Part 3

3. Amongst Mr. C. K. Sharpe's MSS. was sold _The Force of Love, or the Ephesian Matron; a Dramatick Poem, in Three Parts_. From a playbill, which was pasted on the fly-leaf, it seems that this drama was produced for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, at the theatre in Sadler Street, Durham, April 7, 1777. The performance was "gratis;" but 2_s._ 6_d._, 2_s._, and 1_s._, for boxes, pit, and gallery, were charged for the "Concert of Music." The title was changed into the _Matron of Ephesus_, and the authorship was ascribed to Mr. Wallace. No notice either of play or author occurs in the _Biographia Dramatica_.

4. Does any MS. of the _Conquest of China_, a tragedy, by Sir Robert Howard, exist? I have in my library a scene written by the Earl of Rochester for the author, and which, so far as I can trace, from the very defective state of the libraries of the north, was never printed. It is a beautiful MS., and some of the lines possess considerable vigour. It is written in rhyme.

5. Who was the author of the _History of Faction, alias Hypocrisy, alias Moderation, from its first Rise, down to its present Toleration in these Kingdoms_? &c. London, 1705, 8vo.

6. Where can the fourth and concluding(?) number of Wright's _History of Ludlow_ be obtained?

[Only three Parts have been published. The last was issued in 1847.]

7. Can you inform me who was the translator of--

"_The Idea of Christian Love_; being a Translation, at the Instance of Mr. Waller, of a Latin Sermon upon John xiii. 34, 35., preached by Mr. Edward Young, Prebend of Salisbury. With a large Paraphrase on Mr. Waller's Poem of _Divine Love_. To which are added, some Copies of Verses from that excellent Poetess Mrs. Wharton, with others to her. London, 1688, 8vo."

The versification is extremely good, but as I never saw the sermon, I can have no notion whether the translation be faithful, or the reverse. I suspect a Latin "preachment" would have few hearers, especially now-a-days: but it would be interesting to see a Latin sermon which Waller thought highly of, and which he proposed should be turned into verse.

I have not been able to procure any information as to the sermon, or its poetical translation, in any bibliographical work; but perhaps some of your numerous readers may know something either about Mr. Edward Young, the father I presume of the poet, or the translator.

Mrs. Wharton was the daughter of Sir H. Lee, of Ditchly, and the first wife of the future Marquis of Wharton. A manuscript tragedy by her, and in her own handwriting, is in my possession. It is the presentation copy to Miss Mary Howe, whose autograph is on the fly-leaf. It is beautifully bound in old morocco, and formerly belonged to Horace Walpole, whose book-plate is on it. Who was Miss Mary Howe? It was purchased at the dispersion of the curious MSS. of Mr. Charles K. Sharpe, who had a great fancy for the lady's poetry. She is erroneously styled Marchioness of Wharton in Park's edition of Walpole's _Royal and Noble Authors_.

J. MT.

[The Rev. Edward Young was father to the poet, and Rector of Upham in Hampshire, Prebendary of Salisbury, and lastly Dean of that church. He died in 1705. The translation and paraphrase in _The Idea of Christian Love_ is attributed to William Atwood in the Bodleian Catalogue.]

PLAGUE STONES.

In a recent and valuable report addressed to the General Board of Health, on the sanitary state of the borough of Dorchester, by a gentleman to whom I, in common with all the readers of "N. & Q.," have often been indebted--I mean Robert Rawlinson, Esq.,--an allusion is made to the existence of "Plague Stones" in different parts of the country. Briefly recording the principal visitations of plague in Dorchester and its neighbourhood, he describes these "plague stones" as "stones placed on the boundary limits of old towns, having a circular or square dish-like sinking in them, which was filled with water, into which the town's people dropped the purchase-money in their dealings with the country people, as was supposed, to prevent infection. _Such stones may be seen in many places throughout England._" The object of this communication is, to suggest the propriety of a list of these curious relics being made, through the medium of your excellent paper. I am not aware of any such list at present existing. A plague stone is to be seen, I believe, at Penrith; and another near Manchester, which is, I am told, called the "Giant's Stone." The name of the latter seems, to my mind, to point to a more remote period, unless an existing monument of antiquity bearing that title was during the times of plague converted to the temporary use of receiving the suspected money in the hollowed dish, which is made at the top of these "plague stones." By the way, might not our forefathers have suffered less from the fearful visitations and devastating epidemics to which so many hundreds of thousands of them fell victims, if they had been as careful to _wash themselves_ habitually in _aqua pura_ as they were to wash the money which they received from suspected localities. The custom above alluded to admitted the powerfully cleansing qualities of water. It would have been good for them, especially in trying times of plague, if they had not been so accustomed to "let" the "_well_ alone," as regards their own personal purification.

J. J. S.

The Cloisters, Temple.

Minor Queries.

_The Cross on Counsels' Briefs._--Can any of your correspondents inform me as to the origin and present use of the cross on counsels' briefs?

H. EDWARDS.

_Sir James Hayes, of Bedgebury, Kent._--It is mentioned in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1792, p. 21., that on the foundation stone of Old Bedgebury House in Kent, was found, many years ago, an inscription recording the building of that house in 1688 by Sir James Hayes, and Rachel Viscountess Falkland, his wife. Allusion is made in the inscription to his having attained _great wealth from the depths of the ocean_; and there was a tradition that he had made his fortune by _diving_. Can any of your readers supply information upon this subject? Was he one of the party who under Phipps (the ancestor of the house of Mulgrave) recovered 200,000_l._ out of a Spanish vessel, sunk of the coast of Hispaniola in 1687? and where can the full particulars of that adventure be met with?

J. E. T.

_Authorship of the Song "Oh Nanny," &c._--A question as to the nationality, if not the authorship, of this celebrated song was discussed (if I remember aright) not long ago in letters printed in one of the literary periodicals, probably the _Gentleman's Magazine_, but I have not a reference at hand. It may be, that the facts I am about to mention were adverted to in that discussion, and that the words are admitted to be of English origin, and to have been written by Dr. Percy, yet I am induced to send you this communication. In the drawing-room at Ecton House, the mansion of Sam. Isted, Esq., at Ecton, a village about five miles from Northampton, there was, in 1814, a portrait of the wife of Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore (father of Mrs. Isted), holding in her hand a scroll, on which is the celebrated song "Oh Nanny!" she being the original, and the lines having been addressed to her before marriage by the bishop. (_Account of a Tour, &c., published in the Scarborough Repository_, by Cole, 1824.)

Perhaps some correspondent of yours in that vicinity would kindly say whether the picture remains at Ecton; or, if not, what has become of it?

W. S. G.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.

_Hexameter Poem on English Counties._--Will any of your correspondents be kind enough to furnish me with a copy of a poem in _hexameter_ verse, and in an abbreviated form, enumerating the shires or counties in England? In my early days it was very common in public schools, and I am enabled to give a portion of one verse, viz.------"Dev. Dors. Gl. Oxfo. Buck. Hart. Ess."

M.

Dublin.

_Wild Oats, Origin of the Phrase._--Can any of your correspondents favour me with the origin and definition of the phrase "To sow your wild oats?" It has never been very clear to me why "oats" should be the grain selected as emblematical of the dissipations and excesses of youth. They constitute the food of the inhabitants of the poorest regions only, and where the absence of all aid from climate and sunshine, renders almost unceasing toil necessary, in order to obtain a meagre subsistence.

The "oat" appears to me so little the companion of luxury and pleasure, that I am wholly at a loss to account for the origin of this phrase, which is in the mouth of every one.

BEAU NASH.

Bath.

_The Dr. Richard Mortons._--I shall feel greatly indebted to any reader of "N. & Q." who can give me some account of Dr. Richard Morton, a celebrated physician of Greenwich, _temp._ William and Mary, and of his son Dr. Richard Morton, who died in 1730. Were they descended from the Mortons of Severn Stoke, co. Worcester? and what was the precise degree of their relationship with the Mortons of Slaugham, co. Sussex?

MARK ANTONY LOWER.

_General Lambert_ (Vol. iv., p. 339.).--A correspondent shows the probability or certainty that the hitherto received opinion as to the long confinement and death in Guernsey of this old parliamentary general is not correct. But Mr. Hallam and others who report this, report also that he was tried with Sir Harry Vane; and that his "submissive behaviour" was such a contrast to that of his noble fellow-prisoner that it perhaps influenced his sentence. Where is the proof of his behaviour to be found? Vane's trial has been published separately. It is also in the _State Trials_, with the trials of the regicides; but neither there nor elsewhere can I find the trial of Lambert.

G. L.

_Cross-legged Effigies and Collars of SS._--As some of your correspondents are sending to "N. & Q." accounts of sepulchral effigies bearing SS. collars, I should be obliged to them if they would mention when such effigies are cross-legged. Does any effigy in this attitude exist _bearing a date_ as late as 1350?

W. H. K.

_The Crooked Billet._--Can any of your readers inform me whether there be any legend connected with the "Crooked Billet," which is frequently used in this neighbourhood as a sign to a village inn? The sign itself is formed of a crooked piece of wood, or two or three pieces joined, and suspended over the door of the public-house.

T. D.

Gainsbro'.

_Collins the Poet, and his Ode on the Music of the Grecian Theatre._--In Seward's _Anecdotes of distinguished Persons_ there is a letter from Collins to Dr. Hayes, professor of music, Oxford, in which, after alluding to his "Ode on the Passions," he mentions another Ode, which appears to have been actually written.

"The subject," he states, "is _the Music of the Grecian Theatre_, in which," he goes on to say, "I have, I hope naturally, introduced the various characters with which the chorus was concerned, as Oedipus, Medea, Electra, Orestes, &c. &c. The composition too is probably more correct, as I have chosen the ancient tragedies for my models, and only copied the most affecting passages in them."

The letter is dated "Chichester, November 8, 1750." Collins died in 1756. The Ode is lost; but assuredly every effort should be made to bring it to light.

SMINTHEUS.

_Bishop Kidder's Autobiography._--In the _Lives of the Bishops of Bath and Wells_, by the Rev. Stephen Hyde Cassan (Rivingtons, 1829), the greater portion of the notice there given of that learned writer and excellent divine, Richard Kidder, bishop of that see from 1691 to 1703, is derived from an autobiographical memoir, of which Mr. Cassan says, "the MS., one of undoubted authority, exists in original at Wells." The reasonable inference from this statement would be, that the MS. is in the Cathedral Library there; but from what I have recently been able to ascertain, through the kindness of a gentleman at Wells, it would appear that Kidder's autobiography is not in the Cathedral Library, nor in the hands of any individual in that place or its neighbourhood: the probability therefore is, that it is in some private collection; and as I believe it contains many particulars connected with the bishop's personal history, which Mr. Cassan has passed over, I shall be glad if any of your readers can inform me where it is to be met with. The bishop's birthplace has been left in some doubt; it has been stated that he was born at Lewes, at Brighthelmstone, and in Suffolk; in the memoir referred to, the question is set at rest, for he says that he was born at East Grinstead, Sussex, in 1633. While upon this subject I would beg information as to the name and family of the bishop's wife, who was killed with him in the great storm of Nov. 1703. I learn from the baptismal registers of their children that her christian name was _Elizabeth_.

JAS. CROSBY.

Strantham.

_Shrine of Edward the Confessor._--Is there any print or drawing, or any written description, which would show the condition of the _shrine of King Edward the Confessor_ previously to the great Rebellion, or in any way throw light upon the various changes, mutilations, and restorations it has undergone, beyond such as is to be derived from the ordinary histories of the abbey?

GEO. S. SCOTT.

"_Wise above that which is written._"--Can any of your correspondents inform me where the words originally occur, "Wise above that which is written?" I was for a long time under the impression that they were taken from one of St. Paul's Epistles, or at least were to be found somewhere in the Bible; but, after having searched Cruden diligently, though ineffectually, I am pretty sure they are not to be found in Holy Writ.

I am convinced that most persons share in the opinion I formerly held, and I have often seen them quoted in sermons just as if they were a passage of Scripture, though, of course, without giving any reference.

R. C. C.

Oxon.

"_Hoffman_," _a Tragedy by Chettle._--Can any correspondent of the "N. & Q." throw any light upon the source of the plot of _Hoffman, a Tragedy_, by Henry Chettle, 4to. 1631? The scene is laid at Dantzig in Prussia; the hero revenges his father's death, which was caused by the Duke of Lüneburg and other princes, by means of a red-hot iron crown placed on his head. He kills the son of the Duke of Lüneburg in the same manner, and assumes his character; is adopted by the Duke of Prussia, and avenges himself by the murder of the duke, and others of his father's judges; is finally discovered, and put to death by means of the iron crown.

I have in vain searched the German chronicle of the period: from the geographical localities being well preserved, as well as the German names (a peculiarity in the old drama), the presumption is, that it has been taken from an historical source. Mention is made in Menzel's _History of Germany_, of a Count Jordan who suffered death by means of an iron crown; and in Goldsmith's _Traveller_, the line of--

"Luke's iron crown and Damon's bed of steel,"

is illustrated by a note in Bohn's edition of that author, of two brothers, George and Luke Leck, who had created a rebellion in Hungary, and of one of them suffering death in this manner; but neither of these two cases apply at all to the subject.

H. B. L.

_Inverted Commas._--When were inverted commas first introduced to indicate quotations in writing?

S. W. RIX.

_Quotations Wanted._--If the subjoined Queries could be inserted _early_, it would greatly oblige me. I want them for a work, of which the first proofs are now before me.

I should be glad if any of the readers of "N. & Q." could refer me to the precise places from whence the following quotations are made:--

1. "Qui vult plenè et sapidè Christi verba intelligere, oportet ut totam vitam suam Illi studeat conformare."

2. "Gaudium suum ob renascentes literas non sine metu exprimet, unus scrupulus habet animum meum, ne sub obtentu priscæ literaturæ caput erigere tentet paganismus.... Optarim frigidas istas argutias (humanæ eloquentiæ logicarumque subtilitatum) amputari prorsus, Christumque illum simplicem et purum restitui, penitusque humanis mentibus inseri."

_Erasmus._ Query--where?

3. "Cujus vita despicitur, restat ut ejus prædicatio contemnatur."

_S. Gregory._

W. D--N.

_Deacons, a Phrase used by Foxe._--In the martyrology of John Foxe we read--

"King Edward died, the world being unworthy of him: the Duke of Northumberland came down to Cambridge with an army of men, having commission to proclaim Lady Jane queen.... The duke sent for Doctor Sandys, being vice-chancellor, for Doctor Parker, for Doctor Bill, and Master Leaver to sup with him. Amongst other speeches he said, Masters, pray for us, that we speed well; if not, you shall be made bishops, and we deacons. And even so it came to pass: Doctor Parker and Doctor Sandys were made bishops; and he and Sir John Gates, who were then at the table, were made deacons, ere it was long after, on the Tower-hill."

I should be glad to know the allusion here, and how men who were executed could be said to be thereby made deacons.

W. D--N.

_The Count de Vordac._--When did the Count de Vordac, a general in the army of the Emperor of Germany, die? His memoirs are scarce; the copy which I have is reprinted at Paris in 1709. He was an Italian, bred for the church, which he relinquished for the profession of arms. He was born about 1660; his memoirs break off abruptly in 1695 when in midlife, and he was serving under our William III. He closes his memoirs with an account of his being at the siege of Namur, which he says cost his own party dear, and himself more particularly. It is very probable he fell at this siege if he continued his narrative while in the camp. His memoirs are curious and very entertaining. I find there that he was much esteemed at Vienna, and his conduct in rescuing the wife of one of the German nobility from a horrible imprisonment with the corpse of the man of whom her lord was jealous, is full of interest as well as horror, from the mode in which it was accomplished. He was personally acquainted with William III., who entrusted him with important commands. His narrative makes the reader anxious to know something of his subsequent history, if he were not a victim to the sword before the close of the war of which he spoke.

CYRUS REDDING.

Minor Queries Answered.

_Hoare's Charity._--Inside the cover of a copy of _The Whole Duty of Man_ (8vo., London, 1727, John Baskett) now before me, is pasted a slip of paper, containing a coat of arms, "Sable, a double eagle expanded or (?) in a bordure argent," surrounded by mantling, and surmounted by helmet and crest; below this is the following:--

"The gift of HENRY HOARE, Esq., who died March 12, 1724-5, aged forty-seven, and by his last Will and Testament hath vested the su[=m]e of two thousand pounds in trustees, who are to apply the yearly interest, rents, and profits arising out of the said su[=m]e to the purchasing, dispensing, and giving away, yearly, Bibles, Common Prayer-Books, and such other books as are intirely agreeable to the principles and doctrine of the Church of England, as now by law established, and most conducive to the advancement of Christian faith and piety in the world."

I shall be glad to learn whether this charity is still bestowed, and where: any particulars relative to the original donor will be acceptable. Permit me to add the Query,--Is mine the first edition of _The Whole Duty of Man_? if not, when was it first published, and who was the author?

W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.

[Mr. Henry Hoare was a son of Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of London, and an intimate friend of that worthy man, Robert Nelson, author of the _Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England_; a work which Dr. Johnson recommends as being a most valuable help to devotion, and as having had the greatest sale of any book ever printed in England, except the Bible. Mr. Hoare's name occurs in several parts of Robert Nelson's will, viz. "I give and bequeath to Mr. Henry Hoare, of London, goldsmith, one of my executors, 200_l._, upon trust to distribute 100_l._, part thereof, in such manner as shall be directed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; and the other 100_l._ to be employed by him in promoting parochial libraries.... I give and bequeath to Mrs. Jane Hoare, wife of the said Mr. Henry Hoare, two pair of little silver candlesticks for her closet." It is also worthy a note in our pages that the first legacy received by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was that of Robert Nelson's, which is thus entered on the minutes of the Society:--"3d Feb. 1714-15. Mr. Hoare reported, that Mr. Nelson, lately deceased, had ordered him by his will, as one of his executors, to pay 100_l._ to the Society for promoting their designs; and also 50_l._ towards supporting the charity-school at St. George's Chapel." The name of Mr. Henry Hoare occurs among the list of subscribers in the first volume of Jeremy Collier's _Ecclesiastical History_, fol. 1708; and some of his letters to John Strype, the historian, will be found among the Additional MSS. in the British Museum, No. 5853. No biographical notice of Mr. Henry Hoare appears to have been preserved. See Herbert's _History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies_, vol. ii. p. 285., for a notice of his gift to the Goldsmiths' Company.

The first edition of _The Whole Duty of Man_ was published in 1657. Like the enigmatical Junius, its authorship still remains a problem; but we believe it is now generally supposed to be written either by Lady Packington or Archbishop Sterne. Our correspondent will find the question discussed in the Rev. W. B. Hawkins's Introduction to Pickering's edition of this work, published in 1842; as well as in the valuable communication of J. E. B. Mayor, Esq., of Marlborough College, in our second volume, p. 292.]

_Dr. Sacheverell's "Sermon at Derby."_--Can any of your correspondents furnish me with information as to the various editions which were published of Dr. Henry Sacheverell's _Sermon at Derby_ in 1709? I am anxious to ascertain how many editions were issued, with their dates and other particulars.

L. J.

[We think our correspondent will not be able to obtain the information he requires, owing to the great demand at the time for the two Sermons for which the Doctor was prosecuted. Mr. Lathbury states (_History of the Nonjurors_, p. 237) that "of the Sermon 'Perils among False Brethren,' no less than forty thousand copies were sold in a few weeks." We have also now before us two copies of the Derby Sermon, both printed in 1709, 8vo., but no intimation on the title-page of their being different editions, which they evidently are, on an examination of their typographical composition. The Bodleian contains a quarto edition of the latter Sermon, 1710.]

_Lucas Lossius._--I have an old 12mo. volume with the following title-page:

"Annotationes Scholasticæ _in Evangelia Dominicalia et_ ea quæ in Festis IESV CHRISTI, et Sanctorum ejus præcipuis, leguntur in Ecclesia, _per totius Anni circulum_: non inutile futuræ puerilibus Scholis.

"_His adjectæ sunt in singula Evangelia Disticha, Argumenta, Doctrinæ Summariæ, Loci et_ _Ob_jectiones præterea, cum brevibus ac veris earum solutionibus Dialecticis, exercendæ adolescentiæ causa.

"_Collecta et dictata à Luca Lossio, in Schola Lunæburgensi._

"(*) [right pointing hand symbol] (*)

"Adiecimus et iam recens erudita Evangeliorum Dominicalium et Festivalium Disticha, inundæ memoriæ causa, à Vuendelino Helbachio conscripta.

"(*)

"_Franc. Apud Hæred. Christ. Egen._ M.D.LXXVIII."

The words, and parts of words, in Italics are rubricated.