Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/227

 ii s. vi. SEW. 7, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

183

The Charter Book was not ready for signature until the end of 1664, and on the 9th of January, 1665, Pepys records that when he walked to Whitehall through the frozen streets,

" I saw the Royal Society bring their new book, wherein is nobly writ their charter and laws, and conies to be signed by the Duke as a Fellow ; and all the Fellows are to be entered there, and lie as a monument, and the King hath put his, with the word Founder."

The King's signature, with the word " Founder :: underneath, is in the centre of the page at the top, while below to the right is that of James (Duke of York, after- wards James II.), with the word " Fellow." Prince Rupert also signed further down the page in a bold, characteristic hand. The signature by the side of it is that of Prince George of Denmark, Consort of Queen Anne ; he, however, did not sign until November 30th, 1704, when he was unanimously chosen a member of the Society.

Pepys had evidently for a long time looked forward to joining the Society, for Dr. Seth Ward, as far back as April, 1662, had offered to introduce him to Lord Brouncker, and to " bring me into the college of virtuosoes, and show me some anatomy, which makes me very glad " ; but it was not until the 1st of March, 1665, that he paid his admission money (40s.) to the Society :

" Here was very fine discourses and experi- ments, but I do lack philosophy enough to under- stand them. Among others, a very particular account of the making of the several sorts of bread in France, which is accounted the best place for bread in the world."

" his Majesty had sent that wonderful horn of fish which struck a dangerous hole in the keel of a ship in the India sea, which, being broken off with the violence of the fish, and left in the timber, preserved it from foundering."

After the 28th of June the meetings had to be discontinued for more than four months, owing to the Great Plague, when the Court and most of those who could do so fled from the pestilence. Some of the Fellows of the Royal Society, however, who had public functions to discharge, re- mained courageously in London, and at imminent risk of infection continued the active prosecution of their duties. Pleasant it is to record that John Evelyn and the recently elected Samuel Pepys were pro- minent among these. Evelyn was one of the three Commissioners appointed to take care of the sick and wounded and the prisoners

of war, England having declared war against Holland ; and Pepys stuck to his post at the Admiralty, as did Oldenburg, the Secretary of the Royal Society.

JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS. (To be continued.)

COBBETT BIBLIOGRAPHY. (See ante, pp. 1, 22, 62, 84, 122, 142.)

1830.

Rural Bides in the Counties of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Somersetshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk,, and Hertfordshire : with Economical and Political Observations relative to matters applicable to, and illustrated by, the State of those Counties respectively. By William Cob- bett. London : Published by William Cobbett, 183, Fleet Street. 1830. 12mo, pp. iv-568.

History of the Regency and Reign of King George the Fourth. By William Cobbett. London : Printed by Mills, Towett, and Mills, Bolt-Court ; Published by William Cobbett, 183, Fleet Street. 1830.

12mo, no pagination. Contains chaps, i, to iv.

Good Friday, or, The Murder of Jesus Christ by the Jews. By William Cobbett. London : Published by the Author, 183, Fleet Street ; and sold by all Booksellers. 1830. 12mo, pp. 24.

Cobbett's Plan of Parliamentary Reform ; Ad- dressed to the Young Men of England. 8vo, pp. 16.

Eleven Lectures on the French and Belgian Revolutions, and English Boroughmongering r delivered in the Theatre of the Rotunda, Black- friars Bridge, by William Cobbett. With a Portrait. London. W. Strange, 21, Pater- noster Row. MDCCCXXX.

8vo. The lectures were delivered between 30 Aug. and 7 Oct., 1830, and were issued and paged separately. The volume, though dated 1830, contains a portrait dated 1835.

Cobbett's Political Register. Vol. LXIX. From January 2 to June 26, 1830. [Vol. LXX. From July 3 to December 25, 1830.] Inclusive. London : Printed and Published by the Author, at No. 11, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. 1830.

8vo, vol. Ixix. 842 columns ; vol. Ixx. 1120 columns.

1831.

A Spelling-Book, with Appropriate Lessons in Reading, and with a Stepping-Stone to English Grammar. By William Cobbett. London : Published at No. 11, Bolt-Court, Fleet Street ;. and may be had of all Booksellers. 1831.

12mo, pp. iv-185. Cobbett's Penny Trash.

Issued in February, March, and April, 1831.