Chapter III: Part II (1)

Nos. 1. 2. G. Ellis
Nos. 3. 4. J. Richardson.
No. 5. Fitzpatrick.
No. 6. Read.
No. 7. Dr. Lawrence.

_Political Eclogues._

Rose. Fitzpatrick.
The Lyars. Do.
Margaret Nicholson. R. Adair.
C. Jenkinson. G. Ellis.
Jekyll, Lord J. Townsend and Tickell.

_Probationary Odes._

No. 1. Tickell.
2. G. Ellis.
3. H. B. Dudley.
4. J. Richardson.
5. J. Ellis. ?G.
6. Unknown.
7. (Mason's). Do.
8. Brummell.
9. Sketched by Canning, the Eton Boy, finished by Tickell.
10. Pearce. ?
11. Boscawen.
12. Lord J. Townsend.
13. Unknown. Mr. C. believes it to be Mrs. Debbing, wife of Genl. D.
14. Rev. Mr. O'Byrne.
15. Fitzpatrick.
16. Dr. Lawrence.
17. Genl. Burgoyne.
18. Read.
19. Richardson.
20. G. Ellis.
21. Do.
22. Do.

"If ever my books should escape this obscure corner, the above memorandum will interest some curious collector.

"JAMES MACKINTOSH.

"The above list, as far as it relates to Richardson, is confirmed by his printed Life, from which I took a note at Lord J. Townsend's four days ago.

"J. MACKINTOSH. 18 Nov., 1823."

* * * * *

NOTE ON PALAMON AND ARCITE.

It has probably often been remarked as somewhat curious, that Chaucer, in describing the arrival of Palamon and Arcite at Athens, mentions the day of the week on which it takes place:

"And in this wise, these lordes all and some,
Ben on the Sonday to the citee come," &c.

Nothing seems to depend on their coming on one day of the week rather than on another. In reality, however, this apparently insignificant circumstance is astrologically connected with the issue of the contest. Palamon, who on the morning of the following day makes his prayer to Venus, succeeds at last in winning Emelie, though Arcite, who commends himself to Mars, conquers him in the tournament. The prayers of both are granted, because both address themselves to their tutelary deities at hours over which these deities respectively preside. In order to understand this, we must call to mind the astrological explanation {132} of the names of the days of the week. According to Dio Cassius, the Egyptians divided the day into twenty-four hours, and supposed each of them to be in an especial manner influenced by some one of the planets. The first hour of the day had the prerogative of giving its name, or rather that of the planet to which it was subject, to the whole day. Thus, for instance, Saturn presides over the first hour of the day, which is called by his name; Jupiter over the second, and so on; the Moon, as the lowest of the planets, presiding over the seventh. Again, the eighth is subject to Saturn, and the same cycle recommences at the fifteenth and at the twenty-second hours. The twenty-third hour is therefore subject to Jupiter, and the twenty-fourth to Mars. Consequently, the first hour of the following day is subject to the sun, and the day itself is accordingly dies Solis, or Sunday. Precisely in the same way it follows that the next day will be dies Lunae; and so on throughout the week. To this explanation it has been objected that the names of the days are more ancient than the division of the day into twenty-four parts; and Joseph Scaliger has attempted to derive the names of the days from those of the planets, without reference to this method of division. His explanation, however, which is altogether geometrical, inasmuch as it depends on the properties of the heptagon, seems quite unsatisfactory, though Selden appears to have been inclined to adopt it. At any rate, the account of the matter given by Dio Cassius has generally been accepted.

To return to Chaucer: Theseus, as we know, had erected in the place where the tournament was to be held three oratories, dedicated to Mars, to Venus, and to Diana. On the day after their arrival, namely, on Monday, Palamon and Arcite offered their prayers to Venus and Mars respectively, and Emelie, in like manner, to Diana. Of Palamon we are told that--

"He rose, to wenden on his pilgrimage
Unto the blisful Citherea benigne"

two hours before it was day, and that he repaired to her temple "in hire hour."

In the third hour afterwards,

"Up rose the sonne, and up rose Emelie
And to the temple of Diane gan hie."

Her prayer also was favourably heard by the deity to whom it was addressed; the first hour of Monday (the natural day beginning at sunrise) being subject to Luna or Diana. The orisons of Palamon were offered two hours earlier, namely, in the twenty-third hour of Sunday, which is similarly subject to Venus, the twenty-fourth or last hour belonging to Mercury, the planet intermediate between Venus and the Moon. It is on this account that Palamon is said to have prayed to Venus in her hour.

Arcite's vows were made later in the day than those of Palamon and Emelie. We are told that

"The nexte hour of Mars following this,"

(namely after Emelie's return from the temple of Diana)

"Arcite unto the temple walked is
Of fierce Mars."

The first hour of Mars is on Monday, the fourth hour of the day; so that as the tournament took place in April or May, Arcite went to the temple of Mars about eight or nine o'clock.

It may be well to explain the word "inequal" in the lines--

"The thridde hour inequal that Palamon
Began to Venus temple for to gon,
Up rose the sonne, and up rose Emelie."

In astrology, the heavens are divided into twelve houses, corresponding to a division of the ecliptic into twelve equal parts, the first of which is measured from the point of the ecliptic which is on the horizon and about to rise above it, at the instant which the astrologer has to consider, namely, the instant of birth in the case of a nativity, or that in which a journey or any other enterprise is undertaken.

The hours inequal here spoken of similarly correspond to a division of the ecliptic into twenty-four parts, so that each house comprehends the portions of the ecliptic belonging to two of these hours, provided the division into houses is made at sunrise, when the first hour commences. It is obvious that these astrological hours will be of unequal length, as equal portions of the ecliptic subtend unequal angles at the pole of the equator.

With regard to the time of year at which the tournament takes place, there seems to be an inconsistency. Palamon escapes from prison on the 3rd of May, and is discovered by Theseus on the 5th. Theseus fixes "this day fifty wekes" for the rendezvous at Athens, so that the tournament seems to fall in April. Chaucer, however, says that--

"Gret was the feste in Athenes thilke day,
And eke the lusty seson of that May
Made every wight to be, in swiche pleasance," &c.

Why the 3rd of May is particularly mentioned as the time of Palamon's escape, I cannot tell: there is probably some astrological reason. The mixture of astrological notions with mythology is curious: "the pale Saturnus the colde" is once more a dweller on Olympus, and interposes to reconcile Mars and Venus. By his influence Arcite is made to perish after having obtained from Mars the fulfilment of his prayer--

"Yeve me the victorie, I axe thee no more."

[epsilon].

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

"_Snail, Snail, come out of your Hole._"--In Surrey, and most probably in other counties where {133} shell-snails abound, children amuse themselves by charming them with a chant to put forth their horns, of which I have only heard the following couplet, which is repeated until it has the desired effect, to the great amusement of the charmer.

"Snail, snail, come out of your hole,
Or else I'll beat you as black as a coal."

It is pleasant to find that this charm is not peculiar to English children, but prevails in places as remote from each other as Naples and Silesia.

The Silesian rhyme is:

"Schnecke, schnecke, schnuerre!
Zeig mir dein viere,
Wenn mir dein viere nicht zeigst,
Schmeisz ich dich in den Graben,
Fressen dich die Raben;"

which may be thus paraphrased:

"Snail, snail, slug-slow,
To me thy four horns show;
If thou dost not show me thy four,
I will throw thee out of the door,
For the crow in the gutter,
To eat for bread and butter."

In that amusing Folk's-book of Neapolitan childish tales, the _Pentamerone_ of the noble Count-Palatine Cavalier Giovan-Battista Basile, in the seventeenth tale, entitled "La Palomma," we have a similar rhyme:

"Jesce, jesce, corna;
Ca mammata te scorna,
Te scorna 'ncoppa lastrico,
Che fa lo figlio mascolo."

of which the sense may probably be:

"Peer out! Peer out! Put forth your horns!
At you your mother mocks and scorns;
Another son is on the stocks,
And you she scorns, at you she mocks."

S. W. SINGER.

_The Evil Eye._--This superstition is still prevalent in this neighbourhood (Launceston). I have very recently been informed of the case of a young woman, in the village of Lifton, who is lying hopelessly ill of consumption, which her neighbours attribute to her having been "_overlooked_" (this is the local phrase by which they designate the baleful spell of the _evil eye_). An old woman in this town is supposed to have the power of "ill-wishing" or bewitching her neighbours and their cattle, and is looked on with much awe in consequence.

H. G. T.

"_Millery! Millery! Dousty-poll!_" &c.--I am told by a neighbour of a cruel custom among the children in Somersetshire, who, when they have caught a certain kind of large white moth, which they call a _miller_, chant over it this uncouth ditty:--

"Millery! Millery! _Dousty_-poll!
How many sacks hast thou stole?"

And then, with boyish recklessness, put the poor creature to death for the imagined misdeeds of his human namesake.

H. G. T.

_"Nettle in, Dock out."_--Sometime since, turning over the leaves of Clarke's _Chaucer_, I stumbled on the following passage in "Troilus and Cressida," vol. ii. p. 104.:--

"Thou biddest me that I should love another
All freshly newe, and let Creseide go,
It li'th not in my power leve brother,
And though I might, yet would I not do so:
But can'st thou playen racket to and fro,
_Nettle' in Dock out_, now this now that, Pandare?
Now foule fall her for thy woe that care."

I was delighted to find the charm for a nettle sting, so familiar to my childish ear, was as old as Chaucer's time, and exceedingly surprised to stumble on the following note:--

"This appears to be a proverbial expression implying inconstancy; but
the origin of the phrase is unknown to all the commentators on our
poet."

If this be the case, Chaucer's commentators may as well be told that children in Northumberland use friction by a dock-leaf as the approved remedy for the sting of a nettle, or rather the approved charm; for the patient, while rubbing in the dock-juice, should keep repeating,--

"Nettle in, dock out,
Dock in, nettle out,
Nettle in, dock out,
Dock rub nettle out."

The meaning is therefore obvious. Troilus is indignant at being recommended to forget this Cressida for a new love, just as a child cures a nettle-sting by a dock-leaf. I know not whether you will deem this trifle worth a corner in your valuable and amusing "NOTES."

* * * * *

THE SCALIGERS.

"Lo primo tuo rifugio e 'l primo ostello
Sara la cortesia del gran Lombardo,
Che _'n su_ la Scala porta il santo uccello."
Dante, _Paradiso_, xvii. 70.

The Scaligers are well known, not only as having held the lordship of Verona for some generations, but also as having been among the friends of Dante in his exile, no mean reputation in itself; and, at a later period, as taking very high rank among the first scholars of their day. To which of them the passage above properly belongs--whether to Can Grande, or his brother Bartolommeo, or even his father Alberto, commentators are by no means agreed. The question is argued more largely than conclusively, both in the notes to Lombardi's edition, and also in Ugo Foscolo's _Discorso nel testo di Dante_.

Perhaps the following may be a contribution to the evidence in favour of Can Grande. After {134} saying, in a letter, in which he professes to give the history and origin of his family,--

"Prisca omnium familiarum Scaligerae stirpis insignia sunt, aut _Scala
singularis_, aut Canes utrinque scalae innitentes."

Joseph Scaliger adds--

"Denique principium Veronensium progenitores eadem habuerunt insignia:
_donec_ in eam familiam Alboinus et _Canis Magnus_ Aquilam imperii cum
Scala primum ab Henrico VII^o, deinde a Ludovico Bavaro acceptam nobis
reliquerunt."

Alboinus, however, who received this grant upon being made a Lieutenant of the Empire, and having the Signory of Verona made hereditary in his family, only bore the eagle "_in quadrante scuti_."

"Sed Canis Magnus, cum eidem a Caesare Ludovico Bavaro idem privilegium
confirmatum esset, totum scutum Aquila occupavit, _subjecta Alitis
pedibus Scala_."

Can Grande, then, was surely the first who carried the "santo uccello" _in su_ la Scala; and his epithet of Grande would also agree best with Dante's words, as neither his father nor brothers seem to have had the same claim to it.

I would offer a farther remark about this same title or epithet Can Grande, and the origin of the scala or ladder as a charge upon the shield or coat of this family. Cane would at first sight appear to be a designation borrowed from the animal of that name. There would be parallels enough in Italy and elsewhere, as the Ursini, Lewis the Lion (VIII. of France), our own Coeur de Lion, and Harold Harefoot. Dante, too, refers to him under the name "Il Veltro," _Inferno_, canto 1. l. 101. But Joseph Scaliger, in the letter to which I referred before, gives the following account of it:--

"Nomen illi fuerat _Franscisco_, a sacro lavacro, _Cani_ a gentilitate,
_Magno_ a merito rerum gestarum. Neque enim _Canis_ ab illo _latranti
animali_ dictus est, ut recte monet Jovius, sed quod lingua Windorum,
unde principes Veronenses oriundos vult, _Cahan_ idem est, quod lingua
Serviana _Kral_, id est Rex, aut Princeps. Nam in gente nostra multi
fuerunt Canes, Mastini, Visulphi Guelphi."--P. 17.

This letter consists of about 58 pages, and stands first in the edition of 1627. It is addressed "ad Janum Dousam," and was written to vindicate his family from certain indignities which he conceived had been put upon it. Sansovino and Villani, it appears, had referred its origin to Mastin II., "qui," to use Scaliger's version of the matter,--

"Qui primus dictator populi Veronensis perpetuus creatus est, quem et
_auctorem_ nobilitatis Scaligerae et _Scalarum_ antea _fabrum_
impudentissime nugantur hostes virtutis majorum nostrorum."

It was bad enough to ascribe their origin to so recent a date, but to derive it from a mere mechanic was more than our author's patience could endure. Accordingly he is not sparing of invective against those who so disparage his race.

_Vappa_, _nebulo_, and similar terms, are freely applied to their characters; _invidia_, [Greek: kakoetheia], &c., to their motives. The following is a specimen of the way he handles them:--

"Dantes Poeta illustrissimum Christianissimorum Regum Franciae genus a
laniis Parisiensibus deducit, utique tam vere, quam ille tenebrio
nostrum a scalarum fabro: quas mirum, ni auctor generis _in suspendium
eorum parabat_, quos vaticinabatur illustri nobilitate suae
obtrectaturos."

Now the charge of a ladder upon their shield was certainly borne by the several branches of this family long before any of them became masters of Verona; and I should suggest that it originated in some brilliant escalade of one of the first members of it. Thus, of course, it would remind us all of perhaps the earliest thing of the kind--I mean the shield and bearings of Eteoclus before Thebes:

"[Greek: Eschematistai d' aspis ou smikron tropon;]
[Greek: Aner d' hoplites klimakos prosambaseis]
[Greek: Steichei pros echthron purgon, ekpersai thelon.]"
Sept. c. Thebas, 461.

WALDEGRAVE BREWSTER.

H----n, Jan. 28. 1851.

* * * * *

INEDITED BALLAD ON TRUTH.

I send you herewith a copy of an ancient ballad which I found this day while in search of other matters. I have endeavoured to explain away the strange orthography, and I have conjecturally supplied the last line. The ballad is unhappily imperfect. I trust that abler antiquaries than myself will give their attention to this fragmentary poem.

"A BALADE OF TROUTHE.

(Harl. MSS. No. 48. folio 92.)

"What more poyson . than ys venome.
What more spytefull . than ys troozte.[1]
Where shall hattred . sonere come.
Than oone anothyr . that troozte showthe.
Undoyng dysplesure . no love growthe. 5
And to grete[2] men . in especyall.
Troozte dare speke . lest[3] of all.

"And troozte . all we be bound to.
And troozte . most men now dothe fle.[4]
What be we then . that so do. 10
Be we untrewe . troozte saythe ee.[5]
But he y^t tellethe troozte . what ys he.
A besy foole . hys name shalle ronge.[6]
Or else he hathe an euyle tonge.

{135}
"May a tong . be trew and evyle. 15
Trootze ys good . and evyle ys navtze.[7]
God ys trootze . and navzt ys y^e devyle.
Ego sum veritas . o^r[8] lord tavzt.[9]
At whyche word . my conceyt lavzt.[10]
To se[11] our Lorde . yff[12] foly in hym be. 20
To use troozt . that few doth but he.

"To medyle w^t trouthe[13] . no small game.
For trouthe told . of tyms ys shent.
And trouthe known . many doth blame.
When trouthe ys tyrned . from trew intent. 25
Yet trouthe ys trouthe . trewly ment.[14]
But now what call they trouthe . trow ye.
Trowthe ys called colored honeste.

"Trouthe . ys honest without coloure.
Trouthe . shameth not in no condycyon. 30
Of hymself . without a trespasowre.
By myst and knowne . of evyle condycyon.
But of trouthe thys ys y^e conclusyon.
Surely good ordre there ys brokyne.
Where trouthe may not . nor dare be spokyne.[15] 35

"Trouthe many tyms ys cast.
Out of credence . by enformacyon.
Yet trouthe crepthe[16] out at last.
And ovyr mastrythe cavylacyon.[17]
That I besech Cryst . every nacyon. 40
May use trouthe . to God and man.
* * that he * not * syn * * ."
* * * * * *

I would fill up the lacuna--

"Now that he do not syn . we can."

Perhaps, I repeat, some more able antiquaries will give their attention to this, and satisfy me on the _points_ of punctuation, date, &c.

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

[Footnote 1: Truth, I presume, is meant, though it does not seem to agree with the context, which is pure nonsense in its present condition.]

[Footnote 2: Great.]

[Footnote 3: Least.]

[Footnote 4: Flee.]

[Footnote 5: Yea.]

[Footnote 6: Ring, I fancy.]

[Footnote 7: Naught.]

[Footnote 8: Our.]

[Footnote 9: Taught.]

[Footnote 10: Laughed.]

[Footnote 11: See.]

[Footnote 12: If.]

[Footnote 13: Here the orthography changes.]

[Footnote 14: Meant.]

[Footnote 15: I think there must be some allusion here, which can only be arrived at by knowing the date of its composition.]

[Footnote 16: An elision for creepeth; possibly an intermediate etymological state of _creeps_.]

[Footnote 17: From "to cavil."]

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_Ayot St. Lawrence Church_ (Vol. iii., pp. 39. 102.). Ayot St. Lawrence, Herts, is another deserted church, like that of Landwade,--in fact a ruin, with its monuments disgracefully exposed. I was so astonished at seeing it in 1850, that I would now ask the reason of its having been allowed to fall into such distress, and how any one could have had the power to build the present Greek one, instead of restoring its early Decorated neighbour. I did not observe the 2 ft. 3 in. effigy alluded to in _Arch. Journ._ iii. 239., but particularly noted the elegant sculpture on the chancel arch capital.

I would suggest to Mr. Kelke, that the incumbents of parishes should keep a separate register, recording _all_ monuments, &c. as they are put up, as existing, or as found in MS. church notes, or published in county histories. In the majority of parishes the trouble of so doing would be trifling, and to many a pleasant occupation.

A. C.

_Johannes Secundus_--_Parnel_--_Dr. Johnson._--In Dr. Johnson's _Life of Parnel_ we find the following passage:--

"I would add that the description of _Barrenness_, in his verses to
Pope, was borrowed from Secundus; but lately searching for the passage
which I had formerly read, I could not find it."

I will first extract Parnel's description, and then the passage of Secundus; to which, I suppose, Dr. Johnson referred.

"This to my friend--and when a friend inspires,
My silent harp its master's hand requires,
Shakes off the dust, and makes these rocks resound,
For fortune placed me in unfertile ground;
Far from the joys that with my soul agree,
From wit, from learning--far, oh far, from thee!
Here moss-grown trees expand the smallest leaf,
Here half an acre's corn is half a sheaf.
Here hills with naked heads the tempest meet,
Rocks at their side, and torrents at their feet;
Or lazy lakes, unconscious of a flood,
Whose dull brown Naiads ever sleep in mud."

Secundus in his first epistle of his first book (edit. Paris, p. 103.), thus writes:--

"Me retinet salsis infausta Valachria terris,
Oceanus tumidis quam vagus ambit aquis.
Nulla ubi vox avium, pelagi strepit undique murmur,
Coelum etiam larga desuper urget aqua.
Flat Boreas, dubiusque Notus, flat frigidus Eurus,
Felices Zephyri nil ubi juris habent.
Proque tuis ubi carminibus, Philomena canora,
Turpis in obscoena rana coaxat aqua."

VARRO.

_The King's Messengers, by the Rev. W. Adams._--Ought it not to be remarked, in future editions of this charming and highly poetical book (which has lately been translated into Swedish), that it is grounded on one of the "examples" occurring in _Barlaam and Josaphat_?"

In the third or fourth century, an Indian prince names Josaphat was converted to Christianity by a holy hermit called Barlaam. This subject was afterwards treated of by some Alexandrian priest, probably in the sixth century, in a beautiful tale, legend, or spiritual romance, in Greek, and in a style of great ease, beauty, warmth, and colouring. The work was afterwards attributed to Johannes Damascenus, who died in 760. In this half-Asiatic Christian prose epic, Barlaam employs a number of even then ancient folk-tales and fables, spiritually interpreted, in Josaphat's conversion. It is on the fifth of these "examples" that Mr. Adams has built his richly-glittering fairy palace.

_Barlaam and Josaphat_ was translated into almost {136} every European dialect during the Middle Age, sometimes in verse, but usually in prose, and became an admired folk-book. Among the versions lately recovered I may mention one into Old-Swedish (a shorter one, published in my _Old-Swedish Legendarium_, and a longer one, not yet published); and one in Old-Norwegian, from a vellum MS. of the thirteenth century, shortly to appear in Christiania.

GEORGE STEPHENS.

Stockholm.

_Parallel Passages._--Under "Parallel Passages" (Vol. ii., p. 263.) there occur in two paragraphs--"_There is an acre sown with royal seed,_" concluding with "_living like gods, to die like men,_" from Jeremy Taylor's _Holy Dying_; and from Francis Beaumont--

"_Here's an acre sown indeed_
_With the richest royalest seed._
. . . . . .
_Though gods they were, as men they died._"

Which of these twain borrowed the "royal seed" from the other, is a manner of little moment; but the correspondence of living as gods, and dying as men, both undoubtedly taken from Holy Scripture; the phrase occurring in either Testament: "I have said, Ye are gods ... But ye shall die like men" (Psalm lxxxii. 6, 7.); quoted by our Saviour (John, x. 34.): "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods?"

J. G. M.

Hallamshire.

_Cause of Rarity of William IV.'s Copper Coinage._--The copper coinage of William IV. is become so scarce, that possibly a doubt may some day arise, whether any but a very limited issue of it was ever made; it may be well, therefore, to introduce a _note_ on the cause of its disappearance, while the subject is comparatively recent.

When the copper coins of the last reign appeared, a slight tinge in the colour of the metal excited the suspicion of those accustomed to examine such things, that it contained gold, which proved to be the fact; hence their real value was greater than that for which they passed current, and they were speedily collected and melted down by manufacturers, principally, I believe, as an alloy to gold, whereby every particle of that metal which they contained was turned to account. I have been told that various Birmingham establishments had agents in different parts of the country, appointed to collect this coinage.

R. C. H.

_Burnet._--In the list of conflicting judgments on Burnet, quoted by your correspondents (Vol. i., pp. 40. 120. 181. 341. 493.), I find no reference to the opinion of his contemporary, Bishop Nicolson. That writer takes a somewhat partial view of the character and merits of the historian, and canvasses, by anticipation, much of what has been urged against him by our more modern critics. But, as the weight of authorities already cited appears to militate against Burnet, I am induced to send you some of Bishop Nicolson's remarks, for the sake of those readers who may not have immediate access to them. I quote from his _English Historical Library_, 2nd edition, p. 119.:

"In the months of December and January in the year following (1680),
the historian (G. Burnet) had the thanks of both Houses of Parliament
for what he had already done; and was desired to proceed to the
finishing of the whole work, which was done accordingly. This historian
gives a punctual account of all the affairs of the Reformation, from
its first beginning in the reign of Henry VIII., till it was finally
completed and settled by Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1559. And the whole is
penned in such a masculine style as becomes an historian, and such as
is this author's property in all his writings. The collection of
records which he gives in the conclusion of each volume are good
vouchers of the truth of all he delivers (as such) in the body of his
history; and are much more perfect than could reasonably be expected,
after the pains taken, in Queen Mary's days, to suppress everything
that carried the marks of the Reformation upon it. The work has had so
much justice done it, as to meet with a general acceptance abroad, and
to be translated into most of the European languages; insomuch that
even the most piquant of the author's enemies allow it to have a
_reputation firmly and deservedly established_. Indeed, some of the
French writers have cavilled at it; but the most eminent of them (M.
Varillas and M. Le Grand) have received due correction from the author
himself."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, Dec. 1850.

_Coleridge's Opinion of Defoe._--Wilson, in his _Memoirs of the life and Times of Defoe_, vol. ii. p. 205., having quoted the opinion of the Editor of Cadell's edition of _Robinson Crusoe_,--"that Defoe wanted many of those qualities, both of mind and manner, which fitted Steele and Addison to be the inimitable _arbitri elegantiarum_ of English society, there can be no doubt,"--Coleridge wrote in the margin of his copy, "I doubt this, particularly in respect to Addison, and think I could select from Defoe's writings a volume equal in size to Addison's collected papers, little inferior in wit and humour, and greatly superior in vigor of style and thought."

Ts.

_Miller's "Philosophy of Modern History."_--In the memoir, chiefly autobiographical, prefixed to the last edition (published by Mr. Bohn, 1848-9) of this most able and interesting work, we find the following words, p. xxxv.:

"In the preceding period of my lecturing, I collected a moderate
audience [seldom exceeding ten persons] in the Law School [his friend,
Alexander Knox, being always one], sufficient to encourage me, or at
least to permit me, to persevere, but not to animate my exertions by
publicity. But as I was approaching the sixteenth century, the number
of my hearers {137} increased so much, that I was encouraged to remove
to the Examination Hall, from which time my lectures attracted a large
portion of public attention, strangers forming a considerable portion
of the auditory."

It is worthy of remark, in connexion with this production of a highly-gifted scholar and divine, whose name does honour to Trinity College, Dublin, that Dr. Sullivan's _Lectures on the Constitution and Laws of England_, which have since deservedly acquired so much fame, were delivered in presence of only _three_ individuals, Dr. Michael Kearney and two others--surely no great encouragement to Irish genius! In fact, the Irish long seemed unconscious of the merits of two considerable works by sons of their own university,--Hamilton's _Conic Sections_ and Sullivan's _Lectures_; and hesitated to praise, until the incense of fame arose to one from the literary altars of Cambridge, and an English judge, Sir William Blackstone, authorised the other.

In the memoir to which I have referred, we find a complete list of the many publications which Dr. Miller, "distinguished for his services in theology and literature," sent forth from the press. We are likewise informed that there are some unpublished letters from Hannah More, Alexander Knox, and other distinguished characters, with whom Dr. Miller was in the habit of corresponding.

ABHBA.

_Anticipations of Modern Ideas or Inventions._--In Vol. iii., pp. 62. 69., are two interesting instances of this sort. In Wilson's _Life of Defoe_, he gives the titles of two works which I have often sought in vain, and which he classes amongst the writings of that voluminous author. They run thus:

"_Augusta triumphans_, or the way to make London the most flourishing
city in the universe. I. By establishing a university where gentlemen
may have an academical education under the eye of their friends [_the
London University anticipated_]. II. To prevent much murder, &c., by an
hospital for foundlings. III. By suppressing pretended madhouses, where
many of the fair sex are unjustly confin'd while their husbands keep
mistresses, and many widows are lock'd up for the sake of their
jointures. IV. To save our youth from destruction by suppressing gaming
tables, and Sunday debauches. V. To avoid the expensive importation of
foreign musicians by promoting an academy of our own, [_Anticipation of
the Royal Academy of Music_], &c. &c. London: T. Warner. 1728. 8vo."

"_Second Thoughts are Best_; or a further Improvement of a late Scheme
to prevent Street Robberies, by which our Streets will be so strongly
guarded and so gloriously illuminated, that any Part of London will be
as safe and pleasant at Midnight as at Noonday; and Burglary totally
impracticable [_a remarkable anticipation of the present state of
things in the principal thoroughfares_]. With some Thoughts for
suppressing Robberies in all the Public Roads of England [_rural police
anticipated_]. Humbly offer'd for the Good of his Country, submitted to
the Consideration of Parliament, and dedicated to his Sacred Majesty
Geo. II., by Andrew Moreton, Esq. [supposed to be an assumed name; a
common practice of De Foe's]. London. W. Meadows, 1729."

R. D. H.

"_Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon!_"--The above text is often quoted as not being in accordance with the present state of our astronomical knowledge, and many well-known commentators on the Bible have adopted the same opinion.

I find Kitto, in the _Pictorial Bible_, characterising it as "an example of those bold metaphors and poetical forms of expression with which the Scriptures abound." Scott (edit. 1850) states that "it would have been improper that he (Joshua) should speak, or that the miracle should be recorded according to the terms of modern astronomy."

Mant (edit. 1830) says: "It is remarkable that the terms in which this event is recorded do not agree with what is now known rewarding the motion of the heavenly bodies."

Is it certain that Joshua's words are absolutely at variance and irreconcileable with the present state of astronomical knowledge? Astronomers allow that the sun is the centre and governing principle of our system, and that it revolves on its axis. What readier means, then, could Joshua have found for staying the motion of our planet, than by commanding the revolving centre, in its inseparable connexion with all planetary motion, to stand still?

I. K.

_Langley's Polidore Vergile._--At the back of the title of a copy of Langley's _Abridgement of Polidore Vergile_, 8vo., Lond. 1546, seen by Hearne in 1719, was the following MS. note:

"At Oxforde, the yere 1546, browt down to Seynbury by John Darbye,
pryse 14d. When I kept Mr. Letymer's shype I bout thys boke when the
Testament was obberagatyd that shepe herdys myght not red hit. I prey
God amende that blyndnes. Wryt by Robert Wyllyams, kepynge shepe uppon
Seynbury Hill."

At the end of the dedication to Sir Ant. Denny is also written:

"Robert Wyllyams Boke, bowgyt by John Darby at Oesforth, and brot to
Seynbury."

The Seynbury here mentioned was doubtless Saintbury in Gloucestershire, on the borders of Worcestershire, near Chipping Campden, and about four miles distant from Evesham.

P. B.

_Luther and Ignatius Loyola._--A parallel or counterpoising view of these two characters has been quoted in several publications, some of recent date; but in all it is attributed to a wrong source. Mr. M^cGavin, in his _Protestant_, Letter CXL., (p. 582, ed. 1846); Mr. Overbury, in his _Jesuits_ (Lond. 1846), p. 8., and, of course, the authority from which he borrows, Poynder's _History of the Jesuits_; and Dr. Dowling's _Romanism_, p. 473. {138} (ed. New York, 1849)--all these give, as the authority for the contrasted characters quoted, Damian's _Synopsis Societatis Jesu_. Nothing of the kind appears _there_; but in the _Imago primi Saeculi Soc. Jesu_, 1640, it will be found, p. 19.

The misleader of these writers seems to have been Villers, in his _Prize Essay on the Reformation_, or his annotator, Mills, p. 374.

NOVUS.

P.S. (Vol. ii., p. 375.).--The lines quoted by Dr. Pusey, I have some notion, belong to a Romish, not a Socinian, writer.

_Winkel._--I thought, some time since, that the places bearing this name in England, were taken from the like German word, signifying _a corner_. I find, on examination, that there is a village in Rhenish Prussia named "Winkel." It seems that Charlemagne had a wine-cellar there; so that that word is no doubt taken from the German words _wein_ and _keller_, from the Latin _vinum_ and _cella_.

AREDJID KOOEZ.

_Foreign Renderings._--In addition to those given, I will add the following, which I once came across at Salzburg:

"George Nelboeck recommande l'hotel aux _Trois Allies_, vis-a-vis de la
maison paternelle du celebre Mozart, lequel est nouvellement fourni et
offre tous les comforts a Mrs. les voyageurs."

Translated as follows:

"George Nelboeck begs leave to _recommand_ his hotel to the Three
Allied, situated _vis-a-vis_ of the birth house of Mozart, which offers
all comforts to the _meanest_ charges."

Also the following:

"M. Reutlinger (of Frankfort on Main) _takes_ leave to _recommande_ his
well furnished magazine of all kind of travelling-luggage and
_sadle_-works."

AREDJID KOOEZ.

_Samuel Johnson--Gilbert Wakefield._--Whoever has had much to do with the press will sympathise with MR. CHARLES KNIGHT in all that he has stated ("NOTES AND QUERIES," Vol. iii., p. 62.) respecting the accidental--but not at first discovered--substitution of _modern_ for _moderate_. If that word _modern_ had not been detected till it was too late for an explanation on authority, what strange conjectures would have been the consequence! Happily, MR. KNIGHT was at hand to remove that stumbling-block.

I rather fancy that I can rescue Samuel Johnson from the fangs of Gilbert Wakefield, by the supposition of an error of the press. In 1786, Wakefield published an edition of Gray's _Poems_, with notes; and in the last note on Gray's "Ode on the Death of a Cat," he thus animadverts on Dr. Johnson:--

Our critic exposes himself to reproof from the manner in which he has
conveyed his severe remark: _show a rhyme is sometimes made_. The
omission of the relative, a too common practice with our writers, is an
impropriety of the grossest kind: and which _neither gods or men_, as
one expresses himself, nor any language under heaven, can endure."

Now in Dr. Johnson's _Life of Gray_, we find this sentence:--

"In the first stanza 'the azure flowers that blow' show resolutely a
rhyme is sometimes made when it cannot easily be found."

My notion is, that the word _how_ has been omitted in the printing, from the similarity of blow, show, how; and thus the sentence will be--

"_The azure flowers that blow_ show how resolutely a rhyme is sometimes
made when it cannot easily be found."

But Gilbert Wakefield was a critic by profession, and apparently as great in English as he was in Greek.

VARRO.

_Passage in Gray's Elegy._--I do not remember to have seen noted the evident Lucretian origin of the verse--

"For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Nor busy housewife ply her evening care;
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share."

Compare Lucretius, lib. 3. v. 907.:

"At jam non domus accipiet te laeta; neque uxor
Optima, nec dulces occurrent oscula nati
Praeripere, et tacita pectus dulcedine tangent."

ECHO.

* * * * *

Queries.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL QUERIES.

(_Continued from_ Vol. iii., p. 87.)

(39.) Does any one now feel inclined to vindicate for Inchofer, Scioppius, Bariac, or Contarini, the authorship of the _Monarchia Solipsorum_? Notwithstanding the testimony of the Venice edition of 1652, as well as the very abundant evidence of successive witnesses, in favour of the first-named writer, (whose claim has been recognised so lately as the year 1790, by the _Indice Ultimo_ of Madrid), can there be the smallest doubt that the veritable inventor of this satire upon the Jesuits was their former associate, JULES-CLEMENT SCOTTI? For the interpretation of his pseudonyme, "Lucius Cornelius Europaeus," see Niceron, _Mem._ xxxix. 70-1.

(40.) Mr. Cureton (_Ant. Syr. vers. of Ep. of S. Ignat._ Preface, p. ii., Lond. 1845) has asserted that--

"The first Epistles published, bearing the name of St. Ignatius--one to
the Holy Virgin, and two to the Apostle St. John, in Latin,--were
printed in the year 1495. Three years later there appeared an edition
of eleven Epistles, also in Latin, attributed to the same {139} holy
Martyr. But nearly seventy years more elapsed before any edition of
these Epistles in Greek was printed. In 1557, Val. Paceus published
twelve," &c.

Two connected Queries may be founded upon this statement:--(1.) Is not Mr. Cureton undoubtedly in error with respect to the year 1495? for, if we may believe Orlandi, Maittaire, Fabricius (_B. G._), and Ceillier, the three Latin Epistles above named had been set forth previously at Cologne, in 1478. (2.) By what mysterious species of arithmetic can it be demonstrated that "nearly _seventy_ years" elapsed between 1498 and 1557? The process must be a somewhat similar one to that by which "A.D. 360" is made equivalent to "five-and-_twenty_ years after the Council of Nice." (Pref., p. xxxiv.) In the former instance "_seventy_" is hardly a literal translation of Bishop Pearson's "_sexaginta_:" but whether these miscalculations have been already adverted to, and subsequently amended, or not, I cannot tell.

(41.) In the same Preface (p. xxiv.) a very strange argument was put forward, which, as we may learn from the last _Quarterly Review_, p. 79., where it is satisfactorily refuted, has been since repeated by Mr. Cureton. He maintains that the Syriac text of the Ignatian Epistles cannot be an epitome, because that "we know of no instances of such abridgment in any Christian writer." To commence with the West,--is not Mr. Cureton acquainted with the manner in which Rufinus dealt with the _History_ of Eusebius? Have we here no specimens of abbreviation; no allusion in the prologue to "omissis quae videbantur superflua?" Has Mr. C. never looked into that memorable combination of the independent works of three contemporaries, entitled _Historia Tripartita?_ and, not to wander from the strictest bounds of bibliography, will any one presume to boast of having a copy of this book printed prior to that now near me, (a spectacle which De Bure could never get a sight of), "per Iohannem Schueszler regie vrbis Augustensis ciuem," anno 1472? But let us go to the East in search of compendiums. Did not Theodorus Lector, early in the sixth century, reduce into a harmony the compositions of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret? How does Assemani speak of the first two parts of the Ecclesiastical History of Zacharias Rhetor, supposed to have been written _in Syriac_, about the year 540? "Prima est _epitome_ Socratis, altera Theodoreti." (_Biblioth. Orient._, tom. ii. cap. vii.) On this occasion, manifestly, ancient records are encountered in an abridged Syriac form; a circumstance which will not strengthen the Curetonian theory relative to the text of the Ignatian Epistles. Again, bearing in mind the resemblance that exists between passages in the interpolated Epistles and in the Apostolic Constitutions, with the latter of which the _Didascalia_ of Ignatius seems to have been commingled, let us inquire, Did not Dr. Grabe, in his _Essay upon the Doctrine of the Apostles_, published in 1711, unanswerably prove that the _Syriac_ copy of this _Didascalia_ was much more contracted than the _Arabic_ one, or than the _Greek_ Constitutions of the Apostles? Is it not true that extracted portions of these Constitutions are found in some old MS. collections of Canons? Has not Cotelier furnished us with an "_Epitome_," compiled by Metaphrastes from Clementine counterfeits, concerning the life of S. Peter? And, to descend from the tenth to the sixteenth century, are we not indebted to Carolus Capellius for an "_Epitome Apostolicarum Constitutionum, in Creta insula repertarum_," 4to., Ingolstad. 1546?

(42.) When MR MERRYWEATHER (Vol. iii., p. 60.) was seeking for monastic notices of extreme longevity, did he always find it feasible to meet with Ingulphus's History of Croyland Abbey "_apud Wharton, Anglia Sacra_, 613?" and if it be not enough to have read an account of an ecclesiastic who is said to have attained to the delectable age of 168 years, is it not questionable that anything will suffice except it be the narrative of the _Seven Sleepers_? The third "Lectio" relating to these Champions of Christendom, as it is given in a Vatican MS., makes the period of their slumber to have been about 370 years. Who was the author of that finely-printed and illustrated quarto volume, the _Sanctorum Septem Dormientium Historia, ex Ectypis Musei Victorii expressa_, published, with the full approbation of the Censors, Romae, 1741? "Obscurus esse gestio" is his declaration about himself (p. 63.). Has he remained incognito?

R. G.

* * * * *

SHAKSPEARE'S "ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA."

The first scene of the third act of Shakspeare's play of "Antony and Cleopatra," at first sight, appears to be totally unconnected with what goes before and what follows. It may be observed that the dramas founded on the Roman history are much more regular in their construction than those founded on the English history. Indeed, with respect to the drama in question, I am not aware of any scene, with the exception of that I have mentioned, which does not bear more or less on the fortunes of the personages from whom the play derives its name. Hence I am led to conjecture that the dramatist here alludes to some event of the day, which was well known to his audience. The speech of Ventidius seems to point to something of the kind:

"O Silius, Silius!
I have done enough: a lower place, note well,
May make too great an act: for learn this, Silius;
Better leave undone, than by our deed acquire
Too high a fame, when him we serve's away," &c.

Some of your numerous readers will doubtless {140} be able to inform me whether there is any instance in the annals of that age of an inferior officer outshining his superior, and being cashiered or neglected in consequence.

Malone assigns to the play the date of 1608.

X. Z.

* * * * *

GREENE'S "GROATSWORTH OF WITTE."

The interesting article by the HERMIT OF HOLYPORT, on the early German translation of Greene's _Quip for an Upstart Courtier_, will, I am sure, be read with attention by all lovers of our early literature. My object in addressing you on the subject is to draw the attention of your foreign correspondents, and perhaps the notice of your new contemporary, to the great importance of discovering whether the _Groatsworth of Witte_ was also translated into German. The earliest edition I have seen is that of 1617, but it was printed as early as 1592; and I have long been curious to ascertain whether the remarkable passage respecting Shakspeare has descended to us in its genuine state. In the absence of the English edition of 1592, this information might be obtained from a translation published before 1617. Perhaps, however, some of your readers may be able to point out the existence of an earlier edition. I have sought for that of 1592 for several years without any success.

J. O. HALLIWELL.

* * * * *

Minor Queries.

_Fronte Capillata._--The following lines recurred to my memory after reading in your last number the translation of the epigram by Pasidippus in the article on "Fronte capillata," &c.; it is many years since I read them, but have forgotten where. Can you or any of your correspondents inform me who is the author of them?

"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
Known but to few, through earth I'm speeding,
And Opportunity's my name.

"What form is that, that scowls beside thee?
Repentance is the form you see;
Learn then the fate may yet betide thee,
She seizes them, who seize not me."

HENRY M. BURT.

Gibson Square, Feb. 4. 1851.

_Prayer of Bishop of Nantes._--In Allison's _History of the French Revolution_, ed. 1849, at page 432. vol. i., there occurs the following passage:

"The Bishop of Nancy commenced, as customary, with the prayer:
'Receive, O God, the homage of the Clergy, the respects of the
Noblesse, and the humble supplications of the Tiers Etat.'"

This formula was, the historian tells us, received with a storm of disapprobation by the third order. Will any of your contributors be so obliging as to inform me where the form of prayer spoken of as _customary_ is to be found?

J. M.

Liverpool.

_Advantage of a Bad Ear._--Can any of your readers supply the name of the man of mark in English history, who says "he encouraged in himself a bad ear, because it enabled him to enjoy music he would not have enjoyed without?"

I have looked through the lives of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Hampden, Hobbes, Andrew Marvell, and Fletcher of Saltoun, without finding it; though it is possible it may be in some of these after all. The list given will point to the kind of personage in question.

TN.

_Imputed Letters of Sullustius or Sallustius_ (Vol. iii., p. 62.).--I am sorry to say that the printer has completely spoiled my Query, by printing _Sullustius_ instead of _Sallustius_ throughout the whole article. I subjoin a few more particulars concerning them. In the edition printed at Cambridge (4to. 1710), and published under the auspices of the learned Wasse, they are included. They are there entitled _Orationes ad C. Caesarem, de Republica Ordinanda_. Cortius rejects them, and De Brosses accepts them. Douza, Crispinus, Perizonius, Clericus, &c., all speak in favour of their authenticity. Allen does not mention them, and Anthon rejects them entirely. With these additional hints I doubt not but that some of your obliging correspondents will be able to give me a reply.

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

_Rev. W. Adams._--When did Mr. Adams, the accomplished author of the _Sacred Allegories_, die? This is unaccountably omitted in the "Memoir" prefixed to the collected edition of his _Allegories_ (London, Rivingtons, 1849). Can any characteristic anecdote be related of him, suitable for giving _point_ to a sketch of his life for foreign readers?

GEORGE STEPHENS.

Stockholm.

_Mr. Beard, Vicar of Greenwich._--Any information relating to "Mr. Beard, Vicar of Greenwich," who, in the year 1563, was recommended by Loftus, Archbishop of Armagh, and Brady, Bishop of Meath, as a proper person to be preferred to the bishopric of Kildare, will be very acceptable to--

SPES.

_Goddard's History of Lynn._--It has been always understood that Mr. Guybon Goddard (who was Recorder of this borough in 1651 or thereabouts) collected a quantity of materials for a history of Lynn, and that in 1677 or 1678 an offer to purchase them was made by the corporation to his son, Thomas Goddard, but it seems without success. The fact of such materials having been {141} collected is recognised by Goddard's brother-in-law, Sir Wm. Dugdale (who refers to it in some part of his works), as also by Parkin, in his _History of Freebridge and King's Lynn_, p. 293., where he is called a curious collector of antiquities. My Query is, Can any of your correspondents inform me where this collection can be met with?

JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.

_Sir Andrew Chadwick._--It is stated that on the 18th Jan. 1709-10, Sir Andrew Chadwick, of St. James's, Westminster, was knighted by Queen Anne for some service done to her, it is supposed for rescuing her when thrown from her horse. Can any of your correspondents inform me if such was the fact, and from what source they derive their information?

JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.

King's Lynn.

_Sangaree._--Your periodical having been the means of eliciting some interesting particulars respecting the origin of the word _grog_, perhaps you will allow me to claim a similar distinction for the word _sangaree_. You are aware that this word is applied, in the West Indies, to a beverage composed of Madeira wine, syrup, water, and nutmeg. The French call it _sangris_, in allusion, it is supposed, to the colour of the beverage, which when mixed has the appearance, as it were, of grey blood _(sang gris)_: but as there is reason to believe that the English were the first to introduce the use of the thing, they having been the first to introduce its principal ingredient, Madeira wine, I am disposed to look upon _sangaree_ as the original word, and _sangris_ as nothing more than a corruption of it. Can any of your readers (among whom I trust there are many retired West India planters) give the etymology of this word?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, Dec. 1850.

_King John at Lincoln._--Matthew Paris, under the year 1200, gives an account of King John's visiting Lincoln to meet William, king of Scots, and to receive his homage:

"Ubi Rex Johannes, [he says] contra consilium multorum, intravit
civitatem intrepidus, quod nullus antecessorum suorum attentare ausus
fuerat."

My Query is, What were they afraid of?

C. W. B.

_Canes lesi._--May I also put a question with respect to an ancient tenure in Dorsetshire, recorded by Blount, edit. 1679, p. 46.:

"Juliana, &c., tenuit dimidiam hidam terrae, &c., per serjantiam
custodiendi _Canes_ Domini Regis _lesos_, si qui fuerint, quotiescunque
Dominus Rex fugaverit in Foresta sua de _Blakemore_: et ad dandum unum
denarium ad clancturam Parci Domini Regis de _Gillingham_."

Blount's explanation of _Canes lesos_, is "leash hounds or park hounds, such as draw after a hurt deer in a leash, or liam;" but is there any reason why we should not adopt the more simple rendering of "hurt hounds;" and suppose that Dame Juliana was matron of the Royal Dorset Dog Hospital?

Ducange gives no such word as _lesus_; neither does he nor any authority, to which I have access, help me to understand the word _clanctura_. I trust, however, that some of your correspondents will.

C. W. B.

_Headings of Chapters in English Bibles._--The arguments or contents which are prefixed to each chapter of our English Bibles seem occasionally to vary; some being more full and comprehensive than others. When and by whom were they compiled? what authority do they possess? and where can we meet with any account of them?

LITURGICUS.

_Abbot Eustacius and Angodus de Lindsei._--Can any of your learned readers inform me in what reign an Abbot _Eustacius_ flourished? He is witness to a charter of Ricardus de Lindsei, on his granting twelve denarii to St. Mary of _Greenfeld_, in Lincolnshire: there being no date, I am anxious to ascertain its antiquity. He is there designated "_Eustacius Abbe Flamoei_." Also witnessed by Willo' decano de Hoggestap, Roberto de Wells, Eudene de Bavent, Radulpho de Neuilla, &c. The latter appears in the Doomsday Book. The charter is to be found among Ascough's Col., B. M.

I should also be glad to know whether the Christian name _Angodus_ be German, Norman, or Saxon. Angodus de Lindsei grants a carrucate of land in Hedreshille to St. Albans, in the time of the Conqueror. If this person assumed the name of _Lindsei_ previous to the Doomsday inquisition, ought not his name to have appeared in the Doomsday Book,--he who could afford to make a grant of 100 acres of land to the Abbey of St. Albans?

J. L.

_Oration against Demosthenes._--Mr. Harris of Alexandria made a discovery, some years ago, of a fragment of an oration against Demosthenes. Can you, or any of your kind correspondents, favour me with an account of it? I cannot recall the particulars of the discovery, but I believe the oration, with a _fac-simile_, was privately printed.

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.