Dec. 2. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



443 



tern of che.ap postage, which ■would allow merchants 

 and literati to correspond in all parts of the world 

 on the penny system. Alpha. 



Reading -sociehj Rhymes. — Some years ago a 

 volume of Dr. Adam Clarke's Sermons was passing 

 through a reading society in this neighbourhood, 

 and the following lines, which I give literatim^ 

 were found pasted on the cover : 



" From greasy wast, 

 And blaching past, 



And every candle end ; 

 From mutton roast. 

 And butter toast. 

 The Doctor Clarke defend." 



H. Martin. 

 Halifax. 



Foresters " Ordericus Vitalis." — In Mr. Fo- 

 rester's note (2) at p. 25. of Ordericus Vitalis, 

 vol. iii. (Bohn's edition), there appears to be a 

 slight inaccuracy, which may be worth noticing. 

 The text having mentioned " Alberede, wife of 

 .Ralph, Count of Bayeux," in connexion with 

 *'Hugh, Bishop of Bayeux," the annotator de- 

 scribes Hugh as " their eldest son ; " whereas, if 

 jv the Ncustria Pia may be trusted, neither Hugh 

 nor his brother John (the Archbishop of Rouen) 



■ was a son of Alberede, but both were children of 



; Eremberga, Ralph's second wife : 



" IMortua itaque Albereda, Eadulfus aliam desponsavit 

 mulierem, nomine Erembergam, ex qu& duos genuit filios, 

 scilicet, Hugoaem et Joannem, proesules prtefatos." — 

 Neustria Pia (Artur. du Monstief), Eothomagi, 1663, 

 ' 'p. 670. 



Emma, the mother of William FItz-Osbern, 

 appears to have been another of Eremberga's 

 children. ' (Conf. Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. vi. 

 par. ii. p. 1101.) On the other hand, it is worth 

 observing that Hugh himself had a daughter called 

 Alberede, who was wife of Albert de Crenento, 

 and who is described by Vitalis as " Hugonis Ba- 

 jocensis Episcopi filia." (And. Du Chesne's Hist. 

 Norm. Script, Lut. Par., 1619, p. 613.) 



J. Sansom. 



George Whitefield. — I take the following no- 

 tice from a recent New York journal : 



" In Savannah, Georgia, the last blood kin of George 

 Whitefield, the eminent divine, who came to America 

 with Oglethorpe, was followed from a garret to the 

 grave." 



w.w. 



Malta. 



Telegraphing through Water, not a recent Dis- 

 covery.— Dr. Franklin, in 1748, thus wrote to his 

 friend Peter Collinson of London : 



" Chagrined a little that we have hitherto been able to 

 produce nothing in this way of use to mankind, and the 

 hot weather coming on when electrical experiments are 

 not so agreeable, it is proposed to put an end to them for 

 the season, somewhat humorously, in a party of pleasure 



on the banks of the Schuylkill. Spirits at the same time 

 are to be fired by a spark sent from side to side through the 

 river without any other conductor than the water ; an experi- 

 ment which we some time since performed to the amazement 

 of many. A turkey is to be killed for our dinner by the 

 electric shock, and roasted by the electric jack, before a 

 fire kindled by the electrified bottle; when the health of 

 all the famous electricians of England, Holland, France, 

 and Germany, are to be drunk in electrified bumpers, 

 under a discharge of guns from the electrical battery." 



" Professor Morse, we have understood, made similar 

 successful experiments nine years ago in communicating 

 across the Susquehanna Elver, and has been for some 

 time prosecuting experiments with the view of forming 

 a telegraphic communication between the United States 

 and Great Britain." — Vide Washington Intelligencer, 

 Oct. 5, 1854. 



W.W. 



Malta. 



The oldest Church in America is one in the 

 state of Virginia, and built of timber imported 

 from England during the reign of Charles I. 



w. w. 



Malta. 



^ucrir^. 



SHAKSPEARE AUTOGRAPH. 



I venture to trouble you with a communication, 

 hoping through the medium of your valuable 

 journal to elicit some information respecting a 

 very curious old Italian book, which was lately 

 picked up at an old book-stall in this town. 



Not being an Italian scholar, I cannot say what 

 may be the character of the book, but the title is 

 as follows : Commento Di Ser Agresto Da Ficar- 

 volo Sopra la prima Ficuta del Padre Siceo. Con 

 la Diceria de Nasi. It bears neither printer's nor 

 publisher's name, but commences with what ap- 

 pears to be a preface, headed, " L'Heride di Bar- 

 bagrigia Stampatore agli amatori delle Scienze, 

 S. ;" and dated at the end, "DiBengodi a 12. 

 di Gennaio, mdlxxxiv." The running title 

 through the book is " Commento delle Fiche." 

 The second part of the book, commencing on the 

 103rd page, and extending through fourteea 

 pages, is entitled, " Nasea Overo diceria de Nasi 

 del Medesimo Ser Agresto, al Sesto re della verto, 

 detto Nasone." This (which is also the end of 

 the book) concludes, " Raccomandatemi a tutti 

 i nostri Virtuosi di Corte ^ resto seruidore del 

 vostro Naso, alii x. d' Aprile, mdxxxviii." The 

 book is in good preservation, and is bound in 

 limp vellum ; but that which excites the most 

 curiosity in connexion with it is, that on turning 

 back the vellum which had been folded over to 

 form the edge of the corner, there was found 

 written on the inside of it " William Shakspere." 



The character and appearance of the writing, 

 together with the apparent age of the book, seem 

 to fix this as a bond fide autograph of the great 

 poet ; and all to whom it has been shown coincide 



