Phillips had a horror of wasps, which would sometimes find their way into the Bankruptcy Court at Liverpool. When sitting on the bench there, he would defend himself against these little beasts with a battledore, in spite of the expostulations of his servant, who reprobated such behaviour as lacking in dignity.
It was Charles Phillips who, on detecting a witness kissing his thumb instead of the book, roared out:—
"What do you mean, sir, kissing your thumb instead of the book? Kiss the book at once, sir. You may deceive your God, but you won't deceive me."
Phillips recorded it as his experience, first in criminal trials, and then as Commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors' Court, that men are less agitated when their life is at stake than when the matter concerned is a 5l. note. He died at his house in Gordon Square (not Golden Square, as the 'D.N.B.' states) in 1859. H. E. P. P.
There is a trifling inaccuracy in Col. Pierpoint's communication. Charles Phillips was appointed a Commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors' Court, which was a tribunal distinct from the Court of Bankruptcy.
Pagan Customs and Institutions (11 S. vi. 250).—A full account of the Roman priestly colleges will be found in Marquardt and Mommsen's 'Römische Alterthümer,' second edition, vi. 235-481. The time referred to is that of the Republic.
Richard Cromwell at Cheshut (11 S. vi. 250).—Is not E. F. W. thinking of Bulwer Lytton's novel 'Devereux,' in which the hero is represented as meeting with R. Cromwell, though not exactly under the same circumstances? Devereux, riding to London, stops a pony carriage which was running away, and the old gentleman who was driving it invites him to his house, which, he explains, was but a temporary abode, his real home being at Cheshunt.
On his leaving, his host gave him a paper which he was not to open till he should have proceeded two miles on his journey. On reading this, he discovered that he had been the guest of Richard Cromwell.
The incident referred to by E. F. W. occurs in Lytton's novel 'Devereux,' Book III. chap. iv. M. A. M. Macalister.
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (11 S. vi. 190, 272).—Of Austria, daughter of Philip II., King of Spain, and Elizabeth of France; married in 1598 Albert, son of the Emperor Maximilian II. She governed Flanders by herself after his death in 1621, and died in 1633 universally beloved (v. Feller, 'Dict. Historique,' xi. 102).
No doubt the above is the person represented by the miniature referred to by the querist. There are several pictures of her at the Antwerp Musée, and a notable one by Rubens. She and her husband were great benefactors to the exiled English Catholics who sought refuge in Flanders at that time, and their memory is cherished at Downside, the community and school there having received many benefits from them when they were founded at Douai in Flanders in 1605.
Earth-eating (11 S. vi. 290).—Geophagy is common in several islands of the Malay Archipelago. Edible earth can be found for sale in the pasars (markets) of Java, of Palembang, Benkoolen, the Padang Highlands and the Batak regions in Sumatra. It consists of a yellowish or reddish-brown, less frequently of a whitish or greyish kind of bituminous clay called ampo. Contrary to popular belief, it does not seem to contain organic matter. Its insipid taste never recommended it to my palate when sampling it on different occasions in different parts of Java and Sumatra; but " de gustibus non est disputandum," and, sprinkling it with salt after roasting or frying it with cocoanut-oil, many natives consider it quite a delicacy. Besides in Java and Sumatra, the 'Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch Indië' mentions its use in Soombawa, New Guinea, Haruku, Saparua, Nusa Laut, and among the Dayaks of
Borneo. Women in delicate health eat sometimes ampo because it is supposed to benefit their babies yet unborn; excessive indulgence, according to Dr. C. L. van der Burg ('De Geneesheer in Nederlandsch Indië'), results in constipation and other ills. For further particulars the communications of the Dutch Missionary Society (xxv.) may be consulted; also G. A. Wilken ('Handleiding voor de vergelijkende Volken kunde van Nederlandsch Indië,' edited by
