Various

“ Lozenge-formed shields have not been always, nor exclusively, used by ladies; for, in a collection of arms from 1094 to 1649 (see Descriptive Catalogue of Impressions from Scottish Seals, by Laing, Edinburgh) are many examples of ladies' arms, but not one in which the shield has any other form than that used at the time by men. In England, however, as early as the fourteenth century, the lozenge was sometimes used by ladies, though perhaps only by widows. ”

“ Difficulty of avoiding Coincident Suggestions on the Text of Shakspeare.—A correspondent in Vol. viii., p. 193., is somewhat unnecessarily severe on Mr. Collier and Mr. Singer, for having overlooked some suggestions in Jackson's work: the enormous number of useless conjectures in that publication rendering it so tedious and unprofitable to consider them attentively, the student is apt to think his time better engaged in investigating other sources of information. ”

“ OTTEWILL'S REGISTERED DOUBLE-BODIED FOLDING CAMERA, is superior to every other form of Camera, for the Photographic Tourist, from its capability of Elongation or Contraction to any Focal Adjustment, its extreme Portability, and its adaptation for taking either Views or Portraits. ”

“ Collier overlooking the few coincident suggestions in Jackson, which are smaller in number than I had anticipated; the real cause for wonder consisting in the ignoring so many conjectures that have been treated of years ago, often at great length, by some of the {266}most distinguished critics this country has produced. Generally speaking, however, there is in these matters such a tendency for reproduction, I should for one hesitate to accuse any critic of intentional unfairness, merely because he puts forth conjectures as new, when they have been previously published ”

“ On the other hand, lozenges have sometimes been used by men: for instance, on a seal of Ferdinand, Infant of Spain, in Vredius, l. c. p. 148.; also on a dollar of Count Maurice of Hanau, in Kohler's Müntzbelustig. 14. See again the arms of the Count of Sickingen, in Siebmacher, Suppl. xi. 2. So much for the use of the lozenge. Most explanations of its origin appear equally far-fetched. ”

“ Will any correspondent of yours furnish me with some notice of Dr. Drake, the author, and also explain the ground of offence upon which his book was condemned? I confess to be unable to discover anything to offend; neither, as it seems, could Mr. Surtees, for he says:
"I quote Drake's Historia Anglo-Scotica, 1703, a book which, for what reason I never could discover, was ordered to be burned by the common hangman."—History of Durham, vol. ”

“ Collier." And who that knows Mr. Singer will doubt the truth of his assertion, that he has not even seen Jackson's book for near a quarter of a century, and that he had not the slightest reason to doubt that the conjecture of behood for behave was his own property? [2]
But there is another gentleman who, although he has never whispered a remonstrance to us upon the subject, has even more grounds of complaint than Mr. Singer, for the treatment which he has received in our columns; we mean our valued friend and contributor Mr. Collier, who we feel has received some injustice in our pages. ”

“ On a tile which I have seen, but cannot just now recollect where: The double-headed eagle, bezantée, without any bordure.
A curious instance of ex-officio arms added to the paternal coat, occurs on the monument of Dr. Samuel Blythe, at the east end of St. Edward's Church, Cambridge. He was Master of Clare Hall, and in this example his paternal arms—Argent, a chevron gules, between three lions rampant sable—occupy the lower part of the shield, being divided at the fess point by something like an inverted chevron, from the arms of Clare Hall, which thus occupy the upper half of the shield. ”

“ Arms of Richard, King of the Romans.—This celebrated man, the second son of King John, Earl of Cornwall and Poictou, was elected King of the Romans at Frankfort on St. Hilary's Day (Jan. 13th) 1256. His earldom of Cornwall was represented by—Argent, a lion rampant gules crowned or; his earldom of Poictou by a bordure sable, bezantée, or rather of peas (poix) in reference to the name Poictou; and as king of the Romans he is said to have borne these arms upon the breast of the German double-headed eagle displayed sable, which represented that dignity. ”

“ One of the friends of the college was on this occasion heard to remark, "the removal to London was going on very smoothly, and it would have been done by this time, if this one trustee had not put his spoke in the wheel:" meaning, that the conscientious scruple of this trustee was the sole impediment to the movement. Is this the customary and proper mode of using the phrase; and, if so, how can putting a spoke to a wheel impede its motion? ”

“ Icon well remarks that we are much in the power of our contributors. Indeed we are more so than even he supposes.
An article on the Notes and Emendations which lately appeared in our columns concluded, in its original form, with an argument against their genuineness, based on the use of a word unknown to Shakspeare and his cotemporaries. This appeared to us somewhat extraordinary, and a reference to Richardson's excellent Dictionary proved that our correspondent was altogether wrong as to his facts. ”

“ Young men hung such tablets on the doors of their sweethearts, or newly-married persons. Also on the death of distinguished persons, lozenge-shaped pieces of black cloth or velvet, with the arms, name, and date of the death of the deceased, were exhibited on the front of the house. And since there is little to be said of women, except on their marriage or death, for this reason has it become customary on all occasions to use for them the lozenge-shaped shield. ”

“ Any reader who will take a quantity of disputed passages in Shakspeare, and happens to be ignorant of what has been suggested by others, will discover that, in most of the cases, if he merely tries his skill on a few simple permutations of the letters, he will in one way or another stumble on the suggested words. ”

“ Ammonio-nitrate of Silver.—The inability of your correspondent Philo-pho. to form the ammonio-nitrate of silver from a solution of nitrate of silver, which has been used to excite albumenized paper, is in all probability owing to the presence of a small quantity of nitrate of ammonia, which has been imparted to the solution by the paper. ”

“ I make these observations on two grounds: first, as one who has many reasons for being anxious for the prosperity of "N. & Q.;" and secondly, because I know it to be the opinion of several of your earliest and warmest friends, that there is a tendency in some of your Shakspeare contributors to indulge in insinuation, imputation of motives, and many other things which ought never to appear in your pages. ”

“ Derivation of the Word "Island" (Vol. viii., p. 209.) .—Your correspondent C. gives me credit for a far greater amount of humour than I can honestly lay claim to. He appears (he must excuse me for saying so) to have scarcely read through my observations on the derivation of the word island, which he criticises so unmercifully; and to have understood very imperfectly what he has read. For instance, he says that my "derivation of island from eye, the visual orb, because each are (sic) surrounded by water, seems like banter," &c. ”

“ Mr. Collier, however, says "it is singular that nobody seems ever to have conjectured that on here might be concealed under An-heires;" and it would have been singular had this been the case, but the suggestion of on here is to be found in Theobald's common edition. Oddly enough, about a year before Mr. Collier's volume appeared, it was again suggested as if it were new.
Let us select a still more palpable instance (Measure for Measure, Act II. Sc. 1.) : "If this law hold in Vienna ten years, I'll rent the fairest house in it after threepence a bay." ”

“ The authority for the Duke of Wellington having used these words at the battle of Waterloo is Capt. Batty, of the Grenadier Guards, in a letter written a few days after the battle, published in Booth's Battle of Waterloo, and illustrated by George Jones, Esq., R.A., who is believed to have superintended the whole publication. I append the extract:—
"Upon the cavalry being repulsed, the Duke himself ordered our second battalion to form line with the third battalion, and, after advancing to the brow of the hill, to lie down and shelter ourselves from the fire. ”

“ It would be strange indeed, when we consider how many men of genius and learning have busied themselves to illustrate his writings, if none of them should have caught any inspiration from his genius. We believe they have done so. We believe Theobald's "babbled o' green fields" to be one of many instances in which, with reference to some one particular passage, the scholiast has proved himself worthy of and excelling his author. Yes, Shakspeare, the greatest of all uninspired writers, was but mortal ”

“ Here are a couple of examples from Shakspeare himself:
"My fortunes every way as fairly ranked—
If not with vantage—as Demetrius."—Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I. Sc. 1.
"To Brutus, to Cassius. Burn all. Some to Decius house, and some to Cascas; some to Ligarius. Away! go!"—Julius Cæsar, Act III. Sc. 3.
All here are genitives, as well as Cascas. If any doubt, Brutus and Cassius, we have just been told, "Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome," so they could not be burned. ”

“ I think we may safely appeal to all critics who occupy themselves much with conjectural criticism, and ask them if Time does not frequently impair the complacency with which they regard their efforts on their first production. ”

“ This gentleman, chiefly on account of his mother's descent, was created a baron of this realm by the title of Lord Wotton of Wotton in Kent, by letters patent bearing date at St. Johnstone's (Perth) in Scotland, August 31, 1650, and in September, 1660, was naturalised by authority of parliament, together with his sisters. He was likewise in 1677 created Earl of Bellomont in Ireland, and, dying without issue, left his estates to his nephew Charles Stanhope, the younger son of his half-brother the Earl of Chesterfield, who took the surname of Wotton. ”

“ Editor, and with a view to the welfare of your paper. I cannot think that you or it will be benefited by converting conversational gossip about Shakspeare difficulties into "a duel in the form of a debate," seasoned with sarcasm, insinuation, and satiric point. This is not the kind of matter one expects to find in "N. & Q." neither do I think your pages should be made a vehicle for "showing up" such of "the herd of menstrual Aristarchi" as chance to differ in opinion from some of your smart and peremptory, but not unfrequently inaccurate and illiberal correspondents. ”

“ The floor is formed of the native rock (hornblende) , and is very uneven. When discovered it was full of earth, and in the process of excavation there was found some wood ashes, fragments of a glass bottle, and an earthenware jar (modern) , some small fragments of bones, and one or two teeth of a ruminant animal, and the upper stone of a querne (hand-corn-mill, mica schist) , together with a small fragment, probably of the lower stone. ”

“ Cure, No. 180:—"Twenty-five years' nervousness, constipation, indigestion, and debility, from which I had suffered great misery, and which no medicine could remove or relieve, have been effectually cured by Du Barry's food in a very short time.—W. R. Reeves, Pool Anthony, Tiverton."
Cure, No. 4,208:—"Eight years' dyspepsia, nervousness, debility, with cramps, spasms, and nausea, for which my servant had consulted the advice of many, have been effectually removed by Du Barry's delicious food in a very short time. ”

“ Nisbet (System of Heraldry, ii. 35.) mentions a lozenge-formed seal of Johanna Beaufort, Queen Dowager of Scotland, attached to a parchment in 1439; while her arms, at an earlier period, were borne on a common shield (Gent. Mag., April, 1851) . In France the use of the lozenge for ladies was very general ”

“ Unable, under these circumstances, to procure any satisfactory solution of the poet's meaning, the translator applied to Göthe himself, and received from him the candid reply which we think it far from improbable that Shakspeare himself might give with reference to many passages in his own writings,—"That {263}he was very sorry he could not assist him, but he really did not know exactly what he meant when he wrote it." We doubt not some of our contributors could supply us with many similar avowals. ”

“ After these specimens, there will be little difficulty, I think, in determining that Granger was mistaken in describing the preface to the Memoirs as that which was suppressed, and that it was the publisher's "address to the reader" of the Discourse which incurred that sentence. Dr. Thomas Smith appears to have edited both works; and in the same address informs us of other works of Warwick in
"Divinity, philosophy, history, especially that of England, practical devotion, and the like. ”