"Sr.—His Majesty taking notice of an opinion entertained in Staffordshire, that the burning of Ferne doth draw downe rain, and being desirous that the country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he remains in those parts, His Majesty hath commanded me to write unto you, to cause all burning of Ferne to bee forborne, untill his Majesty be passed the country. Wherein not doubting but the consideration of their own interest, as well as of his Maties, will invite the country to a ready observance of this his Maties command, I rest,
"Your very loving friend,
PEMBROKE AND MONTGOMERY.
"Belvoir, 1st August, 1636.
"To my very loving friend the High Sheriff of the County of Stafford."
Do any other writers of the time notice this "opinion," and do any traces of it exist at present?
μ.
TRANSLATIONS.
It becomes needful that the translations which are to be copyright should be accurately made when the new international law comes into effect. In the Consulship and Empire of M. Thiers, vol. iii. p. 220., purporting to be translated by D. Forbes Campbell, "under the sanction and approval of the author," the following happy piece of translation occurs:—
"They urged also, that the Maltese people would offer great resistance to the destruction of those fine fortresses, and proposed the reconstitution of the Order on a new and more solid basis. They had no objection to allow the French language still to be used there, stipulating only that a college should be instituted for teaching the English and Maltese languages. The latter for the advantages of the Maltese people, who should have a share in its management; they were desirous of placing this new settlement under the guarantee of some great power, Russia for example. The English were in hopes that with the English and Maltese languages spoken by the people who would still be devoted to them, they should still have an influence in the island, which would prevent the French from again obtaining possession of it."
The translator has invented a college and system of instruction, because he did not know how to translate "langue!"[1] Thus this important passage is wholly perverted.