f the officers of the royal household and wardrobe which are impressed
upon them. They are of the somewhat rare description known as
"applique;" and at a time when personal seals were at the highest state
of artistic developement, those few seals of the clerks of the household
which have escaped injury (to which they are particularly exposed) are
unrivalled for their clearness of outline, design, delicacy, and beauty
of execution.

Allowing for the changes produced by time, I think sufficient analogy
may be found between the ancient and modern uses of the words "imprest"
and "debenture."

J. BT.

"_Imprest_" (Vol. ii., p. 40).--D.V.S. will find an illustration of the
early application of this word to advances made by the Treasury in the
"Rotulus de _Prestito_" of 12 John, printed by the Record Commission
under the careful editorship of Mr. T. Duffus Hardy, whose preface
contains a clear definition of its object, and an account of other
existing rolls of the same character.

EDWARD FOSS.

_Derivation of News._--P.C.S.S. has read with great interest the various
observations on the derivation of the word "News" which have appeared in
the "NOTES AND QUERIES," and especially those of the learned and
ingenious Mr. Hickson. He ventures, however, with all respect, to differ
from the opinion expressed by that gentleman in Vol. i., p. 81., to the
effect that--

"In English, there is no process known by which a noun plural
can be formed from an adjective, without the previous formation
of the singular in the same sense."

P.C.S.S. would take the liberty of reminding Mr. H. of the following
passage in the _Tempest_:--

"When that is gone,
He shall drink nought but brine, for I'll not show him
Where the quick freshes lie."

Surely, in this instance, the plural noun "freshes" is not formed from
any such singular noun as "_fresh_," but directly from the adjective,
which latter does not seem to have been ever used as a singular _noun_.

While on the subject of "News," P.C.S.S. finds in Pepys' _Diary_ (vol.
iii. p. 59.) another application of the word, in the sense of a noun
singular, which he does not remember to have seen noticed by others.

"Anon, the coach comes--in the meantime, there coming a _news_
thither, with his horse to come over."

In other parts of the _Diary_, the word _News-book_ is occasionally
employed to signify what is now termed a newspaper, or, more prope