Volume 5 — Queries.

DID ST. PAUL QUOTE ARISTOTLE?

Throughout the writings of St. Paul, his exactly cultivated mind is scarcely less visible than his divinely inspired soul. Notwithstanding his magnificent rebukes of human learning and philosophy, and his sublime exaltation of the foolishness of God above the wisdom of men, the Apostle of the Gentiles was no mean master of Gentile learning. His three well-known quotations from Greek poets furnish direct evidence of his acquaintance with Greek literature. He proclaimed the fatherhood of God to the Athenians in the words of his countryman the poet Aratus (Acts, xvii. 28.). He warns the Corinthians by a moral common-place borrowed from the dramatist Menander (1 Cor. xv. 33.). He brings an hexameter verse of a Cretan poet as a testimony to the bad character of the Cretan people (Titus, i. 12.). I do not positively assert that I have discovered a fourth quotation; I would merely inquire whether the appearance in a Pauline epistle of a sentence which occurs in a treatise of Aristotle, is to be regarded as a quotation, or as an accidental and most singular identity of expression. In the Politics (lib. III. cap. 8.), Aristotle, in speaking of very powerful members of a community, says, "κατα δε των τοιουτων ουκ εστι νομος" ("but against such there is no law"). In the Epistle to the Galatians (v. 23.), Paul, after enumerating the fruits of the Spirit, adds, "against such there is no law" ("κατα των τοιουτων ουκ εστι νομος"). The very same words which the philosopher uses to express the exceptional character of certain over-powerful citizens, the apostle borrows, or, at least, employs, to signify the transcendent nature of divine graces. According to Aristotle, mighty individuals are above legal restraint, against such the general laws of a state do not avail: according to Paul, the fruits of the Spirit are too glorious and divine for legal restraint; they dwell in a region far above the regulation of the moral law.

While there is no possibility of demonstrating that this identity of expression is a quotation, there is nothing to forbid the idea of this sentence being a loan from the philosopher to the apostle. Paul was as likely to be at home in the great philosophers, as in the second and third-rate poets of Greece. The circumstance of Aratus being of his own birth-place, Tarsus, might specially commend the Phænomena to his perusal; but the great luminary of Grecian science was much more likely to fall within his perusal than an obscure versifier of Crete; and if he thought it not unseemly to quote frown a comic writer, he surely would not disdain to borrow a sentence from the mighty master of Stagira. The very different employment which he and Aristotle find for the same words makes nothing against the probability of quotation. The sentence is remarkable, not in form, but in meaning. There is nothing in the mere expression peculiarly to commend it to the memory, or give it proverbial currency. I cannot say that it is a quotation; I cannot say that it is not.

I am not aware that this quotation or identity of expression has been pointed out before. Wetstein, who above all editors of the Greek Testament abounds in illustrations and parallel passages from the classics, takes no notice of this identical one. It is surely worth the noting; and should anything occur to any of your correspondents either to confirm or demolish the idea of quotation, I would gladly be delivered out of my doubt. I should not think less reverently of St. Paul in believing him indebted to Aristotle; I should rather rejoice in being assured that one of the greatest spiritual benefactors of mankind was acquainted with one of its chief intellectual benefactors.

THOMAS H. GILL.

Minor Queries.

Silver Royal Font.

—I remember having read of a very ancient silver font, long preserved among the treasures of the British crown, in which the infants of our royal families were commonly baptized. Is this relic still in existence? where may it be seen? what is its history? have any cuts or engravings of it been published? where may any particulars respecting it be found?

NOCAB.

L'Homme de 1400 Ans.

—In that very extraordinary part of a very extraordinary transaction, the statement of Cagliostro, in the matter of the Collier (Paris, 1786, pp. 20. 36.), mention is twice made of an imaginary personage called l'homme de 1400 ans. Cagliostro complains that he was said to be that personage, or the Wandering Jew, or Antichrist. He is not, therefore, the same as the Wandering Jew. I should be very curious to learn where this notion is derived from.

C. B.

Llandudno, on the Great Orme's Head.

—Having occasion to visit the above interesting place last summer, among other objects of curiosity, I was induced to visit a "cavern," which the inhabitants said had been lately discovered, and which they said had been used by the "Romans" (Roman Catholics) as a place of worship. A party of five hired a boat for the purpose of visiting the place, which is about two miles from the little bay of Llandudno; for it is quite inaccessible by land. We arrived in about an hour; and were quite surprised at the appearance of the "cavern," which seems to have been made as private as possible, and as inaccessible, by large stones being piled carelessly upon each other, so as to hide the entrance, and which we could not have found without the assistance of the sailors. The "cavern" is about ten feet high, lined with smooth and well-jointed stone work, with a plain but nicely executed cornice at the height of seven or eight feet. The shape is heptagonal, and the fronts on each side are faced with smooth stone; the space from front to back, and from side to side, is equal, about six feet six inches. On the right, close to the entrance, is a font, sixteen inches across inside, twenty-two outside, and eight or nine inches deep. There is a seat round, except at the entrance; and there has been a stone table or altar in the centre, but a small portion of it and the pillar only remain. The floor has been flagged, but it is in a very dilapidated state. That it was used for worship, there is little doubt; but how and when it was fitted up, seems marvellous. It is not mentioned by Pennant, or any Welsh tourist.

Will any of your correspondents oblige me and the public with the history of this "cavern," as it is called, at Llandudno?

L. G. T.

Johnson's House, Bolt Court.

—Can any of your readers inform me whether the house in which Dr. Johnson resided, and in which he died, situate in Bolt Court, Fleet Street, is yet in existence? You are probably aware that an engraving of it appeared in the Graphic Illustrations edited by Mr. Croker, and prefixed to this engraving was an announcement that it was destroyed by fire.

There is reason, however, to believe that this is a mistake, and that the house so destroyed by fire belonged not to Johnson, but to Johnson's friend, Allen the printer.

You are probably aware that the house which stands opposite the Johnson's Head Tavern, is shown as the residence of the great moralist; and on comparing another engraving by Smith of the Doctor's study with the room now claimed to have been occupied by Johnson, the likeness is exact. Cobbett, too, who afterwards lived here, boasted in one of his publications that he was writing in the same room where Johnson compiled his Dictionary. At any rate it is an interesting question, and probably can be set at rest by some of your literary friends, especially as I have reason to believe that there is one gentleman still living who visited the Doctor in Bolt Court. Madame D'Arblay, I think, once said, that the author of the Pleasures of Memory arrived at the door at the same moment with herself during Johnson's last illness.

EDWIN LECHLADE.

Bishop Mossom.

—Robert Mossom, D.D., was prebendary of Knaresboro' in Yorkshire, 1662, and Bishop of Derry, 1666. In dedicating his Zion's Prospect (1651) to Henry (Pierrepont) Marquess of Dorchester and Earl of Kingston, towards the end he says, "Besides this, mine relation to your late deceased uncle;" then referring to the margin he has "Ds. T. G., Eques felicis memoriæ."

Zion's Prospect (a copy of which, with several of his other works, is in the library of the British Museum) has on the title-page, "By R. M., quondam è collo S. P. C."

His grandson, Robert Mossom, D.D. (son of Robert Mossom, LL.D., Master in the French Court of Chancery), was Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and subsequently Dean of Ossory from 1701 to 1747; he married Rebecca, daughter and coheir of Robert Mason of Dublin, and granddaughter, I believe, of Jonathan Alaud of Waterford. Dean Mossom was one of the oldest friends of Dean Swift; Sir Walter Scott has but one letter to him in Swift's Correspondence (2nd ed. Edin. 1824, vol. XIX. p. 275.). Are there any other letters that passed between them in existence?

Can any of your readers refer me to a pedigree of the Masons of Dublin, and also any pedigree that connects the Mossom with the Elaud family of Yorkshire?

What college was that of S. P. C.? and who was Sir T. G——, Knt.; and how was he related to Bishop Mossom?

T. C. M. M.

Inner Temple.

Orlando Gibbons.

—Hawkins, in his History of Music, gives "a head" of this musician. Is there any other engraved portrait?

EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.

Portraits.

—What is the most correct catalogue of all the engraved portraits which are known to exist?

S. S.

Barnard's Church Music.

—Can any of your readers point out where John Barnard's first book of selected church music, folio, ten parts, 1641, is to be found? The writer knows of the imperfect set at Hereford Cathedral, a tenor part at Canterbury, and a bass part in private hands. Dr. Burney makes mention, in his History of Music, of having sought diligently throughout the kingdom, but could not find an entire copy. Perhaps some of your correspondents may kindly favour the writer with a list of its contents.

AMANUENSIS.

The Nelson Family.

—In Burke's Commoners, under the head of "Nelson of Chuddleworth," it appears that William Nelson of Chuddleworth, born in 1611, had by his second wife, the daughter of John Pococke, gentleman, of Woolley, among other children, a son named William; but of whom no further mention is made.

Can any of your Norfolk or Berkshire friends state whether this son William ever settled at Dunham Parva, in Norfolk?—as, by so doing, an obligation will be conferred on your occasional correspondent

FRANCISCUS.

Letters to the Clergy.

—In the Diary of Walter Yonge (published by the Camden Society), p. 24., is the following:

"16 Dec. 1614. This day the Ministers of this Diocese (Exon) were called before the Bishop of Exon, who read letters from the Archbishop, the effects of which were, that every minister should exhort his parishioners to continue together the Sabbath Day, and not to wander to other preachers who have better gifts than their own pastors, but should content themselves with the Word of God read and Homilies. 2. That all should kneel at the receiving of the Sacrament. 3. To declare unto their parishioners that it is not necessary to have the Word preached at the Sacraments.—Dictu Magistri Knowles, Vicarii de Axminster, at that time present."

Query, Can any of your readers say to what letter, and on what occasion such orders were issued by the archbishop, and also whether they have been published in any volume on ecclesiastical matters?

H. T. E.

Margaret Burr.

—It is related in Allan Cunningham's Life of Gainsborough, that he married a young lady named Margaret Burr, of Scottish extraction; and that

"On an occasion of household festivity, when her husband was high in fame, she vindicated some little ostentation in her dress by whispering to her niece, now Mrs. Lane, 'I have some right to this, for you know, my love, I am a prince's daughter.'"

The biographer of the British Painters prefaces this by saying,

"Nor must I omit to tell that rumour conferred other attractions (besides an annuity) upon her; she was said to be the natural daughter of one of our exiled princes, nor was she, when a wife and a mother, desirous of having this circumstance forgotten."

As I just now read in Vol. iv., p. 244., some account of Berwick, and other natural children of James II., I was put in mind of the above anecdote, and should be glad of any information respecting the Miss Burr's parentage in question. Myself a collateral descendant of her husband, I know from other sources that the tradition is worthy of credit; and to the genealogist and antiquary it may be a historically interesting enquiry.

H. W. G. R.

Northern Ballads.

—Is any gentleman in possession of any old printed copies of Danish or Swedish popular ballads, or of any manuscript collection of similar remains? Are any such known to exist in any public library in Great Britain? By printed, of course I mean old fly-sheets, from the sixteenth century downward; they are generally of four, sometimes of eight, leaves small octavo. Any information, either personally, or through "N. & Q.," will much oblige

GEORGE STEPHENS.

Copenhagen.

"Blamed be the man," &c.

—Where is the following couplet to be found?

N. O. K.

"Quid est Episcopus."

—Can any correspondent furnish me with the reference to a passage supposed to exist in one of the early fathers (I think Irenæus):—

X. G. X.

Henry Isaac.

—I shall feel obliged to any person who can give any account (for genealogical purposes) of Henry Isaac, who lived at Roehampton about the middle of last century. He was a diamond merchant from Holland. He had a collection of pictures, one of which was the Lord of the Vineyard paying his Labourers, by Rembrandt.

H. T. E.

German Poet quoted by Camden.

—Britannia, sive regnorum Angliæ, Scotiæ, et Hiberniæ chorographica descriptio: Gulielmo Camdeno: Lond. 1607, folio, p. 302., Middlesex.

"Nec magno hinc intervallo Tamisim duplici ostiolo Colus postquam insulas sparserit, illabitur. Ad quem ut nostræ ætatis Poeta Germanus lusit:

Camden, speaking of the Colne falling with a double mouth into the Thames, quotes a German poet of his day; and I should be much obliged by any reader of the "N. & Q." favouring me with the name, and reference to the author from whence the preceding quotation is taken.

☞ F.

American Degrees.

—Several members of the Brougham Institute here, and constant readers of "N. & Q.," would feel obliged if some of your learned correspondents would give them some information about the obtaining of American degrees, as recently a large cargo of diplomas had arrived in this quarter, such as D.D. and LL.D., and conferred on men of third-rate talent. What we want is, to be informed how such degrees are obtained; if it is the president, or president and professors, of the American academies who confer them. This subject is so frequently agitated here, that you would greatly oblige many inquirers by making a question of it in "N. & Q.," so that we may obtain full reply explanatory of how these degrees are obtained, and of the bestowers of them.

J. W.

Liverpool.

Derivation of News.

—It is just two years since the word News was stated to be derived from the initial letters of the cardinal points of the compass, as prefixed to early newspapers. I well remember the impression which the statement made on me: if written seriously, as a mark of credulity; if sportively, as rather out of place. Moreover, it was both stated as a fact, and as an ingenious etymology—a manifest inconsistency.

In the fierce and tiresome discussion which arose out of that announcement, the main points in support of the asserted derivation were never once introduced. Do such early newspapers exist? Is the derivation itself of early date? As to the first question, I must declare that no such newspapers ever came under my observation; but as to the second, it must be admitted that the derivation has been in print, with all the weight of evidence which belongs to it, above two centuries.

I shall assume, if not better informed, that it has no other authority than the subjoined epigram in Wits recreations, first published in 1640, and said to contain the finest fancies of the muses of those times. In default of the original edition of that rare work, I transcribe from the re-publication of it in 1817.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Passage in Troilus and Cressida.

—Would MR. J. PAYNE COLLIER, whose name I have often seen among your contributors, have the kindness to inform me whether any light is thrown, in the emendations inserted in his folio edition of Shakspeare, 1628, on a line which has always puzzled me in Ulysses' speech in council, in Scene 3. of Act I. of Troilus and Cressida? The passage runs thus:

It will be seen that the third line, according to the usual pronunciation of the last word, is defective in scanning; that, if derived from divido, the vowel in the penultimate syllable would be i and not a; and that, even if intended to express the word divided, as suggested by one of our commentators, would be too vague and inexpressive.

Might I suggest that the derivation is not from the word divido, but rather from a compound of the words divitiæ and do; the expression "riches-giving shores" not only completing the sense of the passage, but forming a compound not uncommon with our immortal bard.

W. S. D.

Bachelor's Buttons.

—That should be their name if they exist; but, if so, where are they to be got? I never heard of them. I should think a clever fellow might make a fortune by inventing some kind of substitute which a man without the time, skill, or materials necessary for sewing on a button, might put in the place of a deserter. If you do not insert this Query, may your brace buttons fly off next time you are dressing in a hurry to dine with the grandest people you know!

YOUR WELLWISHER.

Princes of Wales and Earls of Chester, eldest Sons of the Kings of England.

—In the New Memoirs of Literature, vol. iv., July, 1726, it was announced that Mr. Bush, one of the Clerks of the Record Office in the Tower, and late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, designed to print a Collection of Charters, Letters Patent, and other instruments concerning the creation and investiture of the eldest sons of the Kings of England as Princes of Wales, Dukes of Cornwall, Earls of Chester and Flint, &c. &c., from the time of Edward, the first Prince of Wales (afterwards King Edward II.), to the time of Edward IV.

Can any of your correspondents inform me whether such a work ever was published? and who was the editor of the monthly review entitled New Memoirs of Literature, which extended to six volumes 8vo.? It contains notices of many old and now rare works, and stopped in December, 1727.

G.

Authenticated Instances of Longevity.

—Your correspondent A. B. R. (antè, p. 145.) and others argue their question of the old Countess of Desmond very ably;—will any one of them be pleased to argue my question? Is there one word of truth in the story, or any other story that rests, as a preliminary condition, on the assumption that people have lived to one hundred and fifty years of age? Of course the proof is to rest on dates and facts, parish registers—on clear legal evidence. It is admitted by actuaries and others, learned in such matters, that the average duration of life is greater now than it was; so, we might fairly assume, would be the exceptional life. Can these gentlemen refer us to a single instance of an insured person who lived to one hundred and fifty? to one hundred and forty, thirty, twenty, ten? aye, to one hundred and ten? There is a nonsensical inscription to this effect on the portrait of a man of the name of Gibson, hung up in Greenwich Hospital, but its untruth has been proved. I also remember another case made out to the entire satisfaction of some benevolent ladies, by, as afterwards appeared, the baptismal register of John the father being made to do duty as the register of John the son. I mention these things as a warning; I protest, too, at starting against flooding "N. & Q." with evidence brought from Russia or America, or any of the back settlements of the world, and against all evidence of people with impossible memories. What I want is good legal evidence; the greatest age of the oldest members of the Equitable, Amicable, and other Insurance offices—lives certainly beyond the average; the greatest age of a member of the House of Peers coming within the eye of proof. When these preliminary questions, and reasonable inferences, shall have been determined, it will, I think, be quite time enough to raise questions about the old Countess, old Parr, old Jenkins, and other like ante-register longevities.

O. C. D.

Minor Queries Answered.

Laud's Letters and Papers.

—Can any of your correspondents inform one where any unpublished letters or papers of Archbishop Laud are to be met with, besides those at Lambeth or in the British Museum?

Anthony à Wood mentions his speech against Nathanael Fiennes; and Wanley, in his Catalogue of English and Irish MSS., states that many of his writings, both political and theological, were extant at that time in private libraries.

B. J.

[Archbishop Laud's Works are now in the course of publication in the Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology, and from the editor's valuable bibliographical prefaces to vols. i. and ii., we think it probable that some notices of these MSS. will be given in the subsequent volumes. Our correspondent may also consult Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ, Oxon. 1697.]

Scot's Philomythie.

—Philomythie, or Philomythologie, wherein Outlandish Birds, Beasts, and Fishes are taught to speak true English plainlie, &c.

The same volume, a small quarto unpaged, contains "The Merrie American Philosopher, or Wise Man of the New World," and "Certaine Pieces of this Age Parabolized, viz. Duellum Britannicum; Regalis Justitia Jacobi; Aquignispicium; Antidotum Cecillianum; by Thomas Scot, Gentleman, 1616, with illustrative woodcuts."

Query: Is the book rare, and who was Thomas Scot?

L. S.

[But little appears to be known of the personal history of Thomas Scot. Sir S. Egerton Brydges, in his Censura Literaria, vol. iii. pp. 381-386., and vol. iv. p. 32., has given some account of his works, but no biographical notice of the author. The dedications to his poems being principally to the Norfolk and Suffolk gentry, it is probable he belonged to one of those counties. The first edition of Philomythie was published in 1610; the second in 1616; but some copies of the second edition, according to Lowndes, are dated 1622, others 1640. There is a third portion which our correspondent does not appear to possess, entitled The Second Part of Philomythie, or Philomythologie, containing Certaine Tales of true libertie, false friendship, power united, faction and ambition. By Thomas Scot, Gent. London, 1616, 1625. Thomas Park thought that, from the great disparity of merit between this and the preceding part, there is little reason to suppose them to be by the same author, though they bear the same name. Scot's works are considered rare, especially his first, entitled Four Paradoxes of Arte, of Lawe, of Warre, of Seruice: London, 1602, consisting of twenty-four leaves, in verse, dedicated to Ladie Helena, Marquesse of Northampton, which is marked in Bibl. Anglo. Poet. at 25l., and resold for 7l. 12s. (Hibbert, 7243.)]

Robin of Doncaster.

—Give me leave to ask for an explanation of the following enigmatical epitaph, which will be found in the History of Doncaster, by Dr. Edward Miller, p. 74.:

Dr. Johnson latinized a part of it thus:

In Magna Britannia et Hibernia, antiqua et nova, vol. vi. p. 429., it is stated that Robin of Doncaster gave Rossington Wood to that corporation. Perhaps some reader may be able to supply more of his biography.

☞ F.

[A similar epitaph to the above will be found on the tomb of William Lambe, in the church of St. Faith under Paul: see Strype's Stow, book iii. p. 146. Dr. Miller does not appear to have given any biographical notices of Robert Byrkes, except that he was Mayor of Doncaster during the years 1569, 1573, and 1577. The following explanation of this inscription is given by Bland in his Proverbs, vol. i. p. 23.:—"By prudence in the distribution of his benevolence, by giving only to good and deserving persons, he procured to himself friends, on whose advice and assistance he might depend whenever occasion should desire it; and by expending only what he could conveniently spare, and laying it out on such things as administered to his comfort, he enjoyed, and therefore had what he expended; but what he left, not being enjoyed by himself, nor going perhaps to persons of his choice, or being used in the manner he would have preferred, that portion might be truly said to be lost."]

Horæ Belgicæ.

—In what language is the second part of Hoffman von Fallersleben's Horæ Belgicæ written? This, from its title being written in Latin, may seem a foolish question, but it is also called (N. & Q., Vol. v., p. 7.) Holländische Volkslieder: and where can it be procured or seen?

W. S. S.

[Hoffman's work consists of six parts, of which the first—a bibliographical essay on old Flemish literature—is written in Latin. The second, to which our correspondent refers, is in German. Part III. contains the Flemish Floris ende Blancefloer, with a German Introduction; Part IV., the old Flemish Caerl ende Elegast, has a Latin preface; while Part V., containing Lantsloof ende die scone Sandrijn and Renout van Montalbaen, and Part VI., Altniederländische Schaubühne, a collection of early Flemish dramatic pieces, have German introductions. We believe the work may be procured of Williams and Norgate. If not, or our correspondent only wishes to refer to it, we shall be very happy to place our copy at his service for a few weeks.]

Dulcarnon.

—"I am at Dulcarnon." What is the origin of the above saying? I heard it used the other day by a person who, declaring he was at his wit's end, exclaimed, "Yes, indeed I am at Dulcarnon." Since that I have seen it in Boyer's French Dictionary, but in no English book.

H. CORVILLE WARDE.

Kidderminster.

[In addition to the note in our first Vol. p. 254, we may remark that Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary, says this word has set all editors of Chaucer at defiance. A clue to its meaning may be found in Stanihurst's Description of Ireland, p. 28.: "These sealie soules were (as all dulcarnanes for the most part are) more to be terrified from infidelitie through the paines of hell, than allured to Christianitie by the joies of heaven."]