2n'is. N»33., Aug. 16. '56.1 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



123 



lifer the present churchwarden pay John Howgego 2' 6"* 

 each for 2 foxes killed by him since our order dated 

 April 15"» last, for which Sam. Cooper y" late church- 

 warden paid him but 2' G^ a piece. Whereas it hath been 

 an antient custom in the parish of East Bergholt, in the 

 County of Suffolk, for the Chief Inhabitants to meet once 

 a month or thereabouts at each others houses, there in a 

 friendly manner to consult and advise and order about 

 the poor, and the school, and other affairs of the s^ parish, 

 which custom has of late been laid aside, to the detriment 

 of the poor and hindrance of parish business, and lessen- 

 ing that love and unity which should be among pa- 

 rishioners and neighbours : In order, therefore, to revive 

 the s'l laudable custom, for the good ends intended by it. 

 The chief inhabitants of the s<i parish have agreed to 

 revive these neighbourly meetings at each others houses , 

 as heretofore, upon due notice given in the church on the 

 Sunday before the s"! meeting, and so to continue succes- 

 sively each one in his turn. 1722, Sept^ 19">. Ordered 

 that an enquiry be made into y« cause of Abraham Rey- 

 nold's sory death, and to know y<= reason why the Coroner 

 exacted so much money. Sept^ 24'^. Ordered that the 

 Coroner be prosecuted according to law at the next 

 assizes." 



It appears from the above that this coroner 

 carried out " Crowner's quest law " in a manner 

 that was disapproved of by the parishioners. 

 How he passed through his ordeal at the assizes 

 is not stated. 



♦' 1738, Oct' 28. Agreed at a vestry that John Perri- 

 man shall be allowed 2' 12' to keep the boy Murgen a 

 j'ear from the date hereof, he to provide wearing apparel 

 for the s^' boj-, and leave him in good repair at the end of 

 the year. 1740, Jany 7*. Agreed at a vestry that Mr. 

 J"" Cook have the boy J"" Cook from this date to Mich' 

 1742, he to find the said boy with meat, drink, washing, 

 and lodging, with apparele, and at the expiration of y« 

 said terme to leave him in as good repair as he found him, 

 which is veiy good. 1748, June 1". Ordered that no 

 parish ofhcer shall be allowed to pay any carpenter, 

 Mason, Plumber, and Glazier more than two pence a day 

 for lowance for a man, half an hour allowed at breakfast 

 and one hour at dinner. 



" 1748, Oct"^ 6">. Samuel Folkerd hath agreed to take 

 the girl Kose Cook and maintain her with meat, drink, 

 washing, and lodging, in sickness and in health, till 

 Mich' next, the parishions agreeing to put her in neces- 

 sary repair fit to go into his house, and the said Samuel 

 Folkerd has promised to leave her in as good repair as he 

 took her. 1749, May S'*. Agreed that Tho' Hills's boy 

 shall go to Df Tanner's to have his head looked after. 

 1752, March 30"». It is agreed with James Vincent that 

 if he get the boy Hill's head cured by next Easter, we 

 will pay him for that cure fifteen shillings, besides what 

 we pay liim for his board. 1753. M' John Lewis to take 

 Jos'' Kose for a year, M"" Rashbrooke the boy Sam. Wool- 

 lard for ye year.' The parish to find both those boys with 

 ware and tare, and if any broken limbs, then the parish 

 to pay all expenses." 



These extracts were made by Mr. James Tay- 

 ler, the present respected churchwarden of the 

 above parish. At my request he kindly allowed 

 me to transcribe them from his note- book, and 

 oiFer them for insertion in " N. & Q." Here it 

 may be observed that there are many items of 

 interest to antiquaries and others to be found in 

 old parish books, if those who have access to them 



-would in a leisure hour look them over and 

 make extracts therefrom. G. Blbncowe, 



Manningtree. 



GOETHE ON THE " ANTIGONE " OF SOPHOCLES. 



In the conversation reported by Eckermann 

 (March 28, 1827) on this subject, Goethe objects 

 to the expressions of Antigone (v. 911.), where 

 the Greek is thus represented : " I cannot have 

 another brother ; for since my mother and father 

 are dead, there is no one to beget one." (Oxen- 

 ford's Trans., i. 372.) This is certainly putting 

 the case strongly against a tragedy of Sophocles. 

 But Goethe was either ignorant or unmindful of 

 the history and the moral principle (jivos vofj-ov) 

 expressly referred to by Antigone. This is found 

 in Herodotus (iii. c. 119.), where Darius granting 

 the life of one prisoner to the wife of Intaphernes, 

 she selects, not her husband ov children — much to 

 the surprise of Darius — but says, after some de- 

 liberation (jSouAeuo-a/tteVT?), " If indeed the king will 

 grant me only one life, I select my brother before 

 all." Darius inquires her reason for preferring 

 her brother to her husband and children. She 

 replies, " If fortune (Saifxtov) permit, I may have 

 another husband and other children ; but as my 

 father and mother are no longer living, I can 

 never have another brother; therefore I neces- 

 sarily select him." (ravrri rfi yvti/xri xpe^M^'''?? «Ae|a 

 Tavra.) Darius was so pleased with this answer, 

 that he spared the life of her eldest son as well as 

 her brother. 



If we object with Goethe to the Greek stand- 

 point as respects this yvci/xn, we must also reject 

 the motive of the whole tragedy, which involves 

 the necessity of covering the dead corpse with 

 three handfuls of earth to ensure the entrance of 

 its spirit into Hades. But as Goethe did not ob- 

 ject to this, the greater absurdity to the moderns, 

 neither ought he to object to the minor absurdity, 

 both being equally true in Greek tragic art. So- 

 phocles wrote for the Athenian stage: had he 

 written for Weimar, Paris, or London, he would 

 not have been guilty of either of these absurdities. 

 Therefore, Goethe's wish that some apt philologist 

 might prove this verse to be interpolated or 

 spurious is nugatory. 



To counteract the low prose of Eckermann, I 

 add Dr. Thos. Francklin's translation of the pas- 

 sage referred to by Goethe : 



" Another husband and another child 

 Might sooth affliction ; but, mi/ parents dead, 

 A brother's loss could never be repaired. 

 And therefore did I dare the venturous deed, 

 And therefore die by Creon's dread command." 



But as Goethe, who had read largely in Greek, 

 appears surprised at this passage in the Antigone, 

 others may entertain the like opinion, and partly 



