104 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 7. 
“when they be afraid, will reeule backward, as fast as 
they went forward.” 
2nd. In the celebrated work of Sebastian Brandt, 
entitled Stultifera Navis (which went through 
many editions after its first appearance in 1494), 
is an engraving of a fool, wearing cap and bells, 
seated astride on the back of a lobster, with a 
broken reed in his hand, and a pigeon flying past 
him as he stares vacantly at it with open mouth. 
The following lines are attached : — 
De PrevesrinaTIONE. 
“ Qui pretium poscit quod non meruisse videtur, 
Atque super fragilem ponit sua brachia cannam 
Tllius in dorso Cancrorum semita stabit ; 
Devolet inque suum rictum satis assa Columba,” 
It appears, then, to me, that the design of the 
medallist was to hold up to the execration of the 
English people the machinations of Father Petre, 
who (together with Sunderland) guided the coun- 
cils of the king at that juncture. The Jesuits, 
like the crustaceous fish above-mentioned, were 
alleged to accomplish their dark and crooked 
designs by creeping and sedulously working their 
way straight forward through the mud, until some 
real danger presented itself, and then reculing 
with equal adroitness. 
At this time, too, the bigoted and superstitious 
adherents of James had been offering their vows 
at every shrine, and even making pilgrimages, to 
induce Heaven to grant a male heir to the throne, 
and thus exclude the Protestant daughters of the 
king. The premature and unexpected event, 
therefore, of the birth of a son, was pronounced by 
James’s friends to have been predestined by the 
special grace of the Most High. All this, I appre- 
hend, was intended to be typified by the figure of 
the Jesuit Petre riding upon a Lobster. 
Jos. Brooxs Yarss. 
Straw Necklaces —- Method of keeping Notes, §c. 
Sir,— As I see this matter is not yet explained, 
I venture a suggestion. Wheat straw was an 
emblem of peace among heathen nations ; in it the 
first-fruits brought by Abaris the HUyperborean 
to Delos were wrapped; and when commerce, or 
rather trade by barter, had rendered transmission 
from hand to hand practicable, wheat straw was 
still used. With the worship of Diana the offering 
of wheat straw passed over to Thrace, where it 
was a recognition of that goddess as the patron of 
chastity. In Judea the wheat harvest was later 
than that of barley, the Jews therefore offered a 
sheaf of the latter grain as first-fruits; it is, how- 
ever, extraordinary that Moses orders barley-meal 
as the offering for jealousy (Numbers, v. 15.), 
though the price of barley was but half that of 
wheat. It seems as if there were the same con- 
nection between this peace-offering and that of 
the first-fruits with the Jews, that we see between 
the offering to Diana and the first-fruits of the 
Hyperboreans ; both may have been derived from 
Egypt, in the learning of which, we are told, Moses 
was skilled. The straw necklace or chaplet of 
Erasmus’ pilgrim might be worn to secure him 
from molestation in travelling, or it may refer to 
the patroness of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary. 
I dare say many persons have thought with me, 
that the poet’s promise of a “ belt of straw ” to his 
love, was not a very complimentary one; the pos- 
sible meaning never struck me till this moment: 
it may be a compliment unconsciously drawn from 
a heathen source, and perpetuated, like so many 
of our old-world customs, among a class of people 
the least likely to understand the meaning. 
Another corroboration of Macaulay's Young 
Levite may be found in The Tatler, No. 255., sixty 
years later than Burton. 
I beg to suggest a method of keeping “ Notes,” 
which I have found useful. I have a blank book 
for each quarter of the world, paged alphabeti- 
cally ; I enter my notes and queries according to 
the subject for which they are most likely to be 
required ; if relating to mere geography or history, 
under the name of place or person. I also keep a 
list (with dates) of all the books I read, with a 
note of any use to be made of them; I also keep 
a list of all books to be read, and the reasons 
for reading them. I tried various ways of keeping 
my notes, and found no classification so easy for 
reference as the plan I have mentioned; it may 
not, however, suflice to those whose reading is 
much more extensive than mine; I mention it 
as a working plan. F.C. B. 
ANSWERS TO MINOR QUERIES. 
Ancient Motto. 
Sir, —In your Sixth Number, p. 93. J. E. M. 
wishes to know whence the motto, “Si quis 
amicum absentem rodere delectat,” &c. is taken. 
Allow me to refer your correspondent to 
Horace, Sat. I. iv. 81 sqq. 
« Absentem qui redit amicum, 
Qui non defendit, alio culpante, 
hie niger est, hane tu, Romane, caveto.” 
The inscription would seem to be but an adap- 
tation of Horace’s maxim. C. B. B. 
Political Maxim — when first used. 
The political maxim, or phrase, inquired after 
by C. is Burke's. It occurs in his celebrated 
Thoughts on the Cause of the present Discontent, 
published in 1770, in the course of his defence of 
party, a few pages from the end. A short extract 
