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NOTES AND QUERIES. m s. m. FEB. 25, 1911.

1760, where the pasteboard figures .were seated in rows one above the other, on clouds of the same material " contrived in such a manner that the whole group descended and ascended with a slow motion to the sound of music." E. MABJEBY Fox.

EPIGBAM IN SCHOPENHAUEB (11 S. iii. 128). Old books read with attention, the true and the

genuine old books,

New ones about these say little that matters a whit.

WALTEB W. SKEAT. [MR. M. L. R. BRESLAR also thanked for reply.]

CHUBCH WITH WOODEN BELL-TUBBET (11 S. iii. 10, 95). The old church of St. Clement, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, is a small edifice of red brick consisting of nave and aisles ; the lych gate is surrounded by a belfry containing a peal of tubular bells given in 1887 by the late Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, first and last Bart, (died 1900), who also built the gate.

FBEDEBICK LAWBENOE TAVABE.

Manchester.

COUBT LIFE (11 S. iii. 107). There are two books which together will probably supply X. Y. with what is asked for. W. J. Thorns, the first editor of ' N. & Q.,' published in 1838 ' The Book of the Court exhibiting the Origin, Peculiar Duties and Privileges of the Several Ranks of the Nobility and Gentry, more particularly of the Great Officers of State and Members of the Royal Household.' This book was dedicated to Queen Victoria, and was no doubt the outcome of public enthusiasm and interest at the time of Her Majesty's coronation. Thorns published this book in the year in which he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1844 he brought out an improved edition of the book. Thorns was the first to get together from many obscure sources a great mass of scattered information bearing upon the history and duties of the great officers of the State. As late as 1883 Mr. Armytage, a daughter of Lord Fitzhardinge, published ' Old Court Customs and Modern Court Rule,' a very entertaining book, containing a lot of information as to royal regulations and rules of ceremony for many great occasions. If X. Y. wishes to pursue^ the subject further he will find some curious knowledge in Nicholas Carlisle's ' The Place and Quality of Gentlemen of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Chamber.' Car- lisle's book was the outcome of his appoint-

ment as one of the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, and was largely taken from Pegge's ' Curialia.' His book was roughly handled in The Westminster Review, April, 1830. One of the earliest of the books on this subject is a ' Treatise of the Court, or Instructions for Courtiers,' written by Denys de Refuges, and translated into English by John Reynolds, and published 1622. John Topham, who held many offices worthily, and was treasurer to the Society of Antiquaries, published in 1787 ' Observations on the Wardrobe Accounts of the Twenty - Eighth Year of King Edward I.' This proved one of the publica- tions of the Society of Antiquaries, and three years later (1790) the s,me Society issued ' A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household made in Divers Reigns, from King Edward III. to King William and Queen Mary.' This is a most valuable work for any student of the subject. All the foregoing books contain much informa- tion on the subject, but there are certain sources of specialized knowledge which may be alluded to. Thus Sir Harris Nicholas's Preface to the sixth volume of the Proceed- ings of the Privy Council contains a valuable essay on the office of the Lord Chamberlain. Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, who was Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Queen of George II., has left in her correspondence many interesting notes upon the duties of her office. It seems hardly necessary to add that regulations for those attending State functions are issued from the Lord Chamberlain's Office, and are printed in The London Gazette. A very detailed account of a State ball in the eighteenth century may be found printed in The European Magazine for January, 1777. Messrs. Harrison issue " by authority " ' Uniforms to be worn by the Queen's Household [coloured plates], 1870.' The private in- formation in the hands of the Lord Chamber- lain and the Garter King at Arms would be illuminating and priceless.

A. L. HUMPHBEYS. 187, Piccadilly, W.

Publications on the duties of Court officials, if issued at all, must, from the nature of the case, be but few in number. Perhaps the best method to obtain the information required would be to read such works as deal with he matter in the light of personal experience. Such books as the * Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay ' (Frances Burney), Mrs. Armytage's * Old Court