In a clever biographical sketch by M. Guizot, originally published in a
French periodical (the _Revue Française_) under the title of "Monk, Etude
Historique," George Monk, first Duke of Albemarle, is said to have been
born on the 6th of December, 1608, at the manor-house of Potheridge, the
ancient inheritance of his family, in the county of Devon.
This Potheridge (otherwise Pen-the-ridge) is, it appears, a village
or hamlet situated "on the ascendant ridge of a small hill," in the
parish of Merton, about four miles south-west of Torrington. As M.
Guizot's statement, in so far as locality is concerned, seems open to
doubt at least, if not positive exception, I wish to elicit, and place
on record, through the medium of "N. & Q." if I can, some farther and
perhaps more decisive information on the subject. In opposition to M.
Guizot's authority (whence derived or whatever it might be), Lysons,
in his account of Devonshire in the _Magna Britannia_, positively lays
the _venue_ of Monk's birth in the parish of Lancros or Landcross, near
Bideford, confirmatorily alleging that his baptism took place there on
the 11th of December in the year above mentioned. In another account, a
notice of the Restoration by M. Riordan de Muscry, appended to Monteth's
_History of the Rebellion_, he is said to have been born in Middlesex,
an assertion to which (in the absence of all authority) little value
can, of course, be given. The slightest local investigation, including
a reference to the parochial registers of Landcross and Merton, would,
however, probably at once solve the difficulty. But for the known
fidelity of Lysons, and the probability of his possessing superior
information on the specific point at issue over that of M. Guizot, I
should be most reluctant to impeach the accuracy of any statement of
fact, however trifling or minute, emanating from that distinguished
writer. Few indeed there are, even amongst our own historians, whose
claims on our faith, arising from close and accurate research, intimate
knowledge, clear perception, and thorough comprehension of the events
of that most eventful period of English history, commencing with the
Revolution of 1640, can (as manifested in their published works at
least) vie with those of M. Guizot. With some few of the opinions,
interpretations, constructions, and comments passed or placed by M.
Guizot on the life and actions of Monk in this same "Etude Historique,"
I shall, perhaps (with all deference), be tempted to deal on some future
occasion. An able translation of the work, from the pen of the present
Lord Wharncliffe, appeared in 1838, the year immediately succeeding its
first publication. The prefatory observations and valuable notes there
introduced richly illustrate the text of M. Guizot, whose labours, in
this instance, are certainly not discreditably reflected through the
medium of his English editor. With one expression of Lord Wharncliffe's,
however (in the note to which this paper chiefly refers), I take leave
to differ, wherein he hints that the question of Monk's birthplace can
have little interest beyond the limits of the county of Devon, clearly a
palpable error.