410
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. MAY 24, 1902.
served, and our thanks are due to their
custodians. But unfortunately in some cases,
equally without doubt, these records are,
and have been, treated as if they had little
or no value. One aspect of the question has
not as yet been mentioned by your corre-
spondents. It is instanced in the case of the
registers of a Perthshire parish. In those
books not a single entry of baptism was
made for thirty -five years (1720-55), nor a
single marriage entry for thirteen years
(1744-57). The times were turbulent, but
the omission is grave. It has much affected
certain investigations of mine, and has also
had some serious consequences to me per-
sonally.
I agree entirely with MR. MATTHEWS in his protest against the prohibitive fees demanded "legal fees" they are always named from genealogists and others whose work, often undertaken solely for the benefit of shall I say? the world at large, neces- sitates a general search. Recently I had occasion to think that the registers of two parish churches in the north of England probably contained certain entries 1 was anxious to discover. The first vicar asked for " the legal fee," and said the charge would " mount up considerably." The second vicar referred me to the parish clerk, who de- manded for "opening books" a fee of 21s., in addition to Is. for every hour, and 2s. Qd. for the certificate, should the necessary entry be found. It should be noted also that this parish church had for generations been liber- ally supported by the people at large, without any distinction of creed, just because it had been so connected with their past history and traditions.
I very much doubt whether any vicar or any parish clerk has any legal right certainly he has no moral right to impose such exces- sive charges on historical investigations, and so further hamper searches which are often difficult and expensive enough without such hindrances. A small fee is reasonable enough in these seemingly general commercial days but to attempt to exact "corner" fees is quite another matter.
Vigorous action both to preserve the price less registers still existing and to investigat( the legality of " legal charges " in the case o: general searches for literary purposes is most desirable. RONALD DIXON.
46, Maryborough Avenue, Hull.
This question might be solved if indexes o their contents were made and deposited in some central place, Then the registers migh remain in their own parishes, and on paymen of 2s. Qd. postal order the complete entrj
ould be obtained. I made indexes of a
lumber of Berkshire parishes with the
approval of the late Bishop Stubbs, but it
s too expensive to print them.
(Mrs.) J. H. COPE. 13c, Hyde Park Mansions, W.
SAMUEL TAYLOR, SHORTHAND WRITER (7 th
S. ii. 308, 377, 457). I send details concerning
Samuel Taylor. Can any one tell me where
le was buried 1
"Died lately, in Palace Street, Pimlico, aged
- ixty-two, Mr. Samuel Taylor, professor and author
>f several treatises on shorthand writing." Sun, Saturday, 24 August, 1811, p. 4, col. 4.
" Taylor, the shorthand teacher, whose death we recently announced, was a very eccentric character. He never would tell whence he originally came, or whether he had any relations. He was constantly employed as a shorthand writer, and must have received a good deal of money, but nobody could tell how he disposed of it, and he was always in debt. It would be impossible to count the number of houses in which he had lodged, even if he had oeen less mysterious in his operations. His repu- tation was high as a teacher of shorthand, but he never would take a pupil who came to him in con- sequence of that reputation. He seemed to have an odd pleasure in hunting out scholars for himself, and was always offended with those who recom- mended him. His manners were so strange and rough to those whom he permitted to employ him, that if it had not been for his skill in teaching, he must have been discarded by everybody. He had two children, whom he left to the care of chance, for he always went out very early in the morning, and returned late at night. He was supposed to have been seventy years of age, and upwards of fifty of them must have passed in this manner." Sun, Monday, 2 September, 1811, p. 2, col. 4.
" Taylor, le fameux tachygrafe, vient de mourir aussi pauvre qu'il avoit toujours e"te" pendant sa vie. II n'a pas ete possible de savoir de lui ni le lieu de sa naissance, ni le veritable nom de sa famille. Get homme mysterieux changeait secretement de logis plusieurs fois dans Pespace d'un mois. On ne le voyait faire aucune de"pense, et on ignore ce qu'il a pu faire des sommes considerables qu'il gagnait." Journal de Paris, Jeudi, 12 Septembre, 1811, p. 1825.
MATTHIAS LEVY.
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS (9 th S. ix. 368). A magnificent edition of ' Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles' exists in English. It is in two octavo volumes, with fifty coloured illustra- tions by Leon Lebegue, and was published by C. Carrington, in Paris, last year. The literary part of the work has been very well done by Robert B. Douglas.
J. DE VlLLIOT. 1, Rue Montaigne, Paris.
There is a complete translation into English of ' Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles,' by Robert B. Douglas, which claims to be the first. It was published in Paris by Charles Carrington
