published there appeared a volume, with its contents arranged on a similar system, entitled The | Gentleman's | Library, | containing | Rules for Conduct | in all | Parts of Life. | Written by a Gentleman. | Purpureus late qui, eplendeat, unus & alter | Aasuitur pannuB. Hor. | London: | Piinted by E. P. for W. Mears, at the | Lamb, and J. Browne, at the Black | Swan without Temple-Bar. 1715. [8vo.] Who was the author? J. F. MANSBRGH. Liverpool any one give me some information about the well-known quotation, " Je prends mon bien, oil je le trouve [or retrouve]. " Who was the first to " discover " it? G. H. C. ORIENTAL DAGGER. What is the technical term for a dagger of Oriental use, presumably to be employed by the left hand, where the hilt to be gripped is at right angles with the blade, and two metal parallel bars protect the wrist and arm of the wielder? Is it " kuthar " 1 See Catalogue of Royal Military Exhibition, 1890, "Historic Loan Collection, " p. 83, paragraph 1860A, "Arms, " item iii. NEMO. Temple. " DOCTOR PROSODY: his Tour in Search of the Antique and Picturesque through Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkney and Shetland Isles. Illustrated by W. Read and C. Williams. 1821. " Can any reader of ' K & Q. ' inform me who was the author of the above work? It has been attributed to the author of ' Dr. Syntax, ' but it does not appear in a list of Combe's works given in that book. J. JENKINS. "AFTER-GAME AT IRISH. " Near the end of Act Y. sc. ii. of Sir George Etherege's ' Love in a Tub' (p. 74 of 1704 edition, 1. 22), Palmer, who has been baulked of success in a concerted swindle, says, " Here's a turn with all my Heart like an after-game at Irish! " What is the allusion? H. H. S. CHRISTMAS COFFER. Massinger's 'A New Way to Pay Old Debts, ' Act IV. sc. i.: -Greedy. Come, gentlemen, I will not have you feed, like the hangman of Flushing, Alone, while I am here. What is the explanation of the allusion to " the hangman of Flushing "? A few lines below Greedy says, " Nor I to line my Christmas Coffer. " What does he mean by " Christmas Coffer"? A. P. C. VASSALL. Could any of your readers kindly supply the information as to whom John Vaesa Jl (son of Samuel Vassall, M. P. for City of London 1642–1660, and one of the first to resist " tunnage and poundage " in 1629) married, with particulars of death, whether s. p. or with descendants. Who was the wife of John Vaseall, son of William Vaesull, brother to Samuel? When did William die, and what family did he leave? He was of New England and Barbadoes. VASSALL. 1, Queen Street, Colchester. CLAUSE IN OLD LEASE. The following clause occurs in a conventual lease dated 1522: " sursumreddet una cum olla enea vocat' le Colman continen' xiiij lagen' unu' plumbum in fornace in Domo pistr'm (?) continen' xxx 1 * lagen' et al' plumbu' infra lo Deyar continen' Ix" lagen'. ". Will some one kindly explain what " plumbum in fornace" is, and what " in Domo pistr'm" and "le Deyar " mean? They look something like " bakehouse " and " dairy. " A reference to instances of like or analogous conditions would be very acceptable, as also another instance of an " olla " possessing a name of its own, W. C. W.
Replies.
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN.
(7th S. xi. 484; xii. 36.)
Mr. C. A. Ward tells us that
"it is vile to have to sit out the Harveian oration at the College of Physicians when it gives forth its annual dose of poisoned Latinity. It is a dire joke there to see our good medical scholars voluntarily turn barbarians," &c.
To these polite remarks may I reply that ever since I was elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1876 the Harveian oration has always been delivered in English? If my memory serves me well, I became a member of the College in 1869. The proceedings even then were all conducted in English; and I am told that English was the language of the College many years before that.
I fear that Mr. Ward's acquaintance with the continental pronunciation of Latin is as small as his acquaintance with the customs of the College of Physicians. For the last three or four years I have been obliged to spend great part of the winter abroad, and I have failed to find anything like a uniform pronunciation of Latin in France, Italy, Spain, or Germany. I do not think a canon from Milan would have the least understanding of the Latin of a canon from Toledo. The vowels and consonants in Spanish Latin are pronounced exactly as in the vernacular Spanish. It is the same in Germany and France. There is no such thing as a pronunciation of Latin common to the four nations. Each nation gives exactly the same value to the Latin vowels and consonants as it does to those of its own tongue. Let Mr. Ward make a point of attending some church services when he is next abroad, and then let him tell us whether a uniform continental pronunciation of Latin exists.
I should like to ask Mr. Ward what evidence there is that a change in the English pronunciation of Latin was made about the time of the Reformation. I know it is commonly said that a change
