authorship of this poem. It seems very probable that it ought to be ascribed to Henry Brooke, a well-known Manchester man, and an associate of John Byrom and other literary persons. [Then follow the arguments, which need not be brought forward here, in proof of this position.] The poem thus claimed for Henry Brooke lends an additional interest to the writer of it, as well as to his other books. There are notices of him in Whatton's History of the [Manchester] Grammar School, p. 106; Canon Raines's MSS., vol. xli., p. 276; the Rev. J. Finch Smith's School Register, i., 1-2; and Byrom's Remains, i., 294-5. Recently, in the admirable Dictionary of National Biography, vi., 424, Mr. W. E. A. Axon contributed a new memoir of him, the first time that he has had a place in such a publication.

Brooke has always been said to be a Manchester man, being called the grandson of the Rev. William Brooke, of Manchester, clerk, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Jordan Chadwick, of Healey Hall, near Rochdale, gent. This marriage is found in Corry's Lancashire, 1825, i., 569-70; and in a note at p. 629 there is a query whether this William Brooke, whom he calls "of Manchester, Parson," was not the head-master of the grammar school there, or the father of him. This note has probably given rise to the mistake in the paternity. Canon Raines more particularly adds the names of Henry Brooke's parents, who are said to have been William Brooke, merchant, of Manchester, and Elizabeth Holbrooke, a connection of Warden Heyricke's. This marriage was by licence at the collegiate church, 9th Jan., 1678-9; but a corresponding birth of a Henry Brooke is not to be found in those registers.

The real facts of Brooke's origin, as recorded by himself in a memorandum which he sent in 1740 to Dr. Rawlinson, of Oxford, are that he was the son, not of William, but of Anthony Brooke, and that he was born at Heddington (near Calne), in Wilts, on 24th May, 1696. This statement is confirmed by the register of his baptism, kindly extracted for me by the Rev. F. H. Du Boulay, M.A., stating that Henry "Brooks," son of Anthony and Sarah, was baptized 1st June, 1696. Mr. Du Boulay further says that Anthony was an independent gentleman, owning a property of three or four hundred acres in the parish, which he entailed upon his son Anthony; that his wife, Sarah Childe, was related to the London banking firm of that name, which was connected with Heddington; and that she died in 1737. He bequeathed three cottages and gardens to his parish for the benefit of the poor.

Henry Brooke was not educated at the Manchester grammar school, as has been said, but at Sharston, 5 miles west of Malmesbury, in Wilts; and he therefore could not have obtained any of the Manchester exhibitions at Oxford. He matriculated as a commoner of Oriel College, Oxford, 10th Oct., 1713; and graduated B.A. 25th June, 1717, and M.A. 30th April, 1720.

His name was entered on the university registers as "Brookes," after the form of the baptismal entry. He was elected probationer fellow of his college, 30th April, 1719, and admitted actual fellow, 1720. He received deacon's orders from Bishop Potter of Oxford, 4th June, 1721, and priest's orders from the same prelate on 24th Sept. following. He retained a connection with his native county, for in 1721, when he had completed his edition of the speeches of Demosthenes and Eschines concerning the false embassage, he dedicated the volume to John Kerle Ernle, Esq., of Whethem, in Calne parish, Wilts.

From Dr. John Mather, the president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Brooke received in the beginning of April, 1727, the appointment of head-master of the school of Manchester. This is Brooke's date; but the date in Whatton's History is the 17th of September in that year.

By the death of Radley Aynscough, who was buried 12th January, 1727-8, a fellowship in the college of Manchester fell vacant. The three remaining fellows were all Jacobites, but the warden, Peploe, was a Whig. Brooke, who likewise was an adherent of the new dynasty, entertained hopes of obtaining the stall. But even before Aynscough's death serious differences arose over a successor, and there are records of many unclerical scenes. Byrom has frequently mentioned the disputes. In the interest of the Jacobites the stall was sought for, amongst others, by the Rev. Joseph Hooper, and by the Rev. John Heber, great-uncle of Bishop Heber. The former declared he would stand to the election against all mandates of the crown, if the fellows would choose him. In the opposite interest one Mr. Whitaker obtained a nomination from the crown, 24th Oct., 1727; and going down to Manchester, and demanding admission, he was installed and sworn by the warden, the fellows protesting against it. The papers read in London society were interested in the dispute; and the Evening Post of January, 1728, states that Heber had been appointed. The questions at variance were debated before Lord Trevor, 13th Feb., and Byrom, who was present, gives the argument (Remains, i., 294; and see pp. 302 et seq.). At length Brooke obtained from the crown a mandamus for his election, and the chapter succumbed. He was admitted 8th June, 1728, the only Whig amongst the fellows.

On or about 3rd June, 1730, Brooke was presented by Oriel College to the rectory of Tortworth, near Wotton-under-Edge, co. Gloucester, the advowson of which that foundation had recently purchased from Lord Ducie ;* and it was on the death of Dr. Henry Bull that Brooke succeeded. Brooke did not reside upon the living; but the duty up to 1750 was discharged by curates. This rectory was of late held by the Rev. Clement

• The patronage is now vested, by an exchange, in the Earl of Ducie.—ED.

VOL. IV.

G

Greswell, M.A., [ex-fellow of Oriel,] youngest son of the learned Rev. W. Parr Greswell, for sixty-three years incumbent of Denton, near Manchester, and brother of two highly distinguished alumni of Manchester school, William and Edward Greswell (Register, iii., 77-82).

No particulars are forthcoming of the marriage of Brooke. The record is not in the collegiate church registers. Those registers, however, note the baptism of a child 28th Oct., 1734, named Thomasine, and described as daughter of the Rev. Henry Brooke, one of the fellows of the college. Byrom mentions Brooke's visit to London in January, 1735, when some important business relating to the college at Manchester, to be kept secret, was being transacted. "I met Mr. Cattell to-night [2nd Jan.], and am now at Will's coffee-house with Mr. Brooke and him." Will's coffeehouse was in Bow-street, Covent Garden, where the chair that Dryden used was long a fixture.

It was in 1749 that Brooke resigned the mastership of the school, and went to reside at Tortworth. A portion of the old house remains; and therein is preserved his library, which he bequeathed to his successors in the rectory. Mr. Greswell made a reference to the books in the Grammar School Register (i, 220). The present rector [Mr. Arthur] has made a careful catalogue of the collection; and for the loan of his MS. I am much obliged to him. There are over eight hundred entries. The books mostly belong to the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the next century. The titles indicate a reader of wide tastes, and one who was interested in literature up to the last. The subsequent rectors seem to have added to the collection. A good number of the volumes are theological, consisting of the standard divinity works of Taylor, Mede, More, Sherlock, and others. The folios are about sixty in number. Norris seems to have been a favourite writer with him, as well as the works of the author of The Whole Duty of Man. There are two editions of the Εἰκῶν Βασιλικὴ, dated 1648; also the 1648 edition of Diodati's Pious Annotations on the Bible. He had the 49th edition of A Week's Preparation for the Lord's Supper (London, 1742), with several copies of the first, second, and third editions of the same book. There is a good series of the works of the dramatists and poets, from Shakspere to Pope. His Shakspere was Pope and Sewell's, 1728. The Dublin edition (1758) of Parnell's Poems is there. The Spectator and its followers are well represented; as are also the classic authors, among which are many editions of Demosthenes, with several works relating to the scholastic profession. There is the 1687 edition of the Prayers of Ken, for use at Winchester school. Some medical works are in the collection. Of local [Manchester] books we only identify The Complete History of the Rebellion, 1745-6; Peter Newcome's Sermons on the Catechism, 2 vols., London, 1712; Bracken's Farriery Improved, London, 1739; and

Henry Gore's Vulgar Arithmetic Improved, Manchester, 1733, dedicated to the merchants and tradesmen of the town. Of scarce books there is a copy of Inigo Jones's folio on Stonehenge, London, 1655; Shelton's Don Quixotte, 1725; a book on the heads of the Cæsars, dated 1553; Aldus's Libri de re Rustica, 1513; the 1543 Basle edition of Livy's Roman History, and the 1569 edition of Xenophon, at the same place; and Il Cortegiano del Conte Baldessar Castiglioni, Lyons, 1562. Brooke was a justice of the peace for the county, and had amongst his books two called The Practical Justice of Peace, 1745 and 1751.

He died at Tortworth in August, 1757. His death is mentioned by Byrom, who, writing from Manchester, 8th Oct., 1757, to his old college associate, Mark Hildesley, Bishop of Mann, tells him of the welfare of the clergy whom the prelate had met two years before, when he got some Manchester horses to convey him and his luggage from that town to Liverpool, the journey occupying a long summer's day. Says Byrom: "Mr. Foxley is very well. Mr. Brooke, one of the fellows of our church, is dead, succeeded by one Mr. Crouchley, a neighbouring clergyman. All our family, who have a great regard for you, salute you and yours" (Remains, ii., 600). A monument was set up to his memory in Tortworth Church, thus inscribed:-In memory of the Revd | Mr Henry Brooke, formerly Fellow of Oriel | Coll. in Oxford, late Rector of this Parish, and Fellow of | Manchester College. Died August 21, 1757, | aged 63 years.

In 1830 there was a portrait of Brooke at one Mr. Hulton's at Blackley, it being then well known to Mr. Singleton, the incumbent of that place. Where is this portrait now? Stretford, Manchester.

JOHN E. BAILEY.

The following publications by Brooke have been minutely noticed by Mr. Bailey in his above-mentioned 4to tract:

:

1. A Practical Essay concerning Christian Peaceableness. Three editions, 8vo, London, 1741. The first edition has on the titlepage the words, "being calculated for a Country Parish," and is dedicated "to the Inhabitants of Tortworth in the Diocese of Gloucester."

2. The Usefulness and Necessity of Studying the Classicks: "a Speech, Spoken at the Breaking-up of the Free Grammar School in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 13, 1744." 8vo. Manchester, MDCCLXIV. [a mistake for 1744]. Reprinted wholly in Whatton's History of the Grammar School, pp. 106-110.

3. Two Sermons: Occasioned by the General Thanksgiving Appointed by His Majesty's Proclamation, on October the 9th, 1746, for the Deliverance of these Kingdoms from the late Rebellion and the Calamities of an Intestine War." 8vo. London, 1747. Dedicated to Martin (Benson), Lord Bishop of Gloucester, "in Honour of his Personal Worth and in Reverence of his Episcopal Character."

4. The Respect and Submission due to the Constitution both in Church and State: "a Sermon preached on Tuesday, April the 7th, 1747, at the Assizes held at Lancaster," etc. 8vo. London, 1747. This sermon has been mentioned in the Gentleman's Magazine, xvii., 252. Brooke's sermons, it may be well to note, are amongst the scarcest of tracts."

In the short memoir of Brooke by Mr. Axon, in the Dictionary of National Biography, vi., 424, it is incorrectly stated that he was the son of William and Elizabeth Brooke; that he was educated at the Manchester grammar school, and gained an exhibition, 1715-18; and that he graduated D.C.L. in 1727. These mistakes have not been repeated by Mr. Bailey. EDITOR.

1577.-THE FOREST OF DEAN.-I have come into possession of an original parchment deed, which has the legal stamp affixed to it, and which contains the appointment of Richard Hill as lieutenant of a Forest of Dean regiment of Militia in the olden time. The following is a copy :

"Charles, Lord Viscount Dursley, Baron Berkeley, of Berkeley, Knight of the Honoble Order of the Bath, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Gloucester and of the City and County of Bristoll and one of their Maties most honble Privy Councill.

"To Richard Hill the younger, gent.

"Whereas the King and Queens most excellent Maties, according to severall Acts of Parliament for ordering the fforces in the severall Counties of this kingdom, Have by Comission under the great Seale of England nominated and appointed me, the said Charles, Lord Dursley, their Lieutenant for and in the County of Gloucester, and in all Burroughs, Liberties, corporated and priviledged places within the said County. In pursuance therefore of the Acts of Parliament and Comission aforesaid, I, the said Charles, Lord Dursley, doe by these presents constitute and appoint you the said Richard Hill to be Lieutenant of that Company in the Red Regiment of Militia ffoot, raised for their Maties service within the fforest Division in the said County of Gloucester, comanded by Maynard Colchester, Esq, whereof he is Coll, & Walter Yate, Esq, is Captaine. You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of Lieutenant by exercising the said Company in Armes, both Officers and Soldiers, and keeping them in good order and discipline, and they are hereby required to obey you as their Lieutenant, and you are to observe and follow such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from their Maties, or myselfe, or any two or more of the Deputy Lieutenants of the said County, and to obey the superior Officers of the said Regiment according to the Trust reposed in you, and your Allegiance to their Maties. Given under my hand and seale the third day of August, in the Sixth yeare of the Reign of our Sovereigne Lord and Lady William and