In a MS. obituary of the seventeenth century, preserved at Staunton
Hall, Leicestershire, I found the following:--
"May 12. 1642. This day died Francis Lenton, of Lincoln's Inn,
Gent."
This entry undoubtedly relates to the author of three very rare poetical
tracts: 1. _The Young Gallant's Whirligigg_, 1629; 2. _The Innes of
Court_, 1634; 3. _Great Brittain's Beauties_, 1638. In the dedication to
Sir Julius Cæsar, prefixed to the first-named work, the writer speaks of
having "once belonged to the _Innes of Court_," and says he was "no
usuall poetizer, but, to barre idlenesse, imployed that little talent
the Muses conferr'd upon him in this little tract." Sir Egerton Brydges
supposed the copy of _The Young Gallant's Whirligigg_ preserved in the
library of Sion College to be _unique_; but this is not the case, as the
writer knows of _two_ others,--one at Staunton Hall, and another at
Tixall Priory in Staffordshire. It has been reprinted by Mr. {118}
Halliwell at the end of a volume containing _The Marriage of Wit and
Wisdom_, published by the Shakspeare Society. In his prefatory remarks
that gentleman says,
"Besides his printed works, Lenton wrote the _Poetical History
of Queene Hester_, with the translation of the 83rd Psalm,
reflecting upon the present times. MS. dated 1649."
This date must be incorrect, if our entry in the Staunton obituary
relates to the same person; and there is every reason to suppose that it
does. The _autograph_ MS. of Lenton occurred in Heber's sale (Part xi.
No. 724.), and is thus described:
_Hadassiah_, or the _History of Queen Hester_, sung in a sacred
and serious poeme, and divided into ten chapters, by F. Lenton,
the Queen's Majesties Poet, 1638.
This is undoubtedly the _correct_ date, as it is in the handwriting of
the author. Query. What is the meaning of Lenton's title, "the Queen's
Majesties Poet"?
Edward F. Rimbault.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Lilburn or Prynne?_--I am anxious to suggest in "Notes and Queries"
whether a character in the Second Canto of Part iii. of _Hudibras_ (line
421), beginning,
"To match this saint, there was another,
As busy and perverse a brother,
An haberdasher of small wares,
In politics and state affairs,"
Has not been wrongly given by Dr. Grey to Lilburn, and whether Prynne is
not rather the person described. Dr. Grey admits in his note that the
application of the passage to Lilburn involves an anachronism, Lilburn
having died in 1657, and this passage being a description of one among
"The quacks of government who sate"
to consult for the Restoration, when they saw ruin impending.