Mr. URBAN, THE Stratford on Avon, Sept. 19, 1810. HE annexed View is of Chesterle-Street Church, in the county of Durham; (see Plate I.)-It is a handsome stone edifice, with a nave, chancel, side ailes, and tower; the base of the latter is of a square form; but above the roof of the church it assumes an octagonal shape, apparently more modern; and is terminated by a very elegant stone spire, one of the finest in the North of England; the entire height is 156 feet. The interior is neat, and well preserved; it contains a singular arrangement of monuments, with effigies of the deceased ancestry of the noble family of Lumley from a very early period of which a particular description is inserted in Hutchinson's Durham, vol. II. p. 392. Notices and Anecdotes of LITERATI, COLLECTORS, &c. from a MS. by the late MENDES DE COSTA, and collected between 1747 and 1788. (Concluded from page 207.) 40. John Fothergill, M. D. a learned and good man, a Quaker, died 26 Dec. 1780, about 4 in the morning, of an ulcer in his bladder, in his 69th year. His library and paintings were sold in 1781 in York-street, Coventgarden. His house and choice botanic garden of rare plants were sold in the same year. His collection of shells and animals were sold (as by his will, on a valuation and deduction thereon,) by Mr. George Humphrey on his part, and Dr. Fordyce on the other side (valued at 15007. deduction 5007.) to Dr. William Hunter. His collection of fossils, &c. (see my letter to Dr. Cuming, 13th February 1783.) 41. Marlin Folkes, esq. Pres. R. S. His fine library produced 30907. 16s. There is a very fine (and excellent) print of him as in the President's chair at the Royal Society. 42. Smart Lethieullier, esq. F. R. S. had a fine collection of fossils, chiefly figured, and marbles. 43. Charles Lyttelton, D. D. afterward Bishop of Carlisle.. 44. Richard Pococke, D. D. afterward Bishop of Ossory. 45. Thomas Shaw, D. D. Shaw in his Travels, after the appendix to catalogue of African Fossils, makes a GENT. MAG. June, 1812. complaint against Dr. Woodward's executors, in relation to several curious things he sent to Woodward when on his travels. 46. Mr. Jacob Neilson died on Saturday night, July 4, 1785, at Vauxhall. He dropped down in an apo plectic fit, and expired immediately. He was a performer on the kettledrum at that place, and had belonged to the band at Vauxhall fifty years. He was said to be upwards of 80. I knew him well; he was a small, lively, and jocose man; healthy, and wore his age very well; I did not think him so old as was said, but upon recollection he must have been about that age. I was acquainted with him before the beginning of 1751, and got to his acquaintance by way of Mr. Arthur Pond, the painter, and famous collector of shells. Mr. Neilson then lived with Mr. Pond at his house, beginning of Queen-street, Lincoln'sinn-fields; and at that very time was of the band of the Vauxhall musick: he lived with and at Mr. Pond's till he (Pond) died, in 176... He was the instigator and manager of all Pond's collections, for Pond was only a virtuoso, but Neilson a scientific man; and indeed all Pond's science, and collections of shells, fossils, &c. were entirely owing to Neilson's assiduity and knowledge. However, at Pond's death, it was found that, after such a strict intimacy and friendship with Neilson, he had not even mentioned him in his will, nor desired his aid and care in disposing of his curious collections, but made demands on him, though, indeed, the elegance of them was all due to Neilson's skill and knowledge. This was supposed to be caused by a jealousy Pond had of Neilson on account of Mrs. Knapton, who was Pond's housekeeper; and perhaps too well founded, for she afterwards lived with Neilson. However, this was a cruel behaviour to Neilson. To return, all Pond's collections were sold at Langford's so ou after his death, and, as reported, yielded about 10001. Numbers of curious fossils, as Sheppey fish, vertebræ, and other parts, lobsters, crabs, &c. of clay-stone; most elegantly and scientifically cleaned of the clay-stone, &c. by Neilson, were sold in it, and fetched good high prices. bought a lobster and some other fossils in clay stone for Dr. Edward Wright, who bequeathed them, with his MSS, library, &c. for the Edinburgh college (museum), where, I presume, they now are. Mr. Neilson was very scientific and curious, but especially fond of chemical works, and would repeat the poetical parts very readily of many of them by heart. Ashmole's Theatrum Chymicum was his delight. He was also curious in all Natural History, and he cleansed his shells, &c. with great neatness: but his most surprising works were cleaning and freeing all extraneous fossils from their loads, or masses of clay-stone, lime-stone, and other stoney matters, in which they were embedded, in a most surprizing and excellent natural and scientific manner, by mere assiduity and patience, without using labour or any artifice; insomuch that any fossils cleaned by him are elegant and natural, beyond expression. He had been taken in former wars with Spain prisoner; and was kept prisoner of war at Vera Cruz, Havanna, &c. before I knew him. He was a Highlander born, but where and when is unknown; for his relations, nor any one yet (November 1785), have claimed kindred, so his effects remain unclaimed. He had a good collection of shells and fossils, many of which, especially the latter, are cleaned in perfection, as above said, by him, and are very elegant and valuable. E. M. D. C. 23 November, 1785.-Mr. Boydell administered to his effects in 1786; and his goods, books, and collections of natural history, were sold by public auction, by Hutchins, in Kingstreet, Covent-garden (catalogued by George Humphrey), Aug. 16, 1786, and the two following days, and yielded well; Mr. Hunter, by Mr. Bell, purchasing many capital lots, and Mr. Isaac Swainson many of the Sheppey crabs. It is, however, said he died in debt. E. M. D. C. Sept. 1786. Mr. Petiver, &c. He lived on the pavement in Moorfields near to Bethlehem; was a silk-pattern-drawer; thick and of a middle size. I used to be frequently with him in the summer of 1740, and, though he was then upwards of 80, he was extremely affable and communicative. He told me many anecdotes of the old collectors, was very merry and chatty. He died about 3 or 4 years after, and had two daughters, single women. He had a fine collection of natural history, as fossils, birds, shells, &c.; but his chief display was in insects, well kept and judiciously arranged, and shewed them with great pleasure, and with instruction. By his favour I saw his collection several times. 53. James West, esq. 54. Mr. Joseph Ames, by my papers, died Sunday evening, between 8 and 9, at Mr. Foster's house in Clement's lane, October 7, 1759. He drank tea with me Monday 17th September 1759. 55. Mr. Isaac Romilly. 59. Joseph Letherland, M. D. 60. Mr. Andrew Peter Dupont died 11 June, 1770, aged about 47 or 8, not near 50. 61. Henry Hampe, M. D. alchemist, died in 1777. 62. ROYAL SOCIETY. Uffenbach, a German traveller, about 1700, mentions the Royal Society with honour, but their Museum with great dis grace. MSS. Baron Heynitz, in April 1765.-In 1781, on their removal to the lodgings, or apartments, in Somerset House, they gave the whole Museum away to the British Museum. I was elected their clerk on the 3d February 1763, and also museumkeeper and librarian; and held the place till December 1767. 63. Charles Mason, D. D. 65. Colin Mackenzie, M. D. All his collections, viz. books, fossils, and anatomical preparations and figures, were purchased of his brother and heir-at-law (for he left no will) by Dr. Orme. He died about the 30th January 1775, aged about 52 years. 66. Petiver James. In p.61, Explan. of plate 40, Gaz. in his Mus. Pet. in his advertisement, he says, he is putting to the press his 11 and 12th Cen turies of his Mus. containing English insects, shells, &c. and in a little time a catalogue of many British fossils. These were never published, except, perhaps, some loose pieces in his Memoirs of the Curious. 67. Mr. John Beaumont, of Stoney Easton, under Mendip-hills, in Somersetshire, who proposed obliging the world with a Natural History of that County if he had met with due encouragement. Wallis's Northumberland, p. 73. 68. Mr. Drew Drury. 69. Mr. Church, apothecary, of Islington. A great entomologist, and breeder of insects. Sold his collections at Paterson's. 70. Mr. Latham, ornithologist, at Dartford, Kent, has wrote an excellent work of birds with coloured plates. 71. Mr. David Mayne made large collections of fossils, chiefly of Scottish. He collected them himself; and desired me to value the whole in order to sell them to the publick by a plan he proposed. He advertised it and my valuation several times, in different papers, viz. in London Chronicle December 21, 1765. The proposed plan not taking, the whole collection was sold by public auction, by Paterson, in April 1766. 72. William Boys, esq. Sandwich, Kent. 73. Mr. Gostling (Rev.) was of Canterbury. His collections were sold at Langford's in 1778, under Mr. John White's inspection. 74. Mr. John White, chip-hat seller in Newgate-street, a very great virtuoso. [Q. Was not this Mr. Jos. W. who died at Islington in 1810, see vol. LXXX. p. 189, and whose collection was sold by Messrs. King and Lochée ?] 75. Miss Blackburne. 76. Mr. Ingham Foster. See his several catalogues, &c. &c. His collections were all sold by Mr. Barford, Piazza, Covent-garden (late Langford's), viz. 1. Prints, eight days, 24 Feb. 1783, yielded 9767.— 2. Fossils, ten days, 10 March 1783, 3177. Is. [catalogued] by me.-3. Antiquities, coins, &c. three days, 3617. by Young, Ludgate-street.-4. Prints, remainder of drawings and pictures, three days, 22 May, 3631. by Young.-5. Shells, corals, and cabinets, &c. twenty-eight days, 15 May, 6467. by me.-Total 26637. Household furniture, china, glass, mathematical, electrical, &c. &c. May 19, 1784, and therewith additional catalogue of shells, fossils, and books, as Lister's, Drury, Harris, my history of fossils, &c. &c. 20 May 1784, by Egerton. My dear friend Mr. I. F. died Thursday, 3 Oct. 1782, at 2 o'clock afternoon, aged 56 years 9 months and 30 days, being born 4 December 1725, Old Style. 77. Thomas Pattinson Yeats, esq. F. R. S. an excellent zoologist in birds, insects, shells, &c. was unfortunately drowned from the parade, or wharf, at Liverpool, by falling into the sea, in 1782. His collections of natural history (made by Humphrey) were sold by Hutchins, May 12, 1783. 78. Mr. Speed, druggist, in Cannon Street, a collector, and had a most curious and elegant collection of shells. He died beginning of 1785, and his collection was sold by Hutchins in March 1785. 79. Mr. John Millan (Macmillan was his real name), bookseller, at Charing Cross. 80. Mr. Sheldon, sen. surgeon, dieḍ before 15 May, 1783. 81. William Hunter, M. D. F. R. S. and F. S. A. 82. Hon. Topham Beauclerc, F.R.S. 83. John Hunter, esq. F. R. S. 84. Richardsons, of North Bierley, in Yorkshire. A considerable family seated there, very eminent in natural history. I conversed with one of them about 1744 or 46. The Richard sons are frequently mentioned in Ray, Llhuyd, Petiver, Woodward, &c. In the News 1784, Leeds Nov. 16, 1784, Thursday night (i. c. 14) died of a fit of the gout, in his 26th year, the Rev. Henry Richardson Currer, of Thornton, the last male heir of the Richardsons family, six of whom have died within the last six years, so that the whole family estate descended to him. 85. Hon. Mrs. Cavendish, daughter of Lord George Cavendish brother to the Duke of Devonshire, commonly known and surnamed Jack Cavendish, from her rough masculine form and behaviour. She was married to Mr. Chandler, son to a Bishop of Durham; but retained her name,and never took his: died about 1780. A great collector of pictures, miniatures, gems, costly shells, and costly statues, and works works of ivory, gold, silver, and other valuable materials. 86. Lord Charles Cavendish, F.R.S. brother to the Duke of Devonshire and uncle to the above Mrs. C. A gentleman of extensive knowledge in the sciences, and died 1780. Very old, 80, or upwards. 87. Her Grace Margaret Duchess of Portland, daughter to the Earl of Oxford, the great collector of books; died in August 1785, in her 70th year. She died of a complaint in her bowels. Her collections were sold, in thirty-eight days sale, on Monday the 24th of April 1786, and a catalogue in 4to. of it printed, price 5s. The natural history made by Mr. George Humphrey, and formed or corrected by the Rev. Mr. Lightfoot, her Grace's chaplain. Her heir and executors were her four children; the Duke; Lord George Bentinck; Lady Viscountess Weymouth; and the Countess of Stamford. The whole sale came to (not quite) 10,000%. 88. Dr. John Coakley Letisom. 89. Richard Kaye, F. R. S. Mus. Brit. Curator, D. D. &c. &c. 90. Rev. Mr. Thomas Matthews, a scientific and curious collector of natural history, especially of shells and native fossils; as gems, crystallizations, and ores. Formerly of Faringdon in Berkshire. Most of his curious collections were sold at public auction at Greenwood's rooms, in Leicester-square, in 1785, under Mr. Martyns, trustee; and Mr. G. Humphrey, catalogue-maker. 91. Andrew Coltee Ducarel, LL.D. of Doctors Commons, an indefatigable Antiquary. The sale of his li brary at Leigh's, for eight days, produced 9871. 1s. 1 92. Sir Ashton Lever, knt. created so by George III. His library, sold by Leigh, produced 4347. 15s. his Holophusicon Museum at Leicester House was proved in 1783, before a Committee of the House of Commons, to be of the value of 53,000!. It was made afterwards in 1784 a lottery of, and the prize fell to Mr. Parkinson, who removed it from Leicester-square to Albion-place; and first opened as an exhibition Dec. 3, 1787, at 2s. 6d. a person.-Last Thursday, 31 January 1788, died in Lancashire, Sir Ashton Lever, collector of the Museum, which, while his property, bore his name, and a monument of his name it will be to all posterity. He died while sitting on the bed of justice with his brother magistrates. 93. George Keate, esq. F. R.S. and F. S. A. barrister-at-law, also a good poet and painter. 94. Martyn Fonnereau, esq. 95. Mr. Peter Woulfe, F. R. S. 96. Philip Rashleigh, esq. M. P. for Fowey, Looe. Seat, Menabilly, Cornwall. 97. Samuel Ewer, esq. 98. Counsellor Thomas Griffin, of Lincoln's Inn, son to the Admiral of that name. His seat is at Hadnock, near Monmouth. Thick-set man, with extreme remarkable swelled legs, caused by an illness many years ago. A very intelligent and scientific collector of fossils, shells, &c. 99. Hon. Charles Francis Greville, F.R.S. brother to the Earl of Warwick. 100. Moses Harris, a famous entomologist, and miniature painter. 101. Daniel Charles Solander, M. D. 102. George Scott, esq. LL. D. F. R. S. and A.S. F. a great Antiquary, not only of charters, leases, records, &c. but of matters or materials of antiquity, such as coins, abbey seals, Roman lamps, and Etruscan ware; warlike instruments, as swords, daggers, pistols, belmets, saws, &c. other antient instruments; regalia watches, monuments, or sarcophagi, basaliæ, bronzes, idols, apparel, pictures, portraits, miniatures, and prints, and a numerous collection it was; some trivialities, as usual in such Antiquarian collections. The reserved part of the collection (so expressed in the catalogue) was sold by Mr. Gerard, in Litchfield-street, Soho, on Thursday and Friday, 4 and 5 July, 1782. He was, as well as I can guess, between 60 and 70, and died about a year before the sale, a widower with no children; lived some years in Crown-court, Westminster, but retired to his seat at Woolston Hall, in Essex, about 1768. A very humane and friendly gentleman, and communicative. He was nephew to the celebrated naturalist Dr. Derham, and published Mr. Ray's remains in 8vo. Mr. Scott was an Oxonian. 103. Henry Seymer, esq. of Handford, near Blandford, in Dorsetshire. See an account of this gentleman, his family, his collections, &c. Collectanea, vol. XIII. p. 345 & seq. He died about Christmas 1784, aged, I imagine, imagine, about 70 or 74. His collections were sold at Hutchins's auction room, King-street, Covent-garden, in twelve days sale, Feb. 8-21, 1786. 104. Mr. Robert Chambers, a mason, who painted arms, flowers, fruits, Hebrew, and other characters on marbles; see my paper to Royal, Society (not printed). A very curious person he was, a Gloucestershire man, and about 74 when he died. He painted or stained on marble several roses, exquisitely well, for me; and the blazoned arms of the present Duke of Norfolk on a marble slab for his Grace. 105. Mr. Henry Smeathman died on Saturday evening, 1st July 1786, of a (putrid) fever, at his lodgings No. 14, Cannon-street, just on his setting out for Africa, on a contract with Government. Mr. Drury informs me he was in his 42d year. 106. Friday, 1 Feb. 1788, died at his house in Leicester-square,in a very advanced age, the celebrated James Stuart, esq. commonly distinguished by the appellation of Athenian Stuart: I am sorry to add that he has left the second volume of his Antiquities of Athens unfinished, though part of the work is printed, and many of the fine engravings actually executed; the loss the publick suffers, it is feared, will be irreparable. 66 107. Jac. Barettius, a very skil ful botanist, published Descriptio et Icones variarum Plantarum per Galliam, Hispaniam, et Italiam observatarum, Paris, 1715, folio." *** In these Anecdotes the nature of the collections under some of the names is not mentioned, but this is a defect we cannot remedy.—In No. 4, p. 205, under Dubois, for Uraldo, r. Waldo. I Mr. URBAN, London, June 2. SHALL feel myself much obliged to you, if you will please to convey my sincere thanks to the gentleman who did me the honour of entering into a critical examination of the edition of Cicero's two Tracts on Old Age und Friendship, which I ventured to submit to the perusal of the literary world. I have often, since the publication of this little volume, condemned myself for the youthful rapidity with which the original notes were written: they were really dispatched to the press as they were finished, with all their imperfections upon their head. Had I taken a sufficient time to re-peruse what I have written, I might have confirmed some interpretations, and have given a greater degree of probability to some conjectures; I should possibly have qualified some assertions, which are too general; I should have made very considerable additions to the critical and the explanatory notes; I should have adopted a different arrangement of the work, and have endeavoured to adapt it better to the use of the Student, and to render it more worthy of the attention of the Scholar. Your Correspondent has well observed, that "the Latin language has not the attention paid to it which it so justly deserves:" I have long observed the fact; and it has been, and will continue to be, my humble endeavour to rouse the attention of the learned to this department of classical education; while they will find, on this very account, that the consideration of this tongue presents a greater field for the display of originality, and a wider scope for the exercise of ingenuity; they may be assured that it will also enable them to open ampler stores of erudition; for I will venture to say that the Greek tongue is much better known than the Latin, and that the Greek authors are much better understood than the Latin. If my publication arrive at a second edition, I shall most gladly avail myself of some of the hints, which your Correspondent has thrown out for my consideration; and, in the mean time, I beg his leave to make some remarks upon a few of his strictures, in the same spirit of freedom with which he has written them. In the 441st page he asks, why I did not give some quotations from other authors, to prove the truth of my assertion, about onus gravius Aetna? I really should have been obliged to him to point out the sources, whence I might have derived them: none occurred to me at the time, and I have met with none since: it is to no purpose to cite instances of the phrase (I have, however, cited the only one which I have ever seen); what I wanted to discover was the origin of the phrase: I am not aware that I have been anticipated in my conjecture; but every commentator knows how unconsciously he often falls into the conjectures, the interpretations, and the |