Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/310

252 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.X.APHIL 1.1922. EBIGENA QUOTED BY MATTHEW ARNOLD. What is the source of Matthew Arnold's quota- tion (' God and the Bible,' ch. ii.), from Erigena, " Deus per excellentiam non immerito nibjlum vocatur," which he translates, " It is . . . by reason of excellency that God is not improperly called nothing " ? There is a passage in Erigena, ' De Divisione Naturae,' iii. 19, which has much resemblance to this ; but the differences, both of language and thought, are not incon- siderable, and even as to the words, the correct- ness of Arnold's translation seems doubtful. PEPSY. AUTHORS WANTED. 1. In Richmond Park, a stone's-throw from the Star and Garter gates, a framed, gilt-lettered tablet preserves the memory of James Thomson, the poet. On the tablet are the following lines. Does any reader know who was the author ? " Ye, who from London's smoke and turmoil fly, To seek a purer air and brighter sky, Think of the bard who dwelt in yonder dell, Who sang so sweetly what he loved so well. Think, as you gaze on these luxuriant bowers, Here Thomson loved the sunshine and the flowers." J. B. H. 2. Who wrote a novel called ' Miser Fairbrother's Daughter,' which appeared as a serial story in The Illustrated London News about 25 years ago. E. M. C. BALPOUR-BROWNE. 3. Can anyone tell me where these lines occur ? " The Pope, that Pagan full of pride, Hath troubled us full long." R. M. GENERAL CLEMENT EDWARDS, C.B. (12 S. x. 131, 211.) THE branch of the Edwards family to which the late General belonged were anciently settled in Chirk, Denbighshire, and they held the office of Constable of Chirk Castle. (The estate of Chirk Castle is now in possession of Colonel Robert E. Myddleton.) After the Civil War and the return of -the Monarchy in 1660, there was a vigorous development of British colonization in America, and an ancestor of the General migrated to the Cavalier colony of Virginia. At the out- break of the American Revolution in 1775, Alexander Edwards (a forbear) joined the Royal forces and was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1782, after the pre- liminary articles of the treaty in which Britain recognized the complete indepen- dence of America were signed at Paris, the Edwards family left the States and settled in the Bahamas, holding various official positions there. Clement Martin Edwards, the General's father, returned to England and in 1795 obtained a commission in the 48th Regiment of Foot. At the early age of 26 he became Colonel of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment ; a year later he became D.Q.M.G. at Malta, where he died in 1816. His monument there is a notable landmark. In addition, for some years he was Military Secretary to H.R.H. the late Duke of York. His son, Clement Alexander, was appointed Ensign, in 1829, to the 31st Foot, trans- ferring to the 18th Royal Irish, with which regiment he saw much active service. He commanded that regiment in the Crimea | and was one of the twelve Distinguished Service colonels. In 1867, Brigadier- General Edwards, as he then was, was appointed (not as your correspondent at the first reference, slightly in error, states, Adjutant -General, but) Inspector-General of Recruiting, an office he held, I believe, until 1873. His official position naturally brought him into close personal relations with Mr. Cardwell. The Franco -German War of 1870, which had been fought so near our shores, and into whose vortex it more than once seemed only too probable that we ourselves might be drawn, was watched with anxious in- terest by the English people, and a settled purpose arose in their mind that our military institutions must be overhauled with the view of placing them on a permament basis of efficiency. In 1871, Mr. Gladstone, the most non- military of statesmen, was at the head of affairs and Mr. Cardwell at the War Office ; the latter, though essentially a civilian with- out any military training, was a man of I patriotic instincts, far-seeing judgment and I great initiative power. With marked appreciation of General Edwards's mili- j tary acumen, abilities and sagacity he I sought his advice. This culminated in Mr. I Cardwell's Bill of 1871 for Army Reconstruc- | tion, which evolved the abolition of Army j purchase and the establishment of the I short service system, a system which has I stood triumphantly the acid test of the I late war. The part played by General Edwards in I Cardwell's Bill produced the enmity of officers of the old school of service members and that of a Royal Duke, and in conse- quence his promotion to the K.C.B., although in the list, did not materialize. He died in 1882 and is interred in Kensal Green. A memorial to him was unveiled in St.