Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+---------------------+
| | | Value of | Apparent |
| | Natural | 15deg x Sin. Lat., | corresponding |
| Degrees | Values of | or apparent | Times of _Horizon_, |
| of | Sine of the | _hourly_ Amount of | performing |
| Latitude. | Latitude. | Rotation of | one Rotation |
| | | _Horizon_, in Degrees | of 360deg, in Hours |
| | | and Decimals. | and Decimals. |
+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+---------------------+
| deg | | deg | h |
| 0 | 0.000 | 0.00 | Infinite time. |
| 1 | 0.017 | 0.26 | 1371.0 |
| 2 | 0.035 | 0.53 | 682.1 |
| 3 | 0.053 | 0.79 | 458.5 |
| 4 | 0.070 | 1.05 | 342.6 |
| 5 | 0.087 | 1.31 | 255.4 |
| 6 | 0.104 | 1.57 | 229.6 |
| 7 | 0.122 | 1.83 | 169.9 |
| 8 | 0.139 | 2.09 | 172.5 |
| 9 | 0.156 | 2.35 | 153.4 |
| 10 | 0.173 | 2.60 | 138.1 |
| 20 | 0.342 | 5.13 | 70.2 |
| 30 | 0.500 | 7.50 | 48.0 |
| 40 | 0.643 | 9.64 | 37.3 |
| 50 | 0.766 | 11.49 | 31.3 |
| 60 | 0.866 | 13.00 | 27.7 |
| 70 | 0.940 | 14.09 | 25.5 |
| 80 | 0.985 | 14.77 | 24.4 |
| 90 | 1.000 | 15.00 | 24.0 |
+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+---------------------+

Now this is the point which, it should seem, ought to be the business of experimenters to establish; it being proposed, as we are informed, to swing, in different latitudes, freely suspended pendulums, over horizontal dials, or circular tables, properly graduated, similarly to the horizons of common globes; and to note the _apparent_ variation of the plane of oscillation of the pendulums with respect to the graduated dials; these latter serving as representatives of the horizon. For the hypothesis is (as I understand it), that the pendulums will continue to swing each of them severally in one invariable vertical plane fixed in free space, whilst the horizontal dials beneath, by their rotation, will slip away, as it were, and turn round in _azimuth_, from under the planes of the pendulums.

It should seem to be imperative on those who wish to put this experiment to proof, to give all possible attention to the precautions suggested in the excellent paper that appeared on the subject, on Saturday, April 19, in the _Literary Gazette_, copied also into the _Morning Post_ of Monday the 21st. To my mind, the experiment is beset with practical difficulties; but even should the matter {372} be satisfactorily made out to those best capable of judging, I cannot readily conceive of an experiment less likely than the above to carry conviction to the minds of the wholly unlearned of the rotation of the earth.

I perceive that B.A.C., in the _Times_ of April 24, avows his determined scepticism as to the virtue of the experiment.

ROBERT SNOW.

* * * * *

MINOR QUERIES.

_William ap Jevan's Descendants._--In Burke's _Landed Gentry_, p. 1465., mention is made of William ap Jevan, "an attendant upon Jasper Duke of Bedford, and afterwards upon Hen. VII.;" and of a son, Morgan Williams, ancestor of the Cromwells. Will some correspondent oblige by giving a reference to where any account may be met with of any other son, or children, to such William ap Jevan, and his or their descendants?

W. P. A.

"_Geographers on Afric Downs._"--Can any of your correspondents tell me where these lines are to be found?--

"So geographers on Afric downs,
Plant elephants instead of towns."

They sound Hudibrastic, but I cannot find them in _Hudibras_.

A. S.

_Irish Brigade._--Can any of your correspondents furnish any account of what were called "The Capitulations of the Irish Brigades?" These _Capitulations_ (to prevent mistakes) were simply the agreements under which foreign regiments entered the French service. The Swiss regiments had their special "capitulations" until 1830, when they ceased to be employed in France. They appear to have differed in almost every regiment of the Irish brigade; the privileges of some being greater than those of others. One was common to all, namely, the right of _trial_ by their officers or comrades solely, and according to the laws of their own country.

Also, is there any history of the brigades published? I have heard that a Colonel Dromgoole published one. Can any information be afforded on that head?

K.

_Passage in Oldham._--The following lines, on the virtues of "impudence," occur in that exquisite satirist, Oldham, described by Dryden as "too little and too lately known:"

"Get that great gift and talent, impudence,
Accomplish'd mankind's highest excellence:
'Tis that alone prefers, alone makes great,
Confers alone wealth, titles, and estate;
Gains place at court, can make a fool a peer;
An ass a bishop; can vil'st blockhead rear
To wear red hats, and sit in porph'ry chair:
'Tis learning, parts, and skill, and wit, and sense,
Worth, merit, honour, virtue, innocence."

I quote this passage chiefly with reference to the "porphyry chair," and with the view of ascertaining whether the allusion has been explained in any edition of Oldham's Poems. Does the expression refer to any established use of such chairs by the wearers of "red hats?" or is it intended merely to convey a general idea of the sumptuousness and splendour of their style of living?

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, March, 1851.

_Mont-de-Piete._-Can any of your readers furnish information as to the connexion between these words and the thing which they are used to denote? Mrs. Jameson says, in her _Legends of the Monastic Orders_, p. 307.:

"Another attribute of St. Bernardin's of Siena, is the
_Monte-di-Pieta_, a little green hill composed of three mounds, and on
the top either a cross or a standard, on which is the figure of the
dead Saviour, usually called in Italy a _Pieta_. St. B. is said to have
been the founder of the charitable institutions still called in France
_Monts-de-Piete_, originally for the purpose of lending to the poor
small sums on trifling pledges--what we should now call a loan
society,--and which, in their commencement, were purely disinterested
and beneficial. In every city which he visited as a preacher, he
founded a Monte-di-Pieta; and before his death, these institutions had
spread all over Italy and through a great part of France."

It is added in a note:

"Although the figures holding the M. di P. are, in Italian prints and
pictures, styled 'San Bernardino da Siena,' there is reason to presume
that the honour is at least shared by another worthy of the same order,
'Il Beato Bernardino da Feltri,' a celebrated preacher at the end of
the fifteenth century. Mention is made of his preaching against the
Jews and usurers, on the miseries of the poor, and on the necessity of
having a _Monte-di-Pieta_ at Florence, in a sermon delivered in the
church of Santa Croce in the year 1488."

On p. 308. is a representation of the Monte-di-Pieta, borne in the saint's hand. I need not specify the points on which the foregoing extract still leaves information to be desired.

W. B. H.

Manchester.

_Poem upon the Grave._--A. D. would be obliged by being informed where to find a poem upon The Grave. Two voices speak in it, and, it commences--

"How peaceful the grave; its quiet how deep!
Its zephyrs breathe calmly, and soft is its sleep,
And flowerets perfume it with ether."

The second voice replies--

"How lonesome the grave; how deserted and drear," &c. &c.

_Clocks: when self-striking Clocks first invented._--In Bolingbroke's _Letters on the Study of History_ {373} (Letter IV.), I read the following passage in relation to a certain person:

"His reason had not the merit of common mechanism. When you press a
watch or pull a clock, they answer your question with precision; for
they repeat exactly the hour of the day, and tell you neither more nor
less than you desire to know."

I believe this work was written about 1711. Can you tell me when the self-striking clock was invented, and by whom?

JINGO.

_Clarkson's "Richmond."_--Can any of your readers inform me who is in possession of the papers of the late Mr. Clarkson, the historian of Richmond, in Yorkshire? I wish to know what were the ancient documents, or other sources, from which the learned author ascertained some facts stated in his valuable work. To whom should I apply on the subject?

D. Q.

_"Felix quem faciunt," &c._--I wish you could tell me where I can find this line:

"Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum."

EFFIGIES.

Whitehall.

_Sir Francis Windebank's elder Son._--Sir Francis Windebank, "of treacherous memory," it is well known, died at Paris in September, 1646. He had two sons; what became of Thomas, the _elder_? Francis, the _second_, was a colonel in the royal army: he was tried for cowardice in surrendering Blechingdon House, in Oxfordshire, to Oliver Cromwell without a blow; and being found guilty, was shot at Broken Hayes, near Oxford, in April, 1645. I am anxious to make out the fate of his elder brother.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

_Incised Slab._--I have a large incised slab in my church, with the figures of a man (Richard Grenewey) and his wife upon it, with the date 1473. Following the date, and filling up the remainder of the line of the inscription, is the figure of a cock in a fighting attitude. Can any of your readers enlighten me on the subject?

H. C. K.

_Etymology of Balsall._--Will you allow me to ask some of your readers to give me the etymology of _Balsall_? It occurs frequently about here, as Balsall Temple, B. Street, B. Grange, B. Common, and near Birmingham is Balsall Heath. It is not to be confounded with Beausall Common, which also is near this place.

F. R.

Kenilworth.

_St. Olave's Churches._--In the _Calendar of the Anglican Church_, Parker, Oxford, 1851, at pp. 267. and 313., it is stated that Saint Olave helped King Ethelred to dislodge the Danes from London and Southwark, by destroying London Bridge; and that, in gratitude for this service, the churches at each end of the bridge are dedicated to him;--on the Southwark side, St. Olave's, Tooley Street, is; but was there ever a church on the London side, bearing the same name?--The nearest one to the bridge is St. Olave's, Hart Street; but that is surely too distant to be called "at the end of the bridge."

E. N. W.

Southwark, April 21. 1851.

_Sabbatical and Jubilee Years of the Jews._--As the solution of many interesting topics in connexion with Jewish history is yet dependent on the _period_ of the institution of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, the following observations will not perhaps be deemed unworthy of a "nook" in your columns. A spark may blaze! I therefore throw it out to be fanned into a more brilliant light by those of your readers whose studies peculiarly fit them to inquire more searchingly into the subject. The Jews, it has been remarked by various writers, were ignorant of _astronomy_. Both, however, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years have been, as I conceive and will endeavour to show, founded on astronomical observation, commemorative of no particular event in Jewish history, but simply that of the moon's revolutions; for instance, with reference to the _Sabbatical_ year, allowing for a difference of four days and a half, which occurs _annually_ in the time of the moon's position on the equator, it would require, in order to realise a number corresponding to the days (29) employed by the moon in her synodical revolution round the earth, a period to elapse of little less than six years and a half: thus exhibiting the Jews' _seventh_ or _Sabbatical year_, or year of rest. This result, besides being instructive and commemorative of the moon's menstrual course, is at the same time indicative, as each Sabbatical year rolls past, of the approach of the "_finisher of the Seven Sabbaths of years_," or year of Jubilee, so designated from its being to the chosen people of God, under the Jewish dispensation, a year of "freedom and redemption," in commemoration of the moon's _complete_ revolution, viz., her return to a certain position at the precise time at which she set out therefrom, an event which takes place but once in _fifty years_: in other words, if the moon be on the equator, say, on the first day of February, and calculating twenty-nine days to the month, or twelve lunations to the year, a cycle of fifty years, or "seven Sabbaths of years," must elapse ere she will again be in that position on the same day.

HIPPARCHUS.

Limehouse, March 31. 1851.

_Arms of Isle of Man._--The arms of the Isle of Man are gules, three legs conjoined in the fess point, &c. &c. or. These arms were stamped on the old halfpence of the island, and we may well call them the current coin.

In an old edition of the _Mythology of Natalis_ {374} _Comus_, Patavii, 1637, small 4to., at page 278., I find an Icon of Triptolemus sent by Ceres in a chariot drawn by serpents, hovering in the clouds over what I suppose to be Sicily, or Trinacria; and on a representation of a city below the chariot occurs the very same form of coin, the three legs conjoined, with the addition of three ears of corn.

This seems to me to be a curious coincidence.

MERVINIENSIS.

_Doctrine of the Resurrection._--Can any of your readers inform me of any traces of the doctrine of the Resurrection to be found in authors anterior to the Christian era? The following passage from Diogenes Laertius is quoted in St. John's _Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece_, vol. i. p. 355.:

"[Greek: Kai anabiosesthai, kata tous Magous, phesi (theopompos), tous
anthropous, kai esesthai athanatous.]"

How far does the statement in this passage involve the idea of a _bodily_ resurrection? I fancy the doctrine is not countenanced by any of the apparitions in the poetical Hades of Virgil, or of other poets.

ZETETICUS.

_National Debts._--Is there any published work descriptive of the origin of the foundation of a "National Debt" in Florence so early as the year 1344, when the state, owing a sum of money, created a "Mount or Bank," the shares in which were transferable, like our stocks? It is not mentioned in Niccolo Machiavelli's _History of Florence_; but I have a note of the fact, without a reference to the authority. Is there any precedent prior to the foundation of our National Debt?

F. E. M.

_Leicester's Commonwealth._--Are the real authors of _Leicester's Commonwealth_, and the poetical tract generally found with it, _Leicester's Ghost_, known? According to Dodd's _Church History_, the first is _erroneously_ attributed to Robert Parsons the Jesuit.

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

* * * * *

Replies.

HISTOIRE DES SEVARAMBES.

(Vol. iii., pp. 4. 72. 147.)

The History of the Sevarites, in the original English edition, consists of two parts: the first published in 1675, in 114 pages, small 12mo., without a preface; the second published in 1679, in 140 pages, with a preface of six pages. The French version of this work is much altered and enlarged. The title is changed into _Histoire des Sevarambes_, the "Sevarites" being dropped. There is a preface of fifteen pages, containing a supposed letter from Thomas Skinner, dated Bruges, Oct. 28, 1672. The work is divided into five parts, three of which are in the first, and two in the second volume of the Amsterdam edition of 1716. These five parts are together more than twice as bulky as the two parts of the English work. There is no copy of the original French edition of 1677-9 described by Marchand, in any English public library; but if there is a copy in the French national library, any of your bibliographical correspondents at Paris could easily ascertain whether (as is probably the case) the Amsterdam edition is a mere reprint from the original Paris edition.

The French version of this work is not only much enlarged, but it differs in the names and incidents, and is fuller in the account of the institutions and customs of the imaginary state. The English edition of 1738 (1 vol. 8vo.) is a literal translation from the French version, though it does not purport to be a translation. It may be doubted whether the translator was aware of the existence of the English publication of 1675-9. The German translation was published in 1680; the Dutch translation in 1682: both these appear to have been taken from the French.

Morhof (_Polyhistor._, vol. i. p. 74.), who inserts this work among the _libri damnati_, and dwells upon its deistical character, refers to the French version; and though he knew that the book had originally appeared in English, he probably was not aware of the difference between the two versions. A note added by his first editor, Moller, states that Morhof often told his friends that he believed Isaac Vossius to have been the author of the work. Isaac Vossius was in England from 1670 until his death, which took place at Windsor, February 21, 1689. His residence in England, combined with the known laxity of his religious opinions, doubtless suggested to Morhof the conjecture that he wrote this freethinking Utopia. There is, however, no external evidence to support this conjecture, or to show that it had any better foundation than the conjecture that Bishop Berkeley wrote _Gaudentio di Lucca_. The University of Leyden purchased the library of Isaac Vossius for 36,000 florins. If it is still preserved at Leyden, a search among his books might ascertain whether there is among them any copy of the English or French editions of this work, and whether they contain any written remark by their former possessor. Moreover, it is to be observed that the system of natural religion is for the first time developed in the French edition; and this was the part which chiefly gave the book its celebrity: whereas, the supposition of Morhof implies that the English and French versions are identical.

Heumann, in his _Schediasma de Libris Anonymis et Pseudonymis_ (Jena, 1711), p. 161. (reprinted in Mylius, _Bibliotheca Anon. et Pseudon._, Hamburg, 1740, vol. i. pp. 170-6.) has an article on the _Histoire des Sevarambes_. It is there stated that "Messieurs de Portroyal" superintended the French translation of the work; but no authority is given for the statement. Christian Thomasius, {375} in his _Monthly Review_ of November 1689, attributed the work to D'Allais (or Vairasse). He alleged three reasons for this belief: 1. The rumour current in France; 2. The fact that Allais sold the book, as well as his French grammar; 3. That a comparison of the two works, in respect of style and character of mind, renders it most probable that both are by the same author. The testimony of Thomasius is important, as the date of its publication is only ten years posterior to the publication of the last part of the French version.

Leclerc, in a review of the _Schediasma_ of Heumann, in the _Bibliotheque Choisie_, published in 1712 (tom. xxv. p. 402., with an addendum, tom. xxvi. p. 460.), attests positively that Vairasse was the author of the work in question. He says that Vairasse (or, as he spells the name, Veiras) took the name of D'Allais in order to sell his book. He had this fact from persons well acquainted with Vairasse. He likewise mentions that Vairasse was well known to Locke, who gave Leclerc an account of his birthplace. Leclerc adds that he was acquainted with a person to whom Vairasse wished to dedicate his book (viz. the _Histoire des Sevarambes_), _and who possessed a copy of it, with a species of dedication, written in his hand_.

This testimony is so distinct and circumstantial, as to leave no reasonable doubt as to the connexion of Vairasse with the French version. The difficulty as to the authorship of the English version still, however, remains considerable. The extensive alterations introduced in the French edition certainly render it probable that _two_ different writers were concerned in the work. The words of Leclerc respecting the information received from Locke are somewhat ambiguous; but they do not necessarily imply that Locke knew anything as to the connexion of Vairasse with the book, though they are not inconsistent with this meaning. Locke had doubtless become acquainted with Vairasse during his residence in England. Considering the length of time which Vairasse passed in England, and the eminence of the persons with whom he is said to have had relations (viz. the Duke of York, Lord Clarendon, and Locke), it is singular that no mention of him should be discoverable in any English book.

The error, that the work in question was written by Algernon Sidney, appears to have arisen from a confusion with the name of Captain Siden, the imaginary traveller. Fabricius (_Bibliograph. Antiq._, c. xiv. s.16. p. 491.) mentions Sidney and Vairasse as the two most probable claimants to the authorship.

Hume, in his _Essay on Polygamy and Divorces_, refers to the _History of the Sevarambians_, and calls it an "agreeable romance."

L.

* * * * *

WAS THERE AN "OUTER TEMPLE" IN THE POSSESSION OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS OR KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN?--(Vol. iii., p. 325.)

I have great pleasure in complying with the very proper request of MR. FOSS, and give my authority at once for stating in the _Hand-book for London_ that the so-called "Outer Temple" was a part of the Fleet Street possession of the Knights Templars or Knights of St. John, or was in any manner comprehended within the New Temple property of Fleet Street and Temple Bar. My authority is Sir George Buc, whose minute and valuable account of the universities of England is dedicated to Sir Edward Coke. Buc's words are these:--

"After this suppression and condemnation of the Templers, their house
here in Fleete Street came to the handes and occupation of diuers
Lordes. For our Antiquaries and Chronologers say, that after this
suppression Sir Thomas Plantagenet Earl of Lancaster (and Cousin to the
King then raigning) had it, but beeing after attainted of treason, hee
enjoyed it but a short time.

"Then next Hugh Spencer Earle of Glocester got into it, but he also was
soone after attainted, and executed for Treason. After him Andomare de
Valence, a nobleman of the great house of Lusignan, and Earle of
Pembrooke, was lodged in it for a while. But this house was '_Equus
Seianus_' to them all: and (as here it appeareth) was ordayned by God
for other better uses, and whereunto now it serueth. After all these
noble tenants and occupants were thus exturbed, dead, and gone, then
certaine of the reuerend, ancient professours of the Lawes, in the
raign of King Edward the Third, obtained a very large or (as I might
say) a perpetuall Lease of this Temple, or (as it must bee understood)
of two parts thereof distinguished by the names of the Middle Temple
and the Inner Temple, from the foresayd Ioannites.... But the other
third part, called the Outward Temple, Doctor Stapleton, Bishop of
Exceter, had gotten in the raign of the former King, Edward the Second,
and conuerted it to a house for him and his successors, Bishops of
Exceter ... of whom the late Earle of Essex purchased it, and it is now
called Essex house: hauing first beene (as I haue sayd) a part of the
Templers' house, and in regard of the scituation thereof, without the
Barre, was called the Outward or Utter Temple, as the others, for the
like causes, were called the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple."--Sir
George Buc, in _Stow_ by Howes, ed. 1631, p. 1068.

This seems decisive, if Buc is to be relied on, as I think he is. But new facts, such as MR. FOSS'S researches and MR. BURTT'S diligence are likely to bring to light, may upset Buc's statement altogether.

I must join MR. FOSS in his wish to ascertain _when_ the names Inner Temple and Middle Temple were first made use of, with a further Query, which I should be glad to have settled, _when_ the See of Exeter first obtained the site of the so-called {376} "Outer Temple?" Stapleton, by whom it was _perhaps_ obtained, was Bishop of Exeter from 1307 to 1326.

PETER CUNNINGHAM.

* * * * *

OBEISM.

(Vol. iii., p. 59.)

In reply to F. H., I beg leave to state that Obeism is not in itself a religion, except in the sense in which Burke says that "superstition is the religion of feeble minds." It is a belief, real or pretended, in the efficacy of certain spells and incantations, and is to the uneducated negro what sorcery was to our unenlightened forefathers. This superstition is known in St. Lucia by the name of _Kembois_. It is still extensively practised in the West Indies, but there is no reason to suppose that it is rapidly gaining ground. F. H. will find ample information on the subject in Pere Labat's _Nouveau Voyage aux Isles francaises de l'Amerique_, tome ii. p. 59., and tome iv. pp. 447. 499. and 506., edition of 1742; in Bryan Edwards' _History of the West Indies_, vol. ii. ch. iii., 5th edition (London, 1819); and in Dr. R. R. Madden's _Residence in the West Indies_, vol. ii. letter 27. Perhaps the following particulars from Bryan Edwards (who says he is indebted for them to a Mr. Long) on the etymology of _obeah_, may be acceptable to some of your readers:--

"The term _obeah_, _obiah_, or _obia_, (for it is variously written,)
we conceive to be the adjective, and _obe_ or _obi_, the noun
substantive; and that by the word _obia_--men or women--is meant those
who practise _obi_. The origin of the term we should consider as of no
importance, in our answer to the question proposed, if, in search of
it, we were not led to disquisitions that are highly gratifying to
curiosity. From the learned Mr. Bryant's commentary upon the word
_oph_, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term. 'A serpent, in
the Egyptian language, was called _ob_ or _aub_.' '_Obion_ is still the
Egyptian name for a serpent.' 'Moses, in the name of God, forbids the
Israelites ever to inquire of the demon _Ob_, which is translated in
our Bible, charmer or wizard, divinator aut sorcilegus.' 'The woman at
Endor is called _oub_ or _ob_, translated Pythonissa; and _oubaois_ (he
cites from _Horus Apollo_) was the name of the Basilisk or Royal
Serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular deity of Africa.'"

One of your correspondents has formed a substantive from _obe_ by the addition of _ism_, and another from _obeah_ by the same process; but it will be seen by the above quotation that there is no necessity for that obtrusive termination, the superstitious practice in question being already sufficiently described by the word _obe_ or _obi_.

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, March, 1851.

* * * * *

SAN MARINO.

(Vol. iii., p. 321.)

On the death of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, without legitimate male issue, in October, 1468, Pope Paul II. declared Rimini and his other fiefs to have reverted to the Holy See. In the spring of the following year the Pontiff proceeded, with the assistance of the Venetians, to enforce his claim, and threatened the Republicans of San Marino with his vengeance if they did not aid him and his allies in gaining possession of Rimini, which Roberto Malatesta, one of the illegitimate sons of Sigismondo Pandolfo, had seized by stratagem.

By advice of their faithful friend Federigo, Count of Urbino, who was at the head of the opposite league, comprising the King of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and the Florentines, the San-Marinese forwarded the Papal mandate to Florence, and requested through their ambassador, one Ser Bartolomeo, the support of that Republic. Several letters appear to have been sent in answer to their applications, and the one communicated by MR. SYDNEY SMIRKE is characterised by Melchiarre Delfico (_Memorie storiche della Repubblica di San Marino._ Capolago, 1842, 8vo. p. 229.) as

"Del tutto didattica e parenetica intorno alla liberta, di cui i
Fiorentini facevano gran vanto, mentre erano quasi alla vigilia di
perderla intieramente."

San Marino was not attacked during the campaign, which terminated on the 30th of August of the same year (1469) with the battle of Vergiano, in which Alessandro Sforza, the commander of the Papal forces, was signally defeated by Federigo.

San Marino has never, so far as I have been able to ascertain, undergone the calamity of a siege, and its inhabitants have uninterruptedly enjoyed the blessing of self-government from the foundation of the Republic in the third or fourth century to the present time, with the exception of the few months of 1503, during which the infamous Cesare Borgia forced them to accept a Podesta of his own nomination. Various causes have contributed to this lengthened independence; but it may be stated that, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the San Marinese owed it no less to their own patriotism, courage, prudence, and good faith, than to the disinterested protection of the Counts and Dukes of Urbino, whose history has been so ably written by Mr. Dennistoun, in his recently published memoirs of that chivalrous race.

The privileges of the Republic were confirmed on the 12th of February, 1797, by Napoleon Buonaparte, who offered to enlarge its territory,--a boon which its citizens were wise enough to decline; thinking, perhaps, with Montesquieu, that--

"Il est de la nature d'une republique qu'elle n'ait qu'un petit
territoire: sans cela, elle ne peut guere subsister."--_Esprit des
Lois_, liv. viii. chap. 16.

Your readers will find some notices of San {377} Marino in Addison's _Remarks on several Parts of Italy_; Aristotle's _Politics_, translated by Gillies, lib. ii. Appendix.

Its lofty and isolated situation has supplied Jean Paul with a simile in his _Unsichtbare Loge_:

"Alle andre Wissenschaften theilen sich jetzt in eine Universal
Monarchie ueber alle Leser: aber die Alten sitzen mit ihren wenigen
philologischen Lehnsleuten einsam auf einem S. Marino-Felsen."--_Jean
Paul's_ Werke (Berlin, 1840, 8vo.), vol. i. p. 125.

In the first line of the letter, "ved_a_to" should be ved_u_to; and in the seventh line, "difender_ai_" difender_vi_.

F. C. B.

* * * * *

THE BELLMAN AND HIS HISTORY.

(Vol. iii., p. 324.)

The Bellman's songs may be found in the _Bellman's Treasury, containing above a Hundred several Verses, fitted for all Humours and Fancies, and suited to all Times and Seasons_. London: 8vo. 1707. Extracts from this book are given in Hone's _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1594.

I have now before me a broadside thus entitled: "A copy of verses, humbly presented to the Right Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Councilmen, and the rest of my worthy Masters and Mistresses, dwelling in Cambridge. By Thomas Adams, Bellman, 1810." There is a large engraving, from a wood-block, apparently a century old, representing a bellman, in a flowing wig and a three-cornered hat, holding, in his right hand a bell, and in his left a javelin and lantern; his dog is behind him.

The verses are:

1. Prologue.
2. To the Right Worshipful the Mayor.
3. To the Aldermen.
4. To the Common Councilmen.
5. To the Town Clerk.
6. To the Members for the Town.
7. On the King.
8. On the Queen.
9. On Christmas Day.
10. On New Year's Day.
11. To the Young Men.
12. To the Young Maids.
13. On Charity.
14. On Religion.
15. Epilogue.

This is marked as the 24th sheet; that is, as I suppose, the 24th set of verses presented by Mr. Adams.

I have also a similar broadside, "by Isaac Moule, jun., bellman, 1824," being "No. III." of Mr. Moule's performances. The woodcut is of a more modern character than Mr. Adams's, and delineates a bellman in a three-cornered hat, modern coat, breeches, and stockings, a bell in his right hand, and a small dog by his side. The bellman is represented as standing in front of the old Shire Hall in Cambridge, having Hobson's Conduit on his right.

The subjects of Mr. Moule's verses are similar to those of Mr. Adams, with the following variations. He omits verses to the Town Clerk, the Members for the Town, the Queen, on Charity, and on Religion, and inserts verses "On St. Crispin," and "To my Masters and Mistresses."

The office of bellman in this town was abolished in 1836, and to the bellman's verses have succeeded similar effusions from the lamplighters, who distribute copies when soliciting Christmas boxes from the inhabitants.

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, April 28. 1851.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

"_God takes those soonest_," &c. (Vol. iii., p. 302.).--In Morwenstow churchyard, Cornwall, there is this epitaph on a child:--

"Those whom God loves die young!
They see no evil days,--
No falsehood taints their tongue,
No wickedness their ways.

"Baptized, and so made sure,
To win their blest abode,--
What shall we pray for more?
They die, and are with God!"

C. E. H.

The belief expressed in these words is of great antiquity. See the story of Cleobis and Biton, in Herod. l. 31., and the verse frown the [Greek: Dis exapaton] of Menander:

"[Greek: Hon hoi theoi philousin apothneskei neos]."
Meineke, _Fragm. Com. Gr._, vol. iv. p. 105.

L.

I would suggest to T. H. K. that the origin of this line is Menander's

"[Greek: Hon hoi theoi philousin apothneskei neos]."
Fragm. 128. in Meineke, _Fr. Com. Gr._

imitated by Plautus:

"Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur."
_Bacch._ iv. 7. 18.

whence the English adage,

"Whom the gods love die young."

Wordsworth's _Excur._, b. i., has this sentiment:

"O, Sir, the good die first,
And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust,
Burn to the socket."

C. P. PH****.

[Several other correspondents have kindly replied to this Query.]

{378}

_Disinterment for Heresy_ (Vol. iii, p. 240.).--Mr. Tracy's will, dated 10th October, 22d Henry VIII. [1530], is given at length in Hall's _Chronicle_ (ed. 1809, p. 796.), where will be found the particulars of the case to which ARUN alludes. See also Burnet's _History of the Reformation_ (ed. 1841, vol. i. pp. 125. 657, 658. 673.), and Strype's _Annals of the Reformation_, vol. i. p. 507. Strype states that Mr. Tracy's body was dug up and burnt "anno 1532." William Tyndale wrote _Exposition on Mr. Will. Tracies Will_, published in 8vo. at Nuremburgh, 1546. (Wood's _Athen. Oxon._, vol. i. p. 37.)

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, April 2. 1851.

"William Tracy, a worshipful esquire in Gloucestershire, and then dwelling at Todington," made a will, which was thought to contain heretical sentiments. His executor having brought in this will to be proved two years after Tracy's death (in 1532), "the Convocation most cruelly judged that he should be taken out of the ground, and burnt as an heretick," which was accordingly done; but the chancellor of the diocese of Worcester, to whom the commission was sent for the burning, was fined 300_l_. for it by King Henry VIII. Such is the story in Fox's _Martyrs_, anno 1532 (vol. ii. p. 262. ed. 1684, which I have before me).

EXON.

The date and some particulars of the exhumation of the body of W. Tracy, Esq., of Toddington Park, ancestor of the present Lord Sudeley, ARUN will find in Foxe's _Acts and Monuments_, vol. v. p. 31. ed. 1843, and the note in appendix will point out other sources.

NOVUS.

_The Vellum-bound Junius_ (Vol. iii., pp. 262. 307.).--In the Number dated April 19, 1851, p. 307., is a request for information relative to the "Vellum-bound copy of Junius;" also a reference to the subject in a prior number of the "NOTES AND QUERIES." Not being in England, and not having the prior numbers, it is not possible to make myself acquainted with the subject contained in that reference, but I will endeavour to throw some light on the Query in the Number which has been forwarded to me. The writer of the _Letters of Junius_ was the secretary of the first Marquis of Lansdowne, better known as Lord Shelburne. From his Lordship he obtained all the political information necessary for his compositions. The late Marquis of Lansdowne possessed the copy bound in vellum (two volumes), with many notes on the margin in Lord Shelburne's handwriting; they were kept locked up in a beautiful ebony casket bound and ornamented with brass. That casket has disappeared, at least so I have been told, and not many years ago inquiry was made for it by the present head of that house. Maclean was a dark, strong-featured man, who wore his hat slouched over his eyes, and generally a large cloak. He often corrected the slips or proofs of his letters at Cox's, a well-known printer near Lincoln's Inn, who deemed himself bound in honour never to divulge what he knew of that publication, and was agitated when once suddenly spoken to on the subject near the door of the small room in which the proofs were corrected, and with a high and honourable feeling requested never to be again spoken to on the subject. The late President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West, knew Maclean; and his son, the late Raphael West, told the writer of these remarks, that when a young man he had seen him in the evening at his father's in Newman Street, and once heard him repeat a passage in one of the letters which was not then published. A more correct and veracious man than Mr. R. West could not be. Maclean stammered, and was consequently of no use to Lord Shelburne as a debater and supporter in parliament. A place in the East Indies was obtained for him, and he sailed in the Aurora frigate for that dependency, and was lost in her at the same time with Falconer, the author of the poem entitled _The Shipwreck_. The able tract published by Mr. Pickering, Piccadilly, would constitute a fair foundation on which to build the inquiry.

AEGROTUS.

_Pursuits of Literature_ (Vol. iii., p. 240.).--I trust that the following notes may be useful in assisting your correspondent S. T. D. to ascertain "how the author of the _Pursuits of Literature_ became known." The first edition of the first part of the _Pursuits of Literature_ appears to have been published in quarto, by J. Owen, 168. Piccadilly, in 1794. In a volume of pamphlets I have the above bound up with the following:--

"The Sphinx's Head Broken: or a Poetical Epistle, with notes to THOMAS
JAMES M*TH**S, Cl*rk to the Q***n's Tr**s*r*r. Proving him to be the
author of the Pursuits of Literature: a Satirical Poem. With occasional
Digressions and Remarks. By Andrew Oedipus, an injured Author. London:
Printed for J. Bell, No. 148. Oxford Street, opposite New Bond Street,
MDCCXCVIII."

This epistle is a very severe castigation for Mathias, whom Oedipus styles the "little black jogging man," whose

"Politics and religion are very well, but he is a detestable pedant,
and his head is a lumber-garret of Greek quotations, which he raps out
as a juggler does ribbands at a country fair."

And speaking of "Chuckle Bennet," he calls him in a note,

"A good calf-headed bookseller in Pall Mall, the intimate confidant and
crony of little M*th**s, and who, upon Owen's bankruptcy, published