Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/383

 as.vii.mayio,i9i3.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 375 reads a paper on shorthand, while others take an active part in promoting the interests of the insti- tution. Constant reference is made to this in the journal."—' History of Short-Hand Writing,' 1862, p. 75. A. T. W. Byrom's Shorthand Society is referred to in ' The Poems of John Byrom,' edited by Dr. A. W. Ward (Chetham Society, vol. xxix., N.S., p. 90). There seems to have been a Manchester branch which met at & tavern called Button's at Altrincham, Cheshire. Dr. Ward reprints from Byrom's Journal of August, 1728, some stanzas of invitation to Warrington members, which include the following.—The reference to " Dick's" is to Richard's Coffee-House, No. 8, Fleet Street, a place Byrom often visited, and where, perhaps, at that time the London Society met:— Could I but once a country congress fix, Before the winter calls me up to Dick's, And tie therewith, as with a shorthand tether, My Lancashire and Cheshire sons together : Then, emulation would perhaps inspire, And one example set the rest on fire ; So should my sons of Lancashire and Cheshire Work ev'ryone at shorthand like a thresher. Yea, meet, my sons ; appoint a shorthand feast Eaoh fortnight, three weeks, or each month at least; Lest it be said by longhand men profane, We caught so many clever folk in vain ! Be not discouraged, then, if one by one— Dull solitude!—you go but slowly on : For, when you meet together in a bundle,— Adzooks ! You cannot think how fast you '11 trundle! Byrom's system of shorthand, says Espinasse in his ' Lancashire Worthies,' procured him " the honour of admission into the Royal Society, and enabled him to rank among his pupils Lord Chesterfield, the Duke of Devonshire, Horace Wal- pole. Bishop Hoadly, Hartley the metaphysician, Lord Camden, and others." W. Habkison, F.S.A. Hale, Cheshire. Diminutive Almanacs (US. vii. 329).— Some years ago an illustrated article appeared in one of the monthlies, written by Florence Burnley, in which that lady asserts that the " little-est " of books in England is Schloss's ' English Bijou Almanac for 1839.' This small volume measures exactly three- quarters of an inch long, and is half an inch wide. It contains portraits of Queen Vic- toria, H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent, Lady Blessington Wellington, Sir Thomas Law- rence, Gertrude Pasta, and Beethoven, to each of which is appended a poem. Then follows the calendar. Inside the cover is the inscription ; " Anna East—her book." , In my own collection I possess two of these absurdly diminutive almanacs. They are plainly bound, have gilt edges, and measure 2£ in. by lj-in., being entitled 'London Almanack for the Year of Christ'—1846 and 1848 respectively. The name appears on a circle, within which is a shield bearing the arms of the City of London. The earlier contains as a frontispiece a pano- ramic illustration of Richmond Hill, as seen from the Twickenham meadows. A list of the eclipses, &c, in the current year is followed by the calendar; and the whole concludes with several pages devoted sever- ally to a Regal Table, lists of the Officers of State, Court of Lord Mayor and Alder- men, as well as tables of stamps, transfer days at the Bank, &c. The other volume commences with a continuous view (occupy- ing four pages) of the Orphan Working School on Haverstock Hill, followed by much the same kind of information as given in the other. In both it is notified that Bank Holidays are " Good Friday, Christmas Day, May 1st, and November 1st." Harby Hems. Fair Park, Exeter. Sra John Gilbert and 'The London Joubnal ': Paper and Newspapeb Duties (11 S. vii. 221). — Mr. Ralph Thomas finds a difficulty in reconciling Henry Vizetelly's reference to "a paper duty which positively doubled the price of the material " on which cheap publica- tions were printed with the statement made to him that The London Journal was dated a fortnight in advance of the day of publication " to avoid payment of the duty." The duty intended was the news- paper duty, not the paper duty. Various devices were adopted to prevent a publica- tion being technically a "newspaper," and so to avoid payment of newspaper duty. Paper duty was levied on paper as such, without regard to the purpose for which it was employed, and therefore had to be paid by every publisher, whether he published a "newspaper" or not. F. W. Read. White Hobses (11 S. vii. 109, 215, 295). —If both forelegs of a horse are white- stockinged, it is lucky to have him ; but if a fore and hind leg on the same side are white, the animal is unlucky to keep. A horse with an off fore, or a near hind, leg white-stockinged is worth having. This is what is said in the North Midlands. A horse with a white blaze is desirable. Thos. Ratcliffe.