Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/74

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NOTES AND QUERIES. uo<s.i. JA.V. 16,190*.

of over a century prior to the postal reform of Sir Rowland Hill in 1840 :

1829." I have just discovered that my blotting paper blots, and blots with great effect, which must excuse the state of this epistle. I now con- clude it. 1 do not overlook what you said in your envelope, but we will talk over grievances when we meet. I am truly sorry for them. Adieu." ' Letters of Lady Louisa Stuart,' Second Series, p. 150 (Edinburgh, 1903).

1822. " I did grudge the other day eighteen- pence for one page of a sheet of note paper enclosed in a cover, but give me the money's worth and take it freely." ' Letters of Lady Louisa Stuart,' First Series, pp. 265-6 (Edinburgh, 1901).

1821." If he should have left you, never mind a frank ; but if he does frank your letter, let it be in a cover. You will wonder at this, but I promised a collector of franks whom I met at Danesfield to gather together as many franks as I could for him, and I want Sir Wm.'s to add to the number." Ibid.,?. 194.

1782." Mr. Napier begs his best compts. to you both. I won't make you pay more for my stupid letter by putting it in a cover, so adieu." ' Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox,' ii. 17 (London, 1901).

1730, Dean Swift to Mrs. Howard. " If you were a lord or commoner, I would have sent you this in an envelope." ' Letters of the Countess of Suffolk,' i. 403 (London. 1824).

1726, Dean Swift to Mrs. Howard. " This is without a cover, to save money ; and plain paper, because the gilt is so thin it will discover secrets betwixt us." Ibid., p. 221.

The 'N.E.D.' cites for early examples of envelope, 1726, Dean Swift, and 1714, Bishop Burnet ; and for cover, 1798, Jane Austen, and 1748, Samuel Richardson.

E. P. MERRITT.

Boston, U.S.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

New Amsterdam and its People. By J. H. Innes.

(Scribner's Sons.)

THIS survey of New Amsterdam, now known as New York, is compiled from documents in Ame- rican archives, most of which, so far as the general public is concerned, are now for the first time made accessible. It has inspired much interest in Ame- rica, but has as yet obtained comparatively little notice in this country, wherein it should count on a welcome no less assured. It is virtually the first attempt to deal fully with the growth of the Netherlands colony, the settlement of Manhattan island, and the fortunes of the colonists in their sufferings from tyrannical governors and their con- tests with enemies, savage or civilized, until, in 1664, the State was grasped by England, who had long cast covetous eyes upon it. A new edition is meditated by the author, and it is greatly desired to interest English research in the matter. Many points on which further information is sought may be mentioned. Mr. Innes is of opinion that the William Paterson who in 1668 acquired property in New Amsterdam was the founder of the Bank of England. This can hardly have been

the case if the dates in the ' D.N.B.' can be accepted, since, according to these, Paterson was born in 1658. Further information on the subject is desirable. The evidence of signatures favours the theory of Mr. Innes. Edinburgh records should be consulted. Fresh information is imparted concerning Capt. William Kidd, and the view is expounded that he was sacrificed in order to save the reputation of men higher in station than himself. When this period is reached in calendaring the English State Papers, much information on this point is to be anticipated. Concerning Jacob Steendam, a Dutch poet in the service of the West India Company, new information has been obtained. As ne is virtually the first American poet, interest in him is certain to be before long inspired. How far his works, which we are unable to read, are accessible we fail to grasp. Cornells Melyn, of Antwerp, the leader of the opposition to the West India Company, transferred his services to Eng- land. Speculation is rife in New York as to what was his share in bringing about the English seizure of New York. It is probable that informa- tion on this subject is lurking among English records. Augustyn Heermans or Herrman, the surveyor of Maryland and the maker of the map of that province now in the British Museum, a man interesting in other respects, invites atten- tion. Little intelligent regard has hitherto been paid to the early views of New York. Mr. Innes claims to have been the first to discover that the view by Justus Danckers of New Amsterdam, nomi- nally in 1651, but really representing the period about 1630, which serves as a frontispiece, is in the original reversed. In these and many other regards we challenge the judgment of English experts. We are glad to give Mr. Innes all the assistance in our power. Little, however, will, we fear, be done until Mr. Innes associates some English scholar in labours that should ultimately prove remunerative, or himself visits Britain for the purpose of making personal researches. His book appeals to all students of New York, and is profusely illustrated with maps, drawings, &c. Ihe designs extend beyond New Amsterdam to the present city, which the Dutch colonists of three centuries ago might justly have regarded as a metropolis, a term con- stantly abused in its application to London, which is no more the metropolis of York than it is of Edinburgh or Dublin.

THE few sheets of paper which contain the title- page, Elegia Graiana, in Coemeterio Burali script a. Latine rcddidit W. A. Clarke (Oxford, B. H. Black- well), are of interest to us as a reminder that the elegant gift of Latin verse has not yet passed into the limbo of forgotten things. For those with taste and the instinct for language Latin can be a living instrument, can make privacy on a postcard, neat- ness out of prolixity, tnings awkward to say toler- able, and compliments epigrammatic. The Latin muse is not, our own experience protests, such a rox damantis in dtxerto as the man in the street (that wonderful fiction of modern journalists to conceal faults of sense and ignorance) thinks, if. indeed, he can be said ever to think at all. We have received, for instance, in a Latin verse or two an invitation from a friend to dine and play billiards, as exact as English could be concerning time and place, graceful, yet brief as the telegram which the national thrift in copper generally reduces to un- intelligibility.