whether a passage in one of them, which has just been brought under my notice, be a fair sample of the whole; but it is, at all events, so curious in a literary point of view as to deserve some public notice. The volume is entitled, Voices of the Night, Seventh Thousand, 1852; and the subject of the sermon or chapter in which the passage occurs is, "Nature's Travail and Expectancy" (Rom. viii. 19-22.). On this, then, Dr. Cumming discourses as follows (pp. 158–9.) : "The celebrated German poet and philosopher Goethe, who lived and died a sceptic, and whose testimony, therefore, was not meant to confirm that of the Bible, has said, When I stand all alone at night in open nature, I feel as though nature were a spirit, and begged redemption of me.'. . . And again, he says, 'Often, often have I had the sensation as if nature, in wailing sadness, entreated something of me; so that not to understand what she longed for, has cut me to the very heart.'. . . But I present another witness-that of a great and good man. Martin Luther says: Albeit the creature hath not speech such as we have, it hath a language still, which God the Holy Spirit heareth and understandeth. How nature groaneth for the wrong it must endure from those who so misuse and abuse it!' Here we have the sceptic Goethe and the eminent Christian Luther concurring in the same thing. And the poet who is supposed to tread nearest to the inspired, says very beautifully: To me they seem, Those fair [far] sad streaks that reach along the west Like strains of song still [long, full] yearning [,] from the chords Of nature's orchestra. Weary [,] yet still Dreams ever of that birth from whose bright dawn Who breathes eternal wisdom, made, redeemed, [November.]" To begin with the latter part of this extract. The reader may perhaps ask, Who is "the poet who is supposed to tread nearest to the inspired?" I cannot tell who may have been in Dr. Cumming's mind; but the verses were really written by an excellent friend of mine, quite unknown to the world as a poet; and are to be found at p. 298. of a translation of Olshausen On the Epistle to the Romans, which was published by Messrs. Clark, of Edinburgh, in 1849. I do not think that Dr. Cumming has improved them by substituting the words in Italics for those which I have restored of the adverb still. And I am unable to imagine how he can have been led to attribute them to any celebrated writer, since the translator of Olshausen very sufficiently intimates that they are of his own composition. Next, I have to remark that for the quotations from "the sceptic Goethe and the eminent Christian Luther," as also for another quotation from the latter (p. 145.), and for very much besides, Dr. Cumming is indebted to Olshausen, whose name he never condescends to mention, although at pp. 134-5. he parades a host of other commentators, including Chrysostom, Jerome, Theodoret, and almost all the ancient fathers, with scarcely a single exception." Lastly, the words which are fathered on Goethe are not his. Olshausen (Germ. iii. 314., Eng. 284.) gives a reference to Goethe's Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde, and introduces them as something which "Bettina writes." Dr. Cumming would seem never to have heard of the Correspondence, and to have mistaken Bettina for a creature of the poet's imagination; but, if so, was it quite fair to tell his hearers and readers that the words supposed to be put into her mouth were the expression of J. C. ROBERTSON. Goethe's personal feeling? Bekesbourne. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES. I think it is high time that experiments, conducted on scientific principles, should be made on the transmutation of species in the vegetable kingdom. The fact of such transmutation, if not certain, appears to be the only solution of several remarkable phenomena already brought to light. It is now a matter of fact, capable of easy experiment, that if oats be sown in the spring, and be kept topped during the summer and autumn (without wounding the leaves), a crop of rye makes its appearance at the close of the summer of the following year. An analogous fact, equally well known, though not so significant, is the seeds of an immense number of flowers and trees invariably give birth to varieties apparently distinct from their parent plants. (For instance, the dahlia, laburnum, and fuchsia.) But the fact I wish to introduce to your pages is one quite as remarkable as the first I have mentioned. It is this. If a stock of yellow laburnum (Cytisus laburnum) be grafted upon the common purple laburnum (Cytisus Alpinus), the resulting tree frequently bears three distinct species of Cytisus, viz. I. And abundantly, the purple laburnum. laburnum. II. More sparely, the yellow III. Still more sparingly, a in beautiful plant, within brackets, or by his changes in the punctu-known by the name of the purple Cytisus, but ation, into a participle, while another makes an adjective different from a laburnum. I beg to give you three references as a voucher of the fact. Mr. Cowdrey, the florist, who has large nursery gardens at Edgbaston, near Birmingham, has one specimen, with the history of which he is personally acquainted: no graft of the purple Cytisus has touched this tree. Mr. Holcombe of Valentines, near Ilford, has another specimen ; and in my father's plantations at Kingsheath, near Birmingham, there are four trees of purple laburnum grafted on stocks of yellow laburnum; and of these, two have put forth the purple Cytisus in abundance. Let no one imagine that the purple Cytisus is merely a variety of the purple laburnum. It is, as I have said, specifically distinct. Its flowers do not grow in racemes, as in the two laburnums, but are on short footstalks all along the branch, with a very peculiar and small foliage springing from the same points of the branch. This fact can leave the problem of changes of species into species no longer of doubtful solution. Perhaps this note may lead to others of more scientific research. Surely a series of well-digested experiments would not merely confirm the facts already known, but lead to a rationale of the presumed transmutation. C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY. Minar Nates. Apuleius on Mesmerism. - I transcribe the folowing passage, which I have just met with in Apuleius, as a very early allusion to Mesmerism : Quin et illud mecum reputo, posse animum humanum, præsertim puerilem et simplicem seu carminum avocamento, sive cdorum delenimento, soporari, et ad oblivionem præsentium externari; et paulisper remota corporis memoriâ, redigi ac redire ad naturam suam, quæ est immortalis scilicet et divina: atque ita, veluti quodam sopore, futura rerum præsagire.' - Apuleius, Apol. 475. Delph, ed. RECHABITE. The Domiciliary Clause. - In 1547 a proclamation was issued by Henry VIII., "that all women should not meet together to babble and talk, and that all men should keep their wives in their houses." ALIQUIS. Transmission of Ancient Usages.-To the derivation of certain customs and usages from the East via Gades or Cadiz, as in the case of the address "uncle" in Andalusia and Cornwall, and the clouted cream in Syria and Cornwall, may be added the use, in the same county, of a lock without wards actually now to be seen sculptured on the great temple of Karnac, in Egypt, too plainly to be mistaken. The principle is similar to that in one of Bramah's locks. Mr. Trevelyan some years ago brought this fact to the notice of the Royal Institution. The principle is not easily explained without an engraving. The voyages of Hamilcar A. W. The Raising of Charles I.'s Standard at Nottingham. The frontispiece to Cattermole's Civil War represents a forlorn group of men, women, and children, watching the fixing into the ground of a large flag, which a soldier is seeking to strengthen by stakes driven round the base of the flagstaff. Surely this is not a correct delineation of that event? Rushworth, it is true, says the standard was fixed in an open field at the back side of the castle wall; but the common opinion, that its position was rather the summit of one of the old turrets of the castle, receives confirmation from a source little known to the public, viz. the memoranda of the antiquary, John Aubrey. In a letter sent to him by Sherrington Talbot (of Laycock?), who was present at the "raising," the writer says that he saw the flag "lying horizontally on the tower;" this horizontal position being occasioned by the tempest which, it need hardly be added, cast the standard down almost as soon as J. W. erected. Queries. REMARKABLE EXPERIMENTS. A living man, lying on a bench, extended as a corpse, can be lifted with case by the forefingers of two persons standing on each side, provided the lifters and the liftee inhale at the moment the effort is being made. If the liftee do not inhale, he cannot be moved off the bench at all; but the inhalation of the lifters, although not essential, seems to give additional power. The fact is undeniable. I have never met with "This evening with Mr. Brisband, speaking of enchantments and spells, I telling him some of my charmes; he told me this of his own knowledge, at Bourdeaux, in France. "The words were these: - Levons te au nom de Jesus Christ.' "He saw four little girls, very young ones, all kneeling each of them, upon one knee; and one begun the first line, whispering in the eare of the next, and the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and she to the first. "Then the first begun the second line, and so round quite through; and putting each one finger only to a boy that lay flat upon his back on the ground, as if he was dead: at the end of the words, they did with their four fingers raise this boy as high as they could reach. And Mr. Brisband, being there, and wondering at it, as also being afraid to see it, for they would have had him to have bore a part in saying the words, in the room of one of the little girls that was so young that they could hardly make her learn to repeat the words, did, for fear there might be some slight used in it by the boy, or that the boy might be light, call the cook of the house, a very lusty fellow, as Sir G. Carteret's cook, who is very big and they did raise him just in the same manner. This is one of the strangest things I ever heard, but he tells it me of his own knowledge, and I do heartily believe it to be true. I inquired of him whether they were Protestant or Catholique girles; and he told me they were Protestant, which made it the more strange to me." him. When he is replaced in the chair, each of the four persons takes hold of the body as before; and the person to be lifted gives two signals, by clapping his hands. At the first signal, he himself, and the four lifters, begin to draw a long full breath; and when the inhalation is completed, or the lungs filled, the second signal is given for raising the person from the chair. To his own surprise, and that of his bearers, he rises with the greatest facility, as if he were no heavier than a feather. On several occasions, I have observed, that when one of the bearers performs his part ill by making the inhalation out of time, the part of the body which he tries to raise is left as it were behind. As you have repeatedly seen this experiment, and performed the part both of the load and of the bearer, you can testify how remarkable the effects appear to all parties, and how complete is the conviction, either that the load has been lightened, or the bearer strengthened, by the prescribed process. At Venice the experiment was performed in a much more imposing manner. heaviest man in the party was raised and sustained upon the points of the forefingers of six persons. Major H. declared that the experiment would not succeed, if the person lifted were placed upon a board, and the strength of the individuals applied to the board, He conceived it necessary that the bearers should communicate directly with the body to be raised. The "I have not had an opportunity of making any experiments relative to these curious facts: but whether the general effect is an illusion, or the result of known principles, the subject merits a careful investigation."] Minor Queries. De Sanctâ Cruce.-Can you inform me who is the author of a book entitled De Sancta Cruce; and what is the size and date? Are there not more than one under that title? I rather think that Gretser the Jesuit wrote such a book, but I have not been able to meet with it among the London booksellers. HUGO. Etymology of "Aghindle" or " Aghendole?". This is a small wooden measure containing eight pounds and a half, being the fourth part of the old peck of thirty-four pounds; and its use is now almost obsolete in those parts of Lancashire where it was formerly known. It is alluded to in the Notes of Pott's Discovery of Witches, edited by James Crossley, Esq., for the Chetham Society. F. R. R. In illustration of this passage LORD BRAYBROOKE adds, at vol. v. p. 245., the following note, which we insert, as it serves to bring before our readers evidence of this, at present, inexplicable fact on the authority of one of the most accomplished philosophers of our day: The secret is now well known, and is described by Sir David Brewster, in his Natural Magic, p. 256. One of the most remarkable and inexplicable experiments relative to the strength of the human frame is that in which a heavy man is raised up the instant that his own lungs, and those of the persons who raise him, are inflated with air. This experiment was, I believe, first shown in England a few years ago by Major H., Pictures of Queen Elizabeth's Tomb.-Fuller, in who saw it performed in a large party at Venice, under his account of Queen Elizabeth, Church History, the direction of an officer of the American navy. As lib. x., says: Major H. performed it more than once in my presence, I shall describe as nearly as possible the method which he prescribed. The heaviest person in the company lies down upon two chairs, his legs being supported by the one, and his back by the other. Four persons, one at each leg, and one at each shoulder, then try to raise him; and they find his dead weight to be very great, from the difficulty they experience in supporting "Her corpse was solemnly interred under a fair tomb in Westminster, the lively draught whereof is pictured in most London, and many country churches, every parish being proud of the shadow of her tomb." Can any of your correspondents point out instances where these are still preserved? T. STERNBERG. Item foure Spanishe veiwe bowes with a quiver and arrowes at xls" Can you inform me if these "veiwe bowes" were cross-bows; or, if not, what other bows they were? J. O. B. Old English Divines. It has been said of our late king, George III., that in a conversation with a learned man of the day respecting the English divines of the seventeenth century, he made a happy and correct application of the first clause of Genesis vi. 4., by observing that "there were giants in the earth in those days." To whom did the king make this observation? and on what occasion? The eminent and accomplished editor of Boswell's Johnson asked this question some years ago of his literary friends, but, I believe, did not receive a satisfactory answer. H. Lord Viscount Dover, Colonel of the First Troop of Guards in the Service of James II. in Ireland, 1689-1690.-I am engaged in displaying, with genealogical illustrations, the titles and names of the officers of all the regiments of this ex-monarch, having in my possession a full copy of his Array List, classified in regiments, with columnar rolls of their several officers, according to their rank. The importance of publishing these memorials in aid of pedigree searches must be apparent from the fact, that this list comprises members of all the old aristocracy of Ireland up to that day, to the rank and estates of whom the accession of King William introduced more adventurous, but long less respected successors. Celebrated Fly. - In Curzon's Monasteries of the Levant, p. 183., occurs the following passage: "The prophet Mahomet's camel performed the whole journey from Jerusalem to Mecca in four bounds, for which remarkable service he is to have a place in heaven, where he will enjoy the society of Borak, the prophet's horse, Balaam's ass, Tobit's dog, and the dog also the companionship of a certain celebrated fly, with of the Seven Sleepers, whose name was Ketmir, and whose merits I am unacquainted." Will some of your readers supply the informAGMOND. ation? 59. Egerton Street, Liverpool. Battle of Alfred the Great with the Danes. Can any of your readers inform me the name of the place in Hampshire where the memorable encounter of Alfred the Great with the Danes took place, as different historians call it by various names? also in what part of the county it is situate, and (if still existing) its present name? Islington. J. S. Old Satchells. In Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. i. p. 63., there occurs the following passage: "He owed much to the influence exerted over his juvenile mind by the rude but enthusiastic clan-poetry of old Satchells, who describes himself on his title-page as Captain Walter Scott, an old souldier and no scholler.'" In the opening list of colonels the first I encounter is styled as above: now, what was the name and lineage of this Viscount Dover? Henry, Lord Dover, was appointed one of the Commissioners of the Treasury to that king in 1686; and again, in 1688, a short time before his abdication, was especially chosen to advise the queen. In 1689 the "Earl of Dover" was one of those recorded as having fled with the royal exile to France, and afterwards accompanied him to Ireland. On James' arrival there Lord Viscount Dover appears as 'above, and was a Privy Concillor, but did not sit in the Parliament of Dublin. In July 1689 he was joined in Commission for the Treasury with the Duke of Tyrconnel, Lord Riverston, and Sir Stephen Rice. Norris says (Life of King William, p. 281.) that this Viscount applied in 1690 for a pass out of the country: on "Pretty Peggy of Derby, O!"-Who was the which he retired to the Continent. He was after-author of this ballad, and where shall I meet with wards, with his joint commissioners, outlawed. Can any of your readers inform me why this ancestor of Sir Walter's was called old Satchells? Whether, as is most probable, from his residence, some house or hamlet bearing that name, or from some family, should there be any of that surname. What editions have there been of his "true history," &c.? SIGMA. a copy of it, my copy being imperfect? R. S. "Noose as I was," and "Noose the same," were frequent replies, in my younger days, to inquiries from persons relative to another's state of health; and occasionally I have heard, in answer to a general inquiry of “How do you do?" or, " How do you find yourself?" the reply "Tightish in a noose." Now, this not having been confined to one particular locality, I should be much pleased if any of your correspondents would throw a light on the unde derivatur of the phrase. W. R. Surbiton. "La Garde meurt," &c. (Vol. v., p. 425.).—In a late number of "N. & Q." reference is made to the famous saying ascribed to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo: "Up guards, and at them!" I beg to call the attention of your readers to the equally famous words said to have been uttered by the brave Murat, who, when summoned to surrender, is reported to have answered, "La garde meurt, et ne se rend pas." I have heard it stated on good authority that these were not the words of Murat, but that he merely answered the summons with the emphatic response which, though no wise so elegant, conveys the same idea as the commonly received version, and is much more characteristic of the man. I shall be delighted to receive some light as to the historical fact, what Murat's answer really was? R. C. B. Coral Charms. On the little bunches of coral charms, imported from Italy, amid hands to avert the evil eye, &c., there generally hangs a rather unmeaning-looking one, like a single finger. Is not this neither more nor less than the veritable fascinum? If not, what is it? A. A. D. monosyllable "Merde!"- a Maturin Laurent.-I wish to learn where, when, and what, Maturin or Mathurin Laurent was. He was the author of a work rather indecent and irreligious, somewhat learned, and not altogether undull, entitled Le Compere Mathieu. It is an imitation of the manner of Rabelais. I can find his name in no biographical dictionary. A. N. Mons. Cahagnet. — Dr. Gregory, in his Letters on Animal Magnetism, p. 222., says: Minor Queries Answered. which I have copied from a MS. Place-book, relaLanthorns. Where is this passage to be found, tive to the origin of lanthorns? in whose days the churches were of so poor a struc "The inventor of lanthorns was one King Alured, ture that the candles were blown out set before the relics, the wind getting in not only ostia ecclesiarum, ingenious prince was put to the practice of his dexterity, but per frequentes parietum rimulas: insomuch that the and by the occasions of this lanternam ex lignis et bovinis cornibus pulcherrime construere imperavit; or by an apt composure of their horns and wood he taught us the mystery of making lanthorns." I do not remember ever to have met with this origin of those useful articles before. C. REDDING. [The substance of the passage will be found towards the close of Asser's Life of Alfred.] A Popular Book censured in the Pulpit, in the time of Queen Anne.— "The face of a Book in vogue, looks indeed with a sowre aspect against the Priesthood only, but intends (if we may turn aside its disguise) a wound and stab to the Revelation that once settled and still upholds it. Nor would it fare so ill, I verily believe, with the characters of Priests either among the Authors or Admirers of that Treatise, if it were not for Tithes and Offerings, the Lands and Revenues, which the Law and Gospel both allow for the support of that Order."-Pp. 24, 25. of A Sermon preached by Rev. Richard Barker, M. A., Fellow of Winchester College, before Jonathan, Lord "Mr. Cahagnet is since dead, or I should have en- Bishop of Winchester, Sept. 22, 1707. deavoured to see his experiments." But I am credibly assured he has just published James Murray, titular Earl of Dunbar.- Lord What is the book alluded to, and who was the author? F. R. R. [Most probably Matthew Tindal's treatise, The Rights of the Christian Church Asserted, against the Romish and all other Priests who claim an independent Power over it, published in 1706. The work, which is an elaborate attack upon what are commonly called High-Church principles, caused a great commotion. It is related that, to a friend who found Tindal one day engaged upon it, pen in hand, he said that he was writing a book which would make the clergy mad. Replies to it were published by the celebrated William Wotton, Dr. Hickes, and others.] |