Volume 3 — Replies.

CORPSE PASSING MAKES A RIGHT WAY. (Vol. iii., p. 477.)

The fact of the passage of a funeral procession over land, from being an act of user of a very public character, must always have had some influence on the trial of the question whether the owner of the land had dedicated the same to the public; and it is not improbable that in early times very great weight was attached to evidence of this kind: so that the passage of a corpse across land came to be considered in the popular mind as conclusive and incontrovertible evidence of a public right of way over that land. With the reverence for the dead which is so pleasing a characteristic of modern refinement, it is probable that acts of user of this description would now have little weight, inasmuch as no man of right feeling would be disposed to interrupt parties assembled on so mournful and solemn an occasion. I recollect, however, having read a trial in modern times for a riot, arising out of a forcible attempt to carry a corpse over a field against the will of the landowner; the object of the parties in care of the corpse was believed to be the establishment of a public right of way over the field in question, the owner of which, with a body of partisans, forcibly resisted the attempt, on the apparent belief that the act of carrying a corpse across the field would certainly have established the right claimed. I regret I did not "make a Note" of the case, so as to be able to specify the time, place, and circumstances with certainty.

That the notion in question is of great antiquity may I think be inferred from the following passage in Prynne's Records, iii. 213., referring to Walter Bronescombe, Bishop of Exeter, 1258-1280 (and as the authority for which, Prynne cites Holinshed's Chronicle, 1303, 1304; and Godwin's Catalogue of Bishops, 326.):—

"He did by a Policy purchase the Lordship and House of Clift Sachfeld, and enlarged the Barton thereof by gaining of Cornish Wood from the Dean and Chapter fraudulently; building then a very fair and sumptuous house there; he called it Bishop's Clift, and left the same to his successors. Likewise he got the Patronage of Clift Fomesone, now called Sowton, and annexed the same to his new Lordship, which (as it was said) he procured by this means. He had a Frier to be his Chaplain and Confessor, which died in his said House of Clift, and should have been buried at the Parish Church of Faringdon, because the said House was and is in that Parish; but because the Parish Church was somewhat farre off, the wayes foul, and the weather rainy, or for some other causes, the Bishop commanded the corps to be carryed to the parish church of Sowton, then called Clift Fomeson, which is very near, and bordereth upon the Bishop's Lordship; the two Parishes being then divided by a little Lake called Clift. At this time one Fomeson, a Gentleman, was Lord and Patron of Clift Fomeson; and he, being advertised of such a Burial towards in his Parish, and a leech way to be made over to his Land, without his leave or consent required therein; calleth his Tenants together, goeth to the Bridge over the lake between the Bishop's Land and his; there meeteth the Bishop's men, bringing the said Corps, and forbiddeth them to come over the water. The men nothing regarding the Prohibition, do press forwards to come over the water, and the others do withstand, so long, that in the end, my Lord's Fryer is fallen into the Water. The Bishop taketh this matter in such grief, that a holy Fryer, a Religious man, his own Chaplain and Confessor, should be so unreverently cast into the Water, that he falleth out with the Gentleman, and upon what occasion I know not, he sueth him in the Law (in his own Ecclesiastical Court, where he was both party and Judge), and so vexeth and tormenteth him, that in the end he was fain to yeeld himself to the Bishop's devotion, and seeketh all the wayes he could to carry the Bishop's good will, which he could not obtain, until for redemption he had given up and surrendered his patronage of Sowton, with a piece of land; all which the said Bishop annexed to his new Lordship."

In "An Exhortation, to be spoken to such Parishes where they use their Perambulation in Rogation Week; for the Oversight of the Bounds and Limits of their Town," is a curious passage, which I subjoin:

"It is a shame to behold the insatiableness of some covetous persons in their doings; that where their ancestors left of their land a broad and sufficient bier-balk, to carry the corpse to the Christian sepulture, how men pinch at such bier-balks, which by long use and custom ought to be inviolably kept for that purpose; and now they quite eat them up, and turn the dead body to be borne farther about in the high streets; or else, if they leave any such meer, it is too straight for two to walk on."—Homilies, ed. Corrie, p. 499.

It may perhaps be considered not quite irrelevant here to state that there seems once to have been an opinion, that the passage of the sovereign across land had the effect of making a highway thereon. The only allusion, however, to this opinion which I can call to mind, occurs in Peck's Antiquarian Annals of Stanford, lib. xi. s. xii.; an extract from which follows:—

"From Stanford King Edward, as I conceive, went to Huntingdon; for in a letter of one of our kings dated at that town the 12th of July (without any year or king's name to ascertain the time and person it belongs to), the King writes to the aldermen and bailiffs of Stanford, acquainting them, that, when he came to Stanford, he went through Pilsgate field (coming then I suppose from Peterborough), and, it being usual it seems that whatever way the King rides to any place (though the same was no public way before) for everybody else to claim the same liberty afterwards, and thenceforth to call any such new passage the King's highway; being followed to Huntingdon by divers of his own tenants, inhabitants of Pilsgate, who then and there represented the damage they should sustain by such a practice, the King by his letters immediately commanded that his passing that way should not be made a precedent for other people's so doing, but did utterly forbid and discharge them therefrom. His letter, directed 'to our dearly beloved the alderman, bailiffs, and good people of our Town of Stanford,' upon this occasion, is thus worded:—'Dear and well-beloved friends, by the grievous complaint of our beloved lieges and tenents of the town of Pillesyate near our town of Staunford, we have understood, that, in as much as, on Tuesday last, we passed through the middle of a meadow and a certain pasture there called Pillesyate meadow appertaining to the said town of Pillesyate, you, and others of the country circumjacent, claim to have and use an high way royal to pass through the middle of the said meadow and pasture, to the great damage and disseisin of our said lieges and tenents, whereupon they have supplicated for a remedy; so we will, if it be so, and we command and charge firmly, that you neither make nor use, nor suffer to be made nor used by others of our said town of Staunford, nor others whatsoever, no high road through the middle of the said meadow and pasture; but that you forbear from it entirely, and that you cause it to be openly proclaimed in our said town, that all others of our said town and the country round it, do likewise; to the end that our said tenents may have and peaceably enjoy the said meadow and pasture, so, and in the manner, as they have done before these times, without disturbance or impeachment of you or others, of what estate or condition soever they be, notwithstanding that we passed that way in manner as is said. And this in no manner fail ye. Given under our signet at Huntyngdon the 12th day of July.'"

I am unable to say whether the opinion it was the object of the above royal letter to refute was general, or was peculiar to the "good people" of Stanford, "and others of the country circumjacent."

C. H. COOPER.

Cambridge, June 18. 1851.

DOZEN OF BREAD; BAKER'S DOZEN (Vol. ii., p. 298.; Vol iii., p. 153.).

From the following extracts from two of the "Bury Wills" recently published by the Camden Society, it would appear that a dozen of bread always consisted of twelve loaves; and that the term "Baker's dozen" arose from the practice of giving, in addition to the twelve loaves, a further quantity as "inbread," in the same manner as it is (or until recently was) the custom to give an extra bushel of coals as "ingrain" upon the sale of a large quantity; a chaldron, I believe.

Francis Pynner, of Bury, Gent., by will, dated April 26, 1639, gave to feoffees certain property upon trust (inter alia) out of the rents, upon the last Friday in every month in the year, to provide one twopenny loaf for each of forty poor people in Bury, to be distributed by the clerk, sexton, and beadle of St. Mary's parish, who were to have the "inbread of the said bread." And the testator also bequeathed certain other property to feoffees upon trust to employ the rents as follows (that is to say):—

"The yerely sūme of ffiue pounds p'cell of the said yerely rents to be bestowed in wheaten bread, to be made into penny loaves, and upon eu'y Lord's day, called Sonday, throughout eu'y yere of the said terme [40 years or thereabouts], fowre and twenty loaves of the said bread, wth the inbread allowed by the baker for those twoe dosens of bread, to be timely brought and sett vpon a forme towards the vpp' end of the chancell of the said p'ish church of St. Marie, and ... the same twoe dosens of bread to be giuen and distributed ... to and amongst fowre and twentie poore people ... the p'ish clarke and sexton of the said church, and the beadle of the said p'ish of St. Marie for the time then being, shall alwaies be three wch from time to time shall haue their shares and parts in the said bread. And they, the said clarke, sexton, and bedell, shall alwaies haue the inbread of all the bread aforesaid ovr and besides their shares in the said twoe dosens of bread from time to time——"

And William Fiske, of Pakenham, Gent., by will, dated March 20, 1648, provided twelvepence a week to pay weekly for one dozen of bread which his mind was, should "be weekly given vnto twelue or thirteene" persons therein referred to.

J. B. COLMAN.

Eye, June 16. 1851.

MOSAIC. (Vol. iii., p. 389.)

Among the various kinds of picturesque representation, practised by the Greeks and Romans, and transmitted by them to after times, is that of Mosaic, a mode of execution which, in its durability of form, and permanency of colour, possesses distinguished advantages, being unaffected by heat or cold, drought or moisture, and perishing only with the building to which it has been originally attached. This art has been known in Rome since the days of the Republic. The severer rulers of that period forbade the introduction of foreign marbles, and the republican mosaics are all in black and white. Under the Empire the art was greatly improved, and not merely by the introduction of marbles of various colours, but by the invention of artificial stones, termed by the Italians Smalti, which can be made of every variety of tint. This art was never entirely lost. On the introduction of pictures into Christian temples, they were first made of mosaic: remaining specimens of them are rude, but profoundly interesting in an historical point of view. When art was restored in Italy, mosaic also was improved; but it attained its greatest perfection in the last and present century. Roman mosaic, as now practised, may be described as being the production of pictures by connecting together numerous minute pieces of coloured marble or artificial stones. These are attached to a ground of copper, by means of a strong cement of gum mastic, and other materials, and are afterwards ground and polished, as a stone would be, to a perfectly level surface. By this art not only are ornaments made on a small scale, but pictures of the largest size are copied. The most remarkable modern works are the copies which have been executed of some of the most important works of the great masters, for the altars in St. Peter's. These are, in every respect, perfect imitations of the originals; and when the originals, in spite of every care, must change and perish, these mosaics will still convey to distant ages a perfect idea of the triumphs of art achieved in the fifteenth century. Twenty years were employed in making one of the copies I have mentioned. The pieces of mosaic vary in size from an eighth to a sixteenth of an inch, and eleven men were employed for that time on each picture. A great improvement was introduced into the art in 1775, by Signor Raffaeli, who thought of preparing the smalti in what may be termed fine threads. The pastes or smalti are manufactured at Venice, in the shape of crayons, or like sticks of sealing-wax, and are afterwards drawn out by the workman, by a blowpipe, into the thickness he requires, often almost to an hair, and are seldom thicker than the finest grass stalk. For tables, and large articles, of course, the pieces are thicker; but the beauty of the workmanship, the soft gradation of the tints, and the cost, depend upon the minuteness of the pieces, and the skill displayed by the artist. A ruin, a group of flowers or figures, will employ a good artist about two months, when only two inches square; and a specimen of such a description costs from 5l. to 20l., according to the execution: a landscape, six inches by four, would require eighteen months, and would cost from 40l. to 50l. For a picture of Pæstum, eight feet long by twenty inches broad, on which four men were occupied for three years, 1000l. sterling was asked. The mosaic work of Florence differs entirely from Roman mosaic, being composed of stones inserted in comparatively large masses. It is called work in pietra dura; the stones used are all of a more or less precious nature. In old specimens, the most beautiful works are those in which the designs are of an arabesque character. The most remarkable specimen of this description of pietra dura, is an octagonal table, in the Gubinetto di Baroccio, in the Florence Gallery. It is valued at 20,000l. sterling, and was commenced in 1623 by Jacopo Detelli, from designs by Ligozzi. Twenty-two artists worked upon it without interruption till it was terminated, in the year 1649.

One principal distinction between the ancient and modern mosaic is, I believe, that the former was arranged in patterns, the latter coloured in shades. I shall not take up your columns by dwelling on the ancient mosaic, which, as all know was in use among the Orientals, especially the Persians and Assyrians; and from the Easterns the Greeks received the art. In the Book of Esther, i. 6., we have an allusion to a mosaic pavement; and Schleusner understands the Λιθόστρωτον of St. John, xix. 13., to mean a sort of elevated mosaic pavement. Andrea Tafi, towards the close of the thirteenth century, is said to have revived this art in Italy, having learned it from a Greek named Apollonius, who worked at the church of St. Mark at Venice, and to have been the founder of the modern mosaic.

Now for the derivation. The Lithostrata, or tesselated pavements of the Romans, being worked in a regular and mechanical manner, were called opus musivum, opera qua ad amussim facta sunt. Hence the Italian musaico, from whence is derived our appellation of mosaic; but, like most of our arts, through the channel of the French mosaïque. (Vide Pitisci Lexicon, ii. 242.; Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de Medici; Winkelman; Pompeiana, by Gell; Smith's Greek and Roman Antiq.; Beckman's Inventions; and Récherches sur la Peinture en Mosaïque chez les Anciens, &c., annexed to his Description d'un Pavé en Mosaïque, &c.: Paris, 1802.)

GERONIMO.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Prenzie (Vol. iii., p. 401.).

—Several words have been suggested to take the place of the unintelligible "prenzie" in Measure for Measure; but none of them appear to me to satisfy all the four conditions justly required by LEGES.

I would suggest phrensied or phrenzied, a word extremely like prenzie both in sound and appearance, and of the proper metre, thus perfectly satisfying two of the conditions.

With respect to the propriety of using this word in the two instances where prenzie occurs, Claudio, in the first place, when informed by his sister of the villany of Angelo, may well exclaim in astonishment—

i.e. "What, is he mad?" or, with a note of admiration, "Why, Angelo must be mad!" Then, I think, naturally follows Isabella's reply:—

that is, in the disguise or under the cloak of madness.

Johnson defines Frenzy to be

"Madness; distraction of mind; alienation of understanding; any violent passion approaching to madness."

and surely Angelo's violent passion for Isabella, and his determination to gratify it at all risks, may, properly be said to approach to madness.

W. G. M.

There is a Scotch word so nearly resembling this, and at the same time so exactly answering to the sense which the passage in Measure for Measure requires, that it may be worth while calling the attention of the Shakspearian commentators to it. In Allan Cunningham's Glossary to Burns, I find Primsie, which he defines to mean demure, precise. An old Scotch proverb is quoted, in which the word is used:

The term is evidently connected with, or formed from, the English prim, which has the same sense. It seems this was formerly sometimes written prin. Halliwell cites from Fletcher's poems the lines—

Now if from prim be formed the secondary adjective primsie, so from prin we get prinsie or prinzie. But without resorting to the supposition of the existence of this latter word, it is evident that in primzie, which does or did exist, we have a word answering all the conditions laid down by LEGES for determining the true reading, more nearly than any other that has been suggested.

CEBES.

[Dr. Jamieson, in his Scottish Dictionary, defines PRIMSIE, demure, precise, S. from E. prim.

Lady Flora Hastings' Bequest (Vol. iii., p. 443.).

—Were the beautiful lines entitled "Lady Flora's Bequest" in reality written by that lamented lady? They are not to be found in the volume of her Poems published after her death by her sister, the Marchioness of Bute; and they did appear in The Christian Lady's Magazine for September, 1839, with the signature of Miss M. A. S. Barber appended to them.

In the preceding Number of the same magazine there is a very touching account of Lady Flora, from the pen of its talented editress, who mentions the fact of Lady Flora having with her dying hand "delivered to her fond brother a little Bible, the gift of her mother, requesting him to restore it to that beloved parent with the assurance that from the age of seven years, when she received it from her, it had been her best treasure; and, she added, her sole support under all her recent afflictions."

If your correspondent ERZA has never seen that obituary notice (Seeleys, publishers) I think she will be glad to meet with it.

L. H. K.

Arches of Pelaga (Vol. iii., p. 478.)

—This term is in common use among sailors, meaning the Mediterranean Archipelago, and they may very often be heard saying—"When I was up the Arches."

E. N. W.

Southwark, June 16. 1851.

Engraved Warming-Pans (Vol. iii., pp. 84. 115.).

—I beg to add to the lists of H. G. T., and E. B. PRICE.

Some years ago I purchased one in Bradford, [~523] Wilts, and several at Bedwyn Magna in the same county. The Bradford one bears an heraldic nondescript animal with horns on its head and nose, and a coronet round its neck, surrounded by—

One of the Bedwyn ones bears a lion passant holding a scimitar, with the motto:

The last figure of the date is obliterated. Another has a shield bearing three tuns, surrounded by—

One in the possession of a farmer in the parish of Barton Turf, Norfolk, bears an eagle with a human head at its feet, surrounded by—

W. C. LUKIS.

Great Bedwyn, June, 1851.

St. Pancras (Vol. iii., pp. 285. 397.).

—St. Pancras was a native of the province of Phrygia, the son of a nobleman of the name of Cledonius; who, when at the point of death, strongly recommended this his only son, together with his fortune, which was very great, to the care of his brother Dionysius, he being the only near relative in being, the mother having previously deceased.

This trust Dionysius faithfully fulfilled, bringing up and loving his nephew as he would have done his own son; and when, three years after the death of Cledonius, he quitted his native country and proceeded to Rome, the youthful Pancras accompanied him. Upon reaching the imperial city, the uncle and nephew took up their residence in the same suburb where the Pope Marcellinus had fled for concealment from the persecution which had been raised against the Christians by the Emperors Diocletian and Maximianus. Here they had not been long resident before the fame of the great sanctity and virtue of Marcellinus reached their ears, and caused an ardent desire in both to see and converse with one so highly spoken of. A convenient opportunity was soon found, and in a short time both the uncle and nephew, renouncing their idolatry, became converted to the Christian faith.

So strong was the effect produced upon them by this change, that the chief desire of both was to die for their religion; and, without waiting for the arrival of the officers who were continually searching for the hidden Christians, they voluntarily surrendered themselves to the ministers of justice.

A few days after this event, however, Dionysius was called hence by a natural death.

Diocletian, who is said to have been a friend of Cledonius, and moved perhaps by the youth and graceful appearance of Pancras, strove by flattery and caresses to induce him to do sacrifice to the heathen gods; to this proposition Pancras absolutely refused to consent, and reproached the Emperor for his weakness in believing to be gods, men, who, while on earth, had been remarkable for their vices. Diocletian, stung by these reproaches, commanded that the youth should be instantly beheaded, which sentence was immediately carried into execution. His death is said to have taken place on 12th May, 303; the martyr being then but fourteen years of age.

The gate in Rome, rendered so remarkable lately as having been the chief point attacked by the French troops, was formerly called Porta Aurelia; but was subsequently named Porta Pancrazio, after this youthful sufferer.

R. R. M.

Pallavicino and Count d'Olivarez (Vol. iii., p. 478.)

—Ferrante Pallavicino was descended from a noble family, seated in Placenza. He entered the monastery of Augustine Friars at Milan, where he became a regular canon of the Lateran congregation. He was a man of fine genius, and possessed great wit, but having employed it in writing several satirical pieces against Urban VIII. during the war between the Barberini and the Duke of Parma and Placenza, he became so detested at the court of Rome, that a price was set on his head. One Charles Morfu, a French villain, was bribed to ensnare him, and pretending to pass for his friend and pity his misfortunes, persuaded him to go to France, which he said would be much to his advantage. Pallavicino gave himself up entirely to the direction of this false friend, who conducted him over the bridge at Sorgues into the territory of Venaissin, where he was arrested by people suborned for that purpose, was carried to Avignon, thrown into a dungeon, from which he tried to make his escape, and in the year 1644, after a fourteen months' imprisonment, was beheaded in the flower of his age. He was the author of a number of small pieces, all of which are marked by the lively genius of the author. They were collected and published at Venice in 1655, and amongst them I found one entitled "La disgracia del Conte d'Olivarez," which, perhaps, may be the work MR. SOULEY has in MS.

For a more lengthy account of this unhappy and extraordinary man, I would refer MR. SOULEY to the life prefixed to his collected works, and to that prefixed to a French translation of his Divortio celeste, printed at Amsterdam in 1696; and also to the preface to the English translation of that same very curious work, printed at London in 1718.

WILLIAM BROWN, Jun.

Mind your P's and Q's (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 357. 463.).

—When I proposed this Query, I mentioned that I had heard one derivation of the phrase. As it is different from either of those which have been sent, it may, perhaps, be worth insertion. I was told by a printer that the phrase had originated among those of his craft, since young compositors experience great difficulty in discriminating between the types of the two letters.

R. D. H.

[A correspondent has kindly suggested a new version of this saying, and suggests that for the future our readers should be reminded to mind, not their P's and Q's, but their N's and Q's.]

Banks, Family of (Vol. iii., pp. 390. 458.).

—In No. 81. R. C. H. H. asks if John Banks the philosopher was descended from Sir John Banks, Lord Chief Justice in Charles I.'s reign. As a grandson of the former, I take great interest in this, but am sorry to say that I can give no information at present on that branch of the subject. The philosopher's family were settled for some generations at Grange, near Keswick. I should be obliged if R. C. H. H. would communicate the name and publisher of the book on the Lakes which he quotes from, as I am exceedingly anxious to trace the genealogy.

BAY.

Liverpool, June 19. 1851.

National Debts (Vol. iii., p. 374.).

—The following extract from La Cronica di Giovanni Villani, lib. xii. c. 35., appears to have some reference to the Query made by F. E. M.:

"E nel detto mese di Febbraio, 1344, per lo comune si fece ordine, che qualunque cittadino dovesse avere dal comune per le prestanze fatte al tempo de' venti della balia, come addieto facemmo menzione, che si trovarono fiorini cinquecento-settantamila d'oro, sanza il debito di Messer Mastino della Scala, ch' erano presso a centomila fiorini d'oro, che si mettessono in uno registro ordinatemente; e dare il comune ogni anno di provvisione e usufrutto cinque per centinaio, dando ogni mese la paga per rata; e diputossi a fornire il detto guiderdone parte alla gabella delle parti, e parte ad altre gabelle, che montava l'anno da fiorini venticinque mila d'oro, dov' erano assegnate le paghe di Messer Mastino; e pagato lui, fossone assignati alla detta satisfazione; il quale Messer Mastino fu pagato del mese di Dicembre per lo modo che diremo innanzi. E cominciossi la paga della detta provvisione del mese d'Ottobre 1345."

R. R. M.

Monte di Pietà (Vol. iii., p. 372.)

—In reply to your correspondent W. B. H., requesting to be informed of the connexion between a "Pietà" and a "Monte di Pietà," it may be observed that there does not appear to be any necessary connexion between the two expressions. The term "a Pietà" is generally used to denote the figure of the dead Saviour attended by His Blessed Mother: for example, the celebrated one in St. Peter's at Rome. The word "Monte," besides its signification of "montagna," expresses also "luogo publico ove si danno oi si pigliano denari ad interesse;" also "luogo publico altresì dove col pegno si prestano denari con piccolo interesse."

"Pietà," in addition to its signification of "devozione," or "virtù per cui si ama ed onora Dia," &c., which would apply to the figure of the dead Saviour, expresses "compassione amorevole verso il suo simile."

Monte di Pietà would therefore be a place where money was lent at interest, on such terms as were in unison with a kind and compassionate feeling towards our neighbour. This species of establishment was first commenced in Italy towards the end of the fifteenth century, by Il Beato Bernardino da Feltri, who carried his opposition to the Jews so far as to preach a crusade against them. The earliest Monte of which any record appears to exist was founded in the city of Padua in 1491; the effect of which was to cause the closing of twelve loan banks belonging to the Jews.

From Italy they were shortly afterwards introduced into France.

The first legal sanction given to these establishments was granted by Pope Leo X. in 1551.

R. R. M.

Registry of Dissenting Baptisms (Vol. iii., pp. 370. 460.).

—From the replies to my Query on this subject that have been published, it is plain that in all parts of England Dissenters have wished to procure the registry of their children's births or baptisms in their parish churches. In some instances they have been registered as dissenting baptisms; and then the fact appears from the Registry itself. In other instances, and probably far the more numerous (though this would be difficult to prove), they were registered among the canonical baptisms; and the fact of their being performed by Dissenting Ministers is only discoverable by reference to the Dissenting Register, when it happens to have been preserved. So in the instances referred to in p. 370., the baptisms are registered without distinction from others in the Registry of St. Peter's Church, Chester; but a duplicate registry as on the same day was made at Cross Lane Meeting House, which is, I believe, not in St. Peter's parish; though, I presume, the residence of the parents was in it.

D. X.

Eisell (Vol. iii., pp. 66. 397.).

—I am not aware that the following passage has been quoted by any of the disputants in the late "Eisell" controversy. It occurs in Jewel's Controversy with Harding, pp. 651-2. of vol. ii. of the Parker Society's edition of Jewel's works.

"A Christian man removeth his household, and, having there an image of Christ, equal unto him in length, and breadth, and all proportion, by forgetfulness leaveth it there in a secret place behind him. A Jew after him inhabiteth the same house a long while, and seeth it not; another strange Jew, sitting there at dinner, immediately espieth it standing open against a wall.... Afterward the priests and rulers of the Jews come together, and abuse it with all villany. They crown it with a thorn, make it drink esel and gall, and stick it to the heart with a spear. Out issueth blood in great quantity, the powers of Heaven are shaken; the sun is darkened; the moon loseth her light."

CUDYN GWYN.

English Sapphics (Vol. iii., p. 494.).

—A beautiful specimen of this measure, far superior in rhythm to the attempt of Dr. Watts, appeared in the Youth's Magazine twenty-five years ago. It consisted of the Psalm "By the Waters of Babylon." I remember the last verse only.

H. E. H.

Mints at Norwich—Joseph Nobbs (Vol. iii., p. 447.).

—I beg to inform COWGILL that the operation of the Mint of the Great Recoinage of 1696-7 was performed in a room at St. Andrew's Hall, in this city; but the amount there coined, or at any of the other places mentioned, I am not able to inform him. The total amount said to be recoined was 6,882,908l. 19s. 7d.

£ s. d.

The amount at the Tower 5,091,121 7 7

And in the Country Mints 1,791,787 12 0

------------------------------------------

£6,882,908 19 7

The following are the names of persons employed in the Mint at Norwich:—

Francis Gardener, Esq., Treasurer.

Thomas Moore, Gent., Warder; Thomas Allen, his clerk.

Anthony Redhead, Gent., Master Worker; Mr. Beaser, his clerk.

William Lamb, Comptroller; Mr. Samuel Oliver, his clerk.

Heneage Price, Gent., King's clerk.

Mr. Rapier, Weigher and Teller.

Henry Yaxley, Surveyor of the Meltings.

Mr. John Young, Deputy Graver.

John Seabrook, Provost, and Master of the Moneyers.

Mr. Hartstongue, Assay Master, and his servant.—His brother, Edger, and Lotterer of the Half-Crowns, Shillings, and Sixpences. It is said crowns were not struck here, and I have never seen one of this Mint.

The whole of the work was finished here, September 29, 1698.

In pulling up the floor of an old house, in Tombland, in 1847, a quantity of the silver coin minted here was discovered, which, from the appearance of the coins, were never in circulation: they were sold to Mr. Cooper, silversmith, in London Street, for about 20l. No doubt the coins were abstracted from the Mint during the process of coining.

In the Register of Burials at St. Gregory's is the following entry, A. D. 1717:

"Joseph Nobbs, Parish Clerk of St. Gregory's, aged 89, was buried Novr. 4, 1717, being the year following the last entry in his Chronology. He was then 89 years of age, and, what is somewhat remarkable, that is the age of the present Clerk of St Gregory's."

G. H. I.

P. S. Some other matters relative to this Mint are among my memoranda.

Norwich, June 16. 1851.

Voltaire, where situated (Vol. iii., p. 329.).

—Your correspondent V. is informed, that the following particulars on the subject of his Query are given in a note to the article "Voltaire," in Quérard's France Littéraire, vol. x. p. 276.:—

"Voltaire est le nom d'un petit bien de famille, qui appartenait à la mère de l'auteur de la 'Henriade,'—Marie Catherine Daumart, d'une famille noble du Poitou."

HENRY H. BREEN.

St. Lucia, May, 1851.

Meaning of Pilcher (Vol. iii., p. 476).

—I must say I can see no difficulty at all about pilcher. If the r at the end makes it so strange a word, leave that out, and then you will have a word, as it seems, quite well established—pylche, toga pellice: Lye. Skinner thinks pilchard may be derived from it.

"Pilch, an outer garment generally worn in cold weather, and made of skins of fur. 'Pelicium, a pylche.' (Nominale MS.) The term is still retained in connected senses in our dialects. 'A piece of flannel, or other woollen, put under a child next the clout is, in Kent, called a pilch; a coarse shagged piece of rug laid over a saddle, for ease of a rider, is, in our midland parts, called a pilch.' (MS. Lansd. 1033.) 'Warme pilche and warme shon.' (MS. Digby, 86.) 'In our old dramatists the term is applied to a buff or leather jerkin; and Shakspeare has pilcher for the sheath of a sword." (Halliwell's Dictionary.)

"Pilche, or pilcher, a scabbard, from pylche, a skin coat, Saxon. A pilche, or leather coat, seems to have been the common dress for a carman. Coles has 'a pilch for a saddle, instratum,' which explains that it was an external covering, and probably of leather. Kersey also calls it a covering for a saddle; but he likewise gives it the sense of 'a piece of flannel to be wrapt about a young child.' It seems, therefore, to have been used for any covering." (Nares' Glossary.)

C. B.

Catalogues of Coins of Canute (Vol. iii., p. 326.).

—The following is a copy of the title-page of the work referred to by Βορεας:—A Catalogue of the Coins of Canute, King of Denmark and England; with Specimens. London: Printed by W. Bowyer and J. Nichols. 4to. 1777. It consists of twenty-four pages, and was compiled by Richard Gough, Esq.

J. Y.

Pontoppidan's Natural History of Norway (Vol. iii., p. 326.).

—An interesting notice of this work occurs in the Retrospective Review, vol. xiii., pp. 181-213.; but neither in that article nor in any bibliographical or biographical dictionary is the name of the translator given.

J. Y.

The First Panorama (Vol. iii., p. 406.).

—I have often heard my father say, that the first panorama exhibited was painted by Thomas Girtin, and was a semicircular view of London, from the top of the Albion Mills, near Blackfriars Bridge. It was exhibited in St. Martin's Lane, where, not many years back, I saw it, it having been found rolled up in a loft over a carpenter's shop. It was painted about 1793 or 1794, and my father has some of the original sketches.

E. N. W.

Southwark, June 2.

Written Sermons (Vol. iii., p. 478.).

—If M. C. L. asks, when and why written sermons took the place of extemporaneous discourses, I believe it may be said that written sermons were first in vogue. Certainly, the inability of most men to preach "without book," would be sufficient to ensure their early introduction. According to Bingham (see Ant. of the Christian Church, book xiv. chap. 4.), Origen was the first who preached extemporaneously, and not until after he was sixty years old. The great divines of the time of the English Reformation preached both written and oral sermons: many of these, especially of the former, are included in their printed works. The same remark also applies to the early Fathers of the Church. The use of the homilies, which were drawn up for the ignorant clergy at the Reformation, at once gave a sanction to the practice of writing sermons. The story of the preacher turning over his hour-glass at Paul's Cross, and starting afresh, must of course refer to an unwritten discourse. Sermons, being explications of scripture, used to follow the reading of the psalms and lessons: now, for the same reason, they come after the epistle and gospel. In olden time, the bishop was the only preacher, going from church to church, as now-a-days[2], with the same sermon or charge; and he addressed the people from the altar steps: afterwards the priest, as his deputy, preached in the pulpit, but the deacons were not allowed to preach at all.

ALFRED GATTY.

Bogatsky (Vol. iii., p. 478.).

—The little work, so justly popular in England, under the title of Bogatsky's Golden Treasury, is by no means a literal translation of the original; but was almost entirely re-written by Venn, the author of the Complete Duty of Man. This I state on good authority, as I believe; but I have never seen the original.

R. D. H.