FRATERNITYE OF VAGABONDES—REV. MR. GENESSE—RED MAIDS.
[We have for some time past been obliged, by want of space, to omit all the kind expressions towards ourselves, in which friendly correspondents are apt to indulge; but there is something so unusual in the way in which the following letter begins, that we have done violence to our modesty, in order to admit the comments of our kind-hearted correspondent. We have no doubt that all his questions will be answered in due course.]
Never, during my life (more than half a century), do I remember hailing the appearance of any new publication with such unfeigned delight. I had hugged myself on having the friendship of a certain "BOOKWORM," possessing a curious library, of some three or four thousand volumes; how much must I have rejoiced, therefore, at finding that, through the medium of your invaluable journal, my literary friends were likely to be increased one hundred-fold; and that, for the small sum of three pence weekly, I could command the cordial co-operation, when at a loss, of all the first scholars, antiquaries, and literary men of the country; that without the trouble of attending meetings, &c., I could freely become a member of the "Society of Societies;" that the four thousand volumes, to which I had, previously, access, were increased more than ten thousand-fold. It is one of the peculiar advantages of literary accumulation, that it is only by diffusing the knowledge of the materials amassed, and the information gained, that their value is felt. Unlike the miser, the scholar and antiquary, by expending, add to the value of their riches.
Permit me to avail myself of the "good the bounteous gods have sent me," and make one or two inquiries through the medium of your columns. In the first place, can any of your readers inform me by whom a pamphlet, of the Elizabethan period, noticed in the Censura Literaria, and entitled The Fraternitye of Vagabondes, was reprinted, some years since?—Was it by Machelle Stace, of Scotland Yard, who died a brother of the Charter-House?
In the second place, can any of your clerical readers tell me where I can find any account of the late Rev. Mr. Genesse, of Bath, author of a History of the Stage, in ten volumes, one of the most elaborate and entertaining works ever published, which must have been a labour of love, and the labour of a life?
And, in the third and last place, I find, in the Bristol Gazette of the early part of last month, the following paragraph:—"THE RED MAIDS, 120 in number, enjoyed their annual dinner in honour of the birthday of their great benefactor, Alderman Whitson. The dinner consisted of joints of veal (which they only have on this occasion), and some dozens of plum puddings. The mayor and Mayoress attended, and were much pleased to witness the happy faces of the girls, to whom the Mayoress distributed one shilling each."
Can any of your curious contributors give me any account of these Red Maids?—why they are so called, &c., &c.?—and, in fact, of the charity in general?
It will not be one of the least of many benefits of your publication, that, in noticing from time to time the real intention of many ancient charitable bequests, the purposes of the original benevolent founder may be restored to their integrity, and the charity devoted to the use of those for whom it was intended, and who will receive it as a charity, and not, as is too often the case, be swallowed up as a mere place,—or worse, a sinecure.
ARTHUR GRIFFINHOOF, JUN.