Notes and Queries, Number 04, November 24, 1849

LATIN EPIGRAM AGAINST LUTHER AND ERASMUS

Mr. Editor,—Your correspondent "Roterodamus" (pp. 27, 28) asks, I hope, for the author of the epigram which he quotes, with a view to a life of his great townsman, Erasmus. Such a book, written by some competent hand, and in an enlarged and liberal spirit, would be a noble addition to the literature of Europe. There is no civilised country that does not feel an interest in the labours and in the fame of Erasmus. I am able to answer your correspondents question, but it is entirely by chance. I read the epigram which he quotes several years ago, in a book of a kind which one would like to see better known in this country—a typographical or bibliographical history of Douay. It is entitled, "Bibliographie Douaisienne, ou Catalogue Historique et Raisonné des Livres imprimés à Douai depuis l'année 1563 jusqu'a nos jours, avec des notes bibliographiques et littéraires; Par H.R. Duthilloeul. 8vo. Douai, 1842." The 111th book noticed in the volume is entitled, "Epigrammata in Hæreticos. Authore Andrea Frusio, Societatis Jesu. Tres-petit in 8vo. 1596." The book is stated to contain 251 epigrams, "aimed," says M. Duthilloeul, "at the heretics and their doctrines. The author has but one design, which is to render odious and ridiculous, the lives, persons, and errors of the apostles of the Reformation." He quotes three of the epigrams, the third being the one your correspondent has given you. It has this title, "De Lutheri et Erasmi differentia," and is the 209th epigram in the book.

I have never met with a copy of the work of Frusius, nor do I know any thing of him as an author. The learned writer who pours out a store of curious learning in the pages of Gentleman's Magazine is more likely than any body that I know to tell you something about him.

Mons. Duthilloeul quotes another epigram from the same book upon the Encomium Moriæ, but it is too long and too pointless for your pages. He adds another thing which is more in your way, namely, that a former possessor of the copy of the work then before him had expressed his sense of the value of these "epigrammes dévotes" in the following NOTE:—

"Nollem carere hoe libello auro nequidem contra pensitato."

Perhaps some one who possesses or has access to the book would give us a complete list of the persons who are the subjects of these defamatory epigrams. And I may add, as you invite us to put our queries, Is not Erasmus entitled to the distinction of being regarded as the author of the work which the largest single edition has ever been printed and sold? Mr. Hallam mentions that, "in the single year 1527, Colinæus printed 24,000 copies of the Colloquies, all of which were sold." This is the statement of Moreri. Bayle gives some additional information. Quoting a letter of Erasmus as his authority, he says, that Colinæus, who—like the Brussels and American reprinters of our day—was printing the book at Paris from a Basle edition, entirely without the concurrence of Erasmus, and without any view of his participation in the profit, circulated a report that the book was about to be prohibited by the Holy See. The curiosity of the public was excited. Every one longed to secure a copy. The enormous edition—for the whole 24,000 was but one impression—was published contemporaneously with the report. It was a cheap and elegant book, and sold as fast as it could be handed over the booksellers counter. As poor Erasmus had no pecuniary benefit from the edition, he ought to have the credit which arises from this proof of his extraordinary popularity. The public, no doubt, enjoyed greatly his calm but pungent exposure of the absurd practices which were rife around them. That his humorous satire was felt by its objects, is obvious from this epigram, as well as from a thousand other evidences.

HALLAMS MIDDLE AGES—ALLEGED IGNORANCE OF THE CLERGY

Sir,—When reading Hallam's History of the Middle Ages a short time ago I was startled by the following passage which occurs amongst other evidences of the ignorance of the clergy during the period subsequent to the dissolution of the Roman Empire.

"Not one priest in a thousand in Spain about the age of Charlemagne, could address a common letter of salutation to another."—Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 332.

And for this statement he refers to Mabillon, De Re Diplomatica, p. 52.

On referring to Mabillon, I find that the passage runs as follows:—

"Christiani posthabitis scripturis sanctis, earumque interpretibus, Arabum Chaldæorumque libris evolvendis incumbentes, legem suam nesciebant, et linguam propriam non advertebant latinam, ita ut ex omni Christi collegio vix inveniretur unus in milleno hominum genere, qui salutatorias fratri posset rationabiliter dirigere litteras."

So that although Mabillon says that scarce one in a thousand could address a Latin letter to another, yet he by no means says that it was on account of their general ignorance, but because they were addicting themselves to other branches of learning. They were devoting all their energies to Arabic and Chaldæan science, and in their pursuit of it neglected other literature. A similar remark might be made of respecting many distinguished members of the University to which I belong; yet who would feel himself justified in inferring thence that Cambridge was sunk in ignorance?

ADVERSARIA

[In our Prospectus we spoke of NOTES AND QUERIES becoming everybody's common-place book. The following very friendly letter from an unknown correspondent, G.J.K., urges us to carry out such an arrangement.

"Sir,—I beg leave to forward you a contribution for your 'NOTES AND QUERIES,' a periodical which is, I conceive, likely to do a vast deal of good by bringing literary men of all shades of opinion into closer juxtaposition than they have hitherto been.

"I would, however, suggest that in future numbers a space might be allotted for the reception of those articles (short of course), which students and literary men in general, transfer to their common-place books; such as notices of scarce or curious books, biographical or historical curiosities, remarks on ancient or obsolete customs, &c. &c. &c. Literary men are constantly meeting with such in the course of their reading, and how much better would it be if, instead of transferring them to a MS. book to be seen only by themselves, or perhaps a friend or two, they would forward them to a periodical, in which they might be enshrined in imperishable pica; to say nothing of the benefits such a course of proceeding would confer on those who might not have had the same facilities of gaining the information thus made public.

"In pursuance of this suggestion, I have forwarded the inclosed paper, and should be happy, from time to time, to contribute such gleanings from old authors, &c. as I might think worth preserving.

"G.J.K."

We readily comply with G.J.K.'s suggestion, and print, as the first of the series, his interesting communication, entitled:]

1. Writers of Notes on Fly-leaves, &c.

The Barberini Library at Rome contains a vast number of books covered with marginal notes by celebrated writers, such as Scaliger, Allatius, Holstentius, David Haeschel, Barbadori, and above all, Tasso, who has annotated with his own hand more than fifty volumes. Valery, in his Voyages en Italie, states that a Latin version of Plato is not only annotated by the hand of Tasso, but also by his father, Bernardo; a fact which sufficiently proves how deeply the language and philosophy of the Greek writers were studied in the family. The remarks upon the Divina Commedia, which, despite the opinion of Serassi, appear to be authentic, attest the profound study which, from his youth, Tasso had made of the great poets, and the lively admiration he displayed for their works. There is also in existence a copy of the Venice edition of the Divina Commedia (1477), with autograph notes by Bembo.

Christina of Sweden had quite a mania for writing in her books. In the library of the Roman College (at Rome) there are several books annotated by her, amongst others a Quintus Curtius, in which, as it would appear, she criticises very freely the conduct of Alexander. "He reasons falsely in this case," she writes on one page; and elsewhere, "I should have acted diametrically opposite; I should have pardoned;" and again, further on, "I should have exercised clemency;" an assertion, however, we may be permitted to doubt, when we consider what sort of clemency was exercised towards Monaldeschi. Upon the fly-leaf of a Seneca (Elzevir), she has written, "Adversus virtutem possunt calamitates damna et injuriæ quod adversus solem nebulæ possunt." The library of the Convent of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem at Rome, possesses a copy of the Bibliotheca Hispanu, in the first volume of which the same princess has written on the subject of a book relating to her conversion:* "Chi l'ha scritta, non lo sa; chi lo sa, non l'ha mai scritta."

Lemontey has published some very curious Memoirs, which had been entirely written on the fly-leaves and margins of a missal by J. de Coligny, who died in 1686.

Racine, the French tragic poet, was also a great annotator of his books; the Bibliothèque National at Paris possesses a Euripides and Aristophanes from his library, the margins of which are covered with notes in Greek, Latin, and French.

The books which formerly belonged to La Monnoie are now recognizable by the anagram of his name. A Delio nomen, and also by some very curious notes on the fly-leaves and margins written in microscopic characters.

ORIGIN OF WORD "GROG."

Mr. Vaux writes as follows:—Admiral Vernon was the first to require his men to drink their spirits mixed with water. In bad weather he was in the habit of walking the deck in a rough grogram cloak, and thence had obtained the nickname of Old Grog in the Service. This is, I believe, the origin of the name grog, applied originally to rum and water. I find the same story repeated in a quaint little book, called Pulleyn's Etymological Compendium.

[A.S. has communicated a similar explanation; and we are obliged to "An old LADY who reads for Pastime" for kindly furnishing us with a reference to a newly published American work, Lifts for the Lazy, where the origin of "Grog" is explained in the same manner.

The foregoing was already in type when we received the following agreeable version of the same story.]

ORIGIN OF WORD "GROG"—ANCIENT ALMS-BASINS

Mr. Editor,—As a sailor's son I beg to answer your correspondent LEGOUR'S query concerning the origin of the word "grog," so famous in the lips of our gallant tars. Jack loves to give a pet nickname to his favourite officers. The gallant Edward Vernon (a Westminster man by birth) was not exempted from the general rule. His gallantry and ardent devotion to his profession endeared him to the service, and some merry wags of the crew, in an idle humour, dubbed him "Old Grogham." Whilst in command of the West Indian station, and at the height of his popularity on account of his reduction of Porto Bello with six men-of-war only, he introduced the use of rum and water by the ship's company. When served out, the new beverage proved most palatable, and speedily grew into such favour, that it became as popular as the brave admiral himself, and in honour of him was surnamed by acclamation "Grog."

P.S.—There are two other alms-basins in St. Margaret's worthy of note, besides those I mentioned in your last number. One has the inscription, "Live well, die never; die well and live ever. A.D. 1644 W.G." The other has the appropriate legend, "Hee that gives too the poore lends unto thee LORD." A third bears the Tudor rose in the centre. In an Inventory made about the early part of the 17th century, are mentioned "one Bason given by Mr. Bridges, of brasse." (The donor was a butcher in the parish.) "Item, one bason, given by Mr. Brugg, of brasse." On the second basin are the arms and crest of the Brewers' Company. Perhaps Mr. Brugg was a member of it. One Richard Bridges was a churchwarden, A.D. 1630-32.

7. College Street. Nov. 17.

DYCE VERSUS WARBURTON AND COLLIER—AND SHAKSPEARE'S MSS

In Mr. Dyce's Remarks on Mr. J.P. Collier's and Mr. C. Knight's Editions of Shakspeare, pp. 115, 116, the following note occurs:—

"King Henry IV., Part Second, act iv. sc. iv.

"Alluding," says Warburton, "to the opinion of some philosophers, that the vapours being congealed in air by cold, (which is most intense towards the morning,) and being afterwards rarified and let loose by the warmth of the sun, occasion those sudden and impetuous guests of wind which are called flaws."—COLLIER.

"An interpretation altogether wrong, as the epithet here applied to 'flaws' might alone determine; 'congealed gusts of wind' being nowhere mentioned among the phenomena of nature except in Baron Munchausen's Travels. Edwards rightly explained 'flaws,' in the present passage, 'small blades of ice.' I have myself heard the word used to signify both thin cakes of ice and the bursting of those cakes."—DYCE.

Mr. Dyce may perhaps have heard the world floe (plural floes) applied to floating sheet-ice, as it is to be found so applied extensively in Captain Parry's Journal of his Second Voyage; but it remains to be shown whether such a term existed in Shakspeare's time. I think it did not, as after diligent search I have not met with it; and, if it did, and then had the same meaning, floating sheet-ice, how would it apply to the illustration of this passage?

That the uniform meaning of flaws in the poet's time was sudden gust of wind, and figuratively sudden gusts of passion, or fitful and impetuous action, is evident from the following passages:—

So far for the poet's acceptation of its meaning.

Thus also Lord Surrey:—

And Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Pilgrim:—

Shakspeare followed the popular meteorology of his time, as will appear from the following passage from a little ephemeris then very frequently reprinted:—

"De Repentinis Ventis.

"8. Typhon, Plinio, Vortex, aliis Turbo, et vibratus Ecnephias, de nube gelida (ut dictum est) abruptum aliquid sæpe numero secum voluit, ruinamque suam illo pondere aggravat: quem repentinum flatum à nube prope terram et mare depulsum, definuerunt quidam, ubi in gyros rotatur, et proxima (ut monuimus) verrit, suáque vi sursum raptat."—MIZALDUS, Ephemeridis Æris Perpetuus: seu Rustica tempestatum Astrologia, 12º Lutet. 1584.

I have sometimes thought that Shakspeare may have written:—

It is an easy thing to have printed congealed for that word, and congest occurs in A Lover's Complaint. Still I think change unnecessary.

Has the assertion made in An Answer to Mr. Pope's Preface to Shakspeare, by a Strolling Player, 1729, respecting the destruction of the poet's MSS. papers, been ever verified? If that account is authentic, it will explain the singular dearth of all autograph remains of one who must have written so much. As the pamphlet is not common, I transcribe the essential passage:—

"How much it is to be lamented that Two large Chests full of this GREAT MAN'S loose papers and Manuscripts in the hands of an ignorant Baker of WARWICK (who married one of the descendants from Shakspear), were carelessly scattered and thrown about as Garret Lumber and Litter, to the particular knowledge of the late Sir William Bishop; till they were all consum'd in the general Fire and Destruction of that Town."

Mickleham, Nov. 14. 1849.

[We cannot insert the interesting Query which our correspondent has forwarded on the subject of the disappearance of Shakespeare's MSS. without referring to the ingenious suggestion upon that subject so skilfully brought forward by the Rev. Joseph Hunter in his New Illustrations of the Life, Studies, and Writings of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 105.:—"That the entire disappearance of all manuscripts of Shakspeare, so entire that no writing of his remains except his name, and only one letter ever addressed to him, is in some way connected with the religious turn which his posterity took, in whose eyes there would be much to be lamented in what they must, I fear, have considered a prostitution of the noble talents which had been given him."]

FOOD OF THE PEOPLE.—BILLS OF FARE IN 1683—HUMBLE PIE

The food of the people must always be regarded as an important element in estimating the degree of civilization of a nation, and its position in the social scale. Mr. Macaulay, in his masterly picture of the state of England at the period of the accession of James II., has not failed to notice this subject as illustrative of the condition of the working classes of that day. He tells us that meat, viewed relatively with wages, was "so dear that hundreds of thousands of families scarcely knew the taste of it.... The great majority of the nation lived almost entirely on rye, barley, and oats." (Hist. Eng. vol. i. p. 418., 4th ed.)

It is not uninteresting to inquire (and having found, it is worth making a note of) what sort of fare appeared on the tables of the upper and middle classes,—who, unlike their poorer neighbours, were in a condition to gratify their gastronomic preferences in the choice and variety of their viands,—with the view of determining whether the extraordinary improvement which has taken place in the food of the labouring population has been equally marked in that of the wealthier orders.

Pepys, who was unquestionably a lover of good living, and never tired of recording his feastings off "brave venison pasty," or "turkey pye," has given in his Diary many curious notices of the most approved dishes of his day. The following "Bills of fare" of the period referred to speak, however, directly to the point; they are taken from a work entitled, The accomplisht Lady's Delight, in Preserving, Physick, Beautifying, and Cookery. London, printed for B. Harris, 1683.

"A Bill of fare for a Gentleman's House about Candlemas.

"1. A Pottage with a Hen. 2. A Chatham-pudding. 3. A Fricacie of Chickens. 4. A leg of mutton with a Sallet. Garnish your dishes with Barberries.

"Second Course. 1. A chine of Muton. 2. A chine of Veal. 3. Lark-pye. 4. A couple of Pullets, one larded. Garnished with orange slices.

"Third Course. 1. A dish of Woodcocks. 2. A couple of Rabbits. 3. A dish of Asparagus. 4. A Westphalia Gammon.

"Last Course. 1. Two orange tarts, one with herbs. 2. A Bacon Tart. 3. An apple Tart. 4. A dish of Bon-chriteen pears. 5. A dish of Pippins. 6. A dish of Pearmains.

"A Banquet for the same Season.

"1. A dish of Apricots. 2. A dish of marmalade of Pippins. 3. A dish of preserved Cherries. 4. A whole red Quince. 5. A dish of dryed sweet-meats.

"A Bill of Fare upon an extraordinary Occasion.

"1. A collar of brawn. 2. A couple of Pullets boyled. 3. A bisk of Fish. 4. A dish of Carps. 5. A grand boyled Meat. 6. A grand Sallet. 7. A venison pasty. 8. A roasted Turkey. 9. A fat pig. 10. A powdered Goose. 11. A haunch of Venison roasted. 12. A Neats-tongue and Udder roasted. 13. A Westphalia Ham boyled. 14. A Joll of Salmon. 15. Mince pyes. 16. A Surloyn of roast beef. 17. Cold baked Meats. 18. A dish of Custards.

"Second Course. 1. Jellies of all sorts. 2. A dish of Pheasants. 3. A Pike boyled. 4. An oyster pye. 5. A dish of Plovers. 6. A dish of larks. 7. A Joll of Sturgeon. 8. A couple of Lobsters. 9. A lamber pye. 10. A couple of Capons. 11. A dish of Partridges. 12. A fricacy of Fowls. 13. A dish of Wild Ducks. 14. A dish of cram'd chickens. 15. A dish of stewed oysters. 16. A Marchpane. 17. A dish of Fruits. 18. An umble pye."

The fare suggested for "Fish days" is no less various and abundant; twelve dishes are enumerated for the first course, and sixteen for the second. Looking at the character of these viands, some of which would not discredit the genius of a Soyer or a Mrs. Glasse, it seems pretty evident that in the article of food the labouring classes have been the greatest gainers since 1687.