298 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



C2»o S. VIII. Oct. 8, 'oS 



mens of his writing wLich I have brought with me." 

 This witness then procluced notes written by Louis 

 XV., which he had brought from collections in Paris. 

 Lord Meadowbank referred to Voltaire as his au- 

 thority for the statement quoted above ; but the 

 fact is, as I believe, that nothing of the kind is to be 

 found in Voltaire's writings. I would here remark 

 that before Y. S. M. again ventures to publish state- 

 ments about a nobleman and gentleman who has 

 been dead but a very few months, and the greater 

 part of whose fiimily are still living, he should 

 thoroughly satisfy himself of the truth of what he 

 advances. As, therefore, the statement of your 

 correspondent is not true, I wish the following 

 facts made public : — 



1. Alexander, late Earl of Stirling and Dovan 

 (c7e jure), previous to assuming his title, obtained 

 from George IV. the royal licence to assume the 

 name of Alexander in addition to his patronymic 

 Humphrys. 



2. It is not the fact that the trial of the late 

 Earl of Stirling, on the 29th April, 1839, resulted 

 in his conviction : on the contrary, he was ac- 

 quitted. This is not a place for a history of the 

 trial ; but one incident, wholly overlooked in the 

 Crown report, deserves mention. After a few 

 only of Lord Stirling's witnesses had been heard, 

 the foreman or chancellor of the jury rose, and, 

 addressing the court, stated that the jury saw no 

 necessity for going on with the case, as they had 

 made up their minds to give a verdict for Lord 

 Stirling. The presiding judue, however, insisted 

 on the trial proceeding; which resulted, as I have 

 stated above, in the acquittal of the defendant. I 

 trust you will find room for this in an early im- 

 pression of " N. & Q." J. A. Pn. 



Sidney as a Feminine Christian Name (P' S. vii. 

 392.) In a notice in the 2"imes of Sept. 8th, 

 of the Very Rev. C. B. Clough, Dean of Asaph, 

 it is said that he married, in 1817, Margaret 

 Sidney, daughter of E. Jones, of Wepre Hall, 

 Flintshire, Esq. P. J. F. Gantit.lon. 



Why is Luther represented ivith a Goose (2"* S. 

 viii. 243. 247.) — Whilst the Bohemian reformer, 

 John Huss, was lying in the prison of Constance 

 he had a dream — 



" And it seemed as if some pictures of Cnr.iST, that he 

 had been painting on the walls of his oratory, were ef- 

 faced by the Pope and the bishops. The dream afflicted 

 him. But the next night he dreamed again : he seemed 

 to see painters move in number, and with more of effect, 

 restoring the pictures of Jesus. He told the dream to 

 his friends : ' I am no vain dreamer ' (said he), ' but hold 

 for certain that the image of Christ shall never be effaced. 

 They wish to destroy it ; but it shall be painted afresh in 

 the hearts of gospel-preachers better than myself. And 

 I, awaking as it were from the dead, and rising from the 

 grave, shall rejoice with exceeding great joy.' " (Merle 

 D'Aubigny, Hist. i. 79.) 



Many see the fulfilment of Huss's prophecy in 

 the advent of Luther, exactly one century later. 



Pope Adrian, in 1523, observes in a Brief ad- 

 dressed to the Diet at Nuremberg: "The heretics 

 Huss and Jerome seem to be alive again in the 

 person of Luther ! " 



In a letter of Huss sent from Constance to 

 Prague, the following passage elucidates the Query 

 of F. Mewburn : — 



" Prius laqueos citationes et anathemata ansen para- 

 verunt [^Hms is the Bohemian forjroosel ; et jam nonnullis 

 ex vobis insidiantur. Sed quia anser, animal cicur, avis 

 domestica, suprema volatu suo non pertingens eorum 

 laqueos [non] rupit, nihilo-minus aliiB aves, quse verbo 

 Dei et vita volatu suo alta petunt, eorum insidias con- 

 terent." 



Hence, says Gleseler, the reported prophecy of 

 Huss, " Hodie anserem uritis ; sed ex meis cine- 

 ribus nascetur cygmis, quem non assare poteri- 

 tis." ( Vide Elliot, Horce Apoc. ii. 442, 443., where 

 may also be seen a facsimile of the ancient medal 

 of Huss's martyrdom and prophecy.) J. S., k. n. 



Quotation f7-om Voltaire (2"'' S. vl. 188.)— Your 

 correspondent Delta required a reference in the 

 seventy volumes of the IVoi-hs of the above au- 

 thor, to a quotation which he subjoined. I am 

 happy to answer his Quer3', having accidentally 

 met with the passage. 



Delta has rather transposed the sentences, 

 though the meaning is the same, and there are 

 two or three words which require correction to 

 make the quotation agree with the original. Al- 

 low me to add an amended copy of the words in 

 question : — 



" D'oii vient notre d^licatesse? c'est que plus les mceurs 

 sont depravees, plus les expressions deviennent mesure'es. 

 On croit regagner en paroles ce qu'on a perdu en verfu. 

 La pudeur s'est enfuie des ccenrs, et s'est refugide sur lea 

 Ifevres." — (Euvres Completes de Voltaire, tome 12'<""S p. 

 274., edition 1785. " Lettre du Traducteur du Cantique." 



Respondens. 



Goidston Family (2"'' S. viii. 250.) — I think 

 your correspondent C. S. will find some account 

 of the Goulstons in Baker's Northamptonshire. 

 Di\ Theodore Goulston, the eminent physician, 

 and founder of the lecture that bears his name, 

 was a native of Northants. He died in 1632. 



C. J. Robinson. 



Irish Registry Acts (2»^ S. v. 69.) — Tlie 

 provisions of the Acts have, I believe, always 

 been adhered to. In some tolerably extensive 

 searches in the books I have never met an in- 

 stance where the names of the grantees were 

 omitted from the memorials ; and I have never 

 heard of such an omission. Mk. Meekins cannot 

 be serious when he asks whether calendars of 

 those gigantic records, extending in unbroken 

 succession from the year 1708, and embracing 

 nearly the entire landed property of Ireland, are 

 to be published. A proposal to print such calen- 

 dars would rather startle the House of Com- 

 mons. Your readers can understand this when 



