{233} NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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"When found, make a note of."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 74.] SATURDAY, MARCH 29. 1851. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:— Page On Portraits of Distinguished Men, by Lord Braybrooke 233 Story of a Relic 234 Illustration of Chaucer, No. II: Complaint of Mars and Venus 235 Charles the First and Bartolomeo della Nave's Collection of Pictures, by Sir F. Madden 236 Minor Notes:—Nonsuch Palace—Ferrar and Benlowes— Traditions from remote Periods through few Links— Longevity—Emendation of a Passage in Virgil—Poems discovered among the Papers of Sir K. Digby— Matter-of-Fact Epitaph 236

QUERIES:— Ancient Danish Itinerary: Prol in Angliam, by R. J. King 238 Chiming, Tolling, and Peal-ringing of Bells, by Rev. A. Gatty 238 Mazer Wood: Gutta Percha, by W. Pinkerton 239 Minor Queries:—Paul Pitcher Night—Disinterment for Heresy—"Just Notions," &c.—Pursuits of Literature— Satirical Medal—Matthew's Mediterranean Passage—Inscription on an Oak Board—Expressions in Milton—Saints' Days—Chepstow Castle—The Wilkes MSS. and "North Briton"—"O wearisome Condition of Humanity!"—Epitaph in Hall's "Discovery" 239

MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:—Canon and Prebendary— What Amount of Property constitutes an Esquire?— Cromwell Family—Daughters of the Sixth Earl of Lennox—Wife of Joseph Nicholson—Six Abeiles— Southey—Epigram against Burke—Knight's Hospitallers 242

REPLIES:— Mesmerism, by Dr. Maitland 243 Lord Howard of Effingham 244 Iovanni Volpe, by William Hughes 244 Replies to Minor Queries:—Sir Andrew Chadwick— Manuscript of Bede—Closing of Rooms on account of Death—Enigmatical Epitaph on Rev. J. Mawer— Haybands in Seals—Notes on Newspapers—Duncan Campbell—Christmas-day—MS. Sermons by Jeremy Taylor—Dryden's Absolom and Achitophel—Rev. W. Adams—Duchess of Buckingham—"Go the whole Hog"—Lord Bexley's Descent from Cromwell— Morse and Ireton Families—The Countess of Desmond— Aristophanes on the Modern Stage—Denarius Philosophorum—On a Passage in the Tempest— Meaning of Waste-book—Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Craigs—Meaning of "Harrisers" &c. 247

MISCELLANEOUS:— Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 253 Books and Odd Volumes wanted 254 Notices to Correspondents 254 Advertisements 255

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Notes.

ON PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED ENGLISHMEN.

In submitting to you the following brief observations, it is neither my wish nor intention to undervalue or disparage the labours of Horace Walpole, and Granger, and Pennant, and Lodge, and the numerous writers who have followed in their train, and to whom we are so much indebted for their notices of a great variety of original portraits of distinguished Englishmen, which still adorn the mansions of our aristocracy, and are found in the smaller collections throughout the realm. But I may be permitted to express my surprise and regret that in this age of inquiry no general catalogue of these national treasures should ever have been published. It is true that the portraits, as well as the other objects of attraction in our royal palaces, have been described in print with tolerable accuracy, and some good accounts are to be met with of the pictures at Woburn, and Blenheim, and Althorpe, and many of the residences of the nobility which can boast their local historian. We are, however, in most cases obliged to content ourselves with the meagre information afforded by county topography, or such works as the Beauties of England, Neale's Country Seats, and unsatisfactory guide-books.

No one, then, can doubt that such a compilation as I am advocating would prove a most welcome addition to our increasing stock of historical lore, and greatly assist the biographer in those researches upon which, from no sufficient materials being at hand, too much time is frequently expended without any adequate result. A catalogue would also tend to the preservation of ancient portraits, which, by being brought into notice, would acquire more importance in the estimation of the possessors; and in the event of any old houses falling into decay, the recorded fact of certain pictures having existed there, would cause them to be inquired after, and rescue them from destruction. Opportunities would likewise be afforded of correcting misnomers, and testing the authenticity of reputed likenesses of the same individual; further, the printed lists would survive after all the family traditions had been forgotten, and passed away with the antiquated housekeeper, and her worn-out inventory. The practice, too, of inscribing the names of the artist and person represented on the backs of the frames, would probably be better observed; and I may mention as a proof of this precaution being necessary, the instance of a {234} baronet in our day having inherited an old house full of pictures, which were one and all described, in laconic and most unsatisfactory terms, as "Portraits of Ladies and Gentlemen Unknown." The losses of works of art and interest by the lamentable fires that have occurred so frequently within the memory of man, may furnish a further motive for using every endeavour to preserve those pictures that remain to us; but probably a far greater number have perished from damp or neglect, and a strange combination of mischief and ignorance. Let us hope that in this respect the times are improving. For one, I cannot consent to the wanton destruction of a single portrait, though Horace Walpole assures us—

"That it is almost as necessary that the representations of men should perish and quit the scene to their successors, as it is that the human race should give place to rising generations; and, indeed, the mortality is almost as rapid. Portraits that cost twenty, thirty, sixty guineas, and that proudly take possession of the drawing-room, give way in the next generation to the new married couple, descending into the parlour, where they are slightly mentioned as my father and mother's pictures. When they become my grandfather and grandmother, they mount to the two pair of stairs, and then, unless dispatched to the mansion-house in the country, or crowded into the housekeeper's room, they perish among the lumber of garrets, or flutter into rags before a broker's shop at the Seven Dials."—Lives of the Painters, vol. iv. pp. 14, 15.

I am tempted to add, that many years ago I saw a large roll of canvass produced from under a bed at a furniture shop in "Hockley in the Hole," which, when unfolded, displayed a variety of old portraits, that had been torn out of their frames, and stowed away like worn-out sail-cloth; the place was so filthy that I was glad to make my escape without further investigation, but I noticed a whole-length of a judge in scarlet robes, and I could not help reflecting how much surprised the painter and the son of the law whom he delineated would have been, could they have anticipated the fate of the picture.

Having made these remarks, I am not unaware how much easier it is to point out a grievance than to provide a remedy; but perhaps some of your readers more conversant with such matters, may form an opinion whether it would answer to any one to undertake to compile such a catalogue as I have described. Though much would remain to be done, a great deal of information is to be gleaned from printed works, and doubtless lists of portraits might be in many instances procured from the persons who are fortunate enough to possess them. It should also be remembered that amongst the MSS. of Sir William Musgrave in the British Museum, there are many inventories of English portraits, affording a strong presumption that he may once have meditated such a publication as I have pointed out.

But, whether we are ever to have a catalogue or not, some advantage may arise from the discussion of the subject in "NOTES AND QUERIES;" and if it should lead to the rescue of a single portrait from destruction, we shall have advanced one step in the right direction.

BRAYBROOKE.

Audley End, March 18.

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STORY OF A RELIC.

P. C. S. S. found, some days ago, the following curious story in a rare little Portuguese book in his possession, and he now ventures to send a translation of it to the "NOTES AND QUERIES." The work was printed at Vienna in 1717, and is an account of the embassy of Fernando Telles da Sylva, Conde de Villa Mayor, from the court of Lisbon to that of Vienna, to demand in marriage, for the eldest son of King Pedro II. of Portugal, the hand of the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. It was written by Father Francisco da Fonseca, a Jesuit priest, who accompanied the ambassador in quality of almoner and confessor, and is full of amusing matter, particularly in reference to the strange opinions concerning our laws, government, and religion, which the worthy padre appears to have picked up during his short stay in England.

The original of the annexed translation is to be found at pp. 318, 319, 320. Sec. 268. of Fonseca's Narrative.

"As we are now upon the subject of miracles wrought by Relics in Vienna, I shall proceed to relate another prodigy which happened in the said city, and which will greatly serve to confirm in us those feelings of piety with which we are wont to venerate such sacred objects. The Count Harrach, who was greatly favoured by the Duke of Saxony, begged of him, as a present, a few of the many relics which the duke preserved in his treasury, assuredly less out of devotion than for the sake of their rarity and value. The duke, with his usual benignity, acceded to this request, and gave orders that sundry vials should be dispatched to the count, filled with most indubitable relics of Our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, of the Apostles, of the Innocents, and of other holy persons. He directed two Lutheran ministers to pack these vials securely in a precious casket, which the duke himself sealed up with his own signet, and sent off to Vienna. On its arrival there, it was deposited in the chapel of the count, which is situated in the street called Preiner. The count immediately informed the bishop of the arrival of this treasure, and invited him to witness the opening of the casket, and to attend for the purpose of verifying its contents. Accordingly the bishop came, and on opening the casket, there proceeded from it such an abominable stench, that no man could endure it, infecting, as it did, the whole of the chapel. The bishop thereupon ordered all the vials to be taken out, and carefully examined one by one, hoping to ascertain the cause of this strange incident, which did not long remain a mystery, for they soon {235} found the very vial from which this pestilent odour was issuing. It contained a small fragment of cloth, which was thus labelled, 'Ex caligis Divi Martini Lutheri,' that is to say, 'A bit of the Breeches of Saint Martin Luther,' which the aforesaid two Lutheran ministers, by way of mockery of our piety, had slily packed up with the holy relics in the casket. The bishop instantly gave orders to burn this abominable rag of the great heresiarch, and forthwith, not only the stench ceased, but there proceeded from the true relics such a delicious and heavenly odour as perfumed the entire building."

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ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. II.

Complaint of Mars and Venus.

I am not aware that the obvious astronomical allegory, which lurks in Chaucer's "Complaint of Mars and Venus," has been pointed out, or that any attempt has been made to explain it. In Tyrwhitt's slight notice of that poem, prefixed to his glossary, there is not the most remote hint that he perceived its astronomical significance, or that he looked upon it in any other light than "that it was intended to describe the situation of some two lovers under a veil of mystical allegory."

But, as I understand it, it plainly describes an astronomical conjunction of the planets Mars and Venus, in the last degree of Taurus, and on the 12th of April.

These three conditions are not likely to concur except at very rare intervals—it is possible they may have been only theoretical—but it is also possible that they may have really occurred under Chaucer's observation; it might therefore well repay the labour bestowed upon it if some person, possessed of time, patience, and the requisite tables, would calculate whether any conjunction, conforming in such particulars, did really take place within the latter half of the fourteenth century: if it was considered worth while to search out a described conjunction 2500 years before Christ, in order to test the credibility of Chinese records, it would surely be not less interesting to confirm the accuracy of Chaucer's astronomy, of his fondness for which, and of his desire to bring it forward on all possible occasions, he has given so many proofs in his writings.

The data to be gathered from the little poem in question are unfortunately neither very numerous nor very definite; but I think the following points are sufficiently plain.

1st. The entrance of Mars into the sign Taurus (domus Veneris), wherein an assignation has been made between him and Venus:

"That Mars shall enter as fast as he may glide, In to her next palais to abide, Walking his course 'till she had him ytake, And he prayed her to hast her for his sake."

2nd. The nearly double velocity in apparent ecliptic motion of Venus as compared with Mars:

"Wherefore she spedded as fast in her way Almost in one day as he did in tway."

3d. The conjunction:

"The great joy that was betwix hem two, When they be mette, there may no long tell. There is no more—but into bed they go."

4th. The entrance of the Sun into Taurus, as indicated in the unceremonious intrusion of Phebus into Venus' chamber; which, as though to confirm its identity with Taurus,

"Depainted was with white boles grete;"

whereupon Mars complains:

"This twelve dayes of April I endure Through jelous Phebus this misaventure."

(It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of Chaucer, that in the poet's time the Sun would enter Taurus on the 12th of April.)

"Now flieth Venus in to Ciclinius tour, With void corse, for fear of Phebus light."

These two lines, so obscure at first sight, afford, when properly understood, the strongest confirmation of the astronomical meaning of the whole; while, by indicating the conjunction on the last degree of Taurus, they furnish a most essential element for its identification.

I confess that this "CICLINIUS" gave me a good deal of trouble; but, taking as a guide the astronomical myth so evident throughout, I came to the conviction that "Ciclinius" is a corruption, and that Chaucer wrote, or intended to write, CYLLENIUS—a well-known epithet of Mercury, and used too in an astronomical sense by Virgil, "ignis coeli Cyllenius."

Now the sign Gemini is also "domus Mercurii;" so that when Venus fled into the tour of Cyllenius, she simply slipped into the next door to her own house of Taurus—leaving poor Mars behind to halt after her as he best might.

6th. Mars is almost stationary:

"He passeth but a sterre in daies two."

There still remain one or two baffling points in the description, one of which is the line—

"Fro Venus Valanus might this palais see,"

which I am convinced is corrupt: I have formed a guess as to its true meaning, but it is not as yet fully confirmed.

The other doubtful points are comprised in the following lines, which have every appearance of significance; and which, I have not the least doubt, bear as close application as those already explained: but, as yet, I must acknowledge an inability to understand the allusions. After Venus has entered Gemini—

"Within the gate she fled into a cave: Dark was this cave and smoking as the hell; Nat but two paas within the gate it stood, A natural day in darke I let her dwell."

A. E. B.

Leeds, March 17.

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CHARLES THE FIRST AND BARTOLOMEO DELLA NAVE'S COLLECTION OF PICTURES.

Among some miscellaneous papers in a volume of the Birch MSS. in the British Museum (Add. 4293. fol. 5.) is preserved a curious document illustrative of the love of Charles I. for the fine arts, and his anxiety to increase his collection of paintings, which, as it has escaped the notice of Walpole and his annotators, I transcribe below.

"CHARLES R.

"Whereas wee vnderstand that an excellent Collection of paintings are to be solde in Venice, whiche are knowen by the name of Bartolomeo della Nave his Collection, Wee are desirous that our beloved servant Mr. William Pettye, should goe thither to make the bargayne for them, Wee our selues beinge resolved to goe a fourthe share in the buyinge of them (soe it exceed not the sōme of Eight hundred powndes sterlinge), but that our Name be concealed in it. And if it shall please God that the same Collection be bought and come safelye hither, Then wee doe promise in the word of a Kinge, that they shall be divyded with all equallitye in this maner, vid^t. That, they shall be equallie divyded into fower partes by some men skillfull in paintinge, and then everie one interested in the shares, or some for them, shall throwe the Dice severallye, and whoesoever throwes moste, shall chose his share first, and soe in order everye one shall choose after first, as he castes most, and shal take their shares freelye to their owne vses, as they shall fall vnto them. In wittnes whereof wee haue sett our hande, this Eight daye of July, in the Tenth year of our Reigne, 1634."

The individual employed by Charles in this negotiation is the same who collected antiquities in Greece for the Earl of Arundel. He was Vicar of Thorley, in the Isle of Wight, and is believed to have been the uncle of the celebrated Sir William Petty, ancestor of the Marquis of Lansdowne. It would be curious to learn the particulars of the "bargayne" made by him, and how the pictures were disposed of after their arrival in England. Were the Warrant and Privy Seal books of the period (still remaining among the Exchequer records) easily accessible, no doubt some information on these points might be gained. That this collection of Bartolomeo della Nave was a celebrated one, we have the testimony of Simon Vouet, in a letter to Ferrante Carlo, written from Venice, August 14, 1627, in which he speaks of it as a "studio di bellissime pitture" (Bottari, Lettere Pittoriche, vol. i. p. 335.: Milano, 1822): and that it came over to England, is asserted repeatedly by Ridolfi, in his Vite degli illustri Pittori Veneti, the first edition of which appeared at Venice in 1648. He mentions in this work several paintings which were in Della Nave's collection, and which it may be interesting to refer to here, in case they are still to be traced in England. In vol. i. p. 107. (I quote the Padua edition of 1835) is noticed a painting by Vincenzio Catena, representing Judith carrying the head of Holofernes in one hand, and a sword in the other. In the same volume, p. 182., a portrait of Zattina by Palma il Vecchio, holding in her hand "una zampina dorata;" and at p. 263. several sacred subjects by Titian among which is specified one of the Virgin surrounded by Saints, and another of the woman taken in adultery, with "multi ritratti" by the same. Again, at p. 288., a head of a lady, supposed to be the mother of the artist Nadelino da Murano, one of the most talented pupils of Titian; and at p. 328. a painting by Andrea Schiavone, and some designs of Parmigiano. In vol. ii. p. 123. are mentioned two paintings by Battista Zelotti from Ovid's Fables; and at p. 141. a picture of the good Samaritan, by Jacopo da Ponte of Bassano. For these references to Bottari and Ridolfi, I own myself indebted to Mr. William Carpenter, the keeper of the department of engravings in the British Museum; and, probably, some of your readers may contribute further illustrations of Bartolomeo della Nave's collection of pictures, and of the purchase of them by Charles I. I do not find this purchase noticed in Vanderdort's list of Charles's pictures, published by Walpole in 1757.

F. MADDEN.

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Minor Notes.

Nonsuch Palace.—Our antiquarian friends may not be aware that traces of this old residence of Elizabeth are still to be seen near Ewell. Traditions of it exist in the neighbourhood and Hansetown, and Elizabethan coins are frequently dug up near the foundations of the "Banquetting House," now inclosed in a cherry orchard not far from the avenue that joins Ewell to Cheam. In a field at some distance is an old elm, which the villagers say once stood in the court-yard of the kitchen. Near this is a deep trench, now filled with water, and hedged by bushes, which is called "Diana's Dyke," now in the midst of a broad ploughed field, but formerly the site of a statue of the Grecian goddess, which served as a fountain in an age when water-works were found in every palace-garden, evincing in their subjects proofs of the revival of classical learning. The elm above-mentioned measures thirty feet in the girth, immediately below the parting of the branches. Its age is "frosty but kindly;" some two or three hundred summers have passed over its old head, which, as yet, is unscathed by heavens fire, and unriven by its bolt. The ground here swells unequally and artificially, and in an adjoining field, long called, no one knew why, "the Conduit Field," pipes that brought the water to the palace have lately been found, and may be seen intersected by the embankments of the Epsom railway.

The avenue itself is one of the old approaches to the palace, and was the scene of a skirmish during the civil wars. {237}

Your readers may, perhaps, forget that this palace was the scene of the fatal disgrace of young Essex.

GEORGE W. THORNBURY.

Ferrar and Benlowes.—The preface to that very singular poem, Theophila: Love's Sacrifice. Lond. 1652, by Edw. Benlowes, contains a passage so closely resembling the inscription "in the great parlour" at Little Gidding (Peckard's Life of Nic. Ferrar, p. 234), that the coincidence cannot have been accidental, and, if it has not been elsewhere pointed out, may be worth record. As the inscription, thought not dated, was set up during the life of Ferrar, who died in 1637, the imitation was evidently not his. Only so much of the inscription is here given as is requisite to show the parallel.

"He who (by reproof of our errors, and remonstrance of that which is more perfect) seeks to make us better, is welcome as an Angel of God: and he who (by a cheerful participation of that which is good) confirms us in the same, is welcome as a Christian friend. But he who faults us in absence, for that which in presence he made show to approve of, doth by a double guilt of flattery and slander violate the bands both of friendship and charity."

Thus writes Benlowes:

"He who shall contribute to the improvement of the author, either by a prudent detection of an errour, or a sober communication of an irrefragable truth, deserves the venerable esteem and welcome of a good Angel. And he who by a candid adherence unto, and a fruitful participation of, what is good and pious, confirms him therein, merits the honourable entertainment of a faithful friend: but he who shall traduce him in absence for what in presence he would seem to applaud, incurres the double guilt of flattery and slander: and he who wounds him with ill reading and misprision, does execution on him before judgement."

G. A. S.

Traditions from remote Periods through few Links (Vol. iii., p. 206.).—The communication of H. J. B., showing how a subject of our beloved Queen Victoria can, with the intervention, as a lawyer would say, of "three lives," connect herself with one who was a liegeman of that very dissimilar monarch, Richard III., reminds me of a fact which I have long determined in some way to commit to record. It is this: My father, who is only sixty-eight years old, is connected in a similar mode with a person who had the plague during the prevalence of that awful scourge in the metropolis in the year 1665, with the intervention of one life only. My grandfather, John Lower of Alfriston, co. Sussex, distinctly remembered an aged woman, who died at the adjacent village of Berwick at about ninety, and who had, in her fourth year, recovered from that frightful disease. Should it please Providence to spare my father's life to see his eighty-third birthday, the recollections of three persons will thus connect events separated by a period of two centuries.

I may take this opportunity of mentioning a fact which may interest such of the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" as are students of natural history. My grandfather, who was born in the year 1735 (being the son of Henry Lower, born on the night of the memorable storm of November, 1703), was among the very last of those who engaged in the sport of bustard-hunting in the South Downs. This bird has been extinct, on at least the eastern portion of that range, for upwards of a century. The sport was carried on by means of dogs which hunted down the poor birds, and the sticks of the human (or inhuman?) pursuers did the rest. My ancestor was "in at the death" of the last of the bustards, somewhere about 1747, being then twelve years old.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes.

Longevity.—Some few years since I had occasion to search the parish registers of Evercreech in Somersetshire, in one of which I met with the following astounding entry:—

"1588. 20th Dec., Jane Britton of Evercriche, a Maidden, as she afirmed of the age of 200 years, was buried."

I can scarcely believe my own note, made however, with the register before me.

C. W. B.

The Thirty-nine Articles.—The following MS. note is in a copy which I have (4to. 1683):

"Sept. 13. 1702.

"Memor. That Mr. Thomas King did then Read publickly and distinctly, in a full Congregation during the Time of Divine Service, the nine and thirty Articles of Religion, and Declare his Assent and Consent, &c., according as is Required in the Act of Uniformity, In the Parish Church of Ellesmere, In the Presence of Us, who had the said Articles printed before Us.

E. KYNASTON. THO. EYTON. AR. LANGFORD. WILL. SWANWICK."

J. O. M.

Emendation of a Passage in Virgil.—Allow me to send you an emendation of the usual readings of the 513th line of the first Georgic, which occurred to me many years ago, and which still appears to me more satisfactory than any which have hitherto been suggested.

"Ut, cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae, Ac sunt in spatio,—en frustra retinacula tendens, Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas."

"When the chariots have passed the barriers, And are now in the open course,— Lo, the charioteer vainly pulling the Reins, is carried along by the steeds."

The usual readings are "addunt in spatio," or "addunt in spatia," which are difficult to be {238} explained or understood. The emendation which I suggest is, I think, simple, easy, and intelligible; and I can imagine how the word "addunt" arose from the mistake of a transcriber, by supposing that the MS. was written thus:—ac[s]vnt, with a long [s] closely following the c, so as to resemble a d.

SCRIBLERUS.

Poems discovered among the Papers of Sir K. Digby.—In page 18. of your current volume is a poem of which I am anxious to know the author: it is entitled the "Houre-Glasse." Among the poems of Amaltheus I have discovered one so like it, that it appears to be almost a translation. It is curious, and but little known, so that I trust you can find it a place in "NOTES AND QUERIES."

"HOROLOGIUM PULVERUM, TUMULUS ALCIPPI.

Perspicuo in vitro pulvis qui dividit horas Dum vagus augustum saepe recurrit iter, Olim erat Alcippus, qui Gallae ut vidit ocellos, Arsit, et est caeco factus ab igne cinis.— Irrequiete cinis, miseros testabere amantes More tuo nulla posse quiete frui."

H. A. B.

Matter-of-fact Epitaph.—May I venture to ask a place for the following very matter-of-fact epitaph in the English cemetery at Leghorn?

"Amstelodamensis situs est hic Burr. Johannes, Quatuor e lustris qui modo cratus erat: Ditior anne auro, an meritis hoc nescio: tantas Caeca tamen Clotho non toleravit opes."

which may be thus freely rendered:

"Here lie the remains of a Dutchman named Burr. John, Who baffled at twenty the skill of his surgeon; Whether greater his merits or wealth, I doubt which is, But Clotho the blind couldn't bear such great riches."

C. W. B.

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Queries.

ANCIENT DANISH ITINERARY: PROL IN ANGLIAM.

An ancient scholiast on Adam of Bremen, "paululum Adamo ratione aetatis inferior," according to his editor, Joachim Maderus, supplies us with a curious list of the stations in the voyages from Ripa, in Denmark, to Acre, in the Holy Land. Adam of Bremen's Ecclesiastical History dates toward the end of the eleventh century, about 1070. His text is as follows:—

"Alterum (episcopatum) in Ripa; quae civitas alio tangitur alveo, qui ab oceano influit, et per quem vela torquentur in Fresiam, vel in nostram Saxoniam, vel certe in Angliam."

The scholiast has this note:—

"De Ripa in Flandriam ad Cuicfal velificari potest duobus diebus, et totidem noctibus; de Cuicfal ad Prol in Angliam duobus diebus et una nocte. Illud est ultimum caput Angliae versus Austrum, et est processus illuc de Ripa angulosus inter Austrum et Occidentem. De Prol in Britanniam ad Sanctum Matthiam, uno die,—inde ad Far, juxta Sanctum Jacobum tribus noctibus. Inde Leskebone duobus diebus inter Austrum et Occidentem. De Leskebone ad Narvese tribus diebus et tribus noctibus, angulariter inter Orientem et Austrum. De Narvese ad Arruguen quatuor diebus et quatuor noctibus, angulariter inter Aquilonem et Orientem. De Arruguen ad Barzalun uno die, similiter inter Aquilonem et Orientem. De Barzalun ad Marsiliam uno die et una nocte, fere versus Orientem, declinando tamen parum ad plagam Australem. De Marsilia ad Mezein in Siciliam quatuor diebus et quatuor noctibus, angulariter inter Orientem et Austrum. De Mezein ad Accharon xiiii diebus et totidem noctibus, inter Orientem et Austrum, magis appropiando ad Austrum."

We may fairly consider that the stations marked in this itinerary are of great antiquity. "Prol in Angliam" is, no doubt, Prawle Point, in Devonshire; a headland which must have been well known to the Veneti long before the days of Adam of Bremen. Its mention here is one among the many proofs of the early importance of this coast, the ancient "Littus Totonesium," the scene of one of Marie's fabliaux, and of some curious passages in Layamon's Brut, which are not to be found in the poem of Wace. I wish to ask,—

1. Is the word "Prol" Saxon or British, and what is its probable etymology?

2. Where was "Cuicfal in Flandriam," from whence the voyage was made to Prol?

RICHARD JOHN KING.

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CHIMING, TOLLING, AND PEAL-RINGING OF BELLS.

Some of your clerical readers, as well as myself, would probably be glad to have determined, what are the proper times and measures in which the bells of a church ought to be rung. There seems to be no uniformity of practice in this matter, nor any authoritative directions, by which the customs that obtain may be either improved or regulated. The terms chiming, tolling, and peal-ringing, though now generally understood, do not intelligibly apply to the few regulations about bells which occur in the canons.

I believe that chiming is the proper method of summoning the congregation to the services of the church: and tolling certainly appears to be the most appropriate use of the bell at funerals. But chiming the bells is an art that is not recognised in the older rules respecting their use. For instance, the Fifteenth Canon orders that on Wednesdays and Fridays weekly, warning shall be given to the people that litany will be said, by tolling of a bell. And, on the other hand, though we toll at a funeral, the Sixty-seventh Canon enjoins that—

"After the party's death, there shall be rung no {239} more but one short peal, and one other before the burial, and one other after the burial.

The peal here alluded to does not of course mean what MR. ELLACOMBE has so clearly described to be a modern peal, in Vol. i., p. 154., of "NOTES AND QUERIES;" but it would at least amount, I suppose, to consonantia campanarum, a ringing together of bells, as distinguished from the toll or single stroke on a bell. Horne Tooke says:

"The toll of a bell is its being lifted up (tollere, to raise), which causes that sound we call its toll."

The poet does not clear the ambiguity and confusion of terms, when he sings—

"Faintly as tolls the evening chime!"

Peals are not heard in London on Sunday mornings, I believe; but in the country, at least hereabouts, they are commonly rung as the summons to church, ending with a few strokes on one bell; and then a smaller bell than any in the peal (the sanctus bell of old, perhaps, and now sometimes vulgarly called "Tom Tinkler") announces that divine service is about to begin.

The object of these remarks is to elicit clearly what is the right way of ringing the bells of a church on the several occasions of their being used.

ALFRED GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

* * * * *

MAZER WOOD: GUTTA PERCHA.

In the Musaeum Tradescantianum, or a Collection of Rarities preserved at South Lambeth, near London, by John Tradescant, 1656, I find, amongst "other variety of rarities," "the plyable Mazer wood, which, being warmed in water, will work to any form;" and a little farther on, in the list of "utensils and household stuffe," I also find "Mazer dishes." In my opinion, it is more than a coincidence that Doctor Montgomery, who, in 1843, received the gold medal of the Society of Arts for bringing gutta percha and its useful properties under the notice of that body, describes it in almost the same words that Tradescant uses when speaking of the pliable Mazer wood: the Doctor says, "it could be moulded into any form by merely dipping it into boiling water." It is worthy of remark that Tradescant, who was the first botanist of his day, seems to have been uncertain of the true nature of the "Mazer wood," for he does not class it with his "gums, rootes, woods;" but, as before observed, in a heterogeneous collection which he styles "other variety of rarities." Presuming, as I do, that this Mazer wood was what we now term gutta percha, the question may be propounded, how could Tradescant have procured it from its remote locale? The answer is easy. In another part of the Musaeum Tradescantianum may be found a list of the "benefactors" to the collection; and amongst their names occurs that of William Curteen, Esq. Now this William Curteen and his father Sir William, of Flemish Descent, were the most extensive British merchants of the time, and had not only ships trading to, but also possessed forts and factories on, some of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, the native habitat of the sapotaceous tree that yields the gutta percha. Curteen was a collector of curiosities himself, and no doubt his captains and agents were instructed to procure such: in short, a specimen of gutta percha was just as likely to attract the attention of an intelligent Englishman at Amboyna in the fifteenth century, as it did at Singapore in the nineteenth.

If there are still any remains of Tradescant's collection in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the question, whether the Mazer wood was gutta percha or not, might be soon set at rest; but it is highly probable that the men who ordered the relics of the Dodo to be thrown out, showed but little ceremony to the Mazer wood or dishes.

A curious instance of a word, not very dissimilar to Mazer, may be found in Eric Red's Saga, part of the Flatoe Annals, supposed to be written in the tenth century, and one of the authorities for the pre-Columbian discovery of America by the Icelanders. Karlsefne, one of the heroes of the Saga, while his ship was detained by a contrary wind in a Norwegian port, was accosted by a German, who wished to purchase his, Karlsefne's, broom.

"'I will not sell it,' said Karlsefne. 'I will give you half a mark in gold for it,' said the German man. Karlsefne thought this a good offer, and thereupon concluded the bargain. The German man went away with the broom. Karlsefne did not know what wood it was; but it was Maesur, which had come from Wineland!"

Perhaps some reader may give an instance of Mazer wood being mentioned by other writers; or inform me if the word Mazer, in itself, had any peculiar signification.

W. PINKERTON.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

Paul Pitcher Night.—Can any of the contributors to "NOTES AND QUERIES" throw light upon a curious custom, prevalent in some parts of Cornwall, of throwing broken pitchers, and other earthen vessels, against the doors of dwelling-houses, on the eve of the Conversion of St. Paul, thence locally called "Paul pitcher night?" On that evening parties of young people perambulate the parishes in which the custom is retained, exclaiming as they throw the sherds,—

"Paul's eve, And here's a heave!"

According to the received notions, the first "heave" cannot be objected to; but, upon its being repeated, the inhabitants of the house whose {240} door is thus attacked may, if they can, seize the offenders, and inflict summary justice upon them; but, as they usually effect their escape before the door can be opened, this is not easily managed.

Query, Can this apparently unintelligible custom have any reference to the 21st verse of the IXth chap. of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"—the earthen fragments thus turned to dishonour being called "Paul's pitchers."

Any more probable conjecture as to the origin or meaning of this custom, or any account of its occurring elsewhere, will greatly oblige

F. M. (a Subscriber).

Disinterment for Heresy.—A remarkable instance of disinterment on account of heresy is stated to have occurred a little before the Reformation, in the case of one Tracy, who was publicly accused in convocation of having expressed heretical tenets in his will; and, having been found guilty, a commission was issued to dig up his body, which was accordingly done. I shall be much obliged to any of your readers who will favour me with the date and particulars of this case.

ARUN.

"Just Notions," &c.—At the end of the Introduction of The Christian Instructed in the Principles of Religion, by W. Reading, Lond. 1717, occur the following lines: (Query, whether original, or, if not, from whence quoted?)—

"Just notions will into good actions grow, And to our reason we our virtues owe; False judgments are the unhappy source of ill, And blinded error draws the passive will. To know our God, and know ourselves, is all We can true happiness or wisdom call."

U. Q.

Pursuits of Literature.—How came the author of the Pursuits of Literature to be known? I have before me the 11th edition (1801); and in the Preface to the fourth and last dialogue, the author declares that "neither my name nor situation in life will ever be revealed." He does not pretend to be the sole depository of his own secret; but he says again:

"My secret will be for ever preserved, I know, under every change of fortune or of political tenets, while honour, and virtue, and religion, and friendly affection, and erudition, and the principles of a gentleman have binding force and authority upon minds so cultivated and dignified. When they fall, I am contented to fall with them."

Nevertheless, the author of the Pursuits of Literature is known. How is this?

S. T. D.

Satirical Medal.—I possess a medal whose history I should be glad to know. It is apparently of silver, though not ringing as such, and about an inch and a quarter in diameter. On the obverse are two figures in the long-waisted, full-skirted coats, cavalier hats, and full-bottomed wigs of, I presume, Louis XIV.'s time. Both wear swords; one, exhibiting the most developed wig of the two, offers a snuff-box, from which the other has accepted a pinch, and fillips it into his companion's eyes. The legend is "Faites-vous cela pour m'affronter?"

The mitigated heroism of this query seems to be noted on the reverse, which presents a man digging in the ground, an operation in which he must be somewhat hampered by a lantern in his left hand; superfluous one would deem (but for the authority of Diogenes), as the sun is shining above his head in full splendour. The digger's opinion, that the two combined are not more than the case requires, is conveyed in the legend,—

"Je cherche du courage pour mon maistre."

The finding was curious. On cutting down an ash-tree in the neighbourhood of Linton, Cambridgeshire, in 1818, a knob on its trunk was lopped off, and this medal discovered in its core! It was probably the cause of the excrescence, having been, perhaps, thrust under the bark to escape the danger of its apparently political allusion. The Linton carrier purchased it for half-a-crown, and from him it passed in 1820 into hands whence it devolved to me.

Is anything known of this medal, or are any other specimens of it extant? I pretend to no numismatic skill, but to an unlearned mind it would seem to contain allusion to the insult which Charles II. and his government were supposed to submit to from Louis XIV.; to be, in fact, a sort of metallic HB.

Some friend, I forget who, pronounced the workmanship Dutch, which would, I think, favour the above theory. The figures are in bold and prominent relief, but to a certain degree rounded by wear, having been evidently carried in the pocket for a considerable time.

G. W. W.

Matthew's Mediterranean Passage.—I should be thankful for any information as to where the following work could be seen, and also respecting the nature of its contents.

"Somerset.—Matthew's Mediterranean Passage by water from London to Bristol, &c., and from Lynne to Yarmouthe. Very rare, 4to. 1670."

The above is quoted from Thos. Thorpe's Cat., part iii., 1832, p. 169., no. 7473.

MERCURII.

Inscription on an Oak Board.—I have an old oak board, on which are carved the following lines in raised capital letters of an antique form, with lozenges between the words:—

"IF . YOV . WOVLD . KNOW . MY . NAME . OR . WHO . I . WAS . THAT . DID . THE . SAME . LOKE . IN . GENESIS . WHERE . HEE . DOO . INDIGHT."

{241}

The letters are two inches long, and a quarter of an inch high from the sunken face of the board, which is four feet long by ten inches wide. It has a raised rim or border round the inscription; which proves that it had not contained more lines than as above. It was found at Hereford, in a county which still abounds in timbered houses, and it had been lately used as a weather-board. The legend was submitted to the late Sir Samuel Meyrick of Goderich Court; who was of opinion, that it had formerly been over the chimney-piece or porch of some dwelling-house, and is a riddle involving the builder's or founder's name. If any of your readers can suggest the age and original use of this board, or explain the name concealed in the lines, it will oblige

P. H. F.

Expressions in Milton.—Allow me to ask some correspondent to give the meaning of the following expressions from the prose works of Milton:—

"A toothless satire is as improper as a toothed sleck stone, and as bullish."

"A toothed sleck stone," I take to mean a "jagged whetstone," very unfit for its purpose; but what is the force of the term "as bullish?"

Again:

"I do not intend this hot seasons to bid you the base, through the wide and dusty champaign of the councils."

The meaning I receive from this is, "I don't mean to carry you through the maze of the ancient councils of the church;" but I wish to know the exact force of the expression "to bid you the base?"

R. (a Reader).

Saints' Days.—The chorea invita is not a very satisfactory explanation of St. Vitus's dance; and though St. Vitus is not in the Roman martyrology of our day, yet he is in the almanacs of the fifteenth century, and probably earlier. The martyr Vitus makes the 15th of June a red letter-day in the first almanac ever printed. Who was St. Vitus, and how did he give his name to the play of the features which is called his dance? Again, the day before St. Patrick is celebrated in Ireland, St. Patricius is celebrated in Auvergne. Can any identity be established?

M.

Chepstow Castle.—In Carlyle's Life of Cromwell, vol. i. pp. 349, 350., there is a letter from Cromwell, dated before Pembroke, wherein he directs a Major Saunders, then quartered at or near Brecon, to go to Monmouthshire and seize Sir Trevor Williams of Llangevie, and Mr. Morgan, High Sheriff of Monmouth, "as," he writes, "they were very deep in the plot of betraying Chepstow Castle." Carlyle has the following foot-note to the letter:

"Saunders by his manner of indorsing this letter seems to intimate that he took his two men; that he keeps the letter by way of voucher. Sir Trevor Williams by and bye compounds as a delinquent, retires then into Llangevie House, and disappears from history. Of Sheriff Morgan, except that a new sheriff is soon appointed, we have no farther notice whatever."

Can any of your correspondents give me information in what work I can find a tolerably full account of this "betraying of Chepstow Castle?" and also of what place in the county was this Morgan, Sheriff of Monmouth?

DANYDD GAM.

The Wilkes MSS. and "North Briton."—I inquired long since what had become of these MSS., which Miss Wilkes bequeathed to Peter Elmsley, of Sloane Street, "to whose judgement and delicacy" she confided them,—meaning, I presume, that she should be content to abide by his judgement as to the propriety of publishing them, or a selection; but certainly to be preserved for the vindication of her father's memory; otherwise she would have destroyed them, or directed them to be destroyed. In 1811 these MSS. were, I presume, in the possession of Peter Elmsley, Principal of St. Alban's Hall, as he submitted the Junius Correspondence, through Mr. Hallam, to Serjeant Rough, who returned the letters to Mr. Hallam. Where now are the original Junius Letters, and where the other MSS.? The Athenaeum has announced that the Stowe MSS., including the Diaries and Correspondence of George Grenville, are about to be published, and will throw a "new light" on the character of John Wilkes. I suspect any light obtained from George Grenville will be very like the old light, and only help to blacken what is already too dark. I therefore venture to ask once again, Where are the Wilkes MSS.? and can they be consulted? Further, are any of your readers able and willing to inform us who were the writers of the different papers in the North Briton, either first or second series? Through "NOTES AND QUERIES" we got much curious information on this point with reference to the Rolliad.

W. M. S.

"O wearisome Condition of Humanity!"—Can any of your readers inform me in what "noble poet of our own" the following verses are to be found. They are quoted by Tillotson in vol. ii. p. 255. of his Works, in 3 vols. fo.

"O wearisome condition of humanity! Born under one law, to another bound; Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity; Created sick, commanded to be sound. If Nature did not take delight in blood, She would have found more easy ways to good."

Q.

Bloomsbury.

Places called "Purgatory."—The Rev. Wm. Thornber, in his History of Blackpool in the Fylde District of Lancashire, gives the following explanation of the name as applied to particular fields, houses, &c.:—

"The last evening in October (or vigil of All Souls) {242} was called the Teanlay night; at the close of that day, till within late years, the hills which encircle the Fylde shone brightly with many a bonfire, the mosses rivalling them with their fires kindled for the object of succouring their friends in purgatory. A field near Poulton, in which this ceremony of the Teanlays was celebrated (a circle of men standing with bundles of straw raised high on pitchforks), is named Purgatory; and will hand down to posterity the farce of lighting souls to endless happiness from the confines of their prison-house: the custom was not confined to one village or town, but was generally practised by the Romanists."

It is certain that places may be found here and there in the county still going by the name of Purgatory. Can any of your correspondents throw further light on the matter, or tell us if the custom extended to other counties?

P. P.

Epitaph in Hall's "Discovery."—The following epitaph occurs in Bishop Hall's Discovery of a New World, by an English Mercury, an extremely rare little volume, unknown to Ames or Herbert; and is, I should imagine, a satire on some statesman of the time. Query, on whom?

"Passenger.,

"Stay, reade, walke, Here lieth Andrew Turnecoate, who was neither Slave, nor Soldier, nor Phisitian, nor Fencer, nor Cobler, nor Filtcher, nor Lawier, nor Usurer, but all; who lived neither in citty, nor countrie, nor at home, nor abroade, nor at sea, nor at land, nor here, nor elsewhere, but everywhere. Who died neither of hunger, nor poyson, nor hatchet, nor halter, nor dogge, nor disease, but altogether. I., I. H., being neither his debtour, nor heire, nor kinsman, nor friend, nor neighbour, but all: in his memory have erected this, neither monument, nor tombe, nor sepulcher, but all; wishing neither evill nor well, neither to thee, nor mee, nor him, but all unto all."—P. 140.

C. J. FRANCIS.

* * * * *

Minor Queries Answered.

Canon and Prebendary.—What is the difference between a canon and a prebend or prebendary in a cathedral, or a collegiate church establishment?

W. J.

[The distinction seems to be this, that a prebendary is one who possesses a prebend, which formerly a canon might or might not hold. Subsequently, when canons received prebends for their support, the two classes became confounded; the one, however, is a name of office (canon), the other of emolument (prebendary).

"Une partie du clerge etait toujours aupres de l'eveque, pour assister aux prieres et a toutes les fonctions publiques. L'eveque consultait les pretres sur toutes les affaires de l'eglise: et pour l'execution il se servait des diacres et des ministres inferieurs. Le reste du clerge etait distribue dans les titres de la ville et de la campagne, et ne se rassemblait qu'en certaines occasions, d'ou sont venus les synodes. De cette premiere partie de clerge sont venus les chanoines des cathedrales. Il est vrai que du commencement on nommait clercs canoniques, tous ceux qui vivaient selon les canons, sous la conduite de leur eveque; et qui etaient sur le canon ou la matricule de l'eglise, pour etre entretenus a ses depens, soit qu'ils servissent dans l'eglise matrice, ou dans les autres titres. Depuis, le nom de canonique ou chanoines fut particulierement applique aux clercs, qui vivaient en commun avec leur eveque."—Institution du Droit Ecclesiastique, par M. l'Abbe Fleury, 1iere partie, chap. xvii.

So much for the origin of canons. As to prebendaries:

"Praebenda, est jus percipiendi reditus ecclesiasticos, ratione divini officii, cui quis insistit. Alia est canonicatui annexa, alia sine ea confertur. Gl. in c. cum M. Ferrariensis, 9. in verbo receperunt de constit.

"Praebendam, beneficium et titulum nihil reipsa interest: usu tamen loquendi in alia ecclesia vocatur Praebenda, in alia beneficiam, seu titulus. Secund. Pac. Isag. Decret. hoc tit."—Lib. 2. tit. xxviii. of the Aphorisms of Canon Law, by Arn. Corvinus. Paris, 1671.

In the Quare Impedit of Mallory, the distinction is thus expressed:—

"There is a difference taken between a prebendary and a canon, for a prebendary is a praebendo and nomen facti in respect of the maintenance given to him: but Canonicus est nomen juris; and in our usual translations a secular is translated to a regular, but not e converso, a regular to a secular, Palm 501."—p. 34. sub titulo Advowson.]

What Amount of Property constitutes an Esquire?—The practice of subjoining "Esquire" to the names of persons has become so universal, that the real significance of the title is quite lost sight of. Will some one of your correspondents inform me what amount of property really constitutes an Esquire?

W. L.

[No fixed amount of property is a qualification for the title or rank of Esquire. For the description of persons so entitled to be designated, see Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i.; and the later the edition, the greater advantage W. L. will have in the notes and remarks of the latest law writers.]

Cromwell Family.—Will some of your correspondents be so good as to inform me, to whom the children (sons and daughters) of Oliver Cromwell's daughter Bridget were married, those by her first marriage with Ireton as well as those by her second marriage with Fleetwood. I can learn but the marriage of one: Ireton's daughter Bridget married a Mr. Bendyshe.

M. A. C.

[Cromwell's daughter, Bridget, who was relict of Henry Ireton, married Charles Fleetwood of Armingland Hall, Norfolk, and Stoke Newington, Middlesex: she died, 1681, without any issue by Fleetwood. See Fleetwood's pedigree in No. IX. of the Bibl. Topog. Britannica, pp. 28, 29. By her first husband, Henry Ireton, to whom she was married in 1646, she had one son and four daughters, of whom a full account will be {243} found in Noble's House of Cromwell, vol. ii. pp. 319-329., in which volume will be found an account of the family of Fleetwood.]

Daughters of the Sixth Earl of Lennox.—J. W. wishes for information as to who married, or what became of the daughters and granddaughters of Charles Stuart, the sixth Earl of Lennox, and brother of Darnley?

[The brother of Darnley (the husband of Mary Queen of Scots) was Charles, fifth earl of Lennox, who left an only daughter, the interesting and oppressed Lady Arabella Stuart, as every common Peerage will state.]

Wife of Joseph Nicholson.—Any information as to who was the wife of Joseph Nicholson, who resided in London the latter part of the seventeenth century, would much oblige one of his descendants.

He was second son of the Rev. Joseph Nicholson, rector of Plumland, Cumberland, who was married to Mary Miser, of Crofton.

His eldest brother was Dr. Wm. Nicholson, Bishop of Carlisle, afterwards Bishop of Derry, and died there 1727. The bishop's nephew, Rev. James Nicholson, son of the above Joseph, came to Ireland as chaplain to his uncle, and became rector of Ardrahan, co. Galway, and died there about 1776.

ANDREW NICHOLSON.

[If our correspondent will refer to the title-page of the Bishop's celebrated work, The English, Scotch, and Irish Historical Libraries, as well as to his correspondence with Thoresby, the Leeds antiquary, he will find his name spelt Nicolson, without the letter h. This deserves to be noted, as there was another Dr. William Nicholson, consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, A.D. 1660.]

Six Abeiles.—In Mrs. Barrett Browning's beautiful poem, Rhyme of the Duchess May, the following lines occur:

"Six abeiles i' the kirkyard grow, On the northside in a row."

Will you or some of your readers kindly inform me what abeiles are. From the context, they would seem to be some kind of tree, but what tree I cannot discover.

M. A. H.

Monkstown, co. Cork, Feb. 18. 1851.

[Bailey, in his Dictionary, says, "An abele-tree is a fine kind of white poplar." See also Chambers' Cyclopaedia.]

Southey.—There is a jeu d'esprit attributed to Southey, on the expedition of Napoleon into Russia, beginning,—

"Buonaparte must needs set out On a summer's excursion to Moscow,"

and ending,—

"But there's a place which he must go to, Where the fire is red, and the brimstone blue, Sacre-bleu, ventre-bleu, He'll find it hotter than Moscow."

I know this was printed, for I saw it when a boy. Where can it be found?

M.

[See "The March to Moscow," in Southey's Poetical Works, p. 464., edit. 1850.]

Epigram against Burke.—Can any reader supply me with some lines of great asperity against Edmund Burke, excited (I believe) by the unrelenting hostility exhibited by Burke against Warren Hastings?

The sting of the epigram is contained in the last line, which, alluding to the exemption of Ireland from all poisonous reptiles, runs as follows:—

"And saved her venom to create a Burke."

And if the said lines shall be forthcoming, I should be glad also to be informed of their reputed author.

A BORDERER.

[The following epigram, thrown to Burke in court, and torn by him to shreds, has been always attributed to Mr. Law (Lord Ellenborough), but erroneously:—

"Oft have we wonder'd that on Irish ground No poisonous reptile has e'er yet been found; Reveal'd the secret stands of nature's work, She saved her venom to create a Burke."

The real author was one Williams, notorious for his nom de guerre, Anthony Pasquin.—Townsend's History of Twelve Eminent Judges.]

Knights Hospitallers.—Where may a correct list be found of the names of the several persons who held the appointment of Master of the Knights Hospitallers in England, from the period of their first coming until the dissolution of their houses?

S. P. O. R.

[See Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, new edition, vol. vi. pp. 796-798.]

* * * * *

Replies.

MESMERISM.

(Vol. iii., p. 220.)

I am much obliged to your correspondent A. L. R. for his kind notice of my pamphlet on Mesmerism, and equally so to yourself for inserting it; because it gives me an opportunity of explaining to him, and others to whom I am personally unknown, and who are therefore not aware of my circumstances and movements, why the work was not continued without delay. In doing this I will try to avoid trespassing on your goodness by one word of needless egotism. In my Preface I described my materials as a "number of fragments belonging to various ages and places," as "scattered facts and hints" which I had met with in books which were not suspected of containing such matter; and some of them books not likely to fall into the hands of anybody but a librarian, or at least a person having access to a public library. It may be easily understood that rough materials thus gathered were not fit for {244} publication; and that, without the books from which they had been "noted" and "queried," they could not be made so: and if I had anticipated the course of events (notwithstanding an inducement which I will mention presently), I should not have thought of publishing a Part I. But when I sent it to the press, I had no idea that I should ever return here, or be at an inconvenient distance from the libraries which were then within my reach, and open to my use. As it was, I regretted that I had done so, and felt obliged to hurry the pamphlet through the press, that I might pack up these papers, and many other things more likely to be hurt by carriage, for a residence an hundred miles off; and here they are in statu quo. I have not attempted to do any thing with them, not only because I have been very much occupied in other ways, but because I do not know that I could fit them for publication without referring to some books to which I have not access. At the same time I feel bound to add, that while I still think that some of the things to which I refer might be worth printing, yet I do not consider them so important as the matter which formed the subject of the Part already published. I did think (and that was the inducement to which I have already referred) that it was high time to call the attention of disinterested and reflecting persons to the facts alleged by mesmerists, and to the names by which they are attested. I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have in some degree succeeded in this design. I may perhaps some day find a channel for publishing the fragments alluded to; but in the mean time, I shall be very glad if I can supply anything which your correspondent may think wanting, or explain anything unintelligible in what is published, if he will let me hear from him either with or without his name. I am sorry to ask for so much space, knowing how little you have to spare; but I cannot resist the temptation to offer an explanation, which will be so widely circulated, and among such readers as I know this will be, if you can find room for it.

J. R. MAITLAND.

Gloucester, March 24.

* * * * *

LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM.

(Vol. iii., p. 185.)

The following observations, though slight in themselves, may tend to show that Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, was, or professed to be, a Protestant.

1st. On his embassy to Spain, Carte says (I quote from Collins's Peerage, vol. iv. p. 272.)—

"On Friday the last of this Month His Catholick Majesty ratified the peace upon Oath in a great chamber of the palace.... It was pretended that the Clergy would not suffer this to be done in a Church or Chapel where the neglect of reverence of the Holy Sacrament would give scandal."

I presume the "neglect of reverence" was apprehended in the case of the English ambassador.

2nd. In Fuller's Worthies (Surrey), speaking of Lord Nottingham, it is said—

"He lived to be very aged, who wrote 'man,' (if not married) in the first of Queen Elizabeth, being an invited guest at the solemn consecration of Matthew Parker at Lambeth; and many years after, by his testimony, confuted those lewd and loud lies which the papists tell of the Nag's Head in Cheapside."

3rd. He was one of the commissioners on the trial of Garnet and others; and told him, as he stood in a box made like a pulpit—

"Sir, you have this day done more good in that pulpit wherein you now stand, than you have done in any other pulpit all the days of your life."—Archaeologia, vol. xv.

His coffin-plate has been engraved somewhere, and, if his will exists, it might probably settle the question.

Q. D.

Lord Howard of Effingham (Vol. iii., p. 185.).—There is some proof that he was a Protestant in the letter of instructions to him from King James (Biog. Brit., p. 2679.):

"Only we forewarn you, that in the performance of that ceremony, which is likely to be done in the King's (of Spain) chapel, you have especial care that it be not done in the forenoon, in the time of mass, to the scandal of our religion; but rather in the afternoon, at what time their service is more free from note of superstition."

May Lord Effingham have changed his religion between the Armada and his mission to Spain?

C. B.

* * * * *

IOVANNI VOLPE.

(Vol. iii., p. 188.)

The Volpes were an ancient, noble Florentine family of the second class, some branches of which according to the usage of Florence, changed their name, and adopted that of Bigliotti. The object of the change was to remove the disqualification which attached to them, as nobles, of holding offices under the republic. In illustration of this singular practice, the following extracts may be cited:

"Le peuple nomma une commission pour corriger les statuts de la republique, et reprimer par les lois l'insolence des nobles. Une ordonnance fameuse, connue sous le nom d'Ordinamenti della Giustizia, fut l'ouvrage de cette commission. Pour le maintien de la liberte et de la justice, elle sanctionna la jurisprudence la plus tyrannique, et la plus injuste. Trente-sept familles, les plus nobles et les plus respectables de Florence, furent exclus a jamais du priorat, sans qu'il leur fut permis de recouvrer les droits de cite, en se {245} faisant matriculer dans quelque corps de metier, ou en exercant quelque profession.... Les membres de ces trente-sept familles furent designes, meme dans les lois, par les noms de grands et de magnats; et pour la premiere fois, on vit un titre d'honneur devenir nonseulement un fardeau onereux, mais une punition."—Sismondi, Histoire des Republiques Italiennes, tom. iv. pp. 63-4.: Paris, 1826.

"The people, now sure of their triumph, relaxed the Ordinances of Justice, and, to make some distinction in favour of merit or innocence, effaced certain families from the list of the nobility. Five hundred and thirty persons were thus elevated, as we may call it, to the rank of commoners. As it was beyond the competence of the Republic of Florence to change a man's ancestors, this nominal alteration left all the real advantage of birth as they were, and was undoubtedly an enhancenent of dignity, though, in appearance, a very singular one. Conversely, several unpopular commoners were ennobled in order to disfranchise them. Nothing was more usual, in subsequent times, than such an arbitrary change of rank, as a penalty or a benefit. (Messer Antonio de Baldinaccio degli Adimari, tutto che fosse de piu grandi e nobili, per grazia era misso tra 'l popolo.—Villani, xii. c. 108.) Those nobles who were rendered plebeian by favour, were obliged to change their name and arms."—Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 435-6.: London, 1834.

"In the history of Florentine families, a singular feature presents itself; by a practice peculiar to Italy, nay, it is believed to Florence, families, under certain circumstances, were compelled to change their arms and their surnames, the origin of which was as follows. After having long suffered the insolent factions of the great families to convulse the state, the middle classes, headed indeed by one of the nobles, by a determined movement, obtained the mastery. To organize their newly-acquired power, they instituted an office, the chief at Florence during the republican era, that of Gonfalonier of Justice; they formed a species of national guard from the whole body of the citizens, who were again subdivided into companies, under the command of other officers of inferior dignity, also styled Gonfaloniers (Bannarets). As soon as any noble committed violence within the walls of the city, likely to compromise the public peace, or disturb the quiet of the state, the great bell at the Palazzo Vecchio raised its alarum, the population flew to arms, and hastened to the spot, where the Gonfalonier of Justice speedily found himself in a position, not merely to put an end to the disturbance, but even to lay siege to the stout massive fortresses which formed the city residences of the insolent and refractory offenders to which they then withdrew. But the reforming party did not stop there; by the new constitution, which was then introduced, the ancient noble families, termed by cotemporary historians 'i grandi,' and explained to include those only which had ever been illustrated by the order of knighthood, were all placed under a severe system of civil restrictions, and their names were entered upon a roll called the Ordinances of Justice; the immediate effect was that, losing all political rights, they were placed in a most disadvantageous position before the law.

"By a remarkable species of democratic liberality, a man or a family might be emancipated from this position and rendered fit for office, born again as it were into a new political life, by renouncing their connections (consorteria) and changing their arms and surnames. They were then said to be made plebeian or popular (fatti di popolo). Niebuhr has noticed the analogy of such voluntary resignation of nobility to the 'transitio ad plebem' of the Romans.

"This practice of changing arms and surnames originated from the Ordinances of Justice promulgated about that time, which expressly requires this as a condition to the enjoyment by any of the old families of popular rights. It gave rise to great varieties of surnames and armorial bearings in different branches of the same house. But it has nevertheless been noted that in all these mutations it was still the endeavour of the parties to retain as much as possible of the ancient ensigns and appellations, so that traces of descent and connexion might not in the progress of years be altogether obliterated. Thus the Cavalcanti took the name of Cavallereschi, the Tornaquinci that of Tornabuoni. Sometimes they obtained the object by a play upon the name itself thus; at other times by making a patronymic of the Christian name of the first or some other favourite ancestor; thus a branch of the Bardi assumed the name of Gualterotti, and a branch of the Pazzi that of Accorri. Sometimes they took their new name from a place or circumstance calculated to preserve the memory of their origin; thus the Agolanti designated themselves Fiesolani, the Bostichi from the antiquity of their stock, Buonantichi. In mutation of arms a similar object was borne in mind. Thus the Buondelmonti simply added to their ancient bearings a mountain az. and a cross gu. The Baccelli, who were a branch of the Mazzinghi, replaced the three perpendicular clubs, the ancient ensigns of the family, by two placed in the form of a cross.

"As the object of these provisions was to discriminate for the future those of the ancient families who had acceded to the principles of the popular institutions from their more haughty kindred, who remained true to the defence of their feudal and aristocratical pretensions, the change either of arms or surname was not required if the whole family became converts to the new doctrines; for then there was no need of discrimination, and the law was not framed out of any dislike merely to particular ensigns, but only to the principles and opinions which they had up to a certain time been understood to represent."—Mazzinghi.

The identity of the Volpes and Bigliottis is attested by ancient sepulchral monuments of the family in Santo Spirito at Florence. To mark the ancient origin, they retained or assumed the fox (volpe) as their arms. Borghini, in his Discorsi (Florence, 1584-5), mentions the family as an instance of the name giving rise to the arms, and mentions Sandro Biglotti, 1339, as the first who assumed the fox as his ensigns. The distinction and influence enjoyed at Florence by the family is indicated by its having contributed ten Gonfaloniers of Justice to the republic; an office corresponding in rank with those of Doge of Venice {246} and Doge of Genoa. Details of several branches of the family will be found in Saggi Istorici D'Antichita Toscane di Lorenzo Cantini: Firenze, 1798.

Among the junta of twenty noblemen of Venice, chosen in 1355, on the discovery of the conspiracy of Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, we find the name of "Ser Niccolo Volpe":—

"Questi [que' del Consiglio de' Dieci] elessero tra loro una Giunta, nella notte, ridotti quasi sul romper del giorno, di venti nobili di Vinezia de' migliori, de' piu savii, e de' piu antichi, per consultare, non pero che mettessero pallottola."—Vitae Ducum Venetorum,—though the title is in Latin, the work is in Italian,—published in Muratori's Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, tom. xii. p. 634.

The following particulars are extracted from the Biographie Universelle:—

"Ivo. Biliotti, d'une famille patricienne de Florence (qui avoit fourni dix Gonfaloniers de Justice a cette republique, et place ses armes sur les monnaies de l'etat), fut un des derniers defenseurs de la liberte de sa patrie, et un des meilleurs capitaines de son temps. En 1529, il defendit le fort de Spello, en Toscane, contre les troupes liguees du pape et de l'Empereur Charles Quint. Il obligea le prince d'Orange, qui les commandait, a se retirer, et se distingua aussi au siege de Florence. Il passa au service de Francois I^{er}, roi de France, avec de Gondi et Pierre de Strozzi, ses parents, et fut tue au siege de Dieppe. Une partie de la famille Biliotti, proscrite par les Medicis, se refugia a Avignon et dans le comtat Venaissin, vers la fin du 15^e siecle. Le 29 juillet, 1794, le chef de cette maison, Joseph Joachim, Marquis de Biliotti, chevalier de St. Louis, age de soixante-dix ans, aussi distingue par ses vertus que par sa naissance, fut la derniere victime du tribunal revolutionnaire d'Orange, qui fut suspendu le lendemain de sa mort."

The only particulars of Iovanni Volpe furnished by the Gwerclas MSS. are given in the annexed pedigree. The marriage of his daughter Frances with my ancestor, Richard Hughes of Gwerclas, arose from the latter (before his accession to the family estates and representation, consequent on the decease without issue—February 6, 18 James I., 1620-1—of his elder brother, Humffrey Hughes, Esq., of Gwerclas, Baron of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion, High Sheriff of Merionethshire in 1618) having been secretary of the princely Cliffords, Earls of Cumberland, to whom Iovanni Volpe had been physician. There can be little doubt that Iovanni was descended from a branch of the Italian Volpes which had retained the ancient name; a supposition confirmed by the tradition of my family, and by the fact of the fox being assigned to his daughter Frances as her arms, in an emblazoned genealogy of the house of Gwerclas compiled in 1650 by the most accurate and eminent of Welsh antiquaries, Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, Esq.

I may add, that among the Gwerclas pictures are portraits of Richard Hughes and Frances; the latter exhibiting in features an complexion the unmistakeable impress of Italian lineage.

WILLIAM HUGHES.

Twyford, Hants, March 18. 1851.

WILLIAM WOLPE. === Arms, Vert a fox courant, proper. JOHN WOLPE, aliter VULP, "An Italian === , "Descended doctor; was ffamous in Queene Eliza- of the ffamily of the beth's tyme, went with George Erle Monntaynes in Yorkshire, of Cumberland most of his sea who keepe the name this voyages, and was with him at the daye [1622.]." takeing of Portorico, in the Indies." RICHARD EVERS (1st) === FRANCES, "Sole === (2nd) RICHARD HUGHES, Esq., "Of the ffamily of daughter." Died of Gwerclas, co. Merioneth, Evers of Coventry." 29 June, 1636, Baron of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion. circa aet. 50. Married 2 Nov. 1601. Died 21 March, 1641, circa aet. 80. MARTHA, "Only daughter." === RICHARD LLOYD HUMFFREY HUGHES, Esq. of Born 25 January, 1599. of Vaerdre [in Gwerclas, Baron of Cymmer- Married, 27 June, 1616. / Edeirnion, co. yn-Edeirnion, son and heir. Merioneth]. High Sheriff of Merioneth- "Had issue sonnes and daughters, now [19 shire in 1670. Born 14 April, 1622] liveing." Aug. 1605. Buried at Llangar in Edeirnion, 4 May, 1682. /

{247}

Giovanni Volpe or Master Wolfe (Vol. iii., p. 188.).—This person was certainly never "physician to Queen Elizabeth," but he may have received from her Majesty the appointment of apothecary, as he did from her successor. On New-Year's day, 1605-6, John Vulp presented to the king "a box of Indian plums," receiving in return 7 oz. di. di. qr. of gilt plate; he is then named the last of five apothecaries who paid their votive offerings to royalty. (Nichols's Progresses, &c. of King James I., vol. i. p. 597.) In 1617 he had risen to be the king's principal apothecary, and by the name of John Wolfgango Rumlero received "for his fee by the year 40 li.," as appears by the abstract of his Majesty's revenue attached to the pamphlet entitled Time brought to Light by Time. From the name here given him, it may be conjectured that he was rather from Germany than Italy. However, he also went by the plain English name of Master Wolfe.

He is thus alluded to in the epilogue to Ben Jonson's Masque of the Metamorphosed Gipsies, when it was performed at Windsor in September, 1621:—

"But, lest it prove like wonder to the sight To see a gipsy, as an AEthiop, white, Know that what dy'd our faces was an ointment Made and laid on by Master Woolfe's appointment, The Count Lycanthropos."

As he was a man of such prominence in his profession, probably many other notices of him might be collected if duly "noted" as they occur.

J. G. N.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

Sir Andrew Chadwick (Vol. iii., p. 141.).—It was stated in evidence, in a trial at Lancaster assizes, Hilary Term, 1769, between Law and Taylor, plaintiffs, and Duckworth and Wilkinson, defendants, respecting the heirs at law of Sir Andrew Chadwick, and their claim to his estates, that "Ellis Chadwick married in Ireland a lady of fashion, who had some connexion with her late Majesty Queen Anne, and had issue by her the late Sir Andrew Chadwick. Ellis, the father, dying in his son's infancy, about the year 1693, his widow brought her son Andrew over to England, where he was very early introduced at court, and being contemporary with the young Duke of Gloucester, became a great favourite with him, was knighted, and had divers preferments."—From the Attorney-General's MS. Brief. The latter part of this statement does not appear to confirm the supposition recorded by MR. J.N. CHADWICK.

F. R. R.

Manuscript of Bede (Vol. iii., p. 180.).—The volume in question is entered in the Catalogue of Thoresby's MSS., No. 10. in the Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 72. 2d ed. 1816. The greater part of these MSS. came into the hands of Ralph Thoresby, Jun., and, together with the coins, were disposed of by public auction in March, 1764, by Whiston Bristow, sworn broker. The MSS. were sold on the third day, but the volume containing Bede does not appear among them. The opinion formed by J. M. of the age of this MS. is certainly erroneous, and being on paper it is more probably of the fifteenth than the twelfth century. The period of William Dadyngton, Vicar of Barton, might decide this.

[mu].

MS. of Bede (Vol. iii., p. 180.).—Your correspondent will find a description of this MS. in the catalogue of Thoresby's Museum, at the end of his Ducatus Leodiensis, edit. 1715, fol., p. 515. He will also, in Thoresby's Correspondence, 1832, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 39., see a letter from Dr. John Smith, the editor of Bede's History, respecting this manuscript, the original of which letter is in my possession.

After many dismemberments, what remained of Thoresby's Museum, including his manuscripts, was sold in London in March, 1764, by auction. Mr. Lilly, the bookseller of Pall Mall, had a priced catalogue of this sale; and your correspondent, if anxious to trace the pedigree of his MS. further, can, I have no doubt, on application, get a reference made to that catalogue.

I take the present opportunity of mentioning that, as Mr. Upcott's sale, when I became the purchaser of the Thoresby papers, including his MS. diaries, his Album, and upwards of 1000 letters to him, a very small number of which were printed in the collection, in two volumes, edited by Mr. Hunter, one of the diaries, from May 14, 1712, to September 26, 1714, which was sold with the lot, was after the sale found to be missing. It subsequently came into the hands of a London dealer, by whom it was sold to a Yorkshire gentleman, as I understand, but whose name I have not yet been able to trace. Should this meet his eye, I will venture to appeal to his sense of justice, entirely ignorant as I am sure he has been of the "pedigree," to use your correspondent's expression, of his MS., whether he will allow it to be longer separated from the series to which it belongs, and which is incomplete without it. I need hardly say, I can only expect to receive it on the terms of repaying the price paid for it, and which I should embrace with many thanks.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Manchester, March 8. 1851.

[The following advertisement of the missing MS. appeared in the Catalogue (No. 33., 1848) of Mr. C. J. Hamilton, then of Castle Court, Birchin Lane, now residing in the City Road, London:—"Thoresby's (Ralph, antiquary of Leeds), Diary from May 14, 1712, to September 23, 1714, an original unpublished MS., containing much highly interesting literary information, with autograph on fly-leaf, thick 8vo., 436 {248} pages, vellum with tuck, closely written, price 2l. 12s. 6d." The purchaser was Mr. Wallbran, Fallcroft, Ripon, Yorkshire.]

Closing of Rooms on account of Death (Vol. iii., p. 142.).—I am acquainted with a remarkable instance of this custom. A respectable farmer who resided in a parish in Bedfordshire, adjoining that in which I am writing, died in 1844; leaving to his daughter the fine old manor-house in which he had lived for many years, and in which he died, together with about 300 acres of land. The lady, with her husband, was then residing in a neighbouring village, where the latter rented a farm, which he has since given up, retaining the house; but she positively refused to remove to the manor-house, "because her father had died in it;" and as she still persists in her refusal, it is unoccupied to this day. For Mr. —— is not even permitted to let it, except a part, now tenanted by a valued friend of mine, which for many years has been let separately. The rooms and the furniture in them remain exactly as in the lifetime of the late occupant. The lady's husband, who farms the land attached to the house, is put to great inconvenience by living at a distance from it, but nothing will induce her to alter her determination. The facts I have related are notorious in the neighbourhood.

ARUN.

Enigmatical Epitaph on Rev. John Mawer (Vol. iii., p. 184.).—On reading to a lady the article on this subject in a late Number, she immediately recollected, that about thirty years ago she had a governess of that name, the daughter of a clergyman in Nottinghamshire, who often mentioned that they were descended from the Royal Family of Wales, and that she had a brother who was named Arthur Lewellyn Tudor Kaye Mawer.

This anecdote will perhaps be of use in directing attention to Cambrian pedigrees, and leading it from Dr. Whitaker's "Old King Cole" to "the noble race of Shenkin."

J. T. A.

Haybands in Seals (Vol. iii., p. 186.).—The practice mentioned by MR. LOWER, of inserting haybands, or rather slips of rush, in the seals of feoffments, was common in all counties; and it certainly was not confined to the humbler classes. Hundreds of feoffments of the fifteenth century, and earlier, have passed through my hands with the seals as described by MR. LOWER, relating to various counties, and executed by parties of all degrees. In these instances, a little blade of rush is generally neatly inserted round the inner rim of the impression, and evidently must have been so done while the wax was soft. In some instances, these blades of rush overlay the whole seal; in others, a slip of it is merely tied round the label. In delivering seisin under a feoffment, the grantor, or his attorney, handed over to the grantee, together with the deed, a piece of turf, or a twig, or something plucked from the soil, in token of his giving full and complete possession. I have generally supposed that these strips of rush were the tokens of possession so handed over, as part and parcel of the soil, by the grantor; and that they were attached to the seal, as it were, "in perpetuam rei memoriam." In default of better information, I venture to suggest this explanation, but will not presume to vouch for its correctness.

L. B. L.

Notes on Newspapers (vol. iii., p. 164.).—John Houghton, the editor of the periodical noticed by your correspondent, A Collection for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, was one of those meritorious men who well deserve commemoration, though his name is not to be found in any biography that I am acquainted with. He was an apothecary, and became a dealer in tea, coffee, and chocolate. He was in politics a loyalist, or Tory, and was admitted a member of the Royal Society in 1679-80. He began to publish his Letters on Husbandry and Trade in 1681. No. 1. is dated Thursday, September 8, 1681. The first collection ended June, 1684, and consists of two vols. 4to. In November, 1691, Houghton determined to resume his old plan of publishing papers on Husbandry and Trade. His abilities and industry were warmly recommended by several members of the Royal Society: Sir Peter Pott, John Evelyn, Dr. Hugh Chamberlain, and others. The recommendation is prefixed to the first number of this second collection. The first paper is dated Wednesday, March 30, 1692; and the second Wednesday, April 6, 1692; they were continued every succeeding Wednesday. The concluding paper was published September 24, 1703. There were 583 numbers, in 19 vols., of the folio papers. The last number contains an "Epitome" of the 19 vols. and a "Farewell," which gives his reason for discontinuing the paper, and thanks to his assistants, "wishing that knowledge may cover the earth as the water covers the sea." A selection from these papers was published in 1727, by Richard Bradley, F.R.S., in three vols. 8vo., to which a fourth was afterwards added in 1728, 8vo.

Houghton also published An Account of the Acres and Houses, with the proportional Tax, &c. of each County in England and Wales. Lond. 1693, on a broadside. Also, Book of Funds, 1694, 4to. Alteration of the Coin, with a feasible Method to it 1695. 4to.

JAMES CROSSLEY.

Duncan Campbell (Vol. i., p. 186.).—There seems to be no doubt that Duncan Campbell, whose life was written by Defoe, was a real person. See Tatler, vol. i. p. 156. edit. 1786, 8vo.; Spectator, No. 560.; Wilson's Life of Defoe, vol. iii. p. 476. His house was "in Buckingham Court, over against Old Man's Coffee House, at Charing {249} Cross," and at another period of his life in Monmouth Court. He is reported to have amassed a large fortune from practising upon the credulity of the public, and was the grand answerer of "Queries" in his day. Defoe's entertaining pieces relating to him are evidently novels founded upon fact.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Christmas Day (Vol. iii., p. 167.).—Julian I. has the credit of transferring the celebration of Christ's birth from Jan. 6th to Dec. 25th; but Mosheim considers the report very questionable (vol. i. p. 370. Soames's edit.). Bingham, in his Christian Antiq., devotes ch. iv. of book xx. to the consideration of this festival, and that of the Epiphany; but does not notice the claim set up on behalf of Julian I.; neither Neander (vol. iii. pp. 415-22. Eng. Translation). It would appear that the Eastern Church kept Christmas on Jan. 6th, and the Western Church on Dec. 25th: at length, about the time of Chrysostom, the Oriental Christians sided with the Western Church. Bingham also cites Augustine as saying that it was the current tradition that Christ was born on the eighth of the kalends of January, that is, on the 25th of December. Had, therefore, Julian I. dogmatically fixed the 25th of December as the birthday of our Saviour, it is scarcely possible to suppose that Augustine, who flourished about half a century later, would allege current tradition as the reason, without any notice of Julian.

N. E. R. (A Subscriber).

[See Tillemont's Histoire Ecclesiastique, tome i., note 4., for a full discussion of this question. Also Mosheim's De Rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum Commentarii, saeculum primum, sec. 1.; and Butler's Lives of the Saints, article Christmas-Day.]

Christmas-day (Vol. iii, p. 167.).—St. John of Chrysostom, archbishop of Nice (died A.D. 407), in an epistle upon this subject, relates (tom. v. p. 45. edit. Montf. Paris, 1718-34) that, at the instance of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (died A.D. 385), St. Julius (Pope A.D. 337-352) procured a strict inquiry to be made into the day of our Saviour's nativity, which being found to be the 25th Dec., that day was thenceforth set apart for the celebration of this "Festorum omnium metropolis," as he styles it. St. Tilesphorus (Pope A.D. 128-139), however, is supposed by the generality of ancient authorities to be the first who appointed the 25th Dec. for that purpose. The point is involved in much uncertainty, but your correspondent may find all the information he seeks in Baronii Apparatus ad Annales Ecclesiasticos, fol., Lucae, 1740, pp. 475. et seq.; and in a curious tract, entitled The Feast of Feasts; or, the Celebration of the Sacred Nativity of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; grounded upon the Scriptures, and confirmed by the Practice of the Christian Church in all Ages. 4to. Oxf. 1644. This tract is in the British Museum. J. C. makes a tremendous leap in chronology when he asks "Was it not either Julius I. or II.?" Why the one died exactly 1161 years after the other!

COWGILL.

Christmas Day (Vol. iii., p. 167.).—In a note to one of Bishop Pearson's sermons (Opera Minora, ed. Churton) occurs the following passage from St. Chrysostom:—

"[Greek: Para ton akribos tauta eidoton, kai ten polin ekeinen] (sc. Romam) [Greek: oikounton, PAREILEPHAMEN TEN HEMERAN. Hoi gar ekei diatribontes ANOTHEN kai ek PALAIAS PARADOSEOS tauten epitelountes]," &c.—Homil. Di. Nat. ii. 354.

The remainder of the quotation my note does not supply, but it may be easily found by the reference. The day, therefore, seems fixed by "tradition," and received both by the Eastern and Western Church, and not on any dogmatical decision of the popes.

R. W. F.

MS. Sermons by Jeremy Taylor (Vol. i., p. 125.).—Coleridge's assertion, "that there is now extant in MS. a folio of unprinted sermons by Jeremy Taylor," must have proceeded from his wishes rather than his knowledge. No such MS. is known to exist; and such a discovery is, I believe, as little to be expected as a fresh play of Shakspeare's. Was it in the "Lands of Vision," and with "the damsel and the dulcimer," that the transcendental philosopher beheld it?

JAS. CROSSLEY.

Dryden's Absolom and Achitophel (Vol. ii., p. 406.).—The edition noticed by your correspondent, "printed and sold by H. Hills, in Blackfriars, near the Water Side, for the benefit of the Poor," 1708, 8vo., is a mere catch-penny. Hills, the printer, was a great sinner in this way. I have Roscommon's translation of Horace's Art of Poetry, 1709; his Essay on translated Verse, 1709; Mulgrave's Essay on Poetry, 1709; Denham's Cooper's Hill, 1709; and many other poems, all printed by Hills, on bad paper, and very incorrectly, from 1708 to 1710, for sale at a low price.

JAS. CROSSLEY.

The Rev. W. Adams (Vol. iii., p. 140.).—The age of Mr. Adams at his death was thirty-three. His tomb is in the churchyard of Bonchurch—a simple coped coffin; but the cross placed upon it is, in allusion to his own beautiful allegory, slightly raised, so that its shadow falls—

"Along the letters of his name, And o'er the number of his years."

I have a pretty engraving of this tomb, purchased at Bonchurch in 1849, and your correspondent may perhaps be glad to adopt the idea for an illustration of the book he mentions.

E. J. M.

Duchess of Buckingham (Vol. iii., p. 224.).—I am much surprised at this question; I thought {250} there were few ladies of the last century better known than Catherine, daughter of James II. (to whom he gave the name of Darnley) by Miss Ledley, created Countess of Dorchester. Lady Catherine Darnley was married first to Lord Anglesey, and secondly to Sheffield Duke of Buckingham, by whom she was mother of the second duke of that name, who died in his minority, and the title became extinct. All this, and many more curious particulars of that extraordinary lady, may be found in the Peerages, in Pope, in Walpole's Reminiscences, and in Park's edition of the Noble Authors.

C.

"Go the whole Hog" (Vol. iii., p. 224.).—We learn from Men and Manners in America, vol. i. pp. 18, 19., that going the whole hog is the American popular phrase for radical reform, or democratical principle, and that it is derived from the phrase used by butchers in Virginia, who ask their customer whether he will go the whole hog, or deal only for joints or portions of it.

C. B.

Lord Bexley's Descent from Cromwell (Vol. iii., p. 185.).—In answer to PURSUIVANT'S Query, How were the families of Morse and Ireton connected? it appears that Jane, only child of Richard Lloyd (of Norfolk?), Esq., by Jane, second daughter of Ireton, married, circa 1700, Nicholas or Henry Morse. But what appears to me most likely to have occasioned the report of Lord Bexley's connexion with the Cromwell family is, that the late Oliver Cromwell, Esq., of Cheshunt, married Miss Mary Morse in 1771, which must have been not far from the period when Lord Bexley's mother, also a Miss Morse, was married to Mr. Vansittart.

WAYLEN.

Morse and Ireton Families.—I have a small original portrait of General Ireton by old Stone; on the back of it is a card, on which is the following:—

"Bequeathed by Jane Morse to her daughter Ann Roberts, this picture of her grandfather Ireton. Will dated Jan. 15. 1732-33."

"Anne Roberts, wife of Gaylard Roberts, brother of Christ^r Roberts, father of J. R."

In Noble's Memoirs of the Cromwell Family, vol. ii. p. 302., the name is printed Moore, evidently a mistake for Morse:—

"Jane, third daughter of General Ireton, having married Richard Lloyd, Esq., the issue of this marriage was Jane, an only child, who married Nicholas, or Henry Moore [Morse], Esq., by whom she had four sons and three daughters."

SPES.

The Countess of Desmond (Vol. ii., pp. 153. 186. 219. 317.).—Touching this venerable lady, the following "Note" may not be unacceptable.

In the year 1829, when making a tour in Ireland, I saw an engraving at Lansdowne Lodge, in the county of Kerry, the residence of Mr. Hickson, on which the following record was inscribed:—

"Catherine Fitzgerald, Countess of Desmond (from the original in the possession of the Knight of Kerry on Panell).

"She was born in 1464; married in the reign of Edw. IV.; lived during the reigns of Edw. V., Rich. III., Hen. VII., Hen. VIII., Edw. VI., Mary, and Elizabeth; and died in the latter end of James' or the beginning of Charles I.'s reign, at the great age of 162 years."