Replies to Minor Queries.
"God takes those soonest," &c. (Vol. iii., p. 302.).—In Morwenstow churchyard, Cornwall, there is this epitaph on a child:—
"Those whom God loves die young!
They see no evil days,—
No falsehood taints their tongue,
No wickedness their ways.
"Baptized, and so made sure,
To win their blest abode,—
What shall we pray for more?
They die, and are with God!"
C. E. H.
The belief expressed in these words is of great antiquity. See the story of Cleobis and Biton, in Herod. l. 31., and the verse frown the Δὶς ἐξαπατῶν of Menander:
"Ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνήσκει νέος."
Meineke, Fragm. Com. Gr., vol. iv. p. 105.
L.
I would suggest to T. H. K. that the origin of this line is Menander's
"Ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνήσκει νέος."
Fragm. 128. in Meineke, Fr. Com. Gr.
imitated by Plautus:
"Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur."
Bacch. iv. 7. 18.
whence the English adage,
"Whom the gods love die young."
Wordsworth's Excur., b. i., has this sentiment:
"O, Sir, the good die first,
And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust,
Burn to the socket."
C. P. Ph****.
[Several other correspondents have kindly replied to this Query.]
Disinterment for Heresy (Vol. iii, p. 240.).—Mr. Tracy's will, dated 10th October, 22d Henry VIII. [1530], is given at length in Hall's Chronicle (ed. 1809, p. 796.), where will be found the particulars of the case to which Arun alludes. See also Burnet's History of the Reformation (ed. 1841, vol. i. pp. 125. 657, 658. 673.), and Strype's Annals of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 507. Strype states that Mr. Tracy's body was dug up and burnt "anno 1532." William Tyndale wrote Exposition on Mr. Will. Tracies Will, published in 8vo. at Nuremburgh, 1546. (Wood's Athen. Oxon., vol. i. p. 37.)
C. H. Cooper.
Cambridge, April 2. 1851.
"William Tracy, a worshipful esquire in Gloucestershire, and then dwelling at Todington," made a will, which was thought to contain heretical sentiments. His executor having brought in this will to be proved two years after Tracy's death (in 1532), "the Convocation most cruelly judged that he should be taken out of the ground, and burnt as an heretick," which was accordingly done; but the chancellor of the diocese of Worcester, to whom the commission was sent for the burning, was fined 300l. for it by King Henry VIII. Such is the story in Fox's Martyrs, anno 1532 (vol. ii. p. 262. ed. 1684, which I have before me).
Exon.
The date and some particulars of the exhumation of the body of W. Tracy, Esq., of Toddington Park, ancestor of the present Lord Sudeley, Arun will find in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, vol. v. p. 31. ed. 1843, and the note in appendix will point out other sources.
Novus.
The Vellum-bound Junius (Vol. iii., pp. 262. 307.).—In the Number dated April 19, 1851, p. 307., is a request for information relative to the "Vellum-bound copy of Junius;" also a reference to the subject in a prior number of the "Notes and Queries." Not being in England, and not having the prior numbers, it is not possible to make myself acquainted with the subject contained in that reference, but I will endeavour to throw some light on the Query in the Number which has been forwarded to me. The writer of the Letters of Junius was the secretary of the first Marquis of Lansdowne, better known as Lord Shelburne. From his Lordship he obtained all the political information necessary for his compositions. The late Marquis of Lansdowne possessed the copy bound in vellum (two volumes), with many notes on the margin in Lord Shelburne's handwriting; they were kept locked up in a beautiful ebony casket bound and ornamented with brass. That casket has disappeared, at least so I have been told, and not many years ago inquiry was made for it by the present head of that house. Maclean was a dark, strong-featured man, who wore his hat slouched over his eyes, and generally a large cloak. He often corrected the slips or proofs of his letters at Cox's, a well-known printer near Lincoln's Inn, who deemed himself bound in honour never to divulge what he knew of that publication, and was agitated when once suddenly spoken to on the subject near the door of the small room in which the proofs were corrected, and with a high and honourable feeling requested never to be again spoken to on the subject. The late President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West, knew Maclean; and his son, the late Raphael West, told the writer of these remarks, that when a young man he had seen him in the evening at his father's in Newman Street, and once heard him repeat a passage in one of the letters which was not then published. A more correct and veracious man than Mr. R. West could not be. Maclean stammered, and was consequently of no use to Lord Shelburne as a debater and supporter in parliament. A place in the East Indies was obtained for him, and he sailed in the Aurora frigate for that dependency, and was lost in her at the same time with Falconer, the author of the poem entitled The Shipwreck. The able tract published by Mr. Pickering, Piccadilly, would constitute a fair foundation on which to build the inquiry.
Ægrotus.
Pursuits of Literature (Vol. iii., p. 240.).—I trust that the following notes may be useful in assisting your correspondent S. T. D. to ascertain "how the author of the Pursuits of Literature became known." The first edition of the first part of the Pursuits of Literature appears to have been published in quarto, by J. Owen, 168. Piccadilly, in 1794. In a volume of pamphlets I have the above bound up with the following:—
"The Sphinx's Head Broken: or a Poetical Epistle, with notes to Thomas James M*th**s, Cl*rk to the Q***n's Tr**s*r*r. Proving him to be the author of the Pursuits of Literature: a Satirical Poem. With occasional Digressions and Remarks. By Andrew Œdipus, an injured Author. London: Printed for J. Bell, No. 148. Oxford Street, opposite New Bond Street, MDCCXCVIII."
This epistle is a very severe castigation for Mathias, whom Œdipus styles the "little black jogging man," whose
"Politics and religion are very well, but he is a detestable pedant, and his head is a lumber-garret of Greek quotations, which he raps out as a juggler does ribbands at a country fair."
And speaking of "Chuckle Bennet," he calls him in a note,
"A good calf-headed bookseller in Pall Mall, the intimate confidant and crony of little M*th**s, and who, upon Owen's bankruptcy, published Part IV. of Pursuits of Literature himself."
Of Owen, who published Part I., our author says:
"Hither the sly little fellow got crony Becket to send his satirical trumpery;"
which is further explained in the following note:
"Becket's back door is in an alley close to his house; here have I often seen little M*th**s jog in and sit upon thorns for fear of being seen, in the back-parlour, chattering matters over with old Numscull. After passing through many hands, the proof sheets at last very slily reached little M*th**s that he might revise the learned lumber."
After alluding to several pieces published by Mathias, our unmerciful critic adds in another note:
"It is very remarkable how strongly the characteristic features of identity of authorship are marked in these several pieces; the little man had not even the wit to print them in a different manner, yet strange to tell, few, very few, could smell the he-goat!
"Who reads thy hazy weather but must swear,
'Tis Thomas James M*th**s to a hair!"
Mercurii.
Dutch Books (Vol. iii., p. 326.).—Martinus is probably aware that the library of the Fagel family is now a part of the University Library of Dublin, and that it contains a very fine collection of Dutch literature, in which it is very possible some of the books of which he is in search may be found.
The auction catalogue prepared in 1800, when the library was to have been sold by auction, had it not been purchased by the University of Dublin, is printed, and a copy of it is at his service, if he will inform me through you how to send it to him.
This library contains many rare tracts and documents well worthy of Mr. Macaulay's attention, if he is about to continue his history of the Revolution; but I have not heard whether he has made any inquiry after them, or whether he is aware of their existence. There is a curious MS. catalogue of them in the possession of the University, which was too voluminous to be printed, when the library was about to be sold.
Hibernicus.
Engilbert, Archbishop of Treves (Vol. i., p 214.).—There can be no doubt that the bishop's reference is incorrect, and the suggestion of T. J. (Vol. iii., p. 291.) to consult the reprint of 1840 affords no aid in setting it right; for there we find (p. 178.) a note as follows:
"There was no Engilbert, Archbishop of Treves, nor is there any work in this name in Goldasti."
I have, however, consulted Mr. Bowden's Life and Pontificate of Gregory VII., in order, if possible, to find a clue; and in a note in vol. ii. p. 246. of that work is a statement of the hesitation of the Pope on the doctrine of the eucharist, with a reference as follows:
"Vid. Egilberti archiep. Trevir. epist. adv. Greg. VII., in Eccardi Corp. historic. Medii Ævi. t. ii. p. 170."
This reference I have verified, and found in the epistle of Egilbertus the passage which, no doubt, Bishop Cosin refers to, and which Mr. Bowden cites:
"En verus pontifex et sacerdos, qui dubitat si illud quod sumatur in dominicâ mensâ sit verum corpus et sanguis Christi!"
So much for that part of the difficulty, but another still remains. Was there ever an Egilbertus, or Engilbertus, Archbishop of Treves? To solve this question I consulted a list of the Archbishops of Treves in the Bibliothèque Sacrée of Richard et Giraud, and I there find the following statement:
"Engelbert, grand-prévôt de Passau, fut intrus par la faveur de l'empereur Henri IV., et sacré par des évêques schismatiques. Il mourut en 1101."
Tyro.
Dublin.
Charles Lamb's Epitaph (Vol. iii., p. 322.).—According to Mr. Thorne (Rambles by Rivers, 1st series, p. 190.) the inscription in the churchyard at Edmonton, to the memory of Charles Lamb, was written "by his friend, Dr. Carey, the translator of 'Dante.'" Mr. Thorne gives an anecdote concerning this inscription which I venture to transcribe, in the expectation that it may interest your correspondent Maria S., and others of your numerous readers.
"We heard a piece of criticism on this inscription that Lamb would have enjoyed. As we were copying it, a couple of canal excavators came across the churchyard, and read it over with great deliberation; when they had finished, one of them said, 'A very fair bit of poetry that;' 'Yes,' replied his companion, 'I'm blest if it isn't as good a bit as any in the churchyard; rather too long, though.'"
By "Dr. Carey," of course, is meant the Rev. Henry Francis Cary, M.A., Vicar of Bromley Abbots, Staffordshire, and Assistant Librarian in the British Museum, as he was the translator of "Dante," and an intimate friend of Charles Lamb.
C. H. Cooper.
Cambridge, April 28. 1851.
Charles II. in Wales (Vol. iii., p. 263.).—In answer to Davydd Gam's Query, it may be observed that I have never heard of the tradition in question, nor have I met with any evidence to show that Charles II. was in any part of Wales at this period. In "The true Narrative and Relation of his most sacred Majesty's Escape from Worcester," Selection from the Harleian Miscellany, 4to., p. 380., it is stated that the king meditated the scheme of crossing into Wales from White Ladies, the house of the Penderells, but that "the design was crossed." One of the "Boscobel Tracts," at p. 137., treating of the same period, and compiled by the king himself in 1680, mentions his
intention of making his escape another way, which was to get over the Severn into Wales, and so get either to Swansea, or some other of the sea towns that he knew had commerce with France; beside that he "remembered several honest gentlemen" that were of his acquaintance. However, the scheme was abandoned, and the king fled to the southward by Madeley, Boscobel, &c., to Cirencester, Bristol, and into Dorsetshire, and thence to Brighton, where he embarked for France on the 15th Oct., 1651.
Lancaiach is still in possession of the Prichard family, descendants of Col. Prichard.
There is a tradition that Charles I. slept there on his way from Cardiff Castle to Brecon, in 1645, and the tester of the bed in which his Majesty slept is stated to have been in the possession of a Cardiff antiquary now deceased. The facts of the case appear in the Iter Carolinum, printed by Peck (Desiderata Curiosa). The king stayed at Cardiff from the 29th July to the 5th August, 1645, on which day he dined at Llancaiach, and supped at Brecon.
J. M. T.
"Ex Pede Herculem" (Vol. iii., p. 302.).—The following allusion to the foot of Hercules occurs in Herodotus, book iv. section 82.:
"Ἴχνος Ἡρακλέος φαίνουσι ἐν πέτρῃ ἐνεὸν, τὸ οικε μὲν βήματι ἀνδρὸς, ἔστι δὲ τὸ μέγαθος δίπηχυ, παρὰ τὸν Τύρην ποταμὸν."
Alfred Gatty.
The origin of this phrase is connected with the following story:—A certain Greek (whose name has for the present escaped me, but who must have been ready to contribute to the "Notes and Queries" of his time) was one day observed carefully "stepping" over the αὐλός or footrace-course at Olympia; and he gave as a reason for so doing, that when that race-course was originally marked out, it was exactly six hundred times as long as Hercules' foot (that being the distance Hercules could run without taking breath): so that by ascertaining how many times the length of his own foot is contained, he would know how much Hercules' foot exceeded his foot in length, and might therefrom calculate how much Hercules' stature exceeded that of ordinary men of those degenerate days.
J. Eastwood.
Ecclesfield.
This proverb does not appear to be of classical origin. Several proverbs of a similar meaning are collected in Diogenian, v. 15. The most common is, ἐκ τῶν ὀνύχων τὸν λέοντα, ex ungue leonem. The allusion to Hercules is probably borrowed from some fable.
L.
Bucaneers (Vol. i., p. 400.).—Your correspondent C. will find an interesting account of the Bucaneers in a poem by M. Poirié St. Aurèle, entitled Le Flibustier, and published by Ambroise Dupont & Co., Paris, 1827. The Introduction and Notes furnish some curious particulars relative to the origin, progress, and dissolution of those once celebrated pirates, and to the daring exploits of their principal leaders, Montauban, Grammont, Monbars, Vand-Horn, Laurent de Graff, and Sir H. Morgan. The book contains many facts which go far to support Bryan Edwards's favourable opinion. I may add that the author derives the French word flibustier from the English freebooter, and the English word bucaneer from the French boucanier; which latter word is derived from boucan, an expression used by the Caribs to describe the place where they assembled to make a repast of their enemies taken in war.
Henry H. Breen.
St. Lucia, March, 1851.
God's Acre (Vol. iii., p. 284.).—By a Saxon phrase, Mr. Longfellow undoubtedly meant German. In Germany Gottes-acker is a name for churchyard; and it is to be found in Wachter's Glossarium Germanicum, as well as in modern dictionaries. It is true there is the other word Kirchhof, perhaps of more modern date.
"Gots-aker. Cæmeterium. Quasi ager Dei, quia corpora defunctorum fidelium comparantur semini. 1 Cor. xv. 36., observante Keyslero in Antiq. Septentr. p. 109."—Wachter's Gloss. Germanicum.
Very interesting are also the other allegorical names which have been given to the burial-places of the dead. They are enlarged upon in Minshew's Guide to Tongues, under the head "Churchyard."
"Cæmeterium (from the Greek), signifying a dormitory or place of sleep. And a Hebrew term (so Minshew says), Beth-chajim, i. e. domus viventium, 'The house of the living,' in allusion to the resurrection."
Our matter-of-fact "Church-yard or inclosure" falls dull on the ear and mind after any of the above titles.
Hermes.
God's Acre.—The term God's Acre, as applied to a church-garth, would seem to designate the consecrated ground set apart as the resting-place of His faithful departed, sown with immortal seed (1 Cor. xv. 38.), which shall be raised in glory at the great harvest (Matt. xiii. 39.; Rev. xiv. 15.). The church-yard is "dedicated wholly and only for Christian burial," and "the bishop and ordinary of the diocese, as God's minister, in God's stead accepts it as a freewill offering, to be severed from all former profane and common uses, to be held as holy ground," and "to be God's storehouse for the bodies of His saints there to be interred." See "Bishop Andrewes' Form of Consecration of a Churchyard," Minor Works, pp. 328-333., Oxf., 1846.
Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.
P.S. When was the name of Poet's Corner first attached to the south transept of Westminster Abbey?
Jermyn Street.
Abbot Eustacius, of whom J. L. (Vol. iii., p. 141.) asks, was the Abbot of Flay, and came over from Normandy to England, and preached all through this kingdom with much effect in the beginning of John's reign, A. D. 1200, as Roger Hovedene tells us, Annal., ed. Savile, London, 1596, fos. 457. b, 466. b. Wendover (iii. 151.) and Matt. Paris in anno, mention him.
D. Rock.
Vox Populi Vox Dei (Vol. iii., p. 288.) is, I find, a much older proverb in England than Edward III.'s reign, for whose coronation sermon it was chosen the text, not by Simon Mepham, but Walter Reynolds, as your correspondent St. Johns rightly says. Speaking of the way in which St. Odo yielded his consent to the Abp. of Canterbury, circ. A. D. 920, William of Malmesbury writes: "Recogitans illud proverbium, Vox populi vox Dei."—De Gestis Pont., L. i. fo. 114., ed. Savile.
D. Rock.
Francis Moore and his Almanack (Vol. iii., p. 263.).—Mr. Knight, in his London, vol. iii. p. 246., throws a little light on this subject:
"The renowned Francis Moore seems to have made his first appearance about the end of the seventeenth century. He published a Kalendarium Ecclesiasticum in 1699, and his earliest Vox Stellarum or Almanac, as far as we can discover, came out in 1701," &c.
But Mr. Knight is not sure that "Francis Moore" was not a nom de guerre, although at p. 241. he gives the portrait of the "Physician" from an anonymous print, published in 1657.
A. A.
Abridge.
There is an Irish edition published in Drogheda, sold for threepence, and embellished with a portrait of Francis Moore. Can Ireland claim this worthy? Many farmers and others rely much on the weather prophecies of this almanack. A tenant of mine always announces to me triumphantly that "Moore is right:" but his triumphs come at very long intervals.
K.
I can answer part of H. P. W.'s Query. Francis Moore's celebrated Almanack first appeared in 1698. We have this date upon his own confession. Before his Almanack for 1771 is a letter which begins thus:
"Kind Reader,
"This being the 73rd year since my Almanack first appeared to the world, and having for several years presented you with observations that have come to pass to the admiration of many, I have likewise presented you with several hieroglyphics," &c.
Edward F. Rimbault.
That such a personage really did exist there can be little doubt, Bromley (in Engraved Portraits, &c.) gives 1657 as the date of his birth, and says that there was a portrait of him by Drapentier ad vivum. Lysons mentions him as one of the remarkable men who, at different periods, resided at Lambeth, and says that his house was in Calcott's Alley, High Street, then called Back Lane, where he seems to have enlightened his generation in the threefold capacity of astrologer, physician, and schoolmaster.
J. C. B.