Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/158

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. AUG. 17, 1907.

could not comply with them, the result being that " Exeter Hall in its old, historic character has ceased to be." It is said that the familiar landmark in the Strand,

" the dark, lofty, narrow portico, framed in with Graeco-Corinthian columns, will, for some time, continue to mark out the place, possibly it may remain permanently ; but the interior is bound to be transformed in the restless reconstruction of the Strand, for a well-known firm of restaurateurs have acquired the building, and its rearrangement will be necessary."

In the same journal of 23 July there was a leading article on the subject.

It is impossible to follow at any length the variety of purposes to which the building has been devoted in the seventy-six years of its existence, it having been built at a cost of about 30,OOOZ., and named after old Exeter House, which formerly stood on this spot. It was the home of the Sacred Harmonic Society from its birth in 1831 until 1880. Here were held Anti-Slavery demon- strations, and it was the central home of the Young Men's Christian Association. It had been also the scene of many religious services conducted by ministers of many denominations, notably the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon and the Rev. W. Morley Punshon. Its new proprietors are Messrs. J. Lyons & Co., and it is said that when the altera- tions, &c., are completed, it will blossom forth as a popular hotel.

W. E. HARLAND-OXLEY.

EARL OF WESTMORELAND'S INSTALLATION AT OXFORD, 1759. A reduced photograph from an old engraving in a little book commemorative of the recent Oxford Pageant, called ' The 'Varsity Souvenir,' depicts, I suppose, the installation of John Fane, Earl of Westmoreland, in the Shel- donian Theatre on 6 July, 1759. The two rostra are occupied, and apparently a dialogue is taking place between the speakers. The Chancellor is depicted in his robes, wearing an enormous wig and a cocked hat.

In ' Selecta Poemata Anglorum ' a long poem in Latin hexameters is given, describ- ing a dialogue between " R^usticus et Academicus," i.e., one from the country and a resident in Oxford. The Chancellor had served under the Duke of Maryborough, and had attained the rank of major-general. Many of the celebrities of Oxford in those days are figured in the larger print, but the faces are not very distinct in the photograph, being much reduced.

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

( umes.

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.

" PRECURSORS." In Tctit's Magazine of 1847, vol. xiv. p. 643, 1 find the Irish members of Parliament classed as Conservatives 39,. Repealers 37, Whigs 17, Precursors 12. And The Times of 17 Sept., 1839, has : " Precursorism has turned out to be utterly hopeless." John Bull of 29 April, 1839, asks, "Otherwise what need would there be for Precursorism and Repeal ? " Who were the Precursors, and what were their principles ? Or where can information about them be found ? Please reply direct.

J. A. H. MURRAY. Oxford

BISHOP PORTEUS : PAINTING OF HIS BIRTHPLACE. This prelate (1731-1808) had in his possession an oil painting of his father's house and grounds on the shore of the York River, Virginia, which was thought highly of by Sir Joshua Reynolds as a most favour- able specimen of the progress the art of oil painting had reached at that period in America. It follows that it was greatly valued by the bishop as a faithful picture of his father's birthplace. Can any of your readers inform me who is the present owner of the painting ? C. ELKIN MATHEWS.

Vigo Street, W.

DR. GOOD OF BALLIOL. I shall be grateful for any information as to the birthplace and parentage of Dr. Thomas Good (or Goode), Master of Balliol College, Oxford, 1672-8. Beyond the year of his birth, 1609,. and a suggestion that it was in Shropshire,, nothing definite can be gleaned from available works of reference, even his college record being silent on the points named. He was vicar of St. Alkmund's, Shrewsbury, 1642-5 ; Coreley (Salop) about 1658 ; and rector of Wistanstow (Salop) 1658-72.

SAM H. GOOD.

Care of 'The Advertiser ' Offices, Adelaide, S.A.

CONSTANT'S MEMOIRS. On reading the 'Memoirs of Constant, Valet de Chambre of the Emperor, on the Private Life of Napoleon,' translated by Elizabeth G~ Martin, with preface by Imbert de Saint- Amand, I was told that these were the- memoirs of Henri Benjamin de Rebecque- Constant. But I believe this to be a mis- take, for on looking up the life of Ben-