Letter from
James Howell
(?1594-1666)
to
Sir Thomas Hawkins
(d. 1640, poet and translator)
about a supper with
Jonson,
5 Apr. 1636.
Hester Lees-Jeffries
[p. 25]
To
Sir Thomas Hawkins
Knight .
SIR,
I was invited yesternight to a
solemne supper by
B. I
. wher you were deeply remembred, ther was good company, excellent chear,
choice wines, and joviall welcom; one thing interven'd which almost spoyld the
relish of the rest, that B. began to engross all the
discourse, to vapour extremely of himself, and by villifying others, to magnifie his
own muse; T. Ca. buz'd
me in the eare, that though
Ben
had barreld up a great deal of knowledg, yet it seems he had not read the
Ethiques, which among other precepts of morality forbid
self-commendation, declaring it to be an ill favourd solecism in good manners; It
made me think upon the Lady (not very young) who having a good while given her
guests neat entertainment, a capon being brought upon the table, instead of a spoon
she took a mouthfull of claret and spouted it into the poope of the hollow bird;
such an accident happend in this entertainment you know - Proprio
luus sordet in ore; be a mans breath never so sweet, yet it makes ones prayses
stink, if he makes his own mouth the conduit pipe of it; But for my part I am content to dispense
with this Roman infirmity of B. now
that time hath snowed upon his pericranium. You know
Ovid
, and (your)
Horace
were subject to this humour, the first bursting out into,
Jamque opus exegi quod nec Iovis ira, nec
ignis , &c.
[Trans.: I have now completed a work
which neither the wrath of Jove nor fire, etc. [Ovid’s
Metamorphoses.]]
The other into,
Exegi monumentum ae're perennius , &c.
[Trans.: I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze, etc. [Horace, Odes III.30]]
[p. 26]
As also
Cicero
while he forc'd himself into this Exameter; O fortunatam
natam me consule Romam
[Trans.: O happy Rome born when I was consul
[Cicero]]. Ther is another reason that excuseth
B . which is, that if one be allowed to love the
naturall issue of his body, why not that of the brain, which is of a spirituall and
more noble extraction; I preserve your manuscripts safe for you until your return
to
London
, what newes the times afford this bearer will impart unto you. So I am,
Sir,
Your very humble and most faithfull Servitor , J.H.
Westminster
. 5 Apr.
1636.
Bibliography
JAB, 194
H&S, 11.419-20
Howell was educated at Jesus College, Oxford (BA 1613, fellow 1623) and subsequently travelled throughout Europe, including on diplomatic missions to Spain and Sardinia; he wrote an account of the 'Spanish Marriage' while he was based in Madrid in 1622-4. He published works on travel, languages, and politics, but is chiefly known for the collections of letters he published (mostly to imaginary correspondents) while he was imprisoned in the Fleet for his Royalist allegiances (1643-51). The major collection Epistolae Ho-elianae: Familiar Letters first appeared in 1655, but he published other collections of letters both prior and subsequently to this, with much overlapping between them. Following the Restoration, he was appointed historiographer-royal.
Hawkins was the brother of John Hawkins, MD and Henry Hawkins, SJ, and like them a recusant. He was knighted in 1618. Bolton proposed him as a member of the Royal Academy in 1624. His translation of Horace's Odes and Epodes appeared in 1625, with an enlarged edition in 1631. He also published religious works and translations from the French, and contributed a poem to Jonsonus Virbius.