NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

"When found, make a note of."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

CONTENTS.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.

In two former communications on a subject incidental to that to which I now beg leave to call your attention, I hinted at a result far more important than the discovery of the author of the Taming of a Shrew. That result I lay before your readers, in stating that I think I can show grounds for the assertion that the Taming of the Shrew, by Shakspeare, is the original play; and that the Taming of a Shrew, by Marlowe or what other writer soever, is a later work, and an imitation. I must first, however, state, that having seen Mr. Dyce's edition of Marlowe, I find that this writer's claim to the latter work had already been advanced by an American gentleman, in a work so obvious for reference as Knight's Library Edition of Shakspeare. I was pretty well acquainted with the contents of Mr. Knight's first edition; and knowing that the subsequent work of Mr. Collier contained nothing bearing upon the point, I did not think of referring to an edition published, as I understood, rather for the variation of form than on account of the accumulation of new matter. Mr. Dyce appears to consider the passages cited as instances of imitation, and not proofs of the identity of the writer. His opinion is certainly entitled to great respect: yet it may, nevertheless, be remarked, first that the instance given, supposing Marlowe not to be the author, would be cases of theft rather than imitation, and which, done on so large a scale, would scarcely be confined to the works of one writer; and, secondly, that in original passages there are instances of an independence and vigour of thought equal to the best things that Marlowe ever wrote—a circumstance not to be reconciled with the former supposition. The following passage exhibits a freedom of thought more characteristic of this writer's reputation than are most of his known works:—

"And custom-free, you marchants shall commerce

And interchange the profits of your land,

Sending you gold for brasse, silver for lead,

Casses of silke for packes of wol and cloth,

To bind this friendship and confirme this league."

Six Old Plays, p. 204.

A short account of the process by which I came to a conclusion which, if established, must overthrow so many ingenious theories, will not, I trust, be uninteresting to your readers. In the relationship between these two plays there always seemed to be something which needed explanation. It was the only instance among the works of Shakspeare in which a direct copy, even to matters of detail, appeared to have been made; and, in spite of all attempts to gloss over and palliate, it was impossible to deny that an unblushing act of mere piracy seemed to have been committed, of which I never could bring myself to believe that Shakspeare had been guilty. The readiness to impute this act to him was to me but an instance of the unworthy manner in which he had almost universally been treated; and, without at the time having any suspicion of what I now take to be the fact, I determined, if possible, to find it out. The first question I put to myself was, Had Shakspeare himself any concern in the older play? A second glance at the work sufficed for an answer in the negative. I next asked myself on what authority we called it an "older" play. The answer I found myself obliged to give was, greatly to my own surprise, On no authority whatever! But there was still a difficulty in conceiving how, with Shakspeare's work before him, so unscrupulous an imitator should have made so poor an imitation. I should not have felt this difficulty had I then recollected that the play in question was not published; but, as the case stood, I carefully examined the two plays together, especially those passages which were identical, or nearly so, in both, and noted, in these cases, the minutest variations. The result was, that I satisfied myself that the original conception was invariably to be found in Shakspeare's play. I have confirmed this result in a variety of ways, which your space will not allow me to enter upon; therefore, reserving such circumstances for the present as require to be enforced by argument, I will content myself with pointing out certain passages that bear out my view. I must first, however, remind your readers that while some plays, from their worthlessness, were never printed, some were withheld from the press on account of their very value; and of this latter class were the works of Shakspeare. The late publication of his works created the impression, not yet quite worn out, of his being a later writer than many of his contemporaries, solely because their printed works are dated earlier by twenty or thirty years. But for the obstinate effects of this impression, it is difficult to conceive how any one could miss the original invention of Shakspeare in the induction, and such scenes as that between Grumio and the tailor; the humour of which shines, even in the feeble reflection of the imitation, in striking contrast with those comic(?) scenes which are the undisputed invention of the author of the Taming of a Shrew.

The first passage I take is from Act IV. Sc. 3.

"Grumio. Thou hast fac'd many things?

"Tailor. I have.

"Gru. Face not me: thou hast brav'd many men; brave not me. I will neither be fac'd nor brav'd."

In this passage there is a play upon the terms "fac'd" and "brav'd." In the tailor's sense, "things" may be "fac'd" and "men" may be "brav'd;" and, by means of this play, the tailor is entrapped into an answer. The imitator, having probably seen the play represented, has carried away the words, but by transposing them, and with the change of one expression—"men" for "things"—has lost the spirit: there is a pun no longer. He might have played upon "brav'd," but there he does not wait for the tailor's answer; and "fac'd," as he has it, can be understood but in one sense, and the tailor's admission becomes meaningless. The passage is as follows:—

"Saudre. Dost thou hear, tailor? thou hast brav'd many men; brave not me. Th'ast fac'd many men.

"Tailor. Well, Sir?

"Saudre. Face not me; I'll neither be fac'd nor brav'd at thy hands, I can tell thee."—p. 198.

A little before, in the same scene, Grumio says, "Master, if ever I said loose-bodied gown, sew me in the skirts of it, and beat me to death with a bottom of brown thread." I am almost tempted to ask if passages such as this be not evidence sufficient. In the Taming of a Shrew, with the variation of "sew me in a seam" for "sew me in the skirts of it," the passage is also to be found; but who can doubt the whole of this scene to be by Shakspeare, rather than by the author of such scenes, intended to be comic, as one referred to in my last communication (No. 15. p. 227., numbered 7.), and shown to be identical with one in Doctor Faustus? I will just remark, too, that the best appreciation of the spirit of the passage, which, one would think, should point out the author, is shown in the expression, "sew me in the skirts of it," which has meaning, whereas the variation has none. A little earlier, still in the same scene, the following bit of dialogue occurs:—

"Kath. I'll have no bigger; this doth fit the time,

And gentlewomen wear such caps as these.

"Pet. When you are gentle, you shall have one too,

and not till then."

Katharine's use of the term "gentlewomen" suggests here Petruchio's "gentle." In the other play the reply is evidently imitated, but with the absence of the suggestive cue:—

"For I will home again unto my father's house.

"Ferando. I, when y'are meeke and gentle, but not before."—p. 194.

Petruchio, having dispatched the tailor and haberbasher, proceeds—

"Well, come my Kate: we will unto your father's,

Even in these honest mean habiliments;

Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor;"—p. 198.

throughout continuing to urge the vanity of outward appearance, in reference to the "ruffs and cuffs, and farthingales and things," which he had promised her, and with which the phrase "honest mean habiliments" is used in contrast. The sufficiency to the mind of these,

"For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich,"

is the very pith and purpose of the speech. Commencing in nearly the same words, the imitator entirely mistakes this, in stating the object of clothing to be to "shrowd us from the winter's rage;" which is, nevertheless, true enough, though completely beside the purpose. In Act II. Sc. 1., Petruchio says,—

"Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear

As morning roses newly wash'd with dew."

Here is perfect consistency: the clearness of the "morning roses," arising from their being "wash'd with dew;" at all events, the quality being heightened by the circumstance. In a passage of the so-called "older" play, the duke is addressed by Kate as "fair, lovely lady," &c.

"As glorious as the morning wash'd with dew."—p. 203

As the morning does not derive its glory from the circumstance of its being "wash'd with dew," and as it is not a peculiarly apposite comparison, I conclude that here, too, as in other instances, the sound alone has caught the ear of the imitator.

In Act V. Sc. 2., Katharine says,—

"Then vail your stomachs; for it is no boot;

And place your hand below your husband's foot;

In token of which duty, if he please,

My hand is ready: may it do him ease."

Though Shakspeare was, in general, a most correct and careful writer, that he sometimes wrote hastily it would be vain to deny. In the third line of the foregoing extract, the meaning clearly is, "as which token of duty;" and it is the performance of this "token of duty" which Katharine hopes may "do him ease." The imitator, as usual, has caught something of the words of the original which he has laboured to reproduce at a most unusual sacrifice of grammar and sense; the following passage appearing to represent that the wives, by laying their hands under their husbands' feet—no reference being made to the act as a token of duty—in some unexplained manner, "might procure them ease."

"Laying our hands under their feet to tread,

If that by that we might procure their ease,

And, for a precedent, I'll first begin

And lay my hand under my husband's feet."—p. 213.

One more instance, and I have done. Shakspeare has imparted a dashing humorous character to this play, exemplified, among other peculiarities, by such rhyming of following words as—

"Haply to wive and thrive as least I may."

"We will have rings and things and fine array."

"With ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales and things."

I quote these to show that the habit was Shakspeare's. In Act I. Sc. 1. occurs the passage—"that would thoroughly woo her, wed her, and bed her, and rid the house of her." The sequence here is perfectly natural: but observe the change: in Ferando's first interview with Kate, he says,—

"My mind, sweet Kate, doth say I am the man

Must wed and bed and marrie bonnie Kate."—p. 172.

In the last scene, Petruchio says,—

"Come, Kate, we'll to bed:

We three are married, but you two are sped."

Ferando has it thus:—

"'Tis Kate and I am wed, and you are sped:

And so, farewell, for we will to our bed."—p. 214.

Is it not evident that Shakespeare chose the word "sped" as a rhyme to "bed," and that the imitator, in endeavouring to recollect the jingle, has not only spoiled the rhyme, but missed the fact that all "three" were "married," notwithstanding that "two" were "sped"?

It is not in the nature of such things that instances should be either numerous or very glaring; but it will be perceived that in all of the foregoing, the purpose, and sometimes even the meaning, is intelligible only in the form in which we find it in Shakespeare. I have not urged all that I might, even in this branch of the question; but respect for your space makes me pause. In conclusion, I will merely state, that I have no doubt myself of the author of the Taming of a Shrew having been Marlowe; and that, if in some scenes it appear to fall short of what we might have expected from such a writer, such inferiority arises from the fact of its being an imitation, and probably required at a short notice. At the same time, though I do not believe Shakspeare's play to contain a line of any other writer, I think it extremely probable that we have it only in a revised form, and that, consequently, the play which Marlow imitated might not necessarily have been that fund of life and humour that we find it now.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

St. John's Wood, March 19. 1850.

PROVERBIAL SAYINGS AND THEIR ORIGINS—PLAGIARISMS AND PARALLEL PASSAGES.

"Ον οι Θεοι φιλουσιν αποθνησκει νεοσ."

Brunck, Poëtæ Gnomici, p. 231., quoted by Gibbon, Decl. and Fall (Milman. Lond. 1838. 8vo.), xii. 355. (note 65.)

"Quem Jupiter vult perdere, priùs dementat."

These words are Barnes's translation of the following fragment of Euripides, which is the 25th in Barnes' ed. (see Gent.'s Mag., July, 1847, p. 19, note):—

"Οταν δε Δαιμων ανδρι πορσυνη κακα,

Τον νουν εξλαψε προτον."

This, or a similar passage, may have been employed proverbially in the time of Sophocles. See l. 632. et seq. of the Antigone (ed. Johnson. Londini. 1758. 8vo.); on which passage there is the following scholium:—

"Μετα σοφιασ γαρ υπο τινοσ αοιδιμου κλεινον εποσ πεφανται,

Οταν δ' ο δαιμων ανδρι πορσυνη κακα,

Τον νουν εξλαψε προτον ω βουλευεtai.

Respecting the lines referred to in the Chorus, Dr. Donaldson makes the following remarks, in his critical edition of the Antigone, published in 1848:—

"The parallel passages for this adage are fully given by Ruhnken on Velleius Paterculus, ii. 57. (265, 256.), and by Wyttenbach on Plutarch, De Audiendis Poetis, p. 17. B. (pp. 190, 191.)"

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,

To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak."

Congreve's Mourning Bride, act i. sc. i. l. 1.

"L'appetit vient en mangeant."

Rabelais, Gargantua, Liv. i. chap. 5. (vol. i. p. 136, ed. Variorum. Paris, 1823. 8vo.)

This proverb had been previously used by Amyot, and probably also by Jerome le (or de) Hangest, who was a Doctor of the Sorbonne, and adversary of Luther, and who died in 1538.—Ibid. p. 136 (note 49.).

I know not how old may be "to put the cart before the horse." Rabelais (i. 227.) has—

"Il mettoyt la charrette devant les beufz."

"If the sky falls, we shall catch larks."

Rabelais (i. 229, 230.):—

"Si les nues tomboyent, esperoyt prendre alouettes."

"Good nature and good sense must ever join;

To err is human, to forgive divine."

Pope's Essay on Criticism, pp. 524, 525.

"Nay, fly to altars, there they'll talk you dead;

For fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

Ib. pp. 624, 625.

The Emperor Alexander of Russia is said to have declared himself "un accident heureux." The expression occurs in Mad. de Staël's Allemagne, § xvi.:—

"Mais quand dans un état social le bonbeur lui-même n'est, pour ainsi dire, qu'un accident heureux ... le patriotisme a peu de persévérance."

Gibbon, Decl. and Fall (Lond. 1838. 8vo.), i. 134.:—

"His (T. Antoninus Pius') reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materíals for history; which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

Gibbon's first volume was published in 1776, and Voltaire's Ingenii in 1767. In the latter we find—

"En effet, l'historie n'est que le tableau des crimes

et des malheurs."—Oeuvres de Voltaire (ed. Beuchot.

Paris, 1884. 8vo.), tom. xxxiii. p. 427.

Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 94.:—

"In every deed of mischief, he (Andronicus Comnenus) had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute."

Cf. Voltaire, "Siècle de Louis XV." (Oeuvres, xxi. p. 67.):—

"Il (le Chevalier de Belle-Isle) était capable de tout imaginer, de tout arranger, et de tout faire."

"Guerre aux chateaux, paix à la chaumière,"

ascribed to Condorcet, in Edin. Rev. April, 1800. p. 240. (note*)

By Thiers (Hist. de la Rév. Franç. Par. 1846. 8vo. ii. 283.), these words are attributed to Cambon; while, in Lamartine's Hist. des Girondins (Par. 1847. 8vo.), Merlin is represented to have exclaimed in the Assembly, "Déclarez la guerre aux rois et la paix aux nations."

Macaulay's Hist. of England (1st ed.), ii. 476:—

"But the iron stoicism of William never gave way: and he stood among his weeping friends calm and austere, as if he had been about to leave them only for a short visit to his hunting-grounds at Loo."

"... non alitèr tamen

Dimovit obstantes propinquos,

Et populum reditus morantem,

Quàm si clientum longa negotia

Dijudicatâ lite relinqueret,

Tendens Venafranos in agros,

Aut Lacedæmonium Tarentum."

Hor. Od. iii. v. 50-56.

"De meretrice puta quòd sit sua filia puta,

Nam sequitur levitèr filia matris iter."

These lines are said by Ménage (Menagiana, Amstm. 1713. 18mo., iii. 12mo.) to exist in a Commentary "In composita verborum Joannis de Galandiâ."

F.C.B.

WILLIAM BASSE AND HIS POEMS.

Your correspondent, the Rev. T. Corser, in his note on William Basse, says, that he has been informed that there are, in Winchester College Library, in a 4to. volume, some poems of that writer. I have the pleasure of assuring him that his information is correct, and that they are the "Three Pastoral Elegies" mentioned by Ritson. The title-page runs thus:—

"Three Pastoral Elegies of Anander, Anetor, and Muridella, by William Bas. Printed by V.S. for J.B., and are to be sold at his shop in Fleet Street, at the sign of the Great Turk's Head, 1602."

Then follows a dedication, "To the Honourable and Virtuous Lady, the Lady Tasburgh;" from which dedication it appears that these Pastoral Elegies were among the early efforts of his Muse. The author, after making excuses for not having repaid her Ladyship's encouragement earlier, says,—

"Finding my abilitie too little to make the meanest satisfaction of so great a principall as is due to so many favourable curtesies, I am bold to tende your Ladyship this unworthy interest, wherewithal I will put in good securitie, that as soone as time shall relieve the necessitie of my young invention, I will disburse my Muse to the uttermost mite of my power, to make some more acceptable composition with your bounty. In the mean space, living without hope to be ever sufficient inough to yeeld your worthinesse the smallest halfe of your due, I doe only desire to leave your ladyship in assurance—

"That when increase of age and learning sets

My mind in wealthi'r state than now it is,

I'll pay a greater portion of my debts,

Or mortgage you a better Muse than this;

Till then, no kinde forbearance is amisse,

While, though I owe more than I can make good,

This is inough, to shew how faine I woo'd,

Your Ladyship's in all humblenes

"WILLUM BAS."

The first Pastoral consists of thirty-seven stanzas; the second of seventy-two; the third of forty-eight; each stanza of eight ten-syllable verses, of which the first six rhyme alternately; the last two are a couplet. There is a short argument, in verse, prefixed to each poem. That of the first runs thus:—

"Anander lets Anetor wot

His love, his lady, and his lot."

of the second,—

"Anetor seeing, seemes to tell

The beauty of faire Muridell,

And in the end, he lets hir know

Anander's plaint, his love, his woe."

of the third,—

Anander sick of love's disdaine

Doth change himself into a swaine;

While dos the youthful shepherd show him

His Muridellaes answer to him."

This notice of these elegies cannot fail to be highly interesting to your correspondent on Basse and his works, and others of your readers who feel an interest in recovering the lost works of our early poets.

W.H. GUNNER

Winchester, March 16. 1850.

FOLK LORE.

Something else about "Salting."—On the first occasion, after birth, of any children being taken into a neighbour's house, the mistress of the house always presents the babe with an egg, a little flour, and some salt; and the nurse, to ensure good luck, gives the child a taste of the pudding, which is forthwith compounded out of these ingredients. This little "mystery" has occurred too often to be merely accidental; indeed, all my poorer neighbours are familiarly acquainted with the custom; and they tell me that money is often given in addition at the houses of the rich.

What is the derivation of cum grano salis as a hint of caution? Can it come from the M.D.'s prescription; or is it the grain of Attic salt or wit for which allowance has to be made in every well-told story?

A.G.

Ecclesfield Vicarage, March 16, 1850.

Norfolk-Weather-Rhyme.

"First comes David, then comes Chad,

And then comes Winneral as though he was mad,

White or black,

Or old house thack."

The first two lines of this weather proverb may be found in Hone's Every-Day Book, and in Denham's Proverbs and Popular Sayings relating to the Seasons (edited for the Percy Society): but St. Winwaloe, whose anniversary falls on the 3rd of March, is there called "Winnold," and not, as in our bit of genuine Norfolk, Winneral. Those versions also want the explanation, that at this time there will be either snow, rain, or wind; which latter is intended by the "old house thack," or thatch.

Medical Charms used in Ireland—Charm for Toothache.—It is a singular fact, that the charm for toothache stated (No. 19. p. 293.) to be prevalent in the south-eastern counties of England, is also used by the lower orders in the county of Kilkenny, and perhaps other parts of Ireland. I have often heard the charm: it commences, "Peter sat upon a stone; Jesus said, 'What aileth thee, Peter?'" and so on, as in the English form.

To cure Warts, the following charm is used:—A wedding-ring is procured, and the wart touched or pricked with a gooseberry thorn through the ring.

To cure Epilepsy, take three drops of sow's milk.

To cure Blisters in a cow's mouth, cut the blisters; then slit the upper part of the tail, insert a clove of garlic, and tie a piece of red cloth round the wound.

To cure the Murrain in Cows.—This disease is supposed to be caused by the cow having been stung about the mouth while feeding, in consequence of contact with some of the larger larvæ of the moth (as of the Death's-head Sphynx, &c.), which have a soft fleshy horn on their tails, erroneously believed to be a sting. If a farmer is so lucky as to procure one of these rare larvæ, he is to bore a hole in an ash tree, and plug up the unlucky caterpillar alive in it. The leaves of that ash tree will, from thenceforth, be a specific against the disease.

The universal prevalence of the superstition concerning the ash is extremely curious.

J.G.

Kilkenny.

Death-bed Superstition.—See Guy Mannering, ch. xxvii. and note upon it:—

"The popular idea that the protracted struggle between life and death is painfully prolonged by keeping the door of the apartment shut, was received as certain by the superstitious eld of Scotland."

In my country (West Gloucestershire) they throw open the windows at the moment of death.

The notion of the escape of the soul through an opening is probably only in part the origin of this superstition. It will not account for opening all the locks in the house. There is, I conceive, a notion of analogy and association.

"Nexosque et solveret artus," says Virgil, at the death of Dido. They thought the soul, or the life, was tied up, and that the unloosing of any knot might help to get rid of the principle, as one may call it. For the same superstition prevailed in Scotland as to marriage (Dalyell, p. 302.). Witches cast knots on a cord; and in a parish in Perthshire both parties, just before marriage, had every knot or tie about them loosened, though they immediately proceeded, in private, severally to tie them up again. And as to the period of childbirth, see the grand and interesting ballad in Walter Scott's Border Poems, vol. ii. p. 27., "Willye's Lady."

C.B.

NOTE ON HERODOTUS BY DEAN SWIFT.

The inclosed unpublished note of Dean Swift will, I hope, be deemed worthy of a place in your columns. It was written by him in his Herodotus, which is now in the library of Winchester College, having been presented to it in 1766, by John Smyth de Burgh, Earl of Clanricarde. The genuineness of the handwriting is attested by a certificate of George Faulkner, who, it appears, was well qualified to decide upon it. The edition is Jungerman's, folio, printed by Paul Stephens, in 1718.

W.H. GUNNER.

"Judicium de Herodoto post longum tempus relicto:—

"Ctesias mendacissimus Herodotum mendaciorum arguit, exceptis paucissimis (ut mea fert sententia) omnimodo excusandum. Cæterum diverticulis abundans, hic pater Historicorum, filum narrationis ad tædium abrumpit; unde oritur (ut par est) legentibus confusio, et exinde oblivio. Quin et forsan ipsæ narrationes circumstantiis nimium pro re scatent. Quod ad cætera, hunc scriptorem inter apprimè laudandos censeo, neque Græcis, neque barbaris plus æquo faventem, aut iniquum: in orationibus fere brevem, simplicem, nec nimis frequentem: Neque absunt dogmata, e quibus eruditus lector prudentiam, tam moralem, quam civilem, haurire poterit.

"Julii 6: 1720. J. SWIFT"

"I do hereby certify that the above is the handwriting of the late Dr. Jonathan Swift, D.S.P.D., from whom I have had many letters and printed several pieces from his original MS.

"Dublin, Aug. 21. 1762. GEORGE FAULKNER."

HERRICK'S HESPERIDES.

There can be few among your subscribers who are unacquainted with the sweet lyric effusion of Herrick "to the Virgins, to make much of Time," beginning—

"Gather you rose-buds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower, that smiles to-day,

To-morrow will be dying."

The following "Answer" appeared in a publication not so well known as the Hesperides. I have therefore made a note of it from Cantos, Songs, and Stanzas, &c., 3rd ed. printed in Aberdeen, by John Forbes, 1682.

"I gather, where I hope to gain,

I know swift Time doth fly;

Those fading buds methinks are vain,

To-morrow that may die.

"The higher Phoebus goes on high,

The lower is his fall;

But length of days gives me more light,

Freedom to know my thrall.

"Then why do ye think I lose my time,

Because I do not marrie;

Vain fantasies make not my prime,

Nor can make me miscarrie."

J.M. GUTCH.

Worcester.

QUERIES.

REV. DR. TOMLINSON.

Mr. G. Bouchier Richardson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who is at present engaged in compiling the life and correspondence of Robert Thomlinson, D.D., Rector of Whickham, co. Dur.; Lecturer of St. Nicholas, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and founder of the Thomlinson Library there; Prebendary of St. Paul's; and Vice-Principal of Edmund Hall, Oxon., is very anxious for the communication of any matter illustrative of the life of the Doctor, his family and ancestry; which, it is presumed, is derivable from the family of that name long seated at Howden, in Yorkshire.

MINOR QUERIES.

"A" or "An," before Words, beginning with a Vowel.—Your readers are much indebted to Dr. Kennedy for his late exposure of the erroneous, though common, use of the phrase "mutual friend," and I am convinced that there are many similar solecisms which only require to be denounced to ensure their disuse. I am anxious to ask the opinion of Dr. K., and others of your subscribers, on another point in the English language, namely, the principles which should guide our use of "A" or "An" before a word beginning with a vowel, as the practice does not appear to be uniform in this respect. The minister of my parish invariably says in his sermon, "Such an one," which, I confess, to my ear is grating enough. I conclude he would defend himself by the rule that where the succeeding word, as "one," begins with a vowel, "An," and not "A," should be used; but this appears to me not altogether satisfactory, as, though "one" is spelt as beginning with a vowel, it is pronounced as if beginning with a consonant thus, "won." The rule of adding or omitting the final "n," according as the following word commences with a vowel or a consonant, was meant, I conceive, entirely for elegance in speaking, to avoid the jar on the ear which would otherwise be occasioned, and has no reference to writing, or the appearance on paper of the words. I consider, therefore, that an exception must be made to the rule of using "An" before words beginning with a vowel in cases where the words are pronounced as if beginning with a consonant, as "one," "use," and its derivatives, "ubiquity," "unanimity," and some others which will no doubt occur to your readers. I should be glad to be informed if my opinion is correct; and I will only further observe, that the same remarks are applicable towards words beginning with "h." An horse sounds as bad as a hour; and it is obvious that in these cases employment of "A" or "An" is dictated by the consideration whether the aspirate is sounded or is quiescent, and has no reference to the spelling of the word.

PRISCIAN.

The Lucky have whole Days.—I, like your correspondent "P.S." (No. 15., p. 231.), am anxious to ascertain the authorship of the lines to which he refers.

They stand in my Common-place Book as follows, which I consider to be a more correct version than that given by "P.S.":—

"Fate's dark recesses we can never find,

But Fortune, at some hours, to all is kind:

The lucky have whole days, which still they choose;

The unlucky have but hours, and those they lose."

H.H.

Line quoted by De Quincey.—"S.P.S." inquires who is the author of the following line, quoted by De Quincey in the Confessions of an English Opium Eater:—

"Battlements that on their restless fronts bore stars."

Bishop Jewel's Papers.—It is generally understood that the papers left by Bishop Jewel were bequeathed to his friend Dr. Garbrand, who published some of them. The rest, it has been stated, passed from Dr. G. into the possession of New College, Oxford. Are any of these still preserved in the library of that college? or, if not, can any trace be found of the persons into whose hands they subsequently came, or of the circumstances under which they were lost to New College?

A.H.

Allusion in Friar Brackley's Sermon.—In Fenn's Paston Letters, XCVIII. (vol. iii., p. 393., or vol. i., p. 113. Bohn), entitled "An ancient Whitsunday Sermon, preached by Friar Brackley (whose hand it is). At the Friers Minors Church in Norwich" occurs the following:—

"Semiplenum gaudium est quando quis in præsenti gaudet et tunc cogitans de futuris dolet; ut in quodam libro Græco, &c."

"Quidam Rex Græciæ, &c.; here ye may see but half a joy; who should joy in this world if he remembered him of the pains of the other world?"

What is the Greek Book, and who is the king of Greece alluded to?

N.E.R.

Selden's Titles of Honour.—Does any gentleman possess a MS. Index to Selden's Titles of Honour? Such, if printed, would be a boon; for it is a dreadful book to wade through for what one wants to find.

B.

Colonel Hyde Seymour.—In a book dated 1720, is written "Borrow the Book of Col. Hyde Seymour." I am anxious to know who the said Colonel was, his birth, &c.?

B.

Quem Deus vult perdere, &c.—Prescot, in his History of the Conquest of Peru (vol. ii., p. 404., 8vo. ed.), says, while remarking on the conduct of Gonzalo Pisaro, that it may be accounted for by "the insanity," as the Roman, or rather Grecian proverb calls it, "with which the gods afflict men when they design to ruin them." He quotes the Greek proverb from a fragment of Euripides, in his note:—

"Οταν δε Δαιμων ανδρι παρσυνη κακα

Τον νουν εβλαψε πρωτον."

I wish to know whether the Roman proverb, Quem vult perdere Deus prius dementat, is merely a translation of this, or whether it is to be found in a Latin author? If the latter, in what author? Is it in Seneca?

EDWARD S. JACKSON.

Southwell's Supplication.—Can any one inform me where I can see a copy of Robert Southwell's Supplication to Queen Elizabeth, which was printed, according to Watts, in 1593? or can any one, who has seen it, inform me what is the style and character of it?

J.S.

Gesta Grayorum.—In Nichol's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. iii., p. 262., a tract is inserted, entitled "Gesta Grayorum; or, History of the High and Mighty Prince Henry, Prince of Purpoole, &c., who lived and died in A.D. 1594." The original is said to have been printed in 1688, by Mr. Henry Keepe. Is any copy of it to be had or seen?

J.S.

Snow of Chicksand Priory.—"A.J.S.P." desires information respecting the immediate descendants of R. Snow, Esq., to whom the site of Chicksand Priory, Bedfordshire, was granted, 1539: it was alienated by his family, about 1600, to Sir John Osborn, Knt., whose descendants now possess it. In Berry's Pedigrees of Surrey Families, p. 83., I find an Edward Snowe of Chicksand mentioned as having married Emma, second daughter of William Byne, Esq., of Wakehurst, Sussex. What was his relationship to R. Snow, mentioned above? The arms of this family are, Per fesse nebulée azure, and argent three antelopes' heads, erased counterchanged, armed or.

The Bristol Riots.—"J.B.M." asks our Bristol readers what compilation may be relied on as an accurate description of the Bristol riots of 1831? and whether The Bristol Riots, their Causes, Progress, and Consequences, by a Citizen, is generally received as an accurate account?

1, Union Place, Lisson Grove.

A Living Dog better that a Dead Lion.—Can any of your readers inform me with whom the proverb originated: "A living dog is better than a dead lion?" F. Domin. Bannez (or Bannes), in his defence of Cardinal Cajetan, after his death, against the attacks of Cardinal Catharinus and Melchior Canus (Comment. in prim. par. S. Thom. p. 450. ed. Duaci, 1614), says—

"Certe potest dici de istis, quod de Græcis insultantibus Hectori jam mortuo dixit Homerus, quòd leoni mortuo etiam lepores insultant."

Query? Is this, or any like expression, to be found in Homer? If so, I should feel much obliged to any of your correspondents who would favour me with the reference.

JOHN SANSOM.

Author of "Literary Leisure."—Can any of your readers inform me of the name of the author of Literary Leisure, published by Miller, Old Bond Street, 1802, in 2 volumes? It purports to have come out in weekly parts, of which the first is dated Sept. 26. 1799. It contains many interesting papers in prose and verse: it is dedicated to the Editors of the Monthly Review. The motto in the title-page is—

"Saiva res est: philosophatur quoque jam;

Quod erat ei nomen? Thesaurochrysonicochrysides."—Plautus.

Is the work noticed in the Monthly Review, about that time?

NEMO.

The Meaning of "Complexion."—Is the word "complexion," used in describing an individual, to be considered as applied to the tint of the skin only, or to the colour of the hair and eyes? Can a person, having dark eyes and hair, but with a clear white skin, be said to be fair?

NEMO.

American Bittern—Derivation of "Calamity."—It has been stated of an American Bittern, that it has the power of admitting rays of light from its breast, by which fish are attracted within its reach. Can any one inform me as to the fact, or refer me to any ornithological work in which I can find it?

In answer to "F.S. Martin"—Calamity (calamitas), not from calamus, as it is usually derived, but perhaps from obs. calamis, i.e. columis, from κολω κολαω κολαζω to maim, mutilate, and so for columitas. (See Riddle's Lat.-Eng. Dictionary.)

AUGUSTINE.

Inquisition in Mexico.—"D." wishes to be furnished with references to any works in which the actual establishment of the Inquisition in Mexico is mentioned or described, or in which any other information respecting it is conveyed.

Masters of St. Cross.—"H. EDWARDS" will be obliged by information of any work except Dugdale's Monasticon, containing a list of the names of the Master of the Hospital of St. Cross, Winchester; or of the Masters or Priors of the same place before Humphry de Milers; and of the Masters between Bishop Sherborne, about 1491, and Bishop Compton, about 1674.

Etymology of "Dalston."—The hamlet of Hackney, now universally known only as Dalston, is spelt by most topographists Dorleston or Dalston. I have seen it in one old Gazette Darlston, and I observed it lately, on a stone let in to an old row of houses, Dolston; this was dated 1792. I have searched a great many books in vain to discover the etymology, and from it, of course, the correct spelling of the word, the oldest form of which that I can find is Dorleston.

The only probable derivations of it that I can find are the old words Doles and ton (from Saxon dun), a village built upon a slip of land between furrows of ploughed earth; or Dale (Dutch Dal), and stone, a bank in a valley. The word may, however, be derived from some man's name, though I can find none at all like it in a long list of tenants upon Hackney Manor that I have searched. If any of your readers can furnish this information they will much oblige.

H.C. DE ST. CROIX.

"Brown Study"—a term generally applied to intense reverie. Why "brown," rather than blue or yellow? Brown must be a corruption of some word. Query of "barren," in the sense of fruitless or useless?

D.V.S.

Coal Brandy.—People now old can recollect that, when young, they heard people then old talk of "coal-brandy." What was this? Cold? or, in modern phase, raw, neat, or genuine?

CANTAB.

Swot.—I have often heard military men talk of swot, meaning thereby mathematics; and persons eminent in that science are termed "good swots." As I never heard the word except amongst the military, but there almost universally in "free and easy," conversation, I am led to think it a cant term. At any rate, I shall be glad to be informed of its origin,—if it be not lost in the mists of soldierly antiquity.

CANTAB.

REPLIES.

THE DODO.

Mr. Strickland has justly observed that this subject "belongs rather to human history than to pure zoology." Though I have not seen Mr. Strickland's book, I venture to offer him a few suggestions, not as answers to his questions, but as slight aids towards the resolution of some of them.

Qu. 1. There can be no doubt about the discovery of Mauritius and Bourbon by the Portuguese; and if not by a Mascarhenas, that the islands were first so named in honour of some member of that illustrious family, many of whom make a conspicuous figure in the Decads of the Portuguese Livy. I expected to have found some notice of the discovery in the very curious little volume of Antonio Galvaõ, printed in 1563, under the following title:—Tratado dos Descobrimentos Antigos, e Modernos feitos até a Era de 1550; but I merely find a vague notice of several nameless islands—"alguma Ilheta sem gente: onde diz que tomaraõ agoa e lenha"—and that, in 1517, Jorge Mascarenhas was despatched by sea to the coast of China. This is the more provoking, as, in general, Galvaõ is very circumstantial about the discoveries of his countrymen.

Qu. 5. The article in Ree's Cyclopædia is a pretty specimen of the manner in which such things are sometimes concocted, as the following extracts will show:—