Russ, by command of the Emperor; it is circulated sparingly in Sclavonic,
which is of course useless to most of the people, for the reason named
above. The _New_ Testament is, however, allowed to circulate in modern
Russ, and not _half_ the population read that, perhaps not more than a
third.
With regard to their images or pictures (alluded to by me in Vol. viii., p.
582.), I had not only perused the works mentioned by G. W. (Vol. ix., p.
86.) before I wrote about the Russian religion, &c., but several other
works besides.[1]
Having been in the country for some little time, and paid some attention to
the subject, I was certainly surprised to find little, if any, mention made
of their manner of worship or superstitious customs in Dr. Blackmore's
works, and wished to contribute my mite towards giving your readers some
information as to the state of this semi-civilised race.
From _Translations of Russian Works_ you can glean nothing but what the
Russian government chooses, as every work goes through a severe censorship
before it is allowed to be printed for circulation; and if there is
anything in it that is not liked, it is not permitted to be published
unless those parts are suppressed.
It is perhaps only partially known that there is some difficulty in getting
English books and newspapers into Russia, as all must go through the
censor's office. _The Times_ (which is however all but, if not quite,
prohibited at St. Petersburg, and has been so a long time), _Punch_, and
other of our papers, possess a ludicrous appearance after having passed
through the hands of the worthies in the censor's office, sometimes there
being very little left of them to read.
Whilst writing about images, I omitted to name one or two other
circumstances that have come under my own notice, showing still farther the
superstitious veneration in which they are held by the Russians.
In the case of a house on fire, one of the inmates, with his head
uncovered, carries the image three times round the burning house, under the
{499} belief that it will cause the fire to cease, never attempting to put
it out by any other means.
At Moscow there is a very noted image of the Virgin Mary; it is deposited
in a recess at one side of an archway leading to the Kremlin. Every person
passing through this archway is _obliged_ to uncover his head. I had to do
so whenever I passed through. The belief of the efficacy of this image in
healing diseases is universal. When any person is ill, by paying the
priests handsomely, they will bring it with great pomp, in a carriage and
four horses, to the sick person's house, who _must_ recover, or else, if
death ensues, they say it is _so fated_.
Instances of other images in various parts of the empire, some believed to
have fallen from heaven, might be multiplied to any extent. I mention these
to show that, whatever these representations of the Deity may be called, I
had not written unadvisedly previously, as might be surmised by G. W.'s
remarks. Everybody must deplore the wretched condition of these people; and
the Czar, well knowing their superstitious ideas, works upon their
fanatical minds with such letters as we all have had the sorrow of seeing a
specimen of in _The Times_ of to-day.[2]
J. S. A.
May 15, 1854.
[Footnote 1: Owing to an error in my original MS., or of the printers, they
were called _the "gods,"_ instead of _their gods_, answering to the ancient
_penates_.]
[Footnote 2: Vide Nicholas to the Commandant of Odessa.]
* * * * *
ARTESIAN WELLS.
(Vol. ix., p. 222.)
Your correspondent STYLITES is strongly advised not to set about making, or
rather endeavouring to make, a well of this description till he has been
well advised of the feasibility of the scheme in his particular locality.
The old adage will apply in this case, "Ex quovis ligno," &c. It is not
everywhere that an artesian well can be obtained with any depth of bore;
that is, a well which shall bring its water to or above the surface of the
ground. But if, on sufficient knowledge of the mineralogical structure of
the country, it be declared that a well of the true artesian sort cannot be
obtained, STYLITES should dig his well, say fifteen or twenty feet deep,
and "stein" it, and then bore in search of a spring, unless a sufficient
supply is already obtained from the surface drainage. A moderate outlay in
this way, unless the impervious stratum be of very great thickness indeed,
will generally bring up water, with a natural tendency to rise within reach
of a common pump, or of a well-bucket at the least.
But it may still happen that the water of the bore has not this natural
tendency. In that case the sinking of the well may be continued till the
water is reached, and a sufficient depth of reservoir obtained at the
bottom.
M. (2)
As practical answers to the inquiries of STYLITES on this subject, I have
to say, that common wells are preferable to artesian in all cases where
abundance of water is obtained at a depth not exceeding thirty feet. I need
not tell STYLITES that the common sucking-pump will not draw up water from
a depth exceeding thirty feet. The convenience of common wells is one
reason why artesian ones are not universally adopted; and a greater reason
is that artesian wells are very much more expensive to make than common
ones. When artesian wells are preferable to common ones is, when water
cannot be obtained at a depth beyond the reach of the force-pump. Two of my
friends have made artesian wells; one a mill-spinner at Dundee, at a time
when that town was very ill supplied with water. He sunk a well 150 feet in
depth and found no water. A bore was then made through trap rock for
upwards of 150 feet, and water was found in abundance on reaching the
underlying sandstone. The water ultimately reached near to the top of the
well. The other well was made by a bleacher in the neighbourhood of Lisburn
in Ireland. All the surface springs in his bleaching-grounds, which are
extensive, did not supply a sufficient quantity for his purposes. The
subsoil being boulder clay, he had to bore through it to about 300 feet
before the water was met with; when it rose as near the top of the bore as
to permit the use of a common pump being worked by power. The theory of the
action of artesian wells has been explained by MR. BUCKTON (Vol. ix., p.
283.), but I have no hesitation in telling STYLITES that he will find water
almost anywhere in this country by means of an artesian bore.
HENRY STEPHENS.
* * * * *
DOG-WHIPPERS.
(Vol. ix., p. 349.)
The following Notes may contain information for your correspondent C. F. W.
on the subject of dog-whippers.
Richard Dovey, of Farmcote in Shropshire, in the year 1659, charged certain
cottages with the payment of eight shillings to some poor man of the parish
of Claverley, who should undertake to awaken sleepers, and _whip dogs from
the church_ during divine service. Ten shillings and sixpence per annum is
now paid for the above service.
John Rudge by his will, dated in 1725, gave five shillings a quarter to a
poor man to go about the parish church of Trysull, in Staffordshire, during
sermon, to keep people awake, and _keep dogs out of the church_. This sum
is still paid for that purpose.
At Chislet, in Kent, is a piece of land called "Dog-whipper's Marsh," about
two acres, out of {500} which the tenants pay ten shillings a year to a
person for _keeping order in the church_ during divine service.
There is an acre of land in the parish of Peterchurch, Herefordshire,
appropriated to the use of a person for _keeping dogs out of the church_.
In the parish of Christchurch, Spitalfields, there is a charity fund called
"cat and dog money," the interest on which is now divided annually amongst
six poor widows of weavers of the names of Fabry or Ovington. There is a
tradition in the parish that this money was originally left for the support
of cats and dogs, but it is more probable that it was originally intended,
as in the cases above mentioned, to "whip dogs and cats" out of the church
during divine service, and that on the unforeseen increase in the fund
after a lapse of years, it became appropriated in the present way. This
money was the subject of a chancery suit in the last century, and the
decree therein directed the present division.
Many of your readers will call to mind the yelp of some poor cur who had
strolled through the open door of a country church on some sultry day, and
been ejected by the sexton. I myself have often listened to the pit-a-pat
in the quiet aisle, and I once remember a disturbance in church caused by
the quarrel of two dogs. Such scenes, and the fact that dogs were
considered unclean animals, most likely gave rise to the occupation of
dog-whipper as a function of the sexton. It will also be remembered that
some dogs cannot forbear a howl at the sound of certain musical
instruments; and besides the simple inconvenience to the congregation, this
howl may have been considered a manifestation of antipathy to holy
influences, as the devil was supposed to fear holy water.
Landseer's well-known picture of "The Free Church" proves to us that
amongst the Highland shepherds the office does not now at least exist: and
amongst other instances of the regular attendance at church of these
"unclean animals," I know one in Wales where a favourite dog always
accompanied his master to church, and stood up in the corner of the pew,
keeping watch over the congregation with the strictest decorum.
A NOTARY.
That persons bearing an office described by such a name were attached to
great houses in the sixteenth century, is clear from the well-known passage
in _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, Act IV. Sc. 4., where Launce says,--
"I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab; and
goes me to the _fellow that whips the dogs_: 'Friend,' quoth I, 'you
mean to whip the dog?' 'Ay, marry do I,' quoth he," &c.
W. B. R.
Derby.
* * * * *
CEPHAS, A BINDER, AND NOT A ROCK.
(Vol. ix., p. 368.)
I hope you will allow me to give a few reasons for dissenting from MR.
MARGOLIOUTH. I will promise to spare your space and avoid controversy.
1. The Hebrew word _Caphis_ is only to be found in Hab. ii. 11. Hence it
has been regarded as of somewhat uncertain signification. However, by
comparison with the Syrian verb [Hebrew: KPS] (_c'phas_), we infer that it
may denote that which _grasps_, _gathers_, or _holds together_; it is
therefore not synonymous with [Greek: deo], which is to _bind_, and is used
in Matt. xvi. 19.
2. Proper names from the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac, are generally written
in Greek, with the terminations of that language, as _e. g._ Jesus, John,
James, Thomas, Judas, &c., and these terminations are _added_ to the
radical letters of the name, which are all retained. It is easy to see that
_Caphis_ would become _Caphisus_, while _Cepho_ (Syriac for _rock_) would
become _Cephas_, just as _Ehudo_ (Syriac, _Jude_) becomes _Judas_.
3. Still less likely would the name _Caphis_ be to lose a radical in its
transfer to the Syriac, where Cephos is represented by _Cepho_, without
_s_.
4. The paronomasia exhibited in the Latin, "Tu es _Petrus_, et super hanc
_petram_," also appears both in the Greek and the Syriac.
5. The difference of gender between the words _Petrus_ and _petra_,
moreover, is preserved in the Syriac and appears in the Greek.
6. The figure of binding and loosing (v. 19.) is one which was common to
the three languages, Greek, Chaldee, and Syriac, in all of which it denotes
"to remit or retain" sins, "to confirm or abolish" a law, &c.
7. The occurrence of this figure in ch. xviii. 18., where the reference is
not special to Peter, but general to all the apostles. (Compare John xx.
23.)
8. The Syriac uniformly translates the name Peter by Cepho (_i. e._
Cephas), except once or twice in Peter's epistles. This at least indicates
their view of its meaning.
On the whole I see no reason to suppose that Cephas means anything but
_stone_; certainly there is much less reason for the proposed signification
of _binder_.
In John i. 42., the clause which explains the name Cephas is absent from
the Syriac version in accordance with the regular and necessary practice of
the translators to avoid tautology: "Thou shalt be called _Stone_; which is
by interpretation _Stone!_" (See the _Journal of Sacred Literature_ for
January last, p. 457., for several examples of this.) There is here surely
sufficient reason to account for the omission of this clause, which, it
{501} appears, is supported by universal MS. authority, as well as by that
of the other versions.
B. H. C.
The paronomasia of _Kipho_ (=Rock) was made in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue,
the vernacular language of our Lord and his disciples. The apostle John,
writing in Greek (i. 43.), explains the meaning of _Kipho_ ([Greek:
Kephas]) by the usual Greek phrase [Greek: ho hermeneuetai Petros], which
phrase was necessarily omitted in the Syriac version, where this word
_Kipho_ was significant, in the original sense, as used by our Lord, and
therefore needed no such hermeneutic explanation. Had our Lord spoken in
Greek, and had the name [Greek: Kephas] been _idem sonans_ with [Hebrew:
KPYS] (Hab. ii. 11.)--which, however, is not the case,--some slender
support might have been thereby afforded to MR. MARGOLIOUTH'S argument; but
as he admits that our Lord did _not_ speak in the Greek tongue, such
argument falls to the ground as void of all probability.
T. J. BUCKTON.
Lichfield.
* * * * *
WHITTINGTON'S STONE.
(Vol. ix., p. 397.)
The disappearance of this celebrated memorial of a questionable legend,
seems to have been satisfactorily accounted for. The newspapers inform us
that it has been taken to a mason's yard for the purpose of reparation.
Those who lament the removal of the stone on which, as they imagine, the
runaway apprentice sat listening to the bells of Cheap, will perhaps be
surprised to hear that the object of their regret is at least the _third_
of the stones which have successively stood upon the spot long since the
days of Whittington.
1. In a learned and interesting paper communicated to the pages of
_Sylvanus Urban_ (G. M. Dec. 1852) by T. E. T. (a well-known and respected
local antiquary, who will yet, it is sincerely hoped, enrich our libraries
with a work on the ancient history of the northern suburbs, a task for
which he is pre-eminently qualified), it is shown that in all probability
the site in question was once occupied by a wayside cross, belonging to the
formerly adjacent lazar-house and chapel of St. Anthony. A certain
engraving of 1776, mentioned by Mr. T., and which is now before me,
represents a small obelisk or pyramid standing upon a square base, and
surmounted by a cross, apparently of iron. The stone (popularly regarded as
the original) was removed in 1795 by "one S----," the surveyor of the
roads. Having been broken, or as another account states, sawn in two, the
halves were placed as curb-stones against the posts on each side of Queen's
Head Lane in the Lower Street. (Nelson's _Hist. of Islington_, 1811, p.
102.; _Gent. Mag._, Sept. and Oct. 1824, pp. 200. 290.; Lewis's _Hist. of
Islington_, 1841, p. 286.) In _Adams's Picturesque Guide to the Environs of
London_, by E. L. Blanchard (a recent but dateless little work, which I
chanced to open at a book-stall a day or two ago), the present Queen's Head
tavern in the Lower Street is mentioned as containing certain relics of its
predecessor, "with the real Whittington stone (it is said) for a
threshold."
2. Shortly after the removal of this supposed "original," a new memorial
was erected, with the inscription "Whittington's Stone." This was, for some
cause, removed by order of the churchwardens in May, 1821.
3. In his second edition, 1823, Nelson says, "The present stone was set up
in 1821, by the trustees of the parish ways." This is the stone which has
lately been removed.
H. G.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.
_Photographic Experience._--I send you the Rev. W. Le Mottee's and mine:
W. Le M.
1. 6 minutes' exposure.
2. Sea-side.
{_Iod._--Double iod. sol. from 25 gr. N. A. to 1 oz.
3. {_Exc._--5[minim] 50 gr. A. N. A. 5[minim] G. A. Aq. 2 drs.
{_Dev._--1^o 50 gr. A. N. A. and G. A. part. aeq. 2^o G. A.
4. Turner.
5. 3/8 inch.
6. 3 inches.
7. Diam. lens 3 in. Foc. length parallel rays 12-3/4 in.
Maker, Slater. Picture 8-1/2 x 6-1/2.
T. L. M.
1. 10 minutes.
2. Sea-side.
{_Iod._
3. {_Exc._ As Le M.
{_Dev._
4. Turner.
5. 3/8 inch.
6. 3-1/8 inches.
7. Diam. lens 3-1/4 in. Foc. length 17-1/2 in. Maker,
Slater. Picture 11-1/2 x 9-1/4.
I have given the development according to the plan usually followed, for
the sake of comparison; but where it is desirable to work out the shadows
fully, it is far better to give longer exposure in the camera (three times
that above given), and develop with gallo-nitrate of the strength used to
excite, finishing with gallic acid. The time varies with the subject; a
cottage among trees requiring 12 to 14 minutes. Almost all the statements I
have seen, giving the time, do so absolutely; it is well to remind
photographers, that these convey no _information whatever_, unless the
focal length for parallel rays, and the diameter of the diaphragm, are also
given: the time, in practice as well as in theory, varying (_caeteris
paribus_) directly as the {502} square of the former, and inversely as the
square of the latter; and, without these corrections, the results of one
lens are not comparable with those of another.
When shall we get a good structureless paper? The _texture_ of Turner's,
especially his new paper, is a great defect; and its skies are thin, _very_
inferior to the dense velvety blacks obtained with Whatman's of old date--a
paper now extinct, and one which, unfortunately for us, it seems impossible
to reproduce.
T. L. MANSELL.
Guernsey.
_Conversion of Calotype Negatives into Positives._--At the second meeting
of the British Association at York, Professor Grove described a process by
which a negative calotype might be converted into a positive one, by
drawing an ordinary calotype image over iodide of potassium and dilute
nitric acid, and exposing to a full sunshine. Not being able to find the
proportions in any published work, can any of your numerous readers give me
the required information; and whether the photograph should be exposed in
its damp state, or allowed to dry?
G. GRANTHAM.
_Albumenized Paper._--Mr. Spencer, in the last number of the _Photographic
Journal_, in describing a mode of preparing albumenized paper, states he
has never found it necessary to iron it, as the silver solution coagulates
the albumen the moment it comes in contact with it, "and I fancy makes it
print more evenly than when heat has been employed." But Mr. Spencer uses a
nitrate of silver solution of 90 or 100 grains to the ounce, while DR.
DIAMOND recommends 40 grains. Now as it is very desirable to get rid of the
ironing if possible, my Query is, Will the 40-grain solution coagulate the
albumen so as to do away with that troublesome process?
P. P.
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Table-turning_ (Vol. ix., p. 39.).--The following conclusions, from an
_expose_ of the laws of nature relating to this subject, have been
submitted to the world, at the end of a series of articles in the _Revue
des Deux Mondes_, by M. Babinet, of the French Institute:
"1^o. Que tout ce qui est raisonnablement admissible dans les curieuses
experiences qui ont ete faites sur le mouvement des tables ou l'on
impose les mains, est parfaitement explicable par l'energie bien connue
des mouvemens naissans de nos organes, pris a leur origine, surtout
quand une influence nerveuse vient s'y joindre et au moment ou, toutes
les impulsions etant conspirantes, l'effet produit represente l'effet
total des actions individuelles.
"2^o. Que dans l'etude consciencieuse de ces phenomenes
mecanico-physiologiques, il faudra ecarter toute intervention de force
mysterieuse en contradiction avec les lois physiques bien etablies par
l'observation et l'experience.
"3^o. Qu'il faudra aviser a populariser, non pas dans la peuple, mais
bien dans la classe eclairee de la societe, les principes des sciences.
Cette classe si importante, dont l'autorite devrait faire loi pour
toute la nation, s'est deja montree plusieurs fois au-dessous de cette
noble mission. La remarque n'est pas de moi, mais au besoin je l'adopte
et la defends:
'Si les raisons manquaient, je suis sur qu'en tout cas,
Les exemples fameux ne me manqueraient pas!'
Comme le dit Moliere. Il est a constater que l'initiative des
reclamations en faveur du bon sens contre les prestiges des tables et
des chapeaux a ete prise par les membres eclaires du clerge de France.
"4^o. Enfin, les faiseurs des miracles sont instamment supplies de
vouloir bien, s'ils ne peuvent s'empecher d'en faire, au moins ne pas
les faire absurdes. Imposer la croyance a un miracle, c'est deja
beaucoup dans ce siecle; mais vouloir nous convaincre de la realite
d'un miracle ridicule, c'est vraiment etre trop exigeant!"--_Revue des
Deux Mondes_, Janvier 15, 1854.
J. M.
Oxford.
_Female Dress_ (Vol. ix., p. 271.).--I have dresses from 1768 to the
present time, two or three years only missing, from pocket-books, which I
have carefully arranged and had bound in a volume. On referring to it I
find that hoops ceased after 1786, excepting for court days. The ladies at
that time wore large hats, the same shape young people and children have at
the present day. Powder went out at the time of the scarcity, patches
before hoops, and high-heeled shoes when short waists came in fashion.
I have a small engraving of their Majesties, attended by the lord
chamberlain, &c., together with the Princess Royal, Prince Edward, and the
Princess Elizabeth, in their boxes at the opera in the year 1782. The queen
in a very large hoop, each with their hair full powdered; and the
celebrated Mademoiselle Theodore, in the favourite comic ballad called "Les
Petits Reins," the same year, with a large hoop, hair well powdered, a
little hat at the back of her head with long strings, very short
petticoats, and shoes with buckles.
JULIA R. BOCKETT.
Southcote Lodge.
_Office of Sexton held by one Family_ (Vol. ix., p. 171.).--A search into
parish registers would, I think, show that the office of clerk was often a
hereditary one. In Worcestershire, for example, the family of Rose at
Bromsgrove, and the family of Osborne at Belbroughton, have supplied
hereditary clerks to those parishes through many generations. In the latter
case, also, the trade of a tailor has also been hereditary to an Osborne,
in conjunction with his duties as clerk. The Mr. Tristram, who was the
patron of the living of Belbroughton (afterwards sold to St. John's
College, Oxford), states, in a letter to the bishop (Lyttelton), that the
Osbornes were tailors in Belbroughton in the reign of Henry VIII. They are
tailors, as well as clerks, to this day, but they can trace their descent
to a period of more than {503} three centuries before Henry VIII. The
office of parish clerk and sexton has also been hereditary in the parishes
of Hope and King's Norton, Worcestershire.
CUTHBERT BEDE, B. A.
_Lyra's Commentary_ (Vol. ix., p. 323.).--The human figure described by
EDWARD PEACOCK as impressed on one cover of his curious old copy of the
_Textus biblie_, &c., has no glory round the head, or over it, by his
account. This would warrant the conclusion that it was not intended for any
saint, or it might almost pass for a St. Christopher. But I believe it is
meant as emblematic of a Christian generally, in his passage through this
life. I suspect that what MR. PEACOCK speaks of as a "fence composed of
interlaced branches of trees," is intended to represent waves of water by
undulating lines. The figure appears to be wading through the waters of the
tribulations of this life, by the help of his staff, just as St.
Christopher is represented. This may account for the loose appearance of
his nether habiliments, which are tucked up, so as to leave the knees bare.
The wallet is a very fit accompaniment for the pilgrim's staff. The wicker
basket holds his more precious goods; but, to show the insecurity of their
tenure, the pilgrim has a sword ready for their defence.