322. _Critolaus and the Horatii and Curiatii._--Has any writer on early Roman history noticed the extraordinary similarity, even in the minutest particulars, of the combat between the Horatii and Curiatii, followed by the murder of a sister of the former by her brother, for mourning for one of the opposite party, to whom she was betrothed, to the similar circumstances related of Critolaus the Tegean? The chances of two such transactions resembling each other so closely appear so very small, that there can be no doubt of one story being a copy of the other: but which was the original? I have no doubt the Roman historians adopted this tale from the Greeks, to diversify the barren pages of their early history. At all events, such a person as Critolaus undoubtedly existed, which is more than can be averred of the Roman hero. (See _Encyc. Brit._, art. "Critolaus.") J. S. WARDEN. Balica. 323. _Cabal._--I should like to know the earliest use of this word as signifying "a secret council," and, as a verb, "to plot or intrigue." Pepys applies it to the king's confidential advisers several years before the date (1672) when Burnet remarks that the word was composed of the initials of the five chief ministers; and Dryden uses the verb in the sense I have mentioned. Can any of your correspondents trace either verb or noun to an earlier period, or explain this application of it? The Hebrew verb _kibbal_ signifies "to receive;" and the _Cabbala_ was so called from its being "traditionary," not from its being "secret." A popular error on this point may, however, have given rise to the above-mentioned application of the word. E. H. D. D. 324. "_Thus said the Ravens black._"--In what modern poem or ballad do the following or similar lines occur? ---- "thus said the ravens black, We have been to Cordova, and we're just come back." D. B. J. 325. _Symbols in Painting._--In a painting of the Crucifixion by Guido (?) the following accessories are introduced, the meaning of which I cannot discover: the persons present are four, two of whom are evidently the Virgin and St. John; but the other two, who are both old men, are doubtful. On the ground, at the foot of the cross, is a skull and some bones; and at one side of the picture is a monster, somewhat like a gigantic toad, with his foot on a book; and at the other side lies a bell, with a twisted cord attached to it: the monster and the skull might be symbolical of sin and death, but what can the bell mean? It is a singular object for an artist to have introduced without some particular meaning; but the only instance I know of its use, is in the pictures of St. Anthony (in the fourth century), who is generally represented with a bell in his hand. Perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to explain its meaning in this painting. Can the handbell rung in Roman Catholic churches at the elevation of the host have any connexion with the subject in question? B. N. C.