"JUSJURANDUM PER CANEM" (Vol. iii., p. 192.).—"SEDEM ANIMÆ IN DIGITIS PONUNT" (Vol. ii., p. 464.).—"FIAT JUSTITIA, RUAT CŒLUM" (Vol. ii., p. 494.).
An extraordinary mode of swearing, akin to the oaths already noticed, is recorded by Ysbrant Ides in his Travels from Moscow to China (London, 1705, and reprinted in the second volume of Harris's Collection):—
"Two Tunguzian hostages falling out, one accused the other before the Waywode (or Viceroy) of having conjured his deceased brother to death. The Waywode asked the accuser if he would, according to the Tunguzian custom, put the accused to his oath? To this he answered in the affirmative; after which the accused took a live dog, laid him on the ground, and with a knife stuck him into the body, just under his left foot, and immediately clapped his mouth to the wound, and sucked out the dog's blood as long as he could come at it; after which he lift him up, laid him on his shoulders, and clapped his mouth again to the wound in order to suck out the remaining blood. An excellent drink indeed! And this is the greatest oath and most solemn confirmation of the Truth amongst them; so that on credit of this the accused was set free, and the accuser punished for his false accusation."
The dog, designed, as Cicero observes, for man's use, was doubtless selected for his sagacity and faithfulness; and by Loccenius, in his Leges W. Gothicæ, "tria canum capita" are stated to have been "Hunnorum gentis insignia," the progenitors of the Tunguzians, p. 107. In Northern Europe "sanguine Deos placari creditum; canibus etiam cum hominibus permistè in luco suspensis." (Ibid. p. 105.)
Among the northern nations, not only their testimoniary oaths were thus sanctioned by blood, but their confederative also, in which their fraternisation was symbolised by reciprocal transfusion of blood.
"Dear as the blood that warms my heart."
Gray's Bard.
It was the custom of the Scythians "non dextras tantum implicare, sed pollices mutuo vincire, nodoque perstringere; mox sanguine in artus extremos se effundente levi ritu cruorem elicere, atque invicem lambere." (Hanseanius De Jurejurando Verterum.) Quintus Curtius remarks that among the Hindoos (between whom and the Scythians Sir W. Jones and other ethnographers have observed various traces of affinity) the joining of right hands was their usual mode of salutation; "dextra fidei sedes."
En passant, I have elsewhere seen the opinion quoted by a correspondent (Vol. ii., p. 464), "Sedem animæ in digitis ponunt," attributed to the Hindoos. Query, Has not the profession of θεληται (see Dr. Maitland on Mesmerism) prevailed among them? Their propensity to conjuring is so proverbial, that, according to a writer in the Asiatic Researches, that term is derived from one of their tribes. See also on their witchcrafts, Acosta's East and West Indies, chap. xxvi.
Before I dismiss the subject of swearing, permit me to observe what appears to me to be the origin of the apothegm "Fiat Justitia, ruat Cœlum" (Vol. ii., p. 494.), which, with a slight change, was afterwards adopted by Ferdinand, emperor of Austria.
May it not have originated in an oath similar to that of Chaganus, king of the Huns, recorded by Otrokoesi, in his Historiæ Hungaricæ?—
"Abarico ritu jusjurandum ad hunc modum præstitit. Ense edueto et in altum sublato sibi et Abaricorum genti dira imprecatus si quid mali, &c. Cœlum ex alto ipsis et Deus Ignis qui in cœlo est, irrueret."
More sententiously he may have said: "Fiat On the inviolability of oaths among the heathens, in addition to the works referred to in Vol. iii., p. 192., see Gentleman's Magazine, vol. i. p. 415.; on the singular notion, in the fourteenth century, of the harmlessness of colloquial and affirmative oaths, see Archæologia, vol. xx. p. 43.; and on the opposition made by the Lollards to this unchristian practice, Purvey's Remonstrance against the Corruptions of the Church of Rome, edited by the Rev. J. Forshall, London, 1851. T. J. The querist on Hugh Holland and his works, must be content with a reply of unvarnished brevity. 1. "Where are these lines taken from, and what do they mean?"—The lines are from the Cypress garland of Hugh Holland, 1625. 4to. The meaning is obvious. I assume that Holland may be trusted as to his own age, to which Wood gives no clue. 2. "Who says he did not quit Westminster school till 1589?"—Wood says he was bred in Westminster school, and "elected into Trinity coll. in Cambridge, an. 1589." Welch, from official documents, gives the same date. Wood nowhere states that he "matriculated at Baliol in 1582." 3. "My words are, 'about 1590 he succeeded to a fellowship.'"—Wood says he was elected to Trinity college in 1589, "of which he was afterwards fellow." It may have been some years afterwards. 4. "Why does not MR. CORNEY give your readers his interpretation of the mysterious H. H.?"—He reserved it for another occasion, but now consents to satisfy the curiosity of the querist and others. In 1632 Henry Holland dedicated to Charles I. an English version of the Cyrvpædia of Xenophon, made by his father Philemon Holland. In the dedication, which is signed at length, he says: "Also, when any unworthy selfe (anno 1620) offred mine owne collections, entituled Herwologia Anglica, unto his highnesse [James I.], he most graciously received it." In 1614 appeared, under the initials "H. H.," the Monvmenta sepvlchraria sancti Pavli, and in the address ad lectorem we read: "Et non solùm nomine bonus appellatus est [sc. Alex. Nowel], sed etiam et in vita sua bonitas apparuit, et in morte bona sua opera illum sunt sequuta, et uberiùs et fusiùs in Effigiebus nostris et vitis illustrium Anglorum cum de Coleto tum de illo apparet: (quæ nunc transmarino habitu vestiendæ sunt) quare hic illum pluribus prosequi verbis non est opus." Here is unanswerable evidence that Henry Holland was the compiler of both works. In the catalogue of the Grenville collection of books, now in the British Museum, both works are ascribed to Hugh Holland. 5. "The edition of 1614 was certainly the first, and that of 1633 certainly the second."—The querist adopts my correction of his threefold error, and calls it an answer! 6. "I shall therefore leave the shade of Cole and MR. BOLTON CORNEY to settle the question as to whether any such work exists."—The querist did not perceive that the Roxana of Alexander was an error for the Roxana of Alabaster—so he endeavours to draw off the attention of his readers from this proof of critical obtuseness by a common-place witticism. I must describe the facile process by which our querist has obtained his apparent triumph. Wood, at the close of his article on Hugh Holland the poet, which is chiefly derived from the Worthies of Fuller, mentions one Hugh Holland as admitted B.A. in 1570, and another Hugh Holland as matriculated at Baliol college in 1582, aged twenty-four; with others of that surname. He adds, "but whether any of them were authors, I cannot yet tell, or whether the last was the same with the poet. Qu." Now, with regard to the first and second articles, our querist omits the sentence which proves the inapplicability of his quotations! and with regard to the third article, he omits the word afterwards, which forms the gist of the argument. BOLTON CORNEY. "Assertion is not proof," and it surely does require proof ere we consent to brand a writer of unimpeached character with the charge of "a shameless, heartless act of literary piracy." It rests with ERZA to bring forward his or her proof that the lines in dispute were written by Lady Flora. ERZA asserted that they were "never before printed." I have enabled him or her to satisfy himself or herself that they were in print nearly twelve years ago. I am disposed to believe ERZA equally mistaken in the assertion as to the authorship of the lines. If this prove so, the imputation cast upon Miss Barber will revert upon her accuser, and will demand the most ample apology. I do not know Miss Barber; her writings I have long admired; and having been the means of drawing down upon her such an accusation, I am not disposed to let the inquiry terminate here. Nor can I believe the Editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES" will desire that either a literary error or a groundless slander should descend to posterity in his pages. L. H. K. ERZA cannot entertain a higher respect than I do for the memory of Lady Flora Hastings; but I am sure no member of her family would countenance any attempt to exalt her reputation at the expense of another's; and I fear ERZA, however unintentionally, has fallen into this error. The stanzas she attributed to Lady Flora, as L. H. K. stated (Vol. iii., p. 522.), were published as Miss M. A. S. Barber's in The Christian Lady's Magazine for September, 1839, only two months after Lady Flora's death. In the preceding number, as L. H. K. also correctly stated, is a brief memoir of Lady Flora, in which it is said, that shortly before her death she "delivered to her fond brother a little Bible, the gift of her mother, requesting him to restore it to that beloved parent," &c. ERZA may be unacquainted with that publication, but I can assure her that Lady Flora's brother, my esteemed and lamented patron, was not; for shortly after the number appeared, I found it lying on his table, in his own private room at Donington Park, and, while waiting to see him, partly read it there myself for the first time. I know not whether he ever read the lines in question in the succeeding number, but I know the Magazine was regularly taken by some of Lady Flora's intimate friends, and I cannot suppose they would allow any poem of hers to pass unnoticed for twelve years, with the signature of Miss Barber attached to it. Indeed the stanzas bear internal evidence of being written after Lady Flora's death, and founded on the account given by Charlotte Elizabeth in the preceding number. If, however, ERZA still persists in attributing them to Lady Flora Hastings, she is in duty bound to give her authority, and not bring such a heavy accusation against Miss Barber on the bare assertion of an anonymous correspondent. If Miss Barber really composed the stanzas, as I believe she did, she was doubtless actuated with a desire to honour the memory and character of Lady Flora; and in such case nothing could be more cruel and unjust than the conduct imputed to her by ERZA. Unfortunately I do not know Miss Barber's address, or whether she is still living; but if any of your readers do, I hope they will name this case to her, or her friends, that her reputation may be cleared from the imputation thus rashly cast on it. If the case cannot thus be satisfactorily settled, I will obtain the desired information from another quarter; but I hope ERZA will also offer the assistance in her power towards this desirable object; and to set the example of candour and openness, I will subscribe my real name. W. HASTINGS KELKE. Drayton Beauchamp.HUGH HOLLAND AND HIS WORKS.
(Vol. iii. p. 427.; Vol. iv., p. 62.)LADY FLORA HASTINGS' BEQUEST.
(Vol. iv., p. 44.)