London. Printed by T. S. for Richard Moore, and are to be sold at his shop, in S. Dunstans Church Yard. 1619." This Tract is inscribed "To the Right Honourable Henry, Earle of Oxenford, Viscount Bulbecke, Lord Sanford and Scales, and Lord Great Chamberlaine of England." 9. "THE VAULTING MASTER. Or the Art of Vaulting reduced to a Method comprized under certaine Rules, illustrated by Examples, and now primarily set forth by Will, Stokes. Xenoph. de magisterio equitum. Juniores persuadendi sunt ut in equos insilire discant: tandem vero jure mereberis si quem adhibueris magistrum seu præceptorem, Printed for Richard Davis in Oxon. 1652." To this singular and curious Tract, a head of the Author, by Glover, is prefixed, which is not in the Cracherode collection. Beneath the portrait are these lines: Ingeniosa tibi VIVAM manus edidit UMBRAM, This gentleman and his book seem to have been the prototypes of Mr. Astley and his performances at Westminster Bridge. He is represented as leaping over three horses, and as performing various acts of equestrian skill and activity. His book is inscribed "To the truly noble Gentleman, Mr. Henry Percy, Master of the Horse to the Prince his High nesse." R 4 THE THE KING'S PAMPHLETS. THE British Museum can hardly be said to possess any literary treasures of greater curiosity and value than this collection of Tracts, usually designated by the name of the King's Pamphlets. I find the following account of them in a paper annexed to the first folio volume of the inanuscript index, which seems to have been printed with a view of promoting their sale at some subsequent period. "A Complete Collection of Books and Pamphlets Begun in the year 1640 by the special command of King Charles I. of blessed memory, and continued to the happy Restauration of the Government, and the Coronation of King Charles II. There hath been very much money disbursed, and great pains taken, and many hazards run in making an exact collection of all the Pamphlets that were published from the beginning of that long and rebel-parliament which began Novemb. 1640, till his late Majesties happy Restauration and Coronation, consisting of near thirty thousand several sorts, and by all parties. They may be of very great use to any gentleman concerned in publick affairs, both for this, present and after ages, there being not the like in the world, neither is it possible to make such a collection. The collection contains above two thousand bound volumes, all of them uniformly bound, aș if they were done at one time, and all exactly marked and numbred. The method that has been observed, as time * and such punctual care was taken, that the very day is written upon most of them when they came out. The catalogue of them, fairly written, is in twelve volumes in folio, and though the number of them be so great, (when the books are set in their order, according to the mark set upon each of them) the smallest piece, though but one sheet of paper, being shewn in the catalogue, may be found in a moment; which method is of singular use to the reader. In the whole are contained near one hundred şeyeral MS. pieces that were never printed, all or most of them on the King's behalf, which no man durst then venture to publish without endangering his ruine. But the peruser now may, by them, be let into the knowledge of many oc-, currences in those times, which have passed hitherto unobserved. This collection was so privately carried on, that it was never known that there was such a * Sic. design in hand; the collector designing them only for His Majesties use that then was: His Majesty having occasion for a pamphlet, could no where compass the sight of it but from him, which His Majesty having perused, was very well pleased with the design, and commanded a person of honour to restore it with his own hands, and withal, expressed his desire of having the collection continued. This was the great encouragement to the undertaker, who had otherwise desisted prosecuting so difficult and chargeable a work, which lay a heavy burden upon himself and his servants for above twenty years. To prevent the discovery of them, when the army was northwards, he packed them up in several trunks, and by one or two in a week, sent them to a trusty friend in Surry, who safely preserved them; and when the army was westward, and fearing their return that way, they were sent to London again, but the Collector durst not keep them, but sent them into Essex, and so according as they lay near danger, still by timely removing them, at a great charge, secured them, but continued perfecting the work. And for a farther security to them, there was a bargain pretended to be made with the University of Oxford, and a receipt of a thousand pounds, given and acknowledged to be in part for them, that if the Usurper had found them out, the University should claim them, who had greater |