Replies To Minor Queries.
Pope's "honest Factor" (Vol. iv., p. 7.).-The
"Honest factor who stole a gem away,"
to whom Pope alludes, was Thomas Pitt, Esq., (ancestor of the Earl of Chatham), who was by Queen Anne appointed Governor of Fort St. George in the East Indies, and purchased there for the sum of 20,400l., or 48,000 pagodas, a diamond weighing 127 carats, which he sold to the King of France about 1717, and is now known as the Pitt diamond. I suppose it is at present in the possession of the Republic of France.
DE H.
Temple, July 5. 1851.
Banks Family (Vol. iii., pp. 390. 458. 507. 524.).
—I am obliged by your inserting my note on this subject. I can inform L.H. that the present owner of the lead mines in Keswick is related, though distantly, to John Banks the philosopher, who was born at Grange in Borrowdale. Can any of your correspondents give any reason why the crest of this branch of the family should be exactly similar in every respect to that of the Earl of Lonsdale?
BAY.
Dies Iræ, Dies Illa (Vol. ii p. 72. Vol. iii., p. 468.).
— Although some time has elapsed since the Query on this hymn appeared, yet as no very definite reply has been given, I send the following.
This hymn is one of the four "proses" or verses without measure, made use of in the services of the Roman Catholic Church. The invention of these proses is attributed to Nolker, a monk of the Convent of St. Gall, who wrote about the year 880; and who says in his work that he had seen them in a book belonging to the Convent of St. Jumièges, which was destroyed by the Normans in 841. Of the many proses which were composed, the Roman Catholic Church has retained but four, of which the above is one. Who the author really was, is very uncertain; the majority of writers on the subject appear to concur in the opinion that Cardinal Frangipani, a Dominican, otherwise called Malabrancia, a Doctor of Paris, and who died at Pérouse in 1294, was the composer but it has also been assigned to St. Gregory and St. Bernard. Bzovius, an. 1294, states the author to have been either Cardinal Orsino or Cardinal Frangipani, and other writers maintain it to have been the production of Agostino Biella, who died 1491; or of Humbertus, General of the Dominicans. The original consists of fifty-six lines, and may be found in almost every book of Catholic devotion.
R.R.M.
In No. 84, for June 9th, the Roman Catholic hymn "Dies Iræ" is referred to, and works cited as to its author. To these may be added the 39th No. of the Dublin Review, where it will be found that Latino Frangipani, nephew of Pope Nicholas III., and known under the name of the Cardinal Malabrancia, was more generally considered the writer. The account there given of it is not uninteresting, and is preceded by a cursory advertence to the other hymns of the Middle Ages, including a Greek version of some of the stanzas of Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelic Doctor's," impressive "Lauda Sion."
J.R.
Equestrian Statues (Vol. iii., p. 494.).
—I should inform Fm. that there is an equestrian statue of the Earl of Hopetown in front of the Royal Bank, St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh. The earl, however, is not mounted; he stands beside the horse.
S. WMSON.
Monumental Symbolism (Vol. iii, p. 449.).
—I have seen no answer to Reader's inquiry. I have always understood that the kneeling figures were the children who died in the lifetime of their parents (sometimes they are even represented in the swaddling-bands of Chrysom children), while those represented standing survived them. This of course is only when some are represented kneeling and others standing, as in some instances all are kneeling. I believe my supposition is grounded on some better authority than my own fancy, but I cannot refer to any at present.
H.N.E.
Bilton, July 3. 1851.
Organs in Churches (Vol. iii., p. 518.).
—R. W. B. will find some information on the subject of organs in Staveley's History of Churches in England, pp. 203. 207., a work replete with much interesting matter connected with churches.
E. C. HARINGTON.
Exeter, July 1. 1851.
Tennyson: "The Princess" (Vol. iii., p. 493.).
—Does not the passage—
"Dare we dream of that, I asked,
Which wrought us, as the workman and his work
That practice betters"—
simply mean, "Dare we dream of" the God who made us as of a finite creature, who requires "practice" ere His work can be perfect, and whose skill shall be progressive? In short, "dare we" think of Him as such an one as ourselves?
SELEUCUS.
Information on this subject will be found in Hawkins's History of Music, vol. i. p. 398. et seq.; Burney's History of Music, vol. ii. p. 131. Busby's Dictionary of Music; John Gregory's Works ("Discourse declaring what Time the Nicene Creed began to be Sung in the Church"), and in Staveley's History of Churches in England.
T. J.
"Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love" (Vol. iv., p. 24.).—
"AN EXPOSTULATION.
"When late I attempted your pity to move,
Why seem'd you so deaf to my prayers?
Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
But—Why did you kick me down stairs?"
From An Asylum for Fugitive Pieces, in Prose and Verse, not in any other Collection, vol. i. p. 15. London: Debrett, 1785.
The above has been inquired for: of the author I know nothing.
S. H.
St. Johns Wood.
Sardonic Smiles (Vol. iv., p. 18.).
—It is very difficult to strike out the verse in Homer's Odyssey (Υ, 302.). To suppose that in him the word is derived from Sardinia, is exceedingly improbable, if not, as Payne Knight says, quite absurd because, not only is Sardinia not mentioned in Homer, but his geography, even where half-fabulous, and with other names than the modern ones, does not extend so far west. Payne Knight says the word is derived from σαρδαίνω, but where such a word is found I cannot learn. There is σαρδάζω in Suidas, "to laugh bitterly," but unluckily the very same words are given as the interpretation of σαρκάζω, and σαρκάζω is a perfectly established word. Sarcasm, sarcastic, are derived from it; and its own derivation from σάρξ "flesh," seems certain. This makes it highly probable that the first word in Suidas is a mistake for the other. All Greek writers borrowed so much from Homer that the occurrence of the word in them, where obviously meaning Sardinian, seems to prove nothing but that they thought it had that meaning in him.
C. B.
Epitaph on Voltaire (Vol. iii., p. 518.).
—The question is asked, "Has the name of the lady of Lausanne, who wrote the epitaph on Voltaire,
'Ci gît l'enfant gâté du monde qu'il gâta,'
been ascertained?" It has; and the lady was Madame la Baronne de Montolieu, who wrote a great variety of novels, of which by far the best, and indeed one of the most interesting in the French language, is her Caroline de Lichtfield, first published at Lausanne in 1786, two volumes 8vo. Her family name was de Bottens (Pauline-Isabelle), born at Lausanne in 1751, and there died in December, 1832. Her first husband was Benjamin de Crouzas, son to one of Montesquieu's adversaries, after whose death she married the Baron de Montolieu. It was Gibbon's most intimate friend and literary collaborateur, Deyverdun, who published, and indeed corrected, her then anonymous Caroline de Lichtfield.
Voltaire's friend and mistress, the learned Madame du Châtelet, had prepared an inscription for his portrait, which may be considered an anticipated epitaph:
"Post-genitis Hic canis erit, nunc canis amicis;"
but one of a very different tenor was written by J. J. Rousseau, we are told by Lord Brougham:
"Plus bel esprit que grand génie,
Sans loi, sans mœurs, et sans vertu;
Il est mort comme il a vécu,
Couvert de gloire et d'infamie."
J. R.
Voltaire, where situated (Vol. iii, pp. 329.433.).
—The inquiry, "Where is Voltaire situated?" was answered in a late number, and reference made to the Essays of an Octogenarian, a privately-printed work, and therefore not generally accessible; but the subject will be equally found elucidated in the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1846, p. 25. No such place ever existed, as there made clear; for it is the simple anagram of his patronymic, Arouet l j (le jeune), framed by himself though by Condorcet and other biographers, ignorant of the fact, supposed to be a landed property. Voltaire loved not his paternal name, as will be there found, and gladly changed it. The article embraces various particulars of Voltaire's life, in refutation of Lord Brougham's errors; some of them strange enough, and not inconsiderable in number, so as to excite surprise in so accomplished a person.
J. R.
Children at a Birth (Vol. iii., p. 347.).
—See Quarterly Review, No. xxix. vol. xv. p. 187., where Southey quotes Hakewill's Apology as authority for an epitaph in Dunstable Church to a woman who had, at three several times, three children at a birth; and five at a birth two other times.
A. C.
Milkmaids (Vol. iii., p. 367.).—
"May 1.—I was looking out of the parlour window this morning, and receiving the honours which Margery, the milkmaid to our lane, was doing me, by dancing before my door with the plate of half her customers on her head."—Tatler for May 2, 1710.
R. J. R.
"Heu quanto minus," &c. (Vol. iv., p. 21.).—
"Heu quanto minus est cum aliis versari quam tui meminisse,"
is the end of an inscription at the Leasowes "to Miss Dolman, a beautiful and amiable relation of Mr. Shenstone's, who died of the small-pox, about twenty-one years of age," in the following words. On one side:
"Peramabili suæ consobrinæ
M.D."
On the other side:
"Ah Maria
puellarum elegantissima
Ah flore venustatis abrepta
Vale!
Heu quanto minus est," &c.
Shenstone's Works, 1764, vol. ii. p. 356.
C. B.
This quotation is Shenstone's "Epitaph on his Sister."
J. O. B., however, has given it incorrectly: it should be—
"Heu quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminisse."
Moore has done something towards giving the force of this strikingly concentrated sentence, thus:—
"Tho' many a gifted mind we meet,
Tho' fairest forms we see,
To live with them is far less sweet,
Than to remember thee."
H. E. H.
The "Passellew" Family (Vol. i., p. 319.).
—I think there can be little doubt that the "Robert Passellew" of Waltham Abbey, and "John Paslew," the last abbot of Whalley, belong to the same family. A reference to Burke's General Armory proves the armorial bearings to be the same, and also that the family was connected with the county of Durham. The following extract from the Historical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Account of Kirkstall Abbey (Longmans, 1827), will show that a century later the Paslews had obtained a footing in Yorkshire, and had become benefactors of Kirkstall:
"Robert Passelowe, with King Richard II.'s licence, gave one toft, five acres of land, and an annual rent of 2s. 6d. in Bramley, with the reversion of nine messuages, seven oxgangs, and six acres and a half of land, after the decease of the tenants, ..., all which premises were valued at £4 2s. 6d. per annum."—P. 208.
T. T. W.
Burnley, Lancashire.
Lady Petre's Monument (Vol. iv., p. 22.).
—"A E I O U." Do not these letters stand for "αει ου"—non semper? alluding to the resurrection from the tomb.
J. H. L.
May not the five vowels at the end of the Latin epitaph of Lady Petre's monument mean,
"A Eternæ Ianua Obitus Uitæ?"
F. A.
Hampstead.
Spenser's Age at his Death (Vol. i., p. 481.).
—Touching this subject I can state that I am well acquainted with an admirable portrait of the poet, bearing date 1593, in which he is represented as a man of not more than middle age; so that, whether he died in 1596 or 1598, he may be said to have died prematurely—immaturâ morte obiisse, as the monument testifies.
VARRO.
Blessing by the Hand (Vol. iii., pp. 477. 509.).
—The priest of the Greek church, in blessing with the hand, anciently held it with the thumb crossing the third finger, the first finger being held straight, the second and fourth curved, so as to represent altogether the Greek letters I C X C, the first and last letters of "Jesus Christ." The same letters are impressed on the bread used in their eucharist, the bread being marked with the Greek cross, similar to our cross-buns, with the letters I C and X C in the upper angles of the cross, and the letters N and K in the two lower angles. The N K is the abbreviation of νίκᾳ, and the whole phrase is "Jesus Christ conquers." This church derived the expression from the standard (labarum) of Constantine, ἐν τούτῳ νίκᾳ = in hoc signo vinces. In Goar's notes on the Greek rituals, especially that of Chrysostom's, much information may be obtained on the symbolisms of Christianity.
T. J. BUCKTON.
Lichfield.
Handel's Occasional Oratorio (Vol. iii., p. 426.).
—This oratorio doubtless received its name from the special occasion when it was composed, viz. the suppression of the rebellion in 1745. It was published by Tonson in Feb. 1746, at the price of 1s., together with various poems, &c. relating to the same important event. The Oratorio is divided into three parts: with the exception of the overture, four of the airs, and two of the choruses, it contains little that can be popular at the present day.
J. H. M.
Moore's Almanack (Vol. iii., pp. 263. 339. 381. 466.).
—Francis Moore was not a real personage, but a pseudonyme adopted by the author, Mr. Henry Andrews, who was born at Frieston, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, February 4, 1744, and died at Royston, Herts, January 26, 1820. Andrews was astronomical calculator to the Board of Longitude, and for years corresponded with Maskelyne and other eminent men. A portrait of Andrews is extant; one is in my possession: they are now extremely scarce.
As to the date of the almanack's first appearance I can afford no information; but it can be obtained of Mr. W. H. Andrews, only son of the astronomer, who still resides at Royston, and is in possession of his MSS., consisting of astronomical and astrological calculations, notes of various phenomena, materials for a history of Royston, memoir of his own life, his correspondence, &c.
FRANCIS.
Kiss the Hare's Foot (Vol. iv., p. 21.).
—This saying occurs in Browne's Britannia's Pastorals:
"'Tis supper time with all, and we had need
Make haste away, unless we mean to speed
With those that kiss the hare's foot. Rheums are bred,
Some say, by going supperless to bed,
And those I love not; therefore cease my rhyme
And put my pipes up till another time."
Brit. Past., Book 2., Song. 2.
This quotation may not be of much service as a clue to the discovery of the origin of the saying; but it may be interesting to MR. BREEN as a proof that the saying itself must be considerably more than two hundred years old, the second part of the Pastorals having been first published in 1616.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
Derivation of the Word "Bummaree" or "Bumaree" (Vol. iv., p. 39.).—
"BOMERIE, S. F. [terme de mer, prêt à la grosse aventure] bottomry or bottomree."—Boyer's Fr. and Engl. Dict., ed. London, 1767.
The leading idea in the term Bomerie, and its English equivalent, when applied to borrowing money "on a ship's keel," is the hazarding all on a single venture: hence it is not difficult to see its application to other transactions, especially those connected with sea; such as wholesale purchases of fish, in which a large risk is run, with an uncertain prospect of return.
The meaning of the word, if it be really the same, when adopted by confectioners, would probably be assignable either to the shape of the pans, or the use to which they were applied.
I know not whether this is to be classed among the "unsatisfactory" derivations already submitted to your correspondent, but should be glad to hear his opinion on its soundness.
E. A. D.
Sheridan and Vanbrugh (Vol. iv. p. 24.).
—Had O. O. consulted the "Life of Sheridan" which precedes Bohn's Collection of the Dramatic Works of Sheridan (which, having the volume in his hand, he ought to have done), he would have seen that it is expressly mentioned (p. 51.) that Sheridan, having become part proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre—
"His first commencement as a manager was not of that brilliant kind to give any promise of great improvement in the conduct of the theatre. An alteration of Vanbrugh's play the Relapse was the first production, under the name of a Trip to Scarborough. It was brought out on February 24, 1777. This was an unfortunate commencement: neither the public nor the actors were satisfied."
Further, it is printed at the end of Sheridan's Dramatic Works, followed by Pizarro, printed in smaller type, so as to make them appear like an appendix; and hence it could hardly be expected that any one would think of attributing the Trip to Scarborough, altered from Vanbrugh's Relapse, to Sheridan, any more than it could be considered as intended to call him the author of Pizarro, because he altered Kotzebue's Spaniards in Peru, and adapted it to, and had it represented on, the stage.
A HERMIT AT HAMPSTEAD.
"Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum" (Vol. iii., p. 482.).
—This line of Plautus is followed by parallel quotations from other writers. To these I may add the French version:
"Heureux celui qui pour devenir sage,
Du mal d'autrui fait son apprentisage."
J. R.
"Alterius Orbis Papa" (Vol. iii., p. 497.; Vol. iv., p. 11.).
—Fuller, in his Worthies of England, edit. London, 1662, "Staffordshire," p. 41., uses this expression, writing, of Cardinal Pole. It is as follows:
"Yet afterwards he (Pole) became 'Alterius Orbis Papa,' when made Archbishop of Canterbury by Queen Mary."
J. N. B.
West Bromwich, June 28. 1851.
Umbrella (Vol. iii., pp. 37. 60. 126. 482.).
—In Fynes Moryson's Itinerary, "printed by John Beale, 1617, part iii. booke i. chap. ii. p. 21.," is the following passage:
"In hot regions, to auoide the beames of the sunne, in some places (as in Italy) they carry Vmbrels, or things like a little canopy, over their heads; but a learned Physician told me, that the use of them was dangerous, because they gather the heate into a pyramidall point, and thence cast it down perpendicularly upon the head, except they know how to carry them for auoyding that danger."
C. DE D.
To learn by Heart, "Apprendre par Cœur" (Vol. iii., pp. 425. 483.).
—Quitard, a French writer on Proverbs, says,—
"On a regardé le cœur comme le siége de la Mémoire. De là les mots recorder, se recorder, récordance, récordation, en Latin recordari, recordatio; de là aussi l'expression apprendre par cœur. Rivarol dit que cette expression, si ordinaire et si énergique, vient du plaisir que nous prenons à ce qui nous touche et nous flatte. La mémoire, en effet, est toujours aux ordres du cœur."
J. M.
Oxford.
"Suum cuique tribuere" (Vol. iii. p. 518.).
—I beg to refer your correspondent M. D. to Cicero's De Claris Oratoribus, which is the nearest parallel passage I can find: viz.
"Erat omnius tum mos, ut in reliquis rebus melior, sic in hoc ipso humanior: ut faciles essent in suum cuique tribuendo."
In a note, an allusion to Justice is made: but my Cicero is a very old edition, and is divided into four tomes. The above is from tome i. p. 305, letter F.
The only other parallel passage is from Liber II., "Ad Herennium," thus:
"Justitia est habitus animi, communi utilitate conservata, suam cuique tribuens dignitatem."
J. N. C.
King's Lynn, June 28. 1851.
Frogs in Ireland—Round Towers (Vol. iii., pp. 353. 428. 490.).
—I must take leave to doubt the fact, mentioned in Vol. iii., p. 490., of the introduction of frogs into Ireland first in the year 1696. They are much too plentiful in the country districts, leaving out their abundance in the county Dublin, to warrant any such supposition. In the Queen's County, particularly, I have seen them in myriads. With regard to those gentlemen who are pleased to import snakes into Ireland, I can only wish them some worthier occupation.
There are two birds, the occurrence of which about Dublin I do not find noticed by naturalists. One is the common skylark, the other is the Royston crow, which, strange to say, is not a migratory visitor, but is found there the whole year round.
Concerning Round Towers, mentioned at pages 353. and 428., I beg to refer W. R. M. to the works of Wilkinson, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall, and Moore's History of Ireland, in addition to Petrie, Keating, &c. When in Galway, in January, 1850, I noticed some remarkable instances of resemblance to Spaniards amongst the peasant women and girls. It was, however, by no means general; but only observable here and there, in a few particular instances. Between Galway and Oughterard I passed a girl walking barefooted along the dirty road, whose features were strikingly beautiful, set off with long raven tresses and large dark eyes, signs apparently of her Spanish origin. The town of Galway is full of interesting memorials of its connexion with Spain, and well repays a visit. Its ancient prosperity will now be probably revived again, and, with its singularly advantageous position, and its future intercourse with America, it cannot fail to rise once more from its ruins and its dirt, unless prevented by the prevalence of political agitation.
WILLIAM E. C. NOURSE.
Lines on the Temple (Vol. iii., p. 450.).
—J. S. will find these lines in print, in the "Poetry" of the Annual Register for 1764, vol. vii. p. 247. They are said to have been stuck on the Temple gate.
J. K.
Killigrew Arms (Vol. i., pp. 204. 231. 283.).
—A more correct description will be found in Lysons' Cornwall: see "Town Seal of Falmouth."
S. H. (2)
Meaning of Hernshaw (Vol. iii., p. 450.).
—In Poulson's Beverlac; or History of the Antiquities of Beverley in Yorkshire, pp. 263, 264. et seq., is an account of the expenses of the "Twelve Governors of Beverley on a visit to the Earl of Northumberland at Leconfield Castle." Among the presents made to the Earl (Henry Algernon Percy, fifth earl, born Jan. 1477-8, died 1527) for so distinguished an honour are four heronsewes, heronseu, hornsue, or hernshaw, for it is written in all these ways. Was a young heron formerly esteemed a choice delicacy? Chaucer, describing the feast of Cambisscan, says:
"I wol not tellen of hir strange sewes,
Ne hir swannes, ne hir heronsewes."
But even the full-grown bird was not too powerful for the digestive organs in those days: it was termed viand royal, and heronries were maintained for the purpose of food, as well as diversion. In the Northumberland Household Book, these birds, with many others, are named as then served up at table, but which are now discarded as little better than carrion.
From hernshaw, still further corrupted, arose the proverbial expression introduced by Shakspeare into Hamlet,—
"I am but mad north-north-west, when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a hand-saw."
G. P.
Theory of the Earth's Form (Vol. iii., pp. 331. 508.).
—Do the following passages from the "Version of the Psalms" in the Book of Common Prayer throw any light upon the subject?
"And the foundations of the round world were discovered."—Ps. xviii. 15.
"The compass of the world, and they that dwell therein."—Ps. xxiv. 1.
"Thou hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is."—Ps. lxxxix. 12.
"He hath made the round world so sure."—Ps. xciii. 2.
"And that it is he who hath made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved."—Ps. xcvi. 10.
"The round world, and they that dwell therein."—Ps. xcviii. 8.
R. H.
Coke and Cowper, how pronounced (Vol. iv., p. 24.).
—Coke is by lawyers generally pronounced like the article which feeds our steam-engines; but the late Earl of Leicester was generally, in Norfolk and elsewhere, called Cook. The presumption is, that Cook was the ancient sound given to the word Coke. Cowper is a similar instance: I believe it has always been called Cooper. In an old electioneering squib by the late Lord John Townshend, Cowper is made to rhyme to Trooper. The passage alludes to an old county scandal, and I do not therefore quote it.
J. H. L.
There can be no doubt (as it seems to me) that the poet's name ought to be pronounced according to the spelling. I am enabled to state decidedly that he himself pronounced his name Cowper, and not Cooper. I venture to think that the same might also be said with respect to Lord Coke's name; i. e. that the pronunciation Cook is only a "modern affectation."
R. VINCENT.
Registry of British Subjects Abroad (Vol. iv., p. 7.).
—All English chaplains on the Continent are licensed to their respective chaplaincies by the Bishop of London, and are within his ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This may have given rise to the notion of which your correspondent speaks.
R. VINCENT.
Hanging out the Broom at the Mast-heads of Ships to be sold (Vol. ii., p. 226.).
—In reply to the question of your correspondent W. P., I beg to inform him that the custom originated from that period of our history when the Dutch admiral, Van Tromp, with his fleet appeared on our coasts in hostility against England. The broom was hoisted as indicative of his intention to sweep the ships of England from the sea. To repel this insolence the English admiral hoisted a horse-whip, equally indicative of his intention to chastise the Dutchman. The pennant which the horse-whip symbolised has ever since been the distinguishing mark of English ships of war.
JAMES CORNISH.
William Godwin (Vol. i., pp. 415. 478.).
—Your correspondents N. and C. H. may find some interesting passages of Godwin's life in his Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin: Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard, 1798.
JAMES CORNISH.
Family of Kyme (Vol. iv., p. 23.).
—Bold may find some information which will assist him in a pedigree and account of this family, showing the descent of the manor of South and North Kyme in Lincolnshire, in Creasy's History of Sleaford and the surrounding Neighbourhood, p. 274. The barony of Kyme appears to have passed into the female line by the death of William de Kyme without issue in 12 Edward III.
J. P. JUN.
Plaids and Tartans (Vol. iv., p. 7.).—
"The belted plaid was the original dress. It is precisely that of a savage, who, finding a web of cloth he had not skill to frame into a garment, wrapt one end round his middle, and threw the rest about his shoulders.... And it is little to the honour of Highland ingenuity, that although the chiefs wore long pantaloons called trews, the common gael never fell upon any substitute for the belted plaid, till an English officer, for the benefit of the labourers who worked under his direction on the military roads, invented the fileah beg, philabeg, or little petticoat, detached from the plaid, and fastened by a buckle round the waist."
Although the above extract from the Quarterly Review, vol. i. p. 186., is not exactly a reply to the Query of A JUROR (Vol. iv., p. 7.), still it may be of some use to him.
I would like also to learn how much of the reviewer's story is founded upon fact, as I confess I am very much inclined to doubt the truth of it in toto.
A LOWLANDER.
Peace Illumination, 1802 (Vol. iv., p. 23.).
—The story referred to by MR. CAMPKIN does not appear to be so apocryphal as he supposes. Southey, who was an eye-witness of the illuminations, gives it as an indisputed fact. His words are:
"We entered the avenue immediately opposite to M. Otto's, and raising ourselves by the help of a garden wall, overlooked the crowd, and thus obtained a full and uninterrupted sight of what thousands and tens of thousands were vainly struggling to see. To describe it, splendid as it was, is impossible; the whole building presented a front of light. The inscription was 'Peace and Amity:' it had been 'Peace and Concord,' but a party of soldiers in the morning, whose honest patriotism did not regard trifling differences of orthography, insisted upon it that they were not conquered, and that no Frenchman should say so; and so the word Amity, which can hardly be regarded as English, was substituted in its stead."[2]
[2] Letters from England, by Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella, translated from the Spanish (3 vols. 12mo. London, 1807), vol. i. lett. 8. p. 93.
DOUGLAS ALLPORT.
Basnet Family (Vol. iii., p. 495.).
—I can perhaps give D. X. some information respecting the ancient family of Basnet, being related to them through my mother.
From papers in our possession, we have always considered ourselves descended from Edward Basnet, the first married Dean of St. Patrick's; and I drew up a pedigree of the family, which is in Berry's Berkshire. But the proofs only go as far as Thomas Basnet, of Coventry, born in 1590. Lawrance Basset, otherwise Bassnet, of Bainton, in the fee of the hundred of Hatton, in the parish of Budworth, in the palatine of Chester, living in the 27th of Henry VIII., anno 1536, was descended of a younger house of Sir Philip Basset, knight, &c. of St. Hillane, in the county of Glamorgan. He had Piers Basnet, of Bainton aforesaid, lived in the time of Henry VIII., anno 1547, purchased land in Bainton of Edward Starkie, of Simondston in Lancashire, married Ann, dau. of Robert Eaton, of Over Whitley, first wife, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and Henry. The second wife was dau. of —— Stretch, of Leigh, had one son Robert, of the city of Chester.
The second son of Lawrance Basset, or Bassnet, was Hugh, of Leigh, living temp. Henry VIII., anno 1543.
The third son was Thomas, temp. Henry VIII., 1539, whose son (we suppose) was Edward Basnet, Dean of St. Patrick's whose grandson was an ensign in General Monk's own regiment, the Coldstream Guards, 1660. He left the regiment in 1665.
In the Egerton Papers, Camden Soc., vol. xii., is this account:
"Amongst those appointed for the Privy Council for the better government of Ireland, in the year July 1550, was Edward Basnet, clerk, late Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin."
The arms of the present family are Argent, a cheveron gules, between three helmets, close ppr. Crest: an arm, embowed, in armour, holding a cutlas, all proper.
By applying to Charles Basnett, Esq., No. 3. Brock Street, Bath, D. X. may have a full account of this family.
JULIA R. BOCKETT.
Southcote Lodge, July 17. 1851.