Chapter C: Hardwick

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

Seiler says (_Bibl. Herm._, part II. c. 4. s. 4.) that "The greater part of the works on the harmony of the gospels are quite useless for our times, as their authors mostly proceed on incorrect principles." He refers only to the chief of them, namely:

Osiander, 1537. | Macknight, 1756.
Jansen, 1549-72. | Bengel, 1766.
Chemnitz, 1593. | Büsching, 1766.
Lightfoot, 1644. | Bertlings, 1767.
Van Til, 1687. | Priestley, 1777.
Lamy, 1689. | Schutte, 1779.
Le Roux, 1699. | Stephan, 1779.
Le Clerc, 1700. | Michaelis in his New Test.
May, 1707. | Rullmann, 1790.
Von Canstein, 1718-27.| Griesbach, 1776-97.
Rus, 1727-30. | White, 1799.
Hauber. | De Wette, 1818.

For other Harmonies, see Mr. Horne's _Bibliog. Index_, p. 128. Heringa considers that the following writers "have brought the four Evangelists into an harmonious arrangement, namely:

Hesz, 1784. | Stronck, 1800.
Bergen 1804.| Townsend, 1834.

And especially as to the sufferings and resurrection of Christ:

Voss, 1701. | Michaelis (translated by Duckett, 1827).
Iken, 1743. | Cremer, 1795.

T. J. BUCKTON.

Birmingham.

{416} Ammonius, an Egyptian Christian nearly cotemporary with Origen (third century), wrote a Harmony of the four gospels, which is supposed to be one of those still extant in the _Biblioth. Max. Patrum_. But whether the larger Harmony in tom. ii. part 2., or the smaller in tom. iii., is the genuine work is doubted. See a note to p. 97. of Reid's _Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History_, 1 vol. edition: London, Simms and McIntyre, 1848.

CHRIS. ROBERTS.

Bradford, Yorkshire.

* * * * *

SMALL WORDS AND LOW WORDS.

(Vol. ii., pp. 305. 349. 377.; Vol. iii., p. 309.)

A passage in Churchill, and one in Lord John Russell's _Life of Moore_, have lately reminded me of a former Note of mine on this subject. The structure of Churchill's second couplet must surely have been suggested by that of Pope, which formed my original text:

"Conjunction, adverb, preposition, join
To add new vigour to the nervous line:--
In monosyllables his thunders roll,--
He, she, it, and, we, ye, they, fright the soul."
_Censure on Mossop._

Moore, in his Journals, notes, on the other side of the question, conversation between Rogers, Crowe, and himself, "on the beauty of monosyllabic verses. 'He jests at scars,' &c.; the couplet, 'Sigh on my lip,' &c.; 'Give all thou canst,' &c. &c., and many others, the most vigorous and musical, perhaps, of any." (Lord John Russell's _Moore_, vol. ii. p. 200.)

The frequency of monosyllabic lines in English poetry will hardly be wondered at, however it may be open to such criticisms as Pope's and Churchill's, when it is noted that our language contains, of monosyllables formed by the vowel _a_ alone, considerably more than 500; by the vowel _e_, about 450; by the vowel _i_, nearly 400; by the vowel _o_, rather more than 400; and by the vowel _u_, upwards of 260; a calculation entirely exclusive of the large number of monosyllables formed by diphthongs.

I hardly know whether the following "literary folly" (as "D'Israeli the Elder" would call it, see _Curiosities of Lit._ sub tit.), suggested by dipping into the above monosyllabical statistics, will be thought worthy to occupy a column of "N. & Q." However, it may take its chance as a supplementary Note, without farther preface, under the none, for want of a better, of _Univocalic verses_:

_The Russo-Turkish War._

_A._

Wars harm all ranks, all arts, all crafts appal:
At Mars' harsh blast arch, rampart, altar fall!
Ah! hard as adamant, a braggart Czar
Arms vassal-swarms, and fans a fatal war!
Rampant at that bad call, a Vandal-band
Harass, and harm, and ransack Wallach-land!
A Tartar phalanx Balkan's scarp hath past,
And Allah's standard falls, alas! at last.

_The Fall of Eve._

_E._

Eve, Eden's Empress, needs defended be;
The Serpent greets her when she seeks the tree.
Serene she sees the speckled tempter creep;
Gentle he seems--perversest schemer deep--
Yet endless pretexts, ever fresh, prefers,
Perverts her senses, revels when she errs,
Sneers when she weeps, regrets, repents she fell;
Then, deep-reveng'd, reseeks the nether hell!

_The Approach of Evening._

_I._

Idling I sit in this mild twilight dim,
Whilst birds, in wild swift vigils, circling skim.
Light winds in sighing sink, till, rising bright,
Night's Virgin Pilgrim swims in vivid light!

_Incontrovertible Facts._

_O._

No monk too good to rob, or cog, or plot.
No fool so gross to bolt Scotch collops hot.
From Donjon tops no Oroonoko rolls.
Logwood, not Lotos, floods Oporto's bowls.
Troops of old tosspots oft, to sot, consort.
Box tops, not bottoms, schoolboys flog for sport.
No cool monsoons blow soft on Oxford dons,
Orthodox, jog-trot, book-worm Solomons!
Bold Ostrogoths of ghosts no horror show.
On London shop fronts no hop-blossoms grow.
To crocks of gold no dodo looks for food.
On soft cloth footstools no old fox doth brood.
Long-storm-tost sloops forlorn work on to port.
Rooks do not roost on spoons, nor woodcocks snort,
Nor dog on snowdrop or on coltsfoot rolls,
Nor common frog concocts long protocols.

_The same subject continued._

_U._

Dull, humdrum murmurs lull, but hubbub stuns.
Lucullus snuffs up musk, mundungus shuns.
Puss purrs, buds burst, bucks butt, luck turns up trumps;
But full cups, hurtful, spur up unjust thumps.

Although I am the veritable K. I. P. B. T. of the former Notes, I sign myself now, in accordance with more recent custom,

HARRY LEROY TEMPLE.

* * * * *

A CHAPTER ON RINGS.

(Vol. vii. _passim._)

The Scriptures prove the use of rings in remote antiquity. In Gen. xli., Joseph has conferred on him the king's ring, an instance more ancient than Prometheus, whom fables call the inventor of the ring. Therefore let those who will hold, with Pliny and his followers, that its use is more recent than Homer. The Greeks seem to have derived the custom of wearing it from the East, and Italy from the Greeks. Juvenal and Persius refer to {417} rings which were worn only on birthdays. Clemens Alexandrinus recommends a limit within which the liberty of engraving upon them should be restrained. He thinks we should not allow an idol, a sword, a bow, or a cup, much less naked human figures; but a dove, a fish, or a ship in full sail, or a lyre, an anchor, or fishermen. By the dove he would denote the Holy Spirit; by the fish, the dinner which Christ prepared for his disciples (John xxi.), or the feeding of thousands (Luke ix.); by a ship, either the Church or human life; by a lyre, harmony; by an anchor, constancy; by fishermen, the apostles or the baptism of children. It is a wonder he did not mention the symbol of the name of Christ (~chi-rho~), the cross which is found on ancient gems, and Noah's ark.

Rings were worn upon the joints and fingers, and hence Clement says a man should not wear a ring upon the joint (_in articulo_), for this is what women do, but upon the little finger, and at its lowest part. He failed to observe the Roman custom of wearing the ring upon the finger of the left hand, which is nearest the heart, and which we therefore term the ring-finger. And Macrobius says, that when a ring fell from the little finger of Avienus' right hand, those who were present asked why he placed it upon the wrong hand and finger, not on those which had been set apart for this use. The reasons which are given for this custom in Macrobius were often laughed at by H. Fabricius ab Aquapendente, viz. that it is stated in anatomical works, that "a certain nerve which rises at the heart proceeds directly to that finger of the left hand which is next the little finger," for nothing of the sort, he said, existed in the human body.

The ring distinguished the free-born from the servile, who, however, sometimes obtained the _jus annuli_, or privilege of the ring. It was used as a seal, a pledge, and a bond. Women, when betrothed, received rings; and the virgin and martyr Agnes, in Ambrose, says, "My Lord Jesus Christ hath espoused me with his ring." Theosebius also, in Photius, says to his wife, "I formerly gave to thee the ring of union, now of temperance, to aid thee in the seemly custody of my house." He advisedly speaks of that _custody_, for the lady of the house in Plautus says,

"Obsignate cellas, referte annulum ad me:
Ego huc transeo."

Wives generally used the same seals as their husbands: thus Cicero (_Ad Attic._ xi. 9) says, "Pomponia, I believe, has the seals of what is sealed." Sometimes, however, they used their own.

Touching the marriage ring, of what style and material it was, and whether formerly, as now, consecrated by prayers to God. Its pattern appears to have been one which has gone out of use, viz. right hands joined, such as is often observed on ancient coins. Tacitus (_Hist._ i. ll.) calls it absolutely _dextras_, right hands. Among us it was called a faith (_una fede._ Comp. Eng. "Plight my _troth_"), and not without precedent, for on the coins of Vitellius, &c. right hands thus joined bear the motto _Fides_. An esteemed writer (Nider), in his _Formicarium_, mentions a rustic virgin who desired to find a material ring as a token of her espousal "_in signum Christiferæ desponsationis_," and found a ring of a white colour, like pure silver, upon which two hands were engraved where it was united. It was formerly customary to bless a crown or a ring by prayers. The form of consecration used by the priest is thus given in ancient liturgies:

"Bene [symbol, cross] die Domine, Annulum istum et coronam istam, ut
sicut Annulus circundat digitum hominis, et corona caput, ita gratia
Spiritus Sancti circundet sponsum et sponsam, ut videant filios et
filias usque tertiam et quartam generationem: qui collaudent nomen
viventis atque regnantis in secula seculorum. Amen."

For the crown, see Is. lxii. 1. (E. V. lxi. 10.). The words of Agnes above cited have reference to giving the right hand and a pledge.

These particulars are from the _Symbol. Epist. Liber_ of Laurentius Pignorius, Patar. 1628; where, in Ep. I. and XIX., many other references are to be found.

B. H. C.

* * * * *

ANTICIPATORY USE OF THE CROSS.--RINGING BELLS FOR THE DEAD.

(Vol. viii., pp. 130. 132.)

I trust that the following information may be acceptable to you and the authors of two interesting papers in "N. & Q." (Vol. viii., pp. 130-2.), viz. "Anticipatory Use of the Cross," and "Curious Custom of ringing Bells for the Dead."

When encamped, in 1823 or 1824, near the town (not the cantonment) of Muttra, on the river Jumna, a place of celebrated sanctity as the scene of the last incarnation of Vishnoo, the protective deity or myth of the Hindoos, an Italian gentleman of most polished manners, speaking English correctly and with fluency, was introduced to me. He travelled under the name of Count Venua, and was understood to be the eldest son of the then Prime Minister of Sardinia. The Count explained to me that his favourite pursuit was architecture, and that he preferred buildings of antiquity. I replied, that while breakfast was preparing I could meet his wishes, and led him to a large Hindoo edifice close by (or rather the remains), which a Mogul emperor had partially destroyed and thereby desecrated, the place having since been occasionally used by the townspeople as a cattle-shed, or for rubbish.

The Count, not deterred by heaps of cattle-dung, paced the dimensions, gazed on the solidity of the {418} stone masonry, approved of the construction and shape of the arched roof, pointed out the absence of all ornament excepting a simple moulding or two as architectural lines, and then broke out into enthusiastic admiration. "The most beautiful building! the greatest wonder of the world! Shame on the English government and English gentlemen for secreting such a curiosity! Here is the cross! the basilica carried out with more correctness of order and symmetry than in Italy! The early Christians must have built it! I will take measurements and drawings to lay before the cardinals!"

I was never more surprised, and assured the Count that I was unacquainted with the cathedral buildings of Europe, and I believed English gentlemen generally to be as ignorant as myself. I could not but acknowledge that the local governments had, as it seemed to him, evinced but little sympathy with Hindooism; and that whatever might be European policy in respect to religion, the East India Company might have participated in the desire which prevails in Europe to develop ancient customs, and the reasons of those customs. It might be presumed that we should then have contemplated this specimen of architecture with a knowledge of its original purposes, and the history of its events, had the Governor-General communicated his wish, and with due courtesy and disinterestedness invited the learned persons and scholars at the colleges of Muttra and Benares to assist such inquiries. It is but little the English now know of the Hindoo organisation, and the little they do know is derived from books not tested nor acknowledged by such learned persons.

I assisted Count Venua as far as I was able, for I rejoiced at his intention to draw the minds of the _literati_ of Italy to the subject. Sad to say, the Count was some time after killed by falling into a volcanic crater in the Eastern Isles!

I may here mention that I first saw the old building in 1809, when a youthful assistant to the secretary of a revenue commission. The party, during the inclement month of September, resided in one of the spacious houses at Muttra, which pious Hindoos had in past times erected for the use of pilgrims and the public. The old temple (or whatever it might have been) was cleaned out for our accommodation during the heat of the day, as it then was cooler than the house. The elder civilians were men of ability, classical scholars, and first-rate Asiatic linguists. They descanted on the mythological events which renders "Brij," or the country around Muttra, so holy with the Hindoos, but not one of them knew nor remarked the "cross and basilica."

In youth, the language assigned to flowers appeared to me captivating and elegant, as imparting the finer feelings and sympathies of our nature. In maturer age, and after the study of the history of the customs of mankind, symbols and emblems seemed to me an universal language, which delicately delineated the violent passions of our kind, and transmitted from generation to generation national predilections and pious emotions towards the God of Creation. That mythology should so generally be interpreted Theism, and that forms or ceremonials of worship should be held to limit and define belief in creed, may, in my apprehension, be partly traceable to the school-book Lamprière's _Classical Dictionary_. You or your correspondents may attribute it to other and truer causes.

The rose, the thistle, the shamrock, the leek, the lion, the unicorn, the harp, &c. are familiar examples of national emblems. The ivy, the holly, and the mistletoe are joined up with the Christmas worship, though probably of Druidical origin. The Assyrian sculptures present, under the "Joronher," or effulgence, a sacred tree, which may assimilate with the toolsu and the peepul tree, held in almost equal veneration by the Hindoos. The winged lions and bulls with the heads of men, the angels and cherubim, recall to mind passages of scriptural and pagan history. The sciences of astronomy and mathematics have afforded myths or symbols in the circle, the crescent, the bident, the trident, the cross, &c.

The translators of the cuneiform inscriptions represent crucifixion as the common punishment for rebellion and treason. The Jews may have imitated the Assyrians, as crucifixion may have been adopted long before that of Christ and the two thieves (Qy. robbers). The Mahomedans, who have copied the Jews in many practices and customs, executed gang robbers or daccorts by suspending the criminals from a tree, their heads and arms being tied to the branches, and then ripping up the abdomen. I myself saw in Oude an instance of several bodies. It may be inferred, then, that the position of the culprits under execution was designated by crucifixion. The Hindoos mildly say that when their system of government existed in efficiency there was neither crime nor punishment.

To the examples mentioned by your correspondent, I admit that the form of the cross, as now received, may be derived from that of Christ, discovered on Mount Calvary in 236 A.D. Constantine, in 306 A.D., adopted it as a standard in Labarum. Other nations have attached staves to eagles, dragons, fish, &c. as standards and therefore, construing "Crux ansata" literally, the ensign of Constantine might be formed by attaching a staff to the Divine Glory represented in the Egyptian paintings and Assyrian sculptures.

I should be glad to learn the precise shape of the cross on the Temple of Serapis. If it be the emblem of life or the Creative Power, then the mythology of the Nile agrees with that of the {419} Ganges. If it be the symbol of life, or rather of a future state after judgment, then the religious tenets and creed of Muttra should be elucidated, examined, and refuted by the advocates of conversion and their itinerant agents. Moore's _Hindoo Pantheon_ (though the author had at Bombay, as a military officer, little opportunity of ascertaining particulars of the doctrine) sufficiently treats, under the head of the "Krishna," the subject so as to explain to the conversionists, that unless this doctrine be openly refuted, the missionaries may in truth be fighting their own shadow.

The basilica seems to have originally been the architectural plan of the Roman Forum, or court of justice. The Christians may have converted some of these edifices into churches; otherwise the first churches seem to have been in the form of a long parallelogram, a central nave, and an aisle on each side, the eastern end being rounded, as the station of the bishop or presbyter. The basilica, or cathedral, was probably not introduced until the eighth century, or later.

I have not just now access to the works of Tod and Maurice. The former, I doubt not, is correct in respect to the Temple of Mundore, but I believe the latter is not so in regard to Benares. The trident, like that of Neptune, prevails in the province of Benares; and when it, in appropriate size, rises in the centre of large tanks, has a very solemn effect. I, a great many years ago, visited the chief temple of Benares, and do not recollect that the cross was either noticed to me or by me. This, I think, was the only occasion of observing the forms of worship. There is no fixed service, no presiding priest, no congregation. The people come and go in succession. I then first saw the bell, which, in size some twenty-five pounds weight, is suspended within the interior. Each person, at some period of his devotion, touched the tongue of the bell as invocation or grace. The same purpose is obtained by Hindoos, and particularly the men of the fighting classes, previously to commencing a cooked dinner, by winding a large shell, which gives a louder sound than a horn. The native boys however, on hearing it, exclaim in doggerel rhyme, which I translate,

"The shell is blown,
And the devil is flown."

Fear seems so much the parent of superstition, that I attribute this saying to the women, who, as mothers, have usually a superstitious dread not only of evil spirits, but also of the evil eye of mortals towards their young ones. When, some twenty years ago, I was told by a Kentish countryman that the church bell was tolled to drive away evil spirits from a departing soul, I supposed the man to be profanely jocose; but since then I have travelled much in this country and on the Continent, and have seen enough to satisfy me that superstition prevails comparatively less in Asia than in Europe and the pages of "N. & Q." abundantly corroborate the opinion.

H. N.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Stereoscopic Angles._--I am concerned that my definition and solution of stereoscopic angles (a misnomer, for it should be _space_) in "N. & Q.," with subsequent illustrations, have not satisfied MR. SHADBOLT, as I am thus obliged to once more request room in your pages, and this time for a rather long letter. When I asserted that my method is the only correct one, it behoved me to be prepared to prove it, which I am, and will now do.

It seems that MR. SHADBOLT has not a knowledge of perspective, or, with a little reflection and trifling pains in linear demonstration on paper, he might have convinced himself of the accuracy of my method. It were well, then, to inform MR. SHADBOLT, that in perspective, planes parallel to the plane of delineation (in this case, the glass at back of camera) have no vanishing points; that planes at right angles to plane of delineation have but one; and that planes oblique have but one vanishing point, to the right or left, as it may be, of the observer's eye. This premised, let the subject be a wall 300 feet in length, with two abutments of one foot in front and five feet in projection, and each placed five feet from the central point of the wall, which is to have a plinth at its base, and a stone coping at top. On a pedestal four feet high, two feet wide, and six feet long, exactly midway betwixt the abutments, let an ass be placed, a boy astride him, a bag drawn before the boy, who holds up a long stick in line with the ass, &c., that is, facing the observer. The right distance for the observer's place is 450 feet. If the cameras be placed two inches and a half apart, on one line parallel to the wall, the stereographs will be in true perspective for the _two_ eyes, that is, all the planes at right angles to the plane of delineation will have _two_ vanishing points, which, being merely two inches and a half apart, will, in the stereoscope, flow easily into one opposite the eye; whilst the plinth, coping, and all lines parallel to them, will be perfectly horizontal; and the two pictures would create in the mind just such a conception as the same objects would if seen by the eyes naturally. This would be stereoscopic, true to nature, true to art, and, I affirm, correct.

Now, let the same subject be treated by Professor Wheatstone's method, when the cameras would be eighteen feet apart. Situated thus, if placed on one line, and that parallel to the wall, the extreme end at the right could not be seen by the camera at the left, and _vice versâ_; so that they {420} must radiate from the centre when the glass at back of camera would be oblique to the wall, and the plinth, coping, top and bottom of pedestal, would have _two_ vanishing points, at opposite sides of the centre, or observer's eye; both sides of the ass, both the legs of boy, and two heads to the drum would be visible; whilst the two sides of pedestals would have each a vanishing point, serving for all lines parallel to them. But these vanishing points would be so far apart that they could not, in the stereoscope, flow into one: the result would be, that the buttresses would be wider at back than in front, as would also the pedestal, while the stick held by the boy would appear like _two_ sticks united in front. This would be untrue to nature, false to art, preposterously absurd, and I pronounce it to be altogether erroneous.

This being the case with a long distance, so must it be with shorter distances, modified in exact proportion to the diminution of space between the cameras, &c. For, let the object be a piece of wood three feet long, four inches wide, and six inches deep, with a small square piece one inch and six inches high, placed upright exactly on a line from end to end of the three feet (that is, one at each end) and midway between the sides. Let this arrangement be placed across another piece of wood three or four feet long, which will thus be at right angles to the piece at top. By my method all will be correct--true to nature and to art, and perfectly stereoscopic: whilst by the radial method (recommended by MR. SHADBOLT), with two feet space for cameras, there would be the top piece divided at the farther end, where there would be two small upright pieces instead of one; and this because the two vanishing points could not, in stereoscope, flow into one: whilst the lower piece of wood would have two vanishing points at opposite sides. This, then, being untrue to nature, untrue in art, in short, a most absurd misrepresentation, I pronounce to be utterly wrong. I have made the space two feet between cameras in order to show how ridiculous those pictures might become where there is an absence of taste, as, by such a person, two or ten feet are as likely to be taken as any less offensively incorrect.

As regards range of vision, I apologise to MR. SHADBOLT for having misconceived his exact meaning, and say that I perfectly agree with him.

With respect to the "trifling exaggeration" I spoke of, allow me to explain. For the sake of clearness, I denominate the angle formed from the focal point of lens, and the glass at back of camera, the angle of delineation; the said glass the plane of delineation and the angle formed by the stereograph to the eye, the stereoscopic angle. It must be borne in mind that the stereoscopic angle is that subtended by one stereograph and the eye. I find by experiments that the angle of delineation is very often larger than the stereoscopic angle, so that the apparent enlargement spoken of by MR. SHADBOLT does not often exist; but if it did, as my vision (though excellent) is not acute enough to discover the discrepancy, I was content. I doubt not, however, under such circumstances, MR. SHADBOLT would prefer the deformities and errors proved to be present, since he has admitted that he has such preference. I leave little doubt that, if desirable, the stereoscopic angle, and that of delineation, could be generally made to agree.

As to the means by which persons with two eyes, or with only one eye, judge of distance, I say not one word, that being irrelevant to this subject. But that the axes of the eyes approximate when we view objects nearer and nearer cannot be doubted, and I expressed no doubt; and it appears to me very probable that on this fact MR. SHADBOLT founds his conclusion that the cameras should radiate. This, however, ought not to be done for the reasons I have assigned. It will not do to treat the cameras as two eyes, and make them radiate because our eyes do; for it must be remembered that light entering the eyes is received on curved--whilst when it enters the cameras it falls on flat surfaces, occasioning very different results. And if this be maturely considered by MR. SHADBOLT, I believe his opinion will be greatly altered.

As to the model-like appearance, I cannot yet understand exactly why it should exist; but of this I am certain, the eyes naturally do not perceive at one view three sides of a cake (that is, two sides and the front), nor two heads to a drum, nor any other like absurdity; so that I perceive no analogy between this model-like appearance and natural vision, as stated to be the case by MR. SHADBOLT.

To confirm, practically, the truth of my illustrative proofs, I will send you next week some glass stereographs, to be placed at MR. SHADBOLT'S disposal, if he likes, and you will be so kind as to take charge of them.

T. L. MERRITT.

Maidstone.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Berefellarii_ (Vol. vii., p. 207.).--JOHN WEBB mentions the _berefellarii_ as a distinct kind of mongrel dependents or half-ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages, dirty, shabby, ill-washed attendants, whose ragged clothes were a shame to the better sort of functionaries. He gave excellent and just reasons for his opinion, and a very probable construction of the sense of the word. But the etymon he proposes is rather unsatisfactory. Anglo-Saxonism is a very good thing; simplicity and common sense are very good things too. May not {421} _berefellarius_, the dirty raggamuffin with tattered clothes, be good monkish Latin for _bare-fell_ (i.e. _bare-skin_), or rather _bare-fellow_? the most natural metamorphosis imaginable. _Bere_ is the old orthoepy of _bare_; and every one knows that in London (east) a fell_ow_ naturally becomes a fell_ar_.

P.S.--Excuse my French-English.

PHILARÈTE CHASLES, Mazarinæus.

Paris, Palais de l'Institut.

_"To know ourselves diseased," &c._ (Vol. viii., p. 219.).--

"To know ourselves diseased is half our cure."

This line is from Young's _Night Thoughts_, Night 9th, line 38.

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

_Gloves at Fairs_ (Vol. viii., p. 136.).--As an emblem of power and an acknowledgment of goodness, "Saul set up a hand" after his victory over the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xv. 12., (Taylor's _Hebrew Concordance_, in voce ¤YDH¤), 2 Sam xviii. 18., Isaiah lvi. 5. The Ph[oe]nician monuments are said to have had sculptured on them an arm and _hand held up_, with an inscription graven thereon. (See Gesenius and Lee.) If, as stated by your correspondents in the article referred to, the glove at fairs "denotes protection," and indicates "that parties frequenting the fair are exempt from arrest," it is at least a remarkable coincidence. The Phoenicians were the earliest merchants to the west of England that we have any account of; can any connexion be traced historically between the Phoenician traffic and the modern practice of setting up a hand, or glove, at fairs? I well remember the feelings of awe and wonder with which I gazed when taken in childhood to see "the glove brought in" and placed over the guildhall of my native city (Exeter) at the commencement of "Lammas Fair." Has the glove been associated with this fair from its commencement? and if not, how far back can its use be traced? The history of the fair is briefly this: it existed before the Norman Conquest, and was a great mart of business; the tolls had belonged to the corporation, but King John took one-half, and gave them to the priory of St. Nicholas. Henry VIII. sold the fair with the priory; and anno second and third of Philip and Mary it was made over to the corporation, who have ever since been lords of the fair. (Izacke's _Memorials_, p. 19.; Oliver's _History of Exeter_, pp. 83. 158., &c.)

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

I may add that at Barnstaple, North Devon, the evening previous to the proclamation of the fair, a large glove, decked with dahlias, is protruded on a pole from a window of the Quay Hall, the most ancient building in the town, which remains during the fair, and is removed at its termination. May not the outstretched glove signify the consent of the authorities to the commencement and continuance of the festivities, &c., and its withdrawal a hint for their cessation?

I may add also that on the morning of proclaiming the fair, the mayor and corporation meet their friends in the council chamber, and partake of spiced toast and ale.

DROFSNIAG.

_"An" before "u" long_ (Vol. viii., p. 244.).--The custom of writing _an_ before _u_ long must have arisen and become established when _u_ had its primitive and vowel sound, nearly resembling that of our _oo_, a sound which it still has in several languages, but seems to have lost in ours. The use of _an_ before _u_ long, was _then_ proper; habit and precedent will account for its retention by many, after the reason for it has ceased, and when its use has become improper. But although the custom is thus accounted for, there exists no satisfactory reason for its continuance, and I am sorry to learn from your correspondent that it is "increasingly prevailing."

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

_"The Good Old Cause"_ (Vol. viii, p. 44.).--D'Israeli, in _Quarrels of Authors_, under the head of "Martin Mar-Prelate," has the following remarks on the origin and use of the expression, "The Good Old Cause:"

"It is remarkable that Udall repeatedly employed that expression, which Algernon Sidney left as his last legacy to the people, when he told them he was about to die for 'that _Old Cause_, in which I was from my youth engaged.' Udall perpetually insisted on '_The Cause_.' This was a term which served at least for a watch-word: it rallied the scattered members of the republican party. The precision of the expression might have been difficult to ascertain; and, perhaps, like every popular expedient, varied with 'existing circumstances.' I did not, however, know it had so remote an origin as in the reign of Elizabeth; and suspect it may still be freshened up and varnished over for any present occasion."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

The following curious paragraph in the _Post Boy_, June 3-5, 1714, seems to have been connected with the Jacobites:

"There are lately arrived here the Dublin Plenipo's. All persons that have any business concerning the GOOD OLD CAUSE, let 'em repair to Jenny Man's Coffee House at Charing Cross, where they may meet with the said Plenipo's every day of the week except Sundays, and every evening of those days they are to be spoke with at the Kit-Cat Club."

E. G. BALLARD.

_Jeroboam of Claret, &c._ (Vol vii., p.528.).--Is a _magnum_ anything more than a bottle larger {422} than those of the ordinary size, and containing about two quarts; or a _Jeroboam_ other than a witty conceit applied to the old measure _Joram_ or _Jorum_, by some profane _wine-bibber_?

H. C. K.

_Humbug_ (Vol. vii., p. 631.).--The real signification of the word _humbug_ appears to me to lie in the following derivation of it. Among the many issues of base coin which from time to time were made in Ireland, there was none to be compared in worthlessness to that made by James II. from the Dublin Mint; it was composed of anything on which he could lay his hands, such as lead, pewter, copper, and brass, and so low was its intrinsic value, that twenty shillings of it was only worth twopence sterling. William III., a few days after the Battle of the Boyne, ordered that the crown piece and half-crown should be taken as one penny and one halfpenny respectively. The soft mixed metal of which that worthless coining was composed, was known among the Irish as _Uim bog_, pronounced _Oom-bug_, _i.e._ soft copper, _i.e._ worthless money; and in the course of their dealings the modern use of the word _humbug_ took its rise, as in the phrases "that's a _piece of uimbog_ (humbug)," "don't think to _pass off_ your _uimbug_ on me." Hence the word _humbug_ came to be applied to anything that had a specious appearance, but which was in reality spurious. It is curious to note that the very opposite of _humbug_, _i.e._ false metal, is the word _sterling_, which is also taken from a term applied to the _true_ coinage of the realm, as _sterling_ coin, _sterling_ truth, _sterling_ worth, &c.

FRAS. CROSSLEY.

_"Could we with ink," &c._ (Vol. viii., pp. 127, 180.).-If Rabbi Mayir Ben Isaac is the _bonâ fide_ author of the lines in question, or the substance of them, then the author of the _Koran_ has been indebted to him for the following passage:

"If the sea were ink, to write the words of my Lord, verily the sea
would fail before the words of my Lord would fail; although we added
another sea unto it as a farther supply."--_Al Koran_, chap. xviii.,
entitled "The Cave," translated by Sale.

The question is, Did Rabbi Mayir Ben Isaac, author of the Chaldee ode sung in every synagogue on the day of Pentecost, flourish before or since the Mohamedan era?

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

_"Hurrah!"_ (Vol. viii., pp. 20, 277, 323.).--It would almost deem that we are never to hear the last of "Hurrah! and other war-cries." Your correspondents T. F. and SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT appear to me to have made the nearest approach to a satisfactory solution of the difficulty; a step farther and the goal is won--the object of inquiry is found. I suppose it will be admitted that the language which supplies the _meaning_ of a word has the fairest claim to be considered its _parent_ language. What, then, is the meaning of "Hurrah," and in whet language? As a reply to this Query, allow me to quote a writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_, April 1843, p. 477.

"'Hurrah!' means _strike_ in the Tartar language."--Note to art.
"Amulet Bek."

So then, according to this respectable authority, the end of our shouts and war-cries is, that we have "caught a Tartar!"

Again, in _Blackwood_, 1849, vol. i. p.673., we read:

"He opened a window and cried 'Hourra!' At the signal, a hundred
soldiers crowded into the house. Mastering his fury, the Czar
ordered the young officer to be taken to prison."--Art. "Romance of
Russian History."

Thus, in describing the "awful pause" on the night preceding the Russian attack on Ismail, then in possession of the Turks, Lord Byron says:

"A moment--and all will be life again!
The march! the charge! the shouts of either faith!
Hurra! and Allah! and--one instant more--
The death-cry drowning in the battle's roar."
_Works_, p. 684. col. 2.

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

_"Qui facit per alium facit per se"_ (Vol. viii., p. 231.).--"Qui facit per alium, est perinde ac si faciat per seipsum," is one of the maxims of Boniface VIII. (_Sexti Decret._, lib. v. tit. 12., de Reg. Jur. c. 72.; _Böhm. Corp. Jur. can._, tom. ii. col. 1040.), derived, according to the glossary (vid. in _Decret._, ed. fol., Par. 1612), from the maxim of Paulus (_Digest_, lib. 1. tit. 17., de Div. Reg. Jur. 1. 180.), "Quod jussu alterius solvitur, pro eo est quasi ipsi solutum esset."

E. M.

_Tsar_ (Vol. viii., pp. 150, 226.).--Is not _tsar_ rather cognate with the Heb. (¤Sar¤), a leader, commander, or prince? This root is to be found in many other languages, as Arabic, Persian; Latin _serro_. Gesenius gives the meaning of the word (¤Sarah¤), to place in a row, to set in order; to be leader, commander, prince. If _tsar_ have this origin, it will be synonymous with _imperator_, emperor.

B. H. C.

_Scrape_ (Vol. viii., p. 292.).--I do not know when this word began to be used in this sense. Shakspeare says "Ay, there's the _rub:_" an analogous phrase, which may throw light upon the one "to get into a scrape." Both are metaphors, derived from the unpleasant sensations produced by rubbing or grazing the skin. The word _pinch_ is, on the same principle, used for difficulty; and the Lat. _tribulatio_=trouble, and its synonym in Gr., ~thlipsis~, have a similar origin and application. {423} "To get into a scrape" is, therefore, to get into trouble.

B. H. C.

_Baskerville_ (Vol. viii., p. 202.).--Among the _articles_ consumed at Mr. Ryland's at Birmingham, was the body of the late Mr. Baskerville, who by his will ordered that he should be buried in his own house, and he was accordingly interred there. A stone closet was erected in it, where he was deposited in a standing posture. The house was afterwards sold with this express condition, that it should remain there."--Account of the Birmingham riots in 1791, from the _Historical Magazine_, vol. iii., where it is said the house was burned on Friday afternoon, July 15."

B. H. C.

A great-uncle of mine owned the Baskerville property (he, Baskerville, was buried in his own grounds) at the time of the Church and King Riot in 1791; but it was the recent growth of the town that occasioned the disinterment.

R.

_Sheriffs of Glamorganshire_ (Vol. iii., p. 186.; Vol. viii., p. 353.).--Your correspondent TEWARS is certainly wrong in ascribing to the Rev. H. H. Knight the list of Glamorganshire sheriffs inquired for by EDMUND W. It is true this gentleman printed a list of them many years after the former, which was privately printed by the Rev. J. M. Traherne, and subsequently published a _Cardiff Guide_, by Mr. Bird of Cardiff. I have seen both copies, and the latter may doubtless yet be seen upon application to Mr. Bird. I have also seen the more recent list by my learned friend the rector of Neath.

BIBLIOTHECAR.

CHETHAM.

_Synge Family--sub voce Carr Pedigree_ (Vol. vii., p. 558.; Vol. viii., p. 327.).--Has the statement made by GULIELMUS, as to the origin of the name of Synge, ever appeared in print before? And if so, where? I have long been curious to identify the individual whose name underwent such a singular change, and to ascertain if he really was a chantry priest as reported. Was he George Synge, the grandfather of George Synge, Bishop of Cloyne, born 1594? Of what family was Mary Paget, wife of the Rev. Richard Synge, preacher at the Savoy in 1715? The name appears to have been indifferently spelt, Sing, Singe, and Synge. And I believe an older branch than the baronet's still exists at Bridgenorth, writing themselves Sing. The punning motto of this family is worth noticing: "Celestia canimus."

ARTHUR PAGET.

_Lines on Woman_ (Vol. viii., p. 350).--Your correspondent F. W. J. has occasioned me some perplexity in tracing the quotation which he refers to Vol. viii., p. 204., but which is really to be found at p. 292. He appears to have fallen into this error by mistaking the number on the right hand for the paging on the left. As accuracy in these matters is essential in a publication like "N. & Q.," he will excuse me for setting him right. The name of the author of the poem of "Woman" was not Eton Barrett, but Eaton Stannard Barrett. He was connected with the press in London. Your correspondent is correct in stating that the Barretts were from Cork. Eaton Stannard Barrett was a man of considerable ability. He published several works anonymously, all of which acquired celebrity; but I believe the poem of "Woman," published by Mr. Colburn, was the only work to which he attached his name. He was the author of the well-known political satire called _All the Talents_; of the mock romance of _The Heroine_, in which the absurdities of a school of fiction, at that time in high favour, are happily ridiculed; and of a novel which had great success in its day, and is still to be found in some of the circulating libraries, called _Six Weeks at Long's_. Eaton Stannard Barrett died many years ago in the prime of his life and powers. His brother, Richard Barrett, is still living, and resides in the neighbourhood of Dublin. He is the author of some controversial and political pamphlets, of which the principal were _Irish Priests_, and _The Bible not a Dangerous Book_. He afterwards conducted _The Pilot_ newspaper, established for the support of Mr. O'Connell's policy in Ireland, and was one of the persons who suffered imprisonment with Mr. O'Connell, and who were designated in the Irish papers as the "martyrs."

ROBERT BELL.

_Lisle Family_ (Vol. vii., p. 365. _et ante_).--R. H. C. will find in Berry's _Hampshire Genealogies_ (1 vol. folio, London, 1833) a pedigree of the Lisles he alludes to as being buried at Thruxton, Hampshire. The shield, Lisle impaling Courtenay, on the altar tomb there would appear to belong to Sir John Lisle, Kt., who married Joan, daughter of John Courtenay, Earl of Exeter.

ARTHUR PAGET.

_Duval Family_ (Vol. viii., p. 318.).--If H. will have the kindness to address himself to me either personally or by letter, I shall be happy to give him any information I can, derived from old family documents in my possession, respecting the Duval family and the Walls of the south of Ireland.