Chapter 3

_Emancipation of the Jews._--In Francis' _History of the Bank of English_, p. 24., mention is made of an offer on the part of the Jews to pay 500,000l. to the state on the following conditions;--1. That the laws against them should be repealed; 2. That the Bodleian Library should be assigned to them; 3. That they should have permission to use St. {402} Paul's Cathedral as a Synagogue. It is stated, on the authority of a letter in the Thurloe State Papers, that this proposition was actually discussed. The larger sum of 800,000l. was demanded; but, being refused, the negotiation was broken off. This proposition is said to have been made shortly before the elevation of Cromwell to the Protectorate. The subject is an interesting one in these days, when Jewish disabilities are under discussion.

I wish to offer two queries:--1. Is this story confirmed by any contemporary writer? 2. Is it conceivable that the Jews would have consented to worship in a _cruciform_ church, such as was old St. Paul's, which was standing at the time this offer is supposed to have been made?

H.M. AUSTEN. St. Peter's, Thanet.

_The Complutensian MSS._--Has not there been an account of these MSS. published in London in 1821? My authority for this Query is to be found in a work of Dr. D. Antonio Puigblanch:--

"En el año 1821 per encargo que hice desde Madrid _se imprimio mio aca en Londres_, de que es falso este rumor[2], pues en la biblioteca de la Universidad de Alcala quedaban pocos meses antes en gue estune en ella siete manuscritos biblicos en aquellas dos lenguas[3], que son sin duda los mismos siete de que hace mencion en la Vida del Cardenal Cisneros, Alfonso de Castro, doctor téologo de la misma Universidad, i escritor contemporaneo o de poco tiempo después, parte de los cuales manuscritos, es a saber, los caldéos, son de letra de Alfonso de Zamora, que es uno de los tres judíos conversos editores de la Complutense."--_Opusculos Gramatico-Satiricos del Dr. D. Antonio Puigblanch_, Londres [1832], p. 365.

If the Chaldee and Hebrew MSS. of the Complutensian Polyglot were at Alcala in 1821, when were they removed to Madrid, and in what library at Madrid are they now? The Greek MSS. are supposed to have been returned to the Vatican Library. If the Chaldee MSS. are in the handwriting of one of the editors, as stated by Puigblanch, they cannot be of much value or authority. I shall add another Query:--Are they paper or parchment?

E.M.B.

[Footnote 2: That the MSS. were destroyed.]

[Footnote 3: Hebrew and Chaldee.]

_Latin Names of Towns._--A correspondent who answered the Query as to the "Latin Names of Towns" in titles, referred your readers to the Supplement of Lemprière. I am much obliged to him for the hint, and have obtained the work in consequence; but it is right your readers should know that the information therein given must only be taken as suggestive, and sometimes as dismissible upon reference to the commonest gazetteer. I opened at the letter N; and found, that of three entries, the first my eye lighted upon, two were palpably wrong. The first informs us that "Næostadium _in Palatinatu_" is in "France;" the third that "Nellore" is in "_Ceylon_." I am bound to say that I do not find errors so thickly scattered throughout, and that the list will be useful to me. But, Query, is there any thing extensive of which the accuracy can be depended upon?

M. Kilkenny.

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REPLIES.

SCALA COELI.

I incline to think that the testator whose will is referred to in No. 23. p. 336., by "Scala Coeli," meant King Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster.

Margaret Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother to King Henry VII., in the indenture for founding Chantry Monks in the Abbey of Westminster, dated 2. March, 21 Henry VII. (1506-6), states that she had obtained papal bulls of indulgence, that all persons saying and hearing her chantry masses should have as full remission from sin as in the place called _Scala Coeli_ beside Rome, "to the great comfort and relief of the said Monasterie and all Cristen people resorting thereto." (_MS. Lansd._ 444.)

Henry Lord Marney, by his will, dated 22d Dec., 15 Hen. VIII. (1523), directs a trental of masses to be "first at Scala Coeli, in Westminster." (_Testamenta Vetusta_, 609.)

Blomefield (_Hist. of Norfolk_, 8vo. edit., iv. 60) speaking of the Church of the Augustine Friars at Norwich, observes,--

"That which brought most profit to the convent, was the chapel of Our Lady in this church, called Scala Celi, to which people were continually coming in pilgrimage, and offering at the altar there; most folks desiring to have masses sung for them here, or to be buried in the cloister of Scala Celi, that they might be partakers of the many pardons and indulgences granted by the Popes to this place; this being the only chapel (except that of the same name at Westminster, and that of Our Lady in St. Buttolph's church at Boston,) that I find to have the same privileges and indulgences as the chapel of Scala Celi at Rome; which were so great as made all the three places aforesaid so much frequented; it being easier to pay their devotions here, than go so long a journey; all which indulgences and pardons may be seen in Fox's _Acts and Monuments_, fo. 1075."

In Bishop Bale's singular play of _Kynge Johan_, published by the Camden Society, the King charges the clery with extorting money

"For legacyes, trentalls with _scalacely_ messys Whereby ye have made the people very assys." (p. 17.)

And Simon of Swineshead, after drinking the poison, says,-- {403}

"To send me to heaven god rynge the holye belle, And synge for my sowle a masse of _Scala Celi_, That I may clyme up aloft with Enoch and Heli." (p. 82.)

There are bulls of indulgence in Scala Coeli in Rymer's _Fædera_, xii. 565. 591. 672., xiii. 102.; but I can now only give the reference, as I have not that work in hand.

C.H. COOPER. Cambridge, April 6, 1850

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WATCHING THE SEPULCHRE.

"T.W." (No. 20. p. 218.) will find no end of "Items" for watching the sepulchre, in the "Churchwardens' Accounts" before the Reformation, and during the reign of Queen Mary. At Easter it was the custom to erect a sepulchre on the north side of the chancel, to represent that of our Saviour. This was generally a temporary structure of wood; though in some churches there still remain elaborately ornamented ones of stone. Sometimes the founder's tomb was used for the purpose. In this sepulchre was placed on Good Friday the crucifix, and occasionally the host, with other emblems; and a person was employed to watch it till the morning of Easter Day, when it was taken out with great ceremony, in imitation of our Lord's resurrection. It was the payment for this watching that occurs continually in the Churchwardens' Accounts, and of which, it appears, Fuller could not understand the meaning. A paper on the subject of Easter sepulchres, by Mr. Venables, was read at the meeting of the Cambridge Camden Society in March, 1843, but I am not aware whether it has been printed. Some very curious "Items" on this subject are given in Britton's _Redcliffe Church_, which are quoted in the _Oxford Glossary of Architecture_. They are so illustrative, that I subjoin them, to give you an opportunity, if you please, of serving them up to your readers:--

"Item, That Maister Canynge hath deliver'd, this 4th day of July, in the year of Our Lord 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, Procurators of St. Mary Redcliffe aforesaid, a new sepulchre, well gilt with gold, and a civer thereto.

"Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordinance that 'longeth thereto; that is to say, a lathe made of timber and the iron work thereto.

"Item, Thereto 'longeth Heaven, made of timber and stained clothes.

"Item, Hell, made of timber, and the iron-work thereto, with Divels to the number of 13.

"Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés.

"Item, 4 payr of angels' wings for 4 angels, made of timber and well painted.

"Item, The Fadre, the crown and visage, the ball with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gould.

"Item, The Holy Ghost coming out of Heaven into the sepulchre.

"Item, 'Longeth to the 4 angels 4 chevelers."

Ducange (vol. vi. p. 195. new edit.) gives a detailed account of the service performed at the Easter sepulchres on the continent.

E. VEE. Cambridge, March 27.

"_Watching the Sepulchre_" (No. 20. p. 318.).--At the present day, in most Roman Catholic countries it is the custom to exhibit in the principal churches at this period, and at Christmas, a kind of _tableau_ of the entombment and of the birth of the Saviour. The figures are sometimes small, and at other times the size of life: generally coloured, and formed of wax, wood, stone, or other materials; and when artistically arranged, and judiciously lighted, form sometimes beautiful objects. I have no doubt the entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts of Waltham Abbey refers to a custom of the same kind, prevailing in the country before the Reformation. If the date of their entry were sought for, I have little doubt but that it would be found to have been about Easter. The _sepulchre_ itself was often, I believe, a permanent erection of stone, and some of them probably now remain in the churches of England on the north side of the chancel, where they may sometimes be taken for the tombs of individuals there interred.

W.C. TREVELYAN.

_Watching the Sepulchre._--In reply to "T.W.'s" Query in No. 20., I have witnessed at Florence the custom of dressing the sepulchre on the Thursday before Good Friday with the most beautiful flowers, many of which are reared especially for the purpose. The devout attend at the sepulchre, and make their prayers there throughout the day, the most profound silence being observed. The convents rival each other in the beauty of their decorations.

Do you think that the Churchwardens' entries in Fuller can refer to a similar custom?

The loveliness of the flowers, and their delightful perfume, which pervades the church, present a most soothing and agreeable type of death and the grave, under their Christian phase. I was always at a loss to understand why this was done on Thursday, instead of on Saturday; the latter being the day on which Our Lord rested in the sepulchre.

A.M.

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QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 7.

A new _blunder_ of Mr. Malone.--I love the memory of Edmond Malone, albeit he sometimes committed blunders. He committed a pitiable blunder when he broke his bow in shooting at the worthless Samuel Ireland; and he committed an {404} irreparable blunder when he whitewashed the monumental effigy of the matchless Shakspere. Of the blunder ascribed to him by a reverend querist (No. 14. p. 213) he was quite innocent.

Before we censure an author or editor, we should consult his _own_ edition. He cannot be answerable for the errors of any other impression. Such, at least, is _my_ notion of critical equity.

I shall now state the plain facts. Malone, in the first instance, printed the spurious declaration of John _Shakspear_ in an _imperfect state_. (_Plays and Poems of W.S._, 1790, vol. i. part ii. p. 162.) He was soon afterwards enabled to complete it. (Ibid. vol. i. part ii. p. 330.) Steevens reprinted it entire, and without comment. (_Plays of W.S._, 1793, vol. ii. p. 300.) Now the editor of the Irish reimpression, who must have omitted to consult the edition of Steevens, merely committed a _blunder_ in attempting to unite the two fragments as first published by Mr. Malone.

There was no _audacious fabrication_ on the occasion--there is no _mystery_ in the case! (No. 24. p. 386.) So, to stop the current of misconception, and economise space on future occasions, I venture to repeat a few words in suggesting as a canon of criticism:--_Before we censure an author or editor we should consult his_ own _edition_.

BOLTON CORNEY.

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REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES.

_Compendyous Olde Treatyse._--"F.M." (No. 18. p. 277.) will find this tract reprinted (with the exception of the preface and verses) in Foxe's _Acts and Monuments_; a portion once peculiar to the first edition of 1563, p. 452., but now appearing in the reprint of 1843, vol. iv. p. 671-76., which may be of some service in the absence of the original tract.

NOVUS.

_Hordys_ (No. 5. p. 157.).--I have waited till now in hopes of seeing an answer from some more competent pen than my own to the Query as to the meaning of the word "_hordys_," by your correspondent "J.G.;" but having been disappointed, I venture a suggestion which occurred to me immediately on reading it, viz. that "_hordys_" might be some possible or impossible derivation from _hordeum_, and applied "irreverently" to the consecrated host, as though it were no better than a common barley-cake.

Whether in those early days and in Ireland, the host was really made of barley, and whether "hordys" was a name given to some kind of barley-cake then in vogue, or (supposing my suggestion to be well founded) a word coined for the occasion, may perhaps be worthy of investigation.

A.R. Kenilworth, April 5.

_Eachard's Tracts._--The Rev. George Wyatt, who inquires (No. 20. p. 320.) about Eachard's _Tracts_, will probably get all the information he wants from the Life of Eachard prefixed to the collected edition of his _Works_ in three volumes, which I am sorry I have not the means at present of referring to.

"I.O.," to whom the last of the tracts is addressed, is Dr. John Owen.

Philatus (what objection is there to Latinising, in the usual way, the Greek termination os?) is, of course, intended for Hobbes; and, to convey Eachard's opinion of him, his opponent in the Dialogue is Timothy, a God-honourer.

Let me add, as you have headed Mr. Wyatt's communication "Tracts attributed to Eachard," thereby casting a doubt upon his authorship, that there is no doubt about Dr. John Eachard being the author of all the tracts which Mr. Wyatt enumerates; nor was there any concealment by Eachard. His authorship of the _Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy_ is notorious. The "Epistle Dedicatory," signed "J.E.," mentioned by Mr. Wyatt as prefixed to the Dialogue on Hobbes' _State of Nature_, refers also to the five subsequent letters. These were published at the same time with the Dialogue on Hobbes, in one volume, and are answers to attacks on the _Grounds and Occasions_, &c. The Epistle Dedicatory is addressed to Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, "and," says Eachard, "I hope my dialogue will not find the less acceptance with your Grace for these Letters which follow after."

The second edition of the volume I have by me, published in 1672: the title, _Mr. Hobbes's State of Nature considered, &c.; to which are added, Five Letters from the Author of "The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy."_

C.

_Masters of St. Cross._--In reply to "H. EDWARDS" (No. 22. p. 352.), A List of the Masters of St. Cross, I believe, is given in Browne Willis's _Mitred Abbies_, vol. i.; but the most correct and perfect list is in the _Sketches of Hampshire_, by the late John Duthy, Esq. Henry or Humfrey de Milers is the first master whose name is recorded, and nothing further is known of him: between Bishop Sherborne and Bishop Compton there were thirteen masters.

F.J.B.

Has "H. EDWARDS" seen the _History of St. Cross Hospital_, by Mr. Moody, published within the last six months? It may materially assist him.

JOHN R. FOX

_A living Dog better than a dead Lion._--Your correspondent "MR. JOHN SANSOM" may, perhaps, accept the following as an answer to the first part of his Query (No. 22. p. 352.). In an ancient MS. preserved in the archives of the see of Ossory, at fol. 66., is entered, in a hand of the latter part of the fourteenth century, a list of ancient proverbs under the following heading:-- {405}

"Eux sount les proverbes en fraunceys conferme par auctorite del _Dibil_?

"Chers amys receiuez de moy Un beau present q vo' envoy, Non pas dor ne dargent Mais de bon enseignment, Que en escriptur ai trove E de latin translatee, &c. &c."

Amongst them is the following:--

"Meux valt un chien sein e fort Qe un leoun freid e mort; E meux valt povert od bountex Qe richeste od malueiste."

Jesus, the Son of Sirak, is not, however, the authority for this proverb; it occurs in the 9th chapter of Ecclesiastes and 4th verse.

And now, to ask a question in turn, what is meant by "auctorite _del Dibil_?"

JAMES GRAVES. Kilkenny.

_Monumental Brass_ (No. 16. p. 247.).--On the floor of the Thorncombe church, in the co. of Devon, is a splendid brass, representing Sir T. Brooke, and Joan, his wife, dated respectively 1419 and 1436. At the lower corner of the lady's robe is engraven a small dog, with a collar and bells. May not these figures be the private mark of the artist?

S.S.S.

_The Wickliffite Version of the Scriptures._--I have in my possession a very fair MS. of Wickliff's translation of the New Testament; and should the editors of the Wickliffite Versions like to see my MS., and let me know to whom I may send it, I shall be happy to lend it them.

DANIEL ROCK. Buckland, Faringdon.

_Hever_ (pp. 269. 342.).--In confirmation of the meaning assigned to this word, there is an estate near Westerham, in Kent, called "Hever's-wood."

S.S.S.

_Steward Family_ (No. 21. p. 335.).--Though not an answer to his question, "O.C." may like to be informed that the arms of the impalement in the drawing which he describes are (according to Izacke's _Exeter_) those which were borne by Ralph Taxall, Sheriff of Devon, in 1519. Pole calls him Texshall. Modern heralds give the coat to Pecksall of Westminster. If a conjecture may be hazarded, I would suggest that the coat was a modification of the ancient arms of Batishull: a crosslet in saltier, between four owls.

S.S.S.

_Gloves_ (No. 5. p. 72.).--In connection with the subject of the presentation of gloves, I would refer your correspondents to the curious scene in Vicar's _Parliamentary Chronicle_, where "Master Prynne," on his visit to Archbishop Laud in the Tower in May 1643, accepts "a fair pair of gloves, upon the Archbishop's extraordinary pressing importunity;" a present which, under the disagreeable circumstances of the interview, seems to have been intended to convey an intimation beyond that of mere courtesy.

S.S.S.

_Cromlech._--As your learned correspondent "Dr. TODD" (No. 20. p. 319.) queries this word, I think it is very doubtful whether the word was in use, or not, before the period mentioned (16th century). Dr. Owain Pughe considered the word "cromlech" (_crwm-llech_, an inclined or flat stone,) to be merely a popular name, having no reference to the original purpose of the structure. The only Triadic name that will apply to the cromlechs, is _maen ketti_ (stone chests, or arks), the raising of which is described as one of "The three mighty labours of the Isle of Britain."

GOMER.

_Watewich_ (pp. 60. 121. 236.).--May not "Watewich" be Waterbeach?

S.S.S.

"_By Hook or by Crook._"--I imagine that the expression "By hook or by crook" is in very general use throughout England. It was familiar to my ear forty years ago in Surrey, and within these four years its origin was (to my satisfaction at the moment) brought home to my comprehension in the North of Devon, where the tenant of a certain farm informed me that, by an old custom, he was entitled to take wood from some adjoining land "_by hook and crook_;" which, on inquiry, I understood to include, first, so much underwood as he could cut with the _hook_ or bill, and, secondly, so much of the branches of trees as he could pull down with the aid of a _crook_.

Whether this crook originally meant the shepherd's crook (a very efficient instrument for the purpose), or simply such a _crook_-ed _stick_ as boys use for gathering hazel-nuts, is not very material. It seems highly probable that, in the vast forests which once overspread this country, the right of taking "_fire bote_" by "hook or crook" was recognised; and we can hardly wish for a more apt illustration of the idea of gaining a desired object by the ordinary means--"a hook," if it lay close to our hand; or, by a method requiring more effort, "a crook," if it were a little beyond our reach.

J.A.S.

_By Hook or by Crook_ (pp. 205, 237. 281. &c.).--In confirmation of this phrase having reference to forest customs, my hind told me that my plantations were plundered by hook or by crook, and he and I once caught a man in _flagrante delicto_, with a hook for cutting green wood, and a crook at the end of a long pole for breaking off dry branches, which could not be otherwise reached. For an early use of the term, see Bacon's _Fortress of the Faithful_, 1550.

"Whatsoever is pleasant or profitable must be theirs by hook or by crook."

S.S.S. {406}

_Tablet to Napoleon._--Will it assist "EMDEE's" interpretation of the inscription to Napoleon (No. 17 p. 262.) if I suggest that it may mean--Ægyptiaco bis, Italico semper invicto?

C.I.R. Feb. 25.

_Lines on Pharaoh_ (No. 19. p. 298.).--I beg to inform "J.T.," that the well-known _couplet_ about Pharaoh, and _rascal_ rhyming to _pascal_, are from a certain _History of the Bible_, or _Bible History_, by the Rev. Dr. Zachary Boyd, of Todrig, who was either Principal or Professor of Divinity at Glasgow in the seventeenth century.

He left considerable property to the College there, on condition that his bust should be placed in the quadrangle, and his great work printed under the care of the Academical Senatus. The bust was placed accordingly, and is, or lately was, to be seen in a niche over the inner doorway. The _History_ was also printed, it is said, but never published. However, curious visitors have always, I believe, been allowed a peep into it--whether the MS. or the solitary printed book, I am not sure--and a few choice morsels are current. I recollect one stave of the lamentation of Jonah--

"Lord! what a doleful place is this! There's neither coal nor candle; And nothing I but fishes' tripes And greasy guts do bandle."

I think it a shame that the Maitland Club of Glasgow has not, ere now, volunteered an edition of Zachary's immortal performance. The _Senatus_ would hardly object (if the expense were undertaken), as the circulation would be confined to true Scots.

PHILOBODIUS.

[The following communication from a very competent authority, and the very passage quoted by "PHILOBODIUS" himself, quite justify the non-publication of Zachary's doggrel.]

_Zachary Boyd_ (No. 19. p. 298.).--Your notice of Zachary Boyd, and his extraordinary paraphrase of the Bible in the College at Glasgow, has reminded me of my having examined that strange work, and found ample cause for its not being published, though a sufficient sum was bequeathed for that purpose. The whole doggrel is only calculated to bring ridicule and contempt upon the Scriptures; but there are, besides, passages such as refer to Job's "Curse God, and die;" to Jeshuram waxing fat; to Jonah in the whale's belly; and other parts, which utterly unfit the MS. for decent perusal.

W. JERDAN.