150
NOTES AND QUERIES. 112 s. i. FEB. 19, we.
" HACKNEY." When the letter H section
of the * New English Dictionary ' went to
press I do not know, but it must have been
some little time ago. It is there stated
that the origin and meaning of the word
" Hackney " are still unknown.
Has any light been thrown on the subject since then ? WILLIAM MAIN.
THE " FLY " : THE "HACKNEY." I under- stand that a " fly," the vehicle, is the same as a " four-wheeler," but several good books of reference do not enable me to decide the matter, e.g., the ' Concise Oxford Diet.' says it is a " one-horse hackney-carriage," but forgets to define " hackney-carriage."
ALFRED S. E. ACKERMANN.
FEMALE NOVELISTS. (See ante, p. 111.) 1. Can any readers give me information concerning the Mrs. Barnby who published novels in 1803, 1804, and 1808 ? The first was a translation from the French called ' Kerwald Castle; or, the Memoirs of the Marquis de Solanges,' but the others are un- known to me. Who was her husband ?
2. Who was the husband of Mrs. A. M. Bennett, the novelist, who died in 1808 (cf. European Magazine, liii. 156) ? Is it possible to learn her age at death ? Does either of these particulars appear in Miss Matilda Bet ham's ' Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women,' 1804 ? E. C.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WANTED. I should be glad to obtain further informa- tion about the persons hereafter named : (1) Christian Hooper, who was admitted to Westminster School in Jan., 1741/2, aged 12 ; (2) William Hooper, admitted June 27, 1785 ; (3) William Ernest Anderson Hooper, admitted Jan. 27, 1858 ; (4) Edward Hope, who matriculated at Oxford from Ch. Ch., Aug. 22, 1661, aged 19 ; (5) John Horden of Ch. Ch., Oxoii, M.A., who was appointed Rector of Niton in the Isle of Wight, Feb. 1, 1578 ; and (6) Thomas Home, Canoneer Student of Ch. Ch., who graduated M.A. at Oxford, 1731. G. F. R. B.
LOUISA PARR. I am wondering whether any of your readers know where Mrs. Louisa Parr, the novelist, was buried, what her age was at death, or where she was born ? She lived and died at 18 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington, her death occurring on Nov. 2, 1903. F. A. Cox, Librarian.
London Institution, Finsbury Circus, E.G.
RALPH LAMBERT, BISHOP OF MEATH 1726-31. To what family did this prelate belong, and what were the arms of that family ? D. K. T.
' LINES TO A WATCH.' Until about
twenty years ago I had had in my possession
for many years, inside the cover of an old
watch, a round piece of fine silk on which
had been stamped a verse entitled as above.
As well as I can remember, the lines ran as
follows :
LINES TO A WATCH. Could but our (actions?) (conduct?) work (?) like
this machine,
Not urged by passion nor delayed by spleen, But, true to Nature's (?) regulating power, By virtuous acts (?) distinguish (?) every hour ; Then life (?) would (?j follow as (it?) (they?)
ought
The laws of motion and the laws of thought, Sweet health (?)... . (?) o're, And endless joys when time shall be no more.
I am not sure about the words that I have queried, and I may be wrong as to some others. Can and will any reader set me right, and, if possible, name the author of the verse ? I lost the piece of silk some years ago. It was then over a hundred years old. BERNARD O'CONNOR.
14 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, W.C.
P. B., TRANSLATOR OF MINUCIUS FELIX. I should be glad to know the name of P. B., whose translation of the only work of Miriucius and of Tertullian's ' Apology ' (in one small volume) was " printed for B. Barker, at the White Hart, and C. King, at the Judges-Head, both in Westminster Hall, 1708." The book does not appear in the British Museum Catalogue ; nor is it men- tioned in the very elaborate bibliographical list of editions, translations, and criticisms that is prefixed to J. P. Waltzing's 1903 edition of Minucius. The Preface begins thus :
" It is thought necessary to acquaint the Reader, that the Translator of these Excellent Tracts, is a Gentleman of Condition, and not a Mercenary Pen, He conceals his name, and therefore hopes for no reward ; not so much as a barren Praise : Nor can he hope for any, who goes put of'the road, and en- tertains none of the prevailing Passions of the age."
That is all that P. B. has to say about him- self : it is almost as much as is known of Minucius. His easy style, and his rather careless scholarship, which often takes refuge in paraphrase, certainly do suggest " a gentleman of condition." But who was he ?
B. B.
A NOVEL OF THE SEVENTIES WANTED. I am anxious to discover the name and author of a novel published in the seventies I fancy in one of the monthly magazines, but of this I am riot certain.
It dealt with two cousins both named Marguerite, but one called Daisy. The hero
