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high-bred ladies of twenty years ago were horrified at the sound. Rendezvous is Rendy-vouse irrevocably, and the Frankish obleege has quailed under the hard English i in oblige. C. A. W. May Fair.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer. With an Introductory History of Roads and Travelling in Great Britain. By Samuel Smiles. (Murray.) As the traveller now passes over all the principal roads in the kingdom almost as smoothly as if they were so many bowling-greens, he little thinks that, at the beginning of the present century they were in such a condition that the Highlander's complementary couplet to Marshal Wade might have been applied to them— "Had you seen these roads before they were made, You'd have down on your knees and have blessed"Thomas Telford; for to Telford, among other things, the country is indebted for great improvement in our system of road-making, and his name will ever be associated with the great highways constructed by him in North Wales and the Scotch Highlands. In this interesting little volume, Mr. Smiles has somewhat enlarged the "Life of Telford" originally published in his Lives of the Engineers, and fitly introduces an account of Telford's great engineering works-his Highland Roads and Bridges, Caledonian and other Canals, Menai and Conway Bridges, Docks, &c.-by a view of the state of our roads and mode of travelling before his time. This record of Telford's honourable and useful life, might be placed with advantage in the hands of every lad destined to earn his bread by honest labour.

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. By S. Baring-Gould, M.A. Second Series. (Rivingtons.)

That, on his first visit to the varied field of medieval mythology, Mr. Baring-Gould should have culled as samples of its richness the most brilliant of the flowers that bloomed in it, is scarcely to be wondered at. But it shows how fertile is the soil when he is enabled to cull from it so goodly a second crop as that which he here presents to us. The myths treated of in the present volume are twelve in number. They vary in interest: those of "St. George," and "The Piper of Hameln" being perhaps the most so. But the other ten-St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins; The Legend of the Cross; Schamir; Bishop Hatto; Melusina; The Fortunate Isles; Swan Maidens; The Knight of the Swan; Sangreal; and Theophilus-are all curious and well worth

reading.

Count Lucanor; or, the Fifty Pleasant Stories of Patronio, written by the Prince Don Juan Manuel, A.D. 1335-47. First done into English by James York, Doctor in Medicine. (Pickering.)

Remembering the very interesting account of the collection of tales written by Don Juan Manuel under the title El Conde Lucanor, which appeared in the Foreign Quarterly some years since, it has been matter of wonder to us that the work has never been translated into English. But, as we learn from the Introduction to this the first English version of this remarkable book, written, be it remembered, in the fourteenth century, the first complete edition of the original appeared only seven years ago under the superintendance of Don Pascual de GavanWhether as a picture of Spanish life, at the time it was written, whether for its antique simplicity, or for its

gos.

bearing on the history of Fiction, the book is one which well deserved to be translated.

Enoch Arden. Poema Tennysonianum Latine redditum. (Moxon.)

Enoch Arden, admirably translated into Latin verse by the Margaret Professor of Divinity. Was ever higher tribute paid to living poet, than that which Mr. Selwyn has offered to the Laureate in this handsome volume? BOOKS RECEIVED.

We have a number of small works waiting for notice, which notice must for obvious reasons be but brief. First and foremost are two little volumes of Messrs. Low's Bayard Series, which we can specially commend; the first consists of The Essays of Abraham Cowley, which are not half so well known as they deserve; the second is a charming story, which we suspect will be as new to many of our readers as it was to ourselves-Abdallah, or the Four-leaved Shamrock, translated from the French of M. Laboulaye, the eminent French Jurist.-The Genealogy of the Family of Cole is a carefully compiled little volume, privately printed, and appropriately dedicated to the Earl of Enniskillen.-A Collection of Private Devotions for the Hours of Prayer, compiled by Bishop Cosin (Parker), and The Definitions of the Catholic Faith and Canons, and Discipline of the First Four General Councils of the Universal Church, in Greek and English (Parker), are sufficiently characterised by their respective title-pages.- National Honours and their Noblest Claimants, by J. E. Bigsby, LL.D. The noblest claimants, according to Dr. Bigsby, are men of letters: this is an opinion not universally adopted by men of letters themselves.-Messrs. Letts's various utilitarian Annuals for 1868 continue to merit the patronage which their variety and utility have so generally secured for them; we have now to notice several different issues, foremost among them being The Diary for 1868; The Office British Tariff; and Letts's Parliamentary Register and Calendar; Clerical and Mercantile Tablet Diary; Letts's

Almanack.

UNIVERSAL ART CATALOGUE,

When Lord Campbell declared that it ought to be made a penal offence to publish a book without an Index, the opinion did justice to that strong common sense which was his great characteristic.

What an Index is to one Book a Catalogue is to all' Books.

No one who has had much to do with literary or historical research could for a moment doubt the vast utility of one great General Catalogue of all Books. But the preparation of such a Catalogue must necessarily involve great cost and much labour, and take years to accomplish; and if ever it be accomplished will only be brought about by the preliminary publication of a series of special Catalogues.

It was on this, among other grounds, that we thought, and still think, the project of a UNIVERSAL ART CATALOGUE one well deserving the encouragement and cooperation of all Students of Art and Men of Letters. It is a step in the right direction. Nor can we doubt, if the attempt be crowned with the success which may reasonably be anticipated, and which it assuredly deserves, that it will eventually be followed by other divisions of that great desideratum-a UNIVERSAL CATA-

LOGUE.

It is, therefore, with great satisfaction that we announce to our readers that arrangements have been made with the Department of Science and Art for the publication of the UNIVERSAL ART CATALOGUE in our columns. NOTES AND QUERIES will, for that purpose, be enlarged to thirty-two pages on and after Saturday the 4th of January-four of which pages will, from that time, be devoted weekly to such Catalogue.

This Catalogue, it will be remembered, is in its present form (though of course not complete) as complete as all the resources at the command of the Department of Science and Art can make it; and far more complete and extensive than any similar Catalogue ever committed to the press.

Brought, through the medium of " N. & Q.," under the eyes of a numerous body of readers, who, as experience has shown, are especially qualified and peculiarly willing to assist in the discovery and preservation of bibliographical facts, it cannot be doubted that the errors and omissions inseparable from a first attempt to compile such a Catalogue will be gradually done away with, till the work be brought as near perfection as any work merely human can be; and the result will be that great desideratum for lovers and students of art, throughout the whole civilised world,-a work which may fairly claim to be considered a

UNIVERSAL ART CATALOGUE.

For further particulars, as to the object and nature of the Catalogue, see our advertising columns.

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Notices to Correspondents.

UNIVERSAL ART CATALOGUE.-The pagination of this portion of each number will be separate; so that it may form a complete work in itself. A LONDON PRIEST.-Will our Correspondent say where a letter may be addressed to him?

We have to repeat that it is quite impossible for us to send private replies to Querists.

F. G. W. (Oxford.) " Upwards of" certainly means (not less) but more than, indefinitely to a greater or higher number. So thought Shakspeare, where Queen Katharine says to King Henry VIII.:

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Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 4.

O. H. W. II. Ireland's work, David Rizzio, does not appear to have been published.

R. C. S. W. Contemporary (not cotemporary) is considered the correct spelling. See" N. & Q." ist S. xii. 415.

C. W. M. The origin of the phrase "apple-pie order" is to be found in the once familiar "cap-à-pied."

E. F. A. M. The word Honorificabilitudinity has been noticed in "N. & Q." 3rd S. viii. 396; and its early Latin use in vol. x. 179.

THOMAS WARNER. Longman and Luker, violin makers, are certainly unknown to fame.

CHALK DOWN. The Common Prayer-Book of 1604 is of no particular value.

ERRATA. 3rd S. xii. p. 461 col. i. line 21, for "Sanceto" read Benuto;" and line 25, for "De Yochis "read" De Tochis.'

"NOTES & QUERIES" is registered for transmission abroad.

A VALUABLE ASSEMBLAGE OF BOOKS.

MESSRS. SOTHEBY, WILKINSON & HODGE,

Auctioneers of Literary Property ard Works illustrative of the Fine Arts, will SELL by AUCTION, at their House, No. 13, Wellington Street, Strand, W C., on MONDAY, 6th January, 1868, and Two following Days, at 1 o'clock precisely, a Valuable Assemblage of Books, in all Classes of Literature, Several Important Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, &c.: including Amadis de Gaule, 10 vols. in 7, original edition; Antiphonale secundum Usum Ecclesiæ Romanæ MS. on vellum, with superb miniatures, 1541; Audubon's Birds and Viviparous Quadrupeds of America, 15 vols coloured plates; Balbi Catholicom, Mentelin, circa 1470; Beda Martirologium et Hieronymi Vita Patrum, MS. on vellum, Sac. xv.; Biblia Latina, MS, on vellum, Sec. xiv.: Bibel in Teutsch, 2 vols. Koburger, 1485; Boke of Common Prayer, Edward VI.'s Second Book, printed by Whitchurche, 1552; Booke of Common Prayer, R. Jugge, 1577; Claude's Liber Veritatis, 3 vola Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, 3 vols.; Dugdale's Monasticon, enlarged by Caley, Ellis, and Bandinel, 8 vols.; Evangelia IV. Latine, MS. Sc. xii.. on vellum; Gough's Sepulchral Monuments, 5 vols.; Gould's Birds of Europe, Birds of Asia, Humming Birds and Toucans, 18 vols. coloured plates; Gray's Genera of Birds, 3 vols. coloured plates; Hamil ton's Campi Phlegrai, with Supplement, coloured plates; Litta, Famiglie celebri Italiane, 9 vols.; Luther's Bethbuchlinn, a beautiful specimen of caligraphy, on vellum, with paintings; Musée Français et Musée Royal, 6 vols.: Newtoni Opera Omnia, curante S. Horsley, 5 vols.; Roberts's Holy Land, Syria, &c. 6 vols.; Selby's British Ornithology, 4 vols. coloured plates; Solinus de Situ Orbis et Fulgerius Carnotensis de Via Hierosolimitana, valuable MS. on vellum, Sec. xii., with curious drawing of Jerusalem: Surtees and Raine's Durham, 5 vols. Tunner, Notitia Monastica; Waring's Masterpieces of Industrial Skill, 3 vols.; Watt's Bibliotheca, 4 vols.; Whitaker's Craven, on large paper; Woburn Marbles; and numerous other Standard Works in all ClassPS of Literature.

May be viewed two days prior, and Catalogues had; if by post, on receipt of Four Stamps.

[graphic]

The First Portion of the very Valuable and Extensive Stock of Books of MR. H. G. BOHN, the Eminent Bookseller and Publisher of York Street.

ME

ESSRS. SOTHEBY, WILKINSON & HODGE, Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works illustrative of the Fine Arts, will SELT by AUCTION, at their House, No. 13, Wellington Street, Strand, W.C., on MONDAY, 10th of February, 186, and Twenty-three following Days (Sundays excepted) at 1 o'clock precisely each Day, the First Portion of the very Extensive and Valuable Stock of MR. HENRY GEORGE BOHN, the Eminent Bookseller and Publisher, retiring from Business, including Splendid Books of Prints; Voyages and Travels: History and Biography; Greek and Latin Classics, with Translations; Natural History Numismata: Rare Aldine Editions and Early Printed Books; Ancient and Modem Divinity and Standard Authors, English and Foreign, in all Classes of Literature.

May be viewed two days prior, and Catalogues had; if by post, on receipt of Twelve Stamps.

JAMES PATERSON,

Searcher of Records for Law and Geneological Purposes, 61, CAUSEYSIDE,

EDINBURGII.

HEAP CLASSICS, MATHEMATICS, AND TRANSLATIONS.-A List of Second-hand Greek and Latin Classics, Mathematical and Philological Books, Translations, and a few School Books suitable for the Library of the Gentleman and 8cholar, and for the Student. All in good condition. Send stamp for postage. The best Collection in London.-W. IIEATH, 497, New Oxford Street.

BOOKS CATALOGUE containing many

Curious and Uncommon Works will be forwarded free by post for one stump by

JOHN WILSON, 93, Great Russell Street, W.C.

J. E. CORNISH, BOOKSELLER,

THE NEWEST BOOKS.

on

RICHLY-BOUND BOOKS for PRESENTS.

BIBLES, PRAYERS, and CHURCH SERVICES. BOOKS for BOYS and GIRLS.

SCHOOL and COLLEGE BOOKS.

133, Oxford Street, London.

MRstitut Rumperial Lille, and toll

[R. FRED. KLINCKSIECK, Libraire de l'In

chase one or two copies of MELANGES MILITAIRES, LITTE RAIRES ET SENTIMENTAIRES (Du PRINCE CHARLES JOSEPH DE LIGNE) à Mont Refuge sur le Leopoldsberg près de Vienne, Dresden, 1795 to 1811. Small 8vo, 31 vols.

Also single volumes will be welcomed, especially the volume containing the CATALOGUE Annoté des Ouvrages composant la Bbliothèque du PRINCE DE LIGNE.

LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1867.

CONTENTS.-N° 313.

or Slit Iron-Dean Swift: Brob-din-grag Gold in Aus

"

-

NOTES:-Did John Wesley wear a Wig? 519-Different State of Proof Engravings, 520-"Our own Correspondent," 521-Centenarianism: Mr. William Plank, Ib.--Rod tralia - "The Pricke of Conscience 'Hymns for Infant Minds," 522. QUERIES:- Attainders of 1715 and 1745-"Auch ich in Arcadien !"-Author's Favourite Works-Charles I. at Oxford berg

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bright as silver." (Southey, ii. 397.) This would seem to refer to his own hair, and not that of a wig. I fancy that Wesley had as great an antipathy to wigs as he had to tea; and, while he considered that he injured his health by drinking tea, his mother thought that his constitution was impaired by his wearing his hair to so great a length. So, here was an instance of tea versus hair. The tea he readily gave up and heartily denounced; but he was a very Absalom for his long locks, and refused to part with them. When an Oxford undergraduate, he permitted them to flow over his shoulders in an unkempt state; and when remonstrated with for the singularity they caused in his appearance, he replied that the money employed in the vile fashion of powdering and dressing the hair would be much better bestowed upon the poor. Secrets "As to my hair," he said, "I am much more sure that what this enables me to do is according to the Scripture, than I am that the length of it is contrary to it."

Battle at

The Countesses of Hereford-Mortlake-NuremPolkinghorne-Joan. Posselius Sheriffs Fire Buckets - St. Simon Smith (the Poker Artist) -"The Snow" - Translations - Walkley's Catalogue of Peers, Baronets, and Knights - Wolwarde, 522. Thomas Frye QUERIES WITH ANSWERS: Wigan-Waltham-on-the-Wolds-Pishiobury, 524. REPLIES:-The Palace of Holyrood House, 525-Episcopal Wigs, 526- Emendation of Shelley, 527 Sir Andrew Mercer, 528-"N. & Q." from a Sick Room, 529-Original MS. of "Eikon Basilike"- Quotations Found of Angling, by J. D. Dennis or Dennys American "Notes and Queries " The Rule of the Road,- Anony. mous Irish Books - Proverbs- The Mother of Gratian Blaeu's Atlas-"Via perficiendorum" - Quakerism Keats and "Hyperion" A Highwayman's Ride from

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London to York-Homeric Traditions-Introduction of Eventually he condescended to adopt the middle

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DID JOHN WESLEY WEAR A WIG ?

Much has lately been written in "N. & Q." on the episcopal wig. I would venture now to ask, Did John Wesley wear a wig? the answer to which question I imagine to be in the negative. There is an anecdote of an old lady who went to hear a popular out-door preacher of the past century; and, on being asked as to the sermon, replied, that the crowd prevented her from getting sufficiently near for hearing, but that she was amply gratified, for she "saw his blessed wig." I forget the preacher's name whose head was covered by this anecdotal wig: perhaps it was George Whitefield, whose portraits represent him as wearing a small "bob" wig.

What is the authority for the received portraits of John Wesley? I have three engravings of him now before me-full-face and three-quarter; and they agree, in every respect, with the profile portrait of him given, without a painter's name, as the frontispiece to Southey's Life (the edition of 1846, edited by the Rev. C. C. Southey). In all these the long hair falls low upon the shoulders, and its two rows of curls are so regularly arranged and neatly trimmed, as to suggest the idea of a wig. This was in Wesley's old age, when we read of him that, in the street of a crowded city, he attracted notice by "his long hair, white and

course proposed by his brother Samuel, and to cut it somewhat shorter, "by which means the singularity of his appearance would be lessened without entrenching upon his meritorious economy." (Southey, i. 63.)

That exceedingly careful writer, Mrs. Charles, has, I think, made a little slip in her description of John Wesley: "a small man, rather thin, with the neatest wig," &c. (Diary of Mrs. Kitty Trevylyan, p. 41.) But, elsewhere, she quotes John Nelson's description of Wesley preaching at Moorfields: "As soon as he got upon the stand, he stroked back his hair." (See also Southey's Life for this.) In 1743, when Wesley was so brutally attacked by the mob at Walsall, they caught him "by the hair" and dragged him from the door of the house. Afterwards, cowed by his boldness and words, one of the ringleaders said, "Follow me, and not one soul here shall touch a hair of your head." (Southey, i. 393.) All this is adverse to his wearing a wig. Wesley also, in preaching on dress, inveighed against men "wearing gay, fashionable, or expensive perukes"; and although he did not, in precise words, condemn the wearing of wigs, yet, when he was asked, in the Conference of 1782, if it were well for the preachers to powder their hair and to wear artificial curls, he merely said, that to "abstain from both is the more excellent way." The portraits of him, however, convey the idea that his long and carefully-curled hair is a wig; or, if not a wig, how were those curls produced? Wesley would appear to have thought the employment of a perruquier a sinful waste of money. Whence, too, that portrait? who was the painter?

There is a picture by an American artist, Mr. Geo. Washington Brownlow, representing Wesley preaching on his father's tomb in Epworth church

He

in The Borough, Letter IV., at the close of which letter he describes a sermon of Wesley's, of whom he speaks in the highest terms:

"Their John the elder was the John divine." CUTHBERT BEDE.

DIFFERENT STATE OF PROOF ENGRAVINGS.

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yard, June, 1742. It is a charming picture, in the style of Frith, and worthy of that artist; and it has been photographed on a large scale by Mr. C. Thurston Thompson. In this picture we have the familiar figure of Wesley, with his aged features and long silvery hair with its two rows of curls. This is clearly an error, as Wesley was only thirty-nine years old at the time." preached in the evening: but the lighting of this picture is certainly not later than the noonday hour (as determined by the position of the church); In a recent Catalogue of Works of Art ("The and the hearers of Wesley do not answer to his valuable Stock and Collection of Works of Art of own description of the scene, either in numbers or the late Mr. John Clowes Grundy," Manchester, in the way in which they evinced their feelings November, 1867), the different appellations of groaning, dropping down as dead, &c. This, how-proof engravings seem to me worthy of being ever, was not very well adapted for a pleasing put together and preserved in "N. & Q.": picture; and probably the painter may have de- proof-proof engraving with all the margin, unsignedly committed the anachronism of making mounted-remark proof-artist's proof-artist's Wesley nearly half a century older than he really proof on India paper-proof before any letters, was, in order that he might present to the public and publication line (this was a most splendid the figure with which they were most familiar. specimen of Desnoyer's "Vierge aux Poissons," When Mr. Marshall Claxton painted the picture after Raphael, marked in the Catalogue as "exof "Wesley and his Friends at Oxford"-engraved tremely rare," vide p. 69) remark proof with by Bellin-he avoided this anachronism, and rethe white jewel (a fine specimen of Biondi's presented a young man. But, I have been told Magdalene," after Carlo Dolce) - India proofthat this very truthfulness injured the sale of the lettered proof-artist's proof before the line engraving, would-be purchasers saying "What! unfinished engraver's proof-proof: first state that John Wesley! why, he had long white hair," brilliant proof-India print-proof before any &c. So that he passed from Scylla to Charybdis. letters -India proof before letters-proof before How, too, did Mr. Claxton get his portrait of the line or border-proof with the arms (a fine imyouthful Wesley? had he any authentic portrait pression of Garavaglia's "Madonna della Sedia," to guide him? or did he construct it from internal after Raphael) original artist's proofconsciousness, as the German did with the camel? graver's proof with the burr-print with the One more note on Wesley's hair, and I have number on the plate-India proof: first statedone. first proof on India paper-remark proof with white stick (a splendid specimen of Raphael Morghen's "Noli me Tangere," after Baroccio)proof retouched-original impression before the comma (an excellent specimen of Raphael Morghen's "Last Supper "after Da Vinci)-lettered proof-impression before the retouch-engraver's proof with the burr, and before the border-proof, before the publication line and date-unfinished proof-engraver's proof with the burr on the margin-India open letter proof-proof in the first state, with the burr-presentation proof with engraver's autograph - autograph proof- first proof: original print- middle plate engraver's proof, touched on by the painter (by Turner) original subscriber's copy-open letter proofartist's proof signed by the painter-artist's proof signed by the painter and the engraver proof of the second plate-private plate: proof (T. Landseer's "Man proposes and God disposes," after Sir E. Landseer)-signed artist's proofvery first proof. HERMANN KINDT.

In the Life of the poet Crabbe, by his son, we are told that, one evening, Crabbe went to a dissenting-chapel at Lowestoft

"to hear the venerable John Wesley on one of the last of his peregrinations. He was exceedingly old and infirm, and was attended, and almost supported in the pulpit, by a young minister on each side. The chapel

was crowded to suffocation. In the course of the sermon

he repeated, though with an application of his own, the

lines from Anacreon

"Oft am I by women told,

Poor Anacreon! thou grow'st old;
See, thine hairs are falling all,
Poor Anacreon! how they fall!
Whether I grow old or no,
By these signs I do not know;
But this I need not to be told,
'Tis time to live if I grow old.'

"My father was much struck by his reverend appearance and his cheerful air, and the beautiful cadence he gave to these lines; and, after the service, introduced himself to the patriarch, who received him with benevolent politeness."

Crabbe was afterwards much annoyed by the preaching of the Wesleyans in his own parish of Muston. He mentions Wesley and his followers

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"OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT." As the history of the nineteenth century will be chiefly compounded from newspapers, and The Spectator has prophesied a permanent duration to "N. & Q.," I write to put future historians on their guard against supposing that all newspaper correspondents are such as they describe themThe penny provincial press delights in smart outlines of the week's work in Parliament, by "an independent member," or a silent member," and when the membership is not directly asserted, it is implied by the correspondent saying, we listened impatiently," ," "we divided," &c. &c. Not having a seat in the House, I cannot from my own knowledge say that these articles are not written by those who have; but, as I often sit in Westminster Hall, I feel warranted in noticing some strange things which appeared in one of the best country papers on Saturday, Nov. 30, in a letter headed "Gossip in Westminster Hall, by a Bencher of the Back Benches." After a welldeserved eulogy on a living judge, who, by the way, was appointed during the ministry of Lord Palmerston, the barrister says:

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"There are Judges and Judges. The public out of doors are very apt to imagine that when a man becomes a Judge he casts his slough like a caterpillar, and becomes a full-blown Judge-wise, judicious, discrect-on the instant. When Judges were chosen for other than political reasons, this might have been partially true. But if it ever was true, it is an error now, so gross that no being above twelve years of age should entertain it. Let me concede that Lord Palmerston was a great statesman, wise, and anything else you please; and I will say, that if all his best acts and virtues were massed together they would not balance the mischief caused by the mode of appointing Judges he introduced. It may be nothing to have political thimble-rigging extolled as a virtue, but when that thimble-rigging is extended to a wholesale corruption of justice, by the exaltation of inferior and incapable men- -poisoning the waters of truth in the well -then, if the nation could see it, the country is in as fair a way of declining, as by any process I can conceive. Lord Palmerston cared nothing for justice, or, in his cynicism, believed that any politician sufficed for the bench. But we here see the difference."

The three chiefs have generally been active politicians. When a vacancy occurs, it is usually, not invariably, filled by the Attorney or SolicitorGeneral. The twelve puisne judges are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and I never heard that any Premier of our time had interfered even to influence the selection. I may say that if there had been any such gossip, I must have heard it.

From the same letter I take one more bit of gossip, which may have been uttered in Westminster Hall, by some barrister who thought that knowledge of law might be inferred from ignorance of literature:

"But here, before going further, I am tempted to moralise. Where are all the poet laureates buried? Where are the works of all the poets that even Samuel Johnson has immortalised? Who has read Sprat's poems, or Tickell's? Probably one reader in Birming

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ham; but who else in the habitable globe? Mr. Tennyson is a great man; but will it be believed-I had it from an eye-witness-that when Southey's Thalaba' was published a queue of expectant readers waited for hours the arrival of the coach that was to bring the first impression to Edinburgh? But then Southey was laureate, and, perhaps, fifty years hence it will be as hard to find believers Tennyson admirers think this nonsense. But have you

in Maud' as in 'Thalaba.' Of course we are wiser. The

read Thalaba'?"

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The first edition of "Thalaba" was published at Bristol by Biggs and Cottle in 1797. Of its success, Southey says in his preface to the edition of 1837, p. xii.:

"I was in Portugal when the first edition of 'Thalaba' was published. Its first reception was very different from that with which 'Joan of Arc' had been welcomed. In proportion as the poem deserved better it was treated worse."

Southey was not laureate till 1813, when he succeeded Pye. AN INNER TEMPLAR.

CENTENARIANISM: MR. WILLIAM PLANK. The following letter is from The Standard of November 9, 1867. Perhaps the writer of it, or some one acquainted with the facts, will furnish the readers of "N. & Q." with such further particulars as will satisfactorily prove that Mr. William Plank is now in his 101st year :

"A Centenarian -A_Schoolfellow of the late Lord Lyndhurst.

"TO THE EDITOR.

"SIR,-I have thought it worthy of public record that Mr. William Plank, an old inhabitant of this town, has this day attained the remarkable age of 100 years, having still the use of all his faculties, with the exception of that of vision, which he lost eleven years ago. He has been an inhabitant of Harrow, occupying the same house, 56 years. He is the son of James and Hannah Plank, of Wandsworth, Surrey, where he was born on Saturday, Nov. 7, 1767, and baptised Nov. 29 of the same year. It may be of further interest to record that for a year (viz. in 1780) he was a schoolfellow of the late Lord Lyndhurst. They were at the school of Mr. W. Franks, of Clapham. Mr. Plank left in 1781, leaving young Copley still at the school.

"Mr. Plank was originally intended for commercial pursuits, and was bound apprentice at Salters' Hall, City, on the 22nd March, 1782, to his elder brother, a calico Plank is and has been for many years 'father' of the printer and a member of the Salters' Company. Mr. Salters' Company. He was admitted to the freedom and livery of the company and the city on the 20th October, 1789, and therefore may be considered almost to a certainty the father of the City of London. I saw him out walking, with the assistance of a friend, the day before yesterday, and at his house to-day. He is quite cheerful, and well able to receive the congratulations of his friends and neighbours.-I am, Sir, your obedient servant, "WM. WINKLEY, F.S.A. "Harrow, Nov. 7. "P.S.-Before he came to Harrow he was frequently ailing." H. FISHWICK. [This is the best authenticated case of centenarianism which has yet been produced in our columns. Mr. Plank

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