Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/341

 9* s. iv. Nov. a, m] NOTES AND QUERIES. 395 says Browning, spiritualized nature by means of mythology. Now that science has lifted the veil from nature, we no longer need the aid of mythology. The spiritual beauty of nature in itself, excelling fancy's utmost dreams, is disclosed :— If we no longer see as you of old, 'Tis we see deeper. Progress for the bold ! You saw the body, 'tis the soul we see. If Mr. Browning's MS. is still extant, I have little doubt it will be found that the fault lies with it, and not with the printers. With the monosyllables "sense" and "soul," each beginning with the same letter, in antithesis, their interchange in writing was a very natural mistake. R. M. Spence, D.D. No. ] 7, Fleet Street.—As there has been considerable discussion, both in the public press and at Spring Gardens, during the last week or two, as to whether the old house, part of which is built over the Inner Temple gateway, officially known as 17, Fleet Street, is of sufficient historic interest to warrant its purchase and preservation by the London County Council under their Parliamentary powers, I venture to think that the follow- ing notes, appearing in the Daily Neivs of 24 October, are of sufficient interest to be worthy of permanent preservation in the pages of 'N. & Q.,' especially as the Tudor origin of the building is so clearly set forth in them :— " The announcement in large letters on the build- ing that it was ' formerly the Palace of Henry VIII.' is not exactly true, but the house has a history in- teresting enough without any romancing. Built in the time of Cardinal Wolsey, it was in its early days the residence of Sir Aniyas Paulet, and is said to have been built by him at Wolsey's command as a penalty for having put the Cardinal in the stocks when that great magnate was young and trouble- some. Later, it was the office of the Dur.h v of Corn- wall, which accounts for the feathers of the Prince of Wales appearing in the decorations. Later it became a famous coffee-house, ' Nando's ' by name, where leaders of the Bar would pass the evening with brilliant talk and eager discussion. It was here that the great Lord Chancellor Thurlow picked up his first important brief. Two Scotch Parlia- mentary agents, attracted by its reputation, came to the famous coffee-house to listen to the talk one evening, and there heard Thurlow discussing so ably the merits of the ' Douglas Case,' upon which they were engaged, that next morning Thurlow found a junior brief in that caitte re'lebre delivered at his chambers. Needless to say, he made use of his opportunity, and fame came soon and speedily. Another chapter in the history of the house follows when it was kept by Mrs. Salmon, and filled with an exhibition of waxwork Kings and Queens, the original Madame Tussaud. For over thirty years it has now been occupied as a hairdresser's shop by Mr. Carter. The present front is comparatively modern, but behind is a Tudor front, with wide bay windows and carved oak. Within, the most in- teresting and valuable feature is the fine Tudor ceiling in the first-floor room, which, during the present alteration, is now used by the barbers. The ceiling is richly and elaborately decorated with many ancient designs, aud in the same room is some fine old panelling. In the centre are the initials' P. H.,' with the Prince of Wales's feathers, which have been taken to refer to Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I. There are several documents in the Rolls Office which refer to No. 17, Fleet Street as the address of the Duchy of Cornwall, so that the identity of the house is beyond dispute." Q. Yarrow Baldock. [See ante, p. 378.] " Ignorami."—In the Timet of 28 October I read, in a notice of the ' H. E. D.' (on ' Igno- ramus '), " Some people, indeed, with no Latin, have been so bold as to make the plural tmwrami, but the dictionary does not mention this." Some time ago a lady was discoursing to the writer upon her delight in flowers, and upon the vulgar, stupid names given by the common people to many of them—even those who should know better would talk of laurm- tinuses and gladioluses, whereas the least cultured must be aware that Latin words ending in us change it into i in the plural. Meekly imbibing all this learning, and ascer- taining that one ought always to speak of two gladioli, &c, the writer ventured to in- quire if the rule applied to all cases, and in reply to a positive assurance to that effect, he humbly asked if then it would not be proper to speak of three omnibi, and was told, " Yes, it you wish to be correct." F. T. Elworthy. Birthplace of Lord Beaconsfield.—The birth of Lord Beaconsfield, like the birth of another eminent personage, was at one time wrapped in mystery, but it is now pretty generally acknowledged that he was born in John Street, Bloomsbury, at the corner of Theobalds Road, on 21 Dec, 1805. This being the case, it is difficult to understand why Mr. Richard Davey, in the Speaker for 21 Oct., should state that Lord Beaconsfield was born 31 Dec, 1803, and should repeat Mr. E. L. Blanchard's assertion, which is unsupported by evidence, that his birth took place in the back room on the top floor of No. 6, Adelphi Terrace, where also Garrick is alleged to have died in 1779. Mr. Blanchard was aware that Garrick is said to have lived at No. 5, Adelphi Terrace, the centre house in the terrace, but conjectured that this house had been divided and the numbering of the houses changed. There is some tradition that Lord Beaconsfield told Lord Barrington he was born in a library, which is consistent with his having been born in John Street, where his father had collected a considerable