Chapter II: Part 2

Let me refer MR. TAYLOR to Michael Meyer's _Themis Aurea, hoc est de legibus Fraternitatis Roseæ Crucis_, Col. 1615; the works of Jacob Behmen, Robt. Fludd, John Heydon, Peter Mormius, Eugene Philalethes; the works of the Rosicrucian Society, containing seventy-one treatises in different languages; the Catalogue of Hermetic books by the Abbé Lenglet du Fresnoi, Paris, 1762; Manget's _Biblioth. Chem. Curios._, Col. 1702, 2 vols. folio; and the _Theatrum Chemicum_, Argent. 1662, 6 vols. 8vo.

I must make particular mention of the two most celebrated of the Rosicrucian works; the first is _La Chiave del Cabinetto_, Col. 1681, 12mo. The author, Joseph Francis Borri, gives a most systematic account of the doctrine of the Rosic Cross in this interesting little volume. He was imprisoned for magic and heresy, and died in his prison at Rome in 1695 at the age of seventy years. On this work was founded one still more remarkable--

"Le Compte de Gabalis, ou Entretiens sur les Sciences Secrètes.
'Quod tanto impendio absconditur etiam solum modo demonstrare,
destruere est.'--_Tertull._ Sur la Copie imprimée à Paris, chez
Claude Barbin.--M.DC.LXXI. 12mo., pp. 150."

{176}

This work, thus published anonymously, was from the pen of the Abbé de Villars. An English translation was published at London in 1714.

The doctrine of the Rosy Cross entered largely into the literature of the seventeenth century. This applies especially to the masques of James I. and Charles I. To the same source Shakspeare owes his _Ariel_, and Milton much of his _Comus_.

It is strange, but instructive, to observe how variously different minds make use of the same materials. What greater contrast can we have than _The Rape of the Lock_ and _Undine_?--the one redolent of the petit-maître and the Cockney; the other a work _sui generis_, of human conceptions the most exquisite and spirit-fragrant. Wieland's _Idris and Zenide_, Bulwer's _Zanoni_, and Mackay's _Salamandrine_, are also based on Rosicrucian principles. Mention of the Rosicrucians occurs in Izaak Walton's Angler and Butler's _Hudibras_--see Zachary Grey's note and authorities referred to by him. See also two interesting papers on the subject in Chambers's _Edinb. Journal_, ed. 1846, vol. vi. pp. 298. 316.

EIRIONNACH.

July 20, 1853.

P. S.--I may as well notice here a very curious book of Rosicrucian emblems, as I have it beside me:

"Atalanta Fugiens, hoc est, Emblemata Nova de Secretis
Naturæ Chymica. Accommodata partim oculis et intellectui,
figuris cupro incisis, adjectisque sententiis, Epigrammatis
et notis, partim auribus et recreationi animi plus minus 50
Fugis Musicalibus trium vocum, quarum duæ ad unam simplicem
melodiam distichis canendis peraptam correspondeant, non
absq; singulari jucunditate videnda, legenda, meditanda,
intelligenda, dijudicanda, canenda, et audienda. Authore
Michaele Majero, Imperial. Consistorii Comite, Med. D. Eq. Ex.
etc.: Oppenheimii, ex Typographia Hieronymi Galleri, sumptibus
Joh. Theodori de Bry, MDCXVIII." Small 4to. pp. 211.

The title-page is adorned with emblematical figures. The work contains a portrait of the author, and fifty emblems executed with much spirit. Amongst others we have a Salamander in the fire, a green lion, a hermaphrodite, a dragon, &c. Every right page has a motto, an emblem, and an epigram under the emblem in Latin. The left page gives the same in German, with the Latin words set to music. After each emblem we have a "Discursus."

The following remarks on the title occur in the preface:

"Atalanta Poëtis celebrata est propter fugam, qua omnes procos
in certamine antevertit, ideoque ipsis victis pro Virgine,
præmio Victoriæ proposito, mors obtigit, donec ab Hippomene,
Juvene audaciore et provido, superata et obtenta sit trium
malorum aureorum per Vices inter currendum objectu, quæ dum
illa tolleret, præventa est ab eo, metam jam attingente: Hæc
Atalanta ut fugit, sic una vox musicalis semper fugit ante
aliam et altera insequitur, ut Hippomenes: In tertia tamen
stabiliuntur et firmantur, quæ simplex est et unius valoris,
tanquam malo aureo: Hæc eadem virgo merè chymica est, nempe
Mercurius philosophicus a sulfure aureo in fuga fixatus et
retentus, quem si quis sistere noverit, sponsam, quam ambit,
habebit, sin minus, perditionem suarum rerum est interitum,"
&c.--Page 9.

[Footnote 4: The Jewish speculations on the subject of
elemental spirits and angels (especially those that assumed
corporeal forms, and united themselves with the daughters
of men) were largely drawn on by the Rosicrucians. (See the
famous _Liber Zohar_, Sulzbaci, 1684, fol.; and Philo, _Lib. de
Gigantibus_. See also Hoornbeek, _Lib. pro Convert. Jud._, Lug.
Bat., 1665, 4to.)]

* * * * *

SEARSON'S POEMS.

(Vol. vii., p. 131.)

John Searson was a merchant in Philadelphia in the year 1766. A few days before seeing the inquiry respecting him, I came across his advertisement in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_; but not having made a note of the date, I have since been unable to find it. His stock was of a very miscellaneous character, as "Bibles and warming pans," "spelling-books and swords," figured in it in juxtaposition. He taught school at one time in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

A copy of his poem on "Down Hill" is before me; and it is quite as curious a production as the volume of poems which he afterwards published.

He describes himself in the title-page as "Late Master of the Free School in Colerain, and formerly of New York, Merchant." The volume was printed in 1794 by subscription at Colerain.

The work is introduced by "A Poem, being a Cursory View of Belfast Town," thus commencing:

"With pleasure I view the Town of Belfast,
Where many dear friends their lots have been cast:
The Buildings are neat, the Town very clean,
And Trade very brisk are here to be seen;
Their Shipping are numerous, as I behold,
And Merchants thrive here in riches, I'm told."

Here are some farther specimens from this poem:

"I've walk'd alone, and view'd the _Paper Mill_,
Its walk, the eye with pleasure fill.
I've view'd the Mountains that surround BELFAST,
And find they are romantic to the last.
...
The Church of BELFAST is superb and grand,
And to the Town an ornament does stand;
Their Meeting Houses also is so neat,
The congregation large, fine and complete."

The volume contains a dedication to the Rev. Mr. Josiah Marshall, rector of Maghera, a preface, a table of contents, and "A Prayer previous to the Poem."

The whole book is so intensely ridiculous that it is difficult to select. The following are rather chosen for their brevity than for any pre-eminent absurdity:

"The Earl of Bristol here some time do dwell,
Which after-ages sure of him will tell."

{177}

"Down Hill's so pleasing to the traveller's sight,
And th' marine prospect would your heart delight."

"The rabbit tribe about me run their way,
Their little all to man becomes a prey.
The busy creatures trot about and run;
Some kill them with a net, some with a gun.
Alas! how little do these creatures know
For what they feed their young, so careful go.
The little creatures trot about and sweat,
Yet for the use of man is all they get."

"He closed his eyes on ev'ry earthly thing.
_Angles_ surround his bed: to heaven they bring
The soul, departed from its earthly clay.
He died, he died! and calmly pass'd away,
His children not at home; his widow mourn,
And all his friends, in tears, seem quite forlorn."

Some of the London booksellers ought to reprint this work as a curiosity of literature. Some of the subscribers took a number of copies, and one might be procured for the purpose. The country seats of the largest subscribers are described in the poem.

The book ends with these lines (added by the "devil" of the printing-office, no doubt):

"The above rural, pathetic, and very sublime performance was
corrected, in every respect, by the author himself."

This is erased with a pen, and these words written below--"Printer's error."

UNEDA.

Philadelphia.

* * * * *

"FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS," ETC.

(Vol. v., p. 100.)

Since my former communication on the use of the phrase "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step," I have met with some farther examples of kindred forms of expression, which you may deem worth inserting in "N. & Q."

Shakspeare has an instance in _Romeo and Juliet_, where he describes "Love" as--

"A madness most discreet,
A choaking gall, and a preserving sweet."

Quarles has it in his _Emblems_, Book iv. Epigram 2.:--

"Pilgrim, trudge on; what makes thy soul complain?
Crowns thy complaint; the way to rest is pain:
The road to resolution lies by doubt;
The next way home's the farthest way about."

We find it in this couplet in Butler:

"For discords make the sweetest airs,
And curses are a kind of prayers."

Rochester has it in the line--

"An eminent fool must be a man of parts."

It occurs in Junius's remark--

"Your Majesty may learn hereafter how nearly the slave and the
tyrant are allied."

and in the following well-known passage in the same writer:

"He was forced to go through every division, resolution,
composition, and refinement of political chemistry, before
he happily arrived at the _caput mortuum_ of vitriol in your
grace. Flat and insipid in your retired state; but, brought
into action, you become vitriol again. Such are the extremes
of alternate indolence or fury which have governed your whole
administration."

The thought here (be it said in passing) seems to have been adopted from these lines in Rochester:

"Wit, like tierce claret, when 't begins to pall,
Neglected lies, and 's of no use at all;
But in its full perfection of decay
Turns vinegar, and comes again in play."

But the most beautiful application of this sentiment that I have met with, occurs in an essay on "The Uses of Adversity," by Mr. Herman Hooker, an American writer:--

"A pious lady, who had lost her husband, was for a time
inconsolable. She could not think, scarcely could she speak,
of anything but him. Nothing seemed to take her attention but
the three promising children he had left her, singing to her
his presence, his look, his love. But soon these were all
taken ill, and died within a few days of each other; and now
the childless mother was calmed even by the greatness of the
stroke. As the lead that goes quickly down to the ocean's depth
ruffled its surface less than lighter things, so the blow which
was strongest did not so much disturb her calm of mind, but
drove her to its proper trust."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia.

* * * * *

PASSAGE IN THE BURIAL SERVICE.

(Vol. iii., p. 78.)

"In the midst of life we are in death."

A writer in the _Parish Choir_ (vol. iii. p. 140.) gives the following account of this passage. He says:

"The passage in question is found in the _Cantarium Sti.
Galli_, or choir-book of the monks of St. Gall in Switzerland,
published in 1845, with, however, a slight deviation from the
text, as we are accustomed to it.

'_Mediâ Vitâ of St. Notker._

'Mediâ Vitâ in morte sumus: quem quærimus adjutorem, nisi
Te Domine, qui pro peccatis nostris justè irasceris. Ad te
clamaverunt patres nostri, speraverunt, et liberasti eos.
Sancte Deus: ad te clamaverunt patres nostri, clamaverunt et
non sunt confusi. Sancte Fortis, ne despicias nos in tempore
senectutis: cum defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas nos.
Sancte et misericors Salvator amaræ morti ne tradas nos.'

"On consulting the _Thesaurus Hymnologicus_ of Daniel (vol.
ii. p. 329.) I find the following notice. {178} It is called
'Antiphona pro Peccatis,' or 'de Morte;' and the text there
given corresponds nearly with that in our Burial Service.

"Mediâ vitâ in morte sumus:
Quem quærimus adjutorem nisi Te Domine,
Qui pro peccatis nostris justè irasceris:
Sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.

"Rambach says, '"In the midst of life" occurs in MSS. of the
thirteenth century, as an universally common dirge and song
of supplication on all melancholy occasions, and was in this
century regularly sung at Compline on Saturdays. A German
translation was known long before the time of Luther, and was
enlarged by him by the addition of two strophes.' Martene
describes it as forming part of a religious service for New
Year's Eve, composed about the year 1800.

"Hoffmann says that this anthem 'by Notker the Stammerer,
a monk of St. Gall's (an. 912), was an extremely popular
battle-song, through the singing of which, before and during
the fight, friend and foe hoped to conquer. It was also, on
many occasions, used as a kind of incantation song. Therefore
the Synod of Cologne ordered (an. 1316) that no one should sing
the _Mediâ vitâ_ without the leave of his bishop.'

"Daniel adds that it is not, to his knowledge, now used by the
Roman Church in divine worship; but that the admirable hymn of
Luther, 'Mitten wir im Leben sind,' still flourishes amongst
the Protestants of Germany, just as the translation in our
Prayer-Book is popular with us."

GEO. A. TREVOR.

Your correspondent J. G. T. asks whence comes the expression in the Burial Service, "In the midst of life we are in death?" There are some lines in Petrarch which express precisely the same idea in nearly the self-same words; but as the thought is by no means an unlikely one to occur to two separate and independent authors, we may not go to the length of charging the seeming plagiarism upon the compilers of our Prayer-Book. I have mislaid the exact reference[5], but subjoin the lines themselves:

"Omnia paulatim consumit longior ætas,
_Vivendoque simul morimur_, rapimurque manendo:
Ipse mihi collatus enim, non ille videbor;
Frons alia est, moresque alii, nova mentis imago,
Voxque aliud mutata sonat."

JOHN BOOKER.

Prestwich.

[Footnote 5: Barbato Sulmonensi, epist. i.--ED.]

* * * * *

PATRICK'S PURGATORY.

(Vol. vii., p. 552.)

Dr. Lanigan, in his learned _Ecclesiastical History of Ireland_ (vol. i. p. 368.), states that the so-called Patrick's Purgatory is situated at Lough Derg (Donegal). It is never mentioned in any of the lives of the apostle, nor heard of till the eleventh century, the period at which the canons regular of St. Augustine first appeared, for it was to persons of that order, as the story goes, that St. Patrick confided the care of that cavern of wonders. Now there were no such persons in the island in which it is situated, nor in that of St. Davoc [Dabeoc?] in the same lake, until about the beginning of the twelfth century. This purgatory, or purging place, of Lough Derg, was set up against another Patrick's purgatory, viz. that of Croagh Patrick, mentioned by Jocelyn, which, however ill-founded the vulgar opinion concerning it, was less objectionable. Some writers have said that it got the name of Patrick's Purgatory from an Abbot Patrick, that lived in the ninth century; but neither were there canons regular of St. Augustine at that time, nor were such abridged modes of atoning to the Almighty for the sins of a whole life then thought of. It was demolished in the year 1497, by order of the Pope, although it has since been in some manner restored.

The original Patrick's Purgatory then, it would appear, was at Croagh Patrick, in Mayo, near Westport; speaking of the pilgrimages made to which, the monk Jocelyn (in his _Life of St. Patrick_, written A.D. 1180, cap. 172.) says that--

"Some of those who spent a night there stated that they had
been subjected to most fearful torments, which had the effect,
as they supposed, of purging them from their sins, for which
reason also certain of them gave to that place the name of St.
Patrick's Purgatory."

By the authority of the Lords Justices who governed Ireland in 1633, previously to the appointment of Wentworth, Lough Derg Purgatory was once more suppressed; but the sort of piety then fostered among the members of the Roman communion in Ireland could ill afford to resign without a struggle what was to them a source of so much consolation. High influence was, therefore, called into action to procure the reversal of the sentence; and the Roman Catholic Queen of Charles I. was induced to address to the Lord Deputy of Ireland a letter in which she requested that he would be pleased "to allow, that the devotions which the people of that country have ever been wont to pay to a St. Patrick's place there, may not be abolished." The Lord Deputy declined acceding to this request, and said in his reply, "I fear, at this time, when some men's zeal hath run them already, not only beyond their wits, _but almost forth of their allegiance too_, it might furnish them with something to say in prejudice and scandal to his majesty's government, which, for the present indeed, is by all means to be avoided." And adds, "your Majesty might do passing well to let this devotion rest awhile." After this second suppression, the devotion has a second time been "in some manner restored;" and {179} multitudes throng to the place on the faith of a false tradition, so long since exposed and exploded by their own authorities. Three hundred and fifty years ago, the Pope, the representative of the Bishop of Clogher, and the head of the Franciscans in Donegal, combined their efforts to put down the scandalous fabrication; but yet it remains to this day an object of cherished religious veneration--an object of confidence and faith, on which many a poor soul casts itself to find consolation and repose. And those multitudes of pilgrims, year after year, assemble there, no influence which they look to for guidance forbidding them, to do homage to the vain delusion.

D. W. S. P. will find farther information on this subject in _The Catholic Layman_ for April last: Curry, Dublin.

WILLIAM BLOOD.

Wicklow.

* * * * *

LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL.

(Vol. viii., p. 100.)

In answer to W. L. M.'s inquiry, "where the virtuous and patriotic William Lord Russell was buried?" I beg to state that I possess a pamphlet entitled:

"The whole Tryal and Defence of William Lord Russel, who Dyed
a Martyr to the _Romish_ Fury in the Year 1683, with the
Learned Arguments of the Council on both sides. Together with
his Behaviour and Speech upon the Scaffold: His Character and
Behaviour. London: printed by J. Bradford, at the Bible in
Fetter Lane."

There is no date to it; but from the appearance of the paper, type, a rude woodcut of the execution, &c., I doubt not that it was printed soon after the event, or certainly immediately after the Revolution, to meet the popular wishes to have information on the subject. It consists of sixteen octavo pages, very closely printed. The opening paragraph says:

"Among the many that suffered in a _Protestant_ cause [all
the _Italics_ used in this communication are those of the
pamphlet], and indeed whose measure seem'd to be the hardest of
all, was this honorable person _William_ Lord _Russel_, who was
generally lamented for his excellent Temper and good Qualities;
being allowed to be one of the most sober and judicious
Noblemen in the Kingdom, which even his Enemies could not deny;
and the Merit and Esteem he bore was more cause of Offence
against him than any Matter that was reap'd up at his Tryal;
all which in effect was merely grounded upon Malice (I mean
_Popish_ Malice) that could not be forgot, from his Lordship's
being one of those earnest sticklers for _Protestant_
Liberty, and even the very foremost that prefer'd the Bill of
Exclusion," &c.

Then follows the trial, headed "July 13, 1683, the _Lord_ Russel _came to his Tryal at the_ Old Bailey." The indictment is described; the names of the jury are given; judges and counsel named; the evidence, examinations, and cross-examinations (by Lord Russel) very interestingly narrated: the Report concluding, after a short address from Lord Russel, "Then the Court adjourned till four in the afternoon, and brought him in guilty."

These particulars are followed by "_The last Speech and Carriage of the Lord_ Russel _upon the Scaffold, &c._" As to the executioner's work, all other accounts that I have seen state that after "two" strokes the head was severed from the body. The publication says:

"The Executioner, missing at his first Stroke, though with
that he took away his Life, at two more severed the Head from
the Body.... Mr. Sheriff [continues the account] ordered his
Friends or Servants to take the Body, and dispose of it as they
pleased, being given them by His Majesty's _Favour and Bounty_."

The narrative proceeds:

"His Body was conveyed to _Cheneys_ in _Buckinghamshire_, where
'twas Buried among his Ancestors. There was a great _Storm_,
and many loud _Claps_ of _Thunder_ the Day of his _Martyrdom_.
An _Elegy_ was made on him immediately after his Death, which
seems, by what we have of it, to be writ with some _Spirit_,
and a great deal of Truth and Good-will; only this Fragment
on't could be retriev'd, which yet may not be unwelcome to the
Reader:

'_'Tis done--he's_ Crown'd, _and one bright_ Martyr _more_,
_Black_ Rome, _is charg'd on thy too bulky score._
_All_ like himself, _he mov'd so calm, so free_,
_A general whisper question'd_--Which is he?
_Decked like a_ Lover--_tho' pale Death's his_ Bride,
_He_ came, _and_ saw, _and_ overcame, _and_ dy'd.
_Earth weeps, and all the vainly pitying Crowd_:
_But Heaven his Death in_ Thunder _groan'd aloud.'_"

A "sketch of his character" closes the account. Perhaps W. S. M. may deem these particulars not wholly uninteresting, but tolerably conclusive, considering the time of publication, when the fact must have been notorious.

A HERMIT AT HAMPSTEAD.

* * * * *

OAKEN TOMBS, ETC.

(Vol. vii., p. 528.)

At Banham, Norfolk, in a recess in the wall of the north aisle of the church, is an oaken effigy of a knight in armour in a recumbent position. Blomefield says:

"It is plain that it was made for Sir Hugh Bardolph, Knight,
sometime lord of Gray's Manor, in this town, who died in 1203,
for under his left arm there is a large cinquefoil, which is
the badge of that family," &c.

Since he wrote, however (1739), with a view to the better preservation of this interesting relic, some spirited churchwarden has caused it to be {180} well painted and sanded so that it now looks _almost_ as well as stone. At the same time, the marks by which Blomefield thought to identify it are necessarily obliterated.

T. B. B. H.

William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who was slain at Bayonne in 1296,--his effigy in wood is in St. Edmund's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, covered with enamelled brass. There is also in Abergavenny Church, amongst the general wreck of monumental remains there, a cross-legged effigy in wood, represented in chain mail; which the late Sir Samuel Meyrick supposed to have been that of William de Valence. It is mentioned in Coxe's _Monmouthshire_, p. 192.

The effigy of Aymer de Valence referred to in Whitaker ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 528.) is not of wood; he evidently refers to that of William de Valence.

In Gloucester Cathedral there is the wooden monument of a cross-legged knight attributed to Robert Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the Conqueror; but it is probably of a little later period.

THOMAS W. KING (York Herald).

College of Arms.

In the Cathedral of Gloucester, there is a wooden effigy of the unfortunate Robert Duke of Normandy, eldest son of the Conqueror. It is so many years since I saw it, that I do not offer any description: but, if my memory be correct, it has the legs crossed, and (what is curious) is loose, and can be turned about on the tomb.

A. C. M.

Exeter.

On the south side of the chancel of St. Giles' Church, Durham, is a wooden effigy in full armour; the head resting on a helmet, and the hands raised as in prayer. It is supposed to be the tomb of John Heath, who became possessed of the Hospital of St. Giles Kepyer, and is known to have been buried in the chancel of St. Giles' Church. He died in 1590. At the feet of the wooden effigy, are the words "HODIE MICHI." The figure was restored in colours about ten years ago.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B. A.

* * * * *

"COULD WE WITH INK," &c.

(Vol. viii., p. 127.)

The _bonâ fide_ author of the following lines--

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the heavens of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretch'd from sky to sky."

is Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac. The above eight lines are almost a literal translation of four Chaldee ones, which form part of a beautiful ode on the attributes of God, not unmixed with a considerable proportion of the fabulous, which is sung in every synagogue during the service of the first day of the feast of Pentecost.

May I now be permitted to ask you, or any of your numerous correspondents, to inform me who was the _bonâ fide_ translator of Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac's lines? The English lines are often quoted by itinerant advocates of charity societies as having been found inscribed, according to some, on the walls of a lunatic asylum, according to others, on the walls of a prison, as occasion requires; but extempore quotations on platforms are sometimes vague.

MOSES MARGOLIOUTH.

Wybunbury.

The verses are in Grose's _Olio_ (p. 292.), and are there said to be written by nearly an idiot, then living (March 16, 1779) at Cirencester. It happens, however, that long before the supposed idiot was born, one Geoffrey Chaucer made use of the same idea, and the same expressions, although applied to a totally different subject, viz. in his "Balade warnynge men to beware of deceitful women:"--

"In soth to saie though all the yerth so wanne
Wer parchment smoth, white and scribbabell,
And the gret see, that called is th' Ocean,
Were tourned into ynke blackir than sabell,
Eche sticke a pen, eche man a scrivener able,
Not coud thei writin woman's treacherie,
Beware, therefore, the blind eteth many a flie."

Again in the "Remedie of Love," the same lines occur with a few slight alterations.

In vol. x. of the _Modern Universal History_, p. 430. _note_, I meet with this sentence:

"He was succeeded by Jochanan; not in right of descent, but
of his extraordinary merits; which the Rabbies, according to
custom, have raised to so surprising a height, that, according
to them, if the whole heavens were paper, all the trees in the
world pens, and all the men writers, they would not suffice to
pen down all his lessons."

In later times, in Miss C. Sinclair's _Hill and Valley_, p. 25., we have:

"If the lake could be transformed into an ink-stand, the
mountains into paper; and if all the birds that hover on high
were to subscribe their wings for quills, it would be still
insufficient to write half the praise and admiration that are
justly due."

C. I. R.

These lines are by Dr. Watts. I cannot just now distinctly recollect _where_ they are to be found, but I think in Milner's _Life of Watts_. My recollection of them is that they were impromptu, given at an evening party.

H. S. S.

{181}

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Washing or not washing Collodion Pictures after developing, previous to fixing._--Since the question has been mooted I have tried both ways, and have come to the conclusion that there is very little difference in the resulting appearance of the picture. The hypo. is certainly deteriorated when no washing is adopted. I think it is best to pour off the first quantity applied into a cup kept for the purpose; this is discoloured: I then pour on more clean hypo., and let it remain till the picture clears, and pour _this_ into another cup or bottle for future use. What was poured into the first cup may, when a sufficient quantity is obtained, be filtered, and by adding more of the salt is not useless. I pour on merely enough at first to wash off the developing fluid, and pour it off at once. The picture is cleared much sooner if the saturated hypo. solution is warmed, which I do by plunging the bottle into a pewter pint pot filled with hot water.

W. M. F.

_Stereoscopic Angles_ (Vol. viii., pp. 109. 157.).--I perfectly agree with your correspondent MR. T. L. MERRITT (p. 109.) respecting "stereoscopic angles," having arrived at the same conclusion some months since, while at Hastings, where I produced stereoscopic pictures by moving the camera _only two inches_: having in one, _seven_ houses and _five_ bathing-machines; and in the other, _five_ houses and _eight_ bathing-machines. If I had separated the two pictures more, I should have had _all bathing-machines_ in one and _all houses_ in the other; which convinced me that nothing more is required than the width of the two eyes for all distances, or, slightly to exaggerate it, to three inches, which will produce a pleasing and natural effect: for it is quite certain that our eyes do not become wider apart as we recede from an object, and that the intention is to give a true representation of nature as seen by one person. Now, most stereoscopic pictures represent nature as it never could be seen by any one person, from the same point of view; and I feel confident that all photographers, who condescend to make stereoscopic pictures, will arrive at the same conclusion before the end of this season.

If this be correct, all difficulty is removed; for it is always advisable to take two pictures of the same prospect, in case one should not be good: and two very indifferent negatives will combine into one very good positive, when viewed by the stereoscope: thus proving the old saying, that two negatives make an affirmative.

HENRY WILKINSON.

Brompton.

_Sisson's Developing Solution._--In answer to S. B.'s inquiry, I beg to say, that I have not tried the above solution as a bath. I have always poured it on, believing that it was easier to observe the progress of the picture by that mode. If S. B. will forward me his address, I shall be happy to enter more minutely into my mode of operating with it than I can through the medium of "N. & Q." I have received other favourable testimony as to the value of my developing fluid for glass positives.

While I am writing, will you allow me to ask your photographic correspondents whether any of them have tried Mr. Müller's paper process referred to by Mr. Delamotte at p. 145. of his work? It was first announced in the _Athenæum_ of Nov. 2, 1851. When I first commenced photography (June, 1852), I tried the process; and from what I did with it, when I was almost entirely ignorant of the manipulation, I am inclined to think it a valuable process. The sharpness of the tracery in my church windows, in a picture I took by the process, is remarkable. Mr. Delamotte truly says: "This is a most striking discovery, as it supersedes the necessity of any developing agent after the light has acted on the paper." Mr. Müller says, that simple washing in water seems to be sufficient to fix the picture. This is also a striking discovery, and totally unlike any other very sensitive process that I am acquainted with; and more striking still, that the process should not have been more practised.

J. LAWSON SISSON.

Edingthorpe Rectory.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Robert Drury_ (Vol. v., p. 533.; Vol. vii., p. 485.; vol. viii., p. 104.).--I believe the _Journal_ of Robert Drury to be a genuine book of travels and adventures, and here is my voucher:

"The best and most authentic account ever given of Madagascar
was published in 1729, by Robert Drury, who being shipwrecked
in the Degrave East Indiaman, on the south side of that island,
in 1702, being then a boy, lived there as a slave fifteen
years, and after his return to England, among those who knew
him (and he was known to many, being a porter at the East India
House), had the character of a downright honest man, without
any appearance of fraud or imposture."--John Duncombe, M. A.,
one of the six preachers in Christ Church, Canterbury, 1773.

Mr. Duncombe quotes several statements from Drury which coincide with those of the Reverend William Hirst, the astronomer, who touched at Madagascar, on his voyage to India, in 1759. Ten years afterwards Mr. Hirst perished in the Aurora, and with him the author of _The Shipwreck_.

BOLTON CORNEY.

_Real Signatures versus Pseudo-Names_ (Vol. vi., p. 310.; Vol. viii., p. 94.).--There is no doubt that the straightforwardness of open and undisguised communications to your excellent miscellany {182} is desirable; but a few words may be said on behalf of your anonymous contributors. If the rule were established that every correspondent should add his name to his communication, many of your friends might, from motives of delicacy, decline asking a question or hazarding a reply. By adopting a _nom-de-guerre_, men eminent in their various pursuits can quietly and unostentatiously ask a question, or contribute information. If the latter be done with reference to standard works of authority, or to MSS. preserved in our public depositories, the disclosure of the name of the contributor adds nothing to the matter contributed, and he may rejoice that he has been the means of promoting the objects of the "N. & Q." without the "blushing to find it fame." It should, however, be a _sine quâ non_ that all original communications, and those of matters of fact, should be authenticated by a real signature, when no reference can be given to authorities not accessible to the public; and it is to be regretted that such authentication has not, in such cases, been generally afforded.

THOS. WM. KING (York Herald).

_Lines on the Institution of the Garter_ (Vol. viii., p. 53.).--

"Her stocking's security fell from her knee,
Allusions and hints, sneers and whispers went round."

May I put a Query on the idea suggested by these lines--that the accidental dropping of her garter implied an imputation on the fair fame of the Countess of Salisbury. Why should this be? That it did imply an imputation, I judge as well from the vindication of the lady by King Edward, as also from the proverbial expression used in Scotland, and to be found in Scott's _Works_, of "casting a leggin girth," as synonymous with a female "faux pas." I have a conjecture, but should not like to venture it, without inquiring the general impression as to the origin of this notion.

A. B. R.

Belmont.

_"Short red, God red," &c._ (Vol. vii., p. 500.).--Sir Walter Scott has committed an oversight when, in _Tales of a Grandfather_, vol. i. p. 85., he mentions a murderer of the Bishop of Caithness to have made use of the expression, "Schort red, God red, slea ye the bischop." Adam, Bishop of Caithness, was burnt by the mob near Thurso, in 1222, for oppression in the exaction of tithes; John, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, was killed in retaliation by the bishop's party in 1231.

The language spoken at that time on the sea-coast of Caithness must have been Norse. Sutherland would appear to have been wrested from the Orkney-Norwegians before that period, and the Celtic tongue and race gaining on the Norse; but on the sea-coast of Caithness I should apprehend the Norse continued to be the spoken tongue till a later period, when it was superseded by the Scottish. The Norwegians in the end of the ninth century colonised Orkney, and expelled or destroyed the former inhabitants. The Western Isles were also subjugated by them at that time, and probably Caithness, or at all events a little later. It would be desirable to know the race and tongue previously existing in Caithness, and if these were lost in the Norwegians and Norse, and an earlier Christianity in Scandinavian Paganism. This may, however, lead to the unfathomably dark subject of the Picts. Is it known when Norse ceased to be spoken in Caithness? The story of the burning of the Bishop of Caithness forms the conclusion of the _Orkneyinga Saga_; and vide Torfæus, _Orcades_, p. 154., and Dalrymple's _Annals of Scotland_, of dates 1222 and 1231.

F.

_Martha Blount_ (Vol. vii., pp. 38. 117.).--At "Brandon," the seat of the Harrisons on the James River, Virginia, is a likeness of Miss Blount by Sir Godfrey Kneller; and at "Berkeley," also on the James River, and the residence of another branch of the same family, is one of the Duchess of Montagu, also by Kneller. Thus much in answer to the Query. But in this connexion I would mention, that on the James River are many fine pictures, portraits of worthies famous in English history. At "Shirley" there is one of Col. Hill, by Vandyke; at Brandon, one of Col. Byrd, by Vandyke; also Lord Orrery, Duke of Argyle, Lord Albemarle, Lord Egmont, Sir Robert Walpole, and others, by Kneller.

These pictures are mentioned in chap. ix. of _Travels in North America during the Years_ 1834-1836, by the Hon. Charles Augustus Murray; a gentleman who either is, or was, Master of the Queen's Household.

T. BALCH.

Philadelphia.

_Longevity_ (Vol. viii., p. 113.).--As W. W. asserts that there is a lady living (or was two months ago) in South Carolina, who is _known_ to be 131 years old, he will no doubt be good enough to let the readers of "N. & Q." _know_ it also. And although W. W. thinks it will not be necessary to search in "annual or parish registers" to prove the age of the singular Singleton, yet he must produce documentary evidence of some sort; unless, indeed, he _knows_ an older person who remembers the birth of the aged Carolinian.

Having paid the well-known Mr. Barnum a fee to see a negress, whom the _cute_ showman exhibited as the nurse of the great Washington, I have fifty cents worth of reasons to subscribe myself

A DOUBTER.

_Its_ (Vol. vii., p. 578.).--B. H. C. is perfectly correct in saying, that I was mistaken in my quotation from Fairfax's _Tasso_. It only remains for {183} me to explain how I fell into the error. It was, then, from using Mr. Knight's edition of the work for though the orthography was modernised, which I like, I never dreamed of an editor's taking the liberty of altering the text of his author. I love to be corrected when wrong, and here express my thanks to B. H. C. I inform him that there is another passage in Shakspeare with _its_ in it, but not having marked it, I cannot find it just now: I think it is in _Lear_.

I have said that I like modernised orthography. We have modernised that of the Bible, and of the dramatists; why then are we so superstitious with respect to the barbarous system of Spenser? I am convinced that the _Fairy Queen_, if printed in modern orthography, would find many readers who are repelled by the uncouth and absurd spelling of the poet, who wanted to rhyme to the eye as well as to the ear. Let us then have a "Spenser for the People."

THOS. KEIGHTLEY.

_Oldham, Bishop of Exeter_ (Vol. vii., pp. 14. 164. 189. 271.).--MR. WALCOTT will be interested to learn, that Bishop Hugh Oldham was _not_ a native of Oldham, but was born at Crumpsall, in the parish of Manchester; as appears from Dugdale's _Visitation of Lancashire_, and the "Lancashire MSS.," vol. xxxi. His brother, Richard Oldham, appointed 22nd Abbot of St. Werburgh's Abbey, Chester, in 1452, was afterwards elevated to the bishoprick of Man, and, dying Oct. 13, 1485, was buried at Chester Abbey, Chester.

T. HUGHES.

Chester.

_Boom_ (Vol. vii., p. 620.).--This word, expressive of the cry of the bittern, is also used as a _noun_:

"And the loud bittern from his bull-rush home
Gave from the salt-ditch side his bellowing boom."

Crabbe, _The Borough_, xxii.

Ebenezer Elliott is another who uses the word as a _verb_:

"No more with her will hear the bittern boom
At evening's dewy close."

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

_Lord North_ (Vol. vii., p. 317.).--If C. can procure a copy of Lossing's _Pictorial Field-book of the American Revolution_, he will find in one of the volumes a woodcut from an _English_ engraving, presenting to our view George III. as he appeared at the era of the American Revolution. It may serve to modify his present opinion as to the king's figure, face, &c.

M. E.

Philadelphia.

_Dutch Pottery_ (Vol. v., p. 343.; Vol. vi. p. 253.).--At Arnhem, about sixty-five or seventy years ago, there existed a pottery founded by two Germans: H. Brandeis, and the well-known savant H. von Laun, maker of the planetarium (orrery) described by Professor van Swinden, and purchased by the Society _Felix Meritis_ in Amsterdam. The son of Mr. Brandeis has still at his residence, No. 419. Rapenburgerstraat, several articles manufactured there: such as plates, &c. What I have seen is much coarser than the Saxon porcelain, yet much better than our Delft ware. Perhaps Mr. Van Embden, grandson and successor of Von Laun, could give farther information.

S. J. MULDER.

P.S.--Allow me to correct some misprints in Vol. vi., p. 253. Dutch and German names are often cruelly maltreated in English publications. In this respect "N. & Q." should be an exception. For "L_i_chner" read L_ei_chner; for "Dorp_h_eschrÿver" read Dorp_b_eschrÿver; for "Bl_a_sse" read Bl_ü_ss_é_; for "H_e_eren" read H_a_eren; for "Palland_h_" read Palland; for "Dae_n_b_a_r" read Dae_u_b_e_r.--From the _Navorscher_.

_Cranmer's Correspondences_ (Vol. vii., p. 621.).--Will MR. WALTER be so good as to preserve in your columns the letter of which Dean Jenkyns has only given extracts?

Two points are to be distinguished, Cranmer's wish that Calvin should assist in a general union of the churches protesting against Romish error--Calvin's offer to assist in settling the Church of England. The latter was declined; and the reason is demonstrated in Archbp. Laurence's _Bampton Lectures_.

S. Z. Z. S.

_Portable Altars_ (Vol. viii., p. 101.).--I am not acquainted with any treatise on the subject of portable altars, from which your correspondent can obtain more information, than from that which occupies forty-six pages in the _Decas Dissertationum Historico-Theologicarum_, published, for the second time, by Jo. Andr. Schmidt, 4to. Helmstad. 1714.

R. G.

_Poem attributed to Shelley_ (Vol. viii., p. 71.).--The ridiculous extravaganza attributed to Shelley by an American newspaper, was undoubtedly never written by that gifted genius. It bears throughout unmistakeable evidence of its transatlantic origin. No person, who had not actually witnessed that curious vegetable parasite, the _Spanish moss_ of the southern states of America, hanging down in long, hairy-like plumes from the branches of a large tree, would have imagined the lines,--

"The downy clouds droop
Like moss upon a tree."

Who, again, could believe that Shelley, an English gentleman and scholar, could ever, either in writing or conversation, have made use of the common American vulgarism, "play hell!"

{184}

The question of the authorship of such a production, apart from its being attributed to Shelley, is, in my humble opinion, a matter of little or no interest. But as a probable guess, I should say that it carries strong internal evidence of having been written by that erratic mortal, Edgar Poe.

W. PINKERTON.

Ham.

_Lady Percy, Wife of Hotspur (Daughter of Edmumd Mortimer, Earl of March)_ (Vol. viii., p. 104.).--On reference to the volume and page of Miss Strickland's _Lives of the Queens of England_, cited by your correspondent G., I find that not only does this lady, by her sweeping assertion, bastardise the second E. of Northumberland, but, in her zeal to outsay all that "ancient heralds" ever can have said, she annihilates, or at least reduces to a myth, the mother of Thomas, eighth Lord Clifford. This infelicitous statement may have been corrected in the second edition of the _Lives_, for in "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 42., there is a detailed pedigree tracing the descent of Jane Seymour through Margaret Wentworth, her mother, by an intermarriage with a Wentworth, and a _granddaughter_ of Hotspur, Lord Percy, (not _daughter_, as Miss Strickland writes) from the blood-royal of England. My object, however, in writing this is not farther to point attention to Miss Strickland's mistake, but to invite discussion to the point where this pedigree may be possibly faulty. I will not say "all ancient heralds," but some heralds, at least, of acknowledged reputation, viz. Nicolas, Collins, and Dugdale[6], have stated that the wife of Sir Philip Wentworth was a daughter of Roger fifth Lord Clifford. If this be so, in truth there is an end at once of the Seymour's claim to royal lineage; for it is an undoubted fact that it was the grandson of Roger fifth Lord, namely, John, seventh Lord Clifford, K.G., who married Hotspur's only daughter.

C. V.

[Footnote 6: Nicolas, _Scrope and Grosvenor Roll_, ii. 471.;
Collins, _Peerage_, 5th ed., vi. 358.; Dugdale, _Baronage_, i.
341.]

"_Up, guards, and at them!_" (Vol. v., p. 426.; Vol. viii., p. 111.).--Some years ago, about the time that the Wellington statue on the arch at Hyde Park Corner was erected, I was dining at a table where Wyatt the artist was present. The conversation turned much upon the statue, and the exact period at which the great Duke is represented. Wyatt said that he was represented at that moment when he is supposed to have used the words: "Up, guards, and at them!" It having been questioned whether he ever uttered the words, I asked the artist whether, when he was taking the Duke's portrait, the Duke himself acknowledged using them? To which he replied, that the Duke said that he did not recollect having uttered those words and, in fact, that he could not say what expression he did use on that occasion. The company at dinner seemed much satisfied with Wyatt's authority on this point.

J. D. GARDNER.

_Pennycomequick_ (Vol. viii., p. 113.).--A similar story to that related by your correspondent MR. HELE is told of Falmouth. Previously to its being incorporated as a town by Charles II., it was called _Smithick_, from a smith's shop, near a _creek_, which extended up the valley. The old Cornish word _ick_ signifies a "creek;" and as it became a village it was called "Pennycomequick," which your correspondent H. C. K. clearly explains. The Welsh and Cornish languages are in close affinity. The name "Pennycomequick" is evidently a corrupted old Cornish name: see Pryce's _Archæologia Cornu-Britannica_, v. "Pen," "Coomb," and "Ick," the head of the narrow valley, defile or creek. It has been thought by some to mean "the head of the cuckoo's valley;" and your correspondent's Welsh derivation seems to countenance such a translation. The cuckoo is known in Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall as "the _Gawk_ Gwich." MR. HELE, perhaps, will be amused at the traditional story of the Falmouthians respecting the origin of Pennycomequick. Before the year 1600, there were few houses on the site of the present town: a woman, who had been a servant with an ancestor of the late honourable member for West Cornwall, Mr. Pindarves, came to reside there, and that gentleman directed her to brew some good ale, as he should occasionally visit the place with his friends. On one of his visits he was disappointed, and expressed himself angry at not finding any ale. It appeared on explanation that a Dutch vessel came into the harbour the preceding day, and the Dutchmen drained her supply; she said the _Penny come so quick_, she could not refuse to sell it.

JAMES CORNISH.

Falmouth.

_Captain Booth of Stockport_ (Vol. viii., p. 102.).--In answer to MR. HUGHES'S inquiry about this antiquary, I beg to state that he will find an _Ordinary of Arms_, drawn up by Captain Booth of Stockport, in the Shepherd Library, Preston, Lancashire. It is one among the numerous valuable MSS. given by the executors of the late historian of Lancashire, Ed. Baines, Esq., M.P., to that library. In Lysons' _Magna Britannia_ (volume Cheshire), your correspondent will also find a mention of a John Booth, Esq., of Twemlow, Cheshire, who was the author of various heraldic manuscripts. It may, perhaps, be hardly necessary to inform Cheshire antiquaries that an almost inexhaustible fund of information, on heraldry and genealogy, is to be found in the manuscripts of Randle Holme, formerly of Chester, which are {185} now preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum.

JAYTEE.

_"Hurrah," &c._ (Vol. viii., p. 20.).--The _clameur de Haro_ still exists in Jersey, and is the ancient form there of opposing all encroachments on landed property, and the first step to be taken by which an ejectment can be finally obtained. It was decided in Pinel and Le Gallais, that the _clameur de Haro_ does not apply to the opposal of the execution of a decree of the Royal Court.

It is a remarkable feature in this process, that it is carried on by the crown; and that the losing party, whether plaintiff or defendant, is mulcted in a small fine to the king, because the sacred name of _Haro_ is not to be carelessly invoked with impunity.

See upon the subject of the _clameur_, _Le Geyt sur les Constitutions, etc. de Jersey_, par Marett, vol. i. p. 294.

M. L.

Lincoln's Inn.

I do not think that the explanation of these words, quoted by MR. BRENT, is much more probable than that of "Hierosolyma est perdita." In the first place, if we are to believe Dr. Johnson, _hips_ are not _sloes_, but the fruit or seed-vessels of the dog-rose or briar, which usually go by that name, and from which it would be difficult to make any infusion resembling wine. In the next place, it will be found, on reference to Ben Jonson's lines "over the door at the entrance into the Apollo" (vol. vii. p. 295., ed. 1756), of which the distich forms a part, that it is misquoted. The words are,--

"Hang up all the poor _hop_-drinkers,
Cries old Sym, the king of skinkers;"

the hop or ale-drinkers being contrasted with the votaries of wine, "the milk of Venus," and "the true Phœbeian liquor." Is it not possible, after all, that the repetition of, "Hip, hip, hip," is merely intended to mark the time for the grand exertion of the lungs to be made in enunciating the final "Hurrah!"?

CHEVERELLS.

_Detached Belfry Towers_ (Vol. vii., p. 333.; Vol. viii., p. 63.).--The bell-tower at Hackney, mentioned by B. H. C., is that of the old parish church of St. Augustine. This church was rebuilt in the early part of the sixteenth century, which is about the time of the present tower; and when the church was finally taken down in 1798, the tower was forced to be left standing, because the new parish church of St. John-at-Hackney was not strong enough to support the peal of eight bells.

H. T. GRIFFITH.

Hull.

_Blotting-paper_ (Vol. viii., p. 104.).--I am disposed to agree with SPERIEND in thinking Carlyle must be mistaken in saying this substance was not used in Cromwell's time. The ordinary means for drying writing was by means of the fine silver sand, now but rarely used for that purpose; but I have seen pieces of blotting-paper among MSS. of the time of Charles I., so as to lead me to think it was even then used, though sparingly. This is only conjecture; but I can, however, establish its existence at a rather earlier date than 1670. In an "Account of Stationery supplied to the Receipt of the Exchequer and the Treasury, 1666-1668," occur several entries of "one quire of blotting-paper," "two quires of blotting," &c. Earlier accounts of the same kind (which may be at the Rolls House, Chancery Lane) might enable one to fix the date of its introduction.

J. B-T.

The following occurs in Townesend's _Preparative to Pleading_ (Lond. 12mo. 1675), p. 8.:

"Let the dusting or sanding of presidents in books be avoided,
rather using _fine brown paper to prevent blotting_, if time
of the ink's drying cannot be allowed; for sand takes away the
good colour of the ink, and getting into the backs of books
makes them break their binding."

From this passage it may be inferred, that fine brown paper, to prevent blotting, was then rather a novelty.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge.

_Riddles for the Post-Office_ (Vol. vii., p. 258.).--The following is an exact copy of the direction of a letter mailed a few years ago by a German living in Lancaster county, Pa.:

"Tis is fur old Mr. Willy wot brinds de Baber in Lang
Kaster ware ti gal is gist rede him assume as it cums to ti
Pushtufous."

meaning--

"This is for old Mr. Willy, what prints the paper in Lancaster,
where the jail is. Just read him as soon as it comes to the
Post-Office."

Inclosed was an essay _against public schools_.

UNEDA.

Philadelphia.

_Mulciber_ (Vol. iii., p. 102.).--I beg to inform MR. WARDE that in the printed Key to the _Dispensary_ it is said, "'Tis the opinion of many that our poet means here Mr. Thomas Foley, a lawyer of notable parts."

T. K.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.