Replies.
Reading edition
ROSICRUCIANS.
(Vol. vii., p. 619.; Vol. viii., p. 106.)
We frequently see Queries made in these pages which could be satisfactorily answered by turning to the commonest books of reference, such as Brand, Fosbroke, Hone, the various dictionaries and encyclopædias, and the standard works on the subjects queried. Now it seems to me that "N. & Q." is not intended for going over old ground, and thus becoming a literary treadmill; but its mission lies in supplying information not easily found, and in perfecting, as far as possible, our standard works and books of reference. Mr. Taylor's Query affords an opportunity for this, as the ordinary sources of information are very deficient as regards the Rosicrucians.
According to some, the name is derived from their supposed founder, Christian Rosencreutz, who died in 1484. And they account for the fact of the Rosicrucians not being heard of till 1604, by saying that Rosencreutz bound his disciples by an oath not to promulgate his doctrines for 120 years after his death. The mystical derivation of the name is thus given in the Encyc. Brit.:—
"The denomination evidently appears to be derived from the science of chemistry. It is not compounded, as many imagine, of the two words rosa and crux, which signify rose and cross, but of the latter of these two words and the Latin ros, which signifies dew. Of all natural bodies dew was deemed the most powerful dissolvent of gold; and the cross in the chemical language is equivalent to light, because the figure of the cross exhibits at the same time the three letters of which the word lux, light, is compounded. Now lux is called by this sect the seed or menstruum of the red dragon, or, in other words, gross and corporeal light, which, when properly digested and modified, produces gold. Hence it follows, if this etymology be admitted, that a Rosicrucian philosopher is one who, by the intervention and assistance of the dew, seeks for light; or, in other words, the philosopher's stone.
"The true meaning and energy of this denomination did not escape the penetration and sagacity of Gassendi, as appears by his Examen Philos. Fludd, tom. iii. s. 15. p. 261.; and it was more fully explained by Renaudot in his Conférences Publiques, tom. iv. p. 87."
The encyclopædist remarks that at first the title commanded some respect, as it seemed to be borrowed from the arms of Luther, which were a cross placed upon a rose.
Let me refer Mr. Taylor to Michael Meyer's Themis Aurea, hoc est de legibus Fraternitatis Roseæ Crucis, Col. 1615; the works of Jacob Behmen, Robt. Fludd, John Heydon, Peter Mormius, Eugene Philalethes; the works of the Rosicrucian Society, containing seventy-one treatises in different languages; the Catalogue of Hermetic books by the Abbé Lenglet du Fresnoi, Paris, 1762; Manget's Biblioth. Chem. Curios., Col. 1702, 2 vols. folio; and the Theatrum Chemicum, Argent. 1662, 6 vols. 8vo.
I must make particular mention of the two most celebrated of the Rosicrucian works; the first is La Chiave del Cabinetto, Col. 1681, 12mo. The author, Joseph Francis Borri, gives a most systematic account of the doctrine of the Rosic Cross in this interesting little volume. He was imprisoned for magic and heresy, and died in his prison at Rome in 1695 at the age of seventy years. On this work was founded one still more remarkable—
"Le Compte de Gabalis, ou Entretiens sur les Sciences Secrètes. 'Quod tanto impendio absconditur etiam solum modo demonstrare, destruere est.'—Tertull. Sur la Copie imprimée à Paris, chez Claude Barbin.—M.DC.LXXI. 12mo., pp. 150."
This work, thus published anonymously, was from the pen of the Abbé de Villars. An English translation was published at London in 1714.
The doctrine of the Rosy Cross entered largely into the literature of the seventeenth century. This applies especially to the masques of James I. and Charles I. To the same source Shakspeare owes his Ariel, and Milton much of his Comus.
It is strange, but instructive, to observe how variously different minds make use of the same materials. What greater contrast can we have than The Rape of the Lock and Undine?—the one redolent of the petit-maître and the Cockney; the other a work sui generis, of human conceptions the most exquisite and spirit-fragrant. Wieland's Idris and Zenide, Bulwer's Zanoni, and Mackay's Salamandrine, are also based on Rosicrucian principles. Mention of the Rosicrucians occurs in Izaak Walton's Angler and Butler's Hudibras—see Zachary Grey's note and authorities referred to by him. See also two interesting papers on the subject in Chambers's Edinb. Journal, ed. 1846, vol. vi. pp. 298. 316.
Eirionnach.
July 20, 1853.
P. S.—I may as well notice here a very curious book of Rosicrucian emblems, as I have it beside me:
"Atalanta Fugiens, hoc est, Emblemata Nova de Secretis Naturæ Chymica. Accommodata partim oculis et intellectui, figuris cupro incisis, adjectisque sententiis, Epigrammatis et notis, partim auribus et recreationi animi plus minus 50 Fugis Musicalibus trium vocum, quarum duæ ad unam simplicem melodiam distichis canendis peraptam correspondeant, non absq; singulari jucunditate videnda, legenda, meditanda, intelligenda, dijudicanda, canenda, et audienda. Authore Michaele Majero, Imperial. Consistorii Comite, Med. D. Eq. Ex. etc.: Oppenheimii, ex Typographia Hieronymi Galleri, sumptibus Joh. Theodori de Bry, MDCXVIII." Small 4to. pp. 211.
The title-page is adorned with emblematical figures. The work contains a portrait of the author, and fifty emblems executed with much spirit. Amongst others we have a Salamander in the fire, a green lion, a hermaphrodite, a dragon, &c. Every right page has a motto, an emblem, and an epigram under the emblem in Latin. The left page gives the same in German, with the Latin words set to music. After each emblem we have a "Discursus."
The following remarks on the title occur in the preface:
"Atalanta Poëtis celebrata est propter fugam, qua omnes procos in certamine antevertit, ideoque ipsis victis pro Virgine, præmio Victoriæ proposito, mors obtigit, donec ab Hippomene, Juvene audaciore et provido, superata et obtenta sit trium malorum aureorum per Vices inter currendum objectu, quæ dum illa tolleret, præventa est ab eo, metam jam attingente: Hæc Atalanta ut fugit, sic una vox musicalis semper fugit ante aliam et altera insequitur, ut Hippomenes: In tertia tamen stabiliuntur et firmantur, quæ simplex est et unius valoris, tanquam malo aureo: Hæc eadem virgo merè chymica est, nempe Mercurius philosophicus a sulfure aureo in fuga fixatus et retentus, quem si quis sistere noverit, sponsam, quam ambit, habebit, sin minus, perditionem suarum rerum est interitum," &c.—Page 9.
SEARSON'S POEMS.
(Vol. vii., p. 131.)
John Searson was a merchant in Philadelphia in the year 1766. A few days before seeing the inquiry respecting him, I came across his advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette; but not having made a note of the date, I have since been unable to find it. His stock was of a very miscellaneous character, as "Bibles and warming pans," "spelling-books and swords," figured in it in juxtaposition. He taught school at one time in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
A copy of his poem on "Down Hill" is before me; and it is quite as curious a production as the volume of poems which he afterwards published.
He describes himself in the title-page as "Late Master of the Free School in Colerain, and formerly of New York, Merchant." The volume was printed in 1794 by subscription at Colerain.
The work is introduced by "A Poem, being a Cursory View of Belfast Town," thus commencing:
"With pleasure I view the Town of Belfast, Where many dear friends their lots have been cast: The Buildings are neat, the Town very clean, And Trade very brisk are here to be seen; Their Shipping are numerous, as I behold, And Merchants thrive here in riches, I'm told."
Here are some farther specimens from this poem:
"I've walk'd alone, and view'd the Paper Mill, Its walk, the eye with pleasure fill. I've view'd the Mountains that surround Belfast, And find they are romantic to the last. ... The Church of Belfast is superb and grand, And to the Town an ornament does stand; Their Meeting Houses also is so neat, The congregation large, fine and complete."
The volume contains a dedication to the Rev. Mr. Josiah Marshall, rector of Maghera, a preface, a table of contents, and "A Prayer previous to the Poem."
The whole book is so intensely ridiculous that it is difficult to select. The following are rather chosen for their brevity than for any pre-eminent absurdity:
"The Earl of Bristol here some time do dwell, Which after-ages sure of him will tell."
"Down Hill's so pleasing to the traveller's sight, And th' marine prospect would your heart delight."
"The rabbit tribe about me run their way, Their little all to man becomes a prey. The busy creatures trot about and run; Some kill them with a net, some with a gun. Alas! how little do these creatures know For what they feed their young, so careful go. The little creatures trot about and sweat, Yet for the use of man is all they get."
"He closed his eyes on ev'ry earthly thing. Angles surround his bed: to heaven they bring The soul, departed from its earthly clay. He died, he died! and calmly pass'd away, His children not at home; his widow mourn, And all his friends, in tears, seem quite forlorn."
Some of the London booksellers ought to reprint this work as a curiosity of literature. Some of the subscribers took a number of copies, and one might be procured for the purpose. The country seats of the largest subscribers are described in the poem.
The book ends with these lines (added by the "devil" of the printing-office, no doubt):
"The above rural, pathetic, and very sublime performance was corrected, in every respect, by the author himself."
This is erased with a pen, and these words written below—"Printer's error."
Uneda.
Philadelphia.
"FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS," ETC.
(Vol. v., p. 100.)
Since my former communication on the use of the phrase "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step," I have met with some farther examples of kindred forms of expression, which you may deem worth inserting in "N. & Q."
Shakspeare has an instance in Romeo and Juliet, where he describes "Love" as—
"A madness most discreet, A choaking gall, and a preserving sweet."
Quarles has it in his Emblems, Book iv. Epigram 2.:—
"Pilgrim, trudge on; what makes thy soul complain? Crowns thy complaint; the way to rest is pain: The road to resolution lies by doubt; The next way home's the farthest way about."
We find it in this couplet in Butler:
"For discords make the sweetest airs, And curses are a kind of prayers."
Rochester has it in the line—
"An eminent fool must be a man of parts."
It occurs in Junius's remark—
"Your Majesty may learn hereafter how nearly the slave and the tyrant are allied."
and in the following well-known passage in the same writer:
"He was forced to go through every division, resolution, composition, and refinement of political chemistry, before he happily arrived at the caput mortuum of vitriol in your grace. Flat and insipid in your retired state; but, brought into action, you become vitriol again. Such are the extremes of alternate indolence or fury which have governed your whole administration."
The thought here (be it said in passing) seems to have been adopted from these lines in Rochester:
"Wit, like tierce claret, when 't begins to pall, Neglected lies, and 's of no use at all; But in its full perfection of decay Turns vinegar, and comes again in play."
But the most beautiful application of this sentiment that I have met with, occurs in an essay on "The Uses of Adversity," by Mr. Herman Hooker, an American writer:—
"A pious lady, who had lost her husband, was for a time inconsolable. She could not think, scarcely could she speak, of anything but him. Nothing seemed to take her attention but the three promising children he had left her, singing to her his presence, his look, his love. But soon these were all taken ill, and died within a few days of each other; and now the childless mother was calmed even by the greatness of the stroke. As the lead that goes quickly down to the ocean's depth ruffled its surface less than lighter things, so the blow which was strongest did not so much disturb her calm of mind, but drove her to its proper trust."
Henry H. Breen.
St. Lucia.
PASSAGE IN THE BURIAL SERVICE.
(Vol. iii., p. 78.)
"In the midst of life we are in death."
A writer in the Parish Choir (vol. iii. p. 140.) gives the following account of this passage. He says:
"The passage in question is found in the Cantarium Sti. Galli, or choir-book of the monks of St. Gall in Switzerland, published in 1845, with, however, a slight deviation from the text, as we are accustomed to it.
'Mediâ Vitâ of St. Notker.
'Mediâ Vitâ in morte sumus: quem quærimus adjutorem, nisi Te Domine, qui pro peccatis nostris justè irasceris. Ad te clamaverunt patres nostri, speraverunt, et liberasti eos. Sancte Deus: ad te clamaverunt patres nostri, clamaverunt et non sunt confusi. Sancte Fortis, ne despicias nos in tempore senectutis: cum defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas nos. Sancte et misericors Salvator amaræ morti ne tradas nos.'
"On consulting the Thesaurus Hymnologicus of Daniel (vol. ii. p. 329.) I find the following notice. It is called 'Antiphona pro Peccatis,' or 'de Morte;' and the text there given corresponds nearly with that in our Burial Service.
"Mediâ vitâ in morte sumus: Quem quærimus adjutorem nisi Te Domine, Qui pro peccatis nostris justè irasceris: Sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte et misericors Salvator, Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
"Rambach says, '"In the midst of life" occurs in MSS. of the thirteenth century, as an universally common dirge and song of supplication on all melancholy occasions, and was in this century regularly sung at Compline on Saturdays. A German translation was known long before the time of Luther, and was enlarged by him by the addition of two strophes.' Martene describes it as forming part of a religious service for New Year's Eve, composed about the year 1800.
"Hoffmann says that this anthem 'by Notker the Stammerer, a monk of St. Gall's (an. 912), was an extremely popular battle-song, through the singing of which, before and during the fight, friend and foe hoped to conquer. It was also, on many occasions, used as a kind of incantation song. Therefore the Synod of Cologne ordered (an. 1316) that no one should sing the Mediâ vitâ without the leave of his bishop.'
"Daniel adds that it is not, to his knowledge, now used by the Roman Church in divine worship; but that the admirable hymn of Luther, 'Mitten wir im Leben sind,' still flourishes amongst the Protestants of Germany, just as the translation in our Prayer-Book is popular with us."
Geo. A. Trevor.
"Omnia paulatim consumit longior ætas, Vivendoque simul morimur, rapimurque manendo: Ipse mihi collatus enim, non ille videbor; Frons alia est, moresque alii, nova mentis imago, Voxque aliud mutata sonat."
John Booker.
Prestwich.
PATRICK'S PURGATORY.
(Vol. vii., p. 552.)
Dr. Lanigan, in his learned Ecclesiastical History of Ireland (vol. i. p. 368.), states that the so-called Patrick's Purgatory is situated at Lough Derg (Donegal). It is never mentioned in any of the lives of the apostle, nor heard of till the eleventh century, the period at which the canons regular of St. Augustine first appeared, for it was to persons of that order, as the story goes, that St. Patrick confided the care of that cavern of wonders. Now there were no such persons in the island in which it is situated, nor in that of St. Davoc [Dabeoc?] in the same lake, until about the beginning of the twelfth century. This purgatory, or purging place, of Lough Derg, was set up against another Patrick's purgatory, viz. that of Croagh Patrick, mentioned by Jocelyn, which, however ill-founded the vulgar opinion concerning it, was less objectionable. Some writers have said that it got the name of Patrick's Purgatory from an Abbot Patrick, that lived in the ninth century; but neither were there canons regular of St. Augustine at that time, nor were such abridged modes of atoning to the Almighty for the sins of a whole life then thought of. It was demolished in the year 1497, by order of the Pope, although it has since been in some manner restored.
The original Patrick's Purgatory then, it would appear, was at Croagh Patrick, in Mayo, near Westport; speaking of the pilgrimages made to which, the monk Jocelyn (in his Life of St. Patrick, written A.D. 1180, cap. 172.) says that—
"Some of those who spent a night there stated that they had been subjected to most fearful torments, which had the effect, as they supposed, of purging them from their sins, for which reason also certain of them gave to that place the name of St. Patrick's Purgatory."
By the authority of the Lords Justices who governed Ireland in 1633, previously to the appointment of Wentworth, Lough Derg Purgatory was once more suppressed; but the sort of piety then fostered among the members of the Roman communion in Ireland could ill afford to resign without a struggle what was to them a source of so much consolation. High influence was, therefore, called into action to procure the reversal of the sentence; and the Roman Catholic Queen of Charles I. was induced to address to the Lord Deputy of Ireland a letter in which she requested that he would be pleased "to allow, that the devotions which the people of that country have ever been wont to pay to a St. Patrick's place there, may not be abolished." The Lord Deputy declined acceding to this request, and said in his reply, "I fear, at this time, when some men's zeal hath run them already, not only beyond their wits, but almost forth of their allegiance too, it might furnish them with something to say in prejudice and scandal to his majesty's government, which, for the present indeed, is by all means to be avoided." And adds, "your Majesty might do passing well to let this devotion rest awhile." After this second suppression, the devotion has a second time been "in some manner restored;" and multitudes throng to the place on the faith of a false tradition, so long since exposed and exploded by their own authorities. Three hundred and fifty years ago, the Pope, the representative of the Bishop of Clogher, and the head of the Franciscans in Donegal, combined their efforts to put down the scandalous fabrication; but yet it remains to this day an object of cherished religious veneration—an object of confidence and faith, on which many a poor soul casts itself to find consolation and repose. And those multitudes of pilgrims, year after year, assemble there, no influence which they look to for guidance forbidding them, to do homage to the vain delusion.
D. W. S. P. will find farther information on this subject in The Catholic Layman for April last: Curry, Dublin.
William Blood.
Wicklow.
LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL.
(Vol. viii., p. 100.)
In answer to W. L. M.'s inquiry, "where the virtuous and patriotic William Lord Russell was buried?" I beg to state that I possess a pamphlet entitled:
"The whole Tryal and Defence of William Lord Russel, who Dyed a Martyr to the Romish Fury in the Year 1683, with the Learned Arguments of the Council on both sides. Together with his Behaviour and Speech upon the Scaffold: His Character and Behaviour. London: printed by J. Bradford, at the Bible in Fetter Lane."
There is no date to it; but from the appearance of the paper, type, a rude woodcut of the execution, &c., I doubt not that it was printed soon after the event, or certainly immediately after the Revolution, to meet the popular wishes to have information on the subject. It consists of sixteen octavo pages, very closely printed. The opening paragraph says:
"Among the many that suffered in a Protestant cause [all the Italics used in this communication are those of the pamphlet], and indeed whose measure seem'd to be the hardest of all, was this honorable person William Lord Russel, who was generally lamented for his excellent Temper and good Qualities; being allowed to be one of the most sober and judicious Noblemen in the Kingdom, which even his Enemies could not deny; and the Merit and Esteem he bore was more cause of Offence against him than any Matter that was reap'd up at his Tryal; all which in effect was merely grounded upon Malice (I mean Popish Malice) that could not be forgot, from his Lordship's being one of those earnest sticklers for Protestant Liberty, and even the very foremost that prefer'd the Bill of Exclusion," &c.
Then follows the trial, headed "July 13, 1683, the Lord Russel came to his Tryal at the Old Bailey." The indictment is described; the names of the jury are given; judges and counsel named; the evidence, examinations, and cross-examinations (by Lord Russel) very interestingly narrated: the Report concluding, after a short address from Lord Russel, "Then the Court adjourned till four in the afternoon, and brought him in guilty."
These particulars are followed by "The last Speech and Carriage of the Lord Russel upon the Scaffold, &c." As to the executioner's work, all other accounts that I have seen state that after "two" strokes the head was severed from the body. The publication says:
"The Executioner, missing at his first Stroke, though with that he took away his Life, at two more severed the Head from the Body.... Mr. Sheriff [continues the account] ordered his Friends or Servants to take the Body, and dispose of it as they pleased, being given them by His Majesty's Favour and Bounty."
The narrative proceeds:
"His Body was conveyed to Cheneys in Buckinghamshire, where 'twas Buried among his Ancestors. There was a great Storm, and many loud Claps of Thunder the Day of his Martyrdom. An Elegy was made on him immediately after his Death, which seems, by what we have of it, to be writ with some Spirit, and a great deal of Truth and Good-will; only this Fragment on't could be retriev'd, which yet may not be unwelcome to the Reader:
''Tis done—he's Crown'd, and one bright Martyr more, Black Rome, is charg'd on thy too bulky score. All like himself, he mov'd so calm, so free, A general whisper question'd—Which is he? Decked like a Lover—tho' pale Death's his Bride, He came, and saw, and overcame, and dy'd. Earth weeps, and all the vainly pitying Crowd: But Heaven his Death in Thunder groan'd aloud.'"
A "sketch of his character" closes the account. Perhaps W. S. M. may deem these particulars not wholly uninteresting, but tolerably conclusive, considering the time of publication, when the fact must have been notorious.
A Hermit at Hampstead.
OAKEN TOMBS, ETC.
(Vol. vii., p. 528.)
At Banham, Norfolk, in a recess in the wall of the north aisle of the church, is an oaken effigy of a knight in armour in a recumbent position. Blomefield says:
"It is plain that it was made for Sir Hugh Bardolph, Knight, sometime lord of Gray's Manor, in this town, who died in 1203, for under his left arm there is a large cinquefoil, which is the badge of that family," &c.
Since he wrote, however (1739), with a view to the better preservation of this interesting relic, some spirited churchwarden has caused it to be well painted and sanded so that it now looks almost as well as stone. At the same time, the marks by which Blomefield thought to identify it are necessarily obliterated.
T. B. B. H.
William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who was slain at Bayonne in 1296,—his effigy in wood is in St. Edmund's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, covered with enamelled brass. There is also in Abergavenny Church, amongst the general wreck of monumental remains there, a cross-legged effigy in wood, represented in chain mail; which the late Sir Samuel Meyrick supposed to have been that of William de Valence. It is mentioned in Coxe's Monmouthshire, p. 192.
The effigy of Aymer de Valence referred to in Whitaker ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 528.) is not of wood; he evidently refers to that of William de Valence.
In Gloucester Cathedral there is the wooden monument of a cross-legged knight attributed to Robert Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the Conqueror; but it is probably of a little later period.
Thomas W. King (York Herald).
College of Arms.
In the Cathedral of Gloucester, there is a wooden effigy of the unfortunate Robert Duke of Normandy, eldest son of the Conqueror. It is so many years since I saw it, that I do not offer any description: but, if my memory be correct, it has the legs crossed, and (what is curious) is loose, and can be turned about on the tomb.
A. C. M.
Exeter.
On the south side of the chancel of St. Giles' Church, Durham, is a wooden effigy in full armour; the head resting on a helmet, and the hands raised as in prayer. It is supposed to be the tomb of John Heath, who became possessed of the Hospital of St. Giles Kepyer, and is known to have been buried in the chancel of St. Giles' Church. He died in 1590. At the feet of the wooden effigy, are the words "HODIE MICHI." The figure was restored in colours about ten years ago.
Cuthbert Bede, B. A.
"COULD WE WITH INK," &c.
(Vol. viii., p. 127.)
The bonâ fide author of the following lines—
"Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the heavens of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretch'd from sky to sky."
is Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac. The above eight lines are almost a literal translation of four Chaldee ones, which form part of a beautiful ode on the attributes of God, not unmixed with a considerable proportion of the fabulous, which is sung in every synagogue during the service of the first day of the feast of Pentecost.
May I now be permitted to ask you, or any of your numerous correspondents, to inform me who was the bonâ fide translator of Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac's lines? The English lines are often quoted by itinerant advocates of charity societies as having been found inscribed, according to some, on the walls of a lunatic asylum, according to others, on the walls of a prison, as occasion requires; but extempore quotations on platforms are sometimes vague.
Moses Margoliouth.
Wybunbury.
The verses are in Grose's Olio (p. 292.), and are there said to be written by nearly an idiot, then living (March 16, 1779) at Cirencester. It happens, however, that long before the supposed idiot was born, one Geoffrey Chaucer made use of the same idea, and the same expressions, although applied to a totally different subject, viz. in his "Balade warnynge men to beware of deceitful women:"—
"In soth to saie though all the yerth so wanne Wer parchment smoth, white and scribbabell, And the gret see, that called is th' Ocean, Were tourned into ynke blackir than sabell, Eche sticke a pen, eche man a scrivener able, Not coud thei writin woman's treacherie, Beware, therefore, the blind eteth many a flie."
Again in the "Remedie of Love," the same lines occur with a few slight alterations.
In vol. x. of the Modern Universal History, p. 430. note, I meet with this sentence:
"He was succeeded by Jochanan; not in right of descent, but of his extraordinary merits; which the Rabbies, according to custom, have raised to so surprising a height, that, according to them, if the whole heavens were paper, all the trees in the world pens, and all the men writers, they would not suffice to pen down all his lessons."
In later times, in Miss C. Sinclair's Hill and Valley, p. 25., we have:
"If the lake could be transformed into an ink-stand, the mountains into paper; and if all the birds that hover on high were to subscribe their wings for quills, it would be still insufficient to write half the praise and admiration that are justly due."
C. I. R.
These lines are by Dr. Watts. I cannot just now distinctly recollect where they are to be found, but I think in Milner's Life of Watts. My recollection of them is that they were impromptu, given at an evening party.
H. S. S.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.
Washing or not washing Collodion Pictures after developing, previous to fixing.—Since the question has been mooted I have tried both ways, and have come to the conclusion that there is very little difference in the resulting appearance of the picture. The hypo. is certainly deteriorated when no washing is adopted. I think it is best to pour off the first quantity applied into a cup kept for the purpose; this is discoloured: I then pour on more clean hypo., and let it remain till the picture clears, and pour this into another cup or bottle for future use. What was poured into the first cup may, when a sufficient quantity is obtained, be filtered, and by adding more of the salt is not useless. I pour on merely enough at first to wash off the developing fluid, and pour it off at once. The picture is cleared much sooner if the saturated hypo. solution is warmed, which I do by plunging the bottle into a pewter pint pot filled with hot water.
W. M. F.
Stereoscopic Angles (Vol. viii., pp. 109. 157.).—I perfectly agree with your correspondent Mr. T. L. Merritt (p. 109.) respecting "stereoscopic angles," having arrived at the same conclusion some months since, while at Hastings, where I produced stereoscopic pictures by moving the camera only two inches: having in one, seven houses and five bathing-machines; and in the other, five houses and eight bathing-machines. If I had separated the two pictures more, I should have had all bathing-machines in one and all houses in the other; which convinced me that nothing more is required than the width of the two eyes for all distances, or, slightly to exaggerate it, to three inches, which will produce a pleasing and natural effect: for it is quite certain that our eyes do not become wider apart as we recede from an object, and that the intention is to give a true representation of nature as seen by one person. Now, most stereoscopic pictures represent nature as it never could be seen by any one person, from the same point of view; and I feel confident that all photographers, who condescend to make stereoscopic pictures, will arrive at the same conclusion before the end of this season.
If this be correct, all difficulty is removed; for it is always advisable to take two pictures of the same prospect, in case one should not be good: and two very indifferent negatives will combine into one very good positive, when viewed by the stereoscope: thus proving the old saying, that two negatives make an affirmative.
Henry Wilkinson.
Brompton.
Sisson's Developing Solution.—In answer to S. B.'s inquiry, I beg to say, that I have not tried the above solution as a bath. I have always poured it on, believing that it was easier to observe the progress of the picture by that mode. If S. B. will forward me his address, I shall be happy to enter more minutely into my mode of operating with it than I can through the medium of "N. & Q." I have received other favourable testimony as to the value of my developing fluid for glass positives.
While I am writing, will you allow me to ask your photographic correspondents whether any of them have tried Mr. Müller's paper process referred to by Mr. Delamotte at p. 145. of his work? It was first announced in the Athenæum of Nov. 2, 1851. When I first commenced photography (June, 1852), I tried the process; and from what I did with it, when I was almost entirely ignorant of the manipulation, I am inclined to think it a valuable process. The sharpness of the tracery in my church windows, in a picture I took by the process, is remarkable. Mr. Delamotte truly says: "This is a most striking discovery, as it supersedes the necessity of any developing agent after the light has acted on the paper." Mr. Müller says, that simple washing in water seems to be sufficient to fix the picture. This is also a striking discovery, and totally unlike any other very sensitive process that I am acquainted with; and more striking still, that the process should not have been more practised.
J. Lawson Sisson.
Edingthorpe Rectory.