Various

“ There are several pedigrees tracing the descent from Sir Richard to the first baronet; but I have not yet seen the descent to the second baronet, though there can be no doubt that he was also descended from Sir Richard, otherwise the baronetcy could not have been limited to him; and probably he was the next male heir of the first baronet, as that is the usual mode of limiting titles. In the Heralds' College there is a pedigree of Sir Isaac Newton, signed by himself, in which he traces his descent to the brother of the ancestor of the second baronet. ”

“ He had no right to remain an unreasonable time looking at the book; nor perhaps, strictly speaking, was the parish clerk bound to put it into his hands at all: for the clerk has a right to superintend everything done, and might fairly say to a man, 'Your hands are dirty: keep them in your pockets.' The applicant could therefore only exercise his right of search during a reasonable time, and make extracts that way. ”

“ If a man insists on taking himself a copy of anything in the books, that case is not provided for by the statute: but if he requires a copy certified by the clergyman, then he must pay an additional fee for it.
"It was consequently an illegal act in the defendant to insist that the plaintiff should pay 2s. 6d. for each entry in the book, of which he might choose to make an extract," &c. ”

“ The party opposing said, If we admit them into our liberties, we shall be overrun with them; as cattle, naturally, pent up by a slight hedge, will over it into a better soil; and a tree taken from a barren place will thrive to excessive and exuberant branches in a better,—witness the multiplicities of the Scots in Polonia.
"To which it was answered, That if they had not means, place, custom, and employment (not like beasts, but men) , they would starve in a plentiful soil, though they came into it. ”

“ Another petition, presented to Charles I. at Newark, a.d. 1641, closes thus: "And your petitioners will ever pray for your Majesty's long and happy reign over us." Another, from the Mayor and Aldermen of London, in the same year: "And the petitioners, as in all duty bound, shall pray for your Majesty's most long and happy reign." Again, in the same year, the petition of the Lay-Catholic Recusants of England to the Commons closes thus: "And for so great a charity your humble petitioners {597} shall ever (as in duty bound) pray for your continual prosperity and eternal happiness." ”

“ That every rector, vicar, curate, and every registrar, registering officer, and secretary, who shall have the keeping, for the time being, of any register book of births, deaths, or marriages, shall at all reasonable times allow searches to be made of any register book in his keeping, and shall give a copy, certified under his hand, of any entry or entries in the same, on payment of the fee hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, for every search extending over a period not more than one year, the sum of 1s., and 6d. ”

“ What evidence exists of the practice of preaching by the hour-glass, thus treated as improbable, if not ridiculous, by the learned writer just quoted? If the early Fathers of the church timed their sermons by any instrument of the kind, we should expect their writings to contain internal evidence of the fact, just as frequent allusion is made by Demosthenes and other ancient orators to the klepshydra or water-clock, by which the time allotted to each speaker was measured. ”

“ Large bodies of men were levied in Scotland during the latter half of the sixteenth century, for the service of Sweden, and employed in the Polish wars. Can these have turned merchants, or induced others to follow them? In 1573, Charles de Mornay brought 5000 Scots to Sweden. In 1576, whilst they were serving in Livonia, a quarrel broke out between them and a body of Germans also in the Swedish pay, and 1500 Scots were cut down. ”

“ Whereas we the humble petitioners are at present in a very melancholy disposition of mind, considering how all the bachelors are blindly captivated by widows, and our more youthful charms thereby neglected: the consequence of this our request is, that your Excellency will for the future order that no widow shall presume to marry any young man till the maids are provided for; or else to pay each of them a fine for satisfaction, for invading our liberties; and likewise a fine to be laid on all such bachelors as shall be married to widows. ”

“ The answer given is taken from Wheatly's Rational Illustration, &c., and is in substance this:—The ring anciently was a seal, and the delivery of this seal was a sign of confidence; and as a ceremony in marriage, its signification is, that the wife is admitted to the husband's counsels. From this argument, and the supposed proofs of it, I beg to dissent; and I conceive that Wheatly has not thrown any light upon the origin of this beautiful ceremony. ”

“ In 1681 some poor crazy people at Edinburgh called themselves the Sweet Singers of Israel. Among other things, they renounced the limiting the Lord's mind by glasses. This is no doubt in allusion to the hour-glass, which Mr. Water, the editor of the fourth series of Southey's Common-Place Book, informs us is still to be found, or at least its iron frame, in many churches, adding that the custom of preaching by the hour-glass commenced about the end of the sixteenth century. ”

“ We smile at the superstition which thus stamps these several periods as days of ill omen, especially when we reflect that farther inquiry would probably place every other day of the week under a like ban, and thus greatly impede the business of life—Friday, for instance, which, since our Lord's crucifixion on that day, we are strongly disinclined to make the starting-point of any new enterprise. ”

“ Sir Richard Newton was twice married: 1. to a daughter of Newton, of Crossland; and 2. to Emmett, daughter of John Harvey, of London, according to a MS. in the British Museum; but, according to Somersetshire and Gloucestershire Visitations, to Emma, daughter of Sir Thomas Perrott, of Islington. He had issue by both marriages, and from the second descended Sir John Newton, who was created a baronet 12 Car. II., and died in 1661. The baronetcy was limited in remainder, at its creation, to John Newton, of Hather, in Lincolnshire, and he became the second baronet. ”

“ Charles II.—Being very desirous to know where well authenticated pictures of officers in the regimentals of the Foot Guards during the reign of Charles II. may be seen, or are, I shall be greatly obliged to any reader of "N & Q." who will supply the information. I make no doubt there are, in many of the private collections of this country, several portraits of officers so dressed, which have descended as heir-looms in families. ”

“ Sir A. Alison quotes, in the same note, as from Thucydides (l. iii. c. 39.) , the following:
"In the contests of the Greek commonwealth, those who were esteemed the most depraved, and had the least foresight, invariably prevailed; for being conscious of this weakness, and dreading to be overreached by those of greater penetration, they went to work hastily with the sword and poniard, and thereby got the better of their antagonists, who where occupied with more refined schemes."
This paragraph is certainly not in the place mentioned; nor can I find it after a diligent search through Thucydides. ”

“ The subject is one of great interest to the scholar; and the manner in which Mr. Finlay has traced the progress of the eastern Roman empire through an eventful period of three centuries and a half, and while doing so enriched his pages with constant reference to the original historians, has certainly enabled him to accomplish the object which he has avowedly had in view, namely, that of making his work serve not only as a popular history, but also as an index for scholars who may be more familiar with classic literature than with the Byzantine writers. ”

“ Her choice collection of books in oriental learning were "by her only surviving brother, the then Lord North and Grey, given to the parochial library at Rougham, in Norfolk, founded by the Hon. Roger North, Esq., for the use of the minister of that parish, and, under certain regulations and restrictions, of the neighbouring clergy also, for ever. Amongst these there is, in particular, one very neat pocket Hebrew Bible in 12mo., without points, with silver clasps to it, and bound in blue Turkey leather, in a case of the same materials, which she constantly carried to church with her.... ”

“ In times of yore, ere the natives were acquainted with the arts of husbandry, the Shaitán, or Devil, appeared amongst them, and, winning their confidence, recommended them to sow their lands. They consented, it being farther agreed that the Devil was to be a sherík, or partner, with them. The lands were accordingly sown with turnips, carrots, beet, onions, and such vegetables whose value consists in the roots. When the crops were mature the Shaitán appeared, and generously asked the assembled agriculturists if they would receive for their share what was above ground or what was below. ”

“ The great disadvantage it is to us maids, is, that the widows, by their forward carriages, do snap up the young men; and have the vanity to think their merits beyond ours, which is a great imposition upon us who ought to have the preference. ”

“ Turner exhibits much learning and research, and he has consequently laid before the reader much interesting information. It is a book that was wanted, and that affords us some relief from the mass of works on Ecclesiastical Architecture with which of late years we have been deluged.
"The work is well illustrated throughout with wood-engravings of the more interesting remains, and will prove a valuable addition to the antiquary's library."—Literary Gazette. ”

“ In most stereoscopic pictures, the distances are too wide. For a portrait, two inches and half to three inches, at nine or twelve feet distant, is enough; and for landscapes much less is required than is generally given, for no very great accuracy is necessary. Three feet, at three hundred yards, is quite enough; and four to six feet, at a mile, will do very well. Let experiment determine: for every photographer must learn his profession or amusement; there is no royal road to be depended on. ”

“ This I remarked to the custode, an intelligent old man, who informed {596} me that the connexion said to exist between the heart and the third finger refers to that finger of the right hand, and not, as we suppose, to the third finger of the left hand. He added, that the English are the only nation who place the ring on the left hand. ”

“ But a small aperture, a quarter of an inch diameter, may be considered a good practical size for a lens of three and a quarter inches, depending on light and time: the smaller the aperture, the longer the time; and no rules can be given by any one who does not know the size and quality of the lenses employed. Every one can make a few trials for himself, and find it out ”

“ The latter word strictly means Indian-man, and cannot be applied to a white. Mic-mac is the name of their tribe, and, they insist upon it, always has been. Again, Kanata is said to be an Iroquois word, and, consequently, not likely to have been in use amongst a tribe of the Lenape family, which the Mic-macs are. It does not appear that we have any authority for supposing the country was ever called Canada by the Indians themselves. ”

“ Of these I would only at present mention Salmon's Hertfordshire illustrated by Baskerville, and Lysons's Environs, in the King's Library. A long list of such valuable works might be furnished from the Museum catalogues.
One of the most laborious collectors of curious prints of every kind was John Bagford, whose voluminous collections are amongst the Harleian MSS. in many folio volumes, in which will be found illustrations of topography to be met with nowhere else.
E. G. Ballard.
Longevity (Vol. vii., pp. 358. 504.) .—Our friend A. J. is certainly not one of the "remnant of true believers." ”

“ The popular idea that a man may legally dispose of his wife, by exposing her for sale in a public market, may not improbably have arisen from the correlation of the terms buying and selling. Your correspondent V. T. Sternberg need not be reminded how almost universal was the custom among ancient nations of purchasing wives ”

“ We cordially join in the wish expressed by our correspondent, that the Vicar of Shoreditch will before long favour us with the publication of the manuscript life of this amiable prelate, written, we believe, by his chaplain. It appears to us doubtful whether the bishop ever published any of his sermons, from what he states in a letter given in the Appendix to The Life of John Kettlewell. "I have often," he says, "been in the pulpit, in season and out of season, and also bold and honest enough there, God be praised ”

“ Among which they brought in the comparison of Abraham and Lot, whose families joining, they grew to difference, and to those words, 'Vade tu ad dextram, et ego ad sinistram.' It was answered, That speech brought the captivity of the one; they having disjoined their strength. ”

“ On referring to Lodge's Illustrations, I find the Lord John Grey one of those noblemen appointed to attend Queen Elizabeth on her entrée from Hatfield to London on her accession, so that his daughter may well have been one of her maids of honour ”

“ In the debates about a union with Scotland in 1606, the "multiplicities of the Scots in Polonia" formed one of the arguments of the opposing party, who thought that England was likely to be overrun in a similar fashion. According to Wilson (Hist. of James I., p. 34.) , the naturalisation of the Scots—
"Was opposed by divers strong and modest arguments. ”