Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/93

 g* s. xii. AUG. i, loos.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

which has been added the above ground plan as discovered by M. Nenot and reproduced in situ in cement on the flooring of the new quadrangle. The Rue de la Sorbonne build- ings of that establishment cut across the western end of the ground plan, so it cannot be stated as a certainty that there were towers on that front ; but it is now clear that the " tapestry map :J view of the Sorbonne in 1550 is wrong in one or two important details, namely, the transepts and the aisles, none of which existed, while the apse was circular, and not three-sided. The approximate inside measurements were 75 ft. by 25 ft. The position of the chapel or church is just north of the half-way steps of the new quadrangle erected on the site of Richelieu's, and the orientation truer than that of the present church. JOHN A. RANDOLPH.

JAMES McNEiLL WHISTLER. The following lines were written shortly after the abortive action for libel brought by Whistler against Ruskin. which resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, with damages one farthing :

It is greatly a question of names- It is wholly a question of whim :

In Paris he poses as "James" In London he answers to "Jim ! "

It is one of his favourite moves, This quoting from papers and books

By which he conclusively proves He 's not half such a fool as he looks.

His sensible conduct in France Ne'er raised him a Ruskin or Holker,

But here he will caper and dance So he passes as Jimmy the Joker !

Sir John Holker, the Attorney-General, was counsel for Ruskin in the action for libel.

Whistler was at one time on intimate terms with Oscar Wilde, and his influence on Wilde is to be traced in the following lines addressed to a friend :

The Thames-Nocturne of Blue and Gold Changed to a Harmony in Gray ; A barge with ochre-coloured hay

Stirred from the wharf : and chill and cold

A yellow fog came creeping down The river, till the houses, walls, Became like shadows, and Saint Paul's

Loomed, a great bubble, o'er the town :

And one pale woman, all alone, The daylight kissing her wan hair, Loitered beneath the gas-lamp's flare,

With lips of blame and heart of stone.

JOHN HEBB.

RHINOCEROS IN FLEET STREET. The Daily Chronicle of July 28th states that the remains of a rhinoceros have been found under its offices in Fleet Street. The animal is sup-

posed to have existed a hundred thousand years ago. The remains, now on view, in- clude a skull (in a marvellous state of preser- vation), half of the lower jaw, a portion of the ribs, and part of a thighbone. Readers of * N. & Q.' a hundred thousand years hence will no doubt be interested in this note. It is anticipated that most of the General Indexes will by that time be as scarce as the Third. F. <J. J.

WATERLOO SURVIVOR. The following paragraph was in the Derby Mercury of 13 May :

"John Vaughan, who as a lad of fourteen was a bugler at the battle of Waterloo, is reported to be still living at Rotherham, and, despite his 102 years, is able to eke out his pension by hawking."

W. B. H.

DUKE OF WELLINGTON. The following extract from a letter written by my grand- father William James Reade to a friend, some time in 1817, may be worth a place in your columns :

"Your letter fills me with deep concern, and I am sorry to add that all attempts in Town to pro- cure a situation were unsuccessful, your sister and I called at Apothecaries Hall and enquired but still ineffectual ; they told us that the medical men in Town were absolutely beset with as many as 50 young men a day in quest of situations, and that their practise was so much diminished that they were putting down their carriages and discharging part of their assistants every day such is the dis- tress that prevails in London, not only with pro- fessional men, but Merchants and Mechanics of every denomination. It is the opinion of most persons with whom I have had any conversation that things are not yet at the worst, yet notwith- standing all this the same dissipation prevails among the Court party, and the King, or at least the Regent who represents his Majesty, and stands first of the three in our unrivalled constitution (as you were pleased to term it), continues regularly to get Drunk twice a day. You may have heard of the Plate that has been sent over to the Duke of W-ll-ton from Portugal, the quantity is so im- mense that there 'a never a room capable of holding it ; the Duke had a grand fe~te, and the Prince Regent for his edification was invited to come and see this plate ; the party, but more especially the Ret. and D., got so beastly drunk they were obliged to be carried forcibly to their carriages, there was the Hero of the World, the bloodthirsty W ton, so dead to every sense he did not know the Lord Mayor from a post."

ALEYN LYELL READE.

Park Corner, Blundellsands.

DUNSTABLE COURT LEST. The following appeared in the Standard of 27 June :

"The Corporation of Dunstable, as lords of the ancient manor, held a Court Leet last evening, when the steward reported that the ale-taster (Mr. Alderman Langridge) had not carried out hia duties. The ale-taster contended that, not having