18
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* h s. x. JULY 5, 1002.
John Aubrey, in his 'Natural History of
Wiltshire,' MS. Royal Society, 1686, on reverse
folio 72, dated 1691, says that Wren was " to
be adopted a Brother"; and Dr. Anderson
says that Wren was Grand Master in 1685,
six years before he was, according to Aubrey,
to be initiated as a Freemason. But there is
no evidence that Wren was a member of any
lodge. Mr. Gould, the Masonic historian,
years ago made an exhaustive search, but not
a shred of* documentary evidence, even the
mention of Wren's name in any of the lists
or MSS. of the old lodges, could be found.
Anderson's statement is considered apocry-
phal, and Aubrey only wrote that such an
event was to take place. Wren's son does
not allude to it in his writings, and he
would of all others have knowledge of such
an event. This story about Wren has been
repeated for many years, but no evidence of
any kind that can be relied upon has been
submitted by those who quote Wren as a
member of the craft. I have never found a
line to justify the assertion, and every known
avenue of proof has been searched by me in
connexion with the statement.
J. Ross ROBERTSON. Toronto, Canada.
MISPLACING OF A COMMA (9 th S. ix. 267). The enclosed cutting from an Australian daily paper (the Adelaide Advertiser, 9 May), though not directly answering the query as to wnat " Act of Parliament once cost the country a hundred thousand pounds," pro- vides, at any rate, another version of the story :
" The Prime Minister receives many strange letters, one of the strangest being one which reached him during the tariff debate, warning him to be very careful of his commas. The writer, an American, went on to say that one little comma cost the United States Government 400,00(W. ! It was this way : About twenty years ago the United States Congress, in drafting the Tariff Bill, enumerated in one section the articles to be admitted on the free list. Amongst these were 'all foreign fruit -plants.' The copying clerk, in his superior wisdom, omitted the hyphen and inserted a comma after ' fruit,' so that the clause read ' all foreign fruit, plants, &c.' The mistake could not be rectified for about a year, and during this time all oranges, lemons, bananas, grapes, and other foreign fruits were admitted free of duty, with a loss to the Government of at least 400,000/. for that year."
EDWARD BENSLY.
The University, Adelaide, South Australia.
YARROW UNVISITED (9 th S. ix. 386, 477). At the second reference MR. YARROW BAL- DOCK states that John Logan " was driven from his ministry by the,V? Jlication, and subsequent performance at uie Edinburgh
Theatre, of his tragedy of 'Runnimede.'" As
it is perilous to express an opinion about
Logan, it may be useful in reference to this
assertion to quote the following from a favour-
able biographer :
" Logan then printed it [' Runnimede'], and had it acted in the Edinburgh theatre ; but in neither form did it meet with decided success. This, with other disappointments, preyed upon the spirits of the poet, and he now betook himself to the most vulgar and fatal means of neutralizing grief. It is to be always kept in mind that his father had died in a state of insanity, the consequence of depressed spirits. Hence it is to be presumed that the aberra- tions of the unhappy poet had some palliative in constitutional tendencies. From whatever source they arose, it was soon found necessary that he should resign the charge of the populous parish with which he had been entrusted."
After giving his explanation of Logan's resignation of his post, MR. YARROW BALDOCK further intimates that
" the Michael Bruce story was long since cleared up by Mr. Laing, who established Jonn Logan's claim to the authorship of the ' Ode to the Cuckoo,' as Dr. Carruthers says in 'Chambers's Cyclopaedia,' 4 beyond all dispute.' "
In view of all that has happened since the expression of this opinion in the 'Cyclopaedia,' the conclusion is irresistible that the author's confident assertion was somewhat premature. There has been incessant dispute on the sub- ject from that remote day to the present time. THOMAS BAYNE.
SIR GEOFFREY POLE, DIED 1558 (9 th S. ix. 468). Much interesting information relating to the family of Pole will be found in a trust- worthy volume, ' Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury,' by the Rev. Frederick George Lee, D.D. (London, 1888). Sir Geoffrey Pole was a younger brother of the cardinal, whom he predeceased by a few days. He left eleven children, five sons and six daughters. Of the latter two were mar- ried, and one embraced the religious life at Syon House, Isleworth. Dr. Lee's record gives many interesting details relating to the family as a whole. H. BASKERVILLE.
Oriel College, Oxford.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
The Early History of Syria and Palestine. By
L. B. Paton, Ph.D. (Nimmo.) The Theology awl Ethics of the Hebrews. By A.
Duff, LL.l). (Same publisher.) A NATURAL result of the explorations and dis* cpveries so actively carried on of late years on the sites of the ancient civilizations has been an increased interest in Oriental lore, religious and historical, and more particularly the Semitic branch of it. To gratify the appetite for information thus
