to the more decent carriage of my master's service, and to our particular better understanding of one another. This letter, if it shall be answered by you in deed and not in word, I suppose it will not be worse for us both; else it is but a few lines lost; which for a much smaller matter I would have adventured. So this being to yourself, I for my part rest, &c." On his obtaining office, Bacon did not scruple to use every means of rendering himself agreeable to the King, and at the same time exerted all his influence to shake the credit of his old rival, Coke, who had been promoted to the chief seat in the King's Bench. Some account of the manner in which Bacon conducted himself at this time, will be found in another part of these volumes. It is creditable to Sir Edward Coke, that on Bacon's impeachment and disgrace, he made no ungenerous use of his triumph. The differences which existed between Bacon and Coke do not appear to have put an end to all the offices of friendship between them. In the library of Mr. Coke, at Holkham, there exists a presentation copy of the Novum Organum, (Edit. Joan. Bell, 1620,) with an inscription in it "To Sir Edward Coke," and at the top of the title-page appear the following words in the hand-writing of Sir Edward : :- "Edward C. ex dono Authoris : "Instaurare paras veterum documenta sophorum, Instaura leges justitiamque prius," The Honourable Charles Yorke, who had seen these lines at Holkham, remarks, in a note to Dr. Birch, preserved in the British Museum, that the verses not only reprove Sir Francis Bacon for going out of his profession, but allude to his character as a prerogative lawyer, and his corrupt administration of the Chancery. It may be observed, that the Novum Organum was published in October, 1620, a few months before Bacon's impeachment. In the title-page of the same book, over the device of the ship passing between Hercules's Pil. lars, are two English verses, also in the handwriting of Sir Edward Coke, which, though intended to convey a censure upon Bacon, are, in fact, much more discreditable to the writer. "It deserveth not to be read in Schools, But to be freighted in the Ship of Fools." Mr. Yorke supposes, that the conceit in the last line was suggested by a satirical work of Du Bartas, entitled The Ship of Fools. THE CHAPTER OF THE DOUBLE MISTRESS. One of the most amusing mockeries ever written of the solemnity of judicial proceedings, is to be found in the 13th chapter of the "Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus," the chapter of the Double Mistress, as it is termed. The grave humour with which the arguments of the civilians are parodied is altogether inimitable. We regret that the grossness of this witty composition prevents us from extracting any part of it into these pages. That circumstance, however, has not prevented two reverend divines, Dr. Warton and the Rev. W. L. Bowles, from inserting this chapter in their editions of the Works of Pope. It is probable, that this portion of the Memoirs of the learned Scriblerus is the joint production of Dr. Arbuthnot and Fortescue Aland, afterwards Master of the Rolls. In one of Ben Jonson's plays, (Epicene, or the Silent Woman,) there is likewise a humorous parody of the proceedings of the ecclesiastical courts. LEGAL VULGAR ERRORS. When the extent and intricacy of our system of law is considered, it cannot be thought surprising, that a number of vulgar errors upon legal questions should exist. Mr. Barrington, in his Observations on the Ancient Statutes, has collected a number, which we have transcribed. "It may, perhaps, be thought singular to suppose, that this exemption from serving on juries is the foundation of the vulgar error, that a sur geon or butcher, from the barbarity of their busi ness, may be challenged as jurors. It is difficult to account for many of the prevailing vulgar errors with regard to what is supposed to be law. Such are, that the body of a debtor may be taken in execution after his death; which, however, was practised in Prussia before the present king abo lished it by the Code Frederique. Other vulgar errors are, that the old statutes have prohibited the planting of vineyards, or the use of sawingmills; which last notion, I should conceive to have been occasioned by 5 and 6 Edw. VI. cap. 22, forbidding what are called gig mills, as they are supposed to be prejudicial to the woollen manufacture. There is likewise an act of 23 Eliz. cap. 5, which prohibits any iron-mills within twoand-twenty miles of London, to prevent the increasing dearness of wood for fuel. As for sawing-mills, I cannot find any statute which relates to them; they are, however, established in Scotland, to the very great advantage both of the proprietors and the country. It is supposed likewise to be penal to open a coal-mine, or to kill a crow, within five miles of London; as also to shoot with a wind-gun, or to carry a dark-lantern. The first of these I take to arise from a statute of Henry the Seventh, prohibiting the use of a cross-bow; and the other from Guy Fawkes's dark-lantern in the powder F plot. To these vulgar errors may be added, the supposing that the king signs the death-warrant, (as it is called,) for the execution of a criminal; as also, that there is a statute, which obliges the owners of asses to crop their ears, lest the length of them should frighten the horses which they meet on the road. "To these vulgar errors may be, perhaps, added, the notion, that a woman's marrying a man under the gallows will save him from the execution. This, probably, arose from a wife having brought an appeal against the murderer of her husband, who, afterwards repenting the prosecution of her lover, not only forgave the offence, but was willing to marry the appellee. It is also a prevailing error, that those who are born at sea belong to Steppey parish. I may likewise add to these, that any one may be put into the crown-office for no cause whatsoever, or the most trifling injury. An ingenious correspondent, to whom I have not only this obligation, suggests two additional vulgar errors. When a man designs to marry a woman who is in debt, if he take her from the hands of the priest clothed only in her shift, it is supposed that he will not be liable to her engage. ments.' The second is; That there was no land-tax before the reign of William the Third.' To the above enumeration, a writer in the Re |