REPLIES.

THE DODO.

Mr. Strickland has justly observed that this subject "belongs rather to human history than to pure zoology." Though I have not seen Mr. Strickland's book, I venture to offer him a few suggestions, not as answers to his questions, but as slight aids towards the resolution of some of them.

Qu. 1. There can be no doubt about the discovery of Mauritius and Bourbon by the Portuguese; and if not by a Mascarhenas, that the islands were first so named in honour of some member of that illustrious family, many of whom make a conspicuous figure in the Decads of the Portuguese Livy. I expected to have found some notice of the discovery in the very curious little volume of Antonio Galvaõ, printed in 1563, under the following title:—Tratado dos Descobrimentos Antigos, e Modernos feitos até a Era de 1550; but I merely find a vague notice of several nameless islands—"alguma Ilheta sem gente: onde diz que tomaraõ agoa e lenha"—and that, in 1517, Jorge Mascarenhas was despatched by sea to the coast of China. This is the more provoking, as, in general, Galvaõ is very circumstantial about the discoveries of his countrymen.

Qu. 5. The article in Ree's Cyclopædia is a pretty specimen of the manner in which such things are sometimes concocted, as the following extracts will show:—

"Of Bats they have as big as Hennes about Java and the neighbor islands. Clusius bought one of the Hollanders, which they brought from the Island of Swannes (Ilha do Cisne), newly styled by them Maurice Island. It was about a foot from head to taile, above a foot about; the wings one and twenty inches long, nine broad; the claw, whereby it hung on the trees, was two inches," &c. "Here also they found a Fowle, which they called Walgh-vogel, of the bigness of a Swanne, and most deformed shape." (Purchas his Pilgrimage, 1616, p. 642.)

And afterward, speaking of the island of Madura, he says,—

"In these partes are Battes as big as Hennes, which the people roast and eat."

In the Lettres édifiantes (edit. 1781, t. xiii. p. 302.) is a letter from Père Brown to Madame de Benamont concerning the Isle of Bourbon, which he calls "l'Isle de Mascarin" erroneously saying it was discovered by the Dutch about sixty years since. (The letter is supposed to have been written about the commencement of the eighteenth century.) He then relates how it was peopled by French fugitives from Madagascar, when the massacre there took place on account of the conduct of the French king and his court. In describing its production, he says,—

"Vers l'est de cette Isle il y a une petite plaine au haut d'une montagne, qu'on appelle la Plaine des Caffres, où l'on trouve un gros oiseau bleu, dont la couleur est fort éclatante. Il ressemble à un pigeon ramier; il vole rarement, et toujours en rasant la terre, mais il marche avec une vitesse surprenante; les habitans ne lui ont point encore donné d'autre nom que celui d'oiseau bleu; sa chair est assez bonne et se conserve longtemps."

Not a word, however, about the Dodo, which had it then existed there, would certainly have been noticed by the observant Jesuit. But now for the bat:—

"La chauve-souris est ici de la grosseur d'une poule. Cet oiseau ne vit que de fruits et de grains, et c'est un mets fort commun dans le pays. J'avois de la répugnance à suivre l'exemple de ceux qui en mangeoient; mais en ayant goûté par surprise, j'en trouvai la chair fort délicate. On peut dire que cet animal, qu'on abhorre naturellement, n'a rien de mauvais que la figure."

The Italics are mine; but they serve to show how the confusion has arisen. The writer speaks of the almost entire extinction of the land Turtles, which were formerly abundant; and says, that the island was well stocked with goats and wild hogs, but for some time they had retreated to the mountains, where no one dared venture to wage war upon them.

Again, in the Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse par l'Océan Oriental et le Détroit de la Mer rouge, dans les Années 1708-10 (Paris, 1716, 12mo.), the vessels visit both Mauritius and Bourbon, and some account of the then state of both islands is given. At the Mauritius, one of the captains relates that, foraging for provisions,—

"Toute notre chasse se borna à quelques pigeons rougeâtres, que nous tuâmes, et qui se laissent tellement approcher, qu'on peut les assommer à coup de pierres. Je tuai aussi deux chauve-souris d'une espèce particulière, de couleur violette, avec de petites taches jaunes, ayant une espèce de crampon aux ailes, par où cet oiseau se pend aux branches des arbres, et un bec de perroquet. Les Hollandois disent qu'elles sont bonnes à manger; et qu'en certaine saison, elles valent bien nos bécasses."

At Bourbon, he says,—

This was in the year 1710. There were then, he says, not more than forty Dutch settlers on the Island of Mauritius, and they were daily hoping and expecting to be transferred to Batavia. As editor (La Roque) subjoins a relation furnished on the authority of M. de Vilers, who had been governor there for the India Company, in which it is said,—

"The island was uninhabited when the Portuguese, after having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, discovered it. They gave it the name of Mascarhenas, à cause que leur chef se nommoit ainsi; and the vulgar still preserve it, calling the inhabitants Mascarins. It was not decidedly inhabited until 1654, when M. de Flacour, commandant at Madagascar, sent some invalids there to recover their health, that others followed; and since then it has been named the Isle of Bourbon."

Still no notice of the Dodo! but

"On y trouve des oiseaux appelez Flamans, qui excedent la hauteur d'un grand homme."

Qu. 6. I know not whether Mr. S. is aware that there is the head of a Dodo in the Royal Museum of Natural History at Copenhagen, which came from the collection of Paludanus? M. Domeny de Rienzi, the compiler of Océanie, ou cinquième Partie du Globe (1838, t. iii. p. 384.), tells us, that a Javanese captain gave him part of a Dronte, which he unfortunately lost on being shipwrecked; but he forgot where he said he obtained it.

Qu. 7. Dodo is most probably the name given at first to the bird by the Portuguese; Doudo, in that language, being a fool or lumpish stupid person. And, besides that name, it bore that of Tölpel in German, which has the same signification. The Dod-aers of the Dutch is most probably a vulgar epithet of the Dutch sailors, expressive of its lumpish conformation and inactivity. Our sailors would possibly have substituted heavy-a——. I find the Dodo was also called the Monk-swan of St. Maurice's Island at the commencement of last century. The word Dronte is apparently neither Portugese nor Spanish, though in Connelly's Dictionary of the latter language we have—

"Dronte, cierto páxaro de Indias de alas muy cortas—an appellation given by some to the Dodo."

It seems to me to be connected with Drone; but this can only be ascertained from the period and the people by whom it was applied.

That the bird once existed there can be no doubt, from the notice of Sir Hamon L'Estrange, which there is no reason for questioning; and there seems to be as little reason to suppose that Tradescant's stuffed specimen was a fabrication. He used to preserve his own specimens; and there could be no motive at that period for a fabrication. I had hoped to have found some notice of it in the Diary of that worthy virtuoso Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, who visited the Ashmolean Museum in 1710; but though he notices other natural curiosities, there is no mention of it. This worthy remarks on the slovenly condition and inadequate superintendence of our museums, and especially of that of Gresham College; but those who recollect the state of our great national museum forty years since will not be surprised at this, or at the calamitous destruction of Tradescant's specimen of the Dodo. That the bird was extinct above 150 years ago I think we may conclude from the notices I have extracted from La Roque, and the letter of the Jesuit Brown. Mr. Strickland has done good service to the cause of natural science by his monograph of this very curious subject; and to him every particle of information must be acceptable: this must be my excuse for the almost nothing I have been able to contribute.

S.W. SINGER.

March 26. 1850.

THE WATCHING OF THE SEPULCHRE.

Inquired about by "T.W." (No. 20. p. 318.), is a liturgical practice, which long was, and still is, observed in Holy Week. On Maundy Thursday, several particles of the Blessed Eucharist, consecrated at the Mass sung that day, were reserved—a larger one for the celebrating priest on the morrow, Good Friday; the smaller ones for the viaticum of the dying, should need be, and carried in solemn procession all round the church, from the high altar to a temporary erection, fitted up like a tomb, with lights, and the figure of an angel watching by, on the north side of the chancel. Therein the Eucharist was kept till Easter Sunday morning, according to the Salisbury Ritual; and there were people kneeling and praying at this so-called sepulchre all the time, both night and day. To take care of the church, left open throughout this period, and to look after the lights, it was necessary for the sacristan to have other men to help him; and what was given to them for this service is put down in the church-wardens' books as money for "watching the sepulchre." By the Roman Ritual, this ceremony lasts only from Maundy Thursday till Good Friday. This rite will be duly followed in my own little church here at Buckland, where some of my flock, two and two, in stated succession, all through the night, as well as day, will be watching from just after Mass on Maundy Thursday till next morning's service. In some of the large Catholic churches in London and the provinces, this ceremony is observed with great splendour.

DANIEL ROCK.

Buckland, Farringdon.

Watching the Sepulchre.—If no one sends a more satisfactory reply to the query about "Watching the Sepulchre," the following extract from Parker's Glossary of Architecture (3rd edit. p. 197.) will throw some light on the matter:—

"In many churches we find a large flat arch in the north wall of the chancel near the alter, which was called the Holy Sepulchre; and was used at Easter for the performance of solemn rites commemorative of the resurrection of our Lord. On this occasion there was usually a temporary wooden erection over the arch; but, occasionally, the whole was of stone, and very richly ornamented. There are fine specimens at Navenby and Heckington churches, Lincolnshire, and Hawton church, Notts. All these in the decorated style of the fourteenth century; and are of great magnificence, especially the last."

To this account of the sepulchre I may add, that one principal part of the solemn rites referred to above consisted in depositing a consecrated wafer or, as at Durham Cathedral, a crucifix within its recess—a symbol of the entombment of our blessed Lord—and removing it with great pomp, accompanied sometimes with a mimetic representation of the visit of the Marys to the tomb, on the morning of Easter Sunday. This is a subject capable of copious illustration, for which, some time since, I collected some materials (which are quite at your service); but, as your space is valuable, I will only remark, that the "Watching the Sepulchre" was probably in imitation of the watch kept by the Roman soldiers round the tomb of Our Lord, and with the view of preserving the host from any casualty.

At Rome, the ceremony is anticipated, the wafer being carried in procession, on the Thursday in Passion Week, from the Sistine to the Paoline Chapel, and brought back again on the Friday; thus missing the whole intention of the rite. Dr. Baggs, in his Ceremonies of Holy Week at Rome, says (p. 65.):—

"When the pope reaches the altar (of the Capella Paolina), the first cardinal deacon receives from his hands the blessed sacrament, and, preceded by torches, carries it to the upper part of the macchina; M. Sagrista places it within the urn commonly called the sepulchre, where it is incensed by the Pope.... M. Sagrista then shuts the sepulchre, and delivers the key to the Card. Penitentiary, who is to officiate on the following day."

E.V.

POEM BY SIR EDWARD DYER.

Dr. Rimbault's 4th Qu. (No. 19. p. 302.).—"My mind to me a kingdom is" will be found to be of much earlier date than Nicholas Breton. Percy partly printed it from William Byrds's Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes (no date, but 1588 according to Ames), with some additions and improvements (?) from a B.L. copy in the Pepysian collection. I have met with it in some early poetical miscellany—perhaps Tottel, or England's Helicon—but cannot just now refer to either.

The following copy is from a cotemporary MS. containing many of the poems of Sir Edward Dyer, Edward Earl of Oxford, and their cotemporaries, several of which have never been published. The collection appears to have been made by Robert Mills, of Cambridge. Dr. Rimbault will, no doubt, be glad to compare this text with Breton's. It is, at least, much more genuine than the composite one given by Bishop Percy.

S.W.S.

ROBERT CROWLEY.

"Be pleased to observe," says Herbert, "that, though 'The Supper of the Lorde' and 'The Vision of Piers Plowman' are inserted among the rest of his writings, he wrote only the prefixes to them" (vol. ii. p. 278.). Farther on he gives the title of the book, and adds, "Though this treatise is anonymous, Will. Tindall is allowed to have been the author; Crowley wrote only the preface." It was originally printed at Nornberg, and dated as above [the same date as that given by "C.H.," No. 21. p. 332.]. "Bearing no printer's name, nor date of printing, I have placed it to Crowley, being a printer, as having the justest claim to it" (p. 762.). There is a copy in the Lambeth Library, No. 553. p. 249. in my "List," of which I have said (on what grounds I do not now know), "This must be a different edition from that noticed by Herbert (ii. 762.) and Dibdin (iv. 334. No. 2427.)." I have not Dibdin's work at hand to refer to, but as I see nothing in Herbert on which I could ground such a statement, I suppose that something may be found in Dibdin's account; though probably it may be only my mistake or his. As to foreign editions, I always feel very suspicious of their existence; and though I do not remember this book in particular, or know why I supposed it to differ from the edition ascribed to Crowley, yet I feel pretty confident that it bore no mark of "Nornberg." According to my description it had four pairs of [Symbol: pointing hands] on the title, and contained E iv., in eights, which should be thirty six leaves.

S.R. MAITLAND.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

John Ross Mackay (No. 8. p. 125.).—In reply to the Query of your correspondent "D.," I beg to forward the following quotation from Sir N.W. Wraxall's Historical Memoirs of his Own Time, 3rd edition. Speaking of the peace of Fontainbleau, he says,—

"John Ross Mackay, who had been private secretary to the Earl of Bute, and afterwards during seventeen years was treasurer of the ordnance, a man with whom I was personally acquainted, frequently avowed the fact. He lived to a very advanced age, sat in several parliaments, and only died, I believe in 1796. A gentleman of high professional rank, and of unimpeached veracity, who is still alive, told me, that dining at the late Earl of Besborough's, in Cavendish Square, in the year 1790, where only four persons were present, including himself, Ross Mackay, who was one of the number, gave them the most ample information upon the subject. Lord Besborough having called after dinner for a bottle of champagne, a wine to which Mackay was partial, and the conversation turning on the means of governing the House of Commons, Mackay said, that, 'money formed, after all, the only effectual and certain method.' 'The peace of 1763,' continued he, 'was carried through and approved by a pecuniary distribution. Nothing else could have surmounted the difficulty. I was myself the channel through which the money passed. With my own hand I secured above one hundred and twenty votes on that most important question to ministers. Eighty thousand pounds were set apart for the purpose. Forty members of the House of Commons received from me a thousand pounds each. To eighty others, I paid five hundred pounds apiece.'"

DAVID STEWARD.

Godalming, March 19. 1850.

Shipster.—Gourders.—As no satisfactory elucidation of the question propounded by Mr. Fox (No. 14. p. 216.) has been suggested, and I think he will scarcely accept the conjecture of "F.C.B.," however ingenious (No. 21. p. 339.), I am tempted to offer a note on the business or calling of a shipster. It had, I believe, no connection with nautical concerns; it did not designate a skipper (in the Dutch use of the word) of the fair sex. That rare volume, Caxton's Boke for Travellers, a treasury of archaisms, supplies the best definition of her calling:—"Mabyll the shepster cheuissheth her right well; she maketh surplys, shertes, breches, keuerchiffs, and all that may be wrought of lynnen cloth." The French term given, as corresponding to shepster, is "cousturière." Palsgrave also, in his Èclaircissement de la Langue françoyse, gives "schepstarre, lingière:—sheres for shepsters, forces." If further evidence were requisite, old Elyot might be cited, who renders both sarcinatrix and sutatis (? sutatrix) as "a shepster, a seamester." The term may probably be derived from her skill in shaping or cutting out the various garments of which Caxton gives so quaint an inventory. Her vocation was the very same as that of the tailleuse of present times—the Schneiderinn, she-cutter, of Germany. Palsgrave likewise gives this use of the verb "to shape," expressed in French by "tailler." He says, "He is a good tayloure, and shapeth a garment as well as any man." It is singular that Nares should have overlooked this obsolete term; and Mr. Halliwell, in his useful Glossarial Collections, seems misled by some similarity of sound, having noticed, perhaps, in Palsgrave, only the second occurrence of the word as before cited, "sheres for shepsters." He gives that author as authority for the explanation "shepster, a sheep-shearer" (Dict. of Archaic Words, in v.). It has been shown, however, I believe, to have no more concern with a sheep than a ship.

The value of your periodical in eliciting the explanation of crabbed archaisms is highly to be commended. Shall I anticipate Mr. Bolton Corney, or some other of your acute glossarial correspondents, if I offer another suggestion, in reply to "C.H." (No. 21. p. 335.), regarding "gourders of raine?" I have never met with the word in this form; but Gouldman gives "a gord of water which cometh by rain, aquilegium." Guort, gorz, or gort, in Domesday, are interpreted by Kelham as "a wear"; and in old French, gort or gorz signifies "flot, gorgées, quantité" (Roquefort). All these words, as well as the Low Latin gordus (Ducange), are doubtless to be deduced, with gurges, a gyrando.

ALBERT WAY.

Rococo (No. 20. p. 321.).—The history of this word appears to be involved in uncertainty. Some French authorities derive it from "rocaille," rock-work, pebbles for a grotto, &c.; others from "Rocco," an architect (whose existence, however, I cannot trace), the author, it is to be supposed, of the antiquated, unfashionable, and false style which the word "Rococo" is employed to designate. The use of the word is said to have first arisen in France towards the end of the reign of Louis XV. or the beginning of that of Louis XVI., and it is now employed in the above senses, not only in architecture, but in literature, fashion, and the arts generally.

J.M.

Oxford, March 18.

Rococo.—This is one of those cant words, of no very definite, and of merely conventional, meaning, for any thing said or done in ignorance of the true propriety of the matter in question. "C'est du rococo," it is mere stuff, or nonsense, or rather twaddle. It was born on the stage, about ten years ago, at one of the minor theatres at Paris, though probably borrowed from a wine-shop, and most likely will have as brief an existence as our own late "flare-up," and such ephemeral colloquialisms, or rather vulgarisms, that tickle the public fancy for a day, till pushed from their stool by another.

X.

March 18. 1850.

God tempers the Wind, &c.—The French proverb, "A brebis tondue Dieu mesure le vent" (God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb), will be found in Quitard's Dictionnaire étymologique, historique et anecdotique, des Proverbes, et des Locutions proverbiales de la Langue française, 8vo. Paris, 1842. Mons. Quitard adds the following explanation of the proverb:—"Dieu proportionne à nos forces les afflictions qu'il nous envoie." I have also found this proverb in Furetière's Dictionnaire universal de tous les Mots français, &c. 4 vols. folio, La Haye, 1727.

J.M.

Oxford. March 18.

The proverb, "A brebis pres tondue, Dieu luy mesure le vent," is to be found in Jan. Gruter. Florileg. Ethico-polit. part. alt. proverb. gallic., p. 353. 8vo. Francof. 1611.

M.

Oxford.

Guildhalls (No. 20. p. 320)—These were anciently the halls, or places of meeting, of Guilds, or communities formed for secular or religious purposes, none of which could be legally set up without the King's licence. Trade companies were founded, and still exist, in various parts of the kingdom, as "Gilda Mercatorum;" and there is little doubt that this was the origin of the municipal or governing corporate bodies in cities and towns whose "Guildhalls" still remain—"gildated" and "incorporated" were synonymous terms.

In many places, at one time of considerable importance, where Guilds were established, though the latter have vanished, the name of their Halls has survived.

Your correspondent "A SUBSCRIBER AB INITIO" is referred to Madox, Firma Burgi, which will afford him much information on the subject.

T.E.D.

Exeter.

Treatise of Equivocation.—In reply to the inquiry of your correspondent "J.M." (No. 17. p. 263.), I beg to state that, as my name was mentioned in connection with the Query, I wrote to the Rev. James Raine, the librarian of the Durham Cathedral Library, inquiring whether The Treatise of Equivocation existed in the Chapter Library. From that gentleman I have received this morning the following reply:—"I cannot find, in this library, the book referred to in the 'NOTES AND QUERIES,' neither can I discover it in that of Bishop Cosin. The Catalogue of the latter is, however, very defective. The said publication ('NOTES AND QUERIES') promises to be very useful." Although this information is of a purely negative character, yet I thought it right to endeavour to satisfy your correspondent's curiosity.

BERIAH BOTFIELD.

Nortan Hall.

Judas Bell (No. 13. p. 195.; No. 15. p. 235.).—The lines here quoted by "C.W.G.," from "a singular Scotch poem," evidently mean to express or examplify discord; and the words "to jingle Judas bells," refer to "bells jangled, out of tune, and harsh."

The Maltese at Valletta, a people singularly, and, as we should say, morbidly, addicted to the seeming enjoyment of the most horrid discords, on Good Friday Eve, have the custom of jangling the church bells with the utmost violence, in execration of the memory of Judas; and I have seen there a large wooden machine (of which they have many in use), constructed on a principle similar to that of an old-fashioned watchman's rattle, but of far greater power in creating an uproar, intended to be symbolical of the rattling of Judas's bones, that will not rest in his grave. The Maltese, as is well known, are a very superstitious people. The employment of Judas candles would, no doubt, if properly explained, turn out to mean to imply execration against the memory of Judas, wherever they may be used. But in the expression Judas bell, the greatest conceivable amount of discord is that which is intended to be expressed.

ROBERT SNOW.

6. Chesterfield street, Mayfair, March 23. 1850.

[To this we may add, that the question at present pending between this country and Greece, so far as regards the claim of M. Pacifico, appears, from the papers laid before Parliament, to have had its origin in what Sir Edward Lyon states "to have been the custom in Athens for some years, to burn an effigy of Judas on Easter day." And from the account of the origin of the riots by the Council of the Criminal Court of Athens, we learn, that "it is proved by the investigation, that on March 23, 1847, Easter Day, a report was spread in the parish of the Church des incorporels, that the Jew, D. Pacifico, by paying the churchwarden of the church, succeeded in preventing the effigy of Judas from being burnt, which by annual custom was made and burnt in that parish on Easter Day." From another document in the same collection it seems, that the Greek Government, out of respect to M. Charles de Rothschild, who was at Athens in April, 1847, forbid in all the Greek churches of the capital the burning of Judas.]

Grummett (No. 20. p. 319.).—The following use of the word whose definition is sought by "Σ" occurs in a description of the members or adjuncts of the Cinque Port of Hastings in 1229:—

"Servicia inde debita domino regi xxi. naves, et in qualibet nave xxi. homines, cum uno garcione qui dicitur gromet."

In quoting this passage in a paper "On the Seals of the Cinque Ports," in the Sussex Archæological Collections (Vol. i. p. 16.), I applied the following illustration:—

"Gromet seems to be a diminutive of 'grome', a serving-man, whence the modern groom. The provincialism grummet, much used in Sussex to designate a clumsy, awkward youth, has doubtless some relation to this cabin-boy of the Ports' navy."

I ought to add, that the passage above given is to be found in Jeake's Charters of the Cinque Ports.

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

Lewes, March 18. 1850.

Grummett.—Bailey explains, "Gromets or Gromwells, the most servile persons on ship-board," probably, metaphorically, from "Gromet or Grummet," "small rings," adds Bailey, "fastened with staples on the upper side of the yard." The latter term is still in use; the metaphorical one is, I believe, quite obsolete.

C.

Meaning of "Grummett," &c.—The word is derived from the Low Latin "gromettus", the original of our "groom" (see Ducange's, Gromes and Gromus), and answers to the old French gourmète, i.e. garçon. In old books he is sometimes called a "novice" or "page," and may be compared with the "apprentice" of our marine. He was employed in waiting on the sailors, cooking their victuals, working the pumps, scouring the decks, and, in short, was expected to lend a hand wherever he was wanted, except taking the helm (Clairac, Commentaire du premier Article des Rooles d'Oléron); and, consequently, is always distinguished from, and rated below, the mariner or able-bodied seaman.

The information here given is taken from Jal, Archéologie navale, vol. ii. p. 238.

A. RICH, Jun.

MISCELLANIES.

The Duke of Monmouth.—I made the following note many years ago, and am now reminded of its existence by your admirable periodical, which must rouse many an idler besides myself to a rummage amongst long-neglected old papers. This small piece of tradition indicates that the adventurous but ill-advised duke was a man of unusual muscular power and activity.

"On the 8th of July, 1685, the Duke of Monmouth was brought a prisoner to Ringwood, and halted at an inn there. My mother, who was a native of Ringwood, used to relate that her grandmother was one of the spectators when the royal prisoner came out to take horse; and that the old lady never failed to recount, how he rejected any assistance in mounting, though his arms were pinioned; but placing his foot in the stirrup, sprang lightly into his saddle, to the admiration of all observers."

ELIJAH WARING.

Dowry Parade, Clifton Hotwells, March 21. 1850.

TO PHILAUTUS.

(From the Latin of Buchanan.)

RUFUS.

Junius.—Nobody can read, without being struck with the propriety of it, that beautiful passage in the 8th letter—"Examine your own breast, Sir William, &c. &c. &c." A parallel passage may however be found in Bevill Higgons's Short View of English History (temp. Hen. VI.), a work written before 1700, and not published till thirty-four years afterwards:—

"So weak and fallible is that admired maxim, 'Factum valet, quot fieri non debuit,' an excuse first invented to palliate the unfledged villainy of some men, who are ashamed to be knaves, yet have not the courage to be honest."

I have not quoted the whole of the passage from Junius, as I consider it to be in almost every body's hands. I am collecting some curious, and I hope valuable, information about that work.

B.G.

Arabic Numerals.—Your correspondent T.S.D.'s account of a supposed date upon the Church of St. Brelade, Jersey, brings to my mind a circumstance that once occurred to myself, which may, perhaps, be amusing to date-hunters. Some years ago I visited a farm-house in the north of England, whose owner had a taste for collecting curiosities of all sorts. Not the least valuable of his collection was a splendidly carved oak bedstead, which he considered of great antiquity. Its date, plainly marked upon the panels at the bottom of the front posts, was, he told me, 1111. On examining this astounding date a little closely, I soon perceived that the two middle strokes had a slight curvature, a tendency to approach the shape of an S, which distinguished them from the two exterior lines. The date was, in fact, 1551; yet so small was the difference of the figures, that the mistake was really a pardonable one.

Is your correspondent "E.V." acquainted with the History of Castle Acre Priory, published some years ago? If my memory fails me not, there is a date given in that work, as found inscribed on the plaster of the Priory wall, much more ancient than 1445.

Has the derivation of the first four Arabic numerals, and probably of the ninth, from the ancient Egyptian hieratic and enchorial characters, for the ordinals corresponding with those numbers, ever been noticed by writers upon the history of arithmetical notation? The correspondence will be obvious to any one who refers to the table given in the 4th vol. of Sir G. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians (3rd edit.), p. 198.

C.W.G.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

(In continuation of Lists in former Nos.)

McCULLOCH'S ISLES OF SCOTLAND, 4 vols. 8vo. 1824.

ARNOT'S ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS.

LADY MARY FOX—IDEA OF A COUNTRY HOUSE.

Odd Volumes.

MAD. DE STAEL—CONSIDERATIONS ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, in 3 vols. Vol. II.

WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS, in 4 vols. Vol II.

JAMES' NAVAL HISTORY, in 4 vols. Vols. II. and III.

YOUNG'S ANNALS OF AGRICULTURE, Fortieth and Five remaining volumes.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We are compelled to omit our usual Notes on Books, &c., as well as many interesting communications.

NOTES AND QUERIES may be procured by the Trade at noon on Friday: so that our country Subscribers ought to experience no difficulty in receiving it regularly. Many of the country Booksellers are probably not yet aware of this arrangement, which enables them to receive Copies in their Saturday parcels.

T.I. (Lincoln's Inn.) We fear there are mechanical difficulties (besides others) to prevent our adopting the suggestion of our Correspondent.

LONDON LIBRARY, 12. ST. JAMES'S SQUARE.

PATRON—His Royal Highness PRINCE ALBERT.

This institution, originating in the want, so long felt, of a large and comprehensive Lending Library in the Metropolis, to which Subscribers might resort for books of a superior class to those supplied by the Circulating Libraries, now offers to its members a collection of upwards of FIFTY THOUSAND volumes, to which additions are constantly making, including almost every new work of interest and importance, either in English or Foreign Literature. Price of the large Catalogue already published, 5s.

Terms of Admission:—Entrance Free, 6l.; Annual Subscription, 2l.; or Entrance Fee and Life Subscription, 26l.

The Library is open every day except Sunday, from eleven to six o'clock.

By order of the Committee,

J.G. COCHRANE, Secretary and Librarian.

March 9th, 1850.

THE QUARTERLY REVIEW,

No. CLXXII. is Published THIS DAY.

CONTENTS:

JOHN MURRAY, Albermarle Street.

ARCHÆOLOGIA CAMBRENSIS, a RECORD of the ANTIQUITIES of WALES and its MARCHES, and the Journal of "THE CAMBRIAN ARCHÆOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION," published Quarterly. Price 2s. 6d. No. 11. New Series, will be published on the 1st. of April, containing Papers by J.O. Westwood, Rev. J. Williams, W.W. Ffoulkes, E.A. Freeman (Architecture of Llandaff Cathedral), &c., &c., with Illustrations by Jewitt.

Also, now completed, price 11s. cloth lettered, Vol. IV., First Series, for 1849. Vols. II. and III. may still be had, price 11s. each, with numerous Illustrations on copper and wood.

On the 15th of April will be published, reprinted from the ARCHÆOLOGIA CAMBRENSIS,

NOTES on the Architectural Antiquities of the District of Gower, in Glamorganshire. With Illustrations on Copper. By E.A. FREEMAN, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, Author of the "History of Architecture," price 2s.

OBSERVATIONS on the Stone of St. Cadfan, at Towyn. With an Illustration. By J.O. WESTWOOD, Esq., F.S.A., F.L.S., and the Rev. J. WILLIAMS, (ab Ithel), price 1s.

DRUIDIC STONES. By the Rev. J. WILLIAMS. Price 1s.

The Subscription to the Cambrian Archæological Association is 1l. annually, for which Members will have forwarded to them the Journal as published, quarterly, and in addition, an Annual Volume of important antiquarian matter, and a Ticket of Admission to the General Meeting.

London: W. PICKERING. Tenby: R. MASON.

THE ATTENTION of Readers of the NOTES AND QUERIES is respectfully called to Part II. for 1850 of JOHN RUSSELL SMITH'S CATALOGUE of BOOKS, containing 1250 articles, of an old and curious kind, marked at very low prices. It may be had gratis on application, or sent by post on receipt of two postage labels to frank it. Part III. will be published April 13th, and will contain entirely Old Books and Autographs.

4. Old Compton Street, Soho, London.

Published every Saturday, price 3d., or stamped, 4d., also in Monthly Parts. Part V. (for March), price 1s. 3d., now ready.

NOTES AND QUERIES: a Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, &c.

The attention of Publishers and Booksellers is particularly requested to this Periodical as a medium for advertising. It contains communications from the most eminent Literary Men, and is circulated largely amongst the best class of book-buyers.

In addition to the valuable matter which will be found in its columns, it contains notices of Book Sales, Booksellers' Catalogues, and Lists of Books wanted to purchase,—features which it is believed will be found valuable to Dealers in Old Books, as well as useful to Purchasers.

SCALE OF PRICES.

£ s. d.

Six lines and under 0 5 0

Above six lines, per line 0 0 6

Half a column 0 16 0

Column 1 10 0

Page 2 10 0

*** Advertisements much be sent by the WEDNESDAY previous to the SATURDAY on which they are intended to appear: NOTES AND QUERIES being issued to the Trade on FRIDAY afternoon.

London: GEORGE BELL, 186. Fleet Street.

NEW WORKS

To be published in APRIL and MAY.

I. Col. W. MURE'S CRITICAL HISTORY of the LANGUAGE and LITERATURE of ANCIENT GREECE. 3 Vols. 8vo.

II. The Rev. C. MERIVALE'S HISTORY of ROME under the EMPIRE. Vols. I. and II. 8vo.

III. MODERN STATE TRIALS REVISED and ILLUSTRATED. By W.C. TOWNSEND, Esq. M.A. Q.C. 2 vols. 8vo.

IV. Mr. S. LAING'S OBSERVATIONS on the SOCIAL and POLITICAL STATE of the EUROPEAN PEOPLE in 1848 and 1849. 8vo.

V. ESSAYS SELECTED from CONTRIBUTIONS to the EDINBURGH REVIEW. By HENRY ROGERS. 2 vols. 8vo.

VI. JAMES MONTGOMERY'S POETICAL WORKS. Complete in One Volume, with Portrait and Vignette. Square crown 8vo.

VII. ALETHEIA; or, the Doom of Mythology: with other poems. By WILLIAM C.M. KENT. 16mo.

VIII. The STATISTICAL COMPANION for 1850. By T.C. BANFIELD and C.R. WELD. Fcap. 8vo.

IX. Mr. A.K. JOHNSTON'S NEW GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY: forming a complete General Gazetteer. 8vo.

X. LOUDON'S ENCYCLOPÆDIA of GARDENING. New Edition (1850). Corrected, &c. by Mrs. LOUDON. 8vo. with 1,000 Woodcuts. *** Also in 10 Monthly Parts, 5s. each, from May 1.

XI. LOUDON'S HORTUS BRITANNICUS. New Edition (1850). Corrected, &c. by Mrs. LOUDON and W.H. BAXTER. 8vo.

XII. Sir W.J. HOOKER'S BRITISH FLORA. New Edit. (1850). Corrected by the Author and Dr. WALKER-ARNOTT. Fcap. 8vo. Plates.

XIII. HEALTH, DISEASE, and REMEDY FAMILIARLY and PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED in RELATION to the BLOOD. By Dr. G. MOORE. Post 8vo.

XIV. The ACTS of the APOSTLES: with Commentary, and Practical and Devotional Suggestions. By the Rev. F.C. Cook, M.A. Post 8vo.

XV. The DOMESTIC LITURGY. By the Rev. THOMAS DALE, M.A. New Edition, separated from 'The Family Chaplain.' 4to. 10s. 6d.

XVI. The FAMILY CHAPLAIN. By the Rev. THOMAS DALE, M.A. New Edition, separated from 'The Domestic Liturgy.' 4to. 12s.

XVII. The EARL'S DAUGHTER. By the Author of 'Amy Herbert,' 'Lancton Parsonage,' &c. Fcap. 8vo.

XVIII. PRACTICAL HORSEMANSHIP. By HARRY HIEOVER. With two plates—'Going like Workmen,' and 'Going like Muffs.' Fcap. 8vo. 5s.

XIX. Mr. THOMAS TATE'S EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY: or, Familiar Introduction to the Science of Agriculture. Fcap. 8vo. with Woodcuts.

XX. Dr. COPLAND on the CAUSES, NATURE, and TREATMENT of PALSY and APOPLEXY. Post 8vo.

XXI. Sir B.C. BRODIE'S PATHOLOGICAL and SURGICAL OBSERVATIONS on DISEASES of the JOINTS. New Edition. 8vo.

XXII. Dr. REECE'S MEDICAL GUIDE. New Edition (1850), thoroughly revised, corrected, and improved. 8vo. London: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS.

On the 1st of MAY next will be published,

HISTORIC RELIQUES; a Series of Representations of ARMS, JEWELLERY, GOLD and SILVER PLATE, FURNITURE, ARMOUR, &c. in Royal and Noble Collections, Colleges, and Public Institutions, &c., and which formerly belonged to Individuals Eminent in History, drawn from the originals and etched by JOSEPH LIONEL WILLIAMS.

Relics of antiquity, in themselves most interesting and instructive, become doubly so when they have belonged to individuals whose deeds are chronicled in history. Who is there, "to dell forgetfulness a prey," who does not look with intense interest on objects connected with the "mighty victor, mighty lord," Edward the Third, the Black Prince, Henry VIII., the imperious Elizabeth, the ill-fated Mary of Scotland, or the unhappy Charles I.? Not only of kings, but of their favourites, and of the illustrious men who have shed lustre on the various epochs of history, are the relics most instructive and important.

The aim of the present publication is to illustrate, by a series of original Drawings, the various relics which have historical interest, such as Armour, Dresses, Jewellery, Gold and Silver Plate, Furniture, &c. formerly belonging to persons celebrated in history, and which are still treasured up in her Majesty's collections, in the museums of the nobility and gentry, in colleges, halls, and public museums, &c.

Some few of the relics of the past, having historical associations connected with them, have been represented in archæological works; but it is necessary to search through many volumes to find even a limited number of them, and the present work would embrace a great variety hitherto unrepresented; at the same time, its peculiar feature, that every subject would be Historical, renders it a book of great novelty and importance. To the Historian and Antiquary the proposed series of Illustrations recommends itself by its character and importance; to the lover of ancient Art, for the beauty of most of the objects represented; and its claims on the general reader are the connexion of the Relics with the dead whose actions are the theme of history and romance. To the Artist these Illustrations will be of essential importance; and to the Manufacturer of scarcely less value, as the Relics themselves are, in most cases, either of exquisite beauty of form or striking and characteristic style, and by furnishing data, will enable him to carry out designs in the style peculiar to all periods.

It is proposed to publish the Work in Monthly Parts, containing three Etchings drawn with the most scrupulous fidelity, and illustrative Vignettes beautifully engraved on Wood. The plates will be coloured, and the size of the Work be imperial 8vo.; a limited number in imperial 4to.; the subjects fully coloured, and the initial letters also.

The Editor will be greatly obliged by communications respecting Relics of Historic Interest being forwarded to 198. Strand.

Price 2s. 6d. each Part; to be completed in Ten Parts. Office, 198. Strand.

Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 8. New Street Square, at No. 5 New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186. Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.—Saturday, March 30. 1850.