Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/245

 n s. x. SEPT. 19, i9ii] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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Charles was less well served in England during these years. For the first months w r e have the (!is]>:i1ches of Van der Delft, a disappointed man, suffering intolerably from the gout, whose chief concern is the position of the Princess Mary, lie had received from Somerset a formal verbal assurance that Mary should not be molested in the practice of her religion, but the letters patent for which he pressed as the only reasonable security were steadily refused, and Mary was harassed by attempts to persuade her into sub- mission, and by interference with her household. It seemed best to carry her off to the Continent, and Van der Delft employed his last days in England and, as it turned out, some of the last days of his life in devising an elaborate plan for her escape -from the Essex coast. The scheme was to be guarded by the absolute ignorance oi the new ambassador, Jehan Scheyfve, who thus, without being aware of it, entered upon an office of considerable danger.

However, the two attempts made were frus- trated, to the sorrow of Van der Delft, though probably not to the displeasure of Charles or even of Mary's other friends. The Emperor, hard pressed for money, had no desire to burden himself with the maintenance of his cousin ; and Mary's adherents, calculating that Edward's life would not be a long one, feared that she might lose the succession if she were absent from Eng- land at the moment of his death. The full story of the disguised corn-merchants who came up the Blackwater to fetch Mary, in the words of the leader of the affair, Van der Delft's secretary Jehan Duboys, is one of the most picturesque narratives here.

The volume includes several spirited letters from Mary, whose constancy was never in ques- tion, and a curious epistle to her, adorned with Latin tags, from Edward, taking her to task on the question of religion.

Jehan Scheyrve's reports of English life and the proceedings of the Council are prolix, and somewhat helpless productions, which yet have Borne humour about them. They illustrate, as do so many documents of the time, the con- temptuous bewilderment of foreigners over the English religious position. Scheyfve seems to have been equally perplexed as to the true character of Somerset and the significance of Northumberland's schemes, and, baffled as to the political affairs of a country for which he had no sort of sympathy, falls back to a great extent upon commercial business, where he displays considerable insight and skill. Still, on 6 April, 1551, he gave the Emperor a sufficiently clear and forcible account of an interview and dispute between Mary and the King and Council, when matters would have gone harder than they did with her but for the unwillingness of the Council, at the moment, to put themselves any further wrong with the Emperor. For Scheyfve a short time before had come to them with serious complaints of the conduct of Sir Richard Morrison, the English Ambassador at Augsburg, who, at an audience granted him by the Emperor, took upon himself to enter into a disputation about religion. The scene (unheard of as a breach of diplomatic etiquette) must have inchided some elements of rare comedy, as, indeed, may be traced by the description of it, conceived in a tone of lofty and justifiable disgust, which was sent to Schovfvo in Charles's instructions.

The dispute between the Emperor and the Pope over Parma is the most important of the European affairs not diiectly connected with England which appear in these pages. We may also mention, in passing, three letters about Titian and the work he was doing for Prince Philip, the last of which is a letter to Titian from the Prince himself, acknowledging the receipt of two pictures which " are like all the works of your hand."

The Universal Bible Dictionary. (Religious Tract Society, 3s. 6d. net.)

THIS Dictionary, edited by the Rev. A. R. Buck- land, assisted by Dr. A. Lukyn Williams, has been prepared to meet the needs of Bible readers for whom the more exhaustive and costly works are unsuited. Apart from its value as a dic- tionary to the Bible, the student will find the articles upon the text of Scripture, the various versions, the Higher Criticism, &c., helpful. In some of these the assistance has been sought of Prof. Green of Regent's Park College. Mr. W. Grinton Berry, Mr. H. W. Williams, Dr. Master- man, Prof. Griffith Thomas, and Principal War- man are among other helpers. Whilst the refer- ences are for the most part to the Authorized Version, names of persons and places may be consulted also under the forms of the Revised Version. The meanings of proper names are given or suggested where sufficient warrant exists. The work shows great care in its compilation, and is a marvel of cheapness.

Book - Auction Record*. Vol. XI. Part III*

(Karslake & Co., II. Is. yearly.) THIS part contains a fine reproduction of the por- trait of Mr. James Thin, the well-known book- seller of Edinburgh, painted by Mr. Henry W. Kerr, R.S.A., and presented to Mr. Thin by the Scottish church of which he has been for sixty" years an elder. Book-lovers who visit Edinburgh never fail to call on Mr. Thin, whose chats on books are always a delight. We mention him. with but one regret, and that is that our old friend in March last passed his ninetieth birthday. There is also an account of Ipswich libraries by Mr. T. Edwards Jones.

Among some of the chief items we note a Block Book of the Apocalyptic Visions of St. John (? Nurnberg, c. 1460), 2,1201, and the first edition of Berners's ' Book of St. Albans,' 1486, 1,800Z. Under Latin Bibles is ' Biblia Pauperum,' block book of the fifteenth century, 780Z. Under Byron is the first edition of ' Childe Harold ' (Cantos I .-II. only), presented " To W. J. Bankes, Esq., from his friend the author, March 4, 1812," and below, in Bankes's handwriting, " Very soon after I had it I lent this book to Miss Milbanke (afterwards Lady Byron), who was then unacquainted with Lord Byron. She returned it to me with a note expressing her admiration of the Poem. W. J. B." This fetched 56Z. There are rare editions of Homer, Horace, Cicero, and Caesar. Among choice Dickens items is ' Pickwick ' with all the wrappers and advertisements, " probably the finest copy extant," 4951. There are some valuable sets of Law Reports. A copy of Macrobius, ' Expositio in Somnium Scipionis,' printed on vellum, first page painted and coat of arms, initials illuminated,