Notes and Queries, Number 58, December 7, 1850

First, as to Gray and Dodsley:—Is the epithet droning, or drony, in the first edition of the Elegy? and, as my copy of Dodsley's Collection is dated 1748, and is said (on the half title, preceding the whole title) to be "the second edition," was there a first edition in the same year, or in an earlier year, or was there, in fact, no first edition at all? This question is important, because several poetical productions, of undisputed excellence, originally made their appearance in Dodsley's Collection.

Next, as to Dryden's Absolom and Achitophel: Is it known, or anywhere stated, that it was printed early in the eighteenth century as a penny or two-penny chap-book, and why was it so printed? Observe, too, that it was unaccompanied by Tate's Continuation, which, as far as a lesson to the lower orders is concerned, was of more consequence than Dryden's portion. It is a circumstance I did not mention, but it is, nevertheless, worth a Note, that in The Key which follows the Address "to the Reader," in my edition of 1708, the character of Zimri (which was given by Dryden himself to the Duke of Buckingham) is assigned to Lord Gray, who was in truth the Caleb of the performance. Is it to be taken that the publication of this chap-book edition is merely a proof of the extreme popularity of Dryden's half of the poem?

My third unanswered Query referred to the Essay on Satire, commonly attributed to Lord Mulgrave and Dryden, but with which, as it seems to me, for reasons there assigned, Lord Mulgrave could have nothing to do. As a farther proof of Dryden's sole authorship, I may here add, what I have since found, that the Addendum to the first volume of State Poems consists of one thus entitled: "In opposition to Mr. Dryden's Essay on Satyr," treating it as only his: it begins,

"Now the reformer of the court and stage,The common beadle of this wilful age,Has with impartial hand whipp'd sovereign sin,In me it is but manners to begin."

It sounds drolly, in our day, to hear Dryden called "the reformer of the court and stage," especially recollecting the attack upon him made just afterwards by Jeremy Collier. Then, what are we to say to the subsequent lines, attributed to Prior, which advert to the cudgelling Dryden received in Rose Street for his attack upon Rochester. Prior calls his own production A Satire on the Modern Translators, where he thus speaks of Dryden under his name of Bayes:—

"But what excuse, what preface can atoneFor crimes which guilty Bayes has singly done—Bayes, whose Rose Alley ambuscade enjoin'dTo be to vices, which he practised, kind?"

All the contemporary evidence, with which I am acquainted, tends to establish that Lord Mulgrave, instead of being the author of a satire which Dryden improved and polished, had nothing in the world to do with it. Is there any evidence, not contemporary, which shows the contrary? Surely this, and the two other matters to which I have above adverted, are interesting literary Queries.

Now to a subject that I care less about, and upon which I am entitled, from his published works, to appeal to your correspondent, Mr. S. W. Singer. It is a mere trifle, but upon a curious point—the history of playing cards, which may, however, attract more attention than topics that relate only to such insignificant men as Thomas Gray and John Dryden.

I have before me only four, out of what I presume originally consisted of fifty-two playing cards, unlike any I have hitherto heard of. Each of them illustrates a proverb, which is engraved at the bottom of a pictorial representation of figures and objects, and the cards consist of the ten of diamonds, the ace of hearts, the seven of hearts, and the eight of spades: the number is in Roman figures at the left-hand corner, and the subject, a diamond, heart, and spade, at the right-hand corner. I will briefly describe them separately.

The proverb illustrated by the ten of diamonds is "Hee's in an ill case yt can finde no hole to creepe out at;" and the engraving (upon copper) represents two men, with grey heads and in black gowns, in the pillory, surrounded by soldiers armed with halberds, partisans, spears, &c., of various shapes, and by a crowd of men in dresses of the seventeenth century. The ace of hearts illustrates the proverb "Look before you leap;" a man in a hat turned up at the sides is about to leap from a high bank into the waters, wherein two others are already swimming: in the background is a fifth man looking over the fence of a cottage. The seven of hearts has engraved at the bottom of it, "Patience on force is a medicine for a mad horse;" and it represents the female keeper of a brothel receiving whip-castigation at a cart's tail, a punishment frequently inflicted of old upon women of that description, as many authors testify: soldiers with halberds, &c., as before, march on either side of the cart, which at the moment is passing a house with the sign of the Half-moon hanging out from the wall by ornamented iron-work. The eight of spades is upon the proverb, "Two of a trade can never agree;" and in the engraving, a couple of fish-wives, who have thrown down their baskets of plaise, flounders, &c., are fighting furiously, while a man, behind, is obviously running away with something he has stolen from them: the background consists of gable-ended houses, part of a street.

These cards came to me from an old relative, who very likely once had the whole pack, or deck, as it was formerly called; but I never could find more than these four, and I have been unable to meet with, or hear of, any others like them. From the costume and other circumstances, I am inclined to think that they belong to the period of the Civil War, or rather later; and I remember, some years ago, to have been shown twenty or thirty cards of the latter end of the seventeenth century, founded upon public events, one of them relating to the celebrated "Virgins of Taunton Dean," another to the Death of Monmouth, &c. I shall be personally obliged by any information respecting the cards I have described; and, since a distinct Query may be desirable, I beg leave to ask any of your readers, whether they know of the existence of any other cards belonging to the same set?

The Hermit of Holyport.

Minor Queries

Pretended Reprint of Ancient Poetry.—In a bookseller's catalogue (J. Taylor, Blackfriars-road, 1824), I find mention of a work entitled Sundrie Pleasaunte Flowres of Poesie, newlie plucked from the Hill Parnasse the hand of P. M., and verie goodlie to smelle. It is said to have been "Imprynted in London, in the yeare of our Lorde 1576," and "Reprinted by Davidson, 1823." The bookseller's note records the fact, that "only TWO COPIES were reprinted from the original supposed to be unique." I do not believe that any work with the above title came from the press in the sixteenth century. Query, Who was the enlightened individual who produced the two copies?

Edward F. Rimbault.

The Jews' Spring Gardens.—In the newspaper called the Postman, Oct. 3. to 6. 1702, I read,

"At Milend the garden and house called the Jews' Spring Garden, is to be let. Enquire at Capt. Bendal's at Milend."

Can any of your readers, acquainted with the neighbourhood of London, afford me information regarding this place, which was probably one of amusement and promenade much used by the Jews, many of the wealthier of whom, at that time and long afterwards, resided in Goodman's Fields?

Y. S.

Cardinal Allen's Admonition to the Nobility.—Sharon Turner (Eliz., book ii. chap. xxx. vol. iv. p. 348.) mentions that there is a copy of Cardinal Allen's Admonition to the Nobility, &c., in the Jesuit's College at Stoneyhurst, and but a few others in England.

I shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who can inform me where one is to be found. There is not one either in the Bodleian or the British Museum.

James Bliss.

"Clarum et venerabile nomen."—Can any of your correspondents inform me in what author the following lines are to be found? They are quoted by Burke in his speech on American taxation.

"Clarum et venerabile nomenGentibus, et multum nostræ quod proderat urbi?"W. L.

Whipping by Women.—In the accounts of the constable of this parish for the year 1644, there are the following items:

Was it the usual custom for women sentenced to whipping to be consigned to the tender mercies of one of their own sex?

J. Eastwood.

Ecclesfield.

Lærig (Vol. i., p. 292.).—Have we not a relic of this word in the vulgar leary, used of a tough customer, one not easily taken in?

J. W. H.

MS. History of Winchester School.—

"In the year 1715, proposals were published for an exact account of the History and Antiquities of this College of St. Mary; and large collections are made for that end, now dormant in a private hand."—Rawlinson's English Topographer, p 63., London, 1720.

Can any of your readers tell me where this invaluable MS. (if existing) may be found? and also what became of the late Rev. Peter Hall's collections in manuscript?

Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.

Benedicite.—When a priest saluted or was asked for his blessing,, he said "Benedicite," Bless ye,—Domino, or, in worse Latin, nomen Dei. understood. Can any one say why Benedicat or Benedicimini was not used, as the use of Benedicite was intended to convey or invoke a blessing, not an exhortation to bless.

Peter Corona.

The Church History Society.—As one who feels greatly interested in the scheme for the establishment of The Church History Society, given in your number for the 2nd November last, and which you properly describe as "a proposal calculated to advance one of the most important branches of historical learning," will you permit me to inquire, through the medium of "Notes and Queries," whether Dr. Maitland's scheme has met with so much encouragement as to justify the expectation, and I will add the hope, that it may ever be fully carried out?

Laicus.

Pope Ganganelli.—There was a Life of Pope Clement XIV. (Ganganelli) published in London in 1785. It was a distinct work from that by Caraccioli. Can any of your readers inform me of the author's name; or is there any one who has seen the book, or can tell where a copy may be found?

Cephas.

Sir George Downing.—I should be glad to obtain any information respecting Sir George Downing, of East Halley, Cambridgeshire, and Gamlingay Park, or his family. He was ambassador from Cromwell and Charles II. to the States-General of Holland, secretary to the Treasury, and the statesman who caused the "Appropriation Act" to be passed, the 17th of Charles II. The family is of most ancient origin in Devonshire, and I have heard that a portrait of him is possessed by some person in that county.

Alpha.

Solemnization of Matrimony.—In the service of the Church for this occasion, on the ring being placed upon the woman's finger, the man is prescribed to say: "With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow," &c. How is this last sentence to be reconciled with the law? or is the vow to be considered revocable?

A. A.

Abridge.

Passage in Bishop Butler.—In Bishop Butler's sermon "Upon the Government of the Tongue" occurs the following passage:

"There is in some such a disposition to be talking, that an offence of the slightest kind, and such as would not raise any other resentment, yet raises, if I may so speak, the resentment of the tongue, puts it into a flame, into the most ungovernable motions. This outrage, when the person it respects is present, we distinguish in the lower rank of people by a peculiar term."

Now I should be glad if any one could offer a conjecture as to the Bishop's meaning in this last sentence? I have shown it to several people, but no one has been able to think of this "peculiar term."

R.

The Duke of Wharton's Poetical Works.—Ritson prepared an edition of this nobleman's poetical works for the press. It contained nearly as much again as the printed edition of 1732. What has become of the MS.?

Edward F. Rimbault.

Titus Oates.—Can any of your correspondents refer me to an autograph of Titus Oates?

Edward F. Rimbault.

Erasmus' Colloquies—Apuleius' Golden Ass, Translations of.—Will any of your readers be kind enough to enlighten a provincial ignoramus by answering the following Queries:—

1. Which is the best and most complete English translation of Erasmus' Colloquies?

2. Is there an English translation of Apuleius' Golden Ass?

3. Is the French translation of the latter work considered a good one?

G. P. I.

The Molten Sea.—In 1835, Captain J. B. Jervis, of the Bombay Engineers, published at Calcutta an essay, entitled Records of Ancient Science, in which he endeavours to reconcile the discrepancy between the 1 Kings, vii. 23. 26. and the 2 Chron. iv. 2. 5. by proving that a vessel of oblate spheroidal form—of 30 cubits in the periphery, and 10 cubits in the major axis—would (according to the acknowledged relation of the bath to the cubit) hold exactly 2,000 baths liquid measure, and 3,000 baths when filled and heaped up conically with wheat (as specified in Ezekiel, xlv. 11.).

I do not possess any means of criticising this explanation of the difficulty, and having searched in various modern commentaries for a notice of it without success, I venture to submit it in your columns to the attention of others.

Tyro-Etymologicus.

"Sedem Animæ", &c.—Will any of your correspondents inform me where the following quotation is taken from:—

"Sedem animæ in extremis digitis habent."

It will be found in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, folio edition (7th), p. 55., and in the 8vo. edition of 1837, vol. iv. p. 80. Burton cites it as from Sallust, but the verbal index of that author has been consulted in vain for it.

W. S.

Richmond, Surrey.

Old St. Pancras Church.—Old St. Pancras has always been a noted burial-place for Roman Catholics that reside in or near London; and it has been assigned as a reason for that being their mausoleum and cemetery, that prayers and mass are said daily in a church dedicated to the same saint, in the south of France, for the repose of the souls of the faithful whose bodies are deposited in the church of St. Pancras near London (England), where crosses and Requiescat in Pace, or the initial of those words, R.I.P., are found on the sepulchral monuments. It is said prayer and mass are said at St. Peter at Rome, also for the same purpose.

Can any of your readers inform me where that church is in the south of France; and when such prayers and masses were first said?

It is also understood that this church was the last whose bell tolled in England for mass, and in which any rites of the Roman Catholic religion were celebrated after the Reformation.

S. S. N. H.

Replies

HOLME MSS.—THE CRADOCKS

(Vol. ii., p. 429.)

In answer to the Query of Mr. Ellacombe, "I should like to know whether the MSS. of Randle Holme, of Chester, 1670, which afterwards were penes Dr. Latham, are still accessible?"

1. The MSS. alluded to are those of four successive antiquaries of that name, of whom an account will be found in Ormerod's Hist. Chesh., vol. ii., under "Tranmere."

2. The person intended was not Dr. Latham, but Mr. William Latham, of Eltham, afterwards of Quenby Hall, Leicestershire, brother of Dr. Latham, of Romsey, the naturalist.

3. The Holme MSS. were never in the possession of Mr. Latham, but if Mr. Ellacombe will refer to Dr. Gower's prospectus, reissued by Mr. Latham in 1800, he will find a correct statement of their having been obtained by Bishop Gastrell for the Earl of Oxford, and "eventually for the mighty emolument of the public." (p. 40.)

4. These MSS. (being part of the Harleian Collection), are accessible to visitors of the reading room at the Museum, and extend, in the Harleian Catalogue, from No. 1920. to No. 2180. inclusive.

5. With respect to Cradocks, as connected with Cheshire, Mr. E. will find notice in Ormerod's Hist. Chesh., iii. 236., of the tomb of Sir John Cradock in Nantwich Church, as lately, and perhaps now, remaining, and an account of its former state in Chaloner's and Holme's Church Notes, Harl. MSS. 2151., and in Ordinary of Arms in King's Vale Royall, 1656, arms assigned to Cradock:—"Argent, on a chevron azure three garbs, or. Partridge (Hist. of Nantwich, 1773) names him Sir David, and states that the arms were not then discoverable." Platt's later History quotes Derrick's Letters for naming him Sir Roger.

The pedigree of Newton, previously Cradock, will be found at length in Lewys Dwnn's Visitation of Wales (vol. i. p. 145.), published by the late Sir Samuel Meyrick, under the auspices of the Welsh MSS. Society. It places Newton in Pembrokeshire, and differs in some other respects from Mr. Ellacombe's account. The entry was made in 39 Eliz., 1597, and the close of the pedigree, translated into English, is as follows:

Sir John Newton, Kt.==

__________________________________|__________________________

|                                              |                                              |

Henry Newton of                  2 John Newton                Frances, wife

Hanham, Somersetshire.           of Frusto.                        of William

                                                                                        Lord Cobham.

Lancastriensis.

ANTIQUITY OF SMOKING

In Vol. ii., p. 286., an allusion is made by a correspondent to the following verses of the comic poet Crobylus, in reference to the antiquity of smoking:

Α. "Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὰ θερμὰ ταῦθ' ὑπερβολῇΤοὺς δακτύλους δήπουθεν ἰδαίους ἔχω,Καὶ τὸν λάρυγγ' ἥδιστα πυριῶ τεμαχίοις.Β. "Κάμινος, οὺκ ἄνθρωπος."Athen I. p. 5. F.

The two last verses are thus rendered in the passage referred to:

"And I will sweetly burn my throat with cuttings;A chimney, not a man."

Athenæus is describing the fondness of the ancient gourmands for eating their food extremely hot. As they had no forks, but, like the modern Orientals, carried their food to their mouth with their fingers, one Pithyllus used gloves in order to avoid burning his fingers. (Ib. I. p. 6. D.)

In the second line there is a pun upon the word ἰδαῖος which is explained to mean "cold"—the allusion being to the Idæan Dactyli. (See Meineke, Fragm. Com. Gr., vol. iv. p. 568. Lobeck, Aglaoph. p. 1181.) The passage is to be translated thus:

A. My fingers are fire-proof against these exceedingly hot morsels, and I delight in burning my throat with slices of fish.

B. "A furnace, not a man."

In v. 3. πυριῶ is the word properly applied to steaming in a vapour-bath; and τέμαχος or τεμάχων is a slice or cutlet of fish. (See Aristoph. Nub. 339.) In v. 4. κάμινος must not be rendered "chimney". It is a furnace or oven, and not even a stove or hearth, as Scott and Liddell remark in v. The ancient Greeks, and probably the Romans likewise, were unacquainted with chimneys. (See Beckmann, Hist. of Inventions, art. "Chimneys," and Smith's Dict. of Greek and Rom. Ant., art. "House".) The meanings of the Latin word caminus are explained by Beckmann (Ib., vol. i. p. 301. ed. Bohn). The short poem of κάμινος ἢ κεραμίς, attributed to Homer (Epig. 14.), illustrates the meaning of the word κάμινος. In these verses it is a furnace used for baking pottery.

Crobylus was not earlier than Olymp. 114. B. C. 324. (See Meineke, Ib., vol. i. p. 490.)

L.

ANTIQUITAS SÆCULI JUVENTUS MUNDI

(Vol. ii., pp. 218. 350. 295.)

The aphorism, "Antiquitas sæculi juventus mundi," which occurs in the Treatise de Augm. Scient., vol. viii. p. 39., and in the Advancement of Learning, vol. ii. p. 46., ed. Montagne, may be safely attributed to Lord Bacon himself, though it is printed in both passages in the form of quotation, between inverted commas.

In the Novum Organum, lib. i. aph. 83, the thought appears in this form:

"De antiquitate autem, opinio quam homines di ipsâ fovent. negligens omnino est, et vix verbo ipsi congrua. Mundi enim senium et grandævitas pro antiquitate vere habenda sunt; quæ temporibus nostris tribui debent, non juniori ætati mundi, qualis apud antiquos fuit. Illa enim ætas, respectu nostri, antiqua et major; respectu mundi ipsius, nova et minor fuit."

The pointed and aphoristic form of the thought is due to Bacon; the thought itself has, however, been traced by Dr. Whewell to Giordano Bruno.

"It is worthy of remark, that a thought which is often quoted from Francis Bacon, occurs in Bruno's Cena di Cenere, published in 1584; I mean the notion, that the later times are more aged than the earlier. In the course of the dialogue, the Pedant, who is one of the interlocutors, says, 'In antiquity is wisdom;' to which the philosophical character replies, 'If you knew what you were talking about, you would see that your principle leads to the opposite result of that which you wish to infer; I mean, that we are older and have lived longer than our predecessors.' He then proceeds to apply this, by tracing the course of astronomy through the earlier astronomers up to Copernicus."—Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, vol. ii. p. 361.

The Advancement of Learning was published in 1605, twenty-one years after the Treatise of Bruno. Mr. Hallam (History of Europe, vol. iv. p. 92.) treats the thought as the original property of Bacon; and although the first trace of it is to be found in Bruno, there is no improbability in supposing that it occurred independently to Bacon about the same time.

L.

Bacon's Advancement in Learning (Vol. ii., p. 396.).—The writer in "Notes and Queries" speaks of the English text as being original, and the Latin a version of Lord Bacon's Instauratio Magna; is he not mistaken? In reality there were two originals of that work, as we learn from Mallet's account prefixed to the folio edition of Bacon's works in 4 vols. London, 1740, p. xvii. et seq. (vol. first). The first edition was in English, London, 1605, and is to be found in the Bodleian. The Latin, published in 1623, is said by Mallet to be the work of Bacon himself, with the assistance of some friends, after he had enlarged and corrected the original; it is from this that Wats' version is made, which is very exact and faithful to its original. The title-page is engraved on copper by Marshall, with this inscription:

"INSTAVR. MAG. P. I. OF THE ADVANCEMENT AND PROFICIENCE OF LEARNING or the PARTITIONS OF SCIENCES, IX Bookes, Written in Latin by the Most Eminent, Illustrious, and Famous LORD FRANCIS BACON, Baron of Verulam, Vicont St. Alban, Counsilour of Estate, and Lord Chancellor of England, Interpreted by Gilbert Wats, OXFORD: Printed by Leon. Lichfield, Printer to the Vniversity, for Rob. Young and Ed. Forrell,

."

The passage referred to is at p. 36.:

"Indeed, to speak truly, Antiquitas seculi juventus mundi, certainly our times are the ancient times, when the world is now ancient, and not those which we count ancient, ordine retrogrado, by a computation backward from our own times."

Now this agrees exactly with Bacon's original Latin in Mallet's edition, vol. i. p. 43., except that ordine retrogrado is not in Italics; but in Bacon's English text (Mallet's edition, vol ii. p. 431.), the coincidence in all respects is complete:

"And to speak truly, Antiquitas sacculi, (sic) juventus mundi. These times are the ancient times when the world is ancient, and not those which we account ancient ordine retrogrado, by a computation backward from ourselves."