—— Rectory, Hereford.
"Populus vult decipi," &c. (Vol. vii., p. 572.).—The origin of this phrase is found in Thuanus, lib. xvii. A.D. 1556. See Jackson's Works, book iii. ch. 32. § 9. note.
C. P. E.
Sir John Vanbrugh (Vol. vii., p. 619.).—Sir John Vanbrugh was the grandson of a Protestant refugee, from a family originally of Ghent in Flanders. The Duke of Alva's persecution drove him to England, where he became a merchant in London. Giles, the son of this refugee, resided in Chester, became rich by trade, and married the youngest daughter of Sir Dudley Carleton, by whom he had eight sons, of whom Sir John Vanbrugh was the second. The presumption is he was born in Chester, but the precise date is unknown.
Anon.
Erroneous Forms of Speech (Vol. vii., pp. 329. 632.).—With regard to your two correspondents E. G. R. and M., I hold that, with Cowper's disputants, "both are right and both are wrong."
The name of the field beet is, in the language of the unlearned, mangel-wurzel, "the root of poverty." It acquired that name from having been used as food by the poor in Germany during a time of great famine. Turning to Buchanan's Technological Dictionary, I find,—
"Mangel-wurzel. Field beet; a variety between the red and white. It has as yet been only partially cultivated in Britain."
In reference to the assertion of your later correspondent, that "such a thing as mangel-wurzel is not known on the Continent," I would ask if either he or his friends are familiar with half the beautiful and significant terms applied to English flowers and herbs? If he prefer using mangold for beet, he is quite at liberty to do so, and I believe on sufficiently good authority. What says Noehden, always a leading authority in German:
"Mangold. Red beet; name of some other plants, such as lungwort and sorrel."