Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/369

 2* S. NO 18., MAY 3. '56.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

361

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The Danube (2 nd S. i. 310.) The following paragraph appeared in "N. & Q. :"

" A canal has been projected, and is in course of con- struction, from Dietfurth near the Danube, to Bamberg- on-the-Mein, whereby a line of communication would be continued from the Black Sea, by the Danube, Mein, and Ehine, to the German Ocean."

The following paragraph is extracted from Mur- ray's Handbook of Southern Germany, published in 1853:

"This smalltown (Kelheim) is likely to acquire im- portance from its situation at the mouth of the Ludwig's- Kanal, a canal recently formed to unite the Danube with the Main, through the Altmilhl and the Regnitz. The Altmuhl has been rendered navigable as far as Dietfurth, where the excavated canal begins, and is continued as far as Bamberg on the Main, a distance from Kelheim of about 107 (Eng.) miles. The summit level is at Neu- markt-on-tbe-Sulz, where the canal is 300 feet above the level of the Danube at Kelheim, and 360 feet above that of the Regnitz at Bamberg. It has ninety-four locks, and near Nieder-CElsbach traverses a tunnel 900 feet long. The dimensions of the canal are fifty-four feet in width at top, and thirty-four feet at bottom ; the estimated cost 817,5007. It is calculated that a barge may be tracked through it in six or seven days. It was begun in 1837. Its construction is due to the instigation of the King of Bavaria, who thus realised, after the lapse of 1000 3 r ears, the favourite scheme of Charlemagne, of connecting the Black Sea with the German Ocean."

In addition to the above, a friend now present informs me that two or three years since two friends of his rowed from the Main, up the Ludwigs Canal, and down the Danube to Vienna.

R. S. CHABNOCK.

George Manners (2 nd S. i. 314.) I can sup- ply X. (1.) with a slight reminiscence of George Manners, but I fear it will be considered a very slight one.

About forty years ago, when Albinia Dowager Lady Buckinghamshire inhabited, near Grosvenor Place, a suburban villa, which has now disap- peared among the buildings of Belgravia, I met at one of her celebrated masquerade breakfasts, Mr. Manners, the editor of The Satirist. He came in the character (which he admirably supported) of an itinerant preacher. He was, if my memory serves me right, a remarkably tall distinguished- looking man, but he disguised his person thus : standing inside of a tub, which hid his own legs, he had short false ones attached before him, that appeared to stand upon the top of the barrel, and he concealed the disproportion of his figure by a clerical gown. He could lift up the tub by handles at the sides, and thus shuffle about the grounds ; but in support of the character he as- sumed, he placed himself for the most part near the refreshment table, where he held forth with a great deal of wit on the fashionable follies of the day ; seasoning, his discourse with some personal

allusions that were caustic, but good-humoured. He occasionally paused in his tirade against luxury and gluttony, for the purpose of stretching his hand behind him to the refreshments, and help- ing himself to wine and dainties, an act which in itself formed a satirical commentary to the Puritan harangue. MONSON.

Gatton Park.

Gainsborough the Painter (2 nd S. i. 281.) MR. FULCHER will find in the Garrich Correspondence four letters by Gainsborough ; and in the Life and Times of Nollekens, by Antiquity Smith, are many very interesting particulars of the painter. Dulwich Gallery contains four works by Gains- borough, being portraits of J. P. Loutherbourg, R.A., Thomas Linley, Esq., Mrs. Moody and children (whole length), Mrs. Sheridan and Mrs. Tickle (whole length). The latter picture is one of the very finest of Gainsborough's portrait pieces, and more than justifies the high encomiums passed upon him as a painter by Sir Joshua Reynolds in his " Fourteenth Discourse," which is entirely devoted to the artistic abilities of Gainsborough.

The Catalogues of the annual Exhibitions of Ancient Masters at the British Institution will furnish much information concerning the works of Gainsborough, as the name of the owner is always given. EDWIN ROFFE.

Grey Beards (2 nd S. i. 293.) Your corre- spondent may see two of these on sale at a shop in Holborn ; if he does not find them there, he is welcome to inspect several specimens in my pos- session at No. 1. Lovell's Court. CHARLES REED.

Jugs may be seen at the Museum of Econo- mic Geology, and also at the Marlborough House collection : they are very common. CENTURION.

Insecure Envelopes (2 nd S. i. 292.) I can give H. B. C. no other information about the " metallic safety" envelope, than that I never considered it safe ; that is, in the sense in which H. B. C. em- ploys the word, and which I suppose to be as equivalent to security against any curious or dis- honest attempt to open the letter. To describe a process by which an adhesive or scaled envelope may be opened, without risk of detection, is, to say the least of it, not very prudent. I think it is just as bad as delivering public lectures on poi- sons, of which there have been too many examples during the last few months.

Of the hundreds of thousands of letters dis- patched through the Post Office every day, per- haps there are not five per cent, of the whole number which are of the least value, or of the slightest interest, to any other persons than the writers or those addressed. For convenience, cheapness, and comparative security, adhesive en- velopes may, therefore, be used say for nineteen