Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/276

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL MAR. 20, im

If my account of Plaxton established on fact more than another, it is that he possesse what Thoresby called a " jocular tempe and satirical wit (which displeaseth some and please th many)." Though for manj years he suffered from ill-health and a mos painful disorder, he rarely put pen t< paper without giving free rein to his peculia humour, which, though usually rathe satirical, is never unkindly. In the light o this knowledge we can gauge much mor( accurately the value of his tribute to Michae Johnson, which was clearly written in spirit of banter. A bookseller of any stand ing would of course be a rare bird in an out-of-the-way village like Trentham, anc -no doubt Mr. Plaxton recognized in Michae Johnson an honest and intelligent trades man ; but whether his remarks " show the high estimation in which the Father of our great Moralist was held," so much as Mr. Plaxton' s amused contempt for the ignorance of the country clergy, may be questioned. In a letter on the subject to The Gentleman's Magazine in 1829 (part ii. p. 312), Mr. James Broughton pleads that " we surely re not to interpret in a strictly literal sense the words of a jocose epistle," and suggests that it referred to Michael Johnson's dis- semination of literature rather than to the stimulating effect of his own culture. But this suggestion scarcely covers the latter part of Mr. Plaxton's " tribute."

I find it rather difficult to explain the concluding portion of Plaxton's letter. The context would seem to suggest that " Allen " and " John Evans " were local clergymen, yet making warrants and drawing recog- nizances are rather legal tasks. It is worth noting that the Rector of Stoke-on-Trent at this date was the Rev. Thomas Allen, afterwards Archdeacon of Stafford and Dean of Chester (Rupert Simms's ' Bibliotheca Staff ordiensis ' ). Stoke is only three miles from Trentham. As a legal friend has suggested to me, Allen may have been a justice of the peace, to whom the local constables went for assistance. As to "" John Evans," it appears that a man of that name was Rector of Stockton, Salop, from 1690, whom Foster (' Alumni Oxoni- enses ' ) is inclined to identify with John, son of William Evans, of Bridgnorth, pleb. t who matriculated at Jesus College, Oxford, on 3 June, 1677, aged fifteen. Stockton is barely six miles from Donington, where Mr. Plaxton had been Rector, also from 1690. Evans might have acted as an amateur attorney, as the country clergy -often did. These explanations, though the

best I can offer, do not quite satisfy me, and, if they cannot be substantiated, I shall be glad of any others that accord with the evidence. And why " our quondam John Evans " ? ALEYN LYELL READE. Park Corner, Blundellsands, near Liverpool.

(To be continued.)

T. L. PEACOCK'S LITERARY REMAINS. IN spite of the renewed interest taken of late years in the works of T. L. Peacock, three dramatic efforts, a poem of some length, an essay, a considerable number of letters, and other literary matter still remain unpublished, and for the most part entirely unnoticed. They are to be found in vols. 36815, 36816, 36469, and 36470 of the MSS. in the British Museum, and are mentioned in the ' Catalogue of Additions to the MSS., 1900-1905.' Vols. 36815 and 36816, which were purchased by the Trustees of the Museum from Mrs. Edith Clarke in 1903, are almost exclusively filled with Peacock's MSS. They are mostly autograph, and in some few cases have been printed. The letters and memorandum in vols. 36469 and 36470 form a part of the general corre- spondence of Lord Broughton. Below is given a classified list of Peacock's contribu- tions to the four volumes f. (folio) standing or one sheet, both sides of which are gener- ally written upon.

VOL. 36815.

1. (ff. 1-9). Diary, 7 July 26 Sept., 1818. Extracts from this diary were included by Sir Henry Cole in his ' Biographical Notes ' of Peacock (pp. 16-18), published in 1875 (?), of which only ten copies were printed. These ex- Tacts were also used by Mrs. Clarke in her 'Bio- graphical Notice ' to Cole's 1875 edition of Pea-

ock's works. The remaining part of them has not yet been published.

2. a (ff. 10, 11). Letter in verse addressed to lis cousin Robert Walrond, Madrid.

6 (ff. 12-13). Letter in prose to on the

olitical state of England.

Both of these letters were published in Cole's Biographical Notes ' (pp. 4, 5).

c (ff. 14-45). Sixteen letters addressed to Ed- ard Hookham, Peacock's friend and publisher,

Aug., 1807 18 Aug., 1810. Extracts from ight of these letters are included in Cole's ' Bio- graphical Notes' (pp. 7-11), six of which were eprinted in Mrs. Clarke's ' Biographical Notice.' Tie rest are unpublished, Peacock's letter to [ookham printed in Dr. Garnett's Introduction o his 1891 edition of Peacock's ' Prose Works ' eing of a later date.

'he remainder of the volume is composed f literary fragments, but I have been unable o find references to any of these, apart om their being named in the above -men-