Part 2
"Such a future cannot longer be averted from Europe, except by common efforts. Prussia has come to an understanding, as to the object in view, with the other powers; and when an object or purpose is sought to be attained, the means must also be provided. To make an impression by words and peaceful means, is quite out of the question, after this imperial pastoral letter, which proclaims war in the name of God and of Jesus Christ. Force can only he repelled by force. It was not our wish to compel our government prematurely. With reference to Prussia's position, the warlike interference of our troops was not desired until England and France had concluded a firm alliance between themselves, and with Turkey; and had commenced the war in earnest. Now, when all this has taken place, and the thunder of cannon is roaring over sea and land; now, when Austria, which conceals within herself so many more dangers, prepares, with manly determination, to advance; what excuse can Prussia {464} have, called upon by right to the leadership; what excuse can she make to herself for remaining behind? In the Vienna protocol of April 9, Prussia has pledged herself, beyond what we could have dared to hope, towards the Western Powers: in the treaty with Austria of April 20, Prussia has bound herself, in certain eventualities that may occur at any moment, to a warlike support of Austria. Is it not, therefore, high time for Prussia to arouse herself from her lethargy, in order to undertake the support contracted for by treaty? If history teaches anywhere an evident lesson, Prussia will find it in her own past history. Once before Prussia promised to help Austria, and was not able to perform her engagement. All the misfortune by which we were attacked in 1806 is to be ascribed to Prussia not having completed her preparations in 1805, and to her not appearing in the field before the battle of Austerlitz. It was reported lately to be the saying of a brave general, that when he heard the enemies' batteries firing, it always seemed to him that he heard his own name called out. Does not Prussia also hear her own name loudly pronounced, in those cannon-shots fired off in the Baltic and Black Sea for the public law of nations by Europe's brave champions? By what means did the great Elector establish the honour of the Prussian name, except by bravely taking the field, as a model of German princes, against the superior force of Louis XIV.? The policy, to which the Prussian government has again pledged itself, will be unanimously approved of by the Prussian people. The abuse which Russia has made of the name of Religion can deceive none, but such as are willing to be deceived. Catholic Christendom, with the Pope and the dignitaries of the Catholic Church in England and France at its head, have declared which side in this struggle is right, and which is wrong; and Righteousness is God's earthly name! Not less have the noblest and most pious Protestants loudly raised their voices as witnesses to the truth, and against the common oppressor of _every_ Christian church, even his own; Religion, called upon for aid, denies it to Russia; and political science has long since pronounced her judgment, that Russia's superiority must be put an end to by a general opposition. If Prussia would but seize the opportunity, and proceed in the same path with Austria, Russia's ambition might be tamed by united Europe in one successful campaign. Now is the favourable moment for Prussia; and if it is not taken advantage of, generations unborn may have cause to rue it."
ALPHA.
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THE LAUNCH OF THE "PRINCE ROYAL" IN 1610.
October 20, 1608, Mr. Phineas Pette commenced the "Prince Royal," which was launched in 1610. The keel of this "most goodly shippe for warre" was 114 feet long, and the cross-beam 44 feet in length, and she carried three score and four pieces of great ordnance, and was of the burden of 1400 tons. On the 8th of May, 1609, the king presided at the trial of Pette at Woolwich for insufficiency, during which Pette sat on his knees, "baited by the great lord (Northampton) and his bandogs;" and after the ship had been inspected by the king and his party, Mr. Pette was acquitted of the charges brought against him. The prince visited the ship on the 30th of January, 1609, 25th of April, 18th of June, and again the following day, with the king, and on the 24th of September it was launched. It is stated that the garnishing of the ship began between Easter and Michaelmas, and that the number of nobles, gentry, and citizens, resorting continually to Woolwich to see it, was incredible. On the 9th of September, divers London maids, with a little boy with them, visited the ship; the boy fell down into the hold, and died the same night from the effects of his fall, being the first accident during the building. About the middle of the month, the ship being ready to be placed on the ways, twelve choice master carpenters of his Majesty's navy were sent for from Chatham to assist in "her striking and launching;" on the 18th she was safely set upon her ways, and on the 26th was visited by the French ambassador. Preparations were made in the yard for the reception of the king, queen, royal children, ladies, and the council; and on the evening of the 23rd, a messenger was sent from Theobalds, desiring the ship to be searched, lest any disaffected persons might have bored holes privily in her bottom. On Monday 24th, the dock gates were opened; but the wind blowing hard from the south-west, it proved a very bad tide. The king came from Theobalds, though he had been very little at ease with a scouring, taken with surfeiting by eating grapes, the prince and most of the lords of the council attending him. The queen arrived after dinner, and the lord admiral gave commandment to heave taught the crabs and screws, though Pette says he had little hope to launch by reason the wind overblew the tide; "yet the ship started and had launched, but the dock gates pent her in so straight, that she stuck fast between them, by reason the ship was nothing lifted by the tide, as we expected she would; and the great lighter, by unadvised counsel, being cut off the stern, the ship settled so hard upon the ground, that there was no possibility of launching that tide; besides which there was such a multitude of people got into the ship, that one could scarce stir by another."
"The king was much grieved at the frustrate of his expectation," and returned to Greenwich at five o'clock with the queen and her train; the prince staid a good while after conferring with the lord admiral and Mr. Pette, and then rode off to Greenwich, with a promise to return shortly after midnight. The night was moonlight, but shortly after midnight became very stormy, which Mr. Pette says made him "doubt that there were {465} some indirect working among our enemies to dash our launching."
The prince however arrived at the yard, went on board a little before two a. m., when the word being given to get all taught, the ship went away without any straining of screws or tackles, till she came clear afloat in the middle of the channel. He then describes the christening of her by the prince, by the name of the "Prince Royal"; and while warping to her mooring, his royal highness went down to the platform of the cock-room, where the ship's beer stood for ordinary company, and there finding an old can without a lid, drew it full of beer himself, and drank it off to the lord admiral, and caused him with the rest of the attendants to do the like. The hawsers laid ashore for landfasts had been treacherously cut, but without doing any injury to the ship. The prince left for Greenwich at nine a. m.
J. H. P.
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"NOTES AND QUERIES ON THE ORMULUM, BY DR. MONICKE" (_Programm der Handels-Lehranstalt zu Leipzig_, 1853).
Under the above title, Dr. Monicke has published what are considered by a foreign critic some valuable observations on the admirable Oxford edition (by Dr. Meadows White) of _The Ormulum_, an Anglo-Saxon work, now first edited from the original MS. in the Bodleian Library. The attention of the readers of "N. & Q.," who are occupied in the study of the Anglo-Saxon, with its cognate dialects, and direct descendant, will be doubly attracted by a title with which they are so familiar, and which is associated with some of the happiest and most peaceful moments of their life. The title of the Essay (which I have not yet seen, and which appears to be written in English) seems to be entirely the choice of the author, and must be somewhat flattering to the Editor of the original "N. & Q."
J. M.
Oxford.
[We have received, with something like a sense of neglected duty, this notice of _The Ormulum, now first edited from the Original Manuscript in the Bodleian; with Notes and a Glossary by Robert Meadows White, D.D., late Fellow of St. Mary Magdalene College, and formerly Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford_, 2 vols. 8vo. The fact is, we have long intended to call attention to this book, alike creditable to the scholastic acquirements of Dr. White, and to the authorities of the Oxford press; but have from week to week postponed doing so, that we might enter at some length into the history of _The Ormulum_, and a notice of the labour of its editor. In the mean time Dr. White's labours have received from foreign scholars that recognition which his countrymen have been too tardy in offering.--ED. "N. & Q."]
* * * * *
THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SISTERS.
Will the Editor of "N. & Q.," or any of his correspondents, kindly inform me of the true circumstances from which the following legend has sprung? The locality which was the scene of the tragedy is the little village of Ballybunion, situated within a few miles of Kerry Head. The scenery around is of the wildest and most striking description. Frowning, rugged cliffs, rising abruptly out of the water to the height of over one hundred feet, and perforated with numerous caves, into which the ocean rushes with fearful fury in winter,--for it is a stormy coast, and rarely does a month pass without beholding some dead, putrified body washed ashore; while inland, a barren, uncultivated plain, consisting mostly of bog, stretches away to nearly the foot of the Reeks, which, looming in the distance, seem to rear their giant masses even to the sky, and form, as it were, an impenetrable barrier between the coast and the interior. On the brink of one of those precipices we have mentioned, there stands the ruins of a castle, seemingly of great antiquity. Nothing now remains but the basement storey, and that seems as if it would be able to withstand the war of winds and waves for hundreds of years longer. According to the legend, this castle was inhabited by a gallant chieftain at the period of the incursions of the Danes, and who was the father of seven blooming daughters. He was himself a brave warrior, animated with the greatest hatred against the Ostmen, who, at that period, were laying every part of Erin waste. His sword never rested in its sheath, and day and night his light gallies cruised about the coast on the watch for any piratical marauder who might turn his prow thither. One day a sail was observed on the horizon; it came nearer and nearer, and the pirate standard was distinguished waving from its mast-head. Immediately surrounded by the Irish ships, it was captured after a desperate resistance. Those that remained of the crew were slaughtered and thrown into the sea, with the exception of the captain and his six brothers, who were reserved for a more painful death. Conveyed to the fortress, their wounds were dressed, and they were allowed the free range of the castle. Here, gradually a love sprung between them and the seven Irish maidens, who yielded to their ardent protestations, and agreed to fly with them to Denmark. Everything was arranged for the voyage, and one fearfully stormy night in winter was chosen for the attempt. Not a single star shone in the sky, the cold blast came sweeping from the ocean, the rain fell in torrents, and the water roared and raged with terrific violence amid the rocky caverns. Escaping down from the battlement by a rope-ladder, they discovered to their horror, that on reaching the ground they were surrounded by armed men. Not a word was uttered; but they {466} well knew into whose hands they had fallen. Conducted again within the fortress, they found themselves face to face with their injured father. One deadly glance of hatred he cast on the prisoners, and, muttering some few words to one of his attendants, he pointed towards his daughters. The man, on receiving the command, recoiled a few paces, transfixed with horror; and then he advanced nearer, and seemed as if remonstrating with him. But the parent's face assumed an absolutely demoniac expression; and more peremptorily repeating his order, he stalked out of the room. And now commenced a fearful scene. The lovers were torn from each other's arms, and the women were brought forth again. The storm had grown more violent, and the spray was dashing far over the cliff, whilst the vivid flashes of lightning afforded a horrible illumination to the dreary scene. Proceeding along the brink of the precipice, they at length came to a chasm which resembled somewhat the crater of a volcano, as it was completely closed, with the exception of the opening at the top, and one small aperture below, through which the sea rushed with terrible violence. The rolling of the waters sounded fearfully on the ear of those around, and now at length the sisters divined their fate. One by one they were hurled into the boiling flood: one wild shriek, the billows closed again, and all was over. What the fate of their lovers was, the legend says not. The old castle has crumbled into ruins--the chieftain sleeps in an unknown grave, his very name forgotten; but still the sad ending of the maidens is remembered, and even unto this day the cavern is denominated the "Cave of the Seven Sisters." Such is the above legend as it still exists amongst the peasantry, and any of your contributors would extremely oblige by informing me of the name of the Irish leader.
GEORGE OF MUNSTER.
Queen's College, Cork.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Coincidences._--
"Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit."--Hor. _Sat._ 2.
"A hungry dog eats dirty pudding."
"Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt."--Hor. _Sat._ 1.
"He misses one post, and runs his head against t'other."
"[Greek: Chelidôn ear ou poiei]."--Arist. _Eth._, i. 7.
"One swallow don't make a summer."
J. H. B.
_The English Liturgy._--
"It is deserving of notice, that although Dr. Beattie had been brought up a member of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and regularly attended her worship and ordinances when at Aberdeen, he yet gave the most decided preference to the Church of England, generally attending the service of that Church when anywhere from home, and constantly when at Peterhead. He spoke with enthusiasm of the beauty, simplicity, and energy of the English Liturgy, especially of the Litany, which he declared to be the finest piece of uninspired composition in any language." _Life of Dr. Beattie_, by Sir W. Forbes, Bart., vol. iii. p. 168. note.
J. M.
Oxford.
"_To jump for joy._"--This expression, now most often used figuratively, was probably in the olden time a plain and literal description of an actual fact. The _Anglo-Norman Poem on the Conquest of Ireland by Henry II._, descriptive of events which occurred at the close of the twelfth century, informs us (at p. 53.) that one of the English knights, named Maurice de Prendergast, being desirous of returning with his followers to Wales, was impeded in his march by "les traitres de Weyseford;" and that this so much provoked him, that he tendered his services to the King of Ossory, who--
"De la novele esteit heistez, E de joie saili à pés."
This expression, "saili à pés," is translated in the Glossary "rose upon feet;" but the more correct rendering of it appears to me to be that of jumping or dancing for joy.
JAMES F. FERGUSON.
Dublin.
"_What is Truth?_"--Bacon begins his "Essay of Truth" (which is dated 1625) with these words:
"What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. Certainly, there be that delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting freewill in thinking, as well as in acting."
There is a similar passage in Bishop Andrews's sermon _Of the Resurrection_, preached in 1613:
"Pilate asked, _Quid est veritas?_ And then some other matter took him in the head, and so up he rose, and went his way, before he had his answer; he deserved never to find what truth was. And such is our seeking mostwhat, seldom or never seriously, but some question that comes cross our brain for the present, some _quid est veritas_? So sought as if that we sought were as good lost as found. Yet this we would fain have so for seeking, but it will not be."
Perhaps Bacon heard the bishop preach (the sermon was at Whitehall); and if so, the passage in Andrews will explain the word "jesting" to mean, not scoffing, but asking without serious purpose of acquiring information.
J. A. H.
_Abolition of Government Patronage._--The following passage, from Dr. Middleton's _Dedication of the Life of Cicero_ to Lord Keeper Hervey, is {467} interesting as showing the enlightened sentiments of an eminent scholar a hundred years ago when addressing a minister of the crown:
"Human nature has ever been the same in all ages and nations, and owes the difference of its improvements to a difference only of culture, and of the rewards proposed to its industry; where these are the most amply provided, there we shall always find the most numerous and shining examples of human perfection. In old Rome, the public honours were laid open to the virtue of every citizen; which, by raising them in their turns to the commands of that mighty empire, produced a race of nobles superior even to kings. This was a prospect that filled the soul of the ambitious and roused every facility of mind and body to exert its utmost force; whereas, in modern states, men's views being usually confined to narrow bounds, beyond which they cannot pass, and a partial culture of their talents being sufficient to procure everything that their ambition can aspire to, a great genius has seldom either room or invitation to stretch itself to its full size."
ALPHA.
Oxford.
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Minor Queries.
"_One New Year's Day._"--An old lady used to amuse my childhood by singing a song commencing--
"One New Year's day, as I've heard say, Dick mounted on his dappled grey," &c.
The rest I forget, but I should be glad to know if it is extant, and what is known of its origin, &c.
G. WILLIAM SKYRING.
Somerset House.
_Greek denounced by the Monks._--
"Almost the time (A.D. 1530) when the monks preached in their sermons to the people to beware of a new tongue of late discovered, called the Greek, and the mother of all heresies."--_Foreign Quarterly_ for October, 1842, No. 59. p. 137.
Can any of your readers give references to such passages in Monkish sermons?
CPL.
_Pliny's Dentistry._--As your journal has become the repository of so many novel and interesting _facts_, I trust that the following data will be found acceptable to the readers of "N. & Q." Having had occasion, of late, to look over the works of Pliny, I was struck with the extent to which this ancient naturalist and philosopher has carried his researches on the above subject; as, in some editions, the Index of the article DENTES occupies several closely-printed columns. He recommends tooth-powder (_dentifricia_) of hartshorn, pumice-stone, burnt nitre, _Lapis Arabus_, the ashes of shells, as well as several ludicrous substances, in accordance with the mystic prejudices of the age. Amongst the remedies for fixing (_firmare_) teeth, he mentions _Inula_, _Acetum Scillinum_, _Radix Lapathi sativi_, vinegar; and loose teeth are to be fixed by _Philidonia_, _Veratrum nigrum_, and a variety of other remedies, amongst which some are most rational, and tend to prove that more attention was paid to the physiological (_hygeistic_) department relating to that portion of the human body than we have been hitherto aware of, as even the most recent works on Dentistry do not mention these facts.
GEORGE HAYES.
Conduit Street.
_J. Farrington, R.A._--Having recently met with some views by J. Farrington, R.A., without a description of the locality, I shall be obliged by your insertion of a Query respecting information of what views were executed by this painter, with their localities, in or about the year 1789. As I am informed that those above referred to belong to this neighbourhood, and therefore would be invested with interest to me, I could ascertain their locality with precision.
JOHN NURSE CHADWICK.
King's Lynn.
_Henry Crewkerne, of Exeter_, "Captain of Dragoons, descended from Crewkerne, of Crewkerne, in Devonshire," died at Carlow in Feb. 1664-5. Was he descended from Crewkerne of Chilhay, Dorset? His pedigree would be very acceptable.
Y. S. M.
_Dr. Johnson._--Johnson says somewhere that he never was in a tight place but once, and that was when he had a mad bull by the tail. Had he held on, he said he would have been dragged to death over a stubble field; while if had not held on, the bull would have gored him to death. Now my Query is, what did Dr. Johnson do, hold on or let go?
G. M. B.
_Latin "Dante."_--Is there not a literal Latin _prose_ translation of Dante, somewhat rhythmical? Has not Stillingfleet cited it in the _Origines_? If so, where is its _corpus_? And in what form, MS. or printed? Of metrical Latin versions there are several beside those of the Jesuit Carlo d'Aquino and Piazza. The Query is as to the prose?
PHILIP ASKE.
_Ralph Bosvill, of Bradbourn, Kent_, Clerk of the Court of Wards, married first, Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Clement, and widow of John Castillon, by whom he had five children. He married secondly, Benedicta Skinner, by whom he had six children. This I have taken from the _Visitations of Kent_. In Harl. MS. 5532.152, he is said to have had another son Ralph, "slain in Ireland." This Ralph was his son, and I wish to discover by which wife, as the entry above-mentioned in the {468} MSS. is of a much later date than the body of it. He had, I think, two other sons at least, who are not in the books, namely, Godfrey and William. The name is sometimes called "Boswell." Was the younger Ralph's wife, Mary, daughter of Alveray Copley of Batley?
Y. S. M.
_Major-General Wolfe._--The following MS. is advertised for sale. Is anything known concerning it?