queen had made up her mind to nominate her painter. It is true, that at the Strawberry Hill sale might be seen a portrait of Elizabeth when a girl, ascribed to Zuccaro; but this could only have been a copy, provided the date of his coming to England is stated correctly. So little, after all, is known of the history of royal portrait-painting in England in the sixteenth century, that any additional information may seem of value. It is with this view that I have copied a document which has escaped the notice, I believe, of all the writers on the subject, and which gives us the name of a painter unknown to Walpole and his recent editors, Dallaway and Wornum. This document is preserved among the Cottonian Charters, iv. 26., and is a warrant to George Gower, the queen's Serjeant-Painter, in the following terms:

"ELIZABETH, by the grace of God, Queene of Englande, Fraunce, and Irelande, Defendour of the Faithe, &c. To all men unto whome thies our present Ires shall come, greetinge. Knowe ye, that wee of our espiall grace, certen knowledge, and mere mocōn, and as well for and in consideracōn and recompence of the good and faithfull service unto us heretofore donne by our welbeloved subjecte George Gower, our Sargeant Paynter, as for dyvers other good causes us there unto movinge, have geven and graunted, and by thies our present les doe give and graunte to our saide subjecte and servant George Gower, full, sole, and lawfull priveledge, lycence, power, and aucthorytie, that he the saide George Gower, by himself, his deputie and deputies, assignee and assignes only (and none other), shall and maie from hensforth, for and duringe his naturall lyfe, make or cause to be made all and all maner of purtraictes and pictures of our person, phisiognomy, and proporcōn of our bodye, in oyle cullers upon bourdes or canvas, or to grave the same in copper, or to cutt the same in woode, or to printe the same beinge cutt in copper or woode, or otherwise; and the same purtraictes, pictures, and proporcōns so beinge graven or cutt, to printe or cause to be prynted. And him the saide George Gower, our officer, maker, paynter, cutter, gravour, and printer of all purtraictes, pictures, and proporcons of our bodye and person, as aforesaide, for and duringe the saide terme of his natural lyfe, wee doe create, make, ordayne, constytute, and appointe by thies pūtes. And our further will and pleasure is, and by thies our pite letters wee doe forbydd, enjoyne, and straytely prohibite all and every other persone and persons whatsoever, Englishmen or strangers, denyzens or not denyzens, any wise to entermeddle wth the makinge, payntinge, pryntinge, cuttinge, or gravinge of any purtraicte, picture, or proporcōn of our bodye and person, or any parte therof, in oyle cullers upon bourdes, canvas, copp r, woode, stone, or in any other thinge whatsoever, other than the said George Gower, his deputie or deputies, assignee or assignes, and also to deale or intermeddle wth any other the workes and thinges apperteynynge, incydent, and belonginge to the office of our Sergeant Paynter aforesaide, duringe all the terme of his lyfe aforesaide, upon payne that every persone or persons so entermedlinge with any thinge

or worke aforemencōned, contrary to the tenour and true meanynge of thies our present Ires, shall forfecte, for every tyme that he or they shall so entermeddle or deale wth any the premisses, the some of tenne poundes of lawfull money of Englande, the one halfe therof to be taken to our use, and the other halfe to the saide George Gower and his assignes, to his and their use and uses; Exceptinge only one Nichās ercyse and make purtraicts, pictures, or proporcōns of our body and person in small compasse in lymnynge only, and not otherwise. And moreover wee doe, by thies our present letters, appoynte and aucthoryse the saide George Gower, by himselfe, his deputie and deputies, assignee and assignes, to enter any shipp or shippes, vessell or vessells, warehouses, workehouses, shoppes, chambers, sellers, sollers, faires, marckettes, martes, and all or any other place or places whatsoever within this our Realme of Englande, as well upon the water as upon the lande, either wthin lyberties and franchises or wthout, duringe thaforesaide terme, at the pleasure and discreacōn of the said George Gower, his deputie or deputies, assignee or assignes, there to viewe, searche, and seeke for all maner of purtreictes, pictures, and proporcōns of our body and person, or any parte therof, made or to be made, paynted, cutt, graven, or prynted, contrary to the tenour and true meanynge of thies our present Ires, by any person or persons whatsoever (excepte before excepted) durynge the tyme aforesaide. And the same so founde, to deface, take, carrye awaie, kepe, and convert to the use of us and of the saide George Gower or his assignes. Straytly charginge and commandinge all and every our Justices, Mayours, Sheriffes, Bayliffes, Constables, Hedborowes, Customers, Comptrollers, Searchers, and all other our officers, mynisters, and subjectes whatsoever, to ayde, strengthen, and assiste our saide subjecte George Gower, his deputie and deputies, assignee and assignes, in the due execucōn of all and every thinge and thinges herein mencōned, given and graunted, as you and every of you doe tender our favour, and will answere to the contrary. And thies our present Ires patentes, or the inrolement therof, shall be unto you and every of you a sufficyent warrant and discharge in that behalfe. "Yeoven at our

Hilliard, to whome it shall or maie be lawful to ex

the

daie

of in the xxvjth yere of our Reigne." This remarkable privilege is fairly engrossed on vellum; but from the date being left blank, and absence of the seal, it does not appear to have been executed. The proof of this would be its enrolment on the patent roll of that year, Nov. 1583 – Nov. 1584. The object of the patent is clearly to give George Gower the sole authority to paint the queen's portrait in oil colours, and to limit It would seem,

Nicholas Hilliard to miniatures. therefore, that Gower must have been an artist of reputation, although his fame died with him. Any further particulars respecting him I have been unable to find, except a copy of a warrant not dated in the Lansdowne MS. 105., art. 27., which authorises him, under the title of the queen's Sargeant Paynter," to take up and provide, for

publication. From that time the letters were republished in most of the London and provincial newspapers, in the magazines, and other periodicals and, as in Junius's supposed Address to a Great Personage, they were on occasions re-issued as pamphlets.

The first collected edition was that referred to by Junius himself (P. L., No. 4.): The Political Contest; containing a Series of Letters between Junius and Sir William Draper; also the whole of Junius's Letters to the D*** of G****** brought into one View: London, Printed for F. Newbery.

From the title of this pamphlet it is obvious that it was the contest or controversy with "the Knight of the Bath" which first suggested the republication; and therefore it was that Newbery began his collection with the letter of Jan. 21, the first to which Draper replied.

Newbery's speculation was successful, and his pamphlet soon came to a second edition, the "advertisement" to which is dated "Aug. 12th." Therein "the editor" announces his intention "to annex whatever may flow from the masterly pen of Junius in future by way of supplement to this collection." A supplement, or, as it is called, "Continuation Part II.," soon followed, and brought down the reprints to Draper's letter of Sept. 25, 1769; and it is probable that other continuations were from time to time published, -a fact of which some more fortunate collector may be able to inform you.

The next pamphlet, so far as I can speak from personal knowledge, was: A Collection of the Letters of Atticus, Lucius, Junius, and others. With Observations and Notes. A New Edition, continued to the end of Oct. 1769. Almon, 1769.

This 66 new edition" means, I suppose, "second edition" of the pamphlet ; if so, I should be obliged to any one who will inform me of the exact contents of the first edition. I may also observe that the "and others" of the title-page means merely letters published in reply-as those of Cleophas to Lucius, Draper to Junius: the publication being limited to the letters of Atticus, Lucius, and

Junius.

The selection and parade of these names is, under circumstances, curious, and worth a passing comment. We are told by the editor of the edition of 1812-a truly oracular person, and now considered as an oracle-that Almon was a vain, precipitate, and incautious man, who affected to know a great deal about Junius, although he knew little or nothing on the subject. This is not altogether just. Almon was a vain man certainly, and knew little more about Junius than the editor; but he was not more precipitate or incautious. True or not, we would ask by what knowledge or ignorance, intuition or instinct, Almon in 1769 selected the letters of Atticus, Lucius, and Junius, and put

them thus conspicuously together in a title-page; when it was not until 1812 the public were informed that these letters were all written by the same person, and were first so informed by the editor himself? If Almon knew it, he must have known more than the editor gives him credit for; if he came to that conclusion from internal evidence alone, he must have been a very clever fellow. But if we put faith in the assertions of the editor, it is scarcely possible to believe that either critical acumen or chance could have led to all the results; for strange as this association of names must be considered, the selection of particular letters is still more so. Atticus, for example, was for many years a not unfrequent correspondent of the Public Advertiser; and if Junius were Atticus, it would seem a reasonable conclusion that all the letters in the Public Advertiser so signed were written by Junius. Not so, says the editor (vol. i. p. 55.); some of them are excellent letters; exhibit much of our author's style, spirit, and sentiments; but, "for various reasons," he is convinced they are not the productions of Junius, and he selects and publishes only four letters so signed as genuine. We regret that he did not favour the public with some of his "various reasons." But let us for the moment take his word for the fact. How then was it, we ask, that this same ignorant Almon in 1769 made the exact same selection from the letters signed "Atticus"— published the same four letters, neither more nor less?

Again, the editor tells us that Junius was Lucius. I do not mean to question anything the editor has asserted, but simply to notice that Lucius also was a frequent contributor to the Public Advertiser; and yet the editor has selected only eight letters as written by Junius under that signature. Of these, two are mere flying shots fired at correspondents; and the six substantive letters-every one of them, and neither more nor fewer-were selected by Almon, and published in this pamphlet in 1769! Could this be chance? If so, as Junius said on another occasion, it comes "as near to impossible as the highest improbability can go." Or did Almon receive a hint from some of his political friends that such a republication might be judicious and profitable; without, of course, any intimation that the letters were written by one and the same person, for that would have betrayed a secret?—or did the editor of the edition of 1812 take a hint from Almon's pamphlet, and, wanting matter to fill his "three vols. 8vo.," put forth, after his daring fashion, a mere conjecture of his own as an undoubted fact? The question, be it remembered, is not whether the letters, or certain letters, of Atticus and Lucius were written by Junius-that must be decided on other grounds,-but whether it was by hint or chance that Almon in 1769 hit upon the exact letters,

which the editor in 1812 republished, asserting positively that they were written by Junius, although he never once adverts to Almon's previous collection and publication; or whether such assertion by the editor was a mere speculative opinion founded on Almon's pamphlet? I could add other curious points of agreement between the edition of 1812 and Almon's pamphlet; but enough has been said to direct attention to the subject.

So far as I know, Almon's edition was followed by A Complete Collection of Junius's Letters, with those of Sir William Draper: London, printed for R. Thompson, Paternoster Row, 1770.

This edition concludes with the letter to the Duke of Grafton of Feb. 14, 1770, and the announcement that "any future productions of Junius shall be carefully collected and printed in the same size as these letters."

It is more than probable that Mr. Thompson kept his word with the public; but I have never seen a continuation.

I shall reserve Wheble's two- or three-editions for a separate paper.

L. J.

large plot of ground situated at the back of Montagu House, being laid out in grass terraces, borders with flower-beds, and with two large grassplots in the centre, divided by a large gravel walk, where the gay world resorted on a summer's evening: the back being open to the country, composed of fields extending to the west, as far as Lisson Green and Paddington; to the north, to Primrose Hill, Chalk Farm, Hampstead, and Highgate; and to the east, to Battle Bridge, Islington, St. Pancras, &c. On the side of the garden, next to Bedford Square, was a fine grove of elm trees. All the ground was subsequently and by degrees built over, to contain the numerous collections which have been added to the British Museum, and even its present extent is scarcely sufficient for the increasing multitude of its acquisitions. Montagu House was never razed to the ground, as Mr. Cunningham asserts, but it has been enlarged and added to as occasion required. The gardens of Bedford House, in Bloomsbury Square, extended to those of the British Museum, before that house was pulled down, and Russell Square and the adjacent streets were built on its site.

X.

NOTES ON LONDON.

Oxford Street.-At the west corner of Berner's Street, in Oxford Street, the widow and daughters of Ryland the engraver, who was executed at Tyburn, kept a print shop for some years after his ignominious death. When his forgery on the East India Company, for which he was hanged, was discovered, he fled from his home, and thought to conceal himself in an inn of an obscure village at some distance from London, and there remained for some time. He was discovered by his name being written in his shoes, over which he had pasted a bit of paper. This exciting curiosity, was taken off, and his name under it coming in sight, he was apprehended, brought to justice, and

suffered the sentence of the law.

At the farther extremity of Oxford Street, in the first house in Edgware Road, immediately opposite to Tyburn turnpike, lived for many years the Corsican general Paoli, so well known and beloved for his noble qualities and generous hospitality, not only to his own countrymen, but to all foreigners of distinction and merit. His death took place in this house. General Paoli was godfather to the Emperor Napoleon.

Montagu House. During the riots in 1780, which were headed by Lord George Gordon, an encampment was formed in Hyde Park; also in the gardens of the British Museum, then called Montagu House, for the troops which were stationed in London and its vicinity, to quell the rioters. A small print, forming the frontispiece to The Lady's Pocket-book for the year 1781, gives a view of it, in these gardens, which occupied a

FOLK LORE.

Leafing of the Oak and Ash.-The newspapers occasionally come out" with an old saw about oak comes out in leaf before the ash; and your corfine weather in harvest, or a dry summer, if the respondent BosQUECILLO VIEGO (Vol. v., p. 581.) backs it with his imprimatur, having "remarked when he ever remarked the contrary. this for several years." I should like to know The fact really is (and I have made and recorded observations on natural history for some years), that the oak (though individual trees vary in time) always exhibits foliage before the ash, and did so this year. The skies will doubtless fall when the converse takes place. AMBROSE FLORENCE.