Mae. 3. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



165 



en" voici bien d'un autre, Traiment ; ils ont tous disparu 

 pour les Mille et une nuits. Je suis dans le Harem du 

 dernier Kan de Crimee ; qui a eu bien tort de lever son 

 camp, et d'abandonner, il y a quatre ans, aux Russes, le 

 plus beau pays du monde. Le sort m'a destin^ la cham- 

 bre de la plus jolie de ses sultanes, et k Se'gur celle du 

 premier de ses euauques noirs." — P. 51. 



Military Costume and Accoutrements. — 



"Le Turcs m'ont fait faire une autre reflexion trfes- 

 importante. Ils courent, ils grimpent, ils sautent, parce 

 qu'ils sont arm^s et habill^s a la legfeie. Le poids que 

 portent les sots Chretiens les empeche presque de se mou-* 

 voir."— P. 172. 



I would willingly quote more if space allowed, 

 especially from chap, xi., where the character of 

 the Turks is drawn with the viijorous hand which 

 has so skilfully traced the portraiture of Prince 

 Potemkin (p. 164,), " veritableinent un chef- 

 d'oeuvre," as the editress of this volume, Madame 

 de Stael, observes. 



The collected works of this spirituel warrior 

 were published in 30 vols. 12ino., Vienna and 

 Dresden, 1807; and a reference to the second 

 division, " CEuvres militaires et sentimentaires," 

 will not be found unproductive of interest. 



Wllliam Bates. 



Birmingham. 



"4 Soldier's Fortune." — One of the works by 

 Mrs. Marsh, the author of Emilie Windham, and 

 other popular novels, which is named The Triumphs 

 of Time, contains two tales translated from the 

 French. The first of these is taken from De 

 Vigny's Vie Militaire. Who was the author of 

 the other, called by the translator A Soldier's For- 

 tune ? It is a very interesting story ; and would, 

 with slight alterations, such as the omission of 

 superfluous oaths, be a popular and useful tale for 

 the young and for the working classes — showing 

 forth as it does the benevolence of a sister of 

 charity and of a poor apothecary, and the hard- 

 ships of a soldier's life. Now that there is so 

 much brotherly feeling between the armies, tales 

 of this kind, which throw light upon the amiable 

 points of French character, might be usefully dis- 

 seminated ; though we hope never to lose the 

 strong points of English rectitude, through ad- 

 miration of scenic sentimentality. I have endea- 

 voured in vain to discover the author of A 

 Soldier's Fortune. C. (2) 



Rogers and Hughes. — I have a small oil picture 

 by Rogers, which must have been painted about 

 the tinie of Nieson, and another by Hughes (son 

 of a Sir R. Hughes) ; who died young, and just 

 after he had been appointed portrait painter to 

 Her Majesty ! so the story is told. Can any of 

 your readers oblige me with information as to 

 either of these parties ? R. L. 



Advowsons alienated to manorial Lords, how f 

 — Hutchins records, in his History of Dorset- 

 shire, that twenty-seven advowsons of rectories 

 and seven of vicarages passed from religious 

 houses at the Reformation to the several lords of 

 the manors in which the churches were situate. 

 Many others became vested in the Crown, ia 

 private individuals, and in colleges, by legal 

 tenure ; but the process is not named by which 

 manorial lords became seised of their advowsons. 

 Is that process known ? J. D. 



Enigmatical Verses. — In the Additional MS. 

 9351., in the British Museum, is a treatise in Latin 

 on the games of Chess, Tables (i. e. backgammon), 

 and Merells ; illustrated with numerous diagrams. 

 It was compiled by an inhabitant of Bologna, who 

 conceals his name in some obscure rhythmical 

 verses prefixed by way of preface. The treatise 

 is dated by the rubricator 1466, which is probably 

 the date of transcription ; but the period of its 

 composition may be much earlier. The verses 

 are as follows, copied literally : 



" Ubicunque fueris : ut sis generosus. 

 Nee te subdes ociis : nam vir ociosus. 

 Sive sit ignobilis : sive generosus. 

 Ut testatur sapiens : erit viciosus. 

 Ut a te removeas vicium prefatum : legas et intelligas 



hunc meum tractatum. 

 Et sic cum nobillibus cordis ad optatum: certus 8um 



quod poteris invenire statum. 

 Statum ad scacarii me volvo partita : in quo multipli- 



citer fiunt infinita. 

 Quorum hie sunt plurima luculenter scita: ne forte 



mens labilis quamcumque sit oblita. 

 Ibi semel positum nunquam iteratur : postea de Tabulis 



certum dogma datur. 

 Turn Mexillos [Z. Merellos] docet quibus plebs jocatur : 



et sic sub compendio liber terminatur. 

 Hec hujus opusculi series est tota. Quis sim scire 



poteris traddens tot ignota. 

 Versum [proversuum] principiis sillabas tu nota. Eo- 



rundem media litera remota. 

 Civis sum Bononie ista qui collegi. Qui sub breviloquio 



varia compegi. 

 Disponente domino opus quod peregi. Presentari prin- 



cipi posset sive regi." 



Is there any reader of " N. & Q." who can assist 

 me in decyphering the name thus enigmatically 

 expressed ? ft, 



Etching by Rembrandt. — I have by me an 

 etching of Rembrandt's representing the death of 

 a person of consequence. To the right of the 

 bed are some priests, to the left the doctors and 

 nurses and afflicted relatives, and a group of 

 staring gossiping attendants about the door. The 

 attitudes and countenances are quite wonderfully 

 natural. Of course this etching must be well 

 known ; but my Query is. Whose death is it sup- 

 posed to represent ? Amos. 



Decrees issued by the Congregation of the In- 

 dex. — I have just received through my bookseller 



