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NOTES AND QUERIES. p* s. XL FEB. 21, MM.

stockings ' is an interesting eighteenth -century character. It is the fashion to regard the women of those days as far less educated than their repre- sentatives at the present time. This we regard as a mistake. It is, of course, not fair to judge by a single example, but Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu may, we think, be taken in some degree as a type of a class, most of the members of which were in far less favourable circumstances, and therefore, for the most part, passed away unknown except to a very narrow circle of friends. Though she had great sympathy with literature of the higher kind, and had read widely, the essay she published on * The Writings and Genius of Shakespear ' was not much valued. 'The Early Art of the Netherlands,' by Julia Ady, is a valuable criticism, unclogged, we are happy to say, with those technical terms for which some writers have so great an affinity. We have been much pleased by the notice too short though it be of Van der Weyden, an artist who is not appreciated in this country as he deserves. Students of Christian symbolism may like to know that Memlinc who may have been, though the statement is doubtful, a pupil of Van der Weyden painted for Sir John Donne, of Kid- welly, who was slain at the battle of Edgecote, a portrait of the knight and his wife kneeling at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, while one of the attendant angels presents the divine babe with an apple. One of Raphael's Madonnas holds an apple, which was intended to shadow forth that she was the second Eve. The paper on New Testament criticism is important, as it will help to clear the air of the fog and dust with which men who stand at the opposite poles of thought have succeeded in sur- rounding the subject. We ourselves can discover no reason why the works which form the canon of the Christian Church should not be judged by the same rules as have been found applicable to other precious documents which have come down to us from remote antiquity, but no one can protest too strongly against those who rush into the field of Biblical criticism without arduous preparation. Sir Michael Foster contributes a paper entitled ' A Conspectus of Science, 5 which we are very glad to have had the opportunity of reading. From the nature of the subject it can appeal to but few of those who would be most benefited by its perusal.

ALL concerned in the production of the Devon Notes and Queries are to be congratulated on its success. So far from there being any falling off, the work progresses satisfactorily. If we remember aright, the number of contributors goes on with steady increase. The plates, too, are all interest- ing. Among them is one of a noble armorial tankard, bearing the Exeter hall-mark of 1737, which once belonged to the church of Clyst St. George, but has found its way to New York. The paper on the seal of the borough of Honiton, contributed by Mr. J. Gale Pendrick, and the plate that accompanies it are very interesting. The design is a great puzzle, and several futile guesses have been ventured upon. We dare not enter the lists with a solution, except by offering the mere guess that the present is in- tended for a copy of a mediaeval seal, the artist of which did not understand the meaning of the object put before him to copy. Is it possible that any impression of the borough seal made in Plantagenet tiroes may be preserved in the Record Office, the Bishops Registry, or elsewhere? Mr. H. Michell Whitley contributes an inventory of the goods

belonging to John Strowbridge, a farmer of Ho- brayne, in 1576. It is an interesting catalogue of the personal possessions in a middle-class household of the time of Elizabeth. In one of the chambers was "a long cushen of churche worke." This is interesting. The cushion was. we may feel sure, made out of vestments acquired when the churches were pillaged in the time of Edward VI. or when Protestantism became finally triumphant in the early years of Elizabeth. As a supplement we are given the first portion of the churchwardens' accounts of Morebath. They begin in 1520, and, when concluded, will be carried down to 1600. Judging from the fragment at present before us, it must be a valuable contribution to local know- ledge. The spelling of some of the words differs widely from that commonly found in documents of the same date and character in the middle and east of England. This no doubt indicates a difference of pronunciation, which should be carefully noted by philologists. Before the Reformation there were eight gilds or stores at Morebath, named respec- tively St. George, the Jesus Store, the Store of our Blessed Lady, St. Sidwell (St. Ceadwold), St. An- thony, the Alms Light Store, the Young Men's Gild, and the Young Women's Gild. There was also a church house, in which no doubt these gilds transacted their business ; beer was brewed and stored there, and under its roof the ale feasts were held. On one occasion, indeed, these accounts speak of it as "ye cherche ale howsse."

Qotitts to

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H. S. ("Garage"). Already noted. See 9 th S. viii. 143, 230.

J. A. C. Diirer is strictly correct ; but it may ; be regarded as an English word, when Durer would ! do.

CORRIGENDUM. P. 116, col. 1, 1. 8, for " Warwick- 1 shire ' ' read Northamptonshire.

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