did the reft.-Milton, in a more recol. lected moment, hefitated as to the nature of his blindnefs, and he fpake of "a drop ferene, or dim fuffufion." Was this dim fuffuhon confiftent with the original luftre of his eyes? Your correfpondent, with the help of a pair of compaffes, goes about to prove, that Cooper's painting and Faithorne's drawing are alike: The fame large eye-lid, the fame fhaped nofe and mouth, and the fame long line which reaches from the noftril to the corners of the mouth, and the fame head of hair."What, then, becomes of Sir Joshua's opinion, that an idea of Milton's “countenance cannot be got from any of the other pictures?" and as to the bead of hair, the cobler of Athens was admitted, by the Reynolds of his day, to be a competent judge with regard to a flipper; fo let twelve independent hair-dreters, good men and true, judge of the head of hair, and I am willing to ftand to their ver dict. been fuggefted with refpect to the miniature picture faid to reprefent Milton. I pafs over his unkind infinuation that I had feen the miniature, although I had afferted the contrary; if he knew me, he would regret the harshness of his language. As to me, he exultingly demands, "How did he know that there was any date at all, as he fays he never faw the picture" and, "How came Selden into his head?"-I anfwer briefly, that I found both circumftances in Mr. Warton, p. 532. Since I drew up the article in your Magazine, p. 399, I have procured an impreffion of Mifs Watfon's admirable performance, and, on examining it and the certificate fubjoined, I find my doubts increased. The profeffional skill of Sir Joshua Reynolds is nothing to the queftion at iffue. On his authority, I admit the miniature to be of the hand of Cooper, and on the fame authority I admit that it ftrongly refembles the perfon whom it meant to reprefent. a But ftill the question remains, is that perfon John Milton ?-And this is matter which cannot be determined by the profeffional skill of Sir Joshua. In the miniature, as reprefented by Mifs Watton, there is the lively eve of a man poffeffed of fight; and an artift like Cooper would never have given fuch an eye to a blind man.-The effects of a gutta ferena are always vifible to an attentive obferver. But it is faid, that the gutta ferena, or rather its confequence, is not visible in Faithorne's drawing of Miton. I never faw it; but I fuppofed that it reprelented Milton as blind, becaufe Richardfon's etching reprefented him fo: and, if Rich ardson has misled ine, I must lament that 1 put my trust in a painter and connoifJeur; and I must concur with R. J. in his mean opinion of Faithorne's abilities as an artist. There is another argument in referve to account for the lively eye in Cooper's performance. Milton bimfelf favs, that, though he had loft his fight, it was not perceptible to others, and that his eyes preferved their original lustre.” This is hear-fay evidence indeed! how could a blind man tell how his eyes looked? and could he, with certainty, affert that they prefer ved their original lnfire? It is probable enough that fome friend of Milton may have faid, "You look juft as if you law;" and that felf-love Before I examine the famous certificate, it is neceffary that I should justify myfelf for having faid, that, "to impofe on fo fair and worthy a man as Sir Joshua Reynolds is an aggravated of fence." The inference drawn from this is, that I treated him as a bon bomme ! I have lived long enough to obferve phrafes held as fynonymous which have no real connexion, fuch as individuals and focieties, liberty and licence, Whigs and Republicans, and a hundred more. But never till now did I hear that fair and worthy meant the fame thing as bon bomme, or Ally fellow. For my own part, I fhould confider it as a high enco mium, were my furviving friends to place the epithets of fair and worthy on my tomb, and I should not fuppole the infcription to be mifapplied, becaufe, while addicted to ftudies very different from thofe of biography and hand-writ. ing, I had, once in my life, been led to give too much credit to an anonymous memorandum. And now as to this memorandum.➡ Here we have a new authority. It feems that Mr. Tyrwhitt, whofe fkill in matters of this kind is univerfaliy acknowledged, fcouted the queftion which was put to him, Whether be thought the ma nufcript was a late fabrication?. Without calling in queftion the authenticity of this anecdote, I mult obferve, that the queftion ought to have been, "Do you fuppofe that this memorandum was written before 1693 " and jc it is probable that the question was fo put: for the memorandum might have been a fabrication, and yet not a late fabrication. Mr. T. is reported to have anfwered : "The orthography, as well as the colour of the ink, thews it to have been written about a bundred years fince." That the unpremeditated converfation of learned men is frequently incorrect, or incorrectly reported, may be feen in the Colloquia Menfalia of Luther, in the Scaligeriana, and in Selden's Table Talk. The two circumstances on which Mr. T. is reported to have founded his judgement, do not prove any thing. 1. As to orthography, ufed here for falfe fpelling, the only two words misfpelt are amannuenfis, for amanuenfis, and fecratary, for fecretary. Now, fure ly, Mr. T. would not, upon recollec tion, have faid, that fuch fpelling was in ufe about a hundred years ago. 2. As to the colour of the ink, when that is once changed, no man can fay at what time the change happened. I have feen a writing not twenty years old, which had affumed the yellow and dingy hue of antiquity; and writings fix hundred years old, having all the freshness of yesterday. Befides, Mr. T. would, on reflexion, have recollected that there exifts a compofition which can give the look of antiquity to a forgery of yesterday. I have known that compofition ufed for very wicked purpofes. Had I been prefent, I fhould have afked another queflion of Mr. T. as a man of extenfive reading: "Was the expreflion fine arts, which occurs in the memorandum, ufed in English to early as 1693" and I should have alked it not captioufly, but for information. who deals in fiction takes care not to be eafly detected, for the contrary propofition is much nearer the truth. In the cafe of forgers, we fee the juilice of that faving, The wicked shall not understand.' Witnefs the Greek Epifiles of Brutus, the Acta Pilati, Jofippon, the whole Works of Annius of Viterbo, the forgeries of Hardinge, &c. &c. 3. It may be afferted, that, at this moment, not one of a bundred of the people in England, even of those who can write and fpell, know that Deborah Milton was alive in 1727, or that the ever had a daughter. R. J. concludes with faying, "The progrefs of the picture feems to be this: Milton ding infolvent, and Deborah Milton of courfe in great indigence, it is very improbable that she would keep to herfelf a picture of fuch value: it was therefore fold, as we fuppofe, to the author of the memorandum [fuppofed before to have been the eldest son of Sir William Davenant]; and the account there given is probably fuch as he received from the feller of the picture, who, in order to raife its value, boafts how many great men had defired to have it ,, R. J. remarks, that even the mistake of fuppofing Deborah Milton to be dead when the memorandum was written, "fhews it to be not a fiction. A man who deals in flion takes care, at leaf, not to be easily detected. No man in these latter days but knows that Deborah Milton lived till 1727, as that circumftance was made notorious to the world from Richardfon's Life of Milton, and from the benefit-play which was given to De borah's daughter in the year 1752." To this it may be answered, 1. That, if the memorandum was written at any time between 1693 and 1727, the argument of R. J. will be wide of its mark. 2. It is a miftake to fuppofe that a man This is a moft unfortunate hypothefis throughout. There is no reafon to fuppofe that Milton died infolvent. A regular law-fuit took place in the Commons concerning his nuncupative teflament. See Warton, Appendix, p. 28.Letters of adminiftration were afterwards granted to his widow. Ib. p. 41.-Before we can fuppofe that Deborah fold the picture, we muft fuppofe her to have been poffeffed of it. Now the and her fifiers lived apart from their father four or five years before his death." Ib. p. 33. And it is probable that, at that time, Deborah was in Ireland. Ib. p. 41, 7. r. How then came the to be poffeffed of the picture? If the was left in extreme indigence, why did the retain the picture from 1674 to 1693 ? Would the fon of Sir William Davenant, tho' a gentleman of education, have written ammanuenfis, and fecratary ? If he bought the picture from Deborah, he muft have known that she was alive; and, should we fuppofe that the tale was managed by an interpofed perfon, full it is admitted that that perfon told a long ftring of falfehoods to Mr. Davenant.The hypothefis of R. J. is, that he told falfehoods; my fufpicion is, that he wrote fallehoods: fo we are nearly at Yours, &c. one. better delivered, nothing could be ut tion. tered on the fubject more to edificaYours, &c. D. N. Mr. URBAN, Cornwall, 08. 16. She Preface to the new edition of the EEING in your Review, p. 842, that Black fmith's Letter is fuppofed to proceed from the fame pen as the " Hiftorical Memoirs of Religious Diffenfion," of * which it and as the fuggeftion carries with it a ftamp of duplicity and artifice: I prefume upon your well-known candour, that you will give the author of the latter publication the earlieft opportunity of setting your Review right upon this point, and doing away the unfavourable impreffion, by declaring, that he is not only not the author of that spirited Preface, but that he is totally unacquainted with, and unknown to him; as the publ fhers of the new edition of the Blacksmith's Letter can upon application, teftify. J. T. I Mr. URBAN, October 18. SHOULD be very forry to keep alive the little controverfy, if it may be deemed fuch, which has fubfifted in your Magazine, relative to the mode of adminiftering Confirmation; but your correfpondent, p. 799, has not, with fufficient precifion, ftated the difference, or the fimilarity, between the adminiftration of Baptifm and that of Confirmation. I have baptized, in the church where I have officiated for more than ten years, no less than twenty-fix infants on one Sunday afternoon: but, although I used one service only, speak ing in general terms, for the whole number, I neverthelefs took each infant Separately in my arms, and likewife repeated to each infant jeparately the words, "N. I baptize thee," and "We receive this infant," &c. Now the Diocefan, whofe manner of confirming has given rife to thefe obfervations, does not repeat feparately to each individual perfon the words" Defend, O Lord," &c. although he lays his hand indeed on each perfon's head. The way, therefore, in which Baptifm is adminiftered does not prove the propriety of the method of confirming ufed by the Bishop of London, nay, rather contravenes it. fuppofe all the clergy use the words in the Baptifmal Service in the fame manner as I myself do; at leaft. I have never heard of an inftance to the contrary. The impreffive addrefs of the B fhop of London to the young people, after Confirmation, I was a witnefs to. Nothing could be better conceived, nothing I No fuch fuppofition is expreffed, or was intended to be infinuated. EDIT. Mr. URBAN, F OЯober 22. F your correfpondents*, who have difapproved or vindicated the Bifhop of London's mode of Confirmation, not one feems to have been aware that it did not originate with him, but with Dr. Gilbert, Archbishop of York. This is advanced upon' the authority of the late Bishop Newton, from whofe Account of his own Life, and Anecdotes of his Friends (8vo edit. p. 77), the following is an extract : "There is a method of Confirmation which was first introduced by Archbishop Gilbert: he first propofed it to the Clergy of Nottingham at his primary vifitation; and, upon their unanimous approbation, he put it in practice. This was, inftead of going round the rail of the Communion-table, and laying his hands upon the heads of two or four perfons held clofe together, and in a low voice repeating the form of prayer over them, h went round the whole rail at once, lai hand upon the head of every perfon feve and, when he had gone through the and, in as audible and folemn a ma he could, pronounced the prayer ove then he drew back to the Communion all. This had a wonderful effect Clergy and the people were ftruck v decency as well as the novelty of th mony. The Confirmations were pe in lefs time, and with lefs trouble, wi filence and folemnity, and with mor larity. It commanded attention; i devotion; infomuch that feveral fince have adopted the fame method. The objection to this method i in the Rubrick, and in the o Confirmation, the Bishop is dir lay his hand upon the head of ev feverally; and that, as this is e by an act of parliament, there ou to be the fmalleft deviation from was it till of late ever fuppofe Bishops were fubject to fo strictly an interpretation of the rule as p contended for; and that their was illegal and indecorous, if th fumed to confirm more than one at a time? And if the hands of t late are impofed upon the heads two perfons previous to the recita commendary prayer, the ufe of t gular inftead of the plural numbe the Collect, is a necellary confequence. Yours, &c. W. & D. See pp. 659, 723, 799, 810, 850. A An ACCOUNT of the SIGNALS made ufe of at BAMBROUGH CASTLE, in the county of Northumberland, in cafe fbips or veals are perceived in difirefs and of the charitable inflitu tions eftablifbed there for their affiance and relief; fit rublished by the direc tion of the Trufees of NATHANAEL late Lord CREWE, with the approbation of the Maker, Pilots, and Seamen, of the Trinity-house in Newcastleupon-Tyne, 1771. [** In the annexed Plate I, fig. 1. is a S.E. view of Bambrough Castle, taken from the fea fide at Ifel Stone; and fig. 2. a view of the great tower ofthe Caftle, which is fuppofed to be of Roman workmanship. B.] SIGNAL S. fishermen, who, by the advantage of their fituation, can put-off for the islands at times when no boat from the main land can get over the breakers. Premiums are given to the firft boats that put-off for the inlandis, to give their affiftance to thips or veffels in diftrefs, and provifions and liquors are fent in the boats. IV. A bell on the South turret will be rung out in every thick tog as a fignal to the fishing-boats; and a large fwivel, fixed on the Eaft turret, will be fired every fifteen minutes, as a fignal to the fhips without the islands. at the to I. A GUN (a nine-pounder), placed fired as a fignal in cafe any fhip or veffel be obferved in diftrefs, viz. ONCE, when any fhip or veffel is -- II. In every great ftorm, two men on orfeback are fent from the Caftle to parol along the coaft from fun-fet to funife, that, in cafe of an accident, one may emain by the fhip, and the other return o alarm the Caftle. Whoever brings he first notice of any fhip or veffel being n diftrefs, is entitled to a premium, in proportion to the diftance from the Caf le; and if between twelve o'clock at ight and three o'clock in the morning, he premium to be double. III. A large flag is hoisted when there s any fhip or vellel feen in diftrefs upon he Fern Inlands, or Staples, that the fuferers may have the fatisfaction of knowng their diftrefs is perceived from the hore, and that relief will be fent them as oon as poffible. In cafe of bad weather, the flag will be kept up, a gun fired morning and evening, and a rocket thrown up every night from the North turret, till fuch time as relief can be fent. Thele are alfo fignals to the Holy Inland GENT. MAG. October, 1791. V. A large weather-cock is fixed on the top of the flag-ftaff, for the use of the pilots. VI. A large fpeaking-trumpet is provided, to be used when fhips are in dif trefs near the shore, or are run aground. obfervatory, or watch-tower, is made on the Ealt turret of the Castle, where a perfon is to attend every morn ing at day break during the winter feafon, to look out if any fhips be in diftrefs. VIII. Mafters and commanders of fhips or veffels in diftrefs are defired to make fuch fignals as are ufually made by people in their melancholy fituation. ASSISTANCE, STORES, and PROVISIONS, prepared at Bambrough Cattle for feamen, ships, or veffèts, wrecked or driven afbore on that coaft or neighbourbeod. HA Mr. URBAN, Sept. 16. AVING frequently oblerved, in your pleafing mifcellany of fugitive literature, that fmall pieces of money, well known by the appellation of tradefmen's tokens, are introduced; I fend you inclosed a drawing of one, found fome years back at Repton in Derbyshire.This being the only one ever heard of by the inhabitants of that place or vicinity, I believe it to be very rare (fee plate 1. fig. 3); and though I am well aware that fuch inferior coins bear no great value in the cabinets of the curious medallift, yet the fmallest relick of antiquity belonging to that antient and once-famous town (now dwindled to a common viilage), I truft you will be ready to preferve, and thereby oblige many of your readers, as well as S. S. On the obverfe is the figure of a crown, with the legend, “Mathew Wiikinfon;" on the reverfe, "Of Repton, 1671;" infcribed, "His Halfpenny." The furname being partly obliterated, in order to confirm my opinion of the legend, I had recourfe to the parish-regifter, where I found, that Mathew Wilkinson was buried at Repton, Nov. 5, 1680, and, at different periods, feveral others of that name.-I alfo learn, that they were formerly a family of confiderable property in this parish; but now, I believe, exsinct. Having in my poffeffion another of thefe tokens, found in Berks, which is quite of a different form and fubftance, you will, perhaps, indulge me with an engraving of this likewife (fig. 4).— The metal of the former feems of pure brafs; but this of dark copper, or fome mixed metal. Its shape refembles a hu man heart, on one fide infcribed, "Richard Fowler, of Farringdon, R. F. A. ;” on the other, "His Halfpenny, 1669.” It may not be fuperfluous here to notice the different periods of this coin being in ufe, when the fcarcity of copper money gave rise to it. In the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign we find thefe tokens allowed to most of the principal towns and tradesmen.— This being found very inconvenient, King James and King Charles both coined farthing tokens. But, none being coined during the Ufurpation, the fortill about 1672. And now we find it mer practice was renewed, and continued again eftablished, in the Anglefea, Liverpool, Macclesfield, and other provincial copper. The only inconvenience of thefe is their being large; yet this would be but a fmall evil in our Mint half-pence, in comparifon to what is fuftained in the abundant forgeries that have daily increased. For the pound of copper, which in itfelf is only worth ten pence, yields forty-fix half-pence, or twenty-three pence, when coined; therefore the fize of the coin might be doubled, without any inconvenience, fave to the forgers, whofe counterfeit practices are fo difgraceful, that not the fiftieth part of our copper currency is legitimate *. Another trifling piece, found at Repton, I fhall alfo trouble you with (fig. 5). It is a fmall brafs counter, or abbey-piece, of very good workmanship, and in high prefervation; having a globe, furmounted by a corfs, within an irregular triangle, on the obverfe, with this legend, in Roman capitals: HERT.RODT. MORGEN.TODTT. And on the reverfe three crowns, with as many fleurs de lis, alternate, and the following legend: HANNS. KRAVWINCHEL.IN.NVR. It was dug out of the ruins of Repton abbey-church †, in January, 1780, * See Pinkerton, p. 167, first edit. +For a full account of this antient place, and an engraving of the priory, fchool, church, &c. fee the Topographer, vol. II. pp. 249-263. amongst |