Replies.
PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS.
(Vol. iv., pp. 86. 140.)
Mr. H. C. DE ST. CROIX may be assured that the first edition of the Prophecies of Nostradamus is not only in the National Library, but in several others, both in Paris and elsewhere. It is now, however, very rare, though until lately little valued; for at the Duc de la Vallière's sale, in 1783, it produced no more than seven livres ten sols,—not quite seven shillings. De Bure makes no mention of it: nor was it in the library of M. Gaignat, or various other collectors; so little sought for was it then. Printed at Lyons "chès Macé Bonhomme, M:D:L:V.," it thus closes—"Achevé d'imprimer le iiii iour de Mai, M.D.L.V." It is a small octavo of 46 leaves, as we learn from Brunet, and was republished the following year at Avignon, still limited to four centuries; nor was a complete edition, which extended to ten centuries, with two imperfect ones, published till 1568, at Troyes (en Champagne), in 8vo. Numerous editions succeeded, in which it is well known that every intervenient occurrence of moment was sure to be introduced, always preceded by the date of impression, so as to establish the claim of prophecy. I have before me that of J. Janson, Amsterdam, 1668, 12mo., which is usually associated with the Elzevir collection of works, though not proceeding from the family's press either in Leyden or Amsterdam. Several attempts at elucidating these pretended prophecies have been made, such as Commentaires sur les Centuries de Nostradamus, par Charigny, 1596, 8vo.; La Clef de Nostradamus, 1710, 12mo.; and one so late as 1806, by Théodore Bouys, 8vo. The distich "Nostra damus," &c. was the playful composition, according to La Monnoye, of the celebrated Genevan reformer Théodore de Béze. By others it is attributed to the poet Jodelle: but the author is still uncertain. Nostradamus, born in Provence, died in July, 1566, aged sixty-eight. His second son published the Lives of the Poets of his native province in 1575, 8vo.
Among those impositions on public credulity, one of the most famous is that referred to by Bacon, in his twenty-fifth Essay, and which he, as was then the prevalent belief, attributed to the astronomer John Müller, usually known as Regiomontanus, of the fifteenth century, and so denominated by Bacon. Its first application was to the irruption of the French king, Charles VIII., into Naples, in 1488, when the impetuosity of the invasion was characterised by the epithet, ever since so well sustained, of "La Furia Francese." Again, in 1588 it was interpreted as predictive of the Spanish attack on England by the misnomed "Invincible Armada;" and the English Revolution of 1688 was similarly presumed to have been foretold by it, which always referred to the special year eighty-eight of each succeeding century; while the line expressive of the century was correspondingly adjusted in the text. It was thus made applicable to the great French Revolution, of which the unmistakeable elements were laid in 1788, by the royal edict convoking the States-General for the ensuing year, when it burst forth with dread explosion. Its prediction, with the sole alteration of the century from the original lines, was then thus expressed:—
"Post mille expletos a partu Virginis annos,
Et septingentos rursus ab orbe datos
Octogessimus octavus mirabilis annus
Ingruet: is secum tristia fata trahet.
"Si non hoc anno totus malus occidet orbis
Si non in nihilum terra fretumque ruant,
Cuncta tamen mundi sursum ibunt atque deorsum
Imperia; et luctus undique grandis erit."
Though long ascribed to Regiomontanus, whose death preceded its first appearance, and therefore made its application to posterior events appear prophetic, the real author, according to the astronomer Delambre, was a German named Bruschius, of the sixteenth century, who pretended to have discovered it on a tomb (we may suppose that of Regiomontanus) in Bohemia, that learned man's country. Many other similar prophecies have deluded the world, of which the most celebrated were those of the Englishman Merlin. An early edition, printed in 1528, fetched sixteen guineas in 1812 at the Roxburgh sale, though preceded by three or four. It is in French, and at Gaignat's sale, in 1769, brought only thirty-one livres. It was No. 2239. of the Catalogue.
J. R.
Cork, Sept. 17.
BOROUGH-ENGLISH.
(Vol. iv., p. 133.)
Since my former communication I have collected the following list of places where this custom prevails:—
In Surrey:
Battersea.—Lysons' Environs, vol. i. p. 30.
Wimbledon (Archbishop of Canterbury's Manor).—Lysons' Environs, vol. i. p. 523.
Streatham (Manor of Leigham Court).—Lysons' Environs, vol. i. p. 481.
Richmond, Ham, Peterham.—Lysons' Environs.
Croydon (Archbishop of Canterbury's Manor).—Clement v. Scudamore, 6 Mod. Rep. 102.; Steinman's Croydon, p. 9.
In Essex:
Maldon.—Blount's Tenures by Beckwith.
In Suffolk:
Lavenham.—Blount's Tenures by Beckwith.
In Gloucestershire:
The county of the city of Gloucester.—1st Report of Real Property Commissioners, 1839, app. 98.
In Middlesex:
Islington (Manor of St. John of Jerusalem).—Nelson's Islington.
Isleworth.—Lysons' Environs, vol. iii. p. 96.
In Cornwall:
Clymesloud.—Blount's Tenures by Beckwith, p. 407.
In Nottinghamshire:
Southwell.—Comp. Cop. 506.; Blount's Tenures by Beckwith.
In Northamptonshire:
Brigstock.—Beauties of England and Wales, vol. ii. p. 201.
In Warwickshire:
Balshall.—Pat. 20 R. 2. m. 2.; Blount's Tenures by Beckwith, p. 629.
In Lincolnshire:
Stamford.—Camd. Brit. tit. Lincolnshire; Blount's Tenures by Beckwith, p. 416.
There are some variances in the custom in these several places; the particulars would be too long for an article in "NOTES AND QUERIES;" but the principle of descent to the youngest son prevails in all.
It would be very desirable to complete this list as far as can be done, and I hope some others of your correspondents will give their aid to do it.
The origin of this custom, so contrary to the general law of descent by the common law, is also a subject worthy of more investigation than it has yet received. What is stated on the subject in the law books is very unsatisfactory. It might tend to throw some light on this point if any of your correspondents would communicate information as to any nations or tribes where the law of descent to the youngest son prevails, or did prevail, according to ancient or still existing custom.
I have also received the following list of places where the custom of Borough-English prevails, from Charles Sandys, Esq., F.S.A., of Canterbury. It is taken from notes to the third edition of Robinson's valuable work on Gavelkind, p. 391. note a., and p. 393. n. c. This list had escaped me, as my edition of Robinson is an old one.
"It appears by communications from the stewards to the late Mr. Sawkins, that in the following manors, lands are descendible after the custom of Borough-English:—
"Middlesex.
St. John of Jerusalem, in Islington
Sutton Court
"Surrey.
Weston Gumshall, in Albury
Colley, in Reigate
Sutton next Woking, in Woking
Little Bookham, in Little Bookham and Effingham
Wotton, Abinger, Paddington, Paddington Pembroke: in the parishes of Wotton, Abinger, Ewhurst, and Cranley
Gumshall Tower Hill, Gumshall Netley; Shere Vachery, and Cranley; Shere Eborum: in the parishes of Shere Ewhurst and Cranley
Dunsford, in the parish of Wandsworth
Compton Westbury
Brockham, in Betchworth
"Essex.
Boxted Hall
"Sussex.
Battell, a small part of the freehold and copyhold lands in Robertsbridge
"Huntingdonshire.
Somersham, with the Soke, the copyhold lands in Alconbury, with Weston
"It appears by the communications from the stewards of the late Mr. Sawkins, that his customary descent is extended to younger brothers in the manors of—
"Surrey.
Dorking, in Dorking and Capel-Milton and Westcott, in the parishes of Dorking Capel and Ockley
"To all collateral males in the manors of—
"Middlesex.
Isleworth Syon
Ealing, otherwise Zealing
Acton
"To females, as well as males, lineal and collateral, in the manors of—
"Middlesex.
Fulham
"Surrey.
Wimbledon, including Putney, Mortlake, Rochampton, and Sheen
Battersea and Wandsworth
Downe
Barnes
Richmond
"Nottinghamshire.
Southwell
"Hertfordshire.
Much Hadham."
G. R. C.
Southwark, Sept. 24, 1851.
The accompanying extract is from the History of the borough of Stafford, in White's Directory and Gazetteer of Staffordshire, which is just published:—
"The ancient custom of Borough-English formerly prevailed here, by which the youngest son succeeded to property, as heir-at-law, in preference to the elder children. The origin of this part of our common law is not very well ascertained, but it is generally supposed to have arisen from the ancient system of vassalage, which gave the lord of the manor certain rights over his vassal's bride, and thus rendered the legitimacy of the eldest born uncertain; or perhaps it may have originated in the natural presumption, that the youngest child was least capable of providing for itself."
F. J. M.
PASSAGE IN VIRGIL.
(Vol. iv., pp. 24. 88.)
Permit me to make a few remarks on the passage of Virgil, "Viridesque secant," &c., and its attempted elucidation, Vol. iv., pp. 88, 89.
It is stated that the translation is not correct, and also that Servius was a very illiterate, ignorant, and narrow-minded man, &c.
In the short notice of Servius and his works in the Penny Cyclopædia, we have a very different character of him. Which is to be believed, for both cannot be right?
Harles, in his Introd. in Notitiam Lit. Rom., speaks thus of the Commentaries of Servius:
"Quæ in libris Virgilii sub nomine Servii circumferuntur Scholia, eorum minima pars pertinet ad illum; sed farrago est ex antiquioribus commentariis Cornuti, Donati, &c., et aliorum; immo vero ex recentioris ætatis interpretibus multa adjecta sunt et interpolata."
Thus condemning the interpolations, but leaving intact the matter really belonging to Servius.
For a refutation of the impertinent comparison with a Yorkshire hedge schoolmaster, and the erroneous appreciation of the Commentaries, I must refer to the above-mentioned notice in the Penny Cyclopædia.
In the next place, with respect to the meaning of the passage:—the word seco, when applied to the movements of ships, is usually rendered by "sulco;" e.g.:
"Jamque fretum Minyæ Pegasæâ puppe secabant."
Ovid, Met. vii. 1.
See also lib. xi. 479. "Travel along" would be insufficient to express the meaning in these instances; and sulco agrees with the modern phrase, "ploughing the deep," &c.
Moreover, I submit that the interpretation of seco is governed by the context, inasmuch as its application to both land and water travelling demands a different construction in the two cases. If this be allowed, then comparison cannot be made between the line in question and "viam secat ad naves;" for this refers to Æneas's leaving the infernals, after his visit there; or "secuit sub nubibus arcum," which refers to cleaving the air. Heyne's note is "secuit ... arcum; secando aerem fecit arcum; incessit per arcum."
The clearness or muddiness of the river has no connexion with the translation; for the words "placido æquore" clearly and definitely express the state of the surface of the river, and it is such as is required to favour the reflection of the trees, through whose images the ships ploughed their way; and, to make the sense perfect, the words "variis teguntur arboribus" are all that is required as showing the position of the trees with respect to the river.
P.S. I have not alluded to the special meaning of active verbs with accusative (Qy. objective) cases after them, &c.
ת.א.
The Query of your correspondent ERYX has elicited two conflicting opinions as to the meaning of the words "Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas." Perhaps the following suggestion may help to set the matter at rest.
If by these words is meant the cleaving of the shadows on the water, how could they, with any propriety, be applied to a voyage that was prosecuted during the darkness of the night as well as by the light of day?
"Olli remigio noctemque diemque fatigant."
W. B. R.