"_February 11._--Sir John Narbrough cam in from Trypoly, and four more ships with him. The noble Malteese _salute him with forty-five gunns_; he answers them with so many that I could not count them. And what with our salutes, and his answers, there was nothing but fyre and smoake for almost two hours." The great length of this communication prevents my taking other extracts from a "Diary" which contains much interesting information, and is written in a quaint and humorous style. WILLIAM WINTHROP. La Valetta, Malta. * * * * * Minor Notes. _Whipping a Lady._--The following is from a MS. Diary of the Rev. John Lewis, Rector of Chalfield and Curate of Tilbury: "August, 1719. Sir Christopher Hales being jilted by a lady who promised him marriage, and put him off on the day set for their marriage, gave her a good whipping at parting. Remember the story." Is there any corroboration of this? E. D. _Mother of Thirty Children._--An instance has come under my notice of a woman, whose maiden name was Lee, born in Surrey; married, first, Berry, with whom she lived thirty years, and had twenty-six children (four times twins): all survived infancy. Married, secondly, Taylor, by whom she had four children. Died at Stratford, aged eighty-four. Within a few weeks of her death, was as upright as a young woman. At the time of her death, there were one hundred and twenty-two of her descendants living. She lived most of her married life near Whitechapel and Radcliffe, and was buried in the Brickfield burying-ground. She had sixteen boys and fourteen girls. LEYTON. _"Ought" and "Aught."_--I regret to observe that _ought_ is gradually supplanting _aught_ in our language, where the meaning intended to be conveyed is "anything." Todd's _Johnson_ gives authorities, but may they not be errors of the press? I am aware that use has substituted _nought_ for _naught_ in the sense of "not anything", the latter now expressing only what is "bad," and convenience may justify that change, _nought_ being not otherwise used. Let me add that I am the more {420} in fear for our old servant _aught_, who surely has done _nought_ worthy of excommunication, from observing that such a writer as the Rev. Chevenix Trench has substituted _ought_ for _aught_ to express "anything." If convenience is allowed to justify our having _nought_ and _naught_, it surely claims that we should keep _aught_ and _ought_ each for its appropriate signification in writing, impossible as it is to distinguish one from the other in speech. [Upsilon]. Nilbud. _Walton._--The following note is written on the fly-leaf at the end of Hieron's _Sermons_, 1620: