[DCRM-L] Authority abbreviated in Halkett & Lang

[JOHN LANCASTER]

Hi Elaine,

The work must be Order before anarchy; or a letter to a friend: containing an exposition of the principles levelled by Paine, and others, at the overthrow of the British constitution. To which is added, an appendix upon the death of Louis XVI. (Title as given in the British critic) and if so it's pretty likely that Thomas Castley (1765-1860) is in fact the author, J simply a misreading for T in the copy from which the advertisement referred to by the British critic was set. The ad appeared at least in the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser (29 June 1793) and the True Briton (25 July 1793), in both cases with the typical claim "This day is published" (found in the Burney collection).

Henry Gunning, Reminiscences of the university, town, and county of Cambridge from the year 1780, 2nd ed. (London, 1855), vol. 2, pp. 128-135, has the following reminiscence about Castley, which I found entertaining enough to quote nearly in full  and inflict on the list (copied from the Internet Archive digitization, so there are some awkward bits).  The discussion of Castley's book (paragraphs 3-5) should be enough to determine whether yours is the one in question.

If this is the work, it doesn't seem to be in ESTC, but no doubt will be before long.

John


Thomas Castley was seventh Wrangler in 1787. He was elected Fellow of Jesus, ... He was a man of most unprepossessing appearance : he had an extraordinary obliquity of vision; his teeth were remarkably long, and they were completely closed when speaking; his voice, which was naturally harsh and guttural, had a very singular effect.  As it was the custom in those days to give some distinguishing term to most members of the University, that of Ghastly was not inapplicable to Castley.

Notwithstanding these personal disadvantages, he was a decided fortune-hunter, and made no secret of his intention of marrying for money.  An alderman of this town was reported to have died very wealthy, leaving two unmarried daughters.  Castley fearing to be deceived by report, made a journey to Ely, having been told he could there gain more certain intelligence, and that he could also discover whether the statement was correct that one young lady had a larger portion than her sister. His inquiries turned out very satisfactory, and he communicated them to a member of his own college, who was some years his junior, and very much his superior in manner and appearance. His friend, profiting by the knowledge thus acquired, and having some acquaintance with the young ladies, actually proposed, and married the elder, who was the more wealthy of the two.  Castley proposed to the other, but was refused : nothing daunted, he renewed the offer, but was again repulsed.

After a time he began to despair of marrying a fortune, and turned his thoughts on politics.  He wrote a very extraordinary work on the French Revolution, dedicated by permission to the Right Hon. Edmund Burke.  He expected to make a considerable profit by the sale of this production ; and in order to secure the highest patronage, he sent copies of it to the members of his Majesty's Government, and particularly to those men who had originally rejoiced in the French Revolution, but who, disgusted with the brutal excesses of the chief actors, were at that time cordially supporting his Majesty's Ministers.  He would often read letters he had received from men high in rank, who applauded his determination to expose those revolutionary doctrines which he had assured them prevailed to a great extent in the University. Paragraphs appeared occasionally in the periodical works of the day, in which he was spoken of in terms of high recommendation, and many persons anticipated that they should discover in his work a complete answer to the libellous writings of Tom Paine.

I was often in the habit of meeting him, and from the manner in which he discussed the momentous passing events, I had formed a very different opinion of the long-talked-of pamphlet. It is true he was a man of much reading, particularly of history; he had an excellent memory, and could tell the dates of all the great battles both in ancient and modern times ; but his reasoning powers were poor, and when he attempted to be eloquent, he became very ridiculous.

I have made diligent search for his publication, but cannot meet with a copy, which I regret; for although I remember a number of passages, yet they are so absurd that I fear my readers would be incredulous were I to quote them from memory. The following passage will convey some idea of the style of the work : — "Men were fighting up to their knees in an ocean of blood," &c.  But there were about forty or fifty lines of poetry upon which he particularly prided himself; they were ridiculously absurd. I well remember his reciting tbem to me with considerable energy before the work appeared: tliey were inscribed To the Daemon of Reformation!

Castley was a man of very penurious habits … [examples given]

As Castley's penurious habits were so generally known, we were one day much surprised to hear that he contemplated a trip to Paris ; and I well remember his lamentation at having just purchased a new great-coat, which from its grave colour, although well adapted for the cloisters of Jesus College, would be very unsuitable for the Palais Royal, where he said he should pass much of his time.  He consulted a dyer, who succeeded in changing the colour to a tolerably bright green.  Clad in this extraordinary looking garment, which reached to his heels, he crossed the Channel, and partook of the gaieties which Paris afforded.

During the short period which elapsed between this truce (for it could hardly be called the Peace of Amiens), many Cambridge men went to Paris; amongst them Creswell of Trinity, who told me on his return that he had seen Castley in the "Champs-Elysées," enjoying the humours of (what we call in England) a merry-go-round. The party consisted of four, two of them very smart females of a questionable appearance.

The humours of this exhibition I must endeavour to describe. Castley was seated on a swan, with a spear in his hand, with which at every revolution he had a chance, in his turn, of carrying off a ring. The person who succeeded in bearing away the prize had the privilege of a second ride without payment. It may well be conceived that Castley's appearance in such a scene had a most extraordinary and lu- dicrous effect.  As Creswell was not quite certain whether he had been recognised amongst the spectators, I asked Castley on his return if he had met with any one he knew.  He replied that on one occasion he had seen an ill-looking fellow of Trinity, a gaunt Philomath, whose name he could not remember

Dining with Caldwell at Jesus, on one of their feast-days (which were the only days that Castley went into the Combination-room), we were all much entertained by the history of his adventures in Paris, where no one present but himself had been, since the Revolution.  He had visited every remarkable place in the neighbourhood, and gave a very graphic description of what he had seen. As the green coat was still tolerably fresh, he continued to wear it after his return to the University; but being taken to task by the Master for dressing so much unlike a clergyman, he resumed a threadbare coat (which even he had deemed a cast-off), and only wore the other when out of college.

In 1808 he took the college living of Cavendish, in Suffolk ; and after having secured this valuable preferment, he married his servant, a young woman of unimpeachable character.
On 2017 Jul 18, at 13:33, Shiner, Elaine P. <eshiner at fas.harvard.edu> wrote:

> It is the British Critic (1793).
>  
> Thank you to both responders!
>  
> From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Lenore M. Rouse
> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 1:12 PM
> To: DCRM Users' Group
> Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Authority abbreviated in Halkett & Lang
>  
> Maybe The British Critic (began 1793) which changed titles later to  The British Critic and Quarterly Theological Review in the 1840s and '50s.  Only have partial run here.
>  
> Lenore M. Rouse
> Curator, 
> Rare Books and Special Collections 
> The Catholic University of America 
> Room 214, Mullen Library
> 620 Michigan Avenue N.E.
> Washington, D.C. 20064
> 
> PHONE: 202 319-5090
> E-MAIL: rouse at cua.edu
> RBSC BLOG: http://ascendonica.blogspot.com/
>  
>  
>  
>  
> On Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 12:49 PM, Shiner, Elaine P. <eshiner at fas.harvard.edu> wrote:
> I looked up a title in Halkett & Lang,, and found it, and the author is recorded as “J. Castley, of Jesus College, Cambridge.”  Unfortunately, I can’t find evidence of a J. Castley; however, there is evidence of a T.  (Thomas) Castley, who looks likely to be the author, although I can’t prove it.
>  
> H. and L. cites their authority for the attribution as “Brit. Crit. ii 255”  There is a list of authorities at the beginning of v.1, but no list of abbreviations, so I looked at every item on the list, and can’t find a likely candidate.  Does anyone know what”Brit. Crit.” refers to?
>  
> Thanks for any help,
>  
> Elaine Shiner
>  
>  
> Elaine Shiner,
> Rare Book Cataloger
> Houghton Library, Harvard University
>  
> eshiner at fas.harvard.edu
> 617-998-5219
>  
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> --

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