2"'! S. N« 53., Jan. 3. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



19 



La Bruyere explains very concisely the objects of 

 a prime minister, at the head of a cabinet : " All 

 his views, all his maxims, all the refinements of 

 his policy, tend to one single object — not to be 

 deceived, and yet to deceive others." It was as 

 a comment on some such assertion that Christina 

 of Sweden asks : " How can princes or ministers 

 expect truth from others, when they do not em- 

 ploy it between themselves ? " The same Queen 

 expressed her own opinion of cabinet councillors 

 in a very terse fashion, viz. " Change of ministry, 

 change of thieves." J. Doban. 



Ormonde Possessions in England (2°'* S. ii. 497.) 

 — The Additional MS. 15,761. in the British Mu- 

 seum is a Register-Book of the Rentals of all the 

 Manors In the Counties of Devonshire, Somerset- 

 shire, and Cornwall, belonging to Thomas Or- 

 monde (subsequently seventh Earl of Ormonde), 

 and Anne his wife, daughter and co-heir of Sir 

 William Hankeforde, Chief Justice of England, 

 acquired as well by inheritance as purchase, as 

 they were renewed by the said Thomas Ormonde 

 in full court, on the feast of St. Michael the Arch- 

 angel, 18 Edward IV. (1478). At the end of the 

 volume are entered the Indentures of Homage 

 received by Thomas (afterwards Earl) Ormonde, 

 and the Lady Anne, his daughter, widow of Sir 

 James Seyntleger, from the feast of St. Michael, 

 12 Edward IV. (1472) to Jan. 4, 15 Henry VIIL 

 (1524). The volume is a good-sized quarto, 

 ■written on vellum, and on the fly-leaves occur 

 the signatures of Sir John Seyntleger, who then 

 possessed it. F. Madden. 



British Museum. 



Lord Wentworth (2"'J S. ii. 111.) — The Lord 

 Wentworth was most probably William, second 

 Earl of Strafford, which title being then attainted, 

 in consequence of his father's execution, he was 

 designated Lord or Viscount Wentworth pre- 

 vious to the Restoration. The letter must have 

 been written by Charles II. when abroad, during 

 the usurpation. It is well known that the United 

 States were not a little importuned for assistance 

 by Charles and his unfortunate aunt, the Queen 

 of Bohemia. R. R. 



Mayors Be-elccted (2"'* S. ii. 384..) — John 

 Bohun Smyth, Esq., was elected mayor of War- 

 wick, Sept. 30, 1811, and he continued to hold 

 that office until May, 1819, in which year he 

 died. This tenacity of office gained for him the 

 name of " the seven-year-old mayor." 



John Wilmshurst, Esq., was elected mayor of 

 the same place in 1824 ; he continued mayor until 

 1825, and was also elected for 1826. 



Tlie burgesses of the borough of Warwick 

 having, in certain of these elections, been de- 

 prived of their participation in the proceedings. 



in defiance of the regulations of the governing 

 charter, a motion was made in the Court of 

 King's Bench, Nov. 23, 1826, to show cause why 

 a criminal information should not be filed against 

 the mayor and eight aldermen of Warwick. A 

 mandamus was issued to compel a due observ- 

 ance of the charter, and the rule discharged on 

 the defendants paying taxed costs. 



I believe these proceedings were mainly in- 

 strumental in producing the present "Municipal 

 Corporations Act." H. B., F.R.C.S. 



Warwick. 



The following appears as a foot-note in the His' 

 tory of the Parliamentary Representation of Preston, 

 by William Dobson [1856] : 



" Mr. Nicholas Grimshaw served the office of Mayor of 

 Preston seven times. He was Mayor at the Guilds of 

 1802 and 1822." 



I may add that Mr. Grimshaw's first mayoralty 

 was in the year 1801-2, and his last in the year 

 1830-1. A Pbestonian. 



" Then down came the Templars,^'' 8fc. (2"'' S, 

 ii. 450.) — The lines — 



" Then down came the Templars like Cedron in flood, 

 And dyed their long lances in Saracen blood," — 



are not Dr. Croly's, but Sir Walter Scott's. N. 

 S. T. will find them in The Fire King. 



B. BLUNDELr>. 



Lord Charles Paxdett (2"'^ S. ii. 11.) — He seems 

 to have been fifth son of William, fourth Marquis 

 of Winchester, and immediately younger brother 

 of Lord Henry Paulett, ancestor of the present 

 Marquis of Winchester. R. R. 



Fain Play (2"'* S. ii. 388.) — I should think that 

 fain play \s feign play, or rather ye?^n not to play, 

 I. e. let us pretend for a moment that we are not 

 playing, let us consider we are not playing ; feint 

 play is mock play, sham play, i. e. no play at all. 



R. S. Charnock. 



Gra3''s Inn. 



Portrait of Baskerville (1" S. v. 355.) — My 

 attention has been recently directed to the fol- 

 lowing statement by Mr. J. B. Whitborne, in 

 the above-mentioned volume of " N. & Q. : " 



" There is a beautiful portrait of this celebrated typo- 

 graphist in the possession of the Messrs. Longman of 

 Paternoster Row, and painted by that most exquisite of 

 English artists, Gainsborough." 



In answer to my inquiry as to the genuineness 

 of this picture, the famous occupants of " No. 39 " 

 thus write : 



"We have a portrait of Baskerville, by Exteth, a pupil 

 of Hogarth ; we are not aware that it has ever been at- 

 tributed to Gainsborough." *^ 



E. S. Fulcher. 



Siidburj'. 



