Queries.
DOMESTIC LETTERS OF EDMUND BURKE.
In the curious and able article entitled "The Domestic Life of Edmund Burke," which appeared in the Athenæum of Dec. 10th and Dec. 17th (and to which I would direct the attention of such readers of "N. & Q." as have not yet seen it), the writer observes:
"There is not in existence, as far as we know, or have a right to infer from the silence of the biographers, one single letter, paper, or document of any kind—except a mysterious fragment of one letter—relating to the domestic life of the Burkes, until long after Edmund Burke became an illustrious and public man; no letters from parents to children, from children to parents, from brother to brother, or brother to sister."
And as Edmund Burke was the last survivor of the family, the inference drawn by the writer, that they were destroyed by him, seems, on the grounds which he advances, a most reasonable one. But my object in writings is to call attention to a source from which, if any such letters exist, they may yet possibly be recovered; I mean the collections of professed collectors of autographs. On the one hand, it is scarcely to be conceived that the destroyer of these materials for the history of the Burkes, be he who he may, can have got all the family correspondence into his possession. On the other, it is far from improbable that in some of the collections to which I have alluded, some letters, notes, or documents may exist, treasured by the possessors as mere autographs; but which might, if given to the world, serve to solve many of those mysteries which envelope the early history of Edmund Burke. The discovery of documents of such a character seems to be the special province of "N. & Q.," and I hope, therefore, although this letter has extended far beyond the limits I originally contemplated, you will insert it, and so permit me to put this Query to autograph collectors, "Have you any documents illustrative of the Burkes?" and to add as a Note, "If so, print them!"
N. O.
Minor Queries.
Farrant's Anthem.—From what source did Farrant take the words of his well-known anthem, "Lord, for thy tender mercies' sake?"