Nothing was more common than for a man to swear by his beard. This custom is alluded to by one of Shakspeare's fools, who suggests that if a certain knight swore by his honour, and his mistress by her beard, neither of them _could_ be forsworn. In the canons of the Fourth Council of Orleans, we read-- "Le Roi lui-meme, ou le plus renomme des chevaliers presents, ayant decoupe le paon, se leva, et mettant la main sur l'oiseau, fit un voeu hardi; Ensuite il passa le plat, et chacun de ceux qui le recurent fit un voeu semblable." In the year 1306, Edward I. of England swore an oath on two swans. It was also very common from an early period, both in England and abroad, to swear by one, two, seven, or twelve churches. The deponent went {533} to the appointed number of churches, and at each, taking the ring of the church door in his hand, repeated the oath. One of the most curious specimens of the practice of swearing men by that to which they attached most importance, is to be found in an Hindoo law. It says, let a judge swear a Brahmin by his veracity; a soldier by his horses, his elephants, or his arms; an agriculturist by his cows, his grain, or his money; and a Soudra by all his crimes. JOHN THRUPP. Surbiton. I know nothing about judicial oaths: but the origin of the form MR. BREEN states to be used by the Roman Catholics of the Continent, and the Scotch Presbyterians, may be seen in Dan. xii. 7.: "When he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever." And in Revelation x. 5, 6.: "And the angel ... lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him," &c. See also Genesis xiv. 22. MARIA. * * * * * PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.