140 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 119. 



be presently dispatched ; and the judges, being all of 

 the same Cabal, without consideration of his many 

 glorious atchievements, they condemned him to an 

 ignominious death," — 2'heophanta, p. 147. 



T. Henry Kebsijiy, B.A. 



Latin Verse on Franklin (Vol.iv., p. 443.; Vol. v., 

 p. 17.). — The line on Franklin — 



" Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis," 

 was written by Turgot, Louis XVI.'s minister 

 and controller-general of finance. This verse, 

 however, so happily applied to the American 

 philosopher and statesman's double title to re- 

 nown, is merely the modification of one in the 

 Anti- Lucretius of Cardinal Polignac, the 37th of 

 the first book, " Eripuitque Jovi fulmen, Phoeboque 

 sagittas," which again had for its model that of 

 Marcus Manilius, a poet of the Augustan age. 

 It is the 104th of his Astronomicon, where he 

 says of Epicurus (lib. v.), " Eripuitque Jovi ful- 

 men, viresque Tonanti." This appears to be the 

 original source of the phrase, so far as I could 

 trace it. Turgot, though highly appreciated by 

 his sovereign, and promoted to the prime ministry 

 in consequence, was only suffered to hold the 

 responsible situation for a short time, from August, 

 1774, to May, 1776, when he fell a sacrifice to 

 court intrigues, Avhich the weak king had not the 

 energy to resist, while emphatically saying, " II 

 n'y a que Turgot et moi qui aimions le peuple." 

 This eminent statesman's advocacy of the freedom 

 of commerce, state economy, and general liberty 

 of the subject, exposed him not only to courtly 

 but to popular hostility. The French were cer- 

 tainly ill prepared for such innovations on their 

 policy or habits, nor, I may add, even now, not- 

 withstanding the constantly alternating schemes 

 of government, from despotic to constitutional, in 

 the long interposed period, do they appear fully 

 to appreciate, or anxious to introduce these de- 

 sirable improvements. J. R. (Cork.) 



Job (Vol. v., p. 26.).— The Rev. T. R. Browne 

 interprets one of the Persepolitan inscriptions as 

 representing the coronation and titles of Job. As 

 no previous connnentator had supposed Job to be 

 a Persian prince, and as (among other unexpected 

 results) it would follow that the poem bearing his 

 name was a translation into Hebrew by some un- 

 known hand, I hastened at once to the Bodleian 

 to examine the authorities on wlxich Mb. Browne 

 bases his interpretation. 



On one glance at the work cited (^Kaempferi 

 Amcenitatnm Exoticarum Fasciculi F.) it was plain 

 enough that Kaempfer had made his transcrip- 

 tion so carelessly, that barely one letter in a hun- 

 dred was correct ; and, on turning to Niebuhr's 

 copy of the same inscription (plate xxiv. a.), and 

 to Porter's (vol. I. plate xliv. p. 631.), my suspi- 

 cions were amply confirmed. But the most sm- 



gular part was to come. Aided by the minute 

 identifications which Mr. Browne gives of the 

 words which he translates, Aiuh taij, I discovered 

 that the reverend gentleman had mistaken two 

 letters for two words. His whole theory, there- 

 fore, falls to the ground. 



As some of your readers may like to know the 

 real interpretation of this inscription, I give the 

 translation of Rawlinson as amended from Wester- 

 gaard's notes, and which is undoubtedly correct : 



" The great God Ormazd, who has given this world, 

 who has given that heaven, wlio has given mankind, 

 who has given life to mankind ; who has made Xerxes 

 king, both tlie king of the people, and the law-giver of 

 the people. I am Xerxes the king, the great king, 

 the king of kings, the king of many-peopled countries, 

 the supporter also of this great world, the son of King 

 Darius the Achaemenian," &c. 



Rechabite. 



Poniatowsld Gems (Vol. v., pp. 30. 65.). — I thank 

 M — N for his note, but it does not at all afford 

 the information I seek. ^ly Query referred to 

 the original sale in London of the gems. Lord 

 Monson's collection, to which M — n refers, was, 

 I believe, purchased by his lordship from a dealer 

 who bought them at the original sale, the date of 

 which I seek. A. 0. O. D. 



Slecli Stone, Meaning of (Vol. iii., p. 241. ; 

 Vol. iv., p. 394.). — The expression sleek-stone has, 

 I think twice, been spoken of in " N. & Q." as 

 equivalent to whet-stone : this is a mistake. The 

 first word is possibly misprinted in the woi'k in 

 which it is found, but at all events the thing in- 

 tended is a sleek-stone (Old Fr. Calendrine) an 

 implement formerly used by calendrers ; often,' 

 if not always, made of glass, and in shape much 

 like a large mushroom : it is used reversed, the 

 stalk fornnng the handle. Those which I liave 

 seen were about four inches in diameter, some 

 more and some less. Sleek-stones are now, I 

 believe, entirely superseded by machinery. 



R. C. H.' 



Bishop Bridgeman (Vol. v., p. 80.). — The matri- 

 culation registers of the University of Cambridge, 

 could Mr. Clay ascertain the year Bridj^eman en- 

 tered (and this might be found by searching them), 

 will give his age at that time, the Christian names 

 of his parents, and their place of residence. I dor 

 not know whether it is the case at Cambridge, but 

 at Oxford one has to pay half a guinea for an ex- 

 tract from the archives. Surely these important 

 records should be more accessible to the student 

 in this respect. Cranmore. 



Bow Bell (Vol. v., p. 2^). — In Eastward Hoe, 

 by Ben Jonson, John Marston, and George Chap- 

 man, printed 1605, Girtred, the proud daughter 

 of the citizen Touchstone (Act I. Sc. 1.), taunts 

 her modest sister Mildred, who is endeavouring to 



