(Vol. vi., pp. 53. 112.)

It will be remembered that when Mr. Webster, one of the greatest of American statesmen, was on his death-bed, in October last, he requested his son to read to him that far-famed "Elegy" of Gray:

The editor of the Boston Journal, after referring to this circumstance, which he says has caused an unexampled demand for the works of Gray in the United States, goes on to give the result of his researches in many old English works, respecting the origin and meaning of the word curfew, which I trust will interest not only your correspondents who have written on the subject, but also many of your readers. I glean from the clever article now before me the following brief notices, which I have not yet met with in "N. & Q."

In King Alfred's time the curfew was rung at eight o'clock, and called the "cover fire bell," because the inhabitants, on hearing its peals, were obliged to cover their fires, and go to bed. Thomson evidently refers, in the following lines, to this tyrannical law, which was abolished in England about the year 1100:

On the people finding that they could put out their fires and go to bed when they pleased, it would appear, from being recorded in many places, that the time of ringing the curfew bell was first changed from eight to nine o'clock, then from nine to ten, and afterwards to the early hours of the morning. Thus we find in Romeo and Juliet:

In Shakspeare's works frequent mention is made of the curfew. In the Tempest he gives the following:

In Measure for Measure:

In King Lear:

This old English custom of ringing the curfew bell was carried by the Puritan fathers to New England; and where is the Bostonian of middle age who does not well recollect the ringing of the church bell at nine o'clock, which was the willing signal for labourers to retire to bed, and for shopmen to close their shops?

Before closing this Note, may I be allowed to inform Mr. Sansom, that Charlestown is in Massachusetts, and only separated from Boston by Charles River, which runs between the two cities. The place to which he refers is Charleston, and in South Carolina.

W. W.

Malta.

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THE "SALT-PETER-MAN."

(Vol. vii., pp. 377. 433. 460.)

The statute against monopolies (21 Jac. I. c. 3.) contains a clause (sec. 10.) that its provisions should not extend to any commission grant or letters patent theretofore made, or thereafter to be made, of, for, or concerning the digging, making, or compounding of saltpetre or gunpowder, which were to be of the like force and effect, and no other, as if that act had never been made.

In the famous "Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom" agreed upon by the House of Commons in November, 1641, there is special allusion to the vexation and oppression of the subject by purveyors, clerks of the market, and saltpetre men. (Parliamentary History, x. 67.)

Shortly afterwards was passed an act (which obtained the royal assent) giving liberty for importing gunpowder and saltpetre, and for making of gunpowder. The preamble asserts that the importation of gunpowder from foreign parts had of late times been against law prohibited, and the making thereof within this realm ingrossed; whereby the price of gunpowder had been excessively raised, many powder works decayed, this kingdom very much weakened and endangered, the merchants thereof much damnified, many mariners and others taken prisoners and brought into miserable captivity and slavery, many ships taken by Turkish and other pirates, and many other inconveniences had from thence ensued, and more were likely to ensue, if not timely prevented. (17 Car. I. c. 21.)

Lord Clarendon, in reviewing the various "important laws" of the Long Parliament to which the king assented, makes the following observations with reference to this particular act:

"'An Act for the free making Saltpetre and Gunpowder within the Kingdom:' which was a part of the prerogative; and not only considerable, as it restrained that precious and dangerous commodity from vulgar hands; but, as in truth it brought a considerable revenue to the crown, and more to those whom the crown gratified and obliged by that license. The pretence for this exemption was, 'the unjustifiable proceeding of those (or of inferior persons qualified by them) who had been trusted in that employment,' by whom, it cannot be denied, many men suffered: but the true reason was, that thereby they might be sure to have in readiness a good stock in that commodity, against the time their occasions should call upon them."—History of Rebellion, book iii.

On the 3rd April, 1644, the Lords and Commons passed an ordinance for the making of saltpetre, &c. This was grounded on the following allegations:

"1. The great expence of gunpowder, occasioned by the then war within his Majesty's dominions, had well near consumed the old store, and did exhaust the magazines so fast, that without a larger supply, the navy forts and the land armies could not be furnished.

"2. Foreign saltpetre was not in equal goodness with that of our own country, and the foreign gunpowder far worse conditioned and less forcible than that which is made in England.

"3. Divers foreign estates had of date prohibited the exportation of salt-peter and gunpowder out of their own dominions and countries, so that there could be but little hope or future expectation of any peter or powder to be brought into this kingdom, as in former times, which would enforce us to make use of our own materials."

From these circumstances, it was held most necessary that the digging of saltpetre and making of gunpowder should by all fit means be encouraged, at that time when it so much concerned the public safety; nevertheless, to prevent the reviving of those oppressions and exactions exercised upon the people, under the colourable authority of commissions granted to salt-peter-men; which burden had been eased since the sitting of that Parliament. To the end there might not be any pretence to interrupt the work, it was ordained that the committee of safety, their factors, workmen, and servants, should have power and authority, (within prescribed hours) to search and dig for saltpetre in all pigeon-houses, stables, cellars, vaults, empty warehouses, and other outhouses, yards, and places likely to afford that earth.

The salt-peter-men were to level the ground and repair damage done by them; or might be compelled to do so by the deputy-lieutenants, justices of the peace, or committees of parliament.

The salt-peter-men were also empowered to take carts, by the known officers, for carriage of the liquor, vessels, and other utensils, from place to place, at specified prices, and under limitations as to weight and distance; and they were freed from taxes and tolls for carriages used about their works, and empowered to take outhouses, &c., for their workhouses, making satisfaction to the owners.

This ordinance was to continue for two years, from 25th March, 1644.

An ordinance of a similar character was passed 9th February, 1652, to be in force till 25th March, 1656 (Scobell, 231.).

By an act of the Lord Protector and Parliament, made in 1656, it was enacted that no person or persons should dig within the houses or lands of any person or persons of the commonwealth for the finding of saltpetre, nor take the carriages of any person or persons for the carrying of their materials or vessels, without their leave first obtained or had. (Scobell, 377.) This is the act referred to by Broctuna ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 434.), and by my friend Mr. Isaiah Deck ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 460.), though I am not certain that Mr. Deck's inference be correct, that this act was passed in consequence of the new and uncertain process for obtaining the constituents of nitre having failed; and it is quite clear that Lord Coke could not have referred to this act. The enactment referred to is introduced by way of proviso in an act allowing the exportation of goods of English manufacture (inter alia, of gunpowder, when the price did not exceed 5l. per cwt.).

Allow me, in connexion, with this subject, to refer to Cullum's History of Hawsted, 1st edition, pp. 150. and 151., also to the statute 1 Jac. II. c. 8. s. 3., by which persons obtaining any letters patent for the sole making or importing gunpowder are subjected to the pains and penalties of prÆmunire.

C. H. Cooper.

Cambridge.

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FORMS OF JUDICIAL OATHS.

(Vol. vii., p. 458.)

Will you permit me to make a few observations in reply to the Queries of Mr. H.H. Breen on this subject?

There is hardly any custom more ancient than for a person imposing a promise on another to call on him to bind himself by an oath to the due performance of it. In this oath the person swearing calls on God, the king, his father, or some person or thing to whom he attaches authority or value, to inflict on him punishment or loss in case he breaks his oath. The mode of swearing is, in one particular, almost everywhere and in every age the same.

When a father, a friend, a sword, or any corporeal object is sworn by, the swearer places his hand upon it, and then swears. When a man, however, swore by the Deity, on whom he cannot place his hand, he raised his hand to heaven towards the God by whom he swore.

When Abraham made Abimelech swear to obey him, he caused him to place his hand under his thigh, and then imposed the oath; and when Jacob, by his authority as a father, compelled his son Joseph to swear to perform his promise, he ordered him to go through a similar ceremony. (Genesis, ch. xxiv. v. 5., and ch. xlvii. v. 29.)

In the prophet Daniel we read that—

"The man clothed in linen which was upon the waters, held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever," &c.—Daniel, ch. xii. v. 7.

In the Revelation we also find—

"And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea and the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever," &c.—Revelation, ch. x. v. 5, 6.

Your correspondent inquires how oaths were taken prior to their being taken on the Gospel.

Among the nations who overthrew the Roman empire, the most common mode of swearing was on the relics of the saints. In England, I think, the most common mode was to swear on the corporalia or eucharistic elements, whence we still have the common phrase "upon your corporal oath." In each case the hand was placed on the thing sworn by.

The laws of the Alamanni as to conjurators, direct that the sacrament shall be so arranged that all the conjurators shall place their hands upon the coffer (containing the relics), and that the principal party shall place his hand on all theirs, and then they are to swear on the relics. (Ll. Alam. cap. 657.)

The custom of swearing on the Gospels is repeatedly mentioned in the laws of the Lombards. (Ll. Longo. 1 tit. 21. c. 25.; Ll. Longo. 2. tit. 55. c. 2., and c. 2. tit. 34. et al.)

In the Formularies of Marculphus, two forms of oaths are given, one says that—

"In palatio nostro super capella domini Martini ubi reliqua sacramenta percurrunt debeat conjurare."

In the other we read—

"Posita manu supra sacrosanctium altare sancti ... sic juratus dixit. Juro per hunc locum sanctum et Deum altissimum et virtutis sancti ... quod," &c.

In the laws of CnÛt of England, two forms of oath are given. They both begin with "By the Lord before whom this relic is holy." (Ancient Laws and Justice of England, p. 179.)

Your correspondent asks "what form of Judicial oath was first sanctioned by Christians as a body?"

In the history of the Council of Constantinople, it is stated that—

"George, the well beloved of God, a deacon and keeper of the records, having touched the Holy Gospels of God, swore in this manner, 'By these Holy Scriptures, and by the God who by them has spoken,'" &c.

At the Council of Nice it is said that—

"Prayer having been offered up, every one saluted the Holy Gospels, the venerated cross and image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of our Lady the mother of God, and placed his hands upon them in confirmation of what he had said."

From these I infer that the custom of swearing on the Gospels received the sanction of the church at a very early period.

In reply to the question as to other modes of swearing, it may be said briefly, that men swore by anything to which they attached any importance, and generally by that to which they attached most importance.

By the laws of the Alamanni, a wife could claim her Morgen-gabe (or the gift of the morning after the wedding night) by swearing to its amount on her breast; and by the Droits d'Augsbourg, by swearing to it on her two breasts and two tresses.

Nothing was more common than for a man to swear by his beard. This custom is alluded to by one of Shakspeare's fools, who suggests that if a certain knight swore by his honour, and his mistress by her beard, neither of them could be forsworn.

In the canons of the Fourth Council of Orleans, we read—

"Le Roi lui-mÊme, ou le plus renommÉ des chevaliers prÉsents, ayant dÉcoupÉ le paon, se leva, et mettant la main sur l'oiseau, fit un voeu hardi; Ensuite il passa le plat, et chacun de ceux qui le reÇurent fit un voeu semblable."

In the year 1306, Edward I. of England swore an oath on two swans.

It was also very common from an early period, both in England and abroad, to swear by one, two, seven, or twelve churches. The deponent went to the appointed number of churches, and at each, taking the ring of the church door in his hand, repeated the oath.

One of the most curious specimens of the practice of swearing men by that to which they attached most importance, is to be found in an Hindoo law. It says, let a judge swear a Brahmin by his veracity; a soldier by his horses, his elephants, or his arms; an agriculturist by his cows, his grain, or his money; and a Soudra by all his crimes.

John Thrupp.

Surbiton.

I know nothing about judicial oaths: but the origin of the form Mr. Breen states to be used by the Roman Catholics of the Continent, and the Scotch Presbyterians, may be seen in Dan. xii. 7.: "When he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever." And in Revelation x. 5, 6.: "And the angel ... lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him," &c. See also Genesis xiv. 22.

Maria.

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PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Washing Collodion Pictures—Test for Lens.—As I was indebted to the kindness of Dr. Diamond, amongst other friends, for my original initiation into the mysteries of photography, it may appear somewhat presumptuous in me to differ from one who has had so much more experience in a point of practice. I allude to that of washing the collodion negative after developing, previously to fixing with the hyposulphite of soda; but, probably, the reasons I urge may have some weight. As the hyposulphite solution is intended to be used repeatedly, it appears to me not advisable to introduce into it any free acid (which must occur if the negative be not washed, although the quantity at each operation may be small), because it causes a decomposition of the salt, setting free sulphurous acid, and also sulphur; which last is slightly soluble in the hyposulphite of soda, and thus the sulphur is brought in contact with the reduced silver, and forms a sulphuret of that metal. But the change does not stop here: for, by the lapse of time, oxygen is absorbed, and thus a sulphate of silver is formed, and the colour changed from black to white. That sulphur is set free by the addition of an acid to the solution of hyposulphite of soda, is fact so easily demonstrable both to the eyes and nose of the operator, that no one need remain long in doubt who is desirous of trying the experiment.

A correspondent desires to know how to test the coincidence or otherwise of the visual and actinic foci of a combination: this is very readily accomplished by the aid of a focimeter, which can be easily made thus:

Procure a piece of stout card-board, or thin wood covered with white paper, on which draw a considerable number of fine black lines, or cover it with some fine black net (what I believe the ladies call blond), which may be pasted on. Cut up the whole into a dozen good-sized pieces of any convenient form, so that about four square inches of surface at least be allowed to each piece. Paste over the net a circular or square label about the size of a shilling, bearing a distinctly printed number one on each piece, from 1 upwards; and arrange the pieces in any convenient manner by means of wires inserted into a slip of wood; but they must be so placed that the whole can be seen from one point of view, although each piece must be placed so that it is one inch farther from the operator than the next lowest number. Having placed the camera eight or ten feet from the cards, carefully focus to any one of the numbers, 4 or 5 for instance and observe, not that the number is distinct, but that the minute lines or threads of the net are visible: then take a picture, exposing it a very short time, and the threads of the card bearing the number that was most perfectly in focus visually ought to be most distinct; but, if otherwise, that which is most distinct will not only show whether the lens is over or under corrected, but will indicate the amount of error. If under corrected, a lower number will be most distinct; if over corrected, a higher.

Geo. Shadbolt.

Test for Lenses.—I beg to submit to a Country Practitioner the following very simple test for the coincidence of the chemical and visual foci of an achromatic lens:

Take a common hand-bill or other sheet of printed paper, and having stretched it on a board, place it before the lens in an oblique position, so that the plane of the board may make an angle with a vertical plane of about thirty or forty degrees. Bring any line of type about the middle of the sheet into the true visual focus, and take a copy of the sheet by collodion or otherwise. Then, if the line of type focussed upon be reproduced clearly and sharply on the plate, the lens is correct; but if any other line be found sharper than the test one, the foci disagree; and the amount of error will depend on the distance of the two lines of type one from the other on the hand-bill.

J. A. Miles.

Fakenham, Norfolk.

Improvement in Positives.—I have great pleasure in communicating to you an improvement in the process of taking positives, which may not be uninteresting to some of your readers, and which ensures by far the most beautiful tints I have yet seen. I take three ounces of the hyposulphite of soda, and dissolve it in one pint of distilled or rain water; and to this I add about one or one and a half grains of pyrogallic acid, and seventy grains of chloride of silver; which must be squeezed up between the finders facilitate its solution and separate the lumps, which, in their dry state, are tough, and not easily pulverised. The whole is then to be set aside for a week or two in a warm place. The solution, at first colourless, becomes brown, and ultimately quite opaque; in this state it is fit for use, and the longer kept the better it becomes. I generally use French paper for this process, and, according to the time of immersion, obtain fine sepia or black tints; the latter requiring long over-exposure to the light, and proportionately long exposure to the action of the liquid; which however will be found, particularly when old, to have a more rapid action than most other setting liquids, and has the merit of always affording fine tints, whatever the paper used. I imagine the pyrogallic acid to possess a reducing influence on the salts of silver employed; but this effect is only produced by its combination with the hyposulphite of soda and chloride of silver. I may add, that in any case the pictures should be much overdone before immersion, as the liquid exerts a rapid bleaching action on them; and when the liquid becomes saturated, a few crystals of fresh hyposulphite will renew its action.

F. Maxwell Lyte.

Florian, Torquay.

P. S.—In answer to a Country Practitioner, he will find great assistance in choosing his lens by laying it on a sheet of blue wove post paper, when he will immediately perceive the slightest yellow tinge in the glass, this being the fault which frequently affects many well-ground and well-made lenses. Of course, for sharpness of outline he must be guided entirely by experiment in the camera; but where weakness of action exists, it most frequently arises from this yellow colouration, and which the manufacturers say is very difficult to avoid.

[Mr. Lyte having sent with his communication a positive prepared in the manner described, we are enabled to corroborate all he says as to the richness and beauty of its tints.]