228 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



No. 123. 



Bishop Kidder's Autohiograpliy. — In the Lives 

 of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, by the Rev. 

 Stephen Hyde Cassan (Rivingtons, 1829), the 

 greater portion of the notice there given of that 

 learned writer and excellent divine, Richard Kid- 

 der, bishop of that see from 1691 to 1703, is 

 derived from an autobiographical memoir, of which 

 Mr. Cassan says, " the MS., one of undoubted 

 authority, exists in original at Wells." The rea- 

 sonable inference from this statement would be, 

 that the MS. is in the Cathedral Library there ; 

 but from what I have recently been able to as- 

 certain, through the kindness of a gentleman at 

 Wells, it would appear that Kidder's autobio- 

 graphy is not in the Cathedral Library, nor in the 

 Lands of any individual in that place or its 

 neighbourhood : the probability therefore is, that 

 it is in some private collection ; and as I believe 

 it contains many particulars connected with the 

 bishop's personal history, which Mr. Cassan has 

 passed over, I shall be glad if any of your readers 

 can inform me where it is to be met with. The 

 bishop's birthplace has been left in some doubt ; 

 it has been stated that he was born at Lewes, at 

 Brighthelmstone, and in Suffolk ; in the memoir 

 referred to, the question is set at rest, for he says 

 that he was born at East Grinstead, Sussex, in 

 1633. While upon this subject I would beg in- 

 formation as to the name and family of the 

 bishop's wife, who was killed with him in the 

 great storm of ^Tov. 1703. I learn from the 

 baptismal registers of their children that her 

 christian name was Elizabeth. Jas. Crosby. 



Strantham. 



Shrine of Edwai-d the Confessor. — Ls there any 

 print or drawing, or any written description, 

 which would show the condition of the shrine of 

 King Edward the Confessor previously to the 

 great Rebellion, or in any way throw light upon 

 the various changes, mutilations, and restorations 

 it has undergone, beyond such as is to be derived 

 from the ordinary histories of the abbey ? 



Geo. S. Scott. 



" Wise above that which is written." — Can any of 

 your correspondents inform me where the words 

 originally occur, " Wise above that which is 

 written ? " I was for a long time under the impres- 

 sion that they were taken from one of St. Paul's 

 Epistles, or at least were to be found somewhere 

 in the Bible ; but, after having searched Cruden 

 diligently, though ineffectually, I am pretty sure 

 they are not to be found in Holy Writ. 



I am convinced that most persons share in the 

 opinion I formerly held, and I have often seen 

 them quoted in sermons just as if they were a pas- 

 sage of Scripture, though, of course, without giving 

 any reference. R. C. C. 



Ozon. 



" Hoffman," a Tragedy by Chettle. — Can any 

 correspondent of the " N. & Q." throw any light 

 upon the source of the plot of Hoffman, a Tragedy, 

 by Henry Chettle, 4to. 1631 ? The scene is laid 

 at Dantzig in Prussia ; the hero revenges his 

 father's death, which was caused by the Luke of 

 Luneburg and other princes, by means of a red- 

 hot iron crown placed on his head. He kills the 

 son of the Duke of Luneberg in the same manner, 

 and assumes his character ; is adopted by the 

 Duke of Prussia, and avenges himself by the 

 murder of the duke, and others of his father's 

 judges ; is finally discovered, and put to death by 

 means of the iron crown. 



I have in vain searched the German chronicle 

 of the period : from the geographical localities 

 being well preserved, as well as the German 

 names (a peculiarity in the old drama), the pre- 

 sumption is, that it has been taken from an his- 

 torical source. Mention is made in Menzel's 

 History of Germany, of a Count Jordan who suf- 

 fered death by means of an iron crown ; and in 

 Goldsmith's Traveller, the line of — 



" Luke's iron crown and Damon's bed of steel," 

 is illustrated by a note in Bohn's edition of that 

 author, of two brothers, George and Luke Leek, 

 who had created a rebellion in Hungary, and of 

 one of them suffering death in this manner ; but 

 neither of these two cases apply at all to the 

 subject. H. B. L. 



Inverted Commas. — When were inverted com- 

 mas first introduced to indicate quotations in 

 writing ? S. W. Rix. 



Quotations Wanted. — If the subjoined Queries 

 could be inserted early, it would greatly oblige 

 me. I want them for a work, of which the first 

 proofs are now before me. 



I should be glad if any of the readers of " N. & 

 Q." could refer me to the precise places from 

 whence the following quotations are made : — 



1. " Qui vult plene et sapide Christ! verba intellL- 

 gere, oportet ut totam vitam suam Illi studeat confor- 

 mare." 



2. " Gaudium suum ob renascentes llteras non sine 

 nietu exprimet, unus scrupulus habet animum meum, 

 ne sub obtentu prisea? literaturas caput erigere tentet 

 paganismus. . . . Optarim frigidas istas argutias (hu- 

 mana; eloquentias logicarnmque subtilitatum) amputari 

 prorsus, Cliristumque ilium simplicem et (lurum re- 

 stitui, penitusque humanismentibus inseri." — Erasmus. 

 Query — where ? 



3. " Cujus vita despicitur, restat ut ejus pra;dicatio 

 contemnatur." — S. Gregory. 



W. D— N. 



Deacons, a Phrase used by Foxe. — In the mar- 

 tyrology of John Foxe we read — 



" King Edward died, the world being iniworthy of 

 him : the Duke of Northumberland came down to 

 Cambridge with an army of men, having commission 



