520 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. N» 104., Dec. 26. '57. 



by these two rare books ; they, with the Aldine, 

 being the only accessible editions then extant, 

 and all of them from different MSS. 



George Offoe. 

 Hackney, near London. 



Words in the Eye (2°"^ S. iv. 434.) — Perhaps 

 it may not be in the recollection of all your 

 readers that Evelyn in his Diary, under April, 

 1701, mentions a similar phenomenon : 



" A Dutch boy," he says, " of about 8 or 9 years old 

 was carried about by his parents to show, who had about 

 the iris of one eye the letters of Deus meus, and of the 

 other Elohim, in the Hebrew character." 



In looking back to an old letter of my own, 

 dated Oct. 1828 (eheu! fugaces), I find the fol- 

 lowing paragraphs : 



"The Napoleon- eyed child is returned to the Oxford- 

 Street Bazaar. I have seen her, and can unhesitatingly 

 affirm that the whole stoiy is a humbug. With a highly- 

 powerful magnifying-glass I examined both her eyes, for 

 at least a quarter of an hour, in every possible light. I 

 had pictures and models of her eyes shown me, that I 

 might know where to find the respective letters. Not 

 one could I see ! At last, tired of investigation, I tried to 

 fancy the inscriptions ; but it would not do ; there were 

 not materials to fancy even a syllable. Others, I should 

 suppose, must have been deceived by their imagination ; 

 for there can hardly be any room for doubt in a matter of 

 this kind, where a person of quick eyesight cannot dis- 

 cover a letter after a long examination. The child has a 

 fill! blue eye, with those light strokes so often seen in 

 blue eyes, very strongly marked : and this is the natural 

 drcumstance which has won from English credulity the 

 fortune of the child and its parents." 



Such was my evidence, taken down at the time ; 

 but whether I was too incredulous, or others too 

 credulous, I must not pronounce. In common 

 with your correspondent Centurion, — who does 

 not mention, any more than Evelyn, that he ac- 

 tually witnessed the marvel,-^! should be curious 

 to hear what became of the little girl. 



C. "W. Bingham. 



Lord StoweU (2°'^ S. iv. 400.) — Neither Doc- 

 tors' Commons nor Westminster Hall will give its 

 imprimatur to the remai-ks of C. (1.) on this most 

 distinguished lawyer. I shall not attempt to vin- 

 dicate either the forensic or the political character 

 of Lord StoweU, both are now the property of the 

 country ; but allow me to correct the joke prac- 

 tised at the table of George IV. The joke is not 

 Lord Stowell's, but Lord Eldon's. Lord Eldon 

 frequently dined with the king; I think Lord 

 StoweU never until after his elevation to the 

 peerage. It was on the occasion of his first visit 

 to the royal table that the king took notice of the 

 freedom with which the great judge took wine, 

 and on his afterwards expressing his surprise at 

 the fact to Lord Eldon, the chancellor replied, " I 

 can assure your Majesty that my brother can take 

 any given quantity of wine." 



In connexion with this subject, allow me to 

 state, that some time after Lord StoweU became 



imbecile, his brother visited him, and remained to 

 dinner : they drank " Surtees's good Newcastle 

 Port, the stronger the better," as Lord Eldon 

 used to call his favourite beverage. Lord StoweU 

 got exhilarated ; his mental powers revived in 

 their wonted splendour. Lord Eldon declared 

 that he had never enjoyed his brother's company 

 with greater zest than on this occasion ; but, alas ! 

 when the excitement of the wine ceased, this 

 mighty intellect became again shrouded in the 

 darkness of the infirmity under which it laboured. 



John Fenwick. 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 



Sir John Powell (2°'' S. iv. 329.)— I am obliged 

 to T. R. K. and P. H. F. for their answers to my 

 Query respecting the arms of this judge. I should 

 feel still more obliged to T. R. K. if he would 

 refer me to the authority on which his reply is 

 founded. P. H. F. will find, on referring to 

 1*' S. vii. 359., that he has confounded the judge, 

 who was a native of Gloucester, with his namesake 

 of Carmarthenshire, who so honourably distin- 

 guished himself on the trial of the seven bishops. 

 That trial took place in 1688 ; and Sir John Powell 

 of Gloucester did not become a judge until 1691, 

 nor sit in the Queen's Bench until 1702. Yet, 

 although this appears by the inscription on hia 

 monument in the Lady's Chapel of Gloucester 

 Cathedral, which is copied by Atkins, Rudder, 

 Fosbroke, and Counsel, and the monument of Sir 

 John Powell of Broadway, in Laugharne Church, 

 which is inscribed — 



" Quam strenuus Ecclesije defensor fuerit, testes ii 

 septem Apostolici Prsesules, quos ob Christi fidem fortiter 

 vindicatam ad ipsius tribunal accitos intrepidus ab- 

 solvit," — 



aU these writers attribute to Sir John Powell of 

 Gloucester, whose own merits as a profound law- 

 yer and upright judge constitute a sufficient re- 

 putation, the glory which belongs to his Welsh 

 contemporary. It is, I think, very much to be 

 regretted that we know so little of this Abdiel of 

 the Bench ; and I earnestly hope that Mr. Fobs 

 may be able in his next volume to supply us with 

 some authentic information respecting him. 



Tyro. 



Tyro (p. 329.) asks for information as to the 

 family of Sir John Powel. I possess his pedi- 

 gree, drawn out by the Welsh heralds from Tud- 

 wall Gloff (or Claudius), a.d. 880, and ending 

 with Herbert Powel of Broadway, 1714, son of 

 Sir Thos. Powel by Judith his wife, daughter and 

 heiress of Sir John Herbert of Coldbrook. Sir 

 John Pryce, Bart, (of a much older race, whose 

 pedigree states him to have been the 102nd in 

 lineal descent from Brute first King of England), 

 married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir 

 Thos. Powel of Broadway, and had a son living 

 in 1727. In the Gentleman's Magazine for Octo- 



