III. "Yet other Twelve Wonders of the World." In foot-note (Vol. II., p. 67) I promise an account of an autograph MS. of this characteristic set of verses. It finds more fitting place here than in the Preface. The MS. is preserved at Downing College, Cambridge, and having been described on p. 325 of the "Third Report of the Historical MSS. Commissioners," Mr. Beedham, (as before) was kind enough to make a literatim transcript for me (with the permission of the College authorities). The MS. is headed "Verses giuen to the L. Treasurer vpon Newyeares day vpon a dosen of Trenchers by Mr. Davis." In the margin against "The Lawyer," in the same handwriting as the Verses, is this: "This is misplaced, it should be before the physisn," and similarly against "The Country Gentleman," also in the same handwriting, is: "This is misplaced, in the original it is before the mr chant." There is nothing to give any clue as to the precise New Year's day upon which the Verses were furnished to the Lord Treasurer; but unless I very much mistake, they were the "cobweb" of his "inuention" enclosed in that letter which Mr. J. Payne Collier supposed to have gone with a gift-copy of "Nosce Teipsum." The letter speaks for itself:—
"Mr. Hicks. I have sent you heer inclosed that cobweb of my invention which I promised before Christmas: I pray you present it, commend it, and grace it, as well for your owne sake as mine: bycause by your nominacion I was first put to this taske, for which I acknowledge my self beholding to you in good earnest, though the imployment be light and trifling, because I am glad of any occasion of being made knowne to that noble gentl. whom I honore and admire exceedingly. If ought be to be added, or alter'd; lett me heare from you. I shall willingly attend to doo it, the more speedily if it be before the terme. So in haste I commend my best service to you. Chancery Lane, 20 Jan. 1600. Yours to do you service very willingly, Jo. Davys." (Bibl. Account, V. I., pp. 193-4; no specification of source beyond S. P. O.)
The handwriting of the copy in Downing College belongs to the close of the 16th or to the earliest years of the 17th century. The second marginal note above would seem to show that the transcript was made from the original, then perhaps being circulated from hand to hand. Specimens of variations may interest. In "The Courtier," l. 1, for 'liu'd' the MS. reads 'serued': l. 4, "from them that fall" for "such as fall": l. 5, "my" for "a rich array": in the "Divine," l. 1, "one cure doth me contente" for "and I from God am sent": l. 3, "true kinde" for "kind true": l. 5, "Nor followe princes' Courts" for "Much wealth I will not seeke ": "The Souldier," l. 6, "brag" for "boast": "The Physitian," l. 1, "prolonge" for "vphold" and "life" for "state": l. 2, "I" for "me" (bis): l. 6, "time & youth" for "youth and time": "The Lawyer," l. 1, "My practice is the law" for "the Law my calling is": ll. 5-6,
"Some say I haue good gifts, and love where I doe take Yet never tooke I fee, but I advisd or spake," for "Nor counsell did bewray, nor of both parties take, Nor euer tooke I fee for which I neuer spake."
"The Merchant" l. 2, "vnknowne worlds ... kingdomes doth" for "unknowne coasts ... countries to": "The Married Man," l. 4, "choise" for "chance": "The Wife," l. 1, "my" for "our": l. 2, "Thither am I ... where firste" for "I thither am ... from whence": l. 3,
"I goe not maskd abroad to visit, when I do My secrets I bewray to none but one or two," for "I doe not visite oft, nor many, when I doe, I tell my mind to few, and that in counsell too."
"The Widowe" l. 1, "dyinge" is inserted here before "husband": l. 3, "love" for "haue": l. 6, "Nor richer then I am, nor younger would I seeme" for "Nor younger then I am, nor richer will I seeme": "The Maide," l. 4, "of" for "on": l. 5, "but" for "yet." These embrace all save orthographical and other slight variants. As derived from an authentic autograph MS. the Downing College copy is interesting and its variants serve further to illustrate the letter to Hicks wherein Davies expresses his willingness to make any changes—which alone might have led Mr. Collier to see that he could not possibly refer to "Nosce Teipsum," which was then published.
IV. Dacus not Samuel Daniel. Turning to Epigrams 30 and 45 (pp. 30, 45) the reader will find in Dyce's note to the latter that he identified 'Dacus' with Daniel, and the passage whereon he based the identification. I passed his note though not at all satisfied with the parallel of "dumb eloquence" to the Epigram's "silent eloquence." Epigram 30 points rather to a rhymster of the John Taylor Water-Poet type, and if one had patience to make the search "silent eloquence" should doubtless be found in one or other of his many books—clumsily appropriated from Sir Philip Sidney. Then the "dumb eloquence" of the Complaint of Rosamond which Dyce quotes, was to the King not "to his Mistress"—even if it were what the Epigram hints "silent eloquence." En passant the phrases and variants on it was one of the aped phrases of the gallants and poetasters of the day. Jonson who disliked Daniel, ridicules the stanza in a way that informs us it was affected by them. Griffin in his Fidessa also has it in his "dumb message of my hidden grief." Further: Davies of Hereford in his "Scourge of Folly" who must have known his namesake's use of Dacus calls him Dacus the pot-poet and speaks as much against his character as our Davies does against his rhymes—all of which was curiously inapplicable to Samuel Daniel. At the time Davies of Hereford wrote Daniel was a gentleman of the Queen's bed-chamber. Lastly—and conclusively—Sir John Davies praises three English poets in his "Orchestra" (Elizabethan edn.) of whom one is Daniel:—
"O that I could old Gefferie's Muse awake
Or borrow Colin's fayre heroike stile,
Or smooth my rimes with Delia's servant's file."