Part 3
Most eminent Prince, our well-beloved cousin and friend.
The thanks which your eminence, by your {445} letters written under date of the 15th of August last, returns to us on account of the fifty knights of your Order liberated by our assistance from the slavery of the barbarians, could hardly be more acceptable to us than the prayers adjoined in the above-mentioned letters for the liberation from the slavery of the Algerines of another member of your holy Order, the German, John Robert A. Stael. We in consequence, in order that we my not appear to be wanting either in the will or in affection towards your eminence, have communicated our orders to our well-beloved and faithful subject, Sir John Narbrough, knight, commanding our fleet in those seas, that if the city of Algiers should be constrained to agree to a treaty of just peace and submission by the force of our arms, assisted by Divine help, he should use every effort in his power, so that the liberty of the said John Robert A. Stael be obtained.
Your eminence is already well aware of the fidelity and zeal of our above-mentioned admiral, and we have no doubt that he will willingly and strenuously observe our orders on that head.
It remains for us to heartily recommend your eminence and the whole of your military Order to the safeguard of the Most High and Most Good God.
Given from our palace of Whitehall the 2nd day of November, in the year of our Lord 1678.
Your Eminence's good Cousin and Friend, CHARLES REX.
WILLIAM WINTHROP.
La Valetta, Malta.
* * * * *
DISEASE AMONG CATTLE.
For some years past, a great many cattle have died from a disease of the lungs, for which I believe no effectual antidote has been discovered. This fact having been mentioned to a German in London, who had formerly been a _Rossarzt_ or veterinary surgeon in the Prussian army, he stated that he had known a similar disease to prevail in Germany; and that by administering a decoction of _Erica communis_ (Common Heath), mixed with tar, the progress of the disease had in many instances been arrested.
In order, therefore, that the British farmer may obtain the benefit of this gentleman's experience, and that he may receive all manner of justice, I beg leave to send you a literal copy of the recipe which he was kind enough to give _pro bono publico_.
"REMEDY AGAINST THE PRESENT DISEASE AMONG CATTLE.
"Taken Erika communis, and boiled it into water of such quantity, that the water after boiling coloured like beer; generally of a pinte of water ¼--½ lb. Erika communis, and boiling 5 to 6 hours. After it is be done, filled the fluids trough a seive in ather boiler, and mixed the same with 1/20 part of common tear. In order to make a good composition from it, you must boiling the tear and the fluide to a second time of 2--3 hour's and much storret. After then the medecin is to by ready.
"Everry cattle sicke or well must you giving of three times to day, everry time one pot from the said mixture, which you have befor keapet a little warm but not to much heat. Keepet werry much from the fluide of Erika communis not mixed with tear, and give to drinke the cattle a much as possible. Everry cattle liked to drinke such fluide.
"Becom's the tongue stick, black pumpels, or becom's the mouth and palatt red and sort, washe it out with a softe brush deyed in a mixture as follow described: One part of hony, 3 parts of vinaigre, 3 parts of water, and one half part of burned and grinded allumn.
"Becom's the cattle in the legs, generally in the klawes, washed the sores with cold water, that you mixed 1 once white vitriol, and 1 once burned allumn of a pint of water, 3--4 times to day, and keepet the cattle everry time day's and night's in the open air of meadows or lots. Everry cattle become's in the first time that it is driven out the stables to the green feeding of meadow's, &c. a little sickness, generally a little diarrhae, and this is a remedy against the disease as before stated.
"If you continnuit with the firste remedy, you should findet that the cattle becom's a verry slight influence of the said disease."
THOS. NIMMO.
* * * * *
POPIANA.
I. In Roscoe's edition of _Pope_, vol. iv. p. 465., is this epitaph:
"Well then, poor G---- lies underground, So there's an end of honest Jack: So little justice here he found, 'Tis ten to one he'll ne'er come back."
This must have been running in Goldsmith's heed when he wrote:
"Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, Who long was a bookseller's hack: He led such a damnable life in this world, I don't think he'll wish to come back."
II. Epigram on the feuds between Handel and Bononcini:
"Strange! all this difference should be, 'Twixt Tweedle-DUM and Tweedle-DEE!"
The various editors print only these two lines. Where have I seen it printed as follows, in _six_ lines; and whence came the other four?[3]
{446}
"Some say, that Signior Bononcini Compared to Handel's a mere ninny; Others aver, that to him Handel Is scarcely fit to hold a candle: Strange that," &c.
III. In "N. & Q.," Vol. i., p. 245., the following passage occurs:
"In the Imitation of the _Second Satire, Book I._ of Horace, _only to be found in modern editions_, there is an allusion to 'poor E----s,' who suffered by 'the fatal steel' for an intrigue with a Royal Mistress."
Query, in _what_ modern editions is this imitation found? I have searched most of them (including the last, and by no means the worst, by Mr. Robert Carruthers) in vain.
IV. It has always seemed to me desirable that a perfect edition of an author like Pope, whose pages teem with proper names frequently repeated, and personal allusions, should be furnished with an Index _nominum propriorum_, which would enable the reader to refer in a moment to the exact whereabouts of the line wanted. I once took the trouble to make such an Index to Pope for my own use, and add one word of it as a specimen:
Granville's moving lays _Past._ i. 46 Granville commands, &c. _Wind. For._ 5 Granville could refuse to sing, what Muse for " 6 Granville sings, or is it " 282 Granville of a former age, Surrey the " 292 Granville's verse recite, the thoughts of God let " 425 Granville's Myra die, till _Epist. to Jervas_ 76 Granville the polite _Prol. to Sat._ 135
Is this a hint worthy the notice of Mr. Croker, Mr. P. Cunningham, or Mr. John Murray, whose joint labours promise us a new edition of Pope?
V. Roscoe and Croly give _four_ poems on _Gulliver's Travels_. Why does Mr. Carruthers leave out the _third_? His edition appears to contain (besides many additions) all that all previous editors have admitted, with the exception of this _third_ Gulliver poem, the sixteen additional verses to Mrs. Blount on leaving town, the verses to Dr. Bolton, and a fragment of eight lines (perhaps by Congreve); which last three are to be found in Warton's edition.
HARRY LEROY TEMPLE.
Garrick Club.
[Footnote 3: These lines are quoted in the fourth edition of the _Ency. Britan._, art. BONONCINI, and are said to have been written by Swift. Only the last two lines, however, are given in Scott's edition of his _Works_.--ED.]
* * * * *
HAMPSHIRE FOLK LORE.
_Churching._--A woman in this village, when going to church for the first time after the birth of her child, keeps to the same side of the road, and no persuasions or threats would induce her to cross it. She wears also upon that occasion a pair of new boots or shoes, so that the mothers of large families patronise greatly the disciples of St. Crispin. I should much like to know if this twofold superstition is prevalent, and how it first originated.
_Bees._--There is not one peasant I believe in this village, man or woman, who would sell you a swarm of bees. To be guilty of selling bees is a grievous omen indeed, than which nothing can be more dreadful. To barter bees is quite a different matter. If you want a hive, you may easily obtain it in lieu of a small pig, or some other equivalent. There may seem little difference in the eyes of enlightened persons between selling, and bartering, but the superstitious beekeeper sees a grand distinction, and it is not his fault if you don't see it too.
When a hive swarms, it is customary to take the shovel from the grate, and the key from the door, and to produce therewith a species of music which is supposed to captivate and soothe the winged tribe. If the bees do not settle on any neighbouring tree where they may have the full benefit of the inharmonious music, they are generally assailed with stones. This is a strange sort of proceeding, but it is orthodox, and there is nothing the villagers despise more than modern innovations of whatever kind.
_Charming._--As regards charming, the wife of the village innkeeper who preceded the present one (she now rests in the churchyard), used to whisper away burns. Her form of words, if she had any, is unknown. The mind has great influence upon the body, and the doctor knows it, or he would not give his nervous lady patients so many boxes of bread pills, and sleeping draughts in the shape of vials filled with savoury rum-punch. Doubtless this good woman cured her patients by acting on their imaginations. If the agency of imagination is an incorrect supposition, I see but one way of accounting for the curative powers of whispering, namely, by means of animal magnetism. I trust your medical readers do not question the curative powers of animal magnetism in certain cases; if they do, I would recommend them to read a work entitled _Human Magnetism, its Claim to Dispassionate Inquiry_, by W. Newnham, Esq., M.R.S.L. It is published by John Churchill, Princes Street, Soho.
EUSTACE W. JACOB.
Crawley.
* * * * *
THE MOST CURIOUS BOOK IN THE WORLD.
The following account of this truly wonderful specimen of human patience and skill is from a rough copy that I took some years ago. I regret that I cannot give any reference, as I made no note of my authority, which has now escaped my {447} recollection. But that is of little consequence, as the book is well known to bibliographists.
Perhaps the most singular bibliographic curiosity is that which belonged to the family of the Prince de Ligne, and is now in France. It is entitled _Liber Passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, cum Characteribus nulla materia compositis_. This book is neither written nor printed! The whole letters of the text are cut out of each folio upon the finest vellum; and being interleaved with blue paper, is read as easily as the best print. The labour and patience bestowed in its completion must have been excessive, especially when the precision and minuteness of the letters are considered. The general execution, in every respect, is indeed admirable; and the vellum is of the most delicate and costly kind. Rodolphus II. of Germany offered for it, in 1640, 11,000 ducats, which was probably equal to 60,000 at this day. The most remarkable circumstance connected with this literary treasure is, that it bears the royal arms of England; but it cannot be traced to have ever been in this country.
I now offer this notice, in the hope that the readers of "N. & Q." may supply farther particulars; such as the time of its commencement or completion, and also whether it is still in France. With respect to the arms of England, which yet present a puzzle to all antiquaries, I beg to submit a conjecture. I think it was intended as a present to our Henry VIII., when he was in such high favour at Rome, for his _Defence of the Seven Sacraments_, that Leo X. conferred on him the title of "Fidei Defensor," and which all our sovereigns have subsequently retained. But when he threw off the Papal authority, declared himself supreme head of the Church, and proceeded to confiscate its property, the intention of presentation was abandoned. This is at least plausible, as I do not mean that it was _originally_ designed for a present to "bluff Harry," because it was produced before he was born. But the arms were a work for any time; and I think they were executed just before his rupture with the Pope was known. To pay him a compliment afterwards from any part of Catholic Europe was, of course, out of the question.
C. B. A.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Baptism, Marriage, and Crowning of Geo. III._--
"Died at his palace at Lambeth, aged seventy-five, the Most Reverend Thomas Secker, LL.D., Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. His Grace was many years Prebendary of Durham, seventeen years Rector of St. James', Westminster, consecrated Bishop of Bristol in 1734, and in 1737 was translated to the See of Oxford. In 1750 he resigned the Rectory of St. James, on his succeeding Bishop Butler in the Deanery of St. Paul's; and on the death of Archbishop Hutton in 1758, was immediately nominated to the metropolitan see, and confirmed at Bow Church, on the 20th of April in that year, Archbishop of Canterbury. His Grace was Rector of St. James's when our present sovereign was born at Norfolk House, and had the honour to baptize, to marry, and crown his majesty and his royal consort, and to baptize several of their majesties' children."--From _Pennsylvania Chronicle_, Oct. 3, 1768.
M. R. F.
Pennsylvania.
_Copernicus._--The inscription on the tomb of the celebrated Copernicus, in the cathedral church at Thorn, in Prussian Poland, supposed to have been written by himself, deserves a place in "N. & Q."
"Non parem _Pauli_ gratiam requiro, Veniam _Petri_ neque posco; sed quam In crucis ligno dederat Latroni Sedulus oro."
FITZROY.
_First Instance of Bribery amongst Members of Parliament._--The following extract from Parry's _Parliaments and Councils of England_, deserves, I think, a corner in "N. & Q.," especially at the present day:
"1571, A. R. 13, May 10.--Thomas Long, 'a very simple man and unfit' to serve, is questioned how he came to be elected. He confesses that he gave the Mayor of Westbury and another four pounds for his place in parliament. They are ordered to repay this sum, to appear to answer such things as should be objected against them in that house, and a fine of twenty pounds is to be assessed on the corporation and inhabitants of Westbury, for their scandalous attempt."
ABHBA.
_Richard Brinsley Sheridan._--In the "Life of Sheridan," by G. G. S., prefixed to his _Dramatic Works_, published by Bohn in 1848, is the following passage (p. 90.):
"At the age of twenty-nine he had achieved a brilliant reputation, _had gained an immense property_, and was apparently master of large resources."
And in an essay lately published, entitled _Richard Brinsley Sheridan_, by George Gilfillan, is this statement:
"Young Sheridan had no patrimony, _not a shilling_, indeed, _all his life that he could call his own_."
Which of these two contradictory accounts is true?
In the _Life_ by G. G. S. are two glaring slips of the pen or of the press; at p. 8. it is said that Sheridan was born in the year 1771 (1751?), and at p. 44. that _The Duenna_ was brought out on the 21st of November, 1755 (1775?).
WILLIAM DUANE.
Philadelphia.
{448}
_Publican's Invitation._--Amongst various other ingenious contrivances adopted by the proprietors of the _rosoglio_ houses (anglicè, dram-shops) in Valetta, to attract the custom and patronage of the gallant red-jackets that swarm in our streets at this time, one individual has put forth and distributed among the soldiers the following puzzle, which I send for the amusement of your readers. A very little study will suffice to master the mysterious document.
"THE PUBLICAN'S INVITATION. Here's to Pand's Pen. DASOCI. Alhou Rinha? R. M. (Les Smirt) Ha! N. D. F. Unlet fri. Ends. HIPRE! ign. Beju! Standk. Indan! DEVIL'S PEAKO! F. N. (One.)"
JOHN O' THE FORD.
Malta.
_Bishop Burnet again!_--The following anecdote occurs in Mrs. Thistlethwaite's _Memoirs and Correspondence of Dr. Henry Bathurst, Lord Bishop of Norwich_, p. 7.:
"I have heard my father mention the following anecdote of my grandfather, Benjamin Bathurst, Esq., and the Duke of Gloucester (Queen Anne's son), during their boyhood. My grandfather and the Duke were playfellows; and the Duke's tutor was Dr. Burnet. One day, when the Doctor went out of the room, the Duke having as usual courted him, and treated him with obsequious civility, young Bathurst expressed his surprise that his Royal Highness should treat a person, whom he disliked as much as he did the Doctor, with so much courtesy and kindness. The Duke replied, 'Do you think I have been so long a pupil of Dr. Burnet's without learning to be a hypocrite?'"
J. Y.
_Old Custom preserved in Warwickshire._--There is a large stone a few miles from Dunchurch, in Warwickshire, called "The Knightlow Cross." Several of Lord John Scott's tenants hold from him on the condition of laying their rent before daybreak on Martinmas Day on this stone: if they fail to do so, they forfeit to him as many pounds as they owe pence, or as many white bulls with red tips to their ears and a red tip to their tail as they owe pence, whichever he chooses to demand. This custom is still kept up, and there is always hard riding to reach the stone before the sun rises on Martinmas Day?
L. M. M. R.
_English Diplomacy_ v. _Russian_.--A friend of Sir Henry Wotton's being designed for the employment of an ambassador, came to Eton, and requested from him some experimental rules for his prudent and safe carriage in his negociations; to whom he smilingly gave this for an infallible aphorism,--that, to be in safety himself, and serviceable to his country, he should always, and upon all occasions, speak the truth (it seems a state paradox). "For," says Sir Henry Wotton, "_you shall never be believed_; and by this means your truth will secure yourself, if you shall ever be called to any account; and 'twill also put your adversaries (who will still hunt counter) to a loss in all their disquisitions and undertakings." (_Reliquiæ Wottonianæ_.)
ALPHA.
* * * * *
Queries.
ANCIENT TENURE OF LANDS.
(Vol. ix., pp. 173. 309.)
The following paragraphs, containing both Notes and Queries, will doubtless interest your readers
At the last Kent assizes held at Maidstone (March, 1854) a case was tried by a special jury, of whom the writer was one, before Mr. Baron Parke; plaintiffs, "the Earl of Romney and others," trustees under an act of parliament to pay the debts of the borough of Queenborough, county Kent; defendants, "the Inclosure Commissioners of England and Wales." Tradition relates that Edward III. was so pleased with his construction of the Castle of Queenborough, that he complimented his consort by not only building a town, but creating a borough[4], which he named after her honour.[5] The case, in various shapes, has been before the law courts for some time, and was sent to these Kent assizes to ascertain whether Queenborough was either a manor or a reputed manor. In the course of the trial Baron Parke said, that, in despite of the statute _Quia Emptores_, he should rule that manors could be created when they contained the essentials.
My first Query is, therefore, Have any manors been created in England since the passing of that statute? In my _History of Deptford_ I have alluded to the manor of Hatcham as one of the last manors I supposed to have been created.
The Inclosure Commissioners, as the defendants, had been prayed by the Leeze-holders[6] of {449} Queenborough to inclose sundry lands called Queenborough Common; such inclosure was opposed by the trustees, who claimed under the act of parliament which constituted their existence to be in the position of the mayor[7], &c., and thus, if they were the lords of the manor, to have a veto upon the inclosure of the waste. The plaintiffs relied very much upon the following fact, which I here embalm as a _note_, and append thereon a _query_:--During the Mayoralty of Mr. Greet[8], a gentleman who died in 1829, a turbot was caught by a dredger on the Queenborough oyster-grounds: this unlucky fish was immediately pounced upon by the Queenborough officials, and seized for the mayor's behoof as his perquisite, _à la_ sturgeon.
Query, a like instance?
The Jury, after two days' long sitting, decided that Queenborough was neither a manor nor a reputed manor.
A. J. DUNKIN.
Dartford.
[Footnote 4: _Parliamentary History_, 1765.--On Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1654, an attempt was made to disfranchise Queenborough: the then member, Mr. Garland, suddenly and jocularly moved the Speaker that we give not any legacies before the Speaker was dead. This pleasant conceit so took with the House, as, for that time, Queenborough was reprieved, but was voted for the future to be dismembered, and to be added to the county.--Ap. Burton i. cxi. _Archæological Mine_, i. 12. Queenborough was one of the victims included in Schedule A of the act of parliament known as "The Reform Bill."]
[Footnote 5: In our own day Cove has been called Queenstown in honour of Queen Victoria.]
[Footnote 6: _Leeze-holders_, a right of turning on the coming or Leeze (_Celtic_, Leswes) twenty-four sheep, which of late years, by a bye-law, has been arranged to substitute either two horses or three bullocks. A Leeze is supposed to contain about seven acres of land of herbage. The common consists of about 240 acres, including roads.]
[Footnote 7: See Hogarth's Visit, &c. to Queenborough. A hearty laugh will repay the trouble. The mayor was then a thatcher: the room remains as it did in Hogarth's day; and as Queenborough was then, so it is now, one long street without any trade.]
[Footnote 8: Of Mr. Greet's mayoralty many humorous tales are told: he was at times popular, but towards the close of his reign most decidedly the reverse. At his funeral the dredgers, &c. threw halfpence into his grave to pay his passage to the lower regions. He, one day, _ex officio_, sentenced a pilferer to a flogging at the cart's tail, and as executioners did not volunteer, he took off his coat, and himself applied the cat to the bare back of the culprit from one end of the street to the other. Mr. Greet was one of the best friends Queenborough ever had. After his death it plunged deeply into debt, had its paraphernalia and books seized and sold by the sheriff, and now all its property is in the hands of trustees to pay its debts, whilst its poor-rates are, a witness, a late mayor said, nine shillings in the pound. The debt was originally 12,700l.; but as no interest has been paid thereon, it is now 17,000l. The trustees have received about 4,000_l_., but this sum has been melted in subsequent litigation; for Queenborough men are mightily fond of supporting the law courts.]
* * * * *
OWEN ROWE THE REGICIDE.