Notes and Queries, Number 57, November 30, 1850 by Various

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{433}

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

* * * * *

"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

* * * * *

No. 57.]
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30. 1850.
[Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:--
Portrait of Cardinal Beaton 433
On the Pointing of a Passage in "All's Well that Ends
Well" by A. Roffe 434
Folk-Lore:--The bigger the Ring, the nearer the Wet
--Power of prophesying before Death--Change in the
Appearance of the Dead--Strange Remedies--Mice
as a Medicine--Omens from Birds 434
Mode of computing Interest 435
On the Cultivation of Geometry in Lancashire 436
Minor Notes.--Sermon's Pills--An Infant Prodigy--
A Hint for Publishers--"He who runs may read"--
The Rolliad--The Conquest 438

QUERIES:--
Bibliographical Queries 440
Minor Queries.--Dr. Timothy Thruscross--Echo
Song--Meaning of Thwaites--Deus Justificatus--
Death by Burning--Irish Bull--Farquharson's
Observations on Aurorae--Defender of the Faith--
Calendar of Sundays in Greek and Roman Churches--
Dandridge the Painter--Chaucer's Portrait by Occleve--
John o'Groat's House--Dancing the Bride to
Bed--Duke and Earl of Albermarle 441

REPLIES:--
Julin, the Drowned City 443
Nicholas Ferrar and the so-called Arminian Nunnery of
Little Gidding 444
Vineyards 446
Treatise of Equivocation, by J. Sansom 446
Riots in London 446
Replies to Minor Queries:--Osnaburg Bishoprick--
Death of Richard II.--Scottish Prisoners sold to
Plantations--Lachrymatories--Querela Cantabrigiensis--
"Then" for "than."--Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception--
Letters of Horning--Dr. Euseby Cleaver--Mrs. Partington--"Never
did Cardinal bring good to England"--Florentine Edition of the
Pandects--Master John Shorne--"Her Brow was
Fair"--Dodd's Church History--Blackwall Docks--
Wives of Ecclesiastics--Stephens' Sermons--Saying
of Montaigne--Scala Coeli--Red Hand 447

MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, Sales Catalogues, &c. 453
Books and Odd Volumes Wanted 453
Notices to Correspondents 454
Advertisements 454

* * * * *

NOTES

PORTRAIT OF CARDINAL BEATON.

A portrait of this eminent Man was engraved by Pennant, from a picture at
Holyrood House, in Part II. of his _Tour in Scotland_, p. 243. 4to. Lond.
1776. Lodge has an engraving from the same portrait in his collection of
_Illustrious Personages_. This is a strange circumstance; because, when
Pinkerton was about to include this portrait in his collection, Pennant
wrote to him, on 30th April, 1796, as follows:

"Give me leave to say, that I suspect the authenticity of my Cardinal
Beaton. I fear it is Cardinal Falconer or Falconieri. I think there is
a genuine one somewhere in Scotland. It will be worth your while to
inquire if there be one, and engrave it, and add my suspicions, which
induce you do it."--Pinkerton's _Correspondence_, vol. i. p. 402. 8vo.
Lond. 1830.

Pinkerton made inquiry, and on Dec. 1st, 1797, writes to the Earl of
Buchan:

"Mr. Pennant informs me the Cardinal Beaton is false. It is, indeed,
too modern. A real Beaton is said to exist in Fife."--Pinkerton's
_Correspondence_, vol. ii. p. 17.

Lord Buchan writes to him that Mr. Beaton, of Balfour, believes himself to
have a genuine portrait of the Cardinal, and offers it for engraving. The
authenticity of this portrait, however, appears not to have been
established, and it was not engraved. Another was found at Yester, and was
at first concluded to be a genuine original: but Lady Ancram soon
discovered that it possessed no marks of originality, but might be a good
copy: it was, however, certainly _not_ one of the six cardinals purchased
by the third Earl of Lothian. Finally, it was rejected altogether. A copy
of a portrait from the Vatican was also rejected as undoubtedly spurious.
It appears, therefore, that Pinkerton, in this case at least, exercised
caution in the selection of his subject for engraving, so far as concerned
authenticity. His criticism, that the Holyrood House portrait is "too
modern," will be agreed in by all who will take the trouble to compare the
portrait in Lodge with undoubted portraits of the time: the style is too
modern by a hundred years. But the portrait is of a man upwards of sixty
years old: Beaton was murdered in 1546, in the fiftieth year of his age.
The portrait is of a dark haired man without beard.

I now come to a portrait of Beaton which there appears reason to think is
genuine, and I beg the favour of your correspondents to give me any
information in their power regarding it. This portrait is in the Roman
Catholic College at Blairs, near Aberdeen. It was in the Scotch College at
Rome down to the period of the French occupation of that city in 1798, and
formed part of the plunder {434} from that college. It was subsequently
discovered in a sale-room by the late Abbe Macpherson, rector of the same
college, who purchased it and sent it to Blairs, where it has been for,
now, a good many years. That it is a portrait of Beaton's time is certain;
but the artist is unknown, and the picture has sustained damage. It is
attributed, by a competent judge, who has himself painted two careful
copies of it, to Titian, not only from its general style and handling, but
from certain peculiarities of canvas, &c., on which latter circumstances,
however, he does not lay much stress, taking them only as adminicles in
proof. The portrait is a half-length, about 2 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft.: it is
that of a fresh-coloured, intellectual man, of forty-five or upwards; hazel
eyes; hair slightly reddish, or auburn, just becoming tinged with grey; a
thin small beard; costume similar to that of Holbein's Cardinal Wolsey, in
the hall of Christchurch, Oxford. It bears this inscription, painted at the
bottom of the portrait, and over the original finished painting, and
therefore of a subsequent date:

"David Betonius, S.R.E., Card. Archiep. S. Andreae in Scotia, ab
Hostibus Fidei Barbare Trucidatus."

Beaton was elected to the Cardinalate in Dec. 1538; did he visit Rome after
that? He was at all events in Paris. The Scotch College at Rome was a
natural habitat for a portrait of a Scottish churchman so famous as
Cardinal Beaton, and it would be strange indeed if they had not one of him
where they affected a collecion of portraits of British prelates. I propose
to have this portrait engraved, if its probable authenticity cannot be
shaken. Did Pinkerton engrave any portrait of Beaton? There is none in my
copies of his _Iconographia Scotica_, 1797, and his _Scottish Gallery_,
1799. These contain several duplicates; but it is rare to meet with copies
that can be warranted perfect. If the portrait be published, it will
probably be accompanied by a short memoir, correcting from authentic
documents some of the statements of his biographers: any information either
as to the portrait or his life will be thankfully acknowledged. One or two
letters from Lord Buchan, on the subject of Scottish Portraits, appeared in
the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxv., but not relating to this particular
one.

SCOTUS.

* * * * *

ON THE POINTING OF A PASSAGE IN "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL."

_Lafeu._ "They say miracles are past: and we have our philosophical
persons, to make modern and familiar, things, supernatural and
causeless."--Act ii. Scene 3.

So the passage is pointed in Johnson and Steevens, that is, with a comma
after the word "things;" and the same pointing is used in the recent
editions of Mr. Knight, Barry Cornwall, and Mr. Collier.

It occurred to me that this pointing gave a meaning quite out of harmony
with what directly follows, and also with the spirit in which Lafeu speaks.
Let the comma be placed after "familiar", and the whole passage be read
thus:

_Lafeu._ "They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical
persons to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless.
Hence is it, that we make trifles of terrors; ensconcing ourselves into
seeming knowledge, when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear."

Lafeu apparently is speaking somewhat sarcastically of those who say
miracles are past, and who endeavour to _explain away_ the wonderful into
something common and well-known. Subsequently I found that Mr. Coleridge,
in his _Literary Remains_ (vol. ii. p. 121.), had adduced the
above-mentioned passage, placing the comma after "familiar." He does not,
however, make any observation on the other pointing; but remarking, that
Shakspeare often uses "modern" for "common," proceeds thus:

"Shakspeare, inspired, as it might seem, with all knowledge, here uses
the word _causeless_ in its strict philosophical sense; cause being
truly predicable only of _phenomena_,--that is, things natural, and not
of _noumena_, or things supernatural."

It is, perhaps, rather curious, that although Mr. Collier, in his note on
Lafeu's speech, has quoted the above from Mr. Coleridge, the improved
pointing should have escaped that gentleman's notice.

Looking into Theobald's _Shakspeare_, I find that he also had placed the
comma as Mr. Coleridge has. Mr. Theobald adds this note:

"This, as it has hitherto been printed, is directly opposite to our
poet's and his speaker's meaning. As I have stopped it, the sense
quadrates with the context: and surely it is one unalterable property
of philosophy to make seeming strange and preternatural phenomena
familiar and reducible to cause and reason."

Does not Mr. Theobald, in his closing remark, turn what in Lafeu is really
an ironical outburst on _would-be_ philosophers, into something like a
serious common-place?

A. ROFFE.

Query, In a work entitled _Philosophy of Shakspeare_, by W.H. Roukin,
Lafeu's speech is quoted, and one word changed; "_and_ we have our
philosophical persons," &c., becomes "_yet_ we have," &c. Is there any
authority for such a change?

A.R.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

_The bigger the Ring, the nearer the Wet._--On Sunday evening, the 20th
Oct., the moon had a {435} very fine ring round it, which apparently was
based near the horizon, and spread over a considerable area of the heavens.
This was noticed by myself and others as we returned home from church; and
upon my mentioning it to my man-servant, who is a countryman, he said he
had been noticing it, and that it reminded him of the old saying, "the
bigger the ring, the nearer the wet." On the next day, however, it was fine
and windy, and my faith began to be shaken as to the truth of the saying;
but the almost incessant rain of the four or five subsequent days fully
proved its correctness.

J.A.

_Power of prophesying before Death._--To the passages on this subject
lately supplied by your correspondents (Vol. ii., pp. 116. 196.) may be
added the following from Tertullian, _De Anima_, c. 53. (vol. ii. col.
741., ed. Migne, Paris, 1844):

"Evenit saepe animam in ipso divortio potentius agitari, sollicitiore
obtutu, extraordinaria loquacitate, dum ex majori suggestu, jam in
libero constituta, per superfluum quod adhuc cunctatur in corpore
enuntiat quae videt, quae audit, quae incipit nosse."

J.C.R.

_Change in the Appearance of the Dead._--A woman near Maidstone, who had
had much experience as a sick-nurse, told me some years ago that she had
always noticed in corpses a change to a more placid expression on the third
day after death; and she supposed this to be connected with our Lord's
resurrection. I omitted to ask her whether the belief were wholly the
result of her own observation, or whether it had been taught her by others,
and were common among her neighbours.

J.C.R.

_Strange Remedies._--I find some curious prescriptions in an old book
entitled _The Pathway to Health,_ &c. (I will not trouble you with the full
title), "by Peter Levens, Master of Arts in Oxford, and Student in Physick
and Chirurgery."... "Printed for J.W., and are to bee sold by Charles Tym,
at the Three Bibles on London Bridge, MDCLXIV." The first is a charm

_For all manner of falling evils._--Take the blood of his little finger
that is sick, and write these three verses following, and hang it about
his neck:

'_Jasper fert Mirrham, Thus Melchior Balthazar Aurum,_
_Haec quicum secum portat tria nomina regum,_
_Soleitur a morbo, Domini pietate, caduca.'_

and it shall help the party so grieved."

"_For a man or woman that is in a consumption._--Take a brasse pot, and
fill it with water, and set it on the fire, and put a great earthen pot
within that pot, and then put in these parcels following:--Take a cock and
pull him alive, then flea off his skin, then beat him in pieces; take dates
a pound, and slit out the stones, and lay a layer of them in the bottom of
the pot, and then lay a piece of the cock, and upon that some more of the
dates, and take succory, endive, and parsley roots, and so every layer one
upon another, and put in fine gold and some pearl, and cover the pot as
close as may bee with coarse dow, and so let it distill a good while, and
so reserve it for your use till such time as you have need thereof."

I could select some exceedingly ludicrous prescriptions (for the book
contains 400 pages), but the most curious unfortunately happen to be the
most indelicate. Besides this, I am afraid the subject is scarcely worthy
of much space in such an important and useful work as "NOTES AND QUERIES."

ALEXANDER ANDREWS.

Abridge, Essex.

_Mice as a Medicine_ (Vol. i., p. 397.).--An old woman lately recommended
an occasional roast mouse as a certain cure for a little boy who wetted his
bed at night. Her own son, she said, had got over this weakness by eating
three roast mice. I am told that the Faculty employ this remedy, and that
it has been prescribed in the Oxford Infirmary.

J.W.H.

_Omens from Birds._--It is said that for a bird to fly into a room, and out
again, by an open window, surely indicates the decease of some inmate. Is
this belief local?

J.W.H.

* * * * *

MODE OF COMPUTING INTEREST.

The mode of computing interest among the ancient Greeks appears to have
been in many respects the same as that now prevailing in India, which has
probably undergone no change from a very remote period. Precisely the same
term, too, is used to denote the rate of interest, namely, [Greek: tokos]
in Greek and _taka_ or _tuka_ in the languages of Western India. [Greek:
Tokoe epidekatoi] in Greek, and _dus take_ in Hindostanee, respectively
denote _ten per cent_. At Athens, the rate of interest might be calculated
either by the month or by the year--each being expressed by different terms
(Boeckh. _Pub. Econ. of Athens_, i. 165.). Precisely the same system
prevails here. _Pono taka_, that is, three quarters of a _taka_, denotes 3/4
per cent. _per month_. _Nau take_, that is, nine _take_, denotes nine per
cent. _per annum_. For the Greek mode of reckoning interest by the month,
see Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, p. 524. At Athens,
the year, in calculating interest, was reckoned at 360 days (Boeckh, i.
183.). Here also, in all native accounts-current, the year is reckoned at
360 days.

The word [Greek: tokos], as applied to interest, was understood by the
Greeks themselves to be derived from [Greek: tikto], "to produce," _i.e._
money begetting money; the offspring or produce of money lent out. Whether
its identity may not be established with the word in current use for
thousands of years in this country to express precisely the same meaning,
is a question I should like to see discussed {436} by some of your
correspondents. The word _taka_ signifies any thing _pressed_ or _stamped_,
anything on which an impression is made hence _a coin_; and is derived from
the Sanscrit root _tak_, to press, to stamp, to coin: whence, _tank_, a
small coin; and _tank-sala_, a mint; and (query) the English word _token_,
a piece of stamped metal given to communicants. Many of your readers will
remember that it used to be a common practice in England for copper coins,
representing a half-penny, penny, &c., stamped with the name of the issuer,
and denominated "tokens," to be issued in large quantities by shopkeepers
as a subsidiary currency, and received at their shop in payment of goods,
&c. May not _ticket_, defined by Johnson, "a _token_ of any right or debt
upon the delivery of which admission is granted, or a claim acknowledged,"
and _tick_, score or trust, (to go on _tick_), proceed from the same root?

J.S.

Bombay.

* * * * *

ON THE CULTIVATION OF GEOMETRY IN LANCASHIRE.

If our Queries on this subject be productive of no other result than that
of eliciting the able and judicious analysis subsequently given by MR.
WILKINSON (Vol. ii., p. 57.), they will have been of no ordinary utility.
The silent early progress of any strong, moral, social, or intellectual
phenomenon amongst a large mass of people, is always difficult to trace:
for it is not thought worthy of record at the time, and before it becomes
so distinctly marked as to attract attention, even tradition has for the
most part died away. It then becomes a work of great difficulty, from the
few scattered indications in print (the books themselves being often so
rare[1] that "money will not purchase them"), with perhaps here and there a
stray letter, or a metamorphosed tradition, to offer even a probable
account of the circumstances. It requires not only an intimate knowledge of
the subject-matter which forms the groundwork of the inquiry, both in its
antecedent and cotemporary states, and likewise in its most improved state
at the present time; it also requires an analytical mind of no ordinary
powers, to separate the necessary from the probable; and these again from
the irrelevant and merely collateral.

MR. WILKINSON has shown himself to possess so many of the qualities
_essential_ to the historian of mathematical science, that we trust he will
continue his valuable researches in this direction still further.

It cannot be doubted that MR. WILKINSON has traced with singular acumen the
manner in which the _spirit_ of geometrical research was diffused amongst
the operative classes, and the class immediately above them--the exciseman
and the country schoolmaster. Still it is not to be inferred, that even
these classes did not contain a considerable number of able geometers
anterior to the period embraced in his discussion. The Mathematical Society
of Spitalfields existed more than half a century before the Oldham Society
was formed. The sameness of pursuit, combined with the sameness of
employment, would rather lead us to infer that geometry was _transplanted_
from Spitalfields to Manchester or Oldham. Simpson found his way from the
country to London; and some other Simpson as great as Thomas (though less
favourably looked upon by fortune in furnishing stimulus and opportunity)
might have migrated from London to Oldham. Or, again, some Lancashire
weaver might have adventured to London (a very common case with country
artisans after the expiration of apprenticeship); and, there having
acquired a taste for mathematics, as well as improvement in his mechanical
skill, have returned into the country, and diffused the knowledge and the
tastes he took home with him amongst his fellows. The very name betokens
Jeremiah Ainsworth to have been of a Lancashire family.

But was Ainsworth really the earliest mathematician of his district? Or,
was he merely the first that made any figure in print as a correspondent of
the mathematical periodicals of that day? This question is worthy of MR.
WILKINSON's further inquiry; and probably some light may be thrown upon it
by a careful examination of the _original_ Ladies' and Gentleman's Diaries
of the period. In the reprints of these works, only the names, real or
assumed, of those whose contributions were actually printed, are
inserted--not the list of all correspondents.

Now one would be led to suppose that the study of mathematics was
peculiarly suited to the daily mode of life and occupation of these men.
Their employment was monotonous; their life sedentary; and their minds were
left perfectly free from any _contemplative_ purpose they might choose.
Algebraic investigation required writing: but the weaver's hands being
engaged he could not write. A diagram, on the contrary, might lie before
him, and be carefully studied, whilst his hands and feet may be performing
their functions with an accuracy almost instinctive. Nay more: an
exceedingly complicated diagram which has grown up gradually as the result
of investigations successively {437} made, may be carried in the memory and
become the subject of successful peripatetic contemplation. On this point a
decided _experimental_ opinion is here expressed: but were further
instances asked for, they may be found in Stewart, Monge, and Chasles, all
of whom possessed this power in an eminent degree. Indeed, without it, all
attempts to study the geometry of space (even the very elements of
descriptive geometry, to say nothing of the more recondite investigations
of the science) would be entirely unproductive. It is, moreover, a power
capable of being acquired by men of average intellect without extreme
difficulty; and that even to the extent of "mentally seeing" the
constituent parts of figures which have never been exhibited to the eye
either by drawings or models.

That such men, if once imbued with a love for geometry, and having once got
over the drudgery of elementary acquisition, should be favourably situated
for its cultivation, follows as a matter of course. The great difficulty
lay in finding sufficient stimulus for their ambition, good models for
their imitation, and adequate facilities for publishing the results at
which they had arrived. The admirable history of the contents of their
scanty libraries, given by MR. WILKINSON, leaves nothing more to be said on
that head; except, perhaps, that he attributes rather more to the
_influences_ of Emerson's writings than I am able to do.[2] As regards
their facilities for publication, these were few, the periods of
publication being rarely shorter than annual; and amongst so many
competitors, the space which could be allotted to each (even to "the best
men") was extremely limited. Yet, contracted as the means of publication
were, the spirit of emulation did something; from the belief that
_insertion was an admitted test of superiority_, it was as much an object
of ambition amongst these men to solve the "prize question" as it was by
philosophers of higher social standing to gain the "prize" conferred by the
_Academie des Sciences_, or any other continental society under the wing of
Royalty, at the same period. The prize (half a dozen or a dozen copies of
the work itself) was not less an object of triumph, than a Copley or a
Royal medal is in our own time amongst the philosophers of the Royal
Society.

These men, from similarity of employment and inevitable contiguity of
position, were brought into intercourse almost of necessity, and the
formation of a little society (such as the "Oldham") the natural
result--the older and more experienced men taking the lead in it. At the
same time, there can be little doubt that the Spitalfields Society was the
pattern after which it was formed; and there can be as little doubt that
one or more of its founders had resided in London, and "wrought" in the
metropolitan workshops. Could the records of the "Mathematical Society of
London" (now in the archives of the Royal Astronomical Society) be
carefully examined, some light might be thrown upon this question. A list
of members attending every weekly meeting, as well as of visitors, was
always kept; and these lists (I have been informed) have been carefully
preserved. No doubt any one interested in the question would, upon
application to the secretary (Professor De Morgan), obtain ready access to
these documents.

The preceding remarks will, in some degree, furnish the elements of an
answer to the inquiry, "_Why_ did geometrical speculation take so much
deeper root amongst the Lancashire weavers, than amongst any other classes
of artisans?" The subject was better adapted to the weaver's mechanical
life than any other that could be named; for even the other favourite
subjects, botany and entomology, required the suspension of their proper
employment at the loom. The formation of the Oldham Society was calculated
to keep alive the aspiration for distinction, as well as to introduce
novices into the arcanium of geometry. There was generous co-operation, and
there was keen competition,--the sure stimulants to eminent success. The
unadulterated love of any intellectual pursuit, apart from the love of fame
or the hope of emolument, is a rare quality in all stages of society. Few
men, however, seem to have realised Basil Montagu's idea of being governed
by "a love of _excellence_ rather than the pride of _excelling_," so
closely as the Lancashire geometers of that period--uncultivated as was the
age in which they lived, rude as was the society in which their lives were
passed, and selfish as the brutal treatment received in those days by
mechanics from their employers, was calculated to render them. They were
surrounded, enveloped, by the worst social and moral influences; yet, so
far as can now be gathered from isolated remarks in the periodicals of the
time, they may be held up as a pattern worthy of the imitation of the
philosophers of our own time in respect to the generosity and strict honour
which marked their intercourse with one another.

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