102 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 276. 



of it are authorised, by lettres de privilege, to collect 

 such information as may be recjuired to complete 

 it partout ou hesoin sera. It is the authenticity of 

 its information which gives it so peculiar a claim 

 on the attention of historians and biographers. 



There was a set in the choice collection of the 

 late M. Armand Bertin, rcdacteur en chef du 

 Journal des debats, which collection was sold at 

 Paris last year. It is thus entered in the sale- 

 catalogue : 



" 1679. Almanaclis royaux. Paris, 1700 ii 1846, 145 

 Tol. in-8, relies en maroquin velin et veau, la plupart avec 

 armoires. Collection curieuse et rare." 



I shall conclude with two Queries. 1. Was the 

 above set purchased for the British Museum ? 

 2. What are the deficiencies of the Museum set ? 



Bolton Cobney. 



Minav ^attg. 



Former Power of the Turks. — At the present 

 time, the following passage from the letters of 

 Busbequius, ambassador from Ferdinand II. to 

 the Sultan Solyman II., may interest the readers 

 of " N. & Q." I extract it from the Loungers 

 Common -place Book, the name of the author of 

 which I should be glad to know.* The biogra- 

 phical articles are frequently very curious, and 

 prove the author to have had an extended literary 

 knowledge. 



" When I compare the power of the Turks with our own, 

 I confess the consideration fills me with anxiety and dis- 

 may, and a strong conviction forces itself on my mind 

 that we cannot long resist the <lestruction which awaits 

 us; they possess immense wealth, strength unbroken, a 

 perfect knowledge of the art of war, patience under every 

 difficulty, union, order, frugality, and a constant state of 

 preparation. 



" On our side, exhausted finances and universal luxurj', 

 our national spirit broken by repeated defeats, mutinous 

 soldiers, mercenary officers, licentiousness, intemperance, 

 and a total contempt or neglect of military discipline, fill 

 up the dismal catalogue. 



"Is it possible to doubt how such an unequal conflict 

 must terminate? The enemy's forces being at present 

 directed against Persia, only suspends our fate ; after 

 subduing that power, the all-conquering Mussulman will 

 rush with undivided strength and overwhelm at once 

 Europe as well as Germanj'." 



H. W. D. 



Dr. Rnuth, President of Magdalen College. — 

 Dr. Routh, the late learned President of Mag- 

 dalen College, Oxford, was born before the Seven 

 Years' war had begun ; before Clive conquered 

 India, or Wolfe bought with his blood Canada ; 

 before the United States ever thought of being 

 an independent country, or Poland was dismem- 

 bered. He was M. A. and Fellow of that Society 

 when Gibraltar underwent its memorable siege. 

 He was past fifty years when Sir Arthur Wel- 



[* By Jeremiah Whitaker Newman.] 



lesley sailed for Portugal. The last of the Stuarts 

 was not dead when Routh was a boy ten years 

 old. He was president before the French Revo- 

 lution broke out ; he had known Dr. Leigh, 

 Master of Baliol, Addison's cotemporary ; had 

 seen Dr. Johnson scrambling up the steps of Uni- 

 versity College ; talked with a lady whose aunt 

 had seen Charles II. walking in "the parks" with 

 his dogs ; he persuaded Dr. Seabury to seek con- 

 secration from the Scotch bishops ; he died 

 Friday, Dec. 22, 1854. 



Mackenote Walcott, M. a. 



Strange typographical Error. — In a copy of 

 Johnson's tragedy of Irene, which I bought many 

 years ago, one of the characters has to address 

 Mahomet II. thus : 



" Forgive, great Sultan, that, by fate prevented, 

 I bring a tardy message from Irene." 



The unlucky printer forgot the e in " fate," and 

 gave it : 



" Forgive, great Sultan, that hy fat prevented," &c. 



leaving it to be inferred that the honest mes- 

 senger was too corpulent to reach his royal master 

 in time to save the heroine's life. 



Alfred GonrKET. 

 14. Canonbury Square. 



Exchange of Brasses. — The inability to obtain 

 anything like a good series of brasses by inde- 

 pendent exertion is felt by all amateur collectors. 

 I would suggest that all persons who are willing 

 to exchange rubbings of brasses from their own 

 neighbourhood for others more remotely situated, 

 should unite together. 



I would held each party responsible for the 

 brasses within a radius of, say five miles from his 

 or her address (I must not omit the ladies). 



Manning's List, and a map of England, would 

 then only be required. The Editor of " N. & 

 Q." would, I am disposed to think, publish the 

 addresses ; if not, the expense of printing would be 

 merely nominal. 



In the absence of an abler hand, I should be 

 willing to arrange the materials. The above plan 

 is only recommended for simplicity and economy 

 of space in printing, and any farther suggestions 

 will be received with thanks. Henrt Moodt. 



Bury School. 



The Euxine, or Black Sea. — The following 

 note of \Vells on the 151st verse of the Perie- 

 gesis of Dionysius, explains the origin of the 

 name Pontus Euxinus : 



" Pontus* kit' iioxrfv antiquis dictus est, tanquam 

 Mare Maximum, et quasi Oceanus alter: sed et Axenus\, 

 hoc est, inhospitabilis, olim dictus est, sive ob maris tur- 

 bulentiam et importuosa littora, sive ob barbaros Accolas. 



• Ovid. Trist. iv. 4. 56. 



f Polyb. IV. 5. 



