384 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 234. 



narrower than God has made it, occasions differences 

 among men, discourages comers to religion, rebuilds 

 the partition wall, is an usurpation upon the family of 

 God, challenges successive ages backward and forward, 

 assigns new boundaries in the world, takes away the 

 opportunity of free-will offerings." 



It is possible that Mr. Leigh Hunt may have 

 found it in the little Manual of Golden Sentences, 

 published by the Rev. John Hunter, Bath, 1826, 

 12mo., where it occurs at p. 64., No. xlvi. 



With respect to Dorothy Jordan's laugh, to 

 those of your readers who, like myself, have 

 beard it, and treasure it among their joyous re- 

 membrances, no comment will be wanting. 



S. W. Singeb. 



" Paid down upon the Nail" (Vol. ix., p. 196.). — 

 Your correspondent Abhba mentions Limerick, 

 on the authority of O'Keefe the dramatist, as the 

 place where this saying originated ; from tbe fact 

 of a pillar, with a circular plate of copper upon it, 

 having stood in a piazza under the Exchange in 

 this ancient city : which pillar was called " the nail." 

 Permit me to remark, Bristol also claims the origin 

 of this saying : vide the following paragraph in 

 No. 1 . p. 4. of the Curiosities of Bristol, published 

 last September : 



" We have heard it stated that this phrase first 

 originated in Bristol, when it was common for the 

 merchants to buy and sell at the bronze pillars (four) 

 in front of the Exchange — the pillars being commonly 

 called Nails." 



I should infer that, from the fact of Bristol 

 having been at the time of the erection of these 

 pillars (some centuries ago) by far the most im- 

 portant place in the British empire (London only 

 excepted), it is more likely to have originated 

 this commercial saying than Limerick. 



Beistoliensis. 



"Man proposes, but God disposes" (Vol. ix., 

 pp. 87. 202.). — I regret that I am unable to af- 

 ford Mb. Thomas any information respecting the 

 Abbot Gerson, to whom the authorship of the De 

 Imitatione has been attributed, beyond what is 

 contained in the preface to the edition which I 

 before quoted. The authority there cited is a dis- 

 sertation, entitled Me/noire sur le veritable auteur 

 de V Imitation de Jesus- Christ, par G. de Gregory, 

 Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, etc., Paris, 

 1827. The contents of this work are thus de- 

 scribed in that preface : 



" Eques de Gregory argumentis turn externis, turn 

 internis demonstrat : — 1. Libellum — primitus trac- 

 tatum fuisse ethicas scholasticum, a magistro novitio- 

 rum elaboratum. 2. Eundem, tempore inter annum 

 J 220 et 1240 interjecto, suppresso nomine conscriptum 

 esse a Joanne Gerson, monacho Benedictino, antea in 

 Athenajo Vercellensi professore, postea ibidem mona- 

 sterii S. Stephani abbate. Denique specialibus argu- 



mentis eos refellit, qui vel Joanni Gersoni, cancellario 

 academiae Paristensi, vel Thomas Kempensi huiic li- 

 brum attribuendum esse contendunt." 



I have been informed that an interesting article 

 upon the question of the authorship has recently 

 appeared in a very recent number of a Roman 

 Catholic Review ; I believe Brownson's American 

 Quarterly. H. P. 



Lincoln's Inn. 



H. P. wishes for some other quotations from De 

 Imitatione Christi, in order to test the claims to 

 originality of that extraordinary work ; I there- 

 fore now supply another — "Of two evils we ought 

 always to choose the least," — because I strongly 

 suspect that it is even some centuries older than 

 the time of the author, Thoma3 a Kempis. It will 

 be found in b. in. ch. xii. of the English trans- 

 lation. ' A. B. C. 



Roman Catholic Patriarchs (Vol.viii., p. 317.). — 

 The following, with the signature W. Fbaseb, 

 appeared in " N. & Q." : 



"Has any bishop of the Western Church held the 

 title of patriarch, besides the Patriarch of Venice ? 

 And what peculiar authority or privileges has he?" 



The Archbishop of Lisbon has the title of Pa- 

 triarch of the Indies ; but it does not appear that 

 he has any defined jurisdiction, being only an in- 

 ferior patriarch, and with a title little more than 

 honorary. His grand vicars, however, are arch- 

 bishops ; and his seal has, like those of other 

 patriarchs, the tiara encircled with two crowns 

 only. This patriarchate was created by Pope 

 Clement XI., by his constitution In supremo Apo- 

 stolatus. Afterwards, in the year 1720, the same 

 Pope conferred upon the Patriarch of Lisbon the 

 exclusive right of anointing the Kings of Portugal 

 at their coronation on the right arm, which had 

 previously been the privilege of the Archbishop 

 of Braga. F. C. H. 



The primate of Portugal has the style of " pa- 

 triarch," but I do not know of any privileges or 

 authority that he has beyond those appertaining 

 to the rank of archbishop or cardinal, when he 

 happens to be one, as at present. J. S. Waeden. 



Classic Authors and the Jews (Vol. ix., p. 221.). 

 — In Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman 

 Biography a few references are given, under the 

 words " Herodes," " Hyrcanus," &c, to classical 

 authors who refer to the Jewish people, their 

 country and customs. Probably many more will 

 be given in the Dictionary of Geography, under 

 the words " Palestine," " Jerusalem," &c, when 

 the work is completed. To suppose that the 

 classical authors allude but seldom to the Jews is 

 a mistake. Roman writers of the post-Augustan 

 period abound in allusions to them. I can supply 



