Notes and Queries, Number 190, June 18, 1853 | Page 9

no means clear where I
gleaned this notion.
G. BRINDLEY ACWORTH.
Brompton.
"To the Lords of Convention."--Where can I find the whole of the
ballad beginning--
"To the Lords of Convention 'twas Claverh'se that spoke;"
and also the name of the author?
L. EVANS.
Richard Candishe, M.P.--Pennant (Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 48.) prints
the epitaph of "Richard Candishe, Esq., of a good family in Suffolk,"
who was M.P. for Denbigh in 1572, as it appears on his monument in
Hornsey Church. Who was this Richard Candishe? The epitaph says he
was "derived from noble parentage;" but the arms on the monument are
not those of the noble House of Cavendish, which sprung from the
parish of that name in Suffolk. The arms of Richard Candishe are given
as "three piles wavy gules in a field argent; the crest, a fox's head
erased azure."
BURIENSIS.
Alphabetical Arrangement.--Can any one favour me with a reference to
any work treating of the date of the collection and arrangement in the
present form of the alphabet, either English, Latin, Greek, or Hebrew?
or what is the earliest instance of their being used to represent
numerals?

A. H. C.
Saying of Pascal.--In which of his works is Pascal's saying, "I have not
time to write more briefly," to be found; and what are the words in the
original?
W. FRASER.
Tor-Mohun.
Irish Characters on the Stage.--Would any of the contributors to "N. &
Q." oblige me with this information? Who, or how many, of the old
English dramatists introduced Irishmen into their dramatis personæ?
Did Ben Jonson? Shadwell did. What others?
PHILOBIBLION.
Family of Milton's Widow.--Your correspondent CRANMORE, in his
article on the "Rev. John Paget" ("N. & Q.," Vol. v., p. 327.), writes
thus: "Dr. Nathan Paget was an intimate friend of Milton and cousin to
the poet's fourth (no doubt meaning his third) wife, Elizabeth Minshall,
of whose family descent, which appears to be rather obscure, I may at
another time communicate some particulars."
Now, as more than a year has elapsed since the article referred to
appeared in your valuable columns, without the subject of Elizabeth
Minshall's descent having been farther noticed, I hope your
correspondent will pardon my soliciting him to supply the information
he possesses relative thereto, which cannot fail proving interesting to
every admirer of our great poet.
V. M.
Table-moving.--Was not Bacon acquainted with this phenomenon? I
find in his Sylva Sylvarum, art. MOTION:
"Whenever a solid is pressed, there is an inward tumult of the parts
thereof, tending to deliver themselves from the compression: and this is

the cause of all violent motion. It is very strange that this motion has
never been observed and inquired into; as being the most common and
chief origin of all mechanical operations.
"This motion operates first in a round by way of proof and trial, which
way to deliver itself, and then in progression where it finds the
deliverance easiest."
C. K. P.
Newport, Essex.
* * * * *
Minor Queries with Answers.
Form of Petition, &c.--May I request the insertion of a Query,
requesting some of your readers to supply the ellipsis in the form with
which petitions to Parliament are required to be closed, viz.: "And your
petitioners will ever pray, &c." To me, I confess, there appears to be
something like impiety in its use in its present unmeaning state. Would
a petition be rendered informal by any addition which would make it
more comprehensible?
C. W. B.
[The ellipsis appears to have varied according to circumstances: hence
we find, in an original petition addressed to the Privy Council
(apparently temp. Jac. I.), the concluding formula given at length
thus:--"And yo^r sup^{lt}, as in all dutie bounden, shall daylie pray for
your good L^{ps}." Another petition, presented to Charles I. at Newark,
A.D. 1641, closes thus: "And your petitioners will ever pray for your
Majesty's long and happy reign over us." Another, from the Mayor and
Aldermen of London, in the same year: "And the petitioners, as in all
duty bound, shall pray for your Majesty's most long and happy reign."
Again, in the same year, the petition of the Lay-Catholic Recusants of
England to the Commons closes thus: "And for so great a charity your
humble petitioners {597} shall ever (as in duty bound) pray for your

continual prosperity and eternal happiness." We do not believe that any
petition would be rendered informal by such addition as would make it
more comprehensible.]
Bibliography.--I am about to publish a brochure entitled Notes on
Books: with Hints to Readers, Authors, and Publishers; and as I intend
to give a list of the most useful bibliographical works, I shall feel much
obliged to any one who will furnish me with a list of the various
Printers' Grammars, and of