126 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2 n * S. IX. Feb. 18. '60. 



less common word, scius, knowing). This does seem a 

 little far- fetched. "But first observe," says our friend, 

 "that con in coiiscius is only cum in composition; there- 

 fore, conscius is properly cum-scins. Next bear in mind 

 that the Latin c (hard) was frequently softened into g. 

 Thus Cuius, as Terentius Maurus reminds us, was pro- 

 nounced Gains; and accordingly, for legio, pugnando, we 

 find in Latin inscriptions lecio, pucnando, &c. ; so that 

 conscius might have been pronounced gonscius, and cum- 

 scius, gnm-scius, which is not so very far from gumptious." 



" And with regard to the Latin word conscius," adds 

 our friend, " don't forget this ; that it is not only con- 

 scious subjectively, as where a person is aware of some- 

 thing in himself, but conscious objectively, i. e. knowing, 

 or aware of, something out of oneself. "Facere aliquem 

 co use in in," to inform an}' one; "His de rebus conscium 

 esse," to be aware of. So in Med. Lat. : " Cogitavi vobis 

 facere conscientiam, id est, vobis notum facere." If then 

 we view gumptious as an adjective-form of gumption, 

 and consequently as r in its proper meaning, equivalent to 

 knowing, intelligent, it will follow that the Lat. conscius 

 (euin-scius, gum-scius,) comes nearer to gumptious than 

 might at first be supposed, in signification as well as in 

 form." — Very clever, all this; but questionable, we fear. 



Another explanation, however, has been offered, and we 

 incline to it. "A person of great gumption," is merely 

 short for " a person of great comprehension." Respecting 

 the contraction thus suggested, this is what we would 

 fay : " Our choice vernacular is fully capable of such an 

 atrocity." Comprehension, if thus shortened into gump- 

 tion, has undergone a process of evisceration, similar to 

 that by which Cholmondeley becomes Cholmley, Wri- 

 othesley Wresley, and Brighthelmstone Brighton. Com- 

 prehension, compsion, gumption. — After all, it will not 

 break our heart, if any of our readers can set aside the 

 whole of the above derivations by a better.] 



Wm. Stuart, Abp. of Armagh. — In a copy of 

 Heylyn's History of the Reformation, fol., London, 

 1660-61, I find the text has been carefully read, 

 and abundantly underlined in red ink. At the 

 end of the history of Queen Mary occurs the fol- 

 lowing MS. note in red ink : — 



" I Dont much approve of the Style in which the fore- 

 going Reign is written. 

 " W m Steuart, Abp. of Armagh, Primate of Ireland." 



From p. 25. to p. 62. of this history the leaves 

 have been cut through the centre with a knife. 

 Can you give me any information concerning this 

 " Wm. Steuart?" Is it likely or possible that his 

 critical indignation could have transformed the 

 archbishop into a Jchudi (v. Jer. xxxvi. 23.) ? 

 Why does he sign his name, in the place above- 

 mentioned, with the addition of his titles ? 



C. le Poer Kennedy. 



St. Albans. 



[The Hon. William Stuart, D.D., was the fifth son of 

 John the third Earl of Bute, by Mary, only daughte. of 

 Edward Wortley Montagu, and the celebrated Lady Mary 

 Wortley Montagu. He was educated at Winchester 

 school, and became a member of St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge. One of his first preferments was the vicarage of 

 Luton, Beds. About this time, Boswell, in his Life of 

 Johnson (Croker's edit., 1853, p. 723.), thus speaks of 

 him : " On April 10, 1782, I introduced to him [Johnson], 

 at his house in Bolt Court, the Hon. and feev. Win. 

 Stuart, son of the Earl of Bute, a gentleman truly worthy 

 of being known to Johnson ; being, with all the advan- 



tages of high birth, learning, travel, and elegant man- 

 ners, an exemplary parish priest in every respect." Dr. 

 Stuart was consecrated Bishop of St. David's in 1793, trans- 

 lated to Armagh by patent, dated Nov. 22nd, 1800, and 

 enthroned on Dec. 8th. He died in Hill Street, Berkeley 

 Square, from accidentally taking an improper medicine, 

 on 0th May, 1822, aged sixty-eight, and was buried at 

 Luton Park in Bedfordshire. In Armagh cathedral is a 

 full-length marble figure of the archbishop in the atti- 

 tude of prayer.] 



Gender or Carrosse. — The following extract 

 from a leading article in The Times of January 

 25th, may not be undeserving of being made a 

 note of: — 



"When Louis XIV. inadvertently called for "mon 

 carrosse," the gender of the nouu was immediately changed, 

 and carrosse, which, according to all the analogies of the 

 language, ought to be feminine, has been masculine ever 

 since." 



F. D. C. 



[Another correspondent questions the accuracy of the 

 above ; but there cannot be the least doubt that carrosse, 

 as The Times represents, was formerly feminine. Cot- 

 grave is not particular in giving the genders of French 

 nouns ; but in his Dictionary, edit. 1632, we find carrosse 

 feminine. Examples are abundant : — 



" D'ou vient 



Que toujours d'un valet la carrosse est suivie ? " 



Hcgnier. 

 " Du bruit de sa carrosse importune le Louvre." 



TJicophile. 

 The Romance carruga was also feminine: — "Las car- 

 rugas cargadas," " en la carruga." Cf. Raynouard and 

 Bescherelle. "Ce mot [carosse] etait du feminin primi- 

 tivement." The Grand Monaique, however, if he spoke 

 bad French, spoke good Italian : carroccio being, of 

 course, masculine.] 



Anonymous Ballad Opera. — A Wonder; or, 

 An Honest Yorkshiremun, a ballad opera : by whom 

 written ? when and where first performed ? 



C. J. D. Ingledew. 



[This ballad opera is by Henry Care}-. Two editions 

 were published in 1736 with different title-pages. 1. A 

 Wonder: or, An Honest Yorkshire- Man. A Ballad 

 Opera, as it is perform'd at the Theatres with Universal 

 Applause. London : Printed for Ed. Cook. 8vo. 1730. 

 (Anon.') 2. The Honest Yorkshire- Man. A Ballad Farce. 

 Refus'd to be acted at Drury-Lane Playhouse : but now 

 perform'd at the New Theatre in Goodman's Fields, with 

 great applause. Written by Mr. Carey. London : Printed 

 for L. Gilliver and J. Clarke. 12mo. 1730. Price Three- 

 pence. From the Preface to the latter it seems to have 

 been acted for one night only at Drury Lane in 1735. 

 The author states, that " from the very generous recep- 

 tion this Farce has met with from the publick during its 

 representation in theHaymarket last summer, and Good- 

 man's Fields this winter, is a manifestation of the bad 

 taste and monstrous partiality of the great Mogul of the 

 Hundreds of Drury [Fleetwood?], who, after having had 

 the copy nine months in his hands, continually feeding 

 me with fresh promises of bringing it on the stage, re- 

 turned it at last in a very ungenerous manner, at the 

 end of the season, when it was too late to carry it to any 

 other house ; but the young actors having, as usual, 

 formed themselves into a summer company, Mr. Cibber, 

 Jun , sent to me in a very respectful manner, requesting 

 the Farce, which accordingly was put in rehearsal ; but 



