Notes and Queries, Number 49, October 5, 1850

    A HERMIT AT HAMPSTEAD.

Gray's Elegy (Vol. ii., p. 264.).—The HERMIT OF HOLYPORT is referred to the 4to. edit. of the Works of Gray, by Thos. Jas. Mathias, in which, vol. i. at the end of the Elegy, in print, he will find "From the original in the handwriting of Thos. Gray:

"'Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight.'"

From the autograph the Elegy appears to have been written in 1750; and the margin states, published in Feb. 1751, by Dodsley, and went through four editions in two months; and afterwards a fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, ninth and tenth, and eleventh; printed also in 1753, with Mr. Bentley's designs, of which there is a second edition; and again by Dodsley in his Miscellany, vol. iv.; and in a Scotch collection, called the Union. Translated into Latin by Chr. Anstey, Esq., and the Rev. Mr. Roberts, and published in 1762; and again in the same year by Rob. Lloyd, M.A. The original MS. of the above will be found among the MSS. of Thos. Gray, in the possession of the Masters and Fellows of Pembroke House, Cambridge.

    W.S.

Richmond, Sept 21. 1850

BISHOPS AND THEIR PRECEDENCE

(Vol. ii., p. 254.)

Arun is not right, in reference to this Query, in saying that the precedence of bishops over the temporal barons is regulated by the statute of 31 Hen. VIII. The precedence of bishops over the temporal lords is not regulated by the Act of 31 Hen. VIII. for placing the lords. They may have originally been summoned to sit in parliament in right of their succession to certain baronial lands annexed to, or supposed to be annexed to their episcopal sees; but as some of the temporal peers were also summoned in right of lands held of the king per baroniam, that is not a satisfactory reason why they should take precedence of temporal barons.

The precedency must have been regulated by some other laws, rules, or usage than are presented by the Act of 31 Hen. VIII. The Archbishop of Canterbury precedes the Lord Chancellor; the Archbishop of York the Lord President of the Council and the Lord Privy Seal; and all bishops precede barons. This precedency, however, is not given by the statute. The Act provides only, in reference to the spiritual peers, that the Vicegerent for good and due ministration of justice, to be had in all causes and cases touching the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and for the godly reformation and redress of all errors, heresies, and abuses in the Church (and all other persons having grant of the said office), shall sit and be placed in all parliaments on the right side of the parliament chamber, and upon the same form that the Archbishop of Canterbury sitteth on, and above the same archbishop and his successors; and next to the said Vicegerent shall sit the Archbishop of Canterbury; and then, next to him, on the same form and side, shall sit the Archbishop of York; and next to him, on the same form and side, the Bishop of London; and next to him, on the same side and form, the Bishop of Durham; and next to him, on the same side and form, the Bishop of Winchester; and then all the other bishops of both provinces of Canterbury and York shall sit and be placed on the same side, after their ancienties, as it hath been accustomed.

There is nothing here to show in what order they are to rank among the great officers, or other temporal peers; nor is the precedency given to the Lord Chancellor over the Archbishop of York.

By the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland, the archbishops of that kingdom have rank immediately after the Archbishop of York, and therefore before the great officers (excepting only the Lord Chancellor), as well as above dukes; and the Irish bishops immediately after those of England.

It may be rightly stated that the high spiritual rank of the bishops is a reason for giving them precedence over the temporal lords sitting as barons; but has that reason been assigned by any writer of authority, or even any writer upon precedence?—the Query suggested by E. (Vol. ii., p. 9.) Lord Coke does not assign that reason, but says, because they hold their bishopricks of the king per baroniam. But the holding per baroniam, as before observed, would equally apply to the temporal lords holding lands by similar tenures, and sitting by writ, and receiving summons in ancient times in virtue of such their tenure.

The precedence of bishops over barons was clearly disputed in the reign of King Henry VI., when Baker says in his Chronicle (p. 204.), judgment was given for the lords temporal; but where the judgment, or any account of the dispute for precedence, is to be found I cannot say. That is what your correspondent G. inquired for (Vol. ii., p. 76.).

    C.G.

Your correspondent ARUN (Vol. ii., p. 254.) states, on the authority of Stephen's Blackstone, that—

"Bishops are temporal barons, and sit in the House of Peers in right of succession to certain ancient baronies annexed or supposed to be annexed to their episcopal lands."

This position, though supported by Lord Coke in more places than one (see Coke upon Littleton, 134. a, b; 3 Inst. 30.; 4 Inst. 44.), and adopted by most other legal text-writers on his authority, cannot, it is conceived, be supported. It seems to be clearly ascertained that bishops sat in the great councils of this and other kingdoms not ratione baroniarum but jure ecclesiarum, by custom, long before the tenure per baroniam was known. In the preambles to the laws of Ina (Wilkins' Leges Ang.-Sax. f. 14.), of Athelstan (ib. 54.), of Edmund (ib. 72.), the bishops are mentioned along with others of the great council, whilst the tenure per baroniam was not known until after the Conquest. The truth seems to be that

"The bishops of the Conqueror's age were entitled to sit in his councils by the general custom of Europe and by the common law of England, which the conquest did not overturn."—Hallam's Mid. Ag. 137-8, 9th ed.

Can any of your readers throw any light on the much disputed tenure per baroniam? What was its essential character, what its incidents, and in what way did it differ from the ordinary tenure in capite?

    BARO.

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES

Leicester and the reputed Poisoners of his Time (Vol. ii., pp. 9. 92.).—This subject receives interesting illustration in the Memoirs of Gervas Holles, who at some length describes the seduction of the Lady Sheffield, by Leicester, at Belvoir Castle, while attending the Queen on her Progress. A letter from the Earl to the lady of his love, contained the suspicious intimation—

"That he had not been unmindful in removing that obstacle which hindered the full fruition of their contentments; that he had endeavoured one expedient already which had failed, but he would lay another which he doubted not would hit more sure."

This letter the Lady Sheffield accidentally dropped from her pocket; and being picked up and given to the Lord Sheffield by his sister Holles, he read it with anger and amazement. That night he parted beds, and the next day houses; meditating in what manner he might take honourable and just revenge. Having resolved, he posted up to London to effect it; but the discovery had preceded him to the knowledge of Leicester, who finding a necessity to be quick, bribed an Italian physician ("whose name," says Holles, "I have forgotten") in whom Lord Sheffield had great confidence, to poison him, which was immediately effected after his arrival in London. Leicester, after cohabiting with the Lady Sheffield for some time, married the widow of the Earl of Essex, who, it is thought, says Holles, "served him in his own kind, every way."

In the suit afterwards instituted by Sir Robert Dudley, with the view of establishing his legitimacy, the Lady Sheffield was examined, and swore to a private marriage with the Earl of Leicester, but that she had been prevailed on, by threats and pecuniary largesses, to deny the marriage, as Queen Elizabeth was desirous that Lord Leicester should marry the widow of the Earl of Essex.

One curious circumstance arises out of the revival of these dark doings. Are the particular drugs employed by Leicester's Italian physician "in removing obstacles" now known and in operation? By a remarkable coincidence, in a case of supposed poisoning at Cheltenham, some time since, the intended victim escaped with the loss of his hair and his nails.

    H.K.S.C.

What is the correct Prefix of Mayors? (Vol. i., p. 380.)—In Leicester the usage has always been to designate the chief magistrate "The worshipful the Mayor," which, I believe, is the style used in boroughs. In cities, and places specially privileged, "Right worshipful" are the terms employed.

    JAYTEE.

Marks of Cadency (Vol. ii., p. 248.).—The label of the Prince of Wales has, from the time of Edward III. up to the present time, been of three points argent, and not charged.

    F.E.

MISCELLANEOUS

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC

Although we do not usually record in our columns the losses which literature sustains from time to time, we cannot permit the death of Thomas Amyot, the learned Director of the Camden Society, and for so many years the Treasurer of the Society of Antiquaries, to pass without rendering our grateful tribute to the memory of one of the most intelligent and kindest-hearted men that ever breathed; from whom we, in common with so many others, when entering on our literary career, received the most friendly assistance, and the most encouraging sympathy.

Every fifty years commences a discussion of the great question when the current century, or half century, properly begins. We have just seen this in the numerous Queries, Answers, Replies, and Rejoinders upon the subject which have appeared in the columns of the daily and weekly press; the only regular treatise being the essay upon Ancient and Modern Usage in Reckoning, by professor De Morgan, in the Companion to the Almanack for the present year. This Essay is opposed to the idea of a "zero year," and one of the advocates of that system of computation has, therefore, undertaken a defence of the zero principle, which he pronounces, "when properly understood, is undoubtedly the most correct basis of reckoning," in a small volume entitled, An Examination of the Century Question, and in which he maintains the point for which he is contending with considerable learning and ingenuity. All who are interested in the question at issue, will be at once amused and instructed by it.

Mr. Charles Knight announces a new edition of his Pictorial Shakespeare under the title of the National Edition; to contain the whole of the Notes, Illustrations, &c., thoroughly revised; and which, while it will be printed in a clear and beautiful type across the page, and not in double columns, will have the advantage of being much cheaper than the edition which he originally put forth.

The Declaration of the Fathers of the Councell of Trent concerning the going into Churches at such Times as Hereticall Service is said or Heresy preached, &c., is a reprint of a very rare tract, which possesses some present interest, as it bears upon the statement which has been of late years much insisted on by Mr. Perceval and other Anglican controversialists, that for the first twelve years of Elizabeth's reign, and until Pius V.'s celebrated Bull, Regnans in Excelsis, the Roman Catholics of England were in the habit of frequenting the Reformed worship.

We have received the following Catalogues:—W.S. Lincoln's (Cheltenham House, Westminster Road) Sixty-first Catalogue of English and Foreign Second-hand Books; W.D. Reeve's (98. Chancery Lane) Catalogue No. 13. of Cheap Books, many Rare and Curious; R. Kimpton's (31. Wardour Street, Soho) Catalogue No. 29. of Second-hand Books in good Condition at very reduced Prices.

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