When the danger vanished, it is likely that Tusser's predilection for London returned; and he died there, according to the best authorities, about 1580*; not at a very advanced age, as has been vaguely asserted, without considering circumstances, but on the data I have assumed, and which I trust are pretty strong, about sixty-five years old. His remains were interred in St. Mildred's church in the Poultry; and the following epitaph, according to Stow, recorded his memory. It is perfectly in character with the man and his writings; and, if conjecture may be allowed, was penned by himself. Here Thomas Tusser, clad in earth, doth lie, For an author, the vicissitudes of his life present an uncommon variety of incident. "Without a tincture of careless imprudence," says Warton," or vicious extravagance, this desultory character seems to have thrived in no vocation." Fuller quaintly observes, "That his stone, which gathered no moss, was the stone of Sisyphus; and in Peacham's Minerva, a book of emblems printed in 1612, The precise time of his death is as little ascertained as that of his birth. It is certain, however, that he died before 1585, as appears from the title of the edition of that date. + This epitaph is copied from Stow's Survey of London, Ed. 4to. 1618. p.474. In the Censura Literaria, it is given with some verbal alterations. there is a device of a whetstone and a scythe, with these lines: They tell me, Tusser, when thou wert alive, When they themselves are like the whetstone blunt *. The precepts of Tusser, indeed, are so excellent, that few can read them without profit and improvement; but between the cool collected good sense that sometimes appears in an author's works, and his conduct as influenced by the temptations and perplexities of life, the discordance is often extreme. Some men are the shuttlecocks of fortune, and with the best intentions are always wrong; with the most serious private resolutions of consistency and propriety, are easily driven from their course when they come in contact with the world. That prudence which yields to no temptation, and never deviates from the proper path, is seldom to be found among men of cultivated minds and lively imaginations. Between a courtier and a practical farmer, the contrast is so great, and especially between a poet and a plodding man • Thus altered in "Recreations for ingenious Head Pieces; or a pleasant Grove for their Wits to walk in," &c. 8vo. 1641, &c. Tusser, they tell me, when thou wert alive, Thon, teaching thrift, thyself couldst never thrive : So, like the whetstone, many men are wont, To sharpen others, when themselves are blunt. of business. that we need not be surprised our author was unsuccessful in the management of rural affairs. Yet he appears to have possessed such a degree of pious resignation to the will of the Supreme, of Christian charity, and of good humour, under all his miscarriages, that his character rises high in our esteem, independent of his merits as a writer. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. It has often been remarked, that an editor is usually enamoured of his author, in the same manner as a lover is of his mistress, and therefore is incapable of seeing those faults, which would be obvious to less partial eyes. I will not deny that the time and trouble I have expended on this old poet, have endeared him to me the more; because no man is willing to have it supposed that he has laboured in vain-without credit, and without utility. As the notes, however, which I have written, are pretty copious, and contain my sentiments, not only on the whole, but on component parts, it will be unnecessary to enlarge in this place on the particular merits of the author. If, however, the number of editions his work ran through, can be any test of merit, as it undoubtedly is of public opinion, few authors can come in competition with Tusser, whose work, notwithstanding, is so scarce in the best and standard editions, I mean those of 1580 and 1585, that after having formed and digested my plan for some time, had it not been for the well known liberality of Richard Heber, Esq. who delights to make his ample literary treasures subservient to every useful undertaking, and who kindly furnished me with copies of the above, I must at last have relinquished my design. Between the later editions and those, indeed, the difference is so great, in point of correctness, that without such aids, it would have been impossible to make out the sense. Yet all are scarce, and not one in three perfect; a proof that what was intended for practical use, had been sedulously applied to that purpose. In short, to use the words of Mr. Haslewood, "Some books become heir-looms from value; and Tusser's work, for useful information in every department of agriculture, together with its quaint and amusing observations, perhaps passed the copies from father to son, till they crumbled away in the bare shifting of the pages, and the mouldering relict only lost its value, by the casual mutilation of time. Of early dates, few remain; and every edition obtains a respectable price at the book auctions." From the same accurate authority, I subjoin a list of the various recorded editions, with some additional remarks from the MS. notes of the late eminent antiquary, Mr. Ashby, which fortunately fell into my hands, and such observations of my own, as an intimate acquaintance with the work suggested and supplied. CATALOGUE OF THE EDITIONS OF TUSSER. 1557. "A HUNDRETH GOOD POINTES OF HUSBANDRIE, See British Bibliographer, No. III. |