106
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. n. A, s. ime.
2. Mr. James Harris (1709-80), father of
"the first Earl of Malmesbury, was the author
of ' Hermes and other Philosophical En-
quiries.' He lived in Salisbury Close in the
Tiouse adjoining St. Ann's Gate on its north
side, and opposite to the home of Charlotte
Cradock, whom Fielding had married in
1734, but who had died before these troubles.
Whether Mr. Harris had to pay also is not
known : probably the sheriff reckoned a
man in London worth two in Wiltshire. His
SDrtrait hangs in the National Portrait allery.
3. It is only fair to Miss Margaret Collier to say that Fielding, in his then state of health, was perhaps easily ruffled, and less master than usual of that " cheerfulness which was always natural to me " (' Proposal for the Poor,' 1753). But she never forgave Fielding for defeating her machinations, and when the ' Voyage to Lisbon ' appeared posthumously, she wrote to Richardson that she considered it " a very dull and unenter- taining piece," a criticism which reads oddly when we recall that nine months ago The Times deemed it of sufficient interest to include passages from it among the broadsheets supplied to the English army in "the trenches. But Fielding could not have been the sole cause of her disappointment, for writing to Richardson from Ryde on Oct. 3, 1755, she says :
" I was forced to make a great slaughter and lay about me prodigiously before I could conquer those bitter enemies to peace and humility called passions ; but now I think and hope they all lie -dead in heaps at several places in London and elsewhere ; and I brought down nothing with me but a bundle of mortifications."
4. It surely says much for Fielding's "kindly disposition that, despite his unfor- tunate experiences from going bail for Arthur Collier, he readily went bail for Another friend in 1751 (see ' Luke Robinson, M.P.,' US. xi. 55). Nor let us forget that while the Collier litigation was proceeding through its several stages, ' Tom Jones ' was a-composing. J. PAUL, DE CASTRO.
1 Essex Court, Temple.
THE RIVER FLEET. Other than the
Thames, this is the only London stream or
river of sufficient interest to occasion
monographs on its history or topography.
I have had the pleasure of listening to several excellent lectures on the Wallbrook, Westbourne, and Tyburn Brook, but I am not aware that separate histories of these watercourses have been published. The Fleet, however, has been the subject of one
published work and two intended histories
of more than ordinary interest.
Mr. John Ashton's ' The Fleet, its River, Prison, and Marriages,' is a familiar work that fails to achieve its best purpose, and it, therefore, ranks higher as an interesting resume than a history of its subject.
' The Hole-Bourne,' an excellent paper by J. G. Waller, contributed to the Transac- tions of the L. and M. Archaeological Society, is a better effort, but neither approaches in interest or worth the history intended by Arthur Crosby, whose surveys, notes, and numerous drawings are in the Guildhall Library. For nearly twenty years, from about 1825, Crosby worked with splendid industry. The topography of the stream from its rise at Hampstead was studied closely, and any landmark of associated interest carefully drawn and identified. His exploration of the Fleet Bridge on the night of Tuesday, July 28, 1840, was re- printed by Ashton, but another draft with illustrations and measurements is before me. I believe this is the original, as most of the measurements are inked-in rough pencil notes presumably, hurriedly made on that memorable occasion.
Similar in intention, but less detailed, was the ' Pictorial Survey ' made by G. Arnold of Pentonville about 1840. A topographical artist of considerable merit, he was at- tracted to the subject by certain picturesque aspects it afforded near Bagnigge Wells, and this and other resorts in its vicinity were pleasant in appearance.
Several other artists frequented the banks of the Fleet, but Arnold achieved the most useful work, and if Crosby's text could be edited, enlarged, and illustrated with these drawings, it would make a volume of great merit and distinct value.
ALECK ABRAHAMS.
" YOGHURT." Although this preparation only became known generally in Western Europe a few years ago, after the late Prof. Metshnikoff's discovery of the Bacillus Bulgaricus which turns milk into "yoghurt," it is mentioned by Busbequius in his first letter from Turkey, dated Vienna, Sept. 1, 1555 :
"Sed ea est eorum [Turcorum] frugalitas, guise minime studentium : quibus si sal sit et panis, alliumque aut ccepa aut acidi lactis genus, Galeno non ignoti, quod ipse Oxygalam, isti lugurtham discunt, nihil requirant prseterea." Elz. ed., p. 90.
As regards Oxygala, cf. also Pliny, lib. xxviii. cap. 9 (36) and Columella, lib. xii. cap. 8. L. L. K.
