Chapter C: Mansfield Ingleby

Birmingham.

* * * * *

LIFE.

(Vol. vii., pp. 429. 560. 608.; Vol. viii., pp. 43. 550.)

Your correspondent H. C. K. (Vol. vii., 560.) quotes a passage from Sir Thomas Browne's _Religio Medici_, sect. xlii. The following passage from the same writer's _Christian Morals_ is much more to the point:

"When the Stoic said ('Vitam nemo acciperet, si daretur
scientibus'--_Seneca_) that life would not be accepted if it were
offered unto such as knew it, he spoke too meanly of that state of
being which placeth us in the form of men. It more depreciates the
value of this life, that _men would not live it over again_; for
although they would still live on, yet _few or none can endure to think
of being twice the same men upon earth, and some had rather never have
lived than to tread over their days once more_. Cicero, in a prosperous
state, had not the patience to think of beginning in a cradle again.
('Si quis Deus mihi largiatur, ut repuerascam et in cunis vagiam, valdè
recusem.'--_De Senectute._) Job would not only curse the day of his
nativity, but also of his renascency, if he were to act over his
disasters and the miseries of the dunghill. But the greatest
underweening of this life is to undervalue that unto which this is but
exordial, or a passage leading unto it. The great advantage of this
mean life is thereby to stand in a capacity of a better; for the
colonies of heaven must be drawn from earth, and the sons of the first
Adam are only heirs unto the second. Thus Adam came into this world
with the power also of another; not only to replenish the earth, but
the everlasting mansions of heaven."--Part III. sect. xxv.

"Looking back we see the dreadful train
Of woes anew, which, were we to sustain,
We should refuse to tread the path again."
Prior's _Solomon_, b. iii.

The crown is won by the cross, the victor's wreath in the battle of life:

"This is the condition of the battle[9] which man that is born upon the
earth shall fight. That if he be overcome he shall suffer as thou hast
said, but if he get the victory, he shall receive the thing that I
say."--2 _Esdr._ vii. 57.

Our grade in the other world is determined by our probation here. To use a simile of Asgill's, this life of time is a university in which we take our degree for eternity. Heaven is a pyramid, or ever-ascending scale; the world of evil is an inverted pyramid, or ever-descending scale. Life is motion. There is no such thing as stagnation: everything is either advancing or retrograding. Corruption itself is an activity, and evil is ever growing. According to the _habits_ formed within us, we are ascending or descending; we cannot stand still.

A man, then, in whom the higher life predominates, were he to live life over again, would {592} grow from grace to grace, and his status in the spirit world would be higher than in the first life, and _vice versâ_; an evil man[10] would be more completely evil, and would rank in a darker and more bestial form. They who hear not the good tidings will not be persuaded though one rose from the dead; and those with whom the experience of one life failed would not repent in the second.

The testimony of the Shunamite's son, Lazarus, and of those who rose from the dead at the crucifixion, is not recorded; but they who have escaped from the jaws of death, by recovery from sickness or preservation from danger, may in a certain sense be said to live life over again. After the fright is over the warning in most cases loses its influence, and we have a verification of the two proverbs, "Out of sight out of mind," and--

"The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be;
The devil was well, the devil a monk would he."

In a word, this experiment of a second life would best succeed with him whose habits are formed for good, and whose life is already overshadowed by the divine life. Even of such an one it might be said, "Man is frail, the battle is sore, and the flesh is weak; even a good man may fall and become a castaway." The most unceasing circumspection is ever requisite. The most polished steel rusts in this corrosive atmosphere, and purest metals get discoloured.

Finally, it is very probable that God gives every man a complete probation; that is to say, He cuts not man's thread of life till he be at the same side of the line he should be were he to live myriads of years. Every man is made up of a mixture of good and evil: these two principles never become soluble together, but ever tend each to eliminate the other. They hurry on in circles, alternately intersecting and gaining the ascendancy, till one is at last precipitated to the bottom, and pure good or evil remains. In the nature of things there are critical moments and tides of circumstances which become turning-points when time merges into eternity and mutability into permanence: and such a crisis may occur in the course of a short life as well as in many lives lived over again.

EIRIONNACH.

[Footnote 9:

"A field of battle is this mortal life!"
_Young_, N. viii.

[Footnote 10: See a recent novel by Frederick Souillet, entitled _Si Jeunesse savait, Si Vieillesse pouvait_.]

_Life and Death_ (Vol. ix., p. 481.).--The following is on a monument at Lowestoft, co. Suffolk, to the memory of John, son of John and Anne Wilde, who died February 9, 1714, aged five years and six months:

"Quem Dii amant moritur Juvenis."

SIGMA.

The following may be added to the parallel passages collected by EIRIONNACH. Chateaubriand says, in his _Memoirs_, that the greatest misfortune which can happen to a man is to be born, and the next greatest is to have a child. As Chateaubriand had no children, the most natural comment on the last branch of his remark is "sour grapes."

UNEDA.

Philadelphia.

* * * * *

INSCRIPTIONS ON BELLS.

(Vol. ix., p. 109.)

_St. Nicholas Church, Sidmouth._--Having, on October 21, 1850, taken intaglios in pressing-wax of the inscription forwarded by MR. GORDON, from which plaster casts were made, the writer is able to speak of it with some degree of confidence. The inscription, however, is not peculiar to Sidmouth: it is found at other places in the county of Devon, and perhaps elsewhere. In Harvey's _Sidmouth Directory_ for March, 1851, there is an article descriptive of all the six bells at this place, in which there is a fac-simile, engraved on wood, of the inscription in question. The words run all round the bell; and each word is placed on a cartouche. The Rev. Dr. Oliver of Exeter, in his communication to the writer on this subject, calls the bell the "Jesus Bell." The _Directory_ observes:

"It was formerly the practice to christen bells with ceremonies similar
to, but even more solemn than, those attending the naming of children;
and they were frequently dedicated to Christ (as this is), to the
Virgin, or some saint."

Dr. Oliver to the writer says:

"I have met with it at Whitstone, near this city [Exeter], at East
Teignmouth, &c.; _michi_ for _mihi_; [ihc (black-letter)], the
abbreviation for Jesus. Very often the word _veneratum_ occurs instead
of _amatum_, and _illud_ instead of _istud_."

The [ihc (black-letter)] stands thus: [=i]h[=c]. The _Directory_, on this abbreviated word, remarks,--

"The IHS, as an abbreviation for Jesus, is a blunder. Casley, in his
_Catalogue of the King's MSS._, observes, p. 23., that 'in Latin MSS.
the Greek letters of the word Christus, as also Jesus, are always
retained, except that the terminations are changed according to the
Latin language. Jesus is written [=IHS], or in small characters ihs,
which is the Greek [Greek: [=IÊS]] or [Greek: [=iês]], an
abbreviation for [Greek: iêsous]. However, the scribes knew nothing of
this for a thousand years before the invention of printing, for if they
had they would not have written [=ihs] for [Greek: iêsous]; but they
ignorantly copied after one another such letters as they found put for
these words. Nay, at length they pretended to find _Jesus Hominum
Salvator_ comprehended in the word [=IHS], which is another proof that
they took the middle letter for _h_, not [eta]. The dash also over the
word, which is a sign of abbreviation, some have changed to the sign of
the cross' [Hone's _Mysteries_, p. 282.]. The old way of {593} spelling
Jhesus with an _h_ may perhaps be referred to the same mistake. The
inscription, then, runs thus:

[Est mihi collatum Jesus istud nomen amatum],

which may be rendered, Jesus, that beloved name, is given to me. The
bell bears no date, but is of course older than the period of the
Reformation. But it remains to be observed that the last letter of the
three is not an _s_ but a c. It seems that in the old Greek
inscriptions the substitution of the _c_ for the _s_ was common.
Several examples are given in Horne's Introduction, vol. ii. pt. 1. ch.
iii. sect. 2., but we have not room to quote them. Suffice it to say
that at p. 100., in speaking of the MSS. of the Codex Vaticanus, he
says, 'The abbreviations are few, being confined chiefly to those words
which are in general abbreviated, such as [theta]C, KC, IC, XC, for
[Greek: Theos], [Greek: Kurios], [Greek: Iêsous], [Greek: Christos],
_God_, _Lord_, _Jesus_, _Christ_.' At the end of these words, in the
abbreviations, the _c_ is used for the _s_.--_Peter._"

This fourth bell is the oldest in the tower. The third, dated 1667, has quite a modern appearance as compared with it. The second, fifth, and sixth are all dated 1708, and the first, or smallest, was added in 1824.

PETER ORLANDO HUTCHINSON.

Sidmouth.

An appropriate inscription is to be found on the bell of St. John's Cathedral in this colony, date London, 1845. It is in the words of St. Paul's mission, Acts xxii. 21.: "I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."

W. T. M.

Hong Kong.

Here is a modern achievement in this kind of literature. It exists on one of the eight bells belonging to the church tower of Pilton, Devon:

"Recast by John Taylor and Son,
Who the best prize for church bells won
At the Great Ex-hi-bi-ti-on
In London, 1--8--5 and 1."

R. W. C.

I continue (from Vol. viii., p. 248.) my Notes of inscriptions on bells.

Mathon, Worcestershire. A peal of six bells:

1. "Peace and good neighbourhood."

2. "Glory to God."

3. "Fear God and honour the King."

4. "God preserve our Church and State."

5. "Prosperity to the town."

6. "The living to the church I call,
And to the grave do summon all."

Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Ten bells; the inscriptions on two are as follows, the rest merely bearing the names of churchwardens, &c.:

5. "God prosper the parish. A. R. 1701."

10. "I to the church the living call,
And to the grave do summon all. 1773."

The latter seems to be a favourite inscription. The REV. W. S. SIMPSON mentions it (Vol. viii., p. 448.) on a bell in one of the Oxfordshire churches.

Fotheringay, Northamptonshire. Four bells:

1. "Thomas Norris made me. 1634."

2. "Domini laudem, 1614, non verbo sed voce resonabo."

The two others respectively bear the dates 1609, 1595, with the initials of the rector and churchwarden, and (on the fourth bell) the words "Praise God." On a recent visit to this church I copied the following inscription from a bell, which, being cracked, is no longer used, and is now placed within the nave of the church. This bell is not mentioned by Archdeacon Bonney in his _Historic Notices of Fotheringay_, though he gives the inscriptions on the four others.

"Non clamor sed amor cantat in aure Dei. A. M. R. R. W. W. I. L. 1602."

The inscription is in Lombardic characters. MR. SIMPSON notes the same at Girton, Cambridgeshire (Vol. viii., p. 108.).

Godmanchester, Hunts. Eight bells:

1. "Thomas Osborn, Downham, _fecit_, 1794.
Intactum sillo. Percute dulce cano."

4. "T. Osborn {Our voices shall with joyful sound}
_fecit_. {Make hills and valleys echo round.} 1794."

8. "Rev. Castel Sherard, rector; Jno. Martin, Robert Waller, bailiffs;
John Scott, Richard Mills, churchwardens; T. Osborn _fecit_. 1794."

Morborne, Hunts. Two bells:

1. "Cum voco ad ecclesiam, venite."

2. "Henry Penn _fusore_. 1712."

Stilton, Hunts. Two bells:

1. "Thomas Norris made me. 1689."

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

At Bedale, in Yorkshire, is a bell weighing by estimation twenty-six hundredweight, which is probably of the same date, or nearly so, as the Dyrham bell. It measures four feet two inches and a half across the lip, and has the following inscription round the crown:

"[+] IOU : EGO : CUM : FIAM : CRUCE : CUSTOS : LAUDO : MARIAM : DIGNA :
DEI : LAUDE : MATER : DIGNISSIMA : GAUDE;"

the commencement of which I do not understand. There are five smaller bells belonging to the peal at Bedale, and a prayer bell. They bear inscriptions in the following order:

The prayer bell:

"Voco. Veni. Precare. 1713."
S.S.

{594}

The first, or lightest of the peal:

"Gloria in excelsis Deo. 1755. Edw^d Place, rector;
E.
Seller,
Ebor.
Jn^o Pullein, churchwarden."

The second:

"Iesus be ovr speed. P. S., T. W., H. S., I. W., M. W. 1664."

The third:

"Deo Gloria pxa Hominibus. 1627."

The fourth:

"Jesus be our speed. 1625."

The fifth:

"Soli Deo Gloria Pax Hominibus. 1631."

The letters P. S., on the second bell, are the initials of Dr. Peter Samwaies, who died April 5, 1693, having been thirty-one years rector of Bedale.

On the fly-leaf of one of the later registers at Hornby, near Bedale, is written the following memorandum:

"Inscription on the third bell at Hornby:

'When I do ring,
God's praises sing;
When I do toll,
Pray heart and soul.'

This bell was given to the parish church of Hornby by the Lord Conyers
in the reign of Henry VII., but, being broken, was recast by William
Lord D'Arcy and Conyers, the second of the name, 1656."

PATONCE.

Charwelton Church, Northants:

1. Broken to pieces: some fragments in the vestry. On one piece, "Ave
Maria."

2. "Jesus Nazarenus rex Judeorum fili Dei miserere mei. 1630."

3. appears a collection of Saxon letters put together without connexion.

4. "Nunquam ad preces cupies ire,
Cum sono si non vis venire. 1630."

Heyford Church, Northants:

1. "God saue the King. 1638."

2. "Cum cum Praie. 1601."

3. "Henry Penn made me. 1704.
John Paine, Thmoas [_sic_] Middleton, churchwardens."

4. "Thomas Morgan, Esquier, gave me
To the Church of Heford, frank and free. 1601."

With coat of arms of the Morgans on the side.

Floore Church, Northants:

1. "Russell of Wooton, near Bedford, made me. 1743.
James Phillips, Thomas Clark, churchwardens."

2. "Cantate Domino cantum novum. 1679."

3. "Henry Bagley made mee. 1679."

4. "Matthew Bagley made mee. 1679."

5. "John Phillips and Robert Bullocke, churchwardens. 1679."

6. "To the church the living call,
And to the grave do summonds [_sic_] all.
Russell of Wooton made me,
In seventeen hundred and forty-three."

Three coins inserted round the top.

Slapton Church, Northants:

1. [The Sancte bell] "Richard de Wambis me fesit" [_sic_].

2. "Xpe audi nos."

3. "Ultima sum trina campana vocor Katerina."

All in Saxon letters. No dates.

Inscription cut on the frame of Slapton bells:

"BE . IT . KNO
WEN . UN
TO . ALL . TH
IS . SAME . TH
AT . THOMAS
COWPER . OF
WOODEND .
MADE . THIS . FRAME.
1634."

Hellidon Church, Northants:

1. "God save the King. 1635."

2. "IHS Nazarenus rex Judæorum fili Dei miserere mei. 1635."

3. "Celorum Christe platiat [_sic_] tibi rex sonus iste. 1615."

4. Same as 2.

Dodford Church, Northants:

1. "Matthew Bagley made me. 1679."

2. "Campana gravida peperit filias. 1674."

3. "IHS Nazarenus [&c., as before]. 1632."

4. "Ex Dono Johannis Wyrley Armiger. 1614."

And five coins round the lip.

5. Inscription same as 3. Date 1626.

6. Ditto ditto Date 1624.

Wappenham Church, Northants:

1. "Henry Bagley made me. 1664."

2. "R. T. 1518. [+]"

3. "Praise the Lord. 1599."

4. "GOD SAVE KING JAMES. R. A. 1610."

Three coins on lip and bell-founder's arms.

The Sancte bell was recast in 1842, and hangs now in the north window of belfry. {595}

Brackley, St. Peter's Church, Northants:

1. "Jesus Nazarenus [&c., as before]. 1628."

2. "God save the King. 1628."

3. Same as 1.

4. "Celorum Christe platiat [_sic_] tibi rex sonus iste. 1628."

5. "Cum sono si non vis venire, }
Nunquam ad preces cupies ire } 1628."

Dunton Church, Leicestershire:

1. "IHS Nazarenus [&c., as before]. 1619."

2. "Be it knone to all that doth me see,
That Clay of Leicester made me.
Nick. Harald and John More, churchwardens. 1711."

3. Same as 1. Date 1621.

Leire Church, Leicestershire:

1. "Jesus be oure good speed. 1654."

2. "Henricus Bagley _fecit_. 1675."

3. "Recast A.D. 1755, John Sleath, C.W.;
Tho^s Eyre de Kettering _fecit_."

Frolesworth Church, Leicestershire:

1. "Jesus Nazarenus [&c., as before]. 1635."

2. In Old English characters (no date):

"Dum Rosa precata mundi Maria vocata."

3. Same as 1.

J. R. M., M.A.

The legend noted from a bell at Sidmouth (Vol. ix., p. 109.), namely,--

"Est michi collatum
Ihc istud nomen amatum,"

is not an unusual inscription on mediæval black-letter bells, if I may use the expression. The characters are small. It is on two bells at Teignmouth, and is on one of the bells in this tower:

1. "[+] Voce mea viva depello cuncta nociva."

2. "[+] Est michi collatum Ihc istud nomen amatum."

3. "Embrace trew museck."

A correspondent, MR. W. S. SIMPSON (Vol. viii., p. 448.), asks the date of the earliest known examples of bells.

Dates on mediæval bells are, I believe, very rare in England. I have but few notes of any. My impression is that such bells are as old as the towers which contain them, judging from the character of the letter, the wear and tear of the iron work, aye, of the bell itself. Many old bells have been recast, and on _such_ there is often a record of the date of its prototype. For instance, at St. Peter's, Exeter:

"Ex dono Petri Courtenay," &c., "1484;" "renovat," &c., "1676."

At Chester-le-Street:

"Thomas Langley dedit," &c., "1409;" "refounded," &c., "1665."

I will add two or three with dates.

Bruton, Somerset:

"Est Stephanus primus lapidatus gracia plenus. 1528."

At St. Alkmond's, Derby:

"Ut tuba sic resono, ad templa venite pii. 1586."

At Lympey Stoke, Somerset:

"W. P., I. A. F. 1596."

Hexham. Old bells taken down 1742:

1. "Ad primos cantus pulsat nos Rex gloriosus."

2. "Et cantare ... faciet nos vox Nicholai."

3. "Est nobis digna Katerine vox benigna."

4. "Omnibus in Annis est vox Deo grata Johannis.
A.D. MCCCCIIII."

5. "Andrea mi care Johanne consociare.
A.D. MCCCCIIII."

6. "Est mea vox orata dum sim Maria vocata.
A.D. MCCCCIIII."

Any earlier dates would be acceptable.

On the Continent bells are usually dated. I will extract, from Roccha _De Campanis_, those at St. Peter's at Rome.

The great bell:

"In nomine Domini, Matris, Petriq., Pauliq.
Accipe devotum, parvum licet, accipe munus,
Quod tibi Christe dat[=u] Petri, Pauliq. tri[=u]phum,
Explicat, et nostram petit, populiq. salutem
Ipsorum pietate dari, meritisq. refundi
Et verbum caro factum est.
Anno milleno trecento cum quinquageno
Additis et tribus Septembris mense colatur;
Ponderat et millia decies septiesq. librarum."

2. "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Am[=e].
Ad honorem Dei, et Beatæ Mariæ Virginis,
Et Beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli,
Verbum Caro factum est,
Solve jubente Deo terrar[=u] Petre cathenas, qui facis,
Ut pateant coelestia Regna beatis,
M
Hæc campana cum alia majore ponderante ---
XVI.
Post consumptionem ignito fulgure, anno precedente
imminente, fusa est, anno Domini MCCCLIII.
Mense Junii, et ponderat hæc MX et centena librarum.
Amen."

3. "Nomine Dominico Patris, prolisq. spirati
Ordine tertiam Petri primæ succedere noscant.
Per dies paucos quotquot sub nomine dicto
Sanctam Ecclesiam colunt in agmine trino. Amen."

4. "Anno Domini MCCLXXXVIIII. ad honorem Dei, et Beatæ Mariæ Virginis,
et Sancti Thomæ Apostoli Tempore Fratris Joannis de Leodio Ministri,
factum fuit hoc opus de legato quondam Domini {596} Rikardi Domini Papæ
Notarii. Guidottus Pisanus me fecit."

On a small bell:

"Mentem Sanctam Spontaneam, honorem Deo,
Et Patris liberationem.
Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum;
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui."

In the Church of St. John Lateran was a bell with a mutilated inscription; but the date is plain, 1389. The name of Boniface IX. is on it, who was Sum. Pont. in that year.

In the Church of St. Mariæ Majoris were two bells dated anno Dom. 1285; and another 1291.

In the Church of the Jesuits was a bell with this inscription, brought from England:

"Facta fuit A. Dom. 1400, Die vi M[=e]sis Sept[=e]bris.
Sancta Barbara, ora pro nobis."

Roccha, who published his _Commentary_ 1612, says:

"In multis Campanis _fit mentio de Anno, in quo facta est Campana_,
necnon de ipsius Ecclesiæ Rectore, vel optime merito, et Campanæ
artifice, _ut ego ipse vidi Romæ_, ubi præcipuarum Ecclesiarum, et
Basilicarum inscriptiones Campanis incisas perlegi."--P. 55.

So that it would appear that the practice of inscribing dates on bells was usual on the Continent, though for some reason or other it did not generally obtain in England till after the Reformation. I have a Note of another foreign bell or two with an early date.

At Strasburg:

"[+] O Rex gloriæ Christe, veni cum pace! MCCCLXXV. tertio Nonas Augusti."

On another:

"Vox ego sum vitæ, voco vos, orate, venite. 1461."

On a bell called St. D'Esprit:

"Anno Dom. MCCCCXXVII mense Julio fusa sum, per
Magistrum Joannem Gremp de Argentina.
Nuncio festa, metum, nova quædam flebile lethum."

A bell called the Magistrates:

"Als man zahlt 1475 Jahr
War Kaiser Friedrick hier offenbar:
Da hat mich Meister Thomas Jost gegossen
Dem Rath zu laüten ohnverdrossen."

On another:

"Nomen Domini sit benedictum. 1806."

I would beg to add a Note of one more early and interesting bell which was at Upsala:

"[+] Anno . Domini . MDXIIII . fusa . est . ista . Campana .
in . honorem . Sancti . Erici . Regis . et .
Martiris . Rex . erat . Ericus . humilis . devotus .
honestus . prudens . V."

What V. means is rather a puzzle.

I fear I have already extended this reply to a length beyond all fair limit. I may at some future time (if desirable) send you a long roll of legends on mediæval bells without dates, and others of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some of a devotional character, and others of the style of unseemly and godless epitaphs. But it is to be hoped that in these, as in other like matters, a better taste is beginning to predominate; and it must be a subject of congratulation that

"Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto."

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

Rectory, Clyst St. George.

In the steeple of Foulden Church, South Greenhoe Hd., Norfolk, are six bells with inscriptions as under:

1. "Thos. Osborn _fecit_. 1802.
Peace and good neighbourhood."

2. "The laws to praise, my voice I raise."

3. "Thos. Osborn _fecit_, Downham, Norfolk."

4. "Our voices shall with joyful sound
Make hill and valley echo round."

5. "I to the church the living call,
And to the grave I summon all."

6. "Long live King George the Third.
Thomas Osborn _fecit_, 1802."

GODDARD JOHNSON.

* * * * *

DE BEAUVOIR PEDIGREE.

(Vol. ix., p. 349.)

Your correspondent MR. THOMAS RUSSELL POTTER inquires whether any descendants of the De Beauvoirs of Guernsey are still existing. The family was, at one time, so numerous in that island that there are few of the gentry who cannot claim a De Beauvoir among their ancestors; but the name itself became extinct there by the death of Osmond de Beauvoir, Esq., in 1810. Some few years later, the last of a branch of the family settled in England died, leaving a very large property, which was inherited by a Mr. Benyon, who assumed the name of De Beauvoir.

The name is also to be found in the Irish baronetcy; a baronet of the name of Brown having married the daughter and heiress of the Rev. Peter de Beauvoir, the widow I believe of an Admiral McDougal, and thereupon taking up his wife's maiden name.

With respect to the pedigree which MR. POTTER quotes, and of which many copies exist in this island, it is without doubt one of the most impudent forgeries in that way ever perpetrated. From internal evidence, it was drawn up at the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth, or at the beginning {597} of the reign of James I., as the compiler speaks of Roger, Earl of Rutland, as being living. This nobleman succeeded to the title in 1588, and died in 1612. The pedigree ends in the Guernsey line with Henry de Beauvoir; whom we may therefore presume to have been still alive, or but recently deceased; and whose great-grandfather, according to the pedigree, was the first of the name in the island. Allowing three generations to a century, this would throw back the arrival of the first of the De Beauvoirs to some part of the sixteenth century; but we have proof that they were settled here long before that time. In an authentic document, preserved among the records of the island, the extent of the crown revenues drawn up by order of Edward III. in 1331, the names of Pierre and Guillaume de Beauvoir are found. Another Pierre de Beauvoir, apparently the great-grandson of the above-mentioned Pierre, was Bailiff of Guernsey from 1470 to 1480. As for the family of Harryes, no such I believe ever existed in Guernsey; but a gentleman of the name of Peter Henry, belonging to a family of very ancient standing in the island, bought property in Salisbury in the year 1551, where the name seems to have been Anglicised to Harrys or Harris; as the name of his son Andrew, who was a jurat of the Royal Court of Guernsey, appears as often on the records of the island in the one form as in the other. One of Peter Henry's or Harris's daughters was married at Salisbury to a Henry de Beauvoir; and I have no doubt this is the marriage with which the pedigree ends. If I am right, the Harryes' pedigree has no more claim to authenticity than the De Beauvoir. If MR. POTTER wishes for farther information, and will communicate with me, I shall be happy to answer his inquiries as far as I am able.

The pedigree itself, however, suggests two or three Queries which I should like to see answered.

The heading is signed Hamlet Sankye or Saukye. Is anything known of such a person?

The pedigree speaks of Sir Robert de Beauveir of Tarwell, Knt., _now living_. Was there ever a family of the name of De Beauveir, De Beauvoir, or Beaver, of Tarwell, in Nottinghamshire? And if there was, what arms did they bear?

If there was such a family, was it in any way connected with any of the early proprietors of Belvoir Castle?

Is anything known of a family of the name of Harryes or Harris of Orton, and what were their arms?

EDGAR MACCULLOCH.

Guernsey.

* * * * *

RIGHT OF REFUGE IN THE CHURCH PORCH.

(Vol. ix., p. 325.)

The following entry appears in a Corporation Book of this city, under the year 1662:

"Thomas Corbold, who hath a loathesome disease, have, with his wife and
two children, layne in the Porch of St. Peters per Mountegate above one
year; it is now ordered by the Court that he be put into some place in
the Pest-houses during the pleasure of the Court, untill the
Lazar-houses be repaired."

How they were supported during the year does not appear, or if he belonged to the parish; nor is it said that it was considered he gained settlement on the parish by continuing in the porch one year.

I have heard of similar instances under an idea that any person may lodge in a church porch, and are not removable; but I believe it is an erroneous idea.

GODDARD JOHNSON.

In proof of the idea being current among the lower orders, that the church porch is a place of refuge for any houseless parishioners, I beg to state that a poor woman of the adjoining parish of Langford, came the other day to ask whether I, as a magistrate, could render her any assistance, as, in consequence of her husband's father and mother having gone to America, she and her family had become houseless, and were obliged to take up their abode in the church porch.

A. S.

West Tofts Rectory, Brandon, Norfolk.

I know an instance where a person found a temporary, but at the same time an involuntary, home in a church porch. There was a dispute between the parishes of Frodingham and Broughton, co. Lincoln, some twelve months ago, as to the settlement of an old woman. She had been living for some time in, and had become chargeable to the latter parish, but was said to belong to the former. By some means or other the woman's son was induced to convey his mother to the parish of Frodingham, which he did; and as he knew quite well that the overseer of the parish would not receive her at his hands, he adopted the somewhat strange course of leaving her in the church porch, where she remained until evening, when the overseer of Frodingham took her away, fearing that her life might be in danger from exposure to the cold, she being far advanced in years. Until I saw CHEVERELLS' Query, I thought the depository of the old woman in the church porch was, so far as the _place_ of deposit was concerned, more accidental than designed; but after all it may be the remnant of some such custom as that of which he speaks, and I, for one, should be glad to see farther inquiry made into it. To which of J. H. Parker's _Parochial Tales_ does CHEVERELLS allude?

W. E. HOWLETT.

Kirton-in-Lindsey.

{598}

* * * * *

FERDINAND CHARLES III., DUKE OF PARMA.

(Vol. ix., p. 417.)

The late Duke of Parma was not the first lineal representative of the Stuarts, as stated by E. S. S. W. Victor Emanuel, King of Sardinia, who succeeded in 1802, left by his wife Maria Theresa of Austria four daughters. The eldest of these four, Beatrix, born in 1792, married, in 1812, Francis IV., Duke of Modena, and by him (who died on the 21st of January, 1846) had issue two sons and two daughters. The eldest of these sons, Francis V., the present reigning Duke of Modena, is therefore the person who would be now sitting on the English throne had the Stuarts kept the succession. He has no children, I believe, by his wife Adelgonda of Bavaria; and the next person in succession would therefore be Dorothea, the infant daughter of his deceased brother Victor.

Victor Emanuel's _second_ daughter was Maria Theresa, who married Charles Duke of Parma, as stated by E. S. S. W.

The present Countess of Chambord is Maria Theresa Beatrice-Gaëtana, the eldest of the two sisters of Francis V., Duke of Modena. She is therefore wife of the representative of the House of Bourbon, and sister to the representative of the House of Stuart.

S. L. P.

Oxford and Cambridge Club.

Allow me to correct the statement made by your correspondent, that the Duke of Parma represented the Royal House of Stuart. The mother of the late Duke of Parma had an elder sister, Maria Beatrice, who married Francis IV., late Duke of Modena, and upon her death, in 1840, the _representation_ devolved upon her son, Francis V., the present Duke of Modena, who was born in 1819.

P. V.

Allow me to remark on the article of E. S. S. W. (Vol. ix., p. 417.) respecting the House of Stuart, that he is in error in assigning that honour to the late Duke of Parma, and, as a consequence, to his infant son and successor, Robert, now Duke of Parma. The late Duke was undoubtedly a descendant of Charles I. through his mother; but his mother had an _elder_ sister, Beatrice, late Duchess of Modena, whose son, Francis V., now Duke of Modena, born 1st June, 1819, is the unquestionable heir to the House of Stuart, and, as a Jacobite would say, if any such curiosity there be in existence, legitimate King of Great Britain and Ireland.

J. REYNELL WREFORD.

Bristol.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Mr. Townsend's Wax-paper Process._--At the last meeting of the Photographic Society a paper was read by Mr. Townsend, giving the results of a series of experiments instituted by him in reference to the wax-paper process. One of the great objections hitherto made to this process has been its slowness, as compared with the original calotype process, and its various modifications; and another, that its preparation involved some complexity of manipulation. Mr. Townsend has simplified the process materially, having found that the use of the fluoride and cyanide of potassium, as directed by Le Gray, in no way adds to the efficiency of the process, either in accelerating or otherwise. The iodide and bromide of potassium with free iodine give a paper which produces rapid, sure, and clean results. He discards whey, sugar of milk, grape sugar, &c., hitherto deemed essential, but which his experience shows to be unnecessary. He exhibited three negatives of the same view taken consecutively at eight o'clock in the morning, with the respective exposures of thirty seconds, two and a half minutes, and ten minutes, each of which was good and perfect. The formula he adopts is:

Iodide of potassium 600 grs.
Bromide of potassium, from 150 to 250 "
Re-sublimed iodine 6 "
Distilled water 40 oz.

The waxed papers are wholly immersed in this solution, and left to soak at least two hours, and are then hung to dry in the usual way. The papers are made sensitive by wholly immersing them in aceto-nitrate of silver of the following proportions:

Nitrate of silver 30 grs.
Acetic acid 30 minims.
Distilled water 1 oz.

The papers remaining in this solution not less than eight minutes. They are washed in two waters for eight minutes each, and then blotted off in the ordinary manner. Mr. Townsend states that there is no need to fear leaving the paper in the sensitive bath too long. He has left it in the bath fourteen hours without any injury. The paper thus prepared will keep ten or twelve days; it may be longer, but his experience does not extend beyond that time. With paper thus prepared a portrait was exhibited, taken in fifty-five seconds, in a room with a side light; but it must be added, that in this instance the paper was not washed, but was blotted off immediately on its leaving the sensitive bath, though not used until two hours had elapsed. Mr. Townsend uses for developing a saturated solution of gallic acid with a drachm of aceto-nitrate to every four ounces of it, but he considers that this proportion of aceto-nitrate may be beneficially lessened. He finds that by this process he is certain of success, and is never troubled with that browning over of the paper which so often attends the use of the other methods of preparation. Besides the rapidity of action which he states, there is the farther advantage that a lengthened exposure is not injurious. The proportion of bromide may vary from 150 grs. to 250 grs.; less than 150 is not sufficient to produce a maximum of rapidity, whilst more than 250 adds nothing to the effect.

_Photographic Litigation._--Will you allow me, through the medium of "N. & Q.," to suggest to those who {599} take an interest in the collodion process, the desirableness of making a subscription to aid Mr. Henderson in his defence against the proceedings commenced by Mr. Talbot, to restrain him (and through him, no doubt, all others) from taking collodion portraits.[11]

It does not appear just that one person should bear the whole expense of a defence in which so many are interested; and I have no doubt that if a subscription be set on foot, many photographers will willingly contribute. A subscription, besides its material aid to Mr. Henderson, would also serve to show that public opinion is opposed to such absurd and unjust attempts at monopoly.

It is difficult to imagine how a claim can be established to a right in an invention made many years subsequent to the date of the patent under which the claim is made--not only made by another person, but differing so widely in principle from the patent process. The advertisement in the _Athenæum_ of Saturday last (June 10) shows plainly that it is intended, if possible, to prevent the production of portraits on collodion by any person not licensed by Mr. Talbot; and the harshness of this proceeding, after the process has been in public use for several years, needs no comment.

H. C. SANDS.

30. Spring Gardens, Bradford.

[Footnote 11: The words of the advertisement are "making _and selling_."]

[We insert this communication, because we believe it gives expression
to a sentiment shared by many. Subscriptions in favour of M. La Roche,
whose case stands first for trial, are received by Messrs. Horne and
Thornthwaite. Our correspondent does not, however, accurately represent
the caution issued by Mr. F. Talbot's solicitors, which is against
"making _and selling_" photographic portraits by the collodion process.
When giving up his patent to the public, Mr. Fox Talbot reserved "in
the hands of his own licensees the application of the invention to the
taking photographic portraits for sale," and we have always regretted
that Mr. F. Talbot should have made such reservation, founded, as it
is, upon a very questionable right.--ED. "N. & Q."]

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Vandyking_ (Vol. ix., p. 452.).--Your correspondent P. C. S. S. asks the meaning of the term _Vandyking_, in the following passage of a letter from Secretary Windebanke to the Lord Deputy Wentworth, dated Westminster, Nov. 20, 1633, the Lord Deputy being then in Ireland:--

"Now, my Lord, for my own observations of your carriage since you had
the conduct of affairs there [in Ireland], because you press me so
earnestly, I shall take the boldness to deliver myself as freely.

"First, though while we had the happiness and honour to have your
assistance here at the Council Board, you made many ill faces with your
pen (pardon, I beseech your Lordship, the over free censure of your
Vandyking), and worse, oftentimes, with your speeches, especially in
the business of the Lord Falconberg, Sir Thomas Gore, Vermuyden, and
others; yet I understand you make worse there in Ireland, and there
never appeared a worse face under a cork upon a bottle, than your
Lordship hath caused some to make in disgorging such church livings as
their zeal had eaten up."--_Strafford's Letters_, vol. i. p. 161.

This passage, as well as what follows, is written in a strain of banter, and is intended to compliment the great Lord Deputy under the pretence of a free censure of his conduct. The first part of the second paragraph evidently alludes to Wentworth's habit of drawing faces upon paper when he was sitting at the Council Table, and the word _Vandyking_ is used in the sense of _portrait-painting_. Vandyck was born in 1599; he visited England for a short time in 1620, and in 1632 he came to England permanently, was lodged by the king, and knighted; in the following year he received a pension of 200l. for life, and the title of painter to his Majesty. It was therefore quite natural that Windebanke should, in November, 1633, use the term _Vandyking_ as equivalent to _portrait-painting_.

In the latter part of the same paragraph, the allusion is to the wry faces, which the speeches of this imperious member of council sometimes caused. Can any of your correspondents explain the expression, "a worse face under a cork upon a bottle?"

L.

_Monteith_ (Vol. ix., p. 452.).--The Monteith was a kind of punch-bowl (sometimes of delf ware) with scallops or indentations in the brim, the object of which was to convert it into a convenient tray for bringing in the glasses. These were of wine-glass shape, and being placed with the brims downwards, and radiating from the centre, and with the handles protruding through the indentations in the bowl, were easily carried, without much jingling or risk of breakage. Of course the bowl was empty of liquor at the time.

P. P.

_A. M. and M. A._ (Vol. ix., p. 475.).--JUVERNA, M. A., is certainly wrong in stating that "Masters of Arts of Oxford are styled 'M. A.,' in contradistinction to the Masters of Arts in every other university." A. B., A. M., are the proper initials for _Baccalaureus_ and _Magister Artium_, and should therefore only be used when the name is in Latin. B.A. and M.A. are those for Bachelor and Master of Arts, and are the only ones to be used where the name is expressed in English. Thus John Smith, had he taken his first degree in Arts at any university, might indicate the fact by signing John Smith, B.A., or Johannes S., A.B. If he put John Smith, A.B., a doubt might exist whether he were not an _able-bodied_ seaman, for that is implied by A.B. attached to an English name. The editor of Farindon's _Sermons_, who is, I believe, a Dissenter, styles himself the Reverend T. Jackson, S.T.P., _i. e._ Sacrosanctæ Theologiæ {600} Professor. He might as well have part of his title in Sanscrit, as part in English and part in Latin.

I believe this mistake is made more frequently by graduates of Cambridge than by those of Oxford. Indeed, they have now created a new degree, Master of Laws, with the initials LL.M. (Legum Magister). But they are usually infelicitous in their nomenclature, as witness their _voluntary_ theological examination, now made _compulsory_ by all the bishops.

E. G. R., M.A.

Cambridge.

_Greek denounced by the Monks_ (Vol. ix., p. 467).--In his _History of the Reformation_ (b. I. ch. iii.), D'Aubigné says,--

"The monks asserted that all heresies arose from those two languages
[Greek and Hebrew], and particularly from the Greek. 'The New
Testament,' said one of them, 'is a book full of serpents and thorns.
Greek,' continued he, 'is a new and recently-invented language, and we
must be upon our guard against it. As for Hebrew, my dear brethren, it
is certain that all who learn it immediately become Jews.' Heresbach, a
friend of Erasmus and a respectable author, reports these expressions."

Had there been more authority, probably D'Aubigné would have quoted it.

B. H. C.

In Lewis's _History of the English Translation of the Bible_, edit. London, 1818, pp. 54, 55., the following passage occurs:

"These proceedings for the advancement of learning and knowledge,
especially in divine matters, alarmed the ignorant and illiterate
monks, insomuch that they declaimed from the pulpits, that 'there was
now a _new language_ discovered called Greek, of which people should
beware, since it was that which produced all the heresies; that in this
language was come forth a book called the _New Testament_, which was
now in everybody's hands, and was full of thorns and briers: that there
was also another language now started up which they called Hebrew, and
that they who learnt it were termed Hebrews.'"

The authority quoted for this statement is Hody, _De Bibliorum Textibus_, p. 465.

See also the rebuke administered by Henry VIII. to a preacher who had "launched forth against Greek and its new interpreters," in Erasmus, _Epp._, p. 347., quoted in D'Aubigné's _Reformation_, book XVIII. 1.