Читать книгу: «Notes and Queries, Number 46, September 14, 1850», страница 3

QUERIES

QUOTATIONS IN BISHOP ANDREWES' TORTURA TORTI

Can any of your contributors help me to ascertain the following quotations which occur in Bishop Andrewes' Tortura Torti?

P. 49.:

"Si clavem potestatis non præcedat clavis discretionis."

P. 58.:

"Dispensationes nihil aliud esse quam legum vulnera."

P. 58.:

"Non dispensatio est, sed dissipatio."

This, though not marked as a quotation, is, I believe, in S. Bernard.

P. 183.:

"Et quæ de septem totum circumspicit orbem Montibus, imperii Roma Deûmque locus."

P. 225.:

"Nemo pius, qui pietatem cavet."

P. 185.:

"Minutuli et patellares Dei."

I should also be glad to ascertain whence the following passages are derived, which he quotes in his Responsio ad Apologiam?

P. 48.:

"[Greek: to gar trephon me tout ego kalo theon.]"

P. 145.:

"Vanæ sine viribus iræ."

P. 119. occurs the "versiculus,"

"Perdere quos vult hos dementat;"

the source of which some of your contributors have endeavoured to ascertain.

JAMES BLISS.

Ogbourne St. Andrew.

MINOR QUERIES

The Spider and the Fly.—Can any of your readers, gentle or simple, senile or juvenile, inform me, through the medium of your useful and agreeable periodical, in what collection of nursery rhymes a poem called, I think, "The Spider and Fly," occurs, and if procurable, where? The lines I allude to consisted, to the best of my recollection, of a dialogue between a fly and a spider, and began thus:—

 
Fly. Spider, spider, what do you spin?
Spider. Mainsails for a man-of war.
Fly. Spider, spider, 'tis too thin.
Tell me truly, what 'tis for.
Spider. 'Tis for curtains for the king,
When he lies in his state bed.
Fly. Spider, 'tis too mean a thing,
Tell me why your toils you spread.
&c. &c. &c.
 

There were other stanzas, I believe, but these are all I can remember. My notion is, that the verses in question form part of a collection of nursery songs and rhymes by Charles Lamb, published many years ago, but now quite out of print. This, however, is a mere surmise on my part, and has no better foundation than the vein of humour, sprightliness, and originality, obvious enough in the above extract, which we find running through and adorning all he wrote. "Nihil quod tetigit non ornavit."

S.J.

A Lexicon of Types.—Can any of your readers inform me of the existence of a collection of emblems or types? I do not mean allegorical pictures, but isolated symbols, alphabetically arranged or otherwise.

Types are constantly to be met with upon monuments, coins, and ancient title-pages, but so mixed with other matters as to render the finding a desired symbol, unless very familiar, a work of great difficulty. Could there be a systematic arrangement of all those known, with their definitions, it would be a very valuable work of reference,—a work in which one might pounce upon all the sacred symbols, classic types, signs, heraldic zoology, conventional botany, monograms, and the like abstract art.

LUKE LIMNER.

Montaigne, Select Essays of.—

"Essays selected from Montaigne, with a Sketch of the Life of the Author. London. For P. Cadell, &c. 1800."

This volume is dedicated to the Rev. William Coxe, rector of Bemerton.

The life of Montaigne is dated the 28th of March, 1800, and signed Honoria. At the end of the book is this advertisement:—

"Lately published by the same Author 'The Female Mentor.' 2d edit., in 2 vols. 12mo."

Who was Honoria? and are these essays a scarce book in England? In France it is entirely unknown to the numerous commentators on Montaigne's works.

O.D.

Custom of wearing the Breast uncovered in Elizabeth's Reign.—Fynes Moryson, in a well-known passage of his Itinerary, (which I suppose I need not transcribe), tells us that unmarried females and young married women wore the breasts uncovered in Queen Elizabeth's reign. This is the custom in many parts of the East. Lamartine mentions it in his pretty description of Mademoiselle Malagambe: he adds, "it is the custom of the Arab females." When did this curious custom commence in England, and when did it go out of fashion?

JARLTZBERG.

Milton's Lycidas.—In a Dublin edition of Milton's Paradise Lost (1765), in a memoir prefixed I find the following explanation of than rather obscure passage in Lycidas:—

 
"Besides what the grim wolf, with privy paw,
Daily devours apace, and nothing said;
But that two-handed engine at the door
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more."
 

"This poem is not all made up of sorrow and tenderness, there is a mixture of satire and indignation: for in part of it, the poet taketh occasion to inveigh against the corruptions of the clergy, and seemeth to have first discovered his acrimony against Arb. Laud, and to have threatened him with the loss of his head, which afterwards happened to him thorough the fury of his enemies. At least I can think of no sense so proper to be given to these verses in Lycidas." (p. vii.)

Perhaps some of your numerous correspondents will kindly inform me of the meaning or meanings usually assigned to this passage.

JARLTZBERG.

Sitting during the Lessons.—What is the origin of the congregation remaining seated, while the first and second lessons are read, in the church service? The rubric is silent on the subject; it merely directs that the person who reads them shall stand:—

"He that readeth so standing and turning himself, as he may best be heard of all such as are present."

With respect to the practice of sitting while the epistle is read, and of standing while the gospel is read, in the communion service; there is in the rubric a distinct direction that "all the people are to stand up" during the latter, while it is silent as to the former. From the silence of the rubric as to standing during the two lessons of the morning service, and the epistle in the communion service, it seems to have been inferred that the people were to sit. But why are they directed to stand during the gospel in the communion service, while they sit during the second lesson in the morning service?

L.

Blew-Beer.—Sir, having taken a Note according to your very sound advice, I addressed a letter to the John Bull newspaper, which was published on Saturday, Feb. 16. It contained an extract from a political tract, entitled,—

"The true History of Betty Ireland, with some Account of her Sister Blanche of Brittain. Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion in Ludgate Street, MDCCLIII. (1753)."

In allusion to the English the following passage occurs,—

"But they forget, they are all so idle and debauched, such gobbling and drinking rascals, and expensive in blew-beer," &c.

Query the unde derivatur of blew-beer, and if it is to be taken in the same sense as the modern phrase of "blue ruin," and if so, the cause of the change or history of both expressions?

H.

Carpatio.—I have lately met with a large aquatinted engraving, bearing the following descriptive title: "Angliæ Regis Legati inspiciuntur Sponsam petentes Filiam Dionati Cornubiæ Regis pro Anglo Principe." The costume of the figures is of the latter half of the fifteenth century. The painter's name appears on a scroll, OP. VICTOR CARPATIO VENETI. The copy of the picture for engraving was drawn by Giovanni de Pian, and engraved by the same person and Francesco Gallimberti, at Venice. I do not find the name of Carpatio in the ordinary dictionaries of painters, and shall be glad to learn whether he has here represented an historical event, or an incident of some mediæval romance. I suspect the latter must be the case, as Cornubia is the Latin word used for Cornwall, and I am not aware of its having any other application. Is this print the only one of the kind, or is it one of a set?

J.G.N.

Value of Money in Reign of Charles II.—Will any of your correspondents inform me of the value of 1000l. circa Charles II. in present money, and the mode in which the difference is estimated?

DION X.

Bishop Berkeley—Adventures of Gaudentio di Lucca.—I have a volume containing the adventures of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca, with his examination before the Inquisition of Bologna. In a bookseller's catalogue I have seen it ascribed to Bishop Berkeley. Can any of your readers inform me who was the author, or give me any particulars as to the book?

IOTA.

Cupid and Psyche.—Can any of your learned correspondents inform me whether the fable of Cupid and Psyche was invented by Apuleius; or whether he made use of a superstition then current, turning it, as it suited his purpose, into the beautiful fable which has been handed down to us as his composition?

W.M.

Zünd-nadel Guns.—In paper of September or October last, I saw a letter dated Berlin, Sept. 11, which commenced—

"We have had this morning a splendid military spectacle, and being the first of the kind since the revolution, attracted immense crowds to the scene of action."

"The Fusileer battalions (light infantry) were all armed with the new zünd-nadel guns, the advantages and superiority of which over the common percussion musket now admits of no contradiction, with the sole exception of the facility of loading being an inducement to fire somewhat too quick, when firing independently, as in battle, or when acting en tirailleur. The invincible pedantry and amour-propre of our armourers and inspectors of arms in England, their disinclination to adopt inventions not of English growth, and their slowness to avail themselves of new models until they are no longer new, will, undoubtedly, exercise the usual influence over giving this powerful weapon even a chance in England. It is scarcely necessary to point out the great advantages that these weapons, carrying, let us say, 800 yards with perfect accuracy, have over our muskets, of which the range does not exceed 150, and that very uncertain. Another great advantage of the zünd-nadel is, that rifles or light infantry can load with ease without effort when lying flat on the ground. The opponents of the zünd-nadel talk of over-rapid firing and the impossibility of carrying sufficient ammunition to supply the demands. This is certainly a drawback, but it is compensated by the immense advantage of being able to pour in a deadly fire when you yourself are out of range, or of continuing this fire so speedily as to destroy half your opponents before they can return a shot with a chance of taking effect."

This was the first intimation I ever had of the zünd-nadel guns. I should like to know when and by whom they were invented, and their mechanism.

JARLTZBERG.

Bacon Family, Origin of the Name.—Among the able notes, or the not-able Queries of a recent Number, (I regret that I have it not at hand, for an exact quotation), a learned correspondent mentioned, en passant, that the word bacon had the obsolete signification of "dried wood." As a patronymic, BACON has been not a little illustrious, in literature, science, and art; and it would be interesting to know whether the name has its origin in the crackling fagot or in the cured flitch. Can any of your genealogical correspondents help me to authority on the subject?

A modern motto of the Somersetshire Bacons has an ingenious rebus:

 
ProBa-conSCIENTIA;
 

the capitals, thus placed, giving it the double reading, Proba coniscientia, and Pro Bacon Scientia.

NOCAB.

Armorials.—Sable, a fesse or, in chief two fleurs de lis or, in base a hind courant argent. E.D.B. will feel grateful to any gentlemen who will kindly inform him of the name of the family to which the above coat belonged. They were quartered by Richard or Roger Barow, of Wynthorpe, in Lincolnshire (Harl. MS. 1552. 42 b), who died in 1505.

E.D.B.

Artephius, the Chemical Philosopher.—What is known of the chemical philosopher Artephius? He is mentioned in Jocker's Dictionary, and by Roger Bacon (in the Opus Majus and elsewhere), and a tract ascribed to him is printed in the Theatrum Chemicum.

E.

Sir Robert Howard.—Can any reader assist me in finding out the author of

"A Discourse of the Nationall Excellencies of England. By R.H., London. Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Henry Fletcher, at the Three Gilt Cups in the New Buildings, near the west end of St. Paul's, 1658. 12 mo., pp. 248."

This is a very remarkable work, written in an admirable style, and wholly free from the coarse party spirit which then generally prevailed. The writer declares, p. 235., he had not subscribed the engagement, and there are internal evidences of his being a churchman and a monarchist. Is there any proof of its having been written by Sir Robert Howard? A former possessor of the copy now before me, has written his name on the title-page as its conjectured author. My copy of Sir Robert's Poems, published two years after, was published not by Fletcher, but by "Henry Herringman, at the sign of the Anchor, in the lower walk of the New Exchange." John Dryden, Sir Robert's brother-in-law, in the complimentary stanzas on Howard's poems, says,

 
"To write worthy things of worthy men,
Is the peculiar talent of your pen."
 

I would further inquire if a reason can be assigned for the omission from Sir Robert Howard's collected plays of The Blind Lady, the only dramatic piece given in the volume of poems of 1660. My copy is the third edition, published by Tonson, 1722.

A.B.R.

Crozier and Pastoral Staff.—What is the real difference between a crozier and a pastoral staff?

I.Z.P.

Marks of Cadency.—The copious manner in which your correspondent E.K. (Vol. ii., p. 221.) has answered the question as to the "when and why" of the unicorn being introduced as one of the supporters of the royal arms, induces me to think that he will readily and satisfactorily respond to an heraldic inquiry of a somewhat more intricate nature.

What were the peculiar marks of cadency used by the heirs to the crown, apparent and presumptive, after the accession of the Stuarts? For example, what were the changes, if any, upon the label or file of difference used in the coat-armour of Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I., and of his brother Charles, when Prince of Wales, and so on, to the present time?

Miniature Gibbet, &c.—A correspondent of the Times newspaper has recently given the following account of an occurrence which took place about twenty-five years ago, and the concluding ceremony of which he personally witnessed:—

"A man had been condemned to be hung for murder. On the Sunday morning previous to the sentence being carried into execution, he contrived to commit suicide in the prison by cutting his throat with a razor. On Monday morning, according to the then custom, his body was brought out from Newgate in a cart; and after Jack Ketch had exhibited to the people a small model gallows, with a razor hanging therefrom, in the presence of the sheriffs and city authorities, he was thrown into a hole dug for that purpose. A stake was driven through his body, and a quantity of lime thrown in over it."

Will any correspondent of "NOTES AND QUERIES" give a solution of this extraordinary exhibition? Had the sheriffs and city authorities any legal sanction for Jack Ketch's disgusting part in the performances? What are the meaning and origin of driving a stake through the body of a suicide?