292 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2-^ S, No 93., Oct. 10. '57. 



be met with in booksellers' catalogues, varying from four 

 to ten guineas, according to its condition and binding.] 



" Fortune helps those that help themselves.'* — I 

 shall be obliged to any of your correspondents 

 who will furnish nie with the equivalent to this 

 proverb, in Greek, Latin, Welsh, Scotch, German, 

 Italian, Spanish, or in any other language. 



Vktan Rhegep. 

 [In Bolin's very useful Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs, 

 our correspondent will find an Italian equivalent, Vien la 

 Fortuna a chi la prncura, and also a Spanish one, A los 

 osados, ayudu la Fortuna ; but of the more Christian 

 version of the same proverb, God helps him who helps him- 

 self, Bolin gives us the cognate French proverb, Qui se 

 remue, Dieu fadjue ; the Italian, Chi s' aiuta, Dio V aiuta ; 

 the German, Hilf dir sebst, so hilft dir Got; the Spanish, 

 Quien se guarda, Dios le guarda; and the Portuguese, 

 Deos ujuda aos que traballiao.^ 



Elzevir Type. -— What is the Elzevir type? 

 and why is it so named ? E. E. Byng. 



[This type is named from a family of celebrated printers 

 and publishers who fk)urished during the seventeenth 

 century at Amsterdam, Leyden, the Hague, and Utrecht, 

 and whose typography has justly gained for them the 

 reputation of being the first printers in Europe. Their 

 Virgil, Terence, and Greek Testament, are considered the 

 master-pieces of their productions.] 



LORD 8TOWELL. 



(2"i S. iv. 239.) 



It is satisfactory to learn that several of the 

 judgments and decisions of this most eminent man 

 are now given in a more cheap and accessible form. 

 It may be questioned whether, since the days of 

 Bacon and Johnson, more wisdom has been com- 

 pressed within a small compass than in the vo- 

 lumes here referred to. 



Of Lord Stowell it may be said, as of the sage 

 in Kasselas, " when he spake attention watched 

 his lips, when he reasoned conviction closed his 

 periods." 



What a valuable gift will these volumes be to a 

 young lawyer ! Many years ago I was favoured 

 with a sight of some extracts from Lord Stowell's 

 private Diary. How rich in matter, bow preg- 

 nant with interest, were the remarks of such a 

 man, even on ordinary subjects, may well be 

 believed. It may be remembered that Lord 

 Stowell's curiosity was unbounded : scarcely an 

 object, exhibited, escaped his attention ; conse- 

 quently some of small importance were occa- 

 sionally honoured by his notice.* Allow me to 



* When the Bonassus was exhibited in the Strand, my 

 late friend, Jam^s Boswell the younger, determined to pre- 

 cede Lord Stowell, and actually waited for theopening of the 

 door on the first day of exhibition. On boasting to Lord 

 Stowell that on this occasion he had anticipated him, his 

 Lordship quietly replied that he " had been favoured with 



ask whether there is any prospect of our seeing this 

 Diary or Journal published, or has any portion of 

 it been already committed to the press for private 

 circulation ? Had your regretted correspondent 

 C. been alive, I migiit have looked for an answer 

 to this Query from him. In what receptacle, if 

 tliey exist, are now lying the notes furnished by 

 Lord Stowell of his recollections of Johnson, and 

 which were transmitted by the post to Edinburgh 

 for Sir Walter Scott's perusal ? These Notes Mr. 

 Croker stated, in_1831, by a very unusual accident 

 were lost, and owing to his great age and infirmity, 

 Mr. Croker was deterred from troubling Lord 

 Stowell again on the subject. How great this loss 

 we may well suppose : perhaps the Notes may ap- 

 pear a century hence, like the lately disinterred 

 correspondence of Boswell. J. H. M. 



BYBOM S SHORT-HAND. 



(2"'' S. iv. 208.) 



The design of the vignette monogram prefixed to 

 this work, 1 767, is to bring into one view the various 

 characters employed as letters in Byrom's steno- 

 graphic system. With this design accords the 

 motto placed under the monogram, " Frustra per 

 plura;" which is the same as saying, "These few 

 forms suffice for all our characters. It were vain, 

 it were futile, to employ more." 



The moiiogram is a square including six right 

 lines, of which one is liorizontal, one is perpen- 

 dicular, and four are sloping ; also including two 

 circlets, four semicircles, and ten arcs of about 

 45° or 50° each. The characters may be seen 

 at pp. 24. 37. of the -work itself ; and it will be 

 found, upon examination and comparison, that 

 there is no character of the system which does not 

 correspond with something in the monogram ; nor 

 is there any line, direct or circular, in the mono- 

 gram which has not some representative in the 

 characters. 



The monogram ie framed in a double circle con- 

 taining a wreath of flowers, such as roses, pinks, 

 &c. Even this wreath is not wholly without sig- 

 nificance. With the aid of a magnifying glass it 

 will be found that the second full-blown rose 

 from the bottom, on the left-hand side, is a dimi- 

 nutive but very striking portrait of the Rev. 

 George Whitefield. Whitefield died in 1770, 

 that is, about three years after the publication of 

 Byrom's posthumous work. As he generally 

 preached extempore, and was deservedly popular, 

 he occasionally called into exercise the talents 

 of the short-hand writers of his day. Thus his 



a private view." When the Duke of York lay in state Lord 

 Stowell was the earliest visitor admitted to the funereal 

 chamber. This passion is alluded to by Lord Campbell, 

 who contrasts it with the apathy for sight-seeing in Lord 

 Eldon. 



