Replies.

"But now, to please the fairy king,Full every deal they laugh and sing,And antic feats devise;Some wind and tumble like an ape,Andother-sometransmute their shapeIn Edwin's wondering eyes."Till one at last, that Robin hight,Renown'd for pinching maids by night,Has bent him up aloof;And full against the beam he flung,Where by the back the youth he hungTo sprawlunneaththe roof."

"But now, to please the fairy king,Full every deal they laugh and sing,And antic feats devise;Some wind and tumble like an ape,Andother-sometransmute their shapeIn Edwin's wondering eyes.

"But now, to please the fairy king,

Full every deal they laugh and sing,

And antic feats devise;

Some wind and tumble like an ape,

Andother-sometransmute their shape

In Edwin's wondering eyes.

"Till one at last, that Robin hight,Renown'd for pinching maids by night,Has bent him up aloof;And full against the beam he flung,Where by the back the youth he hungTo sprawlunneaththe roof."

"Till one at last, that Robin hight,

Renown'd for pinching maids by night,

Has bent him up aloof;

And full against the beam he flung,

Where by the back the youth he hung

To sprawlunneaththe roof."

As the author professes the poem to be "in the ancient English style," are these words veritable ancient English? If so, some correspondent of "N. & Q." may perhaps be able to give instances of their recurrence.

Robert Wright.

Newx, &c.—Can any of your readers give me theunde derivaturof the wordnewx, ornoux, orknoux? It is a very old word, used for the last hundred years, asfagis at our public schools, for a young cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. When I was there, some twenty-five or twenty-seven years ago, thenouxwas the youngest cadet of the four who slept in one room: and a precious life of it he led. But this, I hope, is altered now. I have often wanted to find out from whence this term is derived, and I suppose that your paper will find some among your numerous correspondents who will be able to enlighten me.

T. W. N.

Malta.

"A Joabi Alloquio."—Who can explain the following, and point out its source? I copy from the work of a Lutheran divine, Conrad Dieteric,Analysis Evangeliorum, 1631, p. 188.:

"A Joabi Alloquio,A Thyestis Convivio,Ab Iscariotis 'Ave,'A Diasii 'Salve'Ab Herodis 'Redite'A Gallorum 'Venite.'Libera nos Domine."

"A Joabi Alloquio,

A Thyestis Convivio,

Ab Iscariotis 'Ave,'

A Diasii 'Salve'

Ab Herodis 'Redite'

A Gallorum 'Venite.'

Libera nos Domine."

The fourth and sixth line I do not understand.

B. H. C.

Illuminations.—When were illuminations in cities first introduced? Is there any allusion to them in classic authors?

Cape.

Heraldic Queries.—Will some correspondent versed in heraldry answer me the following questions?

1. What is the origin and meaning of women of all ranks, except the sovereign, being now debarred from bearing their arms in shields, and having to bear them in lozenges? Formerly, all ladies of rank bore shields upon their seals,e.g.the seal of Margaret, Countess of Norfolk, who deceasedA.D.1399; and of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and mother of Henry VIII., who deceasedA.D.1509. These shields are figured in theGlossary of Heraldry, pp. 285, 286.

2. Is it, heraldically speaking, wrong to inscribe the motto upon a circle (not a garter) or ribbon round the shield? So says theGlossary, p. 227. If wrong, on what principle?

3. Was it ever the custom in this country, as on the Continent to this day, for ecclesiastics to bear their arms in a circular or oval panel?—the martial form of the shield being considered inconsistent with their spiritual character. If so, when did the custom commence, and where may instances be seen either on monuments or in illustrated works?

Ceyrep.

John's Spoils from Peterborough and Crowland.—Clement Spelman, in his Preface to the reader, with which he introduces his father's treatiseDe non temerandis Ecclesiis, says (edit. Oxford, 1841, p.45.):

"I cannot omit the sacrilege and punishment of King John, who in the seventeenth year of his reign, among other churches, rifled the abbeys ofPeterborough and Croyland, and after attempts to carry his sacrilegious wealth from Lynn to Lincoln; but, passing the Washes, the earth in the midst of the waters opens her mouth (as for Korah and his company), and at once swallows up both carts, carriage, and horses, all his treasure, all his regalities, all his church spoil, and all the church spoilers; not one escapes to bring the king word," &c.

Is the precise spot known where this catastrophe occurred, or have any relics been since recovered to give evidence of the fact?

J. Sansom.

"Elementa sex," &c.—Perhaps one of your readers, given to such trifles, will hazard a guess at the solution, if not at the author, of the subjoined:

"Elementa sex me proferent totam tibi;Totam hanc, lucernis si tepent fungi, vides,Accisa senibus suppetit saltantibus,Levetur, armis adfremunt Horatii;Facienda res est omnibus, si fit minor,Es, quod relinquis deinde, si subtraxeris;Si rite tandem quæritas originem,Ad sibilum, vix ad sonum, reverteris."

"Elementa sex me proferent totam tibi;

Totam hanc, lucernis si tepent fungi, vides,

Accisa senibus suppetit saltantibus,

Levetur, armis adfremunt Horatii;

Facienda res est omnibus, si fit minor,

Es, quod relinquis deinde, si subtraxeris;

Si rite tandem quæritas originem,

Ad sibilum, vix ad sonum, reverteris."

Effigy.

Jack and Gill—Sir Hubbard de Hoy.—Having recently amused myself by a dive into old Tusser'sHusbandrie, the following passages suggested themselves as fittingQueriesfor your pages:

Jack and Gill.—

"Let Jack nor GillFetch corn at will."

"Let Jack nor Gill

Fetch corn at will."

Can the "Jack and Gill" of our nursery tales be traced to an earlier date than Tusser's time?

Hobble de Hoy.—Speaking of the periods of a man's life, Tusser's advice, from the age of fourteen years to twenty-one, is to "Keep under Sir Hubbard de Hoy." Is it known whether there ever existed a personage so named, either as a legend or a myth? And if not, what is the origin of the modern term "Hobble de Hoy" as a designation for a stripling? Bailey omits it in hisDictionary.

L. A. M.

Humphrey Hawarden.—Information is solicited respecting this individual, who was a Doctor of Laws, and living in 1494. Also, of a Justice Port, living about the same period.

T. Hughes.

Chester.

"Populus vult decipi."—

"Populus

}

{

Mundus

}

vult decipi

{

et decipiatur,

Vulgus

}

{

decipiatur ergo."

Who was the author of the maxim? which is its correct form? and where is it to be found? It seems to present another curious instance of our ignorance of things with which we are familiar. I have put the question to a dozen scholars, fellows of colleges, barristers, &c. &c., and none has been able to give me an answer. One onlythinksit was a dictum of some Pope.

Harry Leroy Temple.

Sheriffs of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire.—Where can any list of the sheriffs for these counties be found,previousto the list given by Fuller from the time of Henry VIII.?

Harris.—The Rev. William Harris, B.A., was presented, by Thomas Pindar, Esq., to the vicarage of Luddington, Lincolnshire, on the 7th August, 1722. Mr. Harris died here in June, 1748, aged eighty-two. On his tomb is inscribed,—

"Illi satis licuitNunc veterum libris, nuncSomno, et inertibus horisDucere solicitæ jucunda oblivio vitæ."

"Illi satis licuit

Nunc veterum libris, nunc

Somno, et inertibus horis

Ducere solicitæ jucunda oblivio vitæ."

A tradition of his being a wizard still lingers in the village, and I should be very glad to receive any particulars respecting him. From an inspection of his will at Lincoln, it appears that he used the coat of the ancient family of Harris of Radford, Devon, and that his wife's name was Honora, a Christian name not infrequent about that period in families of the West of England also, as, for instance, Honora, daughter of Sir Richard Rogers of Bryanstone, who married Edward Lord Beauchamp, and had a daughter Honora, who married Sir Ferdinand Sutton; Honora, the wife of Harry Conway, Esq., of Bodrhyddan, Flint; Honora, daughter of Edward Fortescue of Fallapit; besides others.

W. H. Lammin.

Fulham.

(Vol. vii., p. 528.)

"Charity thinketh no evil;" but we must feel both surprise and regret that any one should, in 1853, consider it a doubtful question whether Bishop Butler died in the communion of the Church of England. The bishop has now been in his grave more than a hundred years; but Warburton says truly, "How light a matter very often subjects the best-established characters to the suspicions of posterity—how ready is a remote age to catch at a low revived slander, which the times that brought it forth saw despised and forgotten almost in its birth."

X. Y. Z. says he would be glad to have this charge (originally brought forward in 1767)sifted. He will find that it has been sifted, and in the most full and satisfactory manner, by persons of no less distinction than Archbishop Secker and Bishop Halifax. The strong language employed by the archbishop, when refuting what he termsa "gross and scandalous falsehood," and when asserting the bishops "abhorrence of popery," need not here be quoted, as "N.& Q." is not the most proper channel for the discussion of theological subjects; but it is alleged that every man of sense and candour was convincedat the timethat the charge should be retracted; and it must be a satisfaction to your correspondent to know, that as Bishop Butler lived so hedied, in full communion with that Church, which he adorned equally by his matchless writings, sanctity of manners, and spotless life.[4]

J. H. Markland.

Bath.

Footnote 4:(return)Your correspondent may be referred toMemoirs of the Life of Bishop Butler, by a connexion of his own, the Rev. Thomas Bartlett, A.M., published in 1839; and to a review of the same work in theQuarterly Review, vol. lxiv. p. 331.

Your correspondent may be referred toMemoirs of the Life of Bishop Butler, by a connexion of his own, the Rev. Thomas Bartlett, A.M., published in 1839; and to a review of the same work in theQuarterly Review, vol. lxiv. p. 331.

In reference to the Query by X. Y. Z., as to whether Bishop Butler died in the Roman Catholic communion, allow me to refer your correspondent to the contents of the letters from Dr. Forster and Bishop Benson to Secker, then Bishop of Oxford, concerning the last illness and death of the prelate in question, deposited at Lambeth amongst the private MSS. of Archbishop Seeker, "as negative arguments against the calumny of his dying a Papist."

Than the allegations that Butler died with a Roman Catholic book of devotion in his hand, and that the last person in whose company he was seen was a priest of that persuasion, nothing can be more unreasonable, if at least it be meant to deduce from these unproved statements that the bishop agreed with the one and held communion with the other. Dr. Forster, his chaplain, was with him at his death, which happened about 11a.m., June 16; and this witness observes (in a letter to the Bishop of Oxford, June 18) that "the last four-and-twenty hours preceding which [i. e.his death] were divided between short broken slumbers, and intervals of a calm but disordered talk when awake." Again (letter to Ditto, June 17), Forster says that Bishop Butler, "when, for a day or two before his death, he had in a great measure lost the use of his faculties, was perpetually talking of writing to your lordship, though without seeming to have anything which, at least, he was at all capable of communicating to you." Bishop Benson writes to the Bishop of Oxford (June 12) that Butler's "attention to any one or anything is immediately lost and gone;" and, "my lord is incapable, not only of reading, but attending to anything read or said." And again, "his attention to anything is very little or none."

There was certainly an interval between this time (June 12) and "the last four-and-twenty hours" preceding his death, during which, writes Bishop Benson (June 17), Butler "said kind and affecting things more than I could bear." Yet, on the whole, I submit that these extracts, if fully weighed and considered with all the attending circumstances, contain enough of even positive evidence to refute conclusively the injurious suspicions alluded to by X. Y. Z., if such are still current.

J. R. C.

(Vol. iv., p. 434., &c.)

I have asked many questions, and turned over many volumes and files of newspapers, to get at the real facts of the cases of mitigation stated in "N. & Q." Having winnowed the chaff as thoroughly as I could, I send the very few grains I have found. Those only who have searched annual registers, magazines, and journals for the foundation of stories defective in names and dates, will appreciate my difficulties.

I have not found any printed account of the "Jeannie Deans" case, "N. & Q.," Vol. iv., p. 434.; Vol. v., p. 444.; Vol. vi., p. 153. I have inquired of the older members of the Northern Circuit, and they never heard of it. Still a young man may have been convicted of forgery "about thirty-five years ago:" his sister may have presented a well-signed petition to the judges, and the sentence may have been commuted without the tradition surviving on the circuit. All however agree, that no man who ever sat on the bench deserved the imputation of "obduracy" less than Baron Graham. I should not have noticed the anecdote but for itsmythicaccompaniments, which I disposed of in "N. & Q.," Vol. v., p. 444.

In Vol. vi., p. 496., W. W. cites from Wade'sBritish History:

"July 22, 1814. Admiral William B——y found guilty of forging letters to defraud the revenue. He was sentenced to death, which was commuted to banishment."

The case is reported inThe Sun, July 25, 1814; and the subsequent facts are inThe Times, July 30, and August 16 and 20. It was tried before Mr. Justice Dampier at the Winchester Summer Assizes. There were five bills against the prisoner for forgery, and one for a fraud. That on which he was convicted, was for defrauding the post-master of Gosport of 3l.8s.6d.He took to the post-office a packet of 114 letters, which he said were "ship letters," from the "Mary and Jane." He received the postage, and signed the receipt "W. Johnstone." The letters were fictitious. The case was fully proved, and he received sentence of death. He was respited for a fortnight, and afterwards during the pleasure of the Prince Regent. He was struck off the list of retiredrear-admirals. It was proved at the trial, that, in 1809, he commanded "The Plantagenet;" but,from the unsettled state of his mind, the command had been given up to the first lieutenant, and that he was shortly after superseded. This, and the good character he received, were probably held to excuse the pardon.

I now come to the great case of George III. and Mr. Fawcett. I much regret thatWhunsidehas not replied in your pages to my question (Vol. vii., p. 163.), as I could then have commented upon the facts, and his means of knowing them, with more freedom. I have a private communication from him, which is ample and candid. He objects to bring his name before the public, and I have no right to press that point. He is notquitecertain as to the convict's name, but can procure it for me. He would rather that it should not be published, as it might give pain to a respectable family. Appreciating the objection, and having no use for it except to publish, I have declined to ask it of him.

The case occurred in 1802 or 1803, whenWhunsidewas a pupil of Mr. Fawcett. He says:

"Occasionally Mr. Fawcett used to allow certain portions of a weekly newspaper to be read to the boys on a Saturday evening. This case was read to us, I think from theLeeds Mercury; and though Mr. Fawcett's name was not mentioned, we were all aware who the minister was."

Thus we have nodirectevidence of the amount of Mr. Fawcett's communications with George III. How much of the story as it is now told was read to the boys, we do not know; but that it came to them first through a weekly paper, is rather against than for it.

We all know the tendency of good stories to pick up additions as they go. I have read that the first edition of theLife of Loyolawas without miracles. This anecdote seems to have reached its full growth in 1823, in Pearson'sLife of W. Hey, Esq., and probably in the two lives of George III., published after his death, and mentioned byWhunside. Pearson, as cited in "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 276., says, that by some means theEssay on Angerhad been recommended to the notice of George III., who would have made the author a bishop had he not been a dissenter; that he signified his wish to serve Mr. Fawcett, &c. That on the conviction of H——, Mr. Fawcett wrote to the king; and a letter soon arrived, conveying the welcome intelligence, "You may rest assured that his life is safe," &c.

It is not stated that this was "private and confidential:" if it was, Mr. Fawcett had no right to mention it; if it was not, he had no reason for concealing what was so much to his honour, and so extraordinary as the king's personal interference in a matter invariably left to the Secretary of State for the Home Department. If, however, Mr. Fawcett was silent from modesty, his biographers had no inducement to be so; yet, let us see how they state the case. TheAccount of the Life, Writings, and Ministry of the late Rev. John Fawcett: London, 1818, cited in "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 229., says:

"He was induced,in conjunction with others, to solicit the exercise of royal clemency in mitigating the severity of that punishment which the law denounces: and it gladdened the sympathetic feelings of his heart to know that these petitions were not unavailing; but the modesty of his character made him regret the publicity which had been given to this subject."

The fifth edition of theEssay on Anger, printed for the Book Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge, London, no date, has a memoir of the author. The "incident" is said not to have been circulatedin any publication by the family; but "it was one of the secrets which obtain a wider circulation from the reserve with which one relator invariably retails it to another." That is exactly my view. Secrecy contributes to diffusion, but not to accuracy. At the risk of being thought tedious, I must copy the rest of this statement:

"Soon after the publication of this treatise,the author took an opportunity of presenting a copyto our late much revered sovereign; whose ear was always accessible to merit, however obscure the individual in whom it was found. Contrary to the fate of most publications laid at the feet of royalty, it was diligently perused and admired; and a communication of this approbation was afterwards made known to the author. It happened some time afterwards, a relative of one of his friends was convicted of a capital crime, for which he was left for execution. Application was instantly made for an extension of royal favour in his behalf; and, among others, one was made by Mr. Fawcett: and his majesty,no doubt recollecting the pleasure he had derived from the perusal of hisEssay on Anger,and believing that he would not recommend an improper person to royal favour, was most graciously pleased to answer the prayer of the petition; butas to precisely how far the name of Mr. Fawcett might have contributed to this successful application must await the great disclosures of a future judgment."

The reader will sift this jumble of inferences and facts, and perhaps will not go so far as to have "no doubt."

Whunsidetells me, that about 1807 he employed a bookbinder from Halifax; who, on hearing that he had been a pupil of Mr. Fawcett, said he had seen two copies of theEssay on Anger, most beautifully bound, to be sent to the king.

The conclusion to which I come is, that Mr. Fawcett sent a copy of theEssay on Angerto the king; that the receipt of it was acknowledged, possibly in some way more complimentary than the ordinary circular; that a young man was convicted of forgery; that Mr. Fawcett and others petitioned for his pardon, and that he waspardoned. All the rest I hold to be mere rumours, not countenanced by Mr. Fawcett or his family, and notassertedby his biographers.

H. B. C.

U. U. Club.

(Vol. vii., p. 326.)

Mr. Keightley'srule is only partially true, and in the part which is true is not fully stated. The following rules, qualified by the accompanying remarks, will I trust be found substantially correct.

English monosyllables, formed from Greek or Latin monosyllabic roots,

(1.) When the root ends in a single consonant preceded by a vowel, require the lengtheninge.

(2.) When the root ends in a single consonant preceded by a diphthong, or in more than one consonant preceded by a vowel, reject thee.

1. Examples from the Greek:—σχῆμ-α,scheme;λύρ-α(lyr-a),lyre;ζών-η(zon-a),zon-e;βάσ-ις,base;φράσ-ις,phras-e;τρόπ-ος,trop-e. From Latin, ros-a,ros-e; fin-is,fin-e; fum-us,fum-e; pur-us,pur-e; grad-us,grad-e. Compare, in verbs, ced-o,ced-e.

Remarks.—This rule admits of a modification;e.g.we form fromζῆλ-οςzeal(the sound hardly perceptibly differing fromzel-e); fromὥρ-α(hor-a),hour; from flos (flor-is),flowerandflour(the long sound communicated to the vowel in the other words by the addede, being in these already contained in the diphthong). Add ven-a,vein; van-us,vain; sol-um,soil, &c.; and compare-ceedinproceed,succeed, formed from compounds of ced-o. Some, but not all, of these words have come to us through the French.

2. Examples from the Greek:—ῥεῦμ-α,rheum;χάσμ-α,chasm;μύρρ-α,myrrh;γλῶσσ-α,gloss;νύμφ-η(nymph-a),nymph;δίσκ-ος, (disc-us),disk;πλίνθ-ος,plinth;ψαλμ-ός,psalm. From Latin, fraus (fraud-is),fraud; laus (laud-is),laud; plant-a,plant; orb-is,orb; plumb-um,plumb; long-us,long, flux-us,flux; port-us,port. Compare, in verbs, damn-o,damn; err-o,err; add-o,add; vex-o,vex.

Remarks.—From roots ending in the same consonant doubled, our derived words ordinarily drop one of them;e.g.στέμμ-α,stem; gemm-a,gem; summ-a,sum; penn-a,pen; carr-us,car. (Note this tendency of our language, by comparing ourmanwith the Germanmann.)

If the root ends insorvpreceded by a diphthong, or in a consonant +s[5]or +vpreceded by a vowel, our derived words adde,asπαῦσ-ις(paus-a),paus-e; caus-a,cause-e; næv-a,nav-e; puls-us,puls-e; dens-us,dens-e;ἁψ-ίς,aps-e; laps-us,laps-e; vers-us,vers-e; valv-a,valv-e; nerv-us,nerv-e.[6]The cause of this lies in the genius of our language, which totally rejects the endingv, and usess(single) very sparingly in the singular number, except in the endingous, the genitive case, the third person of the present tense, the obsoletewis, andwas. Other words are, the interjectionalas; pronouns or pronominal particles; proper names, asThomas,Chaos; compounds, asLammas,Christmas;pluraladverbs, astowards,thereabouts; and the (perhaps)plural—it ought to be so—alms.[7]

From roots ending in a mute +aliquid, our derived words also end ine, and are then in fact dissyllables;e.g.βίβλ-ος,bible;κύκλ-ος,cycl-e;μίτρ-α,mitr-e;νίτρ-ον,nitr-e;πέτρ-ος,petr-e. In this class of words the final letters (after the analogy of Latin) have sometimes become transposed;e.g.λεπρ-ός,lep-er. So now-a-days,cent-eras well ascentr-e. Comparemetr-e,diamet-er.

To apply our rules to the words required to be formed in an English shape fromμῦθ-ος.

Very few words in our language end inthwhich are not of purely native growth.Frithis questionable exception. Besides the monosyllableplinth, we have imported from the Greekcolocynth,hyacinth,labyrinth, with the proper namesCorinth,Erymanth, all terminating innth.

In the endingtheour language does not rejoice. Most of such words are verbs, so distinguished from their cognate substantives, aswreathefromwreath. We have, as substantives,lathe(A.-S.leð),hythe(hyð),scythe(more properlysithe,sıðe),tythe(tyðe); as adjectives,blithe(blıðe),lithe(lıð). There may be one or two more.

In all these the sounds isð(thinthis) notþ(thinthick). This appears worth notice.

On the whole, I should venture to say that so uncouth a slip asmythe, when set in our soil, was unlikely to thrive. Stillmythis objectionable, though we at Cambridge might quotegyp. However I may seem to be a breaker of my own laws, I suggest, if we must have an English form of the word, that we should write and pronouncemyth. Several words ending inthhave the preceding vowel lengthened,e.g.both,sloth,ruth,truth(though with the inconsistency attributed to us, one, by the way, generally of orthography rather than pronunciation, we shorten the diphthong inbreath,death). Compare also the sound of the endingsildandind.

I have already troubled you with a very long Note; but, before I close, allow me to add that in what I have advanced I have had in view only our modern mode of spelling, without bindingmyself to an opinion of its inferiority or superiority to that of our forefathers. I beg also to protest againstMr. Keightley'swish to banishmythicalfrom our vocabulary. It may behybrid, but equally so arecritical,grammatical,musical,physical,poetical, with a long string of et ceteras.

Charles Thiriold.

Footnote 5:(return)Exceptx(=cs). Compareflax,wax,ox.Footnote 6:(return)From serv-us (after the French) we formserf.Footnote 7:(return)Rebus,overplus, andsurplusmay, if not satisfied, take anomnibus, bring their action at theNisi Prius, and meet there with anonplus.

Exceptx(=cs). Compareflax,wax,ox.

From serv-us (after the French) we formserf.

Rebus,overplus, andsurplusmay, if not satisfied, take anomnibus, bring their action at theNisi Prius, and meet there with anonplus.

(Vol. vii., pp. 261. 409.)

This very able and valuable work, as to which your correspondent inquires, was written by Wm. Paterson, the projector of the Bank of England and the Darien scheme; a great and memorable name, but which, to the discredit of British biography, will be sought for in vain in Chalmers's or our other biographical dictionaries. The book above noticed appears to be a continuation of another tract by the same author, entitledAn Inquiry into the Reasonableness and Consequences of an Union with Scotland, containing a brief Deduction of what hath been done, designed, or proposed in the Matter of the Union during the last Age, a Scheme of an Union as accommodated to the present Circumstances of the two Nations, also States of the respective Revenues, Debts, Weights, Measures, Taxes, and Impositions, and of other Facts of moment: with Observations thereupon, as communicated to Laurence Philips, Esq., near York: London, printed and sold by R. Bragg, 1706, 8vo., 160 pages. This was preceded by an earlier tract by the same author:Conferences on the Public Debts, by the Wednesday's Club in Friday Street: London, 1695, 4to. The last is noticed, with a short account of the author, by Mr. McCulloch (Lib. of Political Economy, p. 159.), but he has not mentioned the two other works previously adverted to. In all of them the author adopts the form of a report of the proceedings of a club; but, without attempting to deny the actual existence of a Wednesday's club in Friday Street (the designation he assumes for it), nothing can be more clear to any one who reads the three tracts than that the conversations, proceedings, and personages mentioned are all the creatures of his own fertile invention, and made use of, more conveniently to bring out his facts, arguments, and statements. The dramatic form he gives them makes even the dry details of finance amusing; and abounding, as they do, in information and thought, these works may always be consulted with profit and pleasure. TheInquiry into the State of the Union, 1717, 8vo., for which Walpole is said to have furnished some of the materials, was answered, but rather feebly, in an anonymous pamphlet entitledWednesday Club Law; or the Injustice, Dishonour, and Ill Policy of breaking into Parliamentary Contracts for public Debts: London, printed for E. Smith, 1717, 8vo., pp. 38. The author of this pamphlet appears to have been a Mr. Broome. Those who would wish see one of the financial questions discussed in theInquirytreated with equal force and ability, and with similar views, by a great cotemporary of Paterson, whose pamphlet came out simultaneously, may readFair Payment no Spunge; or some Considerations on the Unreasonableness of refusing to receive back Money lent on public Securities, and the Necessity of setting the Nation free from the unsupportable Burthen of Debt and Taxes, with a View of the great Advantage and Benefit which will arise to Trade and to the Landed Interest, as well as to the Poor, by having these heavy Grievances taken off: London, printed and sold by Brotherton: Meadows and Roberts, 1717, 8vo., pp. 79. This is one of the pamphlets which, though it has been sometimes erroneously assigned to Paterson, both on external and internal evidence may be confidently attributed to Defoe, but which has unaccountably escaped the notice of all his biographers.

James Crossley.

(Vol. vii., p. 498.)

The lines which your correspondentR. Vincentattributes to Sir Walter Scott are part of an old English inscription which Longfellow quotes inOutremer, p. 66., and thus describes in a note:

"I subjoin this relic of old English verse entire.... It is copied from a book whose title I have forgotten, and of which I have but a single leaf, containing the poem. In describing the antiquities of the church of Stratford-upon-Avon, the writer gives the following account of a very old painting upon the wall, and of the poem which served as its motto. The painting is no longer visible, having been effaced in repairing the church:"'Against the west wall of the nave, on the south side of the arch, was painted the martyrdom of Thomas à Becket, while kneeling at the altar of St. Benedict, in Canterbury Cathedral. Below this was the figure of an angel, probably St. Michael, supporting a long scroll, upon which were seven stanzas in old English, being an allegory of mortality.'"

"'Against the west wall of the nave, on the south side of the arch, was painted the martyrdom of Thomas à Becket, while kneeling at the altar of St. Benedict, in Canterbury Cathedral. Below this was the figure of an angel, probably St. Michael, supporting a long scroll, upon which were seven stanzas in old English, being an allegory of mortality.'"

The lines given at p. 498. of "N. & Q." seem to be taken from the two following stanzas, which stand third and fourth in the old inscription:

"Erth apon erth wynnys castellys and towrys,Then seth erth unto erth thys ys all owrys.When erth apon erth hath bylde hys bowrys,Then schall erth for erth suffur many hard schowrys."Erth goth apon erth as man apon mowld,Lyke as erth apon erth never goo schold,Erth goth apon erth as gelsteryng gold,And yet schall erth unto erth rather than he wold."

"Erth apon erth wynnys castellys and towrys,Then seth erth unto erth thys ys all owrys.When erth apon erth hath bylde hys bowrys,Then schall erth for erth suffur many hard schowrys.

"Erth apon erth wynnys castellys and towrys,

Then seth erth unto erth thys ys all owrys.

When erth apon erth hath bylde hys bowrys,

Then schall erth for erth suffur many hard schowrys.

"Erth goth apon erth as man apon mowld,Lyke as erth apon erth never goo schold,Erth goth apon erth as gelsteryng gold,And yet schall erth unto erth rather than he wold."

"Erth goth apon erth as man apon mowld,

Lyke as erth apon erth never goo schold,

Erth goth apon erth as gelsteryng gold,

And yet schall erth unto erth rather than he wold."

Dugdale, in hisAntiquities of Warwickshire, p. 517., tells us that John de Stratford, who was Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Edward III., built a chapel on the south side of the church, "to the honour of God and of St. Thomas the Martyr;" and as at p. 521. he describes it as "in the south ile of the said church," the west wall of this chapel answers very well the description of the position of the painting, and inscription. But inThe Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xv. p. 238.,the chapel of the gild of the Holy Cross, in the centre of the town, is mentioned as the place in which the pictures were discovered, during some repairs which it underwent in the year 1804.

I have since ascertained that the work to which Longfellow refers is Weaver'sAccount of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Erica.

As a companion to theunpublishedepigram in No. 186. of "N. & Q.," I beg to hand you the following epitaph, copied by myself about thirty years since, and referring, as Ibelieve, to an old brass in the church of St. Helen's, London:

"Here lyeth yebodyes ofJames Pomley, yesonne of ouldDominick Pomley and Jane hisWyfe: yesaid James deceased ye7thday of Januarie Anno Domini 1592he beyng of yeage of 88 years, andyesayd Jane deceased ye—— dayof —— D——.Earth goeth upō earth as moulde upō moulde;Earth goeth upō earth all glittering as golde,As though earth to yeearth never turne shoulde;And yet shall earth to yeearth sooner than he woulde."

"Here lyeth yebodyes of

James Pomley, yesonne of ould

Dominick Pomley and Jane his

Wyfe: yesaid James deceased ye7th

day of Januarie Anno Domini 1592

he beyng of yeage of 88 years, and

yesayd Jane deceased ye—— day

of —— D——.

Earth goeth upō earth as moulde upō moulde;Earth goeth upō earth all glittering as golde,As though earth to yeearth never turne shoulde;And yet shall earth to yeearth sooner than he woulde."

Earth goeth upō earth as moulde upō moulde;

Earth goeth upō earth all glittering as golde,

As though earth to yeearth never turne shoulde;

And yet shall earth to yeearth sooner than he woulde."

William Williams.

(Vol. vii., pp. 190. 463.)

In accordance with the request of Z. E. R., I have pleasure in forwarding the extracts from theCatechismus brevis et Catholicus, referred to at pp. 190. 463. of the present volume. It is needful to premise, 1. That the pages of the catechism are not numbered. This will account for the absence of precise references. 2. That only so much is quoted as may exhibit the parallelism; and, 3. That the citations are not consecutive in the original, but arranged in the order of the questions and answers of theChurch Catechism, beginning with the fourteenth question, "How many sacraments hath Christ ordained in His Church?"

Q.14. How many, &c.

"Quot sunt Ecclesiæ Catholicæ Sacramenta?Septem sunt in universum," &c."Quis instituit Baptismum?Ipse Servator ac Dominus noster Jesus Christus."[Similarly of the Eucharist.]

"Quot sunt Ecclesiæ Catholicæ Sacramenta?

Septem sunt in universum," &c.

"Quis instituit Baptismum?

Ipse Servator ac Dominus noster Jesus Christus."

[Similarly of the Eucharist.]

Q.15. What meanest thou, &c.

"Ecquur hæc ipsa—et dicantur et sint Sacramenta?Sacramenta sunt et dicuntur quia sacra atque efficacia sunt signa divinæ erga nos voluntatis."

"Ecquur hæc ipsa—et dicantur et sint Sacramenta?

Sacramenta sunt et dicuntur quia sacra atque efficacia sunt signa divinæ erga nos voluntatis."

Q.16. How many parts, &c.

"Habetque unumquodque horum (quod sacramentis peculiare est verbum) Elementum, et Gratiam invisibilem. Quod verbum nos docet, et promittit nobis, hoc Elementum seu visibile signum similitudine quâdam demonstrat, hoc idem Gratia quoque (nisi tamen obicem objiciat homo) in anima invisibiliter operatur.Da paucis singulorum Sacramentorum signa et invisibilem gratiam?"

Da paucis singulorum Sacramentorum signa et invisibilem gratiam?"

Q.17. What is the outward, &c.

"In Baptismo signum externum Aqua est."

Q.18. What is the inward, &c.

"Quid efficit seu prodest Baptismus?"Res seu gratia est renovatio et sanctificatio animæ, ablutio omnium peccatorum, adoptio baptizati in filium Dei.'Baptizatus sum in Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.'"Tinctione illa aquæ, operationeque Spiritus Sancti, eripitur baptizatus à regno et tyrannide diaboli, donatur remissione peccatorum ac innocentia, addicitur perpetuò uni veroque Deo Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, hujus denique filius atque hæres instituitur."

"Quid efficit seu prodest Baptismus?

"Res seu gratia est renovatio et sanctificatio animæ, ablutio omnium peccatorum, adoptio baptizati in filium Dei.

'Baptizatus sum in Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.'

"Tinctione illa aquæ, operationeque Spiritus Sancti, eripitur baptizatus à regno et tyrannide diaboli, donatur remissione peccatorum ac innocentia, addicitur perpetuò uni veroque Deo Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, hujus denique filius atque hæres instituitur."

Q.19. What is required, &c.

"Requiritur in eo (adulto), et verus fidei usus, et vita professione Christiana, Baptismique voto digna: hoc est ut corde credat, et ore fidem confiteatur, utque peccatis mortificatis in vitæ ambulet novitate.Proba sacræ Scripturæ testimoniis, quod Fides in Baptizato requiratur."

Proba sacræ Scripturæ testimoniis, quod Fides in Baptizato requiratur."

Q.20. Why then are infants, &c.

"Sed quomodo infantes possunt credere, ut qui nondum usum habeant rationis?His fides Ecclesiæ et susceptorum suffragatur, donec idonei fiant suo illam assensu percipere, adhæc et fidei gratiam in Baptismo ii consequuntur."

"Sed quomodo infantes possunt credere, ut qui nondum usum habeant rationis?

His fides Ecclesiæ et susceptorum suffragatur, donec idonei fiant suo illam assensu percipere, adhæc et fidei gratiam in Baptismo ii consequuntur."

Q.21. Why was the Sacrament, &c.

"Quur vero sacram Eucharistiam Christus instituit?... Ut suæ passionis ac mortis recordemur, eamque annuntiemus perpetuò."

"Quur vero sacram Eucharistiam Christus instituit?

... Ut suæ passionis ac mortis recordemur, eamque annuntiemus perpetuò."

Q.22. What is the outward, &c.

Q.23. What is the inward, &c.

"Da paucis ... signa et invisibilem gratiam.In Eucharistia, Elementum est panis ac vini species: res autem, verum corpus, et verus Christi sanguis est, fructusque dignam sumptionem sequentes."

"Da paucis ... signa et invisibilem gratiam.

In Eucharistia, Elementum est panis ac vini species: res autem, verum corpus, et verus Christi sanguis est, fructusque dignam sumptionem sequentes."

Q.24. What are the benefits, &c.

"Jam recense paucis quinam fructus dignam Eucharistæ sumptionem sequantur?Principio quidem virtute escæ hujus confirmamur in fide, munimur adversus peccata, ad bonorum operum studium excitamur, et ad charitatem inflammamur. Hinc vero per eam incorporamur adjungimurque capiti nostro Christo, ut unum cum ipso constituamus corpus," &c.

"Jam recense paucis quinam fructus dignam Eucharistæ sumptionem sequantur?

Principio quidem virtute escæ hujus confirmamur in fide, munimur adversus peccata, ad bonorum operum studium excitamur, et ad charitatem inflammamur. Hinc vero per eam incorporamur adjungimurque capiti nostro Christo, ut unum cum ipso constituamus corpus," &c.

Q.25. What is required, &c.

"Quonam pacto dignè sumitur Eucharistia?Digna sumptio, omnium primum requirit, ut homo peccata sua agnoscat ex animo ob ea verè doleat—ac firmum etiam animo concipiat amplius non peccandi propositum. Deinde exigit etiam digna sumptio, ut communicaturus simultatem omnem odiumque animo eximat: reconcilietur læso, et charitatis contra viscera induat. Postremo vero et fides cum primis in sumente requiritur ... ut credat corpus Christi pro se esse traditum mortem, et sanguinem ejus in remissionem peccatorum suorum vere effusum," &c.

"Quonam pacto dignè sumitur Eucharistia?

Digna sumptio, omnium primum requirit, ut homo peccata sua agnoscat ex animo ob ea verè doleat—ac firmum etiam animo concipiat amplius non peccandi propositum. Deinde exigit etiam digna sumptio, ut communicaturus simultatem omnem odiumque animo eximat: reconcilietur læso, et charitatis contra viscera induat. Postremo vero et fides cum primis in sumente requiritur ... ut credat corpus Christi pro se esse traditum mortem, et sanguinem ejus in remissionem peccatorum suorum vere effusum," &c.

I fear the unavoidable length of the previous extracts will be against the insertion of the full title of the book, and one remark. The title is,—

"Catechismus brevis et Catholicus in gratiam Juventutis conscriptus, Autore Iacobo Schœppero, Ecclesiasta Tremoniano. Cui accessit Pium diurnarum precum Enchiridion, ex quo pueri toto die cum Deo colloqui discant. Antverpiæ, apud Ioan. Bellerum ad insigne Falconis, 1555."

My remark is, that some of the coincidences above enumerated are at least singular, though they do not perhapsprovethat the compiler of theChurch Catechism, in the places referred to, had them before him.

B. H. C.

(Vol. vii., p. 428.)

Of old Jacob Bobart, who originally came from Brunswick, Granger (Biog. Hist., vol. v. p. 287., edit. 1824) gives us the following account:

"Jacob Bobart, a German, whom Plot styles 'an excellent gardener and botanist,' was, by the Earl of Danby, founder of the physic-garden at Oxford, appointed the first keeper of it. He was author ofCatalogus Plantarum Horti Medici Oxoniensis, scil. Latino-Anglicus et Anglico-Latinus: Oxon. 1648, 8vo. One singularity I have heard of him from a gentleman of unquestionable veracity, that on rejoicing days he used to have his beard tagged with silver. The same gentleman informed me, that there is a portrait of him in the possession of one of the corporation at Woodstock. He died the 4th of February, 1679, in the eighty-first year of his age. He had two sons, Tillemant and Jacob, who both belonged to the physic-garden. It appears that the latter succeeded him in his office."

There is a very fine print of the elder Bobart, now extremely scarce, "D. Loggan del., M. Burghers, sculp." It is a quarto of the largest size. Beneath the head, which is dated 1675, is this distich:

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