Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/129

 ii s. x. AUG. 15, 1914.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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unsigned. Therefore I attribute to him, in addition to the above, the following, signed -p ".

JZj. .

Epigram I. (January, 1: 38).

Epigrams II. and III. (February, 1: 76).

The Story-Teller I. (January, 1: 9-16).

The Story-Teller II. (February, 1: 43-6).

The Story-Teller III. (March, 1: 83-9).

The Story-Teller IV. (April, 1: 123-7).

The Parricide Punished (March, 1: 92-4).

The Town-Talker I. (February, 1: 62-4).

The Town-Talker II. (March, 1: 95-97).

The Town-Talker III. (April, 1: 137-40).

Curious Electioneering Letter (March, 1: 108- 109).

Epigram III. (March, 1: 116).

Account of a Remarkable Trial by Combat. Translated from the French (April, 1: 132-3). From Froissard [ic].

Epigrams II. and III. (April, 1: 156).

Epitaphs I., III., and IV. (April, 1: 156).

IP the May number (1: 163-8) appeared the ' Conclusion of the Story -Teller,' signed " H " instead of " E." ; but that person was not Holcroft. Vide infra.

The submitted ' Enigma V. by Mr. T. H.' in the May number (1: 198) may be his, for he had severed his connexion and could enter the competitions. To him I also give ' Answer to all the Enigmas. By Mr. T. H.' in the June number (1: 240). We read in the fifth number (May) : " This Work will in future be conducted by the chief Editor of the British Magazine and Review, .lately compleated in three volumes ; who has takon. the liberty to finish ' The Story-Teller,' and discontinue the Town-Talker."

From this I judge that the " H " signed to the ' Conclusion of the Story-Teller ' was not Holcroft, but the editor ; but that the " E." signed to the first four parts was Holcroft, since we know (cf. Preface to ' Tales in Verse ' ) that Holcroft was the editor January-April. Furthermore, ' The Night -Walker,' beginning in the June num- ber, is avowedly by the new editor, and is signed " H ."

I find that the signature " E." is used several times after the April number. We know that Holcroft was in Paris from September to December, 1784, and that his part in the magazine must have been very slight at that time. The use of the " E.'' fits in very well with this absence : 1784. June : The Orators (1: 235).

Home News (1: 235).

Epigram V. (1: 235).

Epitaph V., On a Moses (1: 236). August : Epigrams IV. and V. (1: 316). September : Epigram IV. (1: 356).

[Here comes the gap, when Holcroft was in France.]

1785. January : The Art of Story Telling (2: 7-10 ) The Confessor (2: 30). Advice to Tradesmen (2: 30). Morning (2: 30). Noon (2: 30).

Extempore. On Brevity (2: 30 J.- February : The Dull Joker (2: 69).

Progress of a Great Estate

(2: 69).

April : Essay on Matrimonial Quarrels- (2: 121-2).

It is, of course, possible that " E." may stand for " Eudosia " or " Eugenic," who contributed at one time or another ; but this seems improbable in view of the ascrip- tion of ' The Story-Teller ' to the preceding^ editor by his successor. We know, then, that the " E." signed to ' The Story -Teller ' stands for Holcroft. Awaiting further con- tradiction, I shall assume that the other occurrences of the " E." also stand for Holcroft, as listed above. We have the additional evidence that much of the work signed " E." comes from the French (e.g., ' The Parricide Punished ' in March, ' Ac- count of a Remarkable Trial by Combat r and Epitaphs III. and IV. in April, 1784), and this at a period when Holcroft was doing translation. His April-October, 1783 r Parisian trip had sent him home rich in material.

I find (April, 1784, 1: 129) an unsigned article in the form of a letter beginning '

" I have the happiness of a friend in Paris, who' is so good as to transmit to me every thing that i curious which comes out in that great city, whether in regard to news, or the belles lettres. He has- lately done me the favour to send me a most ela- borate treatise . . . . "

and so I tentatively offer this article on- 'Nothing' (1: 129-32) as another of Hoi- croft's writings, for he had a friend in Paris (De Bonneville), and the article either came from him or Holcroft brought it irt himself.

There are articles and verses in almost every number bearing the signature " H ,' r and the assumption would be that " H " was Holcroft. But the direct evidence in connexion with the ' Conclusion of the Story -Teller ' above mentioned militates- against this on grounds of consistency, and I note the new editor's swan-song at the end of the last number issued :

EPITAPH.

On the Editor of the Wit's Magazine. Header 1 here lies thy quondam, merry Friend, Chop-fall'n, alas ! and quite at his Wit's End.

H.

The fact that this, at the end, is signed " H ," at a time when Holcroft certainly was not editor, confirms my rejection of