424 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 83. 



land, it is singular tliat we should have to reproach 

 ourselves with such almost total ignorance re- 

 specting the literature of that country. AVitli the 

 exception of the slight sketch given by Dr. Bow- 

 ring of its poetical literature, an Englishman has 

 no work to which he can turn in his own language 

 for information ; and Dutch l)Ooks may be sought 

 for in vain in London. The late Mr. Heber 

 when in Holland diil not neglect its literature, 

 and at the dispersion of his library I procured a 

 few valuable Dutch books; among others, the very 

 handsome volume which has given rise to this note. 

 It contains much interesting matter, and aflFords 

 a most amiable picture of the mind of its distin- 

 guished author, who lived to the very advanced 

 age of ninety-one. There is a speaking and living 

 portrait of liim prefixed, from the beautiful graver 

 of Blotehngk, and a view of his chateau of Hofwyck, 

 with detailed plans of his garden, &c. He was 

 secretary to three successive princes of Nassau, 

 accountant to the Prince of Orange, and Lord of 

 Zuylicliem; and hved in habits of friendly inter- 

 coiirse with almost all the distinguished men who 

 nourished during his long and prosperous life. 

 His son is well known to the world of science as 

 tlie inventor of the pendulum. 



Translations of three or four of Constantine 

 Huyghens' poems are given by Dr. Bowring in his 

 Batuvian Anthology. And the great Vondel pro- 

 nounces his volume to be — 



" A garden mild of savours sweet, 



Where Art and Skill and Wisdom meet; 



Rich in its vast variety 



Of forms and hues of ev'ry dye." 



S. W. Singer. 



THE REV. MR. GAY. 



The very interesting notices which you have 

 often given us of the truly great and inestimable 

 Locke, induce me to trouble you with an inquiry 

 relative to a philosophical writer, who followed in 

 his school, I mean the Rev. Mr. Gay, the author 

 of the Dissertation prefixed to Bishop Law's trans- 

 lation of King's Origin of Einl. It is sufficient 

 evidence of the importance of that Dissertation, 

 that it put Hartley upon considering and deve- 

 loping the principle of association, into which 

 principle he conceived, and endeavoured to prove, 

 that ail tlie phenomena of reasoning and afiection 

 might be resolved, and of which Laplace observes, 

 that it constitutes the whole of what has yet been 

 done in the philosophv of the human mind ; " la 

 partie reelle de la metaphysique " (^Essai Philo- 

 sopliique stir les Probabilites, p. 224. ed. 1825). 



Of this Mr. Gay, I have not yet been able to 

 learn more than that he was a clergyman in the 

 West of England ; but of what place, of what 

 family, where educated, of what manner of life, or 

 what habits of study, no biographical or topo- 



graphical reading has hitherto furnished me with 

 any information. I shoidd feel greatly indebted 

 to any of your readers who would give the clue to 

 what is known or can be known about him. It is 

 probably within easy reach, though I have missed 

 it. The ordinary biographical dictionaries make 

 no mention of liim. EnwARD Tagart. 



North End, Hamp'itead, May 19. 1851. 



Minor cauciicS. 



Carved Ceiling in Dorsetshire. — In the south of 

 Dorsetshire there is a house (its name I do not 

 remember) which has a beautifully carved ceiling 

 in the hall. This is said to have been sent from 

 Spain by a King of Castile, who, being wrecked 

 on this coast, and hospitably entertained by the 

 owners of the mansion, took this method of show- 

 ing his gratitude. Can any of your readers inform 

 me what king this was, or refer me to any work in 

 which I may find it ? Jerne. 



Publicans' Signs. — AVill any of your readers 

 inform me whether the signs of publicans were 

 allowed to be retained by the same edict which 

 condemned those of all other trades ? Rovert. 



To a T. — What is the origin of the phrase; 

 and of that "To fit to a T.?" (Query, a "T 

 square" = ad amussim.) A. A. D. 



Skeletons at Egyptian Banquet. — Where did 

 Jer. Taylor find tliis interpretation of the object 

 of placing a skeleton at the banqueting table: — 



" The Egyptians used to serve up a skeleton to their 

 feasts, that the vaj>oiirs of wine might he restrained 

 with that hunch of myrrh, and the vanities of their 

 eyes chastened by that sad object." 



Certainly not in Herodotus, 2. 78. ; -which 

 savours rather of the Sardanapalian spirit : " Eat, 

 drink, and love — the rest's not worth a fillip!" 

 Comp. Is. xxii. 13., 1 Cor. xv. 32. A. A. D. 



Gloves (Vol. i., pp. 72. 405. ; Vol. ii., p. 4. ; 

 Vol. iii., p. 220.). — Blouttt, in his Laic Dictionary, 

 fo. 1670, under the title " Capias Utlagatum," 

 observes : 



" At present, in the King's Bench, the outlawry can- 

 not be reversed, unless the defendant appear in person, 

 and, by a present of gloves to the judges, implore and 

 obtain their favour to reverse it." 



Perhaps some of your correspondents may be 

 able to state when the practice of presenting gloves 

 to the judges on moving to reverse an outlawry in 

 the King's Bench was discontinued. The statute 

 4 & 5 Will, and Mar. c. 18., rendered unnecessary 

 & personal appearance in that court to reverse an 

 outlawry (except for treason or felony, or where 

 special bail was ordered). C. H. Cooper. 



Cambridge, March 24. 1851. 



Knapp Family in Norfolk and Suffolk. — I should 

 be much obliged to any Norfolk or Suffolk anti- 



