Feb. 17. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



119 



it by seeing that, though a Swiss " Professor of 

 Greek," he had been, at the time of his decease, 

 "Dean-elect of Armagh, in Ireland." Upon looking 

 through the volume this was explained, by finding 

 that Frey, having gone to England with high 

 reputation as a scholar and divine, was engaged as 

 tutor to Lord Dungarvan, son to one of the lead- 

 ing men of the day, " the great Earl of Cork ; " this 

 led to his introduction at Court, to an acquaint- 

 ance with Archbishop Ushsr, and his nomina- 

 tion to a Deanery, which would have placed him 

 in close relation with that learned Primate, who, 

 " without respect of persons," loved a scholar 

 wherever he found him. This appointment was cut 

 short by Frey's premature death in Switzerland, 

 August 26, 1636, while preparing to take posses- 

 sion of his new dignity. And it was on the occa- 

 sion of his funeral, that the panegyric I refer to 

 was delivered. 



Now comes the " queer thing" for which I wish 

 a place in " IS. & Q." In the funeral oration, 

 Frey's various wanderings and journeys are briefly 

 touched on : his landing at Dover ; — his journey 

 by Canterbury and Rochester to London ; — "a 

 brief note of Westminster Abbey;" and then, as 

 the orator says, " ut tristibus aliquid Joci admis- 

 ceam" he proceeds to tell of " A famous tavern 

 in London (^Apollo ei nomen) regulated by twenty- 

 four golden rules for keeping all in order and 

 decency." " Leges convivales, nisi memoria mea 

 decoxit, sunt istce." Will you allow me (with a 

 Query, whether any other record of this classic 

 tavern remains ?) to offer you the rules, with my 

 version of their meaning. They certainly seem " as 

 practical as classical ;" though, from the change of 

 manners, and the disparagement of the classics in 

 modern education, it may be advisable to translate 

 for " the use of country gentlemen " and tavern 

 frequenters in general : 



17. 

 18. 

 119. 

 20. 

 21. 



Nemo Asymbolus, nisi Umbra, hue venito, 



Idiota, insulsus, tristis, turpis, abesto, 



Eruditi, urbaiii, hilares, honesti, adsciscuntor, — 



Nee lectJB foeminae repudiantor, 



In apparatu quod eoiivivis corrugat nares, nil esto, 



Epuiaj delectu potius, quam sumptu, parantor, 



Obsonator et coquus, eonvivarum gula periti sunto. 



De dlscubitu non contenditor — 



Ministri a dapibus occulati et muti, 



a poeulis auriti et celeres sunto, 

 Vina puris fontibus ministrantor, aut vapniet hospes, 

 Moderatis poeulis provocare sodales fas esto. 

 At fabulis magis quam vino velitatio fiat, 

 Convivte nee muti, nee loquaces sunto, 

 De seriis aut sacris poti et saturi ne dlsserunto, 

 Fidieen, nisi accersitus, non venito. 

 Admisso risu, tripudiis, choreis, eantu, 

 salibus, omni gratiarum festivitate 

 sacra celebrantor. 

 Joci sine felle sunto, 

 Insipida poemata nulla recitantor, 

 Versus scribere, nuUus cogitor. 

 Argumentationis totus strepitus abesto, 

 Amatoriis querelis, ac suspiriis, liber angulus esto, 



} 



22. Lapitharum more scyphis pugnare, vitra eollidere, 

 fenestras excutere, supellectilem dilacerare, nefas 



esto, 



23. Qui foras vel dicta, vel facta eliminat, eliminator, 



24. Neminem reum pocula faciunto. 



Focus perennis esto." 



Idem Anglice redditum. 



" 1. All pay the reck'ning here, save 'hangers on;' 



2. Fools, blockheads, sad dogs, scoundrels, get you gone I 



3. Men learn'd, polite, gay, honest, here may crowd ; 



4. Even well-conducted ladies are allow'd. 



5. Let nothing mean in dress provoke a sneer. 



6. You'll find 3'our dinner rather good, than dear, 



7. Caterer and cook are bound for wholesome fare. 



8. None must strive here for upper place or chair. 



9. Waiters — at tables sharp and silent stand, 

 To fill the cups, be quick-ear'd and at hand. 



10. Guests, you may rate the host, if bad the wine. 



11. Challenge to cheerful glasses while you dine; 



12. Yet more to repartee, than drink incline ; 



13. Neither be moody — nor too free of prate, 



14. No serious subjects in your cups debate. 



15. Unless when sent for, here no music plays ; * 



16. Yet mirth, dance, song, and all the joy of praise 

 Are here allow'd in Christmas Holidays. 



17. If jokes be pass'd, let them be void of spite ; 



18. Insipid poems none must here recite. 



19. No one need sing, unless he thinks it fit, 



20. Loud noisy argument, we don't permit. 



21. A corner's here to make love-quarrels up ; f 



22. But none must bawl, smash windows, plates, or cup. 



23. Who hence take tales, had best betake them hence ; 



24. Let none for words o'er wine take deep offence." 



A. B. R. 



Belmont. 



[Our correspondent's memory has proved treacherous 

 for once: he has only to open the works of rare Ben 

 Jonson (edit. 1846, p. 726.), where he will find the famed 

 " Leges Convivales " with a translation. Mr. Cunning- 

 ham thus notices them in his Handbook, art. " Devil 

 Tavern, Temple Bar : " — "The great room was called 

 ' The Apollo ! ' Thither came all who desired to be 

 ' sealed of the tribe of Ben.' Here Jonson lorded it with 

 greater authority than Dryden did afterwards at Will's, 

 or Addison at Button's. The rules of the club, drawn up 

 in the pure and elegant Latin of Jonson, and placed over 

 the chimney, were, it is said, ' engraven in marble.' In 

 The Tatler (No. 79.), they are described as being ' in gold 

 letters ; ' and this account agrees with the rules them- 

 selves — in gold letters upon board — still preserved in 

 the banking-house of the Messrs. Child, where I had the 

 pleasure of seeing them in 1843, with another and equally 

 interesting relic of the Devil Tavern — the bust of 

 Apollo." Pepys twice notices this celebrated tavern in 

 his amusing Diary : — " Feb. 25, 1664-65. To the Sun 

 Taverne, and there dined with Sir W. Batten and Mr. 

 GifFord the merchant ; and I hear how Nick Colborne, 

 that lately lived and got a great estate there, is gone to 

 live like a prince in the country, and that this Wadlow, 



* It would seem as if this rule had been prepared pro- 

 phetically ! against the " organ nuisance." 



•j- This is obviously the unsuspected original of a stanza 

 in the song of " Mrs. Casey the Hostess," in one of 

 O'Keefe's dramas : 



" Let Love fly here on silken wings, 

 His tricks I can connive at ; 

 A lover who would say ' soft things,' 

 Can have a room in private ! " 



