adjourned, and been prorogued, without even the dutiful address to the
crown, which is regularly discussed and adopted in Canterbury. In the
year 1847, a spasmodic attempt at life was manifested in this venerable
and ill-used institution. Archbishop Harcourt had consented that an
address to the crown should be adopted, and himself procured a draft to
be approved by the bishops. His grace however died before the day of
meeting. Some difficulty was experienced by the officials, both in York
and London, as to the course to be pursued; but a precedent having been
pointed out in the reign of James I., when Archbishop Hutton died after
summoning the Convocation and before its assembly, a writ was issued
from the crown to the dean and chapter at York to elect a _praeses_ for
the Convocation during the vacancy of the archbishoprick. They appointed
the canon who happened to be in residence; an unusually large attendance
was given; the Convocation was opened, the names called over, and then
the officials had reached the limit of their experience; according to
_their_ precedents we ought all to have been sent away. The address
however was called on by the _praeses_, being apparently quite unaware
that a _prolocutor_ should be chosen by the clergy before they proceeded
to business. Such an officer probably seemed to the dignitary already in
the chair like a _second King of Brentford_ "smelling at one rose," and
the demand was refused. Further difficulties ensued, of course, the
moment the debate was opened; and finally, the _praeses_, determined not
to be tempted out of his depth, rose all at once, and read the fatal
_formula_ which restored our glorious Chapter House to its silent
converse with the ghosts. The Convocation has never since been heard of.
CAN EBOR.
THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND.
(Vol. iv., p. 305.)
If your correspondent A. B. R. will refer to Walpole's _Fugitive Pieces_
he will find a minute inquiry into the person and age of this long-lived
lady. This is doubtless the dissertation alluded to by C. (Vol. ii., p.
219.) Pennant has _two_ notices of the countess in his Scotch tours. In
that of 1769 (which somewhat strangely follows the one of 1772), he
gives at p. 87. the engraving spoken of (Vol. iv., p. 306.), apparently
taken from the original at Dupplin Castle. It differs a little from R.'s
description of another portrait, as the cloak is strapped over the
chest, not held by a button. In 1772 Pennant again describes this
portrait in his _Tour in Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 88., and speaks of four
others, viz., first, at Devonshire House; second, at the Hon. John
Yorke's seat, near Cheltenham; third, at Mr. Scott's, printer; and the
fourth, in the Standard Closet, Windsor Castle. At the back of the last
is written with a pen "Rembrandt." "A mistake (says P.) as Rembrandt was
not fourteen years of age (he was indeed only eight) in 1614, at which
time it is certain the countess was not living."
In my copy of the _Fugitive Pieces_ (the Strawberry Hill edition,
presented by Walpole to Cole), I find the following manuscript note by
Cole; _an amplification of the_ passage from Walpole's letters quoted at
p. 306.:--
"Being at Strawberry Hill in April, 1773, I saw there a copy of
the picture commonly attributed to the old Countess of Desmond;
but Mr. Walpole told me that there is sufficient proof that it is
a painter's mother, I think Rembrandt's. However, by a letter from
Mr. Lort, April 15, 1774, he assures me that on Mr. Pennant's
calling at Strawberry Hill to see this picture, he was much
chagrined at having a print of it engraved for his book, till Mr.
Lort revived him by carrying him to a garret in Devonshire House,
where was a picture of this same countess with her name on it,
exactly corresponding to his engraved print. I remember a
tolerable good old picture of her at Mr. Dicey's, prebendary of
Bristol, at Walton in Bucks."
Walpole could not dismiss Pennant without a disparaging remark. He is "a
superficial man, and knows little of history or antiquity; but he has a
violent rage for being an author." Those who live in glass houses should
not throw stones: Pennant would not have displayed the ignorance which
Walpole exhibits in the instance before us. In an inscription, which the
latter gives, on a Countess of Desmond buried at Sligo, occurs the
following contraction: "Desmoniae _Noie_ Elizabetha." Walpole says
(_Fugitive Pieces_, p. 204.), "This word I can make no sense of, but
_sic originale_; I take it to be redundancy of the carver. It seems to
be a repetition of the last three syllables of Desmoniae!"
The sarcastic observations which Walpole passes on the Society of
Antiquaries, its members, and its publications, are so frequent and so
bitter, that they must have been founded on some offence not to be
pardoned. Were the remarks on the "Historic Doubts" by the president,
Dean Milles, and by the Rev. Robert Masters (printed in the first two
volumes of the _Archaeologia_), regarded as satisfactorily confuting
Walpole's arguments; or did he aim, but unsuccessfully, at the
president's chair?
J. H. M.
Bath.
COINS OF VABALATHUS.
(Vol. iv., p. 255.)
There have been many attempts to explain the puzzling VCRIMDR, on the
supposition that a Latin sentence was concealed under these letters.
Pinkerton suggested "Voluntate Caesaris Romani Imperatoris Maximi Domini,
Rex." I hope to offer a better solution, which, although not new, has
been passed over, I believe, by all subsequent writers. The Rev. George
North, in the _Museum Meadianum_, p. 97., gives the following note:
"Apud Arabes accepi verbum Karama significare Honoravit, a quo Ucrima,
et Ucrim; quo sensu respondet hoc Arabicum [Greek: To Sebasto] apud
Graecos." On applying to a well-known scholar and linguist here, I found
that from the verb _Karama_ there was derived the adjective _Kar[=i]mat_
(nobilis), from which again the superlative _Akram_ comes. There can, I
think, be little doubt that the word VCRIMDR is originally derived from
this verb _Karama_, and that it is most probably equivalent to
_Nobilissimus_, a title so common shortly afterwards, as applied to the
heirs to the empire.[3]
[Footnote 3: "_Nobilissimus_, in the Byzantine historians, is
synonymous with Caesar."--_Niebuhr._]
The word [Greek: SROIAS] or [Greek: SRIAS], which appears on the
Alexandrian coins of this prince, is of more difficult explanation. Some
think it a praenomen, some a Syriac or other Eastern title, perhaps
corresponding to VCRIMDR. Pellerin thought so. I hope some Oriental
scholar will direct his attention to this point. These coins are very
often ill struck, so that the part of the legend below the head, where
the word in question is found, is indistinct, for which reason I suppose
MR. TAYLOR has followed the erroneous reading of Banduri, [Greek:
HERMIAS] (properly [Greek: HERMIAS], with lunate epsilon) for [Greek:
SROIAS], which has been corrected by Eckhel. Of three specimens which I
possess, one only reads clearly [Greek: SROIAS], from the
above-mentioned cause, but it is unquestionably the correct reading on
all. The best arrangement of the legend, from analogy with those forms
used by the Romans, is as follows:
[Greek: AUTokrator . SROIAS . OUABALLATHOS . ATHENOdorou . Huios.]
The existence of coins, of which I possess a specimen also, reading
[Greek: A . SRIAS . OUABALLATHOS . ATHEN . U.]
shows that we must not read [Greek: ATHENOU] as one word, but must
divide it as above. I think MR. TAYLOR will find his specimen to read as
the last-mentioned coin, the [Greek: ER] (properly [Greek: ER]) being
[Greek: SR], and the [Greek: AU] in like manner [Greek: AS]. My coin
gives the whole legend distinctly, and I can vouch for the exactitude of
the above legend.
I believe there appeared some years ago, in the _Revue de Numismatique_,
an article on the coins of the Zenobian family, but I do not remember
when it was published, nor the conclusions to which the writer came.
That is, however, the most recent investigation of the subject, and to
it I must refer MR. TAYLOR, as I have not access to that periodical
here.
Sir Gardner Wilkinson has published in the _Numismatic Chronicle_, vol.
vii. or viii., an inscription containing the names of Zenobia and
Vabalathus. After the name of Vabalathus, who has the title of
Autocrator, is the word [Greek: ATHENODOROU], which justifies the
reading [Greek: Athenodorou Huios] on the coins. Vabalathus is thus
probably the son of Zenobia by a former husband, Athenodorus, while
bearing himself the same name, as Vabalathus (better Vaballathus, as on
the Alexandrian coins) is said to be equivalent to Athenodorus, Gift of
Pallas.
W. H. S.
Edinburgh.
MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTICS.
(Vol. iv., pp. 57, 125, 193, 196, 298.)
I entirely agree with you that your pages are not a fit battle-ground
for theological controversy. Still, since the question of the
translation of Heb. xiii. 4. has been mooted, I beg with much deference
to suggest that it will not be quite right to let it fall to the ground
unsettled, especially since CEPHAS has thought fit to charge those of
our Reformers who translated the Scriptures with mistranslating
advisedly, and with propagating new doctrines.
CEPHAS'S version of the passage is right, and our English version is
wrong; but the fault lies in the ignorance of our translators, an
ignorance which they shared with all the scholars of their day, and many
not bad scholars of our own, of the effect produced on the force of the
article by the relation in which it stands to the other words in the
clause, in point of order. [Greek: ho timios gamos] is "the honourable
marriage;" [Greek: ho timios gamos esti] is "the honourable marriage
is;" [Greek: ho gamos timios] is untranslateable, unless you supply
[Greek: esti], and then it means "the marriage" (or, marriage in
general, in the abstract) "is honourable." But [Greek: esto] might be
supplied, as it is in Heb. xiii. 4., when it will mean, "let marriage be
honourable:" and [Greek: timios ho gamos] has just the same meaning,
with perhaps this difference, that the emphasis falls more distinctly on
[Greek: timios]. The circumstance that the mere assertion that marriage
is honourable in all (men or things), true as it is in itself, ill
accords with the tenor of the passage of which it forms a part, which is
hortatory, not assertive, is a good reason why CEPHAS'S version should
be preferred. But when we find afterwards the words [Greek: kai he koite
amiantos], it is impossible to deny this hortatory force to the
sentence; for those words cannot mean "the undefiled bed:" and to
translate them "the (or their) bed is undefiled"--which is the only
version which they will here bear, but one--would give but a feeble
sense. That sole remaining sense is, "the bed (let it) be undefiled;"
subaudite [Greek: esto] in the verse is, "Let marriage be honourable in
all" (men or things), "and the bed be undefiled; but (or for)
whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Had our translators known
that [Greek: he koite amiantos] could not mean "the bed undefiled," they
would at once have been driven to see that the verse is a commandment:
and the commandment that marriage should be held honourable in all men
(or in all respects), would have served the purpose of their doctrines
quite as well as the affirmative form which they have given to their
present version. I say, it would have served their purpose; but I say
more: they heeded not what did or would serve their purpose. They looked
only for the truth and disregarded all else in their pursuit of it. With
regard to the controversy about [Greek: en pasi], it is immaterial which
version be adopted. MR. WALTER is right in the rule which he enunciates,
if he means that in those cases of adjectives in which the masculine and
neuter forms are the same, "man" or "men," not "thing" or "things," must
be understood: but it is not always observed, even in classical writers,
either in Latin or in Greek. There is no reason why it should be broken
here; and I do not believe it is broken. It must have been only by a
slip of CEPHAS'S pen that he called [Greek: pasi] a feminine adjective.
It undoubtedly refers to both sexes. I wish E. A. D. had given the Greek
of the passages from Chrysostom and Augustine, of which he has
communicated the Oxford translation, which is as likely to err, perhaps,
as any other. Jerome's Latin, like the Vulgate, though the words are not
precisely the same, gives a literal version of the Greek, without
supplying any verb at all, either _est_ or _sit_, and, since the Latin
has not that expressive power in cases like this which the article gives
to the Greek, leaves the passage obscure and undecided.
THEOPHYLACT.
Replies to Minor Queries.
_"Crowns have their Compass," &c._ (Vol. iv., p. 294.).--The lines
alluded to by your correspondent MR. ABSALON form a inscription on a
portrait of King James I. in the Cracherode Collection. (Vide Beloe's
_Anecdotes_, vol. i. p. 210.)
"Crownes have their compasse, length of dayes their date,
Triumphes their tombes, felicitie her fate;
Of more than earth can earth make none partaker,
But knowledge makes the king most like his Maker."
I am aware that this reference does not go to the "root of the matter,"
if MR. ABSALON wishes to ascertain the author's name; but it may serve
as a clue to further discovery.
MARGARET GATTY.
Ecclesfield.
It is quite obvious what lines your correspondent alludes to, though the
above quotation which he gives as the commencement of them is not quite
correct, nor were they written with the object he supposes.
I send a correct copy of them below, taken from Mr. Payne Collier's very
interesting _Life of Shakspeare_, to whom they have always been
attributed; and, it is said, with every show of reason. It is supposed
they were written by him in the shape of a complimentary allusion to
King James I., in grateful acknowledgment of the patronage bestowed by
that monarch upon the stage. The subject is fully discussed at pp. 202,
203. of Mr. Knight's volume, whence, indeed, the above information is
derived; and he publishes the lines, as follows, stating then to be
copied from a coeval manuscript in his possession:--
"SHAKSPEARE ON THE KING.
"Crowns have their compass--length of days their date--
Triumphs their tomb--felicity, her fate--
Of nought but earth can earth make us partaker,
But knowledge makes a king most like his Maker."
Some one, to make the allusion more complete, that is, to over-do it,
changed "_a_ king" into "_the_ king" in a subsequent publication of the
lines. But this, as Mr. Payne Collier very justly feels, completely
spoils the whole complexion of the epigram, and perverts a fine allusion
into a raw personality.
J. J. A.
_The Rev. Richard Farmer_ (Vol. iv., pp. 379.[4] 407.).--The
observations of BOLTON CORNEY upon my incidental mention of Dr. Farmer,
are, I think, wholly unwarranted, both in substance and manner,
especially as he himself furnishes ample confirmation of its truth.
[Footnote 4: At page 379., second column, fifth line from bottom,
for "thrice" read "twice."]
Taking his quotations in due order--
1. The certificate of Dr. Farmer's character for learning and ability is
unnecessary, because neither was impugned; nor does an allegation of
atrocity in taste and judgment necessarily imply deficiency in mere
book-learning.
2. As for Isaac Reed's opinion in favour of Farmer's Essay, it might be
met by many of directly opposite tendency, and of at least equal weight.
3. In the only point really in question, BOLTON CORNEY "cannot deny that
Farmer related the anecdote of the _wool-man_" (that being the reputed
trade of Shakspeare's father); but to what end was it related, if not
to suggest an application of which Steevens was only the interpreter?
But BOLTON CORNEY thinks the character of the witness suspicious; he
forgets that only just before he had stated that the anecdote and its
application had been repeated in three editions, extending over thirteen
years, all within the lifetime of Dr. Farmer!
A. E. B.
Leeds.
_Earwig_ (Vol. iv., pp. 274. 411.).--The correspondent who asserts the
_curious fact_ that Johnson, Richardson, and Webster do not notice the
word _earwig_ must have consulted some expurgated editions of the works
of those celebrated lexicographers--or else we must consider his
assertion as a _curious fact_ in the history of literary oversights.
BOLTON CORNEY.
Miscellaneous.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
Although there are few books which have proved of greater utility to
inquirers into the more recent history of England than Beatson's
_Political Index_, yet it is also true that there are few which have
more frequently or more justly caused the reader to feel the want of a
new and improved edition. A very short examination, however, of Mr.
Haydn's recently published Beatson's _Political Index Modernised, The
Book of Dignities, containing Rolls of the Official Personages of the
British Empire, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Judicial, Military, Naval, and
Municipal, &c._, will satisfy the reader that such want has at length
been supplied in a manner the most ample and the most satisfactory. For
though we have referred to Beatson's well-known work for the purpose of
furnishing a better idea of the _Book of Dignities_, we are bound to
acknowledge that Mr. Haydn is justified in stating, that in the work in
question he owes little more than the plan to Beatson. Mr. Haydn's
volume not only contains many lists (among them the "Administrations of
England, and the Judges of the Ecclesiastical Courts") not to be found
in the _Political Index_, but the author has had the advantage of being
permitted to search the various official records with the view of
enabling him to give complete and accurate information. The result, of
course, is obvious; namely, that just in the same proportion that our
author surpasses Beatson in the extent and accuracy of his various
lists, does the _Book of Dignities_ exceed its predecessor in usefulness
to the official man, the historian, and the scholar.
Mr. Hunt's experience as a public lecturer at the various literary and
scientific institutions of the country, having convinced him that for
the majority of the members of those institutions most of the existing
works on natural philosophy are of too abstruse and technical a
character--are, in short, sealed books,--he has been led to publish a
small volume which we have no doubt will soon become extremely popular.
It is entitled _Elementary Physics, an Introduction to the Study of
Natural Philosophy_; and, as its object is to teach physical science so
far as to render all the great deductions from observation and
experiment satisfactorily clear, without encountering the difficulty of
mathematics,--and no one is better able to do this, and throw a charm
over such a subject, than the author of the _Poetry of Science_,--the
work, which is illustrated with upwards of two hundred woodcuts, will be
found eminently useful; not only to those who have neither time nor
opportunity to carry their studies beyond its pages, but especially as a
"first book" to those in whom it may awaken the desire for a more
perfect knowledge of the beautiful and important truths of which it
treats.
The nature of the _Hand Atlas of Physical Geography, consisting of a
Series of Maps and Illustrations, showing the Geographical Distribution
of Natural Phenomena, embracing the Divisions of Geology, Hydrography,
Meteorology, Natural History: from the Physikalischer Atlas of Berghaus,
and the Maps of the Erdkunde, drawn by and under the immediate
Superintendence of Drs. Ritter and Kiepert, Oetzel, Grimm, &c., by the
Editor of the University Atlas of the Middle Ages_, is sufficiently
described by its ample title-page; which shows, moreover, that the work
is not a mere copy or reduction of the great atlas of Berghaus, on which
it is founded. As a companion to the works of Humboldt, Mrs. Somerville,
and other writers on physical geography, it will be found most useful;
while its convenient size, and moderate price, place it within the reach
of almost all classes of readers.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.--Nattali and Bond's (23. Bedford Street) Catalogue
Part II. of Ancient and Modern Books; Adam Holden's (60. High Street,
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BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
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REASONS FOR ABROGATING THE TEST IMPOSED UPON ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
By Samuel Parker, Lord Bishop of Oxon. 1688. 4to.
LEWIS'S LIFE OF CAXTON. 8vo. 1737.
CATALOGUE OF JOSEPH AMES'S LIBRARY. 8vo. 1760.
TRAPP'S COMMENTARY. Folio. Vol. I.
WHITLAY'S PARAPHRASE ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. Folio. Vol. I. 1706.
LONG'S ASTRONOMY. 4to. 1742.
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ADAMS' MORAL TALES.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR. JOHNSON. 1805.
[Star symbol] Letters, stating particulars and lowest price,
_carriage free_, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND
QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
Notices to Correspondents.
J. NORTH _will find his Query respecting the_ Zollverein _answered in
our_ 3rd Vol. p. 451. _His others shall appear shortly._
LOVELACE'S POEMS. D. H. M. C. _is informed that these were reprinted in
1817, under the editorship of our valued correspondent_ MR. SINGER.
J. RAYNER, _who asks for names of present reigning sovereigns, of
presidents of the United States for the last thirty years, and of the
governors-general of India, is referred to Mr. Haydn's_ Book of
Dignities _(noticed in our present number), where he will find all the
information of which he is in search._
W. S. W. _Many thanks for your kind reminder. The article is in type,
although omitted this week from want of room._
J. S. B. _is thanked. Such a list would be most useful._
REPLIES RECEIVED.--_Pope's Honest Factor--Serpent with Human
Head--Marriage of Ecclesiastics--Hobbes's Leviathan--Definition of
Truth--Wearing Gloves before Royalty--Derivation of Earwig--Dictionary
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now"--Cozens the Painter--"Acu tinali meridi"--Nightingale and Thorn,
&c.--Theodolite--Temple of AEgina--Ashen Fagots--Cause of
Transparency--Praed's Charade--Marriages in ruined Churches--Age of
Trees--Joceline's Legacy--St. Bene't Fink--Bristol Tables--"A little
Bird told me"--Lycian Inscriptions--Tuden Aled._
_Copies of our_ Prospectus, _according to the suggestion of_ T. E. H.,
_will be forwarded to any correspondent willing to assist us by
circulating them._
VOLS. I., II., _and_ III., _with very copious Indices, may still be had,
price 9s. 6d. each, neatly bound in cloth._
NOTES AND QUERIES _is published at noon on Friday, so that our country
Subscribers may receive it on Saturday. The subscription for the Stamped
Edition is 10s. 2d. for Six Months, which may be paid by Post-office
Order drawn in favour of our Publisher_, MR. GEORGE BELL, 186 Fleet
Street; _to whose care all communications for the Editor should be
addressed._
_Errata._--Page 345, for "FERMILODUM" read "FERMILODVNI;" p. 394. col.
1. l. 34. for "Danish" read "Dutch;" p. 395. col. 1. l. 19. for
"Dunfe_r_line" read "Dunfermline."
This day are published at the
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