2»d S. VII. Jan. 1. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



gomery, Medley, Newton, Noel, Needham, Nor- 

 man, Oliver, Opie, Pope, Pearce, Perronett, Pea- 

 cock, Pratt, Raffles, Ryland, Reed, Rees, Russell, 

 Roscommon, Rippon, Robinson, Steele, Scott, 

 Southey, Strachan, Stennett, Serle, Stogden, 

 Swain, " Shrubsole, Sigourney, Straphan, Slatter, 

 Searle, Stallybrass, Sutton, Saff'ery, Sweetner, 

 Tate, Thompson, Taylor, Turner, IJrwick, Yoke, 

 H. K. White, Williams, C. Wesley, J. Wesley, 

 Wallin, Watts, Wardlaw, Waterbury, and Young. 

 There is a curious anecdote connected with the 

 hymn, 



" Beyond the glittering starry sky," 



the joint production of the brothers Berridge; the 

 elder was a preacher under Wesley, the younger 

 a humble porter. The elder called on his brother 

 to request him to take a letter to some friend, and 

 the porter pleaded a negative, for he was making 

 a hymn. " That's my business," said the preacher ; 

 " you take the letter, and I will finish the hymn." 

 It was so settled, and the preacher took up at the 

 fourth verse. On the return of his brother the 

 hymn was not finished, the preacher stumbling 

 at the last verse. " Oh ! I have that ready," said 

 the brother,- and added the quatrain, 



" They brought His chariot from above, 

 To bear Him to His throne ; 

 Clapp'd their triumphant wings and cried, 

 The glorious work is done." 



I think Southey somewhere remarks that the 

 hymn by Charles Wesley, 



" Stand the omnipotent decree," 

 is one of the finest lyrics in our language. Nor 

 is the noble hymn,^ 



" The God of Abraham praise," 

 written by a very humble man of the name of 

 Oliver, much its inferior. 



One word as to the foreign hymns. Although 

 Arevalo, Clichtovie, Cassander, Tommasi, Guyet, 

 and Daniel give the old ; De Vintemille, D'Or- 

 leans de la Motte, De Lavergne de Tressan the 

 new (see Mr. Blew's work), yet there is room for 

 a little volume showing when and whence came 

 the new hymns into the .different dioceses, their 

 authors and authority. To these might be added 

 the out-door semi-secular hymns of the fourteenth 

 century, and the </Masi-comic carols of the fif- 

 teenth. H. J. Gauntlett. 



Caution against sending Ancient Coins by Post. — 

 Never send ancient coins by post. If lost there is 

 no redress. For all the purposes of inquiry the 

 following plan may be adopted. 



Carefully take an impression of the coin in 

 sealing-wax. When the sealing-wax is perfectly 

 cool, warm, by immersion in boiling water, a piece 



of thin gutta percha, a little larger than the coin ; 

 press this down on the wax, and the result will be 

 a copy in relief, which may be sent by post with 

 perfect safety. J. Y. Akerman. 



Richard Savage. — Mr. Thomas, in a Note to 

 the first of his articles on " Richard Savage " in 

 " N. & Q." (2""^ S. vi. 364.), tells us that the house 

 in which the Countess of Macclesfield's child — 

 the alleged Richard Savage — was born " stood 

 at the southern corner of Fox Court in Gray's Inn 

 Lane ; " and he adds, " the other corner is, I 

 think, still an alehouse with the sign of the Fox." 

 I have, after reading Mr. Thomas's articles, paid 

 a visit to the spot, and I find that there is still an 

 alehouse or public house at the northern corner 

 of the court in Gray's Inn Lane, but its sign is 

 " the Havelock Arms." I learnt, however, on in- 

 quiry at the bar, that the house had only changed 

 its sign nine months ago, up to which time it was 

 still called the Fox. It is a modern built house, 

 but no doubt adopted the sign of its predecessor. 

 As this house helps us to fix the i)recise locality 

 of the Countess's hiding-place, these facts may be 

 worth recording before the little fox-head, still 

 over the doorway, is removed, and the old sign 

 forgotten. Gray's Inn. 



aS'^. 77i07n-asthe Apostle. — Osorius says that when 

 Martin Alonzo de Sousa was Viceroy, some brazen 

 tables were brought to him inscribed with un- 

 usual characters, which were explained by a 

 learned Jew, and imported that St. Thomas had 

 built a church at Meliapore. And by an account 

 sent to Cardinal Henrico by the Bishop of Cochin, 

 in 1562, when the Portuguese repaired the ancient 

 chapel of St. Thomas, there was found a stone 

 cross, with several characters upon it which the 

 Portuguese antiquaries could not interpret ; till 

 at last a Bramin translated it, that, in the reign 

 of Sagasm, St. Thomas was sent by the Son of 

 God, whose disciple he was, to teach the law of 

 heaven in India ; that he built a church, and was 

 killed by a Bramin at the altar. E. H. A. 



Curious Charge of Treason. — ■ Most of your 

 readers are no doubt acquainted with the story of 

 Walter Walker, a publican, being indicted under 

 Edward IV. on a charge of high treason, for say- 

 ing he would make his son " Heir to the Crown," 

 meaning his inn so called. In looking over Mrs. 

 Green's third volume of Calendar of State Papers, 

 p. 489., I find a somewhat similar attempt to 

 found a charge on a like perversion of words in 

 King James's time, which you will perhaps think 

 worth recording in " N. & Q." One Woolridge 

 accused Saudis, a constable, with concealing "trea- 

 sonable words spoken by Wm. Lavor, who, in a 

 drunken quarrel with James King, declared he 

 would kill him if he could get at him; which 

 words Woolridge pretended to mean he would 



