Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/216

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL MARCH 2, 1907.

Harvey's great discovery of the circulation of the blood. In the course of an eloquent address, Prof. Osier made some remarks that are especially inter- esting to us as a society. He said : ' The iron yoke of conformity was upon all necks, and in our minds, as in our bodies, the force of habit became irre- sistible. From our teachers and associates, from our reading, from the social atmosphere about us, we caught the beliefs of the day, and they became part of our nature. For most of us that happened in the haphazard process we called education ; and it went on just as long as we retained mental re- ceptivity. It was never better expressed than in the famous lines which occurred to Henry Sidgwick in his sleep :

We think so because all other people think so ; Or because or because after all, we do think so ; Or because we were told so, and think we must think

so; Or because we once thought so, and think we still

think so ; Or because, having thought so, we think we will

think so.' "

ALICE M. PUGH.

[Other correspondents thanked for replies.]

SLAVERY IN ENGLAND (10 S. vii. 149). The heading and the phrase " slaves in this country " suggest that the decision named had to do with persons of our race, whereas it concerned negro slavery. S. I. E.

INQUIRER wishes to know the supposed number of slaves in England in 1772, when Lord Mansfield delivered his great judg- ment. I had it in my mind that the number was 30,000 ; but the impression is hazy, and I have failed to verify it. I find, how- ever, the following in ' The Liverpool Privateers ' (Heinemann), a very interesting work giving much attention to the history of the Liverpool slave trade :

" In 1764 The Gentleman's Magazine estimated that there were upwards of 20,000 slaves then domi- ciled in London alone, and these slaves were openly bought and sold 011 'Change." P. 477.

DOUGLAS OWEN.

SCOTT ILLUSTRATORS (10 S. vii. 10, 74, 130). In this interesting list it would be unfortunate to omit the beautiful designs in the large edition of Firmin Didot, Paris. In some respects these excel our home pro- ductions. ' Quentin Durward ' and ' Rob Boy ' may be specially commended, al- though it is amusing in the latter to find the nineteenth-century College of Glasgow at Gilmorehill represented as the scene of the duel between Frank and Rashleigh.

ROBERT DUNCAN.

House of Commons.

Surely James Skene (1775-1864) has the best claim to be considered the first illus- trator of Scott's romances. The ' Series of Sketches of the Existing Localities alluded to

in the Waverley Novels,' etched from his- own drawings, and published at Edinburgh in 1829, are the earliest and most useful in the whole " Scott Gallery." At least they represent a selection only of a very large number of drawings made by Skene not only in Scotland, but during his visit to France in 1822. It is said (' Life of Scott,' iv. 323) that his intimate knowledge of that country inspired ' Quentin Durward ' ; and the Jewish element in * Ivanhoe ' was partly due to his suggestion.

I have in my possession three most inter- esting letters from Skene to John Martin (the bibliographer, 1791-1855). discussing the latter's proposal to issue a further volume of Sketches of ' Waverley ' topo- graphy. Although unpublished, they are too long to transcribe for these pages ; but I shall be pleased to let E. N. G. have sight of them.

Skene refers to his " Portfolios of Draw- ings," the result of his explorations. For two of the romances he did not prepare drawings :

"You will no doubt have remarked that ' The- Antiquary' is omitted in my series. This was done at the author's suggestion,' as he had no individual subjects so distinctly in view as to justify their being given as localities, and he was desirous that no part of my plan should rest iipon assumption or mere conjectural resemblance. The real abode of the Antiquary was altogether different from the fictitious one, the other subjects of interest in the novel had no identity whatever, and without these leading scenes he did not consider the passing notices as worth depicting." Letter of 13 March, 1831.

Here is the second instance :

'"The Crusaders' is the only tale in the whole series in which I find myself deficient, never having been in Palestine, and feeling rather fastidious as to confining my etchings to subjects which I had* myself sketched from Nature." Letter of 27 Feb., 1831.

As an intimate friend of Scott, this illus- trator had exceptional facilities to ensure the accuracy of his identifications, and his ability was appreciated by the author, who said of him, " Skene is, for a gentleman, the best draughtsman I ever saw" ('Familiar Letters,' 144, quoted by ' D.N.B.').

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

39, Hillmarton Road, N.

CHARLES READE'S GREEK QUOTATION : SENECA (10 S. vii. 110). For the idea of improving misfortunes into blessings by the- help of virtue see Seneca, ' Epistles,' 71,5: " Omnia incommoda suo hire bona voca- buntur, quae modo virtus honestaverit."

EDWARD BENSLY.

University College, Aberystwyth.