p. 251 _Absalom and Achitophel_. The first part of this great poem was published, folio, on or a little before 17 November, 1681. A second edition, quarto, followed during December. The work was anonymous, but the authorship was never a secret. The second part, mainly from the pen of Tate, appeared in November, 1682. p. 254 _lookt Babies_. To look babies is to gaze at the reflection of one’s face in another’s eyes. cf. Beaumont, _The Woman Hater_ (1606), iii, 1:-- _Gondarino_. I cannot think I shall become a coxcomb, To ha’ my hair curl’d by an idle finger, * * * * * Mine eyes look’d babies in. p. 257 _an old Reckoning_, 4to 1, 1682, reads ‘an odde Reckoning’. 4to 2, 1698, reads ‘an odd Reckoning’. but 1724 ‘old’ is doubtless correct. p. 257 _to give us a Song_. Charlotte Butler, who played Charlot, ’.roved’, says Cibber, ‘not only a good actress, but was allowed in those days, to sing and dance to great perfection. In the dramatic operas of _Dioclesian_ and _King Arthur_, she was a capital and admired performer. In speaking too, she had a sweet-toned voice, which, with her naturally genteel air and sensible pronunciation, rendered her wholly mistress of the amiable in many serious characters. In parts of humour, too, she had a manner of blending her assuasive softness, even with the gay, the lively, and the alluring.’ Fletcher’s _The Prophetess_ was brought out as an opera, _Dioclesian_, at Dorset Garden in 1690. Dryden’s _King Arthur_, ’. dramatic opera’, music by Purcell, was produced in 1691. In the latter piece Mrs. Butler acted Philidel, an Airy Spirit. p. 257 _Charl. and Fop. dance_. Jevon, who acted Foppington, had originally been a dancing master. He was famous for his grace and nimbleness. p. 259 _Mercury_. The first foreign printed periodical circulating in England was _Mercurius Gallobelgicus_, a bound book printed in Cologne and written in Latin. The first number, a thick little octavo of 625 pages, was published in March, 1594, and contained a chronicle of events from 1588. From this ‘newsbook’ came the Latin title _Mercurius_, used on so many of our periodicals. In 1625 was issued the first coranto with a name, ‘printed for Mercurius Britannicus’. The earliest number in existence is 16, dated 7 April, 1625. Butler (_Hudibras_, II, i. 56) speaks of Mercuries of furthest regions, Diurnals writ for regulation Of lying, to inform the nation. p. 259 _flam_, humbug. cf. South’s Sermons (1737), II, xii, p. 443. _Conscience_ (1692). ‘All pretences to the contrary are nothing but cant and cheat, flam and delusion.’ p. 260 _Hackney_. A whore. Cotgrave (1611), _Bringuenaudée_, a common hackney. Stapylton’s _Juvenalls Satyrs_ (1647), III, 76: --’And hackney-wenches that i’ th’ _Circus_ stand’. _Hudibras_, III, i, 811-2:-- That is no more than every lover Does from his hackney-lady suffer.