Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/338

 276 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 ax. APRILS, 1922. only to 1684, being in the handwriting of the various fathers and sons up to my becoming head of the family. All earlier documents are in the Rolls Court. I think that if C. S. will re-read carefully my note he will see that I do not "discourse so feelingly " regarding my family's " cap of maintenance," but merely bring it in as a hint for some inquirer to make research into new channels, as there are, I know, other families possessing the same privilege. I refuse to have anything to do with municipal matters, and accordingly only know of the " cap " of the Newcastle Corporation from the statement made by the late Alderman R. H. Holmes, and if that statement be correct, I think it would be wiser for the Corporation themselves to hold so great a relic than to send it away to a museum in London ! Corporations, happily, have pride equally with old families and believe in the words of Disraeli : " There is no greater incentive to noble deeds than the pride of noble ancestry." RICHARD H. HOLME. JOHN FREDERICK SMITH, NOVELIST. (12 S. x. 229.) SOME four or five years ago I made an exhaustive research relating to this extremely popular old-time Bohemian writer of sensational fiction. The results of my labours are embodied in a series of articles which appeared in Spare Moments (London Journal Supplement) under the title of ' Peeps into the Past,' and if MR. P. J. ANDERSON would write to the publisher, Mr. F. A. Wickhart, 4, Crane Court, Fleet Street, E.C.4, I have no doubt he would be supplied with copies, or the whole series of articles, numbering 50, can be seen in the British Museum Library (Press number 11850, v. 33). Mr. Wickhart, by the way, owns the copyrights of J. F. Smith's serials that appeared in The London Journal, and also possesses the original wood-blocks drawn by Sir John Gilbert to illustrate the tales of Smith, Sir Walter Scott, Pierce Egan the younger, and other well-known writers for The London Journal (enumerated by MR. RALPH THOMAS in 9 S. v. 377, 459 ; vi. 14, 74 11 S. vii. 221, 276, 297, 375; viii. 121, 142 ; x. 102, 144, 183, 223, 262, 292, 301). The early volumes of The London Journal containing these illustrations are much sought after by collectors and admirers of the celebrated artist's works. In addition to the serials, Smith con- tributed * The Lives of the Queens of Eng- land,' in vol. xv. of The London Journal (1852) ; and it was through his writing this series that Mr. John Cassell offered him the writing of ' The History of England,' but I do not think he accepted the offer. Smith also wrote a short Eastern story entitled ' Marianne, a Tale of the Temple.' This was in fact his first contribution to The London Journal, which appeared in the issue of May 19, 1849. In that of Aug. 4 appeared some verses by him entitled ' Erin's Prayer to the Queen.' On Sept. 29 there appeared ' An Ode to Hungary,' and in the same issue an article entitled 'The Plague of London.' To a later issue Smith contributed an epistle, ' The Bygone Year, 1849.' All of these claim poetic and artistic merit. Smith left The London Journal in a most dramatic manner towards the end of 1855, before he had completed ' Masks and Faces,' and joined (Mr. John) Cassettes Illustrated Family Paper exclusively. (He had pre- viously contributed ' The Soldier of Fortune, I a Tale of the War,' to that progressive periodical.) He commenced a series of fine serials which appeared as follows : (1) ' Dick Tarleton, or Lessons of Life,' in 'No. 106 (Jan. 5, 1856). This tale was afterwards translated into French and published in book form in 1858. (2) ' Phases of Life, or a Peep Behind the Scenes,' in No. 147 (Oct. 18, 1856), followed by (3) a historical romance, ' The Young Pretender, or a Hun- dred Years Ago,' in No. 186 (July 18, 1857). In No. 1 of the new series of CasselVs Illus- trated Paper (Dec. 5, 1857) appeared (4) ' Smiles and Tears, a Tale of Our Own Times,' (5) ' The Substance and the Shadow ' in No. 53 (Dec. 4, 1858), and (6) ' Milly Moyne, or Broken at Last,' in No. 79 (June 4, 1859). After an interval, during which the author went abroad, (7) ' Who is to Win ? ' began in No. 136 (July 7, 1860). This was followed by (8) ' Sowing and Gathering ' in No. 183 (Jan. 1, 1861) ; then came (9) ' Warp and Weft, or The Cotton Famine,' in No. 263 (Dec. 13, 1862) ; and, finally, (10) 'False Steps' in No. 326 (Feb. 27, 1864). The illustrations to Smith's serials in the first issue were by T. H. Nicholson and C. W. Sheeres ; those to ' Smiles and Tears ' by A. Crowquill and Pearson ; to ' The Sub- stance and the Shadow,' E. J. Skill ; those to ' Who is to Win ? ' by John Swain and