_Spick and Span New_ (Vol. iii., p. 330.).--The corresponding _German_ word is _Spann-nagel-neu_, which may be translated as "New from the stretching needle;" and corroborates the meaning given by you. I may remark the French have no equivalent phrase. It is evidently a familiar allusion of the clothmakers of England and Germany. BENBOW. Birmingham. _Under the Rose_ (Vol. iii., pp. 300.).--There is an old Club in this town (Birmingham) called the "Bear Club," and established (ut dic.) circa 1738, formerly of some repute. Among other legends of the Club, is one, that in the centre of the ceiling of their dining-room was once a carved rose, and that the members always drank as a first toast, to "The health of the King," [under the rose], meaning the Pretender. BENBOW. _Handel's Occasional Oratorio_ (Vol. iii., p. 426.).--The "Occasional Oratorio" is a separate composition, containing an overture, 10 recitatives, 21 airs, 1 duet, and 15 choruses. It was produced in the year 1745. It is reported, I know not on what authority, that the King having ordered Handel to produce a new oratorio on a given day, and the artist having answered that it was impossible to do it in the time (which must have been unreasonably short, to extort such a reply from the intellect that produced _The Messiah_ in three weeks, and _Israel in Egypt_ in four), his Majesty deigned no other answer than that done it must and should be, whether possible or not, and that the result was the putting forward of the "Occasional Oratorio."