Dec. 6. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



455 



always been accustomed to explain the derivation 

 of ^ra or Era thus: — that it is a term trans- 

 ferred from the [brazen] tablets, on which the re- 

 cords of events were noted, to the events them- 

 selves, and thence to the computum, or fixed 

 chronological point from which the reckoning 

 proceeds. 



My difficulty here has been to find sufficient in- 

 stances of the use of brass in ancient times for 

 these purposes. Brass was the material on which 

 laws, &c. were commonly registered : but the fasti 

 at present discovered, as far as I can learn, are 

 engraven on marble; as, for instance, the Fasti 

 Capitolini, discovered in the Roman Forum in 

 1547, and the fragments afterwards brought to 

 light in 1817, 1818. 



Isidore of Hispola, in the eighth century, in his 

 Origines, gives this derivation : 



" yEra singulorum annorum constltuta est a Cjesare 

 Augusto, quando priinum censum exegit. Dicta 

 autem ^ra ex eo, quod omnls orbis aes reddere profes- 

 sus est reipublicas." 



I quote on the authority of Facciolati, who adds 

 that others derive the word from the letters a.eb.a., 

 " annus erat Augusti." These are not at all satis- 

 factory ; and I shall be glad if you will allow me 

 to throw in my derivation as " being worth what 

 it will fetch." Theophilact. 



Koch says, in note 5 to the Introduction of his 

 Revolution of Europe, that " sera" is derived from 

 the initials of the phrase " Anno erat regnante Au- 

 gusto ; " and was first used among the Spaniards, 

 who dated from the renewal of the second trium- 

 virate even down to the fourteenth or fifteenth 

 centuries. Hd. 



Scent of the Blood-hound (Vol. iv., p. 368.). — 

 C. H. asks whether it be true that a hound loses 

 his scent — 



" If he fele swetness of V" flouris." 

 A few years ago a master of fox-hounds in the 

 New Forest excused some bad sport in March 

 thus : " The hounds can't hunt for those d — d 

 stinking violets!" rather to the amusement of 

 some of his field. G. N. 



Monk and Cromwell Families (Vol. iv., p. 381.). 

 — A SuBSCEiBER seems to imply that the Monk 

 and Cromwell families intermarried. In Chaun- 

 cy's Hertfordshire, vol. i. p. 582. of the new 

 edition, but which was originally printed in 1700, 

 it is stated, that the well-known manor of Theo- 

 balds was granted by Charles II. to the great 

 Monk in tail male; on the death of his son, Duke 

 Christopher, it reverted to the crown ; and that 

 King William, by letters patent of the 4th of 

 April, 1689, gave it to William Bentinck, who 

 was created Earl of Portland. It must have come, 

 therefore, to the Cromwells by intermarriage either 

 with a. Beatiack, which, I believe, was uot the 



case, or with some subsequent purchasers of the 

 manor. Theobalds originally belonged to Sir 

 Robert Cecil, of whom James I. obtained it in 

 exchange for Hatfield. It was given as a reward 

 for restoring the Stuarts to Monk, and to Bentinck 

 for assisting again to expel them. J. H. L. 



" Truth is that which a man troweth " (Vol. iv., 

 p. 382.). — For the information of your correspon- 

 dent r. I send the following, which I believe to be 

 the original authority for the above saying. It is 

 taken from the celebrated work of Home Tooke's, 

 entitled Diversions of Purley, which, though highly 

 interesting as a treasury of philological informa- 

 tion, contains this among other absurd attempts to 

 base moral conclusions on the foundation of ety- 

 mology : — 



" Truth is the third person singular of the indicative 

 trow. It was formerly written troweth, trowth, trouth, 

 and troth. And it means {aliquid, anything, some- 

 thing) that which one troweth, i. e. thinketh, or firmly 

 believeth." 



Dugald Stewart, in his Philosophical Essays, 

 justly observes regarding the principle involved 

 in such speculations, that " if it were admitted as 

 sound, it would completely undermine the found- 

 ations both of logic and of ethics." Tieo. 



Dublin. 



" Worse than a Crime" (Vol. iv., p. 274.). — In 

 reply to a question you attribute the famous saying 

 concerning the murder of the Due D'Enghien to 

 Talleyrand. 



If you will refer to p. 266. vol. i, of Fouche's 

 Memoirs, 2nd edition, 1825, C. Knight, you will 

 find that he claims the saying to himself: 



" I was not the person who hesitated to express 

 himself with the least restraint respecting the violence 

 against Jie rights of nations and of humanity. ' It is 

 more than a crime, it is a political fault.' I said words 

 which I record, because they have been repeated and 

 attributed to others." 



J.W. 



Walsall. 



In matters of rumour different people hear dif- 

 ferent things. I never heard the words " c'estoit 

 pire qu'un crime, c'estoit une faute," ascribed to any 

 one but Fouche of Nantes. I have understood 

 that the late Prince of Conde would not hold any 

 intercourse with the Prince de Talleyrand, or 

 with the Court when he was present officiating 

 as Grand Chamberlain of France, owing to his 

 full conviction of that minister's privity to the 

 murder of his son. But iiow is that consistent 

 with Talleyrand's more than condemning, and 

 even ridiculing, the action ? A. N. 



Verses in Classical Prose (Vol. iv., p. 382.). — 

 Merely as matter of information, permit me to 

 refer your correspondent A. A. D. to the notes 

 of Glareanus and Drakenborch on the first lines 



