Feb. 25. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



173 



promoted to be an officer, and ultimately became 

 an admiral. 



This is the story as told by Tomkins. I wish 

 to know what was his authority. 



Consulting Chernoch's Lives of the Admirals, I 

 find mention of Admiral Sir Thomas Hopson, a 

 .native of Bonchurch ; who ran away from his 

 parents, and did not return to his home till he 

 was an admiral. This Sir Thos. Hopson was made 

 second lieutenant in 1672, the year of the action 

 in Solbay, in which the Earl of Sandwich perished. 

 He rose to the rank of Vice- Admiral of the Red ; 

 and in the action of Vigo, in 1702, he distin- 

 guished himself, and was knighted in consequence. 

 He received a pension of 500J. a year, and retired 

 from the service in this year. He died in 1717. 

 After he quitted the navy, he became Member of 

 Parliament for Newtown, in the Isle of Wight. 



It is evident that this Hopson is the Hobson of 

 Tomkins ; and that Tomkins spoke of the French 

 by mistake for the Dutch enemy. But I cannot 

 discover what authority he had for his account 

 ■of the manner in which young Hobson first distin- 

 guished himself. G. Currey. 



Charterhouse. 



" Three cats sat," See. — Can any of your corre- 

 spondents give me the end of a ballad, beginning 

 thus, which a very old lady in her ninetieth year 

 is most anxious to know ? — 



" Three cats sat by the fire-side, 

 With a basket full of coal dust, 



Coal dust, coal dust, 

 With a basket full of coal dust." 



Julia E. Bockett. 

 Southcote Lodge. 



Herbert's " Church Po?-ch." — Will any of your 

 readers help me to the sense of the following 

 stanza from George Herbert's Church Porch, 

 verse 48 : 



■" If thou be single, all thy good and ground 

 Submit to love ; but yet not more than all. 

 Give one estate, as one life. None is bound 

 To work for two, who brought himself to thrall. 

 God made me one man ; love makes me no more 

 Till labour come, and make my weakness score." 



The lines of which I want the meaning are the 

 last three. S. Singleton. 



Greenwich. 



Ancient Tenure of Lands. — I should feel obliged 

 to any of your readers who would inform me as to 

 the ancient tenure by which estates were held in 

 this country. For instance, a manor, including 

 within its limits several hamlets, is held by A, 

 who grants by subinfeudation one of the said 

 hamlets to B ; B dies, leaving a son and successor, 

 who continues in possession of the hamlet, and 



grants leases, &c, and thus for several generations. 

 My question is, did A, in granting to B, relinquish 

 all interest in the hamlet, or how much did he 

 still retain, since in after years the hamlet is found 

 to have reverted to him, and no allusion is after- 

 wards made to the subinfeudatory lords who pos- 

 sessed it for some generations ? It is presumed 

 that in early times lords of a manor were owners 

 of the lands of the manor of which they were 

 lords ; at present an empty title is all that remains. 

 When did the practice of alienating lands by a 

 piecemeal partition and sale commence ? and did 

 a subinfeudatory lord possess the power of aliena- 

 tion ? In fact, what is the origin of the numerous 

 small freeholds into which our ancient manors are 

 broken up ? J. B. 



Dramatic Works. — Dramatic and Poetical 

 Works, very rare, privately printed, 1840. In- 

 formation relative to this work will oblige 



John Martin. 



Woburn Abbey. 



Devreux Boivly. — An old and excellent hall 

 clock in this city bears the name of Devreux 

 Bowly, of Lombard Street, London, as the maker. 

 Can any of the readers of " N. & Q." (either ho- 

 rologists or others) say when he lived ? Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



" Corruptio optimi" fyc. — What is the origin or 

 earliest use of the saying, " Corruptio optimi est, 

 al. fit, pessima," in its present form ? I state it in 

 this way, because I am aware of its having been 

 referred to Aristotle's remarks on the different 

 forms of government. The old Latin translation, 

 however, does not contain the expression, and I 

 have not traced it farther back than to writers of 

 the seventeenth century, — to Jeremy Taylor, for 

 instance. E. M. 



Hastings. 



Lamenther. — Who was the writer of the Life 

 of Lamcntlier, written by herself, published by sub- 

 scription in 1771 ? Is it a genuine narrative ; 

 and if so, where can I find a key to the initials ? 



C. Clifton Barry. 



Sheriff of Somersetshire in 1765. — Will any of 

 your correspondents resident in, or acquainted 

 with the county of Somerset, oblige me by stating 

 the date of death of James Perry, Esq., the Sheriff 

 of that county in 1756 ; and also his place of 

 residence, and the names of his children, if any ; 

 and where any of their descendants now reside ? 



H. 



Edward Brereicood. — Is there any authenti- 

 cated portrait extant of this learned mathema- 

 tician ? He was the fh'st Gresham Professor of 

 Astronomy at the University of Oxford, and the 



