Note 238 — Hitherto Unpublished Poems.

The Manuscript thus far is in one handwriting: and since the prefatory Note to these Psalms was written, I have discovered among the Harleian MSS. a very remarkable document by Sir John Davies, viz. his "Plea spoken at the Bar of the House of Lords" on "the King's power to impose Ship-money," (126. B 10-4266) and it is identically the same holograph with that of these Fifty Psalms, presenting precisely the same forms and contractions throughout. So that the Scribe of the one must have been the Scribe of the other: no doubt one of Sir John's Secretaries or 'men,' as he himself calls them. I shall give above important historical Paper—which never has been published, or even referred to, so far as I am aware—in my edition of Davies' Prose Works. Meanwhile I need not point out how valuable is this additional verification of the Davies authorship of our Manuscript—that is in so far as the Psalms up to L. are concerned. I stand in doubt of his authorship of the remainder; but see our Memorial-Introduction on this.

The Psalms that follow have interposed a half-page and one leaf, blank, and another leaf, filled with the secular Poems that succeed them: but it was deemed better to place all the Psalms together. These other Psalms have the same orthography: but the hand-writing is different and plainer. It will be noticed that Psalm L. supra, is imperfect, extending only to v. 13. G.