92 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°«» S. X. Aug. 4. '60. 



Dates. — In Dr. Longmuir's Guide to Speyside 



it is stated that, in an old castle in the Highlands 



of Scotland, there is a black oak cabinet, whose 



front is beautifully carved. The most conspicuous 



figure is that of a spread eagle, with one head 



turned to its left, and crowned. There occurs 



above it the following inscription and date : — 



« Soli 



55 Deo 88 



Gloria." 



The familiar monogram I.H.S. also occurs, and, 

 in the lower part, the name Maria, and the date 

 1639. Can any of your readers point out the 

 relation, if any, between these two dates, or say 

 to what the number 5588 refers? J. P. L. 



\li the 55 and 88 are to be taken together, they 

 may possibly imply the date from the creation of the 

 world, i. e. A.M. 5588. This, according to ordinary com- 

 putations, would be about a.d. 1588 or a.d. 1584. Can 

 it refer to the birth-year of the same party that dates, 

 beneath, 1639?]; 



BURNING OF THE JESUITICAL BOOKS. 

 (2°^ S. ix. 509.) 



The author of " A Few Words on Junius, &c.," 

 writes, " That Barbier states in his journal under 

 the date of Friday, August 7, 1761, after men- 

 tioning the condemnation : ' le meme jour on a 

 execute I'arrefc ; et le bourreau,' &c." Unless the 

 two editions of the Journal de Barbier differ, 

 although the variation is not very great, the^above 

 is not quite correct. 



Barbier says (I am quoting from the edition in 

 8 vols., Paris, 1857), vol. vii. p. 391. : — 



" Du 6 Ao&t, premier arret. La Cour a ordonn^ que 

 plus de vingt-quatre livres et ouvrages des J^suites, im- 

 primis depuis 1590, tous enonces dans I'arret, seront 

 lac^r^s. et brules par le bourreau, comme s^ditieux, de- 

 structeurs de la morale chretienne, enseignant une doc- 

 trine meurtrifere et abominable, non seulement centre la 

 Bfiret^ et la vie des citoyens, mais mime contre celle des 

 personnes sacrees des souverains; enjoint k tous ceux 

 qui en ont des exemplaires, &c." 



And at page 395. he adds : — 



" Le Vendredi 7 (Aout, 1761). Au matin, on a ex&ute 

 I'arrgt, et le bourreau a hra\4 au pied du grand escalier 

 plus de vingt-cinq livres ou ouvrages flaits anciennement 

 par des Jesuites ; le plupart etranges." 



And it would appear that this was the fact, 

 and that the books were burnt in August, 1761 ; 

 for Augustin Theiner, Histoire du Pontijicat de 

 Clement XIV. (Paris, 1852), vol. i. p. 38., in 

 describing the events of 1761, says : — 



"T>6]h. les 8 et 18 Juillet (1761), il (le Parlement), 

 avait, a la suite du rapport fait sur le demande de I'Abb^ 

 Chauvelin, publiquement d^nonc^ la doctrine et la morale 

 des Jesuites, et promis en meme temps de d^montrer, 

 dans le plus bref delai, combien elle ^tait dangereuse h, 

 r^glise et aux ^tats Chretiens. On rassembla done les 

 ouvrages des principaux th^ologiens canouistes et moral- 



istes de cette societe, et ils furent, pr^tendit-on, soumis 

 au plus exact et au plus rigoureux examen. II serait 

 inutile de dire qu'ils furent, au contraire, examines avec 

 autant de le'geret^ que de malice. On ne se donna pas 

 meme le temps de lire quelques pages de ces volumineux 

 Merits ; malheureusement semblait regner alors le principe 

 que les ouvrages d'un J^suite quelconque, pour peu qu'il 

 eiit de c^lebrite, n'avaient nul besoin d'etre examines 

 pour encourir I'anathfeme. Tel fut le triste sort de Bellar- 

 min, Gretser, Suarez, Sanchez, Toledo, Lessius, &o. Le 

 Parlement fit de ces ouvrages un scandaleux auto-de-f«?; 

 ils furent amonceles sur un grand bucher dans la cour du 

 palais de Justice, au pied du gfand escalier, laceres par le 

 bourreau et impitoyablement livrds aux fiammes." 



This statement not only confirms the fact that 

 the books were burnt in 1761, but also points out 

 in just and strong language the gross injustice 

 with which the examination of their contents was 

 conducted. Had the burning of the books been 

 deferred until the year 1762 — although no doubt 

 can exist of the partiality with which the exami- 

 nation would always have been made, yet the 

 space of thirteen months having been employed 

 therein, would in some degree have removed the 

 charge of indecent haste. 



The idea that the arret was suspended for the 

 space of one year, namely, from August 1761 

 until August 1762, may have arisen from the fol- 

 lowing cause : — 



On the 8th and 18th July, 1761, the works of 

 the Jesuits J^ad publicly been denounced by the 

 Parliament, and an examination of their writings 

 directed to make good this charge. Louis XV". 

 resolved to make one effort more to save the So- 

 ciety, and on the 2nd August, 1761, " II ordonna 

 au parlement, par un edit en date 2 Aoiit, de 

 surseoir pendant un annee ; et au Jesuites, de 

 remettre au conseil royal les titres d'etablisse- 

 ments de leurs maisons en France," &c. 



The Parlement certainly registered this edict 

 four days after it was issued, but with so many 

 offensive restrictions as to render it useless, and 

 the king's purpose abortive, and they proceeded 

 at once to carry out their predetermmed project 

 of destroying the Society of Jesus ; and as one 

 means of effecting their purpose, they directed 

 that the works of its most learned members should 

 be in the first instance falsely censured, and sub- 

 sequently publicly burnt. Philip Phiulipson. 



GOWRIE'S MOTHER. 

 (2"^ S. ix. 461.) 



In order to give a colour in some manner to the 

 mysterious attempt on the life of James VI. at 

 Falkland, in 1600, it has been erroneously as- 

 serted that Dorothea Stewart, Countess of Gowrie, 

 mother of the 2nd and 3rd Earls, was daughter of 

 Henry, 1st Lord Methven, by Margaret of Eng- 

 land, daughter of James IV. and wife of Archi- 

 bald, 6th Earl of Angus, whom she divorced in 



