562 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 242. 



differs in several points from the subject of " The 

 Decision of Paris," now in the National Gallery. 

 For instance, in the one, Paris rests the apple 

 upon his knee, and in the other he is offering it to 

 the fair goddess of Beauty. This print has also 

 five more figures than there are in the Gallery 

 painting. Now, two questions arise hereon : first, 

 what has become of the original painting from 

 which this print was taken ? and secondly, where 

 is the line engraving of the picture now in the 

 National Gallery ? J. J. S. 



Downshire Hill, Hampstead. 



THE PAXS PENNIES OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEEOE. 



Perhaps some of your numerous readers may be 

 able to satisfy me on a subject which has for a 

 long time troubled me. 



All coin collectors are aware that there are many 

 different reverses to the pennies of William I. 

 One is commonly called the pax-type : and why, 

 is the question. 



On the obverse, it is " pillm rex," or sometimes 

 differently spelt; but "p" always stands for "w," 

 and pronounced so. 



On the reverse, it is r a x s (each letter being 

 encircled), but the "p" is here pronounced "p;" 

 this is in the centre compartment : surrounding it 

 is the moneyer's name, with place where the coin 

 was struck — "edpi (Edwi) on lvnd," "godpine 

 (Godwine) on lvnd," &c. It is very inconsistent 

 that letters should be pronounced differently on 

 the same coin. 



I am rather of opinion that we have not arrived 

 at the right reading, and that pax has nothing to 

 do with it. It is paxs, axsp, xspa, or spax : for 

 I find, on comparing nineteen different coins, the 

 letters stand in different positions compared with 

 the cross, which denotes the beginning of the in- 

 scription around them ; so no one can tell which 

 letter of the four in the circles near the large 

 cross should come first. Besides, what does the 

 " s " stand for, after you get the " pax ? " 



I am not a member of the Antiquarian Society, 

 but have asked gentlemen belonging to it to ex- 

 plain this puzzle (to me), without success. I now 

 ask them and others, through your pages, to give 

 a solution of the difficulty. W. M. F. 



Minor IMtxiti. 



Peculiar Customs at Preston, in Lancashire. — I 

 wish to know if it be true that the use of mourning 

 is nearly, if not altogether, discountenanced at the 

 above town, even for the loss of the nearest and 

 dearest friends ; and that a widow's cap is only 

 worn by those to whom another husband would 

 be particularly acceptable ? If these, and other 



peculiar customs prevail, I wish some correspon- 

 dent from Lancashire would kindly enlighten the 

 readers of " N. & Q." with respect to them. 



Anon. 

 Obsolete Statutes. — There was published, in the 

 pamphlet form (pp. 61.), in 1738, a capital piece 

 of irony under the title of — 



" A Letter to a Member of Parliament, containing 

 a Proposal for bringing in a Bill to revise, amend, or 

 repeal certain Obsolete Statutes, commonly called ' The 

 Ten Commandments.' 4th Edition." 



As this will doubtless be known to some of your 

 readers, may I ask the name of the author, and 

 the occasion of its publication ? J. O. 



Sale of Offices and Salaries in the Seventeenth 

 Century. — Has the subject of the sale of offices 

 in former times ever been investigated ? In the 

 reign of Charles II., a new secretary of state, lord 

 chamberlain, &c, always paid a large sum of 

 money to his predecessor, the king often helping 

 to find the required sum. Was this the case 

 with all offices ? I do not think the lord chan- 

 cellorship was ever paid for. When and how did 

 the practice originate, and when and how fall into 

 disuse ? Has the subject of salaries of offices (in- 

 cluding fees) in these times ever been accurately 

 investigated ? What were the emoluments of the 

 lord chancellor, chancellor of the exchequer, and 

 president of the council, in the reign of Charles ? 



C.H. 



Board of Trade. — A council for trade was 

 appointed during the recess of the Convention 

 Parliament after the Restoration. Are the names 

 of that council anywhere published? Did this 

 council continue to exist till the appointment (I 

 think in 1670) of the Council of Trade, of which 

 Lord Sandwich was made president ? C. H. 



SachevereWs and Charles LamFs Residences in the 

 Temple. — In which house in Crown Office Bow, 

 Temple, was Charles Lamb born ? and which 

 were the chambers occupied by Dr. Sacheverell, 

 also in the Temple, at the time of the riots caused 

 by his admirers ? 



An Admirer of tour Publication. 



Braddock and Orme. — Can you, or any of your 

 correspondents, furnish me (in reply to an inquiry 

 made of me by the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 

 vania) with any information about the families of 

 Braddock and Orme, in relation to General Brad- 

 dock, who commanded and was killed at the battle 

 of the Monongahela river ; and to Orme, who, with 

 Washington and Morris, were his aides-de-camp 

 in the melancholy and fatal engagement. 



F. O. Morris. 



Nunburnholme Rectory, York. 



