84
NOTES AND QUERIES. ui s. i. JAN. 29, 1910.
" The [? To] search for marvellous adventures,
whereby to winne reuowne.
" To defend the poore and simple people in their right.
" Not to refuse aid unto them that shall ask it in any just quarrell.
" Not to hurt, offend, or play any lewd part the one with the other.
" To fight for the protection, defence, and welfare of his friends.
" Not to purchase any goods or particular profit, but Honour and the title* of honestie.
" Not to breake faith promised or sworne, for any cause or occasion whatsoever.
" To put forth and spend his life for the honour of God and his Countrie, and to chuse rather to die honestly than to live shamefully."
(6) Probably the shortest oath in the book, consisting of a simple promise of secrecy, is that given in 1605 by Henry Garnet, the Jesuit, to Catesby, Piercy, Wright, Winter, and the other conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot.
(c) Two specimens of a Merchant Adven- turer's oath are printed : the first of obedi- ence to the Fellowship, the second (taken before " the Poqueter ") for the true shipping of his clothes.
(d) The longest oath in the book is that administered by the Bishop to a 'licensed midwife (not dated). She undertook to help poor and rich alike ; not to father the child improperly ; not to connive at fictitious or secret births ; not to use witchcraft or sorceries, or cause abortion ; to be secret ; and to report unlicensed mid wives.
(e) The quarrel between the Duke of Gloucester and the Bishop of Winchester in the fourth year of Henry VI. was sub- mitted to the arbitrament of the Lords, and two copies are given of the oath taken by the Duke of Bedford and the other peers in the matter.
There are many other curious matters to be found within the 400 pages of this book, but sufficient has perhaps been mentioned to show that it contains a valuable collec- tion of documents. Very few of these are dated, but internal evidence will usually supply the period. Probably not much reliance can be placed on the earlier forms of oath, but those dating from Henry VIII. to the Commonwealth are doubtless recorded in a trustworthy manner. R. S. B.
[8. Many oaths of old City officials are included by Dr. R. B. Sharpe in the valuable Calendars of Letter-Books edited by him for the Corporation.
14(d). Licences to midwives have been discussed at some length in ' N. & Q.' ; see 9 S. v. 475 ; vi. 9, 177, 274, 336, 438 ; vii. 31, 197, 352.]
- The print is blurred here, and this may not
be the word.
MANNERS, DEPORTMENT, AND
ETIQUETTE; : THEIR BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(See 9 S. vii. 388, 516j viii. 232.)
I MAY supplement the books on these sub- jects supplied at the second and third refer- ences by the following :
The Book of Good Maners. Fynysshed and translated out of frensshe in to Englisshe the viij day of Juyn the yere of our Lord M.iiii c lxxvj, and the first yere of the regne of kyng harry the vij. And enprynted the xj day of Maye after . . . .[1487], (made and compiled by the Venerable Frere Jaques le Graunt). Folio. Ames's ' Typog. Antiq.,' 1810, vol. i. p. 263.
The Book of the Courtier, by Count Baldassar Castiglione (1478-1529).
The original edition is a small folio by Aldus in his best Roman type in 1528. At least fifty Italian editions appeared before the end of the century, and the work was soon popular in every European language. The English translation by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1577 had so much influence on Elizabethan literature that Prof. Raleigh goes so far as to call it " the book that made Shakespeare possible n (Morning Post, 13 June, 1903).
II Perfetto Maestro di Casa [in early Italian households the superintendent of all domestic details and the comptroller of the estate], i quali contengono una esatta instruttione per 1' ufficio di ciracun Ministro, e Cortegiano di quanto appartiene all' Economia anche nelle cose minime, e nel conseguire le dignita di Vesconati, Proto- notarii, Apostolici, Auditor di Rota, Chierico di Camera, &c., by Francesco Liberati. Home, 1668.
Galateo ; or, Treatise of the Manners and Behaviours it behoveth a Man to use and eschewe in his familiar conversation, a worke very necessary and profitable for all Gentlemen. First written in Italian by Giovanni della Casa. Now done into English by B. Peterson of Lincolnes Inne. Small 4 to. A faithful reproduction of the original of 1576. edited by H. J. Reid, with Introduction, 1576-1892. Only 100 copies privately printed on hand-made paper.
The Myrrour of good Maners., &c., translate into englysshe, &c., by Alexander Bercley, preste, &c. " Here begynnyth a ryght frutefull treatyse, intitulydthemyrrour of good maners, conteynyng the iiii vertues callyd cardynall." London, (1523 ?) Folio.
The Ideal of a Gentleman ; or, a Mirror for Gentlefolks : a Portrayal in Literature from the Earliest Times. By A. Srnythe Palmer, D.D. Boutledge & Sons, 1908.
The Habits of Good Society. London, James Hogg & Sons, circa 1860-69.
The Laws and Bye-Laws of Good Society. Lockwood & Co., circa 1869.
Books on Etiquette. Globe " turnover " (date
8 The Art of Going. Globe, 3 Sept., 1902. Table Manners. Globe, 16 March, 1903. Courtesy. Globe, 3 Feb., 1904.
