April 30. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



429 



so graciously to confer on his Lordship's only de- 

 scendant, the late learned accomplished George 

 Monk Berkeley, Esq. (Gentleman Commoner of 

 Magdalene Hall, in the University of Oxon., and 

 student of the Inner Temple, London), from his 

 very sincerely grateful mother. 



Some time after the death of his son, Dr. Berke- 

 ley told me that at my death he wished the won- 

 derfully fine portrait of his father to be presented 

 to some place of consequence. I immediately re- 

 plied, " To Dublin College." He said, " They have 

 one already ; perhaps it would be well to leave it 

 as an heir-loom to the Episcopal Palace at Cloyne." 

 I said perhaps the gentlemen of Dublin College 

 would prefer this, esteemed one of the very finest 

 pieces of painting in Europe. The face certainly 

 looks more like a fine cast in wax, than a painting 

 on canvas, as numbers of the best judges have 

 always exclaimed on seeing it. 



I request Dr. Berkeley's noble relation, the 

 excellent Lord Molesworth, now on a visit in 

 Ireland, to deliver this, and to learn from the Pro- 

 vost and Gentlemen of the University of Dublin, 

 whether it would be agreeable to them to receive 

 this, and transfer the one they at present have to 

 Dr. Berkeley's highly respected friend, the present 

 Bishop of Cloyne, for the Palace. Lord Moles- 

 worth will have the goodness to receive and trans- 

 mit the answer of the Provost and Gentlemen to 

 her who has the honour to subscribe herself, with 

 the most perfect respect, their 



Very sincerely grateful and 



(Thro' her unspeakably dear excellent Son) 

 Most highly obliged, 



Eliza Berkeley. 



Chertsey, Surrey, England. 

 The 18th of Feb., 1797. 



I cannot find any evidence to prove that this 

 letter was ever so much as received by the Uni- 

 versity. It came into my possession amongst the 

 papers of a private friend, a late distinguished 

 ornament of the University, whose death has been 

 an irreparable loss to the public, to the Church of 

 England, and to a large circle of friends. No 

 notice of such a letter, or of so liberal a donation, 

 is to be found in the Register of the University, 

 nor is there such a picture in our possession. I 

 have made inquiry also, and find that it is not at 

 Cloyne. The conclusion therefore is, either that 

 Mrs. Berkeley changed her mind, or that from 

 some accident the letter never was presented : at 

 all events, it is certain that the picture of Bishop 

 Berkeley, to which it relates, was never in the 

 possession of the University for whose halls it was 

 intended. 



Can any one tell me where it now is ; and what 

 was the fate of "the fine collection of pictures" 

 which was the property of Dr. Berkeley of Canter- 

 bury, and bequeathed by him to bis widow, the 

 writer of the above letter ? J. H. Todd. 



Minav ^xxtxiti. 



Life. — Js it not the general feeling that man, 

 in advancing years, would not like to begin his 

 life again ? I have noted that Edgeworth, Frank- 

 lin, and Sismondi express the contrary. A. Cr 



" The Boy of Heaven."—! have a poem entitled 

 The Boy of Heaven^ copied some years ago from 

 a manuscript. Can any of your readers inform 

 me who is the author, whether it has ever ap- 

 peared m print, or give me any other information 

 respecting it ? W. P. 



Bells. — Can any of your readers inform me why 

 the bells of the Convent of Santa Theresa, at 

 Madrid, alone have the privilege of tolling on Good 

 Friday, in that city ? In all Roman Catholic 

 countries the bells on that day are forbidden to be 

 rung; and there is no exception made, even in 

 Rome. 



As much has been said about the baptizing of 

 bells, as if it were a custom nearly or entirely ob- 

 solete, I beg to say that I was present at the bap- 

 tizing of a bell in the south-west of France not 

 very long ago ; and have no doubt that the great 

 bell at Bordeaux, which is to have the emperor 

 and empress as its sponsors, will undergo the full 

 ceremony. Ceeidwen. 



Captain Ayloff. — Where can I find any notices 

 of Captain AylofF, one of the coadjutors of Tom 

 Brown in the eccentric Letters from the Dead to 

 the Living? V. T. Sternberg. 



Robert Johnson. — Perhaps some of your corre- 

 spondents could give me some information rela- 

 tive to the pedigree of Robert Johnson, Esq., who 

 was a baron of the Exchequer in Ireland in 1704 ; 

 his parentage and descent ; his wife's name and 

 family ; ' his armorial bearings ; and date of his 

 birth and death. 



Was he the Robert Johnson who entered Trinity 

 College, Dublin, in 1671, as a Fellow Commoner 

 at the age of fourteen ? If so, his birthplace waa 

 London, and his father's name was also Robert. 



E. P. L. 



Co. Westmeath. 



Selling a Wife. — What is the origin of the 

 popular idea, that a man may legally dispose of 

 his spouse by haltering her, and exposing her for 

 sale in a public market ? Some time ago the cus- 

 tom appears to have been very prevalent ; and 

 only a few months back there was a paragraph in 

 The Times, describing an occurrence of the kind 

 at Nottingham. 



French romancers and dramatists have seized 

 upon it as a leading trait of English society ; and 

 in their remarkably -faithful delineations of En- 

 glish life it is not unusual to find the blue-beard 

 milord Anglais carting milady to Smithfield, and 



