—— "my shallop ... cloveThe citronshadowsin the blue?"
—— "my shallop ... clove
The citronshadowsin the blue?"
This interpretation has been suggested to me as more poetical than the one usually given; but it is only supported by one commentator, Servius.
ERYX.
—Could any of your readers inform me as to the following? I find printed in Sheridan'sDramatic Worksby Bohn, a copy of Sir John Vanbrugh's play ofThe Relapse, or Virtue in Danger. It is, with a very few omissions, an exact reprint, but bears the title ofA Trip to Scarborough, or Miss in her Teens. No comment is made, or any mention of Vanbrugh.
O. O.
"Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,But, why did you kick me down stairs?"
"Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
But, why did you kick me down stairs?"
In what old ballad or poetic effusion may the above forcibly expressive, though not remarkably elegant, lines be found? A short time ago they were quoted inThe Times'leading article, from which fact I suppose them to be of well-known origin.
NREDRANAMB.
The statement of Hume, that Elizabeth and Mary were created Princesses of Wales, rests, I am disposed to think, on most insufficient authority; and I am surprised that so illustrious an author should have made an assertion on such slender grounds, which carries on the face of it a manifest absurdity, and which was afterwards retracted by the very author from whom he borrowed it.
Hume's authority is evidently Burnet'sHistory of the Reformation; (indeed, in some editions your correspondent G. would have seen Burnet referred to) in which are the following passages (vol. i. p. 71., Oxford edition, 1829):
"The King, being out of hopes of more children, declared his daughter (Mary) Princess of Wales, and sent her to Ludlow to hold her court there, and projected divers matches for her."
Again, p. 271.:
"Elizabeth was soon after declared Princess of Wales; though lawyers thought that against law, for she was only heir presumptive, but not apparent, to the crown, since a son coming after he must be preferred. Yet the king would justify what he had done in his marriage with all possible respect; and having before declared the Lady Mary Princess of Wales, he did now the same in favour of the Lady Elizabeth."
Hume's statement is taken almost verbatim from this last passage of Burnet, who, however, it will be observed, does not say "created," but "declared" Princess of Wales; the distinction between which is obvious. He was evidently not aware that Burnet afterwards corrected this statement in an Appendix, entitled, "Some Mistakes in the first Portion of this History communicated to me by Mr. William Fulman, Rector of Hampton Meysey, in Gloucestershire." In this is the followingnote, in correction of the passages I have quoted (Burn.Hist. Ref., vol. iv. p. 578.):
"Here and in several other places it is supposed that the next heir apparent of the crown was Prince of Wales. The heir apparent of the crown is indeed prince, but not, strictly speaking, of Wales, unless he has it given him by creation; and it is said that there is nothing on record to prove that any of Henry's children were ever created Prince of Wales. There are indeed some hints of the Lady Mary's being styled Princess of Wales; for when a family was appointed for her, 1525, Veysey, bishop of Exeter, her tutor, was made president of Wales. She also is said to have kept her house at Ludlow; and Leland says, that Tekenhill, a house in those parts, built for Prince Arthur, was prepared for her. And Thomas Linacre dedicates hisRudiments of Grammarto her, by the title of Princess of Cornwall and Wales."
This is one of the many instances of the inaccuracy, carelessness, and (where his religious or political prejudices were not concerned) credulity of Burnet. Whatever he found written in any previous historian, unless it militated against his preconceived opinions, he received as true, without considering whether the writer was entitled to credit, and had good means of gaining information. Now, neither Hall, Holinshed, Polydore Virgil, nor (I think) Cardinal Pole, contemporary writers, say anything about Mary or Elizabeth being Princesses of Wales. The only writer I am acquainted with who does say any such thing, previous to Burnet, and whose authority I am therefore compelled to suppose the latter relied on, when he made the statement which he afterwards contradicted, is Pollini, an obscure Italian Dominican, who wrote a work entitledL'Historia Ecclesiastica della Rivoluzion d'Inghilterra; Racolta da Gravissimi Scrittori non meno di quella Nazione, che dell' altri, da F. Girolamo Pollini dell' ordine de Predicatori, della Provincio de Toscana: Roma, Facciotti, 1594. In book i. chapter ii. page 7. of this author is the following statement, which I translate, speaking of the Princess Mary:
"As the rightful heir of the throne she was declared by Henry, her father, Princess of Wales, which is the ordinary title borne by the first-born of the king; since the administration and government of this province is allowed to no other, except to that son or daughter of the king, to whom, by hereditary right, on the death of the king the government of the realm falls.... In the same way that the first-born of the French king is called the Dauphin, so the first-born of the English king is called Prince of Britain, or of Wales, which is a province of that large island, lying to the west, and containing four bishoprics. Which Mary, with the dignity and title of Princess, assisted by a most illustrious senate, and accompanied by a splendid establishment, administered with much prudence," &c.
Pollini's history is, as may be supposed, of very little historical value; and one feels surprised that, on a point like the present, Burnet should have allowed himself to be misled by him. But still more remarkable, in my opinion, is the use Miss Strickland makes of this author. After several times giving him as her authority at the foot of the page, by the name ofPollino, but without giving the least information as to the name of his work, or who he was, she has the following note relating to the passage I have quoted (Lives of the Queens of England, vol. v. p. 156.):
"The Italian then carefully explains that the Princes of Wales were in the same position, in regard to the English crown, as the Dauphins were to that of France. Pollino must have had good documentary evidence, since he describes Mary's council and court, which he calls a senate, exactly as if the Privy Council books had been open to him.He says four bishops were attached to this court."
It seems to one a singular mode of proving that Pollini must have had good documentary evidence, by saying that he speaks exactly and positively; and I would ask whatgooddocumentary evidence would a Florentine friar be likely to have, who certainly never was in England, and in all probability never far from his convent? But it is the statement about the bishops that I wish more particularly to allude to, as I can findno statement to that effect in Pollini, and can only suppose that Miss Strickland misunderstood the passage (quoted above) where he says the province of Wales contains four bishoprics.
I think I have now shown that Hume's statement rests on no sufficient grounds as to the authority from whence he derived it. But there is yet another reason against it, which is this: it would be necessary, before Elizabeth was created Princess of Wales, that Mary should be deprived of it; and this could only be done by a special act of parliament. But we find no act of such a nature passed in the reign of Henry VIII. There are other reasons also against it; but having, I think, said enough to show the want of any foundation for the assertion, I shall not trouble you any further.
C.C.R.
Linc. Coll., Oxon., June 26.
In reply to the inquiry of E.V. relative to the conversion of the late Mr. William Hone, I send a slight reminiscence of him, which may perhaps be generally interesting to the readers of theEvery Day Book. It was soon after the period when Mr. Hone (at the time afflicted both in "body and estate") began to acknowledge the truths of Christianity, that I accidentally had an interview with him, though a perfect stranger. Our conversation was brief, but it turned upon the adaptation of the Christian religion to thewants of man, in all the varied stations in which he may be placed on earth, independent of its assurance of a better state hereafter. With child-like meekness, and earnest sincerity, the once contemner and reviler of Christianity testified to me that all his hope for the future was in the great atonement made to reconcile fallen man to his Creator.
Before we parted, I was anxious to possess his autograph, and asked him for it; as I had made some collection towards illustrating, hisEvery Day Book, to which it would have been no inconsiderable addition. After a moment of deep thought, he presented me with a slip of paper inscribed as follows, in his small and usual very neat hand:—
"'He that increaseth knowledgeincreaseth sorrow.'——[3]"Think on this."W. HONE."15 January, 1839."
"'He that increaseth knowledgeincreaseth sorrow.'——[3]"Think on this.
"'He that increaseth knowledge
increaseth sorrow.'——[3]
"Think on this.
"W. HONE."15 January, 1839."
"W. HONE.
"15 January, 1839."
[3]Ecclesiastes, i. 18.
Shortly after his death, the following appeared in theEvangelical Magazine, which I transcribed at the time:—
"The following was written by Mr. Hone on a blank leaf in his pocket Bible. On a particular occasion he displaced the leaf, and presented it to a gentleman whom we know, and who has correctly copied its contents for publication.
LINESWritten before Breakfast, 3rd June 1834, the Anniversary of my Birthday in 1780.'The proudest heart that ever beat,Hath been subdued in me;The wildest will that ever rose,To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,Is quell'd, my God, by Thee.'Thy will, and not my will, be done;My heart be ever Thine;Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,I hail Thee Christ, my God, my Lord,And make Thy Name my sign.'W. HONE.'"
LINESWritten before Breakfast, 3rd June 1834, the Anniversary of my Birthday in 1780.
LINES
Written before Breakfast, 3rd June 1834, the Anniversary of my Birthday in 1780.
'The proudest heart that ever beat,Hath been subdued in me;The wildest will that ever rose,To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,Is quell'd, my God, by Thee.
'The proudest heart that ever beat,
Hath been subdued in me;
The wildest will that ever rose,
To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,
Is quell'd, my God, by Thee.
'Thy will, and not my will, be done;My heart be ever Thine;Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,I hail Thee Christ, my God, my Lord,And make Thy Name my sign.
'Thy will, and not my will, be done;
My heart be ever Thine;
Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,
I hail Thee Christ, my God, my Lord,
And make Thy Name my sign.
'W. HONE.'"
'W. HONE.'"
At the sale of Mr. Hone's books, I purchased a bundle of religious pamphlets; among them wasCecil's Friendly Visit to the House of Mourning. From the pencillings in it, it appears to have afforded him much comfort in the various trials, mental and bodily, which it is well known clouded his latter days.
WILLIAMBARTON.
19. Winchester Place,Southwark Bridge Road.
In reference to the observations of A. E. B., I beg leave to say that, in speaking of Shakspeare as a man who hadsmall Latin, I intended no irreverence to his genius. I am no worshipper of Shakspeare, or of any man; but I am willing to do full justice, and to pay all due veneration, to those powers which, with little aid from education, exalted their possessor to the heights of dramatic excellence.
As to the extent of Shakspeare's knowledge of Latin, I think that it was well estimated by Johnson, when he said that "Shakspeare had Latin enough to grammaticize his English." Had he possessed much more than was sufficient for this purpose, Ben Jonson would hardly have called his knowledge of the languagesmall; for about the signification ofsmallthere can be no doubt, or about Ben's ability to determine whether it was small or not. But this consideration has nothing to do with the appreciation of Shakspeare's intellect: Shakspeare might know little of Latin and less of Greek, and yet be comparable to Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; as Burns, who may be said to have known no Latin, is comparable, in many passages, even to Horace. "The great instrument of the man of genius," says Thomas Moore, "is his own language," which some knowledge of another language may assist him to wield, but to the wielding of which the knowledge of another language is by no means necessary. The great dramatists of Greece were, in all probability, entirely ignorant of any language but their own; but such ignorance did not incapacitate them from using their own with effect, nor is to be regarded as being, in any way, any detraction from their merits. Shakspeare had but a limited acquaintance with Latin, but such limited acquaintance caused no debilitation of his mental powers, nor is to be mentioned at all to his disparagement. I desire, therefore, to be acquitted, both by A. E. B. and by all your other readers, of entertaining any disrespect for Shakspeare's high intellectual powers.
As to his usage of the wordtriple, that it is "fairly traced to Shakspeare's own reading" might not unreasonably be disputed. We may, however, concede, if A. E. B. wishes, that it was derived from his own reading,as no trace of its being borrowed is to be found. But I am not sure that if other writers had taken pains to establish this use of the word in our tongue, its establishment would have been much of a "convenient acquisition." Had any man who has three sisters, closely conjoined in bonds of amity, the privilege of calling any one of them atriple sister, I do not consider that he or his language wouldbe much benefited. Ovid, I fear, employedtriplex"improperly," as Warburton says that Shakspeare employedtriple, when he spoke of the Fates spinningtriplici pollice. I cannot find that any writer has imitated him. To call the Fatestriplices deæ(Met.viii. 481.), ortriplices sorores(Met.viii. 453.), was justifiable; but to term any one of themtriplex dea, or to speak of her as spinningtriplici fusoortriplici pollice, was apparently to go beyond what the Latin language warranted. A. E. B. rightly observes thattriplemust be explained as signifying "belonging to three conjoined;" but the use of it in such a sense is not to be supported either by custom or reason, whether in reference to the Latin language or to our own.
MR.SINGER, in his observations on "captious," has a very unlucky remark, which A. E. B. unluckily repeats—"We, no doubt, all know," says MR. SINGER, "by intuition as it were, what Shakspeare meant." If we all know Shakspeare's meaning by intuition, how is it that the "true worshippers of Shakspeare" dispute about his meaning?
J. S. W.
Stockwell, June 27. 1851.
—"Mr. Etty, Sen., the architect," mentioned in the passage quoted by your correspondent from Thoresby'sDiary, was John Etty, who died Jan. 28th, 1709, at the age of seventy-five. Drake calls him "an ingenious architect," and quotes these lines from his epitaph in the church of All Saints, North Street, in York (Eboracum, p. 277.):—
"His art was great, his industry no less,What one projected, t'other brought to pass."
"His art was great, his industry no less,
What one projected, t'other brought to pass."
Although Thoresby and Drake dignify him with the title of architect, he was in fact a carpenter, or what would now be styled "a builder." Mr. Etty had several sons: Marmaduke, the painter mentioned by Thoresby, was one of them. He was called in those days a painter-stainer. Two others, James and William, were brought up to the business of a carpenter—as their father and grandfather were before then. William had two sons: the eldest of whom, John, was also a carpenter. The other was the Reverend Lewis Etty, clerk; who, about a century ago, was incumbent of one of the York churches. I suspect that no work is now extant which is known to be the production of either the architect or the painter; and, but for the incidental allusion to them in theDiaryof the Leeds antiquary, the memory of their very names had long since perished. The fact stated in theDiary, of Grinlin Gibbons having wrought at York with Mr. Etty, the architect, is not mentioned in any of the biographical notices of that skilful artist, although its accuracy may be safely accepted upon Thoresby's authority.
The late William Etty, R.A., never claimed descent from the old York family. Most probably he did not know that such persons ever existed. His father, John Etty, and his grandfather, Matthew Etty, were established as millers at York during the latter part of the last century. To the occupation of a miller, John Etty added that of a ginger-bread baker; and in the house in Feasegate, York, where his distinguished son was born, he carried on an extensive business in supplying the smaller shops and itinerant dealers with gingerbread of all descriptions, when it was a more popular luxury or "folk-cate" than it is now. A characteristic anecdote is told of William Etty, which may not inappropriately be introduced here. In his latter days, when in the zenith of his fame, the large sum he was about to receive for one of his pictures was the subject of conversation at a friend's table. "Ah!" said the artist, with the quiet simplicity of manner for which he was remarkable, "it will serve to gild the gingerbread!"
It is possible that a keen genealogist might succeed in connecting the illustrious artist of our day with the Ettys of Thoresby's time, and thus establish a case of hereditary genius. "Mr. Etty, the painter," had a son called John, who attained man's estate about the year 1710. He does not appear to have settled at York, and it is by no means out of the range of probability, that he was the progenitor of Matthew Etty, the miller; who was, I believe, a native of Hull, and who, by the way, named one of his sons, John.
EBORACOMB.
—By the parish register abstract accompanying the population returns of 1831, it appears that in that year the earliest existing register of Petworth commenced in 1559. We are indebted to the late Mr. Rickman for this abstract of the dates of all the parish registers in the kingdom; and it would be well if, at the next census, a similar return was called for, that it may be seen what registers are then missing.
As to lost registers, I may state that I possess the bishop's transcripts of sixty registers, signed by the minister and churchwardens of parishes in the county of Kent; they comprise the baptisms, marriages, and burials for the years 1640 and 1641. The registers of sixteen of these parishes do not begin until after 1641, consequently these transcripts are the only records now existing of the baptisms, marriages, and burials in those sixteen parishes for 1640 and 1641.
J. S. B.
—The ancients found in the successive transformations of the butterfly a striking and beautiful parallel to the more important career of human existence. Thus to their fancy the caterpillar, orlarva, represented man's earthly course; thepupa, or chrysalis state, his death and utter inanition; while the perfect stateof the insect typified man's rise to life and glory, a bright glorious being, without spot or trace of earthly stain. The Greeks from this notion named the butterfly "Psyche." A careful examination of the anatomy and physiology of the insect world will show the strict and amazing beauty of this simile.
TEEBEE.
—Your printer has misprintedclamourinstead of your own expressiondemur. Let me add that there was neitherclamournor evendemuron that occasion—all went off quietly in the usual course. There is also an omission of two words in a subsequent line, which, though easily supplied, I may as well notice.
"The proclamation is that of thepeers alone, but assisted by theothers," should rather be "the proclamation is that of thepeers alone, but assisted by theex-Privy Councillors and others," as this marks the distinction between the two classes ofassistantsmore strongly.
C.
—Your correspondent M.D. will find the passage inCic. Offic., i. 5.
Y. V. S.
Sydenham.
—Addison says in Cato:
"'Tis not a set of features or complexion,The tincture of a skin that I admire."
"'Tis not a set of features or complexion,
The tincture of a skin that I admire."
Here he uses the wordcomplexionas something distinct from "tincture of the skin." The colour of the hair and irides commonly indicates the colour of the skin. If they are dark, the skin is ordinarily dark; and if blue or light, the skin is ordinarily fair. I have seen flaxen hair and surpassing whiteness of skin with eyes as black as death.
S. H.
—As a means of furnishing your correspondent QUIDAMwith some historical and local data that may tend to identify the place where that memorable council was convened, by which the succession to the English crown was transferred from the Danish to the Saxon line, I would refer him to Lambard'sPerambulation of Kent, published in 1596, pp. 351, 352, 353., as adducing strong evidence in favour of the council alluded to having been held at Gillingham next Chatham.
FRANCISCUS.
—I perfectly agree with GOMERthat the early Britons must have possessed vessels more capacious than osier baskets orcyry-glaubefore they were able to transport warlike assistance to their brethren the Armoricans of Gaul; but I can inform GOMER and A. N. in addition, that a much older term for a ship was made use of by the first inhabitants of Britain, namelyNaf, from whence no doubt the LatinNavissprang; and from the same root the Welsh wordNawf, a swim (now used), was derived. This termNafis handed down to us in one of the oldest British triads, but which has been always, in my opinion, improperly interpreted. In speaking of the three master works of the island of Britain, is the ship of Nefydd Naf Neifion (orNoah); the translation is simply this—
Here you have the hero personified by his avocation, and thenounfrom which the proper name is derived, both in the singular and plural number; in the latter sense it is made use of by D. ab Gwilym in the following couplet:
"Y nofiad a wnaethNeifionO Droia fawr draw i Fôn.""The swimming, that the ships performedFrom great Troy, afar, to Monâ."
"Y nofiad a wnaethNeifionO Droia fawr draw i Fôn."
"Y nofiad a wnaethNeifion
O Droia fawr draw i Fôn."
"The swimming, that the ships performedFrom great Troy, afar, to Monâ."
"The swimming, that the ships performed
From great Troy, afar, to Monâ."
JOHNFENTON.
Glyn y mêl, Fishguard, June 27, 1851.
—I possess a neatly written MS., of 88 pp. small 8vo., entitledA Primmer for Children, written by a suffering Servant of God, John Perrot; corrected, ammended, and made more easie: London, in the Yeare 1664. The only notice of him after this date is in p. 290. of Sewel'sHistory of the Quakers:
"Perrot now walked in an erroneous path, grew worse from time to time; even to that degree that, being come into America, he fell into manifold sensualities and works of the flesh; for he not only wore gawdy apparel, but also a sword; and being got into some place in the government, he became a severe exacter of oaths."
E. D.
—Sneck upis a stage direction forhiccup, which Sir Toby was likely to observe after his "pickle herring." Davis is quite right in following Theobald. A word for Theobald. Every commentator is indebted to him, and almost every one has abused him, from Warburton and Pope to Coleridge, and without Theobald's notes and most sagacious amendments, ordinary readers would be puzzled toreadShakspeare. The booksellers, I am glad to see, had sense enough to see Theobald's merit, and gave him a far larger sum for his edition than has been paid to most of his successors.
S. H. (2)
—Have the kindness to inform W.H., that in my extracts from the Parish Account Book of St. Peter's Mancroft in this city, under the years 1582 and 1588, are entered as follows:—
"1582. Pdto the Bisshopp for Senage Money ... xxjd.1588. Pdfor Senage and Proxage to the Bisshopp, ixd."
"1582. Pdto the Bisshopp for Senage Money ... xxjd.
1588. Pdfor Senage and Proxage to the Bisshopp, ixd."
In Cowel'sLaw Dictionary, by Thomas Manley, folio, 1701, under the term "Senege," he says:
"There goes out yearly in Proxage and Senage 33s.6d.Perhaps senege may be money paid for Synodals, as Proxyes or Procurations." "Proxyes are yearly payments made by parish priests to their bishop, or archdeacon, inlieu of victuals for the visitor and his attendants" (which it was formerly the custom to provide).
"Senage. The Senes be only courts to gather Senage and Proxye. The bishop should hold a Synod or Sene twice a year."—Becon'sReliques of Rome, p. 213.
"The priests should come to the Sene as they were wont to do."
The senes, courts, or ecclesiastical councils, were held for the purpose of correcting any neglect or omissions of the Church Reeves (as they were called), and fining them for such omissions, as well as receiving the usual and accustomed payments; and sometimes they were fined for havingsecreted some Catholic reliques, which were discovered by the visitors (of course after the Reformation), as I have found entries of fines having been paid; and more frequently are entries of "Payd for the withdraft" of the charge for some neglect in not providing articles necessary for the performance of divine worship.
In Sir Thomas More'sWorks, folio, 1557, pp. 909., 991., "Senes or Indightments" (perhaps Citements or Citations) are mentioned.
No doubt (I think) the termsenegeis derived from these courts being termed "Senes" and "Seens."
G. H. I.
Norwich, July 5. 1851.
—Your remark that Mr. Noble's statements "are extremely loose" is, generally speaking, very just; although in the particular instance referred to there is some foundation for his statement, as in the 12th Henry VI. commissions were issued into the several counties, not merely to collect the names of the gentry, but to administer an oath to the gentry and others for conservation of the peace and observance of the laws. The returns containing the names of the parties sworn in all the counties (except twelve) are printed by Fuller in hisWorthiesfrom records in the Tower, which are probably yet extant. SeeRotuli Parliamentorum, iv. 455.; v. 434.; Fuller'sWorthies of England, chap. xiv.; Grimaldi'sOrigines Genealogicæ, 68, 69. I do not understand that all the parties who were sworn were accounted gentlemen, although Dr. Fuller's and Mr. Grimaldi's impressions on this point appear to have been similar to Mr. Noble's.
C. H. COOPER.
Cambridge, July 5. 1851.
—I am neither Mr. Gordon Cumming, nor an officer of the Rifle Brigade; nevertheless, I have seen much of rifles and rifle-firing; and I think I can assure your correspondent A. C. that "Wemake the best rifles" is rather an assumption. That the Americans make most excellent ones, there can be no doubt; but I question whether they ever turned out a rifle which, either for finish or performance, would bear comparison with those made by Purdey, Lancaster, and others. As an example of what an English rifle will do, I subjoin the performance——[4]of one made by Beattie of Regent Street on Minie's principle for an officer in the artillery now going out to the Cape. Atone thousandmeasured yards, sixteen balls out of thirty were put into the target; and at four hundred yards, balls were driven through four regulation targets, each of two inch oak, placed six inches apart from one another; and into the earthen mound behind them ten or twelve inches. If the Americans can beat that, either for precision or force, they may claim to make the best rifles.
[4]In Woolwich Marshes.
E. N. W.
Southwark, June 30. 1851.
A Glossary of Terms used for Articles of British Dress and Armour, by the Rev. John Williams (ab Ithel), classifies alphabetically the several names which our British forefathers applied to the different portions of their garments and military weapons, and supplies the reader with their English synonymes; and, in the majority of cases, cites corroborative passages from documents in which the original terms occur. Its value to the antiquaries of the Principality is sufficiently obvious; and as Celtic elements may still be traced in our language, it will clearly be found of equal utility to their English brethren.
The Golden and Silver Ages. Two Plays by Thomas Heywood, with an Introduction and Notes by J. Payne Collier, Esq.(which form the last work issued by the Shakspeare Society), will be read with great interest by the members; and, as completing the second volume of the collected edition of the works ofThomas Heywood, will give great satisfaction to those who urged upon the Shakspeare Society the propriety of printing an edition of the works of this able and prolific dramatist.
In hisManual of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Mind, by James Carlile, D.D., the author has undertaken to write a popular treatise on an abstruse subject; and though he exhibits pains and method, yet we can hardly think that he has succeeded in his difficult task. One mistake he has evidently made. He seeks his illustrations too much from recent events, the Gorham controversy, the presidency of Louis Napoleon, and the like; references which are more calculated to degrade a great subject than to popularise it.
InThe Gentleman's Magazinefor the present month our readers will find a very able article, to which we beg to direct their attention, on the present state ofEnglish Historical Literature, the accessibility of our Historical Materials and the Record Offices. The article has apparently been called forth by a Memorial, addressed to the Master of the Rolls, requesting "that persons who are merely engaged in historical inquiry, antiquarian research, and other literary pursuits connected therewith, should have permission granted to them to have access to the Public Records, with the Indexes and Calendars, without payment of any Fee." This important document is signed by all the principal historical and antiquarian writers of the day: we should think, therefore, that there can be little fear of their prayer being refused. The writer of the article in theGentleman's Magazinehas omitted two curious facts, which deserve mention,—one that Pinkerton was stopped in the progress of his History of Scotland by the fees for searches in the Scotch Record Offices; the other, that those fees in those very offices have recently been remitted.
Mr. Douglas Allport has issued Proposals for the publication by subscription of a volume entitledKits Coty House, a Monograph, which, as it is to treat not only of Kits Coty House, but of its Flora and Fauna, the Druidical Circles of Addington and Colebrook, the Antiquarian Relics and Traditions of the neighbourhood, Boxley and its Rood of Grace, Chaucer and the Pilgrim's Road, and other vestiges of bygone times, clearly has within its subject the materials for an amusing and interesting volume.
***Letters, stating particulars and lowest price,carriage free, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
TITLEPAGE ANDINDEX TOVOLUME THETHIRD.We this week publish the Index to our Third Volume; and in doing so cannot refrain from directing attention to its extent and completeness. We are aware that the future value of"NOTES ANDQUERIES"must materially depend upon the state of its Indices: we have therefore spared no pains upon their compilation; with what success our labours have been attended, it is of course for our Readers to determine.
W. P. A.The late Duke of York married Sept. 29, 1791, Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Catharina, Princess Royal of Prussia; and died at York House, St. James's, on the 5th January, 1827.
SPERIENDis thanked for his hints, which shall not be lost sight of.
ANM. D.Received, and shall be attended to.
WAAGEN'SARTS ANDARTISTS.Will the correspondent who wants this send his name and address to the Publisher?
REPLIESRECEIVED.—Salting the Dead—The word "Prenzie"—Nao, a Ship—Pope's Honest Factor—Miss—The Vine of St. Francis—Gray and Chaucer—English Sapphics—Nervous—Senage—Hogan—Histoire des Sévérambes.
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