Part 2

All this may appear irrelevant to the critical exposition of this verse; but the consideration may help to clear up an apparently obscure passage in the New Testament, namely, Matt. xvi. 16-19. When Simon made the declaration in verse 16., "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," he might have thought of or expressed the inspired proverb:

[Hebrew: KY 'BN MQYR TZ`Q] [Hebrew: WKPYS M`TS Y`NNH:] "For the [_Ebhen_] stone shall cry out of the wall, And the [_Caphis_] fastening shall testify out of the timber."

Thinking, or expressing, that concealment of the Messiahship of Jesus was impracticable.

"And Jesus [to whom word, thought, and deed were alike patent] answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art _Caphis_; and upon the _Ebhen_ I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt _bind_ on earth, shall be _bound_ in heaven," &c.

The play (if so common an expression might be used in so sacred a theme) is not on the word _Peter_, but on the word [Hebrew: KPYS] (_Caphis_), which signifies a rafter, a cross beam, a _binder_; or, as the margin (on Habak. ii. 11.) has it, "a fastener," from the verb [Hebrew: KPS] (_Caphas_), to _bind_, to connect, to join.

That our Lord never used the Greek word [Greek: su ei Petros] all must admit; that [Greek: Kephas] is not the Syriac word for stone is well known to every Oriental scholar. The proper Syriac word for stone is [Syriac: K'P']. However, there is a resemblance between the respective words, which may have been the origin of Simon's second surname--I mean to that of Cephas--Peter.

The import of Matt. xvi. 16-19. seems to me to be this: Christ acknowledges Simon to be part and parcel of the house, the Church; nay, more, He tells Simon that He intends him to be a "master-builder," to join, or bind, many members to that Church, all of which would be owned of Him. But the Church itself must be built upon the _Ebhen_, the _Stone_; by which Jesus evidently alluded to Ps. cxviii. 22.:

[Hebrew: 'BN M'SW HBWNYM] [Hebrew: HYTH LR'SH PNH:] "The _Ebhen_ which the builders refused Is become the head stone of the corner."

(Compare Matt. xxi. 42.)

May I ask whether the words [Greek: ho ermeneutai Petros] are to be considered as the words of St. John, or of his transcribers? The question may appear startling to some, but my copy of the Syriac New Testament is _minus_ that sentence.

MOSES MARGOLIOUTH.

Wybunbury, Nantwich.

[Footnote 1: See also the marginal readings.]

* * * * *

EPITAPHS, ETC.

_Epitaphs._--There is, or was, one at Pisa which thus concludes:

"Doctor doctorum jacet hac Burgundius urna, Schema Magistrorum, laudabilis et diuturna; Dogma poetarum cui littera Graeca, Latina, Ars Medicinarum patuit sapientia trina. {369} Et nunc Pisa, dole, tristeris Thuscia tota, Nullus sub sole est cui sic sunt omnia nota. Rursus ab Angelico coetu super aera vectum Nuper et Angelico, coelo gaude te receptum. Ann. Dom. MCLXXXXIIII. III Calend. Novembr."

Nearer home, in Shoreditch churchyard:

"Sacred to the memory of Sarah Micci, who departed this life April 7th, 1819, aged 50 years.

Memento judicii mei, sic enim _erit_ mihi _heri_, tibi hodie."

Not far from this is the following laconic one:

"Dr. John Gardner's last and best bed-room, who departed this life the 8th of April, 1835, in his 84th year."

Which reminds me of one at Finedon:

"Here lyeth Richard Dent, In his last tenement. 1709."

B. H. C.

_Curious Inscription_ (Vol. iv., p. 88.).--In the first edition of _Imperatorum Romanorum Numismata Aurea_, by De Bie, Antwerp, 1615, at the foot of a page addressed "Ad Lectorem," and marked c. ii., are the following verses, which may be noted as forming a pendant to those referred to:

ri R S D D "Sc ptorum erum ummorum espice icta ul V N R P

st Qu R I N I T I a idem isu aciemus am nde acebunt." ll F V F I V Pl

Signed "C. HAETTRON."

W. H. SCOTT.

Edinburgh.

_Epitaph in Lavenham Church, Norfolk._--

"Continuall prayse these lynes in brass Of Allaine Dister here, Clothier vertuous whyle he was In Lavenham many a yeare; For as in lyfe he loved best The poore to clothe and feede, Soe with the riche and alle the reste, He neighbourlie agreed; And did appoint before he died, A smalle yearlie rent, Which would be every Whitsuntide Among the poorest spent."

I send you this copy from a _nibbing_ of a quaint epitaph, made in the beautiful old church of Lavenham many years since, with a view to putting a Query as to its construction. The first two lines, as I read them, want a verb, unless we read the conclusion of the first line as a verb, to _in-brasse_ (_i.e._ to record in brass). Can any of your readers give me an authority, from an old author, for the use of this or any similar verb? To _in-grain_ seems somewhat like it, but is modern. If no authority for such a verb can be given, I should be glad to have the construction of the lines explained.

A. B. R.

Belmont.

* * * * *

THE RIGBY CORRESPONDENCE.

[In "N. & Q.," Vol. vii., pp. 203. 264. 349., mention is made of this correspondence. The letters, of which the following are copies, were sold as waste paper, and are in my possession. They appear to have been written by the Rt. Hon. Richard Rigby, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, and relate to the appointment of an Examiner in the Chancery in the year 1783.

JAMES F. FERGUSON.]

Dublin.

St. James's Place,

24th May, 1783.

My dear Lord,

I return you many thanks for your two letters of y^e 10th and 11th inst., and for the trouble you are so obliging as to take on y^e business of the Examiner's Office. I have found a copy of an appointment of an Examiner transmitted to me by Lodge in the year 1762, and I send you Mr. Meredith's appointment upon the stamp'd paper you inclosed to me. If that appointment will not answer, or if the stamp is not a proper one, as you seem to hint may be the case, I must desire you to tell Mr. Perry to make out a proper appointment and send it over ready for my signature. I shou'd hope the one I send herewith will answer, that you may have no further trouble. I perceive five hundred pounds English was y^e sum I receiv'd in 1762; and I imagine that is the sum Mr. Meredith proposes to give now, and to which I give my consent.

I thank you for inquiring after my health; my fits of the gout are not very violent, but I am very glad you never have any of them. Pray make my best comp^{ts} to Scott, and tell him that I din'd yesterday at Streatham with Macnamara, who is getting better, notwithstanding the weather here is as cold as at Christmas.

I am, my dear Lord, with all possible regard, your most sincere friend and oblig'd humble servant,

RICHARD RIGBY.

Your stamp'd paper was not large enough, but my servant found a stamp'd paper at Lincoln's Inn.

St. James's Place,

9th June, 1783.

My dear Lord,

Ten thousand thanks for all the trouble you are so kind (as) to take in my affairs; this day I receiv'd yours of the 31st May, with the bill {370} inclosed for 498l. 2s. 5d. If the instrument I sent over should not be satisfactory, I will sign any new deed which shall be sent me for the purpose.

I have not much acquaintance w^{th} Lord Northington; but seeing him at St. James's the day he took leave of the King, I wish'd him success in his new government, and took the liberty to mention your name to him as y^e person in the whole kingdom whose advice would be most beneficial to him. I told him I asked no favour of him but one, which was to recollect what I then said to him if he should have occasion to call upon you for advice and assistance hereafter, when he would find it for his great satisfaction to be well founded.

I am, my dear Lord, your most obliged and faithful humble servant,

RICHARD RIGBY.

To the Rt. Honorable Lord Ch. Justice Paterson, at Dublin. Free, R. Rigby.

* * * * *

THE WANDERING BEE.

"High mountains closed the vale, Bare, rocky mountains, to all living things Inhospitable; on whose sides no herb Rooted, no insect fed, no bird awoke Their echoes, save the eagle, strong of wing; A lonely plunderer, that afar Sought in the vales his prey.

"Thither towards those mountains Thalaba Advanced, for well he ween'd that there had Fate Destined the adventure's end. Up a wide vale, winding amid their depths, A stony vale between receding heights Of stone, he wound his way. A cheerless place! _The solitary Bee,_ _Whose buzzing was the only sound of life,_ _Flew there on restless wing,_ _Seeking in vain one blossom, where to fix._" _Thalaba_, book vi. 12, 13.

This incident of the wandering bee, highly poetical, seems at first sight very improbable, and passes for one of the many strange creations of this wild poem. But yet it is quite true to nature, and was probably suggested to Southey, an omnivorous reader, by some out-of-the-way book of travels.

In Hurton's _Voyage to Lapland_, vol. ii. p. 251., published a few years since, he says that as he stood on the verge of the North Cape,--

"The only living creature that came near me was a _bee_, which hummed merrily by. What did the busy insect seek there? Not a blade of grass grew, and the only vegetable matter on this point was a cluster of withered moss at the very edge of the awful precipice, and it I gathered at considerable risk as a memorial of my visit."

So in Fremont's _Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains_, 1842, p. 69., he speaks of standing on the crest of the snow peak, 13,570 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, and adds:

"During our morning's ascent, we had met no sign of animal life, except the small sparrow-like bird already mentioned. A stillness the most profound, and a terrible solitude, forced themselves constantly on the mind as the great features of the place. Here on the summit, where the stillness was absolute, unbroken by any sound, and the solitude complete, we thought ourselves beyond the region of animated life: but while we were sitting on the rock, a _solitary bee_ (_Bromus_, the humble bee) came winging his flight from the eastern valley, and lit on the knee of one of the men.

"It was a strange place, the icy rock and the highest peak of the Rocky Mountains, for a lover of warm sunshine and flowers; and we pleased ourselves with the idea that he was the first of his species to cross the mountain barrier, a solitary pioneer to foretell the advance of civilisation. I believe that a moment's thought would have made us let him continue his way unharmed, but we carried out the law of this country, where all animated nature seems at war; and seizing him immediately, put him in at least a fit place, in the leaves of a large book, among the flowers we had collected on our way."

A. B.

Philadelphia.

* * * * *

Minor Notes.

_Tippet._--The origin of words signifying articles of dress would be a curious subject for investigation. Tippet is derived by Barclay from the Saxon _taeppet_; but I find the following passage in Captain Erskine's Journal of his recent _Cruise in the Western Pacific_, p. 36. He is writing of the dress of the women at the village of Feleasan, in the Samoan Islands:

"And occasionally a garment (_tiputa_) resembling a small poncho, with a slit for the head, hanging so as decently to conceal the bosom."

May we not trace here both the article and the name?

W. T. M.

_Ridings and Chaffings._--A singular custom prevails in South Nottinghamshire and North Leicestershire. When a husband, forgetting his solemn vow to love, honour, and keep his wife, has had recourse to physical force and beaten her, the rustics get up what is called "a riding." A cart is drawn through the village, having in it two persons dressed so as to resemble the woman and her master. A dialogue, representing the quarrel, is carried on, and a supposed representation of the beating is inflicted. This performance is {371} always specially enacted before the offender's door.

Another, and perhaps less objectionable, mode of shaming men out of a brutal and an unmanly practice, is to empty a sack of chaff at the offender's door,--an intimation, I suppose, that _thrashing_ has been "done within." Perhaps this latter custom gave rise to the term "chaffing." Thirty years ago both these customs were very common in this locality; but, either from an improved tone of morality, or from the comparative rarity of the offence that led to them, both _ridings_ and _chaffings_ are now of very rare occurrence.

Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me whether these customs have prevailed, or still prevail, in other counties?

THOMAS R. POTTER.

Wymeswold, Leicestershire.

_Henry of Huntingdon's "Letter to Walter."_--Mr. Forester (Bohn's _Antiquarian Library_) decides, in opposition to Wharton and Hardy, that this epistle was written in 1135, during the lifetime of Henry I., and there can be no doubt that the passage he quotes bears him out in this; but it is not less certain that, whether owing to the death of the friend to whom the letter was addressed, or from a wholesome fear of the resentment of that king who is so roughly handled in it, the publication was deferred long enough for the author to reinforce by a few "modern instances" of more recent date, the "wise saws" which are so plentifully diffused through it: for instance, at p. 313. he mentions the death of Louis VI. of France, which occurred 1st August, 1137, twenty months after the death of Henry. And it is probable that a closer search than I have the means of making, would reveal other instances of a like nature, though this is sufficient by itself.

After all, is it not possible that the worthy archdeacon (like Bolingbroke at a future day) may have antedated his letter to give himself an air of boldness and independence beyond what he really possessed? This would account not only for the references to later occurrences, but for the accurate fulfilment of the prophecy which he quotes about the duration of the reign of Henry I.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Arthuriana._--List of places designated with traditional reference to King Arthur. (_To be continued._)

In Cornwall:

King Arthur's Castle. Nutagel.

King Arthur's Hall. An oblong inclosure on the moors, near Camelford.

King Arthur's bed. A slab of granite with pack-shaped piece for bolster, on Trewortha tor.

S. R. PATTISON.

_Encyclopedia of Indexes, or Tables of Contents._--I should like your opinion, and that of the readers of "N. & Q.," as to the desirableness and practicability of forming a collection of the indexes of those books most commonly required to be referred to by authors and scholars. In reading up on any subject, when it is wished to know whether any author treats upon it, mainly or incidentally, his works must be examined at a great expense of time and labour. Perhaps some of your learned readers will express their views as to the value of such a thesaurus, and give suggestions as to the principles which ought to regulate its execution.

THINKS I TO MYSELF.

_Errata in Nichols' "Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica."_--Works of this kind, unless strictly accurate, cause great perplexity and confusion, and are indeed of little use. I therefore wish to note in your pages that at vol. viii. p. 38. of the above work it is stated that Babington "married Juliana, daughter of Sir _Thomas_ Rowe, Alderman of London." _Harl. MSS._ 1174. p. 89., 1551. p. 28., 1096. p. 71., inform us that Julian Rowe, daughter of Sir William Rowe, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1592, married Francis Babington. Sir William and Sir Thomas were first cousins. In the same page Sir Thomas Rowe is stated to have died in 1612; on his tomb we are told that he died in 1570.

TEE BEE.

* * * * *

QUERIES.

GENESIS IV. 7.

Can any of your learned Hebraists elucidate the passage in Gen. iv. 7., which called forth the following remarks from Bishop Sandford?

"As yet I cannot abandon the literal interpretation of the words [Hebrew: LAPETACH CHAT`A'T ROBEITS], and I am much surprised that, in all the criticism bestowed on this verse by Davison and the authors whom he quotes, nothing is said of the word [Hebrew: PETACH]. I do not know of any place in Holy Scripture where this word is used figuratively, and unless this can be shown, there is no supporting so strong a metaphor as the advocates of the figurative meaning of the passage contend for. Davison takes no notice of the remainder of the verse.... Now the words are remarkable; they are the same as those in which the Lord declares the subjection of Eve to her husband, Gen. iii. 16. I have always thought this passage (Gen. iv. 7.) to allude to Abel; and to promise to Cain the continuance of the priority of primogeniture, if he were reconciled to God."--_Remains of Bishop Sandford_, vol. i. p. 135.

With respect to the word [Hebrew: PETACH], the literal interpretation of which is a door, entrance, or gate, Archbishop Magee renders the passage thus: "A sin-offering lieth before or _at_ the door," the word [Hebrew: RBEITS] implying to crouch or lie down as an animal; thereby alluding to the sacrifice which was {372} appointed for the remission of sins, and was typical of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who was to be slain for the sin of the world. The whole verse would thus stand, according to Archbishop Magee's interpretation:

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not have the excellency or pre-eminence? and if thou doest _not_ well, a sin-offering lieth before the door [_i.e._ is prepared, or at hand, for thee]; and unto thee shall be his subjection, and thou shalt rule over him [_i.e._ over Abel]."

Luther's translation is at variance with this:

"Wenn du fromm bist, so bist du angenehm, bist du aber nicht fromm, so ruhet die Suende vor der Thuer. Aber lass du ihr nicht ihren Willen, sondern herrsche ueber sie."

In the margin of Luther's Bible is a reference in this verse to Rom. vi. 12., plainly showing that he considered it as an admonition to Cain to struggle against _sin_, lest it should gain the dominion over him.

Bishop Sandford farther observes:

"I think that neither Davison nor the other commentators have completely examined Gen. iv. 7. in all its expressions and bearings. I am surprised at Magee's omitting the argument from St. Paul's declaration, that by his [Greek: pleionthusia] Abel obtained witness that he was righteous.... I must repeat my wish to have the word [Hebrew: PETACH] well examined."

A. B. C.

P.S.--Dr. Glocester Ridley (quoted by Bishop Van Mildert, in the notes to his _Boyle Lectures_) takes the view afterwards adopted by Archbishop Magee, as to the meaning of the passage. (See _The Christian Passover_, in four sermons on the Lord's Supper, by Glocester Ridley, 1742, p. 14.)

* * * * *

ROLAND THE BRAVE.

Can any of your readers and correspondents, versed in "legendary lore," reconcile the two different tales of which "Roland the Brave" is the hero? The one related in Mrs. Hemans's beautiful ballad describes him as reported dead, and that his fair one too rashly took the veil in "Nonnenwerder's cloister pale," just before his return. The story proceeds to tell how in grief her lover sought the battle-field, and finally fell, with other brave companions, at Roncesvalles.

I have been surprised, when perusing Dr. Forbes's highly amusing narrative of his holiday in Switzerland (pp. 28-9.), to find that he identifies Roland with the hero of Schiller's beautiful ballad, who rejoiced in the unromantic appellation of _Ritter Toggenburg_. _That_ unhappy lover, according to the poet, being rejected by his fair one, who could only bestow on him a sister's affection, sought the Holy Land in despair, and tried to forget his grief; but returning again to breathe the same air with his beloved, and finding her already a professed nun, built himself a hut, whence he could see her at her convent window. Here he watched day by day, as the poet beautifully says; and here he was found, _dead_, "still in the attitude of the watcher."

"Blickte nach dem Kloster drueben, Blickte Stunden lang Nach dem Fenster seiner Lieben Bis das Fenster klang, Bis die Liebliche sich zeigte, Bis das theure Bild Sich in 's Thal herunter neigte Ruhig, engelmild. . . . . . . "Und so sass er viele Tage Sass viel' Jahre lang, Harrend ohne Schmerz und Klage Bis das Fenster klang, Bis die Liebliche sich zeigte, &c. &c.

"Unde so sass er, eine Leiche Eines Morgens da, Nach dem Fenster noch das bleiche Stille Antlitz sah."

Was this Ritter Toggenburg, the hero of Schiller's ballad, the nephew of Charlemagne, Roland, who fell at Roncesvalles? Is not Dr. Forbes in error in ascribing the Ritter's fate to Roland? Are they not two distinct persons? Or is Mrs. Hemans wrong in her version of the story? I only quote from memory:

"Roland the Brave, the brave Roland! False tidings reach'd the Rhenish strand That he had fall'n in fight! And thy faithful bosom swoon'd with pain, Thou fairest maid of Allemain. Why so rash has she ta'en the veil In yon Nonnenwerder's cloister pale? For the fatal vow was hardly spoken, And the fatal mantel o'er her flung. When the Drachenfels' echoes rung-- 'Twas her own dear warrior's horn! . . . . . . She died; he sought the battle plain, And loud was Gallia's wail, When Roland, the flower of chivalry, Fell at Roncesvalles!"

I shall be glad to have a clear idea of the true Roland and his story.

X. Y. Z.

* * * * *

CLAY TOBACCO-PIPES.