Title: Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 90, July 19, 1851
Author: Various
Editor: George Bell
Release date: October 1, 2011 [eBook #37593]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021
Language: English
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"When found, make a note of."—CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
VOL. IV.—No. 90.
SATURDAY, JULY 19. 1851.
Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 4d.
NOTES:—
A Caxton Memorial suggested, by Bolton Corney 33
Supposed Witchcraft 35
The late Sir John Graham Dalyell 35
Appropriation of a Thought, by James Cornish 36
The "Eisell" Controversy, by Samuel Hickson 36
Minor Notes:—"Miserrimus"—The Dog and Duck, St. George's Fields—The Habit of profane Swearing by the English—Tennyson's Use of the Word "Cycle"—A Moiety 37
QUERIES:—
Etymology of Fontainebleau, by H. H. Breen 38
Force of Conscience 38
English Literature in the North, by George Stephens 38
Minor Queries:—Painted Portraits of Overton—Fourth Fare—John Wood, Architect—Derivation of "Spon"—Dell, in what County—Bummaree or Bumaree—Thread the Needle—Proof of a Sword—Shelley's Children—Ackey Trade—Baskerville the Printer—Statue of Charles II.—La Mère Jeanne—Man Of War, why a Ship Of War so called—Secret Service Money of Charles II.—Hampton Court 39
MINOR QUERIES ANSWERED:—De Rebus Hibernicis—Abridgment of the Assizes—Life Of Cromwell 41
REPLIES:—
Written Sermons and Extempore Preaching 41
Fest Sittings 42
Histoire des Sévérambes, by H. H. Breen 43
Salting the Dead 43
Replies to Minor Queries:—Bogatsky—Baronette—Rifles—Miss—Lady Flora Hastings' Bequest—English Sapphics—Welwood—Bellarmio's Monstrous Paradox—Jonah and the Whale—Book Plates 44
MISCELLANEOUS:—
Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 46
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 46
Notices to Correspondents 47
Advertisements 47
After Caxton had slept with his fathers for three centuries, remembered only by a few antiquaries, it was deemed fit that a public monument should record his merits.
The Roxburghe club, much to the honour of its members, undertook to bear the cost of it, and to superintend its execution. With regard to its location, there was no question as to the paramount claims of Westminster. It was proposed, in the first instance, to place it in the collegiate church of St. Peter, within the precincts of which church Caxton had exercised his art. The want of a convenient space was rather an obstacle to that plan: a more serious obstacle was the amount of fees demanded on such occasions. It was then decided, and perhaps with more propriety, that it should be placed in the parish church of St. Margaret; and the execution of the monument, which was to be of the tablet form, was entrusted to the younger Westmacott.[1] An engraving of it has been published.[2] The inscription is
"To the memory
of William Caxton
who first introduced into Great Britain
the art of printing
and who A.D. 1477 or earlier
exercised that art
in the abbey of Westminster.
This tablet
in remembrance of one
to whom
the literature of his country
is so largely indebted
was raised
anno Domini MDCCCXX
by the Roxburghe club
earl Spencer, K.G. president."
[1] T. F. Dibdin, Reminiscences of a literary life. London, 1836. 8vo. i. 386.
[2] J. Martin, A catalogue of books privately printed. London, 1834. 8vo. p. 486.
The monument, as a piece of sculpture, is simplicity itself, and therefore suitable to the place of its destination. To the inscription I venture to make some slight objections: 1. Whether Caxton "introduced into Great Britain the art of printing" admits of a doubt. There is no evidence to invalidate the colophon of the Exposicio S. Jeronimi in simbolo Apostolorum.[3] Dibdin fully believed in its authenticity.[4] 2. Caxton is very imperfectly designated. He was a well-informed writer, a most assiduous translator, and a very careful editor. As early as 1548, he was classed among the Illustres majoris Britanniæ scriptores[5] — but we are on the decline, it seems, in point of tact and intelligence. 3. The date of his decease, and the place of his burial, should have been stated. The facts are recorded in the accounts of the churchwardens of this very parish, and nowhere else.[6] 4. The inscription, as a composition, wants terseness: on this point, I content myself with giving a hint typographically.
[3] S. W. Singer, Some account of the book printed at Oxford in 1468. London, 1812. 8vo. p. 44.
[4] Typographical antiquities, by Joseph Ames, etc. London, 1810. 4to. Life of Caxton, p. 75.
[5] Illvstrivm maíoris Britanniae scriptorvm summari[=u] avtore Ioanne Balaeo. Gippeswici, 1548. 4to. fol. 208.
[6] John Nichols, Illustrations of the manners and expences of ancient times. London, 1797. 4to. p. 3.
In 1847 a fresh attempt as made to revive the memory of Caxton. After due notice, a public meeting was held on the 12th of June to "promote the erection of a monument to commemorate the introduction of printing into England, and in honour of William Caxton, the earliest English printer"—the lord Morpeth in the chair. The meeting was extremely well attended. The form of monument proposed was, the combination of a fountain by day and a light by night—the poetical conception of the rev. H. H. Milman. Some excellent speeches were made—and I cannot but particularize that of the noble chairman; considerable sums were subscribed—the messieurs Clowes tendering 100l.; a committee, a sub-committee, a treasurer, and a secretary, were appointed.[7] —With the proceedings of that meeting, as publicly reported, my information terminated.
[7] The Times, June 14, 1847.
After a lapse of four years, a meeting of the subscribers to the Caxton Testimonial was advertised for the 10th of July, to "consider an offer made by the Coalbrookdale Iron Company to erect an iron statue of Caxton—and, in the event of the proposal being adopted, to determine the best means of carrying the same into effect." I was much astonished at this announcement. A meeting to consider an offer to perpetuate a fiction in connexion with an art which surpasses all other arts in its power of establishing truth! On reflection, I became calm; and felt that Mr. Henry Cole, the honorary secretary, was perfectly right in adopting the customary phraseology. The result of this meeting is a desideratum. It seems to have been private; for an examination of 300 columns of The Times, being, the history of four days, did not lead to the discovery of one word on the iron statue of Caxton.
If the statue-mania did not now prevail to an unexampled extent, I should feel much confidence in the sound sense of the subscribers—but I have my misgivings.
According to my feelings, which I avail myself of this opportunity of recording, we may commemorate an eminent individual in better ways than by the erection of a statue; the philanthropist, by an alms-house—the scholar, by scholarships—the naval commander, by a sea-mark—etc. Admitting that a statue may sometimes be the most desirable form of monument, the statue of an individual of whose features we are in entire ignorance is a misnomer. It is scarcely less than an absurdity.
As I have intimated that there is no authentic portrait of Caxton, I must now justify my conviction. Ames published a woodcut as a portrait of our venerable Caxton:[8] Dibdin discovered it to be a "portrait of Burchiello,"[9] an eccentric Florentine barber!—le poète le plus bizarre qui ait jamais écrit! Horace Walpole published a print said to represent earl Rivers "introducing Caxton to Edward IV."[10] It was copied from an illuminated MS. in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth, No. 265. Now, what says Mr. Todd? "That Caxton printed this book in 1477, is well known. But what has that circumstance to do with the earl presenting or attending the presentation of his own manuscript? The figure here introduced by the earl is evidently, by the tonsure and habit, a priest; which Caxton was not."[11] I have heard of no other engraved portraits of Caxton.
[8] Typographical antiquities. London, 1749. 4to. p. 54.
[9] The bibliographical decameron. London, 1817. 8vo. ii. 288.
[10] Catalogue of royal and noble authors. Strawberry-hill, 1758. 8vo. i. 60.
[11] Catalogue of the archiepiscopal manuscripts at Lambeth. London, 1812. Fol. p. 37.
Viewing Caxton as a man of considerable literary abilities, and as the first English printer, I have now to propose for him a monument which shall do justice to his merits in both capacities—a monument which shall be visible at all times, and in all places: I propose a collective impression of his original compositions. Such a volume would be the best account of his life and works. It would also exhibit much of the literary history of the times—some sound criticism and notions on editorship—and curious specimens of the style of our forefathers. It would comprise what no wealth could procure—what no single library could produce. It would be, to use the forcible words of messieurs Visconti and Castellan, on a somewhat similar occasion, "un monument plus utile et plus durable que ceux même que l'on peut ériger avec le marbre et le bronze."[12]
[12] Journal des savans. 1818. 4to. p. 389.
Proposed Conditions.
1. A volume, to be entitled The Caxton Memorial, shall be printed for subscribers under approved editorship, and shall contain all the original compositions of WILLIAM CAXTON, as proems, notes, colophons, etc., with specimens of his translations, and fac-simile cuts of his device and types.
2. In order to expedite the progress of the volume, and to ensure the perfect accuracy of its contents, there shall be three co-editors—one of whom shall act as secretary.
3. The volume shall be printed in Roman type, with the ancient orthography and punctuation; and in two sizes—in royal octavo, and in demy octavo.
4. Subscribers of 1l. 1s. shall be entitled to a copy on royal paper, and subscribers of 10s. 6d. to a copy on demy paper.
5. Each editor shall be entitled to the same number of copies as are allowed by the Camden and other similar societies.
6. The number of copies printed shall not exceed the number for which subscriptions shall have been received, except as required by the fifth rule, and as presents to such public libraries, or private collectors, as may furnish a part of the materials.
7. Printers and publishers subscribing for six copies shall be allowed a discount of 25 per cent.
8. The names of the subscribers, and an account of the receipts and expenditure, shall be added to the volume.
The project now announced was formed by me, as to its principal features, at the close of the year 1849; but not a line was written before the appearance of the advertisement of the 5th instant. It had been communicated, however, in private, to the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES." To this fact I have no doubt he will cheerfully bear witness. As the previous scheme of a Caxton Testimonial was then almost forgotten, the idea could not have been conceived in spirit of rivalry. Nevertheless, if need be, I would oppose to the utmost of my ability, and fearless of any array of names which the rolls of literature may furnish, the PERPETUATION OF A FICTION.
BOLTON CORNEY.
Barnes Terrace, Surrey, July 15.
Cole, in his manuscript volume xlvi. p. 340, gives the copy of a paper written at the beginning of the seventeenth century, addressed to some Justices in Quarter Sessions, though of what county is not mentioned:—
"Maye it please your worships to understand what troubles, sicknesse, and losses the Petitioner hath suffered, and in what manner theye happened, and by plaine tokens and lyklyhood, by the meanes of this woman and others; but chiefly by her, as is gathered by all conjectures. And first of all, a Boare which I have, was in such case, that he could not crye nor grunt as beforetyme; neither could he goe, but creepe, until we used some meanes to recover him; but all was to no purpose, untill such tyme as we sent for Nicholas Wesgate, who, when he saw him, said, 'He was madd or bewitched;' and my Wyfe using meanes to give him some Milke, he bit her by the hand, and I fearing he was madd, sent after my wyfe, being toward Norwich, that she might get something at the Apothecaries to prevent the danger we feared: and that Horse which my man did ryde upon after my wife, was taken lame as he returned back again, and suddenly after was swollen lyke a Bladder which is blown, and died within eight dayes. Nexte a Calfe was taken lame, the legg turning upward, which was a strange sight to them whoe did beholde the same. Suddenly after that I had fyve Calves more, which should have sold for xiijs. iiijd. the Calfe, being sound and well in the evening, and the next daye in the morning they were in such case as wee could not endure to come nigh them, by reason of a filthy noisome savour, theyre hayre standinge upright on theyre backes, and theye shakinge in such sorte as I never sawe, nor any other, I suppose, lyveynge. Againe within a short space I had another Calfe, which was taken so strangely, as if the backe were broken, and much swollen, and within the space of three or four dayes it dyed. And within two or three dayes after, another Calfe was taken in such sorte that it turned round about, and did goe as if the backe were broken. Then was I wished to burne it, and I carried the Calfe to burne it, and after it was burned, I was taken with paynes and gripings, and soe continued in such sort, untyll shee came to my House; whereupon I did earnestly chide her, and said I would beate her, and that daye, I prayse God, I was restored to my former health."
H. E.
This learned and accomplished gentleman was born in 1776. He was educated for the Scottish bar, to which he was called in the year 1797. Within a year or two after he was enrolled as a member of the Faculty, he produced his first quarto, Fragments of Scottish History. This was followed, in the year 1801, by a collection of Scottish Poems of the Sixteenth Century, in two octavo volumes. In 1809 appeared a Tract chiefly relative to Monastic Antiquities, with some Account of a recent Search for the Remains of the Scottish Kings interred in the Abbey of Dunfermline, the first of four or five thin octavos, in which Mr. Graham Dalyell called attention to those ecclesiastical records of the north, so many of which have since been printed by the Bannatyne, Maitland, and Spalding Clubs, under the editorial care of Mr. Cosmo Innes. A later and more laborious work was his Essay on the Darker Superstitions of Scotland; a performance which embodies the fruit of much patient study in rare and little read works, and affords many curious glimpses of the popular mythology of the north. The long list of the productions of Sir John Graham Dalyell closes with his Musical Memoirs of Scotland, published little more than a twelvemonth ago. The deceased baronet was distinguished also by his acquaintance with mechanical science, and still more by his knowledge of Natural History. Of the zeal with which he prosecuted this last pursuit, he has left a signal monument in his Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland. Sir John succeeded to the family title and estates, as sixth baronet, on the death of his elder brother, Sir James Dalyell, on February 1, 1841. He had previously been advanced to the honours of knighthood, by patent under the Great Seal, in the year 1836. He had been for some time in infirm health, and died at his residence, Great King Street, Edinburgh, on May 17, 1851, in his seventy-fourth year. Dying unmarried, he is succeeded by his younger brother, now Sir William Cunningham Cavendish Dalyell, of Binns, baronet, Commander R.N., Royal Hospital, Greenwich.
ABERDENIENSIS.
"How when the Fancy, lab'ring for a birth,
With unfelt Throws brings its rude issue forth:
How after, when imperfect, shapeless thought
Is by the judgment into Fashion wrought,
When at first search I traverse o'er my mind,
Nought but a dark and empty void I find:
Some little hints at length like sparks break thence,
And glimmering thoughts just dawning into sense:
Confus'd awhile the mixt ideas lie,
With nought of mark to be discover'd by,
Like colours undistinguish'd in the night,
Till the dusk images, moved to the light,
Teach the discerning Faculty to choose
Which it had best adopt and which refuse."
Dryden, alluding to his work:
"When it was only a confused mass of thoughts tumbling over one another in the dark; when the fancy was yet in its first work, moving the sleeping images of things towards the light, there to be distinguished, and there either to be chosen or rejected by the judgment."—Dedication to the Rival Ladies.
Lord Byron's appropriation of the same idea:
——"As yet 'tis but a chaos
Of darkly brooding thoughts: my fancy is
In her first work, more nearly to the light
Holding the sleeping images of things
For the selection of the pausing judgment."
Had Oldham or Dryden the prior claim to the thought? Byron derived his plagiarism from D'Israeli, "On the Literary Character" (vol. i. p. 284., 1828), where Dryden's Dedication to his Rival Ladies is quoted, and not from the Dedication itself, as the Retrospective Review imagined (vol. vii. p. 158.), "by levying contributions in the most secret and lonely recesses of our literature."
JAMES CORNISH.
When Polonius proposed to use the players according to their desert, Hamlet rebuked him with "Much better man! use every man after his desert, and who shall 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity!" I do not think it necessary to notice that what is merely coarse and vulgar in an unprovoked attack upon myself, feeling that I have no right to expect the man who has no consideration for his own dignity to think of mine. But when an attempt is made to sow dissension between me and those whose opinions I value, and whose characters I esteem, I feel that in justice to myself and in satisfaction to them, a few words are not out of place.
Some few of your readers may have seen a pamphlet in reply to MR. SINGER, on the meaning of eisell and from certain insinuations about "pegs and wires," and a "literary coterie," it might be supposed that there existed some other bond for the support of "NOTES AND QUERIES" than a common object affords. I wish then to inform such of them as may not happen to belong to the "coterie" in question (which I suppose exists somewhere—perhaps holds a sort of witch's-sabbath on some inaccessible peak in the pamphleteer's imagination), that I have never, to my knowledge, even seen either MR. SINGER or the editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES;" and that, so far from meaning offence to the angry gentleman who seems disposed to run-a-muck against all who come in his way, I actually supposed all meant in good part, and characterised his remarks as "pleasant criticism."
From an apparent inability, however, of this pamphleteer to distinguish between pleasantry and acrimony, he has attempted to fix on me offences against others when I have ventured to dissent from their conclusions. All I can say is, that I have never written anything inconsistent with the very high respect I feel for the abilities and the great services rendered by the gentlemen I have had occasion to allude to.
Dire is the wrath of the pamphleteer that he should have been charged by MR. SINGER with "want of truth." That gentleman doubtless saw what I did not, the implied insinuation—since burst into full flower—about a "coterie." Yet the candid controversialist, now, after due deliberation, insinuates that a "canon of criticism," which I ventured to suggest, and at which he now finds it convenient to sneer, was remembered for the purpose of "bolstering up" MR. SINGER'S "bad argument." So far from this being the case, he knows that I used MR. SINGER'S argument—at the close of, and apart from the main purpose of my letter, to illustrate mine. So, in another place, in the attempt to show up my "charming and off-hand modesty," he quotes my opinion that the meaning of "rack" might be "settled at once and for ever," suppressing the fact that I made the assertion with a view of "testing the correctness of my opinion that the question was not one of etymology, but of construction. In short, an adept in the use of those weapons which are of value only where victory seems a higher aim than truth, his honesty would appear to be upon a level with his taste.
I have now done with this gentleman. Of the importance of inquiries into nice verbal distinctions there might be a question, but that they sometimes furnish a clue to more valuable discoveries but for this fact I should little regard them. At all events, the remark about the difference "'twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee," comes with strange inconsistency from one who has written fifty-two pages with no other result than raising the question whether "bitter" was not "sour," and proving how both qualities may be combined in a truly "nauseous medicament."
SAMUEL HICKSON.
St. John's Wood.
[Our attention having, been directed by the preceding letter to Mr. Causton's pamphlet, we procured and read it, with feelings of deep pain, not for ourselves but for the writer. We are content to rest the justification of our conduct in abridging, or, as Mr. Causton terms it, "mutilating," that gentleman's communication, on the very passages which we omitted, and he has reprinted. Mr. Causton's pamphlet, written in defence of his literary reputation, proves that that reputation has no enemy so dangerous as himself. We may add that we propose next week publishing a summary of the evidence on both sides of this disputed question, written not by Mr. Causton nor Mr. Hickson, but by a correspondent who, like those gentlemen, is personally unknown to us.]
—I have an extraordinary little volume, which, I am told, was written by Frederic Mansell Reynolds, who died in June, 1850, entitled, "Miserrimus. On a gravestone in Worcester Cathedral is this inscription, 'Miserrimus,' with neither name, date, nor comment. NOT PUBLISHED. Printed by Davison, Simmons, & Co., 1832," 12mo.
The work purports to be a sort of autobiography of a most miserable wretch, and we are left to suppose that his remains lie under the stone in question, for we are not furnished with any preface or introduction. Whether the author was aware of the name of the person over whom so singular an inscription was placed does not appear; but there is no reason to believe that the repulsive and painful aberrations he details had any relation to the individual buried under the memorial of "Miserrimus," whose name is recorded in Chambers's Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire, p. 310., as the Rev. Thomas Morris, who was deprived of all ecclesiastical preferment for refusing to acknowledge the king's supremacy at the Revolution, and died, it is stated, in 1748, silvered over with the weight and infirmities of eighty-eight years—"Miserrimus."
F. R. A.
—It is not generally known, that the old stone sign of that celebrated place of public resort is still in existence, and is preserved by being imbedded in the brick wall of the garden of Bedlam Hospital (visible from the road), representing a dog squatting on his haunches with a duck in his mouth; and the date 1617. It was placed here on removal of the old house which stood on, or very close to, the spot; and in the superintendent's (Mr. Nicholl's) room is a very pretty drawing of that ancient place of amusement. I have had a sketch made of it in large.
Any information respecting the Dog and Duck, its guests, visitors, or landlords, would be most acceptable to
G. CREED.
—The revolting habit of swearing—which, of late years, has happily diminished—has been a marked characteristic of the English for many centuries; and the national adjuration which has given us a nick-name on the continent, appears to have prevailed at an earlier period than is generally supposed.
"The English," observes Henry, "were remarkable in this period (between 1399 and 1485) among the nations of Europe, for the absurd and impious practice of profane swearing in conversation."
The Count of Luxemburg, accompanied by the Earls of Warwick and Stafford, visited the Maid of Orleans in her prison at Rouen, where she was chained to the floor and loaded with irons. The Count, who had sold her to the English, pretended that he had come to treat with her about her ransom. After addressing him with contempt and disdain, she turned her eyes towards the two Earls, and said,—"I know that you English are determined to put me to death, and imagine that, after I am dead, you will conquer France: but, though there were a hundred thousand G—— dammees more in France than there are, they will never conquer that kingdom." So early had the English got this odious nick-name by their frequent and common use of that horrid and disgusting imprecation.
T. WE.
—A Moiety.—There is a line in Locksley Hall which has always appeared to me a sad blemish in a fine poem, and which may, perhaps, puzzle posterity as much as any of those which have been illustrated by G. P. (Vol. iii., p. 319.) I allude to that in stanza 92.:
"Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay."
Posterity will easily learn that the Chinese cycle was just "sixty years," and will have some difficulty in believing that Tennyson should have rated the disparity between life in Europe and in China no higher than as six to five. It is evident that the poet used a "cycle" in the signification of a long period of years; but will posterity be able to find any authority for this use of the word? Can any one refer to a dictionary which explains it in that sense, or to any other good author who has so used it?
This use of the word "cycle" is associated in my mind with a use (or rather abuse) of the word "moiety," which prevails in the north of Ireland, and perhaps elsewhere. It properly signifies "one half," but many employ it in the sense of a very small portion. I hope no one will introduce it into poetry with this signification.
MATTER OF FACT.
The Description Routière et Géographique de l'Empire Français, already cited by me on the subject of Bicêtre, furnishes the following particulars respecting the derivation of Fontainebleau:
"Ce bassin sert de décharge à la fontaine, qui a donné, dit-on, son nom à Fontainebleau. Elle est nommée, dans les anciennes chartes, Fons Blaudi. Quelques modernes substituent à cette étymologie celle de belle eau, d'où ils font également dériver Fontainebleau. L'une et l'autre sont rejetées par Expilly, et remplacées par une troisième de sa façon, qui est évidente, selon lui, et qui, selon ses lecteurs, est la plus absurde de toutes. Je vais citer ce passage pour faire sentir jusqu'à quel travers d'esprit peut conduire la manie des étymologies. 'Pourquoi,' dit-il, 'se donner la torture à ce sujet? Il suffit de la moindre notion de la chasse pour savoir que, quand le chasseur appelle les chiens, il crie: Thia hillaut! N'est-il pas vraisemblable que le château ayant été bâti en pays de chasse, les habitans des environs, entendant continuellement le mot hillaut, l'appellèrent de ce nom, auquel ils joignirent celui de la fontaine près de laquelle il avait été bâti. De Fontaine hillaut on fit insensiblement Fontainebleau.'"
TWO Queries suggest themselves here. Who or what was Blaudus or Blaudum? Is our Tally-ho derived from Thia hillaut, or vice versâ? As to the "travers d'esprit," so gravely imputed to Expilly, it is clear to me that his solution of the matter must be taken as a burlesque on etymologists, rather than as any evidence of his own extravagance in that respect.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, June, 1851.
The following relation has often been reprinted in religious magazines and the like. It is given by Dr. Fordyce, Professor of Philosophy at Aberdeen, in his Dialogues concerning Education (London, 1748, vol. ii. p. 401.), as "a true story, which happened in a neighbouring state not many years ago." Can any of your readers furnish me with Dr. F.'s authority for the assertion?—the Doctor himself gives none. One would think that, if true, its truth might be easily verified. If its truth cannot be satisfactorily established, to reprint such tales cannot but be most mischievous:—
"A jeweller of considerable wealth having occasion to travel to some distance from the place of his abode, took with him a servant in order to take care of his portmanteau. Having occasion to dismount on the road, the servant, watching his opportunity, took a pistol from his master's saddle and shot him dead on the spot; then rifled him of his money and jewels, and threw the body into the nearest river. With this booty he made off to a distant part of the country.... He was at length admitted to a share of the government of the town, and rose from one post to another, till at length he was chosen to be chief magistrate.... One day as he sat on the bench with some of his brethren in the magistracy, a criminal was brought before him who was accused of murdering his master. The evidence was full; the jury brought in their verdict that the prisoner was guilty; and the whole assembly awaited the sentence of the President of the court, which he happened to be on that day.... At length coming down from the bench he placed himself by the guilty man at the bar and made a full confession of his own guilt, and of all its aggravations.... We may easily suppose the great amazement of all the assembly, and especially of his fellow-judges. They proceeded, however, upon this confession, to pass sentence upon him, and he died with all the symptoms of penitent mind."
J. K.
English letters are exciting a daily increasing interest in the north of Europe—that hardy and romantic country whence we ourselves are descended. But their means for purchase are very scanty, and I have been requested by the chief librarians of the Royal Library, Stockholm, and the University Library, Copenhagen, to endeavour to procure them English books by gift from private individuals and public societies and libraries.
Can you assist me in this work by making this their prayer known in your widely-spread columns?
Any English works, large or small, old or new, in any department of literature, but especially in archæology, folk-lore, history, theology, belles-lettres, &c., particularly books privately printed, or otherwise scarce or dear, will be most acceptable. Every donor will have the goodness to state for which library his gift is intended. So many have duplicates, or copies of books, which they no longer use or need, that many will doubtless be able to assist in this pleasant book-gathering for our Scandinavian cousins.
GEORGE STEPHENS,
Professor of English Literature in the
University of Copenhagen.
Mill Farm, Barnes, Surrey, July, 1851.
[We have good reason to know the great interest which our Scandinavian brethren take in the literature of this country, and hope this appeal of MR. STEPHENS will be liberally responded to. Any donations for the libraries in question, which, we believe, are both public libraries, may be left for him at the office of "NOTES AND QUERIES."]
—In Vol. iii., pp. 324, 325., under the title "The Bellman and his History," are quoted some lines from Gay's Trivia, book ii. p. 482. The last line is—