g instance of "endeavour"
used as an active verb, in Dryden's translation of Maimbourg's
_History of the League_, 1684.

"On the one side the majestique House of Bourbon,... and on
the other side, that of two eminent families which endeavour'd
their own advancement by its destruction; the one is already
debas'd to the lowest degree, and the other almost reduc'd to
nothing."--p. 3.

C. FORBES.

Temple.

* * * * *

MISCELLANIES.

_Epigram by La Monnoye_.--It has been ingeniously said, that "Life is
an epigram, of which death is the point." Alas for human nature! good
points are rare; and no wonder, according to this wicked, but witty,

EPIGRAM BY LA MONNOYE.

The world of fools has such a store,
That he who would not see an ass,
Must bide at home, and bolt his door,
And break his looking glass.

S.W.S.

Mickleham, Dec. 10. 1849.

_Spur Money_.--Two or three years since, a party of sappers and miners
was stationed at Peterborough, engaged in the trigonometrical survey,
when the officer entered the cathedral with his spurs on, and was
immediately beset by the choristers, who demanded money of him for
treading the sacred floor with armed heels. Does any one know the
origin of this singular custom? I inquired of some of the dignitaries
of the Cathedral, but they were not aware even of its existence. The
boys, however, have more tenacious memories, at least where their
interest is concerned; but we must not look to them for the origin of
a {374} custom which appears to have long existed. In the _Memorials
of John Ray_, published by the Ray Society, p. 131., there is the
following entry in his second Itinerary:--

"July the 26th, 1661, we began our journey northwards from
Cambridge, and that day, passing through Huntingdon and
Stilton, we rode as far as Peterborough twenty-five miles.
There I first heard the Cathedral service. The choristers made
us pay money for coming into the choir with our spurs on."

East Winch.

[The following note from _The Book of the Court_ will serve
to illustrate the curious custom referred to by our
correspondent:

"In _The Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII._ edited by
Sir Harris Nicolas, there occur several entries of payments
made to the choristers of Windsor 'in rewarde for the king's
spurs'; which the editor supposes to mean 'money paid to
redeem