Various

“ Le paon est gentil et miste, bien que par la parfaite beauté de sa houppe, par la rareté et noblesse de sa teste, par la gentilesse et netteté de son cou, par l'ornement de ses pennes et par la majesté de tout le reste de son corps, il ravit tous ceux qui le contemplent attentivement ”

“ In short, he is the mouthpiece of "the Baronets' Committee for Privileges." And this is the law which he lays down:—
"The persons now privileged to wear the ancient golden collar of SS. are the equites aurati, or knights (chevaliers) in the British monarchy, a body which includes all the hereditary order of baronets in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with such of their eldest sons, being of age, as choose to claim inauguration as knights." ”

“ I believe it is generally admitted that knights were equites aurati because they wore golden or gilt spurs; certainly it was not because they wore golden collars, as ARMIGER seems to wish us to believe; and the best proof that the Collar of Esses was not the badge of a knight, as such, at the time when such collars were most worn, in the fifteenth century, is this—that the monumental effigies and sepulchral brasses of many knights at that time are still extant which have no Collar of Esses ”

“ Nor is this a solitary instance of such a legend having such an origin. In the beautiful parish church of Aston, in Warwickshire, are many memorials of the Baronet family of Holt, who owned the adjoining domain and hall, the latter of which still remains, a magnificent specimen of Elizabethan architecture. Either in one of the compartments of a painted window of the church, or upon a monumental marble to one of the Holts, is the Ulster badge, as showing the rank of the deceased, and painted red. ”

“ Hence it grew a custom, and is now as old as since the days of Henry VII."
Were these twin worthies, Obadiah Bull the lawyer, and Joe Dun the bailiff, men of straw for the nonce, or veritable flesh and blood? They both flourished, it appears, in the reign of Henry VII.; and to me it is doubtful whether one reign could have produced two worthies capable of cutting so deep a notch in the English tongue. ”

“ His assumption of the title was not under any claim he could have had, real or imaginary, connected with the Rotherfield patent; for he uses the title at the same time with Sir Richard of Rotherfield, whose will is dated 26th July, 1652, and not proved till 5th Oct, 1652, when Sir Gregory was dead; and, what is singular, the will of Sir Richard was proved by his brother, John Norton, by the style of Baronet, to which he could have had no pretension, as Sir Richard died without male issue, and there was no limitation of the patent of 1622 on failure of heirs male of the body of the grantee. ”

“ Sir John Perrot was not governor of Ireland in the reign of Henry VIII., and your correspondent E.N.W. is mistaken in his belief that Sir John was beheaded in the reign of Elizabeth. He was convicted of treason 16th June, 1592, and died in the Tower in September following. In the British Plutarch, 3rd edit., 1791, vol. i. p. 121., is The Life of Sir John Perrot. The authorities given are Cox's History of Ireland ”

“ The question was much disputed between Messrs. Steevens and Malone: the former being for the river, the latter for the vinegar; and he endeavored even to get over the drink up, which stood much in his way. But after all, the challenge to drink vinegar, in such a rant, is so inconsistent, and even ridiculous, that we must decide for the river, whether its name be exactly found or not. To drink up a river, and eat a crocodile with his impenetrable scales, are two things equally impossible. There is no kind of comparison between the others. ”

“ Alarm (Vol. ii., pp. 151. 183.) .—The origin of this word appears to be the Italian cry, all'arme; gridare all'arme is to give the alarm. Hence the French alarme, and from the French is borrowed the English word. Alarum for alarm, is merely a corruption produced by mispronunciation. ”

“ With respect to the practice of sitting while the epistle is read, and of standing while the gospel is read, in the communion service; there is in the rubric a distinct direction that "all the people are to stand up" during the latter, while it is silent as to the former. From the silence of the rubric as to standing during the two lessons of the morning service, and the epistle in the communion service, it seems to have been inferred that the people were to sit. ”

“ Collections of Wills have always been regarded, and very justly so, as among the most valuable materials which exist for illustrating the social condition of the people at the period to which they belong. ”

“ This was, most likely, the person whose monument F.L. saw in Cranbrook Church. The family had been settled there from the time of Edward III., and seem to have been adding continually to their possessions; and at the time mentioned by F.L. as that of their decline, namely, in the reign of Edward VI., they were in reality increasing in wealth and dignities. If the Sir Richard Baker whose monument is referred to by F.L. was the son of the Sir John above mentioned, the circumstances of his life disprove the legend. ”

“ Way and Mr. J. Gough Nicols: we are sure the Camden Society would be under still greater obligations to those gentlemen if they could be persuaded to undertake the production of the series of Lambeth Wills which was to have been edited by the late Mr. Stapleton, with Mr. Way's assistance.
When the proprietors of the Gentleman's Magazine at the commencement of the present year announced their projected improvements in that periodical, we expressed our confidence that they would really and earnestly put forth fresh claims to the favour of the public. Our anticipations have been fully realised. ”

“ From the colour of the badge, a legend of the bloody hand has been created as marvellous as that of the Bloody Baker, so fully detailed by F.L.
ST. JOHNS.
[Will our correspondent favour us by communicating the Aston Legend of the Holt Family to which he refers?]
Langley, Kent, Prophetic Spring at.—The following "note" upon a passage in Warkworth's Chronicle (pp. 23, 24.) may perhaps possess sufficient interest to warrant its insertion in your valuable little publication. ”

“ Sitting during the Lessons.—What is the origin of the congregation remaining seated, while the first and second lessons are read, in the church service? The rubric is silent on the subject; it merely directs that the person who reads them shall stand:—
"He that readeth so standing and turning himself, as he may best be heard of all such as are present." ”

“ The Spider and the Fly.—Can any of your readers, gentle or simple, senile or juvenile, inform me, through the medium of your useful and agreeable periodical, in what collection of nursery rhymes a poem called, I think, "The Spider and Fly," occurs, and if procurable, where? The lines I allude to consisted, to the best of my recollection, of a dialogue between a fly and a spider, and began thus:—
Fly. ”

“ Bishops and their Precedence (Vol. ii., pp. 9. 76.) —The precedence of bishops is regulated by the act of 31 Hen. VIII. c. 10., "for placing of the Lords." Bishops are, in fact, temporal barons, and, as stated in Stephen's Blackstone, vol. iii. pp. 5, 6., sit in the House of Peers in right of succession to certain ancient baronies annexed, or supposed to be annexed, to their episcopal lands; and as they have in addition high spiritual rank, it is but right they should have place before those who, in temporal rank only, are equal to them. ”

“ He lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was supposed to be a natural son of Henry VIII., who might also have been his instructor."
C.H. COOPER
Cambridge, August 31. 1850.
Coins of Constantius II.—The coins of this prince are, from their titles being identical with those of his cousin, very difficult to be distinguished. My only guide is the portrait. Gallus died at twenty-nine; and we may suppose that his coins would present a more youthful portrait than Constantius II. The face of Constantius is long and thin, and is distinguished by the royal diadem. ”

“ The British Apollo: containing two thousand Answers to curious Questions in most Arts and Sciences, serious, comical, and humourous, the fourth edition of which I have now before me, indulges in answering such questions as these: "How old was Adam when Eve was created?—Is it lawful to eat black pudding?—Whether the moon in Ireland is like the moon in England? Where is hell situated? Do cocks lay eggs?" &c. In answer to the question, "Why is gaping catching?" ”

“ De mesme ce Dieu admirable, amoreux des hommes, pour nous ravir d'amour à soy, desploye le lustre de ses plus accomplies beautez, et comme un amant transporté de sa bienaimée se montre pour nous allecher à cetter transformation de nous en luy, de nostre misère en sa gloire."—Ap. ”

“ Gaping or yawning is infectious, because the steams of the blood being ejected out of the mouth, doth infect the ambient air, which being received by the nostrils into another man's mouth, doth irritate the fibres of the hypogastric muscle to open the mouth to discharge by expiration the unfortunate gust of air infected with the steams of blood, as aforesaid. ”

“ In France it is entirely unknown to the numerous commentators on Montaigne's works.
O.D.
Custom of wearing the Breast uncovered in Elizabeth's Reign.—Fynes Moryson, in a well-known passage of his Itinerary, (which I suppose I need not transcribe) , tells us that unmarried females and young married women wore the breasts uncovered in Queen Elizabeth's reign. This is the custom in many parts of the East. Lamartine mentions it in his pretty description of Mademoiselle Malagambe: he adds, "it is the custom of the Arab females." ”

“ IV. is not such a list as B. asked for. 2dly. Where I said "That persons were not honoured with the badge, in the sense that persons are now decorated with stars, crosses, or medals," I am again unrefuted by the statute of 2 Hen. IV., and fully supported by many historical facts. I repeat that the livery collar was not worn as a badge of honour, but as a badge of feudal allegiance. It seems to have been regarded as giving certain weight and authority to the wearer, and, therefore, was only to be worn in the king's presence, or in coming to and from the king's hostel, except by the higher ranks ”

“ His own opinion was, that the publication, during his life would injure his practice as a physician. It would be impossible without the aid of diagrams, and I do not remember sufficient, to explain his mechanical contrivances; but the general principle was, to suspend the man under a kind of flat parachute of extremely thin feather-edge boards, with a power of adjusting the angle at which it was placed, and allowing the man the full use of his arms and legs to work any machinery placed beneath ”

“ Types are constantly to be met with upon monuments, coins, and ancient title-pages, but so mixed with other matters as to render the finding a desired symbol, unless very familiar, a work of great difficulty. ”

“ The passage is curious, not only as showing the superstitious dread with which a simple natural phenomenon was regarded by educated and intelligent men four centuries ago, but also as affording evidence of the accurate observation of a writer, whose labours have shed considerable light upon "one of the darkest periods in our annals." ”

“ Alarm.—It is in favour of the derivation à l'arme that the Italian is allarme; some dictionaries even have dare all'arme, with the apostrophe, for to give alarm. It is against it that the German word Lärm is used precisely as the English alarm. Your correspondent CH. thinks the French derivation suspiciously ingenious: here I must differ ”

“ It is scarcely necessary to point out the great advantages that these weapons, carrying, let us say, 800 yards with perfect accuracy, have over our muskets, of which the range does not exceed 150, and that very uncertain. Another great advantage of the zünd-nadel is, that rifles or light infantry can load with ease without effort when lying flat on the ground. ”

“ My copy is the third edition, published by Tonson, 1722.
A.B.R.
Crozier and Pastoral Staff.—What is the real difference between a crozier and a pastoral staff?
I.Z.P.
Marks of Cadency.—The copious manner in which your correspondent E.K. (Vol. ii., p. 221.) has answered the question as to the "when and why" of the unicorn being introduced as one of the supporters of the royal arms, induces me to think that he will readily and satisfactorily respond to an heraldic inquiry of a somewhat more intricate nature. ”

“ He had devoted many years of his life to the consideration of this subject, and made numerous experiments at great cost, which induced him to believe in the possibility of enabling man to fly by means of artificial wings. ”

“ Etymology seems to be one of the developing sciences, in which we know more, and better, than our forefathers, as our descendants will know more, and better, than we do.
To end with a brace of queries. Are not delicioe, delicatus, more probably from deligere than from delicere? And whence comes the word dainty? I cannot believe in the derivation from dens, "a tooth."
B.H. KENNEDY.
AËROSTATION.
Your correspondent C.B.M. (Vol. ii., p 199.) will find a long article on Aërostation in Rees' Cyclopædia ”

“ This is certainly a drawback, but it is compensated by the immense advantage of being able to pour in a deadly fire when you yourself are out of range, or of continuing this fire so speedily as to destroy half your opponents before they can return a shot with a chance of taking effect. ”

“ MR. E. FOSS, as to the rank of the legal worthies allowed to wear this badge of honour; and next (Vol. ii., p. 194.) an ARMIGER, who, though he rides rather high on the subject, over all the Querists and Replyists, deserves many thanks for his very instructive and scholarlike dissertation.
What the S. signifies has evidently been a puzzle. That a chain is a badge of honour, there can be no doubt ”