Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/544

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536


NOTES AND QUERIES. [9< s. n. DEC. 31,


castle in the air as to her daughter becoming " Lady Mulberry Hawk " as bad as "Lady Theodore Martin." GEORGE ANGUS.

St. Andrews, N.B.

'THE WHOLE DUTY OP MAN' (5 th S. viii. 389, 515). Recently I had occasion to refer to the above. There I found itstated that the book mentioned was published in 1675, and ' The Gentleman's Calling ' in 1677. I have a copy of ' The Government of the Tongue,' printed at "The theater in Oxford " in 1667, in which readers are informed it is " By the Author of 1 The Whole Duty of Man.' " I have also a copy of ' The Gentleman's Calling,' printed in 1672, bound with which is ' The Lively Oracles given us,' &c., 1679, and an edition of

  • The Ladies' Calling,' 1675. From this alone

it will be evident that the dates referred to under the above heading are incorrect ; but we have additional proof further on. I have before me a copy of ' The New Whole Duty of Man,' printed in Dublin by P. Wilson, in Dame Street, and J. Esdall, on Cork Hill, 1752. On the inside of the title-page is a printed " Extract from a Letter from Mrs. Teresia Constantia Phillips to the Right Hon. the Earl of Chesterfield," which is peculiarly interesting for several reasons. The lady begins :

" If my girl lives till she is twenty, I shall recom- mend to her perusal that celebrated performance of your Lordship's 'The Whole Duty of Man.'"

Then we are let into the secret that the pub- lication was anonymous, for Mrs. Phillips says :

" Your Lordship will, 1 hope, pardon my mention- ing your being the Author of that inestimable Piece, as you enjoined me to no secrecy."

We afterwards get an insight of a peculiarity of Chesterfield's thus :

"When one sees your Lordship twirling your thumbs, I must confess myself one of those heretics who heretofore suspected your stifled thoughts were much more governed by the flesh than the spirit."

In no biographical dictionary that I possess is it stated that the Earl of Chesterfield was the author of ' The New Whole Duty of Man.' The one I have is the twelfth edition. At the first page of " To the Reader " is a foot- note :

" The old ' Whole Duty of Man,' as appears by Dr. Hammond's letter dated March, 1657, was published under the usurpation of Oliver Cromwell, &c.

ALFRED CHAS. JONAS.

" FEGGES AFTER PEACE " (9 th S. ii. 387, 430). I remember when at school in Aberdeen, fifty years ago, hearing boys exclaim, when a fact was doubted, " Fegs ! it was so," or " Fegs ! I did." Or when A made a promise


to do or give something to B, the latter, to give solemnity to the promise and make it more binding, would say to A, "Say, 'fegs,'" and A said the word. A. T. GRANT.

The Rectory, Leven, Fife.

EPITAPHS (9 th S. ii. 306). An epitaph simi- lar to that quoted by J. T. F. occurs in the churchyard here. It is contained on an old weather-worn stone, standing very much alone near the west end of the north aisle wall of the church. The inscription is as follows :

David Cox Husband of

Ann Cox He died May the 22 1763

Aged 76 Years iShe died Nov. the 22 1793 In the 93rd Year of her Age. Farewell vain World we bid adieu to thee We value not what thou canst say of us : Thy smiles we court not nor thy frown we fear Alls one to us our Heads lies quiet here What faults youve seen in us take care to shun And look at home enough theres to be done.

Tradition says that this epitaph first ap- peared on the stone in the singular number, referring only to Mr. Cox, but that on the death of his wife it was altered to the plural in order to render it more applicable. The appearance of the word "us" at the end of the second line and the word "lies "in the fourth line would certainly seem to point to the truth of this tradition, but I can find no traces on the stone of the actual alteration of any of the words. JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddori, Northamptonshire.

This, in various renderings, is known in many graveyards. One found at Duffield, Derbyshire, runs :

"In memory of | Sarah Cartwright | mother of the above | William Cartwright | who departed this life | December 10th 1848 | aged 68 years. Farewell vain world, I had enough of thee, And now I'm careless what thou sayst of me ; Thy smiles I court riot, nor thy frown I fear, My soul 's at rest, my head lies sleeping here."

From North Wheatley, Notts :

" In memory of | Thomas Kidney | who died April 19th 1820 | aged 76 years | Also of | John Kidney | son of the above Thomas Kidney | and of Melicent his wife | who died Jan>' 27th 1826 49 years.

Farewell vain world, our part in thee is o'er Thy good or ill report we hear no more Deem thou our failings better shunn'd than shown, Go home, look inward, and count thine own."

THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

The verses given by J. T. F. occur on a tablet in Maxey Church, co. Northants, erected to Susannah Addy, who died 19