Various

“ Antonio de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalato, (was) a man well versed in the Sacred Writings, and the records of antiquity; who, having left Italy (when he could no longer remain in it, either with quiet or safety) by the advice of his intimate friend, Paulus Venetus, took sanctuary under the protection of King James of blessed memory, in the bosom of the Church of England, which he did faithfully follow in all points and articles of religion. ”

“ At all events, the story is contradicted by those most competent to speak to its truth, by the archbishop and by the king; and therefore, in a work so deservedly popular as Lord Campbell's, one cannot but regret that any currency should be given to a calumny so injurious to a prelate whose character is as deserving [291] of our esteem, as his learning is of our veneration. ”

“ In a remote district of Ireland a poor man, whose occupation at certain seasons of the year was to pluck feathers from live geese for beds, arrived one night at a lonely farmhouse, where he expected to glean a good stock of these "live feathers," and he arose early next morning to look after the flock. The geese had crossed the river which flowed in front of the house, and were sitting comfortably in the sunshine on the opposite bank. ”

“ Angelo, where, by being barbarously used, and almost starved, he soon got a mortal sickness, and died in a few days, though not without suspicion of being poisoned. The day following, his corpse was by the sentence of the Inquisition tied to an infamous stake, and there burnt to ashes, for no other reason but that he refused to make abjuration of the religion of the Church of England, and subscribe some of the lately-made decrees of Trent, which were pressed upon him as canons of the Catholic faith. ”

“ Can any of your correspondents or readers give any authentic information as to the fact having been witnessed by any one, of the old story of the fox relieving itself of fleas by taking a feather in its mouth, and gradually, though slowly enough, retrograding itself into the water, first by legs and tail, then body, shoulders, and head to the nose, and thus compelling the fleas, to escape from the drowning element, to pass over the nose on to the bridge of the feather, which is then committed to the stream. ”

“ The metamorphoses of Ovid, literally translated into English Prose, forms the new volume of Bohn's Classical Library, and the Translator, Mr. Riley, has endeavoured to render the work more inviting to the scholar, and more intelligible to those who are unversed in classical literature, by numerous explanatory notes calculated to throw considerable light upon the origin and meaning of some of the traditions of heathen mythology. ”

“ The Preface states that
"There having been lately set up in Manchester a Mathematical Society, which was encouraged by many (and some Honorable) subscribers, and the composing of the Lectures being undertaken by the late ingenious Mathematician Mr. John Jackson, and he having discharged himself well becoming his parts and character in the reading of several extraordinary ones in Geometry, we thought it would be great pity, as well as ingratitude, to let such worthy performances expire with him." ”

“ If ever there was a fitting time for instituting an ORDER OF CIVIL MERIT, it is now; if ever there were men who deserved to wear such an order, they who planned, and they who carried out the GREAT EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS, they are the men. ”

“ Some naturalists speak of the hollowness of the bones of birds as giving them buoyancy, because they are filled with air. It strikes me that this reason is inconclusive, for I should suppose that in the atmosphere, hollow bones, quite empty, would be more buoyant than if filled with air. Perhaps one of your correspondents will kindly enlighten my ignorance, and explain whether the air with which the bones are filled is not used by the bird in respiration in the more rarefied altitudes, and the place supplied by a more gaseous expiration of less specific gravity than the rarefied atmosphere? ”

“ We must, however, take notice of six additional volumes of the National Illustrated Library, which we have received. Of three of these we may well speak briefly, as they form the Second, Third, and Fourth Volumes of Boswell's Life of Johnson, to which we formerly directed the attention of our readers. The Book of English Songs from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century is a very well selected volume. The Editor's endeavour to present a fair view of this branch of our National Literature has been attended with success, and the book [303] will, we have no doubt, be a popular one. ”

“ It is to be presumed that the work will be strictly limited [290] to subscribers, and that no copies will be printed for sale, the object being, to do honour to Caxton, and produce a lasting Memorial of that industrious printer. The form of the work is of importance, with reference to the cost of its production: and if a new life of the first English printer should perchance be found necessary, "The Caxton Coffer" will require to be considerably replenished before the literary undertaking can be carried into effect. ”

“ He designs to introduce a class of works at once cheap, valuable, and instructive, not merely to be read on the Railway, and thrown aside at the end of the journey, but such as shall deserve a permanent place on the shelves of the Library. ”

“ And this the king knows well enough, and can clear me if he pleases.' The hope of the Primate was fulfilled, for, when a report reached Oxford that the Primate was dead, the king expressed in very strong terms, to Colonel William Legg and Mr. Kirk, who were then in waiting, his regret at the event, speaking in high terms of his piety and learning. ”

“ The interpolation marked by a parenthesis is Whiston's, who proceeds:— [299]
"The Church of England allows their very bishops to be twice—nay thrice—nay even four times married without any impediment to their episcopal functions, whereas the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople would not admit the Emperor Leo, a layman, into the church, because he had married a fourth wife."
Whiston, though a "fanciful man," as Burnet calls him, was well read in Christian antiquity, and his opinion is therefore of some weight. Wall's authority no one would willingly undervalue. ”

“ By King James's bounty and care he was safely conveyed through Germany into England, and lodged in Lambeth Palace: Abbot thinking fit to retire to Croydon, till either Bishop Andrewes or Bishop Overall had conferred with him. The king sent Bishop Overall to him, who took in his company his secretary, and commanded him to be near him the same morning Spalato arrived, to hear what passed between them. After dinner, some other being present, the discourse began about the state of the Church of England ”

“ It is only fair, certainly, to Spalatro's memory, that the calumnies thus raised against him in his lifetime should not now be perpetuated by the inadvertency of modern writers, for so far at least the means are at hand to refute them. Now there is one writer especially who has done much to vindicate the name of Ant. ”

“ Clarendon mainly imputes Strafford's death to Williams's conduct on this occasion, saying that 'he acted his part with prodigious boldness and impiety.' It is stated as matter of palliation by others, that Ussher, the celebrated Archbishop of Armagh, was one of this deputation, and that Strafford, although aware of the advice he had given, was attended by him on the scaffold, and received from him the last consolations of religion."—Lives of the Chancellors, vol. ”

“ He was afterwards reconciled to the Church of Rome, but was soon imprisoned on suspicion of heresy. After he was dead, he passed through the forms of the Inquisition, was pronounced a lapsed heretic, and his corpse was publicly burnt. ”

“ We have somewhere read of a Bishop Thomas giving his fourth wife a ring, with this posy:—
"If I survive,
I'll make it five."
This may give a clue to our correspondent.
When on the subject of Whiston, I should be glad to know if his edition of our Common Prayer Book published in 1713, and his Primitive New Testament published in 1745, still exist. [2]
[2] The two works mentioned by K. S., though scarce, occasionally occur for sale. The "Common Prayer Book" was republished by the Rev. Peter Hall in his Fragmenta Liturgica, vol. iii. ”

“ Now, the position of the point proves that we should read 74—which is the date of The game and playe of the chesse. The figures indicate 1474 as clearly as the letters W. C. indicate William Caxton. What is the just inference, must ever remain a matter of opinion.
In the woodcut of Arsmetrique, published in the Myrrour of the worlde, A.D. 1481, I observe the figures 74 rather conspicuously placed, and perhaps the device was then first adopted. ”

“ Τίμιος ὁ γάμος ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ ἡ κοίτη ἀμίαντος, that is: "Let (the laws of) marriage be revered in all things, and the marriage bed be undefiled;" and as a warning to those who might not heed such an admonition, he adds, "whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." H. WALTER mistakes the adjective feminine ἐν πᾶσι as meaning "all men," whereas it signifies here, "in all things;" ”

“ As there are in all running streams deep pools formed by eddies, in which drowned bodies would be likely to be caught and retained, any light substance thrown into the current would consequently be drawn to that part of the surface over the centre of the eddy hole. ”

“ The very important and extensive LIBRARY of the COUNT MONDIDIER, recently imported, especially rich in Foreign Literature, and comprising an extraordinary Collection of Books relating to America, Voyages, Travels, and Itineraries, including some of the rarest Works in the classes, and many which have been hitherto unknown to Bibliographers. Ten days' sale. ”

“ The account which Lord Campbell has here given is the same in substance as that given by Bishop Hackett in his Life of Williams (Part II. p. 161.) , and in several particulars is calculated to mislead the reader. The whole story has been very carefully examined by the late Dr. Elrington in his Life of Archbishop Ussher. Hackett's account is very incorrect. There were five prelates consulted by the king, Ussher, Williams, Juxon, Morton (Durham) and Potter (Carlisle) . The bishops had two interviews with the king, one in the morning, and the other in the evening of the same day. ”

“ On meeting with the statement elsewhere, I supposed it to be a mistake, as Fuller was born in 1608; but when I found it apparently countenanced by the notice of Jewel in Fuller's Abel Redivivus (Camb. 1651, p. 313.) , I was much puzzled, until, on turning to the Introduction, § 11., I discovered that the writer of that notice, and editor of the folios, was not Fuller, but Featley.
J. C. R.
Poetaster (Vol. iv., p. 59.) .
—In reply to A BORDERER, I do not think poetaster to be a genuine Latin word, though where first used I do not know. The French equivalent is poëtereau; the Italian poëterio ”

“ Qui finis mundo, non erit imperio. Oceanus mêdium venit imperium. At nunc Oceanus geminos interluit orbes, Pars est imperii, terminus ante fuit. Et jam Romano cingimur Oceano. Oceanus jam terga dedit, etc. Conjunctum est, quod adhuc (i.e. nunc) orbis, et orbis erat," &c.
The Chorus of Seneca has no more of prophecy, or sagacious conjecture, or other anticipation of the future, than Gray's "Bard," or the prophecy of Medea in Pindar's "Pythians," both of them fulfilled before the poet's time. ”

“ Moreover, in translating ἐν πᾶσι, in another passage of St. Paul, 2 Cor. xi. 6., they render it, "in all things;" in which same sense it is to be understood in the above place, Heb. xi. 4.
CEPHAS.
In lately reading that very curious book, Whiston's Autobiography, I met with some remarks on this subject, which I made a note of, and which are at the service of A. B. C. Whiston quotes the well-known Dr. Wall as follows:—
"The Greek Church still observe the rule of allowing their clergy to marry but once, and before the Council of Nice made a further rule that none after his orders should marry ”

“ Lond. 1609] to all the [296] estates and churches of Christendom; wherein the true ancient faith and religion of the Catholic Church is set forth, and no heterodoxies or novelties maintained: to the defence of which faith, and service of which Church, as he had already a long time applied his studies, and wrote ten books, De Republicâ Ecclesiasticâ, so, by the favour of God, and King James, he was now come into England to review and publish them, together with the History of the Council of Trent, which he had brought with him from Padre Paolo of Venice, who delivered it into his hands ”

“ THE FAMILY ALMANACK AND EDUCATIONAL REGISTER will contain, in addition to the more than usual contents of an Almanack for Family Use, a list of the Universities of the United Kingdom, with the Heads of Houses, Professors, &c. A List of the various Colleges connected with the Church of England, Roman Catholics, and various Dissenting bodies. ”

“ That writer is Bishop Cosin, whose testimony herein is of the more value from the fact of his having been present (as Bishop Overall's secretary) at the "Conference between Spalato and Overall," which "Conference" the following particulars were collected by Mr. Gutch, e Schedis MSS. Cosini, and are preserved in the Collectanea Curiosa, vol. ii. p. 18.:
"A. Spalato came into England in 1616, being desirous to live under the protection of King James, having before been recommended by Padre Paolo. ”

“ A relation sent from Rome, of the process, sentence, and execution done upon the body, pictures, and books of Marcus Ant. de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalato, after his death. There are some notices of De Dominis, also, among the Birch and other MSS. in the British Museum.
MR. FRAZER might possibly ascertain the other particular about which he inquires, viz. whether Spalatro "acted as a bishop in England," by consulting some of the numerous tracts written at the time, both against and in vindication of the archbishop; and, more particularly, a tract entitled: De pace religionis M. Ant. ”