Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/591

 10 s. vii. JUNE 22, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

487

to celebrate the opening of the new 'Haroourt' dining-room, still wearing the dress suit which he had put on for dinner the previous evening."

POLITICIAN.

" ERASMUS ROGERS." The Edinburgh Review for last April (No. 420, 273 iff.) has some severe remarks on the manner in which Acton's ' Lectures on Modern History ' have been given to the public. It is not my wish to intervene in the discussion, but one criticism seems to deserve notice from its peculiar grotesqueness. In complaining of the lack of expansion or comment in the form of notes the reviewer says :

"As it is, without any guide, the reader is left to wonder at the possible meaning which attaches to

such a cryptic sentence as 'Erasmus Rogers

was born at Rotterdam,' which, as it stands, can only refer to some unknown Rogers baptised Erasmus ; and so it appears in the Index. But the character - sketch of this native of Rotterdam is clearly that of Erasmus; and if in the darkness in which we are left we are permitted to guess, we would suggest that the name 'Rogers' was pro- bably not written in simple sequence, as it has been printed, 1 but in the margin, or interlined, or inclosed in brackets, merely as a reminder to draw a parallel or point out a comparison between Erasmus and John Rogers, the protomartyr of the Marian per- secution. It is, indeed, true' that the resemblance ne, saute pas aux yeux is not exactly obvious ; but Acton seems to have rather affected far-fetched analogies, as perhaps more likely to catch the interest or to rouse the attention of his hearers." Pp. 274-5.

Lest any one should be tempted to work out this enigmatic comparison, it may be well to mention that Pope Leo X.'s dis- pensation to Erasmus in 1517 is addressed " ErasmoRogeriiRoterodamensi." Possibly as Mr. F. M. Nichols suggests (' Epistles of Erasmus,' 1901, i. 39) the surname of Roger was derived from the mother's family.

WAINFLEET.

HOLLY LODGE, HIGHGATE. Interest can- not fail to be aroused by the news as to the approaching sale by auction of the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts's historic residence and grounds, charmingly situated upon the slope of West Hill, Highgate. Pleasant memories must dwell in the minds of many around this suburban home of the great benefactress, and. regret felt over an an- nouncement which suggests the probable fate of the old white house, with its prized fifty acres or so of gardens and meadows. Must yet another delectable spot be added to the long list of vanishing landmarks ? or is there a chance that public-spirited enterprise and generosity may again prevail to secure one more precious " lung " upon those Northern Heights for the benefit of

present and future generations of toiling Londoners ? CECIL CLARKE.

Junior Athenaeum Club.

GEORGE ROMNEY'S HOUSE IN CAVENDISH SQUARE. In the fine work on George Romney by Messrs. T. Humphry Ward and W. Roberts, and in an article by Mr. C. Lewis Hind recently published in The Daily Chronicle, and entitled ' A House in Cavendish Square,' the number of Romney's house in the square is stated to have been 32. But, in fact, the number was 24. I have some personal interest in this ques- tion ; for at No. 23, next door to Romney, lived my great-great-grandfather, James Clayton, and his wife Hannah (my " step "- great-great-grandmother), who was a grand- daughter of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The remainder of the lease of this town house (23) had been left to her by her father, Richard Penn, who had a house also at Sunbury, Middlesex.

In P. Boyle's ' Fashionable Court Guide ' for 1792, first edition, these entries appear :

(alphabetical section) " Romney,, Esq.,

24, Cavendish Square " ; and (under ' Cavendish Square ') " 23, Mrs. Clayton ; 24, - - Rwmney ; 25, Sir John Thorold." In the second edition (1792) the same numbers are given, and the artist's Christian name is inserted. And in Boyle's ' Guide for 1796 Romney's number is still 24, while the spelling of his name is corrected. Further, these books indicate that there were only twenty-eight houses in the square. No. 24 still exists, apparently very little altered. It is a substantial eighteenth- century mansion. A Romney plaque should be inserted in the front of the house.

EDWY G. CLAYTON.

10, Old Palace Lane, Richmond, Surrey.

UGO FOSCOLO IN LONDON. (See 9 S. vi. 326.) The house in Handel Street (formerly Henrietta Street) at the corner of Kenton Street, St. Pancras, where Ugo Foscolo hid himself from his creditors at a crisis in his career, is about to be demolished. The house has no interest beyond its temporary association with Foscolo, and its demolition is no cause for regret. JOHN HEBB.

BEHEADING IN ENGLAND : EARLIEST INSTANCE. In Southey's ' Commonplace Book ' (i. 453) the reader is informed that the first example of beheading in this island is that of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland. The fact, if it be one, he derived from Kennett's ' Parochial Antiquities,' i. 83.

N. M. & A.