It is remarkable that the volume of Whichcote's Sermons printed by Lord Shaftesbury should have been republished at Edinburgh in 1742, with a recommendatory epistle, by a Presbyterian divine, Dr. Wishart, principal of the College of Edinburgh. In the very neat reprint of the collected sermons given by Dr. Campbell and Dr. Gerard, in 4 vols., 8vo., Aberdeen, 1751, prefixed to the third volume, we also find Lord Shaftesbury's preface.
S. W. Singer.
Mickleham, June 4. 1850.
THE REBEL.
Sir,—The printed copy of a song which I inclose is believed, by those who are the best judges, to be the only copy, either printed or in manuscript, now in existence. That circumstance may, perhaps, render it acceptable to you: and I am not collector of curiosities, and I beg you would do what you please with it. The verses are plainly more modern than the motto: for there are, I think, two allusions to different plays of the immortal bard of Stratford-on-Avon. But perhaps you will think that he copied from it, as it is said he sometimes did from things not so good as his own. I do not believe, for my own part, that it was written till after the Great Rebellion. Bishop Christopherson, I take it, was a Roman Catholic, but resident in England, and we see that he wrote in English. The paper, you will observe, is foreign by the texture, as well as by the water-mark, which I cannot very well make out; but it seems to be a bust of somebody; while the type looks quite English, and therefore it is no proof that it was printed abroad.
As I give you my real name, I hope you will not consider me as holding, or wishing to recommend, such opinions as are contained in the verses: and by way of protest, you will allow me to subscribe myself, your obedient servant,
Pacificus.
The Rebel.
"A New Song, or Balade, shewing the naughty conceits of Traytours; that all loial and true-hearted men may know and eschew the same.