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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL MAY 22, im

his mother ; the date and place of his marriage (to Mary Toll, prior to 1780), and his wife's parentage and date of birth ; and the date and place of his ordination. I am anxious to render my biographical notice of him as complete as possible, as he held the living of SS. Anne and Agnes for a longer period than any of his predecessors or successors on record.

WILLIAM McMuRRAY.

THE FARMERS OF AYLESBURY. Will one of your readers tell me the precise quotation about " the farmers of Aylesbury and the Straits of Malacca " embodied in a verse composed either by Mr. Gladstone or Mr. Robert Lowe (afterwards Lord Sherbrooke), on an occasion when Mr. Disraeli addressed the farmers of Aylesbury, criticizing some actions of Mr. Gladstone's Government ? I should like the exact quotation, and also the precise date. I do not believe that the incident has been embodied in any political volume, but it will be in the memory of all your older readers. CLEMENT SHORTER.

" UNE SEVIGNE." What is a " Sevigne " ? The Duchesse de Dino, ' Chronique,' ii. 356, writes of " le cadeau laisse par le testament de feu PImperatrice Marie a la femme a venir de son petit-fils, une Sevigne de trois pieces, chacune si enorme que c'est comme une cuirasse." I cannot find the word in Littre nor Chambaud. T. F. R.

ABDUL THE DAMNED. Who was the originator of this appellation ? Did Glad- stone use it in debate in the House of Commons or in public speech ?

SCRUTATOR.

" SEVEN AND NINE." This phrase, I believe, has not yet been noticed. What is the origin of it ? In 1771 R. Cumberland, in 'The West Indian,' Act I. sc. ii., said: " See what a bill of fare I 've been forced to draw out ; seven and nine, I assure you, and only a family dinner."

I have met with the expression " a seven by nine politician " in the United States, i.e., a politician who cuts some figure. In old times window-panes were made of this size in inches, and this may be the case now ; but that is probably only a coincidence. RICHARD H. THORNTON.

36, Upper Bedford Place, W.C.

RICHARD MEREDITH, DEAN OF WELLS. The 'D.N.B.,' xxxvii. 271, says he was admitted a scholar of Winchester School in 1573,^ and of New College, Oxford, in 1576 The ' Index and Epitome ' says that Mere

dith was educated at Westminster School and New College, Oxford. Is the latter statement a blunder or a correction ?

G. F. R. B.

MAJOR JOHN MONTRESOR. I should be glad to obtain the exact date of his death. In the ' D.N.B.,' xxxviii. 328 he is stated to have died " about 1788." G. F. R. B.

CHARLES I.'s TRIAL. In Southey's ' Com- monplace Book,' vol. i. p. 118, there is a quotation from ' Arbitrary Government displayed to the Life,' p. 36, in which it is stated that before the trial of King Charles I. papers were scattered about which called attention to the injustice and illegality of the contemplated act. Have any of these documents come down to our time ? If so, where are they to be seen ? N. M. & A.

RICHARD JEFFERIES CLUB. On 28 April, 1894, Mr. Charles Farr of Broadchalk made a suggestion in The Salisbury Journal for the foundation of a Richard Jefferies Club. Can any of your Wiltshire readers say if such a club has been founded, and put any details on record in ' N. & Q.' ?

T. CANN HUGHES, M.A., F.S.A.

Lancaster.

CHATEAUBRIAND ON SHAKESPEARE. This famous French author states in his ' Vie de Ranee ' that Normandy gave Shakespeare to England, as she did Corneille to France. Upon what was the extraordinary assertion based ? J. B. McGovERN.

St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester.

MURDERED WAITER CHARGED IN THE BILL. Where can I find the story of the man who killed a waiter, and told the landlord of the inn to charge it in the bill ?

LEWIS MELVILLE.

' IF I ONLY KNEW.' Many years ago, at the time of the Corney Grain entertainments at St. James's Hall, I heard a recitation, the refrain or the title of which was ' If I Only Knew.' Could you inform me where I can get this, and what is the correct title ?

S. GOLDREICH.

SIR THOMAS BROWNE : ANNE TOWNS- HEND. In St. Peter's, Mancroft, Norwich, is a M.I. to " Thomas Townshend, Esq., and Anne his wife." Townshend in his will, proved, 1705, desires to be buried " in the same vault near the altar where my ever most dear wife is interred, next Sir Thomas Browne, her uncle." Who was Anne Townshend ? and how was Sir Thomas Browne her uncle ? SIGMA TAU.