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Dragoons, being in Spain on active service, the following letter was addressed to his father by General Sir George Anson (see Diary of a Cavalry Officer,' p. 161) :—

"19 March, 1812. Sir, I am happy to inform you that your son is gazetted to a Company in the 60th Foot, for which he has paid 1,500. The difference to be paid for his exchange to Cavalry is 1,650. ......It will be necessary for you to lodge the 1,3657. which, added to the 2857. now in Collyers' hands, will make the regulated difference of 1,650. I have desired Messrs. Collyers to send you the necessary papers for the exchange, for your signature on the part of your son......I confess myself very anxious to secure your son's return to the 16th Light Dragoons."

Under the word 'Honour' in James's Military Dictionary,' 1816, mention is made of declarations on the sale and exchange of commissions; and under the word Document' a reference is given to his 'Regimental Companion,' sixth edition, vol. iv. p. 263. Possibly the phrase "to send in one's papers may be found there; but I have no copy of the work, and I believe the sixth edition is

now rare.

66

W. S.

"

question) would MR. CLARKE taboo the use of the word author as applied to a lady? This was, perhaps, once thought "affected or inaccurate," but it is often so used; and as songster has been permanently transferred from the feminine to the masculine gender, why should not chaperon have a similar fate, if the majority so wills it?

My remarks, which MR. CLARKE apparently failed to understand, were meant to be a protest against his unscientific (I will not say "affected," but certainly "inaccurate") way of looking at a linguistic question. wishes to pronounce judgment upon words Who MR. CLARKE can find followers enough to must know something of their history. If help him kill the word chaperon or chaperone, well and good-perhaps nobody will be sorry, record its life and death; but unless he is and future historical dictionaries will duly sure of his success as chaperon-killer, he is in the word, which must be decided by had better wait to see how much health there time, not by any personal opinion of the present day. Being already alive in 1818, it has passed the days of childhood, and to my mind the two words chaperone and escort, as used by supposed inaccurate or affected people, are not exactly synonymous, and if each supplies a real want, one may perhaps humbly venture to prophesy, in the light of past word-history, that each will attain a respectable and healthy old age. But it all depends whether the majority of us are of the same mind, and even then we can never tell what future fate may bring. We have many foreigners among our words as among our citizens. Those that behave well and prove their healthiness by making themselves really useful we are happy to keep and naturalize-at least that has been the custom hitherto. If chaperone proves to be useless or offensive to the majority, kick it out, it is "only a pauper that nobody owns." Till then let it try its luck with the other foreigners, but do not treat it unfairly. SIMPLICISSIMUS.

"CHAPERONED BY HER FATHER" (9th S. xii. 245, 370, 431).-Far from straying from the point or points raised by MR. CECIL CLARKE, I think that he has failed to see the point of my remarks. I have no wish to "chaperone" the word chaperone, but I object to its being labelled as more un-English than escort. The one word is as foreign as the other, and in point of length of domicile there is little to choose between them. If MR. CLARKE objects to the "French ring" about the word chaperone, I declare that machine has just as much or even more of a French ring about it, and, to be consistent, MR. CLARKE should object to it on the same score and try to find a more English-sounding substitute" for it. (Perhaps apparatus?). The N.E.D.' does not say that the verb chaperon is affected; it merely records a quotation from the year 1818, according to which somebody then thought it affected. If MR. CLARKE knew a little more of the history of language he would know that many a word which has been at one time dubbed "affected" has succeeded later in acquiring a very homely reputation, and perhaps what he himself to-day considers affected will in the next generation be in use by everybody. As soon as any word is used by the majority, in any spelling and in any sense whatever, it has "O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL" (10th S. i. 10). the full rights of citizenship, however bravely-John Julian, in his 'Dictionary of HymnoMR. CLARKE or anybody else may stick to his logy,' states that as early as 1797 the tune guns and try to ostracize it. Possibly there (Portuguese Hymn ') was sung at the chapel are no ladies amongst the members of the of the Portuguese Embassy, of which Vincent Authors' Club, but (I must beg to ask another Novello was organist, and the tune became

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FICTITIOUS LATIN PLURALS (9th S. xii. 345, 518).-Macaulay's use of candelabras" as a plural is countenanced by the N.E.D.,' which gives quotations of the same form from the Edinburgh Review and Scott's 'Ivanhoe.' J. DORMER.

10th S. I. JAN. 16, 1904.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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popular. From 'The Music of the Church as themselves, and so proceed to lay down Hymnary and the Psalter in Metre,' by the law, as if there were no facts to go upon. William Cowan and James Love, published That journalists should, as a rule, know in 1901, we learn that in a collection of hymn- nothing of Middle English or the gramtunes published by V. Novello in 1843, matical usages of Elizabethan authors is not entitled Home Music, the Congregational surprising; but this would not matter if and Choristers' Psalm and Hymn Book,' the they would only recognize the fact themcorrecting" others who know more of these tune is headed Air by Reading,' an ap- selves, and refrain from the arrogance of pended note stating that John Reading was a pupil of Dr. Blow (the master of Purcell), things. Let us rather preserve our freedom and that the tune obtained its name of 'The of speech, and refuse to be dictated to after Portuguese Hymn' from the circumstance this sort. that the Duke of Leeds, after hearing the hymn performed at the Portuguese Chapel, introduced the melody at the Antient Concerts, giving it the title of 'The Portuguese Hymn.' Cowan and Love state that no known music of Reading resembles that of 'Adeste Fideles,' and further, that the date 1680 is decidedly wrong, since Reading was only born in 1677. According to the Dictionary of National Biography' there was, however, a John Reading who was appointed organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1675. The earliest known appearance of the tune is, according to Cowan and Love, in An Essay on the Church Plain Chant,' published by J. P. Coghlan in 1782. The oldest manuscript in which it is to be found is a volume preserved at Stonyhurst College, the work of a priest named John Francis Wade, entitled Cantus Diversi pro Dominicis et Festis per Annum'; it bears the date 1751. J. S. SHEDLOCK.

·

"FROM WHENCE" (10th S. i. 9).—I sympathize with your correspondent. But why does he admit that the phrase from whence is "grammatically inaccurate" It is the old confusion between grammar and logic. Grammar merely goes by custom, and is independent of strict logic, a simple axiom of which half the world seems to be ignorant. From a grammatical point of view the phrase from whence is merely "more or less pleonastic," for which see 'H.E.D.,' s.v. From,' $14 b.

The phrase is surely old enough, since it

:

occurs several times in Chaucer :-
There thou were wel, fro thennes artow weyved.
'Cant. Tales,' B. 308.
To my contree fro thennes that she wente.
Id., B. 1043.
"For no wight as by right, fro thennesforth that
him lakketh goodness, ne shal ben cleped good."-
Chaucer, tr. of Boethius, bk. iv. prose 3, 1. 13.

It seems high time to protest against the
arrogance and impertinence of some of our
modern reviewers, who in their own igno-
rance of the history of the English language
presume to think that no one knows so much

There is often a great outcry about the educational value of Greek, for which reason it "ought to be compulsory on all." It is high time to insist on the educational value of English; but it will be long before the study of it is compulsory! I verily believe that many dare not even to suggest such a WALTER W. SKEAT. thing; yet why should we not value our own language as much as the Greeks valued theirs?

JOHN WAINWRIGHT, BARON OF THE EXCHEQUER IN IRELAND (9th S. xii. 505).—Baron Wainwright left no issue. For some account of the baron's life in Ireland I venture to refer MR. J. B. WAINEWRIGHT to the last part published of 'A History of the County Dublin,' by myself, and to the Journal of for 1898. If further information would be the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland of any use to MR. WAINEWRIGHT, my manuscript notes are much at his service.

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F. ELRINGTON BALL.

ROUS OR ROWSE FAMILY (9th S. xii. 487).— Information as to this family will be found as follows: N. & Q.,' 1st S. ix. 222; 6th S. xi. 328, 429; East Anglian N. & Q. (N.S.), iii. 229, 247; Seventh Rep. Hist. Com., 663 ; (Brit. Mus.) 19,147; arms and quarterings, Rous of Badingham, pedigree, Add. MSS. Tanner (MSS. Bodleian), cclvii. 239; of Cratfield, Dennington, and Henham, pedigrees, trick (1561), Rawl. B (Bodl.) 422; of WoodAdd. MSS. (Brit. Mus.) 19,147; with arms in Archaelogiæ Atticæ,' by Francis Rous, bridge, Burke's Landed Gentry,' 1370; Oxford, 1654; Dr. Rous's verses on his death, Magd. Coll., Oxford, ccxxxix. 79; Joan Rous, Baker MSS., Cambridge, xxxv. end; letter discharging Adam Rous, surgeon to king's use, Cambridge, Dd. iii. 53 (140); Richard II., of 20 marks for medicine for the letter allowing him a tun of Gascony wine, ib.; letter of Lady Parnell Rous to Sir John Hobart relative to wardship of her son, 12 Dec., 1603, Tanner, cclxxxiii. 109; Diary of John Rous, Incumbent of Santon, Downham, 1625 to 1642,' edited by M. A. E. Green

who was knighted in 1603, was his lineal
descendant. They were ancestors of the
Earls of Stradbroke. Full particulars of the
descent may be found in Collins's Peerage,'
or in the various Visitations of Suffolk.
Francis Rous, named in 1637, was the well-
known Speaker of the Barebones Parliament.
He was fourth son of Sir Anthony Rous, of
Halton, Cornwall, and died 7 Jan., 1659.
W. D. PINK.

[CANON ELLACOMBE, Bitton Vicarage, Bristol, offers to give MR. UNDERDOWN further information.] CHILDREN'S CAROLS AND LULLABIES (9th S. xii. 348, 395, 511).—Any one interested in this literature would do well to peruse the articles in 7th S. ii., indexed under Nursery Rhymes.

W. P. COURTNEY.

QUOTATIONS (9th S. xii. 468).—Two of the quotations cited appear on the last leaf of the celebrated Northumberland MS. edited by Mr. Spedding in 1870. In place of the quotation

(Cam. Soc.), Lond., 1856; letter of Sir John Worcester. Reginald Rous was the repreRous, of Henham, to Franc. Gawdy, 3 Mar., sentative of the Dennington family in the 1627/8, Tenth Rep. Hist. Com., pt. iii. 128; fifteenth century; and Sir Thomas Rous, ditto, 5 Oct., 1628, ib. 131; speech of Francis Rous in Parliament concerning religion, 26 Jan., 1628/9 (printed), Tanner, lxxii. 305, ccxcix. 53; letter of John Rous, Bodley Librarian, to Ussher, 14 Nov., 1629, ib. lxxi. 21; letter of Charles Rous, of Henham, to Franc. Gawdy, 10 Jan., 1629/30, Tenth Rep. Hist. Com., pt. iii. 132; letter of Francis Rous to Sir John Potts, 30 Jan., 1643/4, Tanner, lxii. 530; his declaration concerning the amount of his income from public sources, 25 Aug., 1646, ib. lix. 499; letter to Sir Henry Vane touching payment of Mr. Pym's debts, 16 June, 1651 (printed), ib. liv. 87; letter of Thomas Rous, of Sternfield, to Franc. Gawdy, 17 Aug., 1654, Tenth Rep. Hist. Com., pt. iii. 179; to Thomas Gawdy, 3 April, 1668, ib. 204; copy of will of Francis Rous, Provost of Eton, 12 April, 1658, Tanner, ccccxlvii. 1; difference between Thomas Rous and his parishioners, 1668, Tenth Rep. Hist. Com., pt. iii. 203; letter of Mary Rous, of Sternfield, to William Gawdy, 8 May, 1656, ib. 184; ditto, 20 July, 1658, ib. 187; letter of Sir John Rous, second Baronet of Henham, to O. Le Neve, his cousin, 1699-1704, Egerton MSS. (Brit. Mus.) 2719, 2720; letter of Sir John to R. Wright, s.a., ib. 2720; letter of J. Rous to Marquess of Granby, announcing nomination for county and declaration of sheriff, and asking for concurrence, 6 Mar., 1787, Twelfth Rep. Hist. Com., pt. v. 293. Further pedigrees of the Rous family will be found in the Brit. Mus., Add. MSS. 5524, Harl. MSS. 155, 1103, 1177, 1449, 1484, 1520, 1560, 2109; arms, Harl. MSS. 1449; extracts from fine rolls relating to family, Add. 5937; Ambrose Rouse's evidences, Queen's Coll., Oxford, clii. 138; Francis Rouse's speeches in Parliament, 1628, Queen's, cxxi. 406; Christ Ch. Coll., Oxf., ccccxvii. 237; Stowe MSS. (Brit. Mus.) 156, f. 216; in 1640, Queen's, clxxiv. 71. A pedigree of the family is given by Suckling in his 'Hist. of Suffolk, vol. ii. p. 366.

The Reginald Rous secondly mentioned by your correspondent was the grandfather of the Edmund Rous he also refers to. As to the death of this Reginald, or Raynold, or Reynold Rous in 1464, it will be seen that Suckling gives this as the date of his wife's death, and Weaver, 'F. M.,' p. 512, gives the W. A. COPINGER.

date as 1463.

Kersal Cell, Manchester.

There were several important families of this name, seated respectively at Dennington, Suffolk, Halton, Cornwall, and Rouse Lench,

Laden with grief and oppression of the heart the Northumberland MS. has

Revealing day through every cranie peepes,
which is a variation of 'Lucrece' (1086).
Then follow, as already noted,
Asmund and Cornelia,

and, slightly varied,

Multis annis jam transactis
Nulla fides est in pactis,
Mell in ore, verba lactis;

Fell in corde, fraus in factis.
Mr. Spedding said: "I think I am in a
condition to assert that there is no trace of
Bacon's penmanship in any part of the
volume." On the other hand, a New York
lady told me some years ago that, in reply
to an inquiry, she had received a letter from
the librarian of Northumberland House in
which the opinion was expressed that the
handwriting was Bacon's. Spedding's opinion
surely should have great weight. It is to be
hoped that we shall learn more of the MS.
mentioned by MR. BURGOYNE.

New York.

CHAS. A. HERPICH.

RIGHT HON. EDWARD SOUTHWELL (10th S. i. 8).---The Southwell MSS. were sold by the late Mr. Thorpe, of Bedford Street, in 1834-5, when many of the papers were purchased by the British Museum. Others are in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy. Some fell into the hands of Sir Thomas Phillipps, of Broadway, Worcester, whose library came under the hammer of Messrs. Sotheby in the

nineties, and was acquired by the Cardiff Free Library for, I believe, 3,366.; but whether the MSS. were included or otherwise I cannot EVERARD HOME COLEMAN.

say.

by hand, it is hard to understand their raison d'être. It is this difficulty which bewilders one when reading the striking and seemingly exact evidence adduced by SIR HERBERT 'MEMOIRS OF A STOMACH' (10th S. i. 27).-W. H. PEET as to the use of these covers MAXWELL, CAPT. THORNE GEORGE, and MR. Halkett and Laing state that Sydney Whiting was the author of this book (1853); also that he wrote Affection, its Flowers and Fruit' (1848), and 'Heliondé ; or, Adventures in the Sun' (1855). R. A. POTTS.

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[MR. RALPH THOMAS refers to Boase's 'Modern English Biography,' s.v. Whiting.]

before 1840. Can it be that the "little bags called envelopes," as my father described them, were, as CAPT. THORNE GEORGE says, nothing but a revival"? Or must the mystery remain as insoluble as the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask?

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An interesting account may be found of the local penny posts invented by poor Dockwra (whose plan in many ways resembled my father's) in that standard work on prepostalreformation times--Joyce's 'History of the Post Office.' ELEANOR C. SMYTH.

Harborne.

ENVELOPES (9th S. xii. 245, 397, 434, 490).With all respect to CAPT. THORNE GEORGE, I fear that his statement as to the "envelopes dated 1856 which had been franked through the post by Lord Fortescue" and others needs some modification. Private franking was abolished in 1840, when the reformed postal system came in, though the practice of Edward IV. originated a practical post in At the last reference it is stated that writing a name outside a letter--the act 1481. I should like to know whether this which constituted the frank-still survives, statement, which I have met with before, as do other habits whose original meaning is rests upon any sufficient evidence. The same lost. Nowadays the outside signature denotes the writer, not the franker of the mis- correspondent, following a well-known work sive. CAPT. THORNE GEORGE's later state-pointed "Postmaster of England" in 1581. of reference, says that Randolph was apment that "stamped covers" were used in Australia to prepay postage "previous to Rowland Hill's scheme" must, I think, have been culled from one of those works of fiction

which profess to tell the story of postal

reform.

That letters before 1840 sometimes con

tained enclosures is true. To enclose was easy. The letters were written on large square sheets of paper, which were folded and made secure by sealing-wax or wafers. At every post-office was a candling room," in which any letter that seemed thicker than usual was held up against a strong light to ascertain of how many separate pieces it consisted. It was to defeat temptation to dishonesty caused by this scrutiny that the practice was adopted of cutting a bank-note in two before posting it, and keeping back the second half till receipt of the first had been acknowledged. A bank-note or other enclosure in a letter would have counted as two letters, and, if both were put into one envelope, as three. Thus, if this missive with were sent, say from London to Edinburgh, the charge would have been 1s. 4d. x3=4s. plus a halfpenny, in those Protectionist days, for the privilege of crossing the Scottish border.

its two enclosures

Unless the envelopes mentioned by Swift in 1726, by Lamb in 1825, and by Creevey's biographer prior to 1838, were employed to cover smuggled" letters or those conveyed

Randolph was appointed Master of the Posts in 1566, in succession to Sir John Mason, who was appointed in November, 1545, by letters was Master of the Posts in 1512, and perhaps patent. Mason's predecessor, Brian Tuke, earlier, and he seems to have been the first person who held the office in this country.

From about the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. there were posts from London to Dover and to Berwick, and later in the century there was a post to Holyhead and to other places. But these were the king's post for the conveyance of letters on his affairs, or of persons travelling with his commission, or the commission of certain officers of the State. When ordinary private letters were first sent by post is a question more easily asked than answered. The Privy Council as late as January, 1583, laid down, inter alia, in a proclamation, no packets or letters shall be sufficient warrant or authority to constrain the posts to run with them in post, except they be directed on her Majesty's affairs." The letters of private persons were, no doubt, sent by post, but had to take their chance of being forwarded. Private letters were, as a rule, entrusted to the common carriers.

"that

J. A. J. HOUSDEN.

The following citations would seem to indicate the use of the envelope, or its practical equivalent the "cover," for a period

of over a century prior to the postal reform the case if the dates in the 'D.N.B.' can be accepted, of Sir Rowland Hill in 1840:

1829.—“I have just discovered that my blotting paper blots, and blots with great effect, which must excuse the state of this epistle. I now conclude it. I do not overlook what you said in your envelope, but we will talk over grievances when we meet. I am truly sorry for them. Adieu."'Letters of Lady Louisa Stuart,' Second Series, p. 150 (Edinburgh, 1903).

1822. "I did grudge the other day eighteenpence for one page of a sheet of note paper enclosed in a cover, but give me the money's worth and take it freely." Letters of Lady Louisa Stuart,' First Series, pp. 265-6 (Edinburgh, 1901).

1821. If he should have left you, never mind a frank; but if he does frank your letter, let it be in a cover. You will wonder at this, but I promised a collector of franks whom I met at Danesfield to gather together as many franks as I could for him, and I want Sir Wm.'s to add to the number." Ibid., p. 194.

1782. Mr. Napier begs his best compts. to you both. I won't make you pay more for my stupid letter by putting it in a cover, so adieu."-Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox,' ii. 17 (London, 1901).

1730, Dean Swift to Mrs. Howard.-" If you were a lord or commoner, I would have sent you this in an envelope."-Letters of the Countess of Suffolk,' i. 403 (London, 1824).

1726, Dean Swift to Mrs. Howard. "This is without a cover, to save money; and plain paper, because the gilt is so thin it will discover secrets betwixt us."-Ibid., p. 221.

The 'N.E.D.' cites for early examples of envelope, 1726, Dean Swift, and 1714, Bishop Burnet; and for cover, 1798, Jane Austen, and 1748, Samuel Richardson.

Boston, U.S.

E. P. MERRITT.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

New Amsterdam and its People. By J. H. Innes. (Scribner's Sons.)

THIS survey of New Amsterdam, now known as New York, is compiled from documents in American archives, most of which, so far as the general public is concerned, are now for the first time made accessible. It has inspired much interest in America, but has as yet obtained comparatively little notice in this country, wherein it should count on a welcome no less assured. It is virtually the first attempt to deal fully with the growth of the Netherlands colony, the settlement of Manhattan island, and the fortunes of the colonists in their sufferings from tyrannical governors and their contests with enemies, savage or civilized, until, in 1664, the State was grasped by England, who had long cast covetous eyes upon it. A new edition is meditated by the author, and it is greatly desired to interest English research in the matter. Many points on which further information is sought may be mentioned. Mr. Innes is of opinion that the William Paterson who in 1668 acquired property in New Amsterdam was the founder of the Bank of England. This can hardly have been

since, according to these, Paterson was born in 1658. Further information on the subject is desirable. The evidence of signatures favours the theory of Mr. Innes. Edinburgh records should be consulted. Fresh information is imparted concerning Capt. William Kidd, and the view is expounded that he was sacrificed in order to save the reputation of men higher in station than himself. When this period is reached in calendaring the English State Papers, much information on this point is to be anticipated. Concerning Jacob Steendam, a Dutch poet in the service of the West India Company, new information has been obtained. As he is virtually the first American poet, interest in him is certain to be before long inspired. How far his works, which we are unable to read, are accessible we fail to grasp. Cornelis Melyn, of Antwerp, the leader of the opposition to the West India Company, transferred his services to England. Speculation is rife in New York as to what was his share in bringing about the English seizure of New York. It is probable that information on this subject is lurking among English records. Augustyn Heermans or Herrman, the surveyor of Maryland and the maker of the map of that province now in the British Museum, a man interesting in other respects, invites attention. Little intelligent regard has hitherto been paid to the early views of New York. Mr. Innes claims to have been the first to discover that the view by Justus Danckers of New Amsterdam, nominally in 1651, but really representing the period about 1630, which serves as a frontispiece, is in the original reversed. In these and many other regards we challenge the judgment of English experts. We are glad to give Mr. Innes all the assistance in our power. Little, however, will, we fear, be done until Mr. Innes associates some English scholar in labours that should ultimately prove remunerative, or himself visits Britain for the purpose of making personal researches. His book appeals to all students of New York, and is profusely illustrated with maps, drawings, &c. The designs extend beyond New Amsterdam to the present city, which the Dutch colonists of three centuries ago might justly have regarded as a metropolis, a term constantly abused in its application to London, which is no more the metropolis of York than it is of Edinburgh or Dublin.

THE few sheets of paper which contain the titlepage, Elegia Graiana in Coemeterio Rurali scripta. Latine reddidit W. A. Clarke (Oxford, B. H. Blackwell), are of interest to us as a reminder that the elegant gift of Latin verse has not yet passed into the limbo of forgotten things. For those with taste and the instinct for language Latin can be a living instrument, can make privacy on a postcard, neatness out of prolixity, things awkward to say tolerable, and compliments epigrammatic. The Latin muse is not, our own experience protests, such a vor clamantis in deserto as the man in the street (that wonderful fiction of modern journalists to conceal faults of sense and ignorance) thinks, if, indeed, he can be said ever to think at all. We have received, for instance, in a Latin verse or two an invitation from a friend to dine and play billiards, as exact as English could be concerning time and place, graceful, yet brief as the telegram which the national thrift in copper generally reduces to unintelligibility.

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