descended to amuse themselves in this way. Thus Baron Hume, at a party where Scott was present, rose, to the astonishment of all, and said-Gentlemen, there has been a burden on my mind for many years, which I now will try to remove. You all have heard of the Great Unknown. I am he! The countenance of Scott, upon this occasion, was most amusing. Like a boy, he did not know, as my informant said, whether "to greet or to laugh;" and Hume said, it would be easily seen now who wrote Waverley. Before leaving "The Antiquary," I may mention a circumstance connected with its publication, which might give rise to another claimant for its authorship. The late Lord Kennedder-then William Erskine-was frequently employed by the legal house where I was acquiring professional knowledge. Upon one occasion, a clerk called upon him late in the day with papers. Erskine was at dinner, and as there was something to communicate verbally, the young man was shewn into the office. Some time elapsed, and the youth getting weary, he looked about him, and beheld, to his astonishment, two or three sheets of the novel, then advertised for publication, corrected in the well-known hand of Erskine. Upon returning to the office, he mentioned what he had seen, and never doubted that The Antiquary' was the veritable production of the learned lawyer. Suppose, after the lapse of years, a letter had been found bearing date, signature, and address, detailing all this, would it not have been better evidence of Erskine's authorship than allegations, founded on an unsigned, undated, and unaddressed piece of paper, said to have turned up in America. Sir Walter's title is sustained by the original manuscript being extant, bearing his corrections, and purchased in 1831 by Captain Basil Hall for forty-two pounds. What is the answer to this startling fact? Why, that Scott "thought nothing of transcribing even where no particular object was to be gained by doing so," and that when "he got books to review, he copied the extracts sooner than cut them out in the usual way." No doubt he did not mutilate books as some vandals do, because he was a true lover of literaturea bibliomaniac who had no compassion on those who tear out leaves and prints; but that for the purpose of imposture, he would sit down, re-copy a long manuscript, and apparently correct it, is a proposition too monstrous to be believed by any one in possession of his senses. The original manuscripts of most of the novels in Scott's autograph are still extant. The manuscript of Waverley, not quite perfect, is by the donation of James Hall, Esq., in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates. The corrections are numerous, and some of the altered passagès curious. Another objection is, that it was not easy to how Sir Walter could possibly have written them (the novels) in the time," as in the year 1814 he wrote the Lord of the Isles; the voluminous Life and Works of Swift, 19 volumes; Essays in an Encyclopædia; the curious Memorie of the Sommervilles, and Rowland's Letting off the Humours of Blood." No doubt the mere transcribing the Works of Swift would be a serious business. Surely the critic does not mean that Sir Walter really wrote the works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., or the Memorie of the Sommervilles, or "Rowland's Letting off the Humours of Blood." Although published in 1814, the notes upon the Life of Swift were the result of many years' previous research. A couple of hours would suffice for the preface to Rowland, and as many days for the short prefix to the Sommerville Memoir. As to his transcribing volume after volume, Sir Walter must have had very extraordinary fancies, if he indulged in such unnecessary labour. Copying Swift, however, is just as probable as re-transcribing The Antiquary.' In conclusion, I may be allowed to mention that, to those who knew him, the mere declaration of Scott was sufficient. There never was a more truthful or worthy man. I never met with an individual so entirely free from those little, dirty jealousies usually so degrading in literary men. He envied no one-if he could aid a meritorious author, he invariably did so. He acknowledged at once the information he procured from his friends. The sources from whence he derived his stories are candidly disclosed. That his brother gave his assistance in the same way as Train and others did, we have from his own pen; but furnishing materials for a pudding is one thing, making it another. I had the honour of being on pretty intimate terms with Sir Walter from 1817, until his last departure to the Continent. During the sitting of the Court of Session, a day rarely occurred without my conversing with him before the Division sat. I had every means of forming a correct opinion of his character; and I. most conscientiously declare that I never knew a more kindhearted, upright, and generous being, or one on whose assertions I could more implicitly place confidence. Edinburgh, March 8. JAMES MAIDMent. The monument on the Calton Hill, to Robert Burns, the Ayrshire bard, by a recent vote of the Edinburgh Town Council, the Lord Provost giving the casting vote; is to be moved to another point on the same eminence, that on its site Trinity College church may be re-erected. The church stood formerly in the valley spanned by the North Bridge, but was removed to make way for the railroad and station. Every stone was duly reserved, and the building is to be restored exactly as before, Save that, instead of occupying a position in a vale, it will now be placed upon a hill. The Museum at Carisbrooke Castle, of Isle of Wight antiquities, is now open to the public; it occupies three rooms in the castle, but has already been plundered of several rare and valuable coins. This could not have happened under an efficient keeper. DERIVATION OF BUT AND BEN. Many of the readers of Current Notes, must have been gratified by the interesting exposition of the origin and application of these words, by Mr. Brockie, of South Shields, in the January number. To us Scotch who have been hearing Todlin but, Todlin ben,' both said and sung ever since the time we were able to 'todle our lane,' it seems strange that Mr. Brockie should have been obliged to draw the ground plan of a Scotch cottage, in order to make these words quite intelligible to our friends besouth the Tweed. Though the origin of these words is correctly given by Mr. Brockie, yet the general reader will not perceive that but and ben are simply abbreviations for be-out and be-in, or by-out and by-in. To gang ben, is to go by-in, and to gang but, is to go by-out. Their Saxon equivalents were butan and binnan. Mr. Brockie's concluding remarks are however fitted to mislead; our Saxon ben can have no affinity with the Latin pen-us, penetral, penates, etc. Whatever be the origin of that interesting group of words, they manifestly cannot be cognate with the word in question; and neither in meaning nor in origin can it possibly coincide with the Hebrew peni-mah (20). The latter word corresponds exactly to the enōpia (via) of Homer, each being derived from a word meaning face, and each denoting strictly, the wall of a room or court facing the door. The Scotch dresser' too (Fr. dressoir), must not be confounded with the old Scotch bink.' The former, but certainly not the latter, may be "stored with crockery of all sorts." Bink has been softened into the English "bench," and was quite synonymous with it in meaning. Montrose Academy. COINAGE OF EDWARD THE FIRST. S. 10. As no. 51. CANTERBURY. Obv., EDWA R. [Edw. II. ?] DURHAM. [Edw. II. ?] Rev., CIV ITAS DVN ENE The T appears like an inverted L. 11. As no. 44; Obv., EDWAR Edw. II. ? 12. As no. 43; Obv., EDWAR Rev., CIVI TAS DVN € LM The upper limb of cross on the left side forms a Crosier. This is said to be the distinctive mark of Bishop Kellow, who held that On examining my collection of early English coins see, 1313-16; the obverse legend being an exception to for any varieties to Mr. Haswell's list, I find the following, which may be deserving of notice EDV REX ANGL' DNS HYB. m.m., a very small the accredited style of Edward II. ST. EDMUNDSBURY. 13. As no. 54. Obv., EDWA R [Edw. II. ?] Rev., VIL LAS € DLI VDI KINGSTON-UPON-HULL. 15. As no. 68; no star on king's breast. DERBYSHIRE TRADERS' TOKENS. The issuer of the Hartington Token was a THOMAS BATEMAN; of this I am particularly desirous of obtaining either the Token, or an impression in gutta-percha or wax, for the purpose of engraving. Gateshead, March 5. W. H. BROCKETT. Anxiously busied in preparing for publication a detailed, and, so far as practicable, an illustrated descriptive list of the Tokens of the seventeenth century, issued by traders in the towns and villages in Derbyshire, I wish to avail myself of an intimation in Current Notes, that I am solicitous of any aid the collectors or possessors of such Tokens may be willing to render me, and shall be most happy in receiving their communi-putation by their literary labours, it becomes very in cations Some of the most interesting will be represented in woodcuts; of the manner in which these will be executed, I forward two blocks, in order that those by whose kindness I may be assisted, will be at once assured of the attention which will be paid to their contributions. SMITH MPHRE HIS 16171 EIR HVMPHREY. SMITH. IN.-In the field, H. E. S. PEAT COLE-MINES. WANDERINGS OF GENIUS. When Ladies have raised for themselves a great re teresting to trace the different localities to which during their sojourn in this world, their souls have led their bodies. In this feeling I forward some notices of the wanderings of that talented spirit, Miss Jane Porter, authoress of Scottish Chiefs, Thaddeus of Warsaw, and other esteemed works. They are derived from her correspondence, and such facts are useful in biography. HIGH PEAKE.—Arms in field, Shal In 1799, she was at Grantham in Lincolnshire, probably staying with Mrs. Rawlinson. Part of the year she resided with her mother, in Gerard Street, Soho. September, 1800, in Dover Street; in January, 1801, at Camberwell; in May, at Lochbay; and in August, at Grove House, Hampstead. crosse of Shalcrosse. Shalcrosse. In August, 1802, at Grantham. In 1803, in Manchester Street, Manchester Square. Newport, in the Isle of Wight; and from August 25, to September 16, at Rochester. At Bath, in February and March, 1804. During the months of October, November and December of that year, and till April, 1805, at Lasbury, near Alnwick, in Northumberland, the residence of the Rev. Percival Stockdale, also an author. 1806. In May at the Palace. At Child's Place. In 1807, in Park Street; and the Palace. In 1808, Thames Ditton; and in January, in the following year, at Bath. In April, 1810, at Rochester; and May, 1811, at Oswald's near Canterbury. In 1812, her home was at Thames Ditton; then at Esher. In May, 1813, in Cavendish Square; and in the following October, at Huntercombe. In 1814, at Ryde, in the Isle of Wight; and in July, 1815, at Brighton. Early in 1816, at No. 5, Manchester Street, Manchester Square. In July, in Portswood Park; and in October, at Nursted House, Hants.; and later, at Sunning Hill, Berks. Already descriptions of Tokens of the following towns have been received, but the numbers appended to each place are considered as much below the aggregate of the pieces pertaining to Derbyshire: any aid therefore, if promptly tendered, will be gratefully acknowledged-November, at Beddington in Surrey. In 1817, in Seymour Street; in 1818, in Upper Berkeley Street; in Oct. 1819, at Huntercombe; and in During the first three months of 1820, at Brighton; at Dover, in August; and in September, at Calais and Paris. At Clifton, in August, 1821; and during May and Sir Robert Ker Porter, the distinguished painter and traveller, and his talented sisters, Jane and Anna Maria Porter, were cousins of the late Mr. John Adamson, the biographer of Camoens; among whose papers are very numerous letters. It is possible, a selection, with other correspondence of highly eminent literary characters, will be published by his son, the Rev. E. H. Adamson. ED. June, 1822, at York Place. At Carisbrook, in September and October, 1823. In June, 1824, at Ryde; and in August, at Tunbridge Wells. In 1825, at Long Ditton; and in Orchard Street In October, 1826, at the Priory near Wingham, Kent. At Ripon, in July, 1827; and in October, at Coughton, in Warwickshire. At St. Petersburg, in July, 1828; and in October, at the Cottage at Long Ditton. In May, 1829, at Esher. In May, 1834, at Bristol; in September, 1835, at Shirley; and later, at Coughton. In March, 1836, at Woolwich; and in 1839, at Coughton. In July, 1840, at Esher; and in November, at Coughton. In March, 1841, at the Priory, near Acton, in Middlesex. In August, 1842, at Spencer Lodge, Wandsworth; and in October, at Brixton. QUERIES RESPECTING JOHN WESLEY. P. I have had just pointed out a passage in Current Notes, November, 1854, p. 90, at which it is asserted that John Wesley "constantly carried in his breast a crucifix;" and moreover, that he pirated' certain portions of the productions of Dr. Young and Mrs. Rowe, for which he made restitution, by agreeing on Feb. 8, 1744, to pay fifty-pounds. My object is not to deny these allegations, but respectfully to ask for the authority upon which they are made? I mean of course, the very terms by B., and not a merely general reference to the memoranda of Dodsley, such appears in the leading paragraph of the article in which the above allegations appear. H. Samuel Wesley, the father of John Wesley, published in 1703, a tract on the Dissenters' Education in their Private Academies; this was printed in 4to., and occasioned a considerable controversy. The whole of the tracts so published, were collected by Sir Thomas Clutterbuck, and bound in a volume. His manuscript notes throughout evinced his intimate connection with the Wesley family; and in one of these notes, it was stated-John Wesley, though educated as a Divine of the Church of England, always carried a crucifix about him. TREACHERY OF RUSSIA, FIFTY YEARS SINCE. At this juncture, when a repetition of the aggressions of Russia upon the territories of Turkey has occasioned a war, the result of which has been greatly to the disadvantage of the former, the following extract from Hughes' Travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania, 1820, Vol. II., pp. 180-181, will no doubt be perused with much interest; at the same time that it affords a clear and explicit notice of our celebrated naval expedition that, half a century since, sailed against Constantinople, the motives and conduct of which were then so erroneously considered and misrepresented. Carlton Club, March 8. S. Russia, in all her enterprises and political schemes, ever keeps her eye fixed upon the possessions of Turkey: she is also aware that she never can gain her point unless England be willing to assist or unable to oppose her. In the year 1806, that great northern power saw a favourable opening in affairs, of which she endeavoured eagerly to take advantage. Knowing that England was alarmed at the preponderating influence of Bonaparte, she entered into an alliance with her offensive and defensive, and then succeeded in forcing Turkey into a contest by demands which she never would have made had she not been sure of the assistance of her new ally. At the very commencement of this war a powerful Russian army took military possession of the important provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, and the very existence of the Turkish Empire in Europe was threatened. It was not long before England saw the ultimate aim of Russia, but she could not refuse her cooperation without a risk of throwing Alexander into the arms of Bonaparte; accordingly Admiral Duckworth_received orders to advance with his fleet against the Dardanelles. That officer sent a frigate to Corfu, with an intimation to Admiral Siniavin that he expected his contingent, which was supposed to consist of about six ships of the line; instead of this, however, the Russian Admiral immediately bent the sails of nearly thirty, which, when our resident on that island observed, he instantly dispatched a confidential messenger overland, in the disguise of a Turkish dervish, to inform the British Admiral of the fact, who, upon this intelligence, made all possible expedition, whilst his Russian ally delayed his course at the isles of Hydra, Spezie, and Poros, to procure additional vessels, and to man his own. Admiral Siniavin was quite astounded when he met our fleet at the mouth of the Dardanelles, on its return from Constantinople, against which it had not fired a shot. By this circumstance, whether it may be styled a lucky incident or a masterly manoeuvre, the Turkcapital was saved from that destruction to which it had been devoted by the cabinet of St. Petersburgh. Had the Russians been once permitted to anchor before Constantinople, an immense force was prepared in the Black Sea to co-operate from that quarter, and the armies on the Moldavian and Wallachian frontier were ready to pour down upon their prey. At no time before was the Crescent ever in such danger, and it may be long ere Russia shall again be able to drive her adversary so far into the toils. In December 1835, many original assignments of copyrights from various authors to the Dodsleys; the property of the late Mr. George Nicol, the bookseller, were dispersed by auction by Mr. R. H. Evans, in Pall Mall. The article in Current Notes entitled Literary Remuneration, was constituted of Notes made at that sale, from the origi-ish nal papers; a reference to the sale catalogue of that day, yet possessed by Mr. Evans, in Albany Street, Regent's Park, would show who was the purchaser of that agreement, and possibly where it is yet extant, but would fail in invalidating the fact of the piracy as stated in the article referred to by our correspondent. The agreement in question was signed by John Wesley and witnessed. Mr. Herbert Ingram, proprietor of the Illustrated London News, was on the 7th inst. returned member for the town of Boston, his native place. The numbers were: Ingram, 521. Adams, 296. Majority, 225. The treaty of Tilsit took place soon after these events. The pension of 251. per annum, granted to the late JOSEPH HAYDN, previously to his death, has been continued to his widow. MEISTER VON LIESBORN. Who is the painter of the pictures in the National Gallery, described in the Catalogue as Meister von Liesborn? There are several of these and very beautiful; but they are quite unnoticed in Waagen's Art Treasures, nor does he notice the works of any painter by this name in the various collections he describes. Any information, therefore, on this head would greatly oblige. Bratton, March 4. E. B. The appellation of the Master of Liesborn, is given by German writers to designate an unknown painter, the accredited founder of the Westphalian school; who painted the altar-piece in the Benedictine Abbey of Liesborn, near Münster, consecrated in 1465. On Napoleon s constituting the kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, the monks were dispersed, and the altar-piece then sold; the purchaser appears to have formed smaller pictures from portions; and some of these pieces were obtained by Herr Krüger of Minden, whose collection by Mr. Dyce's strong recommendation was purchased in 1854, by the government, for 2000. The several pictures, noticed by our Correspondent, are but portions of the altar-piece, and their present attractive appearance is attributable to the restorative skill of Mr. Bentley. Of the Krüger pictures upwards of forty, or more than half the collection, are worthless, and consequently unfit for exhibition. VENETIAN TRIUMPHAL COMMEMORATION. In a letter, dated Venice, March 10, 1764, are the following particulars : On the 4th of this month, the Doge and Senators repaired to the balcony of the ducal Palace in the square of St. Mark; which place was crowded with spectators, most of them masked; and there was performed the usual ceremony of striking off the heads of three bulls at one blow. After this operation, a man, mounted on a kind of dragon, rose from the sea, and flew along a rope to the gallery of the Tower of St. Mark, throwing sonnets among the people as he passed. From thence he made a rapid progress, by means of another rope, to the balcony of the Doge, to whom he presented a nosegay and some verses: he afterwards mounted by the same rope to the cupola, and then returned to the sea. The two factions of the Castellans and Nicolottes afterwards amused the people with feats of equilibrity and morrice-dancing, etc. This festival, which always terminates with a firework, is celebrated in remem brance of a great Victory formerly gained by the Venetians over the Patriarch of Aquileia. It was to have been, according to custom, the 1st of this Month, but it was put off on account of the bad weather. NEWSPAPER STAMPS. The Chancellor of the Exchequer lately stated in the House of Commons there had been a loss to the revenue of 220,000l., in consequence of the abolition of the newspaper stamps. The return made on the 3rd inst. of the aggregate number of penny Newspaper stamps issued from July 1, to Dec. 31, 1855, shews an immense falling off. The numbers thus reduced were England, 15,498,094; Wales, 193,680; Scotland, 2,680,122; Ireland, 3,274,612; total 21,646,688. BELFRY RHYMES. The following lines are in Gulval Church, Cornwall. The frames of the Bells bear date 1600. Good Sirs! our meaning is not small, That God to Praise assemblies call; And warn the sluggard, when at home That he may with devotion come Unto the Church and joyn in prayer; Of Absolution take his share. Who hears the bells, appears betime, And in his seat against we chime. Therefore I'd have you not to vapour, Nor blame ye Lads that use the Clapper By which are scar'd the fiends of hell, And all by virtue of a Bell. Penzance, March 6. MINE HOST OF THE BLUE BOAR. W. The following instance of longevity may possibly be deemed worthy recording in the pages of Current Notes. Mr. Joseph Howes, remembered by many here as formerly mine host of the Blue Boar and Wellington Castle Inns, lived to be the oldest inhabitant in Leicester, but more recently resided at Evington Lodge, near this town, highly respected by a large circle of friends. He died in December, 1853, aged 102. Leicester, March 8. WILLIAM KElly. King Richard the Third, the last of the Plantagenets slept at the Blue Boar Inn, on the night of August 21, 1485, the night preceding the memorable conflict at Bosworth Field. It would seem, however, this was not the principal inn in the town; in Mr. Kelly's admirable historical papers on Royal Progresses to Leicester, he notices many interesting events as transpiring at the Angel, an inn situated between Cheapside and Gallowtree-gate, long ranking as the head hostelry, where for centuries upon the same site a long succession of noble and princely guests on occasions feasted or reposed. It was demolished at the close of 1854, and "finally disappeared from among us, even in name." |