Bodleiana, Cantica et Orationes, pp. 461-74. Commentarii in quatuor Evangelia, pp. 475-728: for other editions, Bibl. Bodl. Walchii Bibl. Theologica; Fabricii Bibl. Græca, vol. viii. p. 328, &c. (or vol. vii. p. 474); Cave, Hist. Lit., vol. i. p. 646. BIBLIOTHECAR. CHETHAM.

DANTE AND HERALDRY.-In the various discussions on the early use of coat armour which have recently come before the public, reference has been freely made to rolls of arms, seals, &c. But I have nowhere noticed the interesting fact that, not only are heraldic insignia familiarly blazoned in Dante's great poem, but in certain passages of his work, the personages whom he commemorates are defined by these insignia alone. Hence an acquaintance with the distinctive devices which characterised Italian families in the thirteenth century must have been very general at the time when Dante wrote to insure such a result, as that the mere blazoning of their armorial ensigns in a poem should be sufficient to identify the historic personages so depicted.

The subjoined passage from the 17th canto of the Inferno may suffice as an example:

-

H. W. T.

ORIGIN OF GODFREY'S CORDIAL. The following advertisement is in Read's Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, Feb. 17, 1722:

"To all Retailers and others. The General Cordial for merly Sold by Mr.THO.GODFREY, of Hunsdon in Hertfordshire, deceas'd, is now Prepar'd according to a Receipt written by his own Hand, and by him given to my Wife, his Relation; is now Sold by me THO. HUMPHREYS of Ware, in the said county, Surgeon, or at John Humphreys' at the Hand and Sheers in Jewin Street, near Cripplegate, London: Also may be furnished with Arca

nums, or Vomits, &c. and will be allow'd the same for selling as formerly. "THO. HUMPHREYS, Surgeon."

Let the world know through "N. & Q." to whom it is indebted for a mixture which all who have paid attention to Vital Statistics know to be, at this time, the cause of probably one-fourth of the infantile mortality in the manufacturing counties of York, Lancaster, and Chester; and in all England upwards of one-tenth. W. LEE.

SIR HENRY RAEBURN. — In a work on Scottish Worthies, published some time since, this wellknown artist is described as having met the charming young daughter of Mr. Peter Edgar, during one of his woodland walks, and then, after a short and pleasant courtship, married the young lady, and so acquired an ample fortune. The absurdity of this will be apparent when it is remembered that Miss Edgar was the eldest of a large family, and acquired her property by her first marriage with James Leslie, Esq., of Deanhaugh, whose only daughter, Jacobina, was the first wife JHLA. of the last Vere of Stonebyres."

A COINCIDENCE.-The second volume of the Monthly Review for 1795 contains in its Index the following item:

66

Little, Captain; see Moore". reminding us of the same conjunction of names in the case of a certain wild and witty Irish writer, whose brochure, under the pseudonyme of Little, was published a very few years afterwards, gaining its author More notoriety than credit.

HIBERNUS.

THE GREAT BELL OF WESTMINSTER.Claus. 35 Hen. III. Memb. 19.-" Mandatum est Edwardo de Westmon. sicut Rex alias mandavit, quod fieri faciat unam campanam quæ respondeat magnæ Campana Westmon., et quæ non sit ejusdem magnitudinis dum tamen convenienter ei per consilium magistri in sono respondeat. Magnam etiam Crucem collocari faciat in navi ecclesia Westmon., et ornet duos angelos in modum apud Westm. 4 die Febr."-Ashmole MS. (Bodl. Libr.) Cherubyn, utraque parte illius crucis collocandos. T. R. 860, pp. 86-7.

Warrants were also issued to the same Edward of Westminster to make standards, a crown to be offered to St. Edward, a stole with sapphires and pearls of the value of fifteen or twenty marks,

and other ornaments.

W. D. MACRAY.

SHOEING THE GOOSE.-At p. 90 of Mr. Wright's charming work, entitled a History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art, I find that he alludes to the Shoeing of the Goose in the following words. (N.B. The italics are my own) :—

"In a cleverly sculptured ornament in Beverley Minster, represented in our cut, No. 57, the goose herself is represented in a grotesque situation, which might almost give her a place in the World turned upside down,' although it is a mere burlesque without any apparent satirical meaning."

It may be interesting to some of your readers to know that there is another example of this strange shoeing in the parish church of Whalley in Lancashire. It occurs there under the seat of one of the stalls in the chancel, supposed to have been the Abbott's Stall, in the old Abbey of Whalley. There is an inscription beneath it, as follows:

"Whoso melles of wat men dos,

Let hym cum hier and shoe the ghos."

A writer whose name I cannot remember, rendered the inscription thus, keeping, as he thought, the spirit of the original:

"That fool to shoe a goose should try,

Who pokes his nose in each man's pie."

Is is right, therefore, to say that the carving in question has no satirical meaning? and are there any other examples known? L. H. M.

France.

The ordinary Scotch word for a draughtboard is dambrod. In Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, Hone's edition, p. 316, I find the following:"The draughtman is called in French, dame." It would be interesting were some of your contributors to make a list of the words which have found their way into the Scottish language from the French. Here are three as a beginning: Ashet for assiette. Bonnet in both languages is used for a man's cap. The birretta for ecclesiastics was in the French church called bonnet.

Design for picture evidently has something to do WM. HUMPHREY.

'with dessein.

Cove, near Aberdeen.

937, 939 in the catalogue. The gentleman is dressed in a white linen habit, with a black cloak thrown over the left shoulder and under the right arm; the lady is in a tight-fitting white habit, with long hair hanging loose down her back Is this the mourning-dress of the period? The two portraits I refer to are evidently in the costume of the end of the sixteenth century or the commencement of the seventeenth. A similarly costumed portrait, but fifty years later, is No. 349 in Mr. John Berners's collection. Can any of your readers enlighten me on this point?

3. Sally of Salisbury.-Who was Sally of Salisbury? There are two enamels of her and her daughter exhibited by Mr. William Meyer, case G. Nos. 663-664, apparently of the first half of the JAMES BECK, M.A.

seventeenth century.

The Cottage, Storrington, Sussex.

ABRAHAM'S CONVERSION.-Where is to be found

the first account of the following, which I extract (London, Murray, 1863), p. 124 : — from Dr. A. P. Stapley's Sermons in the East

"There is an ancient tradition that Abraham, as he stood on the hills above Damascus, was converted to the true faith in one God, from the worship of the heavenly bodies, by observing that the stars, the moon, and the sun, however bright and glorious, at last sank and were succeeded by others. I like not,' he said, 'those that set' and so turned to the one unchangeable Lord and Maker of all." H. C.

BEEST.The milk given by a cow, for a few days after calving, is of a rich quality; and, in Lancashire, is called "beest" or beast." Whence the name? PRESTONIENSIS.

“BIBLIOPHOBIA."-In a book written in 1832 by Mercurius Rusticus, there are several pseudonyms denoting celebrated Roxburghers. Can any venerable Roxburgher give me the real names of them? First, the author, Mercurius Rusticus; who was he?

*

Some of the others I know, but with the following I am at fault:- Licius †, Philelphus, Crassus, Decius, Philander, Portius, Marcus and M. R. the annotator. The book was printed by Henry Bohn, 4, York Street. SCRUTATOR.

BUNYAN DRAMATISED.-In The Critic (London literary journal) of June 1, 1855, there is a short paragraph stating that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress has found its way on to the boards of the Chesnut Theatre, Philadelphia. Who was the adapter of this dramatic version of Bunyan, and Wemyss's History of the American Stage, pubwas it printed? Is there any notice of it in F. C. lished in 1852 or 1853?

R. I.

work on the subject, and still retain their popularity.

I am puzzled about the meaning of the title; for the judge, who was a well-educated and very learned person, and withal thirty-nine years of age when he began the book, must have had some reason for so christening it. The word "Famelicus" is used by Pliny, Seneca, and Plautus, in the sense of hungry and famished, which would not be appropriate to Sir James, who was by no means a half-starved lawyer at the time, but rejoiced in a flourishing practice. Was it a hasty and mistaken idea of the judge, that the word was derived from "Familia"? I cannot otherwise account for its use. Perhaps some of your ingenious correspondents may suggest another interpretation. PHILOLOGUS.

MILTON.- What crest and motto did the poet Milton bear? CARILFORD.

Cape Town, S. A.

NETTLES PROOFS OF HABITATION. The British camp of Worlebury, on the hill above Westonsuper-Mare, contains within its area many circular pits, from five to six feet in depth. These are the foundations of ancient dwellings, and human remains have been found in some of them. In many of these pits nettles are growing. None are to be found outside them, even where the area of the camp is covered with brushwood and coppice. It has been said more than once that nettles are a sure indication of ancient habitation. I have found them (although rarely) among the granite of hut circles on Dartmoor; and last autumn I saw them growing thickly about the pits of an ancient settlement on the side of Roseberry Topping in Yorkshire. They are found, also, I believe, on the sites of British villages which have lately been discovered on the Cheviots. I wish to ask whether there is sufficient proof that the presence of nettles is in such cases, a result of the former presence of man? and if so, what reason can be given for it? R. J. KING.

OATH OF THE ROMANS.

"A Highlander, when sworn on the gospels or the cross, cares little for his oath, but will keep it if sworn on the point of his dirk. The degenerate Romans of the Lower Empire avowed, that it was better to break an oath to God than one by the head of the Emperor, for the mercy of God might forgive offences to himself, but not

those to the Emperor: but when the Emperor changed his views, their casuistry argued that false swearing was not perjury,” p. 15.-4 Plea against the needless Multiplication of Oaths, by John Owen, Minister of Salem Chapel, Deptford, 8vo, London, 1789, pp. 32.

The pamphlet is an exposure of the oaths-ofcourse administered at the Custom House, and on affidavits before magistrates. The casuistry of the Romans is strange, but I have no doubt there is some authority for the statement, though I cannot find, and shall be glad to be, referred to J. M. K.

one.

I understand that the

My query is, what particular synagogue is meant by the expression "the synagogue of the Libertines"? I am aware that several explanations are given; but those which I have seen do not appear to be satisfactory. Schleusner (sub voce Avßeptîvoi) mentions, that some writers suppose there was a town in Africa Proper named Libertus, or Libertina, whence a certain class of Jews came to Jerusalem and there established a synagogue. There is a monthly Bulletin published in Rome by the celebrated Cavaliere de Rossi, entitled Bulletino di Archeologia Cristiana. discovery, on the walls of a house in Pompeii, of an electioneering appeal in favour of one Cuspius Pansa, who is recommended to the office of ædile by Fabius Eupor, Princeps Libertinorum, gives occasion to the learned archæologist for a valuable historical investigation into the meaning of this title. His remarks, I believe, throw great light on the expression under consideration, viz., the synagogue of the Libertines." The article appeared in one of the late numbers of the Bulletin. Can any of your correspondents or readers refer me to the particular number? J. DALTON.

St. John's, Norwich.

66

rightly; but will thrust down to hell those that forswear themselves."

Where does Lavater thus interpret the sign?
QUERE.

ZINC SPIRES.-While recently on a visit to my old friend the rector of Ilford, in Essex, I was struck with the alterations already commenced on the very unsightly church, erected there early in the present century. It is sufficient to state that the designs are the work of that distinguished architect Mr. Ashpitel, without calling attention to their merits; but the admirable effect of the zinc spire and its comparative cheapness leads me to inquire whether such structures have stood the test of time, or are quite novel in this country. Are any medieval examples known? In Bohemia and the Tyrol I believe they are common.

THOMAS E. WINNINGTON.

Queries with Answers.

GEORGE CHAPMAN.-Can any of your correspondents obligingly inform me of any particulars of the life of George Chapman, the translator of Homer? The place of his birth seems unknown, and the account given in the Athenæ refers almost entirely to his works. Warton says, upon the authority of Francis Wise, that he passed two years in Trinity College, Oxford. The authority is a good one; but unfortunately, owing to both the university and college registers being incomplete or lost about that period, there is no opportunity of confirming it. Of his latter days in London we cannot expect to hear much. W.

[In Kippis's Biographia Britannica, iii. 436, will be found an excellent account of George Chapman. Consult also Edward Phillips's Theatrum Poetarum, by Brydges, edit. 1800, p. 250—258, and Dodsley's Old Plays, edit. 1825, iv. 101-106. In Nichols's Select Poets, i. 271, as well as in Collier's History of Dramatic Poetry, iii. 257, it is stated that Chapman was born about 1557, and that his family seems to have been respectably settled at Hitchin, in Hertfordshire. One member of it, Thomas Chapman, in 1619, petitioned Prince Charles for the Bailiwick of Hitchin, which the petitioner had formerly possessed under the Exchequer Seal, but of which the Earl of Salisbury had deprived him; and, on the 30th of November of that year, the claim was referred to the commissioners of the revenue of the Prince of Wales (Vide Harl. MS. 781). It would also seem, from an early portion of his poem Enthymia Raptus: or the Teares of Peace, 4to, 1609, that Chapman had been occupied in his Homeric labour near Hitchin, in Herts. The shade of Homer is supposed to answer the poet's inquiry, "What may I reckon thee, whose heavenly look showes not, nor voice sounds, man?"

"I am (sayd he) that spirit Elysian,
That in thy native ayre, and on the Hill
Next Hitchin's left hand, did thy bosome fill

With such a flood of soule, that thou wert faine
(With acclamations of her rapture then)
To vent it to the echoes of the vale;
When meditating of me, a sweet gale
Brought me upon thee; and thou didst inherit
My true sense (for the time then) in my spirit:
And I, invisible, went prompting thee

To those fayre greenes, where thou didst English me.” That Hertfordshire has a better claim to the honour of

Chapman's birth than Stone Castle in Kent (as conjectured by Wood) is further confirmed by his friend and contemporary William Browne in his Britannia's Pastorals (book i. song 1), where he styles him-" The learned shepherd on fair Hitching Hill."

Inigo Jones, at his own expense, erected an altar-tomb to the memory of George Chapman in the old church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, London. It was repaired in 1827 by the Rev. James Endell Tyler, the rector, and is now fixed against the south wall of the church on the outside. The monument part alone is old; the inscription is a copy of all that remained visible.]

...

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH FORESHADOWED.

"They who spread positive and confident aspersions are great advancers of defamatory designs than the very first contrivers. What the others are fain to whisper, they proclame: like our new Engine, which pretends to convey a whisper many miles off. So that as in the case of Stealing, 'tis proverbially said, that if there were no receivers there would be no thieves: so in this of slander, if there were fewer spreaders, there would be fewer forgers of Libels; the manufacture would be discouraged, if it had not these retailers to put off the wares."- The Government of the Tongue, by the author of The Whole Duty of Man, Oxford, 1675, p. 53.

What was the engine here referred to? Has any light been lately thrown on the authorship of The Whole Duty of Man? Is any particular person now generally admitted to have been the author? And if so, on what evidence does the conclusion rest?

D.

[When the above passage was written the author may have been thinking either of Lord Bacon's "engine houses, where we prepare engines and instruments for all sorts of motions" (New Atlantis, p. 303, Bohn's edition), or to Glanville's remarkable prediction of the discovery and general adoption of the electric telegraph, in his Scepsis Scientifica, 1665, 4to, p. 134, where he writes: "I doubt not but posterity will find many things that are now but rumours, verified into practical realities, and to confer at the distance of the Indies by sympathetick conveyances, may be as usual to future times as to us in a literary correspondence.”— No additional light has been thrown on the authorship of The Whole Duty of Man since the Rev. W. B. Hawkins wrote his valuable Preface in 1842. See the articles in our present volume, pp. 9, 57, 106, 124, 290, and 328.]

FRISIANS.-In a magazine, entitled The Monthly Literary and Scientific Lecturer for June, 1851, there is a report of a "Course of Lectures on 'The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Depen