FOR

VOL. VI.—No. 141.]

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j. Waylen

False Spellings arising out of Sound, by Cathedrals in Norway, by William E. C. Nourse

The true Maiden-hair Fern

Cranes in Storms; Credibility of the Ancient Naturalists
Queen Elizabeth's Prayer-book
Whimsical Book-plate

Why was the Dodo called a Dronte? by Richard Hooper Minor Queries:- Similitude of an Eagle in a Braken Stalk Dictionnaire Bibliographique - Continental Writers on Popular Antiquities -Was William the Conqueror buried without a Coffin?- Comitissa Ysabel - Etymology and Meaning of the Word "Snike?""Sacrum pingue dabo,' &c.-Can a Man baptize Himself? Seal of Mary Queen of ScotsPortraits of Mary Queen of Scots- Death, a Bill of Exchange The Flemish Clothiers in Wales - Six Thousand Years - Sir Roger de Coverley - The Names and Numbers of British Regiments - A Delectable Discourse on Fishing-"I'm the Laird of Windy Walls"- Mrs. Philarmonica-Admiral Sir Richard 1. Strachan, K. C.B. The Ogden and Westcott Families-Licenser of the Press

Origin of the Stars and Stripes, by T. Westcott
One or two Passages in " King Lear," by J. Payne Collier
Replies to Minor Queries:- The Chevalier St. George

"Like a fair Lily," &c.-"Roses all that's fair adorn" -Frebord-Ireland's Freedom from Reptiles-Portrait of George Fox - Punch and Judy. "Hostages to Fortune"-Docking Horses- How the Ancient Irish crowned their Kings - Hoax on Sir Walter ScottAmerican Loyalists-Spanish Vessels wrecked on the Coast of Ireland - Suicides buried in Cross Roads Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell-American Degrees - Note by Warton on Aristotle's Poets Meaning of Whit"Possession is nine points of the law". Age of Trees

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Notes.

HISTORICAL VALUE OF SOUTH'S SERMONS.

I seldom take up the Sermons of the eloquent and witty Dr. South without feeling much sur28 prised that so little use is made of them in illustrating the History of England from the martyrdom of King Charles I. to the death of Queen Anne. And I now venture to offer this hint through the medium of the "N. & Q.;" for I feel confident that any one who reads them with a historical, as well as a theological view, will be well repaid for his trouble. South passed a long and active life in the service of the Church of England; and amongst her worthies she can scarcely reckon a more able or undaunted son. He was born in 1633, and lived on, through the most eventful period of English history, until July 8th, 1716. He likewise retained the full possession of all his faculties to the last, and was more than eighty-one years old when he dedicated to the Right Hon. Wm. Bromley the fourth volume of his inimitable Sermons:

"Jam senior; sed cruda Deo viridisque senectus.

In the year 1647, South was entered one of the king's scholars at Westminster; and signalised himself the following year by reading the Latin prayers in the school on the day of King 37 Charles I.'s martyrdom, and praying for his sacred 38 majesty by name about an hour or two before he was beheaded. This anecdote I take partly from the memoirs prefixed to South's Posthumous Works, p. 4., Lond. 1717, 8vo., and partly from his own most valuable sermon upon Proverbs xxii. 6., vol. ii. p. 188., Dublin, 1720, fol. I do wish we could make out the names of the youthful heroes who were South's companions upon this interesting occasion; but the good Dr. Busby was their tutor, which will account for their being "really king's scholars as well as called so."

VOL. VI.- No. 141.

tributed by South. I have read them in the above-mentioned volume, though not very lately, and also in Burton's Cromwellian Diary, where they form the subject of triumph. Very little, I think, can be made of them, and they seem a "forced compliment upon the usurper" (Memoirs, p. 5.), imposed most probably upon South by the head of his college, the notorious John Owen, who had been appointed to the deanery of Christ's Church, Oxford, by Cromwell's interest in 1651. At all events he was no favourite of Owen's, who opposed him severely when he was proceeding to the degree of Master of Arts in 1657, for which he was wittily rebuked by South, as also for reprimanding him for worshipping God according to the prescribed Liturgy of the Church of England. Indeed, "there was no love lost between them;" and when Owen, who was Vice-Chancellor, set up to represent the University of Oxford in parliament, he met a most manly and vigorous opposition, which was chiefly attributable to South. In the year 1658, South was admitted to holy orders by a regular though deprived bishop of the Church of England; and in 1659 preached at Oxford his memorable assize sermon, Interest deposed, and Truth restored. In 1660 he was appointed University orator. At last came the Restoration. South was nominated chaplain to Edward Earl of Clarendon; and in 1663 was installed prebendary of St. Peter's, Westminster. Then followed, in 1670, a canonry of Christ's Church, Oxford; and in 1678, the rectory of Islip, in Oxfordshire. He was chaplain in ordinary to King Charles II.; and refused several bishoprics during his reign. He afterwards refused an Irish archbishopric when James II. was king, and Lord Clarendon, the brother of his great patron Lord Rochester, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

He did not sign the document inviting over William of Orange, for he held the doctrine of passive obedience. Yet, subsequently, when King James had left England, he did not become a Nonjuror; but, with a memorable compliment upon the deprived bishops, he refused to accept any of their vacant sees.

When Bishop Sprat died, South was offered the see of Rochester and Deanery of Westminster, but refused upon the plea of his advanced age. (Posthumous Works, p. 137.) In fact, he was a great and good man, and his witticisms must not make us forgetful of his true-hearted allegiance to the Church of England. When the Socinians were gaining ground in consequence of the Act of Toleration, the voice of South was raised most warmly against them. And if we want to know Puritanism in its rampant state, we must read South as well as Cleveland's Poems or Hudibrus.

Has any one ever described more vividly than South the apparent sanctity and real profligacy of the Puritanical leaders; or the mixture of papal

or

emissaries amongst the rebels; or Cromwell's first appearance in parliament-"a bankrupt beggarly fellow, with a thread-bare torn cloak and a greasy hat, and perhaps neither of them paid for; Hugh Peters; or John Owen; or the "Preaching Colonels; or the Puritanical fasts commenced "after dinner;" or "the saving-way of preaching, which saved much labour, but nothing else that he knew of;" or the artizan preachers who "could make a pulpit before they preached in it," and had "all the confusion of Babel amongst them without the diversity of tongues;" or "that great mufti John Calvin, the father of the faithful;" or the Socinianising tendency of Grotius' writings; or the "right worshipful right honourable sinners" of the day?

There are also in his Sermons sly allusions to King James II.'s breach of faith and intolerance; and the real cause of his popery, as well as that of Charles II., is stated to have been the kindness they had received from Romanists, and the injustice they themselves, as well as their fathers, had undergone from their ultra-protestant subjects. In fact, Dr. South's Sermons are not merely unrivalled for force of diction, masterly argument, and purity of style; but I could soon prove that they are likewise most valuable as historical documents were I not fearful of trespassing too much upon the columns of the "N. & Q.” RT. Warmington.

SHAKSPEARE READINGS, NO. V.-"CORIOLANUS," ACT HI. SC. 1.

"Bosom multiplied" versus "Bisson multitude." Dissenting from the general acclaim with which the proposed substitution of this latter phrase has been received, it is due to the notoriety of the emendation, as well as to the distinguished names by which it is advocated, to explain the grounds upon which I declare my adhesion to the old reading.

But, in the first place, I wish to observe that I cannot perceive anything in the proposed alteration to exalt it above the common herd of conjectural guesses: on the contrary, with the example of bisson conspectuities in the same play, nothing appears more obvious than the extension of the same correction to any other suspected place to which it might seem applicable. Dealing with it, therefore, merely as conjectural, I reject it,

1. Because the apologue of "the belly and the members," in the first scene, gives its tone to the prevailing metaphor throughout the whole play. Hence the frequent recurrence of such images as "the many-headed multitude," "the beast with many heads butts me away," "the horn and noise of the monster," "the tongues of the common mouth," &c.; and hence a strong probability that, in any given place, the same metaphor will prevail.

2. Because in Coriolanus there are three several

"multiplying spawn,"

"multitudinous tongue," "bosom multiplied,"

and the concurrence of these three is strongly presumptive of the authenticity of any one of them.

3. Because, in the speech wherein bosom multi"plied occurs the matter in discussion being the policy of having given corn to the people gratis when Coriolanus exclaims, "Whoever gave that counsel, nourished disobedience, fed the ruin of the state;" these two words, of themselves, seem intended to be metaphorical to the subject: but when he goes on to inquire, "how shall this bosom multiplied digest the senate's courtesy," it becomes manifest that digest continues the metaphor which nourished and fed had begun. And if, in addition, it can be shown that bosom was commonly used as the seat of digestion, then the inference appears to be irresistible, that bosom multiplied is a phrase expressly introduced to complete the metaphor. Now, that bosom was so used, and by Shakspeare, is easily proved. Here is one example, from the Second Part of Henry IV., Sc. 1.:

1

I refer to the apologue of the belly and the members," already alluded to, in which the following passage is, in all the editions, as far as I am aware, pointed in this way:

The senators of Rome are this good belly,

And you the mutinous members: For examine Their counsels and their cares; digest things.rightly Touching the weal o' the cominon; you shall find No public benefit, which you receive,

But it proceeds, or comes, from them to you, And no way from yourselves.” If this reading were correct, it would doubtless afford an example of the use of digest in the abstract sense; but it is in reality a gross misprision of the true meaning of the passage, and is only another proof of how far we are still from possess ing a correctly printed edition of Shakspeare. The proper punctuation would be this:

The senators of Rome are this good belly,
And you the mutinous members! For examine –
Their counsels, and their cares digest things rightly
Touching the weal o' the common !—you shall find”-
&c.

"For examine" is introduced merely to diversify

to the sense but in the passage as it now stands, examine is made an effective verb, having for its objects the counsels and cares of the senators; while digest is made auxiliary to and synonymous with examine, and, like it, is in the imperative mood, as though addressed to the people, instead of being, as it ought to be, in the indicative, with counsels and cares for its agents. It is a curious instance of how completely the true sense of a passage may be distorted by the misapplication of a few commas.

Digest, therefore, in this passage, as elsewhere, is in direct allusion to the animal function. The very essence and pith of the parable of "the belly and the members" is to place in opposition the digestive function of the belly with the more active offices of the members; and the application of the parable is, that "the senators are this good belly," their counsels and their cares digest for the general good, and distribute the resulting benefits throughout the whole community. This is the true reading; and no person who duly considers it, or who has compared it with the original in Plutarch, but

must be satisfied that it is so.

4. Because, since digest is thus shown to have been invariably used by Shakspeare with reference to the animal function, bosom multiplied, having with the prevailing metaphor of the play; while, close relation with that function, is in strict analogy

on the other hand, bisson multitude has no relation with it at all; and therefore, had the latter been ciated, not with digest, but with some verb bearing the genuine expression, it would have been assomore reference to the function of sight, than to that of deglutition or concoction.

5. Because I cannot perceive why there should be any greater difficulty in the metaphorical allusion to the bosom multiplied digesting the senate's courtesy, than to the multitudinous tongue licking the sweet which is their poison. There is, in fact, two expressions, that one can scarcely be doubted such a close metaphorical resemblance between the so long as the other is received as genuine.

The foregoing arguments in favour of the old reading may seem to be unnecessarily elaborate; the more especially so that none of the early commentators appear to have suspected anything wrong in it; not even Monk Mason, although he was he proposed to substitute motive for native. But meddling with the very passage in question when when a sort of superconjectural authority is claimed for a questionable and unnecessary innovation, on the score of presumed internal evidence of authenticity ("N. & Q.," Vol. v., p. 485.), it is time for every true conservative of Shakspeare's text to bestir himself in its defence. A. E. B.

Leeds.

pression almost identical with "bosom multiplied." There are few disputed phrases of Shakspeare to which so happy a parallel, from his own text, could be cited.

"the old and miserable king-
Whose age has charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the COMMON BOSOM on his side,
And turn our impressed lances in our eyes
Which do command them."

King Lear, Act V. Sc. 3.

RUBY GLASS.

Many of your readers and writers being earnest admirers of ancient painted glass, and interested in the revival of the art, it is much to be desired that some method should be devised, through the medium of your publication, for its encouragement. The reform must commence at the glass-house, and happily a movement in the right direction has been already made. The grand desideratum is a good ruby; for perhaps there is little or no inferiority in other colours, the difference of effect being attributable to corrosion, lichens, texture, dust, and other causes. Early ruby is of exquisite brilliancy, and can only be represented in drawings by vermilion. The intensity was well described by the remark on a fragment, that "it was like a soldier's jacket!" The later ruby generally bears more resemblance to the gem, and is copied on paper by carmine. The best of both sorts is usually streaked or mottled, sometimes showing a large portion of the white, on which it forms a thin coating, this glass being, as it is technically called, "flashed " or "overlaid." This appearance has been lately well imitated; but the colour contains a fatal degree of orange, although the manufacturers unfortunately protest that it equals the finest of medieval times.

The modern ruby in comparison is commonly, in the opinion of connoisseurs, more or less heavy, dull, and muddy, with an injurious tinge of yellow. So long as it is assumed that perfection is already attained, there is a bar to all improvement; and I would therefore propose that some plan be adopted for the exhibition of specimens, and the award of prizes. Probably the authorities at the Museum of Practical Geology, or at the Polytechnic Institution, would obligingly consent to admit the specimens, a competent jury being appointed. If some patriotic persons would present or lend pieces of the finest old ruby as a challenge to the manufacturers, the object would be facilitated; for it is only by juxtaposition that the comparative merits can be ascertained. Another difficulty to be surmounted, is to convince the public, as well as the makers and glass painters, that uniformity of tint and thickness, purity, and transparency, are not qualities which render the material most suitable

for ecclesiastical windows; and that uneven, streaky clouded ruby is the most to be admired. Such assurances are requisite, for instances are known of the employer insisting upon the removal of such "imperfect and offensive glass!" Strange, indeed, must it be if, with our superior scientific knowledge, "with all appliances and means to boot,' modern skill should long fail in reaching the depth, richness, and splendour of the ancient reds.

Surely if there was an eager demand for the most appropriate sort, if its excellence was duly appreciated, and if emulation was exci'ed, chemistry would be brought to bear more effectually upon the subject, exertions would be redoubled, and success fully achieved.

The important Query, as a preparatory step, is this, Will some public spirited individuals present specimens of the best old ruby to the Museum of Geology (Jermyn Street), where modern potmetal is already displayed, or to another similar institution? And it is hoped that it will receive a satisfactory practical answer. C. T.

FOLK LORE.

Springs and Wells.-Near to Wooler, in Northumberland, on the flanks of the Cheviots, there is a spring of water locally known as Pin Well. The country maids, in passing this spring, drop a crooked pin into the water.

In Westmoreland there is also a Pin Well, into the waters of which rich and poor drop a pin in passing.

The superstition, in both cases, consists in a belief that the well is under the charge of a fairy, and that it is necessary to propitiate the little lady by a present of some sort; hence the pin as most convenient. The crooked pin of Northum-berland may be explained upon the received hypothesis, in folk-lore, that crooked things are lucky things, as a "crooked sixpence," &c.