370 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 106. 



inadvertance, but purposely, and with the most 

 happy results. Tintoretto, in a painting of the 

 Entombment of Christ, has introduced the stable 

 of Bethlehem in the background ; thus finely con- 

 trasting the birthphice of Him who was found 

 " lying in a manger " with the fulfilment of the pro- 

 pliecy of His being " with the rich in His death : " 

 and such liberties both of time and place are 

 equally allowable in pictures of at all an imagina- 

 tive charactei', the artist feeling that by sacrific- 

 ing a minor and lower truth he can gain a higher, 

 or make his subject appeal more to the sympathies 

 of liis spectators. The instance also noticed by 

 P. P. in Vol. iv., p 150., is no mist.ake, but a legi- 

 mate employment of a symbol : the cross or flag, 

 with the motto "Ecce Agnus Dei," soon became 

 (he recognised symbol of iSt. Jotm tlie Baptist, and 

 as such was generally used witliout reference to 

 the exact time when the motto became strictly 

 applicable. The same strict criticism wliich would 

 disallow this license, would require the Madonna 

 to be always painted as a Jewess : but I cannot 

 think that paintings are fairly liable to such close 

 and prosaic scrutiny. P. P.'s instance of Zebedee's 

 sons being represented as young children, is tread- 

 ing on more doubtful ground, and some great 

 counterbalancing gain to the picture would alone 

 justify such a bold alteration of facts: but if the 

 subject be altogether treated in an allegorical 

 manner, it might be defensible. His modern in- 

 stances are, of course, sheer blunders, and cannot 

 be too severely reprehended ; and artists must 

 always remember that such liberties sliould never 

 be taken, unless by these means some higher object 

 is gained. Nor should modern painters e.xpect 

 the same indulgence, until they express in their 

 works the same spirit of devotion, and simple, 

 childlike earnestness of feeling, which distinguish 

 the early painters of the Italian Religious Sclioul. 



B. H. C. 

 Oxford. 



" AGLA," MEANING OF. 



(Vol.iv., p. 116.) 



I have the pleasure of being able to refer j\1r. 

 IMartin to an interpretation of this inscription. 

 The mystical word agla belongs to that species of 

 Cabbala, used by the Rabbinical writers, which is 

 called Notaricoii, and which consists of forming one 

 word out of the initial letters of a sentence. Thus 

 Agla is composed of the initials of 



T •*; T : • T - 



Attah-Gibbor-Leholam-Adonai (" Thou art strong 

 for ever, O Lord ! "), and signifies either " I re- 

 veal," or " a drop of dew," and is the cabbalistic 

 name of God. 



They also reversed tliis process, and made an 

 entire sentence from the letters of one word : thus 



of n'ti'X]13, Bereshith, which is the first word of 

 Genesis, they made the sentence 



:nininn w wiyy px vp'i «i3 



: T • - T ' V V - '• T T T 



Bara - Rakiya - Eretz - Shamay im - Yam-Tehomoth 

 (i. e. " he created the firmament, the earth, the 

 heavens, the sea, and the deep "). It would, how- 

 ever, be more correctly written 



nxi D'n nxi D'^oK-n nsi pxn nsi vp-^ri nx x-i3 



iDinnn 



Vide Dr. Hook's Church Dictionary, art. Cabbala. 



In Arnaud's work on the Vaudois, translated by 

 Acland (Murray, 1825), there is mention made of 

 certain inscribed talismans or preservatives, found 

 on the slain French soldiers of Marshal Catinat, 

 the inscriptions of which are given ; and among 

 them is one bearing the legend *AGVA>I<nATOMEii<. 



E. S. Taylor. 



The word "agla" mentioned by your correspon- 

 dent Mr. Martin as being inscribed on a ring, is 

 mentioned by Reginald Scott in his Discoverie of 

 Witchcraft (1584), as being inscribed on the con- 

 juring knives employed to describe the circles used 

 in calling spirits. He gives a cut of " the fashion or 

 form of the conjuring knife, and the names thereon 

 to be engraved," and on one side is agla. 



E. H. K. 



According to il. Collin de Plancy, in hh Diction- 

 naii-e Infernal, vol. i. p. 34., this word is com- 

 posed of the four first letters of the following 

 Hebrew words, Athar, gabor leolam, Aclonai, " Thou 

 art powerful and eternal, O Lord," and was a 

 cabbalistic word used against evil spirits. A brooch 

 of gold found near Devizes, and set with rubies in 

 the form of the letter A, and having the word 

 agla thereon, was shown at the AVinchester meet- 

 ing of the Archaeological Institute by AY. Herbert 

 Williams {Journal, vol. iii. p. 359.). 



Edward Hailstone. 



COLONIES IN ENGLAND. 



(Vol. iv., p. 272.) 



" The inhabitants of Haverfordwest derived their 

 origin from Flanders, and were sent by Henry I. to 

 inhat)it these districts ; a people brave and robust, ever 

 hostile to the Welsh ; a people, I say, well versed in 

 commerce and woollen manufactures ; a people anxious 

 to seek gain by sea and land, in defiance of fatigue or 

 danger ; a hardy race, equally fitted for the plough and 

 sword ; a people brave and happy," &c. — Giraldus 

 Cambrensis. 



" A. D. 1107. About this season a great part of 

 Flanders being drowned by an inundation, or breaking 

 in of the sea, a great number of Flemings came to 

 En^jland beseeching the king to have some void part 

 assigned to them, wherein they might inhabit. At the 

 first they were appointed to the conntrie lieing on the 

 east part of the Tweed ; but within four years after 



