614 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 191. 



would appear In it, and, running up and down, 

 would mysteriously disappear. Dogs were fre- 

 quently put on the scent, but all to no purpose, 

 the white rabbit could not be caught; and rumours 

 soon began to assert pretty confidently, that the 

 white rabbit Avas nothing moi-e nor less than a 

 witch. The man whose pig had been bewitched 

 was all the more confident ; as every evening when 

 the rabbit appeared, he had noticed the bed-room 

 window of his old enemy's house open ! At last a 

 large party of bold-hearted men one evening were 

 successful enough to find the white rabbit in a 

 garden, the only egress from which is through a 

 narrow passage between two cottages, all the rest 

 of the garden being securely surrounded by brick- 

 walls. They placed a strong guard in this entry 

 to let nothing pass, while the remainder advanced 

 as skirmishers among the cabbages : one of these 

 was successful, and caught the white rabbit by 

 the ears, and, not without some trepidation, car- 

 ried it towards the reserve in the entry. But, as 

 he came nearer to his friends, his courage grew ; 

 and gradually all the wrongs his poor pig had 

 suffered, took form and vigour in a powerful kick 

 at the poor little rabbit ! No sooner had he done 

 this than, he cannot tell how, the rabbit was out 

 of his grasp ; the people in the entry saw it 

 come, but could not stop it ; through them all it 

 went, and has never been seen again. But now 

 to the proof of the witchcraft. The old woman, 

 whom all suspected, was laid up in her bed for 

 three days afterwards, unable to walk about : all 

 in consequence of the kick she had received in the 

 shape of a white rabbit ! S. A. S. 



Bridgewater. 



" EMBLEMATA HORATIANA. 



Whatever may be proposed as to republishing 

 works of English emblems, the work published 

 in Holland with the above title at all events de- 

 serves to be better known. All the English works 

 on the subject I ever saw, are poor indeed com- 

 pared with the above : indeed, I think most books 

 of emblems are either grounded (jr compiled from 

 this interesting work ; which is to the artist a 

 work of the deepest interest, since all the designs 

 are by Otho Venius, the master of Rubens. Not 

 only are the morals conveyed lofty and sound, but 

 the figures are first-rate specimens of drawing. 

 I believe it is this work that Malone says Sir 

 Joshua Reynolds learned to draw from : and if he 

 really did, he could have had nothing better, what- 

 ever age he might be. " His principal fund of 

 imitation," says Malone, " was Jacob Cat's book 

 of emblems, which his great-grandmother, by his 

 father's side, who was a Dutch woman, had brought 

 with her from Holland." There is a small copy 

 I think published in England, but a very poor 

 one : the original work, of which I possess a por- 



tion only, is large, and engraved with great care. 

 And I have often thought it a pity such an ad- 

 mirable work should he so scarce and little known. 

 Whoever did it, it must have occupied many years, 

 in those slow days, to make the designs and- en- 

 grave them. At the present day lithography, or 

 some of the easy modes of engraving, would soon 

 multiply it. The size of the engravings are rather 

 more than seven inches. Many of the figures have 

 been used repeatedly by Rubens, and also some of 

 the compositions. And though he is certainly a 

 better painter, he falls far short in originality- 

 compared with his master; and, I may add, in 

 richness of material. I should say his chief works 

 are to be found in that book. One of my leaves 

 is numbered 195 : so I should judge the work to 

 be very large, and to embrace a variety of sub- 

 jects. Some of the figures are worthy of Raffixelle. 

 I may instance one called the " Balance of Friend- 

 ship." Two young men have a balance between 

 them ; one side is filled with feathers, and the other 

 with weightier offerings : the meaning being, we 

 should not allow favours and gifts to come all from 

 one side. The figures have their hands joined, and 

 appear to be in argument : their ample drapery 

 is worthy of a study for apostles. 



" Undertake nothing beyond your Strength " is 

 emblemised by the giants scaling the heavens : 

 one very fine figure, full of action, in the centre, 

 is most admirably drawn. 



"Education and Habit" is another, full of 

 meaning. Two dogs are running : one aftergame, 

 and another to a porringer. Some one has trans-, 

 lated the verses at the bottom on the back of the 

 print as follows. This has a fine group of figures 

 in it : 



«' When taught by man, the hound pursues 

 The panting stag o'er hill and fell. 

 With steadfast eyes he keeps in view 



The noble game he loves so well. 

 A mongrel coward slinks away, 



The buck, the chase, ne'er warms his soul; 

 No huntsman's cheer can miike him stay, 

 ■ He runs to nothing, but his porridge bowl. 



Throughout the race of men, 'tis still the same, 

 And all pursue a different kind of game. 

 Taverns and wine will form the tastes of some, 

 Others success in maids or wives undone. 

 To solid good, the wise pursues his way; 

 Nor for low pleasure ever deigns to stay. 

 Though in thy chainl)er all the live-long day, 

 In studious mood, you pass the hours away ; 

 Or though you pace tlie noisy streets alone. 

 And silent watch day's burning orb go down; 

 Nature to thee displays her honest page : 

 Read there — and see the follies of an age." 



The taste for emblemata appears to have passed 

 by, but a good selection would be I think received 

 with favour ; particularly if access could be ob- 

 tained to a good collection. And I should like to 



