Croft, Herbert. Letter to the Princess Royal of England, on the E. and German Languages. Hamburg, 1797. 4to.

Crombie, Alex. The Etymology and Syntax of the E. Language. 1802, 1809, 1830, 1838. 8vo.

Reply to Dr. Gilchrist on E. G. 1817. 8vo. Davies, Rev. Edw. Celtic Researches. London, 1804. Royal 8vo.

Delamothe, G. The French Alphabet, &c. London, 1595. 8vo. 1631. 18mo.

Devis, Ellin. Accidence; or, First Rudiments of E. G. 1786. 12mo.

Dictionnaire de la Prononciation Angloise. London, 1781. 8vo.

Dissertation on the Beauties and Defects of the E. Language. Paris, 1805. 12mo.

Dutch and E. Grammar. 1775. 12mo.

Du Wes, Giles. An Introductorie for to Lerne to Rede, to Pronounce, and to Speak French Trewly. London, by Nic. Bourman, n.d. [about 1540]. Also by J. Waley; also, by T. Godfray. Reprinted, together with Palsgrave's Dictionary,' at Paris, 1852. Elphinston, James. Analysis of the French and E. Languages. 1756. 2 vols., 12mo.

Principles of the E. Language. London, 1765. 2 vols., 12mo.

Propriety ascertained in her Picture; or, E. Speech and Spelling, &c. 1787. 2 vols., 4to.

E. Orthography Epitomized. London, 1790. 8vo. Fifty Years' Correspondence between 'Geniuses of both Sexes. [In reformed spelling.] London, 1791-4. 8 vols., 12mo.

Minniature of Inglish Orthography. 1795. 8vo. Elstob, Elizabeth. Rudiments of G. for the E. Saxon Tongue. London, 1715. 4to. English, J. Observations on Mr. Sheridan's Dissertation concerning the E. Tongue. 1762. 8vo.

E. G., Royal; Reformed into a more easie Method. 1695. 12mo.

E. Language, Observations upon the. N.d. [about 1715]. 8vo.

Reflections on the; being a Detection of many Improper Expressions, &c. 1770. 8vo.

Vulgarisms and Improprieties of. 1833. 12mo. E. Orthographie. Oxford, 1668. 4to.-Said to be by Owen Price (Wood, 'Ath. Ox.,' ii. 490).

E. Tongue, G. of the; with the approbation of Bickerstaff. 1711. 12mo.

E. Words, Vocabulary of; of dubious Accentuation. 1797. 8vo.

Errors of Pronunciation......by the Inhabitants of London and Paris. 1817. 8vo.

Essay upon Literature: an Enquiry into the Antiquity and Original of Letters. 1726. 8vo.

Essay upon the Harmony of Language...... to Illustrate that of the E. Language. 1774. 8vo.

Explanatory Treatise on the Subjunctive Mode. 1834,

8vo.

Familiar E. Synonymes Critically and Etymologically Illustrated. 1822. 12mo. Fearn, Jo. London, 1824. 8vo.

Anti-Tooke: an Analysis of Language.

Fenner, Dudley. The Artes of Logike and Rhetorike. Middleburgh, 1584. 4to.

Fisher and Tryon's New Spelling-Book. 1700. 12mo. Forneworth, R. The Pure Language of the Spirit of Truth; or, Thee and Thou, &c. [Defence of Quaker Idiom.] 1656. 8vo.

Free, Dr. John. Essay towards an History of the E. Tongue. London, 1749, 1773, 1788. 8vo.

French Alphabet (a Quaint Assemblage of Grammatical Dialogues, in French and E.). 1639. 18mo.

Gardiner's E. G., Adapted to Different Classes of Learners. 1809. 12mo.

Grammar. Some New Essays of a Natural and Artificial Grammar......for the Benefit of a Noble Youth (W. Godolphin, Esq.). 1707. Folio.

Short Introduction of G., generally to be used. Cambridge, 1668.

G. of the E. Tongue, with Notes, &c. 1711, 8vo. Also, n.d. 12mo.

G. of the E. Verb. 1815. 12mo.

Two Grammatical Essays on a Barbarism in the E. Language. 1768. 8vo.

Greenwood, James. Essay towards a Practical E, G, 1729, 1753. 12mo.

Grimm, Jacob. Deutsche Grammatik, Göttingen, 1822-37. 4 vols., 8vo.

Groombridge, H. The Rudiments of the E. Tongue. Bath, 1797. 8vo.

Gwilt, Joseph. Rudiments of a G. of the Anglo-Saxon Tongue. London, 1829. 8vo.

WALTER W. SKEAT. (To be continued.)

THE SUPPRESSION OF THE DRAMA DURING THE PROTECTORATE AND COMMONWEALTH.

According to Collier the latest recorded infraction of the Acts (of 1642, 1647, and 1648) for the suppression of plays occurred at Witney, in Oxfordshire, when 'Mucedorus' was acted by strolling players on Feb. 3, 1653/4. The performance was interrupted by the fall of part of the floor, which caused the loss of several lives. event is commemorated in John Rowe's 'TragiComoedia' (Collier, 'Annals of the Stage,' ii. 47, ed. 1879).

This

news

The following references from the papers of the Protectorate seem to prove that performances were frequently given in private up to the end of 1655 :

"Dec. 30, 1654.-This day the players at the Red Bull, being gotten into all their borrowed gallantry and ready to act, were by some of the souldiery despoiled of all their bravery, but the souldiery carryed themselves very civilly towards the audience."-The Perfect Account, &c., Dec. 27-Jan. 3, 1654/5.

In Mercurius Fumigosus, No. 29, Dec. 13-20, 1654, p. 227, is a story of a company of young actors rehearsing a comedy; and there is also a similar story in Mercurius Fumigosus, Feb. 7-14, 1655, p. 294. Two other accounts of interrupted performances may be added:

"Friday, Sept. 11, 1655.-This Day proved Tragical to the Players at the Red Bull, their acting being against an Act of Parliament the Soldiers secured the persons of some of them who were upon the Stage, and in the Tyring house, they seized also upon their Cloaths in which they acted, a great part whereof was very rich, it never fared worse with the spectators then at this present, for those who had monies paid their five shillings apeece, those who had none to satisfie their forfeits, did leave their Cloaks behind them, the Tragedy of the Actors and the Spectators was the Comedy of the Soldiers. There was abundance of the female sex who not able to pay 5s. did leave some gage or other behind them, insomuch that although the next day after the Fair was expected to be

| reformatum, in quo Sacræ Scripturæ libri, probateque Sanctorum historie elegan | ter beneque dispositae | leguntur.' The first two lines are in small Roman capitals, the first red, the second black. Under the title is an oblong cut of an angel bearing a shrine or tabernacle, on the right door of which is "Ave Maria"; on the left, "OPA' ELENA" (? gratia plena); under door, "Plus ultra " on the left side of angel "P.M.,"; on the right side "M.P." The legend round the block is, "Vincentius de Portonariis de Tridono de Monte Ferrato." Under the woodcut is, "MDXXXVI." The colophon is, "Excudebant Lugd. Melchior et Gaspar Trechsel Fratres."

The book is printed in red and black Gothic type, with double columns. I think it is an 8vo., but I do not feel confident as to the main direction of the water-mark lines. The preface begins with "Cogitanti mihi," which I fancy is the best short diagnosis of a Quignon of the first text from a Quignon of the second text, the preface of which latter begins with "Breviarium Romanum." I could find no letters from the Pope or the King of France, as the other French editions have. The table of movable feasts runs up to the year 1568, the very year in which the use of Quignon was abolished by Pius V.

The pagination begins, strange to say, with the first page of the preface; the Psalter on fol. 19 recto; the Dominicale on fol. 81 recto; the Sanctorale on fol. 442 recto. The last folio is 495.

In the few points of the text that I was able to collate, this edition seemed to be descended from the first Roman edition rather than from the Venice edition of the first text. The title, however, is the same as that of the Venice edition and of the other French editions.

Braemar, N.B.

J. WICKHAM LEGG.

SEVERITY OF THE ENGLISH PENAL CODE.-In 'N. & Q.,' 6th S. iii. 148, 313, 335, some notes appeared on the capital punishment of juvenile offenders, one in particular, by me, at p. 313, mentioning the execution of a boy aged only twelve years at Lancaster, named Abraham Charlesworth. His crime was being concerned in setting fire to a factory at Westhoughton, in Lancashire, March 24,

1812.

The other day, perusing a recently-published book, the Essays' of my late friend Dr. C. M. Ingleby, I came upon the following passage in a note in the essay 'A Voice for the Mute Creation,' which points out the severity of the penal code "when George III. was king." In the year 1814 Edward Pollo was hanged at the new gaol, Chelmsford, for cutting down a cherry-tree in a plantation at Kelvedon, in Essex, the property of a Mr. Brewer. Mr. Justice Heath, who tried him, told him that " a man that would wilfully

cut down a young cherry-tree would take away a man's life" (p. 309).

The same circumstance, but told in a very different form, is mentioned in 'Lives of Twelve Eminent Judges,' by W. C. Townsend, Recorder of Macclesfield, published in 1846. The author died in 1850, just after being made a Q.C. Let it be first noted that he is delineating the character of Sir Francis Buller, a judge as able as severe, and contrasting it, though favourably in point of leniency, with that of Mr. Justice Heath, his colleague and contemporary :

"Mr. Justice Heath, for instance, who several years after, left a man of infamous character for execution, under a particular statute, for cutting down a grove of seventy young trees. Death appears to have been the dread penalty for offences against property, and the calendar of larceny to have been marked with characters of blood" (vol. i. p. 20).

66

Judge Heath died in 1816 and Sir Francis Buller in 1800. Mr. Townsend, alluding to both judges, lays the blame on the age, and not on the individuals who pronounced the sentence of the law. On the one hand Dr. Ingleby mentions the offence as merely "cutting down a cherrytree "; whilst Mr. Townsend brands Pollo as & man of infamous character," and mentions his aggravated offence "cutting down a grove of seventy young trees." It was presumably under a statute called the Black Act that Pollo was executed, which remained unrepealed in the statute book until 1827. Mr. Townsend has just been discussing the case of Capt. Donellan, who was executed at Warwick in 1781 for poisoning his brother-in-law, Sir Theodosius Boughton. Sir Francis Buller in this case had summed up with his mind evidently convinced of the prisoner's guilt, and always adhered to that conviction. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

DOES MR. GLADSTONE SPEAK WITH A PROVINCIAL ACCENT?-Prominent public characters have ever been exposed to attack, as the Chorus in the 'Ajax' of Sophocles says of that hero,

τῶν γὰρ μεγάλων ψυχῶν ἱείς,
οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι· κατὰ δ' ἄν τις ἐμοῦ
τοιαυτα λέγων, οὐκ ἂν πείθοι.

πρὸς γὰρ τὸν ἔχονθ' ὁ φθόνος ἕρπει, it is not surprising that he has not been exempt and in the case of the modern English statesman from the common fate. But it may be news to many, as it certainly was to myself, to be told that Somerset Word-Book,' lately issued by the Enghe speaks with a provincial accent. In the 'West lish Dialect Society, the compiler, Mr. T. F. Elworthy, says :

"A real Taunton man I should know in Timbuctoo

and a Bristolian anywhere, even if he were not half so marked as Mr. Gladstone is by his native Lancashire."Preface, p. xiv.

Considering his Scotch parentage on both sides, his early residence at Liverpool (a perfect colluvies gentium), his education at Eton and Oxford, and long contact with the world of London in all its varieties for more than half a century, it seems strange that he could have retained much, if any, of the true Lancashire as spoken by Tim Bobbin. This is one difficulty. Another arises from Mr. Elworthy's powers of discrimination, which, however strong and accurate as to Somersetshire dialects, may be at fault as to Lancashire. Be this as it may, there must be hundreds of persons, both in public and private life, well acquainted with Mr. Gladstone's modes and tone of speech, and also competent judges of English pronunciation, who could confirm or refute Mr. Elworthy's remarkable

criticism.

W. E. BUCKLEY.

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE ON OCTOBER 14, 1688.Now that so much is being said and is likely to be said about the great event which in the approaching autumn will have taken place two hundred years ago, it may be interesting to refer to some remarks in Evelyn's 'Diary,' under date 1688, October 14:

"The king's birthday. No guns from the tower as usual. The sun eclipsed at its rising. This day signal for the victory of William the Conqueror against Harold, near Battel, in Sussex. The wind, which had been hitherto west, was east all this day. Wonderful expectation of the Dutch fleet. Public prayers ordered to be read in the churches against invasion.'

On October 14 (corresponding to the 24th, Gregorian style) in that year, an eclipse of the sun took place indeed, which was annular in South Africa, but no part of it was visible in Europe. Evelyn's remark (which has been copied into several books), that "the sun rose eclipsed," would have been true had he been at the Cape of Good Hope, but as he was in London, one can only suppose that the morning was very dark, and that, having heard that an eclipse of the sun would take place on that day, he erroneously supposed that the darkness was due to it. W. T. LYNN.

Blackheath.

LAVENDER BUSH.-The writer of an article on Queen Natalie' (of Servia) in St. James's Gazette of July 16, 1888, finds occasion to remark :

"According to the ordinary traditions of the matrimonial state, the husband, whether in hovel or in palace, ought to be master. There are cases notoriously where practice does not quite accord with accepted theory. The lavender bush flourishes in many a cottage garden; and instances may be cited in which, though the husband sat on the throne, the wife swayed the sceptre." So far back as 1st S. vi. 123, N. & Q.' has it on record that Hertfordshire folk have the fancy that rosemary flourishes only "where the missis is master," but I do not recollect meeting with any intimation that a lavender bush was fraught with the same significance. If it be so, what a gyneco

cracy there must be about Hitchin; the district cannot fail to present an interesting field of study to others than those who have been fascinated by Mr. Seebohm's discovery of the traces it bears of the English open-field system. ST. SWITHIN.

66

rare."

Assist used as A NoUN.-This word is given in the New English Dictionary,' and marked There is a quotation for its use from Day, 1607. The word is used by Middleton in 'The Old Law,' I. i. :—

First Lawyer: For the women, for that they never were defence to their country; never by counsel admitted

to the assist of government of their country. This play was first printed in 1656, but in Halliwell's 'Dictionary of Old Plays' it is stated that "this drama was first acted in some form in 1599, and Massinger perhaps made additions to it long afterwards." Cf. also Mr. A. H. Bullen's edition of Middleton, vol. i. pp. xiv-v. F. C. BIRKBECK TERRY.

PEARLS.-Linnæus had a secret to produce pearls, and he disposed of it to Bagge (24 B., ii. 9) of Gottenburg for 18,000 copper dollars. In 1780 his heirs wished to sell the sealed receipt to the highest bidder. Dr. Stover says the secret is in the hands of Dr. J. E. Smith at London. Now Linnæus, in his 'Systema Naturæ,' writes, "Margarita. Testæ excrescentia latere interiore, dum exterius latus perforatur," so that he himself published in 1746 the secret that he sold in 1761. He must have forgotten the fact; and what a comment it is on the influence exercised on the world by the publication of philosophical works! The philosopher gets money for an open secret of twenty years' standing, and a merchant can make money by buying it. Money might be got out of Boyle's experiments even now. C. A. WARD.

Walthamstow.

THE PHONOGRAPH. Now that the Edison

phonograph has been so far perfected it may be well to note where and to what extent its principle has been anticipated. I have the following note, in print, which may be of service to that end. Unfortunately the date appended to it in MS. is blurred, but I believe it is 1859; at all events it can be easily ascertained or verified :

"M. l'Abbé Moigno read a paper before the British Association describing a new method of reproducing the human voice and other sounds in such a manner as to be The instrument by which this is visible to the eye. effected is called the Phonautograph; it is the invention of a young Frenchman, M. E. L. Scott. The Phonautograph consists of a tube enlarged at one end in the same manner as a trumpet in order to concentrate the sounds, which are conveyed through it to a thin membrane tightly strained over the other end of the instrument. This membrane carries affixed to it an excessively light style or pencil, which is put in motion by every vibration Behind this style a band of paper covered with lampproduced by the action of the air upon the membrane. black is unrolled by clockwork; and as this band passes