(Vol. i., p. 198.; Vol. iv., p. 1.)
I am anxious to acknowledge that SIR F. MADDEN has established, beyond
all doubt, the facts that _several_ manuscript books were found on the
Duke of Monmouth when he was captured, and that the volume rescued from
oblivion by Dr. Anster, and now placed in the British Museum, is one of
these, and also in Monmouth's handwriting. I take this opportunity of
saying, that I, unfortunately, have not seen Dr. Anster's reply to my
communication; and it is to be regretted that it was not copied from the
_Dublin University Magazine_ into "NOTES AND QUERIES," so that we (the
readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES") might have had the whole subject before
us. This is a course which I think our kind Editor may usefully adopt on
similar occasions.
Referring unsuccessfully to Lowndes' _Manual_ for an answer to SIR F.
MADDEN'S question as to the date of the first edition of Welwood's
_Memoirs_, I was pleased, however, to find that my edition (the sixth,
published in 1718) possesses a value which does not attach to previous
editions, inasmuch as it contains "A short introduction, giving an
account how these memoirs came at first to be writ." From this it
appears that there are spurious editions of the work, for Welwood
writes:
"I have given my bookseller leave to make a sixth impression of
the following memoirs; and the [rather] that some time ago one
Baker printed more than one edition of them without my knowledge,
very incorrect, and on bad paper."
We may fairly assume, that the first edition was published at the
beginning of 1699, for [the] "epistle dedicatory" to King William is
dated February of that year. If this be so, it must be taken as a proof
of extraordinary popularity that the work should have reached a third
edition as early as 1700, as stated by SIR F. MADDEN. The "account how
these memoirs came at first to be writ" possesses some interest. It
appears that Queen Mary used to hold frequent converse with the Doctor
on the subject of her great-grandfather's and grandfather's history,
and--
"At last she fell to regret the insuperable difficulties she lay
under (for I well remember that was her mind) of knowing truly the
history of her grandfather's reign; saying that most of the
accounts she had read of it were either panegyrick or satire, not
history. Then with an inimitable grace she told me, 'If I would in
a few sheets give her a short sketch of the affairs of that reign,
and of the causes that produced such dreadful effects, she would
take it well of me.' Such commands were too sacred not to be
obeyed; and when I was retiring from her presence, she stopt me to
tell me she expected I would do what she had desired of me in such
a manner, and with that freedom, as if I designed it for the
information of a friend, and not one of the blood of King Charles
I., promising to show it to none living without my consent."