2n'iS. VI. 139., Aug. 28. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



175 



In Me. Nichols's very interesting note, he 

 cites as from Tacitus : 



" Anguriis patrum et prisca formidine sacram." 



I cannot find it. A more particular reference 

 would much oblige.* J. W. F. 



SKcfiltc^ ta Minor &uttU^. 

 William Tyndale (■2-"* S. vi. 132.) — No impor- 

 tant discovery has been made since Mr. Anderson 

 published his Annah relative to this illustrious 

 man. S. M. S. must be very careful in using any 

 information derived from Anderson. His ex- 

 tracts from MSS. and printed books are full of 

 grievous blunders. In his effort to exalt Tyndale 

 at the e-xpense of Coverdale, he has selected pas- 

 « sages from the New Test, in vol. i. pages 537. and 

 538., occupying forty-six lines, which are given as 

 literal. In these lines will be found 261 errors ! 

 What renders it more unpardonable is that the 

 reprints both of Coverdale and Tyndale are ac- 

 curate. His errors, variations, and omissions, in 

 copying letters and documents to which I referred 

 him in the British Museum are surprisingly numer- 

 ous. In Ridley's Letter, vol. i. p. 152., which An- 

 derson says " we give entire with the exception of 

 a very few words which cannot be deciphered," 

 he has omitted one hundred and twenty words. 

 I copied the whole letter, which is most deeply in- 

 teresting. If S. M. S. will favour me with a visit 

 ! copies of these and other documents may be in- 

 ' spected. We yet want an accurate history of the 

 English Bible, an imperial 8vo. illustrated, piquant, 

 readable. G. Offor. 



Victoria Park, Hacknej'. 



Derivation of" Sash" Windows (2°* S. vi. 147.) 

 — Sasse, in old English, was a lock or sluice. In 

 Dutch, also, a sluice is sas. May not " sash win- 

 dow" have been originally "sas.se window," or 

 "sas window?" i. e. a window formed like a 

 sluice, to let up and down. With this accords the 

 Italian definition of a sasse or sluice : " Quella 

 chiusura de legname che si fa calare da alto a 

 basso, per impedire il passaggio all' acque." On 

 similar grounds, a sash window is sometimes de- 

 scribed in vernacular French as a window " a 

 la guillotine." 



Tiiis view of the subject, however, by no means 

 forbids our connecting "sash window" with the 

 Fr. chassis ; for there seems to have been some 

 former relationship between chassis, sasse, and 

 sas. Thomas Boys. 



Ancient Seal (2"" S. vi. 154.) —11. T. W.'s seal 

 has produced a learnetl disquisition from Ma. 

 Eastwood, but which, I beg to submit, is rather 

 beyond the mark. The seal, it appears to me, is 

 quite innocent of the black art, or any dealings 

 with mercury and magic. It belongs to a class, 



[* Vide De Moribus Germanicc, cap. xxxix.] 



by no means unfrequent, in which the legend of 

 the seal is intended as a token of good will, fide- 

 lity, love, or some such quality, in one correspon- 

 dent towards the other. Thus I have before me 

 impressions of seals with these inscriptions : " Je 

 su prive," "I am private, or secret;" " Je su sel 

 d'amour lei," " I am the seal of true love." Ac- 

 cordingly, I decipher H. T. W.'s seal thus : — 



" Je su sel 

 Jolis e gai e lei." 

 " I am a seal, pretty, and gay, and true ; " 



which is, at any rate, a simpler explanation than 

 Mr. Eastwood's. What the separate letter "c," 

 following the legend, may mean, I cannot say ; 

 nor do 1 see anything cabalistic in the device. 

 The double square is a common mediseval figure ; 

 and the head, dog, and branch form, no doubt, 

 one of the rebuses so pleasant to the fancy of our 

 forefathers. Very possibly, they may allude to 

 the three terms of the inscription ; and the long- 

 haired head be intended to represent the gaiety, the 

 tree or branch the beauty, and the dog the truth 

 or fidelity. "Lege tege" is also found on many 

 seals as a quibbling motto. I have one which 

 reads " Tecta tege, lecta lege." The seal must be 

 a good example of the class ; and I should be 

 glad to possess an impression, if the owner would 

 permit. C. R. Manning. 



Diss Rectory, Norfolk. 



Impressions on Seals (2""^ S- v. 171. 225. 303.) 

 — Where the impression is taken upon card for 

 permanent preservation in a cabinet, I should 

 strongly recommend your readers to melt the 

 wax by holding the card over the flame, and rub- 

 bing the end of the stick of wax over the surface ; 

 or else by breaking oflf a few small pieces of the 

 sealing-wax, and melting them on the card in the 

 same way. Hilton Henburt. 



Daniel Quare (2°* S. vi. 13.) — A patent was 

 granted to Quare, Aug. 2, 1695, for the invention 

 of a portable weather-glass, or barometer, "which," 

 in the words of the patent, " may be removed and 

 carried to any place, though turned upside down, 

 without spilling one drop of the quicksilver, or 

 letting any air into the tube." W. D. Macrat. 



Swearing (2"^ S. v. 434.) — Your correspon- 

 dent Mr. Hughes has given, as above, an instance 

 of a penalty imposed for using profane language : 

 allow me to note an account, given in the Chelms- 

 ford 'Chronicle some little time back, of the pre- 

 sentation of a testimonial to commemorate a 

 lengthened non-indulgence in that particular 

 luxury : — 



"During the past week handbills have been posted in 

 and about liraintree, announcing the presentation of a 

 'moke' (donkey) to Henry Ogan, bj' the landlord of 

 the Bird-iii-Mand Inn, as a reward for the faithful ppr- 

 formance of a promise not to swear or use profane lan- 

 guage for the term of six months. The novel gift was 



