504 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»* S. YII. June 18. '59. 



^tpliti ta Minav eauertcg. 



The Precious OinMenl (2"^ S. vii. 434.) — The 

 sacred oil, with which the tabernacle, the ark of 

 the covenant, the golden candlestick, the table, 

 the altar of incense, the altar of burnt-offerings, 

 the laver, and all the sacred utensils, and indeed 

 the priests themselves, were anointed, was com- 

 posed of a hin of the oil of olives, of the richest 

 myrrh, of cassia, of cinnamon, and of sweet cala- 

 mus. The proportions of the mixture were 500 

 parts of the myrrh and cassia, and 250 each of the 

 cinnamon and calamus. This ointment could not 

 be applied to any other purpose (Exod. xxx. 20 — 

 3.3.) * The Septuagint names one of the ingre- 

 dients, the myrrh f, fffivpvns eKXeKrrjs, which corre- 

 sponds with the myrrh, nvpov fiapvT(fj.ov, of Matthew 

 (xxvi. 7.), described as iro\vTe\^s by Mark (xiv. 

 3.), and as TroKvTifios by John (xii. 3.). The oint- 

 ment probably prepared for Lazarus, which his 

 sister Mary poured on the head and body of our 

 Lord, consisted therefore of one only of the four 

 ingredients of the sacred oil in use in the first 

 Temple. Judas reprehended this anointing, as 

 practised at banquets, as an extravagant luxury. 

 So Martial (iii. xii. 4.) says '. — 



" Qui non coenat et ungitur, Fabulle, 

 Hie vere mihi mortuus videtur." 



This view was corrected by our Lord, who says 

 it was done preparatory to his entombment (Mark 

 xiv. 8.). Thus Jahn, in explaining the above 

 passages in the Gospels, says : " It was their cus- 

 tom to expend upon the dead aromatic substances, 

 especially myrrh and aloes, which were brought 

 from Arabia. This ceremony is expressed by the 

 Greek verb ivra<pid^fiv [to embalm or entomb], 

 and was performed by the neighbours and rela- 

 tions." 



In the other case (Luke vii. 37.) the myrrh was 

 only applied to the feet of our Lord after washing, 

 and previous to partaking of a meal, — a common 

 practice of antiquity, and once performed by our 

 Lord himself to his disciples ; when, however, no 

 mention is made of anointing, it being probably 

 too costly for general use. At Sparta, the selling 

 of perfumed ointments was wholly prohibited ; 

 and in Athens, men were not allowed to engage in 

 it. Different ointments were used for different 

 parts of the body (Eschenburg, iii. s. 170.) 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



Robinson's Hymn, '^Come thou fount," SfC. (2°'' S. 

 vi. 54. 116. 259. 420. 530.) — Although what has 



* During the whole period of the existence of the 

 second Temple, and during the latter part of the first, 

 the high priests were not consecrated by being anointed 

 with the sacred oil (Z>e Sola and Raphall Mishna Megil- 

 lah, i. s. 9. note). 



t In Hebrew "ib) ^ drop, from the Arabic , to flow. 



been written in reference to this hymn suflSciently 

 shows that Robert Robinson, and not Lady Hunt- 

 ingdon, was its author, may I request, in addi- 

 tion to my former Note (2°'' S. vi. 259.), your 

 insertion of the following extract from a letter by 

 Mr. Robinson to the Rev. John Lombard of 

 Sudbury, Suffolk; date Dec. 3rd, 1766 : — "Who 

 could tell you," says he, " I was an author ; my 

 works consist of only two Hymns, which Mr. White- 

 field printed ; besides these I have written no- 

 thing." ( Worhs, by Flower, iv. 294.) 



This extract shows that two hymns had been 

 written by Robinson as early as 1766, and that 

 they had been previously printed for the use of 

 the Calvinistic-Methodist body. There can be no 

 question that these hymns are the two which have 

 been ascribed to him for pretty nearly a centui'y 

 past, viz. : — 



and 



" Mighty God, while angels bless Thee ; " 



« Come Thou fount of every blessing." 

 Your Index to vol. vi., permit me to say, should 

 have contained Robinson's name as, at least, the 

 supposed author of the hymn in question. It only 

 gives the name of the excellent Countess of Hunt- 

 ingdon, to whom it has been ascribed upon verj^ 

 baseless grounds.* X. A. A. 



Judicial Torture (2'^^ S. vi. 359.) — Mb. Ken- 

 sington will find much valuable and interesting 

 information in the subjoined works on the sub- 

 ject (together with several modes) of this bar- 

 barous and unconstitutional practice in England ; 

 viz. Observations on the more Ancient Statutes 

 from Magna Charta to XXI. James I. cap. 27., by 

 the Hon. Daines Barrington, 4to. Lond. 1775 

 (4th ed.) ; A Reading on the Use of Torture in 

 the Criminal Law of England previously to the 

 Commomvealth, by David Jardine, Esq., 8vo. 

 Lond. 1837; and History of the Inquisition, by 

 Charles H. Davie, 8vo. Lond. 1851 (2nd ed.). 

 The last-mentioned little work contains an ad- 

 mirable illustration of the principal tortures of 

 the Inquisition. Consult also De gli Instrumenti 

 di Martirio usate da Gentili contro Christiani 

 (with woodcuts), by Antonio Gallonio, 4to. Rom. 

 1591. This work is a standard authority upon 

 the particular subject of which it treats, and has 

 been frequently reprinted, both in Latin and 

 Italian, on the Continent. i3. 



The following is of the number of the questions 

 given by Professor Amos, in his General Examin- 

 ation Paper on the Laws of England for the Moral 

 Sciences Tripos, at Cambridge, in 1855. Several 

 of the inquiries referred to in it have already been 

 satisfactorily discussed in "N. & Q. ;" but I am 

 sure if one of the learned gentlemen, before whom 

 this paper was originally placed, would take the 



[* It is also entered under the word " Hymn : ' Come 

 thou fount,' &c."— Ed.] 



