for employment of these works, extend it in some smaller way by engaging a few of their neighbouring labourers, in doing acts of similar work in their garden grounds and fields, in hedging, ditching, and fencing-and if it were not altogether quite necessary, yet they would esteem it well spent at such a time, that they had thus contributed to soften the hardness of complaint, and ameliorate in some degrée the coudition of their poorer neighbours would they not inwardly rejoice if they could thus see themselves instrumental in " making the forest blossom as the rose?" It is thus, that in the hardest times and seasons, the poor need never despair of help, nor the rich be destitute of the sources of employment for them: it is thus that their mutual dependence is maintained; and that the spirit of Christianity may be exemplified amongst us, so that we need not hear of any "complaining in our streets." A. H. lettres, from those lerned men. Oh that I were acquainted with that learned Vossius! he might haply Centuriarum* quarundam mearu' obscuritates illustrare Vossiana face, et lacunas adimplere è fonte suo. I desire you lend me your Daylee touching the Fathers. I hope by the means of a neighbour gentleman, who understands some French, to aime at his meaning; it shall be faithfully and safely returned with thanks, that or any other treatise you send me. Mr. Laton shall undertake and be my pledge. I have Philip de Comines in French, which you shall have, if you like it. Good Sir, accept of this smai token minutam sed (apud nos) meliuris notæ mo netam, this halfe crowne in King Edwarde's coin; accept it as benevolentiæ tesseram. donian, page 197, in my Lord's coppie, Good Sir, instead of Nestorian, put Mace committing you to God's gracious protection,' I rest your truly affectionate friend, "SIMON BIRCKBECK. your owne, and Mr. Steward's.-Thus "Forcet, this xxth of Nove'ber, 1634," Touching this said Simon Birckbeck, I find the following entries in the Parish Register of Forcett: "Bridgett, wife of Mr. Simeon Birbeck, vicar of Gilling, buryed 6 Feb. 1644. "Mr. Simon Birbeck, vicar of Gilling and Forcett, buried 14 Sep. 1656." As I am am now old, and others have taken in haud to put forth my Athenæ Oxon. de novo, who are in everie point equal to the task, I shall from time to time give my Editors an assisting band by your means. I have lately had an opportunity of perusing divers original letters, fairly penned, and neatly pasted into sundry folios, which make marvellous additions to my Athenæ, but at present I am sore let by the heaviness in my head, occasioned, as my Diary, at p. 7, will tell you, by Mutton, a horse belonging to Thos. the Univer sity carrier, which rode over me as he was going to be watered, and bruised my head very much indeed. I am, good Mr. Urban, Your verie good friend, ANTH. A WOOD. 38 On Relief and Employment of the Poor. with warmer suns, and thus vindi- Letter from A. à W [Jan. gment of these work at some smaller way Tales of their neighbou , ia doing acts of their garden grou edging, ditching, -aida were not alt sary, yet they pent at such a tad thus contribute W dess of complain home degree the fter piorer neighb 425 301 inwardly rej St tas see themsel "making tac tade rove at in the harde need of calling forth the otherwise dor- On such a subject, the season which now presents itself, affords topics for enlargement :-In taking a brief survey of the various climates of the earth, we find the doctrine verified wherever we stray; the volcanic eruptions themselves are not exempt from the effects of that diffusion of good which Providence every where scatters with unsparing bounty-the, barren land is taught to smile by exciting the necessarily increased efforts of cultivation; and when we return home, and contemplate around us the competitions of poverty and industry; opulence and power; we see them so wisely intermingled, and so benevolently exercised, that one seems but to hold his extended opportunities, as a trust, for the more limited means of subsistence or enjoyment. The more severe the changes of weather may be, the more have we seen the spirit of beneficence prevail; compassion no longer remains quiescent as a sentiment to adorn the modern system of sympathetic education, but is happy exemplified in deeds of charity old dependencies, which during the past tranquillity of ease and prosperity have been noticed only with complacency, have now been sought out, and aided by effectual relief-even former animosities have been forgotten, and given place to Christian conciliation-and the hand, hitherto withdrawn, has been stretched forward with promptitude, and loaded with the proffered gift! The commemoration of the nativity and the epoch of a new year, has been greeted in every Society and Club with voluntary contributions for its poorer members — and the festivities of the rich and powerful have been accompanied with appropriate comforts to the dependent collagers! --- are poor *or the rich be s of empley that their Raintained; an instianity may ist us, so the compla The remarks, zbe submitted If the Corma of the Bou ing low and watery lands-making Whenever we can apply any of these stations to ourselves, we reap some satisfaction in the hope that we have extended our usefulness in society as well as our best efforts :That all should succeed so effectually as to obliterate the claim of the poor, or to remove for ever the cry of the destitute, is a chimerical notion, which will never be realised in human affairs; for on the contrary, ployment, individuals may, besides for 1820.] Letter from A. à Wood relative to Birckbeck. for employment of these works, extend it in some smaller way by engaging a few of their neighbouring labourers, in doing acts of similar work in their garden grounds and fields, in hedging, ditching, and fencing-and if it were not altoge ther quite necessary, yet they would esteen it well spent at such a time, that they had thus contributed to soften the hardness of complaint, and ameliorate in some degree the condition of their poorer neighbours would they not inwardly rejoice if they could thus see themselves instrumental in making the forest blossom as the rose?" It is thus, that in the hardest times and seasons, the poor need never despair of help, nor the rich be destitute of the sources of employment for them: it is thus that their mutual dependence is maintained; and that the spirit of Christianity may be exemplified amongst us, so that we need not hear of any "complaining in our streets." A. H. P.S. These remarks, or some of them, may be submitted to the attention of the Committee for the Protection of the Houseless and Indigent. Mr. URBAN, my "Athenæ Oxon," I noted some few particulars touching Simon Birckbeck, some time vicar of Gilling and curate of the Chapel of Forcet near Richmond in Yorkshire, I send you herewith the Inscription engraven upon his tomb in Forcet Charch, which, for brevity's sake, I then passed by, and also a Letter by our author to Dr. Isaac Basire, chap lain to my Lord of Durham. "Hic.jacet. lettres, from those lerned men. $9 Oh that I were acquainted with that learned Vos- me. desire you lend me your Daylee touching Touching this said Simon Birckbeck, I find the following entries in the Parish Register of Forcett : Bridgett, wife of Mr. Simeon Birbeck, vicar of Gilling, buryed 6 Feb. 1644. "Mr. Simon Birbeck, vicar of Gilling and Forcett, buried 14 Sep. 1656." I As I am now old, and others have taken in haud to put forth my Athena in everie Oxon. de novo, who are Jan. 1. point equal to the task, I shall from time to time give my Editors an assisting band by your means. have lately had an opportunity of perusing divers original letters, fairly penned, and neatly pasted into sundry folios, which make marvellous additions to my Athenæ, but at present I am sore let by the heaviness in my head, occasioned, as my Diary, at p. 7, will tell you, by Mutton, a horse belonging to Thos. ......, the Univer sity carrier, which rode over me as he was going to be watered, and bruised my head very much indeed. I am, good Mr. Urban, Your verie good friend, ANTH. A WOOD. Simon. Birckbeck. 1656." "Ty the worshipful his much-respected Sir, I thanke you heartily for your of that work, which he will also find mentioned in Censura Literaria, vol. III. 252; with the title-page of which, as there given, mine exactly agrees, but not the number, or mode of reckoning the pages, so as to indicate its having consisted of two volumes in one, pp. 144, and 110. For mine is in one volume, lettered on the back, Secret History, vol. I. but imperfectly; the ends of the words and figures apparently cut or rubbed out, and the whole over other words erased, the impression of which remains. It is paged throughout in three successive series of eighty each, one of sixty-four, another of eighty, and the last of one hundred and ten; which finishes the book, without any notice of “the tragical history of the Stuarts" aunexed. Neither does this division of the pages correspond with one that there is of the Letters also, of which the work consists. The first series of which ends with Letter LXXIII. of King Charles II.'s Death,' at page 23 of the last series, of eighty pages, and in the middle of a sheet; Letter 1. of the second series, beginning on the opposite side of the same leaf; so that it could not have been divided into two parts there: and if, as seems to have been the case, the second part did consist of the last 110 pages, where, however, there is again no suitable division in the contents of the Work (it being between two Letters, both relating to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes). The first part in my copy contains 384 pages, instead of 144. The editor of " Censura Literaria" observes: "It has been remarked, that Coke's, and Daniel Jones's Volumes (who, in his Preface, speaks of his own as a necessary supplemental part to the former, and from the appearance of the defaced lettering, I suspect my copy to have been bound in a set together, with some other, as well as to Sir William Temple's Memoirs) —contain a sort of secret history, engaging to an Eng lishman, naturally inquisitive,curious, and greedy of scandal." Of which certainly some curious specimens might be selected; one of the Letters is of Mrs. Carewell's coming into England," not immediately to be recognized, as the family name of the Duchess of Portsmouth; but any further information respecting it, or, through you, the loan of the book your itself, I should be happy to offer Correspondent for his own satisfac tion. And if the Canter. editions of the Greek Tragedians shall continue so rare as your Correspondent E. Es S. and others have represented in your Magazine for November and December, 1816, and March, 1817; I have also at yours, or his, or any Bibliomaniack's service, "The Eschylus of 1580," a genuine Plantin copy, not certainly clad in verd antique, but in plain and good condition (apparently a second binding), which I accidentally met with, and eagerly caught at, a short time since, amongst a parcel of old books of similar size and appearance, not for six, nor four guineas and a half, but for one and two shillings each; though I shall not now part with it for less than its present market price, as it is really and intrinsically a very choice little article. Mr. URBAN, T. M. Jan. 18. LLOW me to offer a few remarks A on a species of Immorality exists amongst the higher orders.-—— Since the Peace, there has been a copious introduction into this country of obscene models and paintings, which their purchasers (principally the higher class) have not been contented with keeping in their studies, libraries, &c. but have been actually placed or hung up in their drawingrooms, bed-chambers, and balls. Indeed it is now no rare thing to see the young females of the family, even while gentlemen are present, admiring a new-purchased Adonis or Hercules in a complete state of nudity. Thereby making them progressively insensible to that nice regard for modesty which is the characteristick of our fair countrywomen. I hope you will not think I am speaking against the introduction of the works of art into this country, but merely against their being so publicly exposed even to our youth. Great praise is due to the Society for the Suppression of Vice for their prompt exertions in preventing the exposing for sale those infamous French snuff-boxes. Yours, &c. A CONSTANT READER, REVIEW REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 1. The Fourth Volume of Wood's Athenæ and Fasti Oxonienses, with a Contimuation to the End of the Seventeenth Century, by Philip Bliss, Fellow of St. John's College. Lackington and Co. HE Three former Volumes of this useful and laborious Work have been noticed in vol. LXXXV. i. p. 139. ii. 233. LXXXVII. ii. 425. And it is with much satisfaction that we see the original production of Anthony à Wood most ably edited by Mr. Bliss; and perceive that he is actually proceeding with a new volume, for which it would not be easy to find a more accurate or a more diligent Compiler. But he shall speak for bimself: "I cannot suffer this last portion of Anthony à Wood's laborious undertaking to appear before the public, without offering, in my own person, as editor, a few words of acknowledgment and apology:of acknowledgment for the indulgent man. ner in which the additional notes to the original work have been generally received; and of apology to the purchasers for the delay which has taken place in the publi. cation of the present volume. "Those persons who are conversant with literary undertakings, similar to this ATHENA OXONIENSES, will have no difficulty in ascribing the late appearance of this volume to the laborions task of forming a general Index; they will also allow for the length of time absolutely necessary to perfect so extensive, so troublesome, and yet so indispensable a portion of the work; and I may be permitted to hope, as I certainly believe, that all who have occasion to refer to it, will find it at once so ample, and of such important utility, as fully to compensate for any disappointment they may have experienced from the delay. which means the original chronological arrangement would be fully and most properly adhered to. To this proposition I at once acceded; and the more readily, because I found, that had I continued my additions, I must have extended the old work to five, instead of four volumes, as originally proposed. The reader will therefore perceive that the additional notices after col. 475 and 882, extend only to those persons whose deaths occurred previously to 1700: the others are reserved for the new portion of the work, which will, by this arrangement, be uniform and continuous. In the mean time the reader has a com plete history of the Oxford writers for two centuries; he possesses every word con tained in the two former editions of Wood's Athena, with some new lives, and a large number of additional notes and anecdotes ; together with a reference (it is believed) to every name that occurs throughout the four volumes. "I shall now naturally be expected to say something on the subject of the New Athena; and it affords me the highest satisfaction to state, that by the liberal cons duct of the proprietors of the work, and their ready acquiescence in all my wishes, I shall be enabled to prosecute this arduous undertaking without delay. Although I have already made very considerable collections for this purpose, I am not igno, rant that a great deal remains to be done; that it will require much time, and no small labour, to render a work composed of such various materials, and derived from such different sources, of general interest and utility. Nor is it so much with a view to lighten my own labours, as to ensure accuracy, and increase the value of what I shall offer to the public, that I again venture to solicit assistance, and request communications, from such persons as are in pos session of authentic documents relative to our Oxford writers; promising on my part, that I shall thankfully receive their aid, and that I will use their information faithfully, and with all impartiality. "An apparent incongruity will be discovered in the latter part of this fourth volume, which requires some explanation. When I first came to the account given by Bishop Tanner, from Wood's papers, of the writers living at the time of our au. thor's death, it was my intention to have added further particulars of their lives, with a continued list of their publications; and it will he seen that I proceeded upon this plan for some few pages: it was then remarked to me by a friend on whose judg-lume ment I place implicit reliance, that, to preserve the unity of the work, the lives of those persons who died after the year 1699, should be reserved for the New Athenæ, by GONT. MAC, January, 1820. "Nothing remains bot that I should repeat my thanks for the valuable assistance I have received from my literary friends throughout the progress of the work now before the public. I am not conscious of having availed myself of any information without acknowledging the obligation at the time; but I cannot suffer this last voto appear without expressing how much I owe to Mr. Heber. I have to thank him for the loan of two valuable copies of the old Athena, with manuscript notes; I have to remind him of numerous acts |