Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/40

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io th s. v. JAN. 13, IQOG.

Knight," and "ray Ladye Wallop" are also mentioned. The will is printed in the 'Trevelyan Papers' (Camden Soc., 1857), pp. 206 'et seq.

Who was this "Mr. Wallop"? and did the intended marriage fall through ? H. C.

MR. BBOWNLET, JOURNALISTIC ORATOR. In 3 rd S. iii. 68 there was given, in a note by FITZHOPKINS, then a regular contributor to ' Joseph Jenkins ; or, Leaves from the Life of a Literary Man,' 3 vols., London, 1843, which, for a special reason, I should like to recall now. The first four chapters of this work were devoted to " The Eccentric Society," established in 1801 ; and the par- ticular extract ran :
 * N. & Q.,' an extract from a work entitled

"Both the Sheridans were also 'Eccentrics'; and few of the members, since the establishment, have entered with so much spirit into its proceed- ings as did Richard Brinsley Sheridan The

speaking, which used to be heard at their meetings when 'The Eccentrics,' twenty-five or thirty years ago were in the zenith of their glory, is repre- sented by those who were members at that period as having surpassed in eloquence, bril- liancy, and effect, anything they ev<er else- where heard. Among the eloquent Eccentrics of the period referred to, there was a Mr. Brownley, a reporter on The Times paper, whose happiest oratorical efforts are said to have been almost super- human. There must certainly have been something very extraordinary in them when Sheridan was frequently heard to say : * 1 have heard a great deal of excellent public speaking in my time, but I never heard anything at all approaching to that of Mr. Brownley.' " Vol. ii. pp. 5-7.

My special object in recalling this is to repeat the question put by FITZHOPKINS from the Garrick Club in 1863, which has not yet been answered : " Is any specimen of Mr. Brownley's * almost superhuman' oratory preserved ? " Journalistic orators are not so many that this marvellous one among them should be quite forgotten.

ALFRED F. BOBBINS.

THE KING OF BATH Can any of your readers supply a complete list of the Masters of Ceremonies for both the Upper and the Lower Room at the Bath assemblies during the eighteenth century? After the retire- ment of Capt. Webster in 1704 came the long reign of Beau Nash, who appears to have been succeeded (1758-69) by the almost equalty celebrated Samuel Derrick. In The Morning Post of 29 Oct., 1777, we read that Major George Brereton has been elected Master of Ceremonies at Bath. He was the brother of the actor, and a famous duellist. A Mr. Dawson seems to have occupied the position in 1785 ; and during November of the same year, according to Warner's ' History,'

Richard Tyson holds the office. The same authority informs us that James King was Master of Ceremonies in 1787. Previous to these later dates a Capt. Wade held the post. Possibly this is the person who enjoyed a similar position at Brighton, and whose daughter had an unfortunate adventure with a dastardly tailor named Mothersill. It is said that the notorious Capt. John Donellan, Master of the Pantheon in 1772, who was hanged for the murder of his brother-in-law at Warwick on 2 April, 1781, was a candidate for the office. In Peach's ' Historic Houses of Bath ' several names are given, but there is no complete list. HORACE BLEACKLEY.

Fox Oak, Walton-on-Thames.

RECORDS WANTED. I shall be glad of precise information as to the whereabouts of the following records, which I am unable to find in the Record Office, the British Museum, or St. Paul's Cathedral.

1. "The Proceedings of the Commissioners for ejecting Scandalous, Ignorant, and In- sufficient Ministers and Schoolmasters with- in the City of London," temp. Common- wealth.

2. The certificates of church goods fur- nished to the Commissioners by the church- wardens of the City churches after the Great Fire.

3. The records of the swearing-in of the London churchwardens from the days of Edward VI. onwards.

With reference to my first query, I may remark that I am aware of the fact that the Proceedings of the Committee for Plundered Ministers, which bear upon the subject, con- stitute Add. MSS. 15,669-71 in Brit. Mus.

W. McM.

LORD CROMARTIE'S ISSUE. Writing to the Duke of Newcastle's secretary, 30 October, 1746, Sir John Gordon, Bart., of Invergordon, speaks of his nephew Lord Macleod's forth- coming trial : " God knows how I shall break it to his poor mother, who is now within a very few weeks of her time"(Stowe MSS. 158, 234). What child was this? It must have been one of the third Lord Cromartie's seven daughters, but which? J. M. BULLOCH.

118, Pall Mall, S.W.

COLET ON PEACE AND WAR. Colefc thundered from the pulpit of St. Pauls m 1512 that "an unjust peace is better than the iustest war" (Green's ' History of the English People,' chapter 'The New Learn- ing'). It is marked as a quotation ; whence does it come? I remember a Latin version : "Passim vel iniquis simam justissimo bello antefero." JOHN PICKFORD, MA.