Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/42

NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vni. JULY 12, 1913. the brothers and sisters, containing about one acre. The houses of the brothers and sisters are situable residences and sufficiently convenient; but the Master's lodge consisting as it does of a double coach-house, with stables for seven horses, a conservatory, greenhouses and forcing houses is unnecessarily large, very expensive, and out of all proportion to the wants of the charity."

During the five years 1864-8 the emoluments of the Master varied from 1,511l. to 1,212l. The report is deserving of attention, on account of the valuable historical details which it contains.

WASHINGTON'S CONNEXION WITH SELBY (11 S. vii. 430). Amongst my papers on the Washington family I find a pamphlet

" An Examination of the English Ancestry of George Washington, setting forth the evidence to connect him with the Washington^ of Sulgrave and Brington. By Henry F. Waters, A.M."

This was published at Boston in 1889, being " reprinted from the N.E. Historical and Genealogical Register for October, 1889."

The pedigree chart therein inserted shows that 'Lawrence Washington, Mayor of North- ampton, and grantee of Sulgrave, was eldest son of John Washington of Warton, co. Lancaster. JOHN T. PAGE.

Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

COBBETT BIBLIOGRAPHY (11 S. vi. 1, 22, 62, 84, 122, 142, 183,- 217, 398). I am afraid a note on this subject is too late to be welcome, but should be glad to know if the authorship of " The Life of William Cobbett, by Himself," has ever been de- finitely established. MB. MELVILLE does not seem to notice it. It was published in pamphlet form by William Hone in 1816, and Cobbett denied the authorship, and complained of its inaccuracies; but in the seventh edition Hone challenged him with unusual vigour, and asserted its genuine- ness. They were, of course, rival publishers, and, on the face of it, it seems unlikely that Cobbett would have issued his autobio- graphy from any house but his own. The new * Life of Hone,' however (by F. W. Hackwood, Unwin, 1912), states that a memorandum exists to the effect that Hone was approached for an estimate of cheap printing for Cobbett' 's Weekly Political Regis- ter. Nothing came of this, but it seems to point to business relations between them. One of Cobbett's objections to his own cheaply at 4d., instead of 2,9. 6d.
 * Life ' was that Hone was selling it too

Further, John Britten, who knew most things concerning the literary history of the first half of the nineteenth century, apparently knew no reason to doubt its

authenticity. Speaking of Cobbett in his own ' Autobiography,' he says :

" His works are numerous, very voluminous, and on various subjects. Amongst them is a copious, and apparently very candid Auto- Biography, which details a pretty faithful account of his public career and writings. But I would more particularly direct the young reader to ' The Life of William Cobbett,' a small thick volume in 18mo, of which the third edition ap- peared in 1835, extending to 422 pages. This is dedicated 'To the Sons of William Cobbett/ and contains apparently a fair, discriminating account of the man, the author and the poli- tician. It also reprints the opinions and criti- cisms of William Hazlitt, Gifford in The Standard, and others from The Morning Chronicle, The Times, and The Atlas."

MARGARET LAVINGTON.

' THE READER ' AND DR. JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY (US. vii. 468). MR. COURTNEY will find in The Pall Mall Gazette of 17 or 18 Jan., 1867. in an article headed ' Shocking Suicide of a Reviewer,' corroboration of the story told by Mr. Escott. The criticism in The Reader dealt with Dr. Latham's edition of the Dictionary then being published. Latham's edition is by no means a " cheap reprint," as Mr. Escott calls it : it was being issued at the time referred to in periodical instalments, and ultimately formed four large volumes. The Reader's reviewer proposed to deal with the work at length, and he devoted his " first notice " to the ' Author's Preface.' Assuming the Preface to be Latham's, not Johnson's, work, he declared that

"we have been obliged more than once to rub our eyes, and turn the book up again, to convince our- selves that such pretensions have been put forward in it as assuredly are there."

After quoting copiously from the ' Author's Preface,' with numerous scathing comments, the reviewer appealed to the publishers :

" We do not wish to kick a man when he is down, but we do beg Messrs. Longman to cancel this Author's Preface, and substitute one for it which will do a little more justice to Johnson's work, and put the present editor's in its proper place, as far as they like below his great predecessor's." When it is remembered that Johnson's Preface to his Dictionary forms a striking example of Johnsonian style, it is not sur- prising that The Reader's review was de- scribed at the time as " one of the most astonishing bits of criticism which have ever adorned a modern journal." Needless to say, the " second notice " never appeared, and the number in which this marvellous review was printed was the last issue of The Reader. The journal had an existence of five years. Its first editor was Prof,