242 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n'i S. No 116., Mar. 20. '58. 



all a man who would accept the mere drudgery 

 of a Mastership in Chancery, and a man abso- 

 lutely unknown in political history, except that he 

 had the good fortune to be nephew to so great a 

 lawyer as Lord Camden. 



I was aware of all your correspondent relates 

 of the strange complication of blunders which 

 Lord Campbell has made a propos of Dunning 

 and his eloquence, in those very amusing bio- 

 graphical romances called the Lives of the Chan- 

 cellors. In a life of Charles Yorke, it would have 

 been " more germane to the matter," if his Lord- 

 ship had noticed the following passage in one of 

 the " Candor " pamphlets, so curiously prophetic 

 of the career of Mr. Yorke, who is always de- 

 signated by this writer as " a candid lawyer : " 



" It is easy to foretel that so flattering a subscri- 

 ber to any political tenets cannot long withstand any 

 thing. He would be able, I should think, if occasion 

 presented, to throw himself at the feet of any Majesty, 

 with as much affection and ardency, &c." 



In another paper I will offer you some remarks 

 upon other works of the same writer. 



William James Smith. 



THE OLD ENGLISH MITRE. 



(2"'i S. V. 169.) 



A correspondent, T. Hughes, inquires if there 

 is any perfect specimen of the old English mitre 

 now in existence. There is the actual mitre of 

 Saint Thomas of Canterbury in perfect preserva- 

 tion, in the possession of his Eminence Cardinal 

 Wiseman. The writer has seen it very recently. 

 It is low and angular, composed of white silk, em- 

 broidered with gold flowers and scroll work, with 

 a broad band of red silk down the centre, and 

 round the margin. It is remarkable that the ties 

 or lappets are worked of different patterns. This 

 mitre had been preserved in the cathedral of Sens, 

 and was presented by the Archbishop of Sens to 

 Cardinal Wiseman in 1842. There is still another 

 mitre preserved there which belonged to St. 

 Thomas. It is of silver tissue ornamented with 

 elegant scroll-work in gold, with orphreys of gold 

 tissue, ornamented with fylfots. An engraving of 

 it is given by Shaw in his Dresses and Decora- 

 tions of the Middle Ages. F. C. H. 



Perhaps the following extracts may be of use to 

 Mb. Hughes : — 



" I have only to add that both the mitre and the crosier 

 appear upon the monuments of many modem bishops of 

 the Established Church since the Reformation; and 

 among others, upon that of Bishop Hoadley in Winches- 

 ter Cathedral, and that real mitres and crosiers of gilt 

 metal are suspended over the remains of Bishop Morley, 

 who died in 1684, and of Bishop Mews, who died in 

 1706." — Archwologia, vol. xviii. p. 38. A Description of 

 the Limerick Mitre and Civsier, by I)r. Miner, 



" His Majesty (William IV.) took his seat, and the 

 Bible, the chalice, and the patina were carried to, and 

 placed on, the altar by the Bishops who had borne them. 

 The Archbishop of Canterbury put on his cope, and the 

 Bishops, who were to read the Litany, were also vested in 

 copes." — Account of the Coronation of William IV., Gent's 

 Mag., vol. ci. p. 226. 



" The Archbishop of Canterbury then proceeded to the 

 altar, />2«i on his cope, and stood on the north side. The 

 Bishops who read the Litany also vested themselves in their 

 copes." — Account of the Coronation of Queen Victoria. 

 Ibid. vol. X. (New Series), p. 195. 



Edward F. Rimbault. 



The late Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol (Dr. 

 Monk) wore his wig. The cope is only worn now 

 at coronations by the Bishops and Chapter of 

 Westminster. The mitres of Morley and Mews, 

 of silver-gilt, are in Winchester Cathedral. — See 

 " N. & Q.," 1st S. X. 227. The mitres and vest- 

 ments of Archbishop h. Becket are preserved in the 

 cathedral of Sens. Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



origin of the word superstition. 



(2«'i S. v. 125.) 



" I have never met," observes your correspon- 

 dent Eirionnach, " in any writers the true origin 

 of the word superstition, as given by Cicero, fol- 

 lowed up or even alluded to." After having 

 looked into several cyclopfedic works I am of his 

 opinion, that we shall gain nothing by referring 

 to the most eminent authors on this subject. 

 " NuUius addictus jurare in verba magistri." I 

 shall endeavour to "increase knowledge" by in- 

 dulging that spirit of contradiction which Cicero 

 himself inculcated, and expressing my scepticism 

 respecting the supposed true origin. "Opinionum 

 conimenta delet dies, naturae judicia confirmat." 

 If Eirionnach will admit the truth of the follow- 

 ing proposition, he will perhaps acknowledge the 

 probability of my explanation — which is based on 

 a fundamental principle, coextensive with all reli- 

 gions — although I have not sacrificed to the Manes 

 of Cicero : — 



" The offerings and praj'ers of the ancients had regard 

 to the conciliation of the deities with a view to some 

 prospective temporal benefit, for spiritual and eternal be- 

 nefits do not seem at all to have occupied the heathen 

 mind." — "N. & Q." 2nd g.y. 157. 



" Quapropter," says the monotheist Dindymus to 

 Alexander, " nimium vos esse insipientes dicimus pro eo, 

 quod tenetis ut natura vestra coelestis sit, et quod Dei 

 habeat communitatem ; vos autem sordidatis ilia de servi- 

 tute idolorum. Vos non servitis uni Deo qui solus regnat 

 in ccelo, sed multis Diis servitis. Vos tot Deos colitis, 

 quot membra habetis in corpore. Totum corpus dividitis 

 inter Deos. Nullam partem corporis vestrae potestati re- 



linquitis Omnes vobis imperant, et vos omnibus 



servitis ; omnes colitis, et miserum corpus vestrum debet 

 deficere propter tot servitia quae facitis multis diis." — 

 Jacobus de Vitriaco, apud Pongarsii Gestci Dei per francos, 



p. mo, 



