22? 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2''« S. VII. Mar. 12. '59, 



County of Worcester. 

 26. There is a custom in a manor in this county 

 that the widow shall have the whole lands as her 

 freebencli. 



The account of this custom given by Bailey, to 

 whom your correspondent H. H. refers, is evi- 

 dently taken either from The Spectator (No. 614), 

 or from Cowel's Interpreter, which The Spectator 

 cites. See Cowel on Free-hench, Frank-hank, 

 Fr.ancus Bancus. Some readers might be disposed 

 to view the description in The Spectator as ima- 

 ginative, and the subject is facetiously continued 

 and amplified in The Spectator, No. 623. But 

 Cowel, or Cowell, will no doubt be deemed good 

 authority. 



I fully agree with H. H, that the doggrel lines, 

 to be repeated by the peccant party, are quite un- 

 suitable for citation in the pages of " N. & Q." 

 Nevertheless, as a matter of etymological interest, 

 it is worthy of remark that the said lines contain 

 an express reference to the custom in question, 

 that of Free Bank or Free Bench, under the terms 

 hincum bancum. 



I once possessed an old copy of The Spectator, 

 in eight volumes, with frontispieces. The frontis- 

 piece of the volume containing No. 614. was a 

 widow seated on a black ram, and performing the 

 stipulated penance. 



Cowel specifies no additional places where the 

 practice prevails. Thomas Boys. 



*' COMPARATIVE VIEW OF MAN," ETC. 



(2°'^ S. vii. 148. 205.) 



The author of A Comparative View of the 

 State and Faculties of Man with those of the Ani- 

 mal World was Dr. John Gregory, son of Dr. 

 James Gregory, Professor of Medicine in King's 

 College, Aberdeen, and grandson of James, the 

 inventor of the Gregorian telescope. He was 

 born in 1724 at Aberdeen, where he received the 

 rudiments of his education. He afterwards studied 

 medicine at Edinburgh and at Leyden. On his 

 return from Holland he was elected Professor of 

 Philosophy in King's College, Aberdeen. In this 

 capacity he read lectures during the years 1747, 

 1748, and 1749 on Mathematics, on Experimental 

 Philosophy, and on Moral Philosophy. In 1749 

 he resigned his professorship, and after a short 

 tour on the continent commenced to practise me- 

 dicine at Aberdeen. But {he field being much 

 preoccupied by his elder brother. Dr. James Gre- 

 gory and others, he repaired to London in 1754. 

 Here he acquired the friendship, and patronage 

 of Lord Lyttelton, and other distinguished men in 

 the literary world. On the death of his brother 

 Dr. James Gregory, he was elected his successor 

 in the Professorship of Physic in King's College, 



Aberdeen, and returned to his native city in 1756. 

 Along with his cousin. Dr. Thomas Reid, the well- 

 known metaphysician, he took a leading part in 

 the proceedings of a society which met for the 

 discussion of literary and philosophical questions. 

 In this society Dr. Gregory read, as separate dis- 

 courses, those Essays which he afterwards pub- 

 lished under the title of J. Comparative View of 

 the State and Faculties of Man with those of the 

 Animal World. The first edition appeared in 

 1764, the second in 1766, and a fourth in 1767. 



Dr. Gregory remained at Aberdeen till the end 

 of 1764, when he removed to Edinburgh. In 

 1766 he was appointed Professor of the Practice 

 of Physic in the University, and was named First 

 Physician to His Majesty for Scotland. In 1770 

 he published Lectures on the Duties and Qualifica- 

 tions of a Physician, and Elements of the Prac- 

 tice of Physic, for the use of Students, in 1772. He 

 also wrote A Fathers Legacy to his Daughters, 

 consisting of Letters on Religion, Behaviour, 

 Amusements, Friendship, and other useful topics. 

 He died suddenly on the 9th Feb. 1773, leaving 

 behind him a high reputation as a man of benevo- 

 lent afiections, polished manners, and professional 

 ability and attainments. W. F. 



The College, Glasgow. 



H. E. B. is out in his conjecture. The work he 

 inquires about is from the pen of Dr. John Gre- 

 gory of Edinburgh, author of A Father s Legacy, 

 whose name is on the title to the impression of 

 1771. 



In a preface of pp. 23, the author says, " the 

 unexpected favour he has met with from the pub- 

 lic has encouraged him to correct and enlarge this 

 edition : " consequently this 6th edition of mine is 

 in two small octavo volumes, but without dedica- 

 tion. J. O. 



s. Paul's visit to Britain. 

 (2"'» S. vii. 158.) 



I cannot think the testimonies to this event so 

 strong as they appear to my friend Mb. Lee. 



Of Welsh archajology I know nothing. " Judi- 

 cent periticres." But I think the Greek witnesses 

 rather break down on cross-examination. 



Clement's testimony depends upon the inter* 



pretation of the phrase " eTri Th rep/xa rrjs Avcreccs." 



(1 Ep. Cor. ch, V. (not ch. viii.), ed. Reithmayr.) 

 Would this, in a writer of Clement's age, be taken 

 to mean, or to include, the British Isles ? 



I think not. It would refer to the extreme 

 west of the continent of Europe, the Atlantic sea- 

 board, not to islands which were regarded as 

 lying out of Europe, in the great ocean which 

 seemed to surround the world. In this light they 

 are regarded by Aristotle (De Mundo, c. 3.) ; in 



