34 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[July 14. 1855. 



best varnish I know is that recommended by Dr. Dia- 

 mond, and sold by Hockin and Williams ; and the ope- 

 rator will do best to buy some of it, as he cannot make it 

 as cheaplj"- as he can buy it. But a very good varnish is 

 made by dissolving about 15 parts of shellac in 100 parts 

 of absolute alcohol by the aid of heat, standing the bottle 

 loosely corked in some hot water and constantly shaking 

 it till" dissolved, and then filtering it, while hot, through 

 a flannel, which is covered with a slip of glass to prevent 

 evaporation. The negative may now be considered 

 finished. F. Maxwell Lytjs. 



Bagn^res de Bigorre, Hautes-Pyren^es. 



" Two Pound Ten" (Vol. xi., p. 503.). — " Two 

 pound ten" was the burden of a mail-coach anec- 

 dote which James Smith turned into a song. A 

 fellow passenger, a stranger to Smith, who had, he 

 said, run short of cash, asked him to lend him two 

 pound ten, to bo repaid at the journey's end. 

 Smith's reluctance to lend; his doubts as they 

 travelled along about the repayment ; and his final 

 satisfaction, when, at last, the stranger paid the 

 two pound ten, are the theme of this pleasantry, 

 which Smith used to sing very agreeably, as he 

 did several other anecdotical songs. I should sup- 

 pose that it is reprinted in his brother Horace 

 Smith's account of James ; but I have not the 

 book at hand. C. 



Descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh (Vol. x., 

 pp. 373. 475.). — I am obliged by L. H. J. T.'s in- 

 formation ; but fear, as B. H. C. observes, that 

 the family relic mentioned cannot be the great 

 Sir Walter's ; but it may have very well belonged 

 to his grandson, another Sir Walter Raleigh, who 

 survived the Restoration some time, and whom 

 there is no improbability in supposing to have 

 been possessed of a tea-pot. J. S. Warden. 



Naval Victories (Vol. xi., p. 462.). — The "Pas- 

 quinade " quoted by <J>. is illustrated by a cari- 

 cature published in England, by which it appears 

 that the capture of Quebec was the immediate 

 provocative to the satire. Mercury is descending 

 upon the earth, announcing " Quebec pris par les 

 Anglois le 18 Sept., 1759." Boats are sailing 

 about with brooms at the mast-head. Soldiers 

 are offering themselves to let by beat of drum. 

 A minister is suspended from one arm of a great 

 cross. A general is broken upon the wheel. A 

 female ghost rises from the grave astonished at 

 the scene, and the Maid of Orleans is also rising. 

 Madame Pompadour is studying a scheme of "In- 

 vasion," and a French gentleman is imploring her 

 to pity the poor prisoners in England. 



France at this time ceased to maintain her pri- 

 soners, but left them to the charity of the English, 

 by whom large subscriptions were raised for their 

 support. 



No. 298.] 



In June, 1759, it had been announced that two 

 thousand workmen were employed at Havre in 

 building one hundred and fifty flat-bottomed 

 boats ; a like number were building at St. Maloes, 

 Nantes, Port I'Orient, Morlaix, &c., all which 

 were rendered unavailing by the late English 

 successes. 



Walpole calls the lines quoted by *. an epigram 

 on Mad. Pompadour, stating that there were fifty 

 vile translations, and adding one of his own : 



" O, yes ! here are flat-bottom'd boats to be sold. 

 And soldiers to let, — rather hungry than bold ; 

 Here are ministers richly deserving to swing, 

 And commanders, whose recompense should be a string. 



0. France ! still j-our fate you may lay at ... .'s door. 

 You were saved by a maid, and undone by a wh — ." 



Edward Hawkins. 



Doorway Inscriptions (Vol. xi., p. 134.). — 



1 . At Naples, over the gate of the large hospital 

 of the Annunciata, and to express the ample pro- 

 vision therein made for the varied wants of the 

 poor : 



" Lac pueris, dotem nuptis, velumque pudicis, 

 Datque medelam aegris hsec opulenta domus." 



2. At Vienna or Berlin (?), over the entrance 

 to the military hospital : 



" Lajso sed invicto militi." 



3. At Rome, over the principal entrance to the 

 hospital "Del Santissimo Salvatore:" 



" Hospit. Salv. Eefugium pauperum 

 et infirmorum." 



Ditto, over the door of the university called 

 " Delia Sapienza :" 



" Initium sapientioe timor Domini." 



Ditto, over the Gregorian university, or as it is 

 commonly called, the " Collegio Romano :" 

 " Eeligioni ac bonis artibiis." 



4. At Rhodes, over the inmost of the seven 

 gates that gave admission, through seven lines of 

 bastions and walls, into the fortress of the Knights 

 of St. John, built in 1399, and called " St. Peter's 

 of the Freed," there was formerly this inscription : 



" Nisi Dominus custodierit, frustra 

 vigilat qui custodit." 



Cetrep. 



On a stone over the door of Hill field House, a 

 castellated mansion near Solihull, Warwickshire, 

 is the following inscription : 



" Hie hospites 



In cselo cives. 



H. 



W. V. 



1579." 



The initials are supposed to be those of the 



builders of the house, William Hawes and Ursula 



his wife. Eden Warwick. 



Birmingham. 



