206 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»<»S. No63.,Mar. 14. '57. 



Minav €i\ientS, 



Sir John IVenchard. — Can any of your readers 

 explain upon what grounds it is that Macaulay 

 characterises Sir John Trenchard, one of Wil- 

 liam III.'s Secretaries of State, as " a Taunton 

 man, animated by that spirit which had, during 

 two generations, peculiarly distinguished Taun- 

 ton " ? His monument in Bloxworth Church, co. 

 Dorset, states him to have been " of the ancient 

 family of the Trenchards in Dorsetshire ; " and the 

 pedigree in Hutchins asserts that he was the se- 

 cond son of Thomas Trenchard, Esq., of Wolve- 

 ton in that county. C. W. Bingham. 



First Actress and First Scene. — Is it a fact that 

 the first woman appeared, and that the first scene 

 was introduced on the English stage In the same 

 play (Sir W. Davenant's Siege of Rhodes^, although 

 not precisely at the same time, — the lady being 

 Mrs. Coleman, who represented " lanthe " in 

 1656, and the scene used at the opening of the 

 Duke's Theatre, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1662 ? 



K. W. Hackwood. 



Poverty and Nobility. — In the History of the 

 Gwedir Family, by Sir John Wynne, London, 

 1770, p. 94., Is the following curious passage : 



"It is an ancient received saying that there is no 

 poverty but is descended of Nobility ; nor no nobility but 

 is descended of Beggar^'." 



It strikes me this Is copied from some old 

 author, and I am desirous. If it be so, to be in- 

 formed where the original may be found. 



Theta. 



" i^o?-g-e." — Query, derivation as used in boat 

 races ? Fuit. 



Stamp Duty on Baptisms. — A stamp duty of 

 threepence on every baptism registered took place 

 Oct. 2, 1783, as I find recorded In the register of 

 St. John's, Clerkenwell. How long was this Im- 

 post persevered in ? And have notices of it been 

 observed In other parish registers ? J. G. N. 



Spider-eating. — The elder D'Israeli says {In- 

 troduction of Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate) that 

 " Mons. Lalande and one or two humble imitators 

 of the modern philosopher, were epicures of this 

 stamp." Is it known upon what authority this 

 statement is made ? and who were the other 

 spider- eaters here alluded to ? It would also be 

 curious to know on what grounds they justified a 

 practice so truly repulsive ; according to ordinary 

 notions at least. Heney T. Eiley. 



Augustine s " Se?-mons." — Could any correspon- 

 dent give me information about the exact date of 

 an edition of Augustine's Sermons, of which I have 

 a fine copy in folio, unfortunately wanting the 

 title. It is splendidly printed in Gothic type, and 

 probably belongs to 1490—1510; but the cha- 



racteristic feature of the book Is a Latin poem 

 placed after the ample Index, by Sebastian Brant, 

 giving a succinct biography of the Saint ; and 

 another shorter poem or epigram, " ad commenda- 

 tlonem operis," ending thus (he Is addressing the 

 reader) : — 



" Crede mihi dices auratum jure beatum 

 Solera ; qui talem presserat vsre librum ; 

 Sed nos humanam laudem non quserimus, 

 Qui dator est vitsB prsemia ille digna dabit." 



The meaning of the two verses beginning 

 "Crede mihi," &c., Is by no means superfluously 

 clear to me. Lethrediensis. 



Monogram of Christ, and Coins of Constantine. 

 — Coins of Constantine the Great are continually 

 figured, having on the reverse the well-known 

 monogram of Christ. The editor of Bohn's edi- 

 tion of Gibbon says (vol. ii. p. 353.), " no genuine 

 coins of Constantine have been found with Christ- 

 ian emblems." Is this true ? and If so how Is It 

 proved ? I have a coin of Constantine in brass, 

 with the monogram upon the standard supported 

 by two soldiers. I can vouch for it that this coin 

 was found on the site of a Roman station, because 

 I found It myself many years ago. I have others 

 with Pagan emblems, but only one with the mo- 

 nogram. Will some numismatic correspondent 

 kindly say how the matter may be cleared up ? 



B. H. C. 



Tom Thumb's Piebalds. — Where do Tom 

 Thumb's small piebalds come from ? They have 

 no appearance of being Shetlanders. P. P. 



The Speaker's Mace. — I am credibly informed 

 that on the top, or crown, of the mace which lies 

 before the Speaker of the House of Commons, 

 when that august assembly is sitting, the Initials 

 C. E,. * are very prominently displayed. This 

 leads me to Inquire which of the Charleses Is meant. 

 If they apply to the Martyr, Charles I., on what 

 occasion was the new mace first used ? If C. R. 

 denotes Charles II., the query naturally arises, 

 When was it made, and what became of that 

 mace, famous in English history, which caused 

 Cromwell, when dissolving the Long Parliament, 

 to .utter the well-known sentence, " Take away 

 that bauble ? " If this is the " bauble mace," is it 

 known when It was restored to the House of Com- 

 mons, and in whose custody it had been until 

 such restoration ? Civis. 



Pulpit Cushions. — It is stated by a contributor 

 to the Gent. Mag., Nov. 1780, p. 527., that he was 

 at the small church In Foster Lane, when the 

 voice of the preacher (he ofiiciating for the first 



[* Tlie initials C. R., which occur five times — once on 

 the flat crown of the mace, and once on each of its four 

 sides, can only apply to Charles I. We expect shortly to 

 lay before our readers some "Notes" on the subject of 

 « the Maces " of both Houses. — Ed. " N. & Q."] 



