2»"» S. VIII. Aug. 20. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



141 



LONDON, SATURDAY. AUGUST 20.1959. 



No. 190. — CONTENTS. 



NOTES : — Autobiographical Passage in Shakspeare's " Tempest," by 



D. D. Asher, 141 —Patron Saints, 76 — Old London Bridge, by G. 



E. Comer, H2_ Miltoniana, by CI. Hopper, lb. 



Minor Notes : — Sundial with retro^ading Shadow — Aged Bride and 

 Bridegroom '— Fowling and Matrimony — Mode of celebrating a 

 Birth — Jews in Oxford, and Halls named after them — Bonded 

 Warehouses, lu. 



QUERIES !— Gay, 145— j|||ron Wratislaw's Ca_pti_yitj; in Turkey, by 



A. H. Wratislaw, lb. 



■Iters in the Quarterly Review, lb. 



Minor Qderies : _ Cokam or Coxam House: Mr. Crewe's Wyrwail, 



Chideok or Chadwick — " The Traveller" — John Van Lewen, M.D 



St. Andrew's Parish, Dublin — Illoqucs — London Antiquities " The 



Complete Irish Traveller" — Dr. Samuel Pegge— Sir James Flower, 

 Bart. -Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c., 146. 



Minor Qoeries with Answers: — Sir Charles Bawdin — Admiral Had- 

 dock — Nevinson — Dr. Hoadly's Private Theatre— Hanged, drawn, 

 and quartered, 148. 



REPLIES: — Archbishop Leighton's Works, by John N. Pearson, &c., 

 150 ,- Henry Smith, Lecturer of St. Clement Danes, by C. H. & Thomp- 

 son Cooper, 152 — Herbert Knowles, 153 — How the Lord High Chan- 

 cellor goes to Westminster, by Edward Foss, lb. — Mont St. Michael, 

 Normandy, 154. 



RjiPLiEs TO Minor Queries: — Vincent Dowling, and the Parliament 

 of Punlico- The Hill Family: Abigail Hill— Tennyson's " Enid "_ 



Vertue's " Draughts "— Shooting Soldiers — Greek Word— Motto 



Liberavi animam meam, &c., 155. 



Monthly Feuilleton on French Books, 157. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PASSAGE IN SHAKSPEARE's 

 " TEMPEST." 



While attempts are being made in some quar- 

 ters to shake our belief, if not in the existence of 

 Shakspeare, at least in his authorship of the dra- 

 mas ascribed to him, every glimpse they afford us 

 in elucidating the question ought, I believe, to be 

 carefully searched for and welcomed ; provided, 

 of course, it prove indeed a light, and not a mere 

 " Will o' the wisp." A similar conviction may 

 have induced the celebrated judge to examine all 

 the passages in support of his own hypothesis, and 

 testifying to Shakspeare's legal knowledge. Whe- 

 ther the judge has in this instance shown himself 

 to be a good pleader in his own case, it is not for 

 me to say. What I have to bring forward will 

 not aid us, indeed, in ascertaining the original 

 calling of Shakspeare, but is intended with more 

 moderate pretension to point out what appears 

 to me an autobiographical fragment in the writ- 

 ings of the great dramatist. ' Of the few facts 

 known to us of his life, the one touching the mo- 

 rality of Shakspeare has, like the rest, given rise 

 to a good deal of discussion among the commen- 

 tators. I am referring to the premature birth of 

 his child after six months' marriage. Among 

 others, Charles Knight has defended Shakspeare's 

 morality on the plea that in the poet's age the 

 troth- plight was equivalent to the nuptial cere- 

 mony of the present day. Whether this plea be 

 valid or not, I leave others to decide : my know- 

 ledge of the matrimonial rites of those times not 

 enabling me to pronounce an opinion. But if my 

 interpretation of the passage in The Tempest, 

 Act IV. Sc. 1., be correct, I am afraid Knight's 



plea cannot stand : for that passage, to my mind 

 at least, shows the culprit himself to be at vari- 

 ance with his advocate, and to reject his defence. 

 Indeed, he comes forward to arraign himself and 

 pleads guilty in the face of all the world. I have 

 unfortunately access to but a few commentators, 

 none of whom have any remark on the passage in 

 question ; and I am, therefore, not in a position 

 to say how far my interpretation is already sup- 

 ported by others, or whether it is entirely new. 

 The passage alluded to runs thus : — 



"• But 



If thou dost break her virgin knot before 

 All sanctimonious ceremonies may 

 With full and holy rite be minister'd, 

 No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall 

 To make this contract grow ; but barren hate, 

 Sour-eyed disdain, and discord, shall bestrew 

 The union of your bed with weeds so loathly, 

 That you shall hate it both. Therefore take heed, 

 As Hj'men's lamp shall light you." 



Now, I am bold enough to maintain, that, how- 

 ever marvellous Shakspeare's insight into the 

 human heart in all conditions and ranks undoubt- 

 edly wasj none, who had not himself experienced 

 this particular state of mind — in short, none who 

 had not himself been so situated — could ever 

 have penned these lines. And Shakspeare was so 

 situated. For, assuming the facts to be well as- 

 certained, he was not happy in his conjugal life, 

 and abandoned wife and home a few years after 

 marriage. Farther comment would, I believe, be 

 superfluous. The lines quoted speak for them- 

 selves. However we may regret it, both for the 

 sake of Shakspeare and his advocate, they upset 

 Knight's plea, and assign a valid reason for the 

 poet's removal to London. If then my interpre- 

 tation be accepted, a new autobiographical frag- 

 ment would have been gained; and by diligent 

 research additional ones may perhaps be dis- 

 covered, corroborating other incidents of his life 

 resting as yet on but a dubious basis. 



D. D. ASHEB. 



TLeipsic, July, 1859. 



PATRON SAINTS. 



I have never seen a list of patron saints set 

 forth anywhere. Perhaps, therefore, the follow- 

 ing, though incomplete, may be acceptable, and 

 will be increased or perfected by the contributions 

 of your correspondents. 



To begin with the countries of Europe : — 



England - - St. George, native of Cappadocia. 



Scotland - - St. Andrew „ Judaea (Apostle). 



Wales - ■• - St. David „ Wales. 



Ireland - - St. Patrick „ Scotland, 



France - - St. Denis „ Paris. 



Spain - - - St. James „ Judaja (Apostle). 



Italy - - - St. Anthony „ Egypt. 



Russia likewise, I believe, claims St. Andrew, 



