NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 31. 



Romans tliink them iinliappy?" Translated from 

 Cicero {Tnsc. Disc. i. c. 7. § 13.) 



Cap. III. Sect. S. § 6. p. 345. — "Brutus, . . when 

 Furius came to cut his throat, after his defeat by 

 Anthony, he ran from it like a girl." — Valer. Max. 

 ix. 13. § 3. Seuec. JSpist. 82. 



J. E. B. Mayor. 



INIarlborough College, May 13. 



UNPUBLISHED EPIGRAMS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



I am not aware that the following epigrams 

 have ever been printed. I transferred them to 

 my note-book some time ago from the letters of 

 Mr. Alartyn, a litterateur of temporary fame in 

 the first half of the eighteenth century, a<ldressed 

 to Dr. Birch ; which are among the Birch jNISS. 

 in the Britisli Museum. Mr. Martyn, if I remem- 

 ber riglit, gives them as not his own. You may 

 think them worth printing in your agreeable 

 Miscellany : — 



EPITAPH ON ARCHBISHOP POTTER. 



" Alack and well-a-day. 



Potter himself is turned to clay." 



Two epigrams on the coffins of Dr. Sachevercl 

 and Sally Salisbury being found together in the 

 vault of St. Andrew's : — 



" Lo ! to one grave consigned, of rival fame, 

 A reverend Doctor and a wanton dame. 

 AVell for the world both did to rest retire, 

 For each, while living, set mankind on fire." 



" A fit companion for a high-church priest; 

 He non-resistance taught, and she profest." 



cn. 



ON AUTHORS AND BOOKS, NO. 7. 



The author of the volume of which I am about 

 to give a character, from the Ms. of sir William 

 Musgrave, seems to be the person who is described 

 by Gough as " Arthur Dobbs, Esq. of Castle 

 Dobbs, promoter of the discovery of the jST. W. 

 passage." The note may interest both historians 

 and collectors of books. 



An Essay on the trade and improvement of 

 Ireland. By Aithur Dobbs, Esq. Dublin, 

 1729-31. 8vo. 



" 'iliis volume contains both the parts of the work, 

 and is a most curious collection of facts and accounts 

 respecting die population revenue and trade of Ireland; 

 and 1 iKjUeve it is scarce, as I have not often met with 

 it, nor do I remember to have heard it quoted on either 

 side during the warm disputes about the commercial 

 intercourse between England and Ireland in the year 

 17S5." [W. Musgrave.] 



I procured tliis volume fi'om the collection of 

 ^Ir. Heber, vii. 1682. — Sir William Musgrave 

 was a Trustee of the British IMuseum, and be- 



queathed near two thousand volumes to that in- 

 comparable establishment. He was partial to 

 biography, and gave much assistance to Granger. 

 Ilis Adversaria and Ohituart/, I often consult. 

 The latter work is an excellent specimen of well- 

 applied assiduity. Ob. 1800. Bolton Corney. 



(Sucrt'c^. 



PUNISHMENT OF DEATH BY BURNING. 



.Judging from the astonishment with wdiich I 

 learned I'rom an eye-witness the circumstance, I 

 think that some of your readers will be surprised 

 to learn that, within the memory of witnesses still 

 alive, a woman was burnt to death, under sentence 

 of the judge of assize, for the murder of her hus- 

 band. 



This crime — petty treason — was formerly pu- 

 nished with fire and faggot; and the repeal of the 

 law is mentioned by Lord Campbell in a note to 

 his life of one of our recent chancellors, but I have 

 not his work to refer to. 



Tlie post to wliich this woman was bound stood, 

 till recently, in a field adjoining AVinchester. 



She was condemned to be burnt at the stake ; 

 and a marine, her paramour and an accomplice iu 

 the murder, was condemned to be hanged. 



A gentleman lately deceased told me the cir- 

 cumstances n^inutel3^ I think that he had been 

 at the trial, but I know that he was at the execu- 

 tion, and saw the wretched woman fixed to the 

 stake, fire put to the faggots, and her body burnt. 

 But I know two persons still alive who were pre- 

 sent at her execution, and I endeavoured, in 1 848, 

 to ascertain from one of them the date of this 

 event, and '■^made a note" of his answer, which 

 was to this effect : — 



" I can't recollect the year ; but I remember the 

 circumstance well. It was about sixty-five years ago. 

 I was there along with the crowd. 1 sat on iny 

 father's shoulder, and saw them bring her and the 

 marine to the field. They fixed her neck by a rope to 

 the stake, and then set fire to the faggots, and burnt 

 her." 



She was probably strangled by this rope. 



One Query which I would ask is, Was this exe- 

 cution at 'NA'inchester, in 1783 (or thereabouts), 

 the last instance in England ? and another is. Are 

 you aware of any other instance in the latter part 

 of the last century ? E. S. S. W. 



CORNELIS DREBBEL. 



In a very curious little book, entitled Kroivjche 

 van Alcmaer, and published in that town anno 

 1645, I read the following particulars about Cor- 

 nelis Drebbel, a native of the same city. 



Being justly renowned as a natural philosopher, 

 and having made great progress in mechanics, 



