Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/18

 10 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vn. JULY 3, 1920. MB. WAINEWRIGHT asks various questions as to the old Swiss Diets which I will try to answer. We must distinguish between the " General Diets " and the " Religious or Confessional Diets." The former were held 1712 at the Swiss Baden, and later at Frauenfeld, So says Archdeacon Coxe, at p. 134 of vol. 2 of the 1789 edition of his ' Travels in Switzerland.' "Until 1712, the Diet of the thirteen Cantons assembled at Baden ; but has since been transferred to Frauenfeld." There it re- mained till 1798, the transfer having been due to the Second Villmergen religious war. The separate Diets of the two religious parties were held as stated at p. xcix of the 1904 edition of ' Murray.' Aarau was the Swiss capital during the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803). Before 1798 Zurich, as the most important town of the Swiss Confederation since its entry in 1351, (Berne only came in in 1353) was the capital of Switzerland, as stated by the ' Swiss Tourist,' the phrase in which refers to the period up to 1798. See a very curious plan of the seats in the Diet reproduced on p. 396 of vol. 1 of J. C. Bluntschli's ' Geschichte des schweizerischen Bunclesrechtes ' Stuttgart, 1875, 2nd edition after that given by Hans Jacob Leu (' Allgemeines Helvetisches Eygenossisches oder Schweizerisches Lexicon ' (vol. 6, p. 490, Ziirich 1752). The county of Baden was taken in 1415 from the Habsburgs by seven Cantons (not Berne) and thenceforth ruled as a " common bail wick." Berne was made the Swiss capital by a Federal law of November 28, 1848, and not by the new Federal Constitution of Septem- ber 12, 1848. Theoretically therefore Berne may one day cease to be 'the Federal capital. W. A. B. JESUIT COLLEGES IN ENGLAND (12 S. vi. 314). A full description of the so-called Jesuit College at Cwn (or Combe) Llan- rothal parish, Herefordshire, will be found in H. Foley, ' Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus,' vol. iv. (series 10), pp. 462-470. In brief the facts are : That these Jesuit colleges were territorial divisions, not build- ings, which in the old bad times would have been impossible. Instead of writing " South Wales, for the extensive district, including lerefordshire, then served by half a dozen Jesuits, the convention was to call it "Colle- gium Sti Francisci Xaverii " (not Navarri). This began in 1622, and in some respects lasts even till the present day. At Cwn the Jesuits of this district had a retired cottage with a few books, which were raided at the time of Oates's Plot, and the books carried to Hereford Cathedral Library in 1679, and some perhaps remain there still. The Fathers would, no doubt, have written some books in Welsh, but the only one I can specify was earlier than the convention about " Colleges." In 1618, Father John Salisbury, born co. Monmouth, 1576, pub- lished a Welsh translation of Bellarmine's ' Dottrina Christiana ' entitled ' Eglurhad Helaethlawn o'r Athrawaeth Gristnogawl.' A copy is in the British Museum. See 'D.N.B.', and Sommervogel ' Bibno- theque de la C. de Jesus,' vii., 474. The latter (following G. Oliver, ' Collectanea S. J.,' 1838), also ascribes a 'Catechism in Welsh,' (London, 1688), and a prayer book, ' The Key to Heaven ' in Welsh (London, 1670), to John Hugh Owen, S.J., born in Anglesea, 1615. But the Welsh titles are not given. J. H. POLLEN. 31 Farm Street, W.I. FROGS AND TOADS IN HERALDRY (12 S. vi. 314). I would refer D. W. Y. to what that high heraldic authority, the late Dr. Woodward, has to say on this subject. After stating ( ' Heraldry : British and Foreign ' (1896), vol. i. 287) that reptiles of all kinds " down to frogs and toads," are found occasionally in British armoury, and are still more frequently to be met with in the heraldry of continental States, he goes on to say (p. 292) that these latter " occur as heraldic charges with considerable frequency, and are often allusive in some way to the name." And he mentions the name given by your correspondent, Botreaux in Cumberland, as being probably the last known family in Britain bearing them, viz., Argent, three toads erect sable. With regard to the statement in All the Year Round for Aug. 1, 1874, that the early kings of France had "three frogs on their banner and armour." Dr. Woodward says (p. 292) " We may pass over the fable that the French fleurs-de-lis were derived from an earlier coat (borne by Pharamond !), Azure, three toads or; a legend* from which our neighbours across the Channel have perhaps (though by no means certainly) derived the sobriquet of ' Johnnie Crapaud.' " an appellation which the learned author seemed to think was more probably of Flemish origin.