Dec. 21. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



499 



■was made, and bow it came to be sanctioned, while ! 

 the English remained unchanged. E. C. H. 



Disputed Passage in the Tempest (Vol. ii., pp. 259. 

 299.337.429.).— Allow me to remind Mk. George 

 Stephens, who takes credit for adhering to the 

 " primitive" text of a certain disputed passage in 

 the Tempest^ that neither he nor any one else does 

 so ; that the " primitive " text, that is, the te.xt of 

 the first folio, is mere nonsense, and that he simply 

 adopts the first attempt at correction, instead of 

 the second, or the third, or the fourth. 



Enough has been written, perhaps, on the mean- 

 ing of this passage; and opinion will always be 

 divided between those who adopt the pi-osaical, 

 and those who prefer the more poetical reading : 

 but when INIr. Stephens says the construction is 

 merely an instance of a "common ellipsis," I can- 

 not but think it would be an advantage if he would 

 inform us whether he uses this term in its common 

 acceptation, and if so, if he would give the mean- 

 ing stated at first. If this be a common ellipsis, I 

 must confess myself to be so stupid as not to under- 

 stand it. 



I dissent, too, altogether from the opinion that 

 the comma is of any importance in the construction 

 of this passage. Assuming, as one corresjiondent 

 says, and as J\Ir. Stephens (for 1 don't quite un- 

 derstand his brief judgment) seems to say, that 

 '■'■most husie least" means least hus!/, the placing 

 a comma between "least" and the conjunction 

 " when" can in no way affect the sense, though, as 

 a matter of taste, I should decidedly object to it. 



To show that I am not wedded to any particular 

 interpretation, I have another suggestion to mnke 

 which has struck me even while writing. Taking 

 " lest" for least, can it have been used for at least, 

 or as some people say, leastwise ? The sense would 

 still be the same as 1 have contended for, ex- 

 pressed something like this : " But these sweet 

 thoughts do even refresh my labours : at least they 

 are most busy when I forget myself in my occu- 

 pation." Samuel Hickson. 



TMdy ComptoiLS Letter (Vol. ii., p. 424.). — Mk. 

 C. H. Cooper inquires whether this letter appeared 

 before 1839 ? Gitrord gives an extract fiom it 

 in Massinger's City Madam, Act II., where the 

 daughters of Sir John Frugal make somewhat 

 similar stipulations from their suitors. When 

 sjieaking of this letter as " a modest and consola- 

 tory one," Giil'ord adds, " it is yet extant." The 

 editor of a work entitle<l Relics of Literature Q8'23) 

 gives it at length, with this reference, " Harleian 

 MSS. 7003." The property of Lady Compton's 

 father, Sir John Spencer, is stated variously from 

 300,000^. to 800,000/. In this case, riches brought 

 with them their customary share of anxieties. 

 Lyson.-i, in \\\i Jiuvirons of London, informs us that 

 a plot was actually laid for carrying olf the 

 ] wcaltiiy merchant from his house at Canonbury, 



by a pirate of Dunkirk, in the hope of obtaining a 

 large ransom. J. H. JM. 



Midwives licensed (Vol. ii., p. 408.). — I have 

 a manuscript volume which belonged to Bishop 

 Warburton, and apparently to other Bishops of 

 Gloucester betbre him ; containing, amongst other 

 Pontificalia, in writing of various ages, a number 

 of forms of licences, among which occurs "Licentia 

 Obstetricis," whereby the bishop 



" eandem A. B. ad exerccndam Artem et Officlum 

 Obstetricis in et per totam Diocesin Glnucestiensem 

 pra'dictam adniisit et Litevas Testimoniales siiperinde 

 fieri decrevit. " 



There is no mention of charms or incantations 

 in the licence, but the oath " de jure in hac parte 

 requisito," is required to have been made. The 

 form is of the same writing as several others which 

 bear dates from 1709 to 1719. Below is a memo- 

 randum of the fees, amounting to 17«. Qd. 



Thomas Kerslake. 



Bristol. 



Echo Song (Vol. ii., p. 441.). — Although I can- 

 not supply Llyd Kuys Morgan with the name 

 of the writer, I may refer him to D'lsraeli's 

 Curiosities of Literature, p. 257. (Moxon's edit. 

 1840), where he will find another Echo Song, by 

 a certain Francis Cole, so similar to the one he 

 quotes as to induce me to think that they either 

 come from the same pen, or that the one is an 

 imitation of the other. Y. 



The Irish Brigade (Vol. ii., pp. 407. 452.). — It 

 is understood John C. O'CuHagiian, Esq., author 

 of the Green Book, contemplated a much more 

 copious work on the subject than that by the late 

 Matthew O'Connor, mentioned by your correspon- 

 dent (p. 452.). The Union Quutidienne of 23rd 

 April last announced a work by M. de la Ponce, 

 JEssai sur TIrlande Ancienne, et sur les Brigades 

 h-landaises au Service de France, de/mis lew Or- 

 ganisation en 1G91 ; but whether published or not 

 I am not aware. Perhaps some of your corre- 

 spondents may know. Drumlethglas. 



To save one's Bacon (A''ol. ii., p. 424.). — May 

 I ventui-e to suggest that this phrase has reference 

 to the custom at Dunmow, in Essex, of giving a 

 flitch of bacon to any married couple residing in 

 the parish, who live in harmony for a year and a 

 day. A man and his wife who stopped short when 

 on the verge of a quarrel nn'ght be said to have 

 "just saved their bacon ;" and in course of time 

 the phrase would be apj)lied to anyone who barely 

 escaped any loss or danger. X. Z. 



" The Times " Neii-spaper and the Coptic Lan- 

 guage (Vol. ii., p. 377.). — J. E, quotes a passage 

 ii-om The Times newspaper respecting tlie Cuptic 

 language, and asks if any correspondcut can furnish 

 a clearer account of its structure than llic wi-iter 

 of that article has given. A reference to the work 



