74 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 222. 



not confined to one country, nor to one species of 

 reptile. I remember to have heard some country- 

 men in Cornwall, who had killed an adder, say 

 that it would not cease to writhe until the sun had 

 gone down. Like many other so-called super- 

 stitions, it is probably founded on a close observa- 

 tion of a natural phenomenon ; and I feel quite 

 sure that I have seen in print, although I cannot 

 now call to mind where, that it is to be accounted 

 for by the fact, that in these cold-blooded animals 

 the nervous irritability does not cease until checked 

 or destroyed by the chilling dews of evening. 



HoNOBE DE MaEEVILLE. 



Guernsey. 



THE VELLUM-BOUND JUNIUS. 



{Vol. v., pp. 303. 333. 607. ; Vol. viii., p. 8.) 



I have no doubt that it will be satisfactory to 

 some of your readers to know that I have in my 

 possession a copy, " vellum bound in gilt," of 

 Junius, printed for Henry Sampson Woodfall, 

 1772, 2 vols. This copy has been in the family 

 library for about sixty years. There are no 

 marks by which it can be traced to its original 

 owner. I imagine it must have been purchased 

 by my grandfather, Sir Thomas Metcalfe, after his 

 arrival from India about 1788 ; this is, however, 

 merely a conjecture, in default of any more' pro- 

 bable theory. Of the authenticity of this ccpy I 

 have no doubt ; I mean that it is now in the same 

 condition as when it was first issued by the book- 

 seller. The binding is evidently of an old date, 

 the gilding is peculiar, and the books correspond 

 exactly with the orders of Junius as given to 

 Woodfall in Note No. 47., Dec. 1771, and although 

 neatly bound, are, as Woodfall mentions in No. 64., 

 not highly finished. Are there many copies of 

 this edition, or may I congratulate myself upon 

 possessing the one ordered by Junius ? It is 

 quite possible that my grandfather possessed this 

 copy some years before his return from India; and 

 I may mention that I also have a great many 

 political pamphlets and satires, chiefly in poetry, 

 of different dates, from 1760 to 1780, such as Ca- 

 tiline's Conspiracy ; The Diaboliad ; Ditto, with 

 additions, dedicated to the worst man in the king- 

 dom (Rigby), and containing allusions to all the 

 most celebrated characters of Junius ; The Se- 

 nators, La Fete Champetre, and many miscellanies. 

 These, however, are perhaps well known. I have 

 also a pamphlet containing an alleged unpublished 

 canto of the Faerie Queene of Spenser, and a great 

 many religious tracts from 1580 to 1700. Some 

 of the political poems are published by Almon. 

 Among other curious stray sheets, is a list of all 

 the gentlemen and officers who fell in the cause 

 of Charles I., and Mr. Richard Brown appears 

 amongst the number. I hope to communicate 

 more fully upon some future occasion, and must 



conclude with an allusion to the claims of Francis 

 as the author of Junius. Strong as the proofs 

 may be in his favour in England, I believe that in 

 India there is testimony no less important ; and I 

 have been informed, by one who spoke with some 

 authority, that the letters of Francis upon record 

 in this country bear no resemblance whatever to 

 those of Junius. This assertion, however, is far 

 too vague to satisfy any of your readers. I hope 

 some day to be able to confirm it by examples. 

 The India House might furnish the private cor- 

 respondence between Francis and Hastings, which 

 would be extremely interesting. 



T. Metcalfe. 

 Delhi. 



The Scotch Grievance. — Can the demand of 

 Scotchmen, with respect to the usage of the royal 

 arms, be justified by the laws of Heraldry ? I 

 think not. They require that when the royal 

 arms are used in Scotland, the Scotch bearings 

 should be placed in the first quarter. Surely it is 

 against all rules that the armorial bearings, either 

 of a person or of a nation, should be changeable 

 according to the place where they are used. The 

 arms of the United Kingdom and of the sovereign 

 are, first and fourth, England ; second, Scotland ; 

 third, Ireland. The Scotch have therefore the 

 option of using these, or else the arms of Scotland 

 singly ; but to shift the quarterings according to 

 locality, seems repugnant to the principles of the 

 science. Queen Anne and George I. bore, in the 

 first quarter, England impaling Scotland : is it to 

 be supposed that, for Scotch purposes, they bore 

 Scotland impaling England ? Can any coin be 

 produced, from the accession of James VI. to the 

 English throne, on which the royal arms are found 

 with Scotland in the first quarter and England in 

 the second ? 



A Descendant ebom Scottish Kings. 



Walpole and Macaulay. — That well-known and 

 beautiful conception of the New Zealander in some 

 future age sitting on the ruins of Westminster 

 Bridge, and looking where London stood, may 

 have been first suggested by a thought in one of 

 Walpole's lively letters to Sir II. Mann : 



" At last some curious native of Lima will visit 

 London, and give a sketch of the ruins of Westminster 

 and St. Paul's." 



Anon. 



Russian " Justice." — Euler, in his 102nd letter 

 to a German princess, says : 



" Formerly there was no word in the Russian lan- 

 guage to express what we call justice. This was cer- 

 tainly a very great defect, as the idea of justice is of 

 very great importance in a great number of our judg- 



