Turkey and Russia—The Eastern Question (Vol. ix., p. 244.).—The past history of these rival states presents more than one parallel passage like the following, extracted from Watkins's Travels through Switzerland, Italy, the Greek Islands, to Constantinople, &c. (2nd edit., two vols. 8vo. 1794):
"The Turks have been, and indeed deserve to be, praised for the manner in which they declared war against the Russians. They sent by Mr. Bulgakoff, her Imperial Majesty's minister at the Porte, to demand the restitution of the Crimea, which had been extorted from them by the merciless despot of R——a, (sic) when too much distressed by a rebellion in Egypt to protect it. On his return without an answer they put him in the Seven Towers, and commenced hostilities. They hate the Russians; and to show it the more, frequently call a Frank Moscoff. To the English they are more partial than to any other Christian nation, from a tradition that Mahomet was prevented by death from converting our ancestors to his faith."—Vol. ii. pp. 276-7.
J. Macray.
Oxford.
"Verbatim et literatim."—As this phrase often finds insertion, even in the pages of "N. & Q.," it may be well to call attention to the fact that there is no such adverb as literatim in the Latin language. There is the adverb literate, which means after the manner of a literate man, learnedly; but to express the idea intended by the coined word literatim, I think we must use the form ad literam—"Verbatim et ad literam."
L. H. J. Tonna.
Queries.
PRINTS OF LONDON BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE.
In addition to the Tower, there was in Cromwell's time the fortification of Baynard's Castle, near Blackfriars, and the city gates were also fortifications on a small scale; they were rebuilt (St. John's, Clerkenwell, excepted, which was spared) after the Great Fire, and were taken down somewhere about 1760. Can any of your readers tell me whether there is any series of prints extant of the most remarkable buildings which were destroyed by the fire? There are some few maps, and a print or two interspersed here and there, in the British Museum; but is there any regular series of plates? We know that Inigo Jones built a Grecian portico on to the east end of the Gothic cathedral of old St. Paul's, surmounted with statues of Charles I., &c.; that the Puritans destroyed a beautiful conduit at the top of Cheapside; that Sir Thomas Gresham's Exchange was standing. But among the many city halls burnt down, were there any fine specimens of architecture, any churches worthy of note? And as Guildhall was not entirely consumed, what parts of the present edifice belong to the olden time?