242 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[2»'i S. VII. Mar. 19. '59. 



a daughter of Jenan ap Cadwgan ap Howel, by whom he 

 had John Dwn, or the Swarth}', who gave that name to 

 3'our familj-, which has been variouslj- spelt Dwn, Dun, 

 Dunne, and Donne. From him, according to mj' pedi- 

 gree, was descended Sir Daniel Donne, Knt., Dean of St. 

 Paul's, who married a daughter of William Aubrey, 

 LL.D., the great civilian in the reign of Elizabeth. How 

 this is I know not ; for Dr. John Donne, the wit and poet, 

 was certain]}' Dean about that time *, or at least soon 

 afterwards, and he married Anne, daughter of Sir George 

 Moor, and niece to Lord Keeper Egerton. Thus far I 

 come regularly down from Noah ; but there is here an 

 ' hiatus valde deflendus ' until the latter end of the 17tli 

 century; perhaps j'ou maybe able to supply me with 

 materials to fill it up. Any information 5-ou can give me 

 upon this, or any other subject, connected with the anti- 

 quities of this or the neighbouring counties will be ac- 

 knowledged as a favour, by Sir, 



" Your very humble servant, 



"(Signed) The. Jokes. 

 "My lamented Friend, our late Archdeacon, was kind 

 enough to introduce you to me, in some measure; I 

 should be happy to be personally acquainted with you, if 

 anj'thing should lead you this way." 



[Note by the Eeverend James Donne, D.D.] 

 " This family remains still in Norfolk. Cowper the 

 poet's mother was a Donne of this family, and was de- 

 scended from Dr. John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's. 



" (Signed) Jas. Donne." 



(2"'^ S. vii. 199.) 



Referring to Mr. Alexander Andrews's in- 

 quiry relative to the unanimity of jurors and the 

 practice of locking them up till they delivered a 

 verdict, I beg leave to send you a note of a sin- 

 gular instance of the unanimity of an Irish jury, 

 and the consequences resulting from it. 



Strafford having formed the design of sub- 

 verting the title to every estate in Connaught, by 

 showing that the province, notwithstanding all 

 prior grants to individuals, was entirely vested in 

 the crown, caused commissions to issue on the 

 15th June, 1635, directed to Commissioners, who 

 were to inquire on oath of a jury what title or 

 right the king had to the province. 



On the arrival of the Commissioners in the 

 county of Galway, the trial commenced in Por- 

 tumna Castle, where, notwithstanding the pre- 

 sence of the Lord Deputy, the jury unanimously 

 refused to find the king's title. His lordship im- 

 mediately put the sheriff, Mr. Martin Darcy, and 

 the jury under arrest ; had them brought close 

 prisoners to Dublin, and there tried before him- 

 self in the castle chamber. 



" We bethought ourselves," says he, " of a course to 

 vindicate his majesty's honor and justice not onlj' 

 against the persons of the jurors, but also against the 



[* Here is clearh' an error. Sir Daniel Donne, D.C.L. 

 was Master of the Requests, and died in 1617. Dr. John 

 Donne the poet, was appointed Dean of St. Paul's, Nov. 

 27,1021, 19 James I. — Ed.] 



sheriff for returning so insufficient, indeed we conceived 

 so packed, a jury, and therefore we fined the sheriff lOOOZ., 

 the jurors 4000Z. each, and to be imprisoned until the 

 fines should be paid, and until they should acknowledge 

 their offence in coixrt on their knees." 



The jurors petitioned to be discharged, but 

 were refused, except upon condition of their 

 making a pulalic acknowledgment that they com- 

 mitted not only an error in judgment, but even 

 actual perjury in their verdict, — terms which 

 they rejected. 



" The sheriff died in prison, owing to severe treatment, 

 and the jury were cruelly used, until, after suffering all 

 the rigors of confinement, their fines were reduced and 

 themselves released." 



On the 25th July, 1636, the Lord Deputy, 

 writing to the Master of the Rolls, expresses him- 

 self on the death of the sheriff: — 



" I am full of belief they will lay Darcy's death to 

 me ; my arrows are cruel that wound so mortally, but I 

 should be more sorry the king should lose his fine." 



The Lord Deputy, determined on success, 

 caused another commission to issue : the Commis- 

 sioners met at Saint Francis' Abbey on the 5th 

 April, 1637, when the county jury, terrified at 

 the example made of the former, was induced to 

 find for the crown, as did the jury of the county 

 of the town the day after, in the Tholsel Hall. 

 Should you consider it of interest, you shall have 

 next week a note of the evidence on which the 

 jury found the title of the crown. 



James Mobkin. 



Carleton Terrace, liathmiues. 



THE CKOWN or FRANCE OFFERED TO THE DUKE 

 OF WELLINGTON. 



(2"" S. vii. 88. 177.) 



It does not appear to have ever been asserted 

 or supposed that the crown of France was actually 

 offered to the Duke. What Sir J. Malcolm as- 

 serts is simply that he, being at Paris in Aug. 

 1815, shortly after the battle of Waterloo, heard 

 from a quarter which appeared authentic, that it 

 had been proposed, when the British army was 

 advancing on the capital, to make the offer in 

 question, and that this extraordinary proposal, 

 after being discussed for some time, was rejected. 



Sir John's Diary of his brief residence at Paris 

 in the autumn of 1815 {Life, by Kaye) is well 

 worth a perusal. He hears this report Aug. 4. 

 On Aug. 1 he dines with the Duke; on Aug. 9 

 the Duke drives him to the theatre. The utmost 

 freedom of intercourse appears to have been 

 maintained between these two brethren in arms 

 and " old Indians." Sir John asks questions, 

 and receives frank replies. Did he ever seek an 

 opportunity of ascertaining whether anything was 

 known of the proposed offer of a crown, by the 



