Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/205

 10* S. I. FEB. 27, 1904.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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man of very low birth " (Germamim ad- modum ignobilem), nor does he in this place suggest any diabolic prompting. In lib. iii. xviii. it is true he says that he scarcely can believe it to be a human invention, but that some demon must have revealed it to man- kind, so that they might fight each other not only with arms, but with thunderbolts. Still, though some of Camden's language is traceable to this volume, I am inclined to think he borrowed much of his chapter from a later writer. " One writeth," he says, " I know not upon whose credit, that Roger Bacou, commonly called Frier Bacon, knew to make an engine, which with Saltpeter and Brimstone should prove notable for batterie, but he tendring the safety of mankind would not discover it."

In the margin the name of " Sir I. Harrington" is given as authority, and I take it that the other quotation, in which the oracle is found, is also from his pen. Can any one furnish us with an account of " the Harrington MS." ? JOHN T. CUBRY.

CRUCIFIX AT THE NORTH DOOR OF OLD ST. PAUL'S. In Old St. Paul's one of the objects most reverenced was the crucifix near to the Great North Door. Canon Sparrow Simpson gave some notes about it in 'Documents illustrating the History of St. Paul's Cathedral,' Camden Soc., N.S., xxvi. p. Ixvii. The following proofs of its widespread fame would have delighted him.

In 1372 Robert de Austhorpe, clerk, rector of St. John's, " Staneford," in the diocese of Lincoln, desired " to be buried in St. Paul's Church, London, before the cross and image of the crucifix at the North Door " (Gibbons, 'Early Lincoln Wills,' 1888, p. 26).

In 1472 William Ecopp, rector of Heslerton, East Yorkshire, desired that immediately after his burial a pilgrim should go for him " Crucifixo apud hostium boriale Sancti Pauli London." (' Test. Ebor.,' iii. 200).

In 1498 Lady Scrope left " to the roode of Northdor my herte of goolde w* a dyamaunt in the midds" ('Test. Ebor.,' iv. 153). It seems to have been so well known that it was unnecessary to add the place.

W. C. B.

CHICAGO IN 1853. Truly, history often repeats itself, if occasionally it does not present " a continuous performance." Those familiar with the Chicago of to-day will be amused by the following quotation from a little book entitled 'Sketches of the Country,' &c., by John Reynolds, 144, Belleville, Illinois, 1854 :

"Great excitement and enthusiasm prevail in this city to acquire fortunes and fame, induce the citizens to exert all their physical and mental

energies and abilities in such a manner that every latent spark of mind and activity is brought into active operation. Under these considerations, every citizen has an institution of learning before him, and if he do not become a scholar in it, he must take a back seat, at least in the forum of wealth and business.

" By these exciting circumstances, the citizens ot Chicago have acquired talents and energy in business that cannot be surpassed. They scarcely take time to eat or sleep, and their gait in the street is gene- rally much faster than a common walk. Almost every citizen of Chicago has the acquisition of a fortune strongly governing his mind, and ^he has either obtained it, or is in hot pursuit of it.

One is almost persuaded to believe thafe nothing is impossible, for, given a sufficient expenditure of energy well guided, results can be accomplished ; nevertheless, haste sometimes is transformed into hurry.

EUGENE F. McPiKE-

Chicago, U.S.

A RELIC OF CHATEAUBRIAND. Le Petit Temps of 2 February contained some interest- ing particulars of a curious donation made the other day to the Musee Carnavalet, Pans, by an octogenarian hairdresser, M. Paques, who was in some sort a celebrity for having had amongst his clientele several prominent personages of the Restoration. The gift in question is a kind of picture representing the room at Saint-Malo in which was born the author of 'Atala' and 'The Martyrs. The aged artist in hair wished to have the satisfaction before his death of giving to the Parisians what would, under the old regime, have been called his masterpiece. Not less interesting than the picture itselt are the authenticating documents which accompany it. Amongst them is a letter from the famous caricaturist Cham (Vicomte de Noe), running thus :

"Will you call and cut my hair on Monday evening, at eight o'clock ? I have examined your pictures [sic'] made with the hair of M. de Chateau- briand. It is very curious and especially ingenious for a curiosity lover it has its value. Receive my salutations. CHAM.''

There are also a certificate of Louiset, valet de chambre of the celebrated writer, and a letter from the popular poet Beranger, delicately worded, but very explicit, bearing date 15 October, 1848 :

"My DEAR MOXSIEUR PAQUES, It is not quite fitting that I give you the attestation you ask of me. That which I can do is to attest that you had such a sincere admiration for the great man we have lost that it would be contrary to your pro*"^ "* present as coming from him objects that had not belonged to his establishment. Besides, the certi- ficate which good and honest Louiset, so devoted to his master, has given to you, is the best guarantee you can offer. I am still very grateful to you for