"Asleep and naked, as an Indian lay,An honest factor stole a gem away:He pledg'd it to the knight," &c.
"Asleep and naked, as an Indian lay,
An honest factor stole a gem away:
He pledg'd it to the knight," &c.
I have seen it noticed in the biography of an individual who held some official post in India, but have forgotten the name.
J. SWANN.
Norwich, May, 1851.
—Will any of your correspondents kindly oblige me, by stating what is the actual meaning of the wordnervous? On reference to Johnson, I find it expressed as follows:—
"Nervy, sinewy,vigorous; also havingdiseasedorweaknerves."
Now, by this definition, I am led to believe that the word has two meanings, directly opposed to each other. Is this so?
K. BANNEL.
Liverpool.
—In vol. xx. of Sir John Sinclair'sStatistical Account of Scotland, 1798, the following extract of a letterappearsfrom John Pinkerton, Esq., the antiquarian writer, dated the 23rd February, 1794:
"In looking over theSurvey of Scotlandaccomplished by your exertions, it occurred to me that I could furnish an article, worthy to appear in an Appendix to one of the volumes of theStatistical Account. I need not inform you, that in the third volume of Prynne'sRecordsthere is a large but undigested list of all those in Scotland who paid homage to Edward I. in 1291 and 1296, forming a kind of Doomsday Book of the country at that period. Four years ago, I, with some labour, reduced the numerous names and designations into alphabetical order, and the list being now adapted to general use, and containing the names and designations of the chief landholders, citizens, and clergy of the time, it may be regarded as of no small importance to our ancient statistics, topography, and genealogy. If your opinion coincides, I shall with pleasure present it to you for the purpose, and correct the press."
Now the article so kindly proffered by Mr. Pinkerton did not appear in theStatistical Account of Scotland, or in any of Mr. Pinkerton's subsequent publications, that I am aware of. I should feel obliged if any correspondent could inform me if it was ever published.
ABERDONIENSIS.
—Was Dr. Sacheverell's speech on his trial (supposed to have been the work of Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester) ever published? If so, when, and by whom?
COLLYWOBBLES.
[A printed copy of Dr. Sacheverell's speech is now on our table, but without any publisher's name. The following is a copy of the title: "The Speech of Henry Sacheverell, D.D., upon his Impeachment at the Bar of the House of Lords, in Westminster Hall, March 7. 1709-10. London, Printed in the year 1710." On the back of the title-page appears the following advertisement: "Just published, Collections of Passages referred to by Dr. Henry Sacheverell in his Answer to the Articles of his Impeachment, under four Heads. I. Testimonies concerning the doctrine of Non-resistance to the Supreme Powers. II. Blasphemous, irreligious, and heretical Positions, lately published. III. The Church and Clergy abused. IV. The Queen, State, and Ministry reflected upon."]
—Advertisement of a pamphlet appearing in 1767:
"A plain Narrative of Facts relating to the Person who lately passed under the assumed name of the Princess Wilbrahama, lately detected at the Devizes: containing her whole History, from her first Elopement with the Hon. Mrs. Sc***ts, till her Discovery and Commitment to Devizes Bridewell; together with the very extraordinary Circumstances attending that Discovery, and the Report of a Jury of Matrons summoned on that Occasion, &c. London: printed for the Author."
I shall be very thankful for any elucidation of the above case. It appears to have been sufficiently popular to warrant the publisher in engaging, as he says, "the best artists" to illustrate it with a series of caricatures. I have never been able to meet with a copy in any public library.
J. WAYLEN.
[The notorious impostor noticed in the communication of our correspondent, performed her surprising feats of hazardous versatility between the years 1765 and 1768. On different occasions she assumed the names of Wilson, alias Boxall, alias Mollineaux, alias Irving, alias Baroness Wilmington, alias Lady Viscountess Wilbrihammon, alias Countess of Normandy. In 1766 her ladyship, "with gentle mien and accent bland," received for her dextrous lubricities something like a whipping at Coventry. In 1767 she was adjudged a vagabond at Devizes, and in the following year sentenced to transportation at the Westminster assizes. Alderman Hewitt of Coventry, in 1778, published some memorabilia of her ladyship in a pamphlet entitled,Memoirs of the celebrated Lady Viscountess Wilbrihammon, the greatest Impostress of the present age. The alderman does not notice the tract mentioned by our correspondent, so that it still remains a query whether it was ever issued, although it may have been advertised.]
—In Noble'sCollege of Arms, it is stated, p. 25., that—
"Henry VI. sent persons through many of the counties of England to collect the names of the gentry of each; these lists have reached our time. It is observable, that many are mentioned in them who had adopted the meanest trades, yet were still accounted gentry."
Where are these lists to be found?
H. WITHAM.
[Noble's statements upon such points are extremely loose. We know not of any such lists, but would refer to Grimaldi'sOrigines Genealogicæ, under "Rolls and Visitations," where, in all probability, something may be found in reference to the subject, if there ever were any such lists.]
Perhaps the publication of the following document may lead to a solution of the question sent by M.C.L. (Vol. iii., p. 478.). It is a copy of a letter from the Duke of Monmouth, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, intimating to the clergy the displeasure of Charles II. at their use of periwigs, and their practice of reading sermons. His Majesty, it will be found, thought both customs equally important and equally unbecoming. Of the latter, it is stated that it "took beginning with the disorders of the late times, and that the way of preaching without book was mostagreeableto the use of the foreign churches, to the custom of the University heretofore, and to the nature and intendment of that holy exercise." It will surprise many of your readers to find that the reading of sermons was considered to be a mere puritanical innovation.
"The Duke of Monmouth, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to the Vice-Chancellor and University.
"Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen,
"His Majesty having taken notice of the liberty which several persons in holy orders have taken to wear their hair and periwigs of an unusual and unbecoming length, hath commanded me to let you know, that he is much displeased therewith, and strictly injoins that all such persons as profess or intend the study of divinity, do for the future wear their hair in a manner more suitable to the gravity and sobriety of their profession, and that distinction which was always maintained between the habit of men devoted to the ministry and other persons.
"And whereas, his Majesty is informed that the practice of reading sermons is generally taken up by the preachers before the University, and there for some time continued, even before himself, his Majesty hath commanded me to signify to you his pleasure, that the said practice, which took beginning with the disorders of the late times, be wholly laid aside; and that the foresaid preachers deliver their sermons, both in Latin and English, by memory, or without book, as being a way of preaching which his Majesty judges most agreeable to the use of the foreign churches, and to the custom of the University heretofore, and to the nature and intendment of that holy exercise.
"And that his Majesty's commands in the premisses may be duly regarded and observed, his Majesty's farther pleasure is, that the names of all such ecclesiastical persons as shall wear their hair as heretofore in an unfitting imitation of the fashion of laymen, or that shall continue in the present slothfull way of preaching, be from time to time signified unto me by the Vice-Chancellor for the time being, upon pain of his Majesty's displeasure.
"Having in obedience to his Majesty's will signified thus much unto you, I shall not doubt of that your ready compliance; and the rather because his Majesty intends to send the same injunctions very speedily to the University of Oxford, whom I am assured you will equal in all other excellencies, and so in obedience to the king; especially when his commands are so much to the honour and esteem of that renowned University, whose welfare is so heartily desired, and shall ever be endeavoured by, Mr. Vice-Chancellor,
"Your loving friend and Chancellor,
"MONMOUTH."
I believe this letter, or something like it, was published by Peck in hisDesiderata Curiosa, and also by Mr. Roberts in hisLife of Monmouth. The transcript I send you was made from a copy in the handwriting of Dr. Birch in theAdditional MS.4162., fo. 230.
JOHNBRUCE.
The following passage occurs in Rutt'sDiary of Thomas Burton, 4 vols.: Colburn, 1828. I have not the work at hand, but from a MS. extract from the same, believe it may be found as a note by the editor in vol. i. p. 359.
"Burnet was always an extempore preacher. He says that reading is peculiar to this nation, and cannot be induced in any other. The only discourse he ever wrote beforehand was a thanksgiving sermon before the queen in 1705. He never before was at a pause in preaching. It is contrary to a university statute, obsolete, though unrepealed."
C. H. P.
Brighton, June 27.
This Query, and your answer, involve one or two important questions, which are worth a fuller solution than you have given.
The Lord Mayor is no more a Privy Councillor than he is Archbishop of Canterbury. The title of "Right Honourable," which has given rise to that vulgar error, is in itself a mere courtesy appended to the title of "Lord;" which is also, popularly, though notlegally, given him: for in allhis ownacts, he is designated officially as "Mayor" only. The courtesy-title ofLordhe shares with the Mayors of Dublin and York, the Lord-Advocate of Scotland, the younger sons of Dukes and Marquises, &c. &c., and all suchLordsare styled by courtesy "Right Honourable;" and this style ofRight Honourableis also given to Privy Councillors in virtue of their proper official title of "Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council." So, the "Right Honourable the Lords of the Treasury and Admiralty." So much for the title. The fact stated in the Editor's answer, of the admission of the Lord Mayorto the Council Chamberafter some clamour, on the accession of William IV., is a mistake arising out of the following circumstances. On the demise of the crown, a London Gazette Extraordinary is immediately published, with a proclamation announcing the death of one sovereign and the accession of the other. This proclamation styles itself to be that of the—
"Peers Spiritual and Temporal of the Realm,assistedby those of the late Privy Council, with numbers ofothers, Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London."
The proclamation is that of thePeersalone, butassistedby theothers. The cause of this form is, that the demise of the crown dissolves the Privy Council, and used (till modern times) to dissolve parliaments, and abrogate the commissions of the Judges, and all other public officers; so that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal were the only subsisting authority. Hencethey, of necessity, undertook the duty of proclaiming the new king, butthey fortified themselves "with the assistance ofthe principal gentlemen of quality, and of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens." This paper is first signed by the Peers, and then by all who happen to be present, promiscuously. At the accession of William IV., there were about 180 names, of which "J. Crowder, Mayor," stands the 106th. At the accession of Queen Victoria, there were about 160 names, of which "Thomas Kelly, Mayor," is the 111th. And in both cases we find the names of the Aldermen, Sheriffs, Town Clerk, City Remembrancer, and several others,—private citizens, and many altogether private persons, who happened to come to the palace at that time.
It is obvious that all this has nothing to do with the Privy Council, for, in fact, at that moment, no Privy Council exists. But while these things are going on in an outward room of the palace, where everybody is admitted, the new sovereign commands the attendance of the late Privy Council in the council chamber, where the old Privy Councillors are generally (I suppose always) re-sworn of the new council; andthenandthereare prepared and promulgated several acts of the new sovereign, to which are prefixed the names of the Privy Councillors present. Now, to thiscouncilchamber the Lord Mayor is no more admitted than the Town Clerk would be, and to these acts of the councilhis name has never appeared.
All these facts appear in theLondon Gazettesfor the 27th June, 1830, and the 30th June, 1837; and similar proceedings took place in Dublin; though since the Union the practice is at least superfluous.
This establishes therationaleof the case, but there is a precedent that concludes it:—
"On the 27th May, 1768, Mr. Thomas Harley, then Lord Mayor of London, was sworn of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council!"
—an honour never since conferred on any Mayor or Alderman, and which could not have been conferred on him if he had already been of that body.
C.
In reply to your correspondent C. PAINE, JUN. I beg to say that this University has recently requested me to undertake the completion of Ussher's works. Dr. Elrington has left about half the fourteenth volume printed off: but I have found considerable difficulty in ascertaining what he intended to print, or what ought to be printed, in the remaining half. The printed portion contains the archbishop's Theological Lectures, in reply to Bellarmine, never beforepublished.[2]I have found amongst Dr. Elrington's papers a volume of sermons (a MS. of the latter half of the seventeenth century), which are attributed, in the MS. itself, to Ussher; but the authenticity of these sermons is, it appears to me, very doubtful. I therefore hesitate to print them.
[2]Elrington's Life ofUssher, p. 26.
I am anxious to find a treatise on the Seventy Weeks, by Ussher, which I have some reason to think once existed in MS. This tract, with another on the question of the Millennium, from Rev. xx. 4., formed the exercises which he performed for the degree of D.D., at the commencement of the University in 1612: and I remember Dr. Elrington telling me (if I did not mistake his meaning), that he intended to print them in the fourteenth volume. My difficulty is, that I cannot find them amongst Ussher's MSS., and I do not know where they are to be had. Some imperfect fragments on the Seventy Weeks are preserved in MS. in Trinity College Library, in Ussher's autograph; but they are far too crude and unfinished for publication.
TheBibliotheca Theologica, a work on the same plan as Cave'sScriptores Ecclesiastici, exists in MS. in the Bodleian Library, and a copy from the Bodleian MS. is in Dublin. This work has not been included in Dr. Elrington's edition; and I remember his discussing the subject with me, and deciding not to print it. His reasons were these:—1. It is an unfinished work, which the archbishop did not live to complete. 2. It is full of errors, which our present increased materials and knowledge of the subject would easily enable us to correct; but the correction of them would swell the work to a considerable extent. 3. The work was used, and is frequently quoted by Cave, who seems to have published the most valuable parts of it. Its publication, therefore, would not add anything to our knowledge, whilst it would probably detract, however unfairly, from the archbishop's reputation: for the public seldom make allowances for an unfinished work. 4. It would probably makethree, if notfourvolumes; and Dr. Elrington did not think its publication of sufficient importance to warrant so great an addition to the cost and bulk of the Works.
TheSystem of Theologyhaving been disclaimed by Ussher himself (although it is quoted as his by the Committee of the Privy Council in their decision of the "Gorham Case"), has not been included by Dr. Elrington in the collection of Ussher's works.
I shall be much obliged to MR. PAYNE, or to any other of your correspondents, if he will give me any information respecting the treatises on the Seventy Weeks and on the Millennium, or any other advice which may assist me in the completion of the fourteenth volume.
I may add, that it is my intention, with the able assistance of my learned friend Dr. Reeves, ofBallymena, to print a complete index to Ussher's Works, which will be compiled by Dr. Reeves, and is now in active preparation. The references to the more important works, such as thePrimordia, andAnnals, will be so contrived as to be applicable to the old editions, as well as to Dr. Elrington's edition. This Index will form the seventeenth volume of the Works.
JAMESH. TODD.
Trinity Coll., Dublin, June 21. 1851.
—I have always thought that the phrase "Mind your P's and Q's" was derived from the school-room or the printing-office. The forms of the small "p" and "q" in the Roman type, have always been puzzling to the child and the printer's apprentice. In the one, the down-ward stroke is on the left of the oval; in the other, on the right. Now, when the types are reversed, as they are when in the process of distribution they are returned by the compositor to his case, the mind of the young printer is puzzled to distinguish the "p" from the "q." In sortingpie, or a mixed heap of letters, where the "p" and the "q" are not in connexion with any other letters forming a word, I think it would be almost impossible for an inexperienced person to say which is which upon the instant. "Mind yourp's andq's"—I write it thus, and not "Mind your P's and Q's"—has a higher philosophy than mind yourtoupéesand yourqueues, which are things essentially different, and impossible to be mistaken. It means, have regard to small differences; do not be deceived by apparent resemblances; learn to discriminate between things essentially distinct, but which look the same; be observant; be cautious.
CHARLESKNIGHT.
—Il Serio, a tributary to the Adda, which falls into the Po. Il Serio is, like the Po, remarkable for the quantity of foam floating upon it, and also for disappearing under ground, through part of its course.
DECAMERA.
—A correspondent has asked what was the maiden name of this lady, the widow, as he calls her, of Colonel Barton. I have a note of Charles Montagu, writing of her as "the beautiful, witty, and accomplished Catharine Barton," and have marked her as the daughter of Major Barton, but cannot find my authority. What follows is hardly likely to be of use to your correspondent, though it may, possibly, suggest to him a channel of inquiry. The Rev. Alexander Chalmers married Catharine Ekins, a niece of Mr. Conduitt, to whose daughter he was guardian after her father's death. Mrs. Chalmers had a brother who was rector or vicar of Barton, Northamptonshire. Alexander Chalmers was rector of St. Katharine Coleman, London, and of Burstow, Surrey; clerk of St. Andrew's, Holborn; chaplain to the forces at Gibraltar and Port Mahon: he died in 1745, and was buried in St. Katharine's: his wife was of the family of Ekins, of Rushden, in Northamptonshire. On August 12, 1743, Alexander Chalmers writes, "This will be delivered you by my cousin Lieut. Mathew Barton," probably his wife's cousin: in another letter he speaks of Miss Conduitt as his wife's cousin. Mr. Conduitt died 23rd of May, 1737, and his widow's "unexpected death" seems to be alluded to in a letter in 1740.
DECAMERA.
—This was not, as A.B.'s informant thinks, a title of honour bestowed by any Supreme Pontiff upon any Archbishop of Canterbury, but a mere verbal compliment passed by Pope Urban II. upon St. Anselm, when the latter went to consult the former at Rome. The words are those of Gervase, the monk of Canterbury, who tells us:
"Tantam ejus gratiam habuit, ut eum (Anselmum) alterius orbis papam vocaret (Urbanus papa)."—Ed.Twysden, ii. 1327.
Eadmer, who was with the archbishop when he went to Italy, gives the following as the Pope's expressions:
"Cumque illum, utpote hominem cunctis liberalium artium disciplinis innutritum, pro magistro teneamus et quasi comparem, velut alterius orbis Apostolicum et Patriarcham jure venerandum censeamus."—AA. SS. Aprilis, t. ii. 886.
D. ROCK.
You have not told us the origin of this title. I have just been reminded of the omission by the dedication ofLudovici Cappelli Commentarii, Amstel., 1689, which is—
"Wilhelmo Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi ... alterius orbis, sed melioris, Papæ."
J. W. H.
—TYROwill find an account of this writer inBiographical Illustrations of Worcestershire: by John Chambers, Esq.: Worcester, 1820, 8vo., p. 591., from which we learn that his true name was Hugh Tootel, a Lancashire man born in 1672, in the neighbourhood of Preston. The name of Hugh Tootleis recognised in the prospectus or announcement of Mr. Tierney's new edition of Dodd'sChurch History of England, of which the first and second volumes appeared so long ago as 1839: but I regret to say that the work is yet far from being completed.
F. R. A.
—We seem now to have got to the true reading, "primzie." Theterminationziesuits a Scotch word perhaps. I only wish to mention, that the form "prin" is connected with the verb "to preen," which we use of birds. Yet that again seems connected withprune. Etymology is always in a circle.
C. B.
—In confirmation of the statement made as to the expression "in print" meaning "with exactness," &c., I perfectly remember an old Somersetshire servant of our's, who used to say, when he saw me romping after I was dressed: "Take care, Sir, you'll put your hairout of print."
C. W. B.
—The snakes introduced into the county of Down in 1831, alluded to by EIRIONNACH, were the very harmless and easily tamed species,Coluber natrixof Linnæus,Natrix torquataof Ray. They were purchased in Covent Garden Market; and, to the number of six, were turned out in the garden of Rath Gael House. One was killed at Milecross, three miles distant, about a week after its liberation; and three others were shortly afterwards killed in the same neighbourhood. The fate of the remaining two is unknown, but there can be little doubt that they were also killed, as the country-people offered a considerable reward for their destruction. The writer well remembers the consternation and exceedingly angry feelings caused by thisnovel importation.
We may conclude, that though the snake is not indigenous to Ireland, yet there is nothing in either the soil or climate to prevent its naturalisation. It is highly probable that an insular position is unfavourable to the spread of the serpent tribe. Other islands—New Zealand, for instance—as well as Ireland, have no nativeOphidia.
It is generally, but erroneously, believed that there are no toads in Ireland. The Natter-jack (Bufo calamita), a closely allied species to the common toad, is found about Killarney. Can any reader inform me if there is any record of its introduction?
W. PINKERTON.
—Your correspondent THEHERMIT OFHOLYPORThaving been informed respecting thesubjectof his wood-cut, may yet be further satisfied to know its date, and where it is to be found. It occurs in a Latin version of thePinax, with a commentary by Justus Velsius, printed in 4to., at Lyons? (Lugduni) in 1551. The title runs thus:Justi Velseri Hagani, in Cebetis Thebani Tabulam Commentariorum Libri Sex, Totius Moralis Philosophiæ Thesaurus.ThePinaxcommonly accompanies that valuable little manual theEnchiridionof Epictetus, of which that excellent man John Evelyn, in a letter to Lord Cornbury, thus speaks:
"Besides the Divine precepts, I could never receive anything from Philosophy that was able to add a graine to my courage upon the intellectual assaults like thatEnchiridionand little weapon of Epictetus: 'Nunquam te quicquam perdidisse dicito, sed reddidisse,' says he: 'Filius obijt? redditus est.' It is in his 15th chapter. You cannot imagine what that little target will encounter.I never go abroad without it in my pocket.What an incomparable guard is that:τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, cap. i., where he discourses of the things whichare, andare notin our power. I know, my Lord, you employ your retirements nobly; weare this defensive for my sake,—I had almost said thisChristian Office."
S. W. SINGER.
—In a little volume of theSongs of Ireland, forming one of the series called Duffy'sLibrary of Ireland, Dublin, 1845, this song is given. In the introductory notice it is said to be by Mr. R. A. Milliken, a native of Cork. The passage referred to by your correspondent stands thus in this version, which is said to be taken from Croker'sPopular Songs of Ireland:—
"There's statues gracingThis noble place in—All heathen gods,And nymphs so fair;Bold Neptune, Plutarch,And Nicodemus,All standing nakedIn the open air!"
"There's statues gracing
This noble place in—
All heathen gods,
And nymphs so fair;
Bold Neptune, Plutarch,
And Nicodemus,
All standing naked
In the open air!"
Mr. Maloney, in his late account of the "palace made o' windows," has evidently had these verses in his mind; and in his observations on the "statues gracingthatnoble place in," has adverted to their like peculiar predicament with the characteristic modesty of his nation.
S. H.
On this subject permit me to observe that a change has "come o'er the spirit of its dream." A later poet, in celebrating the praises of the lake as the only place unchanged, says:
"Sweet Blarney Castle, that waswanstso ancient,Is gone to ruin, och! and waste, and bareNeptune and Plutarch is byMrs. Deane[3]sentTo Ballintemple, to watch praties there."
"Sweet Blarney Castle, that waswanstso ancient,
Is gone to ruin, och! and waste, and bare
Neptune and Plutarch is byMrs. Deane[3]sent
To Ballintemple, to watch praties there."
[3]Now Lady Deane.
JUNIOR.
—The poem of "The Lord of Burleigh" is founded upon a supposed romance connected with the marriage of the late Marquis of Exeter with his second wife, Miss Hoggins. This marriage has also formed the groundwork of a play entitledThe Lord of Burghley, published by Churton in 1845. The story of the courtship and marriage perpetuated by this poem, may be found in theIllustrated London Newsof the 16th November,1844, having been copied into that paper from theGuide to Burghley House, pp. 36., published by Drakard in 1812.
A very slight tinge of romance attends the real facts of this union, which took place when the late Marquis was Mr. Henry Cecil. The lady was not of so lowly an origin as the fiction relates. Mr. Cecil did not become the Lord of Burghley until the death of his uncle, the 9th Earl of Exeter, two years after this marriage, up to which time he resided at Bolas, Salop, the residence of his wife before her marriage, and there the two eldest of theirfourchildren were born. The Countess of Exeter died greatly beloved and respected at the early age of twenty-four, having been married nearly seven years.
J. P. JUN.
—It was certainly anciently called Vincestre. It is so in Monstrelêt, whose history begins about 1400. One of the treaties between the Burgundians and Orleanists was made there. President Hénault says (under Charles VI.) that this castle belonged to John, Bishop of Winchester. If he is right in the Christian name, he must meanhadbelonged, notappartenoit, for the John Bishops that I find in Britton's list are:
C. B.
—MR. BREENappears to me decidedly wrong in the view he takes of the passage he quotes from Dryden. In the first place, he commits the mistake of assuming that Dryden is expressing his own opinion, or speaking in his own person. The fact is, however, that the speaker is Torresmond. Torresmond is "mad" enough to love the queen; he has already spoken of the "madness of his high attempt," he says he raves; and when the queen offers to give him counsel for his cure, he says he wishesnotbe cured:
"There is a pleasure,sure,In being mad, which none but madmen know!"
"There is a pleasure,sure,
In being mad, which none but madmen know!"
This is inference, not assertion. Whether it be natural or not, I will not say, but I can see no blunder.
S. H.
—Washington Irving, in hisKnickerbocker's History of New York, gives the same derivation of "Yankee" that is quoted from Dr. Turnbull and from Mr. Richmond. Irving's authority is, I believe, earlier than both these. Is the derivation his? and if his, is he in earnest in giving it? I ask this, not because I have reason to doubt in this instance either his seriousness or his philological accuracy, but by way of inserting a caution on behalf of the unwary. I have read or heard of a learned German who quoted that book as veritable history. The philology may be as baseless as the narrative. It is a happy suggestion of a derivation at all events, be it in jest or in earnest.
E. J. S.
—Your correspondent CHARLESO'SOULEYwill find some account of Ferrante Pallavicino in Chalmers, or any other biographical dictionary; and a very complete one in theDictionnaire Historiqueof Prosper Marchand. The manuscript he possesses has been printed more than once; it first appeared in theOpere Scelte di Ferrante Pallavicinoprinted at Geneva, but with the imprint Villafranca, 1660, 12mo., of which there are several reimpressions. It is there entitledLa Disgratia del Conte D'Olivares, and bears the fictitious subscription of "Madrid li 28 Gennaro, 1643," at the end. If the MS. was written at Genoa, it is most probably only a transcript; for Pallavicino was resident at Venice when it appears to have been written, and was soon after trepanned by a vile caitiff named Charles de BreschealiasDe Morfu, a Frenchman employed by the Pope's nuncio Vitellio, into the power of those whom his writings had incensed, and was by them put to death at Avignon in 1644.
S. W. SINGER.
The reputation which Mr. Foss acquired as a diligent investigator of legal antiquities, and an impartial biographer of those who have won for themselves seats on the woolsack or the bench, by the publication of the first two volumes of hisJudges of England, with Sketches of their Lives, and Miscellaneous Notices connected with the Courts at Westminster from the time of the Conquest, will be more than confirmed by the third and fourth volumes, which have just been issued. In these, which are devoted to the Judges who flourished between the years 1272 and 1485—that is to say, from the reign of Edward I. to that of Richard III. inclusive, Mr. Foss has added 473 to his former list of 580 Judges; and when we say, that every biography shows with what diligence, and we may add with what intelligence, Mr. Foss has waded through all available sources of information, including particularly the voluminous publications of the late Record Commission, we have done more than sufficient to justify our opening statement, and to recommend his work to the favourable notice of all lovers of historical truth. To the general reader the surveys of the reigns, in which Mr. Foss points out not only everything remarkable connected with the law, but the gradual development of our legal system, will be by no means the least attractive portion of his book; while his endeavours to trace the successive institution of the several Inns of Court and Chancery, and also of the three different Inns occupiedby theJudges and Serjeants, will be found of great interest to the topographical antiquary.
Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson will sell, on Friday and Saturday next, a very rare, valuable, and interesting Series of Papal Coins, from Pope Gregory II., anno 715, to Pius IX., anno 1846, the property of an eminent amateur residing at Rome.
BOOKSRECEIVED.—Shall we keep the Crystal Palace, and have Riding and Walking in all Weathers among Flowers, Fountains, and Sculpture? by Denarius.As we believe most of the readers of this pamphlet will answer in the affirmative, we would, with the writer, remind them to "instruct their representatives to say 'Aye,' when Mr. Speaker puts the question in the Commons."—Archæologia Cambrensis.New Series. No. VII. A very excellent number of this valuable Record of the Antiquities of Wales and its Marshes.—Notæ Ferales; a few Words on the Modern System of Interment; its Evils and their Remedy, by Charon.An endeavour to bring the world to "discontinue the system of interment as now practised, and restore that ofUrn Burial."
CATALOGUESRECEIVED.—Joseph Lilly's (7. Pall Mall) Catalogue No. 3. of very Cheap, Valuable, and Useful Books; W. S. Lincoln's (Cheltenham House, Westminster Road) Catalogue No. 70. of English and Foreign Second-hand Books; J. Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue Part CXXIV., No. 5. for 1851 of Old and New Books; B. Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Catalogue No. 31. of Books in European and Oriental Languages and Dialects; W. Heath's (29 ½. Lincoln's Inn Fields) Catalogue No. 4 for 1851 of Valuable Second-hand Books; S. Alexander's (207. Hoxton Old Town) Catalogue of Cheap Miscellaneous Books; C. J. Stewart's (11. King William Street) Catalogue of Books in Ecclesiastical and Monastic History and Biography, Antiquities, Councils, &c., with a Classified Index.
***Letters, stating particulars and lowest price,carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
THEINDEX ANDTITLE-PAGE TOVOLUME THETHIRDis at press, and will be issued with our next Number.
J. O. B.The oft-quoted line—