The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 47, September, 1861

27

The effect produced upon the brown ink on the margins of the Guazzo by the mere washing it for a few seconds with lint and warm water may be seen in the word "apollegy" on folio 25, reverse, of that volume, which, with the others noticed in this article, will be left for inspection at the Astor Library, in the care of Dr. Cogswell, for a fortnight after the publication of this number of the Atlantic. This slight ablution, hardly more effective than the rubbing of a child's wet finger, leaves only a pale yellow stain upon the paper.

28

See the Atlantic for October, 1859, p. 516.

29

Reply, p. 20.

30

Some of our readers may be glad to know that writing so faint as to be indistinguishable even in a bright open light may be often read in the shadow with that very light reflected upon it, as, for instance, from the opposite page of a book.

31

Mr. Bonnardot says:—"Taches des crayons. (Plombagine, sanguine, crayon noir, etc.) Les traces récentes que laissent sur le papier ces divers crayons s'effacent au contact du caoutchouc, ou de la mie de pain; mais, quand elles sont trop anciennes, elles résistent à ces moyens; on a recours alors à l'application du savon, etc., etc. On frotte, etc., etc. S'il restait, après cette opération, des traces opiniâtres sur le papier, il faudrait désespérer les enlever." p. 81.

32

By a common mistake, easily understood, the fac-similes have been put upon the block in reverse order. The lines between the words represent the coarse column-rules of the margins. (Illustration)

33

See above, p. 266.

34

It probably records the price paid by the buyer of the whole volume at second-hand in the first part of the century 1600. The first memorandum is quite surely the price paid for the Familiar Epistles alone; for on the binding of the three books into one volume, which took place at an early date, the tops of the capital letters of this possessor's name were slightly cut down.

35

Similar evidence must abound; and perhaps there is more even within the reach of the writer of this article. For he has made no particular search for it; but merely, after reading Dr. Ingleby's Complete View, looked somewhat hastily through those of his old books which, according to his recollection, contained old writing,—which, by the way, has always recommended an antique volume to his attention.

36

Dr. Ingleby says,—"The collations of that single play are a perfect picture of the contents of the original, and a just sample of the other plays in that volume."—Complete View, p. 131.

37

The History of English Dramatic Poetry to the Time of Shakespeare: and Annals of the Stage to the Restoration. By J. Payne Collier, Esq., F.S.A. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1831.

38

Or 1663, according to the title-pages of some copies that we have seen.

39

See Shakespeare's Scholar, pp. 56-62. And to the passages noticed there, add this: In King Henry VI., Part II., Act IV., Sc. 5, is this couplet:—

  "Fight for your King, your country, and your lives.  And so farewell; for I must hence again."

The last line of which in Mr. Collier's folio is changed to

"And so farewell; Rebellion never thrives."

Plainly this was written when Charlie was no longer over the water.

40

The Poetical Decameron, or Ten Conversations on English Poets and Poetry, particularly of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I. London, 1820.

41

Reply, p. 22.

42

Rev. N.L. Frothingham, D.D., in the Christian Examiner for November, 1853.

43

  Splendor of the Father's glory,  Bringing light with cheering ray,  Light of light and fount of brightness,  Day, illuminating day!  In our prayers we call thee Father,  Father of eternal glory,  Father of a mighty grace:  Heal our errors, we implore thee!  Form our struggling, vague desires;  Power of spiteful spirits break;  Help us in life's straits, and give us  Grace to suffer for thy sake!  Christ for us shall be our food;  Faith in him our drink shall be;  Hopeful, joyful, let us drink  Soberness of ecstasy!  Joyful shall our day go by,  Purity its dawning light,  Faith its fervid noontide glow,  And for us shall be no night!

44

  "'Neath Saint Michael's watch is given  Peace on earth and peace in heaven."

45

The Book of the Aquarium, by Sidney Hibbert.

46

Hibbert's Book of the Aquarium.

47

Percival.

48

Admiral Vernon (whose name is familiar to every American,—Mount Vernon was named in his honor) was in command of the British fleet in the Spanish Main. General Wentworth, an officer "without experience, authority, or resolution," had command of the land forces in the West Indies. All the North American, colonies, except Georgia, which was too recently settled, and whose own borders were too much exposed, had been called upon to give aid to the expedition against the Spaniards, and a regiment thirty-six hundreds strong was actually supplied by them. The war was one in which the colonists took an active interest.

49

This little, indifferent phrase refers to one of the most shocking and cruel incidents of the colonial history of New York, the result of a delusion "less notorious," says Mr. Hildreth, (Hist, of the United States, ii. 391,) "but not less lamentable, than the Salem witchcraft. The city of New York now contained some seven or eight thousand inhabitants, of whom twelve or fifteen hundred were slaves. Nine fires in rapid succession, most of them, however, merely the burning of chimneys, produced a perfect insanity of terror. An indented servant-woman purchased her liberty and secured a reward of one hundred pounds by pretending to give information of a plot formed by a low tavern-keeper, her master, and three negroes, to burn the city and murder the whites. This story was confirmed and amplified by an Irish prostitute convicted of a robbery, who, to recommend herself to mercy, reluctantly turned informer. Numerous arrests had been already made among the slaves and free blacks. Many others followed. The eight lawyers who then composed the bar of New York all assisted by turns in behalf of the prosecution. The prisoners, who had no counsel, were tried and convicted upon most insufficient evidence. Many confessed to save their lives, and then accused others. Thirteen unhappy convicts were burned at the stake, eighteen were hanged, and seventy-one transported." Such are the panics of a slaveholding community!

50

At this time much of the agricultural and domestic labor in the colonies, especially south of New England, was performed by indented servants brought from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. They were generally an ill-used class. Their services were purchased of the captains who brought them over; the purchaser had a legal property in them during the time they were bound for, could sell or bequeath them, and, like other chattels, they were liable to be seized for debts.

51

Captain, afterward Sir Peter Warren, was a distinguished naval officer in his day. In 1745 he was made Rear-Admiral for his services at the siege of Louisbourg. He married in New York.

52

The report of the taking of Cartagena was false, and the colonists were greatly disappointed at the failure of Vernon's great enterprise.

53

Five hundred additional men were sent from Massachusetts to take part in this new expedition. It was a total failure, like the preceding one, and Few of the colonial troops lived to return home.

54

Perhaps a misspelling of Occacoke, an island on the coast of North Carolina.

55

General Oglethorpe, who was at this time the victim of unfavorable reports and calumnious stories, that had been spread by disaffected members of the infant settlements in Georgia, and by some of the officers who had served under him in his unsuccessful attempt to reduce the town of Saint Augustine in Florida, "The fort at Saint Augustine," to which the writer of this Journal refers, as having been taken while under the command of Oglethorpe, was Fort Moosa, three miles from Saint Augustine, where a detachment of one hundred and thirty-seven men, under Colonel Palmer of Carolina, had been attacked by a vastly superior force of Spaniards, negroes, and Indians, and had been cut off almost to a man. This misfortune seems to have been due to Colonel Palmer's disregard of Oglethorpe's orders, and Oglethorpe himself was in no way responsible for it, although the popular blame fell on his shoulders.