240 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 74* 



door is thus attacked may, if they can, seize the 

 offenders, and inflict summary justice upon them; 

 but, as they usually effect their escape before the 

 door can be opened, this is not easily managed. 



Query, Can this apparently unintelligible cus- 

 tom have any reference to the 21st verse of the 

 ixth chap, of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans : 

 " Hath not tlie potter power over the clay, of the 

 same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and 

 another iinto dishonour?" — the earthen frag- 

 ments thus turned to dishonour being called 

 " Paul's pitchers." 



Any more probable conjecture as to the origin 

 or meaning of this ('ustom, or any account of its 

 occurring elsewhere, will greatly oblige 



F. M. (a Subscriber). 



Disinterment for Heresy. — A remarkable in- 

 stance of disinterment on account of heresy is 

 stated to have occurred a little before the Re- 

 formation, in the case of one Tracy, who was 

 publicly accused in convocation of having ex- 

 pressed heretical tenets in his will ; and, having 

 been found guilty, a commission was issued to 

 dig up his body, which was accordingly done. I 

 sliall be much obliged to any of your readers who 

 will favour me with the date and particulars of 

 this case. Arun. 



'■'■Just Notions" ^'C. — Atthe end of the Introduc- 

 tion of The Christian Instructed in the Principles 

 of ReligioH, by W. Reading, Lond. 1717, occur the 

 following lines : (Query, whether original, or, if 

 not, from whence quoted ?) — 



" Just notions will into good actions grow, 

 And to our reason we our virtues owe ; 

 False jiulgiiients are the unhappy source of ill, 

 And blinded error draws the passive will. 

 To know our God, and know ourselves, is all 

 We can true happiness or wisdom call." 



U. Q. 



Pursuits of Literature. — How came the author 

 of the Pursuits of Litei-ature to be known ? I 

 have before me the 11th edition (l.SOl); and in 

 the Preface to the fourth and last dialogue, the 

 author declares that " neither my name nor situ- 

 ation in life tvill ever be revealed." He does not 

 pretend to be the sole depository of his own secret ; 

 but he says again : 



" My secret will be for ever preserved, I know, under 

 every change of fortune or of political tenets, while 

 honour, and virtue, and religion, and friendly affection, 

 and erudition, and the principles of a gentleman ha e 

 binding force and authority upon minds so cultivated 

 and dignified. When they fall, I am contented to fall 

 with them." 



Nevertheless, the author of the Pursuits of 

 Literature is known. How is this ? S. T. D. 



Satirical Medal. — I possess a medal whose 

 history I should be glad to know. It is apparently 

 of silver, though not ringing ;is such, and about an 



inch and a quarter in diameter. On the obverse 

 are two figures in the long-waisted, full-skirted 

 coats, cavalier hats, and full-bottomed wigs of, I 

 presume, Louis XIV.'s time. Both wear, swords ; 

 one, exhil>iting the most developed wig of the two, 

 offei'S a siiutf-hox, from which the other has ac- 

 cepted a pinch, and filli]is it into his companion's 

 eyes. The legend is " Faites-vous cela pour in'af- 

 fronter?" 



The mitigated heroism of this quei'y seems to be 

 noted on the reverse, which presents a man digging 

 ill the ground, an operation in which he must be 

 somewhat hanqiered by a lantern in his lett hand ; 

 superfluous one would deem (but for the authority 

 of Diogenes), as the sun is shining aliove his head 

 in full splendour. The digger's opinion, that the 

 two combined are not more than the case recpiires, 

 is conveyed in the legend, — 



" Je cherche du courage pour mon niaistre." 



The finiling was curious. On cutting down an 

 ash-tree in the neighbourhood of Linton, Cam- 

 bridgeshire, in 181S, a knob on its trunk was lopped 

 off", and this medal discovered in its core ! It was 

 probably the cause of the excrescence, having been, 

 perhaps, thrust under the bark to escape the 

 danger of its apparently political allusion. The 

 Linton carrier purchased it lor half-a-crown, and 

 from him it passed in 1820 into hands whence it 

 devolved to me. 



Is anything known of this medal, or are any 

 other specimens of it extant? I pretend to no 

 numismatic skill, but to an unlearned mind it 

 would seem to contain allusion to the insult which 

 Charles II. and his government were supposed to 

 submit to from Louis XIV. ; to be, in fact, a sort 

 of metallic HB. 



Some friend, I foi'get who, pronounced the 

 workmanshi]) Dutch, which would, 1 think, fiivour 

 the above theory. The figures are in bold and 

 ])rominent relief, but to a certain degree rounded 

 by wear, having been evidently carried in the 

 pocket lor a considerable time. G. AV. W. 



Matthew's Mediterranean Passage. — T should be 

 thankful for any information as to where the fol- 

 lowing work could be seen, and also respecting the 

 nature of its contents. 



" Somerset. — Matthew's Mediterranean Passage by 

 water from London to Bristol, &c., and from Lynne to 

 Yannouthe. Very rare, 4to. 1670." 



The above is quoted from Thos. Thorpe's Cat., 

 part iii., 1832, p. 169., uo. 7473. Mercurii. 



Inscription on an Oak Board. — I have an old 

 oak board, on which are carved the following lines 

 ill raised cajjital letters of an antique form, with 

 lozenges between the words : — 



" IF . VOV . WOVLD . KNOW . MV . NAME . 



OR . WHO . I . WAS . THAT . DID . THF, . SAME . 

 I.OKE . IN . GENESIS . WHERE . HEE , DOO . INtUGHT." 



