Aug. 9. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



109 



thank liini to insert the accompanying statement 

 by the Marchioness of Bute, in respect to the lines 

 said to have been written by her sister, Lady Flora 

 Hastings, in the next number of his paper. 

 Cardiff, Aug. 5. 1851. 



A friend has copied and sent to me a passage 

 in the paper named " JSTotes and Queries," of 

 Saturday, July 19. 1851, No. 90. page 44. 



The passage refers to my sister. Lady Flora 

 Hastings, and a poem ascribed to her. If it were 

 a matter solely of literary nature, I should not 

 have interfered ; considering the point in debate 

 may not be interesting to a very e.xtended circle 

 of persons. But I feel it is a duty not to allow an 

 undeserved imputation to rest on any one, espe- 

 cially on one styled a " Christian lady." Probably 

 no person but myself can place the debated ques- 

 tion beyond doubt. I do not know who the 

 " Christian lady " or who Ekza may be; but the 

 lines entitled " Lady Flora Hastings' Bequest" 

 are not by Lady Flora Hastings. She solemnly 

 bequeathed all her papei's and manuscripts to 

 me, and those verses are not amongst them ; 

 else they should have been included in the 

 volume of her poems which I published. More- 

 over, Lady Flora Hastings never parted with her 

 Bible till, by my brother's desire, I had warned 

 her on the authority of the physicians that any 

 hour might close her existence on earth. She 

 was then unable to read it to herself. It was to 

 me (not to my brother, as stated by Chaklotte 

 Elizabeth) tliat she confided the book and the 

 message for our mother ; and when she did so, 

 she was too weak in body to have committed the 

 simple words of the message to paper. I was 

 with her night and day for many days before she 

 gave the gift and message to my care, and she 

 died in my arms. She could not have composed 

 any verses, or written a word, or dictated a sen- 

 tence, without my knowledge, for more than a week 

 before she died. 



S. F. C. Bute and Ddmfeies. 



Largo House, Fife, July 30. 1851. 



3Uc}iItc^ to iHt'iior CiluEn'c^. 



Inscription on an old Board (Vol. iii., p. 240.). 

 — I would suggest that the 3Ist chapter of Genesis 

 may solve this riddle. Wq have in the latter part 

 of that chapter the account of a covenant entered 

 into between Jacob and Laban, and we are there 

 told that a pillar was erected as a witness between 

 them of this covenant ; Jacob calling it Galeed, 

 also Mizpah. May not the inscription on the 

 board ha a token of some covenant of the same 

 kind ; and may it not have been jjlaced on a pillar, 

 or on some conspicuous place on the exterior of 

 the house, or over the mantel in some room of the 

 bouse (this hitter being suggested in the article 



describing the board) ? If I am correct, the name 

 of the person who did " indite " the inscription 

 should be one which, if not spelt exactly like 

 Galeed or Mizpah, would in sound resemble the 

 one or the other. H. H. B. 



Monte Cavallo, South Carolina, 



Churches decoratedat Christmas (Vol. iii., p. 1 1 8.). 

 — In the Ejjiscopal churches of our country this 

 custom is religiously observed ; the foliage of the 

 holly, cedar, and pine being chiefly used for this 

 purpose at the south, together with artificial 

 flowers. At Easter also most of the same churches 

 are decorated, though some are not; and at that 

 season natural flowers are also used for the pur- 

 pose, mingled with the evergreen foliage of the 

 trees mentioned above. H. H. B. 



Monte Cavallo, South Carolina. 



Royal Library (Vol. iv., p. 69.). — The letter 

 addressed by King George IV. to the Earl of 

 Liverpool, referred to in the above page, will be 

 found in the Gentleman! s Magazine for February, 

 1S23, page 161. It is dated from the Pavilion, 

 Brighton, on the 15th of the preceding month. 



The Committee, in their Parliamentary Report, 

 state that the king had accompanied his munificent 

 donation of this library to the public, " with the 

 gift of a valuable selection of coins and medals ;" 

 and they close their Report in the following words: 



" The Committee would not do justice to the senti- 

 ments with which they are affected, if they failed to 

 express in the strongest terms the gratitude they feel, 

 ill common with the nation, fur the act of ynunijicent 

 liberalitt/ which has brought this subject under their 

 consideration, and for the disposition which is so 

 strongly evinced by that act, on t'le part of his Majesty, 

 of promoting, by the best means, the science and litera- 

 ture of the country." 



Would all this have been said, if the value of the 

 library, in " pounds sterling " was, as has been 

 alleged, to be made good by the country to its late 

 owner ? 



"When urging that this library, containing about 

 65,000 volumes, might have been preserved at 

 AVhitehall, or in some other part of ^Vestminste^, 

 as a <//«/i«c/ collection, it may be stated, that on its 

 removal to the Museum, 21,000 duplicates were 

 found in the united libraries, but that " it was not 

 considered ailvisable to part with more than 12,000; 

 which should be taken from books iu the Museum." 

 "Why should not the Museum have retained its 

 du[)licates, leaving those in the royal library for 

 the benefit of readers in another part of the metro- 

 jjolis ? 'Was the expense of a separate establish- 

 ment the great obstacle ? J. H. M. 



Proof of a Sword (Vol. iv., p. 39.). — Ensis 

 asks, " What is the usual test of a good blade ?" 

 The proof by striking on the surface of smooth 

 water, is not uncommon in ludia ; though, iu my 



