Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/474

 466 NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. VIL JUNE u, 1913. •County of Middlesex ; | who died July 6th, 1853, I in the 50th year I of his age. j Also of | Mrs. .Martha Chapman | his widow who died Novr. 8th 1864 | aged 62 years. 20. Elizabeth White | Wife of | James White I master of the Union Workhouse | who died Octr. 30th 1843, j in the 48 year of her age | She was a woman of strict integrity ) and much re- spected in her situation. 21. Mr. John Rogers, | who departed this life May 30th 1851, | aged 42 years. | aUo two children of the above ; | John Rogers, and Ann his wife. I John—died June 26th 1844 J aged 14 months | James, died August 25th 1847, | aged 6 months. | also Ann, wife of the above ; | who died at Great Stanmore Middx. | March 2nd 1873 Aged 60 years. 22. Ann Wilson | died April 22nd 1842 j Aged 35 years. This completes the number of tombstones on this side of the churchyard. L. H. CHAMBERS. Amersham. (To be continued.) THE FOUNDER OF THE BANK HOLIDAY. — The death of Lord Avebury at his resi- >dence at Kingsgate Castle, on the coast near Margate, on Wednesday, the 28th of May, recalls the changes in the holidays of the people brought about by him. When Lord Avebury (better remembered as Sir John Lubbock) first advocated the extra public holidays now enjoyed, the only days on which banks could be closed were Christ- mas Day and Good Friday; and when Christmas Day fell on a Sunday the holiday was lost. In the fifties a change was made in this respect by an Order in Council, and when the 25th of December fell on a Sunday, the Monday following was made a pubfic holiday. The first movement towards increasing -the holidays of the people was the Saturday half-holiday. On the 29th of July, 1854, The Athenceum stated that the 22nd of July " was a memorable day for booksellers' assis- tants," and announced "with pleasure that the half-holiday movement has received the sanction of the leading houses in the ' Row.' With a few exceptions, the literary houses closed on Saturday last at five o'clock, and we hear that several firms have expressed their intention to close at two on Saturdays, so soon as all the necessary arrangements are completed." Although, through the activity of the Earlyjf Closing Association, the hours of •closing'shops had been gradually shortened, no further change was made until 1871, when on the 25th of May Sir John Lubbock's Bill was passed, by which, in addition to Christ- mas Day and Good Friday, Bank Holidays fall in England and Ireland on Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August, and the 26th of December. In addition, St. Patrick's Day is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. In Scotland the holidays are Christmas and New Year's Days, Good Friday, and the first Mondays of May and August. The original idea was to give quiet days to Bank clerks, but the general closing of shops soon showed that the public in- tended to make good use of their freedom. The Bank Holiday has been sportively called St. Lubbock's Day. Lord Avebury's memory will not only be cherished by the general public, but will also be remembered by men of science. 1 n his love of science he followed in the foot- steps of his father, Sir John William Lub bock, who died on the 21st of June, 1865. The Athenceum ia it« obituary no-i-^e s.i'l: " He has left behind him a son who is well known to the scientific world, and will add new honour to the name." That this pre- diction was correct the record of the son's life during the forty-eight years that have since passed fully shows. His industry wos marvellous. For thirty years he was in the House of Commons, and during that time he was the author of twenty-eight Acts of Parliament, while his leisure was devoted mostly to science. Booksellers have a specially happy remembrance of his presence at the annual soiree of their Provident Insti- tution on March 9th, 1905, when he gave an address on ' Happiness and Thrift.' One of his most widely circulated books Was his ' Pleasures of Life,' of which there are fifty foreign editions in existence. F. C. J. THE DATE OP WEBSTER'S ' APPIDS AND VIRGINIA.' (See ante, pp. 403, 422.)— There are two small additions that I wish to make to the portion of my previous article that deals with the appearance, in the text of this play, of certain words for the use of which I have suggested that Webster was indebted to Heywood. I have already quoted the following lines from Act V. sc. iii. of 'Appius and Virginia'— Redeem a base life with a noble death, And through your lust-burnt veins confine y or breath— with the object of drawing attention to the use of the verb " confine " in the sense of "expel," common in Heywood, but very rare elsewhere. The adjective " lust-burnt ' is also Heywood's. See ' The English Traveller ' (pr. 1633), IH. iv. :— .... his hot and lust-burnl appetite Would be soon quench'd, at the mere contem- plation Of her most pious and religious life ;