Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/324

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. OCT. 5, 1907.

IV. Andrew Wardlaw of Torrie. He appears as Younger of Torrie, March, 1605, and 8 June, 1613, but had succeeded his father in 1615. He m. (contract dated 29 March, 1605) Lady Agnes Leslie, dau. of James, Master of Rothes, by his 1st wife Margaret, dau. of Patrick, Lord Lindsay of the Byres, and was dead s.p. before 22 July, 1624 (Dunfermline Reg. of that date).

V. Mr. Patrick Wardlaw of Torrie, brother .and heir. He had a charter of the lands of Pitgarnow, with remainder to his younger brother James, 7 Oct., 1598, but had parted with them before 18 May, 1613 (see above), and by 22 July, 1624, had succeeded to Torrie, as " Patrick Wardlaw of Torrie and Sir Henry Wardlaw of Balmule " Appear that day as witnesses to the baptism of Elizabeth, dau. of Mr. William Wardlaw of Balmule. He died before 23 May, 1627, And his will shows him a debtor to James Dalgleish of Tunnygask. He had a son

VI. Andrew Wardlaw of Torrie, who -was served heir male to his father 23 May, 1627, and again 12 Jan., 1628, " in terris de Kynnernie cum pendiculo vocato Steilend, in regalitate de Dunfermling " ('Inq. Sp. Fife,' Nos. 389, 395). RUVIGNY.

Chertsey.

(To be concluded.)

THACKERAY AND CUDWORTH'S SERMON.

IN the sixth chapter of ' Esmond ' there is an account of the search at Castlewood for treasonable papers, when some of Father Holt's half -burnt MS. sermons are found. Little Harry Esmond is called upon to translate, and proceeds thus :

" ' Hath not one of your own writers said, " The children of Adam are now labouring as much as he himself ever did, about the tree of knowledge of good and evil, shaking the boughs thereof and seek- ing the fruit, being for the most part unmindful of the tree of life." blind generation ! 'tis this tree of knowledge to which the serpent led you.' And jhere the boy was obliged to stop, the rest of the page being charred by the tire." In the same chapter Richard Steele quotes from " that very sermon of Dr. Cudworth's " the phrase, " A good conscience is the best looking-glass of heaven."

Probably few of the readers of ' Esmond ' could say whence these quotations came. 'On one of Thackeray's visits to Cambridge his attention was called to this " noble sermon," and the reference to it in his novel led to the appearance of a new edition :

" Mr. Cudworth's sermon preached before the

Honble. House of Commons at Westminster, March 31st, 1847. Reprinted and dedicated to W. M. Thackeray, Esquire. Cambridge : Printed for J. Talboys Wheeler, Bookseller, over against Trinity College Gateway. And sold in London by Geo. Bell, at 132, Fleet St. 1852."

The dedication reads :

To W. M. THACKERAY, ESQ.

DEAR SIR, I called your attention, when you were last at Cambridge, to that noble sermon of Dr. Ralph Cudworth, preached before the House of Commons in 1647 ; and which you have quoted in your highly valued novel.

This re-publication is therefore due to you ; pray accept my dedication not only with assurances of personal esteem, but also with an expression of gratitude, that those who adorn the literature of their own times, should also have religious feeling to inculcate in works designed to please and instruct the public a knowledge of the eloquent and masterly statement of Christian truth, which the following Sermon contains. Yours truly,

JAMES BROGDEX.

Trinity College, Cambridge.

The MS. of ' Esmond ' is now in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. Cudworth's sermon amply deserves Mr. Brogden's praise, and contains some noble passages of lofty eloquence and ethical fire. He lays more stress upon holiness of life, and less upon dogma, than did many of his contemporaries. Sir Leslie Stephen, when writing the notice of Cudworth in the ' D.N.B.,' makes no mention of this edition with its interesting Thackeray association. WILLIAM E. A. AXON.

Manchester.

HODGSON'S, 1807-1907. (See ante, p. 246.) Just a passing note should be made that the week of the Hodgson Centenary was notable for two other celebrations, although of a very different character. The proceedings in connexion with the centenary of the Geological Society began on Thursday, September 26th, when the President, Sir Archibald Geikie, gave a discourse on ' The State of Geology at the Time of the Foundation of the Society,' while the preceding day, the 25th of Septem- ber, was the jubilee of the relief of Lucknow, the statue of Havelock in Trafalgar Square being decorated in honour of the occasion.

The Hodgsons are naturally full of book- auction lore, and Mr. Sidney Hodgson tells us that the first book auction of which there is a catalogue was in 1676, when William Cooper, a bookseller, sold the library of Dr. Lazarus Seaman, Master of Peterhouse, who died in 1675. Dr. Seaman's Catalogue is entitled " Catalogus Variorum et Insignium Librorum instructissimae Biblio-