It will thus be seen that the Coronation Oath, in its present form, is a development of that enacted by the statute of William and Mary, by which the sovereign was called upon to swear "to preserve the Laws of God, the true Profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant Reformed Religion, established by Law," by the addition of the words (rendered necessary by the Act of Union with Scotland), "and to maintain and preserve inviolably the Settlement of the Church of England, and the Doctrine, Worship, Discipline, and Government thereof, as by Law established"; which latter words were again necessarily modified by the Union with Ireland, when the Churches of England and Ireland ceased to exist as separate bodies, and were incorporated under the title of "the United Church of England and Ireland."

T.

THE GOLDEN AGE. - The tradition among the early Greeks of the Golden Age may have a very different meaning from that commonly attributed. The rivers of Europe and Western Asia show evidences of gold-bearing, but are not now productive, and in streams contain small quantities of gold; and gold has been found on the surface in Wicklow, &c., in modern times. The gold sites of Europe and of Western Asia accessible to surface gold-digging do not now yield any considerable amount of gold; while there are evidences of early gold possessions, such as those of the Irish gold ornaments, which show a former period of free supply of gold.

The explanation I have been disposed to give of this is, that early races, particularly the Iberian, carried out expeditions for surface gold and tin digging; that the tin of these islands was casually discovered in the search for gold, and that the trade in tin continued after the exhaustion of gold-digging.

The expedition of the Argonauts was the renewal of an ancient tradition in this view.

The Hellenic invaders would find their predecessors, the Iberians, and perhaps the predecessors of these, the Caucaso-Tibetans, in barbaric pomp and gold. The gold acquired by the Hellenic invasions would pass to the Phoenician traders, and

ARISTOS.-I think Mr. Carlyle is the first English author who has made use of the word aristos, thus introducing it into English literature for the less pertinent word aristocrat, which latter, an esteemed lexicographer says, is "a modern word borrowed from the French, and already in disuse." (Richardson.) If, then, the word aristocrat was introduced from the French, this new word aristo or aristos may perhaps come from the same source; for ever since the Revolution of 1848 the latter word has been used in France, especially in the French capital. M. Pierre Larousse, in his interesting and valuable Grand Dictionnaire du xix Siècle (Paris, 1864), says:

"Aristo. Abréviation du mot aristocrate; mot fort usité depuis 1848."

Mr. Carlyle's use of the word is a very happy one, or, as the Germans would say, very treffend quoting the passages in which the translator of i. e. hitting the mark; and I cannot refrain from Wilhelm Meister, whom all Germans-even those who only know him by name-so deeply revere, asking himself the question, "How many of thrown into the crucible? our titular aristocracy will prove real gold when says or asks fur

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ther:

"Will there, in short, prove to be a recognisable small nucleus of Invincible ǎpro fighting for the Good Cause, in their various wisest ways, and never ceasing or slack

ening till they die? This is the question of questions, on which all turns," &c.-Shooting Niagara: and after? London, 1867, pp. 24, 25.

And, adapting it, he proceeds (ibid. pp. 26-28): —

which at present is esteemed the supreme of aims for First, then, with regard to Art, Poetry, and the like, vocal genius, I hope my literary Aristos will pause, and seriously make question before embarking on that; and perhaps will end, in spite of the Swarmeries abroad, by devoting his divine faculty to something far higher, far will perhaps discover that the genuine Art' in all times Our Aristos, well meditating, is

more vital to us.

a higher synonym for God Almighty's Facts,—which come to us direct from Heaven, but in so abstruse a con

dition, and cannot be read at all till the better intellect

I am most desirous to know what justification there is for this reference to Lord Byron? Byron does seem to have confessed that his wife's 10,000. soon melted away in the difficulties and extravagances in which he was involved immediately after his marriage (see Galt's Life, p. 193), but he had settled 60,000l. on her and her chil

dren. 10,000l., moreover, could not have been the greater part of Lady Byron's large fortune, even if Mr. Urquhart did not refer, as it would seem he intended, to some period subsequent to Byron's separation from his wife. It is difficult to believe that Mr. Pollard Urquhart held Byron up as a horrid example in this way without ample warrant; and perhaps I have only my own want of penetration to blame for not finding the facts in print, which bear out his statement. But if Mr. Urquhart spoke from private information, it surely would be better that the exact nature of the money transactions between Byron and his separated wife should be made known, now that this aspersion on Byron's character, which I for one always supposed to be scrupulously honourable in pecuniary matters, has appeared and has received no refutation. N.

WELLINS CALCOTT. Few biographical particulars appear to be known of Wellins Calcott, whose Moral Thoughts ran through four editions in five years-a fair share of popularity for a work not appealing to the general taste. As the book is not mentioned in any of our bibliographies, I transcribe the title:

"Thoughts Moral and Divine; collected and intended for the better Instruction and Conduct of Life. Dedicated by Permission to the Right Hon. the Earl of Powis. By Wellins Calcott, Gent. London: Printed for the Author by E. Owen, near Chancery Lane, Holborn,

1756."

An edition appeared at Birmingham in 1758, probably the second; where the third was pub

lished I cannot say, but the "fourth edition, with improvements," has for its imprint: "Manchester, printed for the author by Jos. Harrop,

1761."

From the preface and dedication we learn that he was a native of Shropshire, and a burgess of Shrewsbury, and that the book was published to relieve his misfortunes. From Lowndes we find that, in 1769, he published a book on Freemasonry. This is all I have been able to glean respecting him; perhaps some correspondent of "N. & Q" near the Wrekin will be able to give a further account of this Salopian worthy.

It may be well to add, that the two editions (first and fourth) of the Moral Thoughts, which I have examined, vary very considerably. Each has a different list of subscribers (the Manchester edition, containing many well-known Lancashire names), and one or two essays which appear in the first edition are suppressed in the later one. WILLIAM E. A. AXON.

Joynson Street, Strangeways.

DISEM BOWELMENT. — .-Reading an old book (Elias Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire) the other day, I stumbled over the following passage, on which some of your readers may throw light. Speaking of the church of "Kingston-Bakepuge," in the deanery of Abingdon, he says:-"Nigh it lyes the bowels of Judge Williams (who, I presume, died here in a journey), but his body was carried into Wales." The note in parenthesis is the author's. Was the judge disembowelled for the purpo-e of embalming? If so, am I to understand that his bowels were deposited in sacred ground. This suggests the question, how did the Taricheutæ of. old dispose of the "internals" of those bodies they practised their art on?

W. J. C.

FLOATING CORPSES.

THE MONASTERY OF KOENIGSAAL. - In the seventh book of his Compitum, chap. i. p. 14, Mr. Digby has the following paragraph:

"The idea of the palace that is shortly to render our Sydenham so renowned, seems to have suggested itself to the monks, as lovers of all that can instruct and adorn the world; for Eneas Sylvius relates, that in the vast gardens of the monastery of Koenigsaal, in Bohemia, was a representation of all the principal countries of the Here were globe, of the mountains, rivers, and seas. shrubs and plants from various regions, and on the wails

[* The third edition was published at Coventry in 1759, 8vo.-ED.]

of polished stone was engraved the whole Bible, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, the letters increasing in proportion to their height from the ground, so that the whole could be read easily by those who walked round it."*

Can any correspondent supply further particulars of a place so extraordinary and interesting?

F. C. H.

MONOGRAM "A. E. I."- What is the meaning and origin of the monogram "A. E. I.," now so much used upon trinkets, letter-paper, &c.?

SIGMA.

MUSTER ROLLS, ETC.-Would any correspondent of "N. & Q." oblige the writer by giving him the names of any bowmen named Archer, of Suffolk, which occur in the following, viz. Brit. Mus. Harl. MSS. 366, ff 40-52; 309, ff 186, 7; or Comm. of Muster, temp. Edw. I.-II.; MSS. 433, 1192? Likewise of any persons named Gordon, Taaffe, or Jones, that appear in the Army Lists and Debentures, signed by Lord Ranelagh, 1699, Brit. Mus. Addit. MSS. 9755, &c.

The following references to Taaffe MSS. in Trin. Coll., Dublin, might assist another disposed to oblige me by looking over them: F. 4-18, E. 3-18, E. 3-2. SP.

NYING. In the biography of the famous Dr. Forman, circa 150, the phrase is used of "loved him nying well." Query, the meaning and derivaBUSHEY HEATH.

tion ?

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A PRINCE OF WALES'S BROOCH.-My wife possesses a brooch which has been in her family for many years, and which I think is so peculiar in form that it warrants a query respecting it. It is in the shape of a trident, or rather of a trident without a handle. The three forks of the trident are composed of diamonds set in gold and enamelled, with two white feathers, also of enamel, springing out of the head of the trident. Exactly in the centre of the brooch, a circle of chased gold is laid, and in its centre is a monogram (G.R.) with a fillet around, on which are the words "The Hope of the British Empire."

Can you suggest which of our princes of Wales of the Georgian era is alluded to? We can now with pride and pleasure point happily to one who is indeed "the hope of the British Empire," but I cannot recall to mind the date when there was such enthusiasm relative to one of his princely predecessors who could be so distinguished by that appellation. NOEL H. ROBINSON.

QUOTATIONS WANTED.—

"As the rose of the valley when dripping with dew, Is the sweetest in odour, and brightest in hue; So the gleam of dear woman most lovely appears, When it beams from her eloquent eyes through her tears."

Ap. Dubois, Hist. de l'Abbaye de Morimond, 26.

Queries with Answers.

OLD TAYLOR, THE ARTIST.—I find among paper scraps as follows:

"Old Taylor, the artist, painted more than three thousand heads (in little) at Oxford, in six or eight years,

at two or three guineas a-head."

Who knows anything of this Old Taylor? Where are any of his heads in little? Photography has settled that no similar feat shall ever be performed again. BUSHEY HEATH.

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[The individual inquired after we take to be John Taylor, Esq., that venerable and highly respected patriarch of English artists, who died at his house in Cirencester Place on Nov. 21, 1838, in the ninetieth year of his age. A few months before his death a friend met him in the New Road, and after a little lively chat, took the liberty to ask his precise age. Why," said Mr. Taylor, his eyes sparkling with fun, I am not quite ninety, but I'm what the people on the Stock Exchange would call eighty-nine and seven-eighths." In his youth, Mr. Taylor was the pupil of Hayman, on whom Colman fathered his whimsical tale of Frank Hayman and the Hare. On leaving Hayman's studio, he devoted himself principally to portrait drawings in pencil, until he at length accumulated a sufficient sum to enable him to retire with comfort. This money he invested in the long annuities, which expired in 1840, two years after his death, so that the calculation was rather a nice one!

Mr. Taylor was one of the original members of the Incorporated Society of Artists, the precursor of the Royal Academy. His memory, especially with reference to the events of his boyhood, was remarkably tenacious. Among other matters, he perfectly recollected having witnessed the execution of the Scots lords on Tower Hill in 1746 -a spectacle certainly well calculated to make a permanent impression on any beholder. His mind was abundantly stored with anecdotes of artists of former days; and, could he have been induced to publish a volume of his reminiscences, it would have been an invaluable contribution to our art literature.

It is right we should state that we are indebted for these interesting particulars of "Old Taylor" to a periodical so ably conducted for above thirty long years by our venerable correspondent himself, now somewhat more than an octogenarian; but who, it would seem, like Hamlet, has

"From the table of his memory Wiped away all trivial fond records,

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, That youth and observation copied there." The reproduction, however, of the memorabilia of the aged John Taylor may not altogether prove uninteresting to the present generation of our pictorial brotherhood.]

PRINTING.In the Athenæum of June 13, 1868, is an interesting paper on "Old Printing," by Professor de Morgan, mentioning some rare works which are occasionally rejected as imperfect

by ignorant booksellers, owing to mistakes of sigtended to by the early printers as at present. I natures, paging, &c., which were not so well atshall be glad of a reference to any handy work which explains the details of catchwords, signatures, &c., and the various mysteries of the printer's art.

F. M. S.

[About 1469-70, alphabetical tables of the first words of each chapter were introduced as a guide to the binder. The catch, or direction-words, now generally abolished, were first used at Venice by Vindeline de Spire, 1471. They are found in a work entitled Lilium Medicinæ, printed at Ferrara in 1486. Their use and convenience did not occur to the Parisian printers till the year 1520. The name and place of the inventor of signatures is involved in obscurity. It appears they were inserted into an edition of Terence, printed at Milan in 1470, by Anthony Zorat, and an edition of Baldi Lectura super Codic., &c. was printed at Venice by John de Colonia and Jo. Manthen de Gherretzem, anno 1474: it is in folio, and the signatures are not introduced till the middle of the book, and then continued throughout. Abbé Reve ascribes the discovery to John Koelhof, at Cologne, in 1472. They were used at Paris in 1476, and by Caxton in 1480. It is customary to commence with B on the first sheet of the body of the work, and to go regularly through the alphabet, with the exception of the letters J, V, and W, which are seldom used as signatures; and which had, in fact, no existence in the alphabet at the time of the invention of printing. The late venerable Sylvanus Urban used figures instead of letters. "The mysteries of the printer's art" may be learnt from the following works among others: 1. Johnson's Typographia; or the Printer's Instructor, 2 vols. 8vo, 1824. 2. Hansard's Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing, royal 8vo, 1825. 3. Savage's Dictionary of the Art of Printing, 8vo, 1841. 4. Timperley's Dictionary` of Printers and Printing, roy. 8vo, 1839; and 5. Blades's Memoirs of William Caxton, 2 vols. 4to, 1861.]

SYKES: THAYER, ETC. The inquirer will be thankful for information on the following points:

1. When did Sykes's sale take place? Is there any catalogue of the sale extant? "Parliamentary Generals in ten ovals, 12mo, were sold at Sykes's sale for 231. 2s." Who was the purchaser? Are the names of the ten generals known?

2. John Thayer, Esq. of Cooper's Hill, Gloucester, temp. Car. I. was in possession of the library of Lanthony Priory; his grandfather having married the sister of the last prior. At Thayer's death, Charles II. bought 800 MS. of his executors for the Royal Library, St. James's. Are they known to be in existence ? if so, where?

3. Who was "Th. Tw.," a writer of "Elegiack Memorials" of eminent men, published by Jennings at the Exchange, 1653 ? I. B. D. [1. The sale of the splendid, curious, and extensive library of Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, by Mr. Evans,