Aug. 7. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



tn 



London, Calcutta^ and Lichfield. Many documents 

 relating to this appointment, as well as to the decease 

 of Bishop Alexander, will be found in The Jewish 

 Intelligence for 1846, vol. xii.] 



Distemper. — Why 13 the word distemper applied 

 to a process of colour- compounding ? 



Arthur C. Wilson. 



[Richardson says, " Distemper, in painting, appears 

 originally to have been applied, when the simple teni' 

 perature, or admixture of colours with water (for lim- 

 ning), or with oil (for oil-painting), was altered by the 

 substitution of one or more ingredients ; as of size, to 

 render the whole composition more adhesive, of galls 

 for marbling paper," &c.] 



Wrighfs Louthiana. — I have lately purchased a 

 copy of this work, " the Second Edition revised 

 and corrected, with some few additions by the 

 author," 4to., London, 1758, dedicated "to the 

 Klght Honourable James, Earl of Clanbrassele ;" 

 after which follows " the Preface." On comparing 

 my edition with that of 1748, also 4to., I find that 

 this is dedicated " to the Right Honourable James, 

 Lord Viscount Limerick ; " and has, besides the 

 Preface, " a List of Subscribers' Names," occupy- 

 ing two leaves, which my edition wants. 



Can any one tell me why the " List" is omitted 

 in my edition, or Is it an Imperfection in my copy ? 



R.H. 



[We presume that the second edition was not pub- 

 lished by subscription : and therefore, although it was 

 perfectly right to insert the List of Subscribers in the 

 first edition, it was obviously unnecessary to repeat it 

 in any subsequent ones.] 



GOVBRNMENT OF ST. CHRISTOPHER'S. 



(Vol. Vl., p. 87.) 



I am much obliged to W. W., La Valette, for 

 his kind communication respecting the govern- 

 ment of this island ; from which it appears that it 

 belonged t« France till 1653 ; then to the Knights 

 of Malta tin 1673, when it was again made over to 

 France. Singular to say, the document in my 

 hands distinctly refers to the King of England as 

 its master In 1662. There can be no doubt of the 

 authenticity of the letter in question. It formed 

 one of a bundle of family papers, consisting of a cor- 

 respondence between Fairfax and his cousin James 

 Chaloner, letters of Monk, Charlotte Countess of 

 Derby, &c. ; and though the writing is in a differ- 

 ent hand (apparently that of a secretary), it is 

 evidently no less ancient. The following quota- 

 tions may, perhaps, enable W. W. to throw some 

 light on the subject : — 



" St. Christopher's, Sept. 7th, 1662. 

 "Sir, — I have received information from severall 

 hands, y' you surprised a small vessell w**" 22 persons, 

 as also others y' by a storm was forced upon your 



shore, made prize of by you. And not onely soe, but 

 you designe his sacred Ma'» of Englands subiects aud 

 leidg people to perpetuall servitude .... which strikes 

 me into admiration how you dare doe things of this 

 nature soe much ag*' the law of nationes, civility, and 

 humanity. If your commands be from your master y» 

 States- Generall, then I shall acquainte our dread Sove- 

 reigne Lord y" King thereof." 



The letter goes on to exhort the Governor of 

 St. Martin's to restore those whom he had seized 

 to the messengers sent by the writer. 



Surely this must prove that St. Christopher be- 

 longed to England, and St. Martin's to the Dutch, 

 during the period In which W. W. attributes them 

 to the Knights of Malta ? The Governor of St. 

 Christopher must also have been an Englishman, 

 endorsing his private papers in English, " A coppie 

 of my letter to y' Governor of S'" Martin's." The 

 families to whom the other letters in the packet 

 belonged, and to whom there is every probability 

 he was allied, were Fairfax, Chaloner, Norton, 

 Cobbe, and Godolphln. 



• I shall be happy to send a complete copy of the 

 letter to W. W. if he desires it. May I ask, What 

 Is the Chronology of St. Christopher, to which he 

 refers ? Ursula. 



ON THE WORLD LASTING SIX THOUSAND TEARS. 

 (VoLvi., p. 37.) 



One of your correspondents in Number 141. 

 of the "N. & Q.," who signs himself A. A. D., 

 wishes to know where the opinion that the world 

 was to last for 6000 years originated, and also 

 whether any modern divines have adopted It. The 

 last question I think I may positively answer In the 

 affirmative. At least the opinion has been adopted 

 by the Rev. J. W. Brooks, Vicar of St. Mary's, 

 Nottingham, a prophetical writer, "multi nomi- 

 nis ;" by the Rev. E. B. Elliott, the learned author 

 of the Horce Apocalypticce ; by the Rev. T. R. 

 Birks, author of Elements of Prophecy, a work 

 highly commended by Archdeacon Browne ; and, 

 doubtless, by many more. The last-named writer 

 calls it " an opinion that commends itself to our 

 minds by its simplicity." Mr. Elliott and Mr. 

 Brooks inform us that this opinion was very 

 generally held by the Jews, the primitive fathers, 

 and the reformers. And Mr. E. names two re- 

 formers, Oslander and Melancthon, who held it ; 

 and they distinctly call it the tradition or opinion 

 of Ellas ; " dictum Elise," says Melancthon. Then 

 with regard to its origin : it originated not with 

 Elijah, the eminent prophet of the Lord, but, as 

 Messrs. Elliott and Brooks inform us, with Ellas, 

 an eminent rabbi, who lived before the birth of 

 Christ. And hence it is called " A tradition of 

 the house of Ellas." 



It may not be amiss also just to add, that Mr. 

 Clinton, in his learned work on chronology, makes 



