ALABARCHES.

In Juvenal (i. 130) this word, in the line "Nescio quis titulos Egyptius atque Arabarches," is translated by Dusaulx chef d' Arabes, and he is quite at a loss in his notes to furnish a plausible meaning. But there is no doubt that the word should be written Alabarches, the correction given in Cicero (Ep. ad Attic. lib. ii. ep. 17). It is so found in Josephus (Ant. xviii. 7, 3, xviii. 9, 1, xx. 6, 3), in Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. ii. 5), and in the " Epigram. Palladæ Alexandrini" (Brunck, Analect. t. ii. p. 413, n. xxx). There is no question as to its meaning for Philo (In Flaccum, p. 975, or 528, Mangey,) uses as its equivalent Tevápxns, chief of the people; and Hug (Introd. New Test. § 149) considers it as equivalent to n. Raish Galvath, prince of the exiles. So does Raphall (Hist. Jews, ii. 71), but he is unable to assign any etymology for the word alabarches; and Milman does not make the attempt. There can be little doubt that the terminal apxns is Greek, and the initial, instead of aλas would probably have been in the same language had it been invented by the Jews, as the equivalent for na, galvath, which in the New Testament is represented by diaσropá (1 Peter i. 1; John vii. 35), and means the community of Jews settled out of Jerusalem, either in Asia, of which Babylon was the capital; or in Greece, of which Alexandria was the metropolis. But the word is probably of Greek formation, and instead of being ǎpxns diaσπорâя, or diασπорáрxns, the Greeks took, I conceive, the Hebrew term, galvath, yaλas, pronounced galav, and added ἄρχης, forming Γαλαβάρχης. The Greek y was sounded like g in the German tage, lage, whence our day, lay, approximately to the English y. Thus, yaλabápxns was, I consider, corrupted into aλabáρxns and by the Romans into arabarches (Cod. Justin. 1. 4, tit. 61, 1. 9).

Lichfield.

JOSEPH HUME.

T. J. BUCKTON.

The general public would be startled at finding this staunch patriot enrolled among the poets. It seems nevertheless true that his mind was at one time, at least, captivated by the Muse, for there lies before me the

"Inferno: a Translation from Dante Alighieri into English Blank Verse. By Joseph Hume, Esq., 12mo. Lond. Cadell, 1812."

It was long before I could believe that my book was really written by the politician, but on referring to a Memoir of Mr. Hume in the Scottish Nation, I find it unhesitatingly placed to his account. Considering this, therefore, a settled point, I would ask if it is at all likely that at a later period he did a little bit of satire in the same vein?

Is he, then, or is he not the author of a thin 12mo, of a square form, entitled The Palace that Nh Built: a Parody on an Old English Poem. By I. Hume. Neither place, date, nor printer; but having, as will be seen at a glance, reference to a great squander of money upon the Pimlico palace by George IV. and his architect Nash. The verses are illustrative of nine caricatures descriptive of the palace, and smack strongly of the calculating propensities of the member for Mon

trose.

For example: Parliament, it might seem, had supplied the means for additions to the building; these the caricaturist represents under demolition, the poet singing their dirge :

"These are the wings which by estimates round

Are said to have cost Forty-two thousand Pound, And which not quite according with Royalty's taste, Are doom'd to come down, and be laid into waste."

The last print represents an over-wrought and these concluding lines: dilapidated biped, dragging a heavy roller, with

"This is the man whom they Johnny Bull call, And who very reluctantly pays for it all.

Who from his youth upwards has work'd like a slave, But the devil a shilling is able to save;

For such millions expended in mortar and stone, Have drawn corpulent John down to bare skin and bone;

And, what is still worse, 'tween Greeks, Turks, and Russians,

He'll soon be at war with French, Austrians, and Prussians.

But he's kindly permitted to grumble and gaze, Say and think what he will, provided he pays." But I can hardly put my question seriously, for it seems the squib of some wag, who probably founded his new version of an old ditty upon a grumbling speech of the senator, and here holds him responsible for its paraphrase in verse. A. G.

APPLICATION OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS TO CHARLES I. ON BEHALF OF PATRICK RUTHVEN.

When I first heard that a translation of a letter addressed by Gustavus Adolphus to Charles I. on behalf of Patrick Ruthven (the same which is printed in your 2nd S. ii. 101), had been found among the State Papers, I concluded that it could not have relation to the Patrick Ruthven so long a prisoner in the Tower, but to the other Patrick Ruthven, who served for many years under Gustavus Adolphus; the same person who afterwards transferred his military services to Charles I., and was rewarded with the earldoms of Forth and Brentford. But when I saw the paper itself, and found that it made mention of Patrick Ruthven's "hereditary honours," of the "splendour of his ancient house," the "place and dignity of his ancestors," and offered the thanks of his "whole

This inscription has led Rudder, Sir Robert Atkyns, and others, into numerous errors; thereby causing a generation, which never existed, to be inserted in the Dennis pedigree.

The Pucklechurch register of burials states, that "John Dennis, Esq. (father of Henry), was buried 7th August, 1609;" and "Henry Dennis, Esq., was buried 26th of June, 1638." This proves beyond a doubt, that the inscription is not in memory of John, but of Henry, and should read thus:

"In Memoriam Henrici Dennis Armigeri, primogeniti et heredis Johannis Dennis," &c.

It is also noticeable that the day of death is given June 26: so that if the monument is not incorrect in this, Henry Dennis was buried on the day on which he died. SAMUEL TUcker.

East Temple Chambers, Whitefriars Street, E.C.

CORPSE DEFEND.-Dr. Trench remarks in his Select Glossary, that, whereas the word corpse was once used in speaking of the body of a living man, it is now only employed to denote a body which has been abandoned by the spirit of life. I find that Thackeray held the word to be of the same value as did Surrey, Spenser, and Ben Jonson, as he tell us in the Four Georges, 103, that one of his heroes was found "a lifeless corpse," which he certainly would not have done had he looked only with modern eyes upon corpse, and so seen in it an equivalent of cadaver.

The old meaning of defend (forbid) still survives in Nottinghamshire. A few years ago I heard a governess say to a round-backed pupil, "I defend you from sitting in easy chairs."

ST. SWITHIN.

THOMAS NUGENT, ESQ., ETC. - Many British subjects have, at various times, been honoured with titles of nobility and other dignities by foreign sovereigns; yet, with the exception of such of them of the present day who are noticed in Burke's Peerage, there is no work in which they are recorded. The contributors to "N. & Q." would perhaps give, in its useful columns, such instances as they may from time to time meet with; and thus, a complete list may be eventually obtained. The subjoined are offered as a com

mencement:

Thomas Nugent, Esq., Major-General in the service of King Charles II. of Spain, was by that monarch created Count de Valdesoto, and killed when deputy-governor of Gibraltar. He married Margaret, eldest daughter of Hugh Parker (who died in 1712, aged thirty-nine), eldest son of Sir Hyde Parker, Bart.; and by that lady, who was cousin to the distinguished Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, had one son, Edw. H. Nugent, Count de Valdesoto.

Austin Park Goddard, Esq., was a Knight of the Military Order of St. Stephen in Tuscany,

and married Anne, second daughter of the abovenamed Hugh Parker; by whom he had one daughter, Sophia, the wife of William Mervyn Dillon, Esq.

The Chevalier Laval Nugent, who died at his "Schloss," near Fiume, in Aug. 1862, was a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Chamberlain of the Empire, Freiherr in Croatia, and Knight of nearly all the European Orders: the bare enumeration of whose dignities would require an octavo page. ELOC.

BURIAL OFFERINGS. The following cutting, from the Chester Courant of Sept. 26, 1863, relates to a custom which is, I imagine, merely a local one at present:

“ Larceny of Burial Offerings at Denbigh. — Yesterday week Evan Davies, an aged person, was charged at the Denbigh Police Court with having stolen 3s. from the communion table of the parish church, on Thursday the 17th inst., such money being the offertory made upon the burial of a deceased parishioner. Suspicions having been entertained of such moneys being abstracted, the rector of the parish, the Rev. Lewis Lewis, on this occasion placed himself in a position, unnoticed by the congregation, to watch. It was the curate, the Rev. Thomas Thomas, who officiated; and after the funeral procession had quitted the church, the prisoner came inside, and called out the name of the sexton, Price, thrice. Finding that there was no answer, he deliberately walked up to the communion table, and helped himself out of the contributions at both ends of the table. Then he decamped, but was quickly brought back by the rector. Upon being accused of the theft he immediately admitted it, and prayed for forgiveness. The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

I should be glad if any reader of "N. & Q." would inform us whether this custom of burial offerings exists elsewhere at the present day. F.

FUNERAL OFFERINGS. The notes on loaves at funerals which have lately appeared in your columns bring to my recollection an old custom that exists in some parts of Wales (and elsewhere, for aught I know). In many parishes the parson receives no burial fee, but when any one dies his friends and neighbours, as many as attend the fune ral, lay their voluntary offerings on the communiontable for the clergyman. These being regularly inserted in the registers, form some guide to the esteem in which persons were held by their neighbours; for instance, no less than nineteen shillings and sixpence was contributed at the funeral of Mrs. Mary Hughes, who died at Aber, 1741; and the rector of that place assured me that he once carried off eighty-five sixpenny-pieces from such an occasion. On the other hand, Martha Jones of the same place was probably little cared for by her neighbours, for a solitary penny was all the parson received for his "heavy task."

In connection with Aber, I may mention that it is one of those secluded spots into which the Genevan custom of the parson's changing his dress

"ABEL," ORATORIO OF.-Can J. R., or any other musical antiquary, say who wrote the words of Abel, an oratorio; to which Dr. Arne composed the music? M. C. GEORGE AUGUSTUS ADDERLEY.- Will any of your readers who have access to old army lists inform me of the rank and regiment of George Augustus Adderley: in 1792, he is supposed to have been major. Is this the case? If so, what regiment? and when did he quit the army, and what was his rank then? He was son-in-law to the last Earl of Buckinghamshire. T. F. "AUREA VINCENTI," ETC.-On a stone formerly over the fireplace in one of the chambers at Ham Castle, Worcestershire, is the following inscription:

"Aurea vincenti detur mercede corona; Cantat et æterno carmina digna Deo," together with the arms of Jefferey 3 scaling ladders. The stone is now preserved in the hall of that place. Can any of your correspondents explain from whence such an inscription is derived? THOS. E. WINNINGTON.

ANEROIDS.-I have two aneroids; their movements are identical. My position is nearly 800 feet above the level of the sea; and yesterday, for instance, I registered 28.90 by both, which, according to the usual rough calculation would represent 29.70 at the level. I find, however, by The Times report, that the barometer, corrected, showed 30 13 at Liverpool on the same date, and about the same time. A few hints to a tyro in meteorology on the subject of this correction would oblige. I should add that I am not fifty miles from Liverpool. L. M.

March 17, 1864.

THE BALLOT.-I have read, I cannot remember where, that Burke, speaking of the Ballot, said, "Putting three blue beans into a blue bag will not purify the constitution." I cannot find the uncouth expression in any of his speeches on constitutional questions, but shall be obliged by being told whether it is his or some other writer's. C. P.

BEECH-DROPPINGs (Epiphegus Virginiana.) — Can any medical man give any information respecting the medicinal properties of this curious parasite? It grows as a parasite on the roots of beech trees in Canada.

I find the following description of the plant in the December (1863) number of The British American Magazine, published at Toronto, Canada West:

"Here, in this wood, is an odd looking plant: a naked and slender thing, with stems which are never covered with leaves, but bear nothing more than small scales in their stead. It is called beech-drops' (Epiphegus Virginiana), and grows as a parasite on the roots of beech trees. In October the plant is full of life and vigour : the stems, which have been hard and brittle the summer through, are now tender and succulent, and shoot out many branches. The flowering season is scarcely over; but the flowers being small, are not readily found. It bears the reputation of possessing medicinal virtues."

So far for this quotation, which creates curiosity without satisfying it in the smallest degree.

Now I happen to know some of the virtues of this valuable plant. It is used by the Indians for curing hemorrhoids. An acquaintance of mine in this town, who suffered terribly for months with this most weakening disease, for which he could find no relief from the medical men of the town, was entirely cured by a farmer's son with this plant- the use of which he learned from the Indians. As I understood him, he boiled about a handful of the stems in milk, and drank a small quantity two or three times a-day. The cure was effected in two or three days; and years have passed since without any return of the disease. A medicine of such power may, no doubt, be useful in other cases of congestion. I trust, through the medium of "N. & Q.," this note will attract the attention of some medical men in England. I shall be only too happy to afford any further information on this subject, either through the post J. W. DUNBAR MOODIE. or " N. & Q."

Belleville, Canada West. "THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS."-Who was the author of two verses of poetry that appeared some twenty years since in a Portsmouth paper, and said to be written at that time by a distinguished member of the House of Commons. It is entitled, "The Church of our Fathers," and commences thus

"Half screened by its trees in the Sabbath's calm smile, The Church of our fathers, how meekly it stands."* Who was the author of the following, and how many verses does it consist of. Where can it be seen ?

"THE CHURCH.

"Oh! doth it not gladden an Englishman's eyes, To see the old tower o'er the elm trees rise?"

A CHURCHMAN. LIEUT. COL. COTTERELL was, in 1648, governor of Pontefract for the Parliament. He was subse

[*"The Church of our Fathers" appeared in a periodical entitled The Churchman, i. 94, 12mo, 1835, where

it is signed R. S., and was copied into The Church of England Magazine, iv. 32.—ED.]