Queries.

"My name, my country, what are they to thee?What whether high, or low, my pedigree?Perhaps I far surpassed all other men:Perhaps I fell behind them all—what then?Suffice it, stranger, that thou see'st a tomb,Thou know'st its use; it hides—no matter whom."

"My name, my country, what are they to thee?

What whether high, or low, my pedigree?

Perhaps I far surpassed all other men:

Perhaps I fell behind them all—what then?

Suffice it, stranger, that thou see'st a tomb,

Thou know'st its use; it hides—no matter whom."

W. W.

Malta.

I have before me a bulky volume, apparently unpublished, treating of currency and of many other politico-economical affairs; the authorship of which I am desirous of tracing. If any reader of "N. & Q." can assist my search I shall feel greatly obliged to him.

This volume extends to 936 closely printed pages, and is altogether without divisions either of book, chapter, or section. It has neither title-page, conclusion, imprint, or date; and my copy seems to consist of revises or "clean sheets" as they came from the press. The main gist of the work is thus described, apparently by the author himself, in a MS. note which occupies the place of the title-page:

"It is here meant to show that in civilised nations money is an emanating circulable wealth and power,without which individuals cannot go on in improvement on independent principles. It resolves wealth into the forms most conducive to this object, and prepares for the highest services both individuals and communities."

The book, however, is extremely discursive, and no small portion of it is devoted to foreign politics. Thus, of the "Eastern Question," the author disposes in this fashion:

"Austria, to answer its destination, ought to comprise Wallachia, Bessarabia, Moldavia, and, following the line of demarcation drawn by the Danube, the whole territory at its debouchment.... Turkey cannot regard the sacrifices proposed as of much importance, when such security as that now in contemplation could be obtained. The whole strength of her immense empire is at present drained to support her contest on this very barrier with Russia. But that barrier, it is evident, would this way be effectually secured: for Austria has too many points of importance to protect, to dream of creating new ones on this feeble yet extended confine of her domains."—Pp. 835, 836.

From internal evidence, the book appears to have been written between 1812 and 1815. It is printed in half-sheets, from sig. A to sig. 6 B, and three half-sheets are wanting, viz. E, 5 Q, and 5 R. In place of the last two, the following MS. note is inserted:

"The speculations in the two following sheets included views that related to the disorganised state of Turkey, and the unhappy dependence of the Bourbon family; which are now, from the changes which have taken place, altogether unfit for publication."

The sole indication of the authorship which I have observed throughout the volume lies in the following foot-note, at p. 893.:

"This is all that seems to be necessary to say on the subject of education. In a treatise published by me a few years ago, entitledImprovements in Glasgow, I think I have exhausted," &c.[6]

The only treatise with such a title which I find in Watt'sBibliotheca Britannicais thus entered:

"Laurie, David. Proposed improvements in Glasgow. Glasg., 1810, 8vo.—Hints regarding the East India Monopoly, 1813. 2s."

MyQueriesthen are these:

1. Is anything known of such a treatise on "circulable wealth," &c., as that which I have named?

2. Is any biographical notice extant of the "David Laurie" mentioned by Watt?

I may add that the volume in question was recently purchased along with about 1000 other pamphlets and books, chiefly on political economy: all of which appear to have formerly belonged to the late Lord Bexley, and to have been for the most part collected by him when Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Old Trafford, near Manchester.

Footnote 6:(return)I find no mention of Mr. Laurie, or of his "Improvements in Glasgow," in Cleland'sAnnals of Glasgow, published in 1816, nor is he mentioned in Mr. McCulloch'sLiterature of Political Economy.

I find no mention of Mr. Laurie, or of his "Improvements in Glasgow," in Cleland'sAnnals of Glasgow, published in 1816, nor is he mentioned in Mr. McCulloch'sLiterature of Political Economy.

Can you, or any of your correspondents, give me any information relative to the history or authorship of the following pamphlet?—

"Donatus Redivivus: or a Reprimand to a modern Church-Schismatick, for his Revival of the Donatistical Heresy of Rebaptization, in Defiance to the Judgment and Practice of the Catholick Church, and of the Church of England in particular. In a Letter to Himself. London, 1714."

The same tract (precisely identical, except in the title-page) is also to be found with the following title:

"Rebaptization condemned. Wherein is shown, 1. That to Rebaptize any Person that was once Baptiz'd, even by Laymen, in the name of the Sacred Trinity, is contrary to the Practice of the Catholick Church in all Ages. 2. That it is repugnant to the Principles and Practice of the Church of England. 3. The Pernicious Consequences of such a Practice. By the Author of Plain Dealing, or Separation without Schism," &c. London, 1716.

I am aware that, according to Dr. Watt, the author ofPlain Dealingwas Charles Owen, D.D., but he makes no mention ofDonatus Redivivus, and I am unable to discover any account of Dr. Charles Owen or his writings elsewhere. There appears to have been a reply toDonatus Redivivus, purporting to be from the pen of a Mrs. Jane Chorlton. This I have never seen, and have only learned of its existence from a subsequent pamphlet with the following title:

"The Amazon Disarm'd: or, the Sophisms of a Schismatical Pamphlet, pretendedly writ by a Gentlewoman, entituled An Answer to Donatus Redivivus, exposed and confuted; being a further Vindication of the Church of England from the scandalous imputation of Donatism or Rebaptization. London, 1714."

The dedication of this last tract begins as follows:

"To the Reverend Mr. L—ter, and the Demi-reverend Mr. M—l—n."Gentlemen,"This letter belongs to you upon a double account, as you were the chief Actors in the late Rebaptizaton, and are the supposed Vindicators of it, in the Answer to Donatus: a Treatise writ in Defence of the Sentiments of the Church, which you father upon a Dissenting Minister, and disingenuously point out to Mr. O——n by Name," &c.

"To the Reverend Mr. L—ter, and the Demi-reverend Mr. M—l—n.

"Gentlemen,

"This letter belongs to you upon a double account, as you were the chief Actors in the late Rebaptizaton, and are the supposed Vindicators of it, in the Answer to Donatus: a Treatise writ in Defence of the Sentiments of the Church, which you father upon a Dissenting Minister, and disingenuously point out to Mr. O——n by Name," &c.

The point which I wish particularly to ascertain is, whether Dr. Charles Owen was really theauthor of either of the tracts I have mentioned; and if so, who he was, and where I can find an account of him and his writings.

Ἁλιεύς.

Dublin.

Henry Scobell.—Henry Scobell, compiler of a well-known Collection of Acts, was for several years clerk to the Long Parliament. I should be glad to learn what became of him after the dissolution of that assembly.

A Leguleian.

The Court House.—This place is situated in Painswick, in Gloucestershire, and has been described to me as an old out-of-the-way place. Where can I meet with a full description of it? Is the tradition that a king—supposed to be either the first or second Charles—ever slept there true?

F. M.

Ash-trees attract Lightning.—Is it true that ash-trees are more attractive to lightning than any others? and the reason, because the surface of the ground around is drier than round other trees?

C. S. W.

Symbol of Sow, &c.—A sow suckled by a litter of young pigs is a common representation carved on the bosses of the roofs of churches. What is this symbolical of?

F. G. C.

Ottery St. Mary.

Passage in Blackwood.—

"I sate, and wept in secret the tears that men have ever givento the memory of those that died before the dawn, and by the treachery of earth our mother."—Blackwood's Magazine, December, 1849, p. 72., 3rd line, second column.

Will some of your readers give information respecting the above words in Italic?

D. N. O.

Rathband Family.—Can any of your readers assist me in distinguishing between the several members of this clerical family, which flourished during the period of the Commonwealth, and immediately preceding? From Palmer'sNonconformist Mem.(vol. i. p. 520.), there was a Mr. William Rathband, M.A., ejected from Southwold, a member of Oxford University, who was brother to Mr. Rathband, sometime preacher in the Minster of York, and son of an old Nonconformist minister, Mr. W. Rathband, who wrote against the Brownists.—I should feel obliged by any information which would identify them with the livings they severally held.

Oliver.

Encaustic Tiles from Caen.—In the town of Caen, in Normandy, is an ancient Gothic building standing in the grounds of the ancient convent of the Benedictines, now used as a college. This building, which is commonly known as the "Salle des Gardes de Guillaume le Conquerant," was many years ago paved with glazed emblazoned earthenware tiles, which were of the dimensions of about five inches square, and one and a quarter thick; the subjects of them are said to be the arms of some of the chiefs who accompanied William the Conqueror to England. Some antiquaries said these tiles were of the age of William I.; others that they could only date from Edward III. I find it stated in theGentleman's Magazinefor March, 1789, vol. lix. p. 211., that twenty of the tiles above spoken of were taken up by the Benedictine monks, and sent as a present to Charles Chadwick, Esq., Healey Hall, Lancashire, in 1786. The rest of the tiles were destroyed by the revolutionists, with the exception of some which were fortunately saved by the Abbé de la Rue and M. P. A. Lair, of Caen. What I wish to inquire is, firstly, who was Charles Chadwick, Esq.? and secondly, supposing that he is no longer living, which I think from the lapse of time will be most probable, does any one know what became of the tiles which he had received from France in 1786?

George Boase.

P.S.—TheGentleman's Magazinegives a plate of these tiles, as well as a plate of some others with which another ancient building, called "Grand Palais de Guillaume le Conquerant," was paved.

Alverton Vean, Penzance.

Artificial Drainage.—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a work, or works, giving a history of draining marshes by machines for raising the water to a higher level? Windmills, I suppose, were the first machines so used, but neither Beckmann nor Dugdale informs us when first used. I have found one mentioned in a conveyance dated 1642, but they were much earlier. Any information on the history of the drainage of the marshes near Great Yarmouth, of which Dugdale gives passing notice only, would also be very acceptable to me.

E. G. R.

Storms at the Death of great Men.—Your correspondent at Vol. vi., p. 531., mentions "the storms which have been noticed to take place at the time of the death of many great men known to our history."

A list of these would be curious. With a passing reference to the familiar instance of the Crucifixion, as connected with all history, we may note, as more strictly belonging to the class, those storms that occurred at the deaths of "The Great Marquis" of Montrose, 21st May, 1650; Cromwell, 3rd September, 1658; Elizabeth Gaunt, who was burnt 23rd October, 1685, and holds her reputation as the last female who suffered death for a political offence in England; and Napoleon, 5th May, 1821; as well as that which solemnisedthe burial of Sir Walter Scott, 26th September, 1832.

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

Motto or Wylcotes' Brass.—In the brass of Sir John Wylcotes, Great Tew Church, Oxfordshire, the following motto occurs:

"IN . ON . IS . AL."

I shall feel obliged if any one of your numerous correspondents will enlighten my ignorance by explaining it to me.

W. B. D.

Lynn.

"Trail through the leaden sky," &c.—

"Trail through the leaden sky their bannerets of fire."

Where is this line to be found, as applied to the spirits of the storm?

R. C. Warde.

Kidderminster.

Lord Audley's Attendants at Poictiers.—According to the French historian Froissart, four knights or esquires, whose names he does not supply, attended the brave Lord Audley at the memorable battle of Poictiers, who, some English historians say, were Sir John Delves of Doddington, Sir Thomas Dutton of Dutton, Sir Robert Fowlehurst of Crewe (all these places being in Cheshire), and Sir John Hawkstone of Wrinehill in Staffordshire; whilst others name Sir James de Mackworth of Mackworth in Derbyshire, and Sir Richard de TunstallaliasSneyde of Tunstall in Staffordshire, astwo of such knights or esquires. The accuracy of Froissart as an historian has never been questioned; and as he expressly names onlyfourattendants on Lord Audley at the battle of Poictiers, it is extremely desirable it should be ascertained if possible which of the six above-named knights really were the companions of Lord Audley Froissart alludes to; and probably some of your learned correspondents may be able to clear up the doubts on the point raised by our historians.

T. J.

Worcester.

Roman Catholic Bible Society.—About the year 1812, or 1813, a Roman Catholic Bible Society was established in London, in which Mr. Charles Butler, and many other leading gentlemen, took a warm part. How long did it continue? Why was it dissolved? Did it publish any annualreports, or issue any book or tract, besides an edition of the New Testament in 1815? Where can the fullest account of it be found?

Will any gentleman be kind enough tosell, or even tolend, me Blair'sCorrespondence on the Roman Catholic Bible Society, a pamphlet published in 1813, which I have not been able to meet with at a bookseller's shop, and am very desirous to see.

Henry Cotton.

Thurles, Ireland.

"Vox Populi Vox Dei."—Lieber, in the last chapter of hisCivil Liberty, treating of this dictum, ascribes its origin to the Middle Ages, acknowledging, however, that he is unable to give anything very definite. Sir William Hamilton, in his edition of theWorksof Thomas Reid, gives the concluding words of Hesiod'sWorks and Daysthus:

"The word proclaimed by the concordant voice of mankind fails not; for in man speaks God."

And to this the great philosopher adds:

"Hence the adage (?), 'Vox Populi vox Dei.'"

The sign of interrogation is Sir William Hamilton's, and he was right to put it; for whatever the psychological connexion between Hesiod's dictum and V. P. V. D. may be, there is surely no historical. "Vox Populi vox Dei" is a different concept, breathing the spirit of a different age.

How far back, then, can the dictum in these very words be traced?

Does it, as Lieber says, originally belong to the election of bishops by the people?

Or was it of Crusade origin?

America begs Europe to give her facts, not speculation, and hopes that Europe will be good enough to comply with her request. Europe has given the serious "V. P. V. D." to America, so she may as well give its history to America too.

Americus.

[As this Query ofAmericuscontains some new illustration of the history of this phrase, we have given it insertion, although the subject has already been discussed in our columns. The writer will, however, find that the earliest known instances of the use of the sayings are, by William of Malmesbury, who, speaking of Odo yielding his consent to be Archbishop of Canterbury,A.D.920, says: "Recogitans illud Proverbium,Vox Populi Vox Dei;" and by Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, who, as we learn from Walsingham, took it as his text for the sermon which he preached when Edward III. was called to the throne, from which the people had pulled down Edward II.Americusis farther referred to Mr. G. Cornewall Lewis'Essay on the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion(pp. 172, 173., and the accompanying notes) for some interesting remarks upon it. See farther, "N. & Q.," Vol. i., pp. 370. 419. 492.; Vol. iii., pp. 288. 381.]

"Lanquettes Cronicles."—Of what date is the earliest printed copy of these Chronicles? The oldest I am acquainted with is 1560, in quarto (continued up to 1540 by Bishop Cooper). Is this edition rare?

R. C. Warde.

Kidderminster.

[The earliest edition is that printed by T. Berthelet, 4to., 1549. The first two parts of this Chronicle,and the beginning of the third, as far as the seventeenth year after Christ, were composed by Thomas Lanquet, a young man of twenty-four years of age. Owing to his early death, Bishop Cooper finished the work; and his part, which is the third, contains almost thrice as much as Lanquet's two parts, being taken from Achilles Pyrminius. When it was finished, a surreptitious edition appeared in 1559, under the title of Lanquet'sChronicle; hereupon the bishop protested against "the vnhonest dealynge" of this book, edited by Thomas Crowley, in the next edition, entitled Cooper'sChronicle, "printed in the house late Thomas Berthelettes," 1560. The running title to the first and second parts is, "Lanquet's Chronicle;" and to the third, "The Epitome of Chronicles." The other editions are, "London, 1554," 4to., and "London, 1565," 4to. We should think the edition of 1560 rare: it was in the collections of Mr. Heber and Mr. Herbert. In this work the following memorable passage occurs, under the year 1542:—"One named Johannes Faustius fyrste founde the crafte of printynge in the citee of Mens in Germanie."]

"Our English Milo."—Bishop Hall extols in hisHeaven upon Earththe valour of a countryman in a Spanish bull-fight (see p. 335., collected ed.Works, 1622). Of whom does he speak?

R. C. Warde.

Kidderminster.

[If we may offer a conjecture, in the passage cited the bishop seems to refer to that "greatest scourge of Spain" Sir Walter Raleigh, and not so much to a bull-fight as to the Spanish Armada. The bishop is prescribing Expectation as a remedy for Crosses, and says, "Is it not credible what a fore-resolved mind can do—can suffer? Could our English Milo, of whom Spain yet speaketh, since their last peace, have overthrown that furious beast, made now more violent through the rage of his baiting, if he had not settled himself in his station, and expected?" Sir Walter's "fore-resolved and expectant mind" was shown in the publication of his treatise,Notes of Directions for the Defence of the Kingdom, written three years before the Spanish invasion of 1588.]

"Delights for Ladies."—I lately picked up a small volume entitled—

"Delights for Ladies; to adorn their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories, with Beauties, Bouquets, Perfumes, and Waters. Reade, practise, and censure." London, Robert Young. 1640.

Who is the author of this interesting little work? Some one has written on the fly-leaf, "See Douce'sIllustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 69., where there is a reference to this curious little book;" but as I cannot readily lay my hand on Douce, I will feel obliged for the information sought for from any of your valued correspondents.

George Lloyd.

Dublin.

[The author was Sir Hugh Plat, who, says Harte, "not to mention his most excellent talents, was the most ingenious husbandman of the age he lived in. In a word, no man ever discovered, or at least brought into use, so many new sorts of manure." TheDelights for Ladiesfirst appeared in 1602, and passed through several editions. Douce merely quotes this work. Plat was the author of several other works: see Watt and Lowndes.]

Burton's Death.—Did Burton, author ofAnatomy of Melancholy, commit suicide?

C. S. W.

[The supposition that Robert Burton committed suicide originated from a statement found in Wood'sAthenæ, vol. ii. p. 653. (Bliss). Wood says, "He, the said R. Burton, paid his last debt to nature in his chamber in Christ Church, at or very near that time which he had some years before foretold from the calculation of his own nativity; which, being exact, several of the students did not forbear to whisper among themselves that, rather than there should be a mistake in the calculation, he sent up his soul to heaven through a slip about his neck."]

Joannes Audoënus.—I shall be obliged by any notices of the personal or literary history of John Owen, the famous Latin epigrammatist, in addition to those furnished by theAthenæ Oxonienses. Wood remarks, that "whereas he had made many epigrams on several people, so few were made on or written to him. Among the few, one by Stradling, and another by Dunbar, a Scot," I have met with one allusion to him among the epigrams of T. Bancroft, 4to., Lond. 1639, signat.A3.:

"To the Reader.Reader, till Martial thou hast well survey'd,Or Owen's wit with Jonson's learning weighed,Forbeare with thanklesse censure to accuseMy writ of errour, or condemne my Muse."

"To the Reader.

Reader, till Martial thou hast well survey'd,Or Owen's wit with Jonson's learning weighed,Forbeare with thanklesse censure to accuseMy writ of errour, or condemne my Muse."

Reader, till Martial thou hast well survey'd,

Or Owen's wit with Jonson's learning weighed,

Forbeare with thanklesse censure to accuse

My writ of errour, or condemne my Muse."

As translators of Audoënus, Wood mentions, in 1619, Joh. Vicars, usher of Christ's Hospital school, as having rendered some select epigrams, and Thomas Beck six hundred of Owen's, with other epigrams from Martial and More, under the title ofParnassi Puerperium, 8vo., Lond. 1659. In addition to these I find, in a catalogue of Lilly, King Street, Covent Garden, No. 4., 1844:

"Hayman, Robert. Certaine Epigrams out of the First Foure Bookes of the excellent Epigrammatist Master John Owen, translated into English at Harbor Grace in Bristol's Hope, anciently called Newfoundland, 4to., unbound; a rare poetical tract, 1628, 10s.6d."

Balliolensis.

[The personal and literary history of John Owen (Audoënus) is given in theBiographia Britannica, vol. v., and in Chalmers' and Rose's Biographical Dictionaries.]

Hampden's Death.—Was the great patriot Hampden actually slain by the enemy on Chalgrove Field? or was his death, as some have asserted,caused by the bursting of his own pistol, owing to its having been incautiously overcharged?

T. J.

Worcester.

[See theGentleman's Magazinefor May, 1815, p. 395., for "A true and faithfull Narrative of the Death of Master Hambden, who was mortally wounded at Challgrove Fight,A.D.1643, and on the 18th of June." From this narrative we learn, that whilst Hampden was fighting against Prince Rupert at Chalgrove Field, he was struck with two carbine-balls in the shoulder, which broke the bone, and terminated fatally.]

(Vol. viii., pp. 270. 350.)

I would not have meddled with this subject if R. G., getting on a wrong scent, had not arrived at the very extraordinary conclusion that Bramhall meant a "pinnace," and an "offensive composition well known to sailors!"

The earliest notice that I have met with of thepinecein an English work, is in the second part of theSecrets of Maister Alexis of Piemont, translated by W. Warde, Lond. 1568. There I find the following secrets—worth knowing, too, if effective:

"Against stinking vermin called Punesies.—If you rub your bedsteede with squilla stamped with vinaigre, or with the leaves of cedar tree sodden in oil, you shall never feel punese. Also if you set under the bed a payle full of water the puneses will not trouble you at all."

Butler, in the first canto of the third part ofHudibras, also mentions it thus:

"And stole his talismanic louse—His flea, his morpion, and punaise."

"And stole his talismanic louse—

His flea, his morpion, and punaise."

If the Querist refers to his French dictionary he will soon discover the meaning ofmorpionandpunaise—the latter without doubt thepineceof Bishop Bramhall. Cotgrave, in hisFrench-English Dictionary, London, 1650, definespunaiseto be "the noysome and stinking vermin called the bed punie."

It may be bad taste to dwell any longer on this subject; but as it illustrates a curious fact in natural history, and as it has been well said, that whatever the Almighty has thought proper to create is not beneath the study of mankind, I shall crave a word or two more.

Thepineceis not originally a native of this country; and that is the reason why, so many years after its first appearance in England, it was known only by a corruption of its French namepunaise, or its German appellationwandlaus(wall-louse). Penny, a celebrated physician and naturalist in the reign of Henry VII., discovered it at Mortlake in rather a curious manner. Mouffet, in hisTheatrum Insectorum(Lond. 1634), thus relates the story:

"Anno 1503, dum hæc Pennio scriptitaret, Mortlacum Tamesin adjacentem viculum, magna festinatione accersebatur ad duas nobiles, magno metu ex cimicum vestigiis percussas, et quid nescio contagionis valde veritas. Tandem recognita, ac bestiolis captis, risu timorem omnem excussat."

Mouffet also tells us that in his time the insect was little known in England, though very common on the Continent, a circumstance which he ascribes to the superior cleanliness of the English:

"Munditiem frequentemque lectulorum et culcitrarem lotionem, cum Galli, Germani, et Itali minus curant, pariunt magis hane pestem, Angli autem munditei et cultus studiosissimi rarius iis laborant."

Ray, in hisHistoria Insectorum, published in 1710, merely terms it thepuniceor wall-louse; indeed, I am not aware that the modern name of the insect appears in print previous to 1730, when one Southal publishedA Treatise of Buggs. Southal appears to have been an illiterate person; and he erroneously ascribes the introduction of the insect into this country to the large quantities of foreign fir used to rebuild London after the Great Fire.

The wordbug, signifying a frightful object or spectre, derived from the Celtic and the root ofbogie, bug-aboo, bug-bear—is well known in our earlier literature. Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, Beaumont and Fletcher, Holinshed and many others, use it; and in Matthew'sBible, the fifth verse of the ninety-first psalm is rendered:

"Thou shalt not nede to be afraid of any bugs by night."

Thus we see that a real "terror of the night" in course of time, assumed, by common consent, the title of the imaginary evil spirit of our ancestors.

One word more. I can see no difficulty in tracing the derivation of the wordhumbug, without going to Hamburg, Hume of the Bog, or any such distant sources. In Grose'sDictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, I find the wordhumsignifying deceive. Peter Pindar, too, writes writes:

"Full many a trope from bayonet and drumHe threaten'd but behold! 'twas all a hum."

"Full many a trope from bayonet and drum

He threaten'd but behold! 'twas all a hum."

Now, the rustic who frightens his neighbour with a turnip lanthorn and a white sheet, or the spirit-rapping medium, who, for a consideration, treats his verdant client with a communication from the unseen world, most decidedly humbugs him; that is, hums or deceives him with an imaginary spirit, or bug.

W. Pinkerton.

Ham.

I take it that the editor of Archbishop Bramhall'sWorkswas judicious in not altering thewordpinecetopinnace, as an object very different from the latter was meant;i. e.acimex, who certainlyrevengesany attack upon his person with astink.Pineceis only a mistaken orthography ofpunese, the old English name of the obnoxious insect our neighbours still call apunaise(see Cotgravein voce). Florio says "Cimici, a kinde of vermine in Italie that breedeth in beds and biteth sore, called punies or wall-lice." We have it in fitting company inHudibras,III. 1.:

"And stole his talismanic louse,His flea, his morpion, and punese."

"And stole his talismanic louse,

His flea, his morpion, and punese."

This is only one more instance of the danger of altering the orthography, or changing an obsolete word, the meaning of which is not immediately obvious. The substitution ofpinnacewould have been entirely to depart from the meaning of the Archbishop.

S. W. S.

(Vol. vi., p. 167.)

A recent visit to the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle enables me to add the following Notes to the list already published in "N. & Q."

The brasses are five in number, and are all contained in a chapel on the north-west side of the dome:

1. Arnoldus de Meroide, 1487, is a mural, rectangular plate (3' · 10" × 2' · 4"), on the upper half of which are engraved the Virgin and Child, to whom an angel presents a kneeling priest, and St. Bartholomew with knife and book.

2. Johannes Pollart, 1534, is also mural and rectangular (5' · 2½" × 2' · 4"), but is broken into two unequal portions, now placed side by side. The upper half of the larger piece has the following engraving:—In the centre stands the Virgin, wearing an arched imperial crown. Angels swing censers above her head. St. John Baptist, on her right hand, presents a kneeling priest in surplice and alb; and St. Christopher bears "the mysterious Child" on her left. The lower half contains part of the long inscription which is completed on the smaller detached piece.

3. Johannes et Lambertus Munten, 1546. This is likewise mural and rectangular (2' · 11½" × 2' · 1"). It ispainteda deep blue colour, and has an inscription in gilt letters, at the foot of which is depicted an emaciated figure, wrapped in a shroud and lying upon an altar-tomb: large worms creep round the head and feet.

4. Johannes Paiel, 1560. Mural, rectangular (3' · 4" × 2' · 4¼"). This ispaintedas the last-mentioned plate, and represents the Virgin and Child in a flaming aureole. Her feet rest in a crescent, around which is twisted a serpent; on her right hand stand St. John Baptist and the Holy Lamb, each bearing a cross; and to her left is St. Mary Magdalene, who presents a kneeling priest.

5. Henricus de .... Thisison the floor in front of the altar-rails, and consists of a rectangular plate (2' · 9" × 2' · 1"), on which is represented an angel wearing a surplice and a stole semée of crosses fitcheé, and supporting a shield bearing three fleurs-de-lis, with as many crosses fitchée. A partially-effaced inscription runs round the plate, within a floriated margin, and with evangelistic symbols at the corners.

In the centre of the choir of Cologne Cathedral lies amodernrectangular brass plate (8' · 10" × 3' · 11") to the memory of a late archbishop, Ferdinandus Augustus, 1835.

Beneath a single canopy is a full-length picture of the archbishop in eucharistic vestments (the stole unusually short), a pall over his shoulders, and an elaborate pastoral staff in his hand.

Josiah Cato.

Kennington.

(Vol. ii., p. 246.; Vol. vi., p. 143.)

Your correspondentJarltzberg, at the first reference, asks for the sense of the passage,—

"Besides what the grim wolf with privy pawDaily devours apace, and nothing sed:But that two-handed engine at the doorStands ready to smite once, and smite no more."

"Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw

Daily devours apace, and nothing sed:

But that two-handed engine at the door

Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more."

My own view of this passage strongly testifies against the interpretation of another passage at the second reference.

Thetwo-handed engine, I am positive, is St. Michael's sword. Farther on in the poem the bard addresses the angel St. Michael (according to Warton), who is conceived as guarding the Mount from enemies with a drawn sword, for in this form I apprehend does tradition state the vision to have been seen; and he bids him to desist from looking out for enemies towards the coast of Spain, and to "look homeward," at one of his own shepherds who is being washed ashore, in all probability upon this very promontory. Milton elsewhere (Par. Lost, book vi. 251.) speaks of the "huge two-handed sway" of this sword of St. Michael; and here, inLycidashe repeats the epithet to identify the instrument which is to accomplish the destruction of the wolf. St. Michael's sword is to smite off the head of Satan, who at the door of Christ's fold is, "with privy paw," daily devouring the hungry sheep. Note here that, according to some theologians, the archangel Michael, in prophecy, means Christ himself. (See the authorities quoted by Heber,Bampton Lectures, iv. notel, p. 242.) Hence it is His business to preserveHis ownsheep. In the Apocalypse the final blow of St. Michael's (or Christ's) two-edged sword, whichis to cleave the serpent's head, is made a distinct subject of prophecy. (See Rev. xii. 7-10.)

While on this subject allow me to ask, Can a dolphin waft? Can a shore wash?

C. Mansfied Ingleby.

Birmingham.

(Vol. viii., pp. 220. 395.)

In returning thanks to those of your correspondents who replied to my Query, I ought, perhaps, to have begged to learn such of our public schools that werewithoutlibraries, as the best means of obtaining for them bequests or gifts that would form a nucleus of a good library. For example, a correspondent informs me that the governors of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Wimborne, Dorset, are laying by 10l.a year towards the purchase of books for that purpose: that having no library at present, there now is a favourable opportunity for either a gift or a bequest: but I should in any case prefer a selection of works likely to prove readable for young people, as history, biography, travels, and the popular works of science.

I can quite imagine that Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Harrow, Shrewsbury, and other similar great schools, would have such libraries, but these are not half the number of our public foundations; the wealthy schools above mentioned, and the rich men's children who go to them, would be in a sad plight indeed were they not amply provided for in such matters. But there are others whose mission is not less important, perhaps more so; and on this head none would be better pleased than I to find I laboured under an "erroneous impression," as remarked byEtonensis. The English public appeared to have an "erroneous impression" that they were better provided with books than any other people a short time ago, till it was disproved when the agitation respecting parochial libraries was set on foot, the facts appearing on the institution of the Marylebone public library.

It has been shown that in France and Germany the public libraries, and the volumes in them, far exceed any that we possess; a strange fact, when we are better provided with standard authors than any other language in the world. I should much wish these brief parallels answered. The city of Lyons has a magnificent public library of 100,000 vols., open to all; how many has her rival Manchester? Boulogne has a public library of 16,000 vols.; how many has Southampton? From the obliging notices of correspondents in "N. & Q.," we have had several articles on parochial libraries, and the sum of the whole appears to be most miserable; surely some bad system has prevailed either in not having proper places for them, or in some other fault. In one place the resident clergyman sells them: surely if they were combined under some enlarged plan, people desirous of making bequests or gifts would do so very willingly when they knew they would be cared for and made use of; for it is probably the case that private libraries are more numerous here than abroad, and that there are altogether more books in the country. I am told by a correspondent that in his time there were no books at Christ's Hospital, therefore the bequest made is, I presume, a late one; and if such is the case, it will be a favourable opportunity for the governors of that school to enlarge the collection and make it available to the scholars.

If, therefore, our schools are no better provided than our public libraries, the inquiry may be of service; but if they are, it cannot do harm to know their condition. It is true I have heard of but one public school hitherto that has no library and wants one, but I shall remain unsatisfied till other returns make their appearance in "N. & Q." or privately, when, if it should appear I have taken a wrong opinion, I shall be as please as anybody else to find myself mistaken.

Weld Taylor.

Bayswater.

In answer to your correspondentMr. Weld Taylor'sQuery on this subject, may I be allowed to say that at Tonbridge School, where I was educated, there is a very good general library, consisting of the best classical works in our own language, travels, chronicles, histories, and the best works of fiction and poetry, and I believe all modern periodicals.

This library is under the care of the head boy for the time being, and he, with the other monitors, acts as librarian. Books are given out, I believe, daily; the library is maintained by the boys themselves, and few leave the school without making some contribution to its funds, or placing some work on its shelves.

The head master, the Rev. Dr. Welldon, approves of all books before they are added to the library.

There is also what is called the "Sunday Library," consisting of standard works of theology and church history, and other works, chiefly presented by the head and other masters, to induce a taste for such reading.

I am sorry thatMr. Weld Taylorshould have to complain of thegeneralignorance of public schoolboys; but I know I may on behalf of the head boy of Tonbridge say, he will be happy to acknowledge any contribution fromMr. Weld Taylor, which he may be disposed to give, towards the removal of this charge.

G. Brindley Acworth.

Star Hill, Rochester.

(Vol. viii., p. 386.)

There can be no doubt as to the authorship of theStore-house of Similies. The work is now before me, and the title-page is as follows:

"A Treasurie or Store-house of Similies; both Pleasaunt, Delightfull, and Profitable for all Estates of Men in Generall: newly collected into Heades and Common Places. By Robert Cawdray. London: printed by Thomas Creede, 1609."

The only reference to his Life, which I can find, is in "The Epistle Dedicatorie;" and two ancestors of mine, "Sir John Harington, Knight, and the Worshipful James Harington, Esquire, his brother," in which, when assigning his reasons for the "Dedication," he says:

"Calling to mind (right worshipfuls) not only the manifold curtesies and benefits, which I found and received, now more than thirty years ago,when I taught the grammar schoole at Okeham in Rutland, and sundry times since, of the religious and virtuous lady, Lucie Harington," &c.

The "Dedication" is subscribed "Robert Cawdray." Cawdray was also the author of a workOn the Profit and Necessity of Catechising, London, 1592, 8vo.

E. C. Harington.

The Close, Exeter.

The "Epistle Dedicatorie," as well as the title-page, appears to be wanting in J. H. S.'s copy of Robert Cawdray'sStore-house, which was "printed by Thomas Creede, London, 1609." From this we find that it was dedicated to "his singular benefactors, Sir John Harington, Knight, as also to the Worshipfull James Harington, Esquire, his brother," whose "great kindness and favourable good will (during my long trouble, and since)" the author afterwards "calls to mind," and also the "manifold curtesies and benefites which I found and received, now more than thirtie years agoe (when I taught the Grammar School at Okeham in Rutland, and sundrie times since) of the religious and vertuous lady,Lucie Haringtonyour Worship's Mother, and my especial friend in the Lord." Would this be the "lady, a prudent woman," who "had the princess Elizabeth committed to her government" (vide Fuller'sWorthies, Rutlandshire)?

J. H. S.'s Query recalls two examples of the "magnetic needle simile" (Vol. vi. and vii.passim), which Cawdray has garnered in hisStore-house, and which fact would probably account for their appearance in many sermons of the period, as the book being expressly intended to "lay open, rip up, and display in their kindes," "verie manie most horrible and foule vices and dangerous sinnes of all sorts;" and the "verie fitte similitudes" being for the most part "borrowed from manie kindes and sundrie naturall things, both in the Olde and New Testament," and being as the writer says "for preachers profitable," would find a place on many a clerical shelf; and its contents be freely used to "learnedly beautifie their matter, and brauely garnish and decke out" their discourses. I fear that I have already encroached too much on your valuable space, but send copies for use at discretion. In the first, the "Sayler's Gnomon" is used as an emblem of the constancy which ought to animate every "Christian man;" and in the second, of steadfastness amidst the temptations of the world. I shall be glad to know more of Cawdray than the trifles I have gathered from his book:

"Euen as the Sayler's Gnomon, or rule, which is commonly called the mariner's needle, doth alwayes looke towards the north poole, and will euer turne towards the same, howsoeuer it bee placed: which is maruellous in that instrument and needle, whereby the mariners doo knowe the course of the windes: Euen so euerie Christian man ought to direct the eyes of his minde, and the wayes of his heart, to Christ; who is our north poole, and that fixed and constant north starre, whereby we ought all to bee governed: for hee is our hope and our trust; hee is our strength, whereupon wee must still relie.""Like as the Gnomon dooth euer beholde the north starre, whether it be closed and shutte uppe in a coffer of golde, siluer, or woode, neuer loosing his nature: So a faithfull Christian man, whether hee abound in wealth, or bee pinched with pouertie, whether hee bee of high or lowe degree in this worlde, ought continually to haue his faith and hope surely built and grounded uppon Christ: and to haue his heart and minde fast fixed and settled in him, and to follow him through thicke and thinne, through fire and water, through warres and peace, through hunger and colde, through friendes and foes, through a thousand perilles and daungers, through the surges and waues of enuie, malice, hatred, euill speeches, rayling sentences, contempt of the worlde, flesh, and diuell: and, euen in death itselfe, bee it neuer so bitter, cruell, and tyrannicall; yet neuer to loose the sight and viewe of Christ, neuer to giue ouer our faith, hope, and trust in him."

"Like as the Gnomon dooth euer beholde the north starre, whether it be closed and shutte uppe in a coffer of golde, siluer, or woode, neuer loosing his nature: So a faithfull Christian man, whether hee abound in wealth, or bee pinched with pouertie, whether hee bee of high or lowe degree in this worlde, ought continually to haue his faith and hope surely built and grounded uppon Christ: and to haue his heart and minde fast fixed and settled in him, and to follow him through thicke and thinne, through fire and water, through warres and peace, through hunger and colde, through friendes and foes, through a thousand perilles and daungers, through the surges and waues of enuie, malice, hatred, euill speeches, rayling sentences, contempt of the worlde, flesh, and diuell: and, euen in death itselfe, bee it neuer so bitter, cruell, and tyrannicall; yet neuer to loose the sight and viewe of Christ, neuer to giue ouer our faith, hope, and trust in him."

Sigma.

Stockton.

Robert Cawdray, the author ofA Treasurie or Store-house of Similes, was a Nonconformist divine of learning and piety. Having entered into the sacred function about 1566, he was presented by Secretary Cecil to the rectory of South Luffenham in Rutlandshire. After he had been employed in the ministry about twenty years, he was cited before Bishop Aylmer and other high commissioners, and charged with having omitted parts of the Book of Common Prayer in public worship,and with having preached against certain things contained in the book. Having refused, according to Strype, to take the oath to answer all such articles as the commissioners should propose, he was deprived of his ministerial office. Mr. Brook, however, in hisLives of the Puritans, states that though he might at first have refused the oath, yet that he afterwards complied, and gave answers to the various articles which he proceeds to detail at length. He was cited again on two subsequent occasions; and, on his third appearance, being required to subscribe, and to wear the surplice, he refused, and was imprisoned, and ultimately deprived. He applied to Lord Burleigh to intercede on his behalf, and his lordship warmly espoused his cause, and engaged Attorney Morrice to undertake his defence, but his arguments proved ineffectual. Mr. Cawdray, refusing to submit, was brought before Archbishop Whitgift, and other high commissioners, May 14, 1590, and was degraded and deposed from the ministry and made a mere layman. The above account is abridged from Brook'sLives of the Puritans, London, 1813, pp. 430-43.

Ἁλιεύς.

Dublin.

P. S. Besides theTreasurie of Similies, I find the following work under his name in the Bodleian Catalogue:

"A Table Alphabeticall; conteyning and teaching the True Writing and Vnderstanding of hard vsuall English Wordes, borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine, or French, &c. London. 8vo. 1604."

The title of this work is—

"A Treasurie or Store-house of Similies; both Pleasant, Delightfull, and Profitable for all Estates of Men in Generall: newly collected into Heades and Common Places. By Robert Cawdray. Thomas Creed, London, 1609, 4to."

Cawdray was rector of South Luffenham, in Rutland; and was deprived by Bishop Aylmer for nonconformity in 1587. He appealed to the Court of Exchequer, and his case was argued before all the judges in 1591. A report of the trial is in Coke'sReports, inscribed "De Jure Regis Ecclesiastico." There is a Life of Cawdray in Brook'sLives of the Puritans(vol. i. pp. 430-443.), which contains an interesting account of his examination before the High Commission, extracted from a MS. register. Notices of him will also be found in Neal'sPuritans, 1837 (vol. i. pp. 330. 341.); and Heylin'sHistory of the Presbyterians, 1672 (fol. p. 317.).

John I. Dredge.

(Vol. viii., p. 385.)

For the following information respecting the author, and the original, I am indebted to theLady's Magazineof 1820, from which I copied it several years ago.

Mr. Joseph Lowe, born at Kenmore in Galloway, 1750, the son of a gardener, at fourteen apprenticed to a weaver, by persevering diligence in the pursuit of knowledge, was enabled in 1771 to enter himself a student in Divinity in the University of Edinburgh. On his return from college he became tutor in the family of a gentleman, Mr. McGhie of Airds, who had several beautiful daughters, to one of whom he was attached, though it never was their fate to be united. Another of the sisters, Mary, was engaged to a surgeon, Mr. Alexander Miller. This young gentleman was unfortunately lost at sea, an event immortalised byMary's Dream. The author was unhappy in his marriage with a lady of Virginia, whither he had emigrated, and died in 1798. This poem was originally composed in the Scottish dialect, and afterwards received the polished English form from the hand of its author.

Back to Index Next