Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/172

 140 NOTES AND QUERIES. no»s. iv. A™. 12,IMS. the Apothecaries is dated 9 April, 1606, before which time Shakespeare had, of course, mentioned his lean apothecary in ' Romeo and Juliet.' By this charter the Apothecaries were incorporated with the Grocers. A new charter, forming them into a separate company, was granted them •6 December, 1617. Under this charter the Society still holds. On 10 April, 1684, the charter, which had undergone many attacks, was assailed by a quo warranto. The king demanded a surrender, which was made, and a new charter was con- ceded. A stormy period followed. On 6 May, 1685, "a precept was received from the Lord Mayor stating that the King desired the Company to nave a livery, it being one of the Companies which he had decided should have one.1' In spite of Court influences, however, the new charter was ultimately surrendered and cancelled, and the old •charter was restored. Twelve days after its resto- ration James II. had abdicated. Troublous from the outset were the fortunes of the new society. Some among the Apothecaries objected to be dissociated from the Grocers, and the complaint was made that the charter " disables an Ancient Corporation, giving foreign Apothecaries the same licence as English." James I. was not to be thwarted in his purpose, and compelled obe- dience to his orders. On 9 September, 1618, the business of the Society began in earnest, a search for defective and bad medicine being made in London, Westminster, and Southwark. and divers people being summoned for having inferior and adulterated drugs. From the first the struggle for existence was keen, and was intensified by royal demands, which in the time of Charles I. became onerous. Legal troubles and attacks on the Society were constant, the most celebrated having attained & position in literature by provoking the publica- tion of Garth's 'Dispensary.' Then followed the provision of a hall and the obtaining of a barge, with similar matters. For a time the poverty of the institution compelled it to rent a hall. In time, however, it obtained that it still occupies. Those accustomed to study minutes will scarcely be surprised to hear how little attention was paid in them to events of the greatest importance, political or other. It is, however, surprising, in the case of an institution of the class, to find a matter such as the Great Plague passing unnoticed, and even more astounding that no entry appears of the Fire of London, in which the fabric of the hall was de- stroyed, necessitating re-edification. In conse- quence of the poverty of the company, the banquets were occasionally suspended. Decorum seems not always to have been observed at the feasts, since we find that, in consequence of the behaviour of those present on Lord Mayor's Day, 1675, women were excluded. In the reception of Charles II. on his Restoration the company, besides paying 721. as their share of a present to the king of 12.000/., had to send " twelve persons of the most grave, tall, and comely personages everyone of them to be well horsed and in the best array of furniture of velvett, plush or sat tin and chains of gold with one footeman apeece in decent habit," and provide banners, streamers, and other ornaments of triumph. With the educational and the serious functions of the Society we have not concerned ourselves. Mr. Barrett's task lias been well executed. Jn addition to the let terpress he has Hiipplied some interesting illustrations of the premises and the antiquarian possessions of the Society. Book-Auction Record*. Edited by Frank Karslake. Vol. II. Part III., April 1st to June 30th, 1905. (Karslake & Co.) To those who seek a handy record of the modern prices of books the work of Mr. Karslake mav be commended. Two volumes, the first of which is all but exhausted, and is only obtainable at an enhanced price, have appeared, or are on the point of so doing, and the whole will in time be a useful work of reference. The arrangement is alpha- betical, and, so far as possible, under names of authors. In the present part are 5,616 records To The British Weekly for 27 July Mr. Richard Robbins—who was born in 1817, took part in the Reform agitation of 1831, and remembers the General Election of June, 1826—sends some recol- lections. For his memories of the Coronation of George iy. see ' N. i Q.,' 9th S. x. 3. Mr. Robbins has contributed to the Eighth and Ninth Series; see, for instance. 9th S. vi. 415. His son, Mr. Alfred F. Robbins, will be recognized as a frequent and valuable contributor, whose name occupies to itself over a column in the General Index to the Ninth Series. His grandson, Mr. Clifton Robbins, had a query on 'Cricket: Pictures and Engravings' on 1 July (ante, p. 9). We doubt whether another instance can be found of three successive genera- tions writing virtually in the same periodical within a space so short. THE "Oxford Poets" series will include a large- type Shakespeare, one edition of which will contain thirty-one illustration!) taken from the Boydell Gallery ; and Shelley's ' Complete Poetical Works,' edited by Mr. Thomas Hutchinson. Both the Shakespeare and the Shelley will be printed on ordinary and also Oxford India paper. IJotirrs to Comsponbtnts. We must call special attention to the foUowtHu notices:— ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answerqueries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as lie wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication "Duplicate." DE ST. (" I lay me down hoping to sleep ").—For the variants of these lines in different editions of ' The New England Primer' see Bartlett's ' Familiar Quotations,' ninth ed., p. C87. NUTICK. Editorial communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'"—Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub- lisher"—at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, B.C.