Acting her passions on our stately stage:
She is remember'd, all forgetting me,
Yet I as fair and chaste as e'er was she;"—
who remarks upon it as follows:—
"A difficulty here may arise out of the fifth line, as if Drayton were referring to a play upon the story of Lucrece, and it is very possible that one was then in existence. Thomas Heywood's tragedy, 'The Rape of Lucrece,' did not appear in print until 1608, and he could hardly have been old enough to have been the author of such a drama in 1594; he may, nevertheless, have availed himself of an elder play, and, according to the practice of the time, he may have felt warranted in publishing it as his own. It is likely, however, that Drayton's expressions are not to be taken literally, and that his meaning merely was, that the story of Lucrece had lately been revived, and brought upon the stage of the world: if this opinion be correct, the stanza we have quoted above contains a clear allusion to Shakspeare's 'Lucrece;' and a question then presents itself why Drayton entirely omitted it in the after-impressions of his 'Matilda.' He was a poet who, as we have shown in the Introduction to 'Julius Cæsar' (vol. viii. p. 4.), was in the habit of making extensive alterations in his productions, as they were severally reprinted, and the suppression of this stanza may have proceeded from many other causes than repentance of the praise he had bestowed upon a rival."]
BODENHAM, OR LING'S POLITEUPHUIA.
Sir,—The following is an extract from a Catalogue of Books for sale, issued by Mr. Asher, of Berlin, in 1844:—
"Bodenham? (Ling?), Politeuphuia. Wits common wealth; original wrapper, vellum. Very Rare.
"80 fr. 8vo. London, for Nicholas Ling, 1597.
This book, 'being a methodicall collection of the mod choice and select admonitions and sentences, compendiously drawn from infinite varietie,' is quoted by Lowndes under Bodenham, as first printed in 1598; the Epistle dedicatory however of the present copy is signed: 'N. Ling,' and addressed 'to his very good friend Maister I. B.,' so that Ling appears to have been the author, and this an edition unknown to Lowndes or any other bibliographer."
This seems to settle one point, perhaps a not very important one, in our literary history; and as such may deserve a place among your "Notes."Bookworm.
COLLET GIBBER'S APOLOGY.
Mr. Editor,—No doubt most of your readers are well acquainted with Colley Cibber's Apology for his Life, &c., first printed, I believe, in 1740, 4to, with a portrait of himself, painted by Vanloo, and engraved by Vandergucht. Chapters IV. and V. contain the celebrated characters he drew of the principal performers, male and female, in, and just before, his time, viz. Betterton, Montfort, Kynaston, &c.; Mrs. Betterton, Mrs. Barry, Mrs. Bracegirdle, &c. Upon these characters I have two questions to put, which I hope some of your contributors may be able to answer. The first is, "Were these characters of actors reprinted in the same words, and without additions, in the subsequent impressions of Cibber's Apology, in 8vo?" Secondly, "Had they ever appeared in any shape before they were inserted in the copy of Cibber's Apology now before me, in 1740, 4to?" To this may be added, if convenient, some account of the work in which these fine criticisms originally appeared, supposing they did not first come out in the Apology. I am especially interested in the history of the Stage about the period when the publication of these characters formed an epoch.
Dramaticus.
A MAIDEN ASSIZE—WHITE GLOVES.
Mr. Editor,—I forward for insertion in your new publication the following "Note," taken from the Times of the 20th August, 1847:
"A Fortunate County.—In consequence of there being no prisoners, nor business of any kind to transact at the last assizes for the county of Radnor, the high sheriff, Mr. Henry Miles, had to present the judge, Mr. Justice Cresswell, with a pair of white kid gloves, embroidered in gold, and which have been forwarded to his lordship; a similar event has not taken place for a considerable number of years in that county. His lordship remarked that it was the first time it had occurred to him since he had been on the Bench."
And I beg to append to it as a "Query," which I shall gladly see answered by any of your correspondents, or my professional brethren,—"What is the origin of this singular custom, ane what is the earliest instance of it on record?" A Limb of the Law.
