occurring in the "Laird of Logan."— Seestu is a denomination acquired from a provincial colloquialism for "Seest thou," used by the Paisley "bodies." Sneddon was once the Pall Mall of Paisley. Sawney is a diminution of Alexander, at one time a common Christian name. Bien is merely the French word "well." A çock Laird is a coxcomb; one who struts like that majestic bird whose harem occupies the manure field. For Lismahago read Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker." As a tub does a whale evidently means not at all.-RODERICK RANDOM.

79. A person's "grammatical difficulty" may be accounted for, though perhaps not explained. The Englishunlike the people of the Continent-not only never obtrude, but even refrain, wherever possible, from bringing into notice--the sexual idea. The small remnant of vocables denoting difference of gender by difference of termination or of word is being more and more departed from; many of those words given in common grammars are obso lete, more obsolescent. The word person (like the Latin word homo, which includes both vir and mulier) is not a neuter noun, but is used in meaning indifferently of either or both sexes, and in accordance with this use the pronoun must (where possible) be made to agree with it in gender and number; and where this is impossible, that genderthe masculine, which includes the other within it as a sub-species-is employed. The difficulty, though externally grammatical, is intrinsically moral, and depends on the reluctance of the English to sexualize ideas. This desire to keep the notion of sex out of sight is the cause of the indefiniteness of expression employed. The rule followed by scholars is that employed in writing Latin; viz., "If the substantive used denote living beings of different genders, the pronoun takes the gender of the masculine." The

same rule holds in Greek also; and seems to have been generally adopted as the best practical solution which could be obtained.-R. M. A.

80. History of the Popes.-Ranke's History of the Popes of XVth and XVIth Centuries;" Eiseler's "Manual of Church History;" "Gibbon," Milman's "History of Christianity."-S. W.

81. The best edition of Shakespeare's complete works I consider to be that of Dyce, which is published by Russell Smith, price £6.-T. W.

To determine the reply, the use intended ought to be known. Knight's "Pictorial," £3, is a good popular book; so is "Staunton's" (Routledge), £2 12s. The text only can be had in Griffin's popular Shakespeare for 7s. 6d. Critical editions are numerous, and confusing Halliwell, Dyce, Wheeler, Singer, Collier, &c.—and are costly.-TEN.

82. Encyclopædias.-The Britannica is most complete; the Metropolitana is fullest; the former, 22 vols., one guinea each; the latter, 30 vols. (originally 59 parts, at a guinea), in cloth at £21: Black, Edinburgh; Griffin, London.R. M. A.

83. The Japanese Language.-In reply to "Marcus," who asks, "Can I procure a grammar and dictionary of the Japanese language?" I beg to say, that as only a few characters have yet been collected, a friend will doubtless have to wait many years before he will be able to obtain that which he is seeking.-J. E. F.

84 and 38, vol. ii. French Serials.The Indépendance Belge is edited by Prof. MASSON, of Harrow; the Revue des Deux Mondes, and Lamartine's Entretiens, are to be readily had by subscription, though not published in England.-R. M. A.

87. Interesting Works on the English Language.-Trench's "Study of Words," and "English Past and Present," 4s. 6d. each. Craik's "English Language," 3s. 6d.; Latham's "English Language," 188.; Hoare's "English Roots," 4s. 6d.; Neil's "Rhetoric," 4s. 6d.-P. Q.

88. The Bampton Lecture owes its origin to the Rev. John Bampton, who, in his "last will and testament," says:

"I give and bequeath my lands and estates to the chancellor, masters, and

scholars of the University of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and singular the said lands or estates upon trust, and to the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, I will and appoint that the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford for the time being shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions made) that he pay all the remainder to the endowment of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for ever in the said University, and to be performed in the manner following:

"I direct and appoint that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter Term, a lecturer be yearly chosen by the heads of colleges only, and by no others, in the room adjoining the printing house, between the hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach eight Divinity Lecture Sermons the year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the commencement of the last month in Lent Term and the end of the third week in Act Term.

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Also, I direct and appoint that the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the following subjects, to confirm and establish the Christian faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics:-Upon the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures; upon the authority of the writings of the Primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the Primitive Church; upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost; upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.

"Also I direct that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be always printed within two months after they are each preached, and one copy shall be given to the chancellor of the University, and one copy to the head of every College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing

them shall be paid out of the revenue of the land or estates given for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons ; and the preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed.

"Also, I direct and appoint that no person shall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken the degree of Master of Arts at least in one of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person shall never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice."

The following are the titles of the Lectures, and the names of the lecturers, for several recent years:

1851.-"The Communion of Saints: an Attempt to Illustrate the True Principles of Christian Union." By H. B. Wilson, B.D.,late Fellow and Tutor of St. John's College.

1854.

1852.-"The Natural History of Infidelity and Superstition, in Contrast with Christian Faith." By J. E. Riddle, M.A., of St. Edmund's Hall. "New Testament Millennarianism; or, the Kingdom and Coming of Christ, as taught by Himself and His Apostles." By the Hon. and Rev. S. Waldegrave, M.A., late Fellow of All Souls' College.

1855.-"The Absence of Precision in the Formularies of the Church of England Scriptural, and Suitable to a State of Probation." By J. Ernest Bode, M.A., late Student of Christ Church, Oxford.

1857.-"Christian Faith Comprehensive, not Partial; Definite, not Uncertain." By W. E. Jelf, B.D., late Censor of Christ Church.

1858.-"The Limits of Religious Thought Examined." By H. L. Mansel, B.D., late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford.

1859.-"The Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Record stated anew, with Special Reference to the Doubts and Discoveries of Modern Times." By George Rawlinson, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College.-C. A.

EXAMINE THE ACCOUNTS

AFFIRMATIVE.

The recent failures of large banking and other companies, entailing misery and ruin upon thousands of families, prove the necessity of some means being employed to prevent the recurrence of such calamities. Those who have read the very able pamphlet on the perils of policy-holders, by William Carpenter, Esq., will acquiesce in the statement that, as things at present exist, no dependence can be placed on the safety of any company, however imposing its appearance, and specious its statement of accounts. I certainly think, that if Government auditors were appointed, it would remedy this uncertainty, and would greatly benefit those companies who are on a really sound basis, and whose accounts would bear examination, and the public at large, who would, according to the information yielded by such a scrutiny, be in a position to support the good, and reject the doubtful; and, as a natural consequence, no company could then exist on which dependence could not be placed. -J. C.

Looking, during the past few years, to the large number of cases of fraud, and embezzlement of the funds of building societies and other public companies, in whose welfare the working community of England have now obtained a deep interest, and whose hard earnings, by the dishonesty of an individual, may at once be swept away, and themselves and families reduced to penury and wretchedness-for the Government to appoint official auditors, whose duty should be the examination of the accounts of all public bodies, thus checking rash speculation, and misappropriation of funds by treasurers and other officers, and thus certifying

OF ALL PUBLIC BODIE?

that they were conducted upon safe and permanent principles, would not only be conferring a benefit upon the working man, in securing his earnings from the crafty and designing speculatist, but upon the community at large, in protecting public property.-J. R. B.

It will be a happy day for England when Government appoints auditors to examine the books and accounts of public companies and other bodies. Such an appointment would save many from loss, perhaps ruin.

The advantages of such an appointment, if managed in a proper manner, would show themselves, firstly, by putting a stop to the large system of embezzlement that has lately been carried on by clerks, secretaries and others; and, secondly, by informing the public of the real state of the funds of the various companies, whether their capital is what they state it to be, and would thus forewarn of ruinous insolvency, bringing to light the whole of the socalled "bubble" schemes. For these reasons, Government should give the matter their serious consideration.-F. S. M.

In a large majority of instances the supervision of boards of directors has proved no barrier to fraudulent proceedings on the part of the officials of public companies; on the contrary, the existence of such boards has tended rather to promote peculations, on account of the mere routine manner in which their duties are discharged. The system of auditing the accounts of public companies at present carried on is extremely defective; in fact, it is more an approval in globo than an examination in detail. It is time, therefore, that some effectual means were devised to prevent the repetition of our Redpath,

Knighting, and Pullinger frauds. The appointment, by Government, of official auditors of competent skill and large experience, at good salaries, whose sole duty would be the proper examination of public companies' accounts, appears to us to be the best remedy. Such a plan would place those accounts under the eyes of gentlemen unconnected officially with the company or its employés, and therefore unfettered in the discharge of their simple duty. The result would be effective auditing, and the restoration of public confidence, now much shaken, in the management of public bodies. Means should be taken to make public the names of such companies, at present existing, as were willing to come under. the inspection of the Government auditor; and no act for the formation of a new company should be passed without a clause to the like effect. The salaries and expenses of the auditors should be paid out of a fund to be made up out of a certain amount, to be levied from each company deriving the benefit of their services. Britain is essentially a commercial country; and one of the strongest bulwarks of a commercial people is integrity in all their dealings. It is the duty of the Government to maintain inviolate the bonâ fide character of our public companies, either by restrictive or assisting measures; and, since its interference seems best calculated to do what the ordinary plan is evidently unable to effect properly, we think the appointment of such gentlemen as have been proposed, by Government, is a duty it owes no less to the shareholders than to the country at large.G. H. S.

The gigantic frauds and embezzlements that have been perpetrated during the last few years have not only shaken the confidence of the commercial world to its very centre in all kinds of joint stock companies, but has proved to a demonstration that the machinery by which the mercantile transactions of these public bodies are conducted is very deceptive and incomplete, or that the discrepancies arise from the culpable

negligence of those whose duty it is to examine, direct, and control; and the result is that the public have been victimized, owing to their entire ignorance of the internal condition and financial position of these companies. For these grievances as yet there has been no redress; for these crying evils no antidote has been found. We have only to refer to the embezzlements of Robson, Redpath, and Pullinger, and to the wholesale frauds and systematic plundering by the directors of the Tipperary and British Banks, to furnish abundant evidence in support of the foregoing

statement.

The advantages of insuring both life and property is acknowledged and appreciated by many; but, on the other hand, there are thousands who, while acknowledging the necessity and benefit to be derived from insuring their property against accidents by fire, and their own lives against sudden death, yet refuse to insure because they have no means of accurately knowing the financial state of insurance companies, and therefore prefer running the risk of losing their property, or of leaving their offspring dependent upon the bounty of others, rather than trust to the fair promise of a company which, perhaps, time may prove to be nothing but a floating bubble. These are evils of no small magnitude, affecting the present welfare and future prosperity of all classes of the community, and to remedy which, if it be possible, is the high prerogative and imperative duty of Government.

It may be urged by the opponents of this scheme that inquisitorial examination of accounts by the Government would be vexatious and unnecessary. Such objections might with reason be raised by private firms; but in the case of public bodies no such argument could legitimately be advanced, as this minute scrutiny would take place in the name of and for the benefit of the public. It may be said that a great evil would result from the examinations of the accounts of these public bodies to them