Part 3
"_Q._ Quare _sum_ non desinit in _o_ nec in _or_?
_A._ Ad habendum, _d[=r][=n]am_[2] [I cannot expand this contraction, though from the context it means a mark or token], dignitatis sue respectu aliorum verborum.
_Q._ Declara hoc, et quomodo?
_A._ Quia per _sum_ intelligitur Trinitas, cum tres habeat litteras, scl. _s_. _u_. et _m_. Etiam illud verbum sum, quamvis de omnibus dici valeat, tamen de Deo et Trinitate proprie dicitur.
_Q._ Quare _sum_ potius terminatur in _m_ quam in _n_?
_A._ Quia proprie _m_ rursus intelligitur Trinitas, cum illa littera _m_, tria habet puncta."
I shall feel much obliged for any particulars about this literary curiosity which you or any of your correspondents can give.
A. B. R.
Belmont.
[Footnote 2: [Drnam stands for differentiam.]]
* * * * *
ON A DIGEST OF CRITICAL READINGS IN SHAKSPEARE.
With reference to this subject, which has been so frequently discussed in your columns, daily experience convincing me still farther in the opinion that the complete performance of the task is impracticable, would you kindly allow me to ask what can be done in the now acknowledged case of frequent occurrence, where different copies of the folios and quartos vary in passages in the very same impression? What copies are to be taken as the groundworks of reference; and whose copy of the first folio is to be the standard one? Mr. Knight may give one reading as that of the edition of 1623, and Mr. Singer may offer another from the same work, while the author of the "critical digest" may give a third, and all of them correct in the mere fact that such readings are really those of the first edition. Thus, in respect to a passage in _Measure for Measure_,--
"For thy own bowels, which do call thee _sire_,"--
it has been stated in your columns that one copy of the second folio has this correct reading, whereas every copy I have met with reads _fire_; and so likewise the first and third folios. Then, again, in reference to this same line, Mr. Collier, in his Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 48., says that the folio edition of 1685 also reads _fire_ for _sire_; but in my copy of the fourth folio it is distinctly printed _sire_, and the comma before the word very {541} properly omitted. It would be curious to ascertain whether any other copies of this folio read _fire_.
J. O. HALLIWELL.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
"_Original Poems._"--There is a volume of poetry by a lady, published under the following title, _Original Poems, on several occasions_, by C. R., 4to., 1769. Can you inform me whether these poems are likely to have been written by Miss Clara Reeve, authoress of _The Old English Baron_, and other novels? I have seen at least one specimen of this lady's poetry in one of the volumes of Mr. Pratt's _Gleaner_.
SIGMA.
_A Bristol Compliment._--A present made of an article that you do not care about keeping yourself is called "A Bristol Compliment." What is the origin of the phrase?
HAUGHMOND ST. CLAIR.
_French or Flemish Arms._--What family (probably French or Flemish) bears Azure, in chief three mullets argent; in point a ducal coronet or; in base a sheep proper crowned with a ducal coronet or.
PENN.
_Precedence._--Will any of your correspondents assign the order of precedence of officers in army or navy (having no decoration, knighthood, or companionship of any order of knighthood), not as respects each other, but as respects civilians? I apprehend that every commission is addressed to the bearer, embodying a civil title, as _e.g._, "John Smith, Esquire," or as we see ensigns gazetted, "A. B., Gent." My impression therefore is, that in a mixed company of civilians, &c., no officer is entitled to take rank higher than the _civil_ title incorporated in his commission would imply, apart from his grade in the service to which he belongs. On this point I should be obliged by any notices which your correspondents may supply; as also by a classification in order of precedence of the ranks which I here set down alphabetically: barristers, doctors (in divinity, law, medicine), esquires, queen's counsel, serjeants-at-law.
It may be objected that esquire, ecuyer, armiger, is originally a military title, but by usage it has been appropriated to civilians.
SUUM CUIQUE.
"[Greek: Sphidê]."--The meaning of this word is wanted. It is not in Stephens' _Thesaurus_. It occurs in Eichhoff's _Vergleichung der Sprachen Europa und Indien_, p. 234.:
"Sanscrit _bhid_, schneiden, brechen; Gr. [Greek: phazô]; Lat. fido, findo, fodio; Fr. fends; Lithuan., fouis; Deut. beisse; Eng. bite" [to which Kaltschmidt adds, beissen, speisen, fasten, Futter, Butter, Mund, bitter, mästen, feist, Weide, Wiese, Matte]; "Sans. bhidâ, bhid, Spaltung, Faser; Gr. [Greek: sphidê], Lat. fidis; Sans. bhittis, graben; Lat. fossa; Sans. bhaittar, zerschneider; Lat. fossor."
T. J. BUCKTON.
Lichfield.
_Print of the Dublin Volunteers._--Can any of your correspondents inform me when, and where, and by whom, the well-known print of "The Volunteers of the City and County of Dublin, as they met on College Green, the 4th day of Nov., 1779," was republished? An original copy is not easily procured.
ABHBA.
_John Ogden._--Can any reader of "N. & Q." furnish an account of the services rendered by John Ogden, Esq., to King Charles I. of England? The following is in the possession of the inquirer:
"Ogden's Arms, granted to John Ogden, Esq., by King Charles II., for his faithful services to his unfortunate father, Charles I.
"Shield, Girony of eight pieces, argent and gules; in dexter chief an oak branch, fructed ppr.
"Crest, Oak tree ppr. Lion rampant against the tree.
"Motto, Et si ostendo, non jacto."
OAKDEN.
_Columbarium in a Church Tower._--At Collingbourne Ducis, near Marlborough, I have been told that the interior of the church tower was constructed originally to serve as a columbarium. Can this really be the object of the peculiar masonry, what is the date of the tower, and can a similar instance be adduced? It is said that the niches are not formed merely by the omission of stones, but that they have been carefully widened from the opening. Are there any ledges for birds to alight on, or any peculiar openings by which they might enter the tower?
J. W. HEWETT.
_George Herbert._--Will any one of your correspondents, skilled in solving enigmas, kindly give me an exposition of this short poem of George Herbert's? It is entitled--
"HOPE.
"I gave to Hope a watch of mine; but he An anchor gave to me. Then an old prayer-book I did present, And he an optic sent. With that, I gave a phial full of tears; But he a few green ears. Ah, loiterer! I'll no more, no more I'll bring; I did expect a ring."
G. D.
_Apparition which preceded the Fire of London._--An account of the apparition which predicted the Great Fire of London two months before it took place, or a reference to the book in which it may be found, will oblige
IGNIPETUS.
{542}
_Holy Thursday Rain-water._--In the parish of Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire, there is a notion very prevalent, that rain-water collected on Holy Thursday is of powerful efficacy in all diseases of the _eye_. Ascension-day of the present year was very favourable in this respect to these village oculists, and numbers of the cottagers might be seen in all directions collecting the precious drops as they fell. Is it known whether this curious custom prevails elsewhere? and what is supposed to be the origin of it?
ANON.
_Freemasonry._--A (Hamburg) paper, _Der Freischütz_, brings in its No. 27. the following:
"The great English Lodge of this town will initiate in a few days two deaf and dumb persons; a very rare occurrence."
And says farther in No. 31.:
"With reference to our notice in No. 27., we farther learned that on the 4th of March, two brethren, one of them deaf and dumb, have been initiated in the great English Lodge; the knowledge of the language, without its pronunciation, has been cultivated by them to a remarkable degree, so that with noting the motion of the lips they do not miss a single word. The ceremony of initiation was the most affecting for all present."
Query 1. Would deaf and dumb persons in England be eligible as members of the order? 2. Have similar cases to the above ever occurred in this country?
J. W. S. D. 874.
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
_Lewis's "Memoirs of the Duke of Gloucester."_--Can you inform me who was the editor of
"Memoirs of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, from his birth, July the 24th, 1689, to October 1697: from an original Tract written by Jenkin Lewis. Printed for the Editor, and sold by Messrs. Payne, &c., London: and Messrs. Prince & Cooke, and J. Fletcher, Oxford, 1789."
In a rare copy of this volume now before me, it is attributed by a pencil-note to the editorship of Dr. Philip Hayes, who was organist of Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford, from 1777 to 1797. I should be glad to learn on what authority this could be stated. I am anxious also to know the names of any authors who have published books respecting the life, reign, or times of King William III.?
J. R. B.
Oxford.
[Some of our readers will probably be able to authenticate the editorship of Jenkin Lewis' _Memoirs of the Duke of Gloucester_. The following works on the reign of William III. may be consulted among others: Walter Harris's _History of the Reign of William III._, fol., 1749; _The History of the Prince of Orange and the Ancient History of Nassau_, 8vo., 1688; _An Historical Account of the Memorable Actions of the Prince of Orange_, 12mo., 1689; _History of William III._, 3 vols. 8vo., 1702; _Life of William III._, 18mo., 1702; another, 8vo., 1703; _The History of the Life and Reign of William III._, Dublin, 4 vols. 12mo., 1747; Vernon's _Letters of the Reign of William III._, edited by G. P. R. James, 3 vols. 8vo., 1841; Paul Grimbolt's _Letters of William III. and Louis XIV._ Consult also Watt and Lowndes' _Bibliographical Dictionaries_, art. WILLIAM III.; and _Catalogue of the London Institution_, vol. i. p. 292.]
_Apocryphal Works._--Can you inform me where I can procure an English version of the _Book of Enoch_, so often quoted by Mackay in his admirable work _The Progress of the Human Intellect_? Also the _Epistle of Barnabas_, and the _Spurious Gospels_?
W. S.
Cleveland Bridge, Bath.
[_The Book of Enoch_, edited by Archbishop Laurence, and printed at Oxford, has passed through several editions.--_The Catholic Epistle of St. Barnabas_ is included among Archbishop Wake's _Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers_.--"The Spurious Gospels" will probably be found in _The Apocryphal New Testament_; being all the Gospels, Epistles, and other Pieces now extant, attributed in the first four Centuries to Jesus Christ, his Apostles, and their Companions, and not included in the New Testament by its compilers: London, 8vo., 1820; 2nd edition, 1821. Anonymous, but edited by William Hone.]
_Mirabeau, Talleyrand, and Fouché._--Can any of your correspondents tell me which are the best Lives of three of the most remarkable men who figured in the age of the French Revolution, viz. Mirabeau, Talleyrand, and Fouché? If there are English translations of these works? and also if there is any collection of the fierce philippics of Mirabeau?
KENNEDY MCNAB.
[Mirabeau left a natural son, Lucas Montigny, who published _Memoirs of Mirabeau, Biographical, Literary, and Political_, by Himself, his Uncle, and his adopted Child, 4 vols. 8vo., Lond., 1835.--_Memoirs of C. M. Talleyrand_, 2 vols. 12mo., Lond., 1805. Also his _Life_, 4 vols. 8vo., Lond., 1834.--_Memoirs of Joseph Fouché_, translated from the French, 2 vols. 8vo., Lond., 1825.]
_"The Turks in Europe," and "Austria as It Is."_--I possess an 8vo. volume consisting of two anonymous publications, which appeared in London in 1828, one entitled _The Establishment of the Turks in Europe, an Historical Discourse_, and the other _Austria as It Is, or Sketches of Continental Courts_, by an Eye-witness. Can you give me the names of the authors?
ABHBA.
[_The Turks in Europe_ is by Lord John Russell: but the author of _Austria as It Is_, we cannot discover; he was a native of the Austrian Empire.]
"_Forgive, blest Shade._"--Where were the lines, commencing "Forgive, blest shade," first {543} published? I believe it was upon a mural tablet on the chancel wall of a small village church in Dorsetshire (Wyke Regis); but I have seen it quoted as from a monument in some church in the Isle of Wight.
The tablet at Wyke, in Dorset, was erected anonymously, in the night-time, upon the east end of the chancel outer wall; but whether they were _original_, or copied from some prior monumental inscription, I do not know, and should feel much obliged could any of your readers inform me.
S. S. M.
[Snow, in his _Sepulchral Gleanings_, p. 44., notices these lines on the tomb of Robert Scott, who died in March, 1806, in Bethnal Green Churchyard. Prefixed to them is the following line: "The grief of a fond mother, and the disappointed hope of an indulgent father." Our correspondent should have given the date of the Wyke tablet.]
_"Off with his head," &c._--Who was the author of the often-quoted line--
"Off with his head! so much for Buckingham!"
which is not in Shakspeare's _Richard III._?
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
[Colley Cibber is the author of this line. It occurs in _The Tragical History of Richard III._, altered from Shakspeare, Act IV., near the end.]
"_Peter Wilkins._"--Who wrote this book? and when was it published?
UNEDA.
Philadelphia.
[This work first appeared in 1750, and in its brief title is comprised all that is known--all that the curiosity of an inquisitive age can discover--of the history of the work, and name and lineage of the author. It is entitled _The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man_. Taken from his own Mouth, in his Passage to England, from off Cape Horn in America, in the ship Hector. By R. S., a passenger in the Hector; Lond. 1750, 2 vols. The dedication is signed R. P. "To suppose the unknown author," remarks a writer in the _Retrospective Review_, vol. vii. p. 121., "to have been insensible to, or careless about, the fair fame to which a work, original in its conception, and almost unique in purity, did justly entitle him, is to suppose him to have been exempt from the influence of that universal feeling, which is ever deepest in the noblest bosoms; the ardent desire of being long remembered after death--of shining bright in the eyes of their cotemporaries, and, when their sun is set, of leaving behind a train of glory in the heavens, for posterity to contemplate with love and veneration."]
_The Barmecides' Feast._--Can you tell me where the story of the Barmecides and their famed banquets is to be found?
J. D.
[In _The Thousand and One Nights_, commonly called _The Arabian Nights' Entertainments_, Lane's edition, chap. v. vol. i. p. 410. Consult also _The Barmecides_, 1778, by John Francis de la Harpe; and Moreri, _Dictionnaire Historique_, art. Barmécides.]
_Captain._--I shall feel greatly obliged by your informing me the proper and customary manner of rendering in a Latin epitaph the words "Captain of the 29th Regiment." Ainsworth does not give any word which appears to answer to "Captain." _Ordinum ductor_ is cumbrous and inelegant.
CLERICUS.
[The words, "Captain of the 29th Regiment," may be thus rendered into Latin: "Centurio sive Capitanus vicesimæ nonæ cohortis." The word _capitanus_, though not Ciceronian, was in general use for a military captain during the Middle Ages, as appears from Du Cange's _Glossary_: "Item vos armati et congregati quendam de vobis in _capitaneum_ elegistis."]
* * * * *
Replies.
COLERIDGE'S UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS.
(Vol. ix., p. 496.)
In an article contained in the Number of "N. & Q." for May the 27th last, and signed C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY, an inconsiderate, not to say a coarse attack has been made upon me, which might have been spared had the writer sought a private explanation of the matters upon which he has founded his charge.
He asks, "How has Mr. Green discharged the duties of his solemn trust? Has he made any attempt to give publicity to the _Logic_, the 'great work' on _Philosophy_, the work on the Old and New Testaments, to be called _The Assertion of Religion_, or the _History of Philosophy_, all of which are in his custody, and of which the first is, on the testimony of Coleridge himself, a finished work?... For the four works enumerated above, Mr. Green is responsible."
Now, though, by the terms of Coleridge's will, I do not hold myself "responsible" in the sense which the writer attaches to the term, and though I have acted throughout with the cognizance, and I believe with the approbation of Coleridge's family, yet I am willing, and shall now proceed to give such explanations as an admirer of Coleridge's writings may desire, or think he has a right to expect.
Of the four works in question, the _Logic_--as will be seen by turning to the passage in the Letters, vol. ii. p. 150., to which the writer refers as "the testimony of Coleridge himself"--is described as _nearly_ ready for the press, though as yet _unfinished_; and I apprehend it may be proved by reference to Mr. Stutfield's notes, the gentleman to whom it is there said they were dictated, and who possesses the original copy, that the work never was finished. Of the three parts mentioned as the components of {544} the work, the _Criterion_ and _Organon_ do not to my knowledge exist; and with regard to the other parts of the manuscript, including the _Canon_, I believe that I have exercised a sound discretion in not publishing them in their present form and _unfinished_ state.
Of the alleged work on the Old and New Testaments, to be called _The Assertion of Religion_, I have no knowledge. There exist, doubtless, in Coleridge's handwriting, many notes, detached fragments and marginalia, which contain criticisms on the Scriptures. Many of these have been published, some have lost their interest by the recent advances in biblical criticism, and some may hereafter appear; though, as many of them were evidently not intended for publication, they await a final judgment with respect to the time, form, and occasion of their appearance. But no work with the title above stated, no work with any similar object--except the _Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit_--is, as far as I know, in existence.
The work to which I suppose the writer alludes as the _History of Philosophy_, is in my possession. It was presented to me by the late J. Hookham Frere, and consists of notes, taken for him by an eminent shorthand writer, of the course of lectures delivered by Coleridge on that subject. Unfortunately, however, these notes are wholly unfit for publication, as indeed may be inferred from the fact, communicated to me by Coleridge, that the person employed confessed after the first lecture that he was unable to follow the lecturer in consequence of becoming perplexed and delayed by the novelty of thought and language, for which he was wholly unprepared by the ordinary exercise of his art. If this _History of Philosophy_ is to be published in an intelligible form, it will require to be re-written; and I would willingly undertake the task, had I not, in connexion with Coleridge's views, other and more pressing objects to accomplish.
I come now to the fourth work, the "great work" on _Philosophy_. Touching this the writer quotes from one of Coleridge's letters:
"Of this work something more than a volume has been dictated by me, so as to exist fit for the press."
I need not here ask whether the conclusion is correct, that because "something more than a volume" is fit for the press, I am therefore responsible for the whole work, of which the "something more than a volume" is a part? But--shaping my answer with reference to the real point at issue--I have to state, for the information of Coleridge's readers, that, although in the materials for the volume there are introductions and intercalations on subjects of speculative interest, such as to entitle them to appear in print, the main portion of the work is a philosophical _Cosmogony_, which I fear is scarcely adapted for scientific readers, or corresponds to the requirements of modern science. At all events, I do not hesitate to say that the completion of the whole would be requisite for the intelligibility of the part which exists in manuscript.
I leave it then to any candid person to decide whether I should have acted wisely in risking its committal to the press in its present shape. Whatever may be, however, the opinion of others, I have decided, according to my own conscientious conviction of the issue, against the experiment.
But should some farther explanation be expected of me on this interesting topic, I will freely own that, having enjoyed the high privilege of communion with one of the most enlightened philosophers of the age--and in accordance with his wishes the responsibility rests with me, as far as my ability extends, of completing his labours,--in pursuance of this trust I have devoted more than the leisure of a life to a work in which I hope to present the philosophic views of my "great master" in a systematic form of unity--in a form which may best concentrate to a focus and principle of unity the light diffused in his writings, and which may again reflect it on all departments of human knowledge, so that truths may become intelligible in the one light of Divine truth.
Meanwhile I can assure the friends and admirers of Coleridge that nothing now exists in manuscript which would add materially to the elucidation of his philosophical doctrines; and that in any farther publication of his literary remains I shall be guided, as I have been, by the duty which I owe to the memory and fame of my revered teacher.
JOSEPH HENRY GREEN.
Hadley.
* * * * *
KING JAMES'S IRISH ARMY LIST, 1689.
(Vol. ix., pp. 30, 31. 401.)