Jan. 7. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



in the annals of Constantinople. If Mr. Yonge, 

 who shows elsewhere that he has read Gibbon, had 

 referred to him on this occasion, he would pro- 

 bably have found that the Empress Irene, a name 

 dear to the reverencers of images, was the person 

 meant. The original Latin probably gives no clue 

 to the sex ; but still this empress, who is considered 

 as a saint by her church, notwithstanding the 

 deposition and blinding of her own son, was not a 

 personage to be so easily forgotten. 



J. S. Warden. 



French, Season Rhymes and Weather Rhymes. — 



" A la Saint- Antoine (17th January) 



Les jours croissent le repas d'un moiue." 

 ¥ A la Saint-Barnabe (11th June) 



La faux au pre." 

 - " A la Sainte- Catherine (25th November) 



Tout bois prend racine." 

 " Passe la Saint- Clement (23rd November) 



Ne seme plus froment." 

 ■" Si l'hiver va droit son chemin, 



Vous l'aurez a la Saint-Martin." (12th Nov.) 

 *' S'il n'arreste tant ne quant, 



Vous l'aurez a la Saint- Clement." (23rd Nov.) 

 * Et s'il trouve quelqu' encombree, 



Vous l'aurez a la Saint-Andre." (30th Nov.) 



Ceyrep. 



Curious Epitaph in Tillingham Church, Essex. — 



"Hie jacet Humfridus Carbo, carbone notandus 

 Non nigro, Creta sed meliora tua. 

 Ciaruit in clero, nulli pietate secundus. 

 Caelum vi rapuit, vi cape si poteris. 

 Ob'. 27 Mar. 1624. JEt. 77." 



Which has been thus ingeniously paraphrased by 

 a friend of mine : 



<( Here lies the body of good Humphry Cole, 

 Tho' Black his name, yet spotless is his soul ; 

 But yet not black tho' Carbo is the name, 

 Thy chalk is scarcely whiter than his fame. 

 A priest of priests, inferior was to none, 

 Took Heaven by storm when here his race was run. 

 Thus ends the record of this pious man ; 

 Go and do likewise, reader, if you can." 



C. K. P. 

 Newport, Essex. 



<RutVitS. 



DOMESTIC LETTERS OF EDMUND BURKE. 



In the curious and able article entitled " The 

 Domestic Life of Edmund Burke," which appeared 

 in the Athenceum of Dec. 10th and Dec. 17th (and 

 to which I would direct the attention of such 

 readers of " N. & Q." as have not yet seen it), 

 the writer observes : 



" There is not in existence, as far as we know, or 

 have a right to infer from the silence of the biographers, 



one single letter, paper, or document of any kind — 

 except a mysterious fragment of one letter — relating 

 to the domestic life of the Burkes, until long after 

 Edmund Burke became an illustrious and public man ; 

 no letters from parents to children, from children to 

 parents, from brother to brother, or brother to sister." 



And as Edmund Burke was the last survivor of 

 the family, the inference drawn by the writer, that 

 they were destroyed by hiin, seems, on the grounds 

 which he advances, a most reasonable one. But 

 my object in writing is to call attention to a 

 source from which, if any such letters exist, they 

 may yet possibly be recovered ; I mean the col- 

 lections of professed collectors of autographs. On 

 the one hand, it is scarcely to be conceived that 

 the destroyer of these materials for the history of 

 the Burkes, be he who he may, can have got all 

 the family correspondence into his possession. On 

 the other, it is far from improbable that in some 

 of the collections to which I have alluded, some 

 letters, notes, or documents may exist, treasured 

 by the possessors as mere autographs ; but which 

 might, if given to the world, serve to solve many 

 of those mysteries which envelope the early history 

 of Edmund Burke. The discovery of documents 

 of such a character seems to be the special province 

 of " N. & Q.," and I hope, therefore, although 

 this letter has extended far beyond the limits I 

 originally contemplated, you will insert it, and so 

 permit me to put this Query to autograph col- 

 lectors, " Have you any documents illustrative of 

 the Burkes ? " and to add as a Note, " If so, print 

 them ! " N. O. 



Farranfs Anthem. — From what source did 

 Farrant take the words of his well-known anthem, 

 " Lord, for thy tender mercies' sake ? " C. P. S. 



Ascension Day Custom. — What is the origin of 

 the custom which still obtains in St. Magnus and 

 other city churches, of presenting the clergy with 

 ribbons, cakes, and silk staylaces on Ascension 

 Day ? C. F. S. 



Sawbridge and Knighfs Numismatic Collections. 

 — In Snelling's tract on Pattern Pieces for English 

 Gold and Silver Coins (1769), p. 45., it is stated, 

 in the description of a gold coin of Elizabeth, that 

 it is " unique, formerly in the collection of Thomas 

 Sawbridge, Esq., but at present in the collection 

 of Thomas Knight, Esq., who purchased the whole 

 cabinet." — Can any of your readers inform me 

 who this Mr. Knight was, and whether his collec- 

 tion is still in existence ; or if it was dispersed, 

 when, and in what manner ? I am not aware of 

 any sale catalogue under his name. J. B. B. 



" The spire whose silent finger points to heaven" 

 — I have met with, and sometimes quoted, this line. 



