462 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 267. 



houses and forts are said to be built of limestone. 

 Granite may have been conveyed from a distance, 

 but my impression is that there is none. In con- 

 sequence of this error (if such it be) unfair com- 

 parisons are made between the operations of the 

 Baltic fleet and that of the Black Sea. The true 

 inference, in my opinion, is this ; that if so little 

 damage was done to the soft limestone, still less 

 injury could have been inflicted on the granite 

 batteries of Cronstadt ; and that it would have 

 been the height of rashness and folly to have 

 made the attempt. A young middy informed his 

 parents in a letter, that the admirals had recon- 

 noitered Cronstadt, and were of opinion that it 

 could not be taken, adding, " but / differ from 

 them." Depend upon it, our brave commanders 

 know best. C. T. 



Mountains of the Crimea. — The following ex- 

 tract from Pallas is descriptive of the chain of 

 mountains, on the western extremity of which the 

 Allies are attacking the eastern water-gate of the 

 Russian empire : 



" Dans un pays qui a des montagnes si flev^es, que 

 quelque part la neige et la glace s'y conservent pendant 

 tout I'ete, qui d'ailleurs est isole par la mer, on devrait, 

 selon les lois gen^rales de la nature, s'attendre h. trouver 

 les trois ordres de montagnes : les primitives granitiques 

 pour centre d'elevation ; les schisteusea sicondaires ; et 

 les tertiaires h, couches horizontales, melees de petrifac- 

 tions ; ou bien, comma en Sicile, un noyau ou centre vol- 

 canique et les couches secondaires et tertiaires sur les con- 

 tours. Mais en Tauride il n'existe ni I'un ni I'autre de 

 ces arrangements observes dans tous les autres pays de 

 montagne. L'on ne voit, dans I'escarpement maritime de 

 toute la haute chaine des Alpes de la Tauride rien que 

 des couches secondaires du dernier ordre, inclinees sur 

 I'horizon h un angle plus ou moins approchant celui de 

 45 d^gres et presque toutes plus ou moins parallfeles 

 poshes dans une direction qui varie entre le sud-ouest et 

 le nord-ouest. Toutes ces couches sont done coupees par 

 la direction de la cote, et on les voit toutes h decouvert sur 

 I'escarpement maritime des montagnes, comme les feuillets 

 d'un livre ou les tomes d'une bibliotheque." — Tab. de la 

 Taur., p. 3. 



Dr. Clarke compares the perceptible elevations 

 of the peninsula, visible even in its plains, in their 

 alternate order, to the teeth of a saw (vol. i, 

 p. 508.). T. J. BucKTON. 



Lichfield. 



English Newspapers. — All the world admires 

 the political knowledge and the vast insight into 

 the proceedings and views of foreign councils and 

 cabinets, which the correspondents of the daily 

 London newspapers exhibit — more particularly 

 the great head and leader of them all — present- 

 ing to our age enlightened means and appliances 

 •unknown to our ancestors. But how is it that 

 these well-informed gentlemen seldom condescend 

 to embellish their letters with attractions bor- 

 rowed from the foreign press, announcing and cele- 

 brating the advent of the literary productions and 



phenomena of the day ? Are they forbidden to 

 do so ? And is it that material interests are so 

 absorbingly present to them, that the infinitely 

 loftier and imperishable qualifications of literature 

 and science disappear and are lost amidst the 

 thunder and lightning of political sensations, com- 

 munications, and leaders ? Surely it would be a 

 most grateful relief to many readers if steady and 

 constant glimpses into the regions of pure intel- 

 lect were afforded to Englishmen by critics, who, 

 living at the fountain-head of intelligence in the 

 capital cities of Europe and of the world, hear of 

 everything and know everything ? How is it, for 

 instance, that we hear nothing except from French 

 papers, which are closed to the millions, of the 

 admirable and every way remarkable speech of the 

 Bishop of Orleans, on his admission as a member 

 into the French Academy ? Such a speech in- 

 terests not only France, but the whole civilised 

 world ; which sees in its author a man deserving 

 to be a countryman of Fenelon, and a bishop 

 worthy of the first ages of Christianity. X. Y^ 



^utxiti. 



SUPPRESSION OF THE TEMPLARS. 



" The horrible and grotesque offences charged upon the 

 Templars," says the Rev. J. Mendham in his Additions 

 to Three Minor Works, " were first brought to light by 

 Peter Dupuy, French King's Councillor, from the EoyaJ 

 Inventory of Charters at Paris, in which is contained a 

 register entitled Processus contra Templarios. The papal 

 bull for instituting the inquiry is found in Rymer's Fosd., 

 vol. iii. p. 101. seqq. ed. 1706, and elsewhere; but the 

 Articles of Inquiry, which formally and distinctly specify 

 the charges on which it is grounded, were never published 

 before, and are proportionably important. See Traitez 

 de la Condamnation des Templiers, Sfc, h Bruselle, 1702, 

 p. 158. seqq." 



I have been for some time collecting materials 

 in connexion with the history of the Templars in 

 Ireland, and have more than once heard from 

 various sources that similar articles of inquiry 

 were exhibited against the Irish Templars, and 

 that they were printed in, if I understood aright, 

 one of the Record Commission publications, but 

 hitherto have failed in obtaining any reference to 

 the publication. I would therefore feel grateful 

 to any of your readers who would inform me : — 

 1st. Are such Articles of Inquiry in existence? 

 2nd. In what repository are they preserved ? 

 3rd. Have they been printed, and where ? 



In addition to these Queries I will feel still 

 farther obliged to any reader of " N. & Q." who 

 would direct me to any list of printed works 

 bearing on the history of the Order, and more 

 especially at the period of its suppression, or in- 

 form me what materials, used in part or passed 

 over in silence, still exist in the MS. repositories 

 of either England or Ireland. References to 



