for the payment of interest at 4 per cent. on 250,000l., "the balance then remaining due"; and on December 7, 1751, an Act was passed to pay off 120,000l., and to pay interest on 117,500l., the balance then due.

Subsequently there was a surplus, for it is stated in the Earls of Kildare' that James, twentieth Earl, and subsequently first Duke of Leinster, was prominent in his opposition to the repeated attempts of the English Government to lay hands on the Irish surplus. The late Duke of Leinster, then Marquis of Kildare, told me more than once that he never came across Boots's name in the papers connected with the debates as to the surplus.

The picture having been painted in 1749, the event which it commemorated must have taken place between the election of 1727 and that year. I have no opportunity here of referring to the political pamphlets of that period, but have little doubt that several of them or of periodicals contain remarks respecting the vote in question; and possibly some of your readers may be able, and not less willing, to refer me to any of them which throw a light on this point, which may almost be called historical. HENRY L. TOTTENHAM. Guernsey.

THOMAS VICARY.

As my repeated askings in 'N. & Q.' for details of the life of this worthy of Kent and chief surgeon to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, have not drawn one single scrap of information from the readers of N. & Q.,' I think they may like to have the short sketch of Vicary's life which my father and I are going to put in part i. of our edition of the old surgeon's Anatomie of the Body of Man' (1548, from the unique copy of its reissue by the Bartholomew's Surgeons in 1577), with its 250 pages of Appendix of Documents, a few examples of which have already appeared in N. & Q.' I still hope that this sketch may lead to notices of Vicary yet unknown to us being sent. We shall not feel happy till we have got something out of that omniscient journal in which all students "inquire within upon everything," and so seldom fail to get an answer:"The first tidings of Vicary (who was probably born between 1490 and 1500) are, that he was a meane practiser (had a moderate practise) at Maidstone,' and was not a trained Surgeon. In 1525 he is Junior of the three Wardens of the Barbers' or Barber-Surgeons' Company in London. In 1528 he is Upper or first Warden of the Company, and one of the Surgeons to Henry VIII., at 201. a year. In 1530 he is Master of the Barber Surgeons' Company, and is appointed-in reversion after the death of Marcellus de la More-Serjeant of the Surgeons, and Chief Surgeon to the King. This Headship of his Profession, Vicary takes in 1535 or 1536, together with its yearly pay of 261. 13s. 4d., and holds it (under Edw. VI., Q. Mary, and Q. Elizabeth) till his death in 1561 or 1562. He is the Paget of his great Tudor time.

"In 1535, a fresh Grant is made to Vicary of either his

old twenty pounds a year, or a fresh one. In 1539, Vicary gets from Henry VIII. a beneficial lease for 21 years of Abbey in Kent, close to Maidstone; and as he is a the Rectory-house, tithes, &c., of the dissolved Boxley person of influence with the King, a rich Northampton shire squire, Anthony Wodehull, who has an infant daughter, and is probably a patient of the chief Court Surgeon, appoints Vicary as one of the Trustees.of his Will (proved Oct. 11, 1542), with a view (no doubt) to the protection of his girl's property and person during her nonage. In 1541, as the acknowledged Head of his profession, Vicary is appointed the First Master of the newly amalgamated Companies of Barbers and Surgeons, and is painted--with other Surgeons, Barbers, and Physicians-by Holbein. In this year 1541, he also gets beneficial lease for 60 years, from Sir Thos. Wyat, the poet, of lands in Boxley, Kent. In 1542, he and his son William (also probably a Surgeon) are appointed by Henry, Bailiffs of Boxley Manor, &c., in Kent, with again Master of the united Company of Barbers and Suryearly salaries of 10. each. In Sept. 1546-7, Vicary is geons. In Dec., 1547, he marries his second wife, Alice Bucke.

"In 1546-7, Henry VIII. handed over Bartholomew's (with other Hospitals, &c.) to the City of London. He gave it a small endowment (nominally 3337. odd) out of tumble-down houses, which he charged with pensions to parsons. The balance of the endowment was but enough to keep, as patients, thre or foure harlottes, then being in chyldbedde.' So the City set to work, raised 1,000%. for repairs, fittings, &c., practically reopened the Hospital, for 100 patients, and, on 29 Sept., 1548, appointed ChiefSurgeon Vicary as one of the 6 new Governors of the Hospital to act with the 6 old ones. Vicary must soon after have become Resident Surgical Governor of the the old Convent Garden in June, 1551; and in June, Hospital. He was reappointed annually; he is given 1552, is made one of the assistants of this house for the terme of his lyffe' (extract by Dr. N. Moore). He has 3 Surgeons under him, at 187. (1549), and then 20l. (1552) a year each. The Hospital finds him a Livery gown, and repairs his house. He holds his appointment till his death, late in 1561, or early in 1562. That to him is due part of the Hospital organization, and some of the beautiful unselfish spirit shown in the City Ordre' for Barts in 1552, we do not doubt. This 'Ordre' no one can read without admiring.

Master of the Barber-Surgeons. In 1548 too, he published "In Sept., 1548, Vicary was, for the fourth time, elected his Anatomie--the first in English on the subject,-but

whether this was after or before he was made a Governor of Barts, we cannot say. The book, though mainly tra ditional, and not founded on actual dissections, was reForewords; and from the unique copy of that issue, the printed by the Surgeons of Barts in 1577, with a few earliest now known, our reprint is made, with added head-lines and side-notes. Frequently supplemented, Vicary's little Anatomie held the field for 150 years. (Unluckily the biographical details of an Italian doctor in one of the added Treatises, have been lately set down to Vicary.)

"In 1553, Queen Mary made a special grant to Vicary of the Arrears of his Chief Court-Surgeons' Annuity of 261. 13s. 4d., which he came into in 1536, on De la More's death or resignation. In 1554 he was appointed Surgeon to Mary's husband, K. Philip; and in 1555, Philip and Mary re-granted to Vicary-his son William being doubtless then dead-the Bailiffship of the Manor of Boxley, &c., and the 2 Annuities of 107., which Henry VIII. had granted to Vicary and his son in 1542. Year by year Vicary quietly worked on, doing his duty to the sick poor at Barts, and in the Barber-Surgeons' Com

PERCY FURNIVALL.

THE MSS. OF THE PASTON LETTERS.-These most interesting letters were written from 1422 to 1509; that is, during the long struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster. In addition to the original MSS. of many of those letters already printed, Messrs. Christie will offer for sale at their rooms on July 31 some which have never been published. The whole collection is divided into three lots, of which the first comprises 311, these being the 220 long-lost original letters and documents published by Sir John Fenn in his third and fourth volumes of the "Paston Letters, in 4to, 1787-89," together with 95 additional letters discovered at Roydon Hall, Norfolk, in 1875, by the late Mr. Frere, and described by Mr. James Gairdner in the third appendix to his edition (1874) of the 'Paston Letters.' Of these portions of the correspondence only six letters are missing. On the other hand, in the lot are four not mentioned in Fenn's or Gairdner's editions. The second lot contains 59 letters written by or to various members of the Paston family, ranging in date from 1564 to 1700. The third lot consists of 98 letters by or to Robert, Earl of Yarmouth (Sir Robert Paston, created Earl of Yarmouth by Charles II.) and his son William, the second Earl, between 1669 and 1685. A detailed description of these two series will be found in Horwood's Report, vol. vii. pt. 1. They have not been printed. At the same time will be sold the Gawdy correspondence, a very important collection of 124 letters dated from 1579 to 1616. In them mention is made of many very memorable occurrences which happened during that period. They are described in Horwood's Report, vol. vii. pt. i., but have not been published.

There will also be included in the sale the voluminous Norris manuscript collections, relating to the county of Norfolk, MS. documents relating to the Priory and family of Bokenham (Buckingham), Sir John Fenn's 'Repertorium Chiro-Typicum,' containing more than 1,000 facsimiles of

autographs, signs manual, &c., from Canute, 1017, to George I., 1714, and the "Howard Papers," a large collection of ancient documents and papers relating to the family of Howard and the Dukes of Norfolk. RALPH N. JAMES.

pointing out the discrepancies between the two BROOKE OF ASTLEY.-Some time ago, while accounts of the family of Brooke of Astley contained in Burke's Peerage and Baronetage,' and in the 1850 edition of the 'Landed Gentry' ('N. & Q.,' 7th S. iv. 87), I asked the question, Wilmslow?" I have since seen the 'Admission "Who was Thomas Brooke, of Gray's Inn and Register of Gray's Inn,' edited by Mr. Joseph Foster, and find that three persons only were admitted to that society named Thomas Brooke, Brookes, or Brooks, namely:

1. Thomas Brooks, admitted 1556.

2. Thomas, son and heir (sic) of Richard Brooke, of Norton, co. Chester, admitted 1629.

3. Thomas Brookes, of Middlewich, co. Chester, gent., two years of Staple Inn; admitted May 19, 1677; called to the Bar May 18, 1683.

As the first of these persons was admitted in 1556, at least a century too early, and the second was of the Norton family, it follows that if there ever existed a Thomas Brooke, of Gray's Inn and Wilmslow, he must have been one and the same with Thomas Brookes, of Middlewich. The addition of the final s would be immaterial, for surnames were not then written with much precision in the matter of spelling even by their owners. should like to follow up this clue by a search in the registers of Staple Inn for the parentage of Thomas Brookes, of Middlewich, but I do not know where these registers are now to be found. The query of H. C. F. on this subject does not seem to have been answered ('N. & Q.,' 6th S. xi. 207).

I

Mary, dau. of Richard Brooke of Astley, christened

ing if some light could be thrown upon its meaning, I have put together all the instances which I know or can find of its use. Of course I do not intend to imply that the signification is necessarily the same in all these cases :

1. The well-known part of the estuary of the Thames, containing the Nore sand-bank and light, a few miles to the north of Sheerness.

2. A river in Ireland which rises in Tipperary, flows through Queen's County and Kilkenny, and joins the Barrow (formerly the boundary of the English pale) about two miles above New Ross. 3. A cape (the Black Nore) on the coast of Somersetshire, about five miles from the mouth of the Avon.

4. An eminence in Surrey, seven and a half miles to the south-east of Croydon (Bartholomew's 'Gazetteer of the British Isles ').

5. The inhabitants of Knockholt (formerly more correctly spelt Nockholt), in Kent, call a piece of ground of the form of a sloping bank, on the southern side of the village towards Brasted, the Nore. This is not mentioned, so far as I am aware, in any book, but has come to my knowledge through an acquaintance with the locality.

Blackheath.

W. T. LYNN.

CHARLES DICKENS AND SIR THEODORE MARTIN. -I am not aware if your, or any of your readers' attention has ever been called to the very close resemblance between the two stories Horatio Sparkins' in the 'Sketches by Boz' (Charles Dickens), and Bon Gaultier's tales Country Quarters in Wilson's "Tales of the Borders (Theodore Martin). Both stories relate how an aspiring young man, wishing to get into society, does so by deception, and how many foolish people court such impostors thinking them "high and noble." I annex the concluding part of the two stories, to show the close similitude. In 'Horatio Sparkins':

"At length the vehicle stopped before a dirty-looking ticketed linendraper's shop, with goods of all kinds and labels of all sorts and sizes in the window. Pray be seated, ladies. What is the first article?' inquired the obsequious master of the ceremonies of the establishment. I want to see some silks,' answered Mrs. Malderton. Directly, ma'am. Mr. Smith! Where is Mr. Smith?' 'Here, sir,' said a voice at the back of the shop. Pray make haste, Mr. Smith,' said the M.C.; you never are to be found when you're wanted, sir. Mr. Smith, thus enjoined to use all possible despatch, leaped over the counter with great agility, and placed himself before the newly-arrived customers. Mrs. Malderton uttered a faint scream; Miss Teresa, who had been stooping down to talk to her sister, raised her head, and beheld-Horatio Sparkins!” In 'Country Quarters ':

"Some months afterwards Mrs. Cheesham and her daughter Emily entered one of the extensive drapery warehouses of Edinburgh to invest a portion of their capital...... Eugene,' said the superintendent of the place, 'show these ladies that parcel of goods. A very

FIELDING'S DAUGHTER, MRS. MONTRESOR.About a year ago an inquiry was made as to whether there were any living descendants of Henry Fielding, and in reply the querist was referred to the peerages, where they appear under the "collaterals" of the Earl of Denbigh (7th S. iii. 348, 432). The ordinary biographies tell us very little of the novelist's private life; and although we have Fielding's own assurance that the character of Sophia Western was intended to represent his first wife, and it is considered by some authorities that that of Amelia is a portrait of his second wife, some allowance must be made for the partiality of a husband, who, whatever may have been his faults, possessed a loving nature and a keen appreciation of the delights of home. A description of one of his daughters, which we owe to a contemporary pen, and in which we may perhaps trace the personal characteristics of Charlotte Craddock, will accordingly not be without interest. It occurs in that curious work Whitehead's Original Anecdotes of the late Duke of Kingston and Miss Chudleigh,' 1792, p. 95. Miss Fielding was at the time a visitor at Pierrepoint's Lodge, the duke's seat in Surrey, together with her future husband, Col. Montresor, Governor of Tilbury Fort :

"Miss Fielding was of a good stature, about twenty but in a deep decline. She had been a visitor and comyears of age, a sweet temper, and great understanding; panion to Miss C-for some years. Col. Montresor, who was between fifty and sixty years old, paid his addresses to her: and in a few months afterwards they were married; which so displeased Miss C-that she never saw them after. If the Colonel had not married her, I believe she would never have got a husband; being, poor lady, the colour of a ghost; a mere skeleton, with such coughings and spittings as would have turned the stomach of a coal-heaver. Her uncle Sir John and Miss C— were very intimate; so much that she and the Duke seldom missed the examination of any felon brought before the magistrate.'

An anecdote of Sir John follows, which would not accord with the taste of the present readers of N. & Q.,' and I shall therefore pretermit any further quotation. W. F. PRIDEaux. Calcutta.

CROWLAND ABBEY.-In the Times of June 9 a statement is made of the condition, nigh to total ruin, of Crowland Abbey. An architect is to be employed, and subscriptions are to be sought after. I hope if this is done that a committee of a very few well-selected common-sense folk may be part of the intellectual machinery for the work. It