Vol. 4—No. 88. NOTES AND QUERIES: A means of communication FOR LITERARY PEOPLE, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIANS, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

VOL. IV.—No. 88.

SATURDAY, JULY 5. 1851.

Price Threepence.   Stamped Edition 4d.

NOTES:—

QUERIES:—

REPLIES:—

MISCELLANEOUS:—

We cannot permit the present Number, which commences the Fourth Volume of "NOTES AND QUERIES," to come into the hands of our Readers without some few words of acknowledgment and thanks to those Friends, Readers, and Correspondents, whose kind encouragement and assistance have raised our paper to its present high position;—

To those thanks we will add our promise, that no effort shall be wanting to carry on this paper in the same spirit in which it was commenced, and to add, if possible, to its utility and interest. And by way of setting an example to our correspondents—

we will, with these thanks and this promise, bid our friends fall to on the Banquet of Pleasant Inventions spread out for them in the following pages.

In "NOTES AND QUERIES" (Vol. i., p. 198.) is inserted from Chambers' Edinburgh Journal an account of a manuscript volume said to have been found on the person of the Duke of Monmouth at the time of his arrest; which was exhibited by Dr. Anster at a meeting of the Royal Irish Academy, November 30, 1849, accompanied by some remarks, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Academy, vol. iv. p. 411., and which furnish the substance of the article in Chambers above mentioned. In a subsequent number of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" (Vol. i., p. 397.), the authenticity of the volume is somewhat called in question by MR. C. ROSS, on account of certain historical entries not appearing in it, which are printed by Welwood in his Memoirs[1], and stated to have been copied by him from "a little pocket-book" which was taken with Monmouth, and afterwards delivered to the King. Dr. Anster replied to this in the Dublin University Magazine for June, 1850 (vol. xxxv. p. 673.), and showed by references to the Harleian Miscellany (vol. vi. p. 322., ed. 1810), and Sir John Reresby's Memoirs (p. 121. 4to., 1734), that more than one book was found on the Duke of Monmouth's person when captured. In the former of these authorities, entitled An Account of the Manner of taking the late Duke of Monmouth: by his Majesty's[2] command, printed in 1685, and perhaps compiled from information given by the king himself, the following statement is made:—

"The papers and books that were found on him are since delivered to his Majesty. One of the books was a manuscript of spells, charms, and conjurations, songs, receipts, and prayers, all written with the said late Duke's own hand. Two others were manuscripts of fortification and the military art. And a fourth book, fairly written, wherein are computes of the yearly expense of his Majesty's navy and land forces."

[1] Query, what is the date of the first edition of Welwood's work? The earliest in the Museum library is the third edition, printed in 1700.

It is remarkable that the "pocket-book" mentioned by Welwood is not here specified, but it is possible that the entries quoted by him may have been written on the pages of one of the other books. Two of the above only are noticed by Mr. Macaulay, namely, "a small treatise on fortification," and "an album filled with songs, receipts, prayers, and charms"; and there can be no reasonable doubt that the latter, which is mentioned by the author of the tract in the Harleian Miscellany, as well as by Reresby and Barillon, is the identical manuscript which forms the subject of Dr. Anster's remarks.

Within a few weeks this singular volume has been added by purchase to the National Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum, previous to which I ascertained, by a careful comparison of its pages with several undoubted letters of the Duke of Monmouth (an advantage Dr. Anster did not possess), that the whole of the volume (or nearly so) is certainly in the Duke's handwriting. This evidence might of itself be deemed sufficient; but some lines written on the fly-leaf of the volume (which are passed over by Dr. Anster as of no moment) confirm the fact beyond all cavil, since, on seeing them, I immediately recognised them as the autograph of King James himself. They are as follows:

"This book was found in the Duke of Monmouth's pocket when he was taken, and is most of his owne handwriting."

Although the contents of this volume have been already described in general terms by Dr. Anster, yet it may not perhaps be uninteresting to give a more detailed list of what is written in it:—

1. Receipts "for the stone"; "to know the sum of numbers before they be writ doun"; "pour nettoyer l'ovrages de cuyvre argenté;" "for to make Bouts and Choos [Boots and Shoes] hold out water;" and "to keep the goms well."—pp. 1-4. 8.

2. Magical receipts and charms in French, written partly in an abbreviated form, accompanied by cabalistic figures. Two of these are to deliver a person out of prison, and are no doubt the same which Sir John Reresby refers to.—pp. 5. 7. 9. 11-17.

3. "The forme of a bill of Excheng," drawn on David Nairne of London, from Antwerp, May 16, 1684, for 200l. sterling.—p. 6.

4. Astrological rules in French for finding out anything required; together with a planetary wheel, dated 1680, to show life or death in case of illness, also happiness and adversity.—pp. 19-25.

5. Directions "pour savoire si une person sera fidelle ou non," &c. At the bottom is a cypher, in which a stands for 10, b for 52, &c., p. 27. All this is entered again at pp. 45. 47.

6. "The way from London to East Tilbery," dated December 1, 1684.—p. 29.

7. Prayers for the morning and evening, pp. 31-43.

8. List of the Christian names of women and men.—pp. 44. 46. 48.

9. Arithmetical table of the number 7, multiplied from 1 to 37.—pp. 49. 51.

10. Receipts "to take away a corne;" "a soveraign water of Dr. Stephens;" "to make the face fair;" "to make golden letters without gold;" "to kip iron from rusting;" "to write letters of secrets;" "to make hair grow;" "to make hair grow black, though of any colour;" and several more.—pp. 52-61.

11. Casualties that happened in the reigns of the English sovereigns, from William I. to Queen Mary inclusive; consisting chiefly of remarkable accidents, and reputed prodigies.—pp. 62-78.

12. "Socrates, Platon, Aristote et Ciceron ont fait ces trente Comandemens pour leurs disciples."—pp. 78, 79.

13. "A receipt for the Farcy."—p. 81.

14. A poem intitled "The Twin Flame, sent mee by M P"—pp. 83-91.

The words in Italics have been scribbled over with the pen for the purpose of concealment. The verses commence:

15. Receipts for secret writing, to take impressions of prints upon glass, to boil plate, &c.—pp. 93-98.

16. Several songs in English and French, pp. 99-107.

Among them are the verses printed in "NOTES AND QUERIES," Vol. i., p. 199., beginning "With joie we do leave thee," accompanied by the musical notes; and also a song commencing "All ye gods that ar above," with the musical notes. It is most probable that these songs are copied from printed sources; but as they have been conjectured to be compositions by Monmouth himself, the following short specimen may not be unacceptable, copied literatim.

This poem immediately follows the one in which Toddington in Bedfordshire (which the Duke spells, probably as then pronounced, Tedington) is referred to.

17. Prayers after the confession of sins, and the sense of pardon obtained.—pp. 108-125.

These prayers breathe a spirit of the most humble and ardent piety; and if composed by the Duke himself, exhibit the weakness of his character in a more favourable light than the remainder of the volume. One paragraph is striking:—

"Mercy, mercy, good Lord! I aske not of thee any longer the things of this world; neither power, nor honours, nor riches, nor pleasures. No, my God, dispose of them to whom thou pleasest, so that thou givest me mercy."

18. "The Batteryes that can be made at Flushing to keep ships from coming in."—pp. 127, 128.

19. "Traité de la guere ou Politique militaire."—pp. 130-132.

20. "The Rode that is to be taken from Bruxels to Diren, the Pri. of Orange's house."—p. 133.

21. "The Road from Bruxells to Sousdyck, the Prince of Orange his hous."—p. 134.

22. "The way that I tooke from Diren, when I went for England, Nov. the 10. 84."—p. 135.

23. "The way that I took when I came from England, December the 10th. 84."—p. 137.

24. "The way that I took the first day of Jan. n. st. [1684-5] from Bruxells to the Hague."—p. 139.

25. Similar memoranda from 11th to 14th March, 1685, between Antwerp and Dort.—p. 141.

26. The addresses of various persons in Holland, London, Paris, and elsewhere, to whom letters were to be written, 1685.—pp. 142. 147-155.

27. "The footway from Trogou to Amsterdam."—p. 143.

28. An obscure memorandum, as follows:—"1683. Munday the 5th of November. H. W. had T.—The 9th of November, Poupe.—The 16th of November, Poupe."—p. 156.

29. Value of duckatons, pistols, and gilders.—Ib.

30. Note of the route from London to Tedington.—p. 157.

Although this volume is not of the same historical value as the Diary mentioned by Welwood, yet it is a curious and interesting relic of the unfortunate man who possessed it, and whose want of education, superstition, and frivolity are so prominently displayed in its pages. As to its recent history, Dr. Anster states that it was purchased at a book-stall in Paris, in 1827, by an Irish divinity student; the same, probably, who has written his name at p. 90.: "John Barrette, Irish College, Paris, Dec. 31, 1837."—The same person has made a memorandum in pencil, at p. 1., which has subsequently been partially rubbed out, and, as far as now legible, is as follows:—

"This Book was found in ... of the English College in Paris, among other MSS. deposited there by James II."

An earlier hand has scribbled a list of the contents at the commencement, with the signature "S. Rutter." If King James deposited this volume in the College at Paris, in all probability the others found on the person of the Duke of Monmouth accompanied it, and may one day or other turn up as unexpectedly as the present book has done.

F. MADDEN.

British Museum, June 27.

—At the little village of Stanton Drew, in the county of Somerset, east of the road between Bristol and Wells, stands a well-known Druidical monument, which, in the opinion of Dr. Stukeley, was more ancient than that at Abury. It consists (according to a recent writer) of four groups of stones, forming (or, rather, having formed when complete) two circles; and two other figures, one an ellipse. Although the largest stones are much inferior in their dimensions to those at Stonehenge and Abury, they are by no means contemptible; some of them being nine feet in height and twenty-two feet in girth. There is a curious tradition very prevalent amongst the country people, respecting the origin of these remains, which they designate the "Evil Wedding," for the following good and substantial reasons:—Many hundred years ago (on a Saturday evening), a newly married couple, with their relatives and friends, met on the spot now covered by these ruins, to celebrate their nuptials. Here they feasted and danced right merrily, until the clock tolled the hour of midnight, when the piper (a pious man) refused to play any longer: this was much against the wish of the guests, and so exasperated the bride (who was fond of dancing), that she swore with an oath, she would not be baulked in her enjoyment by a beggarly piper, but would find a substitute, if she went to h-ll to fetch one. She had scarcely uttered the words, when a venerable old man, with a long beard, made his appearance, and having listened to their request, proffered his services, which were right gladly accepted. The old gentleman (who was no other than the Arch-fiend himself) having taken the seat vacated by the godly piper, commenced playing a slow and solemn air, which on the guests remonstrating he changed into one more lively and rapid. The company now began to dance, but[4] soon found themselves impelled round the performer so rapidly and mysteriously, that they would all fain have rested. But when they essayed to retire, they found, to their consternation, that they were moving faster and faster round their diabolical musician, who had now resumed his original shape. Their cries for mercy were unheeded, until the first glimmering of day warned the fiend that he must depart. With such rapidity had they moved, that the gay and sportive assembly were now reduced to a ghastly troop of skeletons. "I leave you," said the fiend, "a monument of my power and your wickedness to the end of time:" which saying, he vanished. The villagers, on rising in the morning, found the meadow strewn with large pieces of stone, and the pious piper lying under a hedge, half dead with fright, he having been a witness to the whole transaction.

DAVID STEVENS.

Godalming, May 10. 1851.

—Being on a tour through the West of England some years ago, I found myself one morning rapidly advancing up the river Tamar, in the gig of "the Captain of the Ordinary" at Plymouth. We were bound for the noble ruins of Trematon Castle, in the area of which a good modern house has been erected, and in one of the towers is arranged a very pleasing collection of antiquities.

As we proceeded up the river, the gallant captain related the following anecdote in reference to the then proprietor of Trematon:—

It is well known that in the afternoon of the 12th May, 1812, the Hon. Spencer Perceval, the then prime minister, fell by the hand of Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons; the cause assigned by the murderer being the neglect of, or refusal to discharge a supposed claim he had upon the government.

On the same night the gentleman above alluded to, and residing at Trematon, had the tragic scene so minutely and painfully depicted in his sleep, that he could not resist the desire of sending the particulars to a friend in town, which he did by the up mail, which departed a few hours after he had risen on the following morning.

He informed his friend that his topographical knowledge of London was very meagre; and that as to the House of Commons (the old one), he had seen only the exterior: he went on to state, that, dreaming he was in town, he had a desire to hear the debates in Parliament, and for this purpose enquired his way to the lobby of the House, the architectural peculiarities of which he minutely described; he gave an exact description of the few officials and others in the room, and especially of a tall, thin man, who seemed to watch the opening of the door as any one entered with wild and restless gaze: at length Mr. Perceval arrived, whose person (although unknown to him) and dress he described, as also the manner in which the horrid deed was done: he further communicated the words uttered by the victim to the effect "the villain has murdered—;" how the wounded man was treated, and the person of the medical man who was on the instant called in.

These, with other particulars, which have escaped my memory, were thus recorded, and the first newspaper he received confirmed the accuracy of this extraordinary dream.

M. W. B.

—I transcribe from a manuscript letter now before me, dated "Tuesday, Whitsun-week, 1632," the following passage. Can you or any of your correspondents give me (or tell me where I am likely to find) any further information of the adventurer there named?

"Heer is much Speach of the Brauery of a Porter yt hath taken a Braue House, and hath his Coach & 4 Horses. Ye Lord Mayor examined him how he gott yt Wealth: he answered nothing. Then ye Lords of ye Council gott out of him, that he being the Pope's Brother Borne in Essex, Goodman Linges Sonnes, was maintained by him, and tempted much to have come over to him: these 2 Brothers beings Ship Boyes to a French pirate, the porter gott meanes to come againe into England, but ye other being a Witty Boy was sould to a Coortier in Paris, who trauelling to Florence, thear bestowed his Boy of a Great Man, who when he dyed tooke such affection to this Boy, yt changeing his name to his owne left his estate to him: and so in time grew a Florentine, a Cardinall, & now Pope, ye greatest linguist for the Latine yt ever was."

C. DE D.

[Maffeo Barberini (Urban VIII.) was the Roman pontiff between 1623 and 1644, and is said to have been born at Florence in 1568, of a noble family. He was a good classical scholar, and no mean Latin poet. One charge brought against him was his weak partiality towards his nephews, who abused his old age and credulity. It is probable some of our correspondents can throw some light on this mysterious document.]

—A friend of mine, in taking down his old rectory house last year, found under one of the floors a book almanac, of which the following is the title given:

"A Prognossicacion and an Almanac fastened together, declaring the Dispocission of the People, and also of the Wether, with certaine Electyons and Tymes chosen both for Phisicke and Surgerye, and for the Husbandman. And also for Hawekying, Huntying, Fyshing, and Foulyinge, according to the Science of Astronomy, made for the yeare of our Lord God M. D. L. calculed for the Merydyan of Yorke, and practiced by Anthony Askam."

At the end of the Almanac:

"Imprynted at London, in Flete Strete, at the Signe[5] of the George, next to Saynt Dunstone's Churche, by Wyllyam Powell, cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum."

Then follows the "Prognossicacion," the title-page to which is as follows:

"A Prognossicacion for the yere of our Lord M.CCCCCL., calculed upon the Meridiane of the Towne of Anwarpe and the Country thereabout, by Master Peter of Moorbecke, Doctoure in Physicke of ye same Towne, whereunto is added the Judgment of M. Cornelius Schute, Doctor in Physicke of the Towne of Bruges in Flanders, upon and concerning the Disposicion, Estate, and Condicion of certaine Prynces, Contreys, and Regions for thys present yere, gathered oute of hys Prognostication for the same yere. Translated out of Dutch into Englyshe by William Harrys."

At the end—

"Imprynted at London by John Daye, dwellynge over Aldersgate and Wylliam Seres, dwellyng in Peter Colledge. These Bokes are to be sold at the Newe Shop by the lytle Conduyte in Chepesyde."

The print is old English. Mr. Francis Moore and the Almanacs have figured in your recent Numbers, and I have thought that a brief notice of an almanac three hundred years old might not be unacceptable to your "NOTES AND QUERIES" friends.

D.

Exeter, June 18. 1851.

From some recent experiments of the Baron von Reichenbach, it seems probable that wherever chemical action is going on light is evolved, though it is only by persons possessing peculiar (though not very rare) powers of sight, and by them only under peculiar circumstances, that it can be seen. It occurred to him that such persons might perhaps see light over graves in which dead bodies were undergoing decomposition. He says:

"The desire to inflict a mortal wound on the monster, superstition, which, from a similar origin, a few centuries ago, inflicted on European society so vast an amount of misery; and by whose influence, not hundreds, but thousands of innocent persons died in tortures on the rack and at the stake;—this desire made me wish to make the experiment, if possible, of bringing a highly sensitive person, by night, to a churchyard."—§ 158. Gregory's Translation, p. 126.

The experiment succeeded. Light "was chiefly seen over all new graves; while there was no appearance of it over very old ones." The fact was confirmed in subsequent experiments by five other sensitive persons, and I have no design of questioning it. My doubt is only how far we can consider the knowledge of it as giving a "mortal wound" to superstition. "Thousands of ghost stories," the Baron tells us, "will now receive a natural explanation, and will thus cease to be marvellous;" and he afterwards says, "Thus I have, I trust, succeeded in tearing down one of the densest veils of darkened ignorance and human error." I repeat that I do not question the fact; my Query is, where to find the "thousands of ghost stories" which are explained by it; and as I suspect that you have some correspondents capable of giving information on such subjects, I shall feel much obliged if they will tell me.

S. R. MAITLAND.

Gloucester.

Can any obliging reader of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" inform me of the existence, in any of our public libraries, or for sale, of the following book: Dryandri (Franciscus) Flandriæ propriæ incarcerationis et liberationis Historia: Antwerpiæ(?) 1545. Sm. 8vo.? Fox, the martyrologist, writing of Dryander, says:

"I read the book in the shop of John Oporine, printer, of Basil."

I have a French translation of it, and a Spanish version is sanctioned by Pellicea (after Gerdes), under this title: Breve Descripcion del Pais Baxo, y razon de la Religion en España, en 8vo.; but in such a manner as leaves it questionable. If a Spanish version is known, I should esteem it a favour to be informed where it can now be found.

Enzinas passed part of the years 1542-3 with Melancthon at Wittemberg. Having completed his New Testament, he returned early in the latter year to Antwerp to get it printed. After much reflection and advice with his friends, he made an agreement with Stephen Mierdmann of Antwerp, in the following manner:

"I determined," says he, "to do my duty in the affair, at all events; which was, to undertake the publication, and to leave the consequences, and the course of the inspired Word, to the providence of God, to whom it of right belonged. I therefore spoke with a ——, and asked him whether he was willing to print my book. He answered, Yes, very gladly; partly because I desire to do some good for the commonweal more than for my own particular interest, caring little for gain or for the slander of opponents; and partly, also, said he, because it is a book that has long been desired. Then I asked him whether it was needful to have a license or permission, and whether he could not print it without these: for, said I, it would ill beseem the Word of God, from which kings and rulers derive the authority for the exercise of their power, that it should be subject to the permission or prohibition of any human feeling or fancy. To this he answered, that no law of the Emperor had ever forbidden the printing of the Holy Scriptures; and this was well known, for in Antwerp the New Testament had already been printed in almost every language of Europe but[6] the Spanish, and that neither himself nor any other printer had ever previously asked permission. From his experience, he had no doubt that, provided it was faithfully translated, the New Testament might be freely printed without leave or license. Then, said I, get ready your presses and everything needful for the work. I will answer for the interpretation of the text, and you shall take the risk of printing. And more, in order that you shall not suffer by loss or fine from our Spaniards, I will take the expense of the impression on myself. So I delivered to him the copy, and begged him to dispatch the business as soon as possible.

"Nothing relating to it was done in secret; everybody knew that the New Testament was being printed in Spanish. Many praised the project; many waited for it with eagerness; my rooms were never closed, every one who wished came in and out: and yet I doubt not that some who came and beforehand praised my book, when they were behind my back, and with their own parties, sung another song; well perceiving that the reading of the Scriptures by the people is not very likely to profit their avaricious stomachs. I care little, however, for such opinions and selfish passions, confiding in God alone, who directed and would protect an undertaking devoted solely to His own glory."

It were too long for the "NOTES AND QUERIES" to tell how he was induced to cancel the first leaf of his New Testament after it was printed, because it had one word which savoured of Lutheranism; of his presenting the finished volume to the Emperor Charles V. at Brussels; how he received him, and what he said of his being entrapped by his confessor, and cast into prison for fifteen months, escaping and being let down by a rope over the city wall, until he found repose and security again at Wittemberg with Melancthon.

Few of the early translations of the New Testament into the vulgar languages of Europe are so little known as the Spanish of Francisco de Enzinas, or Dryander; and yet, perhaps, of no one of them are there such minute particulars of the printing and publication to be found upon record as that published by him in 1543, and of his imprisonment in consequence of it.

BENJAMIN B. WIFFEN.

Mount Pleasant, near Woburn.

Every reader of Ariosto, of Boiardo, or of Berri, is acquainted with the character of Turpin, as an historian. John Turpin's History of the Life of Charles the Great and Roland has long since been regarded as a collection of fables; as a romance written under a feigned name. Its real character is, however, best described by Ferrario, when he says that it is not to be considered as "the mere invention of any one impostor, but rather as a compilation of ancient tales and ballads that had been circulating amongst the people from the ninth century." (Storia ed Analisi degli Antichi Romanzi di Cavalleria, vol. i. pp. 21, 22.) In such a work we must not calculate upon meeting with facts, but we may hope to be able to obtain an insight into ancient practices, and an acquaintance with ancient customs. It is for this reason I would desire to draw the attention of the reader to a curious mode of preserving the bodies of the dead, stated by Turpin. He says that the Christians, being without a sufficient supply of aromatic drugs wherewith to embalm the dead, disembowelled them, and filled them up with salt. The passage thus stands in the original:

"Tunc defunctorum corpora amici eorum diversis aromatibus condiverunt; alii myrrha, alii balsamo, alii sale diligentes perfuderunt: multi corpora per ventrem findebant et stercora ejiciebant, et sale, alia aromata non habentes, condiebant."—C. 27.

Does any other author but Turpin mention this mode of "salting," or rather of "pickling" the dead? This is the Query which I put, in the expectation of having it answered in the affirmative, as I am quite certain I have met with another author—although I cannot cite his name—who mentions the body of a Duke of Gloucester being thus preserved with salt; but unfortunately I have not taken a note of the author, and can only thus vaguely refer to the fact.

W. B. MACCABE.

—I have been told that in the year of the Nativity three of the planets were in conjunction. Some one of your astronomical correspondents may probably be able to furnish information on this subject: it is full of sacred interest and wonder.

J. W. H.

—In a translation of Luther's Revelation of Antichrist by the Protestant martyr Frith, the word sinage occurs in a list of ecclesiastical payments, which the popish prelates were wont to exact from the parochial clergy.

If any of your correspondents can say what sinage means, he may oblige me still further by explaining the word distord, in the same page; where it is said "they stir princes and officers to distord against them," viz., against such as resist the claims of churchmen.

Is there any authority for supposing that sclawnder, ordinarily slander, may sometimes mean injury, without reference to character? It is certain that the parallel term calumnia was so used in monkish Latin.

H. W.

—It is generally, I believe, understood that, prior to the time of Charles II., married women were called Mistress, and unmarried had Mistress prefixed to their Christian name; and that the equivocal position of many in that reign, gave rise to the peculiar designation of Miss or "Mis." Can any of your readers show an earlier[7] use of the term than the following, from Epigrams of all Sorts, by Richard Flecknoe, published 1669?

Again, was the term, when used with especial reference to these ladies, always spelt with one s, as Mis?

M. S.

—I read, that certain members of the continental masonic lodges interpret the Hiram, whose death the freemasons affect to deplore, as meaning Molai, Grand Master of the Templars; but that others understand the said Hiram to mean Jacques Mabiotte. Now, I should think the person whom secret associations can be even imagined, ever so falsely, to keep in continual remembrance, and who is thus placed in competition with the Grand Master of the Temple, should at least enjoy that moderate share of celebrity that will enable some of your correspondents to inform me who he was, and what were the circumstances of his death. I have not myself been able to find him.

A. N.

—There is a notion that all British subjects born in foreign parts are considered as born within the diocese of London. What is the origin of this notion? I have heard it said that it is founded on some order made by King George I., on the occasion of his journeys to Hanover. But it must be of older date.

Can any of your readers throw any light upon this? and greatly oblige,

J. B.

[A notice was published in the London Gazette in March, 1816, stating that the Bishop of London's registrar would register all marriages of British subjects solemnised in foreign countries; and also the births and deaths of British subjects which occurred abroad. Has that notice any reference to the notion?]

—When were shawls first introduced into this country from the East? and whence has the name arisen? for I see no trace of it in our English dictionaries. Is it from its Persian name, "do-shâllâ?" I should also much wish to know when plaids and tartans were first mentioned as part of the national dress of Scotland.

A JUROR.

—From whence are the following lines taken?

Y. G. F.

Oxford, June 17. 1850.

—During some slight repairs in my parish church, vestiges of mural paintings were discovered above and on each side of the chancel arch. I caused the plaster and whitewash to be removed, and discovered two colossal angelic figures, but in a very imperfect state. Each have nimbi of a blue colour, surmounted by crosses, with globular extremities.

The S. figure holds an enormous spear. The N. one is so much defaced that nothing could be traced but the outline of the figure, and what appears a gigantic serpent, or perhaps a scroll of a blue colour behind it. The clerk reports that traces of an anchor could be seen ten years ago; but on his statement I cannot place much reliance. I should be obliged for any information respecting the subject. Above the centre of the arch I could only see a profusion of fragments of wings surrounded by a glory.

E. S. TAYLOR.

Martham, Norfolk, June 7.

"Conceyted Letters, newly laid open: or a most excellent bundle of new wit, wherein is knit up together all the perfection or art of episteling, by which the most ignorant may with much modestie talke and argue with the best learned." London: B. Alsop, 1618.

Who is the author of this little work? Lowndes gives it as an anonymous production, but it is sometimes ascribed to Nicolas Breton. The initials I. M. affixed to the preface, would rather denote Jervase Markham as the author.

Δ.

—Is any endeavour being made for the completion of that vast work, the Acta Sanctorum, the last volume of which I believe was published at Brussels in 1845?

P. S. E.

—I shall be obliged if any of your readers can inform me who was the "honest factor" referred to in Pope's "Sir Balaam" in the lines:

I have seen it noticed in the biography of an individual who held some official post in India, but have forgotten the name.

J. SWANN.

Norwich, May, 1851.

—Will any of your correspondents kindly oblige me, by stating what is the actual meaning of the word nervous? On reference to Johnson, I find it expressed as follows:—

"Nervy, sinewy, vigorous; also having diseased or weak nerves."

Now, by this definition, I am led to believe that the word has two meanings, directly opposed to each other. Is this so?

K. BANNEL.

Liverpool.

—In vol. xx. of Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, 1798, the following extract of a letter appears[8] from John Pinkerton, Esq., the antiquarian writer, dated the 23rd February, 1794:

"In looking over the Survey of Scotland accomplished by your exertions, it occurred to me that I could furnish an article, worthy to appear in an Appendix to one of the volumes of the Statistical Account. I need not inform you, that in the third volume of Prynne's Records there is a large but undigested list of all those in Scotland who paid homage to Edward I. in 1291 and 1296, forming a kind of Doomsday Book of the country at that period. Four years ago, I, with some labour, reduced the numerous names and designations into alphabetical order, and the list being now adapted to general use, and containing the names and designations of the chief landholders, citizens, and clergy of the time, it may be regarded as of no small importance to our ancient statistics, topography, and genealogy. If your opinion coincides, I shall with pleasure present it to you for the purpose, and correct the press."

Now the article so kindly proffered by Mr. Pinkerton did not appear in the Statistical Account of Scotland, or in any of Mr. Pinkerton's subsequent publications, that I am aware of. I should feel obliged if any correspondent could inform me if it was ever published.

ABERDONIENSIS.

—Was Dr. Sacheverell's speech on his trial (supposed to have been the work of Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester) ever published? If so, when, and by whom?

COLLY WOBBLES.

[A printed copy of Dr. Sacheverell's speech is now on our table, but without any publisher's name. The following is a copy of the title: "The Speech of Henry Sacheverell, D.D., upon his Impeachment at the Bar of the House of Lords, in Westminster Hall, March 7. 1709-10. London, Printed in the year 1710." On the back of the title-page appears the following advertisement: "Just published, Collections of Passages referred to by Dr. Henry Sacheverell in his Answer to the Articles of his Impeachment, under four Heads. I. Testimonies concerning the doctrine of Non-resistance to the Supreme Powers. II. Blasphemous, irreligious, and heretical Positions, lately published. III. The Church and Clergy abused. IV. The Queen, State, and Ministry reflected upon."]

—Advertisement of a pamphlet appearing in 1767:

"A plain Narrative of Facts relating to the Person who lately passed under the assumed name of the Princess Wilbrahama, lately detected at the Devizes: containing her whole History, from her first Elopement with the Hon. Mrs. Sc***ts, till her Discovery and Commitment to Devizes Bridewell; together with the very extraordinary Circumstances attending that Discovery, and the Report of a Jury of Matrons summoned on that Occasion, &c. London: printed for the Author."

I shall be very thankful for any elucidation of the above case. It appears to have been sufficiently popular to warrant the publisher in engaging, as he says, "the best artists" to illustrate it with a series of caricatures. I have never been able to meet with a copy in any public library.

J. WAYLEN.

[The notorious impostor noticed in the communication of our correspondent, performed her surprising feats of hazardous versatility between the years 1765 and 1768. On different occasions she assumed the names of Wilson, alias Boxall, alias Mollineaux, alias Irving, alias Baroness Wilmington, alias Lady Viscountess Wilbrihammon, alias Countess of Normandy. In 1766 her ladyship, "with gentle mien and accent bland," received for her dextrous lubricities something like a whipping at Coventry. In 1767 she was adjudged a vagabond at Devizes, and in the following year sentenced to transportation at the Westminster assizes. Alderman Hewitt of Coventry, in 1778, published some memorabilia of her ladyship in a pamphlet entitled, Memoirs of the celebrated Lady Viscountess Wilbrihammon, the greatest Impostress of the present age. The alderman does not notice the tract mentioned by our correspondent, so that it still remains a query whether it was ever issued, although it may have been advertised.]

—In Noble's College of Arms, it is stated, p. 25., that—

"Henry VI. sent persons through many of the counties of England to collect the names of the gentry of each; these lists have reached our time. It is observable, that many are mentioned in them who had adopted the meanest trades, yet were still accounted gentry."

Where are these lists to be found?

H. WITHAM.

[Noble's statements upon such points are extremely loose. We know not of any such lists, but would refer to Grimaldi's Origines Genealogicæ, under "Rolls and Visitations," where, in all probability, something may be found in reference to the subject, if there ever were any such lists.]

Perhaps the publication of the following document may lead to a solution of the question sent by M.C.L. (Vol. iii., p. 478.). It is a copy of a letter from the Duke of Monmouth, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, intimating to the clergy the displeasure of Charles II. at their use of periwigs, and their practice of reading sermons. His Majesty, it will be found, thought both customs equally important and equally unbecoming. Of the latter, it is stated that it "took beginning with the disorders of the late times, and that the way of preaching without book was most agreeable[9] to the use of the foreign churches, to the custom of the University heretofore, and to the nature and intendment of that holy exercise." It will surprise many of your readers to find that the reading of sermons was considered to be a mere puritanical innovation.

"The Duke of Monmouth, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to the Vice-Chancellor and University.

"Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen,

"His Majesty having taken notice of the liberty which several persons in holy orders have taken to wear their hair and periwigs of an unusual and unbecoming length, hath commanded me to let you know, that he is much displeased therewith, and strictly injoins that all such persons as profess or intend the study of divinity, do for the future wear their hair in a manner more suitable to the gravity and sobriety of their profession, and that distinction which was always maintained between the habit of men devoted to the ministry and other persons.

"And whereas, his Majesty is informed that the practice of reading sermons is generally taken up by the preachers before the University, and there for some time continued, even before himself, his Majesty hath commanded me to signify to you his pleasure, that the said practice, which took beginning with the disorders of the late times, be wholly laid aside; and that the foresaid preachers deliver their sermons, both in Latin and English, by memory, or without book, as being a way of preaching which his Majesty judges most agreeable to the use of the foreign churches, and to the custom of the University heretofore, and to the nature and intendment of that holy exercise.

"And that his Majesty's commands in the premisses may be duly regarded and observed, his Majesty's farther pleasure is, that the names of all such ecclesiastical persons as shall wear their hair as heretofore in an unfitting imitation of the fashion of laymen, or that shall continue in the present slothfull way of preaching, be from time to time signified unto me by the Vice-Chancellor for the time being, upon pain of his Majesty's displeasure.

"Having in obedience to his Majesty's will signified thus much unto you, I shall not doubt of that your ready compliance; and the rather because his Majesty intends to send the same injunctions very speedily to the University of Oxford, whom I am assured you will equal in all other excellencies, and so in obedience to the king; especially when his commands are so much to the honour and esteem of that renowned University, whose welfare is so heartily desired, and shall ever be endeavoured by, Mr. Vice-Chancellor,

"Your loving friend and Chancellor,

"MONMOUTH."

I believe this letter, or something like it, was published by Peck in his Desiderata Curiosa, and also by Mr. Roberts in his Life of Monmouth. The transcript I send you was made from a copy in the handwriting of Dr. Birch in the Additional MS. 4162., fo. 230.

JOHN BRUCE.

The following passage occurs in Rutt's Diary of Thomas Burton, 4 vols.: Colburn, 1828. I have not the work at hand, but from a MS. extract from the same, believe it may be found as a note by the editor in vol. i. p. 359.

"Burnet was always an extempore preacher. He says that reading is peculiar to this nation, and cannot be induced in any other. The only discourse he ever wrote beforehand was a thanksgiving sermon before the queen in 1705. He never before was at a pause in preaching. It is contrary to a university statute, obsolete, though unrepealed."

C. H. P.

Brighton, June 27.

This Query, and your answer, involve one or two important questions, which are worth a fuller solution than you have given.

The Lord Mayor is no more a Privy Councillor than he is Archbishop of Canterbury. The title of "Right Honourable," which has given rise to that vulgar error, is in itself a mere courtesy appended to the title of "Lord;" which is also, popularly, though not legally, given him: for in all his own acts, he is designated officially as "Mayor" only. The courtesy-title of Lord he shares with the Mayors of Dublin and York, the Lord-Advocate of Scotland, the younger sons of Dukes and Marquises, &c. &c., and all such Lords are styled by courtesy "Right Honourable;" and this style of Right Honourable is also given to Privy Councillors in virtue of their proper official title of "Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council." So, the "Right Honourable the Lords of the Treasury and Admiralty." So much for the title. The fact stated in the Editor's answer, of the admission of the Lord Mayor to the Council Chamber after some clamour, on the accession of William IV., is a mistake arising out of the following circumstances. On the demise of the crown, a London Gazette Extraordinary is immediately published, with a proclamation announcing the death of one sovereign and the accession of the other. This proclamation styles itself to be that of the—

"Peers Spiritual and Temporal of the Realm, assisted by those of the late Privy Council, with numbers of others, Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London."

The proclamation is that of the Peers alone, but assisted by the others. The cause of this form is, that the demise of the crown dissolves the Privy Council, and used (till modern times) to dissolve parliaments, and abrogate the commissions of the Judges, and all other public officers; so that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal were the only subsisting authority. Hence they, of necessity, undertook the duty of proclaiming the new king, but[10] they fortified themselves "with the assistance of the principal gentlemen of quality, and of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens." This paper is first signed by the Peers, and then by all who happen to be present, promiscuously. At the accession of William IV., there were about 180 names, of which "J. Crowder, Mayor," stands the 106th. At the accession of Queen Victoria, there were about 160 names, of which "Thomas Kelly, Mayor," is the 111th. And in both cases we find the names of the Aldermen, Sheriffs, Town Clerk, City Remembrancer, and several others,—private citizens, and many altogether private persons, who happened to come to the palace at that time.

It is obvious that all this has nothing to do with the Privy Council, for, in fact, at that moment, no Privy Council exists. But while these things are going on in an outward room of the palace, where everybody is admitted, the new sovereign commands the attendance of the late Privy Council in the council chamber, where the old Privy Councillors are generally (I suppose always) re-sworn of the new council; and then and there are prepared and promulgated several acts of the new sovereign, to which are prefixed the names of the Privy Councillors present. Now, to this council chamber the Lord Mayor is no more admitted than the Town Clerk would be, and to these acts of the council his name has never appeared.

All these facts appear in the London Gazettes for the 27th June, 1830, and the 30th June, 1837; and similar proceedings took place in Dublin; though since the Union the practice is at least superfluous.

This establishes the rationale of the case, but there is a precedent that concludes it:—

"On the 27th May, 1768, Mr. Thomas Harley, then Lord Mayor of London, was sworn of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council!"

—an honour never since conferred on any Mayor or Alderman, and which could not have been conferred on him if he had already been of that body.

C.

In reply to your correspondent C. PAINE, JUN. I beg to say that this University has recently requested me to undertake the completion of Ussher's works. Dr. Elrington has left about half the fourteenth volume printed off: but I have found considerable difficulty in ascertaining what he intended to print, or what ought to be printed, in the remaining half. The printed portion contains the archbishop's Theological Lectures, in reply to Bellarmine, never before published.[2] I have found amongst Dr. Elrington's papers a volume of sermons (a MS. of the latter half of the seventeenth century), which are attributed, in the MS. itself, to Ussher; but the authenticity of these sermons is, it appears to me, very doubtful. I therefore hesitate to print them.

[2] Elrington's Life of Ussher, p. 26.

I am anxious to find a treatise on the Seventy Weeks, by Ussher, which I have some reason to think once existed in MS. This tract, with another on the question of the Millennium, from Rev. xx. 4., formed the exercises which he performed for the degree of D.D., at the commencement of the University in 1612: and I remember Dr. Elrington telling me (if I did not mistake his meaning), that he intended to print them in the fourteenth volume. My difficulty is, that I cannot find them amongst Ussher's MSS., and I do not know where they are to be had. Some imperfect fragments on the Seventy Weeks are preserved in MS. in Trinity College Library, in Ussher's autograph; but they are far too crude and unfinished for publication.

The Bibliotheca Theologica, a work on the same plan as Cave's Scriptores Ecclesiastici, exists in MS. in the Bodleian Library, and a copy from the Bodleian MS. is in Dublin. This work has not been included in Dr. Elrington's edition; and I remember his discussing the subject with me, and deciding not to print it. His reasons were these:—1. It is an unfinished work, which the archbishop did not live to complete. 2. It is full of errors, which our present increased materials and knowledge of the subject would easily enable us to correct; but the correction of them would swell the work to a considerable extent. 3. The work was used, and is frequently quoted by Cave, who seems to have published the most valuable parts of it. Its publication, therefore, would not add anything to our knowledge, whilst it would probably detract, however unfairly, from the archbishop's reputation: for the public seldom make allowances for an unfinished work. 4. It would probably make three, if not four volumes; and Dr. Elrington did not think its publication of sufficient importance to warrant so great an addition to the cost and bulk of the Works.

The System of Theology having been disclaimed by Ussher himself (although it is quoted as his by the Committee of the Privy Council in their decision of the "Gorham Case"), has not been included by Dr. Elrington in the collection of Ussher's works.

I shall be much obliged to MR. PAYNE, or to any other of your correspondents, if he will give me any information respecting the treatises on the Seventy Weeks and on the Millennium, or any other advice which may assist me in the completion of the fourteenth volume.

I may add, that it is my intention, with the able assistance of my learned friend Dr. Reeves, of[11] Ballymena, to print a complete index to Ussher's Works, which will be compiled by Dr. Reeves, and is now in active preparation. The references to the more important works, such as the Primordia, and Annals, will be so contrived as to be applicable to the old editions, as well as to Dr. Elrington's edition. This Index will form the seventeenth volume of the Works.

JAMES H. TODD.

Trinity Coll., Dublin, June 21. 1851.

—I have always thought that the phrase "Mind your P's and Q's" was derived from the school-room or the printing-office. The forms of the small "p" and "q" in the Roman type, have always been puzzling to the child and the printer's apprentice. In the one, the down-ward stroke is on the left of the oval; in the other, on the right. Now, when the types are reversed, as they are when in the process of distribution they are returned by the compositor to his case, the mind of the young printer is puzzled to distinguish the "p" from the "q." In sorting pie, or a mixed heap of letters, where the "p" and the "q" are not in connexion with any other letters forming a word, I think it would be almost impossible for an inexperienced person to say which is which upon the instant. "Mind your p's and q's"—I write it thus, and not "Mind your P's and Q's"—has a higher philosophy than mind your toupées and your queues, which are things essentially different, and impossible to be mistaken. It means, have regard to small differences; do not be deceived by apparent resemblances; learn to discriminate between things essentially distinct, but which look the same; be observant; be cautious.

CHARLES KNIGHT.

—Il Serio, a tributary to the Adda, which falls into the Po. Il Serio is, like the Po, remarkable for the quantity of foam floating upon it, and also for disappearing under ground, through part of its course.

DE CAMERA.

—A correspondent has asked what was the maiden name of this lady, the widow, as he calls her, of Colonel Barton. I have a note of Charles Montagu, writing of her as "the beautiful, witty, and accomplished Catharine Barton," and have marked her as the daughter of Major Barton, but cannot find my authority. What follows is hardly likely to be of use to your correspondent, though it may, possibly, suggest to him a channel of inquiry. The Rev. Alexander Chalmers married Catharine Ekins, a niece of Mr. Conduitt, to whose daughter he was guardian after her father's death. Mrs. Chalmers had a brother who was rector or vicar of Barton, Northamptonshire. Alexander Chalmers was rector of St. Katharine Coleman, London, and of Burstow, Surrey; clerk of St. Andrew's, Holborn; chaplain to the forces at Gibraltar and Port Mahon: he died in 1745, and was buried in St. Katharine's: his wife was of the family of Ekins, of Rushden, in Northamptonshire. On August 12, 1743, Alexander Chalmers writes, "This will be delivered you by my cousin Lieut. Mathew Barton," probably his wife's cousin: in another letter he speaks of Miss Conduitt as his wife's cousin. Mr. Conduitt died 23rd of May, 1737, and his widow's "unexpected death" seems to be alluded to in a letter in 1740.

DE CAMERA.

—This was not, as A.B.'s informant thinks, a title of honour bestowed by any Supreme Pontiff upon any Archbishop of Canterbury, but a mere verbal compliment passed by Pope Urban II. upon St. Anselm, when the latter went to consult the former at Rome. The words are those of Gervase, the monk of Canterbury, who tells us:

"Tantam ejus gratiam habuit, ut eum (Anselmum) alterius orbis papam vocaret (Urbanus papa)."—Ed. Twysden, ii. 1327.

Eadmer, who was with the archbishop when he went to Italy, gives the following as the Pope's expressions:

"Cumque illum, utpote hominem cunctis liberalium artium disciplinis innutritum, pro magistro teneamus et quasi comparem, velut alterius orbis Apostolicum et Patriarcham jure venerandum censeamus."—AA. SS. Aprilis, t. ii. 886.

D. ROCK.

You have not told us the origin of this title. I have just been reminded of the omission by the dedication of Ludovici Cappelli Commentarii, Amstel., 1689, which is—

"Wilhelmo Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi ... alterius orbis, sed melioris, Papæ."

J. W. H.

—TYRO will find an account of this writer in Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire: by John Chambers, Esq.: Worcester, 1820, 8vo., p. 591., from which we learn that his true name was Hugh Tootel, a Lancashire man born in 1672, in the neighbourhood of Preston. The name of Hugh Tootle is recognised in the prospectus or announcement of Mr. Tierney's new edition of Dodd's Church History of England, of which the first and second volumes appeared so long ago as 1839: but I regret to say that the work is yet far from being completed.

F. R. A.

—We seem now to have got to the true reading, "primzie." The[12] termination zie suits a Scotch word perhaps. I only wish to mention, that the form "prin" is connected with the verb "to preen," which we use of birds. Yet that again seems connected with prune. Etymology is always in a circle.

C. B.

—In confirmation of the statement made as to the expression "in print" meaning "with exactness," &c., I perfectly remember an old Somersetshire servant of our's, who used to say, when he saw me romping after I was dressed: "Take care, Sir, you'll put your hair out of print."

C. W. B.

—The snakes introduced into the county of Down in 1831, alluded to by EIRIONNACH, were the very harmless and easily tamed species, Coluber natrix of Linnæus, Natrix torquata of Ray. They were purchased in Covent Garden Market; and, to the number of six, were turned out in the garden of Rath Gael House. One was killed at Milecross, three miles distant, about a week after its liberation; and three others were shortly afterwards killed in the same neighbourhood. The fate of the remaining two is unknown, but there can be little doubt that they were also killed, as the country-people offered a considerable reward for their destruction. The writer well remembers the consternation and exceedingly angry feelings caused by this novel importation.

We may conclude, that though the snake is not indigenous to Ireland, yet there is nothing in either the soil or climate to prevent its naturalisation. It is highly probable that an insular position is unfavourable to the spread of the serpent tribe. Other islands—New Zealand, for instance—as well as Ireland, have no native Ophidia.

It is generally, but erroneously, believed that there are no toads in Ireland. The Natter-jack (Bufo calamita), a closely allied species to the common toad, is found about Killarney. Can any reader inform me if there is any record of its introduction?

W. PINKERTON.

—Your correspondent THE HERMIT OF HOLYPORT having been informed respecting the subject of his wood-cut, may yet be further satisfied to know its date, and where it is to be found. It occurs in a Latin version of the Pinax, with a commentary by Justus Velsius, printed in 4to., at Lyons? (Lugduni) in 1551. The title runs thus: Justi Velseri Hagani, in Cebetis Thebani Tabulam Commentariorum Libri Sex, Totius Moralis Philosophiæ Thesaurus. The Pinax commonly accompanies that valuable little manual the Enchiridion of Epictetus, of which that excellent man John Evelyn, in a letter to Lord Cornbury, thus speaks:

"Besides the Divine precepts, I could never receive anything from Philosophy that was able to add a graine to my courage upon the intellectual assaults like that Enchiridion and little weapon of Epictetus: 'Nunquam te quicquam perdidisse dicito, sed reddidisse,' says he: 'Filius obijt? redditus est.' It is in his 15th chapter. You cannot imagine what that little target will encounter. I never go abroad without it in my pocket. What an incomparable guard is that: τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, cap. i., where he discourses of the things which are, and are not in our power. I know, my Lord, you employ your retirements nobly; weare this defensive for my sake,—I had almost said this Christian Office."

S. W. SINGER.

—In a little volume of the Songs of Ireland, forming one of the series called Duffy's Library of Ireland, Dublin, 1845, this song is given. In the introductory notice it is said to be by Mr. R. A. Milliken, a native of Cork. The passage referred to by your correspondent stands thus in this version, which is said to be taken from Croker's Popular Songs of Ireland:—

Mr. Maloney, in his late account of the "palace made o' windows," has evidently had these verses in his mind; and in his observations on the "statues gracing that noble place in," has adverted to their like peculiar predicament with the characteristic modesty of his nation.

S. H.

On this subject permit me to observe that a change has "come o'er the spirit of its dream." A later poet, in celebrating the praises of the lake as the only place unchanged, says:

[3] Now Lady Deane.

JUNIOR.

—The poem of "The Lord of Burleigh" is founded upon a supposed romance connected with the marriage of the late Marquis of Exeter with his second wife, Miss Hoggins. This marriage has also formed the groundwork of a play entitled The Lord of Burghley, published by Churton in 1845. The story of the courtship and marriage perpetuated by this poem, may be found in the Illustrated London News of the 16th November,[13] 1844, having been copied into that paper from the Guide to Burghley House, pp. 36., published by Drakard in 1812.

A very slight tinge of romance attends the real facts of this union, which took place when the late Marquis was Mr. Henry Cecil. The lady was not of so lowly an origin as the fiction relates. Mr. Cecil did not become the Lord of Burghley until the death of his uncle, the 9th Earl of Exeter, two years after this marriage, up to which time he resided at Bolas, Salop, the residence of his wife before her marriage, and there the two eldest of their four children were born. The Countess of Exeter died greatly beloved and respected at the early age of twenty-four, having been married nearly seven years.

J. P. JUN.

—It was certainly anciently called Vincestre. It is so in Monstrelêt, whose history begins about 1400. One of the treaties between the Burgundians and Orleanists was made there. President Hénault says (under Charles VI.) that this castle belonged to John, Bishop of Winchester. If he is right in the Christian name, he must mean had belonged, not appartenoit, for the John Bishops that I find in Britton's list are:

C. B.

—MR. BREEN appears to me decidedly wrong in the view he takes of the passage he quotes from Dryden. In the first place, he commits the mistake of assuming that Dryden is expressing his own opinion, or speaking in his own person. The fact is, however, that the speaker is Torresmond. Torresmond is "mad" enough to love the queen; he has already spoken of the "madness of his high attempt," he says he raves; and when the queen offers to give him counsel for his cure, he says he wishes not be cured:

This is inference, not assertion. Whether it be natural or not, I will not say, but I can see no blunder.

S. H.

—Washington Irving, in his Knickerbocker's History of New York, gives the same derivation of "Yankee" that is quoted from Dr. Turnbull and from Mr. Richmond. Irving's authority is, I believe, earlier than both these. Is the derivation his? and if his, is he in earnest in giving it? I ask this, not because I have reason to doubt in this instance either his seriousness or his philological accuracy, but by way of inserting a caution on behalf of the unwary. I have read or heard of a learned German who quoted that book as veritable history. The philology may be as baseless as the narrative. It is a happy suggestion of a derivation at all events, be it in jest or in earnest.

E. J. S.

—Your correspondent CHARLES O'SOULEY will find some account of Ferrante Pallavicino in Chalmers, or any other biographical dictionary; and a very complete one in the Dictionnaire Historique of Prosper Marchand. The manuscript he possesses has been printed more than once; it first appeared in the Opere Scelte di Ferrante Pallavicino printed at Geneva, but with the imprint Villafranca, 1660, 12mo., of which there are several reimpressions. It is there entitled La Disgratia del Conte D'Olivares, and bears the fictitious subscription of "Madrid li 28 Gennaro, 1643," at the end. If the MS. was written at Genoa, it is most probably only a transcript; for Pallavicino was resident at Venice when it appears to have been written, and was soon after trepanned by a vile caitiff named Charles de Bresche alias De Morfu, a Frenchman employed by the Pope's nuncio Vitellio, into the power of those whom his writings had incensed, and was by them put to death at Avignon in 1644.

S. W. SINGER.

The reputation which Mr. Foss acquired as a diligent investigator of legal antiquities, and an impartial biographer of those who have won for themselves seats on the woolsack or the bench, by the publication of the first two volumes of his Judges of England, with Sketches of their Lives, and Miscellaneous Notices connected with the Courts at Westminster from the time of the Conquest, will be more than confirmed by the third and fourth volumes, which have just been issued. In these, which are devoted to the Judges who flourished between the years 1272 and 1485—that is to say, from the reign of Edward I. to that of Richard III. inclusive, Mr. Foss has added 473 to his former list of 580 Judges; and when we say, that every biography shows with what diligence, and we may add with what intelligence, Mr. Foss has waded through all available sources of information, including particularly the voluminous publications of the late Record Commission, we have done more than sufficient to justify our opening statement, and to recommend his work to the favourable notice of all lovers of historical truth. To the general reader the surveys of the reigns, in which Mr. Foss points out not only everything remarkable connected with the law, but the gradual development of our legal system, will be by no means the least attractive portion of his book; while his endeavours to trace the successive institution of the several Inns of Court and Chancery, and also of the three different Inns occupied by the[14] Judges and Serjeants, will be found of great interest to the topographical antiquary.

Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson will sell, on Friday and Saturday next, a very rare, valuable, and interesting Series of Papal Coins, from Pope Gregory II., anno 715, to Pius IX., anno 1846, the property of an eminent amateur residing at Rome.

BOOKS RECEIVED.—Shall we keep the Crystal Palace, and have Riding and Walking in all Weathers among Flowers, Fountains, and Sculpture? by Denarius. As we believe most of the readers of this pamphlet will answer in the affirmative, we would, with the writer, remind them to "instruct their representatives to say 'Aye,' when Mr. Speaker puts the question in the Commons."—Archæologia Cambrensis. New Series. No. VII. A very excellent number of this valuable Record of the Antiquities of Wales and its Marshes.—Notæ Ferales; a few Words on the Modern System of Interment; its Evils and their Remedy, by Charon. An endeavour to bring the world to "discontinue the system of interment as now practised, and restore that of Urn Burial."

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.—Joseph Lilly's (7. Pall Mall) Catalogue No. 3. of very Cheap, Valuable, and Useful Books; W. S. Lincoln's (Cheltenham House, Westminster Road) Catalogue No. 70. of English and Foreign Second-hand Books; J. Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue Part CXXIV., No. 5. for 1851 of Old and New Books; B. Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Catalogue No. 31. of Books in European and Oriental Languages and Dialects; W. Heath's (29 ½. Lincoln's Inn Fields) Catalogue No. 4 for 1851 of Valuable Second-hand Books; S. Alexander's (207. Hoxton Old Town) Catalogue of Cheap Miscellaneous Books; C. J. Stewart's (11. King William Street) Catalogue of Books in Ecclesiastical and Monastic History and Biography, Antiquities, Councils, &c., with a Classified Index.

*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.

THE INDEX AND TITLE-PAGE TO VOLUME THE THIRD is at press, and will be issued with our next Number.

J. O. B. The oft-quoted line—

is from a poem by Borbonius. See "NOTES AND QUERIES," Vol. i., pp. 234. 419.

A READER:—

(not small, as it is too frequently misquoted), is from Prior's Henry and Emma. See our Third Vol., p. 154.

JAMES C. has misunderstood MR. PARSONS' Query, Vol. iii., p. 495., which refers to book plates, not plates or engravings in books.

REPLIES RECEIVED.—Meaning of Hernshaw—Jonah and the Whale—First Panorama—Dollar Mark—Equestrian Statues—Brother Jonathan—Nao a Ship—Eisell—Suum cuique tribuere—Theory of the Earth's Form—Alterius Orbis Papa—The Groves of Blarney—Jusjurandum per canem—Organs in Churches—Tennyson's Lord of Burleigh—Registry of Dissenters—Hugh Holland, and his Works—Shakspeare's Small Latin—Apple Pie Order—Lord Mayor a Privy Councillor—Gillingham.

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Errata.—No. 84. p. 469., for "John Kentor" read "John Fenton." No. 86, p. 504., for "Ordardus" read "Odardus;" p. 509. for "the w is sometimes sounded like oo," read "the w is sounded something like oo."

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