name.

JEWISH OBSERVANCE. -It was stated in the newspapers that the form of prayer composed by the chief rabbi on the occasion of the thanksgiving for the escape of the Duke of Edinburgh and the success of the Abyssinian expedition was recited in all the synagogues on a certain Sunday. Was this service on Sunday something special, or do the Jews now generally assemble for worship on the first day of the week?

E. H. A. JOHN DE KOEL: PASQUILS. In some satirical verses by the poet Drummond, on the Scotish bishops about 1638, there are these lines: "Because my foster and my amorous quil

Is not yet heard proud pasquils to distill, I doe entreat that droll John de Koel To sting them with satyres hatch'd in hell." Who was John de Koel, and what satires or pasquils did he write? What is the origin of the word pasquil, which was much used in Scotland at the commencement of last century, and during the

*

whole of the preceding one? In England there is a very amusing poem called "Pasquil's Palinodia," of which, some years since, a few copies were reprinted. J. M.

[* We are informed that all special prayers are generally read on Saturdays.-ED.]

6, King's Road, Clapham Park. POMEROY FAMILY.-Can any of your readers inform me who is at the present time the male heir of the ancient family of Pomeroy, of Berry Pomeroy, in Devonshire? The direct descendants of Sir Thomas Pomeroy, who sold Berry Pomeroy to the Protector Duke of Somerset, continued at Sandridge, when Gilbert Pomeroy of Sandridge, Esq. (whose will was proved April 8, 1719), died, leaving all his lands to his kinsman Daniel Pomeroy, son of Paul Pomeroy of Brixham. W. S.

44, Bedford Square, W.C.

THE POPISH PLOTS AND STATE TRIALS IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES II.-I have a volume of about 400 pages, very closely printed, type long primer (exactly the size of "N. & Q."), which appears to be made up of eight or nine distinct pamphlets, differing in date, but uniform as to printing.

Could any reader inform me who the printer was? Was he also the publisher? At what price the separate tracts, and at what the whole volume was sold? My copy is in very good preservation, but I would like to know if anyone has a better. AGATHOS.

Portadoun.

RECULVER.—I am desirous of knowing whether, on the demolition of the old church at Reculver, the monuments and brasses were removed to the

building which superseded it; and if the parish registers, from the year 1650 to 1730, are complete and in fair condition. L. X.

SANSKRIT INSCRIPTIONS IN ENGLAND. - There are reasons for believing that there exists in England, apart from public museums and such like depositories, several Sanskrit inscriptions on stone and copper. It would be very desirable to Oriental investigators to have a clue to their whereabouts. J. H. P. TINDER-BOXES.-What works contain the earliest and most authentic accounts of tinder-boxes? A. K. G.

"UP TO SNUFF.". What is the origin of this common expression? I heard it lately applied very amusingly. A very old lady was bent upon marrying quite a young man, who kept a tobacco

and snuff-shop. A friend, after long remonstrating, succeeded in turning her from her foolish project. But, in giving it up, she feared she might be reproached with acting dishonourably. Her friend, however, removed her difficulty, and exceedingly diverted her by saying: "Not at all, madame; he took you at a pinch, but found you were up to snuff." F. C. H.

Queries with Answers.

FRANCIS BANCROFT.—I should feel obliged if any of the readers of your valuable work could afford me some particulars of the above remarkable man. Fifty-eight years ago I was a resident in Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate. Upon one occasion I witnessed the whole of the school, officers, and others attached to it, attend at St. Helen's church, where a sermon was preached by the vicar, the Rev. W. Blenkarne. Afterwards Bancroft's vault above ground was unlocked, and his remains were viewed. In the Clerkenwell News, November 28, 1866, are full particulars of what then transpired. About twelve months ago I passed some very handsome public buildings in the Bow road, and was told they were Bancroft's School and Hospital. I well remember the old establishment: it was very plain, miserable, and rather insignificant. There was also a small burial ground for those who died there, as in the case where I now reside.

In the Clerkenwell News for 13th April last, under the head of the "Bancroft Sermon, preached at the Church of St. Peter-le-Poor," are some interesting particulars relative to the pious deeds and munificent benefactions of Francis Bancroft and others, who in their lifetime made provision for the poor that should follow them in times to come, &c. ELFIN. [Francis Bancroft, grandson of Archbishop Bancroft, was for many years one of the Lord Mayor's officers. In the execution of his office he not only levied black mail on the poor, but on many of the wealthy citizens, who, rather than lose time in appearing in court, gave money to silence him, which, together with his numerous quarterings from brokers and others, amounted to a considerable sum of money. He so successfully played the part

of Sir Giles Overreach that he died worth 28,000%.—a sum equivalent to 50,0007. in the present day. Owing to his mercenary practices, he so incurred the hatred and illwill of the citizens, that the persons who attended his funeral with some difficulty saved his corpse from being jostled off the shoulders of its bearers to the church.

thereof be hung with strong hinges, neither to be nailed, screwed, locked down, nor fastened any other way, but to open freely and without trouble, like to the top of a trunk. And I desire to be buried in a vault which I have made and purchased for that purpose, under my tomb, in the parish church of St. Helen's, London, within ten days after my decease, between the hours of nine and ten o'clock at night; and I do direct that the whole expenses of my funeral shall not exceed the sum of two hundred pounds."

After numerous small legacies and annuities, he bequeathed the whole of his real and personal property, "as I compute the same to the value of 28,000, to the Master and Wardens of the Company of Drapers, directing them to lay out and expend the sum of four or five thousand pounds in the purchase of a piece of freehold ground for the building thereon Almshouses for twentyfour old freemen of that Company, with a convenient chapel and school-room for one hundred poor boys, with such other buildings as may be necessary, &c., &c. And whereas I have been at considerable expense in erecting my tomb in the church of St. Helen's, I give and appoint the sum of 27. per annum, and more whenever needful, for cleaning, preserving, taking care of, and repairing my said vault and tomb. It being my express intention and desire to have the same kept in good order and repair for ever, whether the church be standing or not. And to that end I hereby subject and charge all my estates with the payment and support thereof before any of the charities hereinbefore mentioned. And in case hereafter there shall appear any considerable overplus of my estate, then I desire it may be applied to the improving of this charity.

"I give to the said fraternity of Drapers the sum of thirty-five pounds to buy six or more silver plates, to be by them used and kept in remembrance of me; and to the Master, Wardens, and Clerk that shall be in such office at the time of my decease, to each of them, a ring of twenty shillings in value, whom I desire to be present at my funeral and hold up my pall."

He further directs" That two sermons shall be preached annually on a Sunday, in the forenoon yearly, for ever in commemoration of these my charities-the one in April, in the church of St. Helen's, and the other in the church of St. Michael's, Cornhill; and that the children and old men be present, and the children publicly catechised." At St. Helen's church this anniversary is held on the last Sunday in April, when the Master and Wardens of the Drapers' Company attend.

Bancroft's extensive almshouses, school, and chapel, on the north side of the Mile End road, in the parish of Stepney, were erected in 1735.]

the Memoirs of his father (Lond. 1864, p. 402), this remarkable collection is thus noticed: "The collection of autographs, which Dr. Raffles had been gradually but steadily accumulating, had now become very extensive and interesting. He had for some years past been engaged, during the few spare hours which he could devote to the purpose, in arranging and illustrating them. In this task the editor had been his chief assistant, and among the happiest reminiscences of the past is the memory of the evenings which he was now and then privileged to spend with his father, surrounded by his MSS., and agreeably occupied in investigating the past history of those whose autographs were, from time to time, before them, for the purpose of illustration and arrangement. The editor soon became inoculated with the taste for biographical and historic research, which such an occupation can scarcely fail to create, and which his father did all in his power to foster and develope by amusing and instructive anecdotes and remarks from his own large stores of information. To attempt a description of the contents of the collection would be quite impossible within the limits of this biography. One series alone consists of forty folio volumes with illustrations, and there are at least as many quarto volumes of various kinds, exclusive of an extremely rare and valuable collection, in seven volumes, of distinguished Americans. There are abundant materials for an interesting book exclusively devoted to the subject; and the editor may possibly, at some future time, select for publication some of the most interesting of the letters and other documents which, together with all the MSS. of various kinds, have come into his possession."]

―――――

THE "MYRROURE OF OUR LADY.". - Can you furnish particulars of the above book, which was printed in 1530, "at the desyre and instance," as the colophon states, "of the worshypful and devout Lady Abbesse of the worshypful monastery of Syon, and the reverende fader in God, General Confessoure of the same." Are many copies known to be extant? If so, where do they exist ? And has the book ever been reprinted ?

SARISBURIENSIS.

[Copies of this very scarce work are in the British Museum, Bodleian, and Lambeth libraries. "Earl Spencer possesses a very beautiful copy of this rare book, from the Alchorne collection." (Dibdin's Ames, iii. 360.) This work is described in Herbert's Ames, i. 468, and quoted by Dr. Rock in "N. & Q." 2nd S. x. 51.]

IVORY, THE MATHEMATICIAN (4th S. ii. 57.)Was he the author of Notes as to the Rights of the Burgesses of Scotland (Edin. 1819), which I find attributed to "James Ivory, Lord Ivory," in the Catalogue of the British Museum; and if not,

when did the latter die ?

R. T. [James Ivory, a lord of session, under the judicial title of Lord Ivory, is a nephew of Sir James Ivory, the celebrated mathematician. Lord Ivory resigned his office a few years ago, and we believe is still living.]

PRIVILEGED REGIMENT, ETC. - 1. Which is the only regiment that has the privilege of marching through the City of London with drums beating and colours flying, and why is it thus favoured?

2. Who desired in his will that his body should be devoted to the purpose of improving the science of anatomy, and where is the body preserved? F. A. ESCOTT.

Greenwich.

[1. The privileged regiment is that of the Third Foot, or the Buffs, formerly designated "The Holland Regiment," and originally formed from the Trained Bands. In the month of March, 1572, the citizens of London, in obedience to the commands of Queen Elizabeth, selected from the several companies three thousand men, who were appointed and equipped as "men at arms" and "shot," in the usual manner, and instructed in the military exercises by experienced officers. The privilege of marching through the City of London with bayonets fixed and colours flying was exercised about 1821, and again in 1846, in the mayoralty of Mr. Alderman Johnson (when the city marshals had directions to receive and attend the regiment through the city); and again in 1863, during the mayoralty of Mr. Alderman Rose.

2. Among others, Jeremy Bentham left by will to Dr. Southwood Smith his body for dissection, which is now preserved in University College, London. Vide "N. & Q." 2nd S. iv. 51; 3rd S. x. 188.]

BLACKBURN.-What is the origin of the name of the town of Blackburn, in Lancashire, and when was that name first given it? I should also be glad of any other facts of an archæological WM. BLACKBURN. nature respecting it.

Montcalm Terrace, Montreal.

["The Black-burn, or brook, sometimes called the Blackwater, or Yellow Stream, rising in the township of Oswaldtwistle, flows to the Darwen at Witton, past the town of Blackburn, and gives its name to the town, the hundred, and the deanery." Baines's Lancaster, iii. 310, where a description of this town is given.]

BRIC-A-BRAC. What is the true meaning of bric-a-brac, and whence its origin ? D.

[Bric-a-brac (Fr.), odds and ends. Marchand de bricà-brac is a dealer in old iron, copper, brass, pictures, or what we call marine stores.]

Replies.

GOLDSMITH'S EPITAPH.
(4th S. ii. 34, 109, 184.)

MR. T. J. BUCKTON is clearly "reckoning without his host" when he says that I (6 concur in the opinion that Johnson should have written nihil tetigit quod non ornaret,' instead of 'Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit."" To the best of my knowledge and belief I have given no opinion at all on what Johnson should have written-only on what (upon, as I judged, good authority) he did

write; and had he so written, I believe still, that his Latinity would have been open to grave exception, and that the quotation from Pliny would be sound evidence in proof. MR. T. J. BUCKTON seems to think that he "has me on the hip," but I take leave to think that his criticism is far more ingenious than convincing. Pliny the younger had been adopted by his uncle, was admitted by him to the closest intercourse, and eventually inherited his estates and effects. Is it not reasonable to conclude, then, that whatever he records of him was rather from personal knowledge than report, and that when he says "nihil legit quod non excerperet" it was from as intimate an acquaintance with his habits and his writings as any which could have drawn from Johnson his eulogy of Goldsmith? So much being granted, the conclusion is obvious. Whence also the "dicere enim solebat" will refer to the many conversations which the uncle held with the nephew on his literary habits and pursuits. Pliny spoke of his relative no less from personal knowledge and observation than Johnson spoke of Goldsmith, so that I do not see how the oratio obliqua can be claimed for one, and the oratio recta for the other. What MR. BUCKTON calls an 66 explanation" I should rather call the ground on which Pliny made his statement of his uncle's mode of study: "Nihil legit, quod non excerperet"-" dicere enim solebat, nullum esse librum tam malum, ut non aliquá parte prodesset." EDMUND TEW, M.A.

The grammatical question here, as I conceive, depends partly on rather nice shades of distinction. I venture to think that "nihil tetigit quod non ornavit" is undoubtedly right; but I do not think that "neque ullum tetigit quod non ornavit' would be so, or, at least, it would be inelegant.

""

Again, the question whether "nihil tetigit quod non ornaret means just the same, depends on which of the two senses of tetigit we adopt. The Latin language is wanting in the power of discriminating between the two past tenses, which the Greek has in the aorist and the perfect, and the English in the use of the auxiliary verb. If we mean "He touched, or did touch, nothing without adorning it," ornaret is right; but if it were "He has not touched anything that he has not adorned," I think it should be ornaverit.

"Nihil tangebat quod non ornaret" would be clearly right; but here too, I believe, ornabat would not be wrong.

I greatly dissent from MR. BUCKTON's view that the potential can never be used in the dependent clause to convey a positive assertion. I have not Zumpt to refer to, but I shall be surprised if he goes to this length.

I cannot look out instances, but MR. TEW's quotation from Pliny is evidently a precise parallel. I cannot understand MR. BUCKTON's statement

that it is a conditional assertion: it is one of a string of positive statements, though they might be given on hearsay.

I do not think MR. TEW's quotation from Cicero will do. The rendering there is "Laws were invented which were to speak," or "of which the object was that they should speak," &c.

LYTTELTON.

HOW CATO WAS A PAYNIM AND A CHRISTIAN TOO.

(4th S. ii. 176.)

The quotation given under this title, from an old English translation of the Cursor Mundi, has set me speculating as to whether any light might hence be obtained upon a very obscure point of Dantesque criticism.

Dante, as is very well known, says in the plainest terms, in his Commedia, that no human being who did not believe in Christ ever did or ever will enter heaven; and he places in hell, in a condition of melancholy desire without torment, all the most virtuous and illustrious paganssuch as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and his own Virgil. And yet he tells us in the Purgatorio that Cato of Utica is not in hell, but is the guardian of purgatory. He had been redeemed out of hell (doubtless along with the other souls whom Christ, on his descent into limbo, rescued thence), is to have a surpassingly glorified body at the general resurrection, and, in short, is treated by the poet in all respects as a saved soul, and not even as an inmate of purgatory in any penal sense. How and why is this? Dante is so tenaciously consistent and logical throughout the Commedia that one must at once reject the idea that he has excepted Cato from the general fate of paganism merely because his character for moral virtue stood exceptionally high. Dante must, on some ground or other, have brought him within the one sole pale of salvation-belief in Christ; as he does (with justifying explanations) Trajan and Ripheus of Troy.

I have always regarded this Catonian mystery as a totally unsolved one. Commentators generally pass it by with the fewest words wasted, and the minimum of astonishment expressed; doubtless, because they are utterly at a loss for a reason. The nearest approach to a reason I have seen put forward is expressed thus, in the notes to Mr. Longfellow's translation:

"In the description of the shield of Æneas (Eneid, 8), Cato is represented as presiding over the good in the Tartarean realms-And the good apart, Cato dispensing laws to them.' This line of Virgil may have suggested to Dante the idea of making Cato the warden of purgatory."

Whoever puzzled out this explanation is entitled, I think, to very great credit for ingenuity;