Part 5
"Mr. William Hunt, of Yarmouth, was my first friend and instructor in the art; and _if_ there be any merit in the pictures I did before I knew you, the credit is due to _him entirely_.
"The first paper we tried was Whatman's ivory post, very thick and hard, and yet it gave good negatives. We afterwards got a thinner paper, but always stuck to Whatman. Neither were we troubled with that _porosity_ in the skies of which you complain in the more recently-made papers of that manufacturer.
"We first washed the paper with a solution of nitrate of silver, fifteen grains to the ounce, going over the surface in all directions with a camel-hair brush. As soon as the fluid ceased to run, the paper was _rapidly dried before the fire_, and then immersed in a solution of iodide of potassium, 500 grains to the pint of water. We used to draw it through the solution frequently by the corners, and then let it lie till the yellow tint was visible at the back. It was then immediately taken to the pump and pumped upon vigorously for two or three minutes, holding it at such an angle that the water flushed softly over the surface. We then gave it a few minutes in a rain-water bath, inclining the dish at different angles to give motion to the water. By this time the iodide of silver looked like pure solid brimstone in the wet paper. Then we knew that it was good, and hung it up to dry.
"To make this paper sensitive, we took 5 drops of gallic acid (saturated solution), 5 drops of glacial acetic acid, 10 drops of a 50-grain solution of nitrate of silver, and 100 drops of water. The sensitive wash was poured upon a glass plate, and the paper placed thereon. We used to lift the paper frequently by one or other corner till it was perfectly limp. We then blotted off and placed in the camera, where it would keep a good many hours.
"Whether such pictures would have come out spontaneously under the developing solution, I know not, for we had not patience enough to try. We forced them out in double quick time with red-hot pokers; and great was the alarm of my wife to see me rush madly about the house armed with these weapons. Yet the plan had its advantages; by presenting the point of the poker at a refractory spot, its reluctance to appear was speedily overcome, and we persuaded out the shadows.
* * *
"P.S.--I now have the first picture I ever did, little, if at all, altered. It was done in July, 1845, with a common meniscus lens. I have just got a _capital negative_ by DR. DIAMOND'S plan, but which is spoiled by the metallic abominations in Turner's paper."
_A Collodion Difficulty._--With reference to MR. J. COOK'S collodion, I would suggest that his ether was indeed "still very strong" of _acid_; by which the iodine was set free, and gave him "nearly a port-wine colour." This is a common occurrence when the ether or the collodion is acid. The remedy is at hand, however. Powder a few grains of _cyanide of potassium_, and introduce about a grain at a time, according to the quantity: shake up till dissolved, and so on, until you get the clear golden tint. Thus will "the mystery be cleared up." I need not say that the essential properties of the solution will not be impaired.
ANDREW STEINMETZ.
P.S.--In a day or two I shall send you a _recipe_ for easily turning to immediate use the "used-up dipping baths" of _nitrate_, without the troublesome process recommended to one of your correspondents.
_Ferricyanide of Potassium._--I have used with success the ferricyanide of potassium (the _red_ prussiate of potash, as it is called) for removing the stains contracted in photographing. This it does very readily when the stains are recent, and it has no injurious effect upon cuts and sore places should any exist on the hands. An old stain may with a little pumice be very readily removed. I have mentioned this to several friends, and, if not a novelty, it is certainly not generally known.
S. PELHAM DALE.
Sion College.
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Postage System of the Romans_ (Vol. ix., p. 350.).--Your correspondent ARDELIO probably alludes to the system of posts for the conveyance of persons, established by the Romans on their great lines of road. An account of this may be seen in the work of Bergier, _Histoire des Grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain_, lib. iv.; and compare Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, chap. xvii. Communications were made from Rome to the governors of provinces, and information was received from them, by means of these posts: see Suet. _Oct._ c. xlix. But the Romans had no public institution for the conveyance of private letters. A letter post is a comparatively modern institution; in England it only dates from the reign of James I. An account of the ancient Persian posts is given by Xenoph. _Cyrop._ VIII. vi. § 17, 18.; Herod. viii. 98.: compare Schleusner, _Lex. N. T._ in [Greek: angareuô].
L.
As a proof that there is at least one eminent exception to the assertion of ARDELIO, that "_we_ know that the Romans must have had a postal system," I send the following extract from Dr. William {550} Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, sub voc. Tabellarius:
"As the Romans had no public post, they were obliged to employ special messengers, who were called Tabellarii, to convey their letters, when they had not an opportunity of sending them otherwise."
[Greek: Halieus].
Dublin.
_Epigram on the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini_ (Vol. ix., p. 445.).--This epigram, which has frequently been printed as Swift's, was written by Dr. Byrom of Manchester. In his very interesting _Diary_, which is shortly about to appear under the able editorship of my friend Dr. Parkinson in the series of Chetham publications, Byrom mentions it.
"Nourse asked me if I had seen the verses upon Handel and Bononcini, not knowing that they were mine; but Sculler said I was charged with them, and so I said they were mine; they both said they had been mightily liked."--Byrom's _Remains_ (Cheetham Series), vol. i. part i. p. 173.
The verses are thus more correctly given in Byrom's _Works_, vol. i. p. 342., edit. 1773:
"_Epigram on the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini._
Some say, compar'd to Bononcini, That Mynheer Handel's but a ninny; Others aver that he to Handel Is scarcely fit to hold a candle: Strange all this difference should be, 'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee!"
JAS. CROSSLEY.
_Power of prophesying before Death_ (Vol. ii., p. 116.).--In St. Gregory's _Dialogues_, b. IV. ch. xxv., the disciple asks,--
"Velim scire quonam modo agitur quod plerumque morientes multa prædicunt."
The answer begins (ch. xxvi.),--
"Ipsa aliquando animarum vis subtilitate sua aliquid prævidet. Aliquando autem exituræ de corpore animæ per revelationem ventura cognoscunt. Aliquando vero dum jam juxta sit ut corpus deserant, divinitus afflatæ in secreta coelestia incorporeum mentis oculum mittunt."
J. C. R.
_King John_ (Vol. ix., p. 453.).--I cannot reply to the Queries of PRESTONIENSIS, but I have a note of a grant made by John (as _Com. Moritoniæ_) of the tithes of the parishes between Rible and Merse, which appears to have received the Bishop of Coventry's confirmation, _ap. Cestriam, an. 2 Pont. Papæ Coelestini_. John's grant was to the Priory of Lancaster. My reference is to Madox, _Formulare Anglicanum_, Lond. 1702, p. 52, MXCVI. The deed is witnessed by Adam de Blakeburn and Robert de Preston, as well as by Phil. Sanson (De Worcester?) and others.
ANON.
_Demoniacal Descent of the Plantagenets_ (Vol. ix., p. 494.).--H. B. C. will find another passage, illustrative of this presumption, in Henry Knyghton's _Chronica_:
"De isto quoque Henrico, quondam infantulo et in curia regis Francorum nutrito, beatus Bernardus Abbas de eo sic prophetavit, præsente rege, _De Diabolo venit, et ad Diabolum ibit_: Notans per hoc tam tyrannidem patris sui Galfridi, qui Sagiensem episcopum eunuchaverat, quam etiam istius Henrici futuram atrocitatem qua in beatum Thomam desæviret."--Twysden, _Hist. Angl. Scriptores_, pp. 2393. 32., and 2399. 10.
C. H.
_Burial Service Tradition_ (Vol. ix., p. 451.).--The only cases in which a clergyman is legally justified in refusing to read the entire service over the body of a parishioner or other person admitted to burial in the parochial cemetery, are the three which are mentioned in the preliminary rubric, which, as expounded by the highest authorities, are as follows: 1. In case the person died without admission to the universal church by Christian baptism. 2. Or "denounced 'excommunicate majori excommunicatione' for some grievous and notorious crime, and no man able to testify of his repentance." (Canon 68.) 3. Or _felo de se_; for in a case of suicide the acquittal of the deceased by a coroner's jury entitles him to Christian burial. The extraordinary notion of the clergyman, mentioned by the REV. S. ADAMS, is certainly erroneous in law. I can only suppose it originated from some case in which the severance of the deceased's right hand was regarded by the jury as a proof that he did not kill himself. Except in certain special cases, none but parishioners are entitled to burial in a parochial burying-place at all.
ADVOCATUS.
_Paintings of our Saviour_ (Vol. ix., p. 270.).--Your correspondent J. P. may hear of something to his advantage by visiting the church of Santa Prassede (Saint Praxedes?), not far from Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. In the former he will see, as usual, a list of wonderful relics preserved therein, and amongst them "A Portrait of the Saviour, presented by St. Peter to Santa Prassede." A valuable gift, truly, if only authentic. The name of the artist is not given, I believe, in the above veracious document. They had better have made the catalogue complete by putting in the name of St. Luke himself, whose pencil, I rather think, is stated to have furnished other such portraits elsewhere. "Credat Judæus!"
The Santa Prassede above alluded to is stated to have been a daughter of Pudens, mentioned in the Epistles of St. Paul.
M. H. R.
_Widdrington Family_ (Vol. ix., p. 375.).--The church of Nunnington, near Helmsly, in the North {551} Riding of Yorkshire, contains two handsome marble monuments of Lords Preston and Widdrington. The old hall at Nunnington, now occupied by a farmer, was once the seat of Viscount Preston, and afterwards of Lord Widdrington. William, Lord Widdrington, who is said to be descended from the brave Witherington, celebrated in Chevy Chace for having fought upon his stumps, was of the very noble and ancient family of the Widdringtons of Widdrington Castle, in the county of Northumberland; and great-grandson of the brave Lord Widdrington who was slain gallantly fighting in the service of the crown at Wigan, in Lancashire, in 1651. William, his grandson, was unfortunately engaged in the affair of Preston in 1715, when his estate became forfeited to the crown, and he afterwards confined himself to private life. He married a daughter of the Lord Viscount Preston above mentioned, one of the co-heiresses of the estate at Nunnington, and was in consequence buried in the family vault in 1743, aged sixty-five. For other particulars of the family of Widdrington, see Camden's _Britannia_.
THOMAS GILL.
Easingwold.
_Mathew, a Cornish Family_ (Vol. ix., pp. 22. 289.).--I fear I cannot give the REV. H. T. ELLACOMBE much information on the point he desires of the descent of the Devon and Cornwall branches of the Mathew family, which I yet entertain the hope some of your readers having access to the Cambrian genealogical lore at Dinevawr, Penline, Margam, Fonmon, and other places, may be able to graft correctly on their Welsh tree.
I was unable to corroborate in the British Museum the marriages given in the Heralds' Visitation of Devon, with Starkey and Gamage. Did a son of Reynell of Malston by an heir of Mathew take that name?
MR. ELLACOMBE will find by the Heralds' Visitation that _both_ of the West of England branches settled before 1650 in Cornwall, the one at Tresingher, the other at Milton; but that of the former, William married Elizabeth Wellington, and John married Rebecca Soame, both reverting to settle in Devonshire, from whom, perhaps, his ancestress derives.
B.
Birkenhead.
"[Greek: Pistis]," _unde deriv._ (Vol. ix., p. 324.).--The perfect impossibility of deriving this word from [Greek: Histêmi] is at once evident, on the following grounds: 1. To obtain the letter [pi], recourse is had to the compound form [Greek: ephistamai]; but where have we a similar instance, in any derived word, of the [epsilon] in [Greek: epi] being thus absorbed, and the [pi] taken to commence a fresh word? 2. Allowing such an extraordinary process, what possible meaning of [Greek: ephistamai] can be adduced in the slightest degree corresponding to the established interpretation of [Greek: pistis]?
Throwing aside the termination [Greek: -is], we obtain the letters [Greek: pist-], which a very slight knowledge of etymology enables us to trace back to [Greek: peithô]; for the stem of this verb is [Greek: PITH] (cf. Aor. 2. [Greek: epithon]), and the formation of the adjective [Greek: pistos] from [Greek: pe-peist-ai] is clearly analogous to that of the word in question, the long syllable and diphthong [Greek: ei] being altered into the short and single letter [Greek: i], to which many similar instances may be adduced.
[Phi].
There is no doubt as to the derivation of [Greek: pistis] from [Greek: peithô]. Compare [Greek: knêstis] from [Greek: knaô] or [Greek: knêthô], [Greek: pristis] or [Greek: prêstis] from [Greek: prêthô], [Greek: pustis] from [Greek: punthanomai]. Verbs of this form introduce the [Greek: s] into the future and other inflected tenses, as [Greek: peisô], [Greek: peusomai].
L.
_Author of "The Whole Duty of Man"_ (Vol. vi., p. 537.).--It is asserted in the _English Baronetage_ (vol. i. p. 398., 1741), on the authority of Sir Herbert Perrot Pakington, Bart., in support of the claim of Lady Pakington to the authorship, "the _manuscript, under her own hand_, now remains with the family." Can this MS. now be found?
B. H. C.
_Table-turning_ (Vol. ix., pp. 88. 135., &c.).--In turning over Sozomen's _Ecclesiastical History_, I observed at b. VI. ch. 34. an account of the transaction already printed in your pages from Ammianus Marcellinus. It is in brief as follows:--Certain philosophers who were opposed to Christianity were anxious to learn who should succeed Valens in the empire. After trying all other kinds of divination, they constructed a tripod (or table with three legs: see Servius on Virgil, _Æn._ III. 360.) of laurel wood, and by means of certain incantations and formulæ, succeeded (by combining the letters which were indicated, one by one, by a contrivance of some kind connected with the table) in obtaining Th. E. O. D. Now, being anxious and hopeful for one Theodorus to succeed to the throne, they concluded that he was meant. Valens, hearing of it, put him and them to death, and many others whose names began with these letters.
On referring to Socrates, I find that he also names the circumstances just alluded to. Although he does not give all the particulars, he adds one important statement, which serves to identify the thing more closely with modern table-moving and spirit-rapping. "The devil," he says, "induced certain curious persons to practise _divination, by calling up the spirits of the dead_ ([Greek: nekuomanteian poiêsasthai]), in order to find out who should reign after Valens." They succeeded in obtaining the letters Th. E. O. D.
I observe a reference to Nicephorus, b. XI. 45., but have not his works at hand to consult. {552}
The use of _laurel_, in the construction of the table, seems to connect the occurrences with the worship of Apollo. Those who would investigate the subject fully must consult such passages in the classics as this from Lucan [Lucretius?], lib. i. 739-40.:
"Sanctius et multo certa ratione magis, quam Pythia, quæ _tripode_ ex Phoebi _lauro_que profatur."
I have a reference to Le Nourry, p. 1345., who, I see, has some remarks upon the passage already given from Tertullian; he, however, throws little light upon the subject.
HENRY H. BREEN (Vol. viii., p. 330.) says, "It is not unreasonable to suppose that table-turning ... was practised in former ages:" to this I think we may now subscribe.
B. H. C.
Poplar.
_Pedigree to the Time of Alfred_ (Vol. viii., p. 586.; Vol. ix., p. 233.).--The person S. D. met at the "King's Head," Egham, was doubtless Mr. John Wapshott of Chertsey, Surrey (late of Almoner's Barn Farm in that neighbourhood), an intelligent, respectable yeoman, who would feel much pleasure in giving S. D. any information he may require.
B. S. ELCOCK.
Bath.
_Quotation wanted_ (Vol. ix., p. 421.).--"Extinctus amabitur idem," is from _Horace_, Epist. II. i. 14. (See Vol. vii., p. 81.)
P. J. F. GANTILLON.
"_Hic locus odit, amat._"--In Vol. v. of "N. & Q.," at p. 8., "PROCURATOR" gives the two quaintly linked lines--
"Hic locus odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat Nequitiam, leges, crimina, jura probos."
as "carved in a beam over the Town Hall of Much Wenlock, in Shropshire." They are to be found also in the ancient hall of judicature of the "Palazzo del Podesta," at Pistoja, in Tuscany. The ancient stone seats, with their stone table in front of them, where the magistrates of the republic administered justice in the days of the city's independence, are still remaining, and these lines are cut in the stone just over the benches. This simple and primitive tribunal was built as it now stands in 1307, and there can be no doubt that the verses in question existed there before they found their way to Much Wenlock. But as it is hardly likely that they travelled direct from Tuscany into Shropshire, the probability is that they may be found in some other, or perhaps in many other places. I have not been able to light on any clue to the authorship or history of the lines. Perhaps some of your correspondents, who have the means of wider researches than this city commands, might be more fortunate.
T. A. T.
Florence, March, 1854.
_Writings of the Martyr Bradford_ (Vol. ix., p. 450.).--In reply to MR. TOWNSEND'S inquiry respecting early editions of Bradford's writings, I can add to the information furnished by the Editor that the copy of his _Hurt of Hearyng Masse_, sold at Mr. Jolley's sale, was purchased subsequently of Mr. Thorpe, and deposited in the Chetham Library. This edition is not noticed by Watt.
In Stevens's _Memoirs of the Life and Martyrdom of John Bradford, with his Examinations, Letters, &c._, there is no mention of the letter _ad calcem_ of--
"An Account of a Disputation at Oxford, Anno Domini 1554. With a Treatise of the Blessed Sacrament; both written by Bishop Ridley, Martyr. To which is added a Letter written by Mr. John Bradford, never before printed. All taken out of an original manuscript [and published by Gilbert Ironside], Oxford, 1688, 4to."
BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.
_Latin Inscription on Lindsey Court-house_ (Vol. ix., p. 492.).--Your correspondent L. L. L. gives this inscription as follows:
"Fiat Justitia, 1619. Hæc domus Dit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat, Equitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos."
This couplet, in its correct form, evidently stood thus:
"Hæc custodit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat, Æquitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos."
That is to say,
"Custodit æquitiam, amat pacem, punit crimina, conservat jura, honorat bonos."
The substantive of _æquus_ is _æquitas_, not _æquitia_. If these verses were composed in good Latinity, the first word of the pentameter probably was _justitiam_.
L.
_Blanco White's Sonnet_ (Vol. vii., pp. 404. 486.; Vol. ix., p. 469.).--This sonnet is so beautiful, that I hope it will suffer no disparagement in the eyes of any of your admiring readers, if I remind them of a passage in Sir Thomas Browne's _Quincunx_, which I conceive may have inspired the brilliant genius of Blanco White on this occasion. I regret that I have not the precise reference to the passage:
"_Light_" (says Browne) "_that makes things seen, makes some things invisible_. Were it not for darkness, and the shadow of the earth, _the noblest part of creation had remained unseen_, and _the stars in heaven as invisible_ as on the fourth day, when they were created above the horizon _with the sun_, or there was not an eye to behold them. The greatest mystery of religion is expressed by adumbration; and, in the noblest part of the Jewish types, we find the cherubim shadowing the {553} mercy-seat. _Life itself is but the shadow of death_, and souls departed but the shadows of the living: all things fall under this name. _The sun itself is but the dark simulacrum_, and _light but the shadow of God_!"
J. SANSOM.
Oxford.
_"Wise men labour," &c._ (Vol. ix., p. 468.).--The following version of these lines is printed in the _Collection of Loyal Songs, written against the Rump Parliament between the Years 1639-1661_:
"_Complaint._
"Wise men suffer, good men grieve, Knaves devise and fools believe; Help, O Lord! send aid unto us, Else knaves and fools will quite undo us."
These four lines constitute the whole of the piece, which is anonymous: vol. i. p. 27., and also on the title-page.
B. H. C.
[We are indebted to S-C. P. J. for a similar reply.]
_Copernicus_ (Vol. ix., p. 447.).--This inscription, as given in "N. & Q.," contains two false quantities, _Gr[=a]tiam_ and _V[=e]niam_. May I suggest the transposal of the two words, and then all will be right, at least as to _prosody_, which, in Latin poetry, seems to override all other considerations.
C. DE LA PRYME.
N.B.--What is the nominative to poor _dederat_?
_Meals, Meols_ (Vol. vii., pp. 208. 298.; Vol. ix., p. 409.).--The word "mielles" is of frequent occurrence in Normandy and the Channel Islands, where it is applied to sandy downs bordering the sea-shore. It is not to be found in French dictionaries, and, like the words _hougue_, _falaise_, and others in use in Normandy, has probably come down from the Northmen, who gave their name to that province.
EDGAR MACCULLOCH.
Guernsey.
_Byron and Rochefoucauld_ (Vol. ix., p. 347.).--Allow me to refer your correspondent SIGMA to "N. & Q.," Vol. i., p. 260., where, under the signature of MELANION, I noted Byron's two unacknowledged obligations to _La Rochefoucauld_, and the blunder made in the note on _Don Juan_, canto iii. st. 4. SIGMA will also find these and other passages from Byron given among the notes in the translation of _La Rochefoucauld_, published in 1850 (June) by Messrs. Longman and Co.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
_Robert Eden_ (Vol. ix., p. 374.).--Robert Eden, Archdeacon and Prebendary of Winchester, was the son of Robert Eden, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The Edens of Auckland and the Edens of Newcastle were descended from two brothers. The Archdeacon was fourth cousin of the first baronet. His daughter, Mary, married Ebenezer Blackwell, Esq., and their daughter, Philadelphia, married Lieut.-Col. G. R. P. Jarvis, of Doddington, in Lincolnshire. I am descended from a first cousin of the Archdeacon, and could furnish R. E. C., if I knew his address, with farther particulars respecting the Edens of Newcastle.
E. H. A.