482 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"* S. IX. June 23. '60. 



" Fair Holland, had'st thou England's chalky rocks, 

 To gird thy watery waist; her healthful mounts, 

 With tender "grass to feed thy nihhling flocks ; 



Her pleasant groves, and crystalline clear founts, 

 Most happy should'st thou he by just accounts, 

 That in thine age so fresh a youth do'st feel 

 Through flesh of oak, and ribs of brass and steel. 



" But what hath prudent mother Nature held 



From thee — that she might equal shares impart 

 Unto her other sons — that's not compell'd 

 To be the guerdons of thy wit and art ? 

 And industry, that brings from every part 

 Of every thing the fairest and the best, 

 Like the Arabian bird to build thy nest? 



" Like the Arabian bird thy nest to build, 



With nimble wings thou flyest for Indian sweets, 

 And incense which the Sabaan forests yield, 



And in thy nest the goods of each pole meets, — 

 Which thy foes hope, shall serve thy funeral rites — 

 But thou more wise, secur'd by thy deep skill, 

 Dost build on waves, from fires more safe than hill." 



The above extract is from Englands-Exchequer, 

 a rare work by John Hagthorpe, 1625, 4°. The 

 verses are not given in Hagthorpe revived; or 

 select specimens of a forgotten poet, Lee Priory, 

 1817, 4°. They were, however, contributed by 

 Haslewood to the British bibliographer, but without 

 the prose introduction; which is scarcely less re- 

 markable than the verse. Bolton Corney. 



MUiav Hates. 

 Character of St. Paul's Handwriting, 

 Galatians vi. 11. — This text has caused great 

 diversity of opinion amongst the commentators ; 

 but the translation should be, " Ye see in what 

 large letters I have written unto you with mine 

 own hand." St. Paul here refers to the capital 

 (uncial) letters in which the best and most ancient 

 MSS. of the Greek Septuagint and New Testa- 

 ment are written, as distinguished from the small 

 or cursive letters, in which slaves wrote. (Lewis's 

 Rome, i. 86.) Thus Cato the Elder wrote his- 

 tories for his son, /xeydAois ypdnnaai, in large cha- 

 racters. (Plut. Cato the Censor, xx.) The 

 writing in Greek capital letters, as in Hebrew, 

 Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic, which had 

 then no cursive character, indicated a more solemn 

 and dignified manner, and would be more legible 

 to the Gauls than the cursive character, which 

 even now, from its numerous contractions, em- 

 barrasses the Greek student. In legal documents 

 of a more solemn character the writing is en- 

 grossed (= en gros, or large character). 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



A curious Jewish Custom. — I remember to 

 have seen some time ago in one of the papers of 

 the day an extract from the Jewish Chronicle, 

 containing some account of a custom, periodically 

 observed by certain continental Jews, of burying 

 defective and otherwise unserviceable copies of the 



Law. On. the occasion referred to, the sale of the 

 ground selected for this purpose having been ar- 

 ranged, with other preliminaries, and the sacred 

 MSS. safely deposited in sewn or sealed bags, the 

 party repaired with all due solemnity to the ceme- 

 tery, carrying the condemned scrolls. The sale 

 of the ground alone realised a considerable sum, 

 added to which, certain fees which obtained for 

 the highest bidders the office of grave-diggers on 

 the occasion, and the honour of this last consign- 

 ment, amounting in all to several hundred florins, 

 were devoted to educational purposes, the erection 

 of schools, and other objects of charity. Perhaps 

 some correspondent of " N. & Q." better ac- 

 quainted with modern Hebrew usages, may be 

 able to furnish a more detailed and accurate ac- 

 count of so interesting a ceremony, and to inform 

 me whether the above custom prevails throughout 

 the Hebrew community, or is only confined to 

 certain continental localities. F. Phillott. 



Mart Queen of Scots' Missal. — The fol- 

 lowing account of a Missal which formerly be- 

 longed to the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, 

 now in the Imperial Library, St. Petersburgh, is 

 taken from Mr. Holman's Travels through Russia 

 and Siberia. 2 vols. 8vo. 1825. 



The transcript may be worth perpetuating in 

 the pages of " N". & Q." : — 



" This Missal, or Prayer Book is hound in purple velvet ; 

 the leaves are of a rich vellum, of a large 8vo. size; it is 

 ten inches long, seven broad, and an inch and a half 

 thick. The sheets are highly illuminated with pictures 

 of saints, with Saxo-Latin inscriptions under them. In 

 various parts were originally blank spaces that have been 

 filled up with observations and lines of poetry in French, 

 and in the Queen's own handwriting, and with two 

 signatures ; of some of which the following are transla- 

 tions : — 



On the first page : — - 

 " This belongs to me, Mary." 

 Subsequently : — 



"Sad fate! that renders life as drear, 

 As useless, e'en as death could be, 

 Whilst all, to add to my despair, 

 Seems in its nature chang'd towards me. 



"No longer, as in times of old, 



The wings of fame are spread, r 

 With soaring flight, impartial, bold — 

 Those times, alas ! are fled. 



"Her pleasures now are all confined, 

 And all her favours shine 

 On those whom fortune (frail and blind) 

 Regards with smile benign. 



" Dull hours, which guided by my fate 

 In sad succession flow ; 

 The glorious sun, in all its state, 

 Seems but to mock mvwoe." 



J. M. Gutch. 

 Worcester. 



Postage Stamps. — A boy in my form one day 

 showed me a collection of from 300 to 400 differ- 



