REPLIES.

Latin Epigram.—I should be much obliged to any of your readers who can inform me who was the author and what is the date of the following epigram. The peculiarity of it, your readers will observe, consists in the fact, that while read directly it contains a strong compliment; yet it is capable of being read backwards, still forming the same description of verse, but conveying a perfect reverse of the compliment:—

"Laus tua, non tua fraus; virtus non copia rerum,Scandere te fecit hoc decus eximium,Pauperibus tua das; nunquam stat janua clausa;Fundere res quæris, nec tua multiplicas.Conditio tua sit stabilis! non tempore parvoVivere te faciat hic Deus omnipotens."

"Laus tua, non tua fraus; virtus non copia rerum,

Scandere te fecit hoc decus eximium,

Pauperibus tua das; nunquam stat janua clausa;

Fundere res quæris, nec tua multiplicas.

Conditio tua sit stabilis! non tempore parvo

Vivere te faciat hic Deus omnipotens."

When reversed, it reads thus:—

"Omnipotens Deus hic faciat te vivere parvoTempore! Non stabilis sit tua conditio.Multiplicas tua, nec quæris res fundere; clausaJanua stat, nunquam das tua pauperibus.Eximium decus hoc fecit te scandere rerumCopia, non virtus; fraus tua, non tua laus."

"Omnipotens Deus hic faciat te vivere parvo

Tempore! Non stabilis sit tua conditio.

Multiplicas tua, nec quæris res fundere; clausa

Janua stat, nunquam das tua pauperibus.

Eximium decus hoc fecit te scandere rerum

Copia, non virtus; fraus tua, non tua laus."

Any additional information would much oblige.

April 15. 1850.

Circumstances enable me to give a reply, which I believe will be found correct, to the inquiry of "C.B." in p. 382. of your 24th Number, "Whether Gray's celebrated Latin Ode is actually to be found entered at the Grande Chartreuse?" The fact is, that the French Revolution—that whirlwind which swept from the earth all that came within its reach and seemed elevated enough to offer opposition—spared not the poor monks of the Chartreuse. A rabble from Grenoble and other places, attacked the monastery; burnt, plundered, or destroyed their books, papers, and property, and dispersed the inmates; while the buildings were left standing, not from motives of respect, but because they would have been troublesome and laborious to pull down, and were not sufficiently combustible to burn.

In travelling on the Continent with a friend, during the summer of 1817, we made a pilgrimage to the Grande Chartreuse, reaching it from the side of the Echelles. It was an interesting moment; for at that very time the scattered remains of the society had collected together, and were just come again to take possession of and reinhabit their old abode. And being theirjour de spaciment, the whole society was before us, as they returned from their little pilgrimage up the mountain, where they had been visiting St. Bruno's chapel and spring; and it was impossible not to think with respect of the self-devotion of these men, who, after having for many years partaken (in a greater or less degree) of the habits and comforts of a civilised life, had thus voluntarily withdrawn themselves once more to their stern yet beautiful solitude (truly, as Gray calls it, alocus severus), there to practise the severities of their order, without, it may be supposed, any possessions or means, except what they were themselves enabled to throw into a common stock; for nearly the whole of their property had been seized by the government during the Revolution, and was still held by it.

Our conversation was almost wholly with two of the fathers (they use the prefixDom), whose names I forget, and have mislaid my memorandum of them. One of these had been in England, when driven out; and was there protected by the Weld family in Dorsetshire, of whom he spoke in terms of sincere gratitude and respect. The other told us that he was a native of Chambery, and had done no more than cross the mountains to get home. On asking him for Gray's Ode, he shook his head, saying, the Revolution had robbed them of that, and every thing else; but repeated the first line of it, so that there was no mistake as to the object of my inquiry. From what occurred afterwards, it appears, however, to be questionable whether he knew more than the first line; for I was informed that later English travellers had been attempting, from a laudable desire of diffusing information, to write out the whole in the present Album of the Chartreuse, by contributing a line or stanza, as their recollection served; but that, after all, this pic-nic composition was not exactly what Gray wrote. Of course, had our friend the Dom known how to supply the deficiencies, he would have done it.

There is a translation of the Ode by James Hay Beattie, son of the professor and poet, printed amongst his poems, which is much less known than its merits deserve. And I would beg to suggest to such of your readers as may in the course of their travels visit this monastery, that books (need I sayproperones?) would be a most acceptable present to the library; also, that there is a regular Album kept, in which those who, in this age of "talent" and "intelligence," consider themselves able to write better lines than Gray's, are at liberty to do so if they please.

A very happy conjecture appeared in theEuropean Magazinesome time between 1804 and 1808, as to the conclusion of the stanzas to Mr. Beattie. The corner of the paper on which they had been written as torn off; and Mr. Mason supplies what is deficient in the following manner, the words added by him being printed in Italics:—

"Enough for me, if to some feeling breastMy lines a secret sympathyimpart;And as their pleasing influenceflows confest,A sign of soft reflectionheave the heart."

"Enough for me, if to some feeling breast

My lines a secret sympathyimpart;

And as their pleasing influenceflows confest,

A sign of soft reflectionheave the heart."

This, it will be seen, is prosaic enough; but the correspondent of theE. Mag.supposes the lines to have ended differently; and that the poet, in some peculiar fit of modesty, tore off the name. His version is this:—

"Enough for me, if to some feeling breast,My lines a secret sympathyconvey;And as their pleasing influenceis imprest,A sigh of soft reflectionheave for Gray."

"Enough for me, if to some feeling breast,

My lines a secret sympathyconvey;

And as their pleasing influenceis imprest,

A sigh of soft reflectionheave for Gray."

One word upon another poet, Byronv. Tacitus, in p. 390. of your 24th Number. There can be no doubt that the noble writer had this passage of Tacitus in his mind, when he committed the couplet in question to paper; but, in all probability, he considered it so well known as not to need acknowledgment. Others have alluded to it in the same way. The late Rev. W. Crowe, B.C.L., of New College, Oxford, and public orator of that University, in some lines recited by his son at the installation of Lord Grenville, has the following:—

"And when he bids the din of war to cease,He calls the silent desolation—peace."

"And when he bids the din of war to cease,

He calls the silent desolation—peace."

I wonder where Lord Byron stole stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, of the second canto ofThe Bride of Abydos; to say nothing of some more splendid passages in the first and second cantos ofChilde Harold?

W. (1.)

Chapels.—Perhaps the following remarks will be of service to "Mr. GATTY" in the solution of his Queries touching the wordChapel(No. 21.).

Spelman (Glossary, sub voce) endeavours to convince us thatcapellais the same ascapsella, the diminutive ofcapsa; thus makingchapel, in the first instance, "a small repository" (sc.of relics). Richardson is also in favour of this etymon, notwithstanding its harshness and insipidity. I think the common derivation (fromcapella, diminutive ofcapa) very much preferable to any other, both on the score of philology and of history. Ducange has quoted several passages, all tending to evince thatcapella(explained by the Teutonicvoccus) was specially applied to the famous vestment of St. Martin, comprising his cloak and hood (not merely hishat, as some writers mention). The name was then metonymically transferred to the repository in which that relic was preserved, and afterwards, by a natural expansion, became the ordinary designation of the smaller sanctuaries. This derivation is distinctly affirmed by Walafred Strabo about 842, and by a monk of St. Gall, placed by Basnage about 884. The earliest instance where the wordcapellais used for the vestment of St. Martin appears to be in a "Placitum" of Theodoric, King of France, who ascended the throne A.D. 672—"in oratorio nostro super capella Domini Martini ... hæc dibiret conjurare." In a second "Placitum," also quoted by Ducange, of Childebert, King of France (circa695), the wordcapellaseems to mean asacred building—"in oratorio suo seu capella Sancti Marthini." And in a charter of Charles the Simple,circ.900, the term unquestionably occurs in this latter signification, disconnected from St. Martin. Other illustrations may be seen in Ducange, who has bestowed especial industry on the wordscapaandcapella.

With respect to thelegaldefinition of the modernchapel, I may mention that, in stat. 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29. s. 10., it signifies, according to Mr. Stephens (Eccl. Statutes, p. 1357.), "a chapel where the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England are performed, and does not include the chapels of Dissenters." In stat. 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 30., we read, notwithstanding, of "anychapelfor the religious worship of persons dissenting from the United Church of England and Ireland."

C.H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

Chapels(No. 20. p. 333., and No. 23. p. 371.).—The opinion of the "BARRISTER" that this term had come into use as a designation of dissenting places of worship from no "idea of either assistance or opposition to the Church of England," but only as a supposed means of security to the property, is probably correct. Yet it is likely different reasons may have had weight in different places.

However, he is mistaken in "believing that we must date the adoption of that term from about" forty years ago. I am seventy-six years old, and I can bear testimony, that from my infancy it was the term universally employed in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, and, I think probable, in the more northern counties. In common speech, it was used as the word of discrimination from the Methodist places of worship, which bore the name ofMeeting-houses, or, more generally,Meetings. But within the period (forty years) assigned by your learned correspondent, I think that I have observed the habit to have extensively obtained of applying the termChapelsto the latter class of places.

I have abundant evidence of the general use of the term for dissenting buildings, back to the seventeenth century. From my early life, I remember the current opinion to have been thatChapelwas the word in use north of the Trent, andMeeting-housein Nottingham and southwards.

An eminent antiquary, the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A., could cast a full light upon this subject.

J.P.S.

Homerton, April 15.

Beaver(No. 21. p. 338.).—The earliest form of this word isfiber, which is used to signify the animal, theCastor, by Varro and Pliny. The fabulous story of the self-emasculation by which the beaver eludes pursuit, is thus introduced by Silius, in illustrating the flight of Hasdrubal:—

"Fluminei veluti deprensus gurgitis undis,Avulsâ parte inguinibus caussaque pericli,Enatat intento prædæfiboravius hoste."Punica, IV. 485-8, where see Ruperti.

"Fluminei veluti deprensus gurgitis undis,Avulsâ parte inguinibus caussaque pericli,Enatat intento prædæfiboravius hoste."

"Fluminei veluti deprensus gurgitis undis,

Avulsâ parte inguinibus caussaque pericli,

Enatat intento prædæfiboravius hoste."

Punica, IV. 485-8, where see Ruperti.

The scholiast on Juvenal, xii. 34., has the low Latinvebrus. (See Forcellini, Lex. inFiberetCastor, Ducange inBever, and Adelung inBiber.) Derivations of the wordbebrusoccur in all the languages of Europe, both Romanic and Teutonic; and denote the Castor.Beaver, in the sense of ahatorcap, is a secondary application, derived from the material of which the hat or cap was made.

Poins and Bardolph(No. 24. p. 385.)—Mr. Collier (Life prefixed to the edit. ofShakspeare, p. 139.) was the first to notice that Bardolph, Fluellen, and Awdrey, were names of persons living at Stratford in the lifetime of the poet; and Mr. Halliwell (Life of Shakspeare, pp. 126-7) has carried the subject still further, and shown that the names of ten characters in the plays are also found in the early records of that town. Poins was, I believe, a common Welsh name.

God tempers the Wind(No. 22. p. 357.)—Le Roux de Liney,Livre des Proverbes Français(Paris, 1842), tom. i. p. 11., cites the following proverbs—

"Dieu mesure le froid à la brebis tondue,ou,Dieu donne le froid selon la robbe,"

"Dieu mesure le froid à la brebis tondue,

ou,

Dieu donne le froid selon la robbe,"

from Henri Estienne,Prémices, &c., p. 47., a collection of proverbs published in 1594. He also quotes from Gabriel Meurier,Trésor des Sentences, of the sixteenth century:—

"Dieu aide les mal vestus."

SIWEL.

April 5. 1850.

Sterne's Koran(No. 14. p. 216.)—An inquiry respecting this work appeared in theGent. Mag., vol. lxvii. pt. ii. p. 565.; and at p. 755. we are told by a writer under the signature of "Normanus," that inhisedition of Sterne, printed at Dublin, 1775, 5 vols. 12mo., the Koran was placed at the end, the editor honestly confessing that it wasnotthe production of Sterne, but of Mr. Richard Griffith (son of Mrs. Griffith, theNovellettist), then a gentleman of large fortune seated at Millecent, co. Kildare, and married to a daughter of the late Ld. C.B. Burgh.

I possess a copy of an indifferent edition of Sterne's works, in point of paper and type, "Printed for J. Mozley, Gainsbrough, 1795. 8 vols. 12mo." The Koran is in the sixth vol., termed "The Posthumous Works of L. Sterne," dedicated to the Earl of Charlemont by the editor, who, in his address to the reader, professes to have received the MS. from the hands of the author some time before his untimely death.

This I hope will answer the Query of "E.L.N.:" and at the same time I wish to express my regret, that we do not possess a really good and complete edition of Sterne's Works, with a Life and literary history of them, incorporating the amusing illustrations by Dr. Ferriar.

F.R.A.

April 12. 1850.

Lollius.—In answer to "J.M.B." (No. 19. p. 303.) as to who was the Lollius spoken of by Chaucer, I send you the following.Lolliuswas the real or fictitious name of the author or translator of many of our Gothic prose romances. D'Israeli, in his admirableAmenities of Literature, vol. i. p. 141., says:—

"In some colophons of the prose romances the names of real persons are assigned as the writers; but the same romance is equally ascribed to different persons, and works are given as translations which in fact are originals. Amid this prevailing confusion, and these contradictory statements, we must agree with the editor of Warton, that we cannot with any confidence name the author of any of these prose romances. Ritson has aptly treated these pseudonymous translators as 'men of straw.' We may say of them all, as the antiquary Douce, in the agony of his baffled researches after one of their favourite authorities, a Will o' the Wisp named LOLLIUS, exclaimed, somewhat gravely,—'Of Lollius it will become every one to speak with diffidence.'"

Perhaps this "scrap" of information may lead to something more extensive.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Henry Ryder, Bishop of Killaloe(No. 24. p. 383).—Henry Ryder, D.D., a native of Paris, and Bishop of Killaloe, after whose paternity "W.D.R." inquires, was advanced to that see by patent dated June 5. 1693 (not 1692), and consecrated on the Sunday following in the church of Dunboyne, in the co. Meath. See Archdeacon Cotton'sFasti Ecclesiæ Hibernicæ, vol. i. p. 404., who gives an account of his family.

W.(I.)

Brown Study(No. 22. p. 352.).—Surely a corruption of brow-study, brow being derived from to old German,braun, in its compound formang-braun, an eyebrow. (Vide Wachter,Gloss. Germ.)

HENNES

Seven Champions of Christendom.—Who was the author ofThe Seven Champions of Christendom?

R.F. JOHNSON.

[The Seven Champions of Christendom, which Ritson describes as "containing all the lies of Christendom in one lie," was written by the well-known Richard Johnson. Our correspondent will find many curious particulars of his various works in the Introduction which Mr. Chappell has prefixed to one of them, viz.The Crown Garland of Golden Roses, edited by him from the edition of 1612 for the Percy Society.]

"Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis."—"E.V." (p. 215.) is referred to CiceroDe Officiis, lib. i. cap. 10., and Ovid,Met. lib. xv. 165. et seqq.

"Vox Præterea nihil."—"C.W.G." (p. 247.) is also referred to Ovid,Met. lib. iii. 397., and Lactantius, lib. iii. Fab. v. These are the nearest approximations I know.

A.W.

Vox Populi Vox Dei.—The words "Populi vox, vox Dei," stand as No. 97. among the "Aphorismi Politici ex Ph. Cominoeo," in a small volume in my possession, entitled,—

"Aphorismi Politici et Militares, etc. par Lambertum Danæum collecti. Lugduni Batavorum. CID IDC XXX IX."

There is no reference given to book or chapter; and, judging from the manner in which the aphorisms of Thucydides and Tacitus (which I have been able to examine) are quoted, I fear it may be found that the words in question are rather a condensation of some paragraph by Des Comines that theipsissima verbathat he employed.

C. FORBES.

Temple.

The Cuckoo.—In respect to the Query of "G." (No. 15. p. 230.), on the cuckoo, as the Welsh Ambassador, I would suggest that it was in allusion to the annual arrival of Welshmen in search of summer and other employment. As those wanderers may have entered England about the time of the cuckoo's appearance, the idea that the bird was the precursor of the Welsh might thus become prevalent. Also, on the quotation given by "PETIT ANDRÉ" (No. 18. p. 283.) of Welsh parsley, or hempen halters, it may have derived its origin from the severity practised on the Welsh, in the time of their independence, when captured on the English side of the border,—the death of the prisoner being inevitable.

GOMER.

Ancient Titles(No. 11. p. 173.).—It may be interesting to your querist "B." to know that the seal of the borough of Chard, in the county of Somerset, has two birds in the position which he describes, with the date 1570.

S.S.S.

Daysman(No. 12. p. 188., No. 17. p. 267.).—For quoted instances of this, and other obsolete words, see Jameson'sBible Glossary, just published by Wertheim in Paternoster Row.

S.S.S.

Safeguard(No. 17. p. 267.).—The article of dress for the purpose described is still used by farmers' wives and daughters in the west of England, and is known by the same name.

S.S.S.

Finkle(No. 24. p. 384.).—meansfennel. Mr. Halliwell (Dict.p. 357.) quotes from a MS. of theNominale, "fynkylsede,feniculum."

Gourders of Rain(No. 21. p. 335., No. 22. p. 357.).—Has the word "Gourders" any connection withGourtes, a stream, or pool? See Cotgrave'sDict., and Kelham'sDict. of the Norman Language.

Geotereis the A.-S. word for "melter;" but may not the term be applied to the pourer out of anything? Gourd is used by Chaucer in the sense of a vessel. (SeeProl. to the Manciple's Tale.)

C.I.R.

Urbanus Regius(No. 23. p. 367.).—The "delightful old lady" is informed that "Urbanus Regius" (or Urban le Roi) was one of the reformers, a native of Langenargen, in Germany. His works were published under the title ofVitet et Opera Urbani Regii, &c., Norib. 1562. His theological works have been translated into English, as the lady is aware.

W. FRANKS MATHEWS.

Kidderminster, April 7. 1850.

Horns(No. 24. p. 383.).—Rosenmüller ad Exodum xxxiv. 29.

"Ignorabat quods plenderet entis faciei ejus. Vulgatus interpres reddidit.Ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua, quia verbumKarandenominativum nominisKeren, cornu; opinatus est denotare,cornua habere; hine nata opinio, Mosis faciem fuisse cornutam. Sed nomen [Hebrew: keren] ob similitudinem et adradiostransferri, docet Haliæ, m. 4. ubi de fulminibus dicitur.... Hic denotatemisit radias, i.e. splenduit." LXX. [Greek: dedoxastai]. Our version,shone.

R. ad Psal. xxii. seems to say, that in Arabic there is the like metaphor, of the sun's rays to a deer's horns. R. adds, that the Jews also attributed horns to Moses in another sense, figuratively for power, as elsewhere.

Tauriformis.—The old scholiasts on Horace say that rivers are always represented with horns, "propter impetum et mugitum æquarum."

"Corniger Hesperidum fluvius."

An old modern commentator observes, that in Virgil "Rhenus bicornis," rather applies to its two æstuaries.

When Milton says (xi. 831.) "push'd by the horned flood," he seems rather to mean, as Newton explains him, that "rivers, when they meet with anything to obstruct their passage, divide themselves and becomehornedas it were, and hence the ancients have compared them to bulls."

C.B.

["M." (Oxford) refers our correspondent to Facciolati,Lexicon, ed. Bailey, voc.Corun.]

Horns(No. 24. p. 383.).—1. Moses' face, Ex. ch. xxxiv. (karan, Heb.), shot out beams orhornsof light (fromkeren, Heb.); so the first beams of the rising sun are by the Arabian poets compared to horns. Absurdly rendered by Aqu. and Vulg. (facies)cornuta erat. Whence painters represent Moses as having horns.—Gesenius,Heb. Lex.

2. There appear many reasons for likening rivers to bulls. Euripides calls Cephisus taumomorphos, and Horace gives Aufidus the same epithet, for the same reason probably, as makes him call it also "longe sonans," "violentus," and "acer;" viz., the bull-like roaring of its waters, and the blind fury of its course, especially in flood time. Other interpretations may be given: thus, Milton, Dryden, and others, speak of the "horned flood,"i.e., a body of water which, when it meets with any obstruction, divides itself and becomeshorned, as it were. See Milt. P.L. xi. 831., and notes on the passage by Newton and Todd. Dryden speaks of "the seven-foldhornsof the Nile," using the word as equivalent to winding stream. It would be tedious to multiply examples.

3. Of this phrase I have never seen a satisfactory explanation. "Coruna nasci" is said by Petronius, in a general sense, of one in great distress. As applied to a cuckold, it is common to most of the modern European languages. The Italian phrase is "becco cornuto" (horned goat), which the Accademici della Crusca explain by averring that that animal, unlike others can without anger bear a rival in his female's love.

"Dr. Burn, in hisHistory of Westmoreland, would trace thiscrestofcuckoldomto horns worn as crests by those who went to the Crusades, as their armorial distinctions; to the infidelity of consorts during their absence, and to the finger of scorn pointed at them on their return; crested indeed, but abused."—Todd's Johnson's Dictionary.

R.T.H.G.

Why Moses represented with Horns.—You may inform your querist "L.C." (No. 24 p. 383.), that the strange practice of making Moses appear horned, which is not confined to statues, arose from the mistranslation of Exod. xxxiv. 30. & 35. in the Vulgate, which is to the Romanist his authenticated scripture. For there he reads "faciem Moysi cornutum," instead of "the skin of Moses' face shone." The Hebrew verb put into our type iscoran, very possibly the root of the Latincornu: and its primary signification is to put forth horns; its secondary, to shoot forth rays, to shine. The participle is used in its primary sense in Psalms, xix. 31.; but the Greek Septuagint, and all translatorsfrom the Hebrewinto modern European languages, have assigned to the verb its secondary meaning in Exod. xxxiv. In that chapter the nominative tocoranis, in both verses, undeniablyskin, notheadnorface. Now it would obviously be absurd to write "his skin was horned," so that common sense, and the authority of the Septuagint, supported by the language of St. Paul in his paraphrase and comment on this passage in 2 Cor. iii. 7-13., ought to have been sufficient to guide any Christian translator as to the sense to be attached tocoranin the mention of Moses.

H.W.

Oxford, April 16, 1850.

[We have since received replies to a similar effect, from "SIR EDMUND FILMER," "J.E.," &c. "R.G." refers our Querist to Leigh'sCritica Særa, part I. p. 219. London, 1662; and "M." refers him to the note on this passage in Exodus in M. Polus'Synopsis Criticorum. To "T.E." we are indebted for Notes on other portions of "L.C.'s" Queries.]

The Temple or A Temple.—"Mr. Foss" says (No. 21. p. 335.) that in Tyrwhitt's edition of Chaucer and in all other copies he has seen, the reading is—

"A gentil manciple was there of a temple."

In an imperfect black-letter folio copy of Chaucer in my possession (with curious wood-cuts, but without title-page, or any indications of its date, printer, &c.), the reading is—

"A gentyl mancyple was there ofthetemple."

That the above is the true reading ("the real passage"), and that it is to be applied tothetemple, appears to me from what follows, in the description of the manciple.

"Of maysters had he moo than thryes tenThat were of lawe expirte and curyous,Of whyche there were a dosen in that housWorthy to be," &c.;

"Of maysters had he moo than thryes ten

That were of lawe expirte and curyous,

Of whyche there were a dosen in that hous

Worthy to be," &c.;

P.H.F.

March 23, 1850.

Ecclesiastical Year(No. 24. p. 381.).—The following note on the calendar is authority for the statement respecting the beginning of the ecclesiastical year:—

"Note that the Golden Number and the Dominicall letter doeth change euery yeere the first day of January. Note also, that the yeere of our Lord beginneth the xxv. day of March, the same supposed to be the first day upon which the world was created, and the day when Christ was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary."

As in the Book of Common Prayer, Lond. 1614, p. 2. Bishop Cosins remarks, "beginneth the 25th day of March."

"Romani annum suum auspicantur ad calendas Januarias. Idem faciunt hodierni Romani et qui in aliis regnis papæ authoritatem agnoseunt. Ecclesia autem Anglicana sequitur suppotationem antiquam a Dionysio Exiguo inchoatum, anno Christi 532."

Nicholl's Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer, additional notes, p. 10. Fol. Lond. 1712, vid. loe.

In the Book of Common Prayer, Oxford, 1716, the note is,—

"Note.—The supputation of the year of our Lord in the Church of England beginneth the five-and-twentieth day of March."

This note does not now appear in our Prayer Books, being omitted, I suppose, in consequenceof the adoption of the new style in England in 1752. The daily course of lessons used to begin, as it does now, with the Book of Genesis and of St. Matthew, in January; the collects, epistles, and gospels with those for Advent.

Oxford.

Paying through the Nose(No. 21. p. 335.).—I have always understood this to be merely a degenerated pronunciation of the last word. Paying throughthe noosegives the idea so exactly, that, as far as the etymology goes, it is explanatory enough. But whetherthatreading has an historical origin may be another question. It scarcely seems to need one.

C.W.H.

Quem Deus vult perdere, &c.(No. 22. p. 351.).—The correct reading is, "Quem Jupiter vult perdere, dementat prius." See Duport'sGnomologia Homerica, p. 282. (Cantab. 1660.) Athenagoras quotes Greek lines, and renders them in Latin (p. 121. Oxon. 1682):

"At dæmon homini quum struit aliquid malum,Pervertit illi primitus mentem suam."

"At dæmon homini quum struit aliquid malum,

Pervertit illi primitus mentem suam."

The word "dementat" is not to be met with, I believe, in the works of any real classical author. Butler has employed the idea in part 3. canto 2. line 565. ofHudibras:

"Like men condemned to thunderbolts,Who, ere the blow, become mere dolts."

"Like men condemned to thunderbolts,

Who, ere the blow, become mere dolts."

C.I.R.

Shrew(No. 24. p. 381.).—The word, I apprehend, means sharp. The mouse, which is not the field-mouse, as Halliwell states, but an animal of a different order of quadrupeds, has a very sharp snout. Shrewd means sharp generally. Its bad sense is only incidental. They seem connected with scratch; screw; shrags, the end of sticks or furze (Halliwell); to shred (A.-S., screadan, but which must be a secondary form of the verb). That the shrew-mouse is called in Latinsorex, seems to be an accidental coincidence. That is said to be derived from [Greek: urax]. The French have confounded the two, and give the namesouristo the common mouse, butnotto the shrew-mouse.

I protest, for one, against admitting that Broc is derived frombroc, persecution, which of course is participle from break. We say "to badger" for to annoy, to teaze. I suppose two centuries hence will think the name of the animal is derived from that verb, and not the verb from it. It means also, in A.-S.,equus vilis, a horse that is worn out or "broken down."

C.B.

Zenobia(No. 24. p. 383.).—Zenobia is said to be "gente Judaea," in Hoffman'sLexicon Universale, and Facciolati, ed. Bailey, Appendix, voc.Zenobia.

Oxford.

Cromwell's Estates(No. 24. p. 389.).—There is Woolaston, in Gloucestershire, four miles from Chepstow, chiefly belonging now to the Duke of Beaufort.

C.B.

Vox et præterea Nihil(No. 16. p. 247., and No. 24. p. 387.).—This saying is to be found in Plutarch'sLaconic Apophthegms([Greek: Apophthegmata Lakonika]), PlutarchiOpera Moralia, ed. Dan. Wyttenbach, vol. i. p. 649.

Philemon Holland has "turned it into English" thus:—

"Another [Laconian] having plucked all the feathers off from a nightingale, and seeing what a little body it had: 'Surely,' quoth he, 'thou art all voice, and nothing else.'"—Plutarch's Morals, fol. 1603. p. 470.

W.B.R.

Law of Horses.—The following is from Oliphant'sLaw of Horses, &c., p. 75. Will any of your readers kindly tell me whether the view is correct?

"It is said inSoutherenev.Howe(2 Rol. Rep. 5.),Si home vend chivall que est lame, null action gist peur ceo, mescaveat emptor:lou jeo vend chivall que ad null oculus la null action gist; autrement lou il ad un conterfeit faux etbright eye." "If a man sell a horse which is lame, no action lyes for that, butcaveat emptor; and when I sell a horse that hasnoeye, there no action lies; otherwise where he has a counterfeit, false, andbright eye."

Thus it appears that a distinction is here made between a horse havingnoeye at all, and having a counterfeit, false orbrightone. And probably bybright eyeis meantglass eye, orgutta serena; and the words "counterfeit" and "false" may be an attempt of the reporter to explain an expression which he did not understand. Because putting a false eye into a horse is far in advance of the sharpest practices of the present day, or of any former period.

Note.—Gutta Serena, commonly called glass-eye, is a species of blindness; the pupil is unusually dilated; it is immovable, bright, and glassy.

G.H. HEWIT OLIPHANT.

April 16. 1850.

Christ's Hospital.—In reply to "NEMO" (No. 20. p. 318.), a contemporary of the eminent Blues there enumerated, informs him, that although he has not a perfect recollection of the ballads then popular at Christ's Hospital, yet "NEMO" may be pleased to learn, that on making search at the Society of Antiquaries for Robin Hood Ballads, he found in a folio volume of Broadsides, &c., one of the much interest and considerable length in relation to that school. The Ballad must also be rare, as it is not among those in the two large volumes which have been for many years in the British Museum, nor is it in the three volumes of Roxburgh Ballads recently purchased for that noble library.

The undersigned believes that the only survivor of the scholars at Christ's Hospital mentioned by "NEMO," is the Rev. Charles Valentine Le Grice, now residing at Trerieffe, near Penzance.

J.M.G.

Worcester, March 22. 1850.

[We are happy to say that one other, at least, of the Christ Hospital worthies enumerated by "NEMO" still survives—Mr. Leigh Hunt, whose kindly criticism and real poetic feeling have enriched our literature with so many volumes of pleasant reading, and won for him the esteem of a large circle of admirers.]

Tickhill, God help me!(No. 16. p. 247.).—"H.C. ST. CROIX" informs us that a similar expression is in use in Lincolnshire. Near to the town of "merry Lincoln" is a large heath celebrated for its cherries. If a person meets one of the cherry-growers on his way to market, and asks him where he comes from, the answer will be, if the season is favourable, "From Lincoln Heath, where should 'un?" but if, on the contrary, there is a scarcity of cherries, the reply will be, "From Lincoln Heath, God help 'un."

"DISS" informs us, too, that this saying is not confined to Tickhill, Melverly, or Pershore, but is also current at Letton, on the banks of the Wye, between Hereford and Hay. And "H.C.P." says the same story is told of the inhabitants of Tadley, in the north of Hampshire, on the borders of Berkshire.

Robert Long(No. 24. p. 382.).—Rear-Admiral Robert Long died 4thJuly, 1771, having been superannuated on the half-pay of rear-admiral some time before his death. His seniority in the navy was dated from 21st March, 1726, and he was posted in the Shoreham. He never wasSirRobert. An account of the charity he founded may be seen in theCommissioners' Reports on Charities, vol. iii. iv. vi.

Transposition of Letters(No. 19. p. 298.).—Instances of shortened names of places. Bensington, Oxfordshire, now called Benson; Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, now called Stadham; and in Suffolk the following changes have taken place; Thelnetham is called Feltam; Hoxney, Oxen.

C.I.R.

The Complaynt of Scotland.—I believe there has not been discovered recently any fact relative to the authorship of above-mentioned poem, and that the author is,

"Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount,Lord Lyon King-at-Arms."

"Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount,

Lord Lyon King-at-Arms."

W.B.

Note Books(No. 3. p. 43., and No. 7. p. 104.)—I beg to state my own mode, than which I know of none better. I haveseveralbooks, viz., for History, Topography, Personal and Family History, Ecclesiastical Affairs, Heraldry, Adversaria. At the end of each volume is an alphabet, with six columns, one for each vowel; in one or other of which the word is entered according to the vowel which first appears in it, with a reference to the page. Thus,braywould come under B.a;churchunder C.u.; and so forth.

S.S.S.

MSS. of Casaubon.—There is a short statement respecting certain MSS., now existing, of the great critic Casaubon, in a recent volume of the Parker Society—Whitaker'sDisputation on Holy Scripture, edited and translated by Professor Fitzgerald, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Dublin, which I conceive is one of those facts which might be of service at some future time to scholars, from having been recorded in your columns:—

Whitaker having observed—

"One Herman, a most impudent papist, affirms that the scriptures are of no more avail than Aesop's fables, apart from the testimony of the church."—(Parker Soc. transl., p. 276.)

Professor Fitzgerald appends the following "note:"—

"Casaubon, Exercit. Baron. I. xxxiii. had, but doubtfully, attributed this to Pighius; but in a MS. note preserved in Primate Marsh's library, at St. Sepulchre's, Dublin, he corrects himself thus: 'Non est hic, sed quidam Hermannus, ait Wittakerus in Præfat. Controvers. I. Quæst. S. p. 314.' If a new edition of those Exercitations be ever printed, let not these MSS. of that great man, which, with many other valuable records, we owe to the diligence of Stillingfleet and the munificence of Marsh, be forgotten."

Bath

Longi longorum longissime, Longe, virorum,Dic mihi, te quæso, numBrevequicquid habes?

Longi longorum longissime, Longe, virorum,

Dic mihi, te quæso, numBrevequicquid habes?

W.(1.)

On a very bad book: from the Latin of Melancthon.

A thousand blots would never cure this stuff;One might, I own, if it were large enough.

A thousand blots would never cure this stuff;

One might, I own, if it were large enough.

RUFUS.

Close Translation.—The following is a remarkable instance; for it is impossible to say which is the original and which the translation, they are so nearly equivalent:—

"Boys and girls, come out to play;The moon doth shine as bright as day;Come with a whoop, come with a call,Come with a good will, or come not at all.""Garçons et filles, venez toujours;La lune fait clarté comme le jour;Venez au bruit d'un joyeux éclat;Venez de bon coeur, ou ne venez pas."

"Boys and girls, come out to play;The moon doth shine as bright as day;Come with a whoop, come with a call,Come with a good will, or come not at all."

"Boys and girls, come out to play;

The moon doth shine as bright as day;

Come with a whoop, come with a call,

Come with a good will, or come not at all."

"Garçons et filles, venez toujours;La lune fait clarté comme le jour;Venez au bruit d'un joyeux éclat;Venez de bon coeur, ou ne venez pas."

"Garçons et filles, venez toujours;

La lune fait clarté comme le jour;

Venez au bruit d'un joyeux éclat;

Venez de bon coeur, ou ne venez pas."

W.(1.)

St. Antholin's Parish Books.—In common with many of your antiquarian readers, I look forward with great pleasure to the selection from the entries in the St. Antholin's Parish Books, which are kindly promised by their present guardian, and, I may add, intelligent expositor, "W.C."

St. Antholin's is, on several accounts, one of the most interesting of our London churches; it was here, Strype tells us (Annals, I. i. p. 199.), "the new morning prayer,"i.e., according to the new reformed service-book, first began in September, 1559, the bell beginning to ring at five, when a psalm was sung after the Geneva fashion, all the congregation, men, women, and boys, singing together. It is much to be regretted that these registers do not extend so far back as this year, as we might have found in them entries of interest to the Church historian; but as "W.C." tells us the volumes are kept regularly up to the year 1708, I cannot but hope he may be able to produce some notices of what Mr. P. Cunningham calls, "the Puritanical fervour" of this little parish. "St. Antling's bell," and "St. Antling's preachers," were proverbial for shrillness and prolixity, and the name is a familiar one to the students of our old dramatists. Let "W.C." bear in mind, that the chaplains of the Commissioners of the Church of Scotland, with Alexander Henderson at their head, preached here in 1640, commanding crowded audiences, and that a passage was formed from the house where they lodged into a gallery of this church; and that the pulpit of St. Antholin's seems, for many years, to have been the focus of schism, faction, and sedition, and he may be able to bring forward from these happily preserved registers much interesting and valuable information.

D.S.

No one can have visited Edinburgh, and gazed upon

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