146 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io» s. iv. AUG. 19,1905. many who might be expected to know better, is that Parliament rises usually (not to say invariably) on or before 12 August—a belief which will be strengthened by the early prorogation of the present year. The sub- joined table will show how far from the truth this popular idea is. In the years against which the word "adjournment" ap- pears the prorogation was, as a matter of convenience, postponed till after an autumn session. 'The word "dissolution" indicates that dissolution followed immediately on pro- rogation. If we set aside the three abnormal years in each of which there were two proro- gations, owing to the session being inter- rupted by a dissolution, we have twenty-one sessions remaining. In these twenty-one years Parliament rose once on 5 August (1891), once on the 6th (1897), twice on the 8th (1900, 1902), once on the 9th (1899), once on the llth <1905), once on the 12th (1898), once on the 13th (1888), four times on the 14th (1884, 1885, 1896,1903), once on the 15th (1904), once •on the 17th (1901), twice on the 18th (1882, 1890), twice on the 25th (1883, 1894), once on the 30th (1889), once on 16 September (1887), and once on the 22nd of the same month (1893). In other words, of twenty-one Par- liamentary vacations, only seven commenced on or before 12 August, as against fourteen which commenced after that date. Table showing Dates of Prorogation (or Adjourn- ment) of Parliament in each year from 1882 to 1905. 18 August, 1882 (Adjournment). 25 August, 1883. 14 August, Issl. 14 August, 1885. 25 June, 1886 (Dissolution). 25 September, 1886. 16 September, 1887. 13 August, 1888 (Adjournment). 30 August, 1889. 18 August, 1890. 5 August, 1891. 28 June, 1892 (Dissolution). 18 August, 1892. 22 September, 1893 (Adjournment). 25 August, 1894. 6 July, 1895 (Dissolution). 5 September, 1895. 14 August, 1896. 6 August, 1897. 12 August, 1898. 9 August, 1899. 8 August, 1900. 17 August, 1901. 8 August, 1902 (Adjournment). 14 August, 1903. 15 August, 1904. 11 August, 1905. F. W. READ. PRIME MINISTERS AND NEWSPAPERS.—If, as is sometimes said, Mr. Balfour once observed that he did not read the newspapers—though a reference to the precise words and the occasion on which they were used would be desirable—it might be claimed that the prece- dent had been set him by a predecessor in the officeof First Lord of the Treasury, theseventh Duke of Devonshire, who, on 29 December, 1762, wrote from Bath to the Duke of New- castle, just after Lord Bute had come into power :— " I am pleased with a //mi mot that I am told is in one of the public papers (for I never read them), viz., that the Ministers have turned out everybody your Grace helped to bring in, except the King." The bon mot in question—which should read, " It is generally believed that every person brought in by the Duke of Newcastle is now, by the present Minister, to be turned oiU—except the King»- appeared, it may be added, in The North. Briton, No. 30, 26 December, 1762, as is noted in Mr. Dilke's ' Papers of a Critic," vol. ii. p. 298 n. POLITICIAN. ' THE SIEGE OF BELGRADE.' (See 10th S. i. 277.)—At different times questions have been asked in 'N. & Q.' regarding this alliterative poem. It was copied in full from Bentley's Miscellany of March, 1838, in 3rd S. iv. 88 (1 August, 1863). As there are some evident errors in this version, I subjoin a copy of the poem taken verbatim from The Literary Gazette of 23 December, 1820. This is clearly the original version, and its authorship was claimed for Alaric Watts by his son at the reference given in the heading. The lines had been published previously in The Trifter of 7 May, 1817, the only variation from The Literary Gazette version being "Zorpater" instead of Zampater" in the last line but one. THE SIEGE OF BKLORADE. Addressed to the Admirers of Alliteration, and the Advocates of Noisy Numbers. " Ardentem Aspicio Atque Arrectis Auribua Asto."—Virgil. An Austrian army, awfully arrayed, Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade: Cossack commanders cannonading come, Dealing destruction's devastating doom. Every endeavour engineers essay, For fame, for fortune fighting—furious fray ! Generals 'gainst generals grapple,—gracious God How honors Heaven heroic hardihood ! Infuriate—indiscriminate in ill— Kinsmen kill kindred, kindred kinsmen kill: Labour low levels loftiest, longest lines, Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid mur- derous mines! Now noisy noxious numbers notice nought Of outward obstacles, opposing ought. Poor patriots !—partly purchased, partly pressed,—
