head in honour of any diftinguished perfonage, who had benerited his coun try by his patriotic atchievements, his ingenuity, or invention? If fome fuch improvements as thefe could be intro duced, and a new coinage be kept iffu ing every three or four years, or at more diftant periods, the reverfe always reprefenting fone public event or public character, our coins would go down to pofterity replete with all the hiftorical information and beauty which render the medals of antiquity fuch objects of refearch and cunolity. It is in vain to fay that artifis could not be found adequate to fuch invention and execution. Were proper encouragement given, in dividuals would fart up, capable of fabricating pieces of very fuperior beauty and workmanhip. Indeed, from the frequent marks of excellence that may be discovered on many of the manufac turers half-pennies, now in fo common circulation, and particularly from that high-finished fpecimen of Mr. Bolton's, it is fufficiently apparent that the medailic art is by no means at fo low an ebb as our national coin would lead one to fuppofe. His Majesty is well known to be an admirer and patron of the Arts, and an encourager of every honourable undertaking. Why then should he overlook that which would hand him down to a later pofterity, and with much brighter letre than any other; and whofe fpecimens would exift when the picture and the ftatue fhould be crumbled into duft. Such being the difgraceful condition of our current money, a most favourable opportunity prefents itself to any pub ic-spirited tatefman to draw upon himself the immoriai praife and honour of his countrymen. From the factious brawl of Oppofition, or the place-keeping exertions of Ministry, little is to be expected. But there is a party come into power to whom all admirers of elegant art look up with juft hope of amendment. Lord Spencer and Mr. Windham are men of taftes too ciaffical, and minds too enlightened by lite rature, not to know and feel the praife that attaches to a nation from the ex cellence and perfection of its coins. Let us hope then, when the din of war is over, and the prefent troubled times get calmed, that thefe honourable perfons will exert themfelves in the refor mation of this and other national abufes; and then we may live to fee our Mint 1 once more diftinguished by the elegant fabrication of a Simon or a Croker. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, S. E. K. Jan, 12. AM eating fome foup from the fol- To make a very good Soup; from its One pound of lean beef cut into The expences of a gallon of foup :— Beef, 5d.; (pice, id.; onions, td.; psas, 11.4; rice or barley, 1d.; falt and potatoes, 1d.-Total, 10.1.1. N. B. In the country it would be much lefs; and, by buying large quandon parish might make it for 9d. a galtities of the feparate ingredients, a Lon-. lon, or under. A R. WISH through the medium of your intelligent and curious Magazine to afcertain the relationship, if any, between that eminent fchoolmaster of W/Rfamily of Busby, of Addington, in minster, Dr. Richard Bufby, and the Bucks. here, Sept. 22, 1656, being fecond fon of Dr. Busby was born at Lutton, in LincolnRichard Bufby, of the city or Westminster, gent. 6 Queries concerning the Family of Dr. Richard Bufby. gent. ob. Apr. 5. 1695. (See Biogr. Brit. fecond edit. vol. iii. p. 53-55. Wood's Ath. vol. ii. 923. The arms were the fame, and there is a tradition of relationship. I can go no farther. That others may judge, I here throw together, from undoubted authorities, fore deduction of thofe of Addington. About 1625, the family of Curzon, of Waterpenny, in Oxfordfhire, fold the manor of Addington, (a parifa within the hundred of Buckingham,) cu. Bucks, to John Busby, who dying June 11, 1635, 15 Car. I. about ten years after his purchase, was buried in the church there *. He was fucceeded by his fon and heir Bobert Busby, of Gray's Inn. He died Sept. 15, 1652, aged 52, as appears by his gravestone in the chancel of the above church, and this eftate defcended to His fon and heir Sir John Bufby, who was knighted June 25, 1661, out of gratitude to the memory of his fatherin law, Sir William Mainwaring, knt. who was flain during the civil wars, in defence of Chefert. The name of his first wife, daughter of the above Sir William Manwaring, was Judith, who died in 1667, as appears by the following epitaph from the church of Ridge, in Hertfordshire, (in which parish her mother, who remar ried Sir Henry Pope Blunt, of Tettenhanger, refided). "Here lies the lady Bufby, wife of Sir John Bulby, of Addington, in the county of Bucks, daughter to the Lady Blunt, by her first husband Sir William Manwaring, who was flain in defence of Chefter for the King; he died the 28th of December, 1667, in the nineteenth year of her age, in childbed of her fecond child, a daughter, which furvives to fucceed her in thofe admirable perfections which made her memory dear to all that knew her ]].” The children were a fon and a daughter the fon died young; the daughter Hefther married the Hon. Thomas Egerton, of Tatton Park, in Cheshire §, * Browne Willis's Collections for Bucks, p. 113. + Kennet's Chronicle, p. 482. This date ought beyond doubt to have been 1661, for Sir John Bufby married his fe, ond wife Nov. 3, 1662; and the Lady, from the time of her father's death, must have been much more than 19, had the lived till 1667. Chauncy's Hertfordshire, p. 503. [Jan. and died 1724, having had iffue by him feveral children, of whom was 1, John, (father of the late Samuel Egerton, of Tatton, Efq. M. P. for that county, and of the mother of the prefent William Tatton Egerton, Efq. of that place, now M. P. for Newcafile-under-Lyne ;) 2, William Egerton, LL. D §. prebendary of Canterbury, &c, whole two coheirs married William Hammond, and Edward Bridges, both of Kent, Efqrs, who both have left iffue. Sir John Bufby's fecond wife was Mary, daughter of John Dormer, Efq, who died 1714, as appears by the following epitaph, at Addington. Against the North wall on a white marble tablet: "In order to a glorious refurrection, underneath refteth the body of Dame Mary Bulby, who departed this life Nov. 16, in the 71ft year of her age, and in the year of our Lord, 1714. She was the eldest daughter of John Dormer, of Lee Grange, in the county of Bucks, Efq, and fecond wife to the late Sir John Bufby, Knt. who was interred in the chancel; by whom she had five Mary Bufby, whom the conftituted fole fons, and nine daughters. Her daughter, executrix of her last will and teftament, out of a filial regard to the memory of her dear excellent pious mother, hath erected this ftone, as you fee it, by the exprefs command of her faid mother." The following is the epitaph of Sir John Bufby, at the fame place. "Near this place refteth, in hope to rife in glory, the body of the learned Sir John Bufby, Knt. late deputy-lieutenant, and colonel of the militia of this county, deceated Jan., 1700, aged 65. He had by his Lady Judith, daughter of Sir William Manwaring, Knt. a fon, and a daughter. By his fecond Lady, Mary, eldest daughter of John Dormer, of Lee-Grange, Efq. five fons, and nine daughters; whereof most are gone before him; may the rest prepare to follow him! To whofe pious memory, Thomas Busby, Doctor of Laws, his fon and heir, confe crated this monument, A. D. 1705 *." Abigail, daughter of Sir John Bosby,, by his fecond wife, married the Rev. Harrington Baghaw, and died Apr. 25, 1713, t. 39 t. Thomas Baghaw (probably his fon) was inducted into the living of Addington, May 12, 1735. The above Thomas Bulby, LL. D. was inftituted to the above living on his father's prefentation, March 19. 1693. *Browne Withs, ut tepr. p. 117. + See Thorpe's Reg. Roff. p. 815. He He greatly decorated the chancel, and repaired the parfonage-house, though he refided at the manerial manfion. He died Apr. 11, 1725, leaving two daughters by Anne, his wife, daughter of John Limbry, of Hoddington, in the parish of Upton-Gray, Hants, Eiq*. of whom, one, Now the widow of Sir Charles Kemevs Tynte, Bart, is furviving, and in poffeffion of the family-feat, and eßates, at Addington. The arms are Or, darts in pale, on a chief Sable, 3 mu'lers, Or. Dr. Kippis, in his additional notes to the article of Bufby in Biogr. Brit. fays, that though Dr. Befby's father was a gentleman, it appears that the circumftances of the family were fuch as rendered it neceffary for young Baby to receive affiance in the courfe of his education. The following facts are tranfcribed by Widmore, (Hiftory of the Church of St. Peter, Weftminder, p. 227.) from the accounts of the church warders of St Margared's, Weftminster. "1628. To Richard Bufby, by confent of veftry, towards enabling him to proceed Batchelor of Arts, 5-1631. To Richard Baby, &c, towards A. M. 57. 135. 4d." THA HAT irregularity of conduct is almoft invariably attached to poetic genius has been often remarked, though it is far from being univerfally allowed. To fuggeft the idea among literary men is always to awaken the fpirit of controverfy. But, perhaps, there may be a want of precifion in ftating the queftion. If, by irregularity of conduct, be meant fuch vicious excefles as mark a depravation of the morals, I should not hehtate to reject the affection. But, if this expreffion imply little more than a deviation from the rules of common prudence, I readily admit the charge. But, to fettle this point, we can only have recourfe to example. The lives of the Greek, the Roman, or the English poets, might very pleafantly illuftrate the fubject. Let us confine ourselves to the latter. A leleton of geniuses from the poetic records of any country, to fuit our prefent purpofe, would be unfair; but, from Johnton's Lives of the Poets, (or any other collection of the fort,) examined regularly as each character occurs, the evidence must be * Browne Willis, ut fupra, p. 113. GENT. MAG. January, 1795. conclufive, He, who makes this appeal to the characters of our predecessors in literature, hould endeavour to draw an exact line between real and reputed genius; and, with this discrimination, he will find perhaps, that, though few of thofe who poffeffed true genius can be accufed of very grofs immoralities, yes, to the charge of eccentricities, the ffe&t of indifcretion, they mun ail plead guilty. This feems a curious circumftance in the hiftory of mankind. I have not leifure, Mr. Urban, to purfue this fpeculation myfelf, but I fall turn to Johnson's Lives, and curforily notice a few poets, in order to excite fome of your correfpondents to this pleafing task. The fit name on the lift is Cowley. This writer is ranked among the metaphyfical poets; his wit is factitious, his genius artificial, if I may fo exprefs myfelf; his life, therefore, is not a fubject for our investigation. But, admitting him to be really a poet, we might difcover all the indifcretions of genius in his conduct; whilft we obferved his officioufness in times of turbulence and peril, and the refleffness of his fpirit in almost every fituation. If Denham, as having written the first topographical poem, deferves the name of poct, we need not hesitate to charge him with the exceffes that flow from a fervid imagination; fince it is notorious, that he fpeot his eftate among gamblers. Yet, on the whole, we must a low him to be virtuous: we even perceive traits of piety in his character. The irregularities of Milton's life are fufficiently obvious from his diforderly behaviour in college, that incurred fevere cenfure, if not corporeal chaflifement; to his marriage of a third wife unportioned, with whom, uxorious as he was, he enjoyed not a gleam of happinefs. His manners were repulfive, both in private and public life. To repudiate a wife (as he did his first), and then write pamphlets to jußity divorce for difobedience, wrefting the Scriptures, Like Henry VIII, to his fe fill views, to calumniate government on every occafion, and at length openly rebel against inis King, to act, in short, continually against his own convictions, whilft he demeened himself haughtily. towards all around him, and affected to difregard the confequences of his actions; fuch was the effect of menial magnificence, the gift of nature, accom. panied 18 Longevity of the Antients.-Gray's Elegy vindicated. panied with a consciousness of greatness, to which other mortals had no right to aspire. But I muft here break off abruptly, leaving this enquiry for others, who may think it worth their while to pur fue it. I muft obferve, however, that, in the remaining lift of Johnfon's Poets, twenty only can be faid to have poffeffed the genuine poetical mind: confequently, the lives of twenty only can be deemed the fair objects of investigation. If it were not an invidious task, I could mention the names of several living writers, whose conduct would juftify the pofition which gave occafion to thefe rapid glances. Yours, &c. L. L. B. LETTER II. On the Longevity of the Antients. The city of Turkey,) was fituated HE city of Niniveh (now Mouful, ip Mr. URBAN, [Jan. Jan. 12. IN your laft Mifcellany (vol. LXIV. in an hilly country, on the banks of the (To be continued.) Mr. Lloyd's tranflation of ver. 36 is concife and claffical; your correspondent lofes his original, and introduces a figure of his own. Would I could add, with fuccefs! 1081) appear to me well-founded. A clergman fhould be cautious of innovation, in matters of a facred nature. A. M's obfervations (vol. LXIV. p. The " Enemy to all Ambiguity" (vol. LXIV. p. 1084) fhould be more attentive to confiftency. He quotes Greek, and ought therefore to be acquainted with the language; but, if he were, he would not require an explanation of the word Soph. Let him be told too, that there are terms peculiar to all places and profeffions. Were he to read the Phar macopeia, and Treatifes on Tactics or Law, he would be as much puzzled, perhaps, as when he read the Cambridge Guide. If "an Enemy to all Ambiguity" be a Cantab, the reflections which he thinks proper to caft on a certain college (a college, by the bye, if once in difrepute, nor as refpectable as any in the univerfity) are illiberal. I am pleafed to find, Mr. Urban, that you are not without a French correfpondent. At this time, we must have anong us feveral of the literate of that nation, and, I think, we may expect amufement from them through the channel of the Gentleman's Magazine. AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT. tion, "To the learned, the Graduates and Undergraduates of the Univerfity of Cambridge:" and I was highly gratified by the perufal of the letter fubjoined. Although a vein of good natured jacularity evidently pervades the whole compofition, yet the academica! honours, and the colloquial phrafes, therein alluded to, do all certainly exift; and are all, as certainly, very unintelligible, both to the ftudents and fellows of the feveral colleges individually, and alfo to the public at large. But, popery and monkish impofitions being now, it is to be hoped, entirely abolished in England, the correlative mummery fhould no longer remain; the age of fuperftition and of Abracadabra is past ! With a firm perfuafion of this truth, l'shall yeature to offer fome flight conjectures upon the intricate subject, well aware, however, that to the indefatigable in duftry, to the fcrupulous accuracy, and to the immenfe reading, of a Wall of Chrift's, a Tyrwhitt of Jefus, or Whiter of Clare, we muft alone eventually look for full and fatisfactory in formation. Mine will be but an inferior ministerial office in the Temple of Literature; I fhall bind the ambiguous victims, and drag them to the altar. Let thefe high priests come forward, and ftrike the blow. a Before I proceed to notice the queries of your ingenious correfpondent, it may not perhaps be improper to mention one very remarkable perfonage, which, either through inadvertency or defign, he has passed over in total filence. I mean "The Wooden Spoon." This luckle's wight (for what caufe I know not) is annually the univerfal butt and laughing flock of the whole fenate-house. He is the laft of thofe young men who take bongurs, in his year, and is called a junior optimé; yet, notwithstanding his being in fact fuperior to them all, the very loweft of the of woλo, or gregarious undiftinguished batchelors, think themselves entitled to fhoot the pointless arrows of their clumfy wit against the wooden spoon; and to reiterate the ftale and perennial remark, that "suranglers are born with gold spoons in their mouths: Jenior optimes with filver: junior optimés with wooden: and the work with leaden ones." Befides this mirth-devoted character, and in a degree ftill lower than the ci woo, are always "a few, a chofen few, a band of brothers," whofe names are conftantly written down alphabeti. cally, and who ferve to exonerate the wooden spoon, in part, from the ignominy of the day; and these undergo various appropriated epithets according to their accidental number. I have known them thus feverally characterifed. If there was only one of these, he was a Bion, who carried all his learn ing about bim, without the slightest incone venience; if there were two, they were inevitably dubbed the Scipios, Damon and Pythias, Hercules and Atlas, Caftor and Pollux; if three, they were, ad libitum, the three Graces, or the three Furies, or the three Magi, or Noah, Daniel, and Job; if feven, what epithets more obvious than the seven wife men, or the seven wonders of the world? if nine, they were the nine unfortunate fuitors of the muses; if twelve, they became the twelve apofiles; if thirteen, either they deferved a round dozen, or, like Ameri cans, thould bear thirteen fripes on their coat and arms, &c. &es laftly, all these worthies are styled, in addition to such and fimilar notable diftinctions, conflant, quantities, and Martyrs. I have happily preferved the copy of an irregular ode, written in congratulation of thofe fcape-goats of literature who had at length fcrambled through the pales and difcipline of the Senatehoufe without being plucked, and miraculously obtained the title of A. B. This ode was circulated round the univerfity at degree-time; and, as it poffeffes the merit of humorous originality, I fhall here, with your permiffion, Sir, lay it before your readers. Ode to the nambitious and undistinguished Batchelors. |