JOHNSON BI-CENTENARY. Among the many interesting contributions of special interest in connexion with the above subject, the following are culled from the more recent issues of NOTES AND QUERIES. DR. JOHNSON AND EDMUND SMITH ... ... ... Feb. 27, 1909. April 10, 1909. Back Numbers can be obtained from the Office, price 4d. each. THE ATHENÆUM in its Sept. 11th issue contains an important article by HENRY B. WHEATLEY ON JOHNSON'S EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE,' which contains hitherto Unpublished Letters. On Sept. 4th The Athenæum printed an UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF DR. JOHNSON'S, containing a List of his Books. Back Numbers can be obtained from the Office, price 6d. LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909. CONTENTS.-No. 300. NOTES:-Harriet Powell, 241-The Slovaks, 242-News- NOTES ON BOOKS:-Reade's 'Johnsonian Gleanings ’— the beginning of 1769. A little later sho began to be noticed by the reporters of the press, and at a masquerade at Madame Cornelys's on 14 May, 1770, we are told that "Miss Harriot Powell appeared to greet advantage as a shepherdess." The first piece of evidence with regard to her connexion with her faithful protector occurs in "The Nelson and Hamilton Papers,' Second Series (1893), i. 18. Writing from St. James's Square on 12 Feb., 1773, Charles Greville tells Sir William Hamilton : : "I have just come from a masquerade at Almack. Triste au dernier point, only three or four girls of the town; one (Harriet Powel or Lamb) with Lord Seaforth." The writer here confuses two celebrated ladies. Harriet Lambe, whose name originally may also have been Powell, was an entirely different person from the subject of this note, and she was connected with Lord Melbourne and Lord Weymouth, but never with Lord Seaforth; vide Memoirs of Mrs. Sophia Baddeley,' v. 150; Town and Country Magazine, iii. 67-8; Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies for 1773,' p. 114. It is apparent from The Town and Country Magazine, v. 403, that the liaison between Waddington's Chapters of my Life - Mysore and Coorg Seaforth and Miss Powell was continuing in from the Inscriptions.' Booksellers' Catalogues. Notices to Correspondents. Notes. HARRIET POWELL. (See 9 S. ix. 267, 512; x. 145.) ALTHOUGH the following notes may not clear away the mystery which surrounds this beautiful lady, they will help to throw some light upon her career. According to the Life of Reynolds,' by Leslie and Taylor, i. 347, she sat to the great artist in the character of Leonora in The Padlock,' in March, 1769. A mezzotint after this picture by Elizabeth Judkins was published on 1 July, 1770, and another by Richard Houston on 1 May, 1771. The most charming, however, of all the portraits of Harriet Powell was painted by Catherine Read, depicting her as playing the guitar, and this was engraved by Houston on 1 Oct., 1769. Apparently there is no evidence that she adopted the stage as a profession, and it may have been the whim of the artist to paint her as Leonora, but it is evident from the date of her portraits that she had become a fashionable beauty as early as August, 1773; and on 23 July, 1774, George Selwyn writes to Lord Carlisle : "Lord Seaforth and Harriot set out on Monday for Flanders, and thence to Paris." Henceforth, until her death, the pair seem to have been inseparable. It was in the May number of The Town and Country Magazine for 1775 that the portraits and memoirs of "Lord S― and Miss Harriot P-1" appeared among the "Histories of the Tête-à-Têtes." account is given of the lady's career. is described as A long She "the daughter of an apothecary, who resided in the Borough, and who, after giving her a very genteel education, found his business so far diminish....that he was incapable of supporting her in a manner he wished....The elegance of her manner and the beauty of her person could not fail to give pleasure to all who beheld her." After the death of her father she took up her abode, we are told, with the notorious Charlotte Hayes, where she was patronized by "a certain foreign count." Then she happened to meet Lord Seaforth at Vauxhall. "He lost no opportunity to withdraw her from Charlotte's [Hayes]. and having furnished her a genteel house in the New Buildings, he came and resided entirely with her....They are, perhaps, the happiest couple out of the pale of matrimony....and this alliance, which appears to have a very permanent basis, may be cited as During the next few years we come across occasional references to her in various newspapers. On 27 Feb., 1775, she was present at a masquerade at Carlisle House, given by Goosetree's Club; also on 27 Jan., 1776, at another famous redoute held at the Pantheon. In April, 1777, Lord Seaforth sat for his portrait to Reynolds, but, if the two following paragraphs are to be trusted, he left England in the course of the year :"Harriett Powell is not to accompany her noble paramour into retirement.' Morning Post, 14 June, 1777. "Lord Seaforth nas retired to Calais, where under the name of Captain Watson he enjoys the company of his divine Harriett in love and poverty."-Morning Post, 31 Dec., 1777. In 1778, when there were fears of a French invasion, Lord Seaforth raised the 78th Regiment, called Seaforth's Highlanders, afterwards the 72nd; and in May, 1778, he and his regiment were in Jersey, where they helped to repulse an attack from the enemy. Evidently his mistress had accompanied him to the Channel Islands, and the following paragraph helps to corroborate the tradition of their marriage:— "Lord Seaforth has now married Harrlet Powell and she is visited by the principal people in Guernsey."-Morning Post, 10 May, 1779. Reference to the church registers in Jersey and Guernsey during this year might show that the marriage had taken place. In Bromley's Catalogue it is stated that Harriet Powell died in 1779, and there is a notice to that effect in the Annual Register.' The following obituary notice from The Scots Mag., vol. xli. p. 685, corroborates this statement, and gives strength to the rumour that she had become the wife of her protector: "11 Dec., 1779. On board the packet bost coming from Guernsey to Southampton the Lady of Earl Seaforth, colonel of the 78th regiment of foot." It is a curious coincidence that Lord Seaforth also died at sea, during the passage to the East Indies with his regiment in August, 1781. HORACE BLEACKLEY. THE SLOVAKS. Kollar, author of the lengthy 'Dcera Slavi ('Daughter of Glory'), ranked as a Cech author, was of Slovak origin. In his youthful days he heard Cossacks returning from Austerlitz singing Russian songs, and attracted by the kindred Slav tongue he addressed them, and met with a friendly response. Later, Kollar had the opportunity of singing his native airs before Goethe at Jena. In an interesting chapter on Kollar in Russes et Slaves,' Prof. Louis Leger relates his own encounter with a young Slovak at Brest-Litovsk, distressed because his Slav brethren the Russians failed to understand him. He was surprised when his interpreter proved to be a Parisian of more than Teutonic erudition, though his Slavonic chagrin was not appeased. 6 The Slovaks are located in Hungary, and come in contact with Russians and Moravians. The native name is Slovensko or Slovacko. They were among the earliest settlers, and formed an element of the once great Moravian kingdom of Svatopluk. Disintegration set in after the death of the sovereign, as in the case of the empire of Alexander and the old Russian princedoms, and the Slovaks were reckoned among Magyars and other Slavs. SS. Cyril and Methodius, the Slav apostles, are revered as the introducers of Christianity. The language resembles Cech, with orthographical differences, and has been styled a dialect of that tongue. The Matice Slovenska, a learned society corresponding to similar institutions among the Slavs, founded in 1863, was prohibited in 1874. Here is a short list of words for comparison : value on rimed syllables as much as upon The following proverbs depend for their inherent wisdom : Cistota pol zivota.-Cleanliness is half of life. Oko do srdca okno.-The eye is a window to the heart. Jaka praca, taka placa.-As the labour, so the reward. The verses which follow are from the THE position of the Slovaks has always been precarious, but they exhibit a remark-popular song in honour of Mount Nitra :— able tenacity among their neighbours. Slight acquaintance with them suffices to dispel any prejudice caused by the unworthy Magyar sneer Tot nem ember ("That thing is not 8 man”). The poet Jan Nitra, mila Nitra, ty slovenska mati! pages NEWSPAPERS IN 1680. INFORMATION as to the earlier race of newspapers is so scarce that I hope the of N. & Q.' may be open to some particulars as to those of the year 1680. This will involve a lengthy quotation from "A Continuation of the Compleat Catalogue of Stitch'd Books and Single Sheets, &c., printed since the first discovery of the Popish Plot, September, 1678. From the 1st of January, 1679/80, to the 25th of June, 1680 (London: Printed and are to be sold at the Green Dragon in St. Paul's Church-yard, where is to be had a compleat catalogue of all printed since the Plot. 1680)." The dates and spelling in the following list are given as in the original. There was then no English daily paper in existence. Nineteen weekly and bi-weekly papers are enumerated, but of these thirteen had ceased to be. The death-rate was certainly high. WILLIAM E. A. AXON. Manchester. WEEKLY NEWS. Folio's. 1. The London Gazette, by Tho. Newcomb, twice a Week, Mondays and Thursdays, in half a Sheet of paper, begun with Number 1, 13 Nov., 1665, and so it continues. 2. The true Protestant Domestick Intelligence, or News from City and Country, by Ben Harris, begun Numb. 1, July 9, 1679, in half a Sheet, came out twice a Week, Tuesdays and Fridays, and so continued to Numb. 82, April 16, 1680, and then left off. 3. The true Domestick Intelligence, by Nathan Thompson, begun at Numb. 16, Aug. 29, 1679, in half a Sheet, and came out twice a Week. Tuesdays and Frydays, and so continued to Numb. 90, May 14, 1680, and then left off. 4. Poor Robin's Intelligence revived, in half a Sheet, begun Numb. 1, Sept. 4, 1679, came out every Wednesday, and so continued to Numb. 38, May 12, 1680, and then left off. 5. Mercurius Anglicus, &c., by Robert Hartford, began 13 Nov., 1679, came out Wednesdays and Saturdays, in half a Sheet, and so continued to Numb. 51, May 15, 1680, and then left off. 6. Haerlem Courant, translated into English, sold at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard; came out in half a Sheet of Paper, but at no certain time; it begun at the beginning of January, and so continued to Numb. 11, Feb. 19, and then left off. 7. Smith's Currant Intelligence, came out twice a Week, Saturdays and Tuesdays; begun Numb. 1, Feb. 14, 1679,80, and so continued to Numb. 24, May 4, 1680, and then left off. 8. Catholick Intelligence, or Infallible News Domestick and Foreign, printed for J. How, came out every Monday, begun Numb. 1, March 1, 1679,80, so continued to Numb. 5, March 29, 16:0, and then left off. 9. Mercurius Infernus, or News from the Other World, printed for John Marlow, came out every Thursday, begun Numb. 1, 4 March, 1679 80, and continued to Numb. 4, 25 March, 1680, and then left off. 10. Bank's Currant Intelligence, came out once a Week every Saturday, begun Numb. 1, March 16, 1679 80, and continued to Numb. 4, April 3, 1680, and then left off. and Country. begun Numb. 1, March 9, 1679 80, and 11. The Loyal Intelligence, or News from City continued to Numb. 3, March 31, 1680. 12. Mercurius Civicus, or a true account of Affairs Domestick and Foreign, by R. E., begun Numb. 1, 22 March, 1679-80; it came out no certain day, continued to Numb. 14, May 6, 1680, and then left off. , books he described himself as "Bishop of Csanád" (in Hungary). As the author of the 'Novæ Machinæ is described as "Sicenus on the title-page, some people felt inclined to ascribe the authorship to another man of the same name (cf., e.g., Zedler's Universal Lexikon,' 1746); but against this it has been pointed out by Count Alexander Apponyi (Hungarica, under the name and date) that on plate xxvii. of the book there is the picture of a fountain which bears the Verancsics arms, surmounted by a mitre, between the initials F and V. As regards biographical particulars, we know that the bishop was born in Dalmatia, probably in Sebenico ("Ecclesia Sibenici, patriæ meæ ornamentum "), and that he was the nephew of Antonius Wrantius (sic), the fellow-ambassador of Busbequius, and later the primate of Hungary. According to Gams, our author was made Bishop of Csanád in April, 1598 and according to the Hungarian Pallas Lexikon,' he returned to Italy in 1606, resigned the bishopric in 1608, entered the order of St. Paul the Hermit in Rome in 1609, and died in Venice in 1617. of Sebenico. We On looking through the book we find that the worthy bishop has anticipated a good many modern inventions. Thus, e.g., we see the first idea of the design of an iron suspension bridge with straight links, very much like the Albert Bridge at Chelsea, for which the late Mr. Rowland Mason Ordish took out a patent in the sixties. find also a suggestion for cast bronze girders for bridges, which would work out somewhat costly nowadays; a rope suspension bridge; an aerial ropeway for carrying passengers; a dredger in which one recognizes the prototype of the contrivance known as Priestman's grab; and many other interesting .contrivances. L. L. K. LAURENCE OLIPHANT AND HIS WIVES.The mention of that gifted man and charming writer Laurence Oliphant, in connexion with Lake Harris (ante, p. 166), reminds me that I had the pleasure of meeting the widow of the former, when I was at the Hotel Carmel at Haifa, in March, 1908. Oliphant's first wife was the beautiful and spirituelle Miss Le Strange. I visited the picturesque cypress-adorned German cemetery of the Temple Colony at Haifa, situated remote from habitations, near the sea, where she is buried. On a stone cenotaph, with sloping top (on which rests a cross, with the chi-rho monogram in a wreath at the head of the cross, A, 2, at the ends, and En Touto Nike on the steps of the cross), is this inscription : 66 "Alice, wife of Laurence Oliphant, Dau of H. L. S. Le Strange of Hunstanton, Norfolk. Died at Dalieh 2 January, 1886, aged 40. 5. Cant. 2." Dalieh is a Druse village on the top of Mount Carmel, where in 1884 Oliphant built a house for the hot season. foundations of this he found interesting In digging the Roman remains, massive cut stones, beautifully carved cornices, coins of Constantine, iron rings, staples, nails, jar-handles, pottery fragments, old glass, tessera, and cisterns formerly thickly populated (Oliphant, ‘Haifa; -one of many proofs that Carmel was edited by Dana). or, Life in Modern Palestine,' 1886, p. 164, About a year after Alice Oliphant's death, Laurence Oliphant married Rosamund, the daughter of Robert Dale Owen of the United States, son of Robert Owen the Welsh Socialist. Oliphant died in 1888, at Teddington, in the She was born in the Dale Colony. cemetery of which place I saw a plain headstone to his memory, bearing only the name and date. A year or So afterwards his named Templeton, who, however, died some an American gentleman twelve months later at sea. Oliphant's landed property near Carmel devolved upon his widow. widow married deeds were held in high esteem at Haifa, I found that Oliphant's name and good portraits of himself and his first wife being in several of the houses. D. J. "THE DOG AND POT."-Over a shop in the Blackfriars Road is a gilded representation of a dog eating out of what may be described as a tar-kettle. It is mentioned in the early life of Charles Dickens in connexion with his journey home from work, when he turned down Charlotte Street, which "has Rowland |