptations.
—————
Transcripts
1
To daunten me to daunten me
I thought nothing cou’d daunten me
When I was wanton young and free
I thought nothing cou’d daunten me
But Eighty eight and Eighty nine
And all the weary years since syne
With sicknes age and poverty
Alace have o’r sair daunten’d me.
2
Seck was the drink in fortie nyne
When Presbitry had right Divine
And now again the time is come
When all our drink is Seck and Mum
And so into the chair we see
Is mounted Mr. John Presbitry
And banish’d is all Christian Liquor
With Bishop, Curate, Dean, & Vicar.
3
Claret’s the only liquor can
Be said to chear the Heart of Man
And when a better sett of Starrs
Shall put a right end to our Wars
Then banish’d shall be Seck and Mum
And every thing that breeds humdrum
And with good claret we shall see
Restor’d our Prince and Prelacy.
——
Dum Capitolinæ reservassem Nubila Turres,
Ausæ prærupta pandere Jura Polo;
Paruit Oceanus Tibri, subservijt Urbi
Orbis: Cultricem Dij coluere suam.
Ab Dijs condi vulgare; Hæc gloria major,
Ponere Jura Dijs, quam posuisse Deos.
——
Epitaph upon Moliere
’Cy git Celuy qui parut dans la Scene
Le Sienge de la Vie Humain
Qui n’aura jamais son egale.
Mais se jouant de la Mort, ainsi que de la Vie
Elle trouva si belle sa copie
Q’elle en fit un originall.
——
Tellurem statuere Dij, sua littera Belgæ,
Immensæque fuit molis uterque labos:
Dij vacuo sparsas glomerarunt æthere terras,
Nil ubi, quod ceptis posset obesse, fuit.
At Belgis maria, et cæli, naturaque rerum
Obsidit; Obstentos sic domuere Deos.
First line: ‘We of Oxford the Chancellour, and his Vice-Can:’. The lines are probably addressed to King George I or II.
—————
Transcript
We of Oxford the Chancellour, and his Vice-Can: {1}
With the Doctours and Masters, Send a poor Servingman
With orders to give you, Sir, to understand,
That a letter Sign’d George is Safe come to hand;
Which having been over and over perus’d,
Your Present was near upon being refus’d.
But after a grave and maturer debate
Came at length to agree (one and all had been better)
To take it, and Seeme thus to thank you by letter.
This done, Sir, we hope you are herewith content;
Since farther then this by us nothing is meant.
Our mind we Speake plain without flattering Preamble
Not Skill’d like our Sister Cambridge to dissemble.
We Scorn to professe the least loyal affection
To one who against our Will gives us protection.
Neither wish we, nor pray we for Princes at home,
Having Sent all our prayers & wishes to Rome.
Assure yourself therefore you always Shall find,
We ever Shall hate you, be you ever So kind.
In token whereof our names we conceal:
But Send you these presents under our Seal.
—————
A few abbreviations have been expanded.
{1} i.e. vice-cancellarius, vice-chancellor.
First line: ‘I am a Saucy Scribler lately Come from france’.
—————
Transcript
I am a Sauc’y Scribler lately Come from france
for Laurall or for Pilory Ile write and Take my Chance
And a Scribleing I will go &c’
In hopes of Some Preferment a way to Court I flew
And Laughed to hear the Q— Taulk of things She Never Knew
And a Taulkeing &c’
The Next Unto the Q— Stood grave Sr {1} P K—g
More Sable than the Black jock the Maids of Honour Sing
when a jocking they do go &c’
Then Stood the P—ce and P—ces and D–ke that Merry Blade
who wishes all his Sisters wedd, and all their fortunes payed
for he cares Not were they go &c’
I should have Named the K— first but why the Reason’s plaine
The women ware the Breeches In England, france, and Spaine,
And to Cou–cel they do go &c’
Sr Ro—ts gone to Norfolk with Many Nobles More
The Nation’s Left in Mourning whilst he Keeps Open Door
And a Begging whe do go &c’
—————
{1} Reading uncertain.
First line: ‘’Tis not the splendour of the Place’.
Ten six-line stanzas. First line: ‘Come follow, follow me’. At the top is written in a different hand: ‘Some slight variations from Percy’s text. Stanzas 9 and 10 added.’