the Stage, from the malicious and scandalous Aspersions of Mr. Brooke, Authour of Gustavus Vasa,'* being an ironical Attack upon them for their Suppression of that Tragedy[1]; and, 'Marmor Norfolciense; or an Essay on an ancient prophetical Inscription in monkish Rhyme, lately discovered near Lynne in Norfolk, by Probus Britannicus.'* In this performance, he, in a feigned inscription, supposed to have been found in Norfolk, the county of Sir Robert Walpole, then the obnoxious prime-minister of this country, inveighs against the Brunswick succession, and the measures of government consequent upon it[2]. To this supposed prophecy he added a Commentary, making each expression apply to the times, with warm Anti-Hanoverian zeal.
This anonymous pamphlet, I believe, did not make so much noise as was expected, and, therefore, had not a very extensive circulation[3]. Sir John Hawkins relates[4], that, 'warrants were issued, and messengers employed to apprehend the authour; who, though he had forborne to subscribe his name to the pamphlet, the vigilance of those in pursuit of him had discovered;' and we are informed, that he lay concealed in Lambeth-marsh till the scent after him grew cold. This, however, is altogether without foundation; for Mr. Steele, one of the Secretaries of the Treasury, who amidst a variety of important business, politely obliged me with his attention to my inquiry, informed me, that 'he
- ↑ In his Life of Thomson Johnson writes:—'About this time the act was passed for licensing plays, of which the first operation was the prohibition of Gustavus Vasa, a tragedy of Mr. Brooke, whom the public recompensed by a very liberal subscription; the next was the refusal of Edward and Elconora, offered by Thomson. It is hard to discover why either play should have been obstructed.' Johnson's Works, viii. 373.
- ↑ The Inscription and the Translation of it are preserved in the London Magazine for the year 1739, p. 244. Boswell. See Johnson's Works, vi. 89.
- ↑ It is a little heavy in its humour, and does not compare well with the like writings of Swift and the earlier wits.
- ↑ Hawkins's Johnson, p. 72.
