Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/422

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

s. v. MAY *, 1912

As the tug steamed away cheers were "given for Dickens, and Fields, who had JDu Chaillu and Childs upon either side of him, shouted " Good-bye, Boz." " Boz " put his hat upon his cane and waved it, and shouted in answer, " Good-bye " and " God bless you every one."

Dickens desired to leave behind him in America some substantial memento of his second visit ; but to have this achieved quietly, without ostentation. Having visited one of the asylums for the blind in Boston, and finding how limited was the literature placed at the disposal of the sufferers, he caused ' The Old Curiosity Shop ' to be produced in raised letters, for the use of the blind in each asylum in the States. So well was the secret kept that only Dolby and the kind doctor of the asylum knew it was his doing. Nor do I think that even now this act of kindness is widely known.

JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS. (To be conliniifd.)

THOMPSON OF TRINITY : " NONE OF us INFALLIBLE." The following account seems worth preserving of a famous epigram which I have seen several times put down to Jowett, and even to an anonymous American. I quote it from the ' Reminiscences by James Stuart,' a delightful book recently published by Messrs. Cassell, which is full of gossip and good stories concerning various notable figures at Cambridge. The comment on the epigram is the more valuable because it shows how quickly doubt arises concerning things that must have made a deep impres- sion at the time. On the other hand, if there was a Boswell anxious to take notes, such things would probably not be said :

" It was in connection with one of the meetings of Trinity College [Cambridge] for making new statutes to embody these changes that Thompson, the then Master, said to Gerald Balf our, "then one of the most radical of reformers, ' We are none of .us infallible, not even the youngest,' a remark which I heard. But I must add that some people doubt whether he said it as 1 have stated, or whether he said, ' We are all fallible, even the youngest.' Further than that, the remembrance of some of those present is that the remark was not addressed to Gerald Balfour, but was imper- sonal, and addressed to the meeting generally. All I can say is I have merely related what I seem to myself to recollect. The various accounts of this remark, and the mystery of the person to whom it was addressed, are in themselves very inter- esting. They show the great difficulty of arriving -at absolute historical accuracy. Here was an -audience of exceedingly well-trained men, all Fellows of Trinity, and a remark of a most

interesting kind made by the "Master, and one which they all noticed, and were interested in telling when they left the room, and -for many years afterwards, and yet both the remark itself, and the circumstances of the remark, are in dispute among them." Chap. iv. pp. It !-.">.

I seem to remember that Mr. Sedley Taylor, as a witness of the scene, also gave an account of it in The Trident, a Trinity paper of which only a few numbers appeared, but at the moment I cannot put my hand on it. V. R.

' SURVEY " AUCTION. I am donating to the Plymouth Free Library a small collection of auction and play -bills from 1790 to 1800, relating to Devonport and Plymouth chiefly, in one of which an auction sale is announced in the words: "A survey will be held at the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Hancock on the 17th day of January instant." This is the first time I have ever seen the word " survey" in print in this connexion, but in the days of my youth, which were spent in Devonshire, it was a quite common designation for an auction, and the printed use of the word seems to be worthy of record.

JOHN LANE.

The Bodley Head.

FRIDAY BED -MAKING. Once, when I found my bed less comfortable than usual, I asked the nymph who tended me whether she turned the mattress daily. She said she turned it every day but Friday. I was given to understand that it was unlucky to effect a bouleversement in that fateful seventh part of the week. I find from M. Paoli's ' Leurs Majestes ' (p. 183) that it is probable the belief reigns in the highest circle ; and from further inquiry, among domestic servants, that it is still held as an article of their creed. With regard to King Edward VII. it is written :

" Hawkins, le second valet de chambre, etait anglais. .. .C'est lui notamment qui etait charge de faire le lit du Hoi ; il connaissait inieux que quiconque ses habitudes et ses gouts : il savait, par exemple, qu'il ne fallait jamais retourner le matelas de Sa Majest6 le vendredi. Le Hoi en effet avait cette curieuse superstition : c'est la seule que je luiaie connue et il ne s'encachait pas. Or, coincidence extraordinaire, on m'a raconte que le matin de sa mort, qui etait un vendredi, les medecins, oubliant ses recommandations au milieu des graves soucis que leur causait 1'aggrava- tion si soudaine de son etat, firent retourner son matelas dans 1'espoir qu'il gouterait un peu de repos apres une nuit de souffrances : quelques minutes avant que minuit sonnat il rendit le dernier soupir.

" Je n'ai pas eu, je m'empresse de le dire, 1'occasion de controler I'authenticit6 de ce detail, bien qu'il m'ait ete rapporte par une personne