Various

“ MABILLON'S CHARGE AGAINST THE SPANISH CLERGY.—CAMPANELLA AND ADAMI.—WILKES MSS.
It may seem a little too late to notice a criticism nearly two years old; but, though I had casually looked at "NOTES AND QUERIES," it is but lately that I have, with very great pleasure, read through the volumes which have appeared. I was therefore ignorant of some remarks relating to myself, which from time to time have been made. Greatly as I am open to the charge of too frequent inaccuracy in what I have published, I can defend myself from some strictures of your correspondents. ”

“ The constitution of the English Convocation may be said to be finally established in the reign of Edward I., and it has so continued to the present day; except that in 1665 the clergy in Convocation gave up the privilege of self-taxation, and received in return that of voting for the House of Commons, losing thereby one distinctive sign of their being "an Estate of the Realm." ”

“ The author of Job, who appears to have had a much more enlarged knowledge of art and science than Moses, speaks of the cutting and painting (for so the Arabic and Hebrew words should be rendered, and not printing) on a roll, i.e. with the style and brush; also of the cutting (felling) with a chisel (in Arabic, a digger) on lead, or on a rock. ”

“ Eleven years after, we find Edward summoning the whole body of the bishops and clergy to Westminster on St. Matthew's day, 1294. His writ orders "The dean and archdeacon to appear in their proper persons, the chapter by one, and the clergy of the diocese by two procurators." The clergy objected to this writ as uncanonical, and claimed to be convoked only by their Metropolitans; as tending to abolish their provincial synods convened by regular ecclesiastical authority, and to establish in their place a parliamentary chamber under secular authority. ”

“ CANON. EBOR. asserts that these Three Estates (the word "estates" being used of course in its second intention, as meaning the representatives, and not the orders en masse) are "the Lords Spiritual," "the Lords Temporal," and "the Commons," representing severally the clergy, the nobility, and the commonality. As "the Lords Spiritual" are always placed before "the Lords Temporal," he is obliged to rank the clergy before the nobility in spite of the order of precedency observed in the Collect. This seems to show that the clergy are not represented by the bishops. ”

“ This, so far from being inadequate, is greatly in excess of the alleged apparent motion in the plane of a pendulum's vibration.
In the remarks of another correspondent, E. H. Y. (Vol. iv., p. 177.) , there is but one point that seems to require observation from me; it is his assertion that "there is no force by which a body unconnected with the earth would have any tendency to rotate with it!" Is then the rotation of forty miles of atmosphere, "and all that it inherit," due to friction alone? And even so, can any object, immersed in that atmosphere, be said to be "unconnected with the earth"? ”

“ I would set forth my petition for relief from your persecutions on a roll, on lead, or on a rock, as a constant memorial in testimony of my sufferings and your hate; as I know that my Goel (Redeemer or Avenger) lives, and will at length ascend from the dust (sand or soil) . (In his approach he raises a cloud of dust.) Then arise and destroy this (memorial) , for, living, I shall get a judgment on my case, being personally present and not by representative, although I may be hardly able to attend from mental anxiety. ”

“ And Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi (Jehovah is my banner) . The reason he assigned for the name was that a hand (power) opposed to the throne of Jah was (the cause of) Jehovah's perpetual warfare against Amalek." This is the sense of the Hebrew as it stands, in the current language of our day, and not a copy of the words merely,—an error, it is conceived, into which most of the translators, from the Seventy downwards, have often fallen. ”

“ The extent of the advance or decline of any science in general estimation can always be accurately computed by means of a comparative view of the prices demanded at different periods for the works which treat of it; and it is unquestionable, that books on bibliography, which once were highly rated, have latterly become (at least to those who have them already) provokingly cheap. In fact, unless some measures be adopted to revive a taste for this important branch of learning, the next generation will be involved in decrepitude and darkness with respect to typographical antiquities. ”

“ Sir Matthew Hale divides the king's extraordinary councils into two kinds: 1. Secular or temporal councils; 2. Ecclesiastical or spiritual: the king's extraordinary secular councils being the Houses of the Peers and of the Commons; and the extraordinary ecclesiastical, the Upper and Lower Houses of Convocation.
Some illustration of this may be perhaps found in the following extract from an appendix to A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Lower House of Convocation, published by T. Bennet, London, 1701, in which Prelates are Spiritual Lords, whether Bishops or Abbots ”

“ In order to surmount the difficulty, King John (A.D. 1206) summoned all the priors and abbots to parliament, and obtained from them a vote of a thirteenth: and then wrote to the archdeacons to get the same from the clergy generally. Edward I. rendered this scheme for the taxation of the clergy complete. He applied to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to assemble, by their canonical authority, the convocations of each province; and these Metropolitans, moved by the King's writ (the same practice is settled now) , summoned these bishops and clergy. ”

“ Cosmus, Montfaucon, Neitzchitz, Monconys, Koischa, and others, mention them, and they have been seen by a caravan of persons familiar with Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian, Turkish, English, Illyrian, German, and Bohemian, to all of whom they were equally inexplicable. Since the discovery of Daguerre, we are placed in a position to obtain a real fac-simile of the whole of these inscriptions, at a small expense of time or money. ”

“ No one, in my opinion, should endeavour to satisfy querists about a design more than the original proposer of such design, and I am the rather induced to make a few remarks, the subject having been passed over with a silence rendered remarkable by the importance of my proposal. Two correspondents, however, having come forward with additional suggestions and remarks, I feel myself possessed of a pretext to touch upon the subject once more. ”

“ They contain much honourable sentiment, and proofs of a warm generous heart.
The perusal of these curious letters, and their allusions to passing incidents, have excited a desire to become better acquainted with the details of Wolfe's personal history; but in this I experience considerable difficulty, from the meagreness with which his biographers appear to have treated the subject. I shall accordingly feel much obliged by any of your military, or other correspondents, favouring me with references to the fullest and best account of this distinguished officer. ”

“ THE PRIMÆVAL ANTIQUITIES OF DENMARK. By J. J. A. WORSAAE, Member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Copenhagen. Translated and applied to the illustration of similar Remains in England, by WILLIAM J. THOMS, F.S.A., Secretary of the Camden Society. With numerous Woodcuts. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
"The best antiquarian handbook we have ever met with—so clear is its arrangement, and so well and so plainly is each subject illustrated by well-executed engravings.... It is the joint production of two men who have already distinguished themselves as authors and antiquarians."—Morning Herald. ”

“ The passages, which contain the expressions referred to in the Service, are as under:—
"We yield Thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for the wonderful and mighty deliverance of our gracious Sovereign King James the First, the Queen, the Prince, and all the royal branches, with the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons of England, then assembled in Parliament, by popish treachery appointed as sheep to the slaughter, in a most barbarous and savage manner, beyond the examples of former ages."—The First Collect at Morning Prayer. ”

“ Mr. Stothard represented to the English government of that day the propriety of rescuing such venerable monuments from further injury, and of bringing them to Westminster Abbey; and an application appears to have been made, through some official channel, to the French authorities; but it was not successful, though it had the effect, as it is said, of inducing the latter to direct measures to be taken for the better preservation of these effigies. ”

“ The first of these is contained in a letter signed CANTAB (Vol. i., p. 51.) , and relates to a passage in my History of the Middle Ages, where I have said, on the authority of Mabillon, "Not one priest in a thousand in Spain, about the age of Charlemagne, could address a common letter of salutation to another." CANTAB produces the passage in Mabillon, which contains exactly what I have said; but assigns as a reason for it, that the Christians, that is, the clergy, had wholly devoted themselves to the study of Arabic and Hebrew books. ”

“ Charles Stothard discovered in a cellar (as it is described) of one of the buildings adjoining the ruined abbey at Fontevraud, which was then used as a prison, the monumental effigies of King Henry II., Eleanor of Aquitaine his queen, King Richard I., and Queen Isabella of Angoulême. It had been feared that these monuments shared the destruction of the royal tombs from which they were torn, in the fearful outrages of the Revolution ”

“ ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS—MOCATTEB MOUNTAINS.
The principle of decyphering propounded for the Nineveh inscriptions (Vol. iv., p. 220.) is available equally, and with better prospect of speedy solution, in the case of those of Mocatteb. A very interesting narrative is given of these in Laborde's Mount Sinai and Petra (p. 248) . The site of them is seventy miles direct distance south-east from Suez, and they extend on the rock three miles and more in length, at a height of ten or twelve feet, and in the line of route to Sinai, which is distant fifty miles south-east from Mocatteb. ”

“ It is not generally known, I think, that they all re-assemble for the formal passing of every act: and with respect to the authority of all three being recited in the preamble, I beg to point out to CANON. EBOR. the following exceptions:—In the Act of Uniformity, the style of "Lords Spiritual" is omitted throughout, as every one of the bishops voted against it. It has also been ruled by the [280] judges that the King may hold a parliament without any Spiritual lords; and, in fact, the first two parliaments of Charles II. were so holden. ”

“ It is believed that the trading speculation, miscalled a Society, has ended with considerable loss to both undertakers and subscribers; and is not likely to publish any more of the works which figured in its rhodomontade prospectus. Certainly it is very desirable that there should be a new, careful, and critical edition of Walker; and any assistance which can be rendered by "NOTES AND QUERIES" will be at the service of anybody who will undertake such a work. ”

“ I am very much obliged to MR. CROSSLEY for his information and obliging offer; but until he is able to find the publication of the piece in question by Curll, and with the date of 1716, he will forgive my doubting whether his memory has not failed him as to the date, as the fact is directly at variance with Pope's own statement to Spence. MR. CROSSLEY is certainly mistaken in thinking that "The two quarto volumes are the only collection of Pope's works that can be called his own, and that Dodsley's edition of 1738 was a mere bookseller's collection." ”

“ The earliest royal writ, summoning a provincial synod, is dated Nov. 24, 1282, and calling them to meet at Northampton: "Venire ... coram nobis apud Northampton."
This Convocation assembled at Northampton; and we find another mandate from the Archbishop to the dean of the province, directing him to summon the bishops and clergy to a Convocation for the 9th of May, 1283, at the New Temple (now the Inner and Middle Temples) , pursuant to a resolution of the Convocation of Northampton. At this Convocation, the proctors of the clergy refused to pay the tenth. ”

“ The funeral party having arranged themselves at the entrance, the ceremony commenced as follows. The parish clerk or verger walked first, having a lemon in one hand and a bunch of evergreen in the other; he was followed by six choristers or singing boys, then six men as bearers carrying the coffin, and after them the mourners and other attendants. As soon as the cavalcade moved off, the clerk or verger gave out a strophe of some psalm or hymn, which he and the boys chanted while moving round the churchyard ”

“ Mr. Worsaae's book is in all ways a valuable addition to our literature.... Mr. Thoms has executed the translation in flowing and idiomatic English, and has appended many curious and interesting notes and observations of his own."—Guardian.
"The work, which we desire to commend to the attention of our readers, is signally interesting to the British antiquary. Highly interesting and important work."—Archæological Journal.
See also the Gentleman's Magazine for February 1850. ”

“ So much for the word Tory, which from these premises is evidently of Irish origin. We now come to consider the derivation of the term Whig, concerning which there is not quite such a diversity of opinion. The first authority we will quote shall be Burnet, who says:
"The south-west counties of Scotland have seldom corn enough to serve them round the year; and the northern parts producing more than they need, those in the west come in the summer to buy at Leith the stores that came from the north ”

“ H. C. K. asks me to "reduce to paper" the assertion of the difference of velocity between two parallels of latitude ten feet apart. He is not surely so unphilosophical as to imagine that a theory, to be true, must necessarily be palpable to the senses. If the element of increase exist at all, however minute and imperceptible it may be in a single oscillation, repetition of effect must eventually render it observable. ”