Various

“ To say of princes and lords that "a breath can make them, as a breath has made," far from conveying any idea of their "fading," would be, on the contrary, to indicate the facile process by which they may be perpetuated. It would show how they may "flourish," but not how they may "fade."
Although this emendation in Goldsmith was pointed out many years ago, and recommends itself by its appositeness, and its obvious adaptation to the context, yet I believe it has never been introduced into any edition of that poet. ”

“ There is one in the railway valley, below Chipsted Church, some 100 feet deep; I have never known it dry. Within a stone's throw of this last, the London and Brighton railway runs in a very deep cutting,—I have been told the deepest railway cutting in England,—and great fears were entertained that this deep cutting would drain this and several neighbouring wells. The only way, however, in which the railway affected the wells, was to cut right through one, parts of which may still be seen in the embankment.
It is not always the case that a deep well will drain its shallow neighbours. ”

“ Editor of the Dictionaries of "Greek and Roman Antiquities," and of "Biography and Mythology."
Although for the sake of uniformity, it is called a Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, it will be in reality a Dictionary of Ancient Geography, including even Scriptural Names. At present there does not exist, either in the English or in the German languages, any work on Ancient Geography sufficiently comprehensive and accurate to satisfy the demands of modern scholarship. And yet there are few subjects connected with antiquity for which we have such ample materials. ”

“ Is it not strange that Cosmas should not have heard that there was such a tribe of scribes in the valley? Is it not unaccountable that the knowledge of the alphabet should so soon have been forgotten? Cosmas flourished comparatively but a short time after the supposed Nabathæans.
But the advocates of the Nabathæan theory argue that the Sinaitic inscriptions must be of a comparatively modern date, since there are found amongst them some Greek and Latin ones; and, moreover, the cross does sometimes occur in various shapes. ”

“ But it is necessary to impress the fact that Cosmas, though a man of intelligence and of letters, considered that the alphabet in which the inscriptions were made, was unknown; but having visited the Wady in company with certain well-informed Jews, his Hebrew companions read and deciphered several of the records, and decided that the Israelites of the Egyptian Exodus were the performers of the inscriptions. ”

“ The discoveries of modern travellers, as well as the researches of modern scholars, have, within the last few years, added greatly to our knowledge of Ancient Geography; and it will be the aim of the Editor to present, in the present work, the results of their labours in this important branch of Classical Antiquity. ”

“ I have only one more remark to make, which is, that the Sanscrit bhra-tre is a compound word like δελ-φυς. I will give the full etymology of this word bhra-tre, to prove that J. B. has done wrong in bringing in a word to militate against his own rule. Persian, bra-dar; Sanscrit, bhra-tre; Gothic, bro-thar; Islandic, bro-dir; German, bru-der; Swedish and Danish, bro-der; Anglo-Saxon, bro-ther. Now, will J. B. prove that the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac בר, bar, a son, is not connected with the Persian and Sanscrit bra and bhra? ”

“ Should the identity between Wady Mokatteb and Kibroth Hattavah be considered conclusive, then the antiquity of the Sinaitic inscriptions is far more remote than the date fixed by certain archæologists and palæographists; the records may prove to be, in truth and in deed, the handy-work of the Israelites during their encampment there.
The readers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" need scarcely be told that the inscriptions were first noticed in the sixth century by Cosmas, a Græco-Indian merchant, who was hence surnamed Indicopleustes. ”

“ The ponds are very few and shallow, so that the inhabitants have to rely on wells for their water. Wells, however, are an expensive luxury, and appertain only to the better-most dwellings. I know several labourers' cottages distant upwards of a mile from the nearest well or pond; they use what water they catch, and when that is gone, shift as they best can,—most commonly do without. ”

“ Common report of the neighbourhood, from time immemorial, gives these venerable trees a date as far back as the landing of the sea-kings on the coast of Sussex; and sundry poems by local bards have been written on this theme.
On one of the most prominent of the South Down Hills, rising immediately above the yew-tree valley, and called Bow Hill, are two large, and some smaller tumuli, which are always called by the natives the graves of the sea-kings, who with their followers are supposed to have fallen in a battle fought under these very yew trees. ”

“ Mercury says that a certain plant is called Moly by the gods, and that it is very difficult for men to find. The answer to the question, What do men call it? therefore would probably have been, that they have no name for it at all. It is an odd word, not easy to derive, and ending in _u_; which Aristotle says is the ending of only five words in Greek, and one of those, ἄστυ, was obsolete as an appellative in Aristotle's time. ”

“ J. B.'s authoritative rule, "that no apparent similarity between words in the Semitic and Asian (read Sanscrit) families can be used to establish a real identity, the two classes of language being radically and fundamentally distinct." Vide mouse, and a hundred more roots, that might quash this rule.
To conclude, I did not introduce the Sanscrit dal into my former note, because, I suppose, an idea passed through my mind that I might offend some "interesting points in Greek manners." ”

“ The country is very hilly, and even the valleys are some height above the level of London. Woodmansterne is said to be the highest point in Surrey next to Leith Hill.
Most of the farm-houses and superior cottages have wells, and many of these are of considerable depth. There is one just at the foot of Bansted Downs (and consequently in the valley) , which is 120 feet deep. After a dry summer this well is very low, and after a second quite empty. This is about the general depth of the valley wells. ”

“ I am happy in being able to give, I trust, a satisfactory answer to the Query of your American correspondent U. U., respecting the original edition of 1607.
There can be no doubt that the copy in the Bodleian Library is of the genuine edition. It was in the Library certainly before the year 1620, as it appears in the catalogue printed in that year, and still bears the same reference on the shelf as is there given to it, namely, 8vo. I. 32. Theol.; and it was doubtless the copy used by Dr. James, who superintended the forming of that catalogue, and who died only a few months before. ”

“ I see I am not the first to call an editor's attention to this point, for, in the Gentleman's Magazine of Jan., 1795, a correspondent complains of this improper application of the word, and attributes the perversion to the lawyers, "who," he says, "for the sake of brevity (to which, by-the-bye, they are not much attached) , have accustomed themselves to the phrase, 'the aforesaid premises,' whence the word has come to be universally taken as a collective noun, signifying manors, tenements, and so on." ”

“ The office of "the premises" in a deed, say the Law Dictionaries, is to express the names of the grantor and grantee, and to specify the thing granted. "The premises is the former part of a deed, being all that which precedeth the habendum or limitation of the estate." I believe the term "parcels" is applied, technically, to the specification of the property which forms the subject of a deed. In an instrument, it may not be wholly incorrect to refer by the term "premises" to the particulars premised, and, if an etymological inaccuracy, it may be excused for the sake of avoiding repetitions ”

“ The best edition of Hobbes's works was printed 1750. The print of Leviathan in it is neither like Charles nor Cromwell, of whom I have old and good prints, and many. The print has at the bottom of it "Written by Thos. Hobbs, 1651."
C. J. W.
Age of Trees (Vol. iv., p. 401.) .
—I am rather surprised that your correspondent L., in his enumeration of remarkable trees, and collections of trees, in Great Britain, makes no mention, whilst on the subject of yew, of the splendid collection of old yew trees in Kingley Bottom, near Chichester, in Sussex. ”

“ MORTON'S CYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE, PRACTICAL, and SCIENTIFIC: in which the Theory, the Art, and the Business of Farming, in all their departments, are thoroughly and practically treated. By upwards of Fifty of the most eminent Farmers, Land Agents, and Scientific men of the day. Edited by JOHN C. MORTON, Editor of the "Agricultural Gazette." ”

“ Of the value of broadsides, flying sheets, political squibs, popular ballads, &c. few can doubt; while the advantage of having these snatches of popular literature, when collected, deposited in some public and easily accessible library, will be readily admitted by all who may have had occasion to trespass on the time and attention (readily as they may be afforded to parties entitled to claim them) , of the Master and Fellows of Magdalene, when requiring to consult the matchless collection of ballads, penny merriments, and chap books, deposited in their library by Samuel Pepys. ”

“ Moreover, let J. B. prove, if he can, what is the meaning of δελφ in the Greek, unaided by any other language.
4th. Why is the Sanscrit bhratre brought into the contest? perhaps to prove what has not been proved, viz. that it also signifies frater uterinus.
5th. "How happened it that the word φρατηρ was lost in Greek?" Why, because the Greeks thought it too barbarous a word to own, as coming through the Latins from the barbarous Goths, [487] Scandinavians, &c.! Let us pass over irrelevant matter till we come to
6th. ”

“ The late Admiral Frank Sotheron, of Kirklington Hall, near Southwell, Notts, was, I have heard, related to Wolfe, and possessed a portrait and several letters of his. Admiral Sotheron died some ten years ago, but his daughter (and only child) married the present member for Wilts, who afterwards took the name of Sotheron.
J. M. W.
I have a portrait of Wolfe in my possession, and, I believe, the original from which the print, stated to be a scarce and contemporary one, was taken, which furnishes the frontispiece to the second volume of the History of the Canadas, by the author of Hochelaga. ”

“ TEN CENTURIES OF ART; its Progress in Europe from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century; with a Glance at the Artistic Productions of Classical Antiquity, and Considerations on the probable influence of the Great Exhibition, and on the present state and future prospects of Art in Great Britain. By H. NOEL HUMPHREYS.
By the same Author,
ANCIENT COINS AND MEDALS, with numerous Examples of Rare and exquisite Greek and Roman Coins executed in actual Relief, and in their respective Medals. Second Edition. Price 25s. bound. ”

“ Michael's, Crooked Lane, in order to make the approaches for new London Bridge; there, also, I think I have seen some account of the inscriptions in the church pulled down for the erection of the Bank of England. The preservation of the monumental records of the dead has been so frequently suggested in "NOTES AND QUERIES" that I will not occupy space by urging further arguments in favour of the scheme proposed for the transcription and preservation of inscriptions on monuments and grave-stones. ”

“ Universelle for foreign lives, and a hundred times better for English lives. Every one knows how meagre and unsatisfactory is that otherwise magnificent work in its English part. Why should we not have an abridged translation, with the home portion re-written?
Z. Z. Z.
The Word Premises.
—The use of the word premises for houses, lands, and hereditaments, is surely incorrect. I have never found the word præmissa used in any Latin writer in a sense that can sanction the modern application of its derivative. ”

“ In this volume the reader will find not only much that is new and interesting in connection with the history of the great mythic heroes and heroines, but very valuable supplements on the subject of Superstitions and Popular Charms.
Mr. D'Alton, the author of The History of Drogheda, is about to dispose of his Historical, Topographical, and Genealogical MS. Collections. They occupy upwards of 200 volumes, and comprise, on the plan of Watt's Bibliotheca, copious references to, and extracts from Records, Registries, Pleadings, Wills, Funeral Monuments, and Manuscript Pedigrees. ”

“ Qu'un souffle peut détruire, et qu'un souffle a produit."
The turn given to the thought in the French has suggested to D'Israeli an emendation of the passage in Goldsmith. He proposes that the word "unmakes" should be substituted for "can make." The line would then read—
"A breath unmakes them, as a breath has made." ”

“ The work of John Trittenheim, De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, is held in high and deserved repute. (See Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin. Med. Ætat., iv. 451.) He died abbot of Würtzburg, in 1518. The copy of A. W. H. is the first edition, which was published at Mainz (Moguntia) in 1494.
C. H.
Sir William Herschel (Vol. ii., p. 391.) .
—Your correspondent gives the quotation about the star observed in Virgo, which he supposes identical with Neptune, quite correctly, except in one very material point—the observer's name. ”