Nov. 15. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



387 



as T. W. thinks it means with Byron's punctuation, 

 or " the shores obey the tyrants," as T. W. would 

 make it mean with his amended punctuation. 



In a recent number (p. 3-25.) Mr. M. Collins 

 objects to — 



" Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain!" 

 and exclaims, " In vain ! " Why, did not Co- 

 lumbus, &c.? But this criticism also overlooks the 

 meaning of the passage. The ileets traverse the 

 ocean quite in vain, as to producing any permanent 

 traces, as is explained in the very next words : 



" Man marks the earth with ruin : liis control 

 Stops with the shore." &c. 



w. w. 



Cambridge. 



CAGOTS. 



(Vol. iv., pp. 190. 331.) 



A reference to Dr. Guggenbiihl's Letter to Lord 

 Ashley on Cretinism, and to the reviews of the 

 subject, of which I can name two in the Athenceum, 

 one in 1848, p. 1077., and another on June 21, 

 1851, will, I think, show that there are no "races 

 of Cretins," though the disease — for it is nothing 

 but a disease — will sometimes largely affect even 

 f\imilies. One of the principal characteristics of 

 the disease is a disgusting goitre, enlarging the 

 neck to such a size, that a part of it becomes pen- 

 dulous to the length of upwards of a foot, and can 

 even be flung over the shoulder, and is, indeed, 

 often carried there. It is very commonly accom- 

 panied by idiocy ; and, in fact, the Cretin is one 

 of the most distressing objects that can be seen. 

 The disease is very common in some parts of 

 Switzerland, especially, I believe, the Valais ; some 

 attribute it to the water : and probably climatic 

 influences, in conjunction with the deleterious 

 elements contained in the water, and the frequent 

 intermarriage of the villagers, and deficient or un- 

 wholesome diet, are the chief sources to which it 

 must be traced. It is curable ; at the institution 

 on the Abendberg the treatment is very successful. 

 The disease never appeals above a certain level, 

 and disappears wlien, under favourable circum- 

 stances, the patient is raised to that level. Cases 

 have been found in Lancashire, and at Chisel- 

 borough in Somer.setshire, and at other places 

 which present predisposing causes resembling those 

 of Switzerland. 



I do not think that Ajax's suggestion " cre- 

 dentes" as the derivation of Cretin can be sub- 

 stantiated. Is it a term at all connected with 

 diversity of religious opinion and consequent per- 

 secution ? In the Alps, Cretinism is regarded 

 with pity and kindness, as llusTicus truly remarks. 

 The term cagnt is current in the French with 

 the meaning of an impostor, a hyjjocritc ; " celui 

 qui a une devotion I'ausse ou nial-entenduc," is 



the meaning in the Dictionnaire de VAcademie; 

 also a bigot. 



It is altogether a religious term. May I suggest 

 that they are a relique of the old population of 

 the mountain vallies imperfectly Christianised, 

 therefore despised by the more enlightened popula- 

 tion of the neighbourhood, — half-civilised, perhaps, 

 and physically degraded by the same causes which 

 have given the goitre and the idiocy of the Cretin 

 to the inhabitants of the Valais. If so, they may 

 be Iberian, or what is commonly called Celtiberian, 

 a term which I think there is reason for abandon- 

 ing. I shall be glad to hear more of these Cagots; 

 abo\it the Cretins a good deal is known, and 

 with much certainty, but nothing, as far as I can 

 learn, that tends to identify them historically with 

 any religious sect. 



I am able to add further information concerning 

 the Cagots. They are a miserable race, mostly 

 beggars, or employed only about the meanest and 

 filthiest work, abounding in leprosy and other 

 cutaneous diseases, and in the most loathsome 

 vermin ; houseless, half-clad, inhabiting stables, 

 barns, or any casual place of shelter, generally 

 mutilated and lame, outcasts from society, reputed 

 to lead infamous lives, indulging in the most horrible 

 practices, even of cannibalism, and worse offences 

 than that. Their brand used to be an eggshell on 

 their clothes, and the custom was to pierce their 

 feet with an iron. Scidiger derived their name 

 from " Canis Gottus," and their origin has been 

 assigned to some one of the northern nations which 

 penetrated into the south of France and north of 

 Spain in the third and fourth centuries before 

 our era. 



On this may I be allowed to forward a Query or 

 two ? What is their language ? What are their 

 own traditions concerning theii' origin ? I am 

 confirmed in my opinion that they are no way 

 analogous to the Cretins; the latter being diseased, 

 and Cretins because they are diseased ; the Cagot 

 being diseased and filthy, and despised because he 

 is a Cagot, an individual of a degraded and out- 

 cast race of men. Theophylact. 



TEXTS BEFORE SERMONS. 



(Vol. iv., p. 344.) 



In the early church the sermon was delivered 

 immediately afler the reading of the Scriptures 

 {Const. Aposl.Wh. viii. c..5.), and sometimes preached 

 without any text; at other times, upon more texts 

 than one; but most conunonly the text was taken out 

 of some parngraph of" the Psahns or Lessons, as they 

 were read. Origen expressly calls Sermons, ex- 

 planations of the Lessons (Orig. cont. Cels., lib. iii.). 

 The Fathers sometimes so ordered the matter, as 

 to preach upon the Psalm, the Epistle, and the 

 Gospel all together, when ihey hapjiened to be on 



