"Arces, Varces, Granges et Comiers,Tel les regarde qui ni les ose ferier,Mais gare la queue d'Alleman et des Brangiers."
"Arces, Varces, Granges et Comiers,
Tel les regarde qui ni les ose ferier,
Mais gare la queue d'Alleman et des Brangiers."
PHILIPS. KING.
—Not being exactly satisfied with my former reply to MR. WITTONon this subject, I have made further search on the subject in numismatic works, and I would refer him to the following note in Banduri, vol. ii. p. 418.:—
"Galli numismata Antiquarii olim cum nummis Constantii Augusti confundebant; sed Erud. Harduinus numismata omnia Constantii Cæsaris (Galli) in quibusFEL. TEMP. REPARATIO.item ea in quibusCONSTANTIVS. IVN.appellatur, autFL. CL. CONSTANTIVS, ad Gallum nostrum pertinere ostendit; in quibus omnibus cum eadem effigies expressa sit a Constantii Augusti effigie plurimum diversa, et caput nudum semper sit; omnia numismata in quibus et caput nudum, et idem qui in cæteris vultus conspicitur, ad eundem Gallum retulimus, tametsi eorum numismatum nonnullaFL. IVL. Constantium appellant. Haud dissimulandum tamen descripta ab Occone fuisse numismata duo Constantii Augusti, in quibusFL. CL.Constantius nominatur, quæ inter numismata illius Principis ex ære incerti moduli exhibuimus suprà. Cæterum hujus Principis nummi omnes ex argento rari sunt, et desiderantur in Mediobarbo, excepto hoc, quem perperam (licet ex Tristano) inter æreos recenset laudatus Mediobarbus, et duobus sequentibus."
On the whole, therefore, I conclude, that we may more safely assign to Gallus thebarehead; the legends "CONSTANTIVS IVN." and "FL. CL. CONSTANTIVS," and thediademedhead, and the legends, "FL. IVL. CONSTANTIVS," and "CONSTANTIVS AVG.," to Constantius II. Those with "FL. VAL.CONSTANTIVS" would seem more properly to belong to Constantius Chlorus. I may add, that all those coins of Constantius which bear anAbehind the portrait, certainly belong to Gallus.
E. S. TAYLOR.
—There can be no doubt that, according to modern usage, any short sentence which is commonly used, whether by way of enunciating a principle, foretelling a consequence, describing a situation, or recommending a course of action, &c., is a proverb. Brevity is an essential: that is, we apply the termproverbto nothing but apophthegms. In truth, nothing but what is said in few words can be frequently said by all. Accordingly a proverb, in the nineteenth century, is a commonly known and frequently cited apophthegm. But it was not always so. Theproverbwas onlyoneof a class which we may cite under the name ofadage, because the various folio collections of them generally have this word in the title, as descriptive of all. These works contain proverbs properly so called, sentences (sententiæ, pieces ofsententiousness), parables, apologues, aphorisms, witticisms, apophthegms, &c. &c., many of the instances having a right to two or more of these names. According to Erasmus, all the definitions which he had met with of theparœmiaorproverbmight be contained under one or other of the following:—
"Proverbium est sermo ad vitæ rationem conducibilis, moderata quadam obscuritate multam in sese continens utilitatem."
"Proverbium est sermo, rem manifestam obscuritate tegens."
The old proverb then has a soul of utility, and a body of obscurity: the modern one has a soul of brevity, and a body of notoriety. This distinction will be held obscure enough for an old proverb, but not brief enough for a new one.
M.
—Your learned correspondent MR. CROSSLEYis right in his conjecture that this celebrated controversialist was of a family settled at Mayroyd in the parish of Halifax in Yorkshire. According to a pedigree certified in 1624 by Sir William Segar, Garter, he was the second son of John Sutcliffe of Melroyd, in the county of York, gent., by his wife Margaret, daughter of —-- Owlsworth of Ashley in the same county. The Doctor married Ann, daughter of John Bradley of Louth, co. Lincoln, Esq., and had issue an only daughter Ann, the wife of Mr. Halls or Halse, of the county of Devon. The Doctor had four brothers, viz. Adam, Solomon, Luke, and John. Adam, the eldest, lived at Grimsby, co. Lincoln, and had an only daughter, Judith. Solomon was of Melroyd and of Grimsby; he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Bradley of Louth, Esq., by Frances his wife, daughter of —— Fairfax of Denton, co. York, and had issue four daughters, and also one son, viz. John Sutcliffe, one of the esquires of the body to King James. His wife was Alice, daughter of Luke Woodhouse of Kimberley, co. Norfolk, Esq., and he had issue one daughter, Susan. Segar granted arms to this gentleman in 1624. Of the other brothers of the Dean, Luke died unmarried, and John married a daughter of Jo. Kirton of Lincolnshire.
F. R. R.
Milnrow Parsonage.
—Having every wish to accede to the request of your correspondent C., I have made a search, but am unable to lay my hand at present on the publication by Curll. There can be no doubt that I shall ultimately meet with it; and when I do, it will be quite at his service. Having compared it not very long ago with the folio edition by Boreman of this Imitation, which I suppose was the first in its complete state, I can be under no mistake as to the existence of the prior publication. It occurs in a thin 8vo. published by Curll in 1716, containing poetical miscellanies, which in my copy are bound up with other tracts. It is headed "By Mr. P——e," and contains only a portion of that subsequently printed. Curll afterwards reprinted the Imitation, as published by Boreman, in one of the volumes, I think the third of the collection, which he styles "Letters of Mr. Pope."
That the Imitation is by Pope, though I am not aware of any express acknowledgment of it by him, there can be no doubt, and as little that it found its way to the press, as published by Boreman, with his privity. Curll even says, if any weight be due to the assertions of such a miscreant, that Pope received a sum of money for it from Boreman. But I do not consider that Pope can be deemed to have affiliated it by its publication in Dodsley's edition in 1738; which is, as far as I have always understood, a mere bookseller's collection. The only collection of his works which can be called his own, and for which he is fairly responsible, is that in 2 vols., folio and 4to., 1717-35, to each volume of which a preface or notice by him is prefixed; and in the latter of these volumes, though previously published, he has not included this Imitation, which seems to indicate that he did not feel disposed to acknowledge it publicly, and indeed he had good reason to be ashamed of it.
JAS. CROSSLEY.
—The exact title of the work inquired for is,Blackloanæ Hæresis, olim in Pelagio et Manichæis damnatæ, nunc denuo renascentis, Historia et Confutatio. This 4to. volume consists of 332 pages, exclusive of the dedicatory epistle and the appendix; and a "printed account" of the author may beseen in Sir James Ware'sWriters of Ireland(ed. Harris, pp. 191-3), and in Dodd'sChurch History of England, vol. iii. pp. 284-5.: Brussels, 1742. It is to be hoped that in the Bodleian Catalogue something further has been stated respecting this curious and very rare book than that it was written by "M. Lominus, Theologus," who was merely an imaginary divine. The real author was the famous PETERTALBOT, brother of "Lying Dick Talbot" (the Duke of Tyrconnel and Viceroy of Ireland), almoner to Catharine, queen of Charles II., and titular Archbishop of Dublin.
R. G.
The work referred to, entitledBlackloanæ Hæresis, olim in Pelagio et Manichæis damnatæ, nunc denuo renascentis, Historia et Confutatio, Gand. 1675, 4to., I have a copy of. It is written against the Blackloists, the leaders of whom were Thomas White, the follower of Sir Kenelm Digby, and John Sargeant, the voluminous Roman Catholic writer. The real author of the book was Peter Talbot, the brother of Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnel. He also published theHistory of Manicheism and Pelagianism, in which it is shown that Thomas White and his Adherents have revived those Heresies: Paris, 1674, 8vo.
JAS. CROSSLEY.
—This belief is common in East Anglia, and such paths are calledBierways. When the common lands at Alby in Norfolk were enclosed, much difficulty was experienced in stopping one road, on account of its being an ancient bierway. In Norwich the passage through a part of the city called the Bull Close, is accounted public for this reason; and a very few years since a gentleman at Whittlesey, in Cambridgeshire, prevented a funeral from taking a shorter road through his grounds, through fear of its being afterwards esteemed a public thoroughfare.
E. S. TAYLOR.
—H. C. K. will probably find all he requires in thePenny Cyclopædia(Articles "Horology" and "Pendulum"), or in a two-shilling volume published by Weale last year, Denisonon Clocks, Chimes, &c., or in the other works enumerated below:—Ellicotton regulating Clocks, 4to., 1753; Vulliamy'sConsiderations on Public Clocks, 4to., 1828; Derham'sArtificial Clock Maker, 12mo., 1734; Berthoudi'sEssai sur l'Horlogerie, 4to., 2 vols. 1763.
H. T. E.
Clyst St. George.
—In Charleston, the capital of the state of South Carolina, a bell is tolled twice every evening, at eight and ten o'clock in summer, and at seven and nine in winter: this custom dates from early times. At the ringing of thesecondbell the watch for the night is set, and our servants are prohibited from being abroad after that hour without a permit from their masters; the first bell subserves no purpose, and is merely rung in conformity to ancient usage. I am inclined to think that our ancestors had this bell rung in order to keep up the old custom of the curfew bell of their cherished mother-country. It is still a custom when "the first bell rings" for the younger children of the family to say "Good night," and retire to bed. This is the only practical use to which this early ringing is put, and a capital custom it is, though rather distasteful to the young folks when they are anxious to sit up a little longer.
H. H. B.
Monte Cavallo, South Carolina.
—A querist asks information as to the origin of the American figure of speech "to go the whole hog." I apprehend its parentage belongs less to America than to Ireland, where a "hog" is still the synonym for a shilling, and a "tester" or "taster" for a sixpence. Previously to the assimilation of the currency of the two countries in 1825, a "white hog" meant the English shilling or twelve pence, and a "black hog" the Irish shilling, of thirteen pence. To "go the whole hog" is a convivial determinationto spend the whole shilling, and the prevalence of the expression, with an extension of its applications in America, can be readily traced to its importation by the multitudes of emigrants from Ireland.
M. R***SON.
Belfast.
—"—— Burleigh, M.A." who is mentioned by S. S. S. as one of the translators of the Bible in 1611, must have been a different person to John Bodley, the father of the celebrated Sir Thomas Bodley. In the very interesting "History of English Translations and Translators" prefixed to Bagster'sEnglish Hexapla, "Mr. Burgley of Stretford" is mentioned as one, with this note:—
"In the Lambeth MS. it is 'Mr. Henry Burleigh.' It is added, one of that name was B.D. in 1594, and D.D. in 1607."—P. 104.
Townley, however, in hisIllustrations of Biblical Literature, 1821, vol. iii. p. 293, supposes him to have been the Francis Burleigh, D.D., who, according to Newcourt, became vicar of Stortford, or Bishop Stortford, in 1590. SeeRepertorium, vol. i. p. 896.
JOHNI. DREDGE.
Among my matches in and about London (which I shall always be glad to search for your correspondents) is the following:
"23 July 1608,John Bodleigh, Aldgate, printer B. 34, free of the stationers and a freeman; andElizabeth Hempof Paul's Wharf, Sp. 30. St. Brides."
J. S. B.
—In Adelung'sMithridatesthe titles of the bestworks explanatory of this language will be found. To these must be added those of Dr. Thomas Young and Champollian Junior. There are some recent German works on the subject; your correspondent will, however, be very little benefited after mastering all the writers, for they have really but little to tell. The method to be pursued with a feasible prospect of success is, to acquire the Coptic-Egyptian language from the New Testament and De Woide, with the special object of mastering the roots, about 200 in number, of that language. Next, some knowledge of the Chinese language should be obtained, so far at least as is necessary to comprehend thehieroglyphic principle, whereby 214 letter-keys are made to do duty in representing 5000, or more, distinct ideas. The next matter, which admits of a very simple explanation, is to ascertain how the Chinesedisseverstheideaof a character (hieroglyphic) from itssound, and makes his ideas (hieroglyphic characters) stand for syllables alone, by prefixing the charactermore(mouth) to indicate that the characters next following are to be read assoundsand not asideas. In the Egyptian hieroglyphic such characters (representing the names of places and persons) are inclosed in a sort of lozenge or parallelogram. Having found out certainsoundsin the Egyptian hieroglyphic,e. g.Cle-o-pa-tra, turn to theCoptic Lexiconand ascertain whatidea(thing)clerepresents in Coptic, and so on witho, withpa, &c., and all other with syllable sounds. Here Champollian Junior stuck fast, and little has been done since his day in the way oftranslation; and the reason is evident—the separate characters representing sounds found in these lozenges are too few in number to give any hope that the Egyptian hieroglyphics will ever be rendered generally intelligible; their object, however, has been far more effectually secured by the paintings and representations of objects and actions, which supply an infinitely better means of knowing what was interesting in Egypt than mere words, sounds, or ideas (hieroglyphics) could convey.
J. BUCKTON.
Lichfield.
—If E. V. will take the trouble to apply to the Rev. Thomas Binney, of the Weigh House Chapel, London, he will be in the way of receiving the most authentic information concerning the happy conversion, and triumphant death, of William Hone, who adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour for some years previous to his decease in communion with a congregation of Protestant Dissenters.
O. T. D.
The interesting letter of the late William Hone, published in Vol. iv., pp. 105, 106., scarcely throws any discredit upon an anecdote I often have heard as to the means of hisfirst awakeningto a better mind, somewhat as follows:—that, asking a drink of milk of a little child, and observing a book in her hand, he inquired what it was? She answered, "A Bible:" and, in reply to some depreciatory remarks of his, added, "I thought everybody loved their Bible, Sir." I hope that this may not be contradicted, but confirmed.
C. W. B.
—The "Bensley tragedy" was no doubt the sudden death, in April or May, 1765, by a fall from his horse, ofJames Bensley, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn; probably an early acquaintance of Hill and Cowper. The melancholy death of another friend of theirs, poor Lloyd (which Southey also calls atragedy), had happened three or four months earlier.
C.
—The name of John Lilburne occurs in Cleveland'sPoemsmore than once,e. g."The General Eclipse:"—
"Thus 'tis a general eclipse,And the whole world isal-a-mort;Only the House of Commons tripsThe stage in a Triumphant sort,Now e'enJohn Lilburntake 'em for't."Works, p. 57. Lond. 1687.
"Thus 'tis a general eclipse,
And the whole world isal-a-mort;
Only the House of Commons trips
The stage in a Triumphant sort,
Now e'enJohn Lilburntake 'em for't."
Works, p. 57. Lond. 1687.
And again, "On the Inundation of the River Trent," p. 294.:
"One herd and flock in one kind hill found mercy,
LikeLilburn(and his wool) in the Isle ofJersey."
RT.
Warmington.
—Is your correspondent aware of Benedict Haeften'sSchola Cordis, from which Harvey'sSchool of the Heartwas imitated? It was published at Antwerp in 1635. The copy I now have before me is dated 1699, but I will give its full title:
"Schola Cordis, sive aversi a Deo Cordis ad eumdem reductio, et instructio. Auctore Benedicto Haefteno, Reformati Monast. Affligeminsis, Ordinis S. Benedicti, præposito. Antverpiæ, apud Henricum et Cornelium Verdurrin,MDCXCIX."
P. S. Theemblemsare fifty-five in number.
RT.
Warmington.
—That Mr. Hallam should have forgotten to correct an incidental allusion is natural enough; and that Raleigh in person discovered Virginiawascommonly believed. Sir Walter Scott, for instance, believed it, as appears by a passage at the end ofKenilworth. But the very title-page of Hariot's account of the discovery of Virginia (whether in the English of 1588, or the Frankfort Latin of 1590), negatives the idea of Raleigh assisting in person. And theBiographia Britannica, or, I believe, any similar work of authority, willshow that no biographer of note has affirmed it. It was an expeditionfitted outby Raleigh which discovered Virginia.
M.
It appears by theHistorie of Travaile into Virginia Britannia, by Strachey, so ably edited by Mr. Major for the Hakluyt Society, that Sir Walter Raleigh sent out his first expedition to Virginia in 1584, under Captain Amadas; in 1585 a fleet under Sir R. Grenville, which he intended to have commanded in person, but jealousy at court prevented him. In 1587 a second fleet was sent to Roanoak under Captain White, in 1590 supplies by Captain White, and in 1602 he sent Samuel Mace. Neither Oldys nor Cayley mention his having gone there; and as they carry on the events of his life pretty clearly year by year, I think, in reply to the Query of MR. BREEN, that there is pretty good evidence to show that he never was there.
E. N. W.
Southwark.
—Can B. G. give any information respecting the list of persons who received grants of land in the county of Londonderry after the conclusion of the war in 1691? Also, whether he knows of an old ballad (cotemporary I believe) called "The Battle of the Boyne?" I have an old history of the siege of Derry, by Mr. George Walker, 1689. I should be glad to know what the pamphlet contains, and whether the family of Downing are mentioned in it.
A. C. L.
—For the satisfaction of your correspondent C. DED., I transcribe from Jamieson'sDictionarythe following:
"COWPERJUSTICE, trying a man after execution: the same withJeddart, orJedburgh justice[17][See JEDDART JUSTICE.]
'Yet let the present swearing trusteesKnow they give conscienceCowper Justice,And by subscribing it in gross,Renounces every solid gloss.—And if my judgement be not scant,Some lybel will be relevant,And all the process firm and fast,To give the counselJedburgh cast.'Cleland'sPoems, pp. 109, 110.
'Yet let the present swearing trustees
Know they give conscienceCowper Justice,
And by subscribing it in gross,
Renounces every solid gloss.—
And if my judgement be not scant,
Some lybel will be relevant,
And all the process firm and fast,
To give the counselJedburgh cast.'
Cleland'sPoems, pp. 109, 110.
"This phrase is said to have had its rise from the conduct of a Baron-bailie inCoupar-Angus, before the abolition of heritable jurisdictions."/
[17]Also "JedwoodJustice." See Scott'sFair Maid of Perth, vol. xliii. p. 304.
CHARLESTHIRIOLD.
Cambridge, Sept. 8. 1851.
—The precise meaning of this term is Doctor of the Canon Law. A doctor of laws was a doctor ofboth the laws(that is, the Civil Lawandthe Canon Law). The University of Cambridge was forbidden to grant degrees in Canon Law in 1535; and soon afterwards these degrees were discontinued in Oxford, in consequence of the repudiation of the Papal authority, although three or more persons took the degree of Bachelor of Decrees there in the reign of Queen Mary. Further details respecting the Canon Law, and the graduates in that faculty, will be found in Fuller'sHistory of the University of Cambridge, ed. Priskett and Wright, pp. 220. 225.; Wood'sHistory and Antiq. of the University of Oxford, ed. Gutch, vol. i. pp. 63. 359.; vol. ii. pp. 67. 79. 768, 769, 770. 902.; Hallam'sMiddle Ages, 9th ed. vol. ii. p. 2.;Peacock on Statutes of the University of Cambridge, Appendix A. xlix. n. 1.
C. H. COOPER.
Cambridge, Sept. 13. 1851.
"Every thing did banish moan,Save the nightingale alone:She, poor bird, as all forlorn,Leaned her breast up-till a thorn,And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,That to hear it was great pity."Shakspeare:Passionate Pilgrim, xix.
"Every thing did banish moan,
Save the nightingale alone:
She, poor bird, as all forlorn,
Leaned her breast up-till a thorn,
And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,
That to hear it was great pity."
Shakspeare:Passionate Pilgrim, xix.
W. J. BERNHARDSMITH.
Temple.
The earliest allusion to this fable, that I know of, occurs in thePassionate Pilgrim, Sect. xix.
Ovid, in his version of the fable of Tereus, does not introduce the thorn; so probably the allusion is not classical.
Apollodorus also gives this myth, but I have him not to refer to.
H. E. H.
—ALPHAwill find in a very excellent work, entitledStoria della Economia Pubblica in Italia, &c., di Giuseppe Pecchio, Lugano, 1829, 8vo., the information he requires regarding the first work on political economy, by an Italian writer, who seems to have been Gasparo Scaruffi; and also learn that Gian Rinaldo Carli died in 1795.
F. R. A.
—It is no wonder that Henry VIII.'s chancellor Sir Thomas More should have heard of an extraordinary tale about a tub, since its earliest form—the model of so many copies—is in Apuleius, at the beginning of the 9th book. It forms likewise the argument of the second novel of Boccacio'sSeventh Day, ove"Peronella mette un suo amante in un doglio." Girolamo Morlino told the same objectionable story in Latin; and Agnolo Firenzuola, the Italian translator of Apuleius, seems to have adopted the witty Florentine's imagery, forgetting the original which he professed to follow. See Manni,Istoria del Decamerone, Firenze, 1742,pp. 466. 472. "Tale of a tub," like Conte de peau d'âne, Conte de la Cigogne, Conte de la Mère Oie, denotes a marvellous or cock and bull story—Conte gras, Conte pour rire. There is no doubt that Jean-Jaques' miniature French opera,Le Tonnelier, was founded, though through certain strainers well refined, on the wicked Milesian fiction of the African jester:
"Un tonnelier vieux et jalouxAimait une jeune bergère:Il voulait être son époux,Mais il n'avait pas su lui plaire:Travaillez, travaillez, bon tonnelier!Raccommodez votre cuvier!"
"Un tonnelier vieux et jaloux
Aimait une jeune bergère:
Il voulait être son époux,
Mais il n'avait pas su lui plaire:
Travaillez, travaillez, bon tonnelier!
Raccommodez votre cuvier!"
GEORGEMÉTIVIER.
—May not Wyle Cop be derived from the Anglo-Saxonwylle, well or fountain, andcop, head or top? SALOPIANcan perhaps judge whether "Fountain Hill" or "Well Head" would be at all applicable to the Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury.
THOS. LAWRENCE.
Ashby de la Zouch.
—"Marriage à-la-Mode," Plate IV., supplies an additional proof of playing cards having done duty as Visiting Cards and Cards of Invitation during the middle of the last century. There are several lying on the floor, in the right-hand corner of the picture. One is inscribed—"Count Basset begs to no how Lade Squander sleapt last nite."
C. FORBES.
Temple.
—Your correspondent P. P. remarks in the number of "NOTES ANDQUERIES" for August 23, that "Absalom's long hair had nothing to do with his death; his head itself, and not the hair upon it, having been caught in the boughs of the tree." Even allowing the silence of Scripture upon the matter, the tradition has certainly the basis of respectable antiquity to rest on. Bishop J. Taylor thus writes in hisSecond Sermon upon St. Matthew, xvi. 26.ad finem:—
"The Doctors of the Jews report that whenAbsalom hanged among the oaks by the hair of the head, he seemed to see under him Hell gaping wide ready to receive him; and hedurst not cut off the hair that intangled him, for fear he should fall into the horrid Lake, whose portion is flames and torment, but chose to protract his miserable life a few minutes in that pain of posture, and to abide the stroke of his pursuing enemies. His condition was sad when his arts of remedy were so vain."
RT.
Warmington, Sept. 3, 1851.
—The name of the Durham monk referred to by W. S. W. is more probably "Swallwell" than "Wallwell," because the former is the name of a township or vill in Durham county.
E. S.
—The narrative related from memory of M. W. B. bears on its face strong indications of fiction: according to that statement a sheepstealer was "some years ago" condemned to death; a "warrant" for his execution was made out, but mislaid, by whom does not appear. After the lapse of years, during which the prisoner had been employed in "executing commissions in distant places" for the gaoler, and in obtaining a high character for his amiable and moral conduct, the fatal warrant arrives, and is "forwarded to the high sheriff, and to the delinquent himself," who is forthwith hanged.
Any one acquainted with the course of practice at assizes at the period to which this anecdote refers, must be aware that no "warrant," in the sense in which the word is here used, was ever made out in such cases. The prisoner is legally in the custody of the sheriff when sentence is passed in court, and he leaves the court in that same custody. The judgment so pronounced is itself the warrant, though a short memorandum or note of it is officially made at the time; unless the judge reprieves or suspends the sentence, no sheriff waits for any further authority, and as for the unfortunate delinquent, no judge, sheriff, or gaoler ever supposed that any copy of a warrant was to be handed to the prisoner himself! During the interval between sentence and execution, if there be no reprieve or release from imprisonment by the authority of the executive, the prisoner is, and always has been, kept by the sheriffin salvâ et arctâ custodiâin the county gaol. The idea of an employment for years in rambling about the country on the gaoler's errands, is a preposterous figment, composed by some novelist who was unacquainted with the needful machinery for giving an air of verisimilitude to his story. The legend seems to be a version of the fate of Sir W. Raleigh adapted to low life; as in his case the scene is laid at Winchester, but the machinery and decorations are not contrived with a due regard to probability.
"Quodcunque essendis mihi sic, incredulus odi."
E. S.
—A good account of Locke's MSS. is to be found in Blakey'sHistory of Metaphysics. They were in the possession of the Forster family, whose representative, Dr. Forster, M.D., is now, or was very lately, residing at Bruges.
ÆGROTUS.
—The definition of apeal, viz., "a performance of above 5,000 changes," was recently confirmed to me by the two following inscriptions, which I read in the belfry of the curfew tower at Windsor:—
"Feb. 21, 1748, was rung in this steeple a complete 5,040 of union trebles, never performed here before."
"College Youths.—This society rung in this steeple, Tuesday, April 10, 1787,a true and complete pealof 5,040 grandsire triples in three hours and fourteen minutes."
A stone tablet in the bell chamber of Ecclesfield church records, that a few months ago "was rung in this towera pealof Kent treble bob major, consisting of 5,024 changes in three hours and five minutes."
ALFREDGATTY.
—If any one ever made a rational guess at who thisfactormay have been, he must have been still more likely to have known who was meant bySir Balaam, at whose identity I have never yet heard a guess. I suppose that bothfactorandknightwere fancy characters.
C.
—The judgment stated to have been given by Lord Chief JusticeCampbell, was given by Lord Chief JusticeJervis.
C. H. COOPER.
Cambridge.
—The line of Virgil (Georg., lib. iv. 87.) quoted,
"Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt,"
"Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt,"
and the preceding line,
"Hi motus animorum atque hæc certamina tanta,"
"Hi motus animorum atque hæc certamina tanta,"
have been happily applied to the contrasted quiescence ofAsh-Wednesday immediately succeeding the tumultuous carnival in Roman Catholic countries, when the cross marked byasheson the forehead lulls to quiet the turbulent spirits of the previous weeks.
J. R.
—The Duke of Berwick, born in 1671, and so created the 19th of March, 1687, by his father (natural) James II., was indeed a Spanish grandee, which he was made by Philip V., after his victory of Almanza, in 1707; but the title was Liria, not Alva, which belonged to the great house of Toledo, and was rendered famous (or infamous) by its bearer under Philip II. Berwick, however, transferred this Spanish title of Liria to his son James, by his first wife Honera de Burgh, daughter of William, seventh Earl of Clanrickard, with the annexed territory, ormajorat. She was the widow of Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, who conducted 14,000 Irish refugees to France in 1691, after the surrender of Limerick to Ginkle. She died of consumption, still young, at Montpelier, in 1698. The Duke of St. Simon, in hisMémoires, tome ii. p. 92., describes her as "belle, faite à peindre, touchante—une nymphe enfin;" but, though personally acquainted with her, he names her the daughter, instead of the widow, of Lucan. Berwick afterwards married Miss Buckley, one of the Queen Mary d'Este's maids of honour, by whom he had several children, who assumed the name of Fitz-James. Their descendants were colonels or proprietaires of the Irish Brigade regiment, called, after their founder, Berwick. The Spanish branch still maintains its rank and estates. Berwick was killed at the siege of Philpsburg, in Baden, the 12th June, 1734. His military talents were of acknowledged superiority; so far more resembling his uncle Marlborough than his father, whose dastardly flight at the Boyne he indignantly witnessed. HisMémoires, in two volumes 12mo., were published from his manuscript by his grandson, the Duke of Fitz-James, in 1778.
J. R.
Cork.
—The interpretation of "M.'s" woodcut will be found in Ulrich von Hutten's elegiac verses, which are exhibited in hisΟΥΤΙΣ, NEMO. Your correspondent's amusing conjecture about "nobody's child" was quite correct, as these lines prove:
"Quærendus puero pater est: Nemo obtigit. At tu,Si me audis, alium stulta require patrem."
"Quærendus puero pater est: Nemo obtigit. At tu,
Si me audis, alium stulta require patrem."
I suspect that "M.'s" old 4to. tracts bear a somewhat earlier date than 1520-30; but probably, this matter might be determined by Burckhard'sCommentarius de Ulrici ab Hutten fatis et meritis, or by hisAnalecta(Cf. Freytag,Adpar. Lit.iii. 519.), or by means of Münck's collection of De Hutten's works. I happen to have copies of two editions of theNemo, which, though they are undated, must appertain to the year 1518. This was not, however, the period of the first publication of the poem; for the author, in a letter addressed to Erasmus in October, 1516, mentions it as having then appeared (Niceron,Mémoires, xv. 266.): but the original impression of this satirical performance is without the prefatory epistle to Crotus Rubianus [Johan Jager], who is believed to have had no inconsiderable share in the composition of the celebratedEpistolæ obscurorum Virorum.
R. G.
—I can mention at all events one other earthwork named Grimsdyke in England—the great earthwork, viz., south of Salisbury, which is called Grimsdyke. Mr. Guest has stated his belief that it was not a Belgic work, but a boundary line made by the Welsh after the treaty of the Mons Badonicus.
W. S. G.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
—Respecting the pronunciation of the name of Coke at page 138., I recollect having some discussion on it in 1812 with the late Mr. Andrew Lynch, Master in Chancery, then a student at the Temple, when he corrected me for calling itCooke, which he maintained should be calledCoake. We happened to dine that day at Mr. Charles Butler's,his future father-in-law, and agreed to refer the matter to him who had been associated with Hargrave in publishing Sir Edward Coke'sCommentaries on Littleton(1809, 7 vols. 8vo.). Mr. Butler at once decided the question in my favour, adding that he had never heard the name otherwise pronounced, and thatCoakewas quite a novelty, which he should never adopt—indeed, I am sure it is so, though now I find it generally prevalent.
J. R.
Cork.
—I think that your correspondent will not readily ascertain the owner of this pseudonyme; but, in the presumed absence of any opposing evidence, I would suggest that the mask may belong to Marc-Antonio Flaminio. Melancthon's excellentResponsio ad scriptum quorundam delectorum à Clero secundario Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 4to., Francfurdiæ, 1543, is now before me, but it does not allude to theQuerelaset forth in the same year. It is said that the framer of the CologneJudiciumagainst Bucer was the Carmelite Eberhardus Billicus; and TYROmay be assured that he is fortunate if he be a possessor of the tract by the fictitious Antoninus; for, in the words of Seckendorf,—
"Ex scriptis reliquis, occasione Reformationis Coloniensis tunc publicatis, plurima in oblivionem fere venerunt, nec facile hodie inveniuntur, typis licet olim excusa."—Comm. de Luther.lib. iii. sect. 27. § cvii. p. 437. Francof. 1692.
R. G.
The sculptures which have been preserved with comparatively little injury for upwards of six centuries on the western front of the venerable cathedral of Wells have long excited the wonder and curiosity, as well as admiration, of all who looked upon them. All have been ready to recognise in them the expression of some grand design; but it has been reserved for Professor Cockerell to penetrate, through the quaintness of the style and the dilapidations of centuries, into their noble aim and purpose, and to describe at length this "extensive but hitherto unedited commentary in living sculpture of the thirteenth century, upon our earliest dynasties, our churchmen, and religious creed." This he has done in a handsome and richly illustrated volume, lately published by Mr. Parker under the title ofIconography of the West Front of Wells Cathedral, with an Appendix on the Sculptures of other Mediæval Churches in England: and the work will be found of the highest interest, not only for its valuable illustration of this "kalender for unlearned men," which we owe to the piety and love of art of Bishop Trotman, and which Flaxman speaks of as "the earliest specimenof such magnificent and varied sculpture united in a series of sacred history that is to be found in western Europe," but also for the light it throws upon the history of art in this country. For not only have we in these pages the results of Professor Cockerell's studies of the extensive and important series of sculptures which form the immediate subject of them; but also his criticisms and remarks upon the cognate objects to be found at Exeter, Norwich, Malmesbury, Canterbury, Rochester, York, Beverley, Lichfield, Worcester, Lincoln, Gloucester, Salisbury, Peterborough, Croyland, and Bath. And who can speak with greater authority upon such points? whose opinion would be received with greater respect?
Surely Rome must have been styled theEternal Citybecause there is no end to the books which are published respecting it:
"For every year and month sends forth a new one;"
yet the subject never seems exhausted. Now it is a high churchman who gives a picture of this "Niobe of nations," tintedcouleur de rose; now a low churchman, who talks of nothing but abominations of a deeper dye; now some classical student tells how—