496
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. DEC. is, 1909.
its name from the gentleman who set the first
example n of the practice, But there was
no " law " at all in the case of the Irishman
Lynchy, who was merely one of nine persons
murdered in cold blood.
Furthermore, it was virtually proved, ante, p. 135, that Judge Roane used the term " Lynch's law " at least two years before the murder of Lynchy. If additional evidence 'en this point is wanted, it is furnished by Wirt's own letters. On 20 Aug., 1815, he wrote :
" And, in addition to the dates, I have the facts themselves to collect. I thought I had them all ready cut and dry, and sat down with all my statements of correspondents spread out before me; a pile of old journals on my right, and another of old newspapers on my left, thinking that I had nothing else to do but, as Lingo says, ' to saddle Pegasus, and ride up Parnassus.' "
On 24 Aug., 1816, when his biography was nearing completion, he said that " there will be an advertisement prefixed to it, stating the authorities on which the narra- tive is founded." On 24 Sept. he said : " I am dashing on, and hope to close my toils before the 10th of next month.' 1 No doubt he succeeded, for on 23 Oct. he wrote to Jefferson : "I now submit to you the last sheets of my sketches of Mr. Henry " ; and on Nov. 12 Jefferson replied : " Yours of October 23d was received here on the 31st, with the last sheets of your work." (See J. P. Kennedy's ' Memoirs of William Wirt,' 1849, i. 387, 407, 410, 412, 414.) As, there- fore, Wirt had finished his biography on or before 23 Oct., 1816, while the murder of Lynchy did not take place until 1 Nov. fol- lowing, it results that M.'s theory is placed out of court. ALBERT MATTHEWS.
Boston, U.S.
ENGLISH NAVY DURING THE CIVIL WAR (10 S. xii. 308). The English Navy during the first Civil War played a part purely national in preventing foreign interference. The ships were chiefly employed in guarding the seas and in intercepting vessels bringing soldiers and supplies from beyond the seas. The fleet in the Downs was reduced by Capt. Batten, second in command to the Earl of Warwick, the Parliament's Admiral. The Kln ' s . Admirals, viz. Sir John Pennington f? Sl L John Mennes, were dismissed from their offices.
After the Self -Denying Ordinance Warwick elinquished his command, and the govern- ment of the Navy was entrusted to a com- mittee of six Lords and twelve Commoners, wnen the Independents obtained power they appointed Col. Rainborough as Vice -
Admiral, and dispossessed Capt. Batten of his
command. Rainborough, however, was un-
popular with the seamen, and when the
Second Civil War broke out in 1648 the fleet
in the Downs revolted, and declared for the
King. Rainborough was prevented from
boarding his ship. The revolted ships,
joined by Batten, sailed to Holland to the
Prince of Wales. The Porstsmouth fleet
through Warwick's influence remained loyal
to Parliament.
In July, 1648, Prince Charles appeared in the Downs with the revolted and other ships, and attempted to effect a landing at Deal, but was repulsed by Col. Rich. The Prince had command of the seas for several weeks, but made no attempt to rescue the King, then a prisoner on the Isle of Wight, The seamen mutinied, and insisted on sailing up the Thames as far as the Medway ; but, owing to lack of provisions and the arrival of Warwick with the Portsmouth fleet, the Prince returned to Holland, Warwick followed, and persuaded some of the ships to return with him. Others formed part of a fleet under Rupert which was destroyed by Blake.
The names of the revolted ships were the Constant Reformation, Convertine, Swallow, Antelope, Satisfaction, Hynd, Roebuck, Crescent, Pelican, Blackmore Lady, Rain- bow, Garland, and Revenge. See Thomason Tracts, Carter, Whitelock, Clarendon, Gar- diner, &c. G. H. W.
To the best of' my knowledge, there is no- separate detailed account of naval opera- tions during the Civil War. Perhaps the REV. J. WILLCOCK may find what he re- quires by referring to Sir J. K. Laughton's- article on Robert Blake in the 'D.N.B.,' and the various authorities there cited. To- these may be added Hannay's 'Admiral Blake * ("English Worthies"); possibly also Miss Scott's ' Rupert, Prince Palatine,* and Lord Ronald Gower's ' Rupert of the Rhine' published after the 'D.N.B.* article was written. WALTER SCOTT.
See Traill and Mann's ' Social England * (1903), vol. iv., articles by Sir W/ Laird Clowes, pp. 62 and 367, with authorities cited, pp. 277 and 472. A. R. BAYLEY.
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE (10 S. xii. 448). ' Chambers's Cyclopaedia of English Lite- rature,' new ed., 1903, vol. iii. p. 749, says :
" Joseph Rodman Drake, associated with Fitz-Greene Halleck in ' The Croaker Papers,' was born in New York city, and tared to medicine, taut died of consumption in his twenty-sixth
