Sidonius Apollinaris; where, in speaking of Faustus, Bishop of Riez, he
says that he was "raucus plausor," while hearing "tuas prædicationes,
nunc repentinas, nunc, cum ratio poposcisset, elucubratas." Until I had
turned up the passage itself, I thought there was no doubt that Bingham
was right in explaining it as referring partly to extempore, partly to
written-and-read sermons; but taking the passage as it stands, I would
submit that the "prædicationes elucubratas" were not at all _read_
sermons, though prepared and studied beforehand, and that the
"prædicationes repentinas" were such as St. Augustine sometimes
delivered, viz., on a text which suggested itself to him during the time
of service, or in consequence of some unforeseen event having happened
just before his ascending the pulpit.
6. I have as yet dealt only with the negative evidence; but the positive
testimony against the reading, and in favour of the reciting or
preaching sermons, is far from small. I should look upon man as crazy
who ventured to speak slightingly of Bingham, and should as soon think
of setting up myself against that great man as of challenging Goliah of
Gath to fisty-cuffs; but I can never get rid of the thought that Bingham
had a strong prejudice against extempore preaching, and treated the
history of sermons somewhat unfairly: _e.g._, in his 22nd section of
that 4th chap. of the xivth book (with which chap. I take it for granted
my readers are acquainted), he somewhat roguishly misrepresents Mabillon
and the Council of Vaison; and as to every other passage he quotes or
refers to, every one asserts that the sermons were to be preached or
_recited_, not one says a word about reading.
The Council of Vaison is, of course, that which was held in A.D. 529,
and at which Cæsarius of Arles presided: but the 2nd canon does not say
a word about reading; so far from it, it commands that the homilies
which the deacons preached should be recited [_recitentur_, Labbe, iv. p
1679.], as though the practice of reading a sermon were not known. So,
with regard to the other passages from St. Augustine, there is not a
hint about reading: if a man could not make his own sermons, he was to
take another's; but to take care to commit it to memory, and then
deliver it.
I should be glad to furnish you with a few "more last words" on this
subject, but I fear that these remarks have already proceeded to too
great a length: still, if you give me any encouragement, I should like
to take up the matter again.
I should be glad to be informed whether it be true, as I have heard,
that the practice of learning their sermons by heart is universal and
avowed by the preachers in Germany; and whether it be really a common
thing for a preacher there to deny himself on a Saturday, on the plea
that he is getting his sermon by heart?
AJAX.
Papworth St. Agnes, July 8. 1851.
_Written Sermons_ (Vol. iii., p. 478.).--Your querist M. C. L. may be
referred to Dr. Short's _History of the Church of England_, § 223.; or
to Burnet's _Reformation_, vol. i. p. 317., folio; where he will find
that the practice commenced about the year 1542.
N. E. R. (a Subscriber.)
FEST SITTINGS.
(Vol. iii., pp. 328. 396.)
Not questioning the meaning given to the word _Fest_ by R. VINCENT, I
take leave to refer you to Dr. Willan's list of words in use in the
mountainous districts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the
seventeenth volume of the _Archæologia_. You will there find: "FEST, to
board from home." The word is used in that sense at the present time. A
gentleman resident in the West Riding writes to me:
"I have heard the term 'fest' used generally as applying to
sending out cattle to pasture, and so says Carr in his _Dialect of
Craven_. I have also frequently heard it used in this manner: 'I
have fest my lad out apprentice to so and so.' In my own
neighbourhood, in the West Riding, it is a frequent practice for
poor man who possesses a cow, but no pasture, to 'fest' her with
some occupier of land at a certain sum by the week, or for some
other term. So a gamekeeper is said 'to fest' his master's
pointer, when he agrees with a farmer to keep it for a time. In
these cases the boy, the cow, the pointer, 'are boarded from
home.'"
As to "statutes" or "sittings," the word "statutes" is explained in
Blount's _Dictionary_ as follows:
"It is also used in our vulgar discourse for the Petty Sessions
which are yearly kept for the disposing of servants in service by
the statute 5 Eliz. chap. iv." (§ 48.)
See in the _Archaic and Provincial Dictionary_, "SITTINGS" and
"STATUTE." In Holderness (I collect it from the Query of F. R. H.) the
term "sittings" is used in the same sense as "statute" in the West
Riding, and in many other parts of the kingdom. "Fest sittings" appear
then to mean "the annual assemblage of servants who hire themselves to
board from home." In many places the "statute" or "stattie" is connected
with the fair.
"Statute Fairs," my friend writes, "are held at Settle, Long
Preston, and other places, which don't occur to me, in our
district (Craven). At Settle servants wishing to hire stand with a
small white wand in their hands, to show their object. In like
manner horses, when taken to a fair, wear on their heads a white
leather kind of bridle; and (to come nearer home) when a young
lady has attained a certain age, and begins to look with anxious
eye to future prospects, we say that she also has put on the white
bridle."
He adds: "I have myself had servants hired at Long Preston Statute
Fair." Another friend writes to me:
"Richmond Statties are very famous, every servant desirous of
hiring having a peeled twig or stick. At Penrith they put a straw
in their mouths. I remember a poor girl being killed by an
infuriated cow at Penrith; and the poor thing had the straw in her
mouth when dead."
In the East Riding, Pocklington Statute is well known; and York has its
Statute Fair. At these "statutes" or "statties" ("Stattie Fairs" and
"Sittings," or Fest Sittings), servants "fest themselves," that is, hire
themselves to board from home.
Standing in the market-place to be hired will occur to any one who may
take the trouble of reading these desultory observations.
Excuse my adding irrelevantly the following use of the word "sitting."
It is said that a young man is "sitting a young woman," when he is
wooing or courting her.
F. W. T.
HISTOIRE DES SÉVÉRAMBES.
(Vol. iii., pp. 4. 72. 147. 374.)
In Quérard's _France Littéraire_ (Didot, Paris, 1839), tome x. p. 10., I
read the following notice of the author of _Histoire des Sévérambes_:--
"Vairasse (Denis) d'Alais, écrivain français du XVII. Siècle.
"---- Grammaire raisonnée et méthodique, contenant en abrégé les
principes de cet art et les règles les plus nécessaires de la
langue français. Nouv. édit. Paris, D. Mariette, 1702, in-12.
"La première édition a paru en 1681.
"---- Histoire des Sévérambes (Roman politique) nouv. édit.
Amsterdam, Etienne Roger, 1716, 2 vol. in-12.
"La première édition parut de 1677 à 1679, en trois vol. in-12.
"Cet ouvrage a été réimprimé dans la collection des Voyages
imaginaires."
_La France Littéraire_ is a compilation of extraordinary labour and
research; and, in the absence of more authentic information, I believe
we may safely rely on the above statement. The facts, therefore, in so
far as they have been brought to light, may be summed up as follows:--
1. The original work was written in English, was entitled _History of
the Sevarites_, and published in 1675.
2. That work suggested the idea of the _Histoire des Sévérambes_, which
was published in 1677-9, and in all essential respects may be said to be
an original composition.
3. The Captain _Liden_ of one edition, and the Captain _Siden_ of
another (from whose memoirs the work is said to have been translated),
are one and the same imaginary personage.
4. The author of the _History of the Sevarites_ has not been
ascertained; the claims of Vairasse, Algernon Sidney, and Isaac Vossius,
being founded on mere conjecture.
5. There seems no reason to doubt that Denis Vairasse d'Alais was the
author of _Histoire des Sévérambes_; supported as that opinion is by the
testimony of Christian Thomasius, Barbier, and Quérard.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, June, 1851.
SALTING THE DEAD.
(Vol. iv., p. 6.)
An amusing instance of this custom--perhaps even now, under certain
circumstances, prevalent in some parts of England--occurs in Mrs. Bray's
_Letters on the Superstitions, &c. of Devonshire_. A traveller while
passing over one of the large uninclosed tracts of land near Tavistock,
was overtaken by a violent snowstorm, which compelled him to seek a
night's shelter from the inhabitants of a lonely cottage on the moor. In
the chamber assigned for his repose, he observed a curiously carved oak
chest of antique appearance.
"He noticed or made some remarks upon it to the old woman who had
lighted him up stairs, in order to see that all things in his room
might be as comfortable as circumstances would permit for his
rest. There was something he thought shy and odd about the manner
of the woman when he observed the chest; and after she was gone,
he had half a mind to take a peep into it."
After a while he does, and _horribile dictu!_ a human corpse, stiff and
cold, lay before his sight! After a night spent in the most agonizing
apprehensions he descends to breakfast, and his fears become somewhat
lightened by the savoury fumes of the morning meal.
"Indeed so much did he feel reassured and elevated by the
extinction of his personal fears, that, just as the good woman was
broiling him another rasher, he out with the secret of the chest,
and let them know that he had been somewhat surprised by its
contents; venturing to ask, in a friendly tone, for an explanation
of so remarkable a circumstance. 'Bless your heart, your honour,
'tis nothing at all,' said her son; 'tis only fayther!'--'Father!
your father!' cried the traveller; 'what do you mean?'--'Why, you
know, your honour,' replied the peasant, 'the snaw being so thick,
and making the roads so cledgy like, when old fayther died, two
weeks agon, we couldn't carry un to Tavistock to bury un, and so
mother put un in the old box, and salted un in: mother's a fine
hand at salting un in.'"--Vol. i. pp. 29. 32.
In connexion with this subject you will perhaps permit me to observe,
that the custom of placing a plate of salt on the body is still retained
in many parts of the country. An instance of its use in the metropolis
came under my notice only last week. The reason assigned for this is,
that it prevents the spread of any noxious vapours. But query, is it not
an ancient superstitious observance? According to Moresin:
"Salem abhorrere constat diabolum et ratione optima nititur, quia
Sal æternitatis est et immortalitatis signum, neque putredine
neque corruptione infestatur unquam, sed ipse ab his omnia
vendicat.--"_Moresini Papatus_, p. 154.
SPERIEND.
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Bogatsky_ (Vol. iii., p. 478.).--A very satisfactory biographical
sketch of Bogatsky, author of the _Golden Treasury_, will be found in
_Evangelical Christendom_, vol. iii. for 1849, pp. 69. and 101.
C. W. B.
_Baronette_ (Vol. iii., p. 450.).--Selden was of opinion that Baronet
was used for Banneret, as may be seen in the following extracts from the
second part of _Titles of Honor_.
Chap. iii. sect. 23.:
"Bannerets ... some have stiled them Baronets, as if they had a
diminitive title of Barons."
Chap. v. sect. 25.:
"And whereas in the statutes of the same King" (Richard II.), "as
we read them in English, every Archbishop, Bishop, Abbot, Prior,
Duke, Earl, Baron, Baronet, Knight of the Shire, &c., are
commanded under paine of amerciament or other punishment,
according to ancient use, to appear in Parlament; the French, both
of the Roll and of those Books that are truly printed, hath
Banneret and by some little mistake Barneret for the same word.
And as when mention is in the old stories of Knight Banneret, the
word Baronet (which runnes easier from the tongue) is often for
Banneret; so fell it not only in the English print of our
statutes, but also in a report of a case that is of a later time
than that to which our present division confines us, that Baronet
(for Banneret) is likewise used for a Baron. For in an attaint
under Henry the Sixt, one of the Jury challenged himselfe because
his ancestors had been Baronets and Seigneurs des Parlements. I
cannot doubt but that the title of Banneret in this sense was
meant there."
Chap. v. sect. 39.:
"Of the name of Banneret as it sometimes expressed a Baron of
Parlament enough is before said. And as in that notion of it,
Baronet was often miswritten for it, so also in this." (Milites
vexilliferi): "Neither only have the old stories Baronetti very
frequent for Banneretti, but even in a patent passed to Sir Ralph
Fane, a Knight-Banneret under Edward the Sixt, he is called
Baronettus for Bannerettus."
LLEWELLYN.
_Rifles_ (Vol. iii., p. 517.).--In reply to A. C., I can safely assert
that the _best_ American rifles are nearly equal, in point of
workmanship, to the _common_ ones made in Birmingham, and that there is
no "_use for which an American rifle is to be preferred to an English_,"
French, or Belgian one; and further, that the American rifles will not
bear comparison with those of any London maker.
Colt's revolvers were submitted to our Government twelve or fourteen
years ago, and not approved. The present revolvers, made in England,
have always been considered improvements upon them.
I do not pretend to be the "highest authority," though I profess to know
something of the subject.
THE AUTHOR OF "ENGINES OF WAR."
_Miss_ (Vol. iv., p. 6.).--Evelyn's notice of this word is prior to the
instance cited by your correspondent. Under the 9th of January, 1662, he
has,--
"I saw acted _The Third Part of the Siege of Rhodes_. In this
acted ye faire and famous comedian call'd Roxalana, from ye part
she perform'd; and I think it was ye last, she being taken to be
ye Earle of Oxford's _Misse_ (as at this time they began to call
lewd women)."
SPERIEND.
_Lady Flora Hastings' Bequest_ (Vol. iii., p. 522.).--I can state
positively, that the lines with the above title were "in reality written
by that lamented lady." I was not aware they had ever appeared in print,
nor do I think her family are aware either. I am truly sorry that a
"Christian Lady" should have been guilty of such a shameless, heartless
act of literary piracy.
I here take the opportunity of remarking that, in the last stanza but
one, and sixth line, "upon" is a misprint for "uprose."
ERZA.
_English Sapphics_ (Vol. iii., p. 494.).--In the translation of the
Psalms of David by Sir P. Sidney and his sister, the Countess of
Pembroke, the 125th Psalm is rendered in Sapphics. The first stanza is
as follows:
"As Sion standeth very firmly steadfast,
Never once shaking: so on high Jehova
Who his hope buildeth, very firmly steadfast
Ever abideth."
The 120th Psalm is in Alcaics, and, I think, very successful,
considering the difficulty of the metre. It commences thus:
"As to th' Eternall often in anguishes
Erst have I called, never unanswered,
Againe I call, againe I calling
Doubt not againe to receave an answer."
There are also specimens of other Latin metres in the same collection.
I remember about eighteen or twenty years ago an "Ode to December," in
_Blackwood's Magazine_, the first stanza of which was as follows (I
quote from memory):
"O'er the bare hill tops moan the gusty breezes,
From the dark branches sweeping the sere leaves,
South comes the polar duck; and the gliding grey gull
Shrieks to her shelter."
M. W.
_Welwood_ (Vol. iv., p. 1.).--The imprint of the first edition of his
_Memoirs_ is "London, for Tim. Goodwin, 1700." The Museum copy which
bears the press-mark 808. f. is a distinct impression.
BOLTON CORNEY.
_Bellarmin's Monstrous Paradox_ (Vol. iii., p. 497.).--In your paper of
June 21st, there is a question inserted as to the precise text in which
Cardinal Bellarmin is said to maintain that "should the Pope command the
commission of vice, and forbid the practice of virtue, it would become
the duty of Catholics to perform the one and to avoid the other." To
that question you have replied by quoting a passage from the fourth book
of the cardinal's great work. It is quite true that the words quoted by
you occur at that place; it is quite as untrue that the "monstrous
paradox" is there attempted to be maintained. A reference to the book
will show at once that this paradox is simply used as an argument to
enable the cardinal to prove his point by the common method of a
_reductio ad absurdum_. If what I maintain, says the cardinal, is false,
then it follows that "should the Pope," &c. Of course, the rest of the
argument fully stated would be: But this consequence is not true,
therefore neither is the antecedent true; that is to say, "what I
maintain" is true. So that instead of maintaining in this passage the
monstrous paradox alleged, the cardinal, in reality, is only quoting it
as a monstrous absurdity, which he himself _condemns_, and which would
result from the contradiction of his proposition. In justice to the
memory of a great man, who has been much and most unjustly slandered
upon this very point, may I ask for the insertion of this letter.
J. W. CT.
_Jonah and the Whale_ (Vol. iii., p. 517.).--E. J. K. probably founds
his unqualified rejection of the word "whale" on the English version, as
a presumed more correct interpretation of the corresponding term in the
original Hebrew. But it should not be forgotten, that the equal, or
perhaps superior authority of the Seventy translators, to that of our
best modern interpreters, is becoming daily more apparent. At all
events, without a reference to such collateral aid, it is scarcely safe
to pronounce on the meaning of any word or passage in the Old Testament.
On this subject, among many other works, may be consulted the valuable
Lexicon of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, Canon of Winchester; and the learned
_Apology for the Septuagint_, by the Rev. E. W. Grinfield.
In the present case, it is certainly of little consequence, whether the
Greek word [Greek: kêtos], and the Latin _cetus_, be translated "whale,"
or "great fish," both of which may be comprehended under them. Though
the former is the usual interpretation, and though the English
translators employ the term "great fish" in the passages "[Greek: Kai
prosetaxe Kyrios Kêtei megalô]," and "[Greek: en tê koilia tou kêtous],"
the commonly accepted word seems more in accordance with an authority of
unquestionable importance.
C. H. P.
Brighton, June 28. 1851.
It must have escaped the memory of your correspondent E. J. K., in
speaking of the supposed error of calling the "great fish" which
swallowed Jonah a "whale," that our Lord, in giving this sign to the
Jews, calls it in our English version a "whale" ([Greek: tou kêtous],
St. Matt. xii. 40., this being the word used in the Septuagint version,
from which the Evangelists quoted the SS. of the Old Testament).
Surely then there is not any _popular_ error in the term "whale" as
expressing the "great fish" of the prophet Jonah, for your correspondent
does not go beyond the English version, nor can I say what the word used
in the original Hebrew would strictly signify. [Greek: Kêtos], it is
true, may not, and probably does not, mean anything more definite than
the "great fish" of the Hebrew; but certainly our translators, by
adopting the term "whale" in the Gospels, have so sanctioned the
interpretation, that the error, if such, must be referred to them, and
not to any later period, and therefore can hardly be reckoned amongst
those of the _popular_ class.
OXONIENSIS.
Walthamstow, June 30. 1851
Great disputes have been raised what the fish was. As it is called a
whale in the Septuagint, and in St. Matthew, xii. 40., one can hardly
call it a vulgar error to speak of it commonly as a whale.
C. B.
_Book Plates_ (Vol. iii., p. 495.).--Your correspondent inquiring about
book plates mentions, that 1698 is the earliest date he has heard of. In
a sale at Sotheby's, commencing on the 21st inst., there is a copy of
Evelyn's _Silva_, presented by him to Sir Robert Clayton, Lord Mayor of
London, with his book plate in it, date 1679.
E. N. W.
Southwark, July, 1851.
Miscellaneous.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
_The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, with a Supplement,
containing the Condemnations of the Early Reformers, and other matters
relating to the Council. Literally translated into English by_ Theodore
Alois Buckley, B.A., of _Christ Church, Oxford_, is the title of a
volume which has just been issued; and which many of our readers will
probably consider a very well-timed volume. It is not, however, because
we admit with Mr. Buckley that "to try Rome fairly we must hear her
plead her own cause" (for with polemics we have nothing to do), that we
direct their attention to it; but because we agree with him that the
Decrees and Canons of the Council of Trent are documents as valuable in
a legal and historical, as in a religious point of view, and because
there must be many who would gladly learn what these Canons and Decrees
were, yet are not acquainted with the language in which they were
originally recorded. By such persons Mr. Buckley's name on the
title-page may be received as a sufficient guarantee of the accuracy of
the present translation.
The first volume of a history of the book-trade in Germany, containing
notices of some booksellers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
has just been published at Leipsic, under the title of _Beitrage zur
Geschichte des Deutschen Buchhandels_. The author is Albrecht Kirchhoff,
and the work, short as it is, will be found very useful to parties
engaged in bibliographical investigations.
Our valued correspondent, the Rev. Dr. Todd of Dublin, has just
published _Three Treatises by John Wycklyffe, D.D._ I. _Of the Church
and her Members._ II. _Of the Apostacy of the Church._ III. _Of
Antichrist and his Meynee. Now first printed from a Manuscript in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin._ The Treatises, which, in Dr. Todd's
opinion, contain internal evidence of having been written within the
last year of the Reformer's life, are accompanied by Notes and a copious
Glossary; and the work has been undertaken not without a hope that the
publication of these Treatises may direct the attention of influential
scholars to the importance of collecting and printing all the existing
writings which remain in our libraries under the name of Wycklyffe and
his followers. We sincerely trust that this hope will soon be realised.
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson announce for approaching sale the highly
important collection of Autograph Letters and Historical MSS. of Mons.
A. Donnadieu. The series of English Royal Autographs alone extends to
nearly three hundred articles; nearly all the letters after Henry VII.
being entirely autograph. This fact alone will give some idea of the
extent and value of this extraordinary collection.
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.
WILLIS'S ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
CLARKSON'S HISTORY OF RICHMOND, 2nd Edition 4to.
BRITISH POETS. Whittingham's Edition, boards or quires, without
the Plates.
BEBELII ECCLESIA ANTE-DILUVIANA, &c. Argent. 4to. 1665.
TYNDALE'S "PARABLE OF THE WICKED MAMMON." Any Edition prior to
1550.
THE DAPHNIS AND CHLOE OF LONGUS. Courier's French Translation.
BELL'S SYSTEM OF SURGERY. Vol. I.
THE CHIRURGICAL WORKS OF PERCIVAL POTTS. Vol. I.
BRYANT, DISSERT. ON THE WAR OF TROY. 4to.
---- OBSERV. ON LE CHEVALIER'S PLAIN OF TROY. 4to.
---- MORETT'S VINDIC. OF HOMER. 4to.
BRYDGES, RES LITERARIÆ, BIBL. AND CRITICAL. 3 Vols. 8vo.
BYRES, ETRURIAN ANTIQUITIES, by Howard. Folio.
CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS ON BOOKS; ANCIENT AND MODERN. 5 Vols. 8vo.
DOMESDAY BOOK. 4 Vols. Folio.
DRUMMOND, HISTORY OF NOBLE BRITISH FAMILIES.
CORONA MISTICA BEATE VIRGINIS MARIE GLORIOSE. Impressa Antewerpie
per G. Leeu, 1492.
PASSIONAEL EFTE DAT LEVENT DER HEILIGEN. Folio. Basil. 1522.
BROEMEL, M. C. H., FEST-TANZEN DER ERSTEN CHRISTEN. Jena 8vo.
1705.
ALLAN CUNNINGHAM'S TRADITIONARY TALES OF THE PEASANTRY. 2 Vols.
12mo. Two copies wanted.
STEWART'S PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN MIND. 4to. Vol. I.
ARTHUR YOUNG'S TRAVELS IN ITALY.
THE DEMON, &c., by James Hinton, London: J. Mason.