Mat 13. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



447 



recollection. But that is of little consequence, as 

 the book is well known to bibliographists. 



Perhaps the most singular bibliographic curi- 

 osity is that which belonged to the family of the 

 Prince de Ligne, and is now in France. It is 

 entitled Liber Passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 

 cum Characteribus nulla materia compositis. This 

 book is neither written nor printed ! The whole 

 letters of the text are cut out of each folio upon 

 the finest vellum ; and being interleaved with 

 blue paper, is read as easily as the best print. 

 The labour and patience bestowed in its comple- 

 tion must have been excessive, especially when 

 the precision and minuteness of the letters are 

 considered. The general execution, in every re- 

 spect, is indeed admirable ; and the vellum is of 

 the most delicate and costly kind. Rodolphus II. 

 of Germany offered for it, in 1640, 11,000 ducats, 

 which was probably equal to 60,000 at this day. 

 The most remarkable circumstance connected with 

 this literary treasure is, that it bears the royal 

 arms of England ; but it cannot be traced to have 

 ever been in this country. 



I now offer this notice, in the hope that the 

 readers of " N. & Q." may supply farther par- 

 ticulars ; such as the time of its commencement 

 or completion, and also whether it is still in 

 France. With respect to the arms of England, 

 which yet present a puzzle to all antiquaries, I 

 beg to submit a conjecture. I think it was in- 

 tended as a present to our Henry VIII., when he 

 was in such high favour at Rome, for his Defence 

 of the Seven Sacraments, that Leo X. conferred 

 on him the title of " Fidei Defensor," and which 

 all our sovereigns have subsequently retained. 

 But when he threw off* the Papal authority, de- 

 clared himself supreme head of the Church, and 

 proceeded to confiscate its property, the intention 

 of presentation was abandoned. This is at least 

 plausible, as I do not mean that it was originally 

 designed for a present to " bluff Harry," because 

 it was produced before he was born. But the 

 arms were a work for any time ; and I think they 

 were executed just before his rupture with the 

 Pope was known. To pay him a compliment 

 afterwards from any part of Catholic Europe was, 

 of course, out of the question. C. B. A. 



M max $Dtr3. 

 Baptism, Marriage, and Crowning of Geo. III. — 



■ Died at his palace at Lambeth, aged seventy-five, 

 the Most Reverend Thomas Seeker, LL.D, Lord 

 Archbishop of Canterbury. His Grace was many 

 years Prebendary of Durham, seventeen years Rector of 

 St. James', Westminster, consecrated Bishop of Bristol 

 in 1734, and in 1737 was translated to the See of 

 Oxford. In 1750 he resigned the Rectory of St. 

 James, on his succeeding Bishop Butler in the Deanery 



of St. Paul's ; and on the death of Archbishop Hutton 

 in 1758, was immediately nominated to the metropo- 

 litan see, and confirmed at Bow Church, on the 20th 

 of April in that year, Archbishop of Canterbury. His 

 Grace was Rector of St. James's when our present 

 sovereign was born at Norfolk House, and had the 

 honour to haptize, to marry, and crown his majesty 

 and his royal consort, and to baptize several of their 

 majesties' children." — From Pennsylvania Chronicle, 

 Oct. 3, 1768. 



M. R. F. 



Pennsylvania. 



Copernicus. — The inscription on the tomb of 

 the celebrated Copernicus, in the cathedral church 

 at Thorn, in Prussian Poland, supposed to have 

 been written by himself, deserves a place in 

 " N. & Q." 



" Non parem Pauli gratiam requiro, 

 Veniam Petri neque posco ; sed quam 

 In crucis ligno daderat Latroni 

 Sedulus oro." 



FlTZROT. 



First Instance of Bribery amongst Members of 

 Parliament. — The following extract from Parry's 

 Parliaments and Councils of England, deserves, I 

 think, a corner in " N. & Q.," especially at the 

 present day : 



"1571, A.R. 13, May 10. — Thomas Long, 'a 

 very simple man and unfit ' to serve, is questioned how 

 he came to be elected. He confesses that he gave the 

 Mayor of Westbury and another four pounds for his 

 place in parliament. They are ordered to repay this 

 sum, to appear to answer such things as should be ob- 

 jected against them in that house, and a fine of twenty 

 pounds is to be assessed on the corporation and in- 

 habitants of Westbury, for their scandalous attempt." 



Abhba. 



Richard Brinsley Sheridan. — In the " Life of 

 Sheridan," by G. G. S., prefixed to his Dramatic 

 Works, published by Bohn in 1848, is the follow- 

 ing passage (p. 90.) : 



" At the age of twenty-nine he had achieved a 

 brilliant reputation, had gained an immense property, 

 and was apparently master of large resources." 



And in an essay lately published, entitled Richard 

 Brinsley Sheridan, by George Gilfillan, is this 

 statement : 



* Young Sheridan had no patrimony, not a shilling, 

 indeed, all his life that he could call his own." 



Which of these two contradictory accounts is 

 true? 



In the Life by G. G. S. are two glaring slips of 

 the pen or of the press ; at p. 8. it is said that 

 Sheridan was born in the year 1771 (1751 ?), and 

 at p. 44. that The Duenna was brought out on the 

 21st of November, 1755 (1775 ?)» 



William Duane. 



Philadelphia. 



