Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/63

 10 s. vii. JAN. 19, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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resident, but lived at Doncaster, and neglected to serve his cure; And that divers times he, when the High Court visited, spoke so lowd, that he was -offensive to many, and being reproved for that, he gave a scornfull answer ; And that there was one Wright in the Parish, who had a seat in the Church, and that the Vicar would spit in abundance in the seat, and that when Wright and his W T ife were there. And that afterwards he said with a common voice, ' That the Wife of Thomas Howson was as good as the Wife of Wright,' And that in his Sermon he made jests, and said, ' That Christ was laid in a Manger, because he had no money to take up a 'Chamber, but that was the knavery of the Inne- keeper ' ; he being then in contention with an Inn- keeper in the Parish, and that in divine service he thrust open the door of Wright's seat, and said, ' that he and his Wife would sit there,' in disturb- ance of divine service. And for that a prohibition was prayed and granted, for the High Commission cannot punish non-residency, nor breaking the seat in divine service : And the other were things for which he shall be bound to his good behaviour ; and the complaint ought to be to the Ordinary, &c."

MISTLETOE.

" THE OLD HIGHLANDER." It is assumed by the daily papers that " the last " to- bacconist's " Scotchman " is a rarity, if not unique. Fifty years ago one stood outside the door of every snuff-shop, so there must be many in existence. One still stood lately in Knightsbridge, opposite the barracks. They invariably displayed, not Highland, but Lowland Scots features in the clean- shaved face. T. O. H.

CARLISLE : CARLYOL. In The Times of Wednesday the bishop's signature appears now to be a modified form of the British 'Caer-luel. We have also had " Hervey Carlisle," and at least one Latin form in

>the past.

C.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

PUBLIC OFFICE = POLICE-OFFICE, POLICE- 'CouRT. ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica,' d. 7, 1838, xviii. 249/2, says :

" The Public Office in Bow Street was for some time the only place in the metropolis where a police magistrate sat regularly, without the jurisdiction of the city of London. Seven additional police- offices were established in 1792, by the Act 32 Geo. III. cap. 53, and the Thames Police-Office in 1798."

On referring to the Act of 1792, I find that the term used in it is not " Police-Office," but " Public Office." This title still remains ior the police-court in Birmingham. Let

us hope it will be retained as an interesting historical monument. The name " police- office " seems to have been first used in 1798, when "the Marine Police-Office, No. 259, Wapping New Stairs ' (called in the ' Encyclopaedia ' " the Thames Police- Office "), was established. In Colquhoun's ' Commerce of the Thames,' 1800, we read, p. 161, in reference to Mr. John Harriott, of " his indefatigable attention to the public interest since he has presided (as resident magistrate) at the Marine Police-Office." After this, apparently before 1816, the other metropolitan " Public Offices " seem to have come to be called " Police-Offices " : a name which they still later exchanged for that of " Police-Court," the earliest refer- ence to which now before me is of 1858, though it then appears as the established title.

Several details are yet wanting, and I shall be glad of answers to the following : 1. When was the Bow Street " Public Office " established ? 2. Can a quotation for the name before 1792 be got ? 3. When was the Birmingham " Public Office " estab- lished ? 4. Can an early quotation for it be furnished ? 5. Does the name " Public Office " survive anywhere else for police- court ? 6. Can " police court " be found before 1858 ?

I have to thank several correspondents for informing me directly of places where the name " police-office " is still applied to the police-court. J. A. H. MURRAY.

Oxford.

[A quotation for "police-court" in 1842 was given by MB. GANDY at 10 S. yi. 494, where he suggested that it might be found in 3 & 4 Will IV., c. 46.]

FREDERIC THE GREAT'S MSS. The manu- scripts of the poetical works of Frederic the Great and of his correspondence with Voltaire, Jordan, and D'Alembert, which are printed in the ' QEuvres Posthumes de Frederic II.,' Berlin, 1788, are said to have been in England since the end of the eigh- teenth century. I should be much obliged for information as to whether these manu- scripts are yet in existence, and where.

PROF. DROYSEN.

Friedenau, Berlin.

' THE SIGN OF THE CLEFT.' I shall be much obliged if any of your readers can inform me who is the author of the recita- tion entitled ' The Sign of the Cleft.' A reader at the Croydon Public Libraries informs me that he thinks it is by a J. Heart, but of this we are unable to obtain