Minor Queries.
261. Early Muster Rolls.
—Are the muster rolls of the army that landed with King William at Torbay, or of the army that served in Ireland in 1690 and 1691, now to be met with, and if so, where? Any information on this subject will oblige
BARTANUS.
Dublin.
262. Convocation for the Province of York.
—The religious newspapers recently gave us an account of the meeting of Convocation for the province of Canterbury, but I have seen no account of the meeting of Convocation in the province of York. Does that body ever meet, and is any record kept of its proceedings?
ENQUIRER.
263. The Scent of the Bloodhound.
—In a MS. (Camb. Univ. Dd. i. p. 542.) I find the following allusion to this subject:—
"Þei far as doþ a blod hound
Þat al times of þe yer
Haþ fute and tast of eueri beste
Þat hi folewiþ fer or ner:
But whan þe hawethorn bereth blomes,
Þt hound haþ lorn his smel,
If he fele swetnes of þe flouris;
And þus þe hunteris tel."
Is there any truth in this statement?
C. H.
264. Cooper's Miniature of Cromwell.
—Can any of your readers inform me what has become of the original miniature of Oliver Cromwell painted by Samuel Cooper? It was long in the possession of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and given by his will to Richard Burke the younger, who survived him only two years, dying unmarried in 1794.
Should the portrait be still extant, and the subject attract any notice, I am prepared to supply some authentic particulars as to its early history, respecting which Northcote was completely misinformed. See his Life of Reynolds, vol. ii. p. 221. 2d edition.
BRAYBROOKE.
Audley End, Nov. 1.
265. Lines on Cagliostro.
—Mr. Carlyle, in Miscellanies, 3rd edit., vol. iii. p. 324., quotes the following "epigraph," as appended to a portrait of Cagliostro:
"De l'Ami des Humains reconnaissez les traits:
Tous ses jours sont marqués par de nouveaux bienfaits;
Il prolonge la vie, il secourt l'indigence;
Le plaisir d'être utile est seul sa récompense."
Is there any possibility of ascertaining, at the present day, to which of the countless dupes of that "quack of quacks" we are indebted for this hyperbolical effusion?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, Sept. 1851.
266. The Names and Numbers of British Regiments.
—Formerly the regiments in the British army were distinguished not by a particular number, but the name of an officer of rank.
I shall feel obliged by information on the following points:—
1. What was the origin of thus naming, instead of numbering, regiments?
2. Who conferred the name? Was it done at the War-office, or how?
3. If in honour of an officer commanding the corps, was the name changed when that officer died, or removed to another regiment; or what was the rule?
4. When did the present mode of numbering regiments begin, and by whom was it introduced; and what was the rule adopted in applying the number to each corps? I mean, what was the principle followed in giving any regiment a certain number? Was it according to the length of time it had been embodied?
5. What is the guide now, in identifying a named with a numbered regiment?
Ȝ.
267. Praed's Charade.
—Can any of your correspondents tell me the answer to the following charade by W. M. Praed?
"My first's an airy thing,
Joying in flowers;
Evermore wandering,
In Fancy's bowers;
Living on beauteous smiles
From eyes that glisten;
And telling of love's wiles
To ears that listen.
"But if, in its first flush
Of warm emotion,
My second come to crush
Its young devotion,
Oh! then it wastes away,
Weeping and waking,
And, on some sunny day,
Is blest in breaking."
I have several of Praed's charades, but this is the only one of which I have not the answer.
E. C.
268. Cozens the Painter.
—Can any of your correspondents give me information as to Cozens, the painter? The celebrated painter Turner has declared that for much of the poetry of painting he is indebted to Cozens. Now, on the wall opposite to which I am sitting, hangs a portrait of Cozens by Pine, which has been sometime in our family. I wish to know where I shall find mention of him, or where I can see any of his works.
C. S. B. S.
269. Parliamentary Debates.
—By the fortunate preservation of the MSS. of Mr. Cavendish, there was a probability of our getting a pretty full report of the proceedings of what has been called "the unreported parliament," which sat from 1768 to 1774. Unfortunately, on the death of Mr. Wright, the publication stopped, having arrived only to the debates of March, 1771. Is there any chance of the further publication of this important work? If not, where is the MS., and can it be consulted?
P. D.