Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/161

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9* S. IV. Sept. 23, '99.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 245 do not imagine for a moment that either man actually became a Jew. They were sur- rounded with Jews, they lived next door to Jews, they mixed freely with Jews, and money-lending was such a lucrative trade that both men fell into temptation, and paid the penalty. In 1276 Henry de Frowyk, sheriff, was living in the centre of Milk Street. He had Bonami of York, a Jew, for one neighbour, and Cresse, son of Magister Mosse, for another (Patent Roll, 4 Edward I.). Both these Jews were creditable neighbours. Bonami de Ebor was greatly respected ; and as for Cresse, the Patent Roll of 54 Henry III., quoted in Tovey's 'Anglia Judaica,' p. 126, cites him as "a downright good and faithful Jew, who during his whole life never did a wrong thing against us"—the king and his government. I shall be pleased if any of your correspond- ents can shed any further light on the apostasy I have unearthed. Perhaps Mr. Loftie, to whom Henry de Frowyk at least must be a living, moving figure, can toll us something about this novel circumstance. M. D. Davis. Charles Lever.—Last 31st of August was the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of the novelist Charles Lever. It may be interest- ing to some of your readers to know that he died at Trieste on 1 June, 1872, and was buried in the English cemetery there with his wife, who died about eighteen months before him. The following are the inscrip- tions on the tomb: " In memory of Kate, wife of Charles Lever, who died here Nov. 23, 1870." "Charles Lever, born near Dublin 31 August, 1809. Died at Trieste 1 June, 1872." Walter Lovell. swedenboroianism in newcastle-upon- Tyne.—Authoritative historians of the "New Church" in Newcastle (e.g., Qoyder, 1827; Rendell, 1828; Hindmarsh, 1861) concur in the statement that the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg were first publicly proclaimed in that city by William Ellis, of Hexham, in the year 1807. But in an account of the opening of a new place of worship for the "denomination," which appeared in the New- castle Daily Chronicle for 8 April, 1895, it is claimed that these doctrines were "intro- duced and promulgated " in the city " before the year 1770," i.e., before Swedenborg's death. Questioned as to his authority for this obvious " myth," the writer of the article furnished reference to a local direc- tory, compiled by Wm. Parson and Win. White, and published in 2 vols., in the years 1827 and 1828 respectively; in the first of which, on pp. Ixxi and lxxii of the introduction, is a notice of the New Jerusalem Temple, containing the statement in question. Further research revealed the fact that Messrs. Parson and White had derived their information from a ' History of Newcastle,' published earlier in the same year (1827), by E. Mackenzie, a well-known work in two volumes, quarto, but had mis- understood and thus misquoted their pre- decessor's paragraph, to the detriment of their own accuracy. It is not necessary to cumber the valuable columns of 'N. & Q.' with the evidence in the case; any reader specially interested may consult it at length in the New Church Magazine for March, 1896, pp. 128-32. But it may be well to place upon record both the "bane" and its "anti- dote," for such misstatements are apt to recur ; indeed, this very " myth" was re- peated in the Newcastle Daily Chronicle in April last! A brief sketch of the history of the New Church in Newcastle appears in the Niiv Church Magazine for the present month. Charles Hicham. Village Posters.—We rustics are fond of fine phrases. In a printed advertisement of a village concert a local " bass" was de- scribed, some little time ago, as a " Basso Pro Phundo." This reminded me of an incident in ray native village in a neigh- bouring county. A concert was about to bo given in aid of a church restoration fund, and the parish clerk drew up an advertise- ment of the same and affixed it to the church door. In this advertisement lovers of music were spoken of as "Votaries of Apollo." "Apollyon? Apollyon ?" said an old cottager, after scanning the bill as he was entering the church, "Apollyon? Why, Apollyon's the devil; what is he doing upo' chu'eh door?" C. C. B. Epworth. Statistics of Heraldry.—Might I sug- gest that, if possible, some sort of statistics should be made with regard to heraldry ? If the exact number of authentic coats of arms in present use (that is to say not extinct) could be ascertained, and also, if only in round numbers, the number of persons en- titled to bear them, we should then approxi- mately at least gauge the value of a coat of arms, by finding what percentage of the population were armigerous. At present people either place no value at all on a coat of arms, or they perhaps over- rate it; whereas if some learned mathema- tician would only tackle the subject by algebra, by which you can find out any un-