accompanied by the delightful handle-organs and the rustic triangle, their tributes are paid to Terpsichore; every where a similitude of talents: the dancing outdoes not the musician,"

Description of the Assize Court:

"The forefront has a noble and sublime aspect, and is particularly characteristical to what it ought to represent. It is built in a division of three fronts in the corinthic order: each of them consists in four raizing colunas, resting upon a general basement, from the one end of the forefront to the other, and supporting a cornish, equally running all over the face; upon this cornish rests a balustrad, like the other pieces alto gether of Bremen-hardstone. The middle front, serving for the chief entrance, is adorned with the provincial arms, sculpted by Mr. Gabriel, &c. . Every where a sublime plan, and exact execution is exhibited here, and the whole tends as much to the architects, who are the undertakers of it, as they have earned great praizes by building anew the burnt Lutheran church."

I will not trespass on your space by any further extracts; but these will suffice to show that my book is sui generis, and worth commemoration. C. W. B.

"Some years since," says he, p. 31., "I was at Wormer, at an inn near the town-hall: the landlady, whose name was Frankjen, told me of the Burgomaster of Hoorn, who in the spring went over the (Zuyder?) sea to buy oxen, and going into a certain house he found seven little children sitting by the fire, each with a porringer in its hand, and eating rice-milk, or pap, with a spoon; on which the Burgomaster said, Mother, you are very kind to your neighbours, since they leave their children to your care.' No,' said the woman, they are all my own children, which I had at one birth; and if you will wait a moment, I will show you more that will surprise you.' She then fetched seven other children a birth older: so she had fourteen children at two births. Then the woman said to the Burgomaster, I am now enceinte, and I think in the same way as before: if you come here next year, call upon me again.' And so, the next year, when the Burgomaster went over the sea, he called upon the woman; and the woman had again brought forth seven children at a birth. Thus the woman had at three births twenty-one children."

I subjoin the original of which the above is a literal translation. J. S.

Woudenberg, April, 1851.

RAMASSHED, MEANING OF THE TERM.

In the curious volume recently edited by Sir Henry Ellis for the Camden Society, entitled The Pilgrymage of Syr R. Guylforde, Knyght, a singular term occurs, which may claim a note of explanation. It is found in the following passage: Saterdaye to Suse, Noualassa, and to Lyungborugh; and at the sayd Noualassa we toke moyles to stey us vp the mountayne, and toke also marones to kepe vs frome fallynge. And from the hyght of the mounte down to Lyuyngborugh I was ramasshed, whiche is a right straunge thynge.”— P. 80.

Sir Henry has not bestowed upon us here any of those erudite annotations, which have customarily enhanced the interest of works edited under his care.

Sir Richard Guylforde was on his homeward course from the Holy Places by way of Pavia, where he visited the convent and church which contained the shrine and relics of St. Augustine, as also the tomb of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III., whose monumental inscription (not to be found in Sandford's Genealogical History) the worthy knight copied.

On the 13th Feb. 1506, Sir Richard approached the ascent of Mont Cenis by the way of S. Ambrogio and Susa. At the village of Novalese, now in ruins, the party took mules, to aid their ascent, and marroni, long-handled mattocks, or pick-axes, to prevent their falling on the dangerous declivities of the snow. The journey was formerly made with frightful expedition by means of a kind of sledge-an expedient termed la ramasse-which enabled the traveller, previously to the construction of that extraordinary road, well known to most readers, to effect in a few minutes a perilous descent of upwards of 6000 feet. The ramasse, as Cotgrave informs us, was—

"A kind of high sled, or wheelbarrow, whereon travellers are carried downe certaine steep and slippery bils in Piemont."

Its simplest form had probably been a kind of fagot of brushwood,―ramazza, or a besom, not much unlike the rapid locomotive of witches, who were called in old times ramassières, from their supposed practice of riding on a ramée, ramasse, or besom. At the present time even, it occasionally occurs that an adventurous traveller crossing the Mont Cenis is tempted to glide down the rapid descent, in preference to the long course of the zigzag road; and I remember to have heard at Lauslebourg the tale, doubtless often related, of an eccentric Milord who ascended the heights thrice from that place, a journey of some hours, for the gratification of the repeated excitement caused by a descent on the ramasse in about as many minutes. The cranium of a horse, as it was stated, was the vehicle often preferred for this curious adventure: and the tra

Wright, the publisher of the Anti-Jacobin, lived at 169. Piccadilly, and his shop was the general morning resort of the friends of the ministry, as Debrell's was of the oppositionists. About the time when the Anti-Jacobin was contemplated, Owen, who had been the publisher of Burke's pamphlets, failed. The editors of the Anti-Jacobin took his house, paying the rent, taxes, &c., and gave it up to Wright, reserving to themselves the first floor, to which a communication was opened through Wright's house. Being thus enabled to pass to their own rooms through Wright's shop, where their frequent visits did not excite any remarks, they contrived to escape particular observation.

Their meetings were most regular on Sundays, but they not unfrequently met on other days of the week, and in their rooms were chiefly written the poetical portions of the work. What was written was generally left open upon the table, and as others of the party dropped in, hints or suggestions were made; sometimes whole passages were contributed by some of the parties present, and afterwards altered by others, so that it is almost impossible to ascertain the names of the authors. Where, in the above notes, a piece is ascribed to different authors, the conflicting statements may arise from incorrect information, but sometimes they arise from the whole authorship being assigned to one person, when in fact both may have

contributed. If we look at the references, vol. ii. pp. 420. 532. 623., we shall see Mr. Canning naming several authors, whereas Lord Burghersh assigns all to one author. Mr. Canning's authority is here more to be relied upon. "New Morality" Mr. Canning assigns generally to the four contributors; Mr. Wright has given some interesting particulars by appropriating to each his peculiar portion.

Gifford was the working editor, and wrote most of the refutations and corrections of the "Lies," Mistakes," and "Misrepresentations."

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The papers on finance were chiefly by Pitt: the first column was frequently for what he might send; but his contributions were uncertain, and generally very late, so that the space reserved for him was sometimes filled up by other matter. He only once met the editors at Wright's.

Upcott, who was at the time assistant in Wright's shop, was employed as amanuensis, to copy out for the printer the various contributions, that the authors' handwriting might not be detected. EDW. HAWKINS.

The Anti-Jacobin (Vol. iii., p. 334.).—In a copy of the Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin, now in my possession, occurs this note in the autograph of Mr. James Boswell:

"These lines [Lines written by a Traveller at Czarcozelo] were written by William PITT-as I learnt from his nephew on the 28th of May 1808, at a dinner held in honour of his memory.”

The sirname is in large capital letters; the This is the note year is indistinctly written. which is indicated in the auction-catalogue of the library of Mr. Boswell, No. 2229.

Minor Notes.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Egg and Arrow Ornament.-Mr. Ruskin, in his Stones of Venice, vol. i. p. 305., says –

"The Greek egg and arrow cornice is a nonsense cornice, very noble in its lines, but utterly absurd in its meaning. Arrows have had nothing to do with eggs. (at least since Leda's time), neither are the so-called arrows like arrows, nor the eggs like eggs, nor the honeysuckles like honeysuckles: they are all conventionalized into a monotonous successiveness of nothing -pleasant to the eye, useless to the thought." The ornament of which Mr. R. thus speaks is indifferently called egg and tongue, egg and dart, as well as egg and arrow. It seems to me that the egg is a complete misnomer, although common to all the designations; and I fancy that the idea of what is so called was originally derived from the full-length shield, and therefore that the ornament should be named the shield and dart, an association more reasonable than is suggested by any of the ordinary appellations. Can any of

Matthew xiii. 14.:

"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.'"

This proverb seems to have been common to all ages and countries. It is of frequent occurrence in the New Testament (Mark iv. 12.; viii. 18.; John xii. 40.; Acts xxviii. 25.; Romans xi. 8.), and, as in Matthew, is referred to Isaiah. But, in the Old Testament, there is earlier authority for its use in Deuteronomy xxix. 4. It occurs also in Jeremiah v. 21.; in Ezekiel xii. 2., and, with a somewhat different application, in the Psalms, cxv. 5.; cxxxv. 16.

That it was employed as an established proverb by Demosthenes seems to have been generally overlooked. He says:

“Οἱ μὲν οὕτως ὁρῶντες τὰ τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἔργα, ὥστε τὸ τῆς παροιμίας, ὁρῶντες μὴ ὁρᾶν, καὶ ἀκούοντας μὴ ἀκούειν. (Κατὰ ̓Αριστογείτονος, A. Taylor, Cantab. vol. ii. pp. 494–5.)

It is quoted, however, by Pricæus (p. 97.), who also supplies exactly corresponding passages from Maximus Tyrius (A. D. 190), Plutarch (A.D. 10720), and Philo (A. D. 41). Of these, the last only can have been prior to the publication of St. Matthew's Gospel, which Saxius places, at the earliest, in the reign of Claudius.

Hugo Grotius has no reference to Demosthenes ́in his Annotationes in Vet. Test., Vogel & Doderein, 1776; but cites Heraclitus the Ephesian, who, according to Saxius, flourished in the year 502 B. C., and Aristides, who, on the same authority, lived in the 126th year of the Christian era. Has any other commentator besides Pricæus alluded to the passage in Demosthenes? C. H. P. Brighton, April 21.

THE HOUSE OF MAILLÉ.

The house of Maillé (vide Lord Mahon's Life of Condé) contributed to the Crusades one of its bravest champions. Can any of your numerous contributors give me information as to the name and achievements of the Crusader?

Claire Clémence de Maillé, daughter of the Maréchal Duke de Brezé, and niece of Richelieu, was married in 1641 to the Duc d'Enghien, after wards the Great Condé; and Lord Mahon, somewhere in his life of the hero, makes mention of the princess as the "last of her family."

Claire Clémence had an only brother, who held the exalted post of High Admiral of France, and in 1646 he commanded a French fleet which disembarked 8000 men in the marshes of Sienna, and himself shortly afterwards fell at the siege of Orbitello. The admiral having died unmarried, the Brezé estates became the property of the princess,

who transmitted them to her descendants, the last of whom was the unfortunate Duc d'Enghien, who perished at Vincennes.

Thus much is patent; but I think it probable his lordship was not aware that a branch of the family was exiled, and with the La Touches, La Bertouches, &c., settled in the sister kingdom, most likely at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Their descendants subsequently passed over into this country, and have contributed to the lists of the legal and medical professions. Up to the present century a gentleman bearing the slightly altered name of Mallié held a commission in the British army. Even now, the family is not extinct, and the writer being lately on a visit to a lady, probably the sole representative in name of this once powerful house, noticed in her possession a series of four small engravings, representing the Great Condé; his mother, a princess of Montmorency, pronounced to be the “ handsomest woman in Europe;" the old Maréchal de Maillé Brezé; and his daughter, Claire Clémence.

Our Pall Mall is, I believe, derived from Pailée Maillé, a game somewhat analogous to cricket, and imported from France in the reign of the second Charles: it was formerly played in St. James's Park, and in the exercise of the sport a small hammer or mallet was used to strike the ball. I think it worth noting that the Mallié crest is a mailed arm and hand, the latter grasping a mallet.

Be it understood that the writer has no pretensions to a knowledge of heraldic terms and devices; so, without pinning any argument on the coincidence, he thought it not without interest. He is aware that the mere fact of a similarity between surnames and crests is not without its parallel in English families. A NEW SUBSCRIBER.

Birmingham, April 22. 1851.

Minor Queries.

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of the word "eign Meaning of eign."What is the meaning in Presteign, also the name of a street and a brook? Is it connected with the H. C. K. Anglo-Saxon thegen or theign? Hereford.

The Bonny Cravat. Can any of your readers give a probable explanation of the meaning of the sign of an inn at Woodchurch, in Kent, which is "The Bonny Cravat," now symbolised as a huge white neckcloth, with a "waterfall" tie?

E. H. Y. III.? What was the Day of the Accession of Richard Sir Harris Nicolas, in his Chronology of History (2nd edition, p. 326.) decides for June 26, 1433, giving strong reasons for such opinion. But his primary reason, founded on a fac-simile extract from the Memoranda Kolls in the office of the King's Remembrancer in the Exchequer of