168 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2na s. N« 113., Feb. 27. '58. 



"he is a wise CHILI), ETC. 



The saying, " He is a wise cbild that knows his 

 own father," is often heard ; and frequently (but 

 erroneously) it is stated by some that it is taken 

 from the Proverbs of Solomon ; and by others, 

 that it is contained in the Apocrypha. I believe 

 that the earliest instance of this wise saw is con- 

 tained in an observation of Telemachus in the 

 first book of Homer's Odyssey : 



" Ov ydp nii Tts eov ydi'Oi' ovTos aviyvio," 



Horn. Odyssey, book i. line 216. 



" Xondum enim quisquam suum parentem ipse cogno- 

 vit." — Clarke's Interpretation. 



However, it seems that the same thinon in sub- 

 stance occurs in other Greek authors, as Mr. Pope, 

 in his translation of the Odyssey, bk. i. 1. 275., to 

 the passage — 



" To prove a genuine birth, the prince replies, 

 On female truth assenting faith relies " — 



appends the following note : 



" Tliere is an appearance of something very shocking 

 in this speech of Telemachus. It literally runs thus : — 

 * My mother assures me that I am the son of Ulysses, but I 

 know, it not." 



It seems to reflect on his mother's chastity, «s 

 if he had a doubt of his own legitimacy. This 

 seeming simplicity in Telemachus, says Eusta- 

 thius, "fs the effect of a troubled spirit — it is grief 

 that makes him doubt if he can be the son of the 

 great and generous Ulysses ; it is no reflection 

 on Penelope, and consequently no fault in Tele- 

 machus, It is an undoubted truth that the mother 

 only knows the legitimacy of the child.*' 



Thus Euripides : 



" 'H ij.ev yap avrrji olSev ovra, o& oieTat," 



That is, the mother knows the child, the father 

 only believes it. 



Thus also Menander : 



" KvTov yap ovSetj oTSe rov ttot eyevero, 

 'AK\' vnovooviJ.ey jrajres ij irKTrevcrofiei'." 



That is, no man knows assuredly who begot him ; 

 we only guess it and believe it. 



Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, is also of this opinion : 



" "Aptcrra jrepi tiSv tskvuv KpCvovcriv at ywalKes," 



What I have here said is translated literally 

 from Eustathius; and if it edifies the reader I am 

 content. But the meaning of the passage is this : 

 Mentes asks Telemachus if he be the son of 

 Ulysses, and he replies, " So my mother assures 

 me, but nothing sure so wretched as I am could 

 proceed from, that great man." But however this 

 may be reconciled to truth, I believe few ladies 

 would take it as a compliment, if their sons should 

 tell them there was some room to doubt of their 

 legitimacy. There may be abundance of truth in 

 it, and yet very little decency. 



F. A. Caerington. 



Ogbourne St. George. 



Minax Haiti, 



" The Rambler." — On the fly-leaf of a MS. in 

 the Brit. Mus. is the following memorandum : — 



" Dr. Johnson wrote The Rambler himself, except N" 10., 

 which contained four billets of Miss Mulso, now M"^* 

 Chapone, and — 



N" 30. by M" Cath. Talbot. 

 97. „ M' S. Richardson. 

 44. ■) 



& y M" Eliz. Carter." 

 100. J 



Cl. Hopper. 

 Dress. — 



" 1753. Dr. Cameron went to execution in a light- 

 coloured coat, red waistcoat and breeches, and a new bag 

 wig." — Gent. Mag., xxiii. 292. 



" 1746. Lord Derwentwater went to execution dressed 

 in scarlet, faced with black velvet, trimmed with gold ; a 

 gold-laced waistcoat, and a white feather in his hat." — 

 Ibid., xvi. 666. 



" 1755. The Prince of Wales went to a ball at the 

 Russian Embassy, at Somerset House, in a pink and 

 silver dress." — Ibid., xxv. 89. 



Mackenzie Waicott, M.A. 



Alexander Tate. — The name, so printed in Mr. 

 DuKRANT Cooper's communication respecting the 

 "Army under William III." (2°'' S. v. 81.), must 

 be a mistake for Nahum Tate, who, for a quarter 

 of a century, held the laureateship. Most as- 

 suredly poor Tate was not the worst laureate. 

 Recent writers have treated him scurvlly, but they 

 had forgotten or overlooked the verses of Eusden 

 and Pye 1 Edward F. Rimbault. 



A Note for London Annalists : Funeral of Isa- 

 bella of France. — 



" Rex Vicecomitibus Londonie et Middlesexie, salu- 

 tem. Precipimus vobis quod regias stratas que vocantur 

 Bisshopesgatestrete et Algatestrete, a fimis et feditatibus 

 mundari, et eas contra adventum corporis Isabelle nuper 

 Regine Anglie matris nostre, usque ad Civitatem nostram 

 predictam, de exitibus ballive vestre parari faciatis. Et 

 de custubus quos circa hoc apponeritis in compoto vestro 

 debitam allocacionem habere faciemus. 



" Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium, 

 XX die Novembris." 

 " Rex Thesaurarlo et Baronibus suis de scaccario, salu- 

 tem. Cum nuper breve nostrum preceperimus Vice- 

 comitibus nostris Londonis et Middlesexie, quod regias 

 stratas que vocantur Bisshopesgatestrete et Algatestrete 

 a fimis et feditatibus mundari, et eas decenter contra ad- 

 ventum corporis Isabelle nuper Regine Anglie, matris 

 nostre usque ad Civitatem nostram predictam, de exitibus 

 ballive sue parari faciant. Vobis mandamus, quod eisdem 

 Vicecomitibus custus quos per eorum sacramenta vobis 

 constare poterit ipsos circa paracionem et mundacionem 

 stratarum predictarum usque ad summam novem librarum 

 apposuisse in compoto suo ad dictum saccarium allocetis. 

 " Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium, 

 prime die Decembris." 

 (Claus. 32 E. 3. to. 1.) 



L. B. L. 



Custom of sitting uncovered in Churches. — Of 

 course it is well known to all the readers of " IS. 



