294 



:notes and queries. 



[No. 258. 



as present on this occasion ; we have no right to 

 presume anything farther ; the rest may have been 

 miles off, just as probably as within immediate 

 call. Granting that St. Peter's holding the keys 

 is purely emblematical, why should they be intro- 

 duced on this occasion ? The sheep illustrate the 

 commission then given.; but the keys are out of 

 place, unless the artist intended to combine two 

 events in one picture. F. C. li. 



Of the original set of twelve cartoons painted 

 by Raphael, seven are in the palace at Hampton 

 Court. Can any of your readers furnish informa- 

 tion respecting the history of the remaining five ? 

 There are two cartoons in Boughton Xlouse, 

 Northamptonshire (a seat of the Duke of Buc- 

 cleugh), which are fully believed by many to be 

 Haphael's, but from an expression in Whalley's 

 IIisto7'y of Northamptonshire^ p. 820., it seems to 

 be a matter of doubt. W. H. 



Chinese Proverbs (Vol. x., pp. 46. 175.). — By 

 the kindness of Messrs. Hewitt & Co., Fenchurch 

 Street, I have obtained a list of the Chinese 

 proverbs which were in the Great Exhibition of 

 1851. As they appear to be unknown to some of 

 your readers, perhaps they will be worthy of a 

 place in " N. & Q." 



" Let every man sweep the snow from before his own 

 door, and not busy himself about the frost on his neigh- 

 bour's tiles." 



" Great wealth comes by destiny ; moderate wealth by 

 industry." 



" The ripest fruit will not fall into your mouth." 



" The pleasure of doing good is the only one which does 

 not wear out." 



" Dig a well before you are thirsty." 



" Water does not remain on the mountain, nor ven- 

 geance in a great mind." 



F. M. MiDDLETON. 



Long Sir Thomas Robinson (Vol. x., p. 164.). 

 — The anecdote is thus related in the notes to 

 the lines in Churchill's " Ghost : " 



" Till how he did a dukedom gain, 

 And Robinson was Aquitain ? " 



" At the last coronation the Duke of Normandy, not 

 Aquitain, was represented by Sir Thomas Kobinson, a 

 Yorkshire baronet, more generally known as * Long Sir 

 Thomas,' on account of his uncommon height of stature ; 

 in allusion to which the following happy epigram was 

 written : 



* Unlike to Robinson shall be my song. 

 It shall be witty, and it shan't be long.' 



A ludicrous anecdote is related of the introduction of Sir 

 Thomas to a Russian nobleman, who persuaded himself 

 that he was addressing no less a character than Robinson 

 Crusoe. Sir Thomas was a specious empty man, and a 

 great pest to parsons of high rank or in office. He was 

 very troublesome to the Earl of Burlington, and when in 

 his visits to him he was told that his lordship was gone 

 out, would desire to be admitted to look at the clock, or 

 to play with a monkey that was kept in the hall, in hopes 

 of being sent for in to the earl. This he has so frequently 



done that all in the house were tired of him. At length 

 it was concerted among the servants that he should re- 

 ceive a summary answer to his usual questions ; and ac- 

 cordingly at his next coming, the porter, as soon as he 

 had opened the gate, and without waiting for what he 

 had to say,' dismissed him with these words : ' Sir, his 

 lordship is gone out, the clock stands, and the monkey is 

 dead.' " — Churchill's Poeiica/ Works, 1804, vol. ii. p. 183. 

 William Fkaser, B.C.L. 

 Alton, Staffordshire. 



" Cidtiver mon jardin " (Vol. x., p. 16G.). — The 

 equivalence of this phrase and the otium cum dig- 

 nitate may be illustrated by the rendering of the 

 latter which was customary with an Irish wit of 

 the last generation. His garden was his flxvourite 

 relaxation after the labours of high legal office. 

 He called it his otium cum diggin-a-pitate. B. 



Love (Vol. X., p. 206.). — In reply to F. S. A., 

 I may mention that love was a ribbon with which 

 cloaks and other articles of dress were trimmed. 

 It was worn, I believe, chiefly when in mourning. 



W. T. T. 



Ipswich. 



DoUond's Telescopes (VoLx., p. 196.). — The 

 name Dollond, as given to a telescope, is not 

 altogether a joke. When Dollond introduced the 

 achromatic lens, it became customary to call 

 achromatic telescopes Dollonds, to distinguish 

 them from others. Very soon none but achro- 

 matic telescopes were to be found. M. 



Great LJvents from little Causes (Vol. x., 

 p. 202.). — W. Seward mentions a French book 

 of this argument (as it would once have been 

 called) by M. Richer. Perhaps the subject is not 

 a very wise one ; a pair of gloves, or a wet gown, 

 may give rise to a treaty, but there must be many 

 greater causes in readiness to act. An accidental 

 spark may blow up a fortress, but what should we 

 say to the person who wrote a book on the spark, 

 and forgot the gunpowder. 



In progressive matters the tracing of great 

 things from small accidents is legitimate and in- 

 teresting. Given a chain of events (and that not 

 yet complete), with the twitching of a frog's leg 

 at one end, and the European telegraph at the 

 other J beat that in history if you can. M. 



Leases (Vol. x., p. 31.). — I believe the true 

 answer to the inquiry is as follows. Lessees and 

 mortgagees in possession for terms of 100 or 1000 

 years, frequently demise the whole or a part of 

 the property at a rent, retaining a reversion of 

 the last year of the original term. This is stipu- 

 lated for by under-lessees to prevent their be- 

 coming bound to the performance of the tenants* 

 covenants contained in the original lease ; and it 

 was formerly necessary to the recovery of the 

 reserved rent by distress, that a reversionary in- 

 terest should remain in the person to whom the 



