Replies.

DESCENT OF THE QUEEN FROM JOHN OF GAUNT.

(Vol. vi., p. 432.)

I have in my possession a pedigree, compiled from original sources, which will, I believe, fully support your correspondent's opinion that the year usually assigned for the death of Joan Beaufort's first husband (1410) is inaccurate. Two entries on the Patent Rolls respectively of the 21st and 22d Richard II., as cited in the pedigree, prove that event to have taken place before Lord Neville of Raby's creation as Earl of Westmoreland; and I am inclined to think that his creation was rather a consequence of his exalted alliance than, as the later and falsely assigned date would lead one to infer, that his creation preceded his marriage by twelve or thirteen years.

As regards the Queen's descent from John, Duke of Lancaster, in the strictly legitimate line, I may wish to say a word at another time. Allow me now, with reference to the same pedigree, to append a Query to this Reply: Can any of your learned genealogical readers direct me to the authority which may have induced Miss A. Strickland, in her amusing Memoirs of the Lives of the English Queens, to give so strenuous a denial of Henry VIII.'s queen, Jane Seymour's claim to a royal lineage? Miss Strickland writes:

"Through Margaret Wentworth, the mother of Jane Seymour, a descent from the blood-royal of England was claimed, from an intermarriage with a Wentworth and a daughter of Hotspur and Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, grand-daughter to Lionel, duke of Clarence. This Lady Percy is stated by all ancient heralds to have died childless. Few persons, however, dared dispute a pedigree with Henry VIII.," &c.—Lives of the Queens of England, by Agnes Strickland, vol. iv. p. 300.

This is a question, I conceive, of sufficient historical importance to receive a fuller investigation, and fairly to be determined, if possible.

The pedigree shows the following descent:—Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, third son of King Edward III. and Philippa of Hainault, left by Elizabeth de Burgh (daughter of William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and Maud Plantagenet, second daughter of Henry, third Earl of Lancaster) an only child, Philippa, married to Edmund Mortimer, third Earl of March (Esc., 5 Ric. II., No. 43.). The eldest daughter of Philippa Plantagenet by the Earl of March was Elizabeth Mortimer, who married the renowned Hotspur, Henry Lord Percy, son and heir apparent of Henry Lord Percy, created Earl of Northumberland, 16th July, 1377, K. G. Hotspur was slain at the battle of Shrewsbury, 7th September, 1403, v.p. His widow experienced the revengeful persecution of King Henry (Rymer, viii. 334., Oct. 8, 1403), and died, leaving by her said husband one son, Henry, who became second Earl of Northumberland, and an only daughter, Elizabeth de Percy, who married firstly, John, seventh Lord Clifford of Westmoreland, who died 13th March, 1422 (Esc., 10 Henry V., No. 37.), and secondly, Ralph Neville, second Earl of Westmoreland (Esc., 15 Hen. VI., No. 55.), by whom she left an only child, Sir John Neville, Knight, who died during his father's lifetime, 20th March, 1451, s.p. (Will proved 30th March, 1451.) Lady Elizabeth de Percy, who died in October, 1436, left by her first husband, the Lord Clifford, three children: Thomas, eighth Lord Clifford; Henry, her second son; and an only daughter, Mary, who became the wife of Sir Philip Wentworth, Knight. The Lady Mary Clifford, who must have been born before 1422 (her father having died in that year), was probably only a few years older than her husband Sir Philip, the issue of a marriage which took place in June, 1 Henry VI., 1423 (Cott. MSS. Cleop., F. iv. f. 15.); she was buried in the church of the Friars Minor at Ipswich, where her mother-in-law directed a marble to be laid over her body. Sir Philip's father, Roger Wentworth, Esq. (second son of John Wentworth of North Elmsal, a scion of the house of Wentworth of the North), had married in 1423 Margery Lady de Roos, widow of John Lord de Roos, sole daughter and heiress of Elizabeth de Tibetot, or Tiptoft (third daughter and co-heir of Robert, Lord de Tibetot), and of Sir Philip le Despenser Chivaler (Esc., 18 Edw. IV., No. 35.). By this marriage came, first, Sir Philip Wentworth, Knight, born circa 1424, and married when about twenty-three years of age, in 1447; he was slain in 1461, and attainted of high treason in the parliament held 1 Edw. IV.; second, Henry Wentworth of Codham, in the county of Essex; third, Thomas Wentworth Chaplain; and fourth, Agnes, wife of Sir Robert Constable of Flamborough (Harl. MSS., 1560. 1449-1484, and will of Margery, Lady de Roos, proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 28th May, 1478). Sir Philip, about the year 1447, as before stated, married the Lady Mary Clifford (Harl. MSS., 154. and 1484.), sister of Thomas Lord Clifford, who was slain at the battle of St. Alban's in 1454, and aunt of the Lord Clifford who stabbed the youthful Edmund Plantagenet at the battle of Wakefield, and was himself slain and attainted in parliament, 1st Edward IV. 1461. The issue of this marriage was Sir Henry Wentworth of Nettlestead, in the county of Suffolk, Knight, his son and heir (will of Margery, Lady de Roos, proved as above), born circa 1448, being thirty years of age at his grandmother's death in 1478 (Esc., 18 Edward IV., No. 35.), and died in 1500. His will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 27th February, 1501. Sir Henry, son of Sir Philip, was restored in blood by an act of parliament passed in the 4th of Edward IV. (Parliament Rolls, v. 548.), and having married Anne, daughter of Sir John Say, Knight (Rot. Pat., 1 Ric. II., p. 2., No. 86., 20th February, 1484), left by her several children, viz. Sir Richard Wentworth, Knight, son and heir, Edward Wentworth, and four daughters, the second of whom, Margery, was married to Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, in the county of Wilts, Knight (Harl. MSS., 1449-1484. 1560., &c.), of which marriage, among other children, were born Sir Edward Seymour, created Duke of Somerset, and Jane, third wife of King Henry VIII., mother of Edward VI.

Wm. Hardy.

UNCERTAIN ETYMOLOGIES—"LEADER."

(Vol. vi., p. 588.)

I must differ from your correspondent C., in believing that the "N. & Q." have effected much good service to etymology. Even the exposure of error, and the showing up of crotchets, is of no inconsiderable use. I beg to submit that C. himself (unless there are other Richmonds in the field) has done good service in this way. See Grummett, Slang Phrases, Martinet, Cockade, Romane, Covey, Bummaree, &c.

I do not, indeed, give implicit faith to his Steyne, and some more. He, however, would be a rash man who should write or help to write a Dictionary of the English language (a desideratum at present) without turning over the indices of the "N. & Q." Even in the first volume, the discussions on Pokership, Daysman, News, and a great many others, seem to me at least valuable contributions to general knowledge on etymology.

As to my remark (Vol. vi., p. 462.) about the derivation of leader, C. has, perhaps excusably, for the sake of the pun, done me injustice. I hazarded it on the authority of one who has been in the trade, and, as I believe, in the cuicunque perito. I beg to inclose his own account. He says:

"It is a fact, that when editorial articles are sent to the printer, written directions are generally sent with them denoting what type is to be used: thus, brevier leads, or bourgeois leads, signifying that the articles are to be set in brevier or bourgeois type with lead strips between the lines, to keep them further asunder. It is also a fact, that such articles are denominated in the printing-office 'leaded articles'—hence, leaders."

I submit if this does not justify my Note. I grant, however, many of those articles are entitled also to be called leaden, as C. will have it.

I do not think, however, that in tracing recent words, we should not give possible as well as certain origins. Many words, if not a double, have at least several putative origins.

Let me subscribe myself—seu male seu bene—

Nota.

P. S.—I would like to suggest that this origin of the term "leading article" is the most favourable to the modesty of any single writer for the Press, who should hardly pretend to lead public opinion.

LINES ON TIPPERARY.

(Vol. vi., p. 578.)

These lines were said to have been addressed to a Dr. Fitzgerald, on reading the following couplet in his apostrophe to his native village:—

I subjoin a tolerably complete copy of this "rime doggrele:"

May we not say with Touchstone, "I'll rhyme you so, eight years together; dinners, and suppers, and sleeping hours excepted: it is the right butter-woman's rank to market."

J. M. B.

SHAKESPEARE EMENDATIONS.

(Vol. vi., p. 312.)

I cannot receive Mr. Cornish's substitution (p. 312.) of "chommer" for clamour in the Winter's Tale, Act IV. Sc. 3. In my opinion, clamour is nearly or altogether the right word, but wrongly spelt. We have a verb to clam, which, as connected with clammy, we use for sticking with glutinous matter; but which originally must, like the kindred German klemmen, have signified to press, to squeeze; for the kind of wooden vice used by harness-makers is, at least in some places, called a clams. I therefore suppose the clown to have said clam, or perhaps clammer (i.e. hold) your tongues.

Highly plausible as is Mr. C.'s other emendation in the same place of 2 Henry IV., Act III. Sc. 1., I cannot receive it either. In Shakspeare the word clown is almost always nearly equivalent to the Spanish gracioso, and denotes humour; and surely we cannot suppose it to be used of the ship-boy. Besides, a verb is wanted, as the causal particle for is as usual to be understood before "Uneasy lies," &c. I see no objection whatever to the common reading, though possibly the poet wrote:

There never, in my opinion, was a happier emendation than that of guidon for guard; On, in Henry V., Act IV. Sc. 2.; and its being made by two persons independently, gives it—as Mr. Collier justly observes of palpable for capable in As You Like It—additional weight. We are to recollect that a Frenchman is the speaker. I find guidon used for banner in the following lines of Clément Marot (Elégie III.):

and—

The change of a sea of troubles to assay of troubles in Hamlet is very plausible, and ought perhaps to be received. So also is Sir F. Madden's of face for case (which last is downright nonsense) in Twelfth Night, Act V. Sc. 1. But I would just hint that as all the rest of the Duke's speech is in rhyme, it is not impossible that the poet may have written—

Allow me now to put a question to the critics. In the two concluding lines of the Merchant of Venice (the speaker, observe, is the jesting Gratiano):

May there not be a covert allusion to the story first told by Poggio in his Facetiæ, then by Ariosto, then by Rabelais, then by La Fontaine, and, finally, by Prior, in his Hans Carvel? Rabelais was greatly read at the time.

Thomas Keightley.

STATUES REPRESENTED ON COINS.

(Vol. vi., p. 485.)

Mr. Burgon (Inquiry into the Motive of the Representations on Ancient Coins, p. 19.) says:

"I do not believe that the types of coins are, on any occasion, original compositions; but always copied from some sacred public monument.... When we find Minerva represented on coins, we are not to understand the type as a Minerva, but the Minerva of that place; and in some cases which might be brought forward, the individual statues which are represented on coins, or ancient copies, will be found still to exist."

This opinion is certainly borne out by a very great number of proofs, and may almost be considered demonstrated. The Farnese Hercules is found on many coins, Roman and Greek. The commonest among the Roman are those of Gordianus Pius, 1st and 2nd brass, with "VIRTVTI AVGVSTI." Three colonial coins of Corinth, of Severus, Caracalla, and Geta (Vaillant, Num. Imp. Coloniis percuss., ii. 7. 32. 54.), exhibit the same figure. As an additional illustration of Mr. Burgon's view, I would advert to the Corinthian coin of Aurelius (Vaill. i. 182.), which has a Hercules in a different attitude; and which Vaillant regards as a copy of the statue mentioned by Pausanias as existing at Corinth. Du Choul (Religio vet. Rom., 1685, pp. 158, 159.) gives a coin representing Hercules killing Antæus; and quotes Pliny for a statue representing this by Polycletus. Haym also (Tesoro, i. 248.) gives a coin with a reversed view of the same subject. The figures of Hercules on coins of Commodus are certainly copied from the statues of that Emperor. Baudelot de Dairval (De l'Utilité des Voyages) gives a small silver statuette of Commodus as Hercules, certainly copied from the larger statues, and corresponding with those on coins.

I am not aware of any coins exhibiting exactly the Venus de Medici. It is possible, however, that they exist, though I cannot at present find them. Haym (Tesoro, ii. 246., tab. xvi. 3.) gives a coin of Cnidus, with a very similar representation, the Cnidian Venus, known to be copied from a statue by Praxiteles.

I must say the same as to the Apollo Belvidere.

I cannot at present refer to an engraving of the equestrian statue of Aurelius, but Mr. Akerman (Descr. Cat., i. 280. 12. 14., 283. 10.) describes gold coins and a medallion of Aurelius, representing him on horseback; and I find in the plates appended by De Bie to Augustini Antiquatum ex Nummis Dialogi, Antw., 1617, plate 47., one of these coins engraved. I find the medallion engraved also by Erizzo (last edition, n. d., p. 335.) who explains it as referring to this statue. He says, however, that the attribution of the statue was uncertain; and that on a medallion of Antoninus Pius, which he possessed, exactly the same representation was found, whence he was inclined to suppose it rather erected for Antoninus Pius.

I suppose the coins of Domna, alluded to by Mr. Taylor, are those with the legend "VENERI VICTRICI." In spite of the attitude, I can hardly think this intended for Venus Callipyge, from the fact that Venus Victrix is found in the same attitude on other coins, holding arms; and sometimes again holding arms, but in a different attitude, and more or less clothed. The legend is opposed also to this idea. See the coins engraved by Ondaan, or Oiselius, Plate LII. The coin of Plantilla in Du Choul (l. c. p. 188.) is a stronger argument; for here is seen a partially clothed Venus Victrix, with the same emblems, leaning on a shield, as the Venus of Domna leans on a column, but turned towards the spectator instead of away: thus demonstrating that no allusion to Callipyge is to be seen in either.

Erizzo (l. c. p. 519.) mentions the discovery at Rome of a fragment of a marble statue inscribed "VENERIS VICTRICIS."

In the British Museum (Townley Gallery, i. 95.) is a bas-relief representing the building of the ship Argo. There is described in the Thomas Catalogue, p. 22. lot 236., an unpublished (?) medallion of Aurelius, possibly copied from this very bas-relief. A very doubtful specimen exists in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries, which enables me to make this assertion, although it is not minutely described in the catalogue, and is otherwise explained. This is an additional confirmation of the original statement, and many more might be added but for the narrower limits allowed, which I fear I have already transgressed.

W. H. Scott.

Edinburgh.

JUDGE JEFFREYS.

(Vol. vi., pp. 149. 432. 542.)

This extraordinary and inhuman man was the sixth son of John Jeffreys, Esq., of Acton, near Wrexham, co. Denbigh, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Ireland, Knight, of Bewsey, and was born at his father's house about the year 1648. He died on the 19th of April, 1689, at thirty-five minutes past four in the morning. The tradition that his remains were deposited at Enfield is incorrect. He was first interred in the Tower privately, and after three years, when the day of persecution was past, his friends petitioned that they might be allowed to remove the coffin. This was granted, and by a warrant dated the 30th of September, 1692, signed by the queen and directed to the governor of the Tower, the body of Lord Jeffreys was removed, and buried a second time in a vault under the communion-table of St. Mary, Aldermanbury. As regards the number of places pointed out as the residence of Judge Jeffreys, the following are mentioned in the bill that was brought in for the forfeiture of his honour and estate.

In Salop he had the manors of Wem and Loppington, with many other lands and tenements; in Leicestershire the manors of Dalby and Broughton; he bought Dalby of the Duke of Buckingham, and after his death it passed to Sir Charles Duncombe, and descended to Anthony Duncombe, afterwards Lord Feversham. In Bucks he had the manor of Bulstrode, which he had purchased of Sir Roger Hill in 1686, and the manor of Fulmer, with other tenements. He built a mansion at Bulstrode, which came afterwards to his son-in-law, Charles Dive, who sold it in the reign of Queen Anne, to William, Earl of Portland, in whose family, now aggrandised by a dukedom, it still continues. And he had an inclination at one time to have become the purchaser of another estate (Gunedon Park), but was outwitted by one of his legal brethren. Judge Jeffreys held his court in Duke Street, Westminster, and made the adjoining houses towards the park his residence. These houses were the property of Moses Pitt the bookseller (brother of the Western Martyrologist), who, in his Cry of the Oppressed, complains very strongly against his tenant, the chancellor. Jeffreys's "large house," according to an advertisement in the London Gazette, was let to the three Dutch ambassadors who came from Holland to congratulate King William upon his accession in 1689. It was afterwards used for the Admiralty Office, until the middle of King William's reign.

"The house is easily known," says Pennant, "by a large flight of stone steps, which his royal master permitted to be made into the park adjacent, for the accommodation of his lordship. These steps terminate above in a small court, on three sides of which stands the house."

Edward F. Rimbault.

The birthplace of Judge Jeffreys should not be a matter of doubt. The old house at Acton in which his father lived, was in the parish of Wrexham, and close to the confines of that parish and Gresford. It was pulled down about seventy years ago, about the time when the present mansion bearing that same name was built. Twenty years ago there were several persons living in the neighbourhood who remembered that it stood in the parish of Wrexham.

Lord Campbell, in his Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England, vol. iii. p. 496., writes,—

"He (Judge Jeffreys) of whom such tales were to be told, was born in his father's lowly dwelling at Acton in the year 1648."

And he subjoins the following note:

"This is generally given as the year of his birth, but I have tried in vain to have it authenticated. There is no entry of his baptism, nor of the baptism of his brothers, in the register of Wrexham, the parish in which he was born, nor in the adjoining parish of Gresford, in which part of the family property lies. I have had accurate researches made in these registers by the kindness of my learned friend Serjeant Atcherley, who has estates in the neighbourhood. It is not improbable that, in spite of the Chancellor's great horror of dissenters, he may have been baptized by 'a dissenting teacher.'"

The fact is, however, and it is a fact known certainly twenty years ago to several of the inhabitants of Gresford and Wrexham, that no register has been preserved in the parish of Wrexham for a period extending from 1644 to 1662; and none in the parish of Gresford from 1630 to 1660. I may add that no such registers have been discovered up to this time.

Taffy.

When the family of Jeffreys became possessed of Acton is uncertain, probably at a very early period, being descended from Cynric ap Rhiwallon, great-grandson of Tudor Trevor.

George Jeffreys, afterwards Chancellor, was born at Acton, and was sixth son of John Jeffreys and Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Ireland of Bewsey, near Warrington, in Lancashire. In 1708 the estate passed into the family of the Robinsons of Gwersyllt by the marriage of the eldest daughter and heiress of Sir Griffith Jeffreys. Ellis Yonge, Esq., of Bryny Orchyn (in the immediate neighbourhood), purchased the estate of Acton from the trustees of the said Robinson. The Yonges were in no way related to the Jeffreys, although bearing the same arms, as being also descended from the same tribe.

Gresford.

DUTCH ALLEGORICAL PICTURE.

(Vol. vi., pp. 458. 590.)

In answer to the obliging notice which your correspondent Cuthbert Bede (Vol. vi., p. 590.) has taken of my description of the Dutch allegorical picture, I beg to say that I agree with him, and admit myself to be mistaken in supposing the middle picture described (Vol. vi., p. 458.) to represent St. John Baptist. On examining it again, I have no doubt it is intended to denote the Ascension of our Lord. The right hand is raised as in the act of benediction, and, as far as I can make it out (for the paint is here somewhat rubbed), the fingers are in the position of benediction described by your correspondent. I do not, however, concur in his suggestions as to the meaning of the figures on the frame of the picture; which is not shaped as a vesica piscis, but is (as I described it) a lozenge. The female figure, holding a flaming heart, is, I would say, certainly not the Virgin Mary.

The appearance of my account of this picture in your pages has been the occasion of a very agreeable correspondence with the Editor of the Navorscher (the Dutch daughter of "N. & Q."). That gentleman has taken a great interest in the subject, and has enabled me to decypher the mottoes on the scrolls which run across the three pictures on the right-hand wall of the room, which, in my former communication, I said I was unable to read.

The scroll on the picture nearest the fireplace contains these words:

That on the second picture, noticed by Cuthbert Bede, is,

And the scroll on the third bears the inscription, as I stated in my former communication,

for so it ought to have been printed.

These, as the editor of the Navorscher informs me, are the mottoes of three Haarlem Societies of Rhetoricians called, 1. "De Pelicaen," whose motto was, "Trouw moet blÿcken:" 2. "De Wyngaertrancken," whose motto was, "Liefde boven al:" and, 3. "Witte Angiren," whose device was, "In Liefde getrouwe."

I think you are entitled to have whatever information I may glean respecting this picture, as you so kindly inserted my description of it in your columns; and I have to thank you for procuring me the acquaintance and correspondence of the editor of the Navorscher.

J. H. Todd, D.D.

Trin. Coll. Dublin.

THE REPRINT, IN 1808, OF THE FIRST FOLIO EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE.

(Vol. vi., p. 579.)

In reply to the Query of Varro, I beg to state that I possess the late Mr. Upcott's collation of the reprint of the first folio edition of Shakspeare. It consists of twenty-six folio leaves, exclusive of the fly-leaves, on the first of which occur the following notes in the handwriting of the collator:

"Four months and twenty-three days were occupied, during my leisure moments, at the suggestion of our late Librarian, Professor Porson, in reading and comparing the pretended reprinted fac-simile First Edition of Shakspeare with the original First Edition of 1623. With what accuracy it passed through the Press, the following pages, noticing 368 typographical errors, will sufficiently show.

Wm. Upcott."

"MS. note written in Mr. Dawson Turner's transcript of these errors in the reprint of Shakspeare, edit. 1623.

"The contents of the following pages are the result of 145 days' close attention by a very industrious man. The knowledge of such a task having been undertaken and completed, caused some alarm among the booksellers, who had expended a considerable sum of money upon the reprint of Shakspeare, of which this MS. discloses the numerous errors. Fearful, therefore, lest this should be published, they made many overtures for the purchase of it, and at length Mr. Upcott was induced to part with it to John and Arthur Arch, Cornhill, from whom he expected a handsome remuneration; he received a single copy of the reprint, published at five guineas.

"N.B. This copy, corrected by myself from the above MS., I sold to James Perry, proprietor of the Morning Chronicle, for six guineas: which at his sale (Part III.) produced 12l. 1s. 6d.

Wm. Upcott."

At the end of the volume is written:

"Finished this collation Jan. 28, 1809, at three minutes past 12 o'clock.

Wm. Upcott."

Upon comparing these remarks of Mr. Upcott with Lowndes' Bibliographer's Manual, p. 1645., col. 1., it will be seen that the latter was not accurately informed as to Perry's copy; Professor Porson having had no farther share in that laborious work than the recommending Mr. Upcott to undertake the collation, from which Perry's copy was subsequently corrected.

F. C. B.

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES.

Le Grey and the Collodion Process.—As the claim to the invention of the collodion process is disputed, I think, in justice to Mr. Le Grey, whom all will acknowledge as a talented man, and who has done much for photography, that the claims he puts forth, and which I give, should be known to your readers who have not got his work, as they are in direct contradiction to Mr. Archer's letter in your 165th No. In his last published work, page 89., he states:

"I was the first to apply collodion to photography. My first experiments were made in 1849. I used that substance then principally to give more equality and fineness to the paper. I employed for that purpose a solution of iodide of potassium in alcohol of forty degrees saturated with collodion.

"In continuing these studies I was induced to apply this body upon glass, to obtain more fineness, and I was soon in possession of an extremely rapid proceeding, which I at last consigned to the pamphlet that I published in 1850, and which was translated into English at the same time.

"I had already at that time indicated the protosulphate of iron for developing the image, the ammonia and the fluorides as accelerating agents; and I was the first to announce having obtained by these means portraits in five seconds in the shade.

"The pyro-gallic acid is generally used now in place of the sulphate of iron that I had indicated; but this is wrong, that last salt forming the image much more rapidly and better, it having to be left less time in the camera.

"I believe, then, I have a right to claim for my country and myself the invention of this would-be English process, and of having been the first to indicate the collodion, and of giving the best method that has been discovered up to the present time.

"From the publication of my process, till my return from the voyage that I had made for the minister, I was little occupied in practising it, my labours on the dry paper having taken all my time. This has been used as a weapon against me, to make out that the first trials before setting out had been quite fruitless, as they had heard nothing more about it.

"Nevertheless, I have made my discovery completely public; and if I had practised it but little, leaving it to others to further develope, it has only been to occupy myself upon other works of which the public has still profited. It is then much more ungenerous to wish to take from me the merit of its invention."

G. C.

Ready Mode of iodizing Paper.—The readiest way I have found of iodizing the beautiful paper of Canson Frères, is the cyano-iodide of silver, made as follows: Twenty grains of nitrate of silver may be placed in half an ounce of distilled water, and half an ounce of solution of iodide of potassa, fifty grains to the ounce, added to the silver solution. Cyanide of potassa may then be added, drop by drop, till the precipitate is dissolved, and the whole filled up with four ounces of water. This solution requires but a very few minutes' floating upon water containing a small quantity of sulphuric acid; and it is then ready, after a bath of nitrate of silver, for the camera, and will not present any of the disagreeable spots so noticed by most photographers. This paper is probably the best for negative pictures we have at present; although, if very transparent paper is required, oiled paper may be used for negative pictures very successfully; or paper varnished is equally good. The oiled paper may be prepared as follows: Take the best walnut oil, that oil having less tendency to darken paper of any other kind, and oil it thoroughly. It must then be hung up in the light for a few days, the longer the better, till quite dry. It may then be iodized with the ammonio-nitrate, the ammoniated solution passing more readily over greased surfaces. The varnished paper may be prepared by half an ounce of mastic varnish and three ounces of spirits of turpentine, hung up to dry, and treated as the oiled paper in iodizing; but both are better for resting a short time previous to iodizing upon water containing a little isinglass in solution, but used very sparingly.

As I have experienced the excellence of these preparations, I hope they may be useful to your photographic students.

Weld Taylor.

Bayswater.

After-dilution of Solutions.—There are in general use two methods of preparing sensitive paper. In one, as in Mr. Talbot's, the iodide of silver is formed in a state of purity, before being rendered sensitive: and as, for this end, a small quantity only of nitrate of silver is necessary, a very dilute solution will answer the purpose as well, or even better, than a strong one; but by the other method, the paper being prepared with iodide of potassium only, or with some other analogous salt, the iodide of silver has to be formed by the same solution that renders it sensitive. Now as for every 166.3 parts of iodide of potassium 170.1 parts of nitrate of silver are required for this purpose, it is evident that a dilute solution could not be employed unless a very large bulk were taken, and the paper kept in a considerable time.

The after-washing is to remove from the surface of the paper the great excess of silver, which is of but little service, and prevents the paper from keeping.

William Crookes.

Hammersmith.

Stereoscopic Pictures from one Camera.—Your correspondent Ramus will easily obtain stereoscopic pictures by either of the following plans:—After the first picture is taken, move the subject, as on a pivot, either to the right or left, through an angle of about 15°; then take the second impression: this will do very well for an inanimate object, as a statue; but, if a portrait is required, the camera, after taking the first picture, must be moved either to the right or left, a distance of not more than one-fifth of the distance it stands from the sitter; that is, if the camera is twenty feet from the face of the sitter, the distance between its first and second position should not exceed four feet, otherwise the picture will appear distorted, and the stereosity unnaturally great. Of course it is absolutely necessary in this plan that the sitter do not move his position between the taking of the two impressions, and also that the distance between him and the camera be the same in both operations.

In reply to the very sensible inquiry of Simplicitas, there is an essential difference between the calotype of Talbot and the waxed-paper process, the picture in the first being almost entirely superficial, whilst in the latter it is much more in the body of the paper; this causes the modification of the treatment. A tolerably-strong solution of (A₉O NO₅) nitrate of silver is required to decompose the (KI) iodide of potassium, with which the paper is saturated, in any reasonable time, but if this were allowed to dry on the surface, stains would be the inevitable result; therefore it is floated in distilled water, to remove this from the surface; and it seems to me that the keeping of the paper depends on the greater or less extent to which this surface-coating is removed. There can be no doubt that the paper would be far more sensitive, if used immediately, without the washing, simply blotting it off; but then the great advantage of the process would be lost, viz. its capability of being kept.

William Pumphrey.

Camera for Out-door Operations.—I should be glad to see a clear description of a camera so constructed as to supersede the necessity for a dark room. Such a description has been promised by Dr. Diamond (Vol. vi., p. 277.); and if he could be induced to furnish it at an early period, I at least, amongst the readers of "N. & Q.," should feel much additionally indebted to him.

E. S.

"'TWAS ON THE MORN."

(Vol. vi., p. 556.)

This is a very celebrated Gloucestershire ballad, which though at one time popular, is, I believe, rarely heard now. I have before me an old and much mutilated broadside of it, which, at the conclusion, has the initials "L. & B." I presume the words are wanted, and therefore send them; and not knowing whether the tune has been published, will also forward it, if wished for by your querist.

H. G. D.

ALLEGED REDUCTION OF ENGLISH SUBJECTS TO SLAVERY.

(Vol. v., p. 510.)

The crime imputed to the Dutch authorities (that of reducing English subjects to slavery) is of so atrocious a character, that any explanation that should place the matter in a less offensive light, would be but an act of justice to the parties implicated. With this view I venture to submit to Ursula and W. W. the following conclusions which I have arrived at, after a careful consideration of all the circumstances.

I am of opinion that the writer of the letter in question (charging the Dutch Governor with the above mentioned offence) was the officer commanding the troops in the English division of St. Christopher; and, in that capacity, invested with the civil government. At that period, the administration of our West Indian possessions was generally confided to the military commandants: our policy, in that respect, being different from that of the French, who have contrived at all times to maintain, in each of their colonies, an uninterrupted succession of Governors appointed from home.

The name of the Dutch Governor of St. Martin, to whom the letter was addressed, has not been ascertained. He was probably some buccaneering chief, who cared as little for the States-General as he did for the Governor of St. Christopher. If not actually engaged in the piratical enterprises of his countrymen, he certainly had no objection to receive, according to usage, the lion's share of the booty as a reward for his connivance.

It is very doubtful whether the outrage imputed, in this instance, to the Dutch Governor, was perpetrated, or even attempted. The buccaneers, English, French, and Dutch, began by uniting their efforts against the Spaniards. After a time they "fell out" (as thieves will sometimes do), and, turning from the common enemy, they directed their marauding operations against each other. It was doubtless during one of these that the Dutch captured the English ship in question; detaining the passengers and crew at St. Martin, in the hope of extorting some considerable ransom for their release. When, therefore, the English Governor threatened to complain to the States-General of the "reduction to slavery of English subjects," we must presume that, by the words "reducing to slavery," he meant to describe the forcible detention of the passengers and crew; and that, in doing so, he merely resorted to the expedient of magnifying a common act of piracy into an outrage of a more heinous character, with the view of frightening the Dutch authorities into a compliance with his wishes, and obtaining the restitution of the property and subjects of his "dread Sovereigne Lord y^e King." The annals of that period are replete with similar adventures; and Labat relates several of them which he witnessed during a voyage to Guadaloupe in a vessel belonging to the French buccaneers. As to the English, the daring exploits of Sir Henry Morgan and his followers, and the encouragement which they received, both at home and in the colonies, show that we were not behind our neighbours in those days of marauding notoriety.

Henry H. Breen.

St. Lucia.