BYRON VOLUME (7th S. xii. 347, 389). Unfortunately I have not the Indexes to N. & Q. with me, but am sure if MR. CUTHBERT WELCH and MR. BERTRAM DOBELL would consult that portion of 'Byronic Literature' which has already appeared, they will find the said Byron volume relegated to its proper place under that section which deals wtih Fiction relating to Byron.' I have waited, before making any reply to this query, to see whether Mr. H. S. Schultess Young, who is responsible for the book, would offer an explanation as to the sources whence these purely imaginative letters were obtained. But as the matter is before the public, and because 'N. & Q' has opened its columns to this question, I will endeavour to supply an answer. In the first place, the volume in question was never published. In the second, the letters are not genuine. Mr. Young seems to have stumbled across some of the many well-known forgeries of Byron, and without sufficient inquiry strung these letters into a volume. The book was shown to me some years ago, and I recollect at once writing to Mr. George Bentley a letter on the subject, which that gentleman was pleased to say should be kept for future reference in case the subject should come to be discussed. I cannot pretend, at this distance of time and place, to recapitulate my humble judgment; but I have no doubt that Mr. George Bentley would be willing to give 'N. & Q.' the opportunity of judging whether I was justified in proclaiming the entire collection as pure and unadulterated fiction. I remember also that Mr. H. S. Schultess Young met my challenge at the time by stating that when he edited those letters he was a very young man. I took that statement to mean that he was both older and wiser at the time of his rejoinder. Hotel National, Montreux. RICHARD EDgcumbe. PLANETOID (7th S. xii. 448).-Perhaps I may be allowed to quote from my own little book, 'Celestial Motions,' seventh edition, p. 125: "Early in the present century four new planets were discovered, revolving between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, which are so much smaller than all the others, that distinct terms-planetoids or asteroids-were suggested for them. But as they differ from the others only in respect of their comparatively minute size, it is now more usual to call them small or minor planets." The fact is this designation may be described, according to a phrase which has become common, as the survival of the fittest. It was Sir William Herschel who, shortly after the discovery of the first four, suggested the name asteroids, which seems to exclude their planetary nature. Nor is the term "planetoid "much more appropriate, since it signifies having the form of, or a resemblance to, planets; whereas these bodies are planets in every sense of the word, and primary planets as revolving directly round the sun. The younger Herschel often called them—that is, the earlier known ones-ultra-zodiacal planets, but they are not all ultra-zodiacal, and the eccentricities and inclinations of the orbits of many of them do not exceed those of some of the large planets. And even in size the demarcation, although sufficient to separate them from the latter and justify us in giving them the distinctive adjective "small," is not enough to deprive them of their rank as planets. Jupiter would contain our earth as many times as Mercury would one of the largest and earliest discovered of the small planets. "Viewed exactly," says MR. HALL, "a comet is as much a planet as Jupiter." I presume he means by this that both not only move (for that, the etymological sense of planet, probably every body in the universe does), but move or revolve round the sun. Of course, as any science advances its terminology becomes more difficult to preserve as its classified subjects runs more and more into one another. Still, there is reason to think that comets are bodies of a nature different from that of the planets, and therefore it is well to keep them in a distinct class, although the forms of the orbits of a few do not differ greatly from those of some of the planets, and the etymological meaning of the word by no means belongs to all. But in all these things we must do the best we can. Meteoric streams, like comets, revolve in orbits directly round the sun-some not only in similar, indeed, but almost identical orbitsyet it is surely desirable to keep the designations distinct. W. T. LYNN. Blackheath. This is a term that has been used for the "minor planets," formerly usually called "asteroids," which revolve round the sun in the space between Mars and Jupiter, where 8 "major planet" might have been expected to exist. It small objects formed fragments of a large planet was at one time thought that these comparatively which had by some catastrophe been broken to pieces. They were therefore called "asteroids" star-like, or planetoids" planet-like, but "the investigations of the motions of the numerous minor planets discovered in later years do not tend to confirm " this theory (See Dunkin's Midnight Sky,' 1891, p. 257). Comets are wanderers which it would certainly be a mistake to confound with planets. J. F. MANSERGH. Liverpool. = = NAKED (7th S. xii. 365, 436).-Having already, in Blackwood's Magazine for June, expressed an opinion on the merits of Mr. Calderon's remarkable picture, I will not venture into the fray of dispute about the meaning of a good, plain Latin word, and its equally good and plain English equivalent; but I may be permitted to call attention to one point which seems to have escaped notice, namely, that to strip oneself naked seems to have been a recognized proceeding in moments of extreme spiritual exaltation. When Saul went to Naioth in Ramah, we read that the Spirit of God came upon him, and ❝he stripped off his clothes [se nudavit], and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?"—1 Sam. xix. 23, 24. HERBERT MAXWELL. DR. NICHOLSON may possibly care to have his attention directed to the following passage with reference to Othello,' IV. i. 3, alluded to by him (ante, p. 365):— I'll send me fellows of a handful high The Merry Devil of Edmonton,' 1608, Hazlitt's F. C. BIRKBECK TERRY. celebration of the Mass. Thus the old 'Liber Sacrarum Mr. Maskell also refers to the custom of admitting the newly consecrated prince a canon of some cathedral church (v. Ducange “Canonici Honararii "), and states that a stall in the Cathedral of St. David's is attached to the English Crown. NATHANIEL HONE. The fact that the imperial dalmatic is preserved in the treasury of St. Peter's does not imply that the medieval Roman emperor was a deacon, as according to Webster's Dictionary' the dalmatic was worn by kings in the middle ages on solemn occasions." Moreri's 'Dict.' (1694), however, ECCLESIASTICAL FUNCTIONS OF MEDIÆVAL EM-states that after the emperor was elected at Aix-laPERORS (7th S. xii. 369).—It may have been cus-Chapelle he "was made a Canon of the Collegiate tomary for the emperor to read the Gospel at his Church" of that city. J. F. MANSERGÈ. coronation, but no mention is made of it in the Liverpool. 'Ordo Romanus ad Benedicendum Imperatorem' (Muratori, tom. i. p. 103). At this part of the service the rubric directs as follows: "Hac laude finita legitur Epistola et cantatur Graduale & Allelina Post quæ Imperator & Imperatrix deponunt Coronas Tunc legitur Evangelium." The dalmatic was originally proper to the deacons of Rome, conceded gradually to abbots and bishops, and later to kings and emperors. It was used at the coronations of kings of England at least as early as Richard I., and still continues to be one of the coronation vestments of English sovereigns. Of itself, without Order, it would give no ecclesiastical status; but it appears from the Ordo above quoted that it was customary for the Pope to confer the tonsure on the emperor elect. At the vesting ceremony the rubric runs : "Finita oratione vadit Electuo ad Chorum Sancti Gregorii. Et inducunt eum Amictu et alba & Cingula. Et sic deducunt eum ad Dominum Papam in Secretorium Ibique fuciat eum clericum. Et concedit ei Tunicam et Dalmaticam et Pluvialem et Mithram Caligas et Sandalia quibus utatur in Coronatione sua." I may add that Mr. Bryce, in his 'Holy Roman Empire,' states that the subdiaconate was conferred, and gives as references the Liber Ceremonialis Romanus' and 'Coronatio Romana Henry VII.,' Pertz. Since writing the above I have come across a note in Mr. Maskell's Monumenta Ritualia,' vol. ii. p. 17: "It was an ancient custom, now omitted in the Roman Pontifical, that the Emperor after his consecration should attend upon the Pontiff as subdeacon, during the PONTEFRACT CASTLE (7th S. xii. 188).-I must apologize to ASTARTE for so long delaying a reply to her inquiry; but I have mislaid my references and extracts. I may, however, say, in the absence of fuller particulars, that the quotation is at least inaccurate. This may be seen by reference to the original, which is the fiftieth letter to Stella under date July 17, 1712 : "You hear Secretary St. John is made Viscount Bolingbroke. I could hardly persuade him to take that title, because the eldest branch of his family had it-as take it, I advised him to be Lord Pomfret, which I think an earldom-and it was last year extinct. If he did not is a noble title. You hear of it often in the Chronicles, Pomfret Castle; but we believed it was among the titles of some other lord.” The passage appears on the title-page of Booth- Swift. I have seen it elsewhere somewhat after this fashion : Its name 's in all the histories: Our histories are full of Pomfret Castle. This latter passage-still, however, a paraphrase— is certainly more rhythmical than that of Boothroyd, and it is evidently that which ASTARTE had in mind. I therefore exceedingly regret that I cannot point to its locality; but I think it may be relied on that the original of both is that which I have quoted, and to which I have given the exact reference. Its appearance in Boothroyd as blank verse, however rugged, has, I have no doubt, materially helped to baffle inquiry as to its source. It is by no means the first time that such an inquiry has been made, and made unsuccessfully. There is a somewhat amusing account in Add. MSS. (Hunter's, about 24,470) of a visit that the late Joseph Hunter, when staying at Fryston, above half a century ago, made to Pontefract. While there he called upon George Fox, and the assertion having been made that John Fox, his father, had more than an equal share in the compilation of the history that goes by the name of Boothroyd, Mr. Hunter put to him the inquiry now made by ASTARTE; but he could obtain no satisfactory reply. Mr. Fox evidently did not know. All this is duly entered on Mr. Hunter's notes, and appears in the MS. at the reference I have approximately given; and some time afterwards he added in a different ink, and with a different pen, as a postscriptum, the reference which I have given. These MSS. have been in the Museum and open to the literary world above a quarter of a century-I myself saw them in the autumns of 1880 and 1881, when I noted this among their contents-but no one else seems to have observed it before or since, or surely ASTARTE's inquiry would have received some reply, and not have remained unanswered for three months. I crave leave to add a few words. The Dean evidently meant that he liked the name of Pomfret as ASTARTE has it; for there was no pretence that he was familiar with the place, as Boothroyd's quotation implies. But perhaps the partiality expressed by Swift led to its adoption by Lord Lempster, who became Earl of Pomfret in 1721. It is not a little remarkable that each of the titles of this earl should thus be of a corrupted form. Lempster is barbarian for Leominster, with an intruding p. Pomfret is ditto for Pontefract, with an intruding m. R. H. H. Pontefract. MAY DEW FOLK-LORE (7th S. xii. 447).-Pepys records in his 'Diary' for May 28, 1667 : number of persons went into the fields and bathed Aubrey in his Miscellanies' says :— solvent." Here BARREL-ORGANS AND ORGAN-Grinders (7th S. xii. 387).-The only reference I can trace in N. & Q.' to this subject will be found in 5th S. iii. 180, 200, where the Editor informs a correspondent that Edwin Waugh's 'Tufts of Heather from the Northern Moors' contains an amusing account of a barrel-organ on its first introduction in a village church. Charles Knight, in a collection of street views about 1789, has given his 'London,' i. 143, says "Dayes, who published us the group which concludes our paper. we have the organ, the triangle, the tambourine, and hurdy-gurdy, each striving which should be loudest." This, I think, must have been an early instance of its appearance in the streets, for "Aleph" (William Harvey), in a chapter devoted to "Street Music Fifty Years Since" in 'London Scenes and London People,' published in 1843, says, "There were no German bands in those days, and the organs were 'few and far between.' They hardly dared to try Mr. Bull's patience then; if they had, it would have been at the risk of stoning, or something worse." Hone, in his 'Table Book,' In the Morning Post for May 2, 1791, it is said 403, gives the 'Lines to a Barrel Organ. All the that on the previous day, "being the first of May, Year Round, First Series, vi. 180, refers to the according to annual and superstitious custom, a'Organ Nuisance,' and in xi., for June 11, 1864, "My wife away down with Jane and W. Hewer to Woolwich, in order to a little ayre and to lie there tonight, and so to gather May-dew to-morrow morningwhich Mrs. Turner hath taught her is the only thing in the world to wash her face with; and I am contented with it." And again, on May 10, 1669 : "Troubled about three in the morning with my wife's calling her maid up and rising herself to go with her coach abroad to gather May-dew, which she did, and I troubled for it, for fear of any hurt, going abroad so betimes, happening to her; but I to sleep again, and she come home about six." there is a paper entitled 'Battle of the Barrels,' while Chambers's Journal, 1843, First Series, xii. 90, comments on The Music of the Streets of London,' in which the barrel-organ is not forgotten. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road, DR. SAMUEL TURNER (7th S. xii. 429, 495).-He was grandson of William Turner, Dean of Wells, and son of Peter Turner, M.D., by Pascha, sister of Henry Parry, Bishop of Worcester. He was of C.C.C., Oxon, and afterwards of St. Alban's Hall, M. A. July 8, 1605. "In the Parliament of 1625 he showed himself of a bold spirit and able elocution in assaulting the King's minion, the Duke of Buckingham," but on his re-election for Shaftesbury in 1640,"being fully persuaded what the desperate courses then taken would lead to, joined the king at Oxford, and in 1643 sat in his Parliament there" (L'Estrange's Hist. of Reign of Charles I.'). He died in 1647, and his character is said to have been none of the purest. In 1643 he published A True Relation of a Late Skirmish at Henley-onThames, wherein the Reading Cavaliers were Defeated.' J. H. PARRY. OF FOLK-LORE (7th S. xii. 468).-I would suggest that W. G. should refer to N. & Q.,' 2nd S. x. 19; 3rd S. iii. 362, 439; iv. 402; the Western Antiquary, v. 69; Scottish Antiquary, iv. 188, v. 46; and All the Year Round, First Series, ii. 25; Second Series, xxix. 369, xxxiii. 81, for the information he requires. 71, Brecknock Road. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. ALLEGED EARLY CIRCUMNAVIGATION AFRICA (7th S. xii. 406, 477).—While I agree with Sir E. H. Bunbury in thinking that on the whole MR. GOMME's suggestion would seem to imply the preponderance of argument is against accepting ignorance of a locus classicus upon the subject. as historical the alleged circumnavigation of See On some Traditions Relating to the SubmerAfrica by the Phoenicians employed by Necho, Ision of Ancient Cities,' reprinted in Essays, &c., did not mean to imply that I thought "the story of Bishop Thirlwall,' 1880. of Herodotus incredible." There seems to be great force in the remark that if it had been a fact, some details of the voyage would have been preserved, just as in the case of Hanno's voyage on the west coast of Africa sufficient indications are given to enable us to identify with great probability the places which he passed. Moreover, had the voyage really been accomplished, other navigators would probably have repeated what was thus proved to be practicable. MR. MOORE does not agree with my suggestion that something is wanting in the passage in Herodotus referring to this; but he completes that historian's sentence in a way that makes his meaning the very reverse of that which Prof. Rawlinson takes it, who translates "Next to these Phoenicians the Carthaginians, according to their own accounts, made the voyage." Sir E. H. Bunbury thinks that the original (which I gave in my last communication) does not mean this, but only that the Carthaginians asserted that such a voyage was possible, without stating whether such belief was founded on any discoveries of their own. It was noticing these different views that led me to throw out my suggestion that something was wanting in the original, which, as it stands, will scarcely bear the meaning attributed to it, and leaves the sense obscure. COMPARATIVE VALUE OF OLD COINS (7th S. xii. 447).-Though I am sorry that I cannot give MR. CHARLES the exact information he seeks, yet I have a few notes relating to the subject which may be of some use to him or others of your correspondents. 1286. "11. 158. 11d. Paris' valet in sterlingis 678. 5d.; 27. 10s. 8d. Paris' valet in sterlingis 77. 178. 4d.; 10s. 6d. Paris' valet in sterlingis 3s." -Wardrobe Account, 3/22, 14-15 Edw. I., Q.R. 1291-2. "For xiij and xij florins to gild the Queen's image [apparently on her tomb], 50 marks and 13s......For 204 florins more, 25l. 10s."Wardrobe Account, 6/3, 20 Edw. I., Q.R. Feb. 7, 1326. The king's oblation to the image of St. Mary, Walsingham, "viij florenor' auri ad agnum,' ," at 4s. 2d. each, 33s. 4d.-Wardrobe Account, 25/1, 19 Edw. II., Q.R. Dec. 15, 1331. To the king, for gaming, 28 florins of Florence, 4l. 6s. 4d.-Wardrobe Account, 60/3, 5 Edw. III., Q.R. Dec. 20, 1331. The king sends to Canterbury his oblation to St. Thomas, "ex antiquo consuetudine," three florins of Florence, 9s.-Ibid. Oct. 10, 1342. "10 par' sokkes de beure " (beaver), bought at Bruges at 12d. per pair in Flanders money, and 8d. English. Four beaver hats, each 2s. in Flanders money, 16d. Englisb.Wardrobe Account, 37/1, 16 Edw. III., Q.R. 1343. Order for new coinage. "Six souldz desterling," weighing four "peccor' floryns de Florence, de bon pois," 50 of these going to one "livre de la Tour."-Close Roll, 17 Edw. III., Part II., dorso. 1344. The six "soldz" piece to be called a gold noble, value 6s. 8d.-Close Roll, 18 Edw. III., Part II., dorso. 1515. "Crowns of the sonne at 4s. 2d. the crown, now having course in France."Close Roll, 7 Hen. VIII. HERMENTRUDE. Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. Gossip in a Library. By Edmund Gosse. (Heinemann.) MR. Gosse's new volume belongs to a class of which the genuine book-lover has always shown himself specially fond. In France, wherein the book is the object of a more idolatrous cult than in England, some works of this class-notably the 'Mélanges Tirés d'une Petite Bibliothèque' of Charles Nodier, issued by Crapelet stand in highest estimation. In England the past is falling into disrepute and the modern only interests us. Busy in the search after Cruikshanks, Dickenses, Thackerays, and Mr. Langs, the book-lover allows the Retrospective Reviews and the like to sink into neglect until there is a chance that works once a special grace of the book-lover's shelves degenerate into the lumber of the stalls. Mr. Gosse's work consists of a series of accounts of books in his own library reprinted from various periodicals. These go back no further than the Mirror for Magistrates,' of the origin and development of which a good account is given. A volume of old plays deals with what is known to be a special strength, or weakness, of the writer-the rough, ill-printed dramas of the late seventeenth century, the first editions, in fact, of Restoration dramatists. To Lady Winchilsea's Poems' Mr. Gosse was one of the first to call attention, and his paper upon this subject has special interest. Camden's' Britannia' and Gerard's 'Herbal' are among the subjects of the earlier papers, 'Ionica' and the Shaving of Shagpat' among the later. Mr. Gosse writes sympathetically and pleasantly, his estimates will generally be accepted, and the task of reading his volume is one of the pleasantest conceivable. Siberia and the Exile System. By George Kennan. 2 vols. (Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.) READERS of the Century Magazine will recall the descriptions of Mr. Kennan of Siberian travel and of convict life, which constituted during many months one of the most interesting features of the magazine. We ourselves drew frequent attention to these remarkable and often heart-rending pictures. They have now been republished, with all the original illustrations, in two volumes, which will be read with unfailing interest. Mr. Kennan's journey was undertaken at the direction and under the charge of the proprietors. Facilities not always granted to travellers were conceded the American traveller and his companion, and his opportunities of studying some of the saddest phases of human existence were all that could be desired. In book form the work impresses us more than it did in detached chapters. As a mere record of travel and observation it is stimulating enough, and the account of Siberia it supplies will be startling to those who look upon the country as bound in perpetual frost and forget that it is practically all but a continent. On the fact that they were at one stage in their journey suffering from heat and luxuriating among tropical products the writer often comments. "Stern and wild" enough the country subsequently became, and there is more than enough of arctic severity. All is equally well described. The account of the state of the prisons, the étapes, and the convict stations generally, and of the convicts, the political prisoners especially, is remarkably impressive. Starting with the conviction that Russian political exiles were enemies of the human race, Mr. Kennan saw reason to modify greatly his opinions. His pictures of the sufferers whom he met seem as truthful as they are touching, and his entire book thrills with actuality as with interest. Some of Mr. Kennan's statements have been contradicted. We can claim no such special knowledge as justifies us in forming a decision. In his appendix, however, he offers what appears to be ample corroboration of most that he has put forward. In a journey of such a length, through a strange country and among those who, for varied reasons, would seek to mistakes have not been made. Of the capacity of the confuse or misinform him, it is difficult to suppose that book or of its bona fides no reasonable being will doubt. To the mere reader for amusement it will not be unwelcome. Its value extends further, however; and there are few students of humanity that will not be thankful for its spirited sketches and stirring details. Travels in the Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668, by François Bernier. By Archibald Constable, F.S.A.Scot. (Constable & Co.) WITH a revised and improved edition of Bernier's Travels in the Mogul Empire,' based upon the translation of Irving Brock, Messrs. Constable & Co. begin a series of publications of extreme interest to Englishmen, to be entitled "Constable's Oriental Miscellany." Conscious of the importance of a series such as this to the holders of India, Her Majesty has been pleased to accept the dedication. A somewhat ambitious scheme has been formulated, and will commend itself to a very large class of students and readers. A better start could scarcely have been made. Though forgotten as a philosopher, to which title he put in serious claims, at one time conceded him -Saint-Evremond calls him "le joli philosophe "Bernier has still a reputation as a traveller. A doctor of medicine of Montpellier, he devoted himself from an early age to Eastern travel, explored Syria and Egypt, and was in India for twelve years, eight of them being passed as physician to Aurengzebe. At the time of his visit many of these countries were practically unexplored by Europeans. A man of great courage and intelligence, and an acute observer, he wrote a series of works which gained him the title of the Mogul. As descriptions, and to a great extent as history, these volumes have never been surpassed, and the work now reprinted is one of the most valuable to which those interested in Indian affairs can turn. A translation of his History of the late Revolution of the Empire of the Great Mogul' was issued, in four volumes, so early as 1671-2. Two translations of the 'Travels' were published in 1826, one in Calcutta, unnoticed by Lowndes, the second that of Irving Brock, on which this reprint is based. Both in England and in France the value of Bernier's works is recognized. In France they won him the regard of the most distinguished men of his period. La Fontaine and Chappelle were his friends, as were most of the statesmen and financiers of his epoch, and Boileau mentions him. His works are still in request. Well may they be so. Besides supplying the most trustworthy information we |