host of struggling middle-class people in every conceivable business and profession all claiming and using the same arms as the chief of their house. Arms may, therefore, now be said to belong to the family rather than to the individual. This modern plan may be easier, and perhaps equally shows descent, in a way; but does it not make arms a trifle too cheap? I suppose, however, in these radical times, heraldry, like everything else, has to be made popular. Of course, if every one of the multitudinous coats of arms at present in use had to be differenced ad infinitum, few of them would escape such mutilation as would make them useless for the purpose for which they were intended. So the Heralds' College marches with the times. The only corrective of this undifferenced armsbearing is the fact that every one must prove his pedigree up to date in the College of Arms before he can style himself "Armiger." But this, though it lessens the number of " Armigers," does not distinguish the arms of the remainder; and, more over, it acts in a very one-sided manner, as it denies arms to some of the best families whose pedigrees may happen not to be recorded quite up to date. It is evading the difficulty by a side wind, and only in a partial degree; whereas the good old rule, that the entire arms belong to the head of the family only, makes everything clear at once. And if cadets wish to be armigerous, let them, as in Scotland, come to the College and have their arms duly differenced and recorded. There is, however, another alternative, if my first suggestion is either impolitic or impracticable. It is this. Let the undifferenced arms stand, but give chiefs of coat armour some external mark by which they may be distinguished. For instance, let their shields be surrounded by rays of the sun, as were those of the Landgraves and Cassiques of Carolina. And this brings me to another point. In olden times, when the sovereign granted arms, the title of Esquire invariably went with it, not only to the grantee himself, but to his eldest son after him, and his eldest son again in perpetuity. But now that the business of granting arms has been relegated to the Earl Marshal and the Kings of Arms, a mean and sorry quibble has been raised, that, because the arms have not been directly granted by the sovereign, therefore the title of Esquire does not go with the arms. It might as well be argued that an officer is not an Esquire because his commission comes through the War Office. Grantees of arms are frequently men of ancient blood and lineage, and in virtue of their new grant they are undoubtedly chiefs of coat armour, and on this account alone they were rightly created Esquires. ALERION. CENTENARIANS.-Although the late lamented Dean Swift so clearly described some of the evils of longevity in his sketch of the Struldbrugs,' his writings appear to have had little or no effect, for certain it is that the average duration of human life has greatly increased since his time. Greater sobriety and cleanliness, improved sanitation, better food, perhaps even the advance of medical science, may be credited with a result which some sentimental soft-hearted folks appear to consider a blessing. Why, only the other day, Mr. John Hawkes, of Moseley, Birmingham, died a fortnight after he had celebrated his hundredth birthday. He was born at Norwich in 1794; but in the West of England longevity seems to be even more fashionable, for on two adjoining slabs in the parish churchyard at Ilfracombe are the records of the lives and deaths of certain good folks who managed to kill Time for a hundred years or more, and then Time had his revenge. Perhaps some of these good people were poor, then their relatives must have had to support them; or perhaps they may have been rich, and then what must their families have thought to be kept out of their inheritances whilst, like Charles II., these connexions were an "unconscionable time dying"? I copied down the inscriptions on a bright sunny day in August last-a churchyard being a cheerful spot in which to spend a fine day, and the study of gravestones an incentive to all the virtues they so truthfully record :— "John Pile died 17 May, 1784, aged 100 years. Sarah Williams, widow (whose maiden name was Lord), died Nov. 1804, aged 103 years. John Davis died 4 March, 13 Jany. 1788, aged 107 years. William Soaper died 1840, aged 102 years. Mary Ann Lamb died October 12th, 1889, aged 100 years. Elizabeth Brooks died January 10, 1858, aged 100. Nanny Vagges (widow), born June 19th, 1758, died October 6th, 1859. Jane Richards died June 13th, 1875, aged 101 years.” Space is left for more names; but as people do not seem to die at Ilfracombe, it may be a long time before the blank is filled. Whilst I was noting down these figures a youngster af seventy accosted me and persuaded me to visit the tomb of his grandmother, one Joan Fairchild; this was a total fraud, however, as she died in 1846 at the early age of ninety-six. My acquaintance, Mr. George Comer, earns his living as a boatman; he has nine children-boys and girls he called themand about twenty grandchildren. Yet he seemed fairly cheerful, and was certainly strong and hearty. Now a week or two ago there was a humorous article in the Daily News entitled Centenarianism made Easy,' being in part a review of a modern edition of Cornaro's famous work, 'Discorsi della Vita Sobria,' inculcating exercise and temperance as the best means for prolonging life. Cornaro, with all his sobriety and self-denial, fell short of the goal, counting but a bare ninety-nine years' lease on a peppercorn rental. But these recommendations are founded on selfishness, pure and simple. It may be possible "Ireton: I am sure if wee looke uppon that which is the utmost within man's view of what was originally the constitution of this Kingdome, [if wee] looke uppon that which is most radicall and fundamental, and which if you take away there is noe man hath any land, any goods [or] any civill interest, that is this: that those that chuse the Representors for the making of Lawes by which this State and Kingdome are to be govern'd, are the persons who taken together comprehend the locall interest of this kingdome; that is, the persons in whome all land lies, and those in Corporations in whome all trading lies. This is the most fundamentall Constitution of this Kingdome, which if you doe nott allow you allow none att all. This Constitution hath limited and determined itt that onely those shall have voices in Elections." It is to be borne in mind, when the above is read, that Ireton had been a law-student. "In the meane time the king [Edw. IV.] caulyd a parlyament at Westminster......wherein first wer revyved all suche his constitutions and lawys, which had been repealyd and abrogatyd a lyttle before by King Henry the VIth."-Polydore Virgil, Hist. Eng.,' translated temp. Hen. VIII., p. 159 (Camden Society). "It may please you therefor to understonde we have bad befor us as well my lord deputie, the mayre, and all the counsaill of the said towne, as also diverse others of the kinges true servauntes of the same, and examyned every of theym apart, what the cause is that the good olde, and holsome lawes, ordinances, and constitutions of the said towne and marches, made by the kinges highnes, have not been followed and put in due execution."-Commissioners on State of Calais: Report to Cromwell,' 15:5 ('Chronicle of Calais,' p. 130, Camden Society). D. Yf I do abjure me, or put me to execucyon "But now are found new constituciouns of procuracies and customis and other expensis, so that noither sacrament, nor benefice, nor ministry is yeven nor tan frely after Cristis bidding; but overal goth symonie privaly or apert.”—' Apol. Loil.,' p. 78, fourteenth century (Camden Soc.). Whence also the following: "But now are men lettid oftun bi maal lawis, rewlis, and constituciouns, to wirk after the spirit, or to do the merciful dedis or rightfulness frely, bi autorite of Crist." -P. 80. A reader of Bishop Russell's speeches (temp. Edward V.) cannot, I think, but be persuaded that the term was used in England down to that time only in the sense of a royal, imperial, or ecclesiastical constitution as above (the quotation in the 'N. E. D.' from Gower does not disprove this). The bishop is constantly hovering over the constitutio reipublicæ and the constitutio corporis ground, now so familiar to us, but never once (I believe) alights on it. I am inclined at present to think that the political metaphor was introduced prominently by James I., that it was immediately adopted by the opponents of the Court, and that it thus had a "republican face," almost from the start. I need not say that I would welcome any further light on this important term-whether "But certainly in the Great Frame of Kingdomes and Commonwealths, it is in the power of Princes or Estates, by ordinances, and constitutions, and maners which they may introduce, to sowe greatnesse to their posteritie and succession." This is the essay (in an enlarged form the twentyninth of the 1625 edition) which points out the supreme importance of "the command of the seas" -a truth, then a truism, then a commonplace, and lastly a platitude so stale that editors of the Essays' (e.g., Dr. E. A. Abbott) had come to think it unworthy of note or comment, until Capt. Mahan, without going an inch beyond Bacon's warrant, has once more brought the fact home to us. HERALDRY.-There is one great and striking difference between ancient and modern heraldry. In feudal times no two persons, however nearly connected by blood, bore precisely the same coat of arms. A coat of arms always belonged to the head of the house, all the other members of the family differencing their arms, each in a distinct way, so that no two of them bore exactly the same coat. Now all this is changed, every cadet bearing the arms of his chief without any distinction whatever. The strange part of it is that the College of Arms appears to authorize these assumptions, although it contradicts itself by the clause on differencing, which it inserts in every grant of arms it issues : 66 To be borne and used for ever hereafter by the said John Smith and his descendants with due and proper differences according to the law of arms." These words are invariably used in every modern grant, as words to the same effect were used in every ancient one. I can only account for the disregard of this vital heraldic rule in the following way. The immense increase of population, and with it the corresponding increase of coats of arms, would render differencing as formerly carried out almost impossible. Then, again, pedigrees have greatly altered from what they formerly were. In earlier pedigrees younger sons were hardly ever mentioned, unless they happened to acquire an estate by marriage with an heiress, and even then they frequently preferred taking their wife's name and undifferenced coat to keeping their own with a mark of cadency. Failing such fortunate marriage, they retired to a monastery and were not heard of again. Now, however, a pedigree embraces every member, male and female, of a family; so that we see a host of struggling middle-class people in every conceivable business and profession all claiming and using the same arms as the chief of their house. Arms may, therefore, now be said to belong to the family rather than to the individual. This modern plan may be easier, and perhaps equally shows descent, in a way; but does it not make arms a trifle too cheap? I suppose, however, in these radical times, heraldry, like everything else, has to be made popular. Of course, if every one of the multitudinous coats of arms at present in use had to be differenced ad infinitum, few of them would escape such mutilation as would make them useless for the purpose for which they were intended. So the Heralds' College marches with the times. The only corrective of this undifferenced armsbearing is the fact that every one must prove his pedigree up to date in the College of Arms before he can style himself "Armiger.” But this, though it lessens the number of " Armigers," does not distinguish the arms of the remainder; and, more over, it acts in a very one-sided manner, as it denies arms to some of the best families whose pedigrees may happen not to be recorded quite up to date. It is evading the difficulty by a side wind, and only in a partial degree; whereas the good old rule, that the entire arms belong to the head of the family only, makes everything clear at once. And if cadets wish to be armigerous, let them, as in Scotland, come to the College and have their arms duly differenced and recorded. There is, however, another alternative, if my first suggestion is either impolitic or impracticable. It is this. Let the undifferenced arms stand, but give chiefs of coat armour some external mark by which they may be distinguished. For instance, let their shields be surrounded by rays of the sun, as were those of the Landgraves and Cassiques of Carolina. And this brings me to another point. In olden times, when the sovereign granted arms, the title of Esquire invariably went with it, not only to the grantee himself, but to his eldest son after him, and his eldest son again in perpetuity. But now that the business of granting arms has been relegated to the Earl Marshal and the Kings of Arms, a mean and sorry quibble has been raised, that, because the arms have not been directly granted by the sovereign, therefore the title of Esquire does not go with the arms. It might as well be argued that an officer is not an Esquire because his commission comes through the War Office. Grantees of arms are frequently men of ancient blood and lineage, and in virtue of their new grant they are undoubtedly chiefs of coat armour, and on this account alone they were rightly created Esquires. ALERION. CENTENARIANS.-Although the late lamented Dean Swift so clearly described some of the evils 6 of longevity in his sketch of the Struldbrugs,' his writings appear to have had little or no effect, for certain it is that the average duration of human life has greatly increased since his time. Greater sobriety and cleanliness, improved sanitation, better food, perhaps even the advance of medical science, may be credited with a result which some sentimental soft-hearted folks appear to consider a blessing. Why, only the other day, Mr. John Hawkes, of Moseley, Birmingham, died a fortnight after he had celebrated his hundredth birthday. He was born at Norwich in 1794; but in the West of England longevity seems to be even more fashionable, for on two adjoining slabs in the parish churchyard at Ilfracombe are the records of the lives and deaths of certain good folks who managed to kill Time for a hundred years or more, and then Time had his revenge. Perhaps some of these good people were poor, then their relatives must have had to support them; or perhaps they may have been rich, and then what must their families have thought to be kept out of their inheritances whilst, like Charles II., these connexions were an unconscionable time dying"? I copied down the inscriptions on a bright sunny day in August last-a churchyard being a cheerful spot in which to spend a fine day, and the study of gravestones an incentive to all the virtues they so truthfully record :— "John Pile died 17 May, 1784, aged 100 years. Sarah Williams, widow (whose maiden name was Lord), died Nov. 1804, aged 103 years. John Davis died 4 March, 13 Jany. 1788, aged 107 years. William Soaper died 1840, aged 102 years. Mary Ann Lamb died October 12th, 1889, aged 100 years. Elizabeth Brooks died January 10, 1858, aged 100. Nanny Vagges (widow), born June 19th, 1758, died October 6th, 1859. Jane Richards died June 13th, 1875, aged 101 years." Space is left for more names; but as people do not seem to die at Ilfracombe, it may be a long time before the blank is filled. Whilst I was noting down these figures a youngster af seventy accosted me and persuaded me to visit the tomb of his grandmother, one Joan Fairchild; this was a total fraud, however, as she died in 1846 at the early age of ninety-six. My acquaintance, Mr. George Comer, earns his living as a boatman; he has nine children-boys and girls he called themand about twenty grandchildren. Yet he seemed fairly cheerful, and was certainly strong and hearty. Now a week or two ago there was a humorous article in the Daily News entitled 'Centenarianism made Easy,' being in part a review of a modern edition of Cornaro's famous work, 'Discorsi della Vita Sobria,' inculcating exercise and temperance as the best means for prolonging life. Cornaro, with all his sobriety and self-denial, fell short of the goal, counting but a bare ninety-nine years' lease on a peppercorn rental. But these recommendations are founded on selfishness, pure and simple. It may be possible 66 to live long, in some conceivable circumstances it Herrick himself tells us that he was mop-eyed," may even be agreeable to do so; but we owe some-i.e., near-sighted, and "that he had lost a finger." thing at least to our relatives, some consideration The small portrait of the poet prefixed to the to our friends, whilst we have no right to inflict Hesperides by way of frontispiece may have ourselves on society at large "in second childish- been executed by William Marshall, an engraver, ness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans who lived about 1650, and it is possible that there taste, sans-everything." WALTER HAMILTON. is a larger engraving in existence. A short list of Marshall's portraits is inserted in the notice of him in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers,' but there is no mention of any portrait of Herrick in it. It is said of Marshall's portraits, "Although they are indifferently executed, they are interesting to the collector, on account of the personages they represent." The entry of Herrick's burial in the register of Dean Prior, in Devonshire, his country living, is "Robert Herrick, Vicker," buried Oct. 15, 1674. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. THE MONTHS."-It may Lamb's papers, are merely abridgments of Henry SMART ADAM GIBB.-Readers of N. & Q.' will, I am sure, agree that this is a remarkably strange name for a woman. But from a case reported in a morning newspaper of Sept. 7, such appears to have been given. At an inquest held on the previous day at St. Pancras Coroner's Court on the body of a lady who had met with her death through falling while winding a clock, it came out that she bore the curious name which is given above. According to her son, who was called to identify the deceased as his mother, she CHARLES LAMB AND 66 was baptized in the name of Smart Adam Gibb, which he "supposed was a fashionable name in be worth noting that the descriptions of the months her days." C. P. HALE. from the "Queen-like Closet, or Rich Cabinet, written by Hannah Woolly, and printed for R. C. REINTRODUCTION OF MONUMENTAL BRASSES. and T. S., 1681," which form the subject of one of It is well to record in N. & Q.' the reintroduction of a lost art or a custom that has died out. I have just come upon the following passage in a letter written by Miss Mitford in the year 1845. It will be of interest to not a few of your readers: "Did I tell you that Mr. Taylor, the medical lecturer at Guy's, and one of the cleverest persons I ever knew, was taking rubbings of the different brasses in the churches round this year? I was much struck by the simplicity and piety of the old inscriptions, and Mr. Taylor agreeing with me, he has had the goodness to procure an inscription for me to be executed in London, to be placed over my dear father and mother, in Shenfield Church. I send you a rubbing of it, which you will perhaps, my dear friend, have the goodness to return, as I wish to show it to different friends. Mr. Taylor took it to the Camden Society, where the simplicity and novelty excited very considerable sensation. Above a hundred people have taken down the name of the engraver; and it is very probable that the old fashion will be revived. I did not think of that, as you may well imagine; at the same time, I fully expect that such will be the consequence; for besides the beauty of the execution, and the durability (for the letters are cut half an inch into the brass, and it would last a thousand years), the cheapness is extraordinary, this exquisitely executed plate having only cost fifty shillings. Tell me if you do not prefer this humble inscription to the pompous epitaphs one commonly sees. I do."-Life of Mary Russell Mitford,' edited by Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, vol. iii. p. 199. K. P. D. E. JOHN SELL COTMAN (1782-1842), ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTSMAN AND LANDSCAPE PAINTER.-It may be noted, as an addition to the account of him appearing in 'Dict. Nat. Biog.,' vol. xii. p. 285, that an entry in the parish register of Felbrigg, co. Norfolk, records the marriage, on Jan. 6, 1809, of John Sell Cotman, of the parish of St. John Maddermarket, in the city of Norwich, bachelor, with Anne Miles, spinster, of Felbrigg aforesaid. DANIEL HIPwell. INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE.-The following gem appeared in the Echo, Sept. 17, and ought to be preserved in 'N. & Q.':— Claud Torraine's Book of Truth,' which is said to be "The Duke of Devonshire possesses as an heirloom one of the rarest and most valuable books in Europe. It has been rated by most competent and eminent bookbuyers as being worth at least six times as much as the famous Mazarin Bible,' the most costly work in the British Museum." The ordinary seeker after knowledge might conPORTRAIT OF ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674).-gratulate himself that he had here some valuable In a charming paper, 'Robert Herrick and his facts worth remembering, viz., that there had been Vicarage,' in 'Sketches and Studies,' by my a very clever man named Claud Torraine, who late friend Richard J. King, of honoured memory, had written a very valuable book about truth, who died in 1879, it is stated that "no portrait and that of this book only a few specimens were of Herrick is known to exist." This means pre-in existence, one of which belonged to the Duke of sumably no portrait in oils, as it is added that Devonshire. there is " an engraving of him on the title-page of It is scarcely necessary to say there is no evihis 'Hesperides,"" and "this is not attractive." dence of any man having been called "Claud Torraine"; that the person intended never wrote a book about truth; and that copies of the work produced by the person so blunderingly alluded to are not rare, but plentiful. I have one myself. Does the very intelligent penner of the Echo paragraph consider a number of original pen-andink and other drawings, bound together, a book, in the ordinary sense of the term? Is not such a collection necessarily more than rare that is, unique? And how can he compare a work necessarily unique with others of which many examples exist? Perhaps no drawings in the world have been more written and talked about than these. They are known all over Europe by Earlom's engravings. In emulation of them Turner designed his 'Liber Studiorum,' and every artist, amateur, and person with ordinary taste knows more about the Liber Veritatis' than the compiler of "Echo Gossip." This is a sample of the "improved" education of the country-crass ignorance putting on airs of superior intelligence. R. R. Boston, Lincolnshire. Queries. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. GERMAN AND DUTCH MSS.-I am compiling a detailed catalogue of the German and Dutch MSS. preserved in all English libraries, whether public or private. Having failed to trace some MSS. since their sale in England, I should feel very much indebted to any one kind enough to give me information as to their present owners. I take this opportunity of earnestly requesting the fortunate possessors of MS. libraries to communicate with me, through the medium of this journal or by letter, whether they would allow me to examine them. The following is a liet of MSS. sought for. 1. Sale of Dr. Kloss's MSS. at Sotheby's, 1835: Lot 4538. Alani Proverbia cum versione metrica in dialecto Germ, inferioris. Sixteenth cent. 4to. 4548. Auctores Classici, M. F. Cicero, Bücher von der Vorsehung, &c. Fifteenth cent. 4633. Melanchthon's Opusc. Sixteenth cent. 4659. A Collection of Old Germ. Poems. Fifteenth cent. 4to. 4667. Theologia. Der Curs von vns lieben frawen. Predigten, &c. Fifteenth cent. 4671. Ursula (S.). Predigt. Fifteenth cent. 4to. 1403. Saloman & Marcolf. Fifteenth cent. 793. Pfaldorff de Ingolstat, Kalender and Medical Tract. Fifteenth cent. 993. Theologia, A Poem on the Death of Christ in Old German, &c. Eleventh to fourteenth cent. The last two lots were bought by Mr. Kerslake, of Bristol; but I learnt from Mr. Cornish (Manchester) that most probably lot 993 was destroyed in the fire at Mr. Kerslake's. DR. PRIEBSCH (University, Graz). 5, Lancaster Place, Belsize Square, N.W. QUOTATION WANTED.-"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed." This is cited in the dictionaries from Sheridan. Will any reader of N. & Q.' send me a reference to the passage? Please send direct. J. A. H. MURRAY. Oxford, = PORTER MERCATOR. Can the marriage be Mercator, traced of Samuel Porter and daughter of the famous Nicholas Kaufman Mercator? It was, apparently, private, and must have taken place somewhere near 1685. The date of birth of their daughter Mary is also sought. URBAN. BREAKSPEARS.-What are the best books to consult concerning the life of Nicholas Breakspears or Breakspear, the only Englishman who was ever Pope-Pope Hadrian IV.? A. H. T. [Consult the 'Dict. Nat. Biog.,' vol. i., under Adrian IV., where you will find a long list of authorities.] IRISH SEAL AND GEM ENGRAVERS.-As I am engaged in the preparation of a biographical dictionary of Irish artists, I am anxious to make it as complete as possible, and for that reason have been searching Dublin directories, &c., in order to find what artists have practised in Dublin. 4559. Cato zu duytache. Sixteenth cent. Fol. Perhaps some of your readers could tell me whether 4569. Cronik d. Herren von Brabant (Dutch). Fif they have ever met with works by any of the 4556. Canticum et Hymnor. (Liber) Spiritualium, tam latine quam lingua Germaniæ infer. Fifteenth and sixteenth cent. teenth cent. 4to. Fourteenth 4572-73. Life of Margarete Ebnerin. cent. (1350), 4to.; fifteenth cent., fol. 4577. Hye hebt sich an die Tafell auf das puech d. heiligen Patriarchen-Landrecht. 1441. 4584. Gedichte, Sprüche, &c. 1640. 8vo. following seal and gem engravers, who practised in Dublin between 1780 and 1830. I have met with references to the works of some among them, but of others the names alone are known to me. John Evans, Edward Lyons, Henry and James Standish, 4591. Heinrich (Bruder) Predigten über die 7 Gaben John Logan, Hugh Caddell, Jas. Willett, John d. hl. Geistes. 1535. 4597. Hildegardis Causæ et Curiæ. Thirteenth cent. 4614, Liederbuch. About 1700. Jones, Jas. Robertson, Thos. Huddleston, George |