Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/386

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. MAY 7, '98.

the son of - - Hooper, married Anne, the daughter of Isaac Nind, of Overbury, Wor- cestershire, and had a son Daniel, of Rams- gate, who died unmarried about 1852, also a daughter who became Mrs. Northedge. A miniature on ivory of the first of these shows him as an old man in a close-fitting light- brown wig with two rows of curls round the back. He would be a contemporary of Daniel Hooper, living in Barbadoes in 1768, or pos- sibly the same person, but I have no such tradition. THOS. BLASHILL.

CULAMITES (9 th S. i. 146, 276). David Culy, who was born at Guyhirn, a hamlet in the parish of Wisbech St. Peter's, Cambridgeshire, founded the small sect of Nonconformists who were called Culimites. The doctrine which he taught differed but little from that of the Anabaptists, to which sect he had originally belonged. He was held in such high esteem by his disciples that he was styled the Bishop of Guyhirn. His flock gradually increased till its members were 700 or 800 strong ; but after his death, which took place about 1725, the Culimites declined in numbers ; and in 1755 there were only fifteen families belonging to the sect in the diocese of Ely. Culy's 'Works' were pub- lished in London in 1726 and reprinted at Boston in 1787. THOMPSON COOPEK, F.S.A.

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (9 th S. i. 289).

Suspirat gemit incutitque, &c.

According to Burmann's ' Anthologia' (Amstelsedami, 1759), lib. iii. Ep. 92, and Lemaire's ' Poetse Latini Minores ' (Parisiis, 1824), vol. ii. p. 443, the quotcation, with the exception that each gives /remit for "gemit," is from an epigram of twenty-five lines, entitled ' De Livore,' by Cselius Firmianus Symposius. Burmann, in a note, says, "gemit male in Thuaneo, ed. Ven. Junt. et apud Soterem, -profremit, namprse- cessit gem&u." In 'Alciati Emblemata' (Parisiis, 1608), Emblema Ixxi., and in ' Descriptiones Poeticse ' (Colon., 1698?), p. 557, the epigram is attributed to Virgil. The former has gemit, the latter /remit. ROBERT PIERPOINT.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. A Tour through the Famine Districts of India. By

F. H. S. Merewether. (Innes.) As special famine commissioner for Renter, Mr. Merewether has explored the Bombay Presidency, Central India, the Punjaub, and the North- Western Provinces of India, sending home reports, parts of which have already seen the light in the Times of India, while other portions appear for the first time. Of Mr. Merewether's capacity the volume before us furnishes full proof ; his bona fides has never been impugned. In the course of a friendly hospitality generally accorded him every oppor-

unity for obtaining exact information was put within his reach, and wherever he has gone the codak has testified to the accuracy of his pictures and the value of his observations. The result is a volume of deepest interest which, though its subject s outside our scope, we unhesitatingly commend to )ur readers. Mr. Merewether has the pen of a ready writer and much descriptive power. As a record of travel his work has, accordingly, strong claims on attention. At the outset we are inter- ested in the pictures of the ravages of the plague n Bombay and the plans adopted for its alle- viation, had enough is all this. We then accom- any our author to the native state of Kholapur, ivhose Maharajah is the chief power of the Mahratta country, and assist with Mr. Merewether at a Durbar and at a conference with the Maha- rajah. Here, however, as through the whole Mahratta states, measures had been taken to combat the famine fiend, and, the Maharajah having
 * hrown open the State forests for grazing purposes,

no gi^ive difficulty presents itself. At Bijapur jhe camera finds time to show us a dancing girl, and at Sholapur a series of weavers. In the central pro- vinces the conclusion is arrived at that the officials have not grasped the full significance of affairs. The order had gone forth from high quarters that there \ was to be no famine in Central India, and the I officials who see people die of starvation or inani- ; tion send on reports painting all things in fairly ' roseate colour. When we arrive at Katni and bbulpur there is no possibility of disguising longer the truth. From this time forward the uncom- I promising photographs supply an endless picture of men, women, and children who are veritable skele- tons, many of them, it would appear, beyond the reach of relief, should such even be afforded, of which it is to be feared there is little chance. Other signs, sadder still, of starvation are constantly apparent. At the same time the task is not easy of administration. An extensive system of peculation is carried on by subordinate native officials. Curious stories are also narrated, proving that some of the natives are as wily as the Heathen Chinee. Concerning the sufferings of the children, we com- mend for perusal what is said about the distension of the abdomen caused by starvation. Ignorant people looking at the portraits of them have gathered that a hearty meal has been given. It is the lack of food, however, that is responsible for this state of affairs, from which the afflicted rarely recover. Says Mr. Merewether: "The contrast between this abnormal rotundity and the emacia- tion of the limbs, chest, and back is grotesque and horrible. I can compare these little creatures to j nothing so well as beetles." Our purpose is not, ' however, to harrow the feelings of our readers, but to speak in favour of a work the subject of which should appeal to collective humanity. Mr. Mere- wether seems to us to have treated his subject wisely, effectively, and well.

WRITING in the Fortnightly on ' The Influence of Balzac,' M. Emile Faguet states what for the rest has been for some time apparent that after a period of comparative neglect Balzac, so far as i France is concerned, is incontestably re-established ' in public favour. He says also which comes upon one with something of a shock that whatever some of his admirers may say, " he wrote badly, and must be extremely difficult for foreigners to read. 1 his we had not discerned for ourselves. Balzac is