Jan. 21. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



61 



11. Konigswinter ; under the last. 1779: 



"erIgor sVb MaX. frIDerICo konIgsegg ak- 

 tIstIte CoLonIensI pIe gVbernante." 



12. Coblenz. — S. Castor ; round the arch of the 

 ■west door. 1765 : 



" DIro MarIa IVngfraV reIn 

 Las CobLenz aubefohLen seIn." 



Of these, Nos. 9, 10. and 11. are incised on one 

 stone, the letters indicating the chronogram being 

 rubricated capitals ; but in No. 10. the second 1 

 in " filio," and the first I in " spirituique," though 

 capitals, are not in red. I shall be much obliged 

 to any of your correspondents who can supply a 

 complete or corrected copy of the following chro- 

 nogram, from the Kreutzberg, near Bonn. The 

 height at which it was placed, and its defective 

 colour, prevented me from deciphering the whole; 

 nor do 1 vouch for the correctness of the subjoined 

 portion : 



"sCaLa IesV pr 

 nobis passi . a . . 

 CLeMente aVgVsto 



antIstIte 

 CoLonIensI pIe 

 a Vg Vst 

 pretIosi 



eXstrV." 



Some parts of this inscription might be conjec- 

 turally supplied ; but I prefer presenting it as I 

 was able to transcribe it. The staircase in question 

 was erected by the Elector Clement Augustus, in 

 or about 1725, in imitation of the Scala Santa at 

 Home. (See Murray *s Handbook.) 



W. Sparrow Simpson. 



(Vol. viii., pp.364. 471.) 



In Primate Colton's Metropolitan Visitation of 

 the Diocese of Derry, a.d. 1397, edited by the 

 Rev. William Reeves, D.D., it is stated, at p. 44., 

 that several persons therein mentioned took their 

 oath "tactis sacrosanctis Evangeliis;" and in a 

 note Dr. Reeves says that — 



" Until the arrival of the English the custom of swear- 

 ing on the holy evangelists was unknown to the Irish, 

 who resorted instead to croziers, bells, and other sacred 

 reliquaries, to give solemnity to their declarations. 

 Even when the Gospels were used, it was not uncom- 

 mon to introduce some other object to render the oath 

 doubly binding. Thus in a monition directed by 

 Primate Prene to O'Neill, he requires him to be sworn 

 ' tactis sacrosanctis Dei evangeliis ad ea, et super Ba- 

 culum Jesu in ecclesia cathedrali Sanetae Trinitatis 

 Dublin.' {Reg. Prene, fob 117.)" 



The following lines upon the subject in ques- 

 tion will be found in the lied Book of the Irish 

 Exchequer : 



» Qui jurat super librum tria facit. 



" Primo quasi diceret omnia que scripta sunt in hoc 

 libro nunquam mihi perficiant neque lex nova neque 

 vetus si mencior in hoc juramento. 



" Secundo apponit manum super librum quasi di- 

 ceret numquam bona opera que feci michi proficiant 

 ante faciem Jeshu Christi nisi veritatem dicam quando 

 per manus significentur opera. 



" Tercio et ultimo osculatur librum quasi diceret 

 numquam oraciones neque preces quas dixi per os 

 meum michi ad salutem anime valeant si falsitatem 

 dicam in hoc juramento michi apposito." 



Judging by the character of the handwriting, 

 I would say that the above-mentioned lines were 

 written not later than the time of Edward I. ; and 

 as many of the vellum leaves of this book have 

 been sadly disfigured, as well by the pressure of 

 lips as by tincture of galls, I am inclined to think 

 that official oaths were formerly taken in the 

 Court of Exchequer of Ireland by presenting the 

 book when opened to the person about to be 

 sworn in the manner at this day used (as we are 

 informed by Honore de Mareville) in the Eccle- 

 siastical Court at Guernsey. 



It appears by an entry in one of the Order 

 Books of the Exchequer, deposited in the Exche- 

 quer Record Office, Four Courts, Dublin, that in 

 James I.'s time the oath of allegiance was taken 

 upon bended knee. The entry to which I refer is 

 in the following words : 



"Easter Term, Wednesday, 22nd 'April, 1618. — 

 Memorandum : This day at first sitting of the court, the 

 lord threasurer, vice threasurer, and all the barons being 

 present on the bench, the lord chauncellor came hither 

 and presented before them Thomas Hibbotts, esq., with 

 his Majesty's letters patents of the office of chauncellor 

 of this court to him graunted, to hold and execute the 

 said office during his naturall life, which being read 

 the said lord chauncellor first ministred unto him the 

 oath of the King's supremacy, which hee tooke kneel- 

 ing on his knee, and presently after ministred unto 

 him the oath ordayned for the said officer, as the same 

 is contayned of record in the redd booke of this court; 

 all which being donn the said lord chauncellor placed 

 him on the bench on the right hand of the lord threa- 

 surer, and then departed this court." 



James F. Ferguson. 

 Dublin. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



Splitting Paper for Photographic Purposes If the 



real and practical mode of effecting this were disclosed, 

 it would be (in many cases) a valuable aid to the 

 photographer. I have had many negative calotypes 

 ruined by red stains on the back (but not affecting the 

 impressed side of the paper) ; which, could the paper 



