COMMA.

Viscount Castlecomer (Vol. ii., p. 376.).—­S.A.Y. asks whether Lord Deputy Wandesford (not Wanderforde) “ever took up this title, and what became of it afterwards?” He never did; for on the receipt of the patent, in the summer of 1640, Wandesford exclaimed, “Is this a time for a faithful subject to be exalted, when his king, the fountain of honours, is likely to be reduced lower than ever.”  A few months afterwards he died of a broken heart.  We are told that he concealed the patent, and his grandson was the first of the family—­apparently by a fresh creation in 1706—­who assumed the title.  The neglect of sixty-six years, perhaps, rendered this necessary:  Beatson does not notice the first creation.  The life of this active and useful statesman, the friend and relative of Strafford, was compiled from his daughter’s papers, by his descendant, Thomas Comber, LL.D.  Of this work Dr. Whitaker availed himself in the very interesting memoir which he has given of the Lord Deputy, in his History of Richmondshire, written, as we may suppose it would be by so devoted {430} an admirer of Charles I., with the warmest feelings of respect and admiration.

    “The death of my cousin Wandesford,” said Lord Strafford, “more affects
    me than the prospect of my own; for in him is lost the richest magazine
    of learning, wisdom, and piety that these times could boast.”

J.H.M.

Bath.

Steele’s Burial-place (Vol. ii., pp. 375, 441.).—­I have been able to get the following particulars respecting Steele’s burial-place.  Steele was buried in the chancel of St. Peter’s church, Caermarthen.  The entry stands thus in the Register:—­

  “1729. 
  “Sep. 4.  Sr Richard Steel.”

There is no monument to his memory in St. Peter’s Church; but in Llangunnor church, about two miles from Caermarthen, there is a plain monumental tablet with the following inscription:—­

“This stone was erected at the instance of William Williams, of Ivy Tower, owner of Penddaylwn Vawr, in Llangunnor; part of the estate there once belonging to the deservedly celebrated Sir Richard Steele, knight, chief author of the essays named Tatlers, Guardians, and Spectators; and he wrote The Christian Hero, The Englishman, and The Crisis, The Conscious Lovers, and other fine plays.  He represented several places in parliament; was a staunch and able patriot; finally, an incomparable writer on morality and Christianity.  Hence the ensuing lines in a poem, called The Head of the Rock:—­

  ’Behold Llangunnor, leering o’er the vale,
  Pourtrays a scene t’ adorn romantic tale;
  But more than all the beauties of its site,
  Its former owner gives the mind delight. 
  Is there a heart that can’t affection feel
  For lands so rich as once to boast a Steele? 
  Who warm for freedom, and with virtue fraught,
  His country dearly lov’d, and greatly taught;
  Whose morals pure, the purest style conveys,
  T’ instruct his Britain to the last of days.’”