2«'J S. V. 125., May 22. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



411 



of individual skill in the sufferers, and different 

 modes of inflicting the punishment. Still enough 

 has been ascertained to bring the power of speech 

 attributed to the African Confessors within the 

 domain of natural science, and to show that there 

 is no sufficient reason either to discredit the fact 

 altogether, or to resort, for the explanation of it, to 

 the supposition that it was miraculous. E. T. 



OLD PROVERBIAL PHRASES. 



On reading down Shacklock's Hatchet of Here- 

 sies^ Antwerp, 1565, I have noted the following 

 proverbial phrases, many of which are still In 

 common use. The readers of " N. & Q." may 

 think that " when found make a Note of " should 

 be held to extend to them. 



" Do not these thynges differ as muclie as Chalcke and 

 Chese." 



" Playne as a pyke staff." 



" Will you nil j'ou." 



" Labored ' with tothe and nayle.' " 



"And instedeof that whiche he saide, This is my bodj', 

 they haue made no bones at it to say, this is my brede." 



" Whilst they tell for truthe Luther his lowde lyes, so 

 that they may make thej-r blinde brotherhode and the 

 ignorant sort beleue that the 'mane is made of grene 

 chese.' " 



" Prowde as peekockes." 



" It is but a tale of a tub which is reported." 



" It is not worthe a strawe." 



" Flacius had this in the wynde, as one that hathe a 

 nice nose of his owne." 



" At the last, when he perceaued that nether hyfaijre 

 norfoule meanes he coulde fraye them from theyr purpose, 

 he gaue them all up to the dyuell." 



" Which no man can deny that Luther made with these 

 choppynges and cliaungynges.'' 



" But it is a world to see howe the Lutherans do byte 

 and scratche one another." 



" As for Bernard, often tyme he ' tumeth the cat in the 

 pan.' " 



"You therefore, and none other, haue espyed thepythe 

 of the matter, and haue lept lustely at mj' throte." 



" They toke the matter so in the snuffe that they were 

 not farr from raysing an uprore." 



"As we see howe many tymes Melancthon hath turned 

 his cote." 



" Now judge you for so muche as they do so bycker 

 among themselues, not aboute the mone shyne in the water 

 (as the common saj'ing is)." 



" Of them therefore speke I, that euen they, be they 

 neuer so lapped in shepe skynnes, yet every one of them 

 hathe theyr hande on theyr haffcpenye, not regarding the 

 thinges appartayning to Christ." 



" Wherefore eue they, altlioughe chekens hatched in one 

 7iest of Luther, yet all of them haue not one confession." 



" Yet Brentius .... made such a styrr as thoughe he 

 woidde fiaue throwen the howse oute of the wyndowe.'" 



" What then, shall kynges haue theyr heades tyde under 

 the people's gyrdell ? " 



" If they set all theire mynde upon pleasure, if they lake 

 to the lyching of theire owne fyngers." 



^ " Take not upon the 0. Emperoure to rule the roste in 

 Ecclesiasticall matters." 



" Therefore were we so wone with Courle holy water, that 

 is, fayre and flattring wordes." 



" Now haue j'ou such a brazen face, M. Brentius." 

 " Now how often dothe he beate into mennes heades to 

 be obedient." 



Add to which, from Sir T. More's " How a Ser- 

 geant would learn to Playe the Frere," — 

 " Then on the grounde 

 Togyder rounde 

 With manye a sadde stroke, 

 They roll and rumble, 

 They turne and tumble, 

 Aspigges do in a poke." 



J. C. G. 



Ledburv. 



ANTIQUARIAN RELIC. 



If the following extract from The Daily Cleve- 

 land (Ohio) Herald of the 13th March last be 

 transferred to " N. & Q.," some light may be 

 thrown on the history of the relic in question : — 



" There is now on exhibition at the jewelry store of 

 N. E. Crittenden, a valuable relic, worthy the atten- 

 tion of all who are interested in antiquarian pursuits. It 

 is a vase or cup of solid silver, plated with gold, and in- 

 laid with curious coins. The total height of the cup is 

 ten inches, and at the base three and a half inches. Its 

 interior depth is six and a quarter inches. Its weight is 

 fifty ounces. The cup is much in shape like a common 

 flower-pot, standing on three hollow silver knobs. The 

 cover is slightly arched, and is surmounted by a globe 

 encircled by two bands, one of which bears the inscrip- 

 tion, • Ilia Tuetur," — and the other, 'Romanum Impe- 

 rium.' We are a little doubtful of the exact meaning of 

 this sentence, but should translate it " The Roman Em- 

 pire protects them" — probably referring to the emperors, 

 dukes, &c., connected with the holy Roman Empire, 

 whose coins are inlaid in the cup. 



" There are thirty-one silver coins inserted in the cup 

 in such a manner that the obverse is seen on the outside, 

 and the reverse in the interior of the cup. The coins 

 (crown pieces) are about the size of silver dollars. The 

 reverses are gilded like the other parts of the inside of the 

 cup : the obverse faces are untouched. — There are seven 

 coins on the cover. In the centre is that of Charles Cas- 

 par, Archbishop of Treves, 1657. Around this are ranged 

 the coins of six German Emperors, with a Latin inscrip- 

 tion over each, signifying the character. — Charles V., 

 1544 ("The Victorious"); Rudolph II., 1603 ("The 

 Peace-maker"); Matthias, 1613 ("The Zealous"); 

 Ferdinand II., 1621, (" The Religious ") ; Ferdinand 

 III., 1657 (" The Magnanimous ") ; Leopold L, 1671 

 (" The Pious "). — With the exception of the omission of 

 Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II., between Charles and 

 Rudolph, the coins show a regular succession of Emperors 

 of Germany, or the holy Roman Empire, as it was called. 

 The body of the cup contains twenty-one coins, ranging 

 in date from 1547 to 1679 — mostly from 1620 to 1670 — 

 and bearing the effigies of three Archdukes of Austria, 

 two Archdukes of Prussia, one Duke of Tuscany, two 

 Dukes of Saxony, four Counts Palatine of the Rhine, two 

 Archbishops of Mayence, two Archbishops of Cologne, 

 two Archbishops of Treves, and three whose names or 

 titles cannot be distinguished. On the bottom of the cup 

 are three coins : one of Charles II. of Spain, 1668 ; one of 

 Louis XIV. of France and Navarre, 1673; and one of 

 Sigismund III. of Poland. There is no date on the last 

 coin, but Sigismund began to reign in 1588, and died in 

 1632. 

 " From the shape of the vessel, and from a careful ex- 



