2«>d S. VIII. Sept. 24. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



247 



Walking Stewart. — The following notice of this 

 remarkable man appeared in an Albany (N. Y.) 

 newspaper for August I, 1791 : — 



" On Thursda}' last arrived in this city from London, 

 via New York, and the same evening set off for Canada, 

 Mr. Stewart, the noted pedestrian — who, we are told, 

 has travelled over the greater part of Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa on foot * ; and has come to this country for the pur- 

 pose of completing his travels, by making the tour of the 

 American world. Mr. Stewart is a middle-aged man, 

 about six feet high — and what is particularly remarka- 

 ble, he is said to eat no animal food, and but one meal a 

 day:' 



Uneda. 

 Philadelphia. \ 



Bearded Women. — Some fifteen or sixteen years 

 ago I remember a hairy woman being exhibited 

 in London. She had a flowing beard and mous- 

 tache, of a soft and silky texture, but in all other 

 respects was perfectly feminine. She was a young 

 married woman, and was the mother of children. 

 From Evelyn's Diary I find that a similar prodigy 

 appeared in the metropolis more than two cen- 

 turies ago. I transcribe the passage : — 



"September 15th, 1657. — I saw the hairy woman, 

 twenty years old, whom I had before seen when a child. 

 She was born at Augsburg, in Germany. Her very eye- 

 brows were combed upwards, and all her forehead as thick 

 and even as grows on any woman's head, neatly dressed ; 

 a very long lock of hair out of each ear ; she had also a 

 most prolix beard and moustachios, with long locks 

 growing on the middle of her nose, like an Iceland dog 

 exactlj', the colour of a bright brown, fine as well dressed 

 flax. She was now married, and told me that she had 

 one child that was not hairy, nor were any of her parents 

 or relations. She was very well shaped and played well 

 on the harpsichord." 



This woman's name was Barbara Van Beck. 

 Two portraits of her, one a line engraving, the 

 other in mezzotinto, are described in Granger's 

 Biographical Dictionary. The woman whom I 

 remember was, I think, an Italian. Are there any 

 other records of a similar lusus naturcef 



John Pavin Phillips. 



Haverfordwest. 



^nzviti. 



BIBLICAL conjecture-notes: THE RIGHT DATE 

 OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 



I have before me two criticisms on the date of 

 the Epistle to the Hebrews. The first criticism is 

 thus stated : — 



" Those who believe that St. Paul is the author of the 

 Epistle to the Hebrews generally suppose that he wrote 

 it at Rome during his last two years' sojourn in that citj', 

 about A.D. 63. This ancient opinion is adopted by the 

 majority of critics, who mainly rely on the subscrip- 

 tion at the end of the document." 



H* Walking Stewart used to saj', that though he had 

 walked a great deal, it was only when no conveyance was 

 to be had : he never walked when he could ride. — Ed. 

 «' N. & Q."] 



The second criticism is as follows : — 

 "It maybe conjectured by some that St. Paul wrote 

 his Epistle to the Hebrews at Corinth during his long 

 stay with Aquila and Priscilla, who had lately como 

 from Italy because Claudius had banished all Jews from 

 Rome, — a fact recorded in Acts xviii., and dated about 

 A.D. 52. This conjecture relies on the following reasons : 

 the Epistle to the Hebrews seems to belong to that 

 period in the history of St. Paul when his mind was still 

 mainly exercised in efforts to convert his Jewish brethren 

 before he left them on account of their unbelief and 

 turned to the Gentiles, to whom all his other epistles are 

 addressed. It is stated in this chapter of the Acts that 

 he was especially employed at this period in efforts to 

 convert the Hebrews, and it seems probable a prioriVaat 

 he would give his arguments for their conversion in a 

 written epistle as well as viva voce. It is said that during 

 this time Timothy came to him from Macedonia. Now, 

 as Timothy was probabl}' arrested at Philippi, as well as 

 his companions, Paul and Silas (whose miraculous delivery 

 from the prison there is exactly recorded), it seems that 

 he must have escaped in some way or he could not have 

 come to Paul. These things being premised, let us turn 

 to the Epistle to the Hebrews. We find internal evidence 

 that it was written during the Hebraistic condition of St. 

 Paul's mind, being very different in its characteristics 

 from his Gentile epistles, to which it never alludes. More- 

 over it contains some'specified texts, which indicate the 

 probability of this conjecture. In Hebrews xiii. 24. it 

 appears that St. Paul was then residing with Jews 

 from Italy, as he says ' those (^apo) from Italy salute you.' 

 Just before he speaks thus: 'know that our brother 

 Timothy is set at liberty, M'ith whom if he come shortly 

 I will see you.' As to the subscription to this epistle, it 

 is of very doubtful authority, and is rejected by Gries- 

 bach. But, taking it for as much as it is worth, it in- 

 forms us that the epistle was written to the Hebrews 

 from Italy. It does not necessarily follow that the epistle 

 itself was written from Italj- or" from Athens, as other 

 MSS. state, though the order of the words, both in the 

 Greek and Syriac, seem to imply as much. The old 

 theory lies open to this difficulty, 'that it makes St. Paul, 

 who was a prisoner at Rome, in danger of speedy perse- 

 cution, talk confidently of visiting the Jews with Timothy 

 shortly.' And there is no other indication of the impri- 

 sonment or liberation of Timothy at that period. If this 

 conjecture be correct, the Epistle to the Hebrews is the 

 first, or one of the first, of St. Paul's epistles, instead of 

 being one of the last of them. The question is interest- 

 ing and important, as materially affecting the mental 

 and circumstantial history of St. Paul, and it enters into 

 the right construction of all biographies of this noble 

 apostle." 



Such are the two criticisms before me, and I 

 venture to send them to the Editor of " N. & Q." 

 that his intelligent readers may consider their re- 

 lative probability, and throw new light on the 

 topic. Francis Barham. 



Bath. 



LADY CULROSS S DREAM. 



Can you or can any of your contributors tell 

 me whether the old Scotch ballad entitled Lady 

 Cuirass s Dream is still to be met with in any 

 antiquarian collection ? and where ? Launcelot 

 Temple, even at that time (1770), mentions his 

 fears of its being no longer extant : but as this 



