190 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S.NO 88., Sept. 5. '57. 



thousands of children were collected in a kind of crusading 

 expedition, and perished miserably," 



The last paragraph I have put in italics, to 

 mark the passage 1 wish to be informed about. 

 What expedition is here alluded to ? Where can 

 I read aught about it ? I cannot trace any special 

 mention of this circumstance in the History of the 

 Crusades. George Lloyd. 



^^ Convivium." — Where is to be found an ac- 

 count of a " Convivium," in which John Hoskins, 

 Christopher Brooke, and Dr. Donne take part — 

 the latter two under the titles of Christophorus 

 Torrens and Joannes Factus ? B. D. 



Gardiners of Aldborough. — Who were the Gar- 

 diners of Aldborough in Suffolk ? Do you know 

 anything of their pedigree ? J. M. 



^mor catteries toitlj %ni^txi. 



Paul Hiffernan. — I have a pamphlet entitled 

 Criticisms on the Drama, by Paul Hiffernan, M.D., 

 London, 1769, which contains a few clever re- 

 marks and much flippancy. He quotes freely, 

 but does not always say whence. As an example 

 of " pure classical fustian : " 



" Exploded tj^rant fettered though I be, 

 I'll break thy bonds and rise up to the spheres, 

 Pluck flaming bolts from Jove's red thundering hand, 

 And down to hell as with hot snow-balls pelt thee." 



Of " modernised classical fustian :" 



" But he with vulture's look and fiery face 

 Pursues his victim through the crowd, and finds him, 

 When at the altar's foot he quivering lies, 

 Discounting death with fear. With giant power 

 He flings him at the stars, and tints the clouds 

 With wandering blood. The severed trunk descends 

 Upon the bridge ; the head falls in a sack ; 

 One rope binds each." * 



Was Paul Hiffernan a real name ? Are the 

 passages above quotations, or made for the occa- 

 sion ? H. S. F. 



[Paul Hiffernan was a minor poet of slender abilities, 

 who occasionally associated with Foote, Garrick, Murphy, 

 Goldsmith, Kelly, &c. He was born in Dublin in 1719, 

 and educated for orders in the Roman church, but after 

 all took his degree of Bachelor in Physic. He came to 

 London about 1753, and was employed by the booksellers 

 in the compilation and translation of various works. The 

 publication of his work. The Philosophic Whim, gave rise 

 to one of the last flashes of poor Goldsmith : " How does 

 this poor devil of an author," says a friend, ".contrive to 

 get credit even with his bookseller for paper, print, and 

 advertising ? " — " Oh, my dear Sir," says Goldsmith, 

 " very easily — he steals the brooms ready made ! " Foote 

 meeting Hiffernan one morning rather early in the Hay- 

 market, asked him how he was ? " Why, faith, but so 

 so," replied the Doctor. " What, the old disorder — im- 



* " Mori per lo spavento 

 Prima ch' avesse morte 

 Tal, che poco rimase 

 Dilui." 



pecuniosity — I suppose. (Here the Doctor shook his 

 head.) Well, my little Bayes, let me prescribe for you ; 

 I have been lucky last night at play, and Pll give you as 

 many guineas as you have shillings in your pocket — 

 come, make the experiment." Hiffernan most readily 

 assenting, pulled out seven shillings, and Foote, with as 

 much readiness, gave him seven guineas, adding with a 

 laugh, " You see, Paul, Fortune is not so fickle as you 

 imagine, for she has been favourable to me last night, and 

 equally so to you this morning." Hiffernan's place of 

 rendezvous Avas the Cider Cellar, Maiden Lane, a place he 

 usually resorted to on those evenings when, to use his own 

 expression, " he was not housed for the night." Here it 

 was he played the part of patron or preceptor with some 

 dexterity. If any painter found his favourite work ex- 

 cluded a place in the Exhibition, or wanted his piece 

 puffed through the papers, Hiffernan was " the lord of 

 infamy or praise." If any player took dudgeon at his 

 manager or rival brother, our author's pen was ready to 

 defend him. One of his peculiar fancies was to keep the 

 place of his lodging a secret, which he did so completely, 

 that he refused to disclose it, even when dying, to a friend 

 who supported him, and actually received his last con- 

 tributions through the channel of the Bedford coffee- 

 house. He died in June, 1777, when it was discovered 

 that he had lodged in one of the obscure courts near St. 

 Martin's Lane. His Criticisms on the Drama has escaped 

 the notice of Watt, as well as that of his biographers, nor 

 is a copy of it to be found in the British Museum. For 

 farther particulars of him see Baker's Biog, Dramatica ; 

 Davies's Life of Garrick; Ireland's i?ye of Henderson; 

 and European Magazine, xxv. pp. 110. 179. 



General Ximenes. — Information is requested, 

 and any details would be thankfully received, of 

 Lieut.- General Sir David Ximenes, of the family 

 of the illustrious Cardinal Ximenes, who appears 

 to have died somewhere in Berkshire in 1848. 

 The following are the words of Dr. Hefele in his 

 Life of the Cardinal, — 



" Vor nicht langer Zeit starb ein sehr angesehener 

 Sprossling derselben, der Englische General-Lieutenant 

 Sir David Ximenes, in August 1848, zu Berkshire in Eng- 

 land, in einem Alter von 71 Jahren." 



F. C. H. 



[A memoir of Lieut.-Gen. Sir David Ximenes is given 

 in the Gentleman's Magazine for October, 1848, p. 424. ; 

 see also the Annual Register, vol. xc. p. 246. Sir David 

 died at Bear Ash, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, on Au- 

 gust 16, 1848, aged seventy-one.] 



St. Isaac. — Who was St. Isaac, to whom the 

 cathedral at St. Petersburg is dedicated ? 



C. deD. 



[We have consulted several works on St. Petersburg, 

 and find that the prefix St. is usually omitted in the de- 

 scriptions of this noble edifice. See especially Murray's 

 Handbook for Northern Europe, p. 473., which contains 

 some interesting particulars of The Izak Church."] 



" Water, water," &c. — Whose is the following 

 expression, and where does it occur ? 

 " Water, water, everywhere, 

 Not any drop to drink." 



R. C. L. 



[The passage occurs in The Rime of the Ancient Mari' 

 ner, by S. T. Coleridge.] 



