Cx.
At Sixes and Sevens.—Shakspeare uses the well-known adage—"at sixes and sevens;" Bacon, Hudibras, Arbuthnot, Swift, all use the proverb. Why should sixes and sevens be more congruous with disorder than "twos and threes?" and whence comes the saying?
D. C.
Shaking Hands.—What is the origin of the custom of shaking hands in token of friendship? And were the clasped hands (now the common symbol of Benefit Clubs) ever used as a signet, prior to their adoption as such by the early Christians in their wedding rings; or, did these rings
bear any other motto, or posy, than "Fides annulus castus" (i. e. simplex et sine gemmâ)?
J. Sansom.
George Steevens.—Can any of your readers inform me whether a memoir of George Steevens, the Shakspearian commentator, ever was published? Of course I have seen the biographical sketch in the Gentleman's Magazine, the paragraph in Nichols' Anecdotes, and many like incidental notices. Steevens, who died in January, 1800, left the bulk of his property to his cousin, Miss Elizabeth Steevens, of Poplar; and as there is no reservation nor special bequest in the will, I presume she took possession of his books and manuscripts. The books were sold by auction; but what has become of the manuscripts?
A. Z.
Extradition.—The discussion which was occasioned, some time ago, by the sudden transference of the word extradition into our diplomatic phraseology, must be still in the recollection of your readers. Some were opposed to this change on the ground that extradition is not English; others justified its adoption, for the very reason that we have no corresponding term for it; and one gentleman resolved the question by urging that, "si le mot n'est pas Anglais, il mérite de l'être." I believe there is no reference in "Notes and Queries" to this controversy; nor do I now refer to it with any intention of reviving discussion on a point which seems to have been set at rest by the acquiescence of public opinion. I wish merely to put one or two Queries, which have been suggested to me by the fact that extradition is now generally employed as an English word.
1. Is there any contingency in which the meaning of the word extradition may not be sufficiently expressed by the verb to deliver up, or the substantive restitution?