which he actually accomplished in 1815 *. This was indeed a prime treat to the amateurs of first editions and vellum copies. It consisted of only 830 articles, and produced 84321.; upwards of 10l. per article, a result unprecedented in the annals of booksales! At this sale the far-famed Bedford Missal passed, April 11, 1815, by the hammer of Mr. Evans, from his possession, to that of the Marquis of Blandford, for 6871. 15s. This important event was a very great relief to himself and his friends, who fondly hoped that some years might still be added to his life. But his disorder had taken too firm a root; and, though he lived several months after in great apparent tranquillity, the thread of life was fatally cut on the 2d of January, 1816, at the age of 59. His firm mind being wholly unappalled at the prospect of death, which he knew was fast approaching, he gave the necessary directions for his funeral, desiring that his coffin might be made out of some of the strong shelves of his Library; and breathed his last sigh with the true fortitude of a Christian, leaving a widow and five children, the eldest little more than six years old, to lament their irreparable loss. Three nights only before his death, he expressed a desire that his youngest boy (then only four years old) might be a Bookseller; and named Mr. Payne as the person and friend to whom he wished to confide him. His monument in Harrow Church is thus inscribed:

"In memory of JAMES EDWARDS, Esquire, of LONDON, Well known to the learned and ingenious of the age in which he lived, as one of the most eminent Collectors and Booksellers in Europe. To his skilful research and liberal spirit of enterprise, his country is indebted for the rarest specimens, Biblical and Classical, of the Typographic Art. By his zealous activity in his profession, he exhausted the treasures of Foreign Cabinets to enrich the stores of the Scholar and the Man of Taste in his native Land. He was a most affectionate Husband and Father; a kind, sincere, and useful Friend; and in all the transactions and relations of life, a man of unblemished integrity. Happy in a temper always serene and cheerful, his manners were frank, courteous, and benevolent: His faith in the Gospel was firm: His piety ardent and uniform: His resignation perfect: His life was Praise, and his death Peace.-Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. Psalm xxxvii. verse xxxvii.”

See a full account of this Sale in Mr. Dibdin's "Bibliographical Decameron," vol. III. pp. 111-126; also, Gent. Mag. vol. LXXXV. part. I. pp. 135, 254, 349.

*.* In the Memoirs of the WOLLASTONS, "Illustrations," vol. I. pp. iv, and 169, r." Henry-John Wollaston." In the Plate, and p. 169, r. " Rev. W. Wollaston," not " Esq." P. 834. Col. William Wollaston's epitaph, and that of Dr. Frederick Wollaston's first wife, are at Finborough, not Shenton. Ibid. 1. 30, r. "Peakirk with Glinton ;" and 1. 44, r. “assiduos." · P. 835. 1. 29, F. W. Wollaston was Colonel in the 22d Light Dragoons, not the 2d.-L. 38, r. " Rector of Paston."

GEORGE SIMON Earl of HARCOURT to Mr. GOUGH. Nuneham Courtenay, Dec. 31 1805.

"SIR,

"Will you have the goodness to pardon the liberty I am going to take in applying to you for information, which cannot be so satisfactorily obtained from any other person? at least, I shall never think what I wish to have done will be done correctly, unless I can be favoured with your directions. In a word then, Sir, I am desirous to place an Inscription upon the monument of my ancestor, Sir William de Harcourt, who died an. 1209, and is buried in the Cathedral of Worcester, which monument is now repairing, with the assistance of the Dean, who is so obliging as to superintend that work, and he informs me, that the figure having been sponged with water only, the colour of the surcoat appears so visible, that the whole may be restored to its original state; which I have directed to be done. The figure lies upon a low base of brick-work, now faced with free-stone, and the former having decayed, on examination it was found to be hollow, and the Dean informs me that the body was inclosed therein; but whether any hones or other substance were discovered, he does not say. Upon the face of this tomb I wish to have inscribed the following words, Sir William de Harcourt, son of Sir Robert de Harcourt, and Isabel de Camville, an. 1209;' but I cannot be reconciled to the idea of a modern English inscription, upon so antient a monument; and although I have consulted your magnificent, elaborate, and instructive work, I cannot satisfy myself whether the inscription ought to be in Latin, or in French, in the Saxon, or in the Gothic character, nor how the several words ought to be spelt, nor whether the name of Camville ought to be written with the double lle, or in the more ancient manner, with a single only.

"Though ashamed to add to the length of this letter, I will, notwithstanding, take the liberty of informing you, that with the assistance of the MS. notes of A. Wood, I have been enabled to restore a monument in Stanton Harcourt Church, of the 14th century, which, although by tradition, I knew it to be one of my ancestors, I should not have been able to ascertain to which of them it belonged, had he not preserved the blazoning upon the shields, which I directed should be restored, and that the figure upon the monument should be merely cleaned, not imagining that any colours remained beneath the coat of dirt, which, by time and damps had collected upon it; but, to my surprise and satisfaction, I learned that the colours beneath were so little impaired (as appeared after the simple application of wet sponges), that there would not be the least difficulty to renew them. The figure lies on a low altar-tomb, beneath a low arch, on the North side of the chancel, in the above-mentioned Church. The inside of the arch is damasked with a sort of crimson, on a white ground. On the front of the tomb are four shields, bearing

* See the "Literary Anecdotes," vol. VI. p. 323.

Harcourt

Harcourt impaling Grey of Rotherfield, Grey single, Harcourt single, and Marmion. The figure which represents Maud, daughter of Robert Lord Grey of Rotherfield, by his second wife, Anne, daughter of John Lord Marmion, and wife of Sir Thomas Harcourt, who died anno 1417, is in a scarlet mantle, with three rows of ermine at the top; the same round the top of the kirtle, and upon the cuffs; mantle lined with ermine likewise; mitten sleeves, and reticulate ! head-dress. I have omitted to add, that the arms of Harcourt impaling Grey, are upon this lady's kirtle, and that the blue part of the latter coat only is damasked.

"I fear this description is miserably unscientific, but as I know not how to send a better, you must excuse my ignorance, as I flatter myself you also will the trouble I have given, and the liberty I have taken. I shall be in London the end of this week, where, if you should be so obliging as to attend to my troublesome request, a letter will find me. I am, Sir, "Your most faithful humble servant,

To the Earl of HARCOURT.

HARCOURT."

"MY LORD, Enfield, Jan. 16, 1806. "Though my reading does not furnish me with many instances of monuments which have retained their original inscriptions in the short and obscure period of the 18th century; yet presuming them all to have been couched in the Lombardic capitals, like that of Sir Robert de Vere in Essex; Humez the last Norman Abbot of Westminster; Sir William de Tracy, at Morthoe, Devon, the second patronage of which belonged to Sir William de Camville, and rather, according to the conjecture of the late Dean Milles, to a Rector (of the name of Tracy) of this Church in King Henry III.; Bishop Gravesend, &c. The French language may have been for the Laity, and Latin for the Clergy. Under these impressions, I submit the inclosed Inscription to your Lordship, as appropriate for the monument of your Ancestor in Worcester Cathedral, which I had the satisfaction of viewing last summer. I am, my Lord,

"Your Lordship's obedient humble servant, R. GOUGH." JCY GYST SPR GUILLAUM DE HAKCDART FPS ROBART DE HARCDURT ET DE JSABELL DE CAMPUFLE.

*A Letter from Thomas Kirke, Esq. [see p. 72] to Henry Davenant, Esq. the English Minister at Ratisbon, is preserved in the British Museum (Ayscough's Catalogue, p. 216); one to Sir Hans Sloane in 1694 (p. 776); and "A Diaolgue between the Ghost of Thomas Kirke, de Cookridge, Esq. and the Rev. Milo Gale, Rector de Kighley, July 4, 1706." (p. 844.)

Epitaph in the chancel of Barrow Church, Suffolk :
"Near this place is interred the body of
the Rev. GEORGE ASHBY *, B. D. and F. S. A.
Rector of this Parish,

Son of Edmund Ashby (by Elizabeth Judith, daughter
of Robert Lock of Dinton, in Wiltshire),
of an ancient Leicestershire Family,
who was born 5 Dec. 1724,

and died 12 June, 1808.

He was for many years President of St. John's College, Cambridge, by which Society he was presented to this Living in 1774, and in 1780 attained, by the friendship of Dr. Ross, Bp. of Exeter, the Rectory of Stansfield in Suffolk.

For some years previous to his death he had the misfortune to become blind, but, as a Critical Scholar and an Antiquary, he left many lasting testimonials of superior abilities. Mrs. HANNAH ASHBY, Sister of the Rev. G. A. died 1 May, 1805, aged 79.

"Thomas Lyns, of Barrow, the constant companion and amanuensis of the Rev. G. Ashby, for the space of 28 years, and at last his testamentary heir, with all respect and gratitude inscribes this marble to his memory."

P. 242. The Rev. Balthazar Gardeman was presented to the Vicarage of Coddenham, Suffolk, in 1689-90, by Nicholas Bacon, Esq. whose widow he married.-His tomb is thus inscribed:

"Near this place, behind the altar, lies interred
the body of the Reverend BALTHAZAR GARDEMAN,
who was near fifty years Minister of this Parish.
He was born at Poitiers in France;
but chose to reside in England on account
of the great persecution of the Protestants
in that Country.

He married the Lady Catherine Bacon, Relict of
Nicholas Bacon, of Shrubland Hall, Esq.
and daughter of the first Earl of Sandwich.
God blessed him with an ample fortune,
with which he did very considerable acts
of charity and beneficence.

He made very large donations to this parish,
buying the great tithes, and giving them to the Living;
And also two great farms, which amount
in all to the value of above 170l. per ann.
He was learned, pious, and charitable;
exemplary in his life and conversation;
dear to the clergy, to the poor, and to his friends;
but to his wife an inexpressible loss,
with whom he had lived many years
in the utmost love and harmony.

* See the "Literary Anecdotes," vol. VII. pp. 13. 105.

He

He dyed in his 84th year, December the 19th, 1739.
Near the same place lies interred

the said LADY CATHERINE GARDEMAN,
who departed this life Jan. 17, 1757,
aged 95 years, 4 months.

She built a School-house,

and founded a School in this parish, for 15 poor boys and 15 poor girls, endowing it with a salary of 201. per annum, payable for ever out of the rents of lands in Mendlesham; the remainder to be distributed amongst the poor

of this parish by trustees appointed for that purpose." P. 333. Mr. Potter is thus noticed by Lady Harvey, in a Letter to the Rev. Edward Marsh, dated Nov. 21, 1747: "Mr. Potter the Lawyer is a second Pitt, I hear, for fluency of words: he spoke well and bitterly, but with so perfect an assurance, so unconcerned, so much master of himself, though the first session of his being in parliament, and the first time of his opening his mouth there, that it disgusted more than it pleased.

"Mr. Potter was Secretary to Frederick Prince of Wales, who was then in the most decided opposition to his Father's Government; and Mr. Potter's speech was, for those days, extremely violent. Mr. Pelham, offended by a portrait of a Minister which Potter was drawing, called the young gentleman to order; but the interruption, as usual, only made the matter worse, for Mr. Potter turned the interruption into an appropriation of the picture, and acknowledgment of the likeness. Potter was afterwards, I believe, Secretary in Ireland; and was mixed in the ministerial intrigues of 1756-7, in the course of which he obtained the office of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland; but held it only for a year or two."

P. 354. "The Rev. William Smith, of Mendhamn, near Harkston, Norfolk, Reader of the Chapel in that town, and Rector of Homersfield and St. Cross, in Suffolk, communicated notes to Dr. Grey, the learned Editor of Butler's Hudibras. This ingenious gentleman assisted Sir Thomas Hanmer also in his Edition of Shakspeare.-The Rev. John Smith, his youngest son, the late worthy Rector of Mattishall, Norfolk, died in April 1803." Gillingwater's Bury St. Edmund's, p. 195. In St. Cross Church is the following Epitaph:

"WILLIAM SMITH, A. M. formerly Fellow
of St. John's College, Cambridge;

afterwards Rector of this Church, and Homersfield.
He departed this life April 22, 1767, in his 77th year,
Four infant sons are deposited in the same grave.”

END OF VOLUME IV.

Printed by John Nichols and Son, 25, Parliament street.

HM