Folio will not think that I have taken an unwarrantable liberty in eliding it from "swears" in 1. 6.

MR. FLETCHER'S second note, on 'King John,' IV. ii., needs neither emendation nor addition. He has fairly hit the nail on the head, and driven it home. R. M. SPENCE, M.A.

Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.

P.S.-"Swears," in 1. 6, may be allowed to stand if we regard it as an abbreviation for "One swears." For similar instances of ellipsis of nominative see Abbott's 'Shak. Gram.,' 390-402.

I cannot agree with MR. FLETCHER in his interpretation of III. i. 279-84; and to rely on the punctuation of the Folio to establish any particular reading is to rest on a very broken reed. The argument, to my mind, is not so difficult as the editors have found it: "It is religion that makes Vows kept, but you have sworn (second oath) against religion (which in your first oath you swore to champion). In so far as you swear against your first oath, and make your second oath a surety for your truth, thereby setting the truth against an oath (viz, your first oath), you are on unstable ground; in swearing one swears only to keep one's vow (and you have sworn to break it)." As a matter of fact, the punctuation of the Folio appears to be correct, except that there should be a stop at HOLCOMBE INGLEBY.

66

unsure."

'TEMPEST,' III. i. (7th S. vii. 403).—A meaning much clearer than that MR. SPENCE manages to find in the passage may be brought out from a less violent alteration of the text than is required for his interpretation. I would propose only to read least instead of "lest" in the First Folio, and to omit the "it" at the end of the sentence. The passage would then run :

I forget:

But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, Most busy least when I do. Ferdinand has allowed his thoughts to run on the charms of Miranda, when he awakes to the consciousness that he is forgetting his task of drudgery. But even so, he would fain argue, he gives his master no cause of complaint, inasmuch as the thoughts of her are so refreshing that he is practically busiest in his master's service when for the moment he is beguiled into entire cessation of bodily labour.

The foregoing correction was suggested to me in my sleep many years ago. I had not been speculating at all upon any mode of amending the passage, when one night, without any corresponding dream, I awoke with the words running in my head: "Most busy when least I do." It was some time before I could think what they referred to, but after a little I recognized them as pointing to the true reading of the famous crux in the 'Tempest.' H. WEDGWOOD.

Though unable to accept MR. SPENCE's reading in its entirety, I am yet obliged to him for throwing a light on this passage which may lead to its true interpretation. I accept his first suggestion of removing the semicolon at forget, but I would preserve the Folio punctuation in the next line, and understand the relative pronoun. This form of construction is almost too common to need illustration; but I append a capital instance from this very play, the failure to understand which has, until quite lately, led the editors all astray :

A solemn air and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy cure thy brains,
Now useless boil within thy skull.

'Tempest,' V. i. 60. Were busilest analogous to the easilest in Cymbeline 'I should prefer that reading, as requiring only the slightest alteration; but, as the analogy will not hold, perhaps busiest is the reading to be preferred. We then get this very satisfactory interpretation: "I forget everything but these sweet thoughts, which refresh even my most busiest labours, when I give way to them." "Do it" is a common expression of the day, and may mean almost anything. Cf. 'Cymbeline,' II. ii. 18:Rubies unparagon'd,

How dearly they do 't.

I may not have suggested the true solution of this difficult passage, but I think the above interpretation is worth consideration. HOLCOMBE INGLEBY.

Athenæum Club.

PRICES OF JACOBEAN QUARTOES: ENTRIES IN STATIONERS' REGISTERS.-The evidence here set forth as to prices is, as yet, too little to found any certain conclusion upon; nevertheless I give it as a first conclusion and for what it is worth. My copy of Jonson's "Execration against Vulcan. With divers Epigrams...... Printed by J. O. for John Benson......1640," has in MS. on its title-page "4d." Its leaves (including the first fly-leaf, which is part of the signatures in A) are thirty. My Chapman's Conspiracie......of Charles, Duke of Byron,' 1608, has in MS. on its title-page "pret. 10d 10 Junij. 1608." Its leaves are 65 (for signature A only includes the title-leaf and the dedication-leaf, both unsigned). Assuming, then, that the fourpence for the Jonson quarto was its published, and not its second-hand price, an assumption rendered most probable by its coincidence of result with the Chapman quarto, the publisher's pricerate seems to have been one penny for every seven and a half leaves (390 lines of larger print) in the Jonson booklet, and for six and a half leaves (II. 494) in the Chapman one.

It is true that Drummond of Hawthornden bought a Romeo and Juliet' for fourpence, that is at the rate of a penny for eleven leaves; but as

Y. S. M.

LILLIPUT.-Lille in Danish and Swedish = our little, and putto in Italian-child or boy. Lilli mutto would, therefore, mean little child or boy, and this word I actually find used in much this sense= figurina, in an Italian novel by Mastrani called 'Il mio Cadavere' (sixth edit., Naples, 1880, i. 61). The writer, after describing un tondo di mogano a lastra di marmo......zeppo di tutte quelle figurine di marmo, di stucco, di alabastro che popolano i salotti," goes on to say, "questo mondo di lilliputti preziosi che si accalcano sovra un tondo o sovra una mensola," where it is evident that lilliputti in the second sentence-figurine in the first. It must not be supposed, however, that the author made up the word in the way I have done. He evidently borrowed it from 'Gulliver's Travels,' though he was probably induced, in part at least, to use it here by finding in it the familiar word putto. But Swift evidently did make up the word somehow, and the question is, Did he make it up in the barbarous way that I have described? It would not require any great knowledge of Swedish (or Danish) and Italian to do so, as both lille and putto are words in common use. At all events, I am not the only person who has found the Danish and Swedish lille in Lilliput. Three or four years after I had met with this Italian lilliputto (1884), and it had led me to the derivation which I have given above, I met with the following in Kleinpaul's 'Menschen- und Völkernamen (Leipzig, 1885), p. 129, Das Wort [Lütke*], schwedisch und dänisch lille, steckt auch in Liliput."

Sydenham Hill.

F. CHANCE.

MORTARS.-Some years ago I bought at a sale of household goods which took place near Wakefield a rather large bronze mortar. It has two handles in the form of human heads, and four gro

Lütke is a Low German diminutive name, which Kleinpaul regards as akin to our little.

tesque faces ornament the sides. The rest of the space, which would otherwise be blank, is occupied by two ovals with pseudo-classic decoration around them. They each contain a bridge of three arches with towers protecting the right and left entrances. Above the bridge is an object which looks like a star or comet. Round the margin is the date 1568 in Roman numerals. I am wishful to know whether this is the arms of some foreign city, or the trademark of the maker.

About the same time I acquired at a Lincolnshire village near the Humber a mortar dated 1666, bearing a shield charged with a key in pale between two stars, impaling a nondescript bird, which may be meant for a falcon. Around the

bottom is inscribed SCHLITZWEGH DROSTE," out

of which my ignorance can extract no meaning.

ANON.

To the Editor of the Morrin Chronicle.

SIR, I happened to be rummaging among some old plays the other day, when, by good luck, I found a very curious copy of Othello, interspersed with manuscript notes, and in perfect condition, except that it is rather worm-eaten and has lost the title-page. The first leaf has suffered most severely, and I regret it the more because it contains the following remarkable deviation from the authenticated text of Shakespeare:For certes, says he,

I have all ready chose my secretary.
And what was he?......
Forsooth, a great tautologician,
One Vi...... Cas...... an Irishman,
A fellow allmost damn'd in a faire wife,
That never sett a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster; unlesse the bookish theoriche
Wherein the toged consuls can propose

As masterly as he: mere prattle without practice Is all his soldiershippe. But he, Sir, had the election. The imperfect part of the fourth line, Vi...... Cas....... may be easily construed into Michael Cassio, as the V when perfect was most likely an M. But where did the printer get the words "tautoligician"[sic] and "IrishI should be glad if any of your intelligent man"? readers who may happen to possess a similar copy in better condition will inform me, through the medium of your widely circulated paper, what is the printer's name, and the date which the imprint bears. I am, Sir, yours,

9th Jan., 1809.

A COMMENTATOR. W. I. R. V. CHINELICKUMS: SLICK.-Amongst the manuscripts of Sir Henry Ingilby, Bart., of Ripley Castle, co. York (Hist. MSS. Commission, Appendix to Sixth Report, p. 365), is a letter to his wife from Sir Robert Paston (March 17, 1667), in which, speaking of the Lord Chancellor, he says, "We parted kindly with some chinelickums, but

SELINA. I am desirous of ascertaining when this name, which is now common, was first introduced into England. Miss Yonge tells us, I believe, that the famous Countess of Huntingdon (daughter of Washington, second Earl Ferrers) was the first who bore it. It is probable that her notoriety popularized the name, but it is certain that she was not the first Selina. In Mr. E. P. Shirley's 'Stemmata Shirleiana' we read of Selina (Celina), daughter of George Finch, Esq., merchant, of London, and formerly alderman of Londonderry, who married the first Earl Ferrers, and was buried at Twickenham, aged eighty, in 1762. But an earlier instance is that of Selina, daughter of John Godschall, merchant, of East Sheen, who married Sir Edward Frewen, and died in 1714, aged fiftyfour (cf. Burke's 'Commoners'). The families of Shirley and of Frewen always have a Selina among their daughters. We have a tradition that "the name was introduced by a Turkish merchant, who brought it from the East." May this have been the John Godschall mentioned above; and may there be a delicate allusion to his calling, in giving the name of the Turkish crescent moon, σreann, to his daughter? Perhaps, however, your readers can remember instances of its occurrence earlier than C. MOOR.

1660.

15, Montpelier Square, S.W.

'BRIEF HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM.'-I have in my possession a "Brief History of Birmingham, and Guide to Strangers: Embellished with a Plan of the Town." It is a 12mo., containing 59 pp., in boards, and published by Grafton & Reddell, Birmingham. It is the second edition, and bears no date. It is also interleaved, being the author's own copy, and contains many MS. alterations and

additions, and the commencement of a preface for the third edition. Can any one tell me who is the author, the date of publication (about 1802-3, I fancy), and whether a third edition was issued? J. CUTHBERT WELCH, F.C.S. The Brewery, Reading.

HERSEY FAMILY.-The male line of the family of Hersey, or Hersee, in Notts, Warwick, and Berks, has failed (in the reigns of Elizabeth, Edward I., and say George III.). There is a large family in the States, that originated from an emigrant in 1635, and I wish to trace him this side of the water. CHAS. J. HERSEY. P.S.-I have seen it spelt Hersey, Hersee, Herc Hercye, Hersy, Hersi, Hercé, Hercey, Hersé.

STONE COFFINS FILLED WITH COCKLE-SHELLS. -In excavating the soil, which has been brought in to heighten the floor of the transitional portion of Frampton Church, several stone coffins were discovered, which must originally have had their lids level with the floor. The lids are all gone, but the bones remain in the coffins, and each has been filled with cockle and other shells and sand. It is evident, from their being filled up to the top, and shells not being found elsewhere, that this was done by design, and not by accident. The effect appears to have been to preserve the bones, which are perfectly fresh, although they must have been buried six hundred years, and before the level of the ground line was raised and made to correspond with the second, or decorated portion of the

church.

shells being used for such a purpose? Is there any other instance known of sea

Another curious circumstance is the peculiar size of one coffin, it being 5 ft. 10 in. in length (within), and only 13 in. broad at the head and 7 in. at the foot. The skeleton fitted tight every way; though for some inexplicable cause about two inches have been sliced off the sides and ends of the coffin, and the face, knee-caps, and toes of the skeleton were similarly sliced off level with the coffin; but as the floor was raised, instead of lowered, there seems no conceivable reason for this treatment. As the rest of the bones were undisturbed, it would appear as if this was done before the flesh was off the bones, for the feet were in their original upright position with the severed toes lying close by them. Can any one give a pro

bable reason for this treatment?

Frampton Hall, near Boston.

C. T. J. Moore.

written at the lower margin by some former possessor, "Fleet on the Serpentine, Hyde Park." Eleven full-rigged ships are shown, but these must have only been gigantic toys, as, judging by boats which are near them, none of them can have been longer than about three times the length of a small row-boat. Some foreground figures in the etching are suggestive of Rowlandson or his period. When were these ships placed upon the Serpentine; and when were they removed? Had they any particular significance; or are they only intended for ornament? They are principally two-deckers, with gun ports. Some fly

the Union Jack, while others have a flag over the stern which is evidently intended for the French tricolour. Size of etching about 14 in. by 9 in. W. H. PATTERSON. Belfast.

ST. PAUL'S DEANERY.-Wren is said by Milman to have rebuilt it on the old site, "but shorn of much of its pleasant garden stretching towards the river, which was portioned off on building leases to defray the cost of the new house." Did the gardens of the old house extend down to the churchyard of St. Bennet's, Paul's Wharf? If so, they would have covered the ground of old Doctors' Commons. Is there any deanery garden now beyond what may be seen from Dean's Yard? If Milman had not said that the house was built on the old site, I should have thought the original deanery would be much further east and nearer to the transept of the cathedral, with which I fancied it used to be in connexion. Carter Lane and all those streets must surely always have interfered much with the deanery garden.

Walthamstow,

C. A. WARD.

such or to be buried with them. But in this case the subject is not even a native, but an insignificant foreigner, without, so far as my historical knowledge goes, any title to notoriety, good or bad. The guide-book is silent on the matter, and the human guide so oppressively attached on certain days to those who wish to study the monuments is as ignorant of the matter as you would expect HERMAN BIDDELL. to find him.

MARIE LACHENSTEN.-Can any of your readers who are acquainted with the biographies of Charles Edward, the Pretender, state who Marie Lachensten was? A miniature of her on a snuff-box which belonged to the Pretender, and came originally from General Sir Herbert Taylor, has been exhibited at the Stuart Exhibition. F. PERCIVAL.

2, Southwick Place, W.

LINES ON MUSIC.-In what seems to be the commonplace book of a Scotch dominie who lived about 1688, among notes on music, which appear to be copied from Playford's 'Introduction to Music' (1683), there are the following lines:— Through routing of the river lang, The rocks sounding like a sang, Where descants did abound, With Treble, Tenor, Counter, Mean, And Echo blow a basse between

In Diapason sound.

Sett with the c sol fa uth clieffe
With long and large at list,

With quiver, Crotchet, Semibrief,
And not a minim mist.
Compleatly more sweetly
The fire down flat, and
Then Muses which uses
To pin Apollo's harp.

Are these lines a copy, or a translation, or what?
J. G. C.

STAG MATCH.-In looking over a file of the London Chronicle for 1758, I find mention of a description of sport that can never, I think, have been common, and of which I have not before found mention. The Chronicle for June 29 states that the races at Newcastle-upon-Tyne had been held during the previous week. There were five prizes, one of which was run for on each day, from Monday to Friday. The writer then proceeds: "The main [cock-fight] between the Duke of Cleveland and the Earl of Northumberland was won by the Earl. And the stag match between Sir Henry Grey, Bart., and Jeremiah Shafto, Esq., was won by Sir Henry." A "main" was a regular item in the sports of a race week until within living memory. But what was a stag match"? Are we to suppose that the animals were incited to fight?

JOHN LATIMER.

"HOW MUCH THE WIFE IS DEARER THAN THE BRIDE."-This is mentioned in Colebs in Search of a Wife,' ninth edition, 1809, i. 288. In 'The