Replies.

TRENCH ON PROVERBS.

(Vol. viii., pp. 387. 519. 641.)

The courteous spirit which generally distinguishes the communications of your correspondents, renders the "N. & Q." the most agreeable magazine, or, as you have it, "medium of inter-communication for literary men," &c. I was so much pleased with the general animus which characterised the strictures on my proposed translation of Ps. cxxvii. 2., that I was almost disposed to cede to my critics, from sheer good-will towards them. But the elder D'Israeli speaks of such a thing "as an affair of literary conscience," which consideration prescribes my yielding in the present instance; but I trust that our motto will always be, "May our difference of opinion never alter our inter-communications!"

I must however, at the outset, qualify an expression I made use of, which seems to have incurred the censure of all your four correspondents on the subject; I mean the sentence, "The translation of the authorised version of that sacred affirmation is unintelligible." It seems to be perfectly intelligible to Messrs. Buckton, Jebb, Walter, and S. D. I qualify, therefore, the assertion. I mean to say, that the translation of the authorised version of that sacred affirmation was, and is, considered unintelligible to many intelligent biblical critics and expositors; amongst whom I may name Luther, Mendelsohn, Hengstenberg, Zunz, and many others whose names will transpire in the sequel.

Having made that concession, I may now proceed with the replying to my Querists, or rather Critics. Mr. Buckton is entitled to my first consideration, not only because you placed him at the head of the department of that question, but also because of the peculiar mode in which he treated the subject. My replies shall be seriatim.

1. Luther was not the first who translated כן יתן לידידו שנא "Denn seinen Freunden gibt er es schlafend." A far greater Hebraist than Luther, who flourished about two hundred years before the great German Reformer came into note, put the same construction on that sacred affirmation. Rabbi Abraham Hacohen of Zante, who paraphrased the whole Hebrew Psalter into modern metrical Hebrew verse (which, according to a P.S., was completed in 1326), interprets the sentence in question thus:

2. It is more than problematical whether the eminent translator, Mendelsohn, was influenced by Luther's error (?), or by his own superior knowledge of the sacred tongue.

3. I do not think that the phrase, "the proper Jewish notion of gain," was either called for or relevant to the subject.

4. The reign of James I. was by no means as distinguished for Hebrew scholarship as were the immediate previous reigns. Indeed it would appear that the knowledge of the sacred languages was at a very low ebb in this country during the agitating period of the Reformation, so much so that even the unaccountable Henry VIII. was forced to exclaim, "Vehementer dolere nostratium Theologorum sortem sanctissime linguæ scientia carentium, et linguarum doctrinam fuisse intermissam." (Hody, p. 466.)

When Coverdale made his version of the Bible he was not only aided by Tindale, but also by the celebrated Hebrew, of the Hebrews, Emanuel Tremellius, who was then professor of the sacred tongue in the University of Cambridge, where that English Reformer was educated; and Coverdale translated the latter part of Ps. cxxvii. 2. as follows: "For look, to whom it pleaseth Him, He giveth it in sleep."

5. Coverdale's translation is not "ungrammatical" as far as the Hebrew language is concerned, notwithstanding that it was rejected in the reign of James I. לחם, "bread," is evidently the accusative noun to the transitive verb יתן, "He shall give." Nor is it "false," for the same noun, לחם, "bread," is no doubt the antecedent to which the word it refers.

6. Mendelsohn does not omit the it in his Hebrew comment; and I am therefore unwarrantably charged with supplying it "unauthorisedly." I should like to see Mr. Buckton's translation of that comment. If any doubt remained upon Mr. B.'s mind as to the intended meaning of the word יתנהו used by Mendelsohn, his German version might have removed such a doubt, as the little word es, "it," indicates pretty clearly what Mendelsohn meant by יתנהו. So that, instead of proving Mendelsohn "at variance with himself," he is proved most satisfactorily to have been in perfect harmony with himself.

7. Mendelsohn does not omit the important word כן; and if Mr. B. will refer once more to his copy of Mendelsohn (we are both using the same edition), he will find two different interpretations proposed for the word כן, viz. thus and rightly. I myself prefer the latter rendering. The word occurs about twenty times in the Hebrew Bible, and in the great majority of instances rightly or certainly is the only correct rendering. Both Mendelsohn and Zunz omit to translate it in their German versions, simply because the sentence is more idiomatic, in the German language, without it than with it.

8. I perfectly agree with Mr. B. "that no version has yet had so large an amount of learning bestowed on it as the English one." But Mr. B. will candidly acknowledge that the largest amount was bestowed on it since the revision of the authorised version closed. Lowth, Newcombe, Horne, Horsley, Lee, &c. wrote since, and they boldly called in question many of the renderings in the authorised version.

Let me not be mistaken; I do most sincerely consider our version superior to all others, but it is not for this reason faultless.

In reply to Mr. Jebb's temperate strictures, I would most respectively submit—

1. That considerable examination leads me to take just the reverse view to that of Burkius, that שנא cannot be looked upon as antithetical to surgere, sedere, dolorum. With all my searchings I failed to discover an analogous antithesis. I shall be truly thankful to Mr. Jebb for a case in point. Moreover, Psalms iii. and iv., to which Dr. French and Mr. Skinner refer, prove to my mind that not sleep is the gift, but sustenance and other blessings bestowed upon the Psalmist whilst asleep. I cannot help observing that due reflection makes me look upon the expression, "So He giveth His beloved sleep," as an extraordinary anticlimax.

2. Mr. Jebb challenges the showing strictly analogous instances of ellipses. He acknowledges that there are very numerous ellipses even in the Songs of Degrees themselves, but they are of a very different nature. I might fill the whole of this Number with examples, which the most scrupulous critic would be obliged to acknowledge as being strictly analogous to the passage under review; but such a thing you would not allow. Two instances, however, you will not object to; they will prove a host for Mr. Jebb's purpose, inasmuch as one has the very word שנה elliptically, and the other the transitive verb יתן, minus an accusative noun. Would Messrs. Buckton, Jebb, Walter, and S. D. kindly translate, for the benefit of those who are interested in the question, the following two passages?

The Rev. Henry Walter will see that some of his observations have been anticipated and already replied to. It remains, however, for me to assure him that I never dreamt that any one would suppose that I considered שנא anything else but a noun, minus the ב preposition. The reason why I translated the word "whilst he [the beloved] is asleep," was because I thought the expression more idiomatic.

S. D. attempts to prove nothing; I am exempt therefore from disproving anything as far as he is concerned.

Before I take leave of this lengthy and somewhat elaborate disquisition, let me give my explanation of the scope of the Psalm in dispute, which, I venture to imagine, will commend itself, even to those who differ from me, as the most natural.

This Psalm, as well as the other thirteen entitled "A Song of Degrees," was composed for the singing on the road by those Israelites who went up to Jerusalem to keep the three grand festivals, to beguile their tedious journey, and also to soothe the dejected spirits of those who felt disheartened at having left their homes, their farms, and families without guardians. Ps. cxxvii. is of a soothing character, composed probably by Solomon.

In the first two verses God's watchfulness and care over His beloved are held up to the view of the pilgrims, who are impressed with the truth that no one, "by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature." The best exposition which I can give of those two verses I have learned from our Saviour's "Sermon on the Mount" (Matt. vi. 25-33.). The third and following verses, as well as the next Psalm, are exegetical or illustrative. To whom do you attribute the gift of children? Is it not admitted on all hands to be "an heritage of the Lord?" No one can procure that blessing by personal anxiety and care: God alone can confer the gift. Well, then, the same God who gives you the heritage of children will also grant you all other blessings which are good for you, provided you act the part of "His beloved," and depend upon Him without wavering.

The above is a hasty, but I trust an intelligible, view of the scope of the Psalm.

Moses Margoliouth

Wybunbury, Nantwich.

INSCRIPTIONS ON BELLS.

(Vol. viii., p. 448.)

The inscription on one of the bells of Great Milton Church, Oxon. (as given by Mr. Simpson in "N. & Q."), has a better and rhyming form occasionally.

In Meivod Church, Montgomeryshire, a bell (the "great" bell, I think) has the inscription—

The same also is found on the great bell of the interesting church (formerly cathedral) of Llanbadarn Fawr, Cardiganshire.

E. Dyer Green.

Nantcribba Hall.

I beg to forward the following inscription on one of the bells in the tower of St. Nicholas Church, Sidmouth. I have not met with it elsewhere; and you may, perhaps, consider it worthy of being added to those given by Cuthbert Bede and J. L. Sisson:

There is no date, but the characters may indicate the commencement of the fifteenth century as the period when the bell was cast.

G. J. R. Gordon.

At Lapley in Staffordshire:

G. E. T. S. R. N.

Pray add the following savoury inscriptions to your next list of bell-mottoes. The first disgraces the belfry of St. Paul's, Bedford; the second, that, of St. Mary's, Islington:

The similarity between these two inscriptions favours the supposition that the ancient bell-founders, like some modern enterprising firms, kept a poet on the establishment, e.g.

J. Yeowell.

A friend informs me, that on a bell in Durham Cathedral these lines occur:

J. L. S.

ARMS OF GENEVA.

(Vol. viii., p. 563.)

Your correspondent who desires the blazon of the arms of the "town of Geneva," had better have specified to which of the two bearings assigned to that name he refers.

One of these, which I saw on the official seal affixed to the passport of a friend of mine lately returned from that place, is an instance of the obsolete practice of dimidiation; and is the more singular, because only the dexter one of the shields thus impaled undergoes curtailment.

The correct blazon, I believe, would be: Or, an eagle double-headed, displayed sable, dimidiated, and impaling gu. a key in pale argent, the wards in chief, and turned to the sinister; the shield surmounted with a marquis' coronet.

The blazon of the sinister half I owe to Edmondson, who seems, however, not at all to have understood the dexter, and gives a clumsy description of it little worth transcribing. He, and the Dictionnaire de Blazon, assign these arms to the Republic of Geneva.

The other bearing would, in English, be blazoned, Checquy of nine pieces, or and azure: and in French, Cinq points d'or, équipollés à quatre d'azur. This is assigned by Nisbett to the Seigneurie of Geneva, and is quartered by the King of Sardinia in token of the claims over the Genevese town and territory, which, as Duke of Savoy, he has never resigned.

With regard to the former shield, I may just remark, that the dimidiated coat is merely that of the German empire. How or why Geneva obtained it, I should be very glad to be informed; since it appears to appertain to the present independent Republic, and not to the former seignorial territory.

Let me also add, that the plate in the Dictionnaire gives the field of this half as argent. Mr. Willement, in his Regal Heraldry, under the arms of Richard II.'s consort, also thus describes and represents the imperial field; and Nisbett alludes to it as such in one place, though in his formal blazon he gives it as or.

Nothing, in an heraldic point of view, would be more interesting than a "Regal Heraldry of Europe," with a commentary explaining the historical origin and combinations of the various bearings. Should this small contribution towards such a compilation tend to call the attention of any able antiquary to the general subject, or to elicit information upon this particular question, the writer who now offers so insignificant an item would feel peculiarly gratified.

L. C. D.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Multiplying Negatives.—In reply to M. N. S. (Vol. ix., p. 83.) I would suggest the following mode of multiplying negatives on glass, which I have every reason to believe would be perfectly successful:—First, varnish the negative to be copied by means of Dr. Diamond's solution of amber in chloroform; then attach to each angle, with any convenient varnish, a small piece of writing-paper. Prepare a similar plate of glass with collodion, and drain off all superfluous nitrate of silver, by standing it for a minute or so on edge upon a piece of blotting-paper. Lay it flat upon a board, collodion side upwards, and the negative prepared above upon it, collodion side downwards. Expose the whole to daylight for a single second, or to gas-light for about a minute, and develope as usual. The result will be a transmitted positive, but with reversed sides; and from this, when varnished and treated as the original negative, any number of negatives similar to the first may be produced.

The paper at the angles is to prevent the absolute contact and consequent injury by the solution of nitrate of silver; and, for the same reason, it is advisable not to attempt to print until the primary negative is varnished, as, with all one's care, sometimes the nitrate will come in contact and produce spots, if the varnishing has been omitted. Should the negative become moistened, it should be at once washed with a gentle stream of water and dried.

I have repeatedly performed the operation above described so far as the production of the positive, and so perfect is the impression that I see no reason why the second negative should be at all distinguishable from the original.

I am, indeed, at present engaged upon a similar attempt; but there are several other difficulties in my way: I, however, entertain no doubts of perfect success.

Geo. Shadbolt.

Towgood's Paper.—A. B. (Vol. ix., p. 83.) can purchase Towgood's paper of Mr. Sandford, who frequently advertises in "N. & Q." With regard to his other Query, I think there can be no doubt of his being at liberty to publish a photographic copy of a portrait, Mr. Fox Talbot having reserved only the right to paper copies of a photographic portrait. Collodion portraits are not patent, but the paper proofs from collodion negatives are.

Geo. Shadbolt.

Adulteration of Nitrate of Silver.—Will any of your chemical readers tell me how I am to know if nitrate of silver is pure, and how to detect the adulteration? If so with nitrate of potash, how? One writer on photography recommends the fused, as then the excess of nitric acid is got rid of. Another says the fused nitrate is nearly always adulterated. I fear you have more querists than respondents. I have looked carefully for a reply to some former Queries respecting Mr. Crookes's restoration of old collodion, but at present they have failed in appearance.

The Reader of Photographic Works.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Passage of Cicero (Vol. viii., p. 640.).—Is the following what Semi-Tone wants?

"Mira est enim quædam natura vocis; cujus quidem, e tribus omnino sonis, inflexo, acuto, gravi, tanta sit, et tam suavis varietas perfecta in cantibus."—Orator, cap. 17.

B. H. C.

Major André (Vol. viii., pp. 174. 604.).—The late Mrs. Mills of Norwich (née André) was not the sister of Major André; she was the only daughter of Mr. John André of Offenbach, near Frankfort on the Maine, in Germany; where he established more than eighty years ago a prosperous concern as a printer of music, and was moreover an eminent composer: this establishment is now in the hands of his grandson. Mr. John André was not the brother of the Major, but a second or third cousin. Mrs. Mills used to say, that she remembered seeing the Major at her father's house as a visitor, when she was a very small child. He began his career in London in the commercial line; and, after he entered the army, was sent by the English ministry to Hesse-Cassel to conduct to America a corps of Hessian hirelings to dragoon the revolted Americans into obedience: it was on this occasion that he paid the above-mentioned visit to Offenbach.

Having frequently read the portion of English history containing the narrative of the transactions in which Major André was so actively engaged, and for which he suffered, I have often asked myself whether he was altogether blameless in that questionable affair.

Trivet Allcock.

Norwich.

P.S.—This account was furnished to me by Mr. E. Mills, husband of the late Mrs. Mills.

Catholic Bible Society (Vol. ix., p. 41.).—Besides the account of this society in Bishop Milner's Supplementary Memoirs of the English Catholics, many papers on the same will be found in the volumes of the Orthodox Journal from 1813, when the Society was formed, to 1819. In this last volume, p. 9., Bishop Milner wrote a long letter, containing a comparison of the brief notes in the stereotyped edition of the above Society with the notes of Bishop Challoner, from whose hands he mentions having received a copy of his latest edition of both Testaments in 1777. It should be mentioned that most of the papers in the Orthodox Journal alluded to were written by Bishop Milner under various signatures, which the present writer, with all who knew him well, could always recognise. That eminent prelate thus sums up the fate of the sole publication of the so-called Catholic Bible Society:

"Its stereotype Testament ... was proved to abound in gross errors; hardly a copy of it could be sold; and, in the end, the plates for continuing it have been of late presented by an illustrious personage, into whose hands they fell, to one of our prelates [this was Bishop Collingridge], who will immediately employ the cart-load of them for a good purpose, as they were intended to be, by disposing of them to some pewterer, who will convert them into numerous useful culinary implements, gas-pipes, and other pipes."

F. C. H.

The advocates for a Celtic origin of the name of these islands are perhaps not aware that—

"Through the intercourse which the Phœnicians, by means of their factories in the Persian Gulph, maintained with the east coast of India, the Sanscrit word Kastira, expressing a most useful product of farther India, and still existing among the old Aramaic idioms in the Arabian word Kasdir, became known to the Greeks even before Albion and the British Cassiterides had been visited."—See Humboldt's Cosmos, "Principal Epochs in the History of the Physical Contemplation of the Universe," notes.

Bibliothecar. Chetham.

Wooden Tombs and Effigies (Vol. ix., p. 62.).—There are two fine recumbent figures of a Lord Neville and his wife in Brancepeth Church, four miles south-west of Durham. They are carved in wood. A view of them is given in Billing's Antiquities of Durham.

J. H. B.

Tailless Cats (Vol. ix., p. 10.).—In my visits to the Isle of Man, I have frequently met with specimens of the tailless cats referred to by your correspondent Shirley Hibberd. In the pure breed there is not the slightest vestige of a tail, and in the case of any intermixture with the species possessing the usual caudal appendage, the tail of their offspring, like the witch's "sark," as recorded by honest Tam o' Shanter,

In fact, it terminates abruptly at the length of a few inches, as if amputated, having altogether a very ludicrous appearance.

G. Taylor.

Reading.

The breed of cats without tails is well known in the Isle of Man, and accounted by the people of the island one of its chief curiosities. These cats are sought after by strangers: the natives call them "Rumpies," or "Rumpy Cats." Their hind legs are rather longer than those of cats with tails, and give them a somewhat rabbit-like aspect, which has given rise to the odd fancy that they are the descendants of a cross between a rabbit and cat. They are good mousers. When a perfectly tailless cat is crossed with an ordinary-tailed individual, the progeny exhibit all intermediate states between tail and no tail.

Edward Forbes.

Warville (Vol. viii., p. 516.).—

"Jacque Pierre Brissot was born on the 14th Jan., 1754, in the village of Ouarville, near Chartres."—Penny Cyclo.

If your correspondent is a French scholar, he will perceive that Warville is, as nearly as possible, the proper pronunciation of the name of this village, but that Brissot being merely the son of a prior pastrycook, had no right whatever to the name, which doubtless he bore merely as a distinction from some other Brissot. It may interest your American friend to know, that he married Félicité Dupont, a young lady of good family at Boulogne. A relation of my own, who was very intimate with her before her marriage, has often described her to me as being of a very modest, retiring, religious disposition, very clever with her pencil, and as having received a first-rate education from masters in Paris. These gifts, natural and acquired, made her a remarkable young person, amidst the crowd of frivolous idlers who at that time formed "good society," not only in Paris, but even in provincial towns, of which Boulogne was not the least gay. Perhaps he knows already that she quickly followed her husband to the scaffold. Her sister (I believe the only one) married a Parisian gentleman named Aublay, and died at a great age about ten years ago.

N. J. A.

W is not a distinct letter in the French alphabet; it is simply double v, and is pronounced like v, as in Wissant, Wimireux, Wimille, villages between Calais and Boulogne, and Wassy in Champagne.

W. R. D. S.

Green Eyes (Vol. viii., p. 407.).—The following are quotations in favour of green eyes, in addition to Mr. H. Temple's:

And Dante, in Purgatory, canto xxxi., likens Beatrice's eyes to emeralds:

"Spare not thy vision. We have station'd thee

Hath drawn his weapons on thee."

Cary's Translation.

I think short-sightedness is an infirmity more common among men of letters, authors, &c., than any other class; indeed, one is inclined to think it is no rare accompaniment of talent. A few celebrated names occur to me who suffered weakness of distinct vision to see but the better near. I am sure your correspondents could add many to the list. I mark them down at random:—Niebuhr, Thomas Moore, Marie Antoinette, Gustavus Adolphus, Herrick the poet, Dr. Johnson, Margaret Fuller, Ossoli, Thiers, Quevedo. These are but a few, but I will not lengthen the list at present.

M——a S.

Came (Vol. viii., p. 468.).—H. T. G. will find this word to be as old as our language. Piers Ploughman writes:

Chaucer:

Gower:

Q.

"Epitaphium Lucretiæ" (Vol. viii., p. 563.).—Allow me to send an answer to the Query of Balliolensis, and to state that in that rather scarce little book, Epigrammata et Poematia Vetera, he will find at page 68. that "Epitaphium Lucretiæ" is ascribed to Modestus, perhaps the same person who wrote a work de re militari. The version there given differs slightly from that of Balliolensis, and has two more lines; it is as follows:

Perhaps the following translation may not be unacceptable:

C—S. T. P.

Oxford Commmemoration Squib, 1849 (Vol. viii., p. 584.).—Quoted incorrectly. The heading stands thus:

After the name of "Wrightson" add "(Queen's);" and at the foot of the bill "Floreat Lyceum." I quote from a copy before me.

W. P. Storer.

Olney, Bucks.

"Imp" (Vol. viii., p. 623.).—Perhaps as amusing use of the word imp as can be found anywhere occurs in an old Bacon, in his "Pathway unto Prayer" (see Early Writings, Parker Society, p. 187.):

"Let us pray for the preservation of the King's most excellent Majesty, and for the prosperous success of his entirely beloved son Edward our Prince, that most angelic imp."

P. P.

False Spellings from Sound (Vol. vi., p. 29.).—The observations of Mr. Waylen deserve to be enlarged by numerous examples, and to be, to a certain extent, corrected. He has not brought clearly into view two distinct classes of "false spelling" under which the greater part of such mistakes may be arranged. One class arose solely from erroneous pronunciation; the second from intentional alteration. I will explain my meaning by two examples, both which are, I believe, in Mr. Waylen's list.

The French expression dent de lion stands for a certain plant, and some of the properties of that plant originated the name. When an Englishman calls the same plant Dandylion, the sound has not given birth "to a new idea" in his mind. Surely, he pronounces badly three French words of which he may know the meaning, or he may not. But when the same Englishman, or any other, orders sparrow-grass for dinner, these two words contain "a new idea," introduced purposely: either he, or some predecessor, reasoned thus—there is no meaning in asparagus; sparrow-grass must be the right word because it makes sense. The name of a well-known place in London illustrates both these changes: Convent Garden becomes Covent Garden by mispronunciation; it becomes Common Garden by intentional change.

Mistakes of the first class are not worth recording; those of the second fall under this general principle: words are purposely exchanged for others of a similar sound, because the latter are supposed to recover a lost meaning.

I have by me several examples which I will send you if you think the subject worth pursuing.

J. O. B.

Wicken.

"Good wine needs no bush" (Vol. viii., p. 607.).—The custom of hanging out bushes of ivy, boughs of trees, or bunches of flowers, at private houses, as a sign that good cheer may be had within, still prevails in the city of Gloucester at the fair held at Michaelmas, called Barton Fair, from the locality; and at the three "mops," or hiring fairs, on the three Mondays following, to indicate that ale, beer, cider, &c. are there sold, on the strength (I believe) of an ancient privilege enjoyed by the inhabitants of that street to sell liquors, without the usual license, during the fair.

Brookthorpe.

Three Fleurs-de-Lys (Vol. ix., p. 35.).—In reply to the Query of Devoniensis, I would say that many families of his own county bore fleurs-de-lys in their coat armour, in the forms of two and one, and on a bend; also that the heraldic writers, Robson and Burke, assign a coat to the family of Baker charged with three fleurs-de-lys on a fesse. The Devon family of Velland bore, Sable, a fesse argent, in chief three fleurs-de-lys of the last, but whether these bearings were ever placed fesse-wise, or, as your querist terms it, in a horizontal line, I am not sure.

J. D. S.

If Devoniensis will look at the arms of Magdalen College, Oxford, he will there find the three fleurs-de-lys in a line in the upper part of the shield.

A. B.

Athenæum.

Portrait of Plowden (Vol. ix., p. 56.).—A portrait of Plowden (said to have been taken from his monument in the Temple Church) is prefixed to the English edition of his Reports, published in 1761.

J. G.

Exon.

St. Stephen's Day and Mr. Riley's "Hoveden" (Vol. viii., p. 637.).—The statement of this feast being observed prior to Christmas must have arisen from the translator not being conversant with the technical terms of the Ecclesiastical Calendar, in which, as the greater festivals are celebrated with Octaves, other feasts falling during the Octave are said to be under (infrà) the greater solemnity. Thus, if Mr. Warden will consult the Ordo Recitandi Officii Divini for 1834, he will see that next Sunday, the 8th inst., stands "Dom inf. Oct.," i.e. of the Epiphany, and that the same occurs on other days during the year.

May I point out an erratum in a Query inserted some time since (not yet replied to), regarding a small castle near Kingsgate, Thanet, the name of which is printed Aix Ruochim; it should be Arx Ruochim.

A. O. H.

Blackheath.

Death Warnings in Ancient Families (Vol. ix., p. 55.).—A brief notice of these occurrences, with references to works where farther details may be met with, would form a very remarkable record of events which tend to support one's belief in the truth of the remark of Hamlet:

A drummer is stated to be heard in C—— Castle, the residence of the Earl and Countess of A., "going about the house playing his drum, whenever there is a death impending in the family." This warning is asserted to have been given shortly before the decease of the Earl's first wife, and preceded the death of the next Countess about five or six months. Mrs. Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature, observes hereupon:

"I have heard that a paper was found in her (the Countess's) desk after her death, declaring her conviction that the drum was for her."

Whenever a little old woman visits a lady of the family of G. of R., at the time of her confinement, when the nurse is absent, and strokes down the clothes, the patient (says Mrs. Crowe), "never does any good, and dies." Another legend is, that a single swan is always seen on a particular lake close to the mansion of another family before a death. Then, Lord Littleton's dove is a well-known incident. And the lady above quoted speaks of many curious warnings of death by the appearance of birds, as well as of a spectral black dog, which visited a particular family in Cornwall immediately before the death of any of its members. Having made this Note of a few more cases of death warnings, I will end with a Query in the words of Mrs. Crowe, who, after detailing the black dog apparition, asks: "if this phenomenon is the origin of the French phrase bête noire, to express an annoyance, or an augury of evil?"

Jas. J. Scott.

Hampstead.

"The Secunde Personne of the Trinitie" (Vol. ix., p. 56.).—I think it is Hobart Seymour who speaks of some Italians of the present day as considering the Three Persons of the Trinity to be the Father, the Virgin, and the Son.

J. P. O.