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ledgment of the faithful services of his trusted dependent, placed young Whitelocke at Lochee's Military Academy, near Chelsea. There he remained till 1777, when, the Earl's friendly disposition remaining in full force, and the youth's predilection for a military career continuing unabated, an ensigncy was procured him, through Lord Aylesbury's intervention, in the 14th regiment of Foot.". Risen from the Ranks, p. 68.

Through the influence of his brother-in-law, General Brownrigge, Whitelocke's promotion was rapid; and in 1807 he was gazetted commanderin-chief of an expedition destined for the recapture of Buenos Ayres. His conduct during this expedition became the subject of a court-martial; he was found guilty, sentenced to be cashiered, and declared to be "totally unfit to serve his Majesty in any military capacity whatever."

Judging from the evidence adduced, the conduct of the commander-in-chief was totally unworthy of the flag under which he served, and highly calculated to arouse the indignation of the men whom he commanded; and for some considerable time, whenever the soldiers met together to take a friendly glass, the toast was, "Success to grey hairs, but bad luck to White-locks!" On the whole, the Rev. E. Neale's account seems to be quite impartial; and most persons, after reading the evidence of the general's extremely vacillating conduct, will be inclined to agree with him in awarding this unfortunate officer the title of the "Flincher-General at Buenos Ayres." JAMES SPENCE HARRY.

I have only just seen your correspondent's Reply (Vol. ix., p. 87.) respecting General Whitelocke. He is right in stating that the general resided at Clifton: he might have added, as late as 1830; but he had previously, for a time, lived at Butcombe Court, Somersetshire.

selves than to the enemy, and that they had better trust to the bayonet alone. The consequence was, that when they entered the streets of the town, they found no enemy in them to whom they could apply the bayonet. The inhabitants and troops were in the strong stone houses, and fired on and killed our men with perfect impunity, as not a shot could be fired in return: to surrender was their only chance of life. A reference to a file of newspapers of that date (which I am too lazy to make myself) will show whether this was understood at the time to be a fact or not. J. Ss.

In the Autobiography of B. Haydon (I think vol. i.), he mentions that as he was passing through Somersetshire on his way from Plymouth to London, he saw General Whitelocke. A reference to the passage may interest G. L. S. W. DENTON,

The following charade was in vogue at the time of Whitelocke's death:

"My first is an emblem of purity;

My second is that of security;

My whole forms a name

Which, if yours were the same,

You would blush to hand down to posterity."

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1. If your correspondent H. P. will again examine my communication on this subject, he will find that I have not overlooked the view which attributes the De Imitatione to John Gerson, but have expressly referred to it.

2. If Gerson was the author, this will not prove that in quoting the proverb in question, Piers There is an anecdote still rife in the neighbour- Ploughman quoted from the De Imitatione, as H. P. supposes. The dates which I gave will hood, that when Whitelocke came down to see the show this. The Vision was written about house before taking it, he put up at an inn, and after dinner asked the landlord to take a glass of A.D. 1362, whereas, according to Du Pin, John wine with him. Upon announcing, however, who Gerson was born December 14, 1363, took a prohe was, the landlord started up and declared heminent part in the Council of Constance, 1414, would not drink another glass with him, throwing and died in 1429. Of the Latin writers of the down at the same time the price of the bottle, that fifteenth century, Mosheim says: he might not be indebted to the general.

Respecting the story of the flints, it is said that he desired them to be taken out of the muskets, wishing that the men should only use their bayonets against the enemy.

ARDELIO.

I remember well that soon after the unsuccessful attack of General Whitelocke upon Buenos Ayres, it was stated that the flints had been taken out of the muskets of some of our regiments because they were quite raw troops, and the General thought that they might, from want of knowledge and use of fire-arms, do more mischief to them

"At their head we may justly place John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, the most illustrious ornament that this age can boast of, a man of great influence and authority, whom the Council of Constance looked upon as its oracle, the lovers of liberty as their patron, and whose memory is yet precious to such among the French clergy as are at all zealous for the maintenance of their privileges against papal despotism."— Ecc. Hist., cent. xv. ch. ii. sec. 24.

3. Gerson was not a Benedictine monk, but a Parisian curé, and Canon of Notre Dame :

"He was made curate (curé, parson or rector) of St. John's, in Greve, on the 29th of March, 1408, and

continued so to 1413, when in a sedition raised by the partizans of the Duke of Burgundy, his house was plundered by the mob, and he obliged to fly into the

church of Notre Dame, where he continued for some time concealed."— Du Pin, History of the Church, cent. xv, ch. viii.

It is said that the treatise in question first appeared

"Appended to a MS. of Gerson's De Consolatione Theologia, dated 1421. This gave rise to the supposition that he was the real author of that celebrated work; and indeed it is a very doubtful point whether this opinion is true or not, there being several high authorities which ascribe to him the authorship of that book." Knight's Penny Cyclopædia, vol. vi. art. "Gerson."

Was there then another John Gerson, a monk, and Abbot of St. Stephen, between 1200 and 1240, to whom, as well as to the above, the De Imitatione has been ascribed? This, though not impossible, appears extremely improbable. Is H. P. prepared with evidence to prove it? Du Pin, in the chapter above quoted, farther says, in speaking of the De Imitatione Christi :

"The style is pretty much like that of the other devotional books of Thomas à Kempis. Nevertheless,

in his life-time it was attributed to St. Bernard and

Gerson. The latter was most commonly esteemed the

author of it in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Afterwards some MSS. of it were found in Italy, where it is attributed to one Gerson or Gessen, to whom is given the title of abbot. Perhaps Gersen or Gessen are only corruptions of the name of Gerson. Notwithstanding, there are two things which will hardly let us believe that this was Gerson's book; one, that the author calls himself a monk, the other, that the style is very different from that of the Chancellor of Paris. All this makes it difficult to decide to which of these three authors it belongs. We must leave Thomas à Kempis in possession of what is attributed to him, without deciding positively in his favour."

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Thus, Man proposes, but God disposes,' for he was not permitted to carry that resolution into effect.". P. 27.

"But, as the Scripture saith, Man proposes, but God disposes, so Christ suffered not His Church to want its ancient and rightful privileges." - P. 83. Mr. Lower says in his Preface, p. x. :

"Of the identity of the author nothing certain can be inferred, beyond the bare fact of his having been a monk of Battel. A few passages would almost incline one to believe that Abbot Odo, who was living at the date of the last events narrated in the work, and who is known to have been a literary character of some emi

nence, was the writer of at least some portions of the volume."

It is stated at the beginning to be in part derived from early documents and traditional statements. E. J. M. Hastings.

NAPOLEON'S SPELLING.

(Vol. viii., pp. 386. 502.)

The question as to Napoleon's spelling may seem, at first sight, to be one of little importance; and yet, if we will look at it aright, we shall find that it involves many points of interest for the philosopher and the historian. During a residence of some years in France, I had heard it remarked, more than once, by persons who appeared hostile to the Napoleon dynasty, that its great founder had, in his bulletins and other public documents, shown an unaccountable ignorance of the common rules of orthography: but I had never seen the assertion put forth by any competent writer until I met with the remarks of Macaulay, already quoted by me, Vol. viii., p. 386.

this statement, your correspondent C. has readily In reply to my inquiry as to the authority for and kindly furnished a passage from Bourrienne's Mémoires, in which it is alleged that Napoleon's "orthographe est en général extraordinairement estropiée."

From all this it must be taken for granted, as, indeed, it has never been denied, that Napoleon's spelling is defective; but the question to be considered is, whether that defectiveness was the effect of ignorance or of design. That it did not arise from ignorance would seem probable for the following reasons.

France; and it is to be presumed that the degree Napoleon received his education chiefly in of instruction in grammar, orthography, &c., ordinarily bestowed on educated Frenchmen, was not withheld from him.

cient intelligence to acquire an ordinary knowTo say the least of it, he was endued with suffiledge of such matters.

Nay more he was a man of the highest order of genius. Between the possession of genius, and a knowledge of orthography, there is, I admit, no necessary connexion. The humblest pedagogue may be able to spell more correctly than the greatest philosopher. But neither, on the other hand, does genius of any kind necessarily preclude a knowledge of spelling.

While still a young man, Napoleon wrote several works in French, such as the Souper de Beaucaire, the Mémoire sur la Culture du Mûrier, &c. Some of the manuscripts of these writings must be still extant; and a comparison of the spelling of his unpretending youth, with that of his aspiring

manhood, would show at once whether the "orthographe extraordinairement estropiée" of his later productions was the result of habit or design. The orthography of the French language is peculiarly intricate; and it is no uncommon thing to meet with educated men in that country who are unable to spell with accuracy. That Napoleon may have been in a similar predicament, would not be surprising; but that it should be said of the most extraordinary man of the age, that his spelling is extraordinairement estropiée, seems inexplicable upon any fair supposition, except that he accounted the rules of spelling unworthy the attention of any but copyists and office drudges; or (which is more probable) that he wished this extraordinary spelling to be received as an indication of the great rapidity with which he could commit his thoughts to paper. HENRY H. BREEN.

MEMOIRS OF GRAMMONT.

(Vol. viii., pp. 461. 549.; Vol. ix., p. 3.) There appearing to be a strong feeling that a correct edition of these Memoirs should be published, with the present inaccurate notes thoroughly revised, I send you a few notes from a collection I have made on the subject.

The proper orthography of the name is "Gramont," and the family probably originally came from Spain. Matta's friend, the Marquis de Sevantes, asserts the fact; and it is corroborated by the fact, that on the occasion of the Marshal de Grammont's demanding the hand of the Infanta Maria Theresa for Louis XIV., the people cried, "Viva el Marescal de Agramont, que es de nuestro'sangue!" And the King of Spain said to the Marshal after the presentation of his sons, the Counts de Guiche and De Louvigny, "Teneis Muy Buenos y lindos hijos y bien se hecha de ver que los Agramonteses salen de la sangue de Espana."

The Grammont family had been so enriched and ennobled by its repeated marriages with the heiresses of great families, that, like many noble houses of our own times, members of it hardly knew their own correct surname: thus, in the famous declaration of the parliament of Paris against the Peers in 1717, on the subject of the Caps, it was said:

"The Grammonts have determined on their armorial

bearings, and hold to those of the house of Aure. The Count de Grammont said one day to the Marshal, What arms shall we use this year?"

The Grammonts in the male line are descended from Sancho Garcia d'Aure, Viscount de l'Arboust. Menaud d'Aure, his lineal representative, married Claire de Grammont, sister and heiress of Jean, Seigneur de Grammont, and daughter of

Francis, Seigneur de Grammont, and Catherine d'Andoins his wife.

Menaud d'Aure is the ancestor who is disguised in the Memoirs as "Menaudaure" and "Menodore;" and in the notes, coupled with "la belle Corisande," they are styled two of the ancestresses of the family celebrated for their beauty.

Philibert, who was styled Philibert de Grammont and de Toulongeon, Count de Grammont and de Guiche, Viscount d'Aster, Captain of fifty men at arms, Governor and Mayor of Bayonne, Seneschal of Bearne, married on Aug. 7, 1567, Diana, better known as "La belle Corisande" d'Andouins, Viscountess de Louvigny, Dame de Lescun, the only daughter of Paul Viscount de Louvigny; who, although a Huguenot, was killed at the siege of Rouen, fighting under the command of the Duke de Guise. They had two children: Antoine, subsequently the first duke, and Catherine, who married Francois Nompar de Chaumont, Count de Lauzun, the ancestor of the celebrated Duke de Lauzun, who was first introduced at court by his relative the Marshal de Grammont.

This Philibert, Count de Grammont, was killed at the siege of La Fere in Aug. 1580. The conHenry IV., was subsequent to the Count's death. nexion between his widow, the fair Corisande, and

The Duchy Peerage was created on Dec. 13, 1643. Antoine, the first duke, married, firstly, on Sept. 1, 1601, Louise, eldest daughter of the Marshal de Roquelaure; she died in 1610, leaving Grammont, and Roger, Count de Louvigny, killed Antoine, subsequently the Marshal Duke de in a duel in Flanders on March 18, 1629. The Duke de Grammont married, secondly, on March 29, 1618, Claude, eldest daughter of Louis de Montmorency, Baron de Boutteville; and had Henri, Count de Toulongeon, who died unmarried on Sept. 1, 1679; Philibert, the celebrated Chevalier de Grammont, who was born in 1621; and three daughters.

The Marshal de Grammont was one of the most celebrated men of the court of Louis XIV.: he was a favourite both of Richelieu and Mazarin, and married a niece of the former; and, as a wit, sided with the Court during the wars of the was not inferior to his brother the Chevalier. He Fronde; whilst the Chevalier in the first instance joined the Prince of Condé, probably from their mutual connexion with the Montmorency family. The Marshal died at Bayonne, on July 12, 1678, aged seventy-four years, leaving four children, of whom the Count de Guiche and the Princess de Monaco are well known.

The Chevalier de Grammont received his outfit from his mother, and joined the army under Prince Thomas of Savoy, then besieging Trin in Piedmont, which was taken on Sept. 24, 1643. The notes to the Memoirs say May 4, 1639; but that

was a former siege by the French, then under the command of the Cardinal de la Vallette.

Probably this will be as much as you can afford space for at present, and I will therefore rescrve any farther communications for a future Number. W. H. LAMMIN.

Fulham.

viz. the tongue protruded beyond the point of the bill, owing to the pressure it received in my dog's mouth; the dog having brought it out enveloped in dead grass, from the foot of the myrtle bush. CHARLES BROWN.

THE MYRTLE BEE.

(Vol. viii., p. 593.)

Ere venturing an opinion as to the exact size of the above, as compared with the Golden-crested Wren, I should much like to ascertain where I am likely to meet with a faithful specimen of the latter? The Myrtle Bee is about half the size of the common Wren, certainly not larger and I always took it for granted, the bird derived its name from its diminutiveness and the cover it frequented. I cannot say the bird was generally known in the neighbourhood, having only met with it when in company with sportsmen, in a description of country little frequented by others. I originally obtained the name when a boy from a deceased parent whom I accompanied out shooting; and for a succession of years the bird was familiar to me, in fact, to all sportsmen of that period who shot over the immediate locality; we all knew it, although its name was seldom mentioned. In fact, it never induced a thought beyond-"Confound the bees, how they bother the dogs -or some such expression. I am unacquainted with the Dartford Warbler (Sylvia provincialis, Gmel.); but the description as quoted by Mr. Salmon from Yarrell's Hist. of British Birds, 1839, vol. i. p. 311. et seq., differs from the Myrtle Bee. The Warbler is said to haunt and build among furze on commons, and flies with jerks; whereas I never met with the Myrtle Bee among furze, neither does it fly with jerks: on the contrary, its short flight is rapid, steady, and direct. The description of the Warbler appears to agree with a small bird well known here as the Furze Chat, but which is out of all proportion as compared with the Myrtle Bee.

As regards the Query touching the possibility of my memory being treacherous respecting the colour of the bird, after a lapse of twenty-five years, more faith will be placed therein on my stating that I am an old fly-fisher, making my own flies: and that no strange bird ever came to hand without undergoing a searching scrutiny as to colour and texture of the feathers, with the view of converting it to fishing purposes. No such use could be made of the Bee. In a former Number I described the tongue of the Myrtle Bee as round, sharp, and pointed at the end, appearing capable of penetration. I beg to say that I was solely indebted to accident in being able to do so,

CELTIC ETYMOLOGY.

(Vol. ix., p. 136.)

MR. CROSSLEY seems to confine the word Celtic to the Irish branch of that dialect. My notion of the words iosal and iriosal is taken from the Highland Gaelic, and the authorised version of the Bible in that language. Let Celtic scholars, who look to the sense of words in the four spoken languages, decide between us. There can be no doubt of the meaning of the two words in the Gaelic of Job v. 11. and Ps. iv. 6. In Welsh, and (I believe) in bas-Breton, there is no word similar to uim or umhal, in the senses of humus and humilis, to be found. In Gaelic uir is more common than uim, and talamh more common than either in the sense of humus; and in that of humble, iosal and iriosal are much more common than umhal.

It is certain that Latin was introduced into Ireland before it reached the Highlands, and Christianity with it; and therefore, as this word is not found in one branch of the Celtic at all, and is not a very common word in another, it is not unreasonable to suppose that it is of Latin origin. The sense which MR. CROSSLEY declares to be the only sense of iosal and iriosal, is precisely that which is the nearest to the original meaning of low, and low as the earth; and this is also the sense which humilis always bears in classical Latin, though Christianity (which first recognised humility as a virtue, instead of stigmatising it as a meanness) attached to it the sense which its derivatives in all modern Romance languages, with the exception of Italian, exclusively bear.

Now MR. CROSSLEY has omitted to notice the fact that umhal in Gaelic, and, I believe, umal in Irish, have not the intermediate sense of low and cringing, but only the Christian sense of humble, as a virtuous attribute. It seems natural that if uim and umal were radical words, the latter would bear the same relation to uim, in every respect, which humilis does to humus, its supposed derivative. But unless humus be derived from xáua (the root of x and xequaλds), how does MR. CROSSLEY account for the h, which had a sound in Latin as well as horror and hostilis, both of which retain the aspirate in English, though they lose it in French? If MR. CROSSLEY will tell me why horreur and hostile have no aspirate in French, Í will tell him why heir, honour, and humour have none in English, though humid (which is as closely connected with humour, as humidus is with humor) retains the aspirate.

These Celtic etymologies, however, though amusing, do not touch the main point, which is simply this: the usual mode of pronouncing the word humble in good English society. What that is, seems to be so satisfactorily shown by your correspondent S. G. C., Vol. viii., p. 393., that all farther argument on the subject would be superfluous. E. C. H.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Improvements in the Albumenized Process. Your expectation of being soon able to announce the successful manufacture of a new negative calotype paper, will, I am sure, be gladly received by many photographers, and especially by those who, like me, have been subjected to much disappointment with Turner's paper. For one sheet that has turned out well, at least half-a-dozen have proved useless from spottiness, and some sheets do not take the iodizing solution evenly, from an apparent want of uniformity in the texture of the paper, which causes the solution to penetrate portions the moment it is laid on the solution. Undoubtedly, when it does succeed, it is superior to Whatman's, but this is not enough to compensate for its extreme uncertainty.

In DR. DIAMOND's directions for the calotype, he gave a formula for the addition of bromide of potassium to the iodide of potassium, but did not speak with much certainty as to the proportions. Will he kindly say whether he has made farther trials; and if so, whether they confirm the proportions given by him, or have led him to adopt any change in this respect? and will he likewise say whether the iodizing solution which he recommends for Turner's paper, is suitable also to Whatman's?

In albumenizing paper, I have not found it desirable to remove the paper very slowly from the solution. Whenever I have done so, it has invariably dried with waves and streaks, which quite spoiled the sheet. A steady motion, neither too slow nor too quick, I have found succeed perfectly, so that I now never spoil a sheet. I have used the solution with less albumen than recommended by DR. DIAMOND. My formula has been,

-

Albumen Water

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12 oz.

60 grs.

60 grs.

Muriate ammon. Common salt And this, I find, gives a sufficient gloss to the paper; but that of course is a matter of taste.

I have not either found it essential to allow the paper to remain on the solution three minutes or longer, as recommended by DR. DIAMOND. With Canson paper, either negative or positive, a minute and a half has been sufficient. I have used two dishes, and as soon as a sheet was removed, drained, and replaced, I have taken the sheet from the other dish. In this way I found that each sheet lay on the solution about one and a half minutes, and with the assistance of a person to hang and dry them (which I have done before a fire), I have prepared from forty to forty-five

sheets in an hour, requiring of course to be ironed afterwards.

I have tried a solution of nitrate of silver of thirty grains to one ounce of distilled water, to excite thin paper, and it appears to answer just as well as forty grains. I send you two small collodion views, taken by me and printed on albumenized paper prepared as mentioned, and excited with a 30-grain solution of nitrate of silver.

Is there any certain way of telling the right side of Canson paper, negative and positive? On the positive paper on one side, when held in a particular position towards the light, shaded bars may be observed; and on this side, when looked through, the name reads right. Is this the right or the wrong side? C. E. F.

Since I wrote to you last, I have tried a solution of twenty graius only of nitrate of silver to the ounce of distilled water, for the paper albumenized, as menfound it to answer perfectly. The paper I used was tioned in my letter of the 13th of February, and have thin Canson, floated for one minute exactly on the solution; but I have no doubt the thick Canson will succeed just as well; and here I may observe that I have never found any advantage in allowing the paper to rest on the solution for three or four minutes, as generally recommended, but the contrary, as the paper, without being in the least more sensitive, becomes has been to float the thin Canson about half a minute, much sooner discoloured by keeping. My practice and the thick Canson not more than a minute.

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C. E. F.

Mr. Crookes on restoring old Collodion. I am happy to explain to your correspondent what I consider to be the rationale of the process.

The colour which iodized collodion assumes on keeping, I consider to be entirely due to the gradual separation of iodine from the iodide of potassium or ammonium originally introduced. There are several ways in which this may take place; if the cotton or paper contain the slightest trace of nitric acid, owing to its not being thoroughly washed (and this is not so easy as is generally supposed), the liberation of iodine in the collodion is certain to take place a short time after its being made.

It is possible also that there may be a gradual de composition of the zyloidin itself, and consequent liberation of the iodide by this means, with formation of nitrate of potassa or ammonia; but the most probable cause I consider to be the following. The ether gradually absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere, being converted into acetic acid; this, by its superior affinities, reacts on the iodide present, converting it into acetate, with liberation of hydriodic acid; while this latter, under the influence of the atmospheric oxygen, is very rapidly converted into water and iodine.

I am satisfied by experiment that this is one of the causes of the separation of iodine, and I think it is the only one, for the following reason; neither bromised nor chlorised collodion undergo the slightest change of colour, however long they may be kept. Now, if the former agencies were at work, there is no reason why bromine should not be liberated from a bromide as well as iodine from an iodide; but on the latter suppo

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