to Sigismund, and demanded an explanation openly accusing him of treachery. The prince denied everything, and empowered them to resis Basta if they suspected him of any hostile intention. Székely acted as he was told, and, though the old soldier had but little time left for preparing his mere handful of followers for the battle, he gallantly barred the way of the imperial troops as they approached the bridge over the river Maros at Tövis, near Alba Julia, but was defeated by Basta's overwhelming force on July 2, 1602, and obliged to seek shelter with his friend and protector the Pasha of Temesvár. In the mean time the envoys whom Sigismund had sent to the emperor returned from Prague. Their avowed mission had been to offer Rudolf a few fortified towns on the Hungarian frontier, and thereby induce him to conclude peace in order to put an end to all the miseries, the wholesale bloodshed, pillage, and destruction in Transylvania, and also to settle the claims of the prince's wife, Maria Christierna. But his confidential man, Father Marietti, had secret instructions to present to the emperor his master's complete submission, and on certain conditions to hand over the principality to the house of Austria. Rudolf, of course, accepted the proposal, and granted to Sigismund the ownership of the Libochowitz estates in Bohemia,[1] besides a substantial pension.
The prince, with an escort furnished by Basta, left his country amidst the execrations of his unfortunate people on July 26, 1602. He did not return again to Transylvania, but died abroad, and was buried at Prague.
P.S.—I am very much obliged to the Rev. E. Marshall for kindly supplying the reference to the source of the motto, and to Mr. Ellis for the extract from Ashton's book. The Pocahontas story has been fully dealt with, both by English and American writers, and does not come within the scope of our present inquiry. C. C. B. will find a reply to his communication in the next article.
(To be continued.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 'NORTH BRITON.'
The acquisition of the third and suppressed volume of Wilkes's reprint of the North Briton[2] has enabled me to complete the subjoined memoranda, which I hope will prove acceptable, as an attempt to compile a bibliography of that publication. They will, at all events, serve to correct the imperfect and misleading notices by Lowndes and Allibone, which, sometimes copied and sometimes conjecturally corrected by booksellers, have led to almost inextricable confusion. I should be particularly glad to know of any other edition. Those given below— with the exception of the two Dublin editions and the London edition of 1772—are in my own possession.
A.—The Original Issue.
The North Briton. Nos. I. to XLVI. Polio. 1762-63.
This is the original issue of the North Briton, the first number of which appeared on Saturday, June 5, 1762, and which was continued weekly until April 2, 1763 the date of No. 44. No. 45 was published April 23, and No. 46 Nov. 12, 1763. The first forty-five numbers were "printed for G. Kearsley, in Ludgate St." My copy of No. 46 was "printed for J. Williams, near the Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street"; the copy in the King's Library, British Museum, has a different imprint, and is apparently an authorized reprint: "Printed (now) by especial appointment for E. Sumpter, bookseller, in Fleet Street, where letters to the North Briton (post paid) will be received." No. 45 contains an advertisement:—
"Proposals for Printing by Subscription, in two volumes octavo, the North Briton, with corrections, additions, explanatory notes, and a copious Index of names and characters. Price half a Guinea, to be paid at the time of subscribing. The volumes will be delivered on the first day of July, 1763. Subscriptions are taken by G. Kearsley in Ludgate Street, and by the booksellers of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. N.B. The names of Subscribers will not be printed."
B.—First Collected Edition (Nos. I. to XLV.).
The North Briton. London: printed for J. Williams near the Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street. 1763. Two volumes. Small 8vo.[3]
This, which is the first collected edition as advertised, was printed by Wilkes in his own house. For thus reprinting No. 45 Wilkes was fined and imprisoned; Williams, the publisher, was fined, imprisoned, and pilloried. In the notes to these volumes, which must have been published July, 1763, there are several references to vol. iii., which was not printed until the end of the year and was never published.
C.—The Suppressed Volume.
The North Briton. "Sunt quibus in Satira videar nimis acer et ultra Legem tendere opus" (Hor.). Vol. III. London, Printed for J. Williams, Fleet Street, near the Mitre Tavern. 1763. Small 8vo.
The contents of this volume were given in 'N. & Q.,' Aug. 10, 1889. It is only necessary to repeat lere that, according to Almon and other authorities, it was never published. Almon says that all but a few copies distributed to friends were burned. There is a copy in the Guildhall Library.
- ↑ Capt. Smith says that these lands were in Silesia. He has evidently read something about a previous grant (i. e., that of Oppeln and Ratibor, which are in Silesia) by the emperor to Bathory. I shall have occasion to again refer to this subject when I come to discuss the famous "Patent."
- ↑ 'N. & Q.,' 7th S.. viii. 101.
- ↑ The motto on the title-page of vol. i. is, "Quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes?" (Virgil); on that of vol. ii., "Nostris illuserit advena regnis?" (Virgil).
