280 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»* S. IX. April 14. 'GO. 



(Gualter Frost was secretary to Oliver Crom- 

 well's Council of State.) 



2. John Hall, only son of the Rev. John Hall, 

 M.A., minister of Bromsgrove, co. Wore, born at 

 Bromsgrove 29 Jan. 1633 ; admitted 20 June, 

 1644. 



(He was afterwards Bisbop of Bristol.) 



3. Thomas Viner, 2nd son of AVilliam Viner, 

 gent., born at Warwick 27 June, 1629 ; admitted 

 16 August, 1644. 



(Afterwards Canon of Windsor, Dean of Glou- 

 cester, &c.) 



4. Edward Swinglehurst, eldest son of Richard 

 Swinglehurst, secretary to the Company of Lon- 

 don Merchants trading to the East Indies, born in 

 parish of S. Martin's Outwich, London, 2 June, 

 1632 ; admitted 7 Jan. 1644 



5. Philip Constantine, eldest son of Philip Con- 

 stantine, gent., born in parish of S. Katherine Cree 

 Church, London, 22 Sept. 1631 ; admitted 14 

 April, 1645. 



6. James Calamy, 3rd son of Edmund Calamy, 

 B.D. and rector of Aldermanbury, London, born 

 there 1652 ; admitted 4 Nov. 1661. 



7. William Sclater, only son of Will. Sclater, 

 B.D. and rector of S. Peter Poor, London, born 

 at Exeter, 22 Nov. 1638 ; admitted 12 March, 

 1650. C. J. Robinson. 



Napoleon I. : his Testimony to the Divi- 

 nity or Christ. — The following statement is to 

 be found at p. 171. of Arvine's Cyclopaedia of Moral 

 and Religious Anecdotes, but without reference to 

 any authority. I should like to be informed 

 whether it rests on any respectable foundation: — 



" ' I know men,' said Napoleon at St. Helena to Count 

 de Montholon, ' 1 know men, and I tell you that Jesus 

 is not a man ! The religion of Christ is a mystery which 

 subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which 

 is not a human mind. We find in it a marked indivi- 

 duality, which originated a train of words and actions 

 unknown before. Jesus is not a philosopher, for his proofs 

 are miracles, and from the first his disciples adored him. 

 Alexander, Ca?sar, Charlemagne, and n^-self founded 

 empires ; but on what foundation did we rest the crea- 

 tures of our genius? Upon force. But Jesus Christ 

 founded an empire upon Love; and at this hour, millions 

 of men would die for Him. I die before my time, and 

 my body will be given back to the earth, to become food 

 for worms. Such is the fate of him who has been called 

 the Great Napoleon. What an abyss between my tleep 

 misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is 

 proclaimed, loved, adored, and is still extending over 

 the whole earth ! ' Then, turning to General Beni-and, 

 the emperor added, ' If you do not perceive that Jesus 

 Christ is God, I did wrong in appointing you a gene- 

 ral.' " 



J. H. 



Apollo Belvedere Statuette. — While pay- 

 ing a visit to the Museum of Avignon a short 

 time back, I noticed among the Roman antiquities 

 a well-preserved bronze statuette of the Apollo 

 Belvedere. Unlike that of the Vatican, however, 

 the right fore arm touches the side and hip. 



There may be other minor differences, but I, hav- 

 ing only my memory to guide me, did not notice 

 them. The small scale of the figure, which is not, 

 I should think, more than six inches high, would 

 cause any slight dissimilarities to be easily over- 

 looked. The highest authorities have agreed in 

 condemning Montorsoli's restoration of the Apollo, 

 without being able, so far as I know, to show- 

 how it should have been restored. May not this 

 statuette throw a light on the matter ? I forward 

 this Note in the hopes that some of your readers, 

 better judges of such things than I, may have 

 noticed the figure to which I refer; or if not, that 

 they may do so at the next opportunity, as I 

 cannot but think that a good sketch or scientific 

 description of it would be interesting to the artist- 

 world. S. 



Breakneck Steps. — In Lord Macaulay's ar- 

 ticle on Oliver Goldsmith, in the new edition of 

 the Encyclopaedia Britannica, we are told that 

 " Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court, to 

 which he had to climb from the brink of Fleet 

 Ditch by a dizzy ladder of flagstones called 

 Breakneck Steps. The court and the ascent have 

 long disappeared; but old Londoners well re- 

 member both." The court and the ascent are still 

 there, at the end of Old Bailey, opposite the prison, 

 and the place is still called by the same name, 

 " Breakneck Steps." J. E. J. 



DIBDIN'S SONGS. 

 If S. H. M. (2 nd S. ix. 273.) be right as to what 

 he terms " the so-called sea-songs of Dibdin," in 

 saying they never "were generally accepted by 

 sailors," and " abound in nautical blunders and 

 absurdities," I should wish him to account for 

 some facts connected with these songs, and sug- 

 gest the following Queries : — 



1. Why did Mr. Pitt encourage Dibdin to go 

 among the sailors during the mutiny at the Nore? 



2. Why did George III. give Dibdin a pension? 



3. Why has our beloved Queen (as I am told) 

 granted a pension to his daughter ? 



4. Why did Lord Minto patronise an edition of 

 the songs for the use of the Navy ? 



5. Why was a bust of Dibdin erected at Green- 

 wich Hospital by Admiral Sir Joseph Yorke and 

 others ? 



6. Why do old sailors often quote " Poor Jack," 

 " Tom Bowling," &c, with enthusiasm ? 



As to the "nautical blunders," &c, I am no 

 judge of sea- slang (nor indeed of any other), but 

 I would suggest that if S. H. M. would point out 

 the errors he speaks of, his emendations might be 

 added in the form of foot-notes to future editions 

 of Dibdin's Songs, which I doubt not the public 

 will continue to buy. 



