June 19. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



593 



great tendency in the United States to vary the 

 orthography, and of course, I suppose, the pro- 

 nunciation of some of their old English patrony- 

 mics ; not from any dislike to them, for the con- 

 trary sentiment, I believe, is very prevalent, but 

 the -emigrants who carried out the names were 

 ignorant or indifferent as to the true orthography 

 or pronunciation, and in time the departure grows 

 more wide. Instances of this may be also Ibund 

 in the small towns of England, where Mr. Lower 

 will find on the signs frequent deviations from the 

 usual spelling of the commonest as well as of the 

 rarer names. C, 



In glancing through Cole's MSS. in the British 

 Museum, my eye rested on two paragraphs, which 

 perhaps may be unknown to Mk. Lower. In Ad- 

 ditional MSS. No. 5805. p. iv.. Cole says : 



" Before surnames were in use they were forced to 

 distinguish one another by the addition of Fitz or Son, 

 as John Fitz-John, or John the son of John, or John 

 Johnson, as now in use. This was in the first Edward's 

 time : nay, so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 

 some places in France they had no surnames, but only 

 Christian names, as the learned Monsieur Menage 

 informs us : 'II y a environ cent ans, a ce que dit 

 M. Baluze, qu'a Tulle on n'avait que des noms 

 propres, et point de surnoms.' — Menagiana, torn. i. 

 p. 116. edit. 1729." 



Again, in Cole's MSS., vol. xliii. p. 176., relating 

 to a deed of the Priory of Spalding, Cole says : 



" One observes in this deed several particulars : first, 

 that the Priory used a seal with an image of the 

 Blessed Virgin, together with one of their arms; if 

 possibly they used one of the latter sort so early as 

 this John the Spaniard's time, in the reign, as I con- 

 ceive, of King Richard I., wlien arms ior the chie 

 gentry were hardly introduced. Among the witnesses 

 are two Simons, one distinguished by his complexion, 

 and called Simon Blondus, or the Fair; the other had 

 no name as yet to distinguish him by, and therefore 

 only called here 'another Simon.' This occasioned 

 the introduction of sirnames, and shows the necessity 

 of them." 



J.Y. 

 Hoxton. 



SIR JOHN TEENCHARD. 



(Vol. v., p. 496.) 



Your Querist E. S. Taylor will find an interest- 

 ing account of the manner in which a pardon was 

 obtained for John Trenchard, afterwards secre- 

 tary of state under William III., in Mr. Hep- 

 worth Dixon's work on William Penn. Me. 

 Tayloe is evidently wrong in supposing that the 

 pardon, of which he furnishes a copy, was issued 

 in 1688, and at the very critical period to which 

 he refers it. It was issued in 1686, that being the 

 third ^ear, reckoning by the old style, of King 

 James s reign; so that his quotation from Pepys, 



and his suggestion of a reason for the pardon, are 

 beside the purpose. It appears from Mr. Dixon's 

 account, that William Penn was the mediator be- 

 tween Trenchard and the king ; but the circum- 

 stances which led to it were so curious, that I 

 transcribe part of the statement from page 276 of 

 the new edition. 



" Lawton, a young man of parts and spirit, had at- 

 tracted Penn's notice ; in politics he was a state whig, 

 and it was at his instance that he had braved the king's 

 frown by asking a pardon for Aaron Smith. One day 

 over their wine at Popples, where Penn had carried 

 Lawton to dine, he said to his host, ' I have brought 

 you such a man as you never saw before ; for I have 

 just now asked him how I might do something for 

 himself, and he has desired me to obtain a pardon for 

 another man ! I will do that if I can; but,' he added, 

 turning to Lawton, ' I should be glad if thou wilt 

 think of some kindness for thyself.' ' Ah,' said Lawton, 

 after a moment's thought, ' I can tell you how you 

 might indeed prolong my life.' ' How so ? ' returned 

 the mediator, ' I am no physician.' Lawton answered^ 

 ' There is Jack Trenchard in exile ; if you could get 

 leave for him to come home %vith safety and honour, 

 the drinking of a bottle ftow and then with Jack would 

 make me so cheerful that it would prolong my life.' 

 They laughed at the pleasantry, and Penn promised to 

 do what he could. He went away to the Lord Chan- 

 cellor, got him to join in the solicitation, and in a few 

 days the future secretary was pardoned and allowed to 

 return to England." 



It appears also from Mr. Dixon's narrative, 

 that Trenchard was employed by Penn to dis- 

 suade James from his bigoted and violent course, 

 and that he had interviews with the king for this 

 purpose. Me. Taylor will find in the same place 

 curious particulars, given on the authority of 

 Lawton himself, concerning the intrigues which 

 preceded the fall of James. Sydney Walton. 



papal seal. 



(Vol. v., p. 508.) 



I have in my possession a leaden seal, which has 

 on the one side a precisely similar impression to 

 that described by H. F. H. in p. 508. of "N. & 

 Q. : " viz. two heads, with a cross between them, 

 and the letters "spa s p b " over them. The 

 head under "spa" has straight hair and a long 

 pointed beard. The other head, under " s p e," 

 has curled hair and a short curled beard, the whole 

 surrounded with a circle of raised spots. On the 

 other side of the seal is the following inscription, 

 also surrounded by a circle of raised spots : 



•E VGEN 

 I V S . PP 



•nil" 

 It was attached by a strong cord that runs 

 throu gh the substance of the seal to a parchment 



^ 



