70 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[July 28. 1855. 



of the atrocities to Margaret the admiral's widow, 

 Johanna and Fredrick, Johanna invokes the 

 spirits of her father and uncle. They appear, 

 and say they are condemned for their treason to 

 the excellent prince. The admiral tells Fredrick 

 that he must share their pains within an hour. 

 Fredrick naturally enough asks, " Whence comes 

 the order ? " but being answered, " From hell," 

 rather unnaturally obeys, and kills himself; Jo- 

 hanna follows his example, and the tragedy ends. 



Mr. Macaulay says, " The Prince of Orange, 

 who had no share in the guilt of the murder, but 

 who, on this occasion, as on another lamentable 

 occasion twenty years later, extended to crimes 

 perpetrated in his cause an indulgence which has 

 left a stain upon his glory, became head of the 

 state without a rival." Though the book is with- 

 out date, there can be no doubt that it was pub- 

 lished when the events were fresh, and that it was 

 intended to be acceptable to the prince. It is 

 noticeable that Politieck the agitator (oproerder) 

 who discovers the plot and acts as the prince's 

 agent throughout, tells the mob, while exhorting 

 them to break open the prison, that the prince 

 will reward them for their work.* The imputa- 

 tion of complicity could not then have been so 

 offensive as it is now. 



I have trespassed upon your space at some 

 length, as I believe this tragedy to be " rare," and 

 am sure that it is " curious." It is referred to in 

 an inquiry about the burial-place of the De Witts, 

 in Navorschers Bijblad, 1853, p. cxlvi. 



Does any cotemporary historian say what be- 

 came of Tischelaer the barber ? H. B. C. 



U. U. Club. 



BANKERS CHEQUES. 



(Vol. 



p. 9.) 



Although strictly a legal subject, I think a prac- 

 tical man, who has been largely concerned in the 

 receipt and payment of cheques, may venture to 

 offer a valid opinion, especially as the cases cited by 

 Bailey and Chitty are based on the usage of mer- 

 chants. The use of crossing a cheque is for the 

 same purpose at the clearing-house as inserting 

 your name in a book, to show to whom it belongs. 

 A public company, for example, issuing a cheque 

 is liable to pay it to some representative of a firm 

 who may not be authorised to receive money for 

 such firm, although he may have authority to con- 

 tract for goods in its behalf. The crossing ensures 

 the payment of the cheque through a banker other 



* " Politieck. Verwacht kort yets verholen, 

 Den avond is nabj', ziet wel op u behoedt, 

 En peynst op Burger- recht, en waerom ghy het doet ; 

 Den Prins u loonen sal, bevecht maar dees victorie, 

 En d' Haagsche Borgery, in eeuwige memorie." — P. 43. 

 No. 300.] 



than the one upon whom the cheque is drawn ; 

 and as bankers keep the accounts only of creditable 

 persons, a rogue cannot get it cashed, except 

 through the medium of a shopkeeper or other 

 person who keeps an account with a banker. 

 Another use as regards bankers is saving the time 

 and risk incurred in paying cheques in bank-notes 

 or gold, and economising the use of the precious 

 metals. The answers, then, to the questions put,, 

 are : 



1. A banker may lawfully refuse to pay a 

 cheque drawn on himself, although it be crossed,, 

 with or without the words " & Co. ; " because the 

 banker, as agent to the drawer of the cheque, is 

 instructed by the crossing to pay it through another 

 banker, and not in cash over the counter. If he 

 so pay it, the banker takes the risk. 



2. Many decisions are to be found in the books 

 affirming the principle that, although a person re- 

 ceiving a cheque is not bound omissis omnibus 

 aliis negotiis to go to the bank to get it cashed, 

 he must nevertheless present it in a reasonable 

 time after taking it, which time is a question for 

 a jury. In practice, however, it is thought that 

 if a cheque be taken for payment the day after it 

 is received, there is no laches ; but if kept a second 

 day, the holder has only recourse to the drawer 

 in case of its nonpayment, and has no claim 

 against the party from whom he received it. 



3. The stamping of cheques and making them 

 payable to order, converts them entirely into bills 

 of exchange ; the object of crossing is then effected 

 by indorsement, which may be on the face as well 

 as on the back of the instrument. 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



NOTES ON TREES AND FLOWERS. 



(Vol. xi., p. 460.) 



Mr. Walcott has turned over a new leaf in 

 "N. & Q." in his excursus on leaves and flowers, to 

 which many of your correspondents will no doubt 

 contribute until the joint store becomes a real 

 "curiosity of botany." The author of "Bota- 

 nical Notes from Theophrastus " (Vol. xi., p. 239.) 

 can, I am sure, furnish many a Note. I add to 

 Mr. Walcott's list the following. The ivy equally 

 with the vine was dedicated to Bacchus. 



1. Surnames to Families or Persons. 



" With Margaret's growing in ordinance." 



Chaucer, The Assembly of Ladies. 



