Aug. 27. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



201 



depicted on the wall." — Durandus On Symbolism, ed. 

 Neale and Webb, p. 115. 



In the Pontifical, De Ecclesics Dedicatione, the 

 rubric directs, — 



" Item, depingantur in parietibus Ecclesiae intrinse- 

 ciis per circuitum duodecim eriices, circa decern palmos 

 super terram, videlicet tres pro quolibet, ex quatuor 

 parietibus. Et ad caput cujuslibet crucis figatur unus 

 clavus, cui affigatur una candela unius uncia?." 



Dedication-crosses occur at Salisbury Cathedral, 

 and at Uffington Church, Berks, and in both cases 

 on the exterior of the buildings. 



The crosses at Salisbury are seven in number, 

 viz. one over each side-door at the west end, two 

 on the buttresses of the north and south transepts, 

 two on the buttresses of the east end, and one in 

 the centre of the east wall. The number at Uf- 

 fington is twelve, disposed as follows : Three under 

 the east window, three under the west window, 

 one under the south window of the south tran- 

 sept, one under the north window of the north 

 transept, one on the south wall of the nave, one 

 on the north wall of the nave, one on the south 

 wall of the chancel, and one in the east wall of 

 the south transept. In each case the crosses have 

 been of brass inlaid in the wall, with the exception 

 of one, which is of stone, and of more elaborate 

 design. The rationale of dedication-crosses, ac- 

 cording to Durandus, is, — 



" First, as a terror to evil spirits, that they, having 

 been driven forth thence, may be terrified when they 

 see the sign of the cross, and may not presume to enter 

 therein again. Secondly, as a mark of triumph ; for 

 crosses be the banners of Christ, and the signs of his 



triumph Thirdly, that such as look on them may 



call to mind the passion of Christ, by which he hath 

 consecrated his Church, and their belief in his passion," 

 &c. — Page 125. 



Under these aspects the exterior would seem the 

 more fitting, and may have been the original posi- 

 tion of them. Perhaps Mr. Elliot will inform us 

 what is the number of crosses at Crosthwaite ? 



Chevebells. 



CURIOUS MISTRANSLATIONS. 



(Vol. vi., p. 321.) 



I have found, in D'Israeli's Curiosities of Litera- 

 ture, two or three instances in which he mistrans- 

 lates from the French. The first occurs in the 

 following passage in the article headed " Inquisi- 

 tion : " 



" Once all were Turks when they were not Ro- 

 manists. Raymond, Count of Toulouse, was con- 

 strained to submit. The inhabiiants were passed on the 

 edge of the sword, without distinction of age or sex." 



Prom the words which I have marked for Italics, 

 it is clear thatDTsraeli translated the passage from 



some French author ; but not being aware of the 

 idiomatic expression " passer au fil de I'epee," and 

 that it means "to put to the sword," he trans- 

 lated the words in their literal sense, which ia 

 English is no sense at all. 



The second example will be found in the article 

 headed "Mysteries, Moralities," &c. D'Israeli 

 quotes some extracts from the Mystery of St. 

 Dennis, and concludes with the following on the 

 subject of baptism : 



" Sire, oyez que fait ce fol prestre : 

 II prend de I'yaue en une escuelle, 

 Et gete aux gens sur le cervele, 

 Et dit qae partants sont sauves." 



which he translates thus : 



" Sir, hear what this mad priest does : 

 He takes water 0M< q/" a ladle. 

 And, throwing it at people's heads, 

 He says that when they depart they are saved 1" 



The error of "out of" for "into" is unimpor- 

 tant; but not so where he renders "partants" by 

 " when they depart." The word " partant," in the 

 original, is an adverb, and means " thereupon," 

 "forthwith." This DTsraeli has mistaken for 

 " partant," the participle of " partir : " and hence 

 the erroneous construction given to the passage. 



A third sample occurs in the same article, where 

 the author quotes from one of the dramas called 

 Sotties, a passage in which are these lines : 



" Tuer les gens pour leurs plaisirs, 

 Jouer le leur, I'autrui saisir." 



These he translates as follows : 



" Killing people for their pleasures, 

 Minding their own interests, and seizing on what be- 

 longs to another." 



Here we have "jouer le leur," to gamble, ren- 

 dered by " to mind their own interests ; " a rather 

 equivocal method, it must be confessed, of accom- 

 plishing that object. 



These are among the very few instances in 

 which D'Israeli, by quoting from the original au- 

 thorities, enables us to form an opinion as to the 

 correctness of his anecdotes ; and when we con- 

 sider that by far the greater proportion of these 

 are drawn from French sources, there is reason to 

 apprehend that they may not have always been 

 given with sufficient fidelity. I am confirmed in 

 this view by another quotation which DTsraeli 

 seems to have misunderstood. He is speaking of 

 the feudal custom of the French barons, according 

 to which they were allowed to cohabit with the 

 new bride during the first three nights after mar- 

 riage. Upon this he remarks : 



" Montesquieu is infinitely French when he could 

 turn this shameful species of tyranny into a bo7i mot ; 

 for he boldly observes on this : ' C'etait blen ces trois 

 nuits la qu'il fallait choisir; car pour les autres on 



