2"d S. K« 61., I'EB. 28. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



171 



been so good to his Church," says Walton, " as to aiford 

 it in every age some such men to serve at his altar, as 

 have been piously ambitious of doing good to mankind ; 

 a disposition that is so like to God himself, that it owes 

 itself only to Him, who takes a pleasure to behold it in 

 His creatures. These times [1658] He did bless with 

 many such ; some of which still live to be patterns of 

 apostolical charity, and of more than human patience. I 

 have said this, because I have occasion to mention one of 

 them in my following discourse, namely. Dr. Morton, the 

 most laborious and learned Bishop of Durham ; one that 

 God hath blessed with perfect intellectuals and a cheerful 

 lieart at the age of ninety-four years — and is yet living: 

 • — one, that in his days of plentj' had so large a heart as 

 to use his large revenues to the encouragement of learning 

 and virtue, and is now — be it spoken with sorrow — re- 

 duced to a narrow estate, which he embraces without 

 repining; and still shews the beauty of his mind by so 

 liberal a hand, as if this were an age in which ' to-mor- 

 row were to care for itself.' I have taken a pleasure in 

 giving the reader a short but true character of this good 

 man, my friend." Bishop Morton died on Sept. 22, 1659, 

 in his ninety-fifth year, and the forty-fourth of his epis- 

 copate.] 



" Erasmus Sarcerius." — Having lately picked 

 up a rare old portrait of this Unitarian controver- 

 sialist, with the above inscription on the label, I 

 have endeavoured, in vain, to find out what Sar- 

 co'ius means. In the Nuuvelle Biographie Ge- 

 nerale, now publishing by Didot, he is named 

 Erasmus Joannes, or Erasme do Jean, but the 

 word " Sarcerius " does not occur at all. In a 

 note at the foot of the article reference is made to 

 Simon's Histoire Critique des principaux Commeu- 

 tateurs du Nouveau Testament. Perhaps some cor- 

 respondent who can consult this work or IMoreri 

 can solve my difficulty. Lethrediensis. 



[Our correspondent is in error. Erasmus Sarcerius was 

 a Lutheran divine, born in 1501 at Annaberg, in Saxony, 

 and studied at Leipzig and Wittenberg. He afterwards 

 taught at Kostock and other places, and -was subsequently 

 court-preacher" and superintendent at Nassau, offices 

 which he filled until 1548. He was the author of twentj' 

 diflTerent works, among others Methodus in pracipuos 

 ScripiurtB Divina: Locos, Bas. 1538, which was translated 

 by Rjxhard Taverner (London, by John Byddell, accord- 

 ing to Lowndes), 1538. Taverner would never have 

 translated the work of a reputed Arian or Socinian, and 

 dedicate it to that orthodox '" Defender of the Faith," 

 Henry VHI. The Arian or Socinian was Jauson, or 

 .Joannis Erasmus, who was expelled from the rectorship 

 of the school of Antwerp for the religious tenets he held. 

 Sarcer, or Sarcerius, was a family name in Saxony. Be- 

 sides Erasmus, we find a schoolman named Reinerus 

 Sarcerius, a Johann Sarcer, a moralist, and a Wilhelm 

 Sarcerius, son of Erasmus, Protestant pastor of the Peter- 

 Paul Church of Eisleben. Vide Zedler, Univers. Lex."] 



Sir Richard Stapledon. — Can any of your 

 readers give me any information respecting Sir 

 Richard Stapledon, in connexion with Cripple- 

 gate, London ? There is a monument to his 

 memory in Exeter Cathedral. I do not find him 

 mentioned in Stow's Survey. J. M. 



[Sir Richard Stapledon was beheaded with his brother 

 Walter, Bishop of Ej^eter, at the general rising of the 



Londoners in favour of Queen Isabella and Mortimer ia 

 the last year of the reign of the unfortunate Edward IL 

 Godwin, in his Catalogue of the Bishops, edit. 1601, p. 330., 

 informs us, "That Edward II., on making a journey to 

 Bristol, committed the government of the City of London 

 to the Bishop of Exeter. When the queen approached 

 near unto the City with her power, the bishop required 

 the mayor to send unto him the keys of the gates. The 

 Commons (who favoured the queen's party) perceiving 

 the bishop purposed to withstand her, set upon him vio- 

 lently, drew him into Cheapside, and beheaded him there, 

 with Sir Richard Stapledon, a knight, his brother. Their 

 bodies were at first buried in sand at the Bishop's house 

 without Temple Bar; but subsequently they were con- 

 veyed to Exeter with all funereal pomp. The bishop lictli 

 buried upon the north side of the high altar, in a fair 

 tomb of freestone, and his brother lieth over against him 

 in the north wall of the north isle. This murder was 

 committed Oct. 15, 1326."] 



HandeTs Organ at the Foundling. — An inscrip- 

 tion in the girls' dining-room at the Foundling 

 Hospital records that the great Handel, besides 

 other princely benefactions, presented an organ 

 for the chapel. I have heard that Handel had an 

 organ built for him at great cost and care, the 

 builder setting aside, for many years, all his most 

 successful pipes, to be used in its construction. 

 Was this the one he presented to the Foundling, 

 and where is it now ? About two years ago an 

 advertisement appeared in some of the daily 

 papers, announcing that the organ then at the 

 Foundling was to be sold for 100/. Was this the 

 instrument which Handel presented, and on which 

 he had so frequently performed ? I cannot think 

 that, in these days, any public body could part 

 with so invaluable a treasure. Sub-Boukdun. 



[The organ removed from the chapel to make room for 

 the new instrument erected therein during the autumn of 

 last year was not Handel's organ. The latter is still in 

 existence, and in the possession of an oflicer of the insti- 

 tution, to whom it was given by the governors. These 

 gentlemen some time ago ordered the manuscript corre- 

 spondence and other papers belonging to the charity to be 

 burnt, and it so happened that all Handel's letters formed 

 part of the holocaust.] 



John Bunyan^s Cabinet. — In whose possession is 

 John Bunyan's "cabinet" at the present time? 

 One Life states that the Rev. Mr. Jukes of Bun- 

 yan Chapel has it; but, if true, where is the 

 chapel ? W. H. Nichols. 



63. King William Street. 



[" In the same vestry in which is the chair that Bunyau 

 used, is also a curious inlaid cabinet, small, and highly 

 finished. It descended from Bunyan to a lady, Madame 

 Bithray, who lived to an advanced age ; from her to the 

 Rev. Mr. Voley, of whose widow it was purchased to 

 ornament the vestry of Bunyan's meeting-house at Bed- 

 ford." A neat cut of the cabinet accompanies the above 

 note in Offbr's Memoir of Bunyan, prefixed to the only 

 complete edition of his Works, published by Blackie, 

 Glasgow. Mr. John Jukes, the present pastor of Bunyan's 

 meeting-house at Bedford, feels much pleasure in grati- 

 fying any inquirer with a sight of this relic of the de- 

 lightful Dreamer. An engraving of it is also given in 

 lioutledge'a ue\y cheap edition oi ik^ Pilgrim's Progress.'] 



