"A Supplement to the Fifth Edition of Collins's Peerage of England*: containing a general Account

complain: he said, that, the Theatre being private property, the owners have a right to judge in the way most convenient to themselves. Mr. Jodrell, after this, condescended to put his Tragedy into the hands of Mr. Linley, one of the Proprietors of the Theatre, but with no better success. In May 1785, The Persian Heroine was finally returned, as unfit for representation. We are further told, that Mr. Harris, the Manager of Covent Garden Theatre, was also of opinion that the Play was unworthy of acceptance: but against this gentleman there were no circumstances of illiberal behaviour; he only differed from the Author, By the Drury-Lane Managers Mr. Jodrell thinks he was slighted; and he concludes with wishing that the Theatre, as a National concern, were under proper regulation, and not left to the discretion of men who consider it as a mere warehouse, which they have purchased, and where they may, with English liberty, do as they like. Such is the complaint of Mr. Jodrell.-We shall not enter further into the dispute, than to observe, that, for the honour of letters and the encouragement of genius, it were much to be wished that Managers may at all times recollect, that they are stationed at the head of a branch of Literature which has done honour to this Country, and may make further additions, if gentlemen and scholars are sure of meeting with liberal treatment. Mr. Garrick (notwithstanding some objections that have been made to his management) has left to his successors a model for their imitation: If he accepted a Play, by his friendly criticisms the Piece was often made better; if he rejected it, he convinced the Author, by giving his reasons, that he had read the Piece; and for his decisions he held himself accountable to the Publick. If the Managers of Drury-Lane cannot imitate Mr. Garrick in the former part of his conduct, it is surely in their power to atone for natural deficiencies, by that civility which is due to learning and genius." Monthly Review, vol. LXXV. p. 54. Richard-Paul Jodrell, Esq. the respectable Author of this Tragedy, is a gentleman of great erudition, as is evident by his excellent Commentaries on Euripides. He is also a very useful and exemplary Magistrate, and highly esteemed in private life.-He is brother to Sir Paul Jodrell, M. D. Physician to the Nabob of Arcot; for whom, from similarity of name, and from both being Dramatic Writers, he has been sometimes mistaken.-Henry Jodrell, Esq. (a Commissioner of Bankrupts, many years Recorder of Great Yarmouth; M. P. for that town 1796; and for Bramber in 1804, 6, and 7) who died March 11, 1814, was another brother.

"A Work of this nature requires great industry and application, and a particular talent for that species of minute investigation which an accurate Genealogist ought to possess -With these qualifications, Mr. Longmate appears to be endowed in a very considerable degree; and the present work is an eminent proof of it." Monthly Review, vol. LXXV. p. 285.

of the Marriages, Births, Promotions, Deaths, &c. which have occurred in each Family, from that Publication in the year 1779 to the present Time. Also an Account of those Families which have been advanced to the English Peerage, whether by Descent or Creation, since that Period *. With their Paternal Coats of Arms, &c. on 34 Copperplates. By B. Longmate, Editor of Collins," Svo.

"This Supplemental Volume' should have been earlier noticed. The greater part of it was printed in April 1784, and the conclusion of it in the September of that year. In the Preface the Editor says, "In acknowledgment of the many favours received from several of the Nobility, I have, at their particular desire, been some time collecting materials for publishing The Extinct Peerage of England,' to consist of genealogical and historical accounts of all those families which have formerly possessed the dignity of Peerage, but have now lost that privilege, by failure of issue-male, attainder, &c. If any Nobleman, or Gentleman, who may be in possession of original deeds and pedigrees, or other authentic particulars of any of those families, will be pleased to permit me to peruse them for this undertaking, they may be assured they will be carefully used and safely returned." Mr. Barak Longmate was an Engraver of eminence; particularly in the Heraldic line, a study to which he had devoted his attention in early life, and in which he had acquired a distinguished proficiency. He published a very good Edition of "Collins's Peerage, 1779," S vols. Svo. ; the above Supplemental Volume in 1784; and compiled, in 1789, a Genealogical History of the antient Family of O'Sullivan More (of which hereafter); and died July 23, 1793, in the 56th year of his age. His remains, attended by a few friends desirous of shewing him the last tribute of respect, were deposited, on the 27th, in the lower-burial ground of St. Mary-le-Bon, with those of Elizabeth his wife, who died in 1781, and of his father and mother (Barak and Elizabeth), all inhabitants of St. James's, Westminster. He left behind him a copy of his " Peerage" prepared for a new Edition, which continues in the possession of his son, Barak, who is also an heraldic engraver. He also left an unblemished character; and his loss was lamented by a circle extending far beyond the sphere of his immediate relatives. His small but select Library, comprehending a curious Collection of Books on Heraldry, County History, Antiquities, &c. with a great number of MS Corrections, Additions, and Notes, by his own very neat and accurate hand; and a large Collection of Heraldic MSS. collated or written by himself, many of them with the Arms emblazoned, Monumental Inscriptions, Visitations of Counties, Pedigrees, &c. &c.) was sold by Messrs. Leigh and Sotheby, March 6 and 7, 1794; and produced only 2351. 9s. 9d.; not a fourth part of what the persuasive oratory of Mr.

Leigh

“Liber Regis; vel, Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum. By John Bacon*, Esq. Receiver of the First Fruits. With an Appendix, containing proper Directions and Precedents relating to Presentations, Institutions, Inductions, Dispensations, &c. and a complete Alphabetical Index+."

4to.

Leigh would in the present times have extracted from the liberal purses of true-hearted Bibliomaniacs.

* Many years Senior Clerk and Receiver in the Office of First Fruits; and Treasurer of the Anniversary of the Sons of the Clergy. In these prominent public departments, Mr. Bacon's general habits of business and frankness of disposition have long rendered him universally known and respected. He was elected F. S. A. in 1774; and, at an advanced period of life, is enjoying robust health at his Tusculum in Friarn Barnet, where he is Lord of an extensive domain, most honourably acquired.

"This useful compilation is formed on the foundation of 'Ecton's Thesaurus,' which it nearly doubles in quantity, greatly exceeds in accuracy, and almost wholly supersedes."-Gent. Mag. LV1.498-The Work was originally published in Svo.1718, by John Ecton, Receiver-general of the Clergy's Tenths, under the title of "Liber Valorum & Decimarum, &c. ;" republished 1723 and 1728, Svo.; and again, under the title of "Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum, &c. 1742, and 1754," 4to. A fourth Edition, "wherein the appropriations, dedications, and patronages of churches have been revised, corrected, and placed in regular order under their respective Archdeaconries, with numerous additions, by Browne Willis, LL.D. to which is added a complete alphabetical index," came out in 1763, 4to.-Mr. Ecton published also, "The State of the Proceedings of the Corporation of Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne, for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the poor Clergy, giving a particular Account of their. Constitution, Benefactions, and Augmentations, with Directions to such as desire to become Benefactors to so Pious and Charitable a Work. The second Edition, with a continuation to Christmas, 1720. London 1721." 8vo. These Accounts have since been more than once presented to the Publick, under the authenticated shape of" Reports" to the House of Commons.

Mr. Bacon's Preface received some animadversions in Gent. Mag. vol. LVI. pp. 939, 1027: and in vol. LVII. the late Dr. John Loveday (under the assumed name of Vindex) observes, "It is somewhat remarkable, that John Bacon, Esq.' should, in the Preface to his Liber Regis,' transcribe verbatim, from that_prefixt to Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum,' Lond. 1742, and not so much as once mention the name of John Ecton, Esq.' which appears in the title-page of the said Thesaurus.' By this omis sion one might be led to imagine that his publication of last year was an entirely new and original Work; the title-page repre

senting

"Catalogue of a small Library at St. Petersburg," printed for the Rev. Dr. John Glen-King. Svo.

senting it as 'printed for the Author. That it is an improvement of Ecton, there can be no doubt; though there can be no doubt likewise, that it seems to be an unexampled specimen of the grossest plagiarism. How is such conduct to be accounted for? It is also to be remarked, that the cassions and corrections, added by Ecton to his Work [edit. 1742, in pages 783784], have not been accurately attended to. The List of Benefactions to Livings augmented by the Bounty of Queen Anne,' &c. which immediately follow Ecton's Preface, is not admitted by Mr. Bacon. A Correspondent in p. 1027, col. 2, of your last volume, asserts that Browne Willis was the Author of this Preface. But of this some doubt may be entertained; as, in the Edition of 1742, the Editors' acknowledge their obligations to that learned and communicative Antiquary." [In a Letter to Mr. North, Oct. 20, 1741, Mr. Willis tells him, "We have preserved near half the Valor, and the Dedications are bravely recovered in most Counties; in about 30 Counties, not 20 Dedications are wanting in each County."] Another Correspondent ob serves," Mr. Bacon may be excused, perhaps, for having altered the title, and put his own name only to it; because he had the same right as others to publish from the original MS. to which he has access by his Office. But surely he should, in a Preface, have acknowledged his obligations to former Editors, whose additions and improvements he has throughout, and very properly, copied. He should likewise have told us what he himself has done, and not have sent the book into the world without a syllable of explanation.—Mr. Bacon has added many short notes of payments to and from livings, quantity of glebes, and nature of tithes, which might, if they are to be depended upon, be very useful to Clergymen, to maintain their rights, or recover their property: but that utility is lost, because we are not told upon what authority they are founded. The same may be said of the present value of livings, which is likewise frequently inserted. This, indeed, if it were accurately ascertained, would not long continue the same. Livings are perpetually altering in value from various accidents. But for some time at least it might be useful; and it would certainly be pleasant to know what degree of credit is due to it, and how it was obtained. On the whole, I think that Mr. Bacon ought yet to publish, if it were but a single page of Preface, to give such necessary information as is usually given by Editors, which would add to the value of his book, and is indeed due in part to his own reputation. The list of benefactions, I suppose, was omitted because it would have swelled the volume, which has already grown, it must be confessed, to a greater size than is convenient. Yet it might, perhaps, be of some use to know what livings have been augmented; and it would not have taken

up

"The Triumph of Benevolence; a Poem; occasioned by the National Design of erecting a Monument to John Howard, Esq.* The Second Edi

up much room to have added the letters aug. in the body of the Work, to such as have received the Bounty."

Having at the time consulted Mr. Bacon on the subject, I took the liberty, in his name, to add the following explanation: "It may be necessary to refer to the second paragraph in the Preface to Mr. Bacon's book, where he says, In order that the nature and efficacy of these Returns, taken upon the eve of the Reformation, might be more clearly understood, he has prefixed the King's commission, with his instructions to the Commissioners for the taking of the Survey; and has made these original Returns, and the Liber Regis, his constant guide for the value. The first foundation for the taking of the Survey, to which Mr. Bacon alludes, is well known to the Clergy to have been an Act of Parliament, 26 Henry VIII; and in pursuance of that Act the Commissions and Instructions, which he recites, were issued; and the Returns regularly made, as required, into his Majesty's then Exchequer, and are now remaining with the Officers of the Revenue of First Fruits. Those, he informs us, were his guide for the values; i. e. all such additions as may be supposed to make a part of that value, viz. glebe-lands, tithes, &c. and which, as well as the whole of the references to the particulars of Monasteries, &c. appear clearly to be added as directions to the original records. And it is equally well known to the Clergy, that the information respecting the patronage of livings, and the certified values of livings, proceeds from their Lordships the Bishops, who, to writs of enquiry, make returns, annually, or oftener if necessary, under their hands and seals, into that Office, of all such matters as have arisen, agreeable to the tenor of the writ, within a limited time. Mr. Bacon, no doubt, thought himself justified in adopting the whole Preface; but it would, in our opinion, have been as well, had he given his intentions of the publication in a separate Advertisement, and then the Preface as in the Editions of Ecton; not but that it may be justly deemed an official record, the original MS. being supposed to be there lodged, and may, in that case, have descended to Mr. Bacon, not only officially, but lineally and lawfully."

These particulars may not be unacceptable to my Clerical Readers; more especially as the " Liber Regis" is now become a scarce book, and a new Edition of it extremely desireable.-The Rev. John Smith, rector of Bredon in Worcestershire, made large additions to Ecton, which are now in the hands of his son in law, the Rev. Thomas M'Culloch, Rector of Wormley.

* "Among those who are earnest to demonstrate their zeal in a righteous cause (says the Author of this exquisite little Poem, to the Committee then earnestly engaged in a plan for erecting

a Sta