Chapter 1

placed them side by side; that of the latter upon a lozenge-shaped shield--Party per pale arg. and gules, two eagles displayed, counterchanged.

2ndly, No one has a right to inscribe a motto upon a garter or riband, except those dignified with one of the various orders of knighthood. For any other person to do so, is a silly assumption. The motto should be upon a scroll, either over the crest, or beneath the shield.

3rdly, I cannot find that it was ever the custom in this country for ecclesiastics to bear their paternal coat on an oval or circular shield. Forbidden, as they were, by the first council of {38} Mascon, Bingham, vi. 421., in the Excerptions of Ecgbright, A.D. 740, Item 154., and the Constitutions of Othobon, A.D. 1268, can. 4., to bear arms for the purposes of warfare, it is a question whether any below the episcopal order ought, in strict right, to display any armorial ensigns at all. Archbishops and bishops bear the arms of their sees impaled (as of their spouse) with their own paternal coats; the latter probably only in right of their baronies. It is worthy of remark that, since the Reformation, and consequent marriage of bishops, there has been no official decision as to the bearing the arms of their wives, nor has any precedence been granted to the latter.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

* * * * *

DOOR-HEAD INSCRIPTIONS.

(Vol. vii., pp. 23. 190. 585.)

A few years ago I copied the following inscription from over the door of the residence of a parish priest at Cologne:

"Protege Deus parochiam hanc propter Te et S.S. tuum, sicut protexisti Jerusalem propter Te et David servum tuum. IV Reg. xx. 6. A.D. 1787."

From the gateway leading into the Villa Borghese, just outside of the "Porta del Popolo," at Rome, I copied the following:

"Villae Burghesiae Pincianae Custos haec edico. Quisquis es, si liber legum compedes ne hic timeas. Ite quo voles, carpite quae voles, Abite quando voles. Exteris magis haec parantur quam hero. In aureo saeculo ubi cuncta aurea temporum securitas fecit bene morato: Hospiti ferreas leges praefigere herus velat. Sit hic pro amico, pro lege honesta voluntas. Verum si quis dolo malo, lubens, sciens aureas urbanitatis leges fregerit, Caveat ne sibi Tesseram amicitiae subiratus villicus advorsum frangat."

On the entrance into the Villa Medici are the two following:

"Aditurus hortos hospes, in summo ut vides colle hortulorum consitos, si forte quid audes probare, scire debes hos hero herique amicis esse apertos omnibus."

"Ingressurus hospes hosce quos ingentibus instruxit hortos sumptibus suis Medices Fernandus expleare visendo licet: atque his fruendo plura Velle nondecet."

The following I copied from a gateway leading into a vineyard near the church of San Eusebio, at Rome:

"Tria sunt mirabilia; Trinus et unus, Deus et homo, Virgo et mater."

CEYREP.

* * * * *

CONSECRATED ROSES.

(Vol. vii., pp. 407. 480.)

I forward the accompanying observations on the origin of the Rosa d'Oro, in compliance with the request contained at page 480. of the 185th No. of "N. & Q.," in case they should not have come under your observation. They are to be found in _Histoire de Lorraine_, par R. P. Dom. Calmet: Nancy, 1745.

"Le troisieme monastere fonde par les parens de St. Leon est l'Abbaye de Volfenheim, a deux lieues de Colmar, vers le Midi, et a deux lieues environs d'Egesheim, chateau des Comtes de Dasbourg, aujourd'hui (1745) inhabite, mais bien remarquable par ces vastes ruines, sur le sommet des montagnes qui dominent sur l'Alsace.

"Volfenheim etoit un village considerable, a une lieue et demi de Colmar. On voie encore aujourd'hui a une demi lieue de Sainte Croix dans les champs, l'eglise qui lui servoit autrefois de paroisse. L'abbaye etoit a quelque distance de la, au lieu ou est aujourd'hui le bourg de Sainte Croix.

"Volfenheim ayant etoit [_Quaere_, ete] ruine par les guerres, les habitans se sont insensiblement etablis autour de l'abbaye, ce qui a forme un bon bourg, connu sous le nom de Sainte Croix; parceque l'abbaye etoit consacree sous cette invocation. Le Pape Leon IX., dans la Bulle qu'il donna a ce monastere la premiere annee de son pontificat, de J. C. 1049, nous apprend qu'il avoit ete fonde par son pere Hughes et sa mere Heilioilgdis, et ses freres Gerard et Hugues, qui etoient deja decedes; il ajoute que ce lieu lui etoit tombe par droit de succession; il le met sous la protection speciale du Saint Siege, en sorte que nulle personne, de quelque qualite qu'elle soit, n'y exerce aucune autorite, mais qu'il jouisse d'une pleine liberte, et que l'abbesse et les religieuses puissent employer quelque eveque ils jugeroient apropos pour les benedictions d'autels, et autres fonctions qui regardent le ministere episcopal: que son neveu, le Comte Henri Seigneur d'Egesheim, en soit la voue, et apres lui, l'aine des Seigneurs d'Egesheim a perpetuite.

"Que si cette race vient a manquer, l'abbesse et le couvent choisiront quelque autre de la parente de ces {39} seigneurs, afin que l'avocatie ne soit pas de leur race, et qu'apres la mort de Kuentza, qui en etoit abbesse, et a qui le Pape avoit donne la benediction abbatiale, les religieuses choisissent de leur communaute, ou d'ailleurs, celle qui leur paroitra la plus propre, reservant toujours au Pape le droit de la benir. Et en reconnaissance d'un privilege si singulier, l'abbesse donnera tous les ans au Saint Siege une Rose d'Or du poids de deux onces Romaines. Elle l'envoyera toute faite, ou en envoyera la matiere preparee, de telle sorte qu'elle soit rendue au Pape huit jours auparavant qu'il la porte, c'est-a-dire, le Dimanche de Careme, ou l'on chante a l'Introite, 'Oculi mei semper ad Dominum;' afin qu'il puisse benir au Dimanche 'Laetare,' qui est le quatrieme du Careme. Telle est l'origine de la Rose d'Or, que le Pape benit encore aujourd'hui le quatrieme Dimanche de Careme, nomme 'Laetare,' et qu'il envoye a quelque prince pour marque d'estime et de bienveillance. Ce jour-la, la station se fait a Sainte Croix de Jerusalem. Le Pape, accompagne des cardinaux, vetus de couleur de rose, marche en cavalcade a l'eglise, tenant la Rose d'Or a la main. Il la porte, allant a l'autel, charge de baume et de mare. Il la quitte au 'Confiteor,' et la reprend apres 'l'Introite.' Il en fait la Benediction, et apres l'Evangile, il monte en chaise et explique les proprietes de la rose. Apres la Messe il retourne en cavalcade a son palais, ayant toujours la Rose en main et la couronne sur la tete. On appelle ce Dimanche 'Pascha rosata,' ou 'Laetare.'

"Nous avons encore un sermon du Pape Innocent III., compose en cette occasion, an commencement du treizieme siecle. Le Pape Nicholas IV., en 1290, dans le denombrement qu'il fait des eglises qui doivent des redevances a l'eglise de Rome, met le monastere de Sainte Croix, diocese de Basle, qui doit deux onces d'or pour la Rose d'Or, qui se benit au Dimanche Laetere, Jerusalem."

P. P. P.

* * * * *

NOTES ON SERPENTS.

(Vol. ii., p. 130.; Vol. vi., p. 177.--Vol. iii., p. 490.; Vol. vi., pp. 42. 147.)

Loskiel, in his account of the Moravian missions to the North American Indians[5], tells us that,--

"The Indians are remarkably skilled in curing the bite of venomous serpents, and have found a medicine peculiarly adapted to the bite of each species. For example, the leaf of the Rattlesnake-root (_Polygala senega_) is the most efficacious remedy against the bite of this dreadful animal. God has mercifully granted it to grow in the greatest plenty in all parts most infested by the rattlesnake. It is very remarkable that this herb acquires its greatest perfection just at the time when the bite of these serpents is the most dangerous.... Virginian Snake-root (_Aristolochia serpentaria_) chewed, makes also an excellent poultice for wounds of this sort.... The fat of the serpent itself, rubbed into the wound, is thought to be efficacious. The flesh of the rattlesnake, dried and boiled to a broth, is said to be more nourishing than that of the viper, and of service in consumptions. Their gall is likewise used as medicine."--P. 146.

Pigs are excepted from the dreadful effects of their bite; they will even attack and eat them. It is said that, _if a rattlesnake is irritated and cannot be revenged, it bites itself, and dies in a few hours_:

"Wird dieses Thier zornig gemacht, und es kann sich nicht raechen, so beiszt es sich selbst, und in wenig Stunden ist es todt."--P. 113.[6]

"I have seen some of our Canadians eat these rattlesnakes repeatedly. The flesh is very white, and they assured me had a delicious taste. Their manner of dressing them is very simple.... Great caution, however, is required in killing a snake for eating; for if the first blow fails, or only partially stuns him, _he instantly bites himself in different parts of the body, which thereby become poisoned_, and would prove fatal to any person who should partake of it."--Cox's _Adv. on the Columbia River_: Lond. 1832, p. 74.

"Dr. Fordyce knew the black servant of an Indian merchant in America, who was fond of soup made of rattlesnakes, in which he always boiled the head along with the rest of the animal, without any regard to the poisons."--Rees's _Cyclopaedia_.

"There is a religious sect in Africa, not far from Algiers, which eat the most venomous serpents _alive_; and certainly, it is said, without extracting their fangs. They declare they enjoy the privilege from their founder. The creatures writhe and struggle between their teeth; but possibly, if they do bite them, the bite is innocuous."

Mrs. Crowe, in the concluding chapter of her _Night-side of Nature_, gives the testimony of an eye-witness to "the singular phenomenon to be observed by placing a scorpion and a mouse together under a glass."

"It is known that _stags renew their age by eating serpents_; so the phoenix is restored by the nest of spices she makes to burn in. The pelican hath the same virtue, whose right foot, if it be put under hot dung, after three months a pelican will be bred from it. Wherefore some physicians, with some confections made of _a viper_ and hellebore, and of some of the flesh of these creatures, _do promise to restore youth, and sometimes they do it_."[7]

On reading any of our old herbalists, one would imagine that serpents (and those of the worst kind) abounded in "Merrie Englande," and that they were the greatest bane of our lives. It is {40} hard to stumble on a plant that is not an antidote to the bite of serpents. Our old herbals were compiled, however, almost entirely from the writings of the ancients, and from foreign sources. The ancients had a curious notion relative to the plant Basil (_Oscimum basilicum_), viz., "That there is a property in Basil to propagate scorpions, and that the smell thereof they are bred in the brains of men." Others deny this wonderful property, and make Basil a simple antidote.

"According unto Oribasius, physician unto Julian, the Africans, men best experienced in poisons, affirm, whosoever hath eaten Basil, although he be stung with a scorpion, shall feel no pain thereby, which is a very different effect, and rather antidotally destroying than seminally promoting its production."--Sir Thomas Browne, _Vulgar Errors._

An old writer gives the following anecdote in point:

"Francis Marcio, an eminent statesman of Genoa, having sent an ambassador from that republic to the Duke of Milan, when he could neither procure an audience of leave from that prince, nor yet prevail with him to ratify his promises made to the Genoese, taking a fit opportunity, presented a handful of the herb Basil to the duke. The duke, somewhat surprised, asked what that meant? 'Sir,' replied the ambassador, 'this herb is of that nature, that if you handle it gently without squeezing, it will emit a pleasant and grateful scent; but if you squeeze and gripe it, 'twill not only lose its colour, but it _will become productive of scorpions_ in a little time."--_The Entertainer_: London, 1717, p. 23.

Pliny tells us that a decoction from the leaves of the ash tree, given as a drink, is such a remedy that "nothing so soveraigne can be found against the poison of serpents;" and farther:

"That a _serpent dare not come neare the shaddow of that tree_. The serpent will chuse rather to goe into the fire than to flie from it to the leaves of the ash. A wonderful goodnesse of Dame Nature, that the ash doth bloome and flourish alwaies before that serpents come abroad, and never sheddeth leaves, but continueth green untill they be retired into their holes, and hidden within the ground."

The ancient opinion respecting the rooted antipathy between the ash and the serpent is not to be explained merely by the fact in natural history of its being an antidote, but it has a deeply mythical meaning. See, in the _Prose Edda_, the account of the ash Yggdrasill, and the serpents gnawing its roots. Loskiel corroborates Pliny as to the ash being an antidote:

"A decoction of the buds or bark of the white ash (_Fraxinus carolina_) taken inwardly is said to be a certain remedy against the effects of poison," _i.e._ of the rattlesnake.

Serpents afford Pliny a theme for inexhaustible wonders. The strangest of his relations perhaps is where he tells us that serpents, "when they have stung or bitten a man, die for very greefe and sorrow that they have done such a mischeefe." He makes a special exception, however, of the murderous salamander, who has no such "pricke and remorse of conscience," but would "destroy whole nations at one time," if not prevented. In this same book (xxix.) he gives a receipt for making the famous _theriacum_, or treacle, of vipers' flesh. Another strange notion of the ancients was "that the marrow of a man's backe bone will breed to a snake" (_Hist. Nat._, x. 66.). This perhaps, originally, had a mystic meaning; for a great proportion of the innumerable serpent stories have a deeper foundation than a credulous fancy or lively imagination.

Take, for instance, the wide-spread legend of the sea-serpent. Mr. Deane says,--

"The superstition of 'the serpent in the sea' was known to the Chinese, as we observed in the chapter on the 'Serpent-worship of China.' But it was doubtless, at one time, a very general superstition among the heathens, for we find it mentioned by Isaiah, ch. xxvii. 1., 'In that day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent: and He shall slay _the dragon that is in the sea_.'"

In _Blackwood's Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 645., vol. iv. pp. 33. 205., may be found some interesting papers on the "Scrakin, or Great Sea Serpent."

Mr. Deane's _Worship of the Serpent_ (London, 1830); and _The Cross and the Serpent_, by the Rev. Wm. Haslam (London, 1849), are noble works both of them, and ought to be in the hands of every Christian scholar. In these two words, "Cross" and "Serpent," we have an epitome of the history of the world and the human race, as well as the ground-work for all our hopes and fears. In them are bound up the highest mysteries, the truest symbolism, the deepest realities, and our nearest and dearest interests.

Lord Bacon thus narrates the classical fable which accounts for the serpent's being gifted with the power of restoring youth:

"The gods, in a merry mood, granted unto men not only the use of fire, but _perpetual youth_ also, a boon most acceptable and desirable. They being as it were overjoyed, did foolishly lay this gift of the gods upon the back of an ass, who, being wonderfully oppressed with thirst and near a fountain, was told by a serpent (which had the custody thereof) that he should not drink unless he would promise to give him the burthen that was on his back. The silly ass accepted the condition, and _so the restoration of youth_ (_sold for a draught of water_) _passed from men to serpents._"--_The Wisdom of the Ancients_ (Prometheus, xxvi.).

That this, as well as the whole of the legend relating to Prometheus, is a confused account of an early tradition relative to the Fall of Man, and his forfeiture of immortality, is obvious to any {41} unprejudiced mind. Lord Bacon's explanation shows that he has been overreached by his fancy and ingenuity.

In all the ancient mysteries, the serpent was more or less conspicuously introduced, and always as a symbol of the invigorating or active power of nature. The serpent was an emblem of the sun. _Solar_, _Phallic_, and _Serpent_ worship, are all forms of a single worship.[8] The Hindu _Boodh_, Chinese _Fo_, Egyptian _Osiris_, Northern _Woden_, Mexican _Quetzalcoatl_ (feathered serpent), are one and the same. (See the _American Archaeological Researches_, No. 1.; _The Serpent Symbol, and the Worship of the Reciprocal Principles of Nature in America_, by E. G. Squier: New York, 1851.)

In Hindostan, to this day, we have the _Chaudravanasas_ and the _Snaryavanasas_, worshippers of the moon, the aqueous or female; and of the sun, the igneous or male principle. The _Saivas_ conjoin the two. Clemens Alexandrinus has a curious remark, referring to the calling on _Evoe_ or _Eva_ in the orgies of Bacchus; he says:

"The symbol in the orgies of Bacchus is a consecrated _serpent_; and, indeed, if we pay attention to the strict sense of the Hebrew, the name _Evia_, aspirated, signifies _female serpent_."

In my list of saints who are represented with a dragon or serpent beneath their feet, I omitted St. Hilary:

"He is usually represented with three books. In Callot's _Images_ he is treading on serpents, and accompanied by the text Numb. xxi. 7. Both these emblems allude to his opposition to Arianism; the books signifying the treatises he wrote against it, and the serpents the false doctrines and heresies which he overthrew." _Calendar of the Anglican Church Illustrated_: London, 1851, p. 37.

In Didron's splendid work (the _Iconographie_) we have several references to ancient representations of our blessed Lord treading the dragon under foot; and sometimes the lion, the asp, and the basilisk are added. (See Ps. xci. 13.)

_The Conception_ is usually represented in Christian art by a figure of Mary setting her foot, as second Eve, on the head of the prostrate serpent (in allusion to Gen. iii. 15.), and thus we find it in Callot's _Images_.

"Not seldom, in a series of subjects from the Old Testament, the pendant to Eve holding the apple is Mary crushing the head of the fiend: and thus the bane and antidote are both before us." (See Mrs. Jameson's _Legends of the Madonna._)

EIRIONNACH.

[Footnote 5: The title of this curious book is, _Geschichte der Mission der evangelischen Brueder unter den Indianern in Nordamerika_, durch Georg H. Loskiel: Barby, 1789, 8vo., pp. 783. Latrobe's translation of this book was published Lond. 1794.]

[Footnote 6: This reminds one of the notion respecting

"The scorpion girt with fire,"

immortalised by Lord Byron's famous simile.]

[Footnote 7: _Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art and Nature; being the Summe and Substance of Naturall Philosophy methodically digested_: London, 1661.]

[Footnote 8: In O'Brien's work on _The Round Towers of Ireland_, London, 1834, may be found much curious matter on this subject; and a good deal of light is thrown on the horrors of Serpent or Boodhist worship. It is, however, a wild and irreverent book, and by no means to be recommended to the general reader, independently of the nature of its details. Mr. Payne Knight's book is too well known to need mention here.]

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Early Notice of the Camera Obscura._--I send you an early notice of the camera obscura, which is to be found in vol. vi. of the _Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres_ for September, 1686, p. 1016. It is taken from a letter of Mons. Laurenti, medecin, of Boulogne, "Sur l'erection des especes dans une chambre optique."

"C'est ainsi qu'on nomme one chambre exactement fermee partout, si ce n'est dans un endroit par ou on laisse entrer la lumiere, afin de voir peints, et situes a rebours, sur un morceau de papier blanc, les objets de dehors qui respondent a ce trou, auquel il faut mettre un verre convexe. On a souhaite, pour donner plus d'agrement a ce spectacle, que les objets se peignissent sur ce papier selon leur veritable situation; et pour cet effet on a cherche des expediens qui redressassent les especes avant qu'elles parvinssent au foier du verre, c'est-a-dire, sur le papier. L'auteur raporte '10' de ces expediens, et trouve dans chacun d'eux quelque chose d'incommode, mais enfin il en raporte un autre, qui est exempt de toutes ces incommoditez, et qui, par le moien d'un prisme, au travers duquel il faut regarder les images peints sur le papier, les montre dans leur situation droite, et augmente meme la vivacite de leurs couleurs. C'est le hazard qui a decouvert ce phenomene."

This letter is to be found at length in the _Miscellanea Curiosa, sive Ephemeridum Medico-Physicarum Germanicarum Academiae Naturae curiosorum decuria II. annus quartus, anni 1685 continens celeberrimorum Virorum observationes medicas_: Norimbergae, 1686, in 4to. It may perhaps be worth consulting, if it were only to know what the ten rejected expedients are.

ANON.

_Queries on Dr. Diamond's Collodion Process._--Will you oblige me by informing DR. DIAMOND through your valuable publication, that I am, in common with many others, extremely indebted to him for his collodion, and would esteem it a favour if he would answer the following Queries, viz.:

1st. He says, in answer to a previous Query, that "nitrate of potassa" is _not_ formed in his process. Now I wish to ask if (as the iodide of silver is redissolved in iodide of potassium) it is _not_ formed when the plate is plunged into the nitrate silver bath, as the nitrate decomposes the iodide of potassium?

2nd. How long will the collodion, according to his formulae, keep, as collodion made with iodide of silver generally decomposes quickly.

3rdly. Why does he prohibit _washed_ ether?

4thly. Does he think cyanide of potassium would do as well as the iodide, to redissolve the iodide of silver, iodide of potassium being at present so dear?

{42}

5thly. In his paper process, does not the soaking in water after iodizing merely take away a portion of iodides of silver and potassium from the paper; or, if not, what end is answered by it?

W. F. E.

_Baths for the Collodion Process._--Having lately been assured, by a gentleman of scientific attainments, that the sensitiveness of the prepared collodion plate depends rather upon the strength of the nitrate of silver bath than on the collodion, I am desirous of asking how far the experience of your correspondents confirms this statement. My informant assured me, that if, instead of using a solution of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water for the bath, which is the proportion recommended by Messrs. Archer, Horne, Delamotte, Diamond, &c., a sixty grain solution be substituted, the formation of the image would be the work of the fraction of a second. This seems to me so important as to deserve being brought under the notice of photographers--especially at this busy season--without a moment's delay; and I therefore record the statement at once, as, from circumstances with which I need not encumber your pages, I shall not have an opportunity of trying any experiment upon the point for a week or two.

Upon referring to the authorities on the subject of the best solution for baths, I have been struck with their uniformity. One exception only has presented itself, which is in a valuable paper by Mr. Thomas in the 6th Number of the _Journal of the Photographic Society_. That gentleman directs the bath to be prepared in the following manner:

Into a 20 oz. stoppered bottle, put--

Nitrate of silver 1 oz. Distilled water 10 oz. Dissolve.

Iodide of potassium 5 grs. Distilled water 1 dr. Dissolve.

On mixing these two solutions, a precipitate of iodide of silver is formed. Place the bottle containing this mixture in a saucepan of hot water, keep it on the hob for about twelve hours, shake it occasionally, now and then removing the stopper. The bath is now perfectly saturated with iodide of silver; when cold, filter through white filtering paper, and add--

Alcohol 2 drs. Sulphuric ether 1 dr.

The prepared glass is to remain in the bath about eight or ten minutes. Now, is this bath applicable to all collodion, or only to that prepared by Mr. Thomas; and if the former, what is the rationale of its beneficial action?

A BEGINNER.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Mitigation of Capital Punishment to a Forger_ (Vol. vii., p. 573.).--If your correspondent H. B. C. really wishes to be released from his hard work in hunting up the truth of my and other narratives of the _mitigation of capital punishment to forgers_, I shall be happy to receive a note from him with his name and address, when I will give him the name and address of my informant in return. By this means I may be able to relieve his shoulder from a portion of its burden, and myself from any farther imputations of "mythic accompaniments," &c., which are unpalatable phrases even when coming from a gentleman who only discloses his initials.

ALFRED GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

_Chronograms_ (Vol. v., p. 585.) and _Anagrams_ (Vol. iv., p. 226).--Though we have ceased to practise these "literary follies," they are not without interest; and you will perhaps think it worth while to add the following to your list:

"Hugo Grotius, his _Sophompaneas_. By FranCIs GoLDsMIth."

has no date on the title-page, the real date of 1652 being supplied by the chronogram, which is a better one than most of those quoted in "N. & Q.," inasmuch as all the numerical letters are employed, and it is consequently not dependent on the typography.

James Howell concludes his _Parly of Beasts_ as follows:

"Gloria lausque Deo saeCLorVM in saecVla sunto.

A chronogrammaticall verse which includes not onely this year, 1660, but hath numericall letters enow [an illustration, by the way, of _enow_ as expressive of number] to reach above a thousand years farther, untill the year 2867."

Query, How is this made out? And are there any other letters employed as numerical than the M, D, C, L, V, and I? If not, I can only make Howell's chronogram equivalent to 1927.

The author, in his _German Diet_, after narrating the death of Charles, son of Philip II. of Spain, says:

"If you desire to know the yeer, this chronogram will tell you:

fILIVs ante DIeM patrIos InqVIrIt In annos,"

which would represent the date of 1568.

The same work contains an anagram on "Frere Jacques Clement," the murderer of Henry III. of France: "C'est l'enfer qui m'a cree."

J. F. M.

_Abigail_ (Vol. iv., p. 424.; Vol. v., pp. 38. 94. 450.).--Can it be shown that this word was in general use, as meaning a "lady's maid," before the time of Queen Anne. It probably was so used; {43} but I have always thought it likely that it became much more extensively employed, after Abigail Hill, Lady Masham, became the favourite of that queen. She was, I believe, a poor cousin of Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, and early in life was employed by her in the humble capacity of lady's maid. After she had supplanted the haughty duchess, it is not unlikely that the Whigs would take a malicious pleasure in keeping alive the recollection of the early fortunes of the Tory favourite, and that they would be unwilling to lose the opportunity of speaking of a lady's maid as anything else but an "Abigail." Swift, however, in his use of the word, could have no such design, as he was on the best of terms with the Mashams, of whose party he was the very life and soul.

H. T. RILEY.

_Burial in unconsecrated Ground_ (Vol. vi., p. 448.).--Susanna, the wife of Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., of Busbridge, in Surrey, died at Bath in March, 1756, and was, at her own desire, buried with two of her children in a cave in the grounds at Busbridge; it being excavated by a company of soldiers then quartered at Guildford. Their remains were afterwards disinterred and buried in Godalming Church.

H. T. RILEY.

_"Cob" and "Conners"_ (Vol. vii., pp. 234. 321.).--These names are not synonymous, nor are they Irish words. It is the pier at Lyme Regis, and not the harbour, which bears the name of the _Cob_. In the "Y Gododin" of Aneurin, a British poem supposed to have been written in the sixth century, the now obsolete word _chynnwr_ occurs in the seventy-sixth stanza. In a recent translation of this poem, by the Rev. John Williams Ab Ithel, M.A., this word is rendered, apparently for the sake of the metre, "shore of the sea." The explanation given in a foot-note is, "Harbour _cynwr_ from _cyn dwfr_." On the shore of the estuary of the Dee, between Chester and Flint, on the Welsh side of the river, there is a place called "Connah's Quay." It is probable that the ancient orthography of the name was _Conner_.

_Cob_, I think, is also a British word,--_cop_, a mound. All the ancient earth-works which bear this name, of which I have knowledge, are of a circular form, except a lone embankment called _The Cop_, which has been raised on the race-course at Chester, to protect it from the land-floods and spring-tides of the river Dee.

N. W. S. (2.)

_Coleridge's Unpublished MSS._ (Vol. iv., p. 411.; Vol. vi., p. 533.).--THEOPHYLACT, at the first reference, inquired whether we are "ever likely to receive from any member of Coleridge's family, or from his friend Mr. J. H. Green, the fragments, if not the entire work, of his _Logosophia_." Agreeing with your correspondent, that "we can ill afford to lose a work the conception of which engrossed much of his thoughts," I repeated the Query in another form, at the second reference (_supra_), grounding it upon an assurance of Sara Coleridge, in her introduction to the _Biographia Literaria_, that the fragment on Ideas would hereafter appear, as a sequel to the _Aids to Reflection_. Whether this fragment be identical with the _Logosophia_, or, as I suspect, a distinct essay, certain it is that nothing of the kind has ever been published.

From an interesting conversation I had with Dr. Green in a railway carriage, on our return from the Commemoration at Oxford, I learned that he has in his possession, (1.) A complete section of a work on _The Philosophy of Nature_ which he took down from the mouth of Coleridge, filling a large volume; (2.) A complete treatise on _Logic_; and (3.) If I did not mistake, a fragment on _Ideas_. The reason Dr. Green assigns for their not having been published, is, that they contain nothing but what has already seen the light in the _Aids to Reflection_, _The Theory of Life_, and the _Treatise on Method_. This appears to me a very inadequate reason for withholding them from the press. That the works would pay, there can be no doubt. Besides the editing of these MSS., who is so well qualified as Dr. Green to give us a good biography of Coleridge?

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

_Selling a Wife_ (Vol. vii., p. 602.).--A case of selling a wife actually and _bona fide_ happened in the provincial town in which I reside, about eighteen years ago. A man publicly sold his wife at the market cross for 15l.: the buyer carried her away with him some seven miles off, and she lived with him till his death. The seller and the buyer are both now dead, but the woman is alive, and is married to a _third_ (or a _second_) husband. The legality of the transaction has, I believe, some chance of being tried, as she now claims some property belonging to her first husband (the seller), her right to which is questioned in consequence of her supposed alienation by sale; and I am informed that a lawyer has been applied to in the case. Of course there can be little doubt as to the result.

SC.

_Life_ (Vol. vii., pp. 429. 608.).--Compare with the lines quoted by your correspondents those of Moore, entitled "My Birthday," the four following especially:

"Vain was the man, and false as vain, Who said[9], 'Were he ordain'd to run His long career of life again, He would do all that he had done.'"

Many a man would gladly live his life over again, were he allowed to bring to bear on his {44} second life the _experience_ he had acquired in that past. For in the grave there is no room, either for _ambition_ or _repentance_; and the degree of our happiness or misery for eternity is proportioned to the state of preparation or unpreparation in which we leave _this world_. Instead of many a man, I might have said most good men; and of the others, all who have not passed the rubicon of hope and grace. The vista of the past, however, appears a long and dreary retrospect, and _any_ future is hailed as a relief: yet on second and deeper thought, we would mount again the rugged hill of life, and try for a brighter prospect, a higher eminence.

JARLTZBERG.

[Footnote 9: Fontenelle.]

* * * * *

"Immo Deus mihi si dederit renovare juventam, Utve iterum in cunis possim vagire; recusem." Isaac Hawkins Browne, _De Animi Immortalitate_, lib. i., near the end.

(See _Selecta Poemata Anglorum Latina_, iii. 251.)

F. W. J.

_Passage of Thucydides on the Greek Factions_ (Vol. vii., p. 594.).--The passage alluded to by SIR A. ALISON appears to be the celebrated description of the moral effects produced by the conflicts of the Greek factions, which is subjoined to the account of the Corcyraean sedition, iii. 82. The quotation must, however, have been made from memory, and it is amplified and expanded from the original. The words adverted to seem to be:

[Greek: mellesis de promethes deilia euprepes, to de sophron tou anandrou proschema, kai to pros hapan xuneton epi pan argon.]

Thucydides, however, proceeds to say that the cunning which enabled a man to plot with success against an enemy, or still more to discover his hostile purposes, was highly esteemed.

L.

_Archbishop King_ (Vol. vii., p. 430.).--A few days since I met with the following passage in a brief sketch of Kane O'Hara, in the last number of the _Irish Quarterly Review_:

"In the extremely meagre published notices of O'Hara (the celebrated burletta writer), no reference has been made to his skill as an artist, of which we have a specimen in his etching of Dr. William King, archbishop of Dublin, in a wig and cap, of which portrait a copy has been made by Richardson."

This extract is taken from one of a very interesting series of papers upon "The Streets of Dublin."

ABHBA.

_Devonianisms_ (Vol. vii., p. 544.).--_Pilm_, _Forrell_.--_Pillom_ is the full word, of which _pilm_ is a contraction. It appears to have been derived from the British word _pylor_, dust. _Forell_ is an archaic name for the cover of a book. The Welsh appear to have adopted it from the English, as their name for a bookbinder is _fforelwr_, literally, one who covers books. I may mention another Devonianism. The cover of a book is called its _healing_. A man who lays slates on the roof of a house is, in Devonshire, called a _hellier_.

N. W. S. (2.)

_Perseverant, Perseverance_ (Vol. vii., p. 400.).--Can MR. ARROWSMITH supply any instances of the verb _persever_ (or _perceyuer_, as it is spelt in the 1555 edition of Hawes, M. i. col. 2.), from any other author? and will he inform us when this "abortive hog" and his litter became extinct.

In explaining _speare_ (so strangely misunderstood by the editor of Dodsley), he should, I think, have added, that it was an old way of writing _spar_. In Shakspeare's Prologue to _Troilus and Cressida_, it is written _sperr_. _Sparred_, quoted by Richardson from the _Romance of the Rose_, and _Troilus and Creseide_, is in the edition of Chaucer referred to by Tyrwhitt, written in the _Romance_ "spered," and in _Troilus_ "sperred."

Q.

Bloomsbury.

"_The Good Old Cause_" (Vol. vi., _passim_).--Mrs. Behn, who gained some notoriety for her licentious writings even in Charles II.'s days, was the author of a play called _The Roundheads, or the Good Old Cause_: London, 1682. In the Epilogue she puts into the mouth of the Puritans the following lines respecting the Royalists:

"Yet then they rail'd against _The Good Old Cause_; Rail'd foolishly for loyalty and laws: But when the Saints had put them to a stand, We left them loyalty, and took their land: Yea, and the pious work of Reformation Rewarded was with plunder and sequestration."

The following lines are quoted by Mr. Teale in his _Life of Viscount Falkland_, p. 131.:

"The wealthiest man among us is the best: No grandeur now in Nature or in book Delights us--repose, avarice, expense, This is the idolatry; and these we adore: Plain living and high thinking are no more; The homely beauty of _The Good Old Cause_ Is gone: our peace and fearful innocence, And pure religion breathing household laws."

Whence did Mr. Teale get these lines? Either _The Good Old Cause_ is here used in a peculiar sense, or Mr. Teale makes an unhappy use of the quotation.

JARLTZBERG.

_Saying of Pascal_ (Vol. vii., p. 596.).--In reply to the question of W. FRASER, I would refer him to Pascal's _sixteenth_ Provincial Letter, where, in the last paragraph but one, we read,--

"Mes reverends peres, mes lettres n'avaient pas accoutume de se suivre de si pres, ni d'etre si etendues. _Le peu de temps que j'ai eu a ete cause de l'un et de l'autre. Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parceque je {45} n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte._ La raison qui m'a oblige de hater vous est mieux connue qu'a moi."

R. E. T.

_Paint taken off of old Oak_ (Vol. vii., p. 620.).--About twenty-six years ago, by the adoption of a very simple process recommended by Dr. Wollaston, the paint was entirely removed from the screen of carved oak which fills the north end of the great hall at Audley End, and the wood reassumed its original colour and brilliancy. The result was brought about by the application of soft-soap, laid on of the thickness of a shilling over the whole surface of the oak, and allowed to remain there two or three days; at the end of which it was washed off with plenty of cold water. I am aware that potash has been often tried with success for the same purpose; but, in many instances, unless it is used with due caution, the wood becomes of a darker hue, and has the appearance of having been charred. It is worthy of remark, that Dr. Wollaston made the suggestion with great diffidence, not having, as he said, had any practical experience of the effect of such an application.

BRAYBROOKE.

_Passage in the "Tempest"_ (Vol. ii., pp. 259. 299. 337. 429.).--As a parallel to the expression "most busy least" (meaning "least busy" emphatically), I would suggest the common expression of the Northumbrians, "Far over near" (signifying "much too near").

H. T. RILEY.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

The Committee appointed by the Society of Antiquaries to consider what improvements could be introduced into its management, has at length issued a Report; and we are glad to find that the alterations suggested by them have been frankly adopted by the Council. The principal changes proposed refer to the election of the Council; the having but one Secretary, who is not to be a member of that body; the appointment of Local Secretaries; the retirement annually of the Senior Vice-President; and lastly, that which more than anything else must operate for the future benefit of the Society, the appointment of a third Standing Committee, to be called _The Executive Committee_, whose duty shall be "to superintend the correspondence of the Society on all subjects relating to literature and antiquities, to direct any antiquarian operations or excavations carried on by the Society, to examine all papers sent for reading, all objects sent for exhibition, and to assist the Director generally in taking care that the publications of the Society are consistent with its position and importance." It is easy to see that if a proper selection be made of the Fellows to serve on this Committee, their activity, and the renewed interest which will be thereby awakened in the proceedings of the Society, will ensure for the Thursday Evening Meetings a regular supply of objects for exhibition, and papers for reading, worthy of the body--and therefore unlike many which we have too frequently heard, and to which, but for the undeserved imputation which we should seem to cast upon our good friend Sir Henry Ellis, might be applied, with a slight alteration, that couplet of Mathias which tells--

"How o'er the bulk of these _transacted_ deeds Sir Henry pants, and d----ns 'em as he reads."

We have now little doubt that better days are in store for the Society of Antiquaries.

The Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute commences at Chichester on Tuesday next, under the patronage of the Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond, and the Bishop of Chichester, and the Presidentship of Lord Talbot de Malahide. There is a good bill of fare provided in the shape of Lectures on the Cathedral, by Professor Willis; excursions to Boxgrove Priory, Halnaker, Godwood, Cowdray, Petworth, Pevensey, Amberley, Shoreham, Lewes, and Arundel; excavations on Bow Hill; Meetings of the Sections of History, Antiquities, and Architecture; and, what we think will be one of the pleasantest features of the programme, the Annual Meeting of the Sussex Archaeological Society, in the proceedings of which the Members of the Institute are invited to participate.

BOOKS RECEIVED.--_A Glossary of Provincialisms in Use in the County of Sussex_, by W. Durrant Cooper, _second edition_: a small but very valuable addition to our provincial glossaries, with an introduction well worth the reading. We shall be surprised if the meeting of the Institute this year in Sussex does not furnish Mr. Cooper with materials for a third and enlarged edition.--_The Traveller's Library_, No. 44., _A Tour on the Continent by Rail and Road_, by John Barrow: a brief itinerary of dates and distances, showing what may be done in a two months' visit to the Continent.--No. 45. _Swiss Men and Swiss Mountains_, by Robert Ferguson: a very graphic and well-written narrative of a tour in Switzerland, which deserves a corner in the knapsack of the "intending" traveller.--_The Essays, or Counsels Civil and Moral, by Francis Bacon, Viscount St. Alban_, edited by Thomas Markby: a cheap edition of this valuable "handbook for thinking men," produced by the ready sale which has attended _The Advancement of Learning_ by the same editor.--_Reynard the Fox, after the German Version of Goethe_, with Illustrations by J. Wolf, Part VII., in which the translator carries on the story to _The Outlawry_ in well-tuned verse.--_Cyclopaedia Bibliographica_,