The Sun.
London, England, 1823-08-13 00:00:00

ANCIENT RECORIiS-HANDS-WRITING.

From the. Pizrlia;nentarm Report of Evidence delivered before
a Selict Committee of the Rothe of Commons., in July last.
as to the present mode of " engrossing Bills, &c.
Francis Ceaen, Esq.

•• •
You are a DiPut), COMMissiOner Air Attords ?—r am.
Ntlat Records-?--4 am .appointed a Sub-commissioner for
the publication of the Parliamentary Records. ,
Will you state what kind of writing you find on a number of
years, going two or three centuries back, the easiest read and
the best ?—lt always happened that legal hands have been
somewhat older than the hands of the time; what iye call
the ancient Gothic hands, in which the records are written
with various abbreviations? is in fact derived from the Ito-
man notarial band, and is much older, in point of origin,
than the records themselves ; and there is always a marked
distinction between legal hands and what may be called
monastic „hands. There may be some confusion now ,and
then, for many of the churchmen were lawyers, but still there
is always a distinction between records and documents which
may be supposed to have been written in a monastery for com-
mon readers. Lawyers accustoming themselves to precedent,
copy the fonits immediately before them, rather than come down
into their own time; but there is a certain degree of advantage
resulting from this practice; a very slight degree of difficulty
will indispose the Lawyer to consult the record itself, conse-
quently every habit which tends to make him acquainted
with the band-writing of preceding times, will facilitate his re-
ference to the records of preceding times.
,YOu,recommend one hand to be constantly kept for records ?
—Certainly I should. ,
What hand's dO you consider the best; is it that in which
tine records of Parliament are kept in the Rolls Office, or is it
the ingrossing hand ?—1 have ,never .seen the modern enrol-
ments in the Rolls Office, but I should concur in, the opinion
Mr. Bailey has given with regard to a handirriting approxi-
mating to the handwriting introduced in the reign of Ettward
the Fourth, and which is very distinct, from any preceding
Wand, or any in the subseqUent times : the only modern rolls
beim seen are, the close and patent rolls in Chancery, :which
'are ingrossed in the cointnort ingrosaing-hand; hut with.re- ,
vard to the Pipe-mlls, Which are made up_ now pretty nearly
in the genie. form they. were in the -reign a King Stephen, there
is a very peculiar hand used in, the heading of them, which is a
kind of bastard Court-hand ; it js a very distinct hand.
Is it.ivhat is ealled the old court hand ?.:-I believe it has a
i degree of resemblance to it, but is More like what is called Set
Chancery. ,
Do you conceive that it would be iniproper to intrikltice the 1
present Englith current band in am, of ourrecords?—l should
think that, on the whole, the disadvantages would be greater
than the advantages. ] '
Do you agree with Mr. Bailey, in the opiiiiein of the snipe.
rior security of having long rolls for records; or should you
prefer, the havi records in books ?—I should certainly. agree
with Mr. Bailey and on the whole, although a roll Is 'neon-
,yenient to consult, yet it preserves the frailest materials. I may
instance the papyr vi, ett es ragm the fent of, the Iliad, ...which
will be tiQPll,iil the possession of Mr. Bankes. This has been
rolled tip ; arid thodgh formed of the frailest possible material,
hardly stranger than straw, its form preserved it for a great
len of time.
. What it the Oldest hook ?-..-the Alexatiiiiine Manuscript*
t
itiihe Illutieum iii probably the oldest ; that being intendedfor .
the Church Service, was naturally written in the shape of a
book; and there are other booke of that period,
Rave you heard . the evidence Of Mr. Hewlett and Mr. BaileY,
wi.h.respect to the ink ,and the parchment ?-.-I have • I should
think the' ault was more in the, parchment than in the ink. -
In that case, Would you prefer a good paper ?--Certainly not.
I think the fault arises from their putting too much calcareous
matter on the parchment, in order to give it what they call a
good face ; and I have observed Ju.iirodern books, printed on'
vellum= that in order to mike them look handsome, they put
some kind of preparation of lime on the skin, which makes the
ink look very black at first, but after a time it scales off:
,But bad as the parchment ia,. you would preterit to the best
paper ?—Unquestionably I would. :
At what period do you observe that the ink begins very much
to tail PL:-.I can hardly tell; I should say, perhaps about the
time of (Aeries the Second, and then, perhaps, it may be
accounted for, In the time of the Commonwealth, they abo-
lished the court hand in making up records; and introduced the
the common secretary hand ; and on the Restoration the old
mode was re-introduced ; but I should think tsonic degree of
slovenliness remained in the offices. , .
Does not the common hand vary.periodicsily ?—:Certainly. • .
cuAlarndpeYrZtildesa,nifditiswtiantigaulliosisVl nthteo°yrdottruLr?4hAn'erydaiswtirintictingy;)flieca'Parl
We know exactly wheh the Italian hands came in ;
writing hi the time of Elizabeth, is wretched; h II '
we can art )
make it out.,
'YoU woad knot, the hand-Writin-of hundred 2
g ayears ago .
If you were to take the Band-writing,
—Yes,' there is a peculiar set appearancethe hind-
about the hand"
writing in Queen Anne's time.
hundred and Oft). years back, it
would
that written now' ?--.There is a kind of nob& "cal variation.
abet the
, .eryddisiteantinccet offre a
from
Some modes of writing continued during s much longer riod
then others, tuft still we can form an opinion withintilly cars ;
there is one thing worthy of notice, that it frequently happened
that in particular situations, or amongst particular classes of
people, particular handwritings were perpetuated ; for instance,
schoolmasteni, having copies before them, would continue a
mode which had been adopted before their time ; thus we see
the law Aland perpetuated, and so on.
this most iii,siitmarbn4a nm
cietit eiexlsii, which ienow
ingll.S. of tbe
Bl•bleTitleobtiernvtiensg of
last Ethe
proceeding, has already cost 7,6781. is. 6d. I

iimiThilvE.GbeOenr,
in tin old trunk, at.a.neigtibouring gentleman's house, :we beg
Defritedi3l bys tt
the i tie yof ns uonnilbee r ao9f .g
etak
asrunfilkliwohfibeitliokiss
belonging to her, as long as it remained in Sir Q. Shackburgh's
belongedfi
loingtopLlVltrsic.uCia."Mted—lTeyh,ewt
tileuapvpeotsoedsttotitebatvhee
town-house. Being afterwards removes' (20 years ago) to
Bunted, it was used for some time to hold garden seeds in a
shed at the bottom of the garden ; but upon the shed being repair-
ed, and proper places for the seeds being made, it was brought
back, to the 'house. ;When the maids were getting the house
ready for the reception Odle family this spring (11123), it occurred
to them that the trunk might be useful to contain some of the set-
vents' clothes, and upon turning it bottom Upwards to clean it
out, some paper detached itself from the rabbet of each end of
the trunk, on which rabbet the lid of the trunk fits down, and
two secret drawers, fitting into the thickness of the ends of the
trunk, appeared, containing three hundred and, sixty-eight
guineas.. During its continuance- in., the shed, when it con-
tained garden seeds, the back of the trunk was gnawed through
by the rats. The guineas are of the reigns of Charles IL,
James 11.1 William and Mary, and Willuun .III..: there are
guineas coined in each year,,from 1663 to 1608 inclusive, ex.
cept in the year 1693. Many of theguincas, particularly those
of Charles 11. and James IL, are new (or nearly go) from the
Mint. There are, of Charles IL, 202 ' • James IL, 114 ; Wil-
liam and Mary, 14; William 111., 38.—(S'assex Advertiser.)
A pair of swallows had been in the habit of
paying an annual Visit to a farmer's house, in the neighbour-
hood of Stirling, to take possession of a nest which they had
built in the corner of his window. Their Ingenuity and in..
dustry in repairing and fastening the clay tenement, had often
been the source of curiosity and amusement to a youth, the
farmer's son. SoMetime ago, the swallows having been rather
later than Usual in Making their appearance, he remarked that
the nest had become the_ habitation of a sparrow, whit;ii had
commenced one' day tir sit on her eggs, when the original
owners appeared; ?roil, wins ecrenionie, were going to expel
the. intruder. Thii, however, was not-so easily effected; for
they had scarcely commenced their attack in front; on the
besieged, when they found they had to prepare for an equally
active enemy in their rear, in the person of an enraged cock.
sparrow, which, having witnessed the danger of his better
half', flew to her assistance.. The combatants having thus
got on a more equal footing, a smart engagement ensued,
which, after a doubtful contest, at length terminated in the
swallows sounding a retreat. They did not, howeVer, abandon
all as hopeless haring recruited their strength they returned,
and Showed that if they were not a match for their enemies in
the open field, they were sutUciently masters of stratagem to be
amply avenged for the wrongs they had suffered. Whilst the '
sparrow lay quietly oh the eggs, they commenced to block up
her habitation so briskly, that before she had time to be aware
of her danger the entraitte was as securely filled tip as straw
and mortar could make it. Next day, when the farmer's boy
went up to see what had been done, he found the pOor sparrow
lying lifeless on her eggs..-.4 Stirling Journal.)
An example of brute instinct occurred last
week. A butcher in St. Andrew's purchaied
From a farmer in the Country
a calf, which he
brought to town. At night. the mother left her
byre?, arid traced the path of the calf, a distance
of four miles, till she arrived at the door of the
slaughter-house. Mere she bellowed loudly ;
bUt; alas! her maternal solicittide was unavail-
ing. Already had her offspring fallen a victim
to the relentless knife.—(Scotch Paper.)