Replies.

"Fortune, Infortune, Fort une."

In this epitaph, the first two words are intelligible enough, and allude to certain reverses of fortune which had chequered the life of the princess; but the expressionfort unereads somewhat enigmatical, and I shall be obliged to any of your readers who can give the meaning of it.

HENRYH. BREEN.

St. Lucia, June, 1851.

—Antiquaries and topographers generally (Stukeley and Sir R.C. Hoare included) have been hitherto content to consider this word as a compound ofstanandhenge, Anglo-Saxon;—that is, "hanging stone." Now this etymology of the word has always appeared to me very unsatisfactory. The cross stones do not hang; they lie on the uprights, and are kept in their places by mortice holes. An ingenious friend of mine has, by what I consider a happy train of reasoning, arrived at another and a better conclusion. Every one knows that our German ancestors used the wordhorseadjectively. And we still have it so in use to designate many things as the largest of their kind; ashorse-chestnut,horse-daisey,horse-mushroom,horse-emmet, &c. &c.Horsaandhengstorhengist, are convertible terms or if any difference, the latter word is used forstallion. If so, then, is it not reasonable to suppose that the stones of this Druid temple would provoke the largest idea of magnitude, and thence be called Stone-Hengst, or more euphoniously, Stone-henge,—stallion stones?

P. P.

—I should feel obliged to any of your correspondents who would supply me with an example from early Church history of a bishop or priest marrying after ordination.

Deacons were expressly allowed to marry by the Council of Ancyra; but I should wish an example of either of the others.

Marriage after priestly ordination is now forbidden by the Greek church, and since the Council of Trullo bishops must be celibate or continent.

Second Query—What evidence is there that bishops in early times, if already married, were obliged to put away their wives? It is said that St. Gregory Nazianzen's father had children after he was raised to the episcopate. Can this be proved, and are there other instances?

From the silence of early Church writers as to any difference between the clergy and laity on this point, I am much inclined to believe that the Roman requirement of celibacy was then confined to the bishopric of Rome itself, and the immediately adjoining country.

St. Paul, in 1 Cor. ix.5., says:

"Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as the other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas?"

implying that he had power to marry even then; and our Saviour speaks of continence as a gift given only to certain persons. (St. Matthew, chap. xix. ver. 11, 12.)

A. B. C.

Edinburgh, July 10. 1851.

—What is the meaning, and whence the origin of the sectional sign ¶, so much used in the Bible, and also at the head of the rubrical instructions in the Book of Common Prayer?

P. P.

—I should like to know if the following name is that of a well-known publisher; and whether the book, from which I take the name, is known? also, whether it is very rare, and of literary value? "Gedruckt zu Frankfurt am Main durch David Zöpffeln zum Eisern Huth, 1559."

I find this at the end of a curious German translation of Virgil into verse—short and easy flowing.

There is a summary in verse, and a quaint engraving to every book. Bound in wood and leather. It has many odd peculiarities too long to mention.

In the Preface, this is said to be thesecondedition, that the first was published "many years ago, by a learned man." It must have been published about the same time asBishop Gawain (or Gawin) Douglas's, and is something like it.

R. S. T.

—In Diplock'sNew Guide to Hastings, St. Leonard, and the Neighbourhood, which, unfortunately, like most other works of this class, is worse than useless to the architectural visitor, it is stated that the old church atFairlight, which was taken down not very long since, "was a small but ancient structure, apparently of the early part of thethirteenth century: it consisted of a chancel, nave, and square tower, andwas built of brick."

Can any of your readers inform a visitor here whether this is a correct description?

ARUN.

St. Leonard's on Sea.

—I shall be extremely obliged by any account as to the succession of the disputed Leman Baronetcy or estates. Sir William Leman, of Northaw (or Northall), Herts, was, I believe, the last of that designation, and up to the present time doubts exist as to the heir male or other descendants, although great property and possessions are in abeyance or at stake.

H. M.

—Can any of your correspondents inform me to what family the following arms belonged: Sa. a lion ramp. or, betw. three fleur-de-lys ermine. Crest, a sea-horse. Motto, "Fortior vi virtus."

The above arms are painted on the portrait of a gentleman wearing a ruff, temp. James I., in the possession of my family, and I am anxious to ascertain who it represents.

F. J. B.

Winchester.

—In theGentleman's Magazinefor April 1840, I find the following notice:

"Thomas Stephens Davies, Esq., Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and Author of theHistory of Magnetical Discovery, &c. &c."

Being interested in all that concerns the late Mr. Davies, I shall feel much obliged to any one who will state where I can find theHistoryhere alluded to. I may add that I am acquainted with his papers on "Terrestrial Magnetism," published in the LondonPhilosophical Transactionsfor 1835-6; but since they do not much partake of the character of "History," they can scarcely be the papers intended.

T. T. W.

Burley, Lancashire.

—Can any of your correspondents inform me what became of the MSS. of the late Mr. George Chalmers?

On the titles of many of the older poets and dramatists of Scotland I have met with his notes referring evidently to some MS. list of the lives of such writers in his possession. My inquiry has reference, therefore, more particularly to the MS. in question, which has not, I think, been published.

J. O.

"Some," says Meric Casaubon, "have been deceived in the hour [of an eclipse], as in the eclipse that happenedApril 3, 1605; about which some very able artists are noted to have mistaken; and the reason is given by astronomers how such a mistake might happen."

Such is my "Note;" but I cannot just now give the reference. I will answer for its accuracy. Can any one give some account of that eclipse, and state the reasons alleged why "such a mistake might happen?"

VARRO.

—In visiting Chantrey's studio some years since, in company with a sculptor still living, we received from Mr. Allan Cunningham a similar account to that which MR. PETERCUNNINGHAMhas given, that is to say, that the design wasStodhart's, of which, indeed, it bore too certain evidence.

Chantrey was engaged at that time upon a colossal equestrian figure of Sir Thomas Picton, destined, I believe, for India. On that visit I was singularly impressed with the gracefulness and beauty of the statue of a female figure with three children; one was at her breast, and in the curled head of another at her feet was the mother's hand enfolded. On the pedestal of the statue was this inscription:

"Sacred to the memory of Norah Bland."

I learnt from Mr. Cunningham that this was the statue of Mrs. Jordan, and was executed for William IV., and that there was some difficulty respecting its place of reception. What is become of this noble work of art? The little boy amongst whose curls the mother's hand played, was the late Earl of Munster.

JAMESCORNISH.

Falmouth.

—Can any of your readers refer me to the following passage?—

"I have cull'd me a posie of other men's flowers, and nothing,save the string that binds them, is mine own."

"I have cull'd me a posie of other men's flowers, and nothing,

save the string that binds them, is mine own."

D. Q.

—I am desirous of obtaining information respecting Sir Edmund Ployden or Plowden, who (according to a tract published at Middleburg in Holland, in 1648, by a writer signing himself "Beauchamp Plantagenet") received a grant of land from the crown of England, covering portions of the present states of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Of this province, which was called New Albion, the grantee was "Lord Proprietor," "Earl Palatine," "Governor," and "Captain General." Your assistance I venture to ask, as this is a matter of historical interest here.

A TRANSATLANTICREADER.

Philadelphia, July, 1851.

—As you have, I hope, very largely increased the number of readers and contributorssince I asked the question above referred to, and as it has as yet received no answer, I hope you will allow me to repeat it, in the hope that some of your new correspondents may be able to tell me what satirical "Imitation of Horace" can have been, so early as 1716, attributed to Pope?

I would also, on the same grounds, beg leave to repeat another question, formerly proposed by P. C. S. S. and by myself (Vol. i, pp. 201. 246.): What is the precise meaning of the last couplet of these lines of Pope:

"The hero William, and the martyr Charles,One knighted Blackmore and one pensioned Quarles,Which made old Ben and surly Dennis swear,'No Lord's anointed, but a Russian bear.'"

"The hero William, and the martyr Charles,

One knighted Blackmore and one pensioned Quarles,

Which made old Ben and surly Dennis swear,

'No Lord's anointed, but a Russian bear.'"

That Pope had a precise meaning cannot be doubted; but I have never heard a reasonable guess at what it might be.

—Among the Parker MSS. in Corpus Library at Cambridge is a patent of Queen Elizabeth to John Bodeleigh to print the English Bible for seven years.

In the list of translators of the Bible in 1611, as given in the Introduction to Jameson'sGlossary of the Holy Scriptures, appears the name "Burleigh, M.A.," but without any biographical notice, as in the other instances.

In Burn'sLivre des Anglois à Génève, it is stated that John Bodleigh, the father of the celebrated Sir Thomas Bodley, was one of the translators of the Bible.

Can any of your readers throw light on the history of either of these men, or kindly point to any sources of information respecting them?

S. S. S.

—Can your readers give meanyparticulars ofDr. Thomas Johnson, the editor ofGerarde's Herbal? I do not require such information as I can obtain concerning him in Wood'sAthenæ Oxonienses, or Pulteney'sSketches of Botany; but I especially wish for some information relative to his place of burial, and whether there is any monumental or other record of its whereabout. He died from a wound he received during asortiefrom Basing House on the 14th of September, 1644.

GAMMA.

—Can you inform me in what collection of glees I shall find an old one, the burden or chorus of which is—

"The more we love good liquor, the merrier we shall be?"

I think the first line is—

"You friend drink to me friend, and I friend drink to thee."

ANM. D.

—Can any of your correspondents tell me why the terminationasteris used in a depreciatory sense in Latin, aspoetaster, a bad poet;oleaster, the wild olive;pinaster, the wild pine? With regard to this latter substantive, I have seen the mistake made in a descriptive catalogue of the pine species, of calling this thestar pine; but I have no doubt that it was namedpinaster, as inferior to the stone pine, orPinus pinea, which embellishes the Italian gardens, while thepinasterflourishes on the mountains and the sea-coast.

Probably other examples may be found where the terminalasteris used in a similar sense.

A BORDERER.

—Can any of your correspondents or readers inform me where anyundoubtedoriginal portrait of John Dryden is to be found? Malone, Dryden's biographer, enumerates seven or eight portraits, and he states where they were in 1800. I am aware that two are in the Bodleian Gallery at Oxford, the one stated by Malone "painter unknown;" and the other alleged to be by Kneller; but I do not consider the latter to be an original. I wish more particularly to know who has ahalf-lengthoriginal portrait. Dryden was painted by Kneller, Closterman, and Riley.

BEVILLE.

—On the retreat of the Highland army from England in 1746, Prince Charles Edward and his staff passed through Dumfries, and slept in a house now known as the Commercial Inn.

After their departure there was found a light claymore, apparently the property of an officer; and as it was never claimed, it remained in the house for some years, and ultimately came into my possession. It is formed of the finest tempered steel, and bears the following very curious inscription on one side,

☓ GOTT BEWAR DE;

and on the other,

☓ VERECHTE SCHOTTEN.

Some of your learned correspondents will oblige by giving a translation, and a reason for such an inscription on a Scottish sword.

T. M. W.

Liverpool.

At page 371. of Vol. iii. I addressed a Query as to the best mode of reaching Iceland. I have since ascertained that the principal communication with Iceland is from Copenhagen; whence during the season sail a monthly packet, sundry trading-vessels, and sometimes a Danish frigate. Danish vessels also call at Hull and Liverpool to load with salt for Iceland. The Norwegian trade thither has ceased since 1814, and it has now scarcely any intercourse except with Denmark.A few dirty smacks of fifty or sixty tons, from the Thames and another place or two, resort there to fish, they do not go into port. There is no further mode of reaching that interesting and remarkable island, except per yacht, or by one of the steam-excursions which are occasionally advertised inThe Times. The Danish steamers mentioned in Murray'sGuide-bookhave discontinued running.

Murray gives but little respecting, Iceland, but that little is good. The best book on it that I have met with is,An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faröe Islands, with Illustrations of their Natural History, by James Nicol: Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1844. It embodies the substance of all the best information in small space. The last published English visit to Iceland seems to be that of Barrow in 1835 but a much more recent account has been published in German by that enterprising lady Ida Pfeiffer, of a voyage she made there. An interesting statement of the diseases and sanatory condition of Iceland is found in theBritish and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Reviewfor 1850, vol v., being a notice of a work entitled,Island undersögt fra lægevidenskabeligt Synspunct, by Dr. Schleisner, Fellow of the Royal Medical Society of Copenhagen, who went to Iceland purposely to examine into its medical condition.

Of works on Norway, Murray'sHand-bookis the best, and contains a list of books on Scandinavia published up to 1848. Besides these, there are the following:—

1.Scandinavian Sketches; or, a Tour in Norway.By Lieutenant Breton, R.N.

2. Wittich'sVisit to the Western Coast of Norway: London, 1848. Contains accurate physical descriptions of the country.

3. Forester'sNorway in 1848 and 1849: London, 1850. Conveys to the mind an excellent and very complete picture of Norwegian scenery, travelling, manners and customs, &c., and gives much valuable information. The plates are very truthful and characteristic.

4. Ross'sYacht Voyage to Norwayis not worth much; and

5. Jones'sAngler's Guide to Norwayis worth less.

6. Barrow'sVisit to Iceland by way of Trondhjem in 1834contains much about some parts of Norway.

Written in Norwegian, and published in Christiania, is a fine work entitled,Norge Fremstillet i Tegninger, 1848. The "Tegninger" are lithographs, eighty-two in number, and well executed and the descriptions are highly interesting. There is also now publishing a series of coloured plates of the Norwegian costumes, denominatedNorske Nationaldragter tegnede efter Naturen af forskjellige Norske kunstnere, og ledsagede med en oplysende Text: Christiania, 1850. The plates are highly coloured, and the letter-press is in Norsk, German, and English. Mr. Schirmer of Christiania is also publishing a series of magnificent architectural drawings of the old cathedrals of Norway. There are several excellent maps of Norway, of which Munch's is the best but the only geological map is a very large and complicated one in many sheets, I think by Professor Keilhau. On the botany of Norway there are, Hartmann,Handbok i Skandinaviens Flora: Stockholm, 1843, and Lund,Haandbog i Christianias phanerogame Flora: Christiania, 1846. The Danish pharmacopœia is still employed by the Norwegian apothecaries. On the dreadful disease found in the Bergen-Stift, calledElephantiasis Græcorum, orSpedalskhed, Doctors Danielssen and Boeck have put forth a work in French and Norwegian, embodying an immense deal of research and information, accompanied with an Atlas of twenty-four coloured plates. They consider this disease to be identical with the leprosy of Scripture. Their book was published in 1847; and contains references to every known account of the disease up to that date, in a bibliographical list of great length. An article upon it, comprehending a short but complete account of the disease, may be found in theBritish and Foreign Med. Chir. Review for 1850, vol. v.

Of Norwegian national songs and music, there are, besides Lindeman'sNorske Field-Melodier, the following publications:—

1.Folke Sange og Melodier, Fædrelandske og Fremmelse, udsalte for Pianoforte, 1844.

2.Sangsamling for Norske Selskabskredse: udgiven af det Norske Studenter-samfund: Christiania, 1839. The students of the Christiania University have much taste for music, and are very fond of singing in parts and choruses.

3.Scandinaviske Folkesange udsalte for Pianoforte af Niels W. Gade.

4.Norske Viser og Stev i Folkesproget. Anden Udgave: Christiania, 1848. This contains forty-three national ballads, mostly in provincial dialects, and consequently very difficult to translate but, in many respects, extremely curious, referring to the manners, customs, and superstitions of the peasantry. The new edition is edited by P. A. Munch, Professor of History in the University of Christiania. The notes of some national airs are added at the end.

Professor Munch also published in 1850,Symbolæ ad Historiam Antiquiorem Rerum Norvegicarum.I.Breve Chronicon Norvegiæ.II.Genealogia Comitum Orcadensium.III.Catalogus Regum Norvegiæ. E. Codice quoad magnam partem hactenus inedito, et in orcadibus, ut videtur, medio sæculoXVtoconscripto.Appended to it is the following curious genealogy:—

"Stemma, originem celsissimæ principis LUDOVICÆ, futuræ Principis nostri uxoris, nec non VICTORIÆ, augustissimæ Britanniarum reginæ, aSancto Olao, patrono Norvegiæ, illustrans.""SANCTUSOLAUS, rex Norveg., ob. 1030, pr. kal. Sept. Uxor Astrida, filiaOlairegis Sveciæ.|Ulfhilda, mar.Ordulfus, dux Saxoniæ, ob. 1074.|Magnus, dux Sax. ob. 1106.|Ulfhilda, mar.Henricus Niger, dux Bavariæ.|Henricus Superbus, dux Bavariæ et Saxoniæ, ob. 1130.|Henricus Leo, id. ob. 1195.|Wilhelmus, dux, ob. 1213.|Otto Puer, dux Brunsvico-Luneburgensis, ob. 1252.|Albertus Magnus, dux Brunsv. ob. 1279.|Albertus pinguis, dux Br. Göttingen, ob. 1318.|Magnus pius, dux Brunsv. ob. 1368.|Magnus Torquatus, dux Brunsv. ob. 1373.|—————————————————————————||Bernhardus, dux Lun. ob. 1434.Henricus, dux Br. ob. 1416.||Fridericus pius, id. ob. 1478.Wilhelmus victoriosus, dux Br. ob. 1482.||Otto Magnanimus, id. ob. 1471.Wilhelmus junior, dux Br. Guelferb. ob. c. 1500.||Henricus junior, id.ob. 1532.Henricus malus, dux Br. Guelf. ob. 1514.||Ernestus, d. Cellæ, ob. 1546.Henricus junior, id. ob. 1575.||Wilhelmus junior, d. Lun. ob. 1592.Julius, id. ob. 1589.||Georgius, id. ob. 1641.Henricus Julius, id. ob. 1613.||Ernestus Augustus, Elector Hannov. 1698.Sophia Hedviga, ob. 1642, nuptaErnesto Casimiro, Com. de Nassau-Dietz.||GeorgiusI. rex Brit. ob. 1727.Wilhelmus Fridericus, com. de N.-D. vicerex Fresiæ, ob. 1664.||GeorgiusII. rex Br. ob. 1760.Henricus Casimirus, pr. de Nassau-Dietz, v. Fresiæ, ob. 1696.||Fridericus Ludovicus, princ. Brit. ob. 1751.Johannes Willelmus Friso, pr. de Nassau-Dietz, vic. her. Fresiæ, ob. 1711.||GeorgiusIII. rex Br. ob. 1820.Willelmus Carolus Henricus Friso, pr. Arausionensis, vic. her. Bat. ob. 1751.||Edwardus Augustus, dux Cantiæ,ob. 1820.WillelmusV. pr. Arausionensis, vic. her. Bat. ob. 1806.||VICTORIA, regina Britanniarum.WillelmusI. rex Bat. ob. 1843.|—————————————————————————||WillelmusII. rex Bat. ob. 1849.Willelmus Fridericus Carolus, pr. Bat.||WILLELMUSIII. rex Bat.WILLELMINAFRIDERICAALEXANDRINA, Anna Ludovica, nata 5 Aug. 1828."

Further elucidating the ancient history of Scandinavia are the following works:—

Fagskrinna. Kortfaltet Norsk Konge-Saga fra slutningen af det 12teeller begyndelsen af det 13deaarhundrede. Udgivet af P. A. Munch, Professor i Historie, og C. R. Unger, Stipendiat i Nordisk Sprogvidenskab: Christiania, 1847. In Icelandic, with Norwegian introduction and notes.C. M. Falsen, Geografisk Beskrivelse over Kongeriget Norge og Udsigt over dets ældre Historie, som Indledning til Norges udförlige Historie, 1821; andNorges Historie under Kong Harald Haarfager og hans mandlige Descendenter, 1824, by the same author.

The various works and sources of information above mentioned will be found to lead on to many others, so that it will not be difficult for those who wish it, and can afford the time, to enter fully into the highly interesting and curious history of the North—a subject which once entered upon is not easy to quit. The literature of Scandinavia is considerable: although that of Denmark and of Norway is less known, distinctively, in this country, than the Swedish portion; partly, no doubt, because the semi-barbarous Gothic character is still much used instead of the clearer Roman type. English literature is much liked in Norway, and they have translations of Scott, Bulwer, Laing, Washington Irving, and some others.

I am very anxious to obtain information on the unanswered points referred to at page 370.

WILLIAME.C. NOURSE.

Postscriptum.—In enumerating recent works on Iceland and the North, I omitted to mention Dillon'sWinter in Iceland and Lapland, 2 volumes, London, 1840 an excellent work not sufficiently known.

The trading vessels to Iceland are exceedingly rough and dirty. The Dart, Madeira packet, a fine brig of 350 tons, will probably go thither this summer with passengers.

W. E. C. N.

MR. BOLTONCORNEYhaving favoured your readers with "a notice of some of the statements" contained in my article above-named, I deem it a duty incumbent upon myself to make a few remarks upon these "notices," which I shall do in the briefest manner possible.

The object of my paper was to call attention to a forgotten poet, and to endeavour to obtain some information regarding the locality of his manuscripts. Had I been writing the life of Hugh Holland, I should, of course, have investigated the dates of his biography and works more fully than it was necessary to do for a trifling article like that in question. But, as it is, the facts and dates which I have given are all derived from creditable and well-known sources and all the facts and dates in question are thefacts and datesof older writers than myself, as will appear by the following.

1. "He was born at Denbigh in 1558." He was born at Denbigh, but not in 1558. In 1625 he thus expressed himself:

"Why was the fatall spinster so vnthrifty?To draw my third four yeares to tell and fifty!"

"Why was the fatall spinster so vnthrifty?

To draw my third four yeares to tell and fifty!"

Answer.Where are these lines taken from, and what do they mean? What is the proof that they relate toHugh Holland? "Hugh Holland, an esquire's son of Denbighshire," was matriculated at Baliol College, Oxford, anno 1582, aged twenty-four. My authority is Wood'sAthenæ, edit. Bliss, vol. ii. p. 560.

2. He did not quit Westminster school till 1589. If ever he pursued his studies at Baliol College, it was some ten years afterwards.

Answer.Who says he did not quit Westminster school till 1589?—Joseph Welch, or MR. BOLTONCORNEY? Allowing it to be the former, are all Welch's dates correct? I have Wood's authority that Hugh Holland matriculated at Baliol in 1582.

3. "About 1590 he succeeded to a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge." In 1589 he was elected from Westminster to ascholarshipin Trinity College, Cambridge—not to afellowship. At a later period of life he may have succeeded to a fellowship.

Answer.My words are, "about1590 he succeeded to a fellowship." MR.CORNEYadds, "In 1589" he was elected to ascholarship. I must again refer to honest old Wood, who expressly says that he was afellowof Trinity College.

4. "Holland published two works: 1.Monumenta Sepulchralia Sancti Pauli, Lond. 1613, 4to. 2.A Cypress Garland, &c., Lond. 1625, 4to." Hugh Holland was not the compiler of the first-named work: the initials H. H. admit of another interpretation.

Answer.Why does not MR. CORNEYgive your readers his interpretation of the mysterious "H. H.?" One Henry Holland was the author ofA Booke of Kings, being the true Effigies of our English Kings, &c.: Lond. 1618, 4to. Is this the interpretation? If so, I ask for the proof.

5. The dates assigned to theMonumenta Sancti Pauliare "1613, 1616, 1618, and 1633." Here are three errors in as many lines. Thefirstedition is dated in 1614. The edition of 1633, which is entitledEcclesia Sancti Pauli illustrata, is thesecond. No other editions exist.

Answer.The edition of 1614 was certainly the first, and that of 1633certainlythe second. In the preface to the latter the author says, "My first collection of these Monumentall Epitaphs I publishedanno 1614, full nineteen yeeres sithence." My authority, however, for the "three errors in as many lines" is Cole's Collections for anAthenæ Cantabrigenses. (See BrydgesRestituta, vol. iii p. 215.)

6. "Holland also printed a copy of Latin verses before Alexander'sRoxana, 1632." No such work exists. He may have printed verses before theRoxanaof W. Alabaster, who was his brother-collegian.

Answer.My authority again is Cole's Collections inRestituta, vol. iii. p. 215, where, under the head of "Hugh Holland, fellow of Trinity College," is this line: "Has a copy of Latin verses before Dr. Alexander'sRoxana, 1632." I shall therefore leave the shade of Cole and MR. BOLTONCORNEYto settle the question as to whether any such work exists.

I have now disposed of the six statements, and have only to add, that the authorities which I have consulted are those which I have named.

EDWARDF. RIMBAULT.

The suggestion ofprimzieis too ingenious, and too apparently happy, to be passed over without adducing some reason for refusing to give it the preference to Tieck's reading ofprecise.

The terminal adjunctszie,sie,some, generally imply some playful diminutive variation of the original word, certainly they never add force or gravity to it:prim, in itself, is a diminutive ofprimitive, and applies more to external appearance than to internal character. I do not think, therefore that evenprimwould be a word sufficiently dignified for the situation and context; much less is its diminutiveprimsie.

It seems to me that the character of Angelo is generally mistaken; he is too often looked upon as a mere hypocrite, whereas Shakspeare depicts him, before his fall, as a rigid butsincereascetic. This view of his character accounts for his final condemnation of Claudio: he has no mercy forthe crime, even while committing it himself; and he was just the man who, had he escaped detection, would probably have passed the remainder of his life in the exercise of self-inflicted penance.

Viewing Angelo, therefore, as a man proverbial for rigidly virtuous conduct; who stood "at a guard with envy;" who challenged scrutiny; and who was above the tongue of slander; I do not think thatprimsiecan be looked upon as an appropriate designation in the mouth of Claudio. He would use some word in the greatest possible contrast to the infamous conduct Isabella was imputing to Angelo:primsiewould be weak and almost unmeaning, and, as such, I will not receive it as Shakespeare's, so long as the choice of a better remains.

Does not Shakspeare, by his frequent repetition ofprecise, in this play, seem purposely to stamp it with that peculiar signification necessary to his meaning, that is, rigidly virtuous? Another example of it, not, I believe, before noticed, is where Elbow describes his "two notorious benefactors" as "precise villains," "void of all profanation that good Christians ought to have."

The humour of this is in the contrast afforded by Elbow's association of incongruous and inconsistent terms, causing Escalus to exclaim, "Do you hear how he misplaces?"Precisetherefore in this place also requires a meaning as opposite as possible to villany, somethingmorethan formal, in order that the humour may be fully appreciated.

With respect to Halliwell's quotation from Fletcher's poems, it certainly confers uponprina very different meaning from any thatprimis capable of receiving: the context requiresprinto have some signification akin tofleshless; like "bodyes at the resurrection, just rarifying into ayre."Prin, in this sense, would seem to have some relation topine, sincepinandprinwere synonymous.

A. E. B.

Leeds, July, 1851

The earliest divisions of the Decalogue are those of Josephus (Ant. Jud., lib. iii. c. v. s. 5.), the Chaldee Paraphrase of Jonathan, andPhilo-Judæus de Decem Oraculis. According to the two former, the 3rd verse of Exod. xx., "Thou shalt have no other gods but me," contains the first commandment, the 4th, 5th, and 6th, the second. Philo makes the Preface or Introduction to be a distinct commandment, as do also St. Jerome and Hesychius. The two latter make what we call the first and second to be the second only; but Philo does not recite the words "Thou shalt have no other gods but me;" and whether he understood them in the first or the second, does not hence appear. The same uncertainty is found in Athanasius inSynopsi S. Scripturæ.

It may however be inferred, from these two writers giving the commencement only of the other commandments, that they made the prohibition, "Thou shalt not make," &c., in the same manner the commencement of the second; and therefore joined the other, "Thou shalt have," &c., to the words "I am the Lord thy God."

Those which we call the first and second were united by St. Augustine.

The distinction made by Josephus and the Chaldee Paraphrast, separating the two prohibitions, was adopted by the following early writers: Origen (Hom. viii. in Exod.); Greg. Nazianzen(Carmina, Mosis Decalogus) Irenæus (lib. ii. c. xlii.); Ambrose (inEp. ad Ephes.c. vi.).

The Jews divide the Decalogue thus:

1. I am....2. Thou shalt not have....3. Thou shalt not take....

1. I am....

2. Thou shalt not have....

3. Thou shalt not take....

But in the field of speculation, the Jews have followed a variety of systems for dissecting the Decalogue, as may be seen in Abarvanel in the Pericope "Jethro," and in Voisin'sProœmium ad Martini Pugionem Fidei.

The following authors may be consulted on the arguments which have been adduced to support their respective divisions by the Church of Rome and the Lutherans on the one side, and the Reformers or Calvinists and the Church of England on the other.

1. Church of Rome.—Gother'sPapist Misrepresented; Godden'sCatholics No Idolaters;Gotti Vera Ecclesia Christi.

2. Lutherans.—Salmuthi Theses;Winckelmanni Dissertatio, &c.;Crameri de distinguendo decalogo, &c.;Franzii Disputatio;Weimari Demonstratio;Opitii Dissertatio de usu accentuationis geminæ in genuina divisione decalogi;Dasdorfii Dissertatio de decalogo, ex fundamento accentuum examinato;Hackspanii Notæ Philologicæ in varia loca S. Scripturæ;Pfeifferi Opera(cent.1.).

3. Reformers.—Sam. Bohlii vera divisio decalogi ex infallibili principio accentuationis.

In reference to this argument, which is used by both parties, I have been favoured with the following remarks by a learned professor of languages, of the Jewish faith:

"On the subject of your inquiry, the accents do not appear to me to offer any decision. They show which words are to be connected with each other to make up one proposition; but not how many propositions shall go to make up one commandment."

4. The Church of England.—Ussher'sAnswer to a Jesuit (Images), and his Sermon preached before the Commons House of Parliament, 1620; Taylor'sDuctor Dubitantium(where, in connexion with the Romish controversy, this subject is exhausted); Stillingfleet'sReplies to Gother and Godden; andForbesii Theologia Christiana.

T. J.

Though your correspondent MR. SYDNEYSMIRKEhas brought to our notice the existence of the republic of San Marino, and informed us of many facts in connexion therewith, and though F. C. B. has enlightened us on several points of interest in the history of this state, still I do not find in either of these communications the following particulars of its foundation, which are in Addison'sRemarks on Italy, pp. 62, 63. (ed. Talboys, 1830), and which may interest some of your readers.

"San Marino was its founder, a Dalmatian by birth and by trade a mason. He was employed above thirteen hundred years ago in the reparation of Rimini, and after he had finished his work, retired to this solitary mountain as finding it very proper for the life of a hermit, which he led in the greatest rigours and austerities of religion. He had not been long here before he wrought a reputed miracle, which, joined with his extraordinary sanctity, gained him so great an esteem that the princess of the country made him a present of the mountain, to dispose of at his own discretion. His reputation quickly peopled it, and gave rise to the republic which calls itself after his name.... The best of their churches is dedicated to the saint, and holds his ashes. His statue stands over the high altar, with the figure of a mountain in its hands crowned with three castles, which is likewise the arms of the commonwealth. They attribute to his protection the long duration of their state, and look on him as the greatest saint next the blessed Virgin. I saw in their statute book a law against such as speak disrespectfully of him, who are to be punished in the same manner as those who are convicted of blasphemy."

WALTERMONTAGU.

After so much has "been said on both sides," in the pages of "NOTES ANDQUERIES," on the signification ofeisilloresilinHamlet, it appears to me that the evidence requires to be carefully summed up. This task I would willingly leave to other hands; but since no correspondent attempts it, I will venture, if I may be allowed, to take it on myself, and will strive to perform it to the best of my ability.

The question is, whether by the word under discussion we are to understandvinegar(or some such liquid) ora river. It will be proper, in taking a view of the matter, to "begin from the beginning," and to see, in the first place, what the earlier commentators have said.

1. What the critics before Theobald thought of the word, is not quite certain; but Theobald states that it had, "through all the editions, been distinguished by Italic characters, as if it were the proper name of a river; and so," he adds, "I dare say all the editors have from time to time understood it to be." But not being able to satisfy himself what river could be meant, he preferred to understand it of vinegar, and interprets the passage, "Wilt thou swallow down large draughts of vinegar?"

2. Sir Thomas Hanmer, on the contrary, was so convinced that a river was signified, that he actually altered the passage,arbitrio suo, to

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