144 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2tid s. No 60., Feb. 21. '57- 



hie qd" ipe ictm Edus Curll stet in et sup pillof 

 apud Charing Cross in Com Midd die Ven'is 

 Vicesimo t'cio die Februaf p spaciu uii bore int. 

 horam undecimam ante merid: et boram primam 

 post merid ejusdm diei Qdq; p'fat. [Mar*] delitJet 

 corpus ejusdm Edi eodm die Vic Coin Midd p'^ 

 p ppoito illo Et qd idm Vic del Coin Midd p'paret 

 pillor p'd et faeiat execucon Judicij p'd Qdq; idTn 

 Vic post exeeucon Judic p'd redelibet Corpus 

 p'fat. Edi eidm Marr itm salvo custodiend in exe- 

 cucon quousq; fiii p'd solv'it ut supra Et p'd 

 Edus Curll p'sens bie in Cur eoiiiittit' Marr p'ff 

 quousq; ete." 



From this, in its official form, certainly not very 

 intelligible document, we see Curll sentenced, for 

 the publication of Ker's Memoirs, to stand in the 

 pillory at Charing Cross for the space of an hour, 

 between eleven a.m. and one pm., on 23rd Feb- 

 ruary, which sentence was duly executed. 



Curll may do no great credit to the bookselling 

 fraternity ; but there is an old proverb which de- 

 scribes a certain individual as not always quite so 

 black as be is painted ; and another which bids us 

 give even that same individual " his due." We 

 have no ambition to whitewash Edmund Curll. 

 All we want is to know the real truth about him. 



The following letter from Curll, written while 

 these trials were going on, has, there can be no 

 doubt, reference to these proceedings : 



" To the Right Hon. Sir Robert WaJpok in Arlington 

 Street. 



" NobUitas sola atque unica Virtus. 



" The ensigns, Walpole, you from George receive, 

 From you acquire more honour than they give ; 

 Garter and star to you are empty things, 

 Your countrj''8 safeguard, guardian of its kings ! 

 Old England's glory you at once regain ; 

 True blue, as worn by you, can never stain. 

 " Hani soit qui mal y pense. 



« June 1, 1726. 

 " Sir, 

 " When you cease to deserve well of your country, I 

 will cease to proclaim your merits ; but till then I will loe, 

 in spite of all attacks, Sir, your most obedient and most 

 devoted humble servant, 



« E. Curll. 

 * From the King's Bench, where still I am, 

 Where if I staj' 'twill be a shame.' 



Which is as much as to say that I depend upon your 

 Honour for my deliverer next term." 



The following preface to The Whole Works of 

 Walter Moyle, Esq., 8vo. 1727, written by Curll 

 at the same period, was no doubt intended to in- 

 terest the Secretary of State in his behalf: 



" To the Right Hon. the Lord Viscount Townshend, 



" My Lord, — As these writings of Mr. Moyle chieflj' 

 consist in a defence of our constitution, the united voice 

 of the publick will declare that they cannot fall under 



* Interlined. 



any patronage so proper as that of a Townshend and a 

 Walpole. The principles of an Englishman, my Lord, are 

 not to be dignified or distinguished by any name, though 

 were such an attempt made, where either of two appear. 

 Pater Patria must be the immediate deduction. I shall 

 not enter into a detail of your Lordship's virtues ; it is 

 sufficient to sa3', that all the honours you enjoy are be- 

 neath your merit ; and as the motive of this address is an 

 acknowledgment for favours received, so the greatest that 

 is even in your Lordship's power farther to confer, is, to 

 permit the declaration I liere make to remain as a per- 

 petual monument of my gi-atitude. I am, my Lord, with 

 the most profound respect, your Lordship's most devoted 

 and most obedient humble Servant, E. C." 



Such as we have told it, we believe to be the 

 real story of the subject of these Notes mounting 

 that throne — 



" . . where on ber Curlls the public pours 

 All bounteous fragrant grains and golden showers." 



S. N. M. 



ANCIENT ASTKONOMICAIj PILLAR AT OXrORD. 



Forty years ago I made the following Note 

 upon a loose scrap of paper, and having lately 

 found it, I transfer the memorandum for safe keep- 

 ing to the pages of " N. & Q." 



Pasted within the cover of a book in the Bod- 

 leian Library {Arch. Bodl., D. 32.) is the follow- 

 ing original memorandum : 



" Anno 1520 Ego Kratzerus, Bavarus, Monuens * natus, 

 Servus Regis Henrici 8, jussu illius perlegi Oxoniaa astro- 

 nomiam, super Sphaeram rationalem lo. de Sacro Bosco et 

 Compositionem Astrolabii, et Geographiam Ptolomasi. In 

 illo tempore erexi columnam sive cilindrum, ante eccle- 

 siam divae Virginis, cum lapicida Wilhelmo Aost, servo 

 Regis. 



" Eo tempore Lutherus fuit ab Universitate condem- 

 natus, cujus testimonium ego Nicolaus Kratzerus in co- 

 lumnd propria manu posui." f 



Antony \ Wood, in his Annals of Oxford, men- 

 tions this condemnation of Luther's doctrine, 

 under the year 1521, in the following terms : 



" While these things were in doing, certain persons of 

 Martin Luther's faction (so they were now called) were 

 busy in Oxford in dispersing his doctrine and books. So 

 far, it seems, were they spread in a short time through 

 several parts of the nation, that the Cardinal [Wolsey] 

 wrote to the University to appoint certain men from 

 among them to go up to London, to examine and search 

 his opinions that were predominant against the articles of 

 the holy Faith. 



" Whereupon, after consultation had, they appointed 

 Thomas Brynknell, about this time of Lincoln College, 

 John Kynton, a Minorite, John Roper, lately of Magda- 

 lene College, and John de Coloribus, Doctors in Divinity ; 

 who meeting at that place divers learned men and bishops 

 in a solemn convocation at the Cardinal's house, and find- 

 ing his doctrine to be for the most part repugnant to the 

 present used in England, solemnly condemned it; a tes- 



* Perhaps Monacensis, a native of IMuiiich. 



[t This note was originally copied from Kratzer's MS. 

 in the library of Corpus Christi College, No. clii., and is 

 printed by Mr. Coxe in Catalogus Cod. MSS. in Collegiis 

 Aulisque Oxon., ii. CO.] 



