Rubi.
"Genealogies of the Mordaunt Family," by the Earl of Peterborough (Vol. vi., p. 553.).—Bridges, in his History of Northamptonshire, vol. ii. p. 252., states that twenty-four copies of the work were printed. There is a large paper copy of the work, in the library at Drayton House, the former seat of the Mordaunts, now the property of W.B. Stopford, Esq.
J. B.
Niágara, or Niagára? (Vol. vi., p. 555.).—An enthusiastic person, of the name of Pemberton (who had spent much time at the Falls, and was so enthusiastic in his admiration of them that he protested he could not keep away from them, and went back and died there), informed me that the proper name was Ni-ágara or aghera,—two Indian words signifying "Hark to the thunder."
J. G.
Maudlin (Vol. vi., p. 552.).—Your Massachusetts correspondent comes a long way for information which he might surely have obtained on his own side of the Atlantic. Dr. Johnson says, "Maudlin is the corrupt appellation of Magdalen, who is drawn by painters with swollen eyes and disordered look." And do we not know that Magdalene College is always called Maudlin, and that Madeleine is the French orthography? very closely resembling our vernacular pronunciation?
J. G.
Spiritual Persons employed in Lay Offices (Vol. vi., pp. 376. 567.).—Your correspondents W. and E. H. A. seem to have overlooked the modern instances of this practice, which the London Gazette has recently recorded, in
announcing the appointment of several clergymen as deputy-lieutenants. This is an office which is so far of a military character, that it is supposed to place the holder in the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and certainly entitles him to wear a military uniform. If these members of the "church militant" should be presented at Her Majesty's Court in their new appointment, will they appear in their clerical or military habit?
Ω. Φ.