Various

“ This, in the sense in which it is true, is saying no more than that the educated man is better than the savage; but, in the apologetic sense intended, it is equivalent to affirming that the greatest thief is the most respectable man. Confident in this morality, he assumes a previous play to Shakspeare's; but it appears to me that he relies too much upon the "cadence" of the lines: otherwise I could not account for his selecting as an "autograph" a scene that, to my mind, bears "unmistakeable traits" of Fletcher's hand, and that, by whomsoever written, is about the weakest in the whole play. ”

“ It is not easy to say what the members of that Church [the Church of Rome] are required to believe now; it is impossible for men to foresee what they may be called upon to admit as an article of faith next year, or in any future year: for instance, till of late it was open to a Roman Catholic to believe or not, as he might see reason, the fanciful notion of the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin; but the present Bishop of Rome has seen fit to make it an article of their faith ”

“ The position of the crozier and the cross on ancient sepulchres of the clergy record and reveal this fact. The doctrine suggested by such a burial was, that these mighty men which were of old would be honoured with a first resurrection, and as their Master came on from the east, they were to arise and to follow the Lamb as He went; insomuch that they, with Him, would advance to the Judgement of the general multitudes,—the ancients and the saints which were worthy to judge and reign. ”

“ Though it is very difficult to decide whether short pieces be genuine or spurious, yet I cannot restrain myself from expressing my suspicion that neither the prologue nor epilogue to this play is the work of Shakspeare. ”

“ In returning to the question of the authorship of Henry VIII., I am anxious to remove a misconception under which MR. SPEDDING appears to labour relative to the purport of a remark I made in my last communication to you (Vol. ii., p. 198.) on this subject. As we appear to be perfectly agreed as to the reasons for assigning a considerable portion of this play to Fletcher, and as upon this basis we have each worked out a result that so exactly coincides with the other, I conclude that MR. SPEDDING, as well as myself, has rested his theory solely on positive grounds ”

“ Notaries Public (Vol. ii., p. 393.) .—Why does your correspondent MANLEIUS think this form of expression "putting the cart before the horse?" Public notary (though that phrase is sometimes erroneously used) is not so exact as "notary public;" for a notary is not, as the first form would imply, a public officer appointed by the public to perform public services, but an individual agent through whose ministry private acts or instruments become publici juris. ”

“ Crozier is generally (I should formerly have said universally) understood to mean the staff with a crook, the so well-known "ensign of bishops."
In the instances mentioned by MR. WALCOT, croziers are repeatedly spoken of as having been borne at the funerals of bishops, while the crosses borne before Wolsey are called crosses, and not croziers. ”

“ In the Description of the Ancient Monuments, Rites, and Customs of the Abbey Church of Durham, as they existed at the dissolution, which was written in 1593, and was published by Davies in 1672, and subsequently by the Surtees Society, we find it described as
"A most faire roode or picture of our Saviour, in silver, called the Black Roode of Scotland, brought out of Holy Rood House, by King David Bruce ... ”

“ And is the following a correct list of English Cardinals since Wolsey, who died in 1530?
Both the latter were born abroad, the former at Naples, the latter at Seville; but they were born of British subjects, and were brought to England at an early age to be educated. The Cardinal of York was born in Rome; but being of the royal family of England, was always styled the Cardinal of England. ”

“ In Holland the Virgin Mary was called Moeder Maagd,—a phrase which may possibly have crossed over to the East Anglian coast, and occasioned the subsequent confusion.
B.H.K.
P.S. Do the words modde, moddeken, quoted by Skinner, exist? and, if so, are they Dutch or Flemish? I have no means of verifying them at hand.
[On referring to Kilian's Dictionarium Teutonico-Latin-Gallicum (ed. 1642) , we find, "MODDE, MODDEKEN, Pupa, Poupée."]
Cheshire Cat (Vol. ii., p. 377.) .—A correspondent, T.E.L.P.B.T., asks the explanations of the phrase, "grinning like a Cheshire cat." ”

“ And in a subsequent chapter (p. 21. of Surtees Soc. volume) we have an account of the cross miraculously received by David I. (whom the writer confounds with the King David Bruce captured at the battle of Durham, notwithstanding that his Auntient Memorial professes to be "collected forthe of the best antiquaries") , and in honour of which he founded Holy Rood Abbey in 1128 from which account it clearly appears that this cross was distinct from the Black Rood of Scotland. ”

“ Henry VIII., a sort of historical masque, or show-play."
"It (the historical drama) must likewise be poetical; that only, I mean, must be taken which is the permanent in our nature, which is common, and therefore deeply interesting to all ages."—Lit. Rem., vol. ii. p.160.
What is said in this last extract might be applied (as Coleridge, I feel no doubt, had he gone one step farther into the subject, would have applied it) to the Shakspearian drama generally; and tried by this test Henry VIII. must certainly be found wanting. ”

“ Well, I get mee a wife; with her a little money; when we are married, seeke a house we must; no other occupation have I but to be an ale-draper." (P. 37. of reprint.)
Again, in the same tract, the author speaks of "two milch maydens that had set up a shoppe of "ale-drapery."
In the Discoverie of the Knights of the Poste, 1597, is another notice of the same occupation:
"So that now hee hath left brokery, and is become a draper. ”

“ Croziers and Pastoral Staves (Vol. ii., pp. 248, 313.) .—The opinion expressed by the REV. MR. WALCOT (in your No. 50.) , that by the word crozier is to be understood the crossed staff belonging only to archbishops and legates, while the staff with a crook at its end is to be called the pastoral staff, cannot, I think, be considered satisfactory, for the following, among other reasons. ”

“ I consider this case, then, as one of joint authorship; in point of time not much later than the Two Noble Kinsmen, and in other respects similar to that play. If the conclusions of the article in the Westminster Review, to which MR. SPEDDING alludes, be accepted, the writer of the introductory notice to Henry VIII. in the Illustrated Shakspeare, published by Tyas, will recognise the "reverent disciple" whom he hints at, but does not name. In short, I think that {402} Fletcher was the pupil of Shakspeare ”

“ Touchstone's Dial.—Mr. Knight, in a note on As You Like It, gives us the description of a dial presented to him by a friend who had picked it "out of a deal of old iron," and which he supposes to be such a one as the "fool i' the forest" drew from his poke, and looked on with lacklustre eye. It is very probable that this species of chronometer is still in common use in the sister kingdom ”

“ His lordship entertained her at Gorhambury in one of her progresses; and I would ask if it be possible that Twickenham may have been mistaken for his other seat of Gorhambury? It is well known Queen Elizabeth passed much of the latter part of her life at Richmond, and ended her days there; and in Mr. Nares' Memoirs of Lord Burghley there is an account of her visit to Barn-Elms; and there is also a curious description of her visit to Kew (in that neighbourhood) in the Sydney Papers, published by Arthur Collins, in two vols. folio, vol. i. p. ”

“ It consists of twenty-four pages, small 8vo., and, in order that the poem should not occupy too much space, one of the pages (p. 22.) is in a smaller type, and in double columns. At the end is the following singular
"ADVERTISEMENT.
"To prevent the publicks being impos'd on, this is to give notice that the book lately published in 4to. is very imperfect and uncorrect, in so much that above thirty lines are omitted in several places, and many gross errors committed, which pervert the sense." ”

“ This noble collection has lately (1784) been mutilated by tearing out such single plays as were duplicates to others in the Sloane Library. The folio editions of Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Jonson, have likewise been taken from it for the same reason. ”

“ London Spa (from which Spa Fields derives its name) dates as far back as 1206. In the eighteenth century, it was a celebrated place of amusement. There is a curious view of "London Spaw" in a rare pamphlet entitled May-Day, or, The Original of Garlands. Printed for J. Roberts, 1720, 8vo.
23. Spring Gardens.—Cox's Museum is described in the printed catalogue of 1774, as being in "Spring Gardens." In the same year a small volume was published containing A Collection of various Extracts in Prose and Verse relative to Cox's Museum. ”

“ Francis V., Duke of Modena. 2. The wife of Henri, Comte de Chambord. 3. Ferdinand. 4. Marie, wife of Don Juan, brother of the present de jure King of Spain, Carlos VI.
J.K.
Nicholas Breton's Fantasticks (Vol. ii., p. 375.) .—In reply to the second Bibliographical Query of J. MT., Edinburgh, respecting Nicholas Breton's Fantasticks, I beg to inform him that my copy is perfect, and contains twenty-two leaves. The title is Fantasticks: seruing for a perpetuall Prognostication, with the subjects of the twenty-four Descants, as they are called, in prose, contained in the volume. 4to. bl. lett. ”

“ Partington (Vol. ii., p. 377.) .—IGNORANS no doubt refers to the oft-repeated allusion to "Dame Partington and her mop;" and taking it for granted that he does so, I will enlighten him a little on the subject. The "original Mrs. Partington" was a respectable old lady, living, at Sidmouth in Devonshire; her cottage was on the beach, and during an awful storm (that, I think, of Nov. 1824, when some fifty or sixty ships were wrecked at Plymouth) the sea rose to such a height as every now and then to invade the old lady's place of domicile: in fact, almost every wave dashed in at the door. Mrs. ”