418
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. n. NOV. 19, 1904.
"TALENTED" (10 th S. ii. 23, 93, 172). In his
- Modern English,' 1873, the late Dr. Fitz-
edward Hall discussed talent, talents, and talented at great length (pp. 61-76). Among other things, Dr. Hall remarked that "the verb talent, in like manner, we might mint legitimately, if we wanted it," and that " talent has not, to my knowledge, been pro- duced as a verb ; but outtalent, which is just as bold a venture, has been used as such." The purpose of the present note is to show (what, so far as I am aware, has never before been pointed out) that talent has been used as a verb. Speaking of his father, the Rev. Increase Mather, President of Harvard College and a leading figure in the politics of Massachusetts in his day, the Rev. Cotton Mather says in his * Magnalia,' published in 1702 :
" Should I on the other side bury in utter silence, all the Effects of that Care and Zeal wherewith he hath Employed in his peculiar Opportunities, with which the Free Grace of Heaven hath Talented him to do Good unto the Publick ; I must cut off some Essentials of my Story." Book iv. part i. 6, p. 130.
No doubt it would have delighted Coleridge hugely, had he known that such a verb had been ventured by an American.
ALBERT MATTHEWS.
Boston, U.S.
HEWETT FAMILY (10 th S. ii. 48). There is no published history of this family, though the late COL. J. F. NAPIER HEWETT had col- lected a large quantity of material pedi- grees, biographies, &c. for this object, some notes upon which he contributed to ' N. & Q.' so far back as 1858, as well as to the Gentle- man' 's Magazine for June, 1861. His collection unfortunately became dispersed, or at least lost sight of," after his death in 1867 ; but I possess what is probably the next best col- lection of historical and genealogical memo- randa relating to the family, compiled from various sources during the last forty years. Much of this is of only private interest, but I should be pleased to supply to any of your correspondents, as I have sometimes done in time past, direct information as to the various branches of this over-numerous and not undistinguished family.
Perhaps I may be allowed to state here that the Leicestershire branch was descended from William, son of Thomas Hewett, of Wallis or Wales, co. York, and nephew of Sir William Hewett, Lord Mayor of London 1559-60. Sir William, whose daughter and heiress was ancestress of the Dukes of Leeds, bequeathed, by will proved March, 1566/7, to this nephew William his parsonage at Dun-
ston Bassett, co. Leicester. This property,,
together with Stretton and Glen in the same-
county, continued in the direct line of suc-
cession until the death without issue of
William Hewett, Esq., in 1766, when it passed
to his grand niece and heiress, Dorothy
Chester, wife of Sir George Robinson, Bart.
The present family of Hewett, Baronets of Netherseale, co. Leicester, claim descent from an uncle of the last-named William Hewett, and their claim is pfobably well founded ,. but all the steps in the descent have not yet been clearly proved, nor do the family now hold any property in the county. MR. CHARLES- E. HEWITT will find some information about the Hewetts of Dunston Bassett and Stretton in the Rev. J. H. Hill's l History of the Hun- dred of Gartree, Market Harborough, and Leicester,' published in 1875.
J. A. HEWITT, D.C.L.,
Canon of Grahamstown.
The Rectory, Cradock, South Africa.
FALSE QUANTITIES IN PARLIAMENT (10 fch S; ii. 326). Instead of Hume and Canning, we- have to substitute Burke and Lord North. The incident occurred on 15 December, 1779'.
" While enforcing the necessity for frugality, and recommending to the Minister the old and valuable- Roman apothegm, ' Magnum yectigal est parsi- monia,' he used a false quantity, rendering the- second word ' vectigal.' Lord North, in a low tone, corrected the error, when Mr. Burke, with his usual presence of mind, turned the mistake to advantage. ' The noble lord,' said he, ' hints thafc 1 have erred in the quantity of a principal word in my quotation ; I rejoice at it, because it gives me an opportunity of repeating the inestimable adage/ and with increased energy he thundered forth,. 'Magnum vectigal est parsimonia.' " Prior's ' Life, of Burke,' third edition, 1839, p. 205.
See also * A New Dictionary of Quotations^ Lond., 1861, p. 262. C. LAWRENCE FORD. Bath.
The story referred to by MR. FRANCIS KING is to be found in 'Recollections of William Wilberforce,' and is given in a note to Murray's edition of Gibbon's 'Auto- biography,' 1896, at p. 52. Need I add that the maxim referred to is in the * Paradoxa ' of Cicero, vi. 3 1 W. E. BROWNING.
Inner Temple.
Prof. George Pryme tells the anecdote in chap. vi. of his 'Autobiographic Recollec- tions.' He says that it was Burke who made the false quantity, and Lord North who corrected him. Prof. Pryme was M.P. for Cambridge. A. R. MALDEN.
Edmund Burke appears to have made the mistake attributed to Hume in the query. Mr. Morley, in his * Walpole,' after referring
