CERTIFICATES. Mr. Tho. Gardener, vicar of St. Mary's, Sandwich, 17th mar. 1634. Mr. Jno. Gee, vicar of Tenterden, Jn. Austin, mayor, Fregift Stace, jurat, 15th mar. 1634. Mr. Tho. Warren, rector of St. Peter, Sandwich, 14th mar. 1634. Edm. Hayes, vicar of Ashford, 21st mar. 1634. Edm. Hayes, vicar, 12th mar. 1634. Tho. Warren, rector of St. Peter. Sandwich, 13th mar. 1634. Tho. Harman, vicar of Hedcorn, 6 Mar. 1634. Jno. Gee, vicar of Tenterden, Jos. Leeth, vicar of Bow, Lo Edm. Hayes, vicar of Ashfor Starre, of Ash 21 mar. 1634. Jno. Honny wood, Tho. Godfrey, justices. Toray chirurgion. Rob. Gorsham, curate of Great | Jos. Rootes, of Great Chart, 20 mar. 1634. Will. Sandford, rector of Eastwell, 16 mar. 1634. Mr. Tho. Gardiner, vicar of St. Mary's, Sandwich, 26 mar. 1634. Tho. Jackson, minister of St. Jno. Phillips, minister of Fa- Chart. Em. Mason, of Eastwell, Will Jno. Best, of the said Tho. Bridgen, of Faver- Again, in the body of the work, sub. an. 1636, following the before-explained mode of reckoning, we read, p. 708: "A list of 80 persons who have taken passage from Sandwich to the American plantations." The margin refers to Appendix K, which I copy from p. 752; "A true roll or list of the names, surnames and qualities of all such persons who have taken passage from the town and port of Sandwich for the American plantations since the last certificate of such passengers returned into the office of Dovor castle." Probably the phrase may safely be confined to New England. "Thomas Starr, of Canterbury, yeoman, and Susan, his wife, 1 child. Edward Johnson, of Canterbury, joiner, and Susan, his wife, 7 children, 3 servants. Nicholas Butler, of Eastwell, yeoman, and Joice, his wife, 3 children, 5 ser vants. Samuel Hall, of Canterbury, yeoman, and Joan, his wife, 3 servants. . Joseph Bachelor, of Canterbury, taylor, and Elizabeth, his wife, 1 child, 3 servants. Henry Richardson, of Canterbury, carpenter, and Mary, his wife, 5 children. Jarvis Boykett, of Charington, carpenter, 1 servant. John Bachelor, of Canterbury, taylor. Nathaniel Ovell, of Dovor, cordwinder, 1 servant. Thomas Calle, of Faversham, husbandman, and Bennett, his wife, 3 children. William Eaton, of Staple, husbandman, and Martha, his wife, 3 children, 1 servant. Joseph Coleman, of Sandwich, shoemaker, and Sara, his wife, 4 children. "Certified under the seal of 1637," fmayoralty, 9th june, s of Plantations int Committee of the Laud, Archbishop of It seems, then, that the C troduced this regulation, of w Privy Council had for its head Canterbury, we may be confident, the principal object was, to embarrass the puritan ministers desirous of coming to our country. His elevation to the primacy was in September, 1633, and next year this Commission was instituted. How utterly ineffectual was such petty statemanship, may be known by a reference to the names of distinguished men, who came passengers in these same ships, but not entered in the lists. Power thus used was altogether illegal; but as it failed of its purpose, we may now rejoice in the attempt, that has furnished us so valuable a document. No similar volume could be heard of in England, and only a single other return was found by me, which will be given in a few pages onward. A mine of unexhausted information about our country is contained in the volumes, printed and manuscript, at the British Museum, and in the exploration of the latter my little success should not discourage more hardy or patient adventurers. References casually offering may lead to treasure. Eagerly did my eye explore the page 65. b. in the Harleian MSS. 7033, where the hope was held out, that something might be learned of our apostle Eliot, and it was found, to my grievous disappointment, to be only abbreviation of Cotton Mather. Butter settled at Dorchester first, afterward In Harl. MSS. 5801, inscribed on its titlepage, "A catalogue of the Knights made from the first year of the reign of King Charles the 2d, during all his reign, those of King James the 2d, King William and Queen Mary, with their pedigrees, collected by Peter Le Neve, Rouge Croix Pursuivant, 7 Aug. 1696, in two volumes," fol. 12 b., I find, "Cambridge, Sir George Downing of Gamlingay, Cambr. Kted at the Hague, May 1660. He was after a baronet. See amongst my books of baronets. See his character in Anthony AWood's Athenæ Oxonienses, 2d vol." It was an agreeable thing to find, that some former possessor of this volume had written on the titlepage: "Rem nullam peragit Le Nevius, incipit omnem. Heraldry a study which only loads the memory, without improving the understanding." Harl. MSS. 5802, fol. 23, affords me only this: "Phipps, Sir William, Captain of Knighted at Windsor Castle 28 June 1687." From MSS. 5808 Plut. cxix. D, being vol. vii. of Coles's MSS. p. 36, where is duly illuminated, or tricked off, (as the phrase is) the coat of arms of our George Downing, I ex-.. tract this account: "The Worshipful & Honorable Sr. George Downing, Baronet, Knight of the Bath, and Justice of the Peace for ye County of Cambridge. He died at his fine seat at Gamlingay, June 9, Friday, 1749, where he had been confined with the Gout for a long Time, leaving only one natural Daughter, to whom he left about 20,000 pounds, and the mother of her 200 pounds. per ann. His great Estate, the largest of any Gentleman or Nobleman in this county he left to Jacob Garrard Downing, Esq. who if he dies with " [without?] "lawful Heirs, it goes to Serjeant Barnardiston with the like Proviso, & in case neither" [both?]" of these Gentlemen, both unmarried & advanced in years, die without lawful Issue, the whole Estate Sir George has bequeathed to the University of Cambridge in order to build & endow a new College where his Executors shall think proper. The Estate is supposed to be 6000 pounds per annum. A Ring I have seen for him says he died June 10, 1749. He was married young & never cohabited with his wife; & for the latter Part of his Life led a most miserable, covetous & sordid Life." I can imagine the delight of an enthusiast of such severe temper, as Hugh Peters, at this termination of the male lineal descendant of the first Sir George, which he might naturally regard as the retributive justice of one "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Far superior in value to such trifles is a MS. 4to. volume in the splendid library of George III, presented to the Nation by George IV, now at this noble Museum. A fair transcript of the whole volume is permitted to be used. On 26 Sept. I copied the Titlepage and the story of the work: "Letters from Dr. Franklin to the Reverend Doctor Cooper, Minister of the Gospel in the Town of Boston in New England, in the years 1769, 70, 71, 72, 73 and 1774, upon the subject of American Politics, together with Dr. Cooper's Answers, and some few Letters from Govr. Pownall to Dr. Cooper upon the same subject; to which is added a short History of those Letters, or an account of the manner, in which they happened to fall into the hands of the present possessor of them." The ae- A note in volume vii., p. 440, of the elegant Edition of Franklin's Works, by Professor Sparks, our fellow laborer, contains a slight error, in saying this collection was seized by a British officer in Boston; or if the person, who transcribed for the accomplished Editor the letters of Dr. Franklin, intended to characterize as a seizure the acts of the late Dr. Jeffries in preserving them, and, after reaching London, presenting them to Mr. Thompson, (the gentleman, it is presumed, afterwards so well known as Count Rumford,) the term must be construed in sensu mitissimo. ed. er Here follows the "Account of the manner in which the m following Letters came into the hands of the Person who now possesses them." "Immediately after the Affair of Lexington, which hapnie, pened upon the 19th of April, 1775, the Town of Boston was surrounded by the Rebels and all intercourse with the Country was cut off. Those who were in the Town were not allowed to quit it without the permission of the Commander in Chief, and no person was allowed to pass the lines to go into the country without first being searched by Officers appointed by the General for that purpose. At this time many of the leading Men of the disaffected party were still in the Town, and among the rest the Revd. Dr. Cooper, Minister of the Gospel to one of the Religious Societies in that town, a Man of great weight and influence among the people, who admired him as much for his Abilities, as they respected him on account of his Holy profession, and his exemplary life and conversation. He, with many others, made immediate application for leave to quit the Town, and obtained a Passport for that purpose. "At this time he had in his possession the Originals of the following Letters from Dr. Franklin, together with the original draughts of his Answers, and a great number of Letters from Gov. Pownall, written the same time, upon the same subject, with the draughts of all his answers to them. Being unwilling to destroy these papers, and afraid of detection if he attempted to take them with him through the Lines, he determined to leave them behind in the hands of a confidential friend, with directions to forward them to him by the first safe conveyance. He accordingly packed them all up together in a bundle, and sent them to Mr. Jeffries, one of the selectmen of Boston, who at that time was sick, and unable to leave the Town. He was confined to his bed, when these papers were brought to him; they were therefore put by in a trunk which contained other things of his own. As soon as Mr. Jeffries was recovered from his illness, he left the Town, and followed the rest of his Party into the Country. "His son, Dr. John Jeffries, who is now one of the Surgeons to the Hospital at New York, not choosing to take part in the Rebellion, refused to accompany his father into Country. With this Son he left everything that he could not take with him, and among other things the beforementioned trunk, either not knowing or forgetting that it contained a treasure belonging to his friend. This trunk remained near a year in Dr. Jeffries' possession without his knowing what it contained, till, upon the evacuation of Boston in the month of March following, collecting his effects in order to embark with them for Halifax, he accidentally discovered this packet of Letters, and finding them interesting, took care to preserve them. From Halifax he brought them with him to London in January last, and made a present of them to Mr. Thompson, who now presumes most humbly to lay them at his Majesty's feet, as a literary as well as a political curiosity." |