246 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 229. 



remarked that the Castle guns are never fired in 

 salute, in consequence, it is said, of the existence 

 of a general order which forbids the firing of sa- 

 lutes after sunset. Is there such an order in ex- 

 istence ? I would farther ask why twenty-one 

 was the number fixed for a royal salute ? S. 



" The Negro's Complaint" — Who was the 

 author of this short poem, to be found in all the 

 earlier collections of poetry for the use of schools ? 

 It begins thus : 



" Wide o'er the tremulous sea, 



The moon spread her mantle of light ; 

 And the gale gently dying away, 



Breath'd soft on the bosom of night." 



Henry Stephens. 



" The Coiv Doctor." — Who is the author of 

 the following piece ? — The Cow Doctor, a Comedy 

 in Three Acts, 1810. Dedicated to the Rev. 

 Thomas Pennington, Rector of Thorley, Herts, 

 and Kingsdown, Kent ; author of Continental Ex- 

 cursions, &c. 



This satire is addressed to the Friends of Vac- 

 cination.* S. N. 



Soomarohoff's " Demetrius." — Who translated 

 the following drama from the Russian ? 



Demetrius, a Tragedy, 8vo., 1806, translated by 

 Eustaphiere. This piece, which is a translation 

 from a tragedy of SoomarokofF, one of the most 

 eminent dramatic authors of Russia, is said to be 

 the first (and I think it is still the only) Russian 

 drama of which there is an English translation. 



S.N. 



Polygamy. — 1 . Do the Jews at present, iu any 

 country, practise polygamy ? 2. If not, when 

 and why was that practice discontinued among 

 them ? 3. Is there any religious sect which 

 forbids polygamy, besides the Christians (and 

 the Jews, if the Jews do forbid it) ? 4. Was 

 Polygamy permitted among the early Christians ? 

 Paul's direction to Timothy, that a bishop should 

 be " the husband of one wife," seems to show that 

 it was ; though I am aware that the phrase has 

 been interpreted otherwise. 5. On what ground 

 has polygamy become forbidden among Chris- 

 tians ? I am not aware that it is directly forbid- 

 den by Scripture. Stylites. 



[* On the title-page of a copy of this comedy now 

 before us is written, " With the author's compliments 

 to Dr. Lettsom ; " and on the fly-leaf occurs the follow- 

 ing riddle in MS. : 



" Who is that learned man, who the secret disclos'd 

 Of a book that was printed before 'twas composed ? 



Answer. 



He is harder than iron, and as soft as a snail, 



Has the head of a viper, and a file in his tail." — Ed.] 



Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Longohardic, and Old En- 

 glish Letters. — I would be glad to know the 

 earliest date in which the Irish language has been 

 discovered inscribed on stone or in manuscript ; 

 also the earliest date in which the Anglo-Saxon, 

 Longobardic, and Old English letter has been 

 known in England and Ireland. E. P. 



Youghal. 



Description of Battles. — Judging from my own 

 experience, historical details of battles are com- 

 paratively unintelligible to non-military readers. 

 Now that, unhappily, we shall probably be com- 

 pelled to " hear of battles," would not some of our 

 enterprising publishers do well to furnish to the 

 readers of history and of the bulletins, a popular 

 " Guide to the Battle Field," drawn up by some 

 talented military officer? It must contain de- 

 monstratively clear diagrams, and such explan- 

 ations of all that needs to be known, as an officer 

 would give, on the spot, to his nonprofessional 

 friend. The effects of eminences, rivers, roads, 

 woods, marshes, &c, should be made plain ; in 

 short, nothing should be omitted which is neces- 

 sary to render an account of a battle intelligible 

 to ordinary readers, instead of being, as is too 

 often the case, a mere chaotic assemblage of words. 

 Thinks I to Myself. 



Do Martyrs always feel Pain ? — Is it not pos- 

 sible that an exalted state of feeling — approaching 

 perhaps to the mesmeric state — may be attained, 

 which will render the religious or political martyr 

 insensible to pain ? It would be agreeable to think 

 that the pangs of martyrdom were ever thus al- 

 leviated. It is certainly possible, by a strong 

 mental effort, to keep pain in subjection during 

 a dental operation. A firmly fixed tooth, under'a 

 bungling operator, may be wrenched from the jaw 

 without pain to the patient, if he will only deter- 

 mine not to feel. At least, I know of one such 

 case, and that the effort was very exhausting. In 

 the excitement of battle, wounds are often not 

 felt. One would be glad to hope that Joan of 

 Arc was insensible to the flames which consumed 

 her : and that the recovered nerve which enabled 

 Cranmer to submit his right hand to the fire, 

 raised him above suffering. Alfred GattY. 



Carronade. — What is the derivation of the term 

 carronade, applied to pieces of ordnance shorter 

 and thicker in the chamber than usual ? Here 

 the idea is that they took their name from the 

 Carron foundries, where they were cast. In the 

 early years of the old war-time, there were carron 

 pieces or carron guns, and only some considerable 

 time thereafter carronades. How does this stand? 

 and is there any likelihood of the folk story being 

 true ? C. D. Lamont. 



Greenock. 



