A pamphlet was recently published at Lyons and Paris, by a Monsieur de
Terrebasse, intending to prove that the daughter-in-law of Dr. Young, so
pathetically lamented by him in the _Night Thoughts_ under the poetical
name of "Narcissa," was not clandestinely buried at Montpellier; that
Dr. Young did not steal a grave for her from the Roman Catholics of that
city; and that consequently the celebrated and touching episode in Night
III. is purely imaginary. This opinion of M. de Terrebasse, first given
to the world by him in 1832, and now repeated, has been controverted by
the writer of an article in the _Gazette Médicale_ of Montpellier. The
tomb, it is said, of Elisabeth Lee, Dr. Young's daughter-in-law, was
discovered a few years since at Lyons; and M. de Terrebasse endeavours
to prove, from that circumstance, and from a comparison of facts and
dates, that this Elisabeth Lee was the "Narcissa" of the poet. Not
having seen M. de Terrebasse's pamphlet, and being indebted to the
_Journal des Savants_ for this brief account of it, it seems difficult
to discover from it how M. de Terrebasse can pretend so summarily to
invalidate the solemn and touching assertions of the poet, which
assuredly are anything but flights of fancy.
"Deny'd the charity of dust to spread
O'er dust! a clarity their dogs enjoy,
What could I do? what succour? what resource?
With pious sacrilege a grave I stole;
With impious piety that grave I wrong'd;
Short in my duty, coward in my grief!
More like her murderer than friend, I crept
With soft suspended step, and muffled deep
In midnight darkness, whisper'd my last sigh."
_Night Thoughts; Narcissa._
In the notes to an edition of the _Night Thoughts_, printed in 1798, by
C. Whittingham, for T. Heptinstall--
"It appears," it is stated, "by the extract of a letter just printed,
that in order to obtain a grave, the Doctor bribed the under gardener,
who dug the grave, and let him in by a private door, bearing his
beloved daughter, wrapped up in a sheet, upon his shoulder. When he
had laid her in this hole he sat down, and, as the man expressed it,
'rained tears.' It appears also, that some time previous to this
event, expecting the catastrophe, he had been seen walking solitarily
backward in this garden, as if to find the most solitary spot for his
purpose."--See _Evang. Mag._, Nov. 1797.
I do not know what authority this letter quoted from the _Evang. Mag._
may possess.
J. M.
Oxford, May 20.
Minor Notes.
_Curious Epitaph._--The following lines are on a stone in Killyleagh
churchyard. I have a faint recollection of seeing a similarly
constructed epitaph in Harris's _History of the County of Down_, which
was perhaps composed by the same person. Is any of your readers
acquainted with any English inscription in the same style?
"Mysta, fidelis, amans, colui, docui, relevavi,
Numen, oves, inopes, pectore, voce, manu.
Laude orbem, splendore polum, cineresque beatos,
Fama illustravit, mens colit, urna tenet."
It will easily be seen that the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth words
are to be read in connexion, as are those that follow these, and those
next in succession.
The person on whose tomb the lines occur was the Rev. William
Richardson, who died in 1670, having been minister of Killyleagh for
twenty-one years. By the way, is not _mysta_ a strange designation for a
Presbyterian minister? I should think it would be now considered as
objectionable as _sacerdos_.
E. H. D. D.
Killyleagh, co. Down.
* * * * *
_The Curse of Scotland_ (Vol. i., pp. 61. 90.; Vol. iii., p. 22.).--
"The queen of clubs is called in Northamptonshire Queen Bess, perhaps,
because that queen, history says, was of a swarthy complexion; the
four of spades, Ned Stokes, but why I know not; the nine of diamonds,
the curse of Scotland, because every ninth monarch of that nation was
a bad king to his subjects. I have been told by old people, that this
card was so called long before the Rebellion in 1745, and therefore it
could not arise from the circumstance of the Duke of Cumberland's
sending orders, accidentally written upon the card, the night before
the battle of Culloden, for General Campbell to give no quarter."
The above extract from a communication to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for
1791, p. 141., is quoted in Mr. Singer's _Researches into the History of
Playing Cards_, p. 271.; but the reason assigned by the writer does not
explain why the nine of _diamonds_ should have acquired the name in
question. The nine of any _other_ suit would be equally applicable.