18 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 219. 



mated closely to it, and to each other. Of this 

 the answers to the Query given in the place re- 

 ferred to are a sufficient proof; Fr. satin, 

 W. sidaii, &c. &c." 



I suspect that he is right, and that Ogilvie and 

 Webster, whom you quote, have not got to the 

 bottom of the word. I may add that the notion 

 of my Canton friend receives approval from a 

 Chinese scholar to whom I have shown the above 

 extract. W. T. M. 



Hong Kong. 



" Quid fades" frc. (Vol. viii., p. 539.).— 



" Bierve, N. Marechal, Marquis de, a Frenchman 

 well known for his ready wit and great facetiousness. 

 He wrote two plays of considerable merit, Les Re- 

 putations and Le Seducteur. He died at Spa, 1789, 

 aged 42. He is author of the distich on courtezans : 

 ' Quid facies, facies Veneris cum veneris ante ? 

 Ne sedeas ! sed eas, ne pereas per eas.' " 



— Lempriere's Universal Biography, abridged from the 

 larger work, London, 1808. 



C. Forbes. 

 Temple. 



Sotades (Vol. viii., p. 520.). — Your correspon- 

 dent Charles Reed says that Sotades was a 

 Roman poet 2.50 b.c. ; and that to him we owe the 

 line, " Roma tibi subito," &c. Sotades was a native 

 of Maroneia in Thrace, or, according to others, of 

 Crete ; and flourished at Alexandria B.C. 280 

 (Smith's Dictionary of Biography, Clinton, F. H., 

 vol. iii. p. 888.). AVe have a few fragments of his 

 poems, but none of them are palindromical. The 

 authority for his having written so, is, I suppose, 

 Martial, Epig. n. 86. 2. : 



" Nee retro lego Sotaden cinsedum." 



Zeus. 



The Third Part of " Christahel " (Vol. viii., 

 pp. 11. 111.). — Has the Irish Quarterly Review 

 any other reason for ascribing this poem to Maginn 

 than the common belief which makes him the sole 

 and original Morgan Odoherty ? If not, its evi- 

 dence is of little value, as, exclusive of some pieces 

 under that name which have been avowed by 

 other writers, many of the Odoherty papers con- 

 tain palpable internal evidence of having been 

 written by a Scotchman, or at least one very fa- 

 miliar with Scotland, which at that time he was 

 not ; even the letter accompanying the third part 

 of Christahel is dated from Glasgow, and though 

 this would in itself prove nothing, the circum- 

 stances above mentioned, as well as Dr. Moir's 

 evidence as to the time when Maginn's contribu- 

 tions to Blackwood commenced, seems strongly 

 presumptive against his claim. Some of the 

 earliest and most distinguished writers in Black- 

 wood are still alive, and could, no doubt, clear up 

 this point at once, if so inclined. J. S. Warden. 



Attainment of Majority (Vol. viii., pp. 198. 250.). 

 — In my last communication upon this subject I 

 produced undeniable authority to prove that the 

 law did not regard the fraction of a day ; this, I 

 think, A. E. B. will admit. The question is, now, 

 does the day on which a man attains his majority 

 commence at six o'clock a. m., or at midnight ? 

 We must remember that we are dealing with a 

 question of English law ; and therefore the evi- 

 dence of an English decision will, I submit, be 

 stronger proof of the latter mode of reckoning than 

 the only positive proof with which A. E. B. has 

 defended Ben Jonson's use of the former, viz. 

 Roman. 



In a case tried in Michaelmas Term, 1704, 

 Chief Justice Holt said : 



" It has been adjudged that if one be born the 1st of 

 February at eleven at flight, and the last of January in 

 the twenty-first year of his age at one o'clock in the 

 morning, he makes his will of lands and dies, it is a 

 good will, for he was then of age." — Sulkeld, 44. ; 

 Raymond, 480, 1096 ; 1 Siderfn, 162. 



In this case, therefore, the testator was ac- 

 counted of age forty-six hours before the com- 

 pletion of his twenty-first year. Now, the law 

 not regarding the fraction of a day, the above 

 case, 1 submit, clearly proves that the day, as 

 regards the attainment of majority, began at mid- 

 night. Russell Gole. 



Lord Halifax and Mrs. C. Barton (Vol. viii., 

 pp. 429. 543.). — In answer to J. W. J.'s Query, I 

 beg to state that I have in my possession a codicil 

 of Mrs. Conduit's will in her own hand, dated 

 26th of January, 1737. This document refers to 

 some theological tracts by Sir Isaac Newton, in 

 his handwriting, which I have. On referring to 

 the pedigree of the Barton family, I find that 

 Colonel Robert Barton married Catherine Green- 

 wood, whose father lived at Rotterdam, and was 

 ancestor of Messrs. Greenwood, army agents. His 

 issue were Major Newton Barton, who married 

 Elizabeth Ekins, Mrs. Burr, and Catherine Robert 

 Barton. I find no mention of Colonel Noel 

 Barton. The family of Ekins had been previously 

 connected with that of Barton, Alexander Ekins, 

 Rector of Barton Segrave, having married Jane 

 Barton of Brigstock. The writer of this note 

 will be obliged if J. W. J., or any correspondent 

 of " N. & Q.," will inform him if anything is 

 known respecting an ivory bust of Sir Isaac 

 Newton, executed by Marchand or Marchant, 

 which is said to have been an excellent likeness. 



S. X. 



[The ivory bust referred to by our correspondent 

 is, we believe, in the British Museum.] 



The fifth Lord Byron (Vol. viii., p. 2.). — I 

 cannot but think that Mr. Hasleden's memory 

 has deceived him as to the " wicked lord " having 



