O Poland, Poland! had it been thy lot
T’have heard in time of this Venetian plot,
Thou surely chosen hadst one king from thence
And honoured them, as thou hast England since.
An elaborate and amusing piece of sarcasm on the same subject appeared in a pamphlet entitled _A Modest Vindication of the Earl of S——y, In a Letter to a Friend concerning his being elected King of Poland, 1682. Squibs and pasquinades such as Scandalum Magnatum, or Potapski’s case; A Satire against Polish Oppression (1682), and the versified Last Will and Testament of Anthony, King of Poland abounded.
p. 251 Tantivy. Reckless, dare-devil. Said by Dr. Johnson to be derived from the sound of a hunting-horn.
p. 251 Absalom and Achitophel. The first part of this great poem was published, folio, on or a little before 17 November, 1681. A second edition, quarto, followed during December. The work was anonymous, but the authorship was never a secret. The second part, mainly from the pen of Tate, appeared in November, 1682.
p. 254 lookt Babies. To look babies is to gaze at the reflection of one’s face in another’s eyes. cf. Beaumont, The Woman Hater (1606), iii, 1:—
Gondarino. I cannot think I shall become a coxcomb, To ha’ my hair curl’d by an idle finger, * * * * * Mine eyes look’d babies in.
p. 257 an old Reckoning, 4to 1, 1682, reads ‘an odde Reckoning’. 4to 2, 1698, reads ‘an odd Reckoning’. but 1724 ‘old’ is doubtless correct.
p. 257 to give us a Song. Charlotte Butler, who played Charlot, ’.roved’, says Cibber, ‘not only a good actress, but was allowed in those days, to sing and dance to great perfection. In the dramatic operas of Dioclesian and King Arthur, she was a capital and admired performer. In speaking too, she had a sweet-toned voice, which, with her naturally genteel air and sensible pronunciation, rendered her wholly mistress of the amiable in many serious characters. In parts of humour, too, she had a manner of blending her assuasive softness, even with the gay, the lively, and the alluring.’ Fletcher’s The Prophetess was brought out as an opera, Dioclesian, at Dorset Garden in 1690. Dryden’s King Arthur, ’. dramatic opera’, music by Purcell, was produced in 1691. In the latter piece Mrs. Butler acted Philidel, an Airy Spirit.
p. 257 Charl. and Fop. dance. Jevon, who acted Foppington, had originally been a dancing master. He was famous for his grace and nimbleness.
p. 259 Mercury. The first foreign printed periodical circulating in England was Mercurius Gallobelgicus, a bound book printed in Cologne and written in Latin. The first number, a thick little octavo of 625 pages, was published in March, 1594, and contained a chronicle of events from 1588. From this ‘newsbook’ came the Latin title Mercurius, used on so many of our periodicals. In 1625 was issued the first coranto with a name, ‘printed for Mercurius Britannicus’. The earliest number in existence is 16, dated 7 April, 1625. Butler (Hudibras, II, i. 56) speaks of