Minor Queries Answered.

Reverend Cæsar de Missy.

—Can you furnish me with any particulars respecting the Rev. Cæsar de Missy? Bishop Middleton, in his work on the Greek article, quotes once or twice some MS. notes of his, now in the British Museum; and a rare edition of the Septuagint (Basil, 1545), now in my possession, contains his autograph under date Londini, 1745. I have not met with his name in any biographical work, and should therefore be obliged by any information respecting his life and works.

QUIDAM.

[Cæsar de Missy, a learned Prussian divine, was born at Berlin, 1703. Having settled in England, he was appointed in 1762 to be one of the French chaplains to George III., and died 1773. His valuable library, which was sold by Baker and Leigh in 1778, consisted of many books enriched with his MS. notes, some of which were purchased for his Majesty's library, some for the British Museum, and some by Dr. Hunter, who also bought several of his manuscripts. A biographical account of De Missy will be found in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, under De Missy and a list of his works in Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, art. Missy.]

F. Beaumont and Jeremy Taylor (Vol. ii., p. 263.).

—"An acre sown with royal seed," &c. Would M. W. kindly say where the passage in Beaumont is to be found?

C. P. E.

[The passage occurs in the poem entitled "On the Tombs in Westminster Abbey." See Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, vol. ii. p. 709. edit. 1840.]

"Carve out Dials."—

"——Carve out dials, quaintly, point by point,

Thereby to set the minutes, how they run,

How many make the Hour full, complete;

How many hours bring about the Day."

Where is the above quotation from? It heads an advertisement of the Sam Slick Clocks.

G. CREED.

[It will be found in Shakspeare's King Henry VI., Part III. Act II. Sc. 5.]

Log Book.

—What is the origin of Log Book?

G. CREED.

[The Log board no doubt gave rise to the Log book, as being more convenient for preserving a record of the ship's course, winds, and weather. Consult Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine.]

Lord Clydesdale.

—Would you kindly inform me who was the "Lord Mar. Clydesdale," or "Clidsdale," whose name appears as a commoner of St. Mary's College, Winchester, in 1735; and in other Rolls about that date?

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

P.S. May I in your columns beg all Wykehamists to send to me, under care of my publisher, any information concerning their old school?

[James, Marquis of Clydesdale, was afterwards fifth Duke of Hamilton, and second Duke of Brandon. See Douglas' Peerage of Scotland, vol. i. pp. 473. 722.]

"Time is the Stuff of which Life is made."

—There is a phrase, "Time is the stuff that life is made of," which has been taken for a line of Shakspeare. A reference to Mrs. Clark's Concordance shows that that supposition is erroneous. Can any of your readers inform me where the phrase may be found?

[It occurs in Dr. Franklin's Works, vol. iii. p. 454., edit. 1806, in the article "The Way to Wealth, as clearly shown in the Preface of an old Pennsylvania Almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved." He says, "But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says." Franklin may have quoted it from some previous author.]

"Yet forty Days" (Jonah iii. 4.)

—"Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown."—Septuagint (Baxter's edition) "Ἔτι τρεῖς ἥμεραι," &c.: "Yet three days."—How is this?

NEDLAM.

[Τρεῖς is the common reading of the LXX. as ארבעים of the Hebrew. We know of no variants. J. H. Michaelis' account of the matter is, "Perperam vero LXX. hunc quadragenarium dierum numerum in triduanum commutarunt.">[

The Empress Helena.

—Most readers of general history are aware that the parentage of the renowned mother of the still more renowned Constantine has been claimed for two widely different sources,—a British king on the one hand, and an innkeeper of Bithynia on the other. In favour of the former, we have Geoffrey of Monmouth, Carte the English historian, and modern Welsh authors; for the latter, Gibbon and his authorities. The object of the present Query is threefold: 1. Will some one having access to Geoffrey be kind enough to favour me (in the original or a translation) with the exact statement of the chronicler to which Gibbon refers? 2. Are writers of intelligence and credit quite agreed that the tradition which assigns to the wife of Constantius a royal British parentage was "invented in the darkness of monasteries?" 3. Where is the question—one of interest in many ways—fully and satisfactorily discussed?

[The statement will be found in Geoffrey's British History, book v. ch. 6.:—"After the decease of Coel, a petty prince of Caercolvin [Colchester], Constantius himself was crowned, and married the daughter of Coel, [7] whose name was Helena. She surpassed all the ladies of the country in beauty, as she did all others of the time in her skill in music and the liberal arts. Her father had no other issue to succeed him on the throne; for which reason he was very careful about her education, that she might be better qualified to govern the kingdom. Constantius, therefore, having made her partner of his bed, had a son by her called Constantine." Thus far Geoffrey; and with him agree Baronius, Ussher, Stillingfleet, and Camden. The learned Lipsius' opinion of this tradition, in his letter to Mr. Camden, will be found in his Epistles, page 64. The traditions, however, is not mentioned by Gildas, Nennius, or Bede. Our correspondent will find a long discussion on this disputed point in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, August 18, Art. "S. Helen." See also Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, t. iv.]

[7] This petty king is probably the hero of the old popular ditty:

"Old King Coel,

Was a merry old soul," &c.