THE "SALT-PETER-MAN."

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."

The editor of theBoston Journal, after referring to this circumstance, which he says has caused an unexampled demand for the works of Gray in the United States, goes on to give the result of his researches in many old English works, respecting the origin and meaning of the wordcurfew, which I trust will interest not only your correspondents who have written on the subject, but also many of your readers. I glean from the clever article now before me the following brief notices, which I have not yet met with in "N. & Q."

In King Alfred's time the curfew was rung at eight o'clock, and called the "cover fire bell," because the inhabitants, on hearing its peals, were obliged to cover their fires, and go to bed. Thomson evidently refers, in the following lines, to this tyrannical law, which was abolished in England about the year 1100:

"The shiv'ring wretches at the curfew sound,Dejected sunk into their sordid beds,And through the mournful gloom of ancient time,Mused sad, or dreamt of better."

"The shiv'ring wretches at the curfew sound,

Dejected sunk into their sordid beds,

And through the mournful gloom of ancient time,

Mused sad, or dreamt of better."

On the people finding that they could put out their fires and go to bed when they pleased, it would appear, from being recorded in many places, that the time of ringing the curfew bell was first changed from eight to nine o'clock, then from nine to ten, and afterwards to the early hours of the morning. Thus we find inRomeo and Juliet:

"The curfew bell hath rung:'Tisthree o'clock."

"The curfew bell hath rung:

'Tisthree o'clock."

In Shakspeare's works frequent mention is made of the curfew. In theTempesthe gives the following:

"You whose pastimeIs to make midnight mushrooms—that rejoiceTo hear the solemn curfew."

"You whose pastime

Is to make midnight mushrooms—that rejoice

To hear the solemn curfew."

InMeasure for Measure:

"Duke.Who call'd here of late?Provost.None since the curfew rung."

"Duke.Who call'd here of late?

Provost.None since the curfew rung."

InKing Lear:

"This is the foul fiend Flibertigibbet;He begins at curfew, and walks to the first cock."

"This is the foul fiend Flibertigibbet;

He begins at curfew, and walks to the first cock."

This old English custom of ringing the curfew bell was carried by the Puritan fathers to New England; and where is the Bostonian of middle age who does not well recollect the ringing of the church bell at nine o'clock, which was the willing signal for labourers to retire to bed, and for shopmen to close their shops?

Before closing this Note, may I be allowed to informMr. Sansom, thatCharlestownis in Massachusetts, and only separated from Boston by Charles River, which runs between the two cities. The place to which he refers isCharleston, and in South Carolina.

W. W.

Malta.

(Vol. vii., pp. 377. 433. 460.)

The statute against monopolies (21 Jac. I. c. 3.) contains a clause (sec. 10.) that its provisions should not extend to any commission grant or letters patent theretofore made, or thereafter to be made, of, for, or concerning the digging, making, or compounding of saltpetre or gunpowder, which were to be of the like force and effect,and no other, as if that act had never been made.

In the famous "Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom" agreed upon by the House of Commons in November, 1641, there is special allusion to the vexation and oppression of thesubject by purveyors, clerks of the market, and saltpetre men. (Parliamentary History, x. 67.)

Shortly afterwards was passed an act (which obtained the royal assent) giving liberty for importing gunpowder and saltpetre, and for making of gunpowder. The preamble asserts that the importation of gunpowder from foreign parts had of late times been against law prohibited, and the making thereof within this realm ingrossed; whereby the price of gunpowder had been excessively raised, many powder works decayed, this kingdom very much weakened and endangered, the merchants thereof much damnified, many mariners and others taken prisoners and brought into miserable captivity and slavery, many ships taken by Turkish and other pirates, and many other inconveniences had from thence ensued, and more were likely to ensue, if not timely prevented. (17Car. I.c. 21.)

Lord Clarendon, in reviewing the various "important laws" of the Long Parliament to which the king assented, makes the following observations with reference to this particular act:

"'An Act for the free making Saltpetre and Gunpowder within the Kingdom:' which was a part of the prerogative; and not only considerable, as it restrained that precious and dangerous commodity from vulgar hands; but, as in truth it brought a considerable revenue to the crown, and more to those whom the crown gratified and obliged by that license. The pretence for this exemption was, 'the unjustifiable proceeding of those (or of inferior persons qualified by them) who had been trusted in that employment,' by whom, it cannot be denied, many men suffered: but the true reason was, that thereby they might be sure to have in readiness a good stock in that commodity, against the time their occasions should call upon them."—History of Rebellion, book iii.

On the 3rd April, 1644, the Lords and Commons passed an ordinance for the making of saltpetre, &c. This was grounded on the following allegations:

"1. The great expence of gunpowder, occasioned by the then war within his Majesty's dominions, had well near consumed the old store, and did exhaust the magazines so fast, that without a larger supply, the navy forts and the land armies could not be furnished."2. Foreign saltpetre was not in equal goodness with that of our own country, and the foreign gunpowder far worse conditioned and less forcible than that which is made in England."3. Divers foreign estates had of date prohibited the exportation of salt-peter and gunpowder out of their own dominions and countries, so that there could be but little hope or future expectation of any peter or powder to be brought into this kingdom, as in former times, which would enforce us to make use of our own materials."

"2. Foreign saltpetre was not in equal goodness with that of our own country, and the foreign gunpowder far worse conditioned and less forcible than that which is made in England.

"3. Divers foreign estates had of date prohibited the exportation of salt-peter and gunpowder out of their own dominions and countries, so that there could be but little hope or future expectation of any peter or powder to be brought into this kingdom, as in former times, which would enforce us to make use of our own materials."

From these circumstances, it was held most necessary that the digging of saltpetre and making of gunpowder should by all fit means be encouraged, at that time when it so much concerned the public safety; nevertheless, to prevent the reviving of thoseoppressions and exactionsexercised upon the people, under the colourable authority of commissions granted tosalt-peter-men; which burden had been eased since the sitting of that Parliament. To the end there might not be any pretence to interrupt the work, it was ordained that the committee of safety, their factors, workmen, and servants, should have power and authority, (within prescribed hours) to search and dig for saltpetre in all pigeon-houses, stables, cellars, vaults, empty warehouses, and other outhouses, yards, and places likely to afford that earth.

Thesalt-peter-menwere to level the ground and repair damage done by them; or might be compelled to do so by the deputy-lieutenants, justices of the peace, or committees of parliament.

Thesalt-peter-menwere also empowered to take carts, by the known officers, for carriage of the liquor, vessels, and other utensils, from place to place, at specified prices, and under limitations as to weight and distance; and they were freed from taxes and tolls for carriages used about their works, and empowered to take outhouses, &c., for their workhouses, making satisfaction to the owners.

This ordinance was to continue for two years, from 25th March, 1644.

An ordinance of a similar character was passed 9th February, 1652, to be in force till 25th March, 1656 (Scobell, 231.).

By an act of the Lord Protector and Parliament, made in 1656, it was enacted that no person or persons should dig within the houses or lands of any person or persons of the commonwealth for the finding of saltpetre, nor take the carriages of any person or persons for the carrying of their materials or vessels, without their leave first obtained or had. (Scobell, 377.) This is the act referred to byBroctuna("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 434.), and by my friendMr. Isaiah Deck("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 460.), though I am not certain thatMr. Deck'sinference be correct, that this act was passed in consequence of the new and uncertain process for obtaining the constituents of nitre having failed; and it is quite clear that Lord Coke could not have referred to this act. The enactment referred to is introduced by way of proviso in an act allowing the exportation of goods of English manufacture (inter alia, of gunpowder, when the price did not exceed 5l.per cwt.).

Allow me, in connexion, with this subject, to refer to Cullum'sHistory of Hawsted, 1st edition, pp. 150. and 151., also to the statute 1 Jac. II. c. 8. s. 3., by which persons obtaining any letters patent for the sole making or importing gunpowder are subjected to the pains and penalties of præmunire.

C. H. Cooper.

Cambridge.

(Vol. vii., p. 458.)

Will you permit me to make a few observations in reply to the Queries ofMr. H. H. Breenon this subject?

There is hardly any custom more ancient than for a person imposing a promise on another to call on him to bind himself by an oath to the due performance of it. In this oath the person swearing calls on God, the king, his father, or some person or thing to whom he attaches authority or value, to inflict on him punishment or loss in case he breaks his oath. The mode of swearing is, in one particular, almost everywhere and in every age the same.

When a father, a friend, a sword, or any corporeal object is sworn by,the swearer places his hand upon it, and then swears. When a man, however, swore by the Deity, on whom he cannot place his hand, he raised his hand to heaven towards the God by whom he swore.

When Abraham made Abimelech swear to obey him, he caused him to place his hand under his thigh, and then imposed the oath; and when Jacob, by his authority as a father, compelled his son Joseph to swear to perform his promise, he ordered him to go through a similar ceremony. (Genesis, ch. xxiv. v. 5., and ch. xlvii. v. 29.)

In the prophet Daniel we read that—

"The man clothed in linen which was upon the waters, held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever," &c.—Daniel, ch. xii. v. 7.

In the Revelation we also find—

"And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea and the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever," &c.—Revelation, ch. x. v. 5, 6.

Your correspondent inquires how oaths were taken prior to their being taken on the Gospel.

Among the nations who overthrew the Roman empire, the most common mode of swearing was on the relics of the saints. In England, I think, the most common mode was to swear on the corporalia or eucharistic elements, whence we still have the common phrase "upon your corporal oath." In each case the hand was placed on the thing sworn by.

The laws of the Alamanni as to conjurators, direct that the sacrament shall be so arranged that all the conjurators shall place their hands upon the coffer (containing the relics), and that the principal party shall place his hand on all theirs, and then they are to swear on the relics. (Ll. Alam.cap. 657.)

The custom of swearing on the Gospels is repeatedly mentioned in the laws of the Lombards. (Ll. Longo.1 tit. 21. c. 25.;Ll. Longo.2. tit. 55. c. 2., and c. 2. tit. 34.et al.)

In theFormularies of Marculphus, two forms of oaths are given, one says that—

"In palatio nostro super capella domini Martini ubi reliqua sacramenta percurrunt debeat conjurare."

In the other we read—

"Posita manu supra sacrosanctium altare sancti ... sic juratus dixit. Juro per hunc locum sanctum et Deum altissimum et virtutis sancti ... quod," &c.

In the laws of Cnût of England, two forms of oath are given. They both begin with "By the Lord before whom this relic is holy." (Ancient Laws and Justice of England, p. 179.)

Your correspondent asks "what form of Judicial oath was first sanctioned by Christians as a body?"

In the history of the Council of Constantinople, it is stated that—

"George, the well beloved of God, a deacon and keeper of the records, having touched the Holy Gospels of God, swore in this manner, 'By these Holy Scriptures, and by the God who by them has spoken,'" &c.

At the Council of Nice it is said that—

"Prayer having been offered up, every one saluted the Holy Gospels, the venerated cross and image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of our Lady the mother of God, and placed his hands upon them in confirmation of what he had said."

From these I infer that the custom of swearing on the Gospels received the sanction of the church at a very early period.

In reply to the question as to other modes of swearing, it may be said briefly, that men swore by anything to which they attached any importance, and generally by that to which they attached most importance.

By the laws of the Alamanni, a wife could claim herMorgen-gabe(or the gift of the morning after the wedding night) by swearing to its amount on her breast; and by the Droits d'Augsbourg, by swearing to it on her two breasts and two tresses.

Nothing was more common than for a man to swear by his beard. This custom is alluded to by one of Shakspeare's fools, who suggests that if a certain knight swore by his honour, and his mistress by her beard, neither of themcouldbe forsworn.

In the canons of the Fourth Council of Orleans, we read—

"Le Roi lui-même, ou le plus renommé des chevaliers présents, ayant découpé le paon, se leva, et mettant la main sur l'oiseau, fit un vœu hardi; Ensuite il passa le plat, et chacun de ceux qui le reçurent fit un vœu semblable."

In the year 1306, Edward I. of England swore an oath on two swans.

It was also very common from an early period, both in England and abroad, to swear by one, two, seven, or twelve churches. The deponent wentto the appointed number of churches, and at each, taking the ring of the church door in his hand, repeated the oath.

One of the most curious specimens of the practice of swearing men by that to which they attached most importance, is to be found in an Hindoo law. It says, let a judge swear a Brahmin by his veracity; a soldier by his horses, his elephants, or his arms; an agriculturist by his cows, his grain, or his money; and a Soudra by all his crimes.

John Thrupp.

Surbiton.

I know nothing about judicial oaths: but the origin of the formMr. Breenstates to be used by the Roman Catholics of the Continent, and the Scotch Presbyterians, may be seen in Dan. xii. 7.: "When he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever." And in Revelation x. 5, 6.: "And the angel ... lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him," &c. See also Genesis xiv. 22.

Maria.

Washing Collodion Pictures—Test for Lens.—As I was indebted to the kindness ofDr. Diamond, amongst other friends, for my original initiation into the mysteries of photography, it may appear somewhat presumptuous in me to differ from one who has had so much more experience in a point of practice. I allude to that ofwashingthe collodion negative after developing, previously to fixing with the hyposulphite of soda; but, probably, the reasons I urge may have some weight. As the hyposulphite solution is intended to be used repeatedly, it appears to me not advisable to introduce into itany free acid(which must occur if the negative be not washed, although the quantity at each operation may be small), because it causes a decomposition of the salt, setting freesulphurousacid, and also sulphur; which last is slightly soluble in the hyposulphite of soda, and thus the sulphur is brought in contact with the reduced silver, and forms a sulphuret of that metal. But the change does not stop here: for, by the lapse of time, oxygen is absorbed, and thus asulphate of silveris formed, and the colour changed from black to white. That sulphur is set free by the addition of an acid to the solution of hyposulphite of soda, is fact so easily demonstrable both to the eyes and nose of the operator, that no one need remain long in doubt who is desirous of trying the experiment.

A correspondent desires to know how to test the coincidence or otherwise of the visual and actinic foci of a combination: this is very readily accomplished by the aid of afocimeter, which can be easily made thus:

Procure a piece of stout card-board, or thin wood covered with white paper, on which draw a considerable number of fine black lines, or cover it with some fine black net (what I believe the ladies callblond), which may be pasted on. Cut up the whole into a dozen good-sized pieces of any convenient form, so that about four square inches of surface at least be allowed to each piece. Paste over theneta circular or square label about the size of a shilling, bearing a distinctly printed number one on each piece, from 1 upwards; and arrange the pieces in any convenient manner by means of wires inserted into a slip of wood; but they must be so placed that thewholecan be seen from one point of view, although each piece must be placed so that it isone inchfarther from the operator than the next lowest number. Having placed the camera eight or ten feet from the cards, carefully focus to any one of the numbers, 4 or 5 for instance and observe, not that thenumberis distinct, but that the minute lines or threads of the net are visible: then take a picture, exposing it a very short time, and the threads of the card bearing the number that was most perfectly in focus visuallyoughtto be most distinct; but, if otherwise, that which is most distinct will not only show whether the lens is over or under corrected, but will indicate theamountof error. If under corrected, a lower number will be most distinct; if over corrected, a higher.

Geo. Shadbolt.

Test for Lenses.—I beg to submit to aCountry Practitionerthe following very simple test for the coincidence of the chemical and visual foci of an achromatic lens:

Take a common hand-bill or other sheet of printed paper, and having stretched it on a board, place it before the lens in an oblique position, so that the plane of the board may make an angle with a vertical plane of about thirty or forty degrees. Bring any line of type about the middle of the sheet into the true visual focus, and take a copy of the sheet by collodion or otherwise. Then, if the line of type focussed upon be reproduced clearly and sharply on the plate, the lens is correct; but if any other line be found sharper than the test one, the foci disagree; and the amount of error will depend on the distance of the two lines of type one from the other on the hand-bill.

J. A. Miles.

Fakenham, Norfolk.

Improvement in Positives.—I have great pleasure in communicating to you an improvement in the process of taking positives, which may not be uninteresting to some of your readers, and which ensures by far the most beautiful tints I have yet seen. I take three ounces of the hyposulphite of soda, and dissolve it in one pint of distilled or rain water; and to this I add about one or one and a half grains of pyrogallic acid, and seventy grainsof chloride of silver; which must be squeezed up between the finders facilitate its solution and separate the lumps, which, in their dry state, are tough, and not easily pulverised. The whole is then to be set aside for a week or two in a warm place. The solution, at first colourless, becomes brown, and ultimately quite opaque; in this state it is fit for use, and the longer kept the better it becomes. I generally use French paper for this process, and, according to the time of immersion, obtain fine sepia or black tints; the latter requiring long over-exposure to the light, and proportionately long exposure to the action of the liquid; which however will be found, particularly when old, to have a more rapid action than most other setting liquids, and has the merit of always affording fine tints, whatever the paper used. I imagine the pyrogallic acid to possess a reducing influence on the salts of silver employed; but this effect is only produced by its combination with the hyposulphite of soda and chloride of silver. I may add, that in any case the pictures should be much overdone before immersion, as the liquid exerts a rapid bleaching action on them; and when the liquid becomes saturated, a few crystals of fresh hyposulphite will renew its action.

F. Maxwell Lyte.

Florian, Torquay.

P. S.—In answer to aCountry Practitioner, he will find great assistance in choosing his lens by laying it on a sheet of blue wove post paper, when he will immediately perceive the slightest yellow tinge in the glass, this being the fault which frequently affects many well-ground and well-made lenses. Of course, for sharpness of outline he must be guided entirely by experiment in the camera; but where weakness of action exists, it most frequently arises from this yellow colouration, and which the manufacturers say is very difficult to avoid.

[Mr. Lytehaving sent with his communication a positive prepared in the manner described, we are enabled to corroborate all he says as to the richness and beauty of its tints.]

Cheap Portable Tent.—M. F. M. inquires for a cheap and portable tent for working collodion out of doors. I have been using one lately constructed on the principle of Francis's camera stand. It has a good size table, made like the rolling patent shutters; and it is not necessary to stoop, or sit down at your work, which is a great consideration on a hot day: you may get them of any respectable dealer in photographic apparatus; it is called Francis's Collodion Tent.

H. D. Francis.

Rev. Mr. Sisson's New Developing Fluid(Vol. vii., p. 462.).—TheRev. Mr. Sisson's developing fluid for collodion positives, the formula for which was published in the last Number of "N. & Q.," is merely a weak solution of the protonitrate and protosulphate of iron. It does not, as he seems to think, contain any lead; for the whole of the latter is precipitated as sulphate, which the acetic acid does not dissolve even to the smallest extent: andMr. Sissonwill find that an equivalent proportion of the nitrate of baryta will answer equally as well as the nitrate of lead.

I have myself for a long time been in the habit of using a weak solution of the protonitrate of iron in conjunction with acetic acid for positive pictures; for, although I do not consider it so good a developer as that made according to the formula ofDr. Diamond, it produces very good pictures; occupies very little time in preparing, and will moreover keep good for a much longer time than a more concentrated solution would.

J. Leachman.

20. Compton Terrace, Islington.

Vanes(Vol. v., p. 490.).—Taking up by accident the other day your fifth volume, I saw what I believe is a still unanswered Query respecting the earliest notice of vanes as indicators of the wind; and turning to my notes I found the following extract from Beckman'sInventions, &c.:

"In Ughelli Italia Sacra, Romæ 1652, fol. iv., p 735., we find the following inscription on a weathercock then existing at Brixen; 'Dominus Rampertus Episc. gallum hunc fieri præcepit an. 820.'"

L. A. M.

Loselerius Villerius(Vol. vii., p. 454.).—I beg to inform S. A. S. that his copy of the New Testament, which wants the title-page, was printed by Henry Stephens the second, at Geneva, in the year 1580. As to it being "valuable," I should not consider him unfortunate if he could exchange it for a shilling.

Loselerius Villerius was Pierre l'Oyseleur de Villiers, a professor of Genevan divinity, who came over to London, and there published Beza's Latin version of the New Testament, in 1574. He was not, however, as your correspondent supposed him to be, the editor of the decapitated volume in question; but Beza transferred his notes to an impression completed by himself.

S. A. S. has, in the next place, inquired for any satisfactory "list of editions of the Bible." It appears that, so far as he is concerned, Le Long, Boerner, Masch, and Cotton have lived and laboured in vain.

The folio Bible lastly described by your correspondent isnot"so great a curiosity" as family tradition maintained. The annotations "placed in due order" are merely the Genevan notes.—Seethe Archdeacon of Cashel's very accurate and excellent work,Editions of the Bible, and Parts thereof, in English, p. 75.: Oxford, 1852.

R. G.

Westminster Parishes(Vol. vii., p. 454.).—In 1630 the City and Liberties of Westminster contained the churches of St. Margaret, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Clement Danes, and St. John Baptist Savoy.

The registers of burials, marriages, and christenings, of St. Margaret's Church, began January 1, 1538.

The Fire of London did not destroy any church in Westminster.

Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.

Hevristic(Vol. vii., p. 237.).—The termhevristisch, in the first edition of the translation of Kant'sCritik, is not given in the vocabulary appended to the translation; but under the wordostensivit is stated that in its meaning it stands opposed to the wordeuristic(hevristischin German). But in the second edition, published in 1818, it is remarked, under the wordsevristic,euristic,hevristisch, that the term should, in Sir Wm. Hamilton's opinion, beeureticorheuretic; the wordhevristischbeing an error of long standing in German philosophy. The derivation ofeureticwould be fromεὑρετικος.

In Tissot's translation,hevristischis rendered byheuristique; in Mantovani's, byevristico; in Born's, byheuristicus. In Krug'sLexicon,hevristikis given as derived fromεὑρισκω, εὑρειν. Thehevristicmethod, Krug remarks, is also called theanalytical. It may be added, that in the first edition of theCritik(Riga, 1781), the word ishevristisch. In the fourth edition (Riga, 1794), published also in Kant's lifetime, it ishevristisch. In Rosenkranz's edition (Leipzig, 1838), the word is changed intoheuristisch; and also, in another edition of the same year, published also at Leipzig, it is writtenheuristisch, and nothevristisch.

In respect to the Leipzig edition of 1818, which is that now before me, the termhevristisch, in speaking ofhevristichprinciples, is particularly alluded to. (See page 512. line 10.) I do not find, after a hasty inspection, this word changed, in any of the editions I possess, toempirisch.

Francis Haywood.

Liverpool.

Creole(Vol. vii., p. 381.).—The word appears to be a French form of the Spanishcriollo, which in the dictionary of Nuñez de Taboada is defined, "El hijo de padres Europeos nacido en America;" whilst in the old dictionary of Stevens (1726) it is translated, "Son of a Spaniard and a West India woman." In Brande'sDictionary of Science, &c. Creole is said to mean the descendants of whites born in Mexico, South America, or the West Indies, the blood remaining unmixed with that of other races, &c.

Von Tschudi says, that in South America the Spaniards apply the termCreolenot only to the human race, but also to horses, bullocks, and even to poultry.

A. C. M.

Exeter.

General Monk and the University of Cambridge(Vol. vii., pp. 427. 486.).—Leicestriensisbegs to thankMr. C. H. CooperandMr. J. P. Ordfor their replies to his Query on this subject. He avails himself of this, the earliest opportunity, of assuringMr. Ordof his readiness to afford him what slight information is in his power respecting the MS. in question (which only came into his possession within the last two or three months), if he will communicate with him as below.

William Kelly.

Town Hall, Leicester.

Ecclesia Anglicana(Vol. ii., pp. 12. 440.).—I am much obliged to your correspondent W.Fraserfor his answer to my Query, and the references with which he supplies me. I shall be glad to ask a still more extensive question, which will probably explain the object of the former more limited one. Is itusual, in any of the unreformed branches of the church on the continent, to find a similar appellation (implying distinct nationality) employed in authoritative documents,e.g.would it be possible to find in the title-pages of any Missal, &c., such words as "in usum Ecclesiæ Hispanicæ, Lusitanæ, Gallicanæ?" If not now, was it more customary in mediæval times, and when did it cease?

Should we be justified in saying, that ateveryperiod of her existence, with rare exceptions, theAnglican church, consciously or unconsciously, maintained the theory of her nationality with greater distinctness than any of the continental churches? I fancy I have heard, though I cannot state on what authority, that this assertion might be made most truly of the Portuguese church, and should be very glad to have any light thrown on the subject by your able correspondent. Certain it is, that amongst the various complaints made against Cardinal Wiseman and the Papal aggressors, it has never been laid to their charge, that they arrogated to themselves the title of members of theAnglican church.

G. R. M.

Gibbon's Library(Vol. vii., p. 485.).—In 1838 I purchased some of Gibbon's books at Lausanne, out of a basketful on sale at a small shop, the depôt of the Religious Tract Society! Edward Gibbon, printed on a small slip of paper, was pasted in them.

A. Holt White.

Golden Bees(Vol. vii., p. 478.).—When the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis, was opened in 1653, there were found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his arms, crystal orb, &c.,"more than three hundred little bees of the purest gold, their wings being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian."

Ceridwen.

Passage in Orosius(Vol. vii., p. 399.).—May not the "twam tyncenum," between which Cyrus the Great's officer attempted to cross a river, be the inflated skins which the Arabs still use, as the ancient inhabitants of Assyria did, for crossing the Tigris and Euphrates, and of which the Nimroud sculptures give so many illustrations?

Ceridwen.

Names first given to Parishes(Vol. iv., p. 153.).—I wish to repeat this Query in another form, and particularly in reference to the termination-by. I suspect that wherever a cluster of villages, like that given by F. B., occurs with this Danish suffix, it is a proof that the district was originally a colony of Danes. The one in which I reside (the hundreds of Flegg), from its situation is particularly likely to have been so. Its original form was evidently that of a large island in the estuary of the Yare, which formed numerous inlets in its shores; and this was flanked on each aisle by a Roman garrison, one the celebrated fortress of Garianonum, now Burgh Castle, and the other Caistor-next-Yarmouth, in which a camp, burying-ground, &c., besides its name, sufficiently attest its Roman origin. The two hundreds of Flegg, (or Fleyg, as appears on its common seal) comprise twenty villages, thirteen of which terminate in-by. These are Ormesby, Hemesby, Filby, Mauteby, Stokesby, Herringby, Thrigby, Billockby, Ashby or Askeby, Clippesby, Rollesby, Oby, and Scratby or Scroteby.

ProfessorWorsaae, I believe, considers Ormesby to have been originally Gormsby,i.e.Gorm's or Guthrum's village, but I have not his work at hand to refer to. Thrigby, or Trigby as it is vernacularly pronounced, and Rollesby, may take their names from Trigge or Tricga, and Rollo, names occurring in Scandinavian history. I should feel obliged if ProfessorsWorsaaeandStephens, or other Scandinavian antiquaries and scholars, would kindly inform me if my surmises are correct, and if the rest of the names may be similarly derived. I should add that Stokesby fully hears out the suggestion of C. (Vol. v., p. 161.), as there is even now a ferry over the Bure at that point. The district is entirely surrounded by rivers and extensive tracts of marshes, and intersected by large inland lakes, locally termed "Broads," which undoubtedly were all comprised in the estuary, and which would form safe anchorages for the long galleys of the Northmen.

E. S. Taylor.

Ormesby, St. Margaret, Norfolk.

Grafts and the Parent Tree(Vol. vii., p. 436.).—In order to insure the success of grafts, it is material that they be inserted on congenial stocks: delicate-growing fruits require dwarf-growing stocks; and free luxuriant-growing trees require strong stocks. To graft scions of delicate wooded trees on strong stocks, occasions an over-supply of sap to the grafts; and though at first they seem to flourish, yet they do not endure. A few examples of this sort may lead to an opinion, that "grafts, after some fifteen years, wear themselves out;" but the opinion is not (generally speaking) well founded. I have for many years grafted the oldGolden Pippinon theParadiseorDoucinstock, and found it to answer very well, and produce excellent fruit. Taunton has long been famous for itsNonpareils, which are there produced in great excellence and abundance. The CornishGilliflower, one of our very best apples, was well known in the time of King Charles I.; and, as yet, shows no symptoms of decay: that fruit requires a strong stock.

The ancientRibston Pippinwas a seedling:

"It has been doubted by some, whether the tree at Ribston Hall was an original from the seed: the fact of its not being a grafted tree has been satisfactorily ascertained by Sir Henry Goodricke, the present proprietor, by causing suckers from its root to be planted out—which have set the matter at rest that it was not a grafted tree. One of these suckers has produced fruit in the Horticultural Garden at Chiswick."—Lindley'sGuide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden, 1831, p. 81.

J. G.

Exon.

Lord Cliff and Howell's Letters(Vol. vii., p. 455.).—The Lord Cliff, as to whom your correspondent inquires, and to whom James Howell addresses some of his letters, is intended for Henry Lord Clifford, and afterwards, on the decease of his father, fifth and last Earl of Cumberland. He died in December, 1643. Amongst the many republications of modern times, I regret that we have no new edition, with illustrative notes, of Howell'sLetters. It is the more necessary, as one at least of the later editions of this most entertaining book is very much abridged and mutilated.

James Crossley.

Y. S. M. asks "Who was Lord Cliff?" He might as well have added, "Who was Lord Viscount Col, Sir Thomas Sa, or End. Por?" who also figure inEpistolæ Ho-Elianiæ. Had he looked over that entertaining book more attentively, Y. S. M. would have seen that all these were mere contractions of Howell's correspondents, Lord Clifford, Lord Colchester, Sir Thomas Savage, and Endymion Porter.

J. O.

The Bouillon Bible(Vol. vii., p. 296.).—H. W., who was good enough to answer my Query respecting Philip D'Auvergne, has probably seen that the Bible of which he inquires has turned up.It seems to have been pawned (if I rightly understand the report in the newspapers) to a Mr. Broughton of the Foreign Office, who had advanced money to the prince to enable him to prosecute his claim to the dukedom. It has now been ordered by Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. Wood to be offered for sale as part of Mr. Broughton's estate, for the benefit of that gentleman's creditors. It was stated in court, that on a former occasion, when the late Archbishop of Canterbury wished to purchase it, 1500l.was asked for it. I was much obliged to H. W. for the information he gave me, as I took some little interest in Philip D'Auvergne from having heard that he was a friend of my grandfather. They were, I find, both of them officers in the Racehorse during Lord Mulgrave's discovery voyage to the North Pole.

E. H. A.

Rhymes on Places(Vol. vii., p. 143.).—Northamptonshire:

"Armston on the hill,Polebrook in the hole,Ashton turns the mill,Oundle burns the coal."

"Armston on the hill,

Polebrook in the hole,

Ashton turns the mill,

Oundle burns the coal."

Repeated to me by poor old drunken Jem White the sexton, many years since, when on the "battlements" of Oundle Church; Oundle being the market town for the three villages in the rhymes quoted.

Brick.

Serpents' Tongues(Vol. vi., p. 340.; Vol. vii., p. 316.).—May I be allowed to informMr. Pinkertonthat the sharks' teeth (fossils), now so frequently found imbedded in this tufa rock, and cheaply sold, are not known as "the tongues of vipers," but, on the contrary, from time immemorial, as the "tongues of St. Paul." In proof of this, I would referMr. Pinkertonto the following extract, which I have taken from an Italian letter now in the Maltese Library; which was published on August 28, 1668, by Dr. Francis Buonamico, a native of this island, and addressed to Agostino Scilla of Messina. Page 5., the writer remarks:

"Che avanti de partire da questa isolde dovesse farle una raccolta di glossopietre,O lingue come que le chiamiamo di S. Paolo."

W. W.

Malta.

Consecrated Roses, &c.(Vol. vii., pp. 407. 480.).—An instance of theGolden Rosebeing conferred on an English baron, will be found related in Davidson'sHistory of Newenham Abbey in the County of Devon, p. 208.

J. D. S.

That well-worn quotation, "who shall decide when doctors disagree," must, we should think, invariably suggest itself to the reader of every new book upon the subject of Shakspeare's text. A few months sinceMr. Colliergave to the world a volume ofNotes and Emendations from Early Manuscript Corrections in a Copy of the Folio 1632[1], which was hailed by many, ourselves among the number, as a most valuable contribution to Shakspearian literature. From this favourable view of these manuscript emendations, many whose opinions upon such matters deserve the highest respect at once avowed their dissent; and we now find that we have to add to this numberMr. Singer, who has given us the result of his examination of them in a volume entitledThe Text of Shakspeare vindicated from the Interpolations and Corruptions advocated by John Payne Collier, Esq., in his Notes and Emendations. No one can put forth higher claims to speak with authority on any points connected with Shakspeare thanMr. Singer, who has devoted a life to the study of his writings; and none can rise from a perusal of his book without recognising in it evidence ofMr. Singer'sfitness for editing the works of our great dramatist, and feeling anxious for his revised edition of them. But we think many will regret that, while pointing out the Notes and Emendations from which he dissents,Mr. Singershould not have noticed those which he regards with favour; and that, in his anxiety to vindicate the purity of Shakspeare's text from the anonymous emendator, he should have embodied that vindication in language, which, though we are quite sure it is unintentional on his part, gives his book almost a personal character, instead of one purely critical.

Books Received.—Records of the Roman Inquisition, Case of a Minorite Friar who was sentenced by S. Charles Borromeo to be walled up, and who, having escaped, was burned in effigy: edited, with an English Translation, Notes, &c., byRev. Richard Gibbings. Published from one of the MSS. conveyed from Rome to Paris by order of Napoleon, at the close of the last century, as a challenge to the defenders of the papacy to acknowledge its truth, or to controvert it.—The History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, by Lord Mahon, Vol. III. The third volume of this new and cheaper edition of Lord Mahon's valuable history comprehends the period from 1740 to 1748.—English Forests and Forest Trees; Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive, with numerous Illustrations.This volume, one of theIllustrated London Library, is a pleasant chatty compilation on a subject which will interest many of our readers and correspondents by furnishing them with a series of notices of old forests, remarkable trees, &c., which have never before been gathered together.—The Shakspeare Repository, edited byJ. H. Fennell, No. II. The second part of this periodical, the only one exclusively devoted to the Elizabethan writers, contains, among other interesting articles, a long one on the medical practice of Shakspeare's son-in-law, Dr. John Hall.

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