236 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 255. 



the early volumes of " N. & Q.," I find several 

 communications respecting the origin of this line, 

 none of them, I believe, assigning it an earlier 

 date than 1496, when, according to Me. Singer 

 (Vol. ill., p. 431.), it was used in the rebus of a 

 Parisian printer. It had, doubtless, a much earlier 

 origin. It is cited as an established dictum by 

 Cyllenius in his Commentary on Tihullus (as pub- 

 lished In the Venice edition, Simon Bevilaqua, of 

 1493), where the lines, — 



" Felix quicumque dolore I 



Alterius disces posse carere tuo." 1 



are thus explained : 



" Sensus est, fortunatum videre quicumque dolori re- j 

 sistit suo, eumque vitat alterius infaelicitatis exemplo : \ 

 unde dictum est, Fffilix quem faciunt aliena pericula ■ 

 cautum." 



The Commentary of Cyllenius (Bernardinus Ve- ■ 

 ronensis) was first published with Tihullus, printed , 

 at Rome in 1475 \Panzer, ii. 454., No. 184.). I j 

 have had no opportunity of consulting that, or | 

 either of the Venetian editions of the Commentary, 

 earlier than the one of 1493. Vebtaub. 



Hartford, Connecticut. 



« Over the Left'' (Vol. vii., p. 525. &c.). — The 

 following extracts from the Records of the Hart- 

 ford County Court, in the (then) American colony 

 of Connecticut, supply an amusing illustration of 

 the use and peculiar significance of this phrase : 

 « At a County Court held at Hartford, September 4, 1705. 



" Whereas James Steel did commence an action against 

 Bevell Waters (both of Hartford), in this Court, upon 

 hearing and trvall whereof the Court gave judgment 

 against the said Waters (as in justice they think they 

 ought), upon the declareing the said judgment, the said 

 Waters did review to the Court in March next, that being 

 granted and entred, the said Waters, as he departed from 

 the table, he said, ' God bless yon over the left shoulder.' 



" The Court order a record to be made thereof forthwith. 

 " A true copie : Test. 



" Caleb Stanley, Clerk." 



At the next Court Waters was tried for contempt, 

 for saying the words recited, " so cursing the 

 Court," and on verdict fined 51. He asked a re- 

 view at the Court following, which was granted ; 

 and pending trial, the Court asked counsel of the 

 Rev. Messrs. Woodbridge and Buckingham, the 

 ministers of the Hartford churches, as to " the 

 common acceptation " of the offensive phrase. 

 Their reply constitutes a part of the Record, and 

 is as follows : 



" We are of the opinion that those words, said on the 

 Other side to be spoken by Bevell Waters, include (1) pro- 

 pbaneness, bj' useing the name of God, that is holy, with 

 such ill words whereto it was joyned ; (2) that they carry 

 great contempt in them, ariseing to the degree of an im- 

 precation or curse, the words of a curse being the most 

 contemptible that can ordinarily be used. 



T. Woodbridge. 

 T. Buckingham. 



" March 7th, 1705-6." 



The former judgment was affirmed on review. 

 This Is the earliest instance of the use of this 

 phrase I have met with in New England. It is 

 now very popular with certain classes', and no re- 

 ference to an ecclesiastical tribunal seems ne- 

 cessary to determine its import. Vertaur. 

 Hartford, Connecticut. 



DeverelVs Shakspeare, Sfc. (Vol. ix., p. 577.). 



I thank J. F. M. for his kindness in directing my 

 attention to this work, the title-page of which I 

 transcribe for the benefit of such of your readers 

 as may choose to consult one of the most extraor- 

 dinary works ever published : 



"Hieroglyphics and other Antiquities, in treating of 

 which many favourite Pieces of Butler, Shakspeare, and 

 other great Writers, in Prose and Verse, are put in a 

 Light now entirely New, by Notes, occasional Disserta- 

 tions, and upwards of Two Hundred Engravings on Wood 

 and Copper. By Robert Deverell, Esq. : 



• Ergo altfe vestiga oculis, et ritfe repertum 

 Carpe manu.' — Virgil. 



In Six Volumes. Printed for T. & J. Allman, Princes 

 Street, Hanover Square; sold also by W. Clarke, New 

 Bond Street, and Henry Colbum, Conduit Street. 1816." 



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