[We solicit questions of interest to the readers of THE
CHAUTAUQUAN to be answered in this department. Our space
does not always allow us to answer as rapidly as questions
reach us. Any relevant question will receive an answer in
its turn.]
Q. Who was Taylor, the author of “Holy Living and Dying?”
A. Jeremy Taylor was an English theologian and bishop, and an author
of some eminence. He was born in Cambridge in 1613, and died at
Lisburn, Ireland, in 1667. He received his education at Caius College,
Cambridge, where he graduated about 1633. In 1638 he became rector of
Uppingham, in Rutland. He was a decided adherent of Charles I, whom he
served as chaplain in the civil wars. “The Liberty of Prophesying,”
published in 1647, was, perhaps, his greatest work. He afterwards
published his “Holy Living and Dying,” which is now, perhaps, the best
known of his works. This was followed by “The Great Exemplar, or The
Life of Christ,” and several other works. In 1658 he removed to Lisburn
and was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor in 1660.
Q. Where can a copy of the revised Greek text—of the New Testament—used
by the revision committee be obtained?
A. Send to Harper & Brothers, New York.
Q. Will THE CHAUTAUQUAN please give me information in regard to the
origin of “The Curfew?”
A. The Curfew was a bell rung at nightfall, designed to give notice to
the inhabitants to cover their fires, extinguish lights and retire to
rest. The practice was instituted by William the Conqueror.
Q. Please give a list of some of the best works on “Mythology.”
A. “Student’s Manual of Mythology” by White, “Ancient Mythology” by
Dwight, “Manual of Mythology” by Murray, and “Ancient Mythology” by
Keightley.
Q. Who was Tullia, who drove her chariot wheels over the body of her
father?
A. Tullia was the daughter of Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome,
who reigned from about 578 to 534 B. C.
Q. By whom was the Turkish government designated as “the sick man of
Europe?”
A. By Nicholas of Russia.
Q. Is the work, “The Treasury of David,” a commentary on the psalms by
Mr. Spurgeon?
A. No. It is literally a treasury of all that Spurgeon has been able to
collect of value from all authors upon the Book of Psalms. There is no
aim at originality, except in conception and method.
Q. Who is the author of the Latin proverb, _Qui non vetat peccare, cum
possit, jubet_, and what is the translation?
A. The author is Seneca, and the translation is, “He who does not
prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.”
Q. When and where will occur the next General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church?
A. A year from next spring, in the city of Philadelphia.
Q. Which is the older of the two American poets, Whittier or Holmes?
A. Whittier was born in 1808, Holmes in 1809.
Q. Who is the author of “An ill wind that bloweth no man good?”
A. It is from “Idleness” by John Heywood.
Q. Will you please inform a subscriber of THE CHAUTAUQUAN what is date
of birth and death of the poet John G. Saxe?
A. Born 1816; living still.
Q. I would like to know something about the Jewish Talmud, and where I
could obtain a copy of it. Will THE CHAUTAUQUAN please inform me?
A. Talmud is from the Hebrew word _lamed_, and signifies to learn. It
contains the complete civil and canonical law of the Jews, embracing
the Mishna and Gemara. The former is the doctrine, the latter the
teaching as the words imply. They reveal much of the customs,
practices, and notions about legal, medical, ethical, and astronomical
subjects that belonged to the Jewish nation of antiquity. A good copy
of the Talmud is that which bears the name of Barclay, and published by
John Murray, London.
Q. I frequently see reference made to the “Miserere.” What is meant?
A. The psalm usually selected for acts of a penitential character. It
is the 51st psalm. It is also applied to a musical composition adapted
to this psalm.
Q. Is spiritualism on the increase or decrease at present?
A. At a meeting of spiritualists in New York, a few days ago, one
of the number affirmed, without mentioned contradiction, that the
number of good mediums is less than it was twenty years ago, and he
bewailed the degeneracy which made it impossible to get satisfactory
manifestations now-a-days. He said that manifestations are getting
weaker, and he feared that in twenty-five years not even a good rap
would be vouchsafed. Spiritualism will increase and decrease and
continue as long as a peculiar class of mortals are permitted to live
in the world.
Q. Who was Marie de Medici?
A. Marie De Medici was the daughter of Francis, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
She was born at Florence in 1573, and married in 1600 to Henry IV. of
France. On the death of Henry she became regent, for which office she
proved herself utterly incompetent. On account of offense given to her
subjects by her partiality for unworthy favorites, she was imprisoned,
but escaped, and was afterward imprisoned by her son, Louis XIII. After
a second escape she died at Cologne in 1642.
Q. What was the “Kit-Cat Club,” and when did it flourish?
A. A club formed in London in 1688 by the leading Whigs of the day; so
called after Christopher Cat, a pastry cook, who supplied the mutton
pies, and in whose house it was held. Sir Godfrey Kneller painted the
portraits of the club members for Jacob Tonson, the secretary, and in
order to accommodate them to the room in which they were placed, he
was obliged to make them three-quarter lengths; hence, a three-quarter
portrait is still called a kit-cat. Steele, Addison, Congreve and
Walpole were all members of the club.
Q. What is the origin of the phrase, “To pour oil on troubled waters?”
A. It is said that Prof. Horsford stilled the surface of the sea in a
stiff breeze by pouring a vial of oil upon it; and Commodore Wilkes saw
the same effect produced during a storm off the Cape of Good Hope, by
oil leaking from a whale ship. The phrase probably originated from the
old proverb, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”
Q. Please inform me through THE CHAUTAUQUAN where I can get a good
Spanish-English dictionary?
A. Seoane’s Spanish-English and English-Spanish Dictionary, price
$6.00; the same abridged, for $2.50, can be obtained from any prominent
publishing house.