2°'i S. No 81., Jdly 18. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



4» 



ttition much more simple, and in every respect less excep- 

 tionable. It is a mere democratic body, unconnected with 

 the crown or the kingdom. ... If, however, con- 

 sidered in any relation to the crown, to the national 

 assembly, &c. ... it seems a monster. ... It 

 is a worse preservative of a general constitution, than the 

 si/stasis of Crete, or the confederation of Poland, or any 

 other ill-devised corrective which has yet been imagined, 

 in the necessities produced by an ill-constructed system 

 of government." — French Rev., p. 328., 2nd ed. 1790. 



The word " systasis " now appears in some of 

 our dictionaries, as Webster's and Hyde Clarke's, 

 in tlie sense of " constitution," a synonym which 

 Burke evidently wanted, as he had the word 

 " constitution '' twice in requisition just before he 

 introduced the word " systasis." This exotic does 

 not appear to have thriven in our political vo- 

 cabulary. It was adopted by Burke doubtless 

 from Polybius (lib. vi. ex. iii. ch. i.), who freely 

 uses systasis in reference to Crete, meaning its 

 political establishment, system, or constitution. 

 Plato also uses it in the same sense (Bep. 546 a.) ; 

 Demosthenes nearly so, as a political union or 

 club (1122. 5.). But I cannot find that Aristotle 

 ever uses this word, the nearest to it being 

 (Tvar^ffas and avtniicTai (Pol. i. 2., iii. 13.). As the 

 word avffraffis means, like ffriais, " sedition," Ari- 

 stotle found many other synonyms in the flexibility 

 of the Greek tongue to answer his purpose better. 

 He, indeed, approves parts of the polity of Crete. 

 (Pol. ii. 9, 10.) Not so Polybius, who rhetorically 

 adopts a term, already used in a bad sense, to 

 condemn the " systasis " of Crete, together with 

 Ephorus, Xenophon, Callisthenes, and Plato, its 

 applauders, omitting, however, the name of Ari- 

 stotle : corruption had doubtless crept in after 

 their days and before Polybius wrote his history. 

 The point to which Burke referred was that the 

 Cretans had no private property, although the 

 land was equally divided amongst them, the slaves 

 being compelled to furnish all the products of their 

 industry, part of which was allotted to their gods, 

 and part to the public service of the state, the 

 remainder being used for the maintenance of the 

 people ; whilst the free men (citizens) were fed at 

 common tables, and had no other occupation than 

 the arts of politics and war. (Aristotle, Pol. ii. 10.) 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



DR. JOHN DONNE. 



In a work published in 1652, entitled A Sheaf 

 of Miscellany Epigrams, written in Latin by John 

 Donne, and translated by J. Main, D.D., are 

 several pieces which speak of the young poet as 

 engaged in military operations in the army of 

 Prince Maurice, and as present at the battle of 

 Duke's Wood. If these Epigrams are undoubt- 

 edly Donne's, it is remarkable that Walton should 



be silent on this eventful period of the Dean's 

 life, as this work was published between the first 

 and second editions of his Life of Donne. Epigram 

 No. 56. is entitled, " A Panegyric on the Hol- 

 landers being Lords of the Sea, occasioned by the 

 Author being in this Army at Duke's Wood." 

 No. 57. has the following title, " To Bleep, steal- 

 ing upon him as he stood upon the Guard in a 

 corner of a running trench, at the Siege of Duke's 

 Wood." Then follows another epigram, "To his 

 fellow Sentinels." This event must have taken 

 place between the years 1587 and 1590, about the 

 time when, according to Walton, Donne was 

 studying at Cambridge, — " at Trinity College," adds 

 Zouch. What makes it probable that Donne had 

 enlisted in the auxiliaries against Spain, is Mar- 

 shall's portrait of him at this time, inscribed, 

 "Anno Dili, 1591, aetatis sute 18," where he is re- 

 presented in a dark coloured doublet, with a 

 diamond cross pendant from his right ear ; his 

 hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Can any 

 one furnish additional particulars illustrative of 

 this obscure portion of Donne's biography ? Ben 

 Jonson, it will be remembered, had also about 

 this time enlisted in the campaigns in the Low 

 Countries, and with some elation of heart fre- 

 quently referred to this incident of his life. Both 

 Donne and Jonson were born in the same year, 



1573. J. y. 



THE ENGLISH BEGIUM DONUM — ACHAN S GOLDEN 

 WEDGE : pope's " OLD CATO." 



Some years ago an elderly gentleman related to 

 me the following curious story as to the origin of 

 the annual grant to the dissenting ministers, 

 called the Regium Donum, about which there was 

 so much controversy at the time. His account 

 was somewhat as follows. During one of those 

 long struggles between the dissenting Interests 

 and their opponents (which were afterwards par- 

 tially put an end to by the Bills for Occasional 

 Conformity), one of the principal ministers of the 

 crown had expressed himself very strongly in 

 favour of the former body. But when the contest 

 came in Parliament he gave way, and left thern to 

 the mercy of their opponents. The principal 

 ministers of the dissenting interests then waited 

 on the statesman, expressing great indignation at 

 his conduct, that he who had always professed 

 himself so fast a friend should desert them, and 

 threatened him with all the opposition that could 

 be raised throughout their powerful bodies. The 

 story went on to say that the statesman put on an 

 hypocritical face, and said he was indeed grieved, 

 but he had been overpowered In Parliament, and 

 overruled by his celleagues ; he had done all he 

 could, and was as fast a friend as ever. He then 

 went on to say, that he was commanded by the 

 King to express how grieved and disappointed his 



