Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/179

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made by Theodorus for Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos, which dates back as far as 600 B.C. Soon after this Solon passed a law prohibit- ing the gem-engravers (who had already been constituted a distinct trade) from keeping by them the impression of any signet once sold, in order to prevent its reproduction for fraudulent purposes (' Eng. Encyclop.,' art. ' Seal ' ).

A " Public Seal " was in use among the Athenians. In the fragment of Aristotle's ' Constitution of Athens,' discovered a few years ago, it is stated that the official who was custodian of the keys of the temples containing the public treasures and the public records should also keep the Public Seal (translation by E. Poste, 1891, p. 70).

In later times in Rome written wills were recognized and given effect to if they were attested under the hands and seals of seven witnesses (Lord Mackenzie, ' Roman Law,' p. 279) ; and the practice was confirmed and regulated by the Emperor Justinian in A.D. 439. This, according to Sir Henry Maine, is the first appearance of sealing in the history of jurisprudence considered as a mode of authentication (' Ancient Law,' 9th ed., pp. 210-11). The seals were im- pressed on the wax joining the edges of the tablets upon which the will was inscribed, or on the strings or other fastenings ; and the sealing was usually done with a ring (T. C. Sandars, ' The Institutes of Justinian, 7th ed., p. 167). After the time of Constan- tine (fourth century A.D.) the emperors introduced bidlce or leaden seals, and these were continued after the fall of the Western Empire by the Popes, who use them to the present day, the method of attaching the bullce to documents being by cords or bands (see ' Chambers's Encyclop.'). S. T.

[Some instances of Greek seals are given in the review of Mr. Lang's latest book on Homer, 10 S. vii. 39.]

DODSLEY'S FAMOUS COLLECTION OF POETRY.

(See 10 S. vi. 361, 402 ; vii. 3, 82, 284, 404, 442 ; viii. 124, 183, 384, 442 ; ix. 3, 184, 323, 463 ; x. 103, 243, 305, 403 ; xi. 62.)

SOME sprightly poems by the Rev. John Straight are included in vol. v. 244-57. They are said by his friends to be in Prior's manner.

John Straight matriculated from Wadham College, Oxford, on 28 March, 1705, aged 17, and was described as the son of the Rev. George Straight of Bishopston, Wilton ; but no entry relating to the family can be

found in the registers of the parish. He became the same year a Goodridge Exhibi- tioner of that College. His caution money was restored to him on 9 Nov., 1708, when he migrated to Magdalen College, holding a demyship there from 1708 to 1717. He graduated B.A. 29 Oct., 1709 ; M.A. 9 July^ 1712; B.D. 11 Dec., 1723; was a Fellow of Magdalen College from 1717 to 24 July, 1727, its junior Dean of Arts in 1723, and its Bursar in 1725. Hearne mentions that he preached at St. Mary's on 12 May and 22 Sept., 1717 (' Collections,' vi. 52, 90).

Straight was presented to the rectory of Horsington, Lincolnshire, on 28 Nov., 1721, and held it with his Fellowship until 1727. He was appointed by his college to the vicarage of Findon, Sussex, on 14 Jan., 1726/7 ; and became Prebendary of Witter- ing in Chichester Cathedral on 23 March, 1730/31. Bishop Hoadly, with whose sons he was very intimate, conferred on him the prebendal stall of Warminster in Salis- bury Cathedral, in which he was installed on 11 Oct., 1732. He held both these pre- bends and his benefice of Findon until his death. A characteristic letter of thanks was sent by'him to the bishop :

"I was dead till I received it, but it has given me

new life; I feel myself gay, elated I have been

tithe-gathering these three weeks, and never thought to enquire after anything for the future but the price of corn. But now I shall see Sarum* again, I shall see the bishop again ;

Shall eat his oysters, drink his ale, Loos'ning the tongue as well as tail. I shall be poetical, oratorical, ambitious ; I shall write again to the young divine [Mr. John Hoadly], ' Nay, I don't know but to the public.' "- ' Letters,' ed. J. Buncombe, 1773, 2nd ed. iii. 182.

Straight died in October, 1736, and was buried at Findon on 20 Oct. He married Mary, the eldest daughter of Mr. Davenport, Vicar of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire, whom he left a widow with six children. His circum- stances and health had been much injured through farming, and in 1741 two volumes of ' Select Discourses on Moral and Religious Subjects ' were published by subscription for his family's benefit. He was described in the Gent. Mag. as possessing " extraordinary parts and eccentric good sense." Through his father's prejudices he had been " educated in favour of the French prophets, by whom he was eaten up and betrayed." A sermon which he preached at the assizes was criti- cized in ' Two Letters from a Deist to hi*. Friend concerning the Truth and Propaga- tion of Deism in opposition to Christianity ^ 1730.' The sermon was against zeal, which brought inconvenience with it.