t of the Muses, and it was at the evening
parties there that all who were distinguished for science or literature
assembled: "Era in Firenze la sua Casa la Magione de' Letterati,
particolarmente Oltramontani, da lui ricevuti in essa, e trattati con
ogni sorta di gentilezza."[1] Heinsius, Menage, Chapelain, and other
distinguished foreigners were members of this academy; and it is more
than probable that, were its annals consulted, our poet's name would
also be found there.

S.W. SINGER.

Mickleham, July 15, 1850.

[Footnote 1: Salvino Salvini Fasti Consolari dell' Academia Fiorentina,
1717, p. 548. Milton's stay of two months at Florence must have been to
him a period of pure enjoyment, and seems to have been always remembered
with delight:--"Illa in urbe, quam prae ceteris propter elegantiam cum
linguae tum ingeniorum semper colui, ad duos circiter menses substiti;
illie multorum et nobilium sane et doctorum hominum familiaritatem
statim contraxi; quorum etiam privatas academias (qui mos illie cum ad
literas humaniores assidue frequentavi). Tui enim Jacobe Gaddi, Carole
Dati, Frescobalde, Cultelline, Bonmatthaei, Chimentille Francine,
aliorumque plurium memoriam apud me semper gratam atque jucundam, nulla
dies delebit."--_Defensio Secunda_, p. 96., ed. 1698.]

* * * * *

PULTENEY'S BALLAD OF "THE HONEST JURY."

On the application for a new trial, in the case of The King _against_
William Davies Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph (1784), wherein was raised the
important and interesting question, whether in libel cases the jury were
judges of the law as well as the fact, Lord Mansfield, in giving
judgment, remarked in reference to trials for libel, before Lord
Raymond:

"I by accident (from memory only I speak now) recollect one
where the _Craftsman_ was acquitted; and I recollect it from a
famous, witty, and ingenious ballad that was made at the time by
Mr. Pulteney; and though it is a ballad, I will cite the stanza
I remember from it, because it will show you the idea of the
able men in opposition, and the leaders of the popular party in
those days. They had not an idea of assuming that the jury put
it upon another and much better ground. The stanza I allude to
is this:--

"'For Sir Philip well knows,
That his _innuendos_
Will serve him no longer,
In verse or in prose;
For twelve honest men have decided the caus