Cuningham's 'Bacon's Secret Disclosed Museum copy is also incomplete, and that in Contemporary Books,' 1911, reveals the Escorial MS. does not contain Serravalle's that two or more founts of type were commentary. The English author has, used in its composition. Upon closer according to him, been misled by A. Fariexamination it is evident that the author nelli's Dante in Ispagna,' which I have not has here given, in modern types, an exem- been able to discover in the British Museum plification of Bacon's biliteral cipher that Library. will afford a convenient apparatus for those who seek initiation into the mysteries of the Baconian cipher. In the appendix to his very interesting book Mr. Cuningham gives a facsimile reproduction of the few pages of 'De Augmentis Scientiarum,' 1623, which contain Bacon's exposition of his biliteral alphabet.

The "epistola interior "of the preface, so far as sight and patience have enabled me to decipher it, would seem to run as follows: Bacon did not die in twēty-six [1626] bvt retired into hiding, lived to very great age bringing ovt wor- [The cipher appears to falter for a word or so after is not a long at the end of the eleventh line, the obscured portion possibly being "ks. He"; but at "ne oft" in the next line it continues:] died abovt sixty-eight [1668] at age of hvndred and seven,-where I know not, bvt probably abroad. This was known to some in England."

The o in "Bacon " and the h in "This are derived from the context, and displace the b and a respectively which the cipher seems to give erroneously. It is conceivable, of course, that other readers might extract different versions of the concealed sentences; but, assuming the above to be a fairly accurate rendering (and of this Mr. Cuningham would be the best judge), this painstaking experiment in Bacon's cipher shows that an appreciable percentage of error may be expected even when Bacon himself sent messages by it, through the printers of his day, to truth-seeking posterity.

A. T. W.

DANTEIANA.-Mr. Paget Toynbee, in his 'Life of Dante,' states that of Giovanni da Serravalle's Latin commentary on the Divina Commedia '

"but four MSS. are known, only three of which are complete : one of these is in the British Museum, another in the Vatican Library, and the third in the Escorial."-Fourth edition, p. 277.

According to Mr. Kaposi also, Dante's mask, which was formerly in the possession of the Marchese Torrigiani, is not in the Uffizi, as stated by Mr. Toynbee, but in the Bargello; and the inscription on another plate, Dante's House in Florence,' is no longer true, as the house in question, with the adjoining buildings at the corner of the Via Dante Alighieri and Via Santa Margherita, has been "remodelled quite recently according to Engineer Tognetti's that may plans, whatever inean. The authority for this statement is G. L. Passerini's Minutaglie Dantesche' (Città di Castello, 1911), which I have not seen.

L. L. K.

COMMODORE LEVY: WILLIAM DURST.— On 22 March, 1862, there died in New York one Uriah Phillips Levy, an officer of the American Navy, who rose from cabin-boy marine, but when hostilities broke out to commodore. Levy joined the mercantile with England he enlisted in the Government service on a vessel which did considerable damage to our shipping. Being ultimately captured, Levy became a prisoner of war, and spent sixteen months in this country. On his return to America anti-Jewish prejudices were evoked against him, and compelled him to retire temporarily from the naval profession. Having lived down various charges brought against him by his calumniators, he rose to the rank of Commodore, with command of the Mediterranean Squadron, in 1858. On the outbreak of the Civil War he placed the whole of his fortune at the disposal of President Lincoln, but that noble man declined to accept it. In another way Levy displayed a rare patriotism. He presented to his countrymen the statue of Jefferson in the Capitol. memory in the navy will long remain green for his having secured the abolition of flogging. conferred on him, and on his death a full In 1834 the freedom of his native city was naval funeral was accorded him. He bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to the State for public uses.

His

The author does not state where the fourth MS. is kept, but no doubt means the one in the Archbishop's library in Eger (Agria) in Hungary, this copy being referred to in the 'Notizie Preliminari' of the edition printed at Prato in 1891, which Mr. Toynbee quotes. A Hungarian writer, Mr. Kaposi, reviewing Mr. Toynbee's book in the new Történeti Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia] there was "On March 9th [writes a correspondent in The Szemle (1912), maintains that the British | parade, with a naval band, of a detachment of

Jewish Chronicle of 22 March, 1912:—
The following is extracted from The

a

sailors, with a corps of naval reserves, to do honor to the sole survivor of the Monitor's crew, the first ironclad pitted by the Federals against the Merrimac in 1862, on which vessel the grizzled veteran William Durst, an inconspicuous Hebrew, served as orderly, during that terrible sea-fight. Originally he was but a poor coalheaver, but when his country needed him, in the hour of her direst peril, he was ready."

"at her breast a medallion made of a stone of the Bastille polished. In the middle of the medallion, 'Liberté' was written in diamonds; above was marked, in diamonds, the planet that shone on the 14th of July; and below was seen the moon, of the size she appeared that memorable night. The medallion was set in a branch of laurel, composed of emeralds, and tied at the top with the national cockade, formed of brilliant stones of the three national colours."

L. M. R.

Taken in conjunction with Lord Wandsworth's magnificent bequest of 1 millions It was her daughter (by the Duke of to charity, and with the unforgettable Orleans) whɔ married, in 1792, Lord Edward loyalty to England of Prof. Vambéry Fitzgerald. (whose eightieth birthday was announced on 19 March), the foregoing biographic details of these illustrious men demonstrate de novo how uncalled for was Goldwin Smith's question "Can Jews be patriots?' M. L. R. BRESLAR.

Percy House, South Hackney. "THE TRIBES OF GALWAY."-The Freeman's Journal, 11 March, 1912 says:-

The death of Mr. Patrick Perrin Skerrett, which occurred in the house in which he was born in Mary Street, Galway, recalls the Tribes for which the city was once famous. Mr. Skerrett, who had attained his eightieth year, was for many years collector of harbour dues, and was afforded an honorarium of 300l. by the Harbour Board upon his retirement some time ago. was the last representative of the name in the city, his relatives being all in foreign lands.

་

He

"It was upon the advent of the English that Galway first came to be known as Citie of the Tribes. The Tribes were of ancient lineage, and had come from many European countries, the names [sic] being thus in verse- Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Dean, Darcy, Lynch, Joyce, Kirwan, Morris, Martin, Skerrett, Firench.'

To the twelve names mentioned should be added the Tribes of Browne and Ffont (the latter is now extinct). Galway had 14 principal Tribes, 14 Towers, 14 principal Altars, and 14 principal Streets. WILLIAM MACARTHUR.

Dublin.

REPUBLICAN MEDALLION. C - In Letters written in France in the Summer, 1790, relative to the French Revolution,' 1792, vol. i. p. 38, Miss Helen Maria Williams mentions a rather singular medallion in the form of a brooch, apparently designed by the wearer, who was Madame de Genlis, the celebrated authores, and governess of the future King Louis Philippe, and the other children of the Duke of Orleans. This Stéphanie, Countess de Genlis, known as Madame Sillery, when the National Assembly abolished the nobility, renounced her title, and took the name of Madame Brulart.

She and her royal pupils were living at St. Leu, in the valley of Montmorenci, when Miss Williams saw her wearing

Queries.

WE must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

ROMAN WIT. I know and possess F. A. Paley's booklet Greek Wit, a Collection of Smart Sayings and Anecdotes, translated from Greek Prose Writers,' London, 1881. It is a mere anthology, although a Was a similar collection very pleasant one. of Roman wit ever made ? I see that many sayings of this kind are reported in the second book of Macrobius's 'Saturnalia'; but many others are scattered in Cicero's collections were made at the time of the I know that such writings and elsewhere. Renaissance, but as jest-books, without any reference to their antiquity. What I have in mind, and what I am looking for, is a kind of Corpus Facetiarum.

22, Rue Servandoni, Paris (VI©).

H. GAIDOz.

CONVENT OF THE BLUE NUNS, BROMPTON. -Where can I find any record of the Convent of the Blue Nuns, Brompton, founded by French sisters who fled in the first emigration circa 1790 ? Where was it situated, and when did it cease to exist? G. E.

FRANCES, DUCHESS OF SUFFOLK. (See ante, p. 26.)-Why did this lady allow her daughter, Lady Jane Dudley, for whom she seems to have cared little, to take precedence of her in claiming the crown of England? Was it because she feared the consequences, and preferred that her daughter should suffer them rather than herself, or because her own elevation would not have suited the ambitious designs of Northumberland ? She certainly incurred some risk by bearing her daughter's train.

E. L. H. TEW.

CLIVE AT BIRMINGHAM. In Wilson's 'Lord Clive,' and elsewhere, I learn that Clive, the victor at Plassey, was ill at Birmingham in 1768. Is anything known as to where he lived, and the other circum-vi. 109, 256, 357 stances of his visit to that town?

66

In the

66

Genea

THE CAPTURE OF SPIRA.-In the logy of the Earldom of Sutherland' (p. 460) reference is made to the town of Spira," taken by the French under the 66 Marishall de la Fors during his campaign in Lorraine in 1633. What and where is Spira ? I know, of course, of Speier, or Spire, in Bavaria, sacked in 1689, and the scene of the battle of 1703. But I can find no reference to a siege in or about 1633. Is it Epinal (or Spinal) on the Moselle, taken in 1633, that is meant ? William Gordon (Illustrious Family of Gordon '), paraphrasing this Sutherland version, calls it Spire. J. M. BULLOCH.

123, Pall Mall, S.W.

JAMES HOLLAND, F.S.A.-Where can I get information concerning this gentleman, whose name appeared on a pamphlet in 1823? WILLIAM MACARTHUR.

Dublin.

GORDON.-Can any reader give me the

ROBERT SHAW OF BAWTRY. old coaching days of the middle of the eighteenth century there was at Bawtry a pedigree of Major-General John Gordon well-known inn, one of the very best("Old Glenbucket "), 1673-1750, and a list between York and London. Its name was of his descendants; also the blazon of his The Crown," and it was occupied by a arms? C. GORDON. temperate, active, and steady person named Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland. Robert Shaw, who was an ancestor of my own. He had come from the North of England, where several members of his family had enjoyed high repute. I am almost sure one or more Rokebys were among them, and am anxious to know what was his exact position.

Mr. Robert Shaw was a noteworthy man. He was buried in the middle of Bawtry Church with an inscription to tell who and what he was.

EDWARD PEACOCK, F.S.A.

"THE MORE THE MERRIER."-Dr. Brewer, in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,' tells us that the author of this saying was Henry Parrot, a City epigrammatist, who flourished about 1600 to 1626. The Westminster_Gazette puts it into the mouth of King James I. On his creating forty Irish boroughs in a batch, he is said to have answered a mild remonstrance by declaring: "I have made 40 boroughs; suppose I had made 400; the more the merrier." Are both authorities, or is either, correct?

J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

KNIGHTS OF MALTA: GRAND MASTER VILHENA. I should be extremely obliged for any particulars relating to this personage. M. AUSTEN-LEIGH.

REMBRANDT AND MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL. -Dr. De Sola Mendes in his monograph on Manasseh tells us that one of his many brandt consented to illustrate it with four pamphlets is highly prized, because Remetchings. It has since become very scarce, and Steinschneider, in his Bibliographie,' for 5 guineas. Is anything now known of states that a copy of it was sold in London this pamphlet ?

M. L. R. BRESLAR,

Percy House, South Hackney.

AUTHOR OF QUOTATION WANTED.I've watched the actions of his daily life With all the eager malice of a foe, But nothing meets mine eyes save deeds of honour. I. X. B. [Asked for twice previously without identification of author.]

W. HEWER OF CLAPHAM.--In ' from the Diaries of Mrs. Philip Lybbe Passages Powys, 1756-1808,' frequent mention is made of the Ewer family, Clapham. Is there any reason to suppose that this is the same family as that named Hewer? Neither name appears in the Directory for 1827, published by Batten. J. A.

"CRAINS AIMS HAY."-I should be glad to know the arms and the name of the family adopting this motto.

F. K. P.

And, secondly, Ann, daughter of Gaven
Noble and Elizabeth (Fletcher) his wife, and
by her had, amongst other issue, a daughter
Elizabeth, who married Thomas Grayson of
Lamonby Hall, and thereby became the

DR. JAMES, MASTER OF ST. BEES mother of Dr. James's wife, Ann Grayson.