_Nose of Wax._--In so famous a public document as the _Nottingham Declaration of the Nobles, Gentry, and Commons_, in November, 1688, against the Papistical inroads of the infatuated King James, I find in the Ninth Resolution that he is accused of "rendering the laws a _nose of wax_," in order to further arbitrary ends. I have often heard the phrase familiarly in my youthful days; may I ask of you to inform me of its origin? Its import is plain enough,--a silly bugbear, of none effect but to be laughed at. W. J. [Nares explains it more correctly as a proverbial phrase for anything very mutable and accommodating; chiefly applied to flexibility of faith. He adds, "It should be noticed, however, that the similitude was originally borrowed from the Roman Catholic writers, who applied it to the Holy Scriptures, on account of their being liable to various interpretations."] "_Praise from Sir Hubert Stanley!_"--I have somewhere heard or read this, or a very similar phrase, ironically expressive of surprise at approbation from an unexpected quarter. I would much like a clue to its source and correct shape. W. T. M. Hong Kong. [This is from Morton's _Cure for the Heart Ache_, Act V. Sc. 2.:--"Approbation from Sir Hubert Stanley is praise indeed."] _Rosary._--What is the origin of the term _rosary_? Is it derived from the Latin _rogare_? G. C. C. [Richardson derives it from Fr. _Rosaire_; Ital. and Sp. _Rosario_; Low Lat. _Rosarium, corona rosacea_, a garland or chaplet of roses. The definition of it by the Abbé Prevost is this:--"It consists," he says, "of fifteen tens, said to be in honour of the fifteen mysteries in which the Blessed Virgin bore a part. _Five_ Joyous, viz. the annunciation, the visit to St. Elizabeth, the birth of our Saviour, the purification, and the disputation of Christ in the temple. _Five_ Sorrowful: our Saviour's agony in the garden, his flagellation, crowning with thorns, bearing his cross, and crucifixion. _Five_ Glorious: his resurrection, ascension, the descent of the Holy Ghost, his glorification in heaven, and the assumption of the Virgin herself."--_Manuel Lexique._ Nares, quoting this passage, adds, "This is good authority; but why each of the fives is multiplied by ten the Abbé does not explain; probably to make the chaplet of a sufficient length."] * * * * * Replies. THE ROD: A POEM. (Vol. vi., p. 493.)