"Since I wrote the above, I have found a letter of John Knapton, wherein he says he has an assignment of the property of the Terms of Acceptance,' dated June 6, 1711. I suppose he did not delay the publication.

"I had like to have forgotten to ask, whether you remember a Letter published (with his name, I think,) by the Bishop, in the public papers, about his opinion against persecuting Authors or Printers, whatever their abuse of him should be; though I myself am the subject of every Saturday's Paper,' is something like the expression. I find more of that matter in one of his letters to Lady Sundon. Was it not after his Political Tract on the Conduct of Great Britain?' These letters of the Bishop's were sent me by an honest Welsh Parson, Mr. Miles of Cambridge, whose sister was married to the sorry Attorney Mr. Case, who would have terrified the Bishop out of preferment by threatening to publish them. This gave my Lord some uneasiness, till he was assured by Bishop Green of Lincoln, and Dr. Chapman, Master of Magdalen, (who had read them more than once) that there was nothing in them that even he need be ashamed of. Some of Dr. Freind's, the old schoolmaster, were pasted into the same book, which I immediately sent to the Dean of Canterbury; but not to be compared-the grossest flattery, without the commonest politeness. There was not one I wished to preserve, except that on Somerville's Poem of the Chace, then just published. "Mrs. Hoadly joins in sincerest compliments to Lord Hardwicke and Lady Grey, not forgetting our Friends in Kingstreet, Covent-garden *.

"Excuse my putting you to some expence, as my time is so short as not to afford a letter should go out of its way.

"I meditate a visit in January to the Metropolis; but whether it will be possible, time and gout will shew. I have not been so well for some years as I have been this summer.

"I am, dear Sir, your much obliged

J. HOADLY."

"Dec. 2, 1764; Old Alresford,-where I breakfast and predicate every Sunday, and return at night to St. Cross.

"If you know of any that want to learn Italian or French, or if you want to have any thing copied or transcribed, there is an honest poor old creature lives in Wyan's-court in Great Russelstreet, Bloomsbury, Mr. Restivo, a pensioner of the Bishop's, who wants employment."

"DEAR SIR, St. Cross, Feb. 24, 1765. "Be pleased to accept candidly this imperfect sketch, with many thanks for your ready and kind assistance.

"If you have occasion to make any long extracts, or to transcribe, &c. the bearer, Mr. Restivo, will be glad to earn a penny He would be obliged for your recommendation, as a Teacher of Italian, French, or Latin.

"Believe me to be, dear Sir, your obliged and affectionate "J. HOADLY."

* Mr. Daniel Wray then lived there.

Letters

Letters of Dr. DUCAREL and Dr. ZACHARY PEARCE*, Bishop of ROCHESTER.

"MY LORD, Doctors Commons, June 9, 1770. "I have before me your very obliging letter of June 1. I am much obliged to you for your information, and cannot conceive how such a mistake as manerium for mæremium could creep into Mr. Thorpe's book, it being well known that mæremium (derived from the French word meresme) properly signifies any sort of timber fit for building; seu quodvis materiamen. Claus. 16 Ed. II. m. 3: mæremium, timber; Co. Lit. 53.

"But the principal reason of my troubling your Lordship with this (arising from your former letter of May 29) is to acquaint you that, if you have any desire of knowing what Parliamentary Surveys of the Manors of your See there are at Lambeth,-on receiving the names of those Manors, and their Counties, it will give me great pleasure to satisfy such an enquiry, which I can immediately do, as I have been at the pains of making a complete alphabetical index to the twenty-one volumes of those Surveys under my custody. I have the honour to be, my Lord, "Your Lordship's, &c.

A. C. DUCAREL." Bromley, June 26, 1770.

"SIR, "I received the favour of yours of the 22d, and am much obliged to you for it. On looking over my papers, I find, that I have a copy of the Survey of the Manor of Bromley, and the original Surveys of the Rectory of Dartford, of the Rectories of Frensbury and Strood, and also of the Houses and Lands in St. Margaret's near Rochester, belonging to the See of Rochester; and I shall enquire whether any others are to be found in my Register-office at Rochester.

"I am obliged to you for the hint which your letter gives about the Augmentation office; and I will write to Mr. Brooker about it, and about what he told you of the Surveyor General's office. The present Surveyor General, Mr. Burrell, is my neighbour here, and is my bailiff of this manor, and tenant by lease for Bromley market. He will (if he can) readily assist me, getting his Office searched at my desire.

by

"As for my estate in St. Saviour's, Southwark, I have a copy of an Act of Parliament in the time of Henry VIII. by which the Bp. of Carlisle's house is taken from him, and given to Sir William Russel (as the Act says, that he, his Majesty's Privy Counsellor, may be nearer to him when wanted'). That house was in Covent Garden, and the Bp. of Carlisle was recompensed with the Bishop of Rochester's house at Lambeth (now called Carlisle House); for which the Bishop of Rochester had a house allotted to him at Chiswick in Middlesex. So far the Act goes; but how the helpless Bishop of Rochester of those days was removed again from Chiswick to St. Saviour's in Southwark (like a Vagrant *Of this learned Prelate, see the "Literary Anecdotes," vol. III. p. 107.

passed

passed from parish to parish) I have not been yet able to discover. However, I will write to Mr. Brooker about it; and I again thank you for the hint, and am, kind Sir,

"Your very obliged humble servant, "MY LORD,

Z. ROCHESTER.” Doctors Commons, Sept. 30, 1771.

"I herein inclose a copy of the only Survey of Denton under my custody at Lambeth.

"Vol. XX. p. 156, 157. In the parish of Denton is a parsonage impropriate, belonging to the late Bishop of Rochester, worth 261. per annum. Mr. Richard Head is tenant of the said parsonage, by lease from the said late Bishop of Rochester, and receives the profits, paying the rent reserved upon his lease to the State. Mr. Matthew Derbye, Vicar of Chalke, supplies the cure, and hath 61. per annum paid him by the said Mr. Head. The said parish of Denton is very fit to be united to the parish of Chalke next adjoining, of a small value.-This Survey was taken at Rochester 27th of Sept. 1650.

"With regard to the Meeting of the Clergy at the Feathers Tavern last week, no persons were admitted but those who signed the Petition; and the number was not very great. A printed anonymous account of their proceedings (in one sheet) having been sent to all the Bishops on Saturday last, I presume your Lordship hath received one. Mr. Jebb said he would call upon me, but did not. I have the honour, &c. A. C. DUCAREL." "KIND SIR,

Bromley, Oct. 3, 1771. "I received your letter of the 30th of September, and the copy of the Parliamentary Survey inclosed with it, and think myself much obliged to you for it. As you call it the only Par-. liamentary Survey at Lambeth, I suppose that, though so short, this copy contains all the Survey which was taken by the Commissioners of the Parliament in 1650.

"I am, Sir, with thanks for this favour, your very respectful and humble servant, Z. ROCHESTER." Doctors Commons, Oct. 8, 1771.

"MY LORD, "The copy of Denton, which I sent you on the 30th of September, contains all the Survey except the names of the Commissioners, which I thought of no importance.

"By calling it the only Parliamentary Survey at Lambeth, I meant that your Lordship should know, that the Survey of Denton, taken in 1650, as part of the possessions of the Bishop of Rochester,' was not at Lambeth. If it had, your Lordship should have had it instead of that which I sent, and which is no other than the survey of the said parish; and I was wrong in not expressing myself more clearly in my last.

"I have the honour to be, &c. A. C. DUCAREL." "MY LORD, Doctors Commons, July 13, 1773. "It gave me great pleasure to hear yesterday, by Dr. Loveday, that your Lordship is in perfect health.

"The reason of my troubling your Lordship with this is in relation to the antiquity of Fig-trees in England. There are two in

the

the Archbishop's garden at Lambeth, called White Marseilles fig, about 30 feet in height, and 42 feet in breadth, planted against a wall with an East aspect; and there are in another part of the garden three standard Fig-trees of the same sort. Tradition says, they were planted by Cardinal Pole, who died in 1559.

"Upon enquiry, I am informed that there is now in the Dean's garden at Winchester a Fig-tree, whose fruit was tasted by King James the First, and near it an inscription to commemorate that event. As your Lordship enjoyed that dignity many years, I should take it as a particular favour if you would be so kind as to acquaint me whether this fact is true; if true, 'whether it is a white or a red fig.

"I should not, my Lord, have presumed to have troubled you on such an insignificant matter, had it not been for the information of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury.

"I have the honour to be, &c.

A. C. DUCAREL." Bromley, July 14, 1773.

"SIR, "Having the favour of your letter this morning, I take the first opportunity of answering it.

"The fact is true-that there was a Fig-tree in the Dean's garden at Winchester when I was the Dean, which was a very old tree, and bore figs of the red sort; they were rather of the small sort of figs, but very luscious and good.

"The tree was inclosed in wooden frames, with a glass door, and two windows of glass on each side of the door, with a wooden frame for a cover to the tree from rain and wind.

“On the stone wall to which the tree was nailed, there was plastering, and these inscriptions. The first mentioning a day and year, when King James (the First) as is there said, Hanc ficum magna cum jucunditate gustavit. Underneath was inscribed, in the Hebrew language, what in 1 Kings, iv. 25, runs thus in our Bibles: Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, all the days of King Solomon.' There was another inscription in the Greck language; and though I am not sure, yet I think that it was, panagios of signvorolo, Matt. v. 9, Blessed are the peacemakers.' The last inscription was in Latin, Ex ficu discite parabolam.' Matthew, xxiv. 32.

"I left the Deanery in 1748, and was there for a few days in 1753; when I saw the tree still in being; but the glass doors, the windows, and the whole wooden frame, were gone; my Successor* there not being willing, as I suppose, to be at the expence of repairing and maintaining them. And I am now told that the Fig-tree itself is gone; but I hope not, for the sake of its antiquity and the excellency of its fruit. I am, Sir,

"Your respectful and humble servant,

Z. ROCHESTER."

*Thomas Cheyney, of New College, Oxford; M. A. 1718; B. and D. D. 1732; Fellow of Winchester College; Prebendary of Lichfield 17..; Dean of Lincoln 1744; Dean of Winchester 1747; died Jan. 27, 1760; and was buried in his Cathedral.

Mr. MICHAEL COLLINSON* to Dr. DUCAREL.

"DEAR SIR, Manchester-buildings, Sept. 6, 1773. "I am obliged by your attention and politeness. The inclosed Letter from the good Bishop is a very interesting one.

Fig-trees will arrive to an extreme age and bulk, of which I have seen many instances, as well here as on the Continent; but the largest I ever remember to have met with was at Cambridge, planted against the garden side of King's College. Those at Lambeth are also very capital.

"My attendance at the Custom-house four days in the week, and other engagements, prevent me from fixing any time for calling at the Paper-office; but, if you can, my dear Sir, indulge me in taking part of a solitary dinner with me, either Wednesday or Thursday, at half after three o'clock, whichever day is most convenient to yourself—it will be a real pleasure done to, dear Sir, "Your most obedient humble servant, MICH. COLLINSON."

Mr. EDWARD PYOTT to Mr. THOMAS COLLINSON. Winton, Oct, 3, 1773.

"DEAR SIR, "I have made enquiry concerning the Fig-tree you mention, and have seen it. It is planted in a corner of the Dean's garden in a South-east aspect. The original tree is gone; what remains is a shoot from the bottom of the old stock, about the size of a child's wrist, with fruit upon it. There has been a long inscription against the wall concerning it; but it is so much defaced by time, and some parts thereof entirely gone (being inscribed on plaster upon a flint wall) that it is impossible to make it out. However, the date 1623 remains very legible; and that it is somewhat relating to King James; but what, does not appear.— I am told that a gentleman, a friend of mine, who is now in Cornwall, visited this tree some years since, and took out as much of the inscription as he could pick out. [Then follows a quotation from the History of Winchester, p. 80, concerning this tree's being planted in 1621.] EDWARD PYOTT."

"Memorandum.-In the garden of the Archbishop at Lambeth are three large White Marseilles Fig-trees, 30 feet in height, in breadth 42 feet ‡, supposed to have been planted there by Cardinal Pole,-or by the late famous Dr. Pococke, Hebrew Professor at Oxford, who planted some of these fig-trees in the Professor's garden there, which are in a flourishing condition at this time. Query the height and breadth of these last?-Dr. Pococke was Canon of Christ Church, and Hebrew Professor from 1648 to 1650, when he was ejected; restored to it in 1660; and died at Oxford Sept. 10, 1691, aged 87. A. C. DUCAREL."

* Of whom see "Literary Anecdotes," vol. V. p. 311. + Ibid. p. 315. South fig tree, 16 inches; 1st East 16 inches; 2nd East 19 inches.