Volume 4 — Notes.

A CAXTON MEMORIAL SUGGESTED.

After Caxton had slept with his fathers for three centuries, remembered only by a few antiquaries, it was deemed fit that a public monument should record his merits.

The Roxburghe club, much to the honour of its members, undertook to bear the cost of it, and to superintend its execution. With regard to its location, there was no question as to the paramount claims of Westminster. It was proposed, in the first instance, to place it in the collegiate church of St. Peter, within the precincts of which church Caxton had exercised his art. The want of a convenient space was rather an obstacle to that plan: a more serious obstacle was the amount of fees demanded on such occasions. It was then decided, and perhaps with more propriety, that it should be placed in the parish church of St. Margaret; and the execution of the monument, which was to be of the tablet form, was entrusted to the younger Westmacott.[1] An engraving of it has been published.[2] The inscription is

"To the memory

of William Caxton

who first introduced into Great Britain

the art of printing

and who A.D. 1477 or earlier

exercised that art

in the abbey of Westminster.

This tablet

in remembrance of one

to whom

the literature of his country

is so largely indebted

was raised

anno Domini MDCCCXX

by the Roxburghe club

earl Spencer, K.G. president."

The monument, as a piece of sculpture, is simplicity itself, and therefore suitable to the place of its destination. To the inscription I venture to make some slight objections: 1. Whether Caxton "introduced into Great Britain the art of printing" admits of a doubt. There is no evidence to invalidate the colophon of the Exposicio S. Jeronimi in simbolo Apostolorum.[3] Dibdin fully believed in its authenticity.[4] 2. Caxton is very imperfectly designated. He was a well-informed writer, a most assiduous translator, and a very careful editor. As early as 1548, he was classed among the Illustres majoris Britanniæ scriptores[5] — but we are on the decline, it seems, in point of tact and intelligence. 3. The date of his decease, and the place of his burial, should have been stated. The facts are recorded in the accounts of the churchwardens of this very parish, and nowhere else.[6] 4. The inscription, as a composition, wants terseness: on this point, I content myself with giving a hint typographically.

In 1847 a fresh attempt as made to revive the memory of Caxton. After due notice, a public meeting was held on the 12th of June to "promote the erection of a monument to commemorate the introduction of printing into England, and in honour of William Caxton, the earliest English printer"—the lord Morpeth in the chair. The meeting was extremely well attended. The form of monument proposed was, the combination of a fountain by day and a light by night—the poetical conception of the rev. H. H. Milman. Some excellent speeches were made—and I cannot but particularize that of the noble chairman; considerable sums were subscribed—the messieurs Clowes tendering 100l.; a committee, a sub-committee, a treasurer, and a secretary, were appointed.[7] —With the proceedings of that meeting, as publicly reported, my information terminated.

After a lapse of four years, a meeting of the subscribers to the Caxton Testimonial was advertised for the 10th of July, to "consider an offer made by the Coalbrookdale Iron Company to erect an iron statue of Caxton—and, in the event of the proposal being adopted, to determine the best means of carrying the same into effect." I was much astonished at this announcement. A meeting to consider an offer to perpetuate a fiction in connexion with an art which surpasses all other arts in its power of establishing truth! On reflection, I became calm; and felt that Mr. Henry Cole, the honorary secretary, was perfectly right in adopting the customary phraseology. The result of this meeting is a desideratum. It seems to have been private; for an examination of 300 columns of The Times, being, the history of four days, did not lead to the discovery of one word on the iron statue of Caxton.

If the statue-mania did not now prevail to an unexampled extent, I should feel much confidence in the sound sense of the subscribers—but I have my misgivings.

According to my feelings, which I avail myself of this opportunity of recording, we may commemorate an eminent individual in better ways than by the erection of a statue; the philanthropist, by an alms-house—the scholar, by scholarships—the naval commander, by a sea-mark—etc. Admitting that a statue may sometimes be the most desirable form of monument, the statue of an individual of whose features we are in entire ignorance is a misnomer. It is scarcely less than an absurdity.

As I have intimated that there is no authentic portrait of Caxton, I must now justify my conviction. Ames published a woodcut as a portrait of our venerable Caxton:[8] Dibdin discovered it to be a "portrait of Burchiello,"[9] an eccentric Florentine barber!—le poète le plus bizarre qui ait jamais écrit! Horace Walpole published a print said to represent earl Rivers "introducing Caxton to Edward IV."[10] It was copied from an illuminated MS. in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth, No. 265. Now, what says Mr. Todd? "That Caxton printed this book in 1477, is well known. But what has that circumstance to do with the earl presenting or attending the presentation of his own manuscript? The figure here introduced by the earl is evidently, by the tonsure and habit, a priest; which Caxton was not."[11] I have heard of no other engraved portraits of Caxton.

Viewing Caxton as a man of considerable literary abilities, and as the first English printer, I have now to propose for him a monument which shall do justice to his merits in both capacities—a monument which shall be visible at all times, and in all places: I propose a collective impression of his original compositions. Such a volume would be the best account of his life and works. It would also exhibit much of the literary history of the times—some sound criticism and notions on editorship—and curious specimens of the style of our forefathers. It would comprise what no wealth could procure—what no single library could produce. It would be, to use the forcible words of messieurs Visconti and Castellan, on a somewhat similar occasion, "un monument plus utile et plus durable que ceux même que l'on peut ériger avec le marbre et le bronze."[12]

Proposed Conditions.

1. A volume, to be entitled The Caxton Memorial, shall be printed for subscribers under approved editorship, and shall contain all the original compositions of WILLIAM CAXTON, as proems, notes, colophons, etc., with specimens of his translations, and fac-simile cuts of his device and types.

2. In order to expedite the progress of the volume, and to ensure the perfect accuracy of its contents, there shall be three co-editors—one of whom shall act as secretary.

3. The volume shall be printed in Roman type, with the ancient orthography and punctuation; and in two sizes—in royal octavo, and in demy octavo.

4. Subscribers of 1l. 1s. shall be entitled to a copy on royal paper, and subscribers of 10s. 6d. to a copy on demy paper.

5. Each editor shall be entitled to the same number of copies as are allowed by the Camden and other similar societies.

6. The number of copies printed shall not exceed the number for which subscriptions shall have been received, except as required by the fifth rule, and as presents to such public libraries, or private collectors, as may furnish a part of the materials.

7. Printers and publishers subscribing for six copies shall be allowed a discount of 25 per cent.

8. The names of the subscribers, and an account of the receipts and expenditure, shall be added to the volume.

The project now announced was formed by me, as to its principal features, at the close of the year 1849; but not a line was written before the appearance of the advertisement of the 5th instant. It had been communicated, however, in private, to the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES." To this fact I have no doubt he will cheerfully bear witness. As the previous scheme of a Caxton Testimonial was then almost forgotten, the idea could not have been conceived in spirit of rivalry. Nevertheless, if need be, I would oppose to the utmost of my ability, and fearless of any array of names which the rolls of literature may furnish, the PERPETUATION OF A FICTION.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Barnes Terrace, Surrey, July 15.

SUPPOSED WITCHCRAFT.

Cole, in his manuscript volume xlvi. p. 340, gives the copy of a paper written at the beginning of the seventeenth century, addressed to some Justices in Quarter Sessions, though of what county is not mentioned:—

"Maye it please your worships to understand what troubles, sicknesse, and losses the Petitioner hath suffered, and in what manner theye happened, and by plaine tokens and lyklyhood, by the meanes of this woman and others; but chiefly by her, as is gathered by all conjectures. And first of all, a Boare which I have, was in such case, that he could not crye nor grunt as beforetyme; neither could he goe, but creepe, until we used some meanes to recover him; but all was to no purpose, untill such tyme as we sent for Nicholas Wesgate, who, when he saw him, said, 'He was madd or bewitched;' and my Wyfe using meanes to give him some Milke, he bit her by the hand, and I fearing he was madd, sent after my wyfe, being toward Norwich, that she might get something at the Apothecaries to prevent the danger we feared: and that Horse which my man did ryde upon after my wife, was taken lame as he returned back again, and suddenly after was swollen lyke a Bladder which is blown, and died within eight dayes. Nexte a Calfe was taken lame, the legg turning upward, which was a strange sight to them whoe did beholde the same. Suddenly after that I had fyve Calves more, which should have sold for xiijs. iiijd. the Calfe, being sound and well in the evening, and the next daye in the morning they were in such case as wee could not endure to come nigh them, by reason of a filthy noisome savour, theyre hayre standinge upright on theyre backes, and theye shakinge in such sorte as I never sawe, nor any other, I suppose, lyveynge. Againe within a short space I had another Calfe, which was taken so strangely, as if the backe were broken, and much swollen, and within the space of three or four dayes it dyed. And within two or three dayes after, another Calfe was taken in such sorte that it turned round about, and did goe as if the backe were broken. Then was I wished to burne it, and I carried the Calfe to burne it, and after it was burned, I was taken with paynes and gripings, and soe continued in such sort, untyll shee came to my House; whereupon I did earnestly chide her, and said I would beate her, and that daye, I prayse God, I was restored to my former health."

H. E.

THE LATE SIR JOHN GRAHAM DALYELL, BARONET, OF BINNS, N.B.

This learned and accomplished gentleman was born in 1776. He was educated for the Scottish bar, to which he was called in the year 1797. Within a year or two after he was enrolled as a member of the Faculty, he produced his first quarto, Fragments of Scottish History. This was followed, in the year 1801, by a collection of Scottish Poems of the Sixteenth Century, in two octavo volumes. In 1809 appeared a Tract chiefly relative to Monastic Antiquities, with some Account of a recent Search for the Remains of the Scottish Kings interred in the Abbey of Dunfermline, the first of four or five thin octavos, in which Mr. Graham Dalyell called attention to those ecclesiastical records of the north, so many of which have since been printed by the Bannatyne, Maitland, and Spalding Clubs, under the editorial care of Mr. Cosmo Innes. A later and more laborious work was his Essay on the Darker Superstitions of Scotland; a performance which embodies the fruit of much patient study in rare and little read works, and affords many curious glimpses of the popular mythology of the north. The long list of the productions of Sir John Graham Dalyell closes with his Musical Memoirs of Scotland, published little more than a twelvemonth ago. The deceased baronet was distinguished also by his acquaintance with mechanical science, and still more by his knowledge of Natural History. Of the zeal with which he prosecuted this last pursuit, he has left a signal monument in his Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland. Sir John succeeded to the family title and estates, as sixth baronet, on the death of his elder brother, Sir James Dalyell, on February 1, 1841. He had previously been advanced to the honours of knighthood, by patent under the Great Seal, in the year 1836. He had been for some time in infirm health, and died at his residence, Great King Street, Edinburgh, on May 17, 1851, in his seventy-fourth year. Dying unmarried, he is succeeded by his younger brother, now Sir William Cunningham Cavendish Dalyell, of Binns, baronet, Commander R.N., Royal Hospital, Greenwich.

ABERDENIENSIS.

APPROPRIATION OF A THOUGHT—OLDHAM, DRYDEN, AND BYRON.—THE STATE OF MIND IN THE PROGRESS OF COMPOSITION.

Dryden, alluding to his work:

"When it was only a confused mass of thoughts tumbling over one another in the dark; when the fancy was yet in its first work, moving the sleeping images of things towards the light, there to be distinguished, and there either to be chosen or rejected by the judgment."—Dedication to the Rival Ladies.

Lord Byron's appropriation of the same idea:

Had Oldham or Dryden the prior claim to the thought? Byron derived his plagiarism from D'Israeli, "On the Literary Character" (vol. i. p. 284., 1828), where Dryden's Dedication to his Rival Ladies is quoted, and not from the Dedication itself, as the Retrospective Review imagined (vol. vii. p. 158.), "by levying contributions in the most secret and lonely recesses of our literature."

JAMES CORNISH.

THE "EISELL" CONTROVERSY.

When Polonius proposed to use the players according to their desert, Hamlet rebuked him with "Much better man! use every man after his desert, and who shall 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity!" I do not think it necessary to notice that what is merely coarse and vulgar in an unprovoked attack upon myself, feeling that I have no right to expect the man who has no consideration for his own dignity to think of mine. But when an attempt is made to sow dissension between me and those whose opinions I value, and whose characters I esteem, I feel that in justice to myself and in satisfaction to them, a few words are not out of place.

Some few of your readers may have seen a pamphlet in reply to MR. SINGER, on the meaning of eisell and from certain insinuations about "pegs and wires," and a "literary coterie," it might be supposed that there existed some other bond for the support of "NOTES AND QUERIES" than a common object affords. I wish then to inform such of them as may not happen to belong to the "coterie" in question (which I suppose exists somewhere—perhaps holds a sort of witch's-sabbath on some inaccessible peak in the pamphleteer's imagination), that I have never, to my knowledge, even seen either MR. SINGER or the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES;" and that, so far from meaning offence to the angry gentleman who seems disposed to run-a-muck against all who come in his way, I actually supposed all meant in good part, and characterised his remarks as "pleasant criticism."

From an apparent inability, however, of this pamphleteer to distinguish between pleasantry and acrimony, he has attempted to fix on me offences against others when I have ventured to dissent from their conclusions. All I can say is, that I have never written anything inconsistent with the very high respect I feel for the abilities and the great services rendered by the gentlemen I have had occasion to allude to.

Dire is the wrath of the pamphleteer that he should have been charged by MR. SINGER with "want of truth." That gentleman doubtless saw what I did not, the implied insinuation—since burst into full flower—about a "coterie." Yet the candid controversialist, now, after due deliberation, insinuates that a "canon of criticism," which I ventured to suggest, and at which he now finds it convenient to sneer, was remembered for the purpose of "bolstering up" MR. SINGER'S "bad argument." So far from this being the case, he knows that I used MR. SINGER'S argument—at the close of, and apart from the main purpose of my letter, to illustrate mine. So, in another place, in the attempt to show up my "charming and off-hand modesty," he quotes my opinion that the meaning of "rack" might be "settled at once and for ever," suppressing the fact that I made the assertion with a view of "testing the correctness of my opinion that the question was not one of etymology, but of construction. In short, an adept in the use of those weapons which are of value only where victory seems a higher aim than truth, his honesty would appear to be upon a level with his taste.

I have now done with this gentleman. Of the importance of inquiries into nice verbal distinctions there might be a question, but that they sometimes furnish a clue to more valuable discoveries but for this fact I should little regard them. At all events, the remark about the difference "'twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee," comes with strange inconsistency from one who has written fifty-two pages with no other result than raising the question whether "bitter" was not "sour," and proving how both qualities may be combined in a truly "nauseous medicament."

SAMUEL HICKSON.

St. John's Wood.

[Our attention having, been directed by the preceding letter to Mr. Causton's pamphlet, we procured and read it, with feelings of deep pain, not for ourselves but for the writer. We are content to rest the justification of our conduct in abridging, or, as Mr. Causton terms it, "mutilating," that gentleman's communication, on the very passages which we omitted, and he has reprinted. Mr. Causton's pamphlet, written in defence of his literary reputation, proves that that reputation has no enemy so dangerous as himself. We may add that we propose next week publishing a summary of the evidence on both sides of this disputed question, written not by Mr. Causton nor Mr. Hickson, but by a correspondent who, like those gentlemen, is personally unknown to us.]

Minor Notes.

"Miserrimus."

—I have an extraordinary little volume, which, I am told, was written by Frederic Mansell Reynolds, who died in June, 1850, entitled, "Miserrimus. On a gravestone in Worcester Cathedral is this inscription, 'Miserrimus,' with neither name, date, nor comment. NOT PUBLISHED. Printed by Davison, Simmons, & Co., 1832," 12mo.

The work purports to be a sort of autobiography of a most miserable wretch, and we are left to suppose that his remains lie under the stone in question, for we are not furnished with any preface or introduction. Whether the author was aware of the name of the person over whom so singular an inscription was placed does not appear; but there is no reason to believe that the repulsive and painful aberrations he details had any relation to the individual buried under the memorial of "Miserrimus," whose name is recorded in Chambers's Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire, p. 310., as the Rev. Thomas Morris, who was deprived of all ecclesiastical preferment for refusing to acknowledge the king's supremacy at the Revolution, and died, it is stated, in 1748, silvered over with the weight and infirmities of eighty-eight years—"Miserrimus."

F. R. A.

The Dog and Duck, St. George's Fields.

—It is not generally known, that the old stone sign of that celebrated place of public resort is still in existence, and is preserved by being imbedded in the brick wall of the garden of Bedlam Hospital (visible from the road), representing a dog squatting on his haunches with a duck in his mouth; and the date 1617. It was placed here on removal of the old house which stood on, or very close to, the spot; and in the superintendent's (Mr. Nicholl's) room is a very pretty drawing of that ancient place of amusement. I have had a sketch made of it in large.

Any information respecting the Dog and Duck, its guests, visitors, or landlords, would be most acceptable to

G. CREED.

The Habit of Profane Swearing by the English.

—The revolting habit of swearing—which, of late years, has happily diminished—has been a marked characteristic of the English for many centuries; and the national adjuration which has given us a nick-name on the continent, appears to have prevailed at an earlier period than is generally supposed.

"The English," observes Henry, "were remarkable in this period (between 1399 and 1485) among the nations of Europe, for the absurd and impious practice of profane swearing in conversation."

The Count of Luxemburg, accompanied by the Earls of Warwick and Stafford, visited the Maid of Orleans in her prison at Rouen, where she was chained to the floor and loaded with irons. The Count, who had sold her to the English, pretended that he had come to treat with her about her ransom. After addressing him with contempt and disdain, she turned her eyes towards the two Earls, and said,—"I know that you English are determined to put me to death, and imagine that, after I am dead, you will conquer France: but, though there were a hundred thousand G—— dammees more in France than there are, they will never conquer that kingdom." So early had the English got this odious nick-name by their frequent and common use of that horrid and disgusting imprecation.

T. WE.

Tennyson's Use of the Word "Cycle."

—A Moiety.—There is a line in Locksley Hall which has always appeared to me a sad blemish in a fine poem, and which may, perhaps, puzzle posterity as much as any of those which have been illustrated by G. P. (Vol. iii., p. 319.) I allude to that in stanza 92.:

Posterity will easily learn that the Chinese cycle was just "sixty years," and will have some difficulty in believing that Tennyson should have rated the disparity between life in Europe and in China no higher than as six to five. It is evident that the poet used a "cycle" in the signification of a long period of years; but will posterity be able to find any authority for this use of the word? Can any one refer to a dictionary which explains it in that sense, or to any other good author who has so used it?

This use of the word "cycle" is associated in my mind with a use (or rather abuse) of the word "moiety," which prevails in the north of Ireland, and perhaps elsewhere. It properly signifies "one half," but many employ it in the sense of a very small portion. I hope no one will introduce it into poetry with this signification.

MATTER OF FACT.