NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
"When found, make a note of."—Captain Cuttle.
No. 215.
Saturday, December 10. 1853
Price Fourpence
Stamped Edition 5d.
CONTENTS.
Notes:—
Page
Original Royal Letters to the Grand Masters of Malta, by William Winthrop
557
Penny Sights and Exhibitions in the Reign of James I., by A. Grayan
558
The Impossibilities of our Forefathers
559
Parallel Passages, by the Rev. John Booker
560
Astrology in America
561
Minor Notes:—"Hierosolyma est perdita"—Quaint Inscription in a Belfry—The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah—The Using a Circumstance as a "Peg," or "Nail," to hang an Argument on, &c.—Turkish and Russian Grammars—Chronograms in Sicily—Stone Pulpits—Advertisements and Prospectuses
561
Queries:—
English Refugees at Ypenstein
562
Minor Queries:—Petrarch's Laura—"Epitaphium Lucretiæ"—M‘Dowall Family—Arms of Geneva—Webb of Monckton Farleigh—Translation Wanted—Latin Translation from Sheridan, &c.—Gale of Rent—Arms of Sir Richard de Loges—Gentile Names of the Jews—Henry, Earl of Wotton—Kicker-eating—Chadderton of Nuthurst, co. Lancashire—George, first Viscount Lanesborough, and Sir Charles Cotterell—"Firm was their faith," &c.—The Mother of William the Conqueror—Pedigree of Sir Francis Bryan
562
Minor Queries with Answers—"The Whole Duty of Man"—"It rained cats and dogs and little pitchforks:" Helter-skelter—Father Traves—Precise Dates of Births and Deaths of the Pretenders—Clarence
564
Replies:—
Mackey's "Theory of the Earth"
565
Sincere, Simple, Singular
567
Poetical Tavern Signs
568
Homo Unius Libri
569
The Forlorn Hope, by W. R. Wilde
569
Tieck's "Comœdia Divina"
570
Liveries worn by Gentlemen
571
Photographic Correspondence.—Queries on Dr. Diamond's Calotype Process—Albumenized Paper
572
Replies To Minor Queries:—Marcarnes—X on Brewers' Casks—No Sparrows at Lindham—Theobald le Botiller—Vault at Richmond, Yorkshire—Lord Audley's Attendants at Poictiers—Portraits at Brickwall House—The Words "Mob" and "Cash"—English Clergyman in Spain—The Cid—Exterior Stoups—Green Jugs used by the Templars—"Peccavi," I have Scinde—Raffaele's "Sposalizio"—Early Use of Tin: Derivation of the Name of Britain—Unpublished Epigram by Sir Walter Scott—Derivation of the Word "Humbug"—Bees—Topsy Turvy—Parish Clerks and Politics, &c.
572
Miscellaneous:—
Notes on Books, &c.
577
Books and
578
Notices to Correspondents
578
Advertisements
578
Notes.
ORIGINAL ROYAL LETTERS TO THE GRAND MASTERS OF MALTA.
(Continued from p. 99.)
In my first communication I did myself the pleasure to send you a correct list of all the royal letters which had been sent by different English monarchs to the Grand Masters of Malta, with their dates, the languages in which they were written, and stating to whom they were addressed. I now purpose to forward with your permission from time to time, literal translations of these letters, which Mr. Strickland of this garrison has kindly promised to give me. The subjoined are the first in order, and have been carefully compared, by Dr. Vella and myself, with the originals now in the Record Office.
No. I.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend—Greeting:
The venerable and religious men, Sir Thomas Docreus, Prior of St. John's in this kingdom, and Sir W. Weston of your convent, Turcoplerius, have lately delivered to us the epistle of your Reverence, and when we had read it, they laid before us the commission which they had in charge, with so much prudence and address, and recommended to us the condition, well being, and honour of their Order with so much zeal and affection, that they have much increased the good will, which of ourselves we feel towards the Order, and have made us more eager in advancing all its affairs, so that we very much hope to declare by our actions the affection which we feel towards this Order.
And that we might give some proof of this our disposition, we have written at great length to His Imperial Majesty, in favour of maintaining the occupation of Malta, and we have given orders to our envoys there to help forward this affair as much as they are able. The other matters, indeed, your Reverence will learn more in detail from the letters of the said Prior.
From our Palace at Richmond,
Eighth day of January, 1523,
Your good friend,
Henry Rex.
No. II.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend—Greeting:
By other of our letters we have commended to your Reverence our beloved Sir W. Weston, Turcoplerius, and the whole Order of Jerusalem in our kingdom; but since we honour the foresaid Sir W. Weston with a peculiar affection, we have judged him worthy that we should render him more agreeable and more acceptable to your Reverence, by this our renewed recommendation; and we trust that you will have it the more easily in your power to satisfy this our desire, because, on account of the trust which you yourself placed in him, you appointed him special envoy to ourselves in behalf of the affairs of his Order, and showed that you honoured him with equal good will. We therefore most earnestly entreat your Reverence not to be backward in receiving him on his return with all possible offices of love, and to serve him especially in those matters which regard his office of Turcoplerius, and his Mastership. Moreover, if any honours in the gift and disposal of your Reverence fall due to you, with firm confidence we beg of you to vouchsafe to appoint and promote the foresaid Sir William Weston to the same, which favour will be so pleasing and acceptable to us, that when occasion offers we will endeavour to return it not only to your Reverence, but also to your whole Order. And may every happiness attend you.
From our Palace at Windsor,
First day of August, 1524,
Your good friend,
Henry Rex.
No. III.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend—Greeting:
Ambrosius Layton, our subject, and brother of the same Order, has delivered to us your Reverence's letter, and from it we very well understand the matters concerning the said Order, which your Reverence had committed to his charge to be delivered to us; but we have delayed to return an answer, and we still delay, because we have understood that a general Chapter of your whole Order will be held in a short time, to which we doubt not that the more prudent and experienced of the brethren of the Order will come, and we trust that, by the general wish and counsel of all of you, a place may be selected for this illustrious Order which may be best suited for the imperial support and advancement of the Republic, and for the assailing of the infidels. When therefore your Reverence shall have made us acquainted with the place selected for the said Chapter, you shall find us no less prompt and ready than any other Christan prince in all things which can serve to the advantage and support of the said Order.
From our Palace at Richmond,
Fourth day (month omitted), 1526,
Your good friend,
Henry Rex.
That the subject of the above letters may be better understood, it may be necessary to state that L'Isle Adam was driven out of Rhodes by the Sultan Solyman, after a most desperate and sanguinary struggle, which continued almost without intermission from the 26th of June to the 18th of December, 1523. From this date to the month of October, 1530, nearly seven years, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem had no fixed residence, and the Grand Master was a wanderer in Italy, either in Rome, Viterbo, Naples, or Syracuse, while begging of the Christian Powers to assist him in recovering Rhodes, or Charles V. to give him Malta as a residence for his convent. It was during this period that the above letters, and some others which I purpose sending hereafter, were written.
William Winthrop.
PENNY SIGHTS AND EXHIBITIONS IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I.
The following curious list may amuse some of your readers. I met with it among the host of panegyrical verses prefixed to Master Tom Coryate's Crudities, published in 1611. Even in those days it will be admitted that the English were rather fond of such things, and glorious Will himself bears testimony to the fact. (See Tempest, Act II. Sc.
"Why doe the rude vulgar so hastily post in a madnesse
To gaze at trifles, and toyes not worthy the viewing?
And thinke them happy, when may be shew'd for a penny
The Fleet-streete Mandrakes, that heavenly motion of Eltham,
Westminster Monuments, and Guildhall huge Corinæus,
That horne of Windsor (of an Unicorne very likely),
The cave of Merlin, the skirts of Old Tom a Lincolne,
King John's sword at Linne, with the cup the Fraternity drinke in,
The tombe of Beauchampe, and sword of Sir Guy a Warwicke,
The great long Dutchman, and roaring Marget a Barwicke,
The mummied Princes, and Cæsar's wine yet i' Dover,
Saint James his ginney-hens, the Cassawarway[2] moreover,
The Beaver i' the Parke (strange Beast as e'er any man saw),
Downe-shearing Willowes with teeth as sharpe as a hand-saw,
The lance of John a Gaunt, and Brandon's still i' the Tower,
The fall of Ninive, with Norwich built in an hower.
King Henries slip-shoes, the sword of valiant Edward,
The Coventry Boares-shield, and fire-workes seen but to bedward,
Drake's ship at Detford, King Richard's bed-sted i' Leyster,
The White Hall Whale-bones, the silver Bason i' Chester;
The live-caught Dog-fish, the Wolfe, and Harry the Lyon,
Hunks of the Beare Garden to be feared, if he be nigh on.
All these are nothing, were a thousand more to be scanned,
(Coryate) unto thy shoes so artificially tanned."
In explanation of the last line, Tom went no less than 900 miles on one pair of soles, and on his return he hung up these remarkable shoes for a memorial in Odcombe Church, Somersetshire, where they remained till 1702.
Another "penny" sight was a trip to the top of St. Paul's. (See Dekker's Gul's Horne Book, 1609.)
A. Grayan.
The date to Cowley's lines on the chair is 1662.
Footnote 2:(return)"An East Indian bird at Saint James, in the keeping of Mr. Walker, that will carry no coales, but eate them as whot as you will."
THE IMPOSSIBILITIES OF OUR FOREFATHERS.
In turning over the pages of old authors, it is amusing to note how the mountains of our primitive ancestors have become mole-hills in the hands of the present generation! A few instances would, I think, be very instructive; and, to set the example, I give you the following from my own note-book.
The Overland Journey to India.—From the days of Sir John Mandeville, until a comparatively recent period, how portentous of danger, difficulty, and daring has been the "Waye to Ynde wyth the Maruelyes thereof!"
In Lingua, or the Combat of the Tongue, by Brewer, London, 1657, originally published in 1607, Heursis complains that Phantases had interrupted his cogitations upon three things which had troubled his brain for many a day:
"Phant. Some great matters questionless; what were they?
Heur. The quadrature of the circle, the philosopher's stone, and the next way to the Indies.
Phant. Thou dost well to meditate on these things all at once, for they'll be found out altogether, ad græcas calendas."
Dr. Robertson's Disquisition on the Knowledge the Ancients had of India, shows that communications overland existed from a remote period; and we know that the East India Company had always a route open for their dispatches on emergent occasions; but let the reader consult the Reminiscences of Dr. Dibdin, and he will find an example of its utter uselessness when resorted to in 1776 to apprize the Home Government of hostile movements on the part of an enemy. To show, however, in a more striking light, the difference between the "overland route" a century back, and that of 1853, I turn up the Journal of Bartholomew Plaisted: London, 1757. This gentleman, who was a servant of the East India Company, tells us that he embarked at Calcutta in 1749 for England; and, after encountering many difficulties, reached Dover viâ Bussorah, Aleppo, and Marseilles in twelve months! Bearing this in mind, let the reader refer to the London daily papers of this eighth day of November, 1853, and he will find that intelligence reached the city on that afternoon of the arrival at Trieste of the Calcutta steamer, furnishing us with telegraph advices from—
Bengal, Oct. 3. 36 days! Bombay, Oct. 14. 25 days!! Hong Kong, Sept. 27. 46 days!!!Rapid as this is, and strikingly as it exemplifies the gigantic appliances of our day, the cry of Heursis in the play is still for the next, or a nearer way to India; and, besides the Ocean Mail, the magnificent sailing vessels, and the steamers of fabulous dimensions said to be building for the Cape route to perform the passage from London to Calcutta in thirty days, we are promised the electric telegraph to furnish us with news from the above-named ports in a less number of hours than days now occupied!
We have thus seen that the impetus once given, it is impossible to limit or foresee where this tendency to knit us to the farthermost parts of the world will end!
"Steam to India" was nevertheless almost stifled at its birth, and its early progress sadly fettered and retarded by those whose duty it was to have fostered and encouraged it—I mean the East India Company. From this censure of a body I would exclude some of their servants in India, and particularly a name that may be new to your readers in connexion with this subject, that of the late Mr. Charles P. Greenlaw of Calcutta, to whom I would ascribe all honour and glory as the great precursor of the movement, subsequently so triumphantly achieved by the Peninsular and Oriental Company. This gentleman, at the head of the East India Company's Marine Establishment in Bengal, brought all the enthusiasm of his character to bear upon the question of steam viâ the Red Sea; and raised such an agitation in the several Presidencies, that the slow coach in Leadenhall Street was compelled to move on, and Mr. Greenlaw lived to see his labours successful. Poor Greenlaw was as deaf as a post, and usually carried on his arm a flexible pipe, with an ivory tip and mouth-piece, through which he received the communications of his
J. O.
PARALLEL PASSAGES.
(Vol. viii., p. 372.)
Adopting the suggestion of F. W. J., I contribute the following parallel passages towards the collection which he proposes:
1. "And He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."—Luke xii. 15.
"Non possidentem multa vocaveris
Recte beatum; rectius occupat
Nomen beati, qui Deorum
Muneribus sapienter uti,
Duramque callet pauperiem pati;
Pejusque leto flagitium timet."—Hor. Carm., lib. IV. ode ix.
2. "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would that do I not; but what I hate that do I."—Rom. vii. 15.
"Sed trahit invitam nova vis; aliudque Cupido,
Mens aliud suadet. Video meliora, proboque:
Deteriora sequor."—Ovid, Metam., lib. VII. 19-21.
"Quæ nocuere sequar, fugiam quæ profore credam."—Hor., lib. I. epist. viii. 11.
3. "Without father, without mother, without descent," &c.—Heb. vii. 3.
"Ante potestatem Tullî atque ignobile regnum,
Multos sæpe viros, nullis majoribus ortos
Et vixisse probes," &c.—Hor. Sat. I. vi. 9.
4. "For I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you."—2 Cor. vii. 3.
"Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens."—Hor. Carm., lib. III. ix.
5. "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."—1 Cor. xv. 32.
"Convivæ certe tui dicunt, Bibamus moriendum est."—Senec. Controv. xiv.
6. "Be not thou afraid though one be made rich, or if the glory of his house be increased; for he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth, neither shall his pomp follow him."—Ps. xlix. 16, 17.
"How loved, how honoured once, avails thee not;
To whom related, or by whom begot:
A heap of dust alone remains of thee.
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be."—Pope.
"Divesne, prisco natus ab Inacho,
Nil interest, an pauper, et infima
De gente sub divo moreris,
Victima nil miserantis Orci."—Hor. Carm., lib. II. iii.
The following close parallelism between Ben Jonson and Horace, though a little wide of your correspondent's suggestion, is also worthy of notice. I have never before seen it remarked upon. It would, perhaps, be more correct to describe it as a plagiarism than as a parallelism:
"Mosca. And besides, Sir,
You are not like the thresher that doth stand
With a huge flail, watching a heap of corn,
And, hungry, dares not taste the smallest grain,
But feeds on mallows, and such bitter herbs;
Nor like the merchant, who hath filled his vaults
With Romagnia, and rich Candian wines,
Yet drinks the lees of Lombard's vinegar:
You will lie not in straw, whilst moths and worms
Feed on your sumptuous hangings and soft beds;
You know the use of riches."—Ben Johnson, The Fox.
"Si quis ad ingentem frumenti semper acervum
Prorectus vigilet cum longo fuste, neque illinc
Audeat esuriens dominus contingere granum,
Ac potius foliis parcus vescatur amaris:
Si, positis intus Chii veterisque Falerni
Mille cadis—nihil est, tercentum millibus, acre
Potet acetum; age, si et stramentis incubet, unde—
Octoginta annos natus, cui stragula vestis,
Blattarum ac tinearum epulæ, putrescat in arca."—Hor. Sat., lib. II. iii.
John Booker.
Prestwich.
ASTROLOGY IN AMERICA.
The six following advertisements are cut from a recent Number of the New York Herald:
"Madame Morrow, seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and a descendant of a line of astrologers reaching back for centuries, will give ladies private lectures on all the events of life, in regard to health, wealth, love, courtship, and marriage. She is without exception the most wonderful astrologist in the world, or that has ever been known. She will even tell their very thoughts, and will show them the likenesses of their intended husbands and absent friends, which has astonished thousands during her travels in Europe. She will leave the city in a very short time. 76. Broome Street, between Cannon and Columbia. Gentlemen are not admitted."
"Madame la Compt flatters herself that she is competent, by her great experience in the art of astrology, to give true information in regard to the past, present, and future. She is able to see clearly any losses her visitors may have sustained, and will give satisfactory information in regard to the way of recovery. She has and continues to give perfect satisfaction. Ladies and gentlemen 50 cents. 13. Howard Street."
"Mad. la Compt has been visited by over two hundred ladies and gentlemen the past week, and has given perfect satisfaction; and, in consideration of the great patronage bestowed upon her, she will remain at 13. Howard Street for four days more, when she will positively sail for the South."
"Mrs. Alwin, renowned in Europe for her skill in foretelling the future, has arrived, and will furnish intelligence about all circumstances of life. She interprets dreams, law matters, and love, by astrology, books, and science, and tells to ladies and gentlemen the name of the persons they will marry; also the names of her visitors. Mrs. Alvin speaks the English, French and German languages. Residence, 25. Rivington Street, up stairs, near the Bowery. Ladies 50 cents, gentlemen 1 dollar."
"Mrs. Prewster, from Philadelphia, tenders her services to the ladies and
"The celebrated Dr. F. Shuman, Swede by birth, just arrived in this city, offers his services in astrology, physiognomy, &c. He can be consulted on matters of love, marriage, past, present, and future events in life. Nativity calculated for ladies and gentlemen. Mr. S. has travelled through the greater part of the world in the last forty-two years, and is willing to give the most satisfactory information. Office, 175. Chambers Street, near Greenwich."
Minor Notes.
"Hierosolyma est perdita."—Whilst studying in Germany, I remember seeing one day some Jews in a great passion because a few little boys had been shouting "Hep! hep!" On information I heard, that whenever the German knights headed a Jew-hunt in the Middle Ages, they always raised the cry "Hep! hep!" This is remembered even to the present day.
Henri van Laun.
King William's College, Isle of Man.
Quaint Inscription in a Belfry.—I think the following unique piece of authorship deserves, for its quaint originality, a corner in "N. & Q." It is copied from an inscription dated Jan. 31, 1757, in the belfry of the parish church of Fenstanton, Hunts:
"January ye 31, 1757.Hear was ten defrant
Peals Rung in 50 min-
utes which is 1200,
Changes by thouse,
names who are Under. 1. Jno Allin
2. Jms Brown 3. Jno. Cade
4. Robt Cole 5. Willm How." "All you young Men yt larn ye Ringen Art,
Besure you see & will perform your part
no Musick with it Can Excell.
nor be compared to ye Melodeus bells."
Perhaps I may as well add that this is a faithful copy of the original inscription, both in orthography and punctuation.
W. T. Watts.
St. Ives, Hunts.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah.—After the many conjectures which have been formed respecting the ספר דברי הימים of the kings of Israel and Judah, allow me to suggest the probability of their bearing some resemblance to the records of the "wars" and "might" of the monarchs of Assyria, recently brought to light by Mr. Layard.
פ.
The Using a Circumstance as a "Peg," or "Nail," to hang an Argument on, &c.—In the parliamentary debates we frequently read of one honorable member accusing another honorable member of dragging in a certain expression or quotation for the mere sake of hanging upon it some argument or observation apposite to his motion or resolution.—Query, The origin of this term?
My attention was drawn to it by reading the First Lesson at Morning Prayer for 25th May, viz. Ezra ix. 8., where the expression means something to hold by, or some resting-place.
In the following verse, the term is changed into "a wall," meaning some support or help.
Has this passage ever challenged the attention of any of your numerous readers, or can the common saying fairly be referred to it?
Anon.
Norwood.
Turkish and Russian Grammars.—At the present moment it may be found interesting to make a note of it for "N. & Q.," that the first Turkish and Russian grammars published in this country appeared at Oxford; the Turkish, by Seaman, in 1670, and the Russian, by Ludolf, in 1696. Both are written in Latin.
J. M.
Oxford.
Chronograms in Sicily.—After the opening of the gold mines at Fiume-di-Nisi, which are now being reworked, the Messinese struck coins bearing the motto—
"eX VIsCerIbVs MeIs haeC fVnDItVr."
Giving XVICIVMICVDIV. 1734?
On a fountain near the church of St. Francesco di Paola:
"D. O. M.
Imperante Carlo VI., Vicregente Comite de Palma,
Gubernante Civitatem Comite de Wallis.
P. P. P.
Vt aCtIonIbVs nostrIs IVste proCeDaMVs."
Which gives VCIIVIIVCDMV. 1724.
The death of Charles, Infanta of Spain, is thus indicated:
"FILIVs ante DIeM patrIos InqVIrIt In annos."
1568.
G. E. T. S. R. N.
Stone Pulpits.—A complete list of ancient stone pulpits in England and Wales would be desirable. Their positions should be specified; and whether in use or not, should be stated. I have seen the following:
Nantwich, Cheshire; at the junction of north transept and chancel (not used).
Bristol Cathedral; adjoining one of the north pillars of nave (not used).
Wolverhampton Collegiate Church; adjoining one of south pillars of nave (in use?)
T. H. Kersley, B.A.
Audlem, Nantwich.
Advertisements and Prospectuses.—It is, I believe, the custom for the most part to make wastepaper of the advertisements and prospectuses that are usually stitched up, in considerable numbers, with the popular reviews and magazines. Now, as these adventitious sheets often contain scraps and fragments of contemporaneous intelligence, literary and bibliographical, with occasional artistic illustrations, would it not be well to preserve them, and to bind them up in a separate form at the end of the year; connecting them with the particular review or magazine to which they belonged, but describing also the contents of the volume by a distinct lettering-piece?
If the work of destruction of such frail, but frequently interesting records, should go on at the present rate, posterity will be in danger of losing many valuable data respecting the state of British literature at different periods, as depicted by a humbler class of documents, employed by it for the diffusion of its copious productions.
John Macray.
Queries.
ENGLISH REFUGEES AT YPENSTEIN.
When I was at Alkmaar about thirty years ago, I strolled to the neighbouring village of Heilo, on the road to Limmen, where I saw, surrounded by a moat, the foundations of the castle of Ypenstein. A view of this once noble pile is to be found in the well-known work of Rademaker, Kabinet van Nederlandsche en Kleefsche Oudheden. This place, as tradition tells, once witnessed the perpetration of a violent deed. When the son of the unfortunate Charles I. was an exile in our country, this house Ypenstein was occupied by a family of English emigrants, high in rank, who lived here for a while in quiet. How far these exiles were even here secure from
I would gladly learn whether anything is known of this transaction; and if so, where I may find farther particulars of this English family, their probable political importance, &c. To investigate the truth of this tradition, that we may acquit or convict the far-famed Cromwell of so foul a crime, cannot certainly be untimely now that two celebrated learned men have undertaken to vindicate his memory.—From the Navorscher.
Inquaeritor.
Minor Queries.
Petrarch's Laura.—Mr. Mathews, in his Diary of an Invalid in Italy, &c., p. 380., in speaking of the outrages and indignities which, during the Revolution, were committed throughout France on the remains of the dead, and were amongst the most revolting of its horrors, mentions, on the authority of a fellow-passenger, an eye-witness, that the body of Petrarch's Laura had been seen exposed to the most brutal indignities in the streets of Avignon. He told Mr. Mathews that it had been embalmed, and was found in a mummy state, of a dark brown colour. I have not met with any mention of these these circumstances elsewhere. Laura is stated to have died of the plague (which seems to render it unlikely that her body was embalmed): and according to Petrarch's famous note on his MS. of Virgil, she was buried the same day, after vespers, in the church of the Cordeliers. The date was April 1, 1348. That church was long celebrated for her tomb, which contained also the body of Hugues de Sade, her husband. The edifice is stated to be ruined, its very site being converted into a fruit-garden; but the tomb is said to be still entire under the ground: and more than twenty years after the French Revolution, a small cypress was pointed out as marking the spot where Laura was interred.
Is the circumstance of the desecration of her tomb mentioned by any other writer? If it really took place, are we to conclude that the tree—if it still exists—marks only the place where she had been interred: for, that the body was rescued and recommitted to the tomb, can hardly be supposed?
Wm. Sidney Gibson.
"Epitaphium Lucretiæ."—The following lines are offered for insertion, not because I doubt their being known to many of your readers, but with a view to ask the name of the author: