poor; its title is, The State and Case of a Design for the better Education of Thousands of Parish Children successively in the vast Northern Suburbs of London vindicated, &c. Besides the above, there is another remarkable little piece which I have seen, beginning abruptly, "Here followeth a briefe exhortation which I gave in my owne house at my wife's funerall to our friends then present," by Blake, with the MS. date, 1650; and exhibits this original character in another not less amiable light:—"I was brought up," says he, "by my parents to learne Hail Mary, paternoster, the Beliefe, and learne to reade; and where I served my apprenticeship little more was to be found." He attributes it to God's grace that he fell a reading the Practice of Piety, by which means he got a little persuading of God's love to his soul:—"Well, my time being out, I set up for myselfe; and seeking out for a wife, which, with long waiting and difficulty, much expence and charge, at last I got. Four children God gave me by her; but he hath taken them and her all again too, who was a woman of a thousand." Mr. B. then naturally indulges in a panegyric upon this pattern of wives, and reproaches himself for his former insensibility to her surpassing merits: relating with great naïveté some domestic passages, with examples of her piety and trials, in one of which latter the enemy would tempt her to suicide:—"There lie your garters," said he; "but she threw them aside, and so escaped this will of the Devil."
In conclusion, let me inquire if your Highgate correspondents are cognisant of any existing institution raised upon the foundation of William Blake's Charity School at Dorchester House?
J. O.
[Our correspondent's interesting communication suggests a Query: Is there any biographical notice of William Blake; and was he the author of the following piece, preserved among the Kings' pamphlets in the British Museum? "The Condemned Man's Reprieve, or God's Love-Tokens, flowing in upon the heart of William Blake, a penitent sinner, giving him assurance of the pardon of his sins, and the enjoyment of eternal happiness through the merits of Christ his Saviour. Recommended by him (being a condemned prisoner for manslaughter within the statute) unto his sister, and bequeathed unto her as a legacy." It is dated from "Exon Jayle," June 25, 1653, and was published July 14, 1653."—Ed.]
Footnote 1:[(return)]
"Mr. Henry Cornish, merchant," was a coadjutor of Blake's in this charitable undertaking; and as that Alderman was not executed until 1635, this publication may be assigned to about that date.
[It appears, from the following advertisement at the end of Silver Drops, that the plates of Time and Charity were used as receipts:—"It is humbly desired, that what you or any of you, most noble Ladies, Gentlewomen, or others, are pleased to bestow or give towards this good or great design, that you would be pleased to take a receipt on the backside of Time or Charity, sealed with three seales, namely, the Treasurer's, Housekeeper's, and Register's; and it shall be fairly recorded, and hung up in the school-house, to be read of all from Time to Time, to the world's end, we hope."—Ed.]
A POEM BY SHELLEY, NOT IN HIS WORKS.
The following poem was published in a South Carolina newspaper in the year 1839. The person who communicates it states that it was among the papers of a deceased friend, in a small packet, endorsed "A letter and two poems written by Shelley the poet, and lent to me by Mr. Trelawney in 1823. I was prevented from returning them to him, for which I am sorry, since this is the only copy of them—they have never been published." Upon this poem was written, "Given to me by Shelley, who composed it as we were sailing one evening together."