Chapter C: Forbes

Temple.

* * * * *

BELVOIR CASTLE.

In Nichol's _History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester_, vol. ii., part i., containing the Framland Hundred, p. 45 of the folio ed. 1795, occurs the following quotation, in reference to the rebuilding of Belvoir castle by Henry, second Earl of Rutland, in 1555:--

"That part of the more ancient building, which was left by both
unaltered, is included in the following concise description by an
ingenious writer, who visited it in 1722:--

'Ædes in culmine montis sitæ, scilicet,
[Greek: aipeia kolonen
En pedio apaneuthe, peridromos entha kai entha]'

aditu difficilis circa montem; cujus latera omnia horti 50 acrarum
circumeunt, nisi versus Aquilonem, quò ascenditur ad ostium ædium
ubi etiam antiqua jauna arcuato lapide. Versus Occidentem 8
fenestræ et 3 in sacello; et ulterior pars vetusta. Versus
Aquilonem 10 fenestræ. Facies Australis et Turris de _Staunton_, in
qui archiva familiæ reponuntur, extructa ante annos circa 400. Pars
restat kernellata," &c. &c. &c.

The description goes on for a few more lines; but it matters not to continue them. I should be much obliged by any of your readers giving an account of who this "ingenious writer" was, and on what authority he founded the foregoing observations, as it is a subject of much interest to me and others at the present time.

ALYTHES.

Jan. 28. 1850.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_MSS. formerly belonging to Dr. Hugh Todd_.--I shall feel most grateful to any of your correspondents who can afford me any information, however imperfect, respecting the MSS. of Dr. Hugh Todd, Vicar of Penrith, and Prebendary of Carlisle, in the beginning of the last century. In the _Cat. MSS. Angliæ_, &c., 1697, is a catalogue of nineteen MSS, then in his possession, five of which are especially the subject of the present inquiry. One is a Chartulary of the Abbey of Fountains, in 4to; another is an Act Book of the Consistory Court of York, in the fifteenth century, in folio; the third is the Chapter Book of the Collegiate Church of Ripon, from 1452 to 1506; the fourth contains Extracts and Manuscripts from Records relating to the Church of Ripon; and the last is apparently a Book of the Acts of the Benefactors to that foundation. In a letter to Humphrey Lawley, dated in 1713, Dr. Todd says he was engaged in a work relating to the province of York, and the greater part of the MSS. in the catalogue above mentioned appear to have been collected as the materials.

JOHN RICHARD WALBRAN.

Falcroft, Ripon, Jan 31. 1850.

_French Leave_--In No. 5. I perceive several answers to the query respecting _Flemish Account_, which I presume to be the same as _Dutch Account_. Can you inform me how the very common expression _French Leave_ originated?

W.G.B.

_Portugal_.--Can any of your geographical readers inform me if a Gazetteer of Portugal has been published within these twenty years? If there has been one, in what language, and where published? Information of the title of any good modern works on Portugal, giving an account of the minor places, would be acceptable.

NORTHMAN.

_Tureen_--How and whence is the term "tureen" derived?--and when was it introduced?

"At the top there was tripe in a swinging tureen."

Goldsmith's _Haunch of Venison_.

G.W.

_Military Execution_.--I am very anxious to be referred to the authority for the following anecdote, and remark made on it:--

"Some officer, or state prisoner, on being led out to be shot,
refused either to listen to a confessor, or to cover his eyes with
a handkerchief."

The remark was, that "he refused a bandage for either mind or body." It smacks somewhat of Voltaire.

MELANION.

_Change of Name_.--If, as it appears by a recent decision, based, perhaps, on a former one by Lord Tenterden, that a man may alter his name {247} as he pleases _without the royal license_, I wish to know what then, is the use of the royal license?

B.

_The Symbolism of the Fir-Cone_. What does the "fir-cone" in the Ninevite sculptures mean? Layard does not explain it. Is it there as the emblem of fecundity, as the pomegranate of Persia and Syria? Has it altogether the same character as the latter fruit? Then--was it carried into Hindostan _viâ_ Cashmir? When? By the first wave of population which broke through the passes of the Parapamisus?

B.C.

_Kentish Ballad_.--When I was a boy, I can remember hearing a song sung in Kent, in praise of that country, which I never could find in print, and of which I am now glad to recollect the following stanza:--

"When Harold was invaded,
And falling lost his crown,
And Norman William waded
Through gore to pull him down;
When countries round
With fear profound,
To help their sad condition,
And lands to save,
Base homage gave,
Bold Kent made no submission."

Can any reader furnish the remainder, and state who is the author?

F.B.

_Curious Monumental Brass_.--I have a rubbing of a Brass, presenting some peculiarities which have hitherto puzzled me, but which probably some of your more experienced correspondents can clear up.

The Brass, from which the rubbing is taken (and which was formerly in the Abbey church of St. Albans, but when I saw it was detached and lying at the Rectory), is broken off a little below the waist; it represents an abbot, or bishop, clad in an ornamented chasuble, tunic, stole, and alb, with a maniple and pastoral staff. So far all is plain; but at the back (i.e. on the surface hidden when the Brass lay upon the floor) is engraved a dog with a collar and bells, apparently as carefully executed as any other part. Can you tell me the meaning of this? I can find no mention of the subject either in Boutell or any other authority. The fragment is about 18 inches long, and the dog about 6, more or less.

RAHERE.

Jan. 26, 1850.

_Tickhill, God help me_.--Can any one tell why A Tickhill man, when asked where he comes from, says, "Tickhill, God help me." Is it because the people at Tickhill are famed for misery, as the neighbouring town of Blythe seems to have been so called from its jolly citizens?

R.F. JOHNSON.

_Bishop Blaize_.--I should be much obliged by any reference to information respecting Bishop Blaize, the Santo Biagio of Agrigentum, and patron saint of Ragusa. Butler says little but that he was bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, the proximity of which place to Colchis appears to me suspicious. Wonderful and horrible tales are told of him; but I suspect his patronage of wool-combers is founded on much more ancient legends. His establishment at Agrigentum must have been previous to Christianity. I have a vague remembrance of some mention of him in Higgins's _Anacalypsis_, but I have not now access to that work. I wish some learned person would do for other countries what Blunt has partly done for Italy and Sicily; that is, show the connection between heathen and Christian customs, &c.

F.C.B.

_Vox et præterea nihil._--Whence come these oft-quoted words? Burton, in _The Anatomy of Melancholy_ (not having the book by me, I am unable to give a reference), quotes them as addressed by some one to the nightingale. Wordsworth addresses the cuckoo similarly, vol. ii. p. 81.:--

"O, cuckoo! shall I call thee bird,
Or but a wandering voice?"

C.W.G.

_Cromwell Relics_.--In Noble's _Memorials of the Protectorate House of Cromwell_ it is stated, in the Proofs and Illustrations, Letter N, that in 1784, there were dispersed in St. Ives a great number of swords, bearing the initials of the Protector upon them; and, further, that a large barn, which Oliver built there, was still standing, and went by the name of Cromwell's Barn; and that the farmer then renting the farm occupied by the Protector circa 1630-36, marked his sheep with the identical marking-irons which Oliver used, and which had O.C. upon them.

Can any of your correspondents inform me if any of these relics are still in existence, and, if so, where?

A.D.M.

_Lines on "Woman's Will_."--Many of your readers will have heard quoted the following stanza, or something like it:--

"The man's a fool who strives by force or skill
To stem the torrent of a woman's will;
For if she will, she will you may depend on't,
And if she won't, she won't, and there's an end on't."

I have heard these lines confidently attributed to Shakspeare, Byron, &c. by persons unable to verify the quotation, when challenged so to do. I can point out where the first two lines may be found with some variation. In _The Adventures of Five Hours_, a comedy translated from the Spanish of Calderon, by Samuel Tuke, and {248} printed in the 12th volume of Dodsley's _Old Plays_ (edit. 1827), in the 5th act (p. 113.), the lines run thus:--

"He is a fool, who thinks by force or skill
To turn the current of a woman's will."

I should be glad if any one could inform me by whom the latter lines were added, and where they may be found in print.

C.W.G.

_Pity is akin to Love_.--Where are the following words to be met with?--

"For Pity is akin to Love."

I have found very similar expressions, but never the exact words as above.

H.

* * * * *

REPLIES.

AELFRIC'S COLLOQUY, AND THE A.-S. WORD ÆGYPE IN THE A.-S. PSALTER.

In reference to MR. THORPE'S note (No. 15. p. 232.), I beg leave, with all possible respect and deference, to suggest that his joke is not quite _ad rem_.--What would do for a _beefsteak_ does not help his _mistake_; for it is quite evident that _sprote_ applies to fish-_swimming_ and not to fish-_catching_; and I presume that "useful and sagacious" auxiliary, Dr. Kitchener himself, would hardly have ventured to deny that _fish_ may _swim quickly_?

Now let us try how MR. THORPE'S proposed _salice=wicker_, or _sallow_, with or without the _basket_, will suit the context. The fisherman is asked, "Quales pisces capias? = What fish do you take?" The answer is Anguillos &c. &c. et qualescunque in amne natant salu = Eels &c. &c., and every sort whatever that in water swimmeth [wicker/sallow] basket! Let it be remembered that the question here is not, "_How_ dost thou take fish?" which had been put and _answered before_, but "_What_ fish dost thou take?" and then let common sense decide; for the fisherman having already mentioned that he cast _nets_ and _hooks_, and [_spyrian_/spartas], i.e. _baskets_, now only replies as to the _fish_ he takes.

MR. THORPE calls the A.-S. dialogue a _Gloss_; is it not rather an _interlineary version_? like those in use, in later times, of Corderius, and used for the same purpose.

I have no doubt that upon more mature consideration MR. THORPE will see that it could not be a substantive that was intended; and, as he admits my conjecture to be _specious_, that he will, in the course of his very useful labours, ultimately find it not only specious but correct. Meanwhile, I submit to his consideration, that beside the analogy of the Gothic _sprauto_, we have in Icelandic _spretta_, imperf. _spratt_, "subito movere, repente salire, emicare;" and _sprettr_, "cursus citatus," and I do think these analogies warrant my conclusion.

I embrace this opportunity of submitting another _conjecture_ respecting a word in MR. THORPE'S edition of the _Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the Psalms_. It occurs in Ps. cvi. ver. 10., "Quid exacerbaverunt eloquium Domini," &c., which is rendered: "Forthon hidydan Drihtnes spræce ægwaes _ægype_." In a note MR. THORPE says: "_ægype_, non intelligo," and gives a reason for deeming the passage corrupt. To me it seems to express the generally accepted sense of _exacerbaverunt_: and here a cognate language will show us the way. Icelandic _geip_, futilis exaggeratio; _atgeipa_, exaggerare, effutire: _ægype_, then, means to _mock_, to _deride_, and is allied to _gabban_, to gibe, to jape. In the Psalter published by Spelman it is rendered: hi _gremedon_ spræce godes. In Notker it is _widersprachen_, and in the two old Teutonic interlinear version of the Psalms, published by Graff, _verbitterten_ and _gebittert_. Let us hear our own interesting old satirist, Piers Plouhman [Whitaker's ed. p. 365.]:

And God wol nat be gyled, quoth Gobelyn, ne be _japed_.

But I cease, lest your readers should exclaim, Res non verba. When I have more leisure for _word-catching_, should you have space, I may furnish a few more.

S.W. SINGER.

Feb. 11. 1850.

_Ælfric's Colloquy_.--I have my doubts whether MR. SINGER'S ingenious suggestions for explaining the mysterious word _sprote_ can be sustained. The Latin sentence appears clearly to end with the word _natant_, as is not only the case in the St. John's MS., mentioned in MR. THORPE'S note, but in fact, also in the Cottonian MS. There is a point after _natant_, and then follows the word _Saliu_ (not _salu_) with a capital _S_. Any person who examines the handwriting of this MS. will see that the word, whatever the transcriber may have understood by it, was intended by him to stand alone. He must, however, have written it without knowing what it meant; and then comes the difficulty of explaining how it got into the MS. from which he copied. It has always appeared to me probable that the name of some fish, having been first interlined, was afterwards inserted at random in the text, and mis-spelt by a transcriber who did not know its meaning. A word of common occurrence he would have been less likely to mistake. Can _saliu_ be a mistake for _salar_, and _sprote_ the Anglo-Saxon form of the corresponding modern word _sprod_, i.e. the salmon of the second year? The _salar_ is mentioned by Ausonius in describing the river Moselle and its products (_Idyll_. 10, l. 128.). {249}

"Teque inter species geminas neutrumque et utrumque,
Qui necdum salmo, nec jam salar, ambiguusque
Amborum medio fario intercepte sub ævo."

I throw out this conjecture to take its chance of refutation or acceptance. Valeat quantum!

C.W.G.

* * * * *

ANTONY ALSOP.

"R.H." (No. 14, p. 215.) will find all, I believe, that is known respecting Antony Alsop, in that rich storehouse of materials for the literary history of the last century, Nichols's _Anecdotes_, or in Chalmers (_Biog. Dict._), who has merely transcribed from it. The volume of _Latin Odes_ your correspondent mentions, was published by Sir Francis Bernard, and printed by Bowyer. Some notice of Sir Francis Bernard will also be found in Nichols.

The _Odes_ were long circulated in MS.; and I have a copy that once belonged to Thomas Warton, which seems to have been written by G. Crochly, of Christchurch College, in 1736. It contains, however, nothing that is not to be found in the printed volume. The Dedication to the Duke of Newcastle was written by Bernard, who had intended to have given a preface and copious notes, as appears by the prospectus he published: but, to our great regret, he was dissuaded from his purpose.

Alsop was a favourite with that worthy man and elegant scholar Dean Aldrich, at whose instance he published his pleasing little volume, _Fabularum Æsopicarum Delectus_, Oxon. 1698. In the preface Bentley is thus designated--"Richardum quendam Bentleium Virum in volvendis Lexicus satis diligentem:" and there is a severe attack upon him in one of the fables, which was not forgotten by the great scholar, who affects to speak of Tony Alsop the fabulist with great contempt.

I have never seen the volume of _Latin and English Poems_ published in 1738; but, notwithstanding the designation, "a gentleman of Trinity College," it may be at least partly by Alsop, though he undoubtedly was of Christchurch. There are English poems by him, published both in Dodsley's and Pearch's collection, and several in the early volumes of the _Gentleman's Magazine_. I have the authority of a competent judge for saying, that the very witty, but not quite decent verses in that miscellany, vol. v. p. 216--"Ad Hypodidasculum quendam plagosum, alterum orbilium, ut uxorem duceret, Epistola hortativa." Subscribed "Kent, Lady-day, 1835"--are Alsop's. He took the degree of M.A. in 1696, and of B.D. in 1706, and, by favour of the Bishop of Winchester, got a prebend in his cathedral, and the rectory of Brightwell, Berks. He was accidentally drowned in a ditch leading to his garden gate, in 1726. There is good reason to believe that a MS. life of him is to be found among the Rawlinson MSS., which it may be worth while to consult.

It will be remembered that Christchurch was the head-quarters of the phalanx of wits opposed to Bentley.

"Nor wert thou, Isis, wanting to the day,
[Tho' Christchurch long kept prudishly away,"]

is Pope's ironical banter; and he has not failed to mention Alsop and Freind in Bentley's speech:--

"Let Freind affect to speak as Terence spoke,
And Alsop never but like Horace joke,"

where the note says, "Dr. Antony Alsop, a happy imitator of the Horatian style."

Indeed, Alsop seems to have been duly esteemed and appreciated by his contemporaries; and every tasteful scholar will concur in the opinion that his truly elegant Sapphics deserve a place among the few volumes of modern Latin verse, which he would place near Cowper's more extensively known favourite, Vinny Bourne.

S.W.S.

Antony Alsop, respecting whom a query appears in No. 14. p. 215., was of Christchurch, under the famous Dr. Aldrich, by whom the practice of smoking was so much enjoyed and encouraged. The celebrated Sapphic ode, addressed by Alsop to Sir John Dolben, professes to have been written with a pipe in his mouth:--

"Dum tubum, ut mos est meus, ore versans,
Martiis pensans quid agam calendas,
Pone stat Sappho monitisque miscet
Blanda severis."

Ant. Alsop took his degree of M.A. March 23. 1696, B.D. Dec. 1706. He died June 10, 1726; and the following notice of his death appears in the _Historical Register_ for that year:--

"Dy'd Mr. Antony Alsop, Prebendary of Winchester, and Rector of Brightwell, in the county of Berks. He was killed by falling into a ditch that led to his garden door, the path being narrow, and part of it foundering under his feet."

I believe Alsop was not the author of a volume by a gentleman of Trinity College, and that he never was a member of that society; but that doubt is easily removed by reference to the entry of his matriculation at Oxford.

W.H.C.

Temple.

"R.H." inquires, whether Antony Alsop was at Trinity College before he became a student of Christchurch? I have considered it to be my duty to examine the Admission Registers of Trinity College in my possession since the foundation of the college; and I can only say, that I do not find the name in any of them. That he was at Christchurch, and admitted there as a student, is recorded by his biographers. It is also {250} said, that he was elected at once from Westminster to Christchurch, where he took the degree of M.A. March 23. 1696, and that of B.D. Dec. 12. 1706. He was soon distinguished by Dean Aldrich as worthy of his patronage and encouragement. He was consequently appointed tutor and censor, and in course of time left college, on his promotion to a prebendal stall in Winchesser Cathedral by Sir Jonathan Trelawney, the then Bishop, with the rectory of Brightwell, near Wallingford; at which latter place he chiefly resided till the time of his death, which happened by an accident, June 10. 1726. Sir Francis Bernard, Bart., who had himself been a student of Christchurch, published the 4to. volume of _Latin Odes_ mentioned by "R.H.," Lond. 1753; for which he had issued _Proposals_, &c., so early as July, 1748. In addition to these _Odes_, four English poems by Alsop are said to be in Dodsley's collection, one in Pearch's, several in the early volumes of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and some in _The Student_. Dr. Bentley calls him, rather familiarly, "Tony Alsop, editor of the _Æsopian Fables_;" a work published by him at Oxford, in 1698, 8 vo., in the preface to which he took part against Dr. Bentley, in the dispute with Mr. Boyle.

J.I.

Trinity College, Oxford.

* * * * *

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Origin of the Word "Snob"_.--I think that _Snob_ is not an archaism, and that it cannot be found in any book printed fifty years ago. I am aware that in the north of England shoe-makers are still sometimes called _Snobs_; but the word is not in Brockett's _Glossary of North Country Words_, which is against its being a genuine bit of northern dialect.

I fancy that _Snobs_ and _Nobs_, as used in vulgar parlance, are of classic derivation; and, most probably, originated at one of the Universities, where they still flourish. If a _Nob_ be one who is _nobilis_, a _Snob_ must be one who is _s[ine] nob[ilitate]_. Not that I mean to say that the _s_ is literally a contraction of _sine_; but that, as in the word slang, the _s_, which is there prefixed to _language_, at once destroys the better word, and degrades its meaning; and as, in Italian, an _s_ prefixed to a primitive word has a privative effect--e.g. _calzare_, "to put on shoes and stockings;" _scalzare_, "to put them off:" _fornito_, "furnished;" _sfornito_, "unfurnished," &c.; as also the _dis_, in Latin (from which, possibly, the aforesaid _s_ is derived), has the like reversing power, as shown in _continue_ and _discontinue_--so _nob_, which is an abbreviation of _nobilis_, at once receives the most ignoble signification on having an _s_ put before it.

The word _Scamp_, meaning literally a fugitive from the field, one _qui ex campo exit_, affords another example of the power of the initial _s_ to reverse the signification of a word.

All this, Mr. Editor, is only conjecture, in reply to "ALPHA's" query (No. 12 p. 185.); but perhaps you will receive it, if no better etymology of the word be offered.

A.G.

Ecclesfield, Jan. 21. 1850.

_Derivation(?) of "Snob" and "Cad."_--I am informed by my son, who goeth to a Latin school, that _Snob_ (which is a word he often useth) cometh of two Latin words; to wit, "_sine obolo_"--as who should say, "one that hath not a cross to bless himself." He saith, that the man behind the omnibus is called "_Cad_," "_a non cadendo_." Your humble servant,

THE GOVERNOR.

* * * * *

_Mr. Macaulay and Bishop Burnet_.--The passage in which Mr. Macaulay calls Burnet "a rash and partial writer," alluded to by your correspondent in No. 3. p. 40., occurs towards the end of his Essay on "Sir William Temple," p. 456. of the new edition in one volume.

ETONIENSIS.

* * * * *

_Circulation of the Blood_.--"A.W." (No. 13. p. 202.) is referred to Smith's _Dictionary of Biography_, article NEMESIUS.

J.E.B. MAYOR.

* * * * *

_Genealogy of European Sovereigns_.--I send the full title of a book which I would recommend to your correspondent "Q.X.Z.," (No. 6. p. 92.):--

GÉNÉALOGIE ASCENDANTE,

JUSQU'AU QUATRIÈME DÉGRÉ INCLUSIVEMENTS, De tous les Rois et
Princes de Maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans;
réduite en CXIV. Tables de XVI. Quartiers, composées selon les
Principes du Blazon; avec une Table Générale.

* * * * *

"La noblesse, Daugaux, n'est point une chimère, Quand sous
l'étroite loi d'une vertu sévère, Un homme, issu d'un sang fécond
en demi-dieux, Suit, comme toi, la trace où marchaient ses ayeux."
Boileau, S.v.

* * * * *

A BERLIN:

Au Dépens de l'Autheur: se vend chez Etienne de Bourdeaux, Libraire; imprimé chez Frédéric Guillaume Birnstiel.

MDCCLXVIII.

I presume that it is of some rarity, never having met with any other copy than the one from which I transcribed this title.

Some of your correspondents may, perhaps, be able to give the name of the Author who, as far as I have had occasion to refer, seems to have done his work carefully.

T.W.

* * * * *

_Sir Stephen Fox._--I have seen it stated in some biographical dictionary, that Sir Stephen Fox was a younger brother of "John Fox, Esq.," who was a devoted Royalist at the time of the great Rebellion, and fought at the battle of Worcester, {251} and after the Restoration was Clerk of the Acatry, in the household of Charles the Second.

Mr. Suckling, in his _History of Suffolk_, claims for a family some time seated at Stradbrook, in that county, a consanguinity with the descendants of Sir Stephen.

On an altar-tomb in Stadbrook churchyard are inscribed notices of many members of this family, but without dates. One is rather extraordinary, making the lives of a father and son together to amount to 194 years. Amongst them is this:--

"Here is hourly expected, Simon the next descendant, with his son
Simon, who died young, tho' still preserved to be interr'd with his
father at the earnest request of his pious mother the Lady Hart.
And also Major John Fox, with his issue, who during the late
rebellion loyally behav'd himself, undergoing with great courage
not only the danger of the field, but many severe imprisonments."

The arms on this tomb differ from those of Lords Ilchester and Holland, being simply three foxes' heads erased.

Should this note supply a clue for your correspondent "VULPES" to identify Major John Fox with the brother of Sir Stephen, on knowing that he has found the scent I shall be able to assist him in unearthing the whole litter.

VENATOR.

_French Maxim_.--The maxim inquired after by "R.V." (No. 14. p. 215.) undoubtedly belongs to Rochefoucault. I have met with a somewhat similar passage in Massillon:--

"Le vice rend hommage à la vertu en s'honorant de sus apparences."

J.B.M.

Feb. 5. 1850.

_Shipster_.--A _scip-steora_ among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors was a pilot ("_ship-steerer_"). The word has descended to our own times in the surname of the family Shipster. As a common noun it was not obsolete in the days of Wynkyn de Worde, who printed that curious production "_Cock Lorelle's Bote_," one line of which runs thus:--

"With gogle-eyed Tomson, _shepster_ of Lyn."

It is pretty certain, however, that this masculine occupation was not the one followed by "Marie Fraunceys de Suthwerk!"

Pray accept this "Reply" for what it is worth. Perhaps I might have done better by meeting Mr. John R. Fox's "Query" (No. 14. p. 216.) with another. Should not the designation of Marie F. be _Spinster_ instead of Shipster?

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes, Feb. 2.

_Sparse_.--Permit me to refer your correspondent "C. FORBES" for a reply to his query, p. 215. of your last Number, to the article "Americanism" in the _Penny Cyclopædia_, the author of which observes:--

"_Sparse_ is, for any thing we know, a new word, and well applied;
the Americans say a _sparse_ instead of a scattered population; and
we think the term has a more precise meaning than scattered, and is
the proper correlative of _dense_."

In the _Imperial Dictionary_ (avowedly based upon Webster's American work, which I cannot at this moment refer to in its original form), the word in question is given both as an adjective and as a verb, and the derivatives "sparsed," "sparsedly," "sparsely," and "sparseness," are also admitted. The reference given for the origin of "sparse" is to the Latin "_sparsus_, scattered, from _spargo_;" and the definitions are, 1. "Thinly scattered, set or planted here and there; as, a _sparse_ population:" and, 2., as a botanical term, "not opposite, not alternate, nor in any regular order; applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, &c."

J.T. STANESBY.

_Cosmopolis--Complutensian Polyglot_.--Though in considerable haste, I must send replies to the fourth and eighth queries of my friend Mr. Jebb, No. 14. p. 213.

_Cosmopolis_ was certainly Amsterdam. That the _Interpretationes paradoxæ quatuor Evangeliorum_, by Christophorus Christophori Sandius, were there printed, appears from this writer's _Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitarionum_, p. 169., Freistad, 1684. I may add that "Coloniæ" signifies "Amstelædami" in the title-page of Sandius's _Nucleus Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ_, 1676, and in the _Appendix Addendorum_, 1678, 4to.

With regard to the MSS. used in the formation of the text of the _Complutensian Polyglot_, Mr. Jebb will find an account of their discovery in a letter addressed by Dr. James Thompson to the editor of _The Biblical Review_. See also _The Irish Ecclesiastical Journal_ for April 1847.

R.G.

_Complutensian Polyglot_.--The following extract from "The Prospectus of a Critical Edition of the New Testament," by the learned Mr. S. Prideaux Tregelles, affords a satisfactory reply to Mr. Jebb's query, No. 14. p. 212.:--

"However there is now more certainty as to the MSS. belonging to
the University of Alcala. Dr. James Thompson has published
(_Biblical Review_, March, 1847), the result of inquiries made
thirty years ago by Dr. Bowring, and more recently by himself.
Hence it appears that all the MSS. which formerly were known as
belonging to Cardinal Ximenes, and which were preserved in the
library of Alcala, are now with the rest of that library, at
Madrid....Dr. José Gutierrez, the present librarian at Madrid,
communicated to Dr. J. Thomson a catalogue of the Complutensian
MSS., and from this it appears that the principal MSS. used in the
Polyglott are all safely preserved."

J. MILNER BARRY.

Totnes, Feb. 6. 1850.

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_Christmas Hymn._--Your correspondent "E.V." (No. 13. p. 201.) asks for the author of the Christmas Hymn--

"Hark! the Herald Angels sing."

I believe it to be the composition of the Rev. Charles Wesley, the younger brother of the celebrated John Wesley: he was born in 1708, and died in 1788. He was the author of many of the hymns in his brother's collection, which are distinguished for their elegance and simplicity. I am not able to find out, for certain, whether he had another name; if he had, it was probably the occasion of the initials (J.C.W.) your correspondent mentions.

J.K.R.W.

_Sir Jeffery Wyattville._--Sir Jeffery Wyattville, respecting whom "J.P." inquires (No. 14. p. 215.), was knighted at Windsor Castle, Dec. 9, 1828., on the king entering into possession after the restoration.

S.G.

[To which may be added, on the information of our valued correspondent "C.," "that it was about 1824 that Mr. Wyatt, being appointed by George IV. to conduct the improvements at Windsor Castle, had the absurd ambition of distinguishing himself from the other architects of his name by changing it to _Wyattville_. This produced the following epigram in, I think, the _Morning Chronicle_:--

"'Let GEORGE whose restlessness leaves nothing quiet,
Change, if he will, the good old name of _Wyatt_;
But let us hope that their united skill
May not make _Windsor Castle--Wyattsville!_'"]

_"Peruse."_--In reply to the question of "H.W." (No. 14. p. 215.), although from want of minute reference I have been unable to find, in the original edition, the quotation from Frith's works, I beg leave to suggest that the word "Peruse" is a misprint, and that the true reading is "Pervise." To this day the first examination at Oxford, commonly called the "Little-Go," is "Responsiones in _Parviso_." It must not, however, be supposed that "Pervise," or "Parvise," is derived from the Latin "Parvus;" the origin, according to Spelman and succeeding etymologists, is the French "Le Parvis," a church porch.

In London the Parvis was frequented by serjeants at law: see Chaucer, _Prol. Cant. Tales_. There is a difference of opinion where it was situated: see Tyrwhitt's _Gloss_. The student in ecclesiastical history may compare _Leo Allatius de Templis Græcorum_, p. 44.

T.J.

_Autograph Mottoes of Richard Duke of Gloucester and Harry Duke of Buckingham_. (No. 9. p. 138.)--There can be no doubt that "Mr. NICOLS" is somewhat wrong in his interpretation of the Duke of Buckingham's Motto. It is evident that both mottoes are to be read continuously, and that "souene" is the third person singular of a verb having "loyaulte" for its nominative case. It appears to me that the true reading of the word is "soutienne," and that the meaning of the motto is "My feelings of loyalty often sustain me in my duty to the King when I am tempted to join those who bear no good feeling towards him." So that we shall have in English,

Loyalty binds me}
Richard Gloucester.}

Often sustains me}
Harry Buckingham.}

ARUN.

_Boduc._--Your correspondent "P." (No. 12, p. 185.) seems to consider the "prevailing opinion," that _Boduc_ or _Boduoc_ on the British coin must be intended for our magnanimous Queen Boadicea, to be merely a "pleasing vision," over which he is "_sorry_ to cast a cloud." Yet his own remark, that the name Budic (a mere difference in spelling) is often found among families of the Welsh in Brittany, and that the name was once common in England, serves only to confirm the common opinion that _Boduoc_ on the coins was intended as the name of the British Queen.

Dio expressly writes her name in Greek Boudouica, which approaches nearly to Budic. In Cornwall we still find Budock, the name of a parish and of a saint. In Oxford there was a church formerly called from St. Budoc, long since destroyed. Leland mentions a Mr. Budok, and his manor place, and S. Budok Church. His opinion was, that "this Budocus was an Irisch man, and cam into Cornewalle, and ther dwellid." Whether there was a Regulus of Britain of this name, is not material. I am not prepared to cast a cloud over it, if it should be found. Our motto should be, "ex fumo dare lucem," &c.

ANTINEPHELEGERETA.

Oxford.

_Annus Trabeationis_.--I am sure that you will allow me to correct an oversight in your reply to a query of "G.P.," in No. 7. p. 105. You have attributed to Du Cange a sentence in the Benedictine addition to his explanation of the term _Trabeatio_. (_Glossar_. tom. vi. col. 1158. Venet. 1740.) This word certainly signifies the Incarnation of Christ, an not his Crucifixion. Besides the occurrence of "trabea carnis indutus," at the commencement of a sermon on S. Stephen by S. Fulgentius Ruspensis, I have just now met with the expressions, "trabea carnis velatus," and "carnis trabea amicti," in a copy of the _editio princeps_ of the Latin version of Damascen's books in defence of Image-worship, by Godefridus Tilmannus, fol. 30 b. 39 a, 4to. Paris, 1555.

R.G.

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MISCELLANIES.

_Pursuits of Literature._--The lines upon the pursuits of literature, quoted by you at p. 212., remind me of some others, which I have heard ascribed to Mr. Grattan, and are as follows:--

"'Tis well, Pursuits of Literature!
But who, and what is the pursuer,
A Jesuit cursing Popery:
A railer preaching charity;
A reptile, nameless and unknown,
Sprung from the slime of Warburton,
Whose mingled learning, pride, and blundering,
Make wise men stare, and set fools wondering."