Chapter 30

[128]Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, pp. 56-62.

[129]Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, p. 478.

[130]Anglia: vol. 36, "Lucy Hutchinson and the Duchess of Newcastle."

[131]The Memoirs of Ann, Lady Fanshawe, 1600-1672, p. 22.

[132]Ibid., p. 5.

[133]The use of "Miss" and "Mrs." between 1660 and 1750, and even later, is often confusing. The use of "Mrs." for all reputable persons of the female sex, even children, prevailed during the seventeenth and into the eighteenth century. On the tombstone of Milton's daughter, a child under six months we read, "1657. Mar. 20. Mrs. Kathern Milton." (Notes and Queries, 7th Series, vol.VII, p. 494.)A Continuation of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, Written by a Young Gentlewoman, Miss A. W.(1651, 2d edition, 1690), is a striking exception. There was sometimes a distinction between the married and the unmarried in that the latter had the Christian name after the "Mrs." as when Evelyn speaks of "Mrs. Margaret Blagge," but this custom was by no means invariable. The prefix "Miss" began soon after the Restoration to be used as a term of reproach. January 9, 1662, Evelyn says of Roxalana, "She being taken to be ye Earl of Oxford'sMisse(as at this time they began to call lewd women)." In 1669 Flecknoe, inEpigrams of All Sorts, wrote a poem to Mary Davis, the King's mistress, under the title "To Miss Davis." In 1675 appeared "The 'Miss' displayed; with all her Wheadling Arts and circumventions, By the Author of the First Part of the 'English Rogue.'" In 1683, in Miss Barber'sPoems, was a poem entitled "To the Town Miss," and in one of her novels (about 1715) she speaks of the "Town Miss" who pretends to modesty. In 1690 we find theDutch Whore, or, the Miss of Amsterdam."Miss" in a reputable sense belonged to very young girls. In 1675 Lady Russell speaks of her daughter Rachel, who was then four years old, as "our Miss." When the little girl is thirteen her grandfather calls her "Mrs. Rachel." (Lady Russell's Letters, vol.I, pp. 14, 139.) In 1723, inThe Gentleman Instructed, we read "As soon as Reason begins to sparkle, Miss is led to the drawing-room." The proper age for "Miss" seems a little advanced in two quotations made by Mr. Aitkin (Life of Steele, vol.I, p. 162) fromLillie's Original and Genuine Letters sent to the Tatler and Spectator. One young lady says: "Being arrived at sixteen I have left the boarding-school, and now having assumed the title of Madam instead of Miss am come home." A second quotation seems to indicate a still further extension of the proper age for Miss; "Let no woman after the known age of twenty-one presume to admit of her being called Miss unless she can fairly prove she is not out of her sampler."Actresses were usually called "Mrs." in the bills. The first use of "Miss" that I can find is in 1685 in D'Urfey'sCommonwealth of Women, where a part was played by "Miss Nanny" (Genest:Some Account of the English Stage, vol.I, p. 443). In D'Urfey'sDon QuixoteAltesidora was played by "Miss Cross." Genest (vol.II, p. 70) says: "She was calledMissbecause she was quite a girl ... she was afterwards called Mrs. Cross ... the case was the same with several other actresses—Cibber inThe Lady's Last Stakecalls two of the female charactersMissNotable andMrs.Conquest, tho' they are both unmarried—but one is a girl and the other a woman." "Miss Cross" was "Mrs." on the bills within a year. "Miss Younger" came into the house at seven years old. Later she became "Mrs. Younger." So with Miss Mountfort, Miss Santlow, Miss Sherburn, Miss Booth, Miss Rogers, and other young actresses who entered the theatrical profession between 1700-1715.By 1750 "Miss" for unmarried women is pretty well established. The list of subscribers to Ballard'sMemoirs(1752) contains many ladies called "Miss."The Connoisseur, November 25, 1754, said: "Every unmarried woman is now called 'Miss.'" But "Mrs." for reputable unmarried women beyond girlhood was occasionally used through the century. Elizabeth Carter was always "Mrs. Carter," while her friend Catharine Talbot, about the same age, was "Miss Talbot." InHumphrey Clinker(1771) Tabitha Bramble, though a spinster, is "Mrs." Sir Walter Scott called Joanna Baillie "Mrs." in the beginning of the nineteenth century.Notes and Queries(7th Series, vol.VII, pp. 104-256) calls attention to the fact that as late as 1889 "Mrs." was in many places considered the correct title for upper-class unmarried female servants.

"Miss" in a reputable sense belonged to very young girls. In 1675 Lady Russell speaks of her daughter Rachel, who was then four years old, as "our Miss." When the little girl is thirteen her grandfather calls her "Mrs. Rachel." (Lady Russell's Letters, vol.I, pp. 14, 139.) In 1723, inThe Gentleman Instructed, we read "As soon as Reason begins to sparkle, Miss is led to the drawing-room." The proper age for "Miss" seems a little advanced in two quotations made by Mr. Aitkin (Life of Steele, vol.I, p. 162) fromLillie's Original and Genuine Letters sent to the Tatler and Spectator. One young lady says: "Being arrived at sixteen I have left the boarding-school, and now having assumed the title of Madam instead of Miss am come home." A second quotation seems to indicate a still further extension of the proper age for Miss; "Let no woman after the known age of twenty-one presume to admit of her being called Miss unless she can fairly prove she is not out of her sampler."

Actresses were usually called "Mrs." in the bills. The first use of "Miss" that I can find is in 1685 in D'Urfey'sCommonwealth of Women, where a part was played by "Miss Nanny" (Genest:Some Account of the English Stage, vol.I, p. 443). In D'Urfey'sDon QuixoteAltesidora was played by "Miss Cross." Genest (vol.II, p. 70) says: "She was calledMissbecause she was quite a girl ... she was afterwards called Mrs. Cross ... the case was the same with several other actresses—Cibber inThe Lady's Last Stakecalls two of the female charactersMissNotable andMrs.Conquest, tho' they are both unmarried—but one is a girl and the other a woman." "Miss Cross" was "Mrs." on the bills within a year. "Miss Younger" came into the house at seven years old. Later she became "Mrs. Younger." So with Miss Mountfort, Miss Santlow, Miss Sherburn, Miss Booth, Miss Rogers, and other young actresses who entered the theatrical profession between 1700-1715.

By 1750 "Miss" for unmarried women is pretty well established. The list of subscribers to Ballard'sMemoirs(1752) contains many ladies called "Miss."The Connoisseur, November 25, 1754, said: "Every unmarried woman is now called 'Miss.'" But "Mrs." for reputable unmarried women beyond girlhood was occasionally used through the century. Elizabeth Carter was always "Mrs. Carter," while her friend Catharine Talbot, about the same age, was "Miss Talbot." InHumphrey Clinker(1771) Tabitha Bramble, though a spinster, is "Mrs." Sir Walter Scott called Joanna Baillie "Mrs." in the beginning of the nineteenth century.Notes and Queries(7th Series, vol.VII, pp. 104-256) calls attention to the fact that as late as 1889 "Mrs." was in many places considered the correct title for upper-class unmarried female servants.

[134]Evelyn, John:Life of Mrs. Godolphin(ed. Edward William Harcourt of Nuneham Park), p. 10.

[135]Ibid., p. 24.

[136]Evelyn, John:Life of Mrs. Godolphin, p. 8.

[137]Ibid., p. 184.

[138]Evelyn, John:Life of Mrs. Godolphin, p. 215.

[139]Fitzgerald:History of the English Stage, vol.I, pp. 60-62.

[140]"Gildon, in the Comparison between the two stages, 1702, attacks Mrs. Bracegirdle's private character."'Sullen.But does that Romantick Virgin still keep up her reputation?'"'Critick.D' ye mean her reputation for acting?'"'Sullen.I do; but if I were to be saved for believing that single article, I could not do it: 't is all, all a juggle, 't is legerdemain; the best on 't is, she falls into good hands, and the secrecy of the intrigue secures her; but as to her innocence, I believe no more on 't than I believe of John Mandevil.'"Tom Brown, in his description of the playhouse, is still more severe on Mrs. Bracegirdle.... Among Tom Brown's Letters from the Dead to the Living, there is one from Mrs. Behn to the famous Virgin Actress—and another from the Virgin to Mrs. Behn."Gildon and Tom Brown seem to have had no foundation for their ill nature, but the extreme difficulty with which an actress at this period of the stage must have preserved her chastity."Mrs. Bracegirdle was perhaps a woman of cold constitution."Anthony Aston says—'Mrs. Bracegirdle, that Diana of the stage, had many assailants on her virtue, as Lord Lovelace and Mr. Congreve, the last of which had her company most; but she ever resisted his vicious attacks, and, yet was always uneasy at his leaving her—she was very shy of Lord Lovelace's company, as being an engaging man, who drest well; and as, every day, his servant came to her, to ask her how she did, she always return'd her answer in the most obeisant words and behavior, that she was indifferent well, she humbly thanked his Lordship ... her virtue had its reward, both in applause and specie; for it happen'd, that as the Dukes of Dorset and Devonshire, LordHalifax, and other Nobles, over a bottle, were extolling Mrs. Bracegirdle's virtuous behavior, "Come," says LordHalifax—"You all commend her virtue, etc., but why do we not present this incomparable woman with something worthy her acceptance?"—his Lordship deposited 200 guineas, which the rest made up to 800, and sent to her with encomiums on her virtue.'" (Genest:Some Account of the English Stage, vol.II, pp. 376-78.)

[140]"Gildon, in the Comparison between the two stages, 1702, attacks Mrs. Bracegirdle's private character.

"'Sullen.But does that Romantick Virgin still keep up her reputation?'

"'Critick.D' ye mean her reputation for acting?'

"'Sullen.I do; but if I were to be saved for believing that single article, I could not do it: 't is all, all a juggle, 't is legerdemain; the best on 't is, she falls into good hands, and the secrecy of the intrigue secures her; but as to her innocence, I believe no more on 't than I believe of John Mandevil.'

"Tom Brown, in his description of the playhouse, is still more severe on Mrs. Bracegirdle.... Among Tom Brown's Letters from the Dead to the Living, there is one from Mrs. Behn to the famous Virgin Actress—and another from the Virgin to Mrs. Behn.

"Gildon and Tom Brown seem to have had no foundation for their ill nature, but the extreme difficulty with which an actress at this period of the stage must have preserved her chastity.

"Mrs. Bracegirdle was perhaps a woman of cold constitution.

"Anthony Aston says—'Mrs. Bracegirdle, that Diana of the stage, had many assailants on her virtue, as Lord Lovelace and Mr. Congreve, the last of which had her company most; but she ever resisted his vicious attacks, and, yet was always uneasy at his leaving her—she was very shy of Lord Lovelace's company, as being an engaging man, who drest well; and as, every day, his servant came to her, to ask her how she did, she always return'd her answer in the most obeisant words and behavior, that she was indifferent well, she humbly thanked his Lordship ... her virtue had its reward, both in applause and specie; for it happen'd, that as the Dukes of Dorset and Devonshire, LordHalifax, and other Nobles, over a bottle, were extolling Mrs. Bracegirdle's virtuous behavior, "Come," says LordHalifax—"You all commend her virtue, etc., but why do we not present this incomparable woman with something worthy her acceptance?"—his Lordship deposited 200 guineas, which the rest made up to 800, and sent to her with encomiums on her virtue.'" (Genest:Some Account of the English Stage, vol.II, pp. 376-78.)

[141]Walpole, Horace:Anecdotes of Painting, vol.II, p. 381.

[142]Walpole, Horace:Anecdotes of Painting, vol.II, 537-44; Pilkington:Dictionary of Painters, 1770;Biographia Britannica, vol.II, p. 30; Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.II.

[143]Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.II, pp. 224 ff.

[144]At Admiral Killigrew's sale in 1727 were six of his niece's canvases. They were Venus and Adonis, A Satyr playing on a Pipe, Judith and Holofernes, A woman's head, Graces dressing Venus, and her own portrait.

[145]Pepys,Diary: May 7, June 30, July 26 and 29, Aug. 7, 21, 22, Sept. 3, 27, Oct. 10, 1665.

[146]For a list of the books for children published by Newbery and Carnan see the 1768 edition (a fifth edition) ofGoody Two Shoes(Notes and Queries, 4th Series, vol.VIII, p. 510). Cf. Mrs. Field'sThe Child and His Bookand Elizabeth Godfrey'sHome Life under the Stuarts, chap.XIII.

[147]Seepp. 233-39.

[148]Term Catalogues, Easter, 1671, Easter, 1690.

[149]Lady Russell's Letters, vol.I, p. 70 n.

[150]SeePious Englishwomen of the Seventeenth Century. Derby, 1845. The list of names given in this book is as follows: Lady Falkland, Lady Carberry, Lady Sunderland, Lady Capel, Mrs. Basire, Lady Mary Wharton, Margaret Lady Maynard, Anne Lady Halkett, Lady Jane Cheyne, Countess of Derby, Countess of Dorset; with notices of Sibylla Egerton, Lady Sophia Chaworth, Isabella Fotherby, Alice Duchess Dudley, Lady Grace Grenville, Mary Perry, Lady Mary Hastings, Lady Pakington, Lady Digby, Mary Evelyn, Elizabeth Lady Guildford, Lady Newland, Lady Cholmondely, Katharine Lady Neville, Barbara Lady Longueville, Mrs. Susannah Hopton, Anne Baynard, Catharine Bovey, Mrs. Mary Astell, Lady Elizabeth Hastings. (Notes and Queries, 6th Series, vol.VII, p. 355.)

[151]Hill, Georgiana:Women in English Life, vol.I, p. 191.

[152]Published Easter, 1671.

[153]Lady Russell's Letters, vol.II, pp. 72-85.

[154]Ballard:Memoirs, p. 390.

[155]Florence Smith:Mary Astell, p. 109.

[156]Bourne, H.:Life of Locke, vol.II, p. 213.

[157]Occasional Thoughts, p. 169. SeeThe Lady's Magazine, 1774, for an article on Lady Masham.

[158]Dunton:Life and Errors, p. 334; Nichols:Anecdotes of Bowyer, p. 609;Ibid.:Literary Anecdotes, vol.I, p. 305; Dryden:Works(ed. by Scott), vol. x, p. 110.

[159]Nichols:Anecdotes of Bowyer, p. 612.

[160]Cockburn:Works, vol.I, p. vi.

[161]Mrs. Cockburn:Works:Letters to G. Burnet, Dec. 9, 1701; Feb. 2, 1703-04, vol.II, pp. 153, 166. Also Letter from Mrs. Burnet, vol.I, p. xvii.

[162]Mrs. Cockburn:Works, vol.I, p. xx.

[163]Ibid.See Letters to Mr. Cockburn, June 23 to Sept. 21, 1707; Letters to Mr. Fenn, July 18 to Oct. 31, 1707.

[164]Ibid., vol.I, p. xii.

[165]Ibid., vol.II, p. 171.

[166]Ibid., vol.II, p. 174.

[167]Ibid., vol.I, p. xxv.

[168]Mrs. Cockburn:Works, vol.II, p. 206.

[169]Ibid., vol.I, p. xi.

[170]Hill, Georgiana:Women in English Life, vol.I, p. 248.

[171]Webb, Maria:The Fells of Swarthmoor Hall.

[172]Ward'sLife of Henry More(1710).Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., under "More, Henry";Dictionary of National Biography, under "Lady Conway"; Webb, Mrs. Maria:The Penns and Penningtons of the Seventeenth Century, pp. 297, 313.

[173]British Quarterly Review, July, 1873, pp. 181-87.

[174]Winchester:Life of Wesley, p. 1. Telford:Life of Wesley, p. 52.

[175]Winchester,Life of Wesley, p. 9.

[176]Ibid., p. 8.

[177]Life of Wesley, pp. 10-11.

[178]Manley, Mrs.:The New Atalantis, vol.III, p. 245; Ballard:Memoirs, p. 440; cf.Notes and Queries, 2d Series, vol.IX, pp. 221-22; Wills, Henry: ed. ofSir Roger de Coverley, pp. 170-74.

[179]A History of the County of Yorkshire, vol.I, p. 499.

[180]The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 5, p. 778.

[181]Ibid., vol. 6, p. 42.

[182]Ibid., vol. 6, p. 99.

[183]Ibid., vol. 10, p. 36.

[184]Lady Huntingdon and her Friends. Compiled by Mrs. Helen C. Knight, p. 18.

[185]Coventry, Francis:Pompey the Little, bk.I, chap.XL.

[186]This conception of a divinely authorized aristocracy governed by a special set of laws tallies with the opinion formulated by Dr. George Hickes in a sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London in 1684. Dr. Hickes justified the presence of the poor in the body politic, as necessary to the very existence of the State:"But this Civil Equality is morally impossible, because no Commonweal, little or great, can subsist without Poor. They are necessary, for the establishment of Superiority, and Subjection in Humane Societies, where there must be Members of Dishonour, as well as Honour, and some to serve and obey, as well as others to command. The Poor are the Hands and Feet of the Body Politick, theGibeonitesandNethinimsin all Countries, who hew the Wood, and draw the Water of the Rich. They Plow our Lands, and dig our Quarries, and cleanse our Streets, nay, those, who fight our battels in the defence of their Country, are thePoor Souldiers, who, as the Legions ofBlæsusonce complained in a Mutiny, sell their lives for seven pence a day. As there must be Rich to be, like the Centurian in the Gospel, in Authority: so there must be Poor, to whom they may say,Go unto one, and he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh; but were all equally rich, there could be no subordination, none to command, nor none to serve. But in such case, the Body Politick must dissolve, as the Natural body was like to do in the Fable ofAgrippa, when the rest of the Members would work no longer for the Belly, which, they thought did nothing at all."

"But this Civil Equality is morally impossible, because no Commonweal, little or great, can subsist without Poor. They are necessary, for the establishment of Superiority, and Subjection in Humane Societies, where there must be Members of Dishonour, as well as Honour, and some to serve and obey, as well as others to command. The Poor are the Hands and Feet of the Body Politick, theGibeonitesandNethinimsin all Countries, who hew the Wood, and draw the Water of the Rich. They Plow our Lands, and dig our Quarries, and cleanse our Streets, nay, those, who fight our battels in the defence of their Country, are thePoor Souldiers, who, as the Legions ofBlæsusonce complained in a Mutiny, sell their lives for seven pence a day. As there must be Rich to be, like the Centurian in the Gospel, in Authority: so there must be Poor, to whom they may say,Go unto one, and he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh; but were all equally rich, there could be no subordination, none to command, nor none to serve. But in such case, the Body Politick must dissolve, as the Natural body was like to do in the Fable ofAgrippa, when the rest of the Members would work no longer for the Belly, which, they thought did nothing at all."

[187]In 1656 there appeared a book by Elizabeth Major entitledHoney on the Rod, or a Comfortable Contemplation for one in Affliction, with Sundry Poems. By the Unworthiest of the Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.In 1652 had appeared anonymouslyEliza's Babes, or the Virgin's Offerings. A detailed examination of the two books leads to a surmise that they are by the same author. What is probably a unique copy ofEliza's Babesis in the British Museum. (Notes and Queries, 7th Series, vol.III, p. 502.)

[188]Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.II, p. 168.

[189]Lady Winchilsea:Circuit of Apollo, note. (Ed. Reynolds, Myra.)

[190]Behn, Aphra:Works, 6 vols.; Cibber,Lives of the Poets, vol.III, pp. 17-23.

[191]The Epistle to Augustus, ll. 290-91.

[192]Kavanagh, Julia.English Women of Letters, vol.I, chap.II.

[193]Seep. 386.

[194]Seep. 388.

[195]Genest,Some Account of the English Stage, vol.II, p. 104.

[196]Seepp. 104-09.

[197]Mrs. Inchbald:The British Theatre, vol.XI; Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.IV, pp. 58-61.

[198]Centlivre, Susanna:Works. "To the World."

[199]Hobohm:Das Verhältniss von Sus. Centlivre's "Love at a Venture" zu Thomas Corneille's "Le Gallant Double."(Hall. Diss. 1900.) Wüllenweber:Mrs. Centlivre's Lustspiel "Love's Contrivance" und seine Quellen. (Hall. Diss. 1900.) Strube:Sus. Centlivre's Lustspiel "The Stolen Heiress" und sein Verhältniss zu "The Heir" von Thomas May. (Hall. Diss. 1900.) Grober:Das Verhältniss von Sus. Centlivre's Lustspiel "The Gamester" zu Reynard's Lustspiel "Le Joneur."(Hall. Diss. 1900.) Weidler:Das Verhältniss von Mrs. Centlivre's "The Busy Body" zu Molière's "L'Etourdi" und Ben Jonson's "The Divill is an Ass."(Hall. Diss. 1900.) Ohnsorg:John Lacy's "Dumb Lady," Mrs. Centlivre's "Love's Contrivance" und Henry Fielding's "Mock Doctor" in ihrem Verhältniss zu einander und zu ihrer gemeinshaftlichen Quelle. (Rostock. Diss. 1900.) Poelchau:Susannah Centlivre's Tragödie "The Cruel Gift" in ihrem Verhältniss zur Quelle Boccaccio's Decameron IV. (Hall. Diss. 1905.)

[200]Seep. 85,86.

[201]See mezzotint engraving by Becket in 1686 edition of her poems.

[202]Seepp. 85-86.

[203]The Lives of the Norths, vol.I, p. 7; vol.III, pp. 262, 295.

[204]Verses by that "Excellent Poetess, Mrs. Wharton," with other poems to her, were published with "The Idea of Christian Love," by Mr. Edward Young of Salisbury.Term Catalogues.(Mich. 1688.)

[205]A Sermon at the Funeral of the late learned and ingenuous Mrs. Ann Baynard, Daughter and only Child of Dr. Edward Baynard, Fellow of the College of Physitians. Together with some remarkable passages of her life, preached at the Parish Church of Barn(e)s in Surrey, June 6, 1697. By John Prude, A.M., Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Norfolk; and Curate of St. Clement's Danes. Term Catalogues.(Trin. 1697.)

[206]Biog. Fem., p. 42.

[207]Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.III, pp. 177-86.

[208]Mr. Sprint's sermon was printed under the titleThe Bride-Woman's Counsellor. Being a Sermon Preach'd at a Wedding, May the Eleventh, 1699 at Sherbourne in Dorsetshire.It was from 1 Cor.VII, 34, "But she that is Married careth for the things of the World, how she may please her Husband." He explains that "Man was all Affibility and Sweetness of Temper" before the Fall, the chief responsibility for which was properly placed on Eve and her female descendants. God had also fully indicated her function when he deliberately created her for the Profit and Comfort of Man. "A good wife," continues Mr. Sprint, "should be like a Mirrour which hath no Image of its own, but receives its Stamp and Image from the Face that looks into it: So should a good Wife endeavour to frame her outward Deportment, and her inward Affections according to her Husband's." She must not only obey his commands but she must bring "under unto him the very Desires of the Heart to be regulated by him so far, that it should not be lawful for her to will or desire what she herself liked, but only what her husband should approve and allow." Mr. Sprint printed his sermon only because of attacks by some "ill-natur'd Females." He gets his revenge by saying that he has not met among all his accusers one woman "whose Husband is able to give her the Character of a dutiful and obedient Wife."

[209]Lady Chudleigh's summary of the arts of a successful wife is exemplified in a serious book published anonymously entitledThe Fair Counsellor, or, The Young Lady's Conduct after Marriage. Charlotte is instructing Olivia in "The Art of Management." A woman must recognize that she is confined to her husband for life and hence she should make it her business to please. She should learn to reflect his moods as in a glass. To all wayward humors she should oppose passive obedience and non-resistance. If he should come home intoxicated she should "by all the little innocent Arts of Love and fond Endearments decoy him to his Bed." An illustrative example of what may be done by gentleness and submission is the experience of Sir Toby Testy and his wife. Sir Toby became so warm with anger one day as to cane my Lady. She retired in tears to her own room, explaining to him later that it seemed better to her to bemoan her fate in silence than to expose his unkindness to a censorious world. The outcome was that he clasped her in his arms with a thousand endearing protestations, and never disobliged her again to his dying day.

[210]Winchilsea, Lady:Poems(ed. Reynolds, Myra); "A Fragment."

[211]That Lady Winchilsea's work was pretty well known before 1713 is evident from an interesting passage in Mrs. Manley'sThe New Atalantis(1709). Some invisible spectators are being taken about under the guidance of "Intelligence." They are observing the daily parade of coaches on the "Prado" when Intelligence calls attention to a lady in one of the coaches. "The Lady," he says, "once belonged to the Court, but marrying into the Country, she made it her Business to devote herself to the Muses, and has writ a great many pretty Things: These Verses of the Progress of Life, have met with abundance of applause, and therefore I recommend them to your Excellency's Perusal."The Progress of Lifeis then quoted entire and Astræa comments: "The Lady speaks very feelingly: We need look no further than this, to know that she's herself past that agreeable Age she so much regrets. However, I am very well pleas'd with the Thought that runs thro'; if she had contracted something of the second and third stanza, it had not been the Worse. I presume she's one of the Few that write out of Pleasure, and not Necessity. By that means its her own Fault, if she publish any Thing but what's Good; for it's next to impossible to write much and write well." (Vol.I, p. 186.) In theKeythe "Lady" thus spoken of is said to be "Col. Finch's Lady once a Maid of Honour." Mrs. Manley's version ofThe Progress of Lifeshows several slight verbal variations from the form published in 1713. Two lines on Parnassus in the second stanza appeared in 1713 as more orthodox lines on Canaan. But when Miss Seward's mother taught her the poem in 1763, it was the old and not the 1713 version that she used. (Winchilsea, Lady:Works, ed. Reynolds, p. lxxiii.)

[212]Cibber:Lives of the Poets, vol.III, pp. 201-03.

[213]Thoresby:Diary, May 13, 1709; May 1, 1713; April 22, 1716; Sept. 2, 1716.

[214]The most complete account of Miss Barker is in an inaugural dissertation by Karl Stanglmaier, Berlin, 1906, entitledMrs. Jane Barker. Ein Beitrag zur Englischen Literaturgeschichte.

[215]"To Mrs. Jane Barker on her most Delightful and Excellent Romance of Scipina, now in the Press.""To my Ingenius Friend Mrs. Jane Barker, on my Publishing her Romance of Scipina."Both of these poems are in PartIIofPoetical Recreations(1688). The second one is by Benjamin Crayle.

[215]"To Mrs. Jane Barker on her most Delightful and Excellent Romance of Scipina, now in the Press."

"To my Ingenius Friend Mrs. Jane Barker, on my Publishing her Romance of Scipina."

Both of these poems are in PartIIofPoetical Recreations(1688). The second one is by Benjamin Crayle.

[216]Amours of Bosvil and Galesia, pp. 3-4.

[217]In the second edition of theEntertaining Novels(1719), in a dedication to the Countess of Exeter, Miss Barker says, "Was it not Burleigh House with its Park, &c., that formed in me the first idea of my Scipio's country retreat? Most sure it was, for when I composed my Romance I knew nothing further from home than Burleigh and Warthorp." These two seats of the Exeter family are about seven miles from Wilsthorp. (Notes and Queries, SeriesIX, no. 10, p. 171.) Miss Baker lived at Wilsthorp which is near Stamford and only about forty miles from Cambridge.

[218]Barker, Jane:Poems, passim.

[219]Poems: "To my Unkind Strephon."

[220]InAmours of Bosvil and GalesiaandA Patch-Work Screen.

[221]Amours, p. 11.

[222]Mr. Barker studied at both Universities.

[223]Amours, p. 13.

[224]A Patch-Work Screen, p. 10.

[225]Ibid., p. 56.

[226]Poems, "On the Apothecary's Filing my Bills amongst the Doctors."

[227]Poems: "A Farewell to Poetry with a Long Digression on Anatomy."

[228]Poems: "A Virgin Life."

[229]Amours, pp. 44-46.

[230]Amours, p. 47.

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