Oct. 9. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



347; 



accomplished, boweyer, Oliver died, and it was 

 not till aftei- that event that South and Owen 

 •were at variance, when the Presbyterians pre- 

 vailing over the Independents, South sided with 

 them, and became the antagonist of Owen, who 

 was esteemed the head of the Independent party. 

 In the Assize-Sermon he preached at Oxford, in 

 July, 1659 {Interest deposed and Truth restored), 

 he greatly jileased the Presbyterians by his bitter 

 invectives against the Independents. The same 

 year, when it was visible that the King would be 

 recalled, he appeared irresolute, yet (as Wood ex- 

 presses it) was still reckoned a member of " the 

 fanatic ordinary;" but, as his Majesty's resto- 

 Tation approached, he began to preach as much 

 against the Presbyterians as he had done before 

 against the Independents. From these facts it is 

 pretty evident that there is too much truth in 

 what has been said of this celebrated divine, that 

 *' he was one of those time-servers who use the 

 great abilities God has given them to obtain the 

 favour of those who can reward them best." They 

 will also serve to show in a true light " the histo- 

 rical value of South's sermons." Vindex. 



J>HOTOGBAPHY AND MANUSCEIPTS. 



Will not some dilettante in the science of Photo- 

 graphy direct his attention to its application to 

 MSS. ? Should we ever succeed in discovering 

 some simple and easy method, without injury to 

 the fabric of the MS., for transferring writing 

 direct to a plate of glass or zinc, &c., a revolution 

 will have been effected. Thousands of valuable 

 MSS. may then be published at once in faultless 

 fac-simile, without trouble and expense, and lite- 

 rature will receive an incalculable impetus. Of 

 course this same method can be applied to scarce 

 books and engravings. Some fcAV of these are 

 indeed reprinted (as it is now proposed to be done 

 with regard to Shakspeare), but in a manner as to 

 number and price altogether barbarous, and a 

 mere mockery to the common working student. 



Geokge Stephens. 



Copenhagen. 



[The Collodion Process, described by Da. Diamond, 

 is diiectly applicable to the copying of MSS., which, it 

 may be remarked, can be so copied with the greatest 

 accuracy, inasmuch as all contractions, &c. will be most 

 faithfully reproduced. And if a negative is taken, 

 there is of course at once the means of multiplying 

 ■copies by printing to any extent that may be desired? 

 M'e may mention two facts upon this subject, which 

 have come under our observation. ]. We have seen 

 two pages of a fine old folio edition of Aldrovandus, 

 with a woodcut on one of them, exquisitely and dis- 

 tinctly copied, though the copy was only about an inch 

 and a quarter by two inches. 2. That an accomplished 

 photographic amateur, having had occasion to make 

 an official return of which he wished to retain a copy, 



saved himself the trouble of rewriting it, by taking a 

 photographic copy. — Ed.] 



The editor of " N. & Q." has done such good 

 service to the cause of archaeology by the insertion 

 Mr. Thoms's suggestion of the advantages of Pho- 

 tography to the great body of antiquarian students, 

 and by following it up by Dk. Diamond's valuable 

 instructions to antiquaries as to the best means 

 of applying this interesting art, that I venture to 

 make another proposal. It is that he should 

 make " N. & Q." a medium for photographers. 

 By this I mean not only that he should afford 

 them an opportunity of pointing out difficulties 

 they may have encountered in the practice, and 

 asking for advice and instruction upon them, 

 calling attention to unrecorded phenomena, or of- 

 announcing any new discoveries, but also that he 

 should give those resident in one part of the 

 kingdom, and who may have taken and printed 

 views of objects of interest in their immediate 

 neighbourhood, an opportunity of exchanging 

 copies of them for views taken by brother anti- 

 quaries in other parts. How this may best be 

 done I do not venture to point out ; that I must 

 leave to his better judgment : but as it is clear from 

 his Notices to Correspondents that he is frequently 

 an intermediate agent between gentlemen engaged 

 in literary and antiquarian inquiries, I would sug- 

 gest that he should extend his good offices to those 

 who are adopting the views to which he has given 

 publicity, and so complete the good work which 

 has been commenced in his pages. 



Philophotogeapht. 



[We shall be happy to carry out as far as practicable 

 the suggestion of our correspondent. The shadow of 

 a doubt which we once felt as to the propriety of in- 

 troducing the subject of Photography into our columns, 

 has been entirely removed by the many expressions of 

 satisfaction at our having done so which have reached 

 us ; and we shall therefore be glad to give our assist- 

 ance in any way towards bringing to perfection an art 

 capable of furnishing so perfect a record of the present 

 state of our national monuments, and towards pro- 

 moting a friendly intercourse among those who practise 

 it. We hope all who take it up will enable us to keep 

 a record, at least in our own private portfolio, of their 

 progress. ■ — ^Ed.] 



Your Notes upon Photography are invaluable ; 

 but when alluding to a good lens, pray, Mr. Editor, 

 state the probable cost. I know an artist who had 

 one for an apparatus worth three shillings, and was 

 told the cost should be twenty pounds ; but since 

 I have heard that the cost should be at least 

 twenty pounds, but one more costly would be 

 much better. G. E. L. 



[This is one of several inquiries on the same subject 

 we have received since the publication of the first por- 

 tion of Dr. Diamond's papers. It is a point on which 

 we find some difficulty in offering advice ; for although 



