2»'» S. X. July 28. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



73 



demisti mundum. Te adoro pro me incarnatum, natum 

 et passum, mortuum et sepultum, tanquam homiuem ve- 

 rum. — Miserere nostri, qui passus es pro nobis. Et as- 

 tringens crucetn artius ad pectus suutn adjecit : Doraine 

 lesu Cliriste, creator ac redetnptor meus, non est in celo 

 vel in terra medicus aut medicina languentis animse pras- 

 ter sanguinem tuum pretiosum. Ideo pono passionem 

 tuam et crucein tanquam malagma salutis unicum super 

 cor meum et corpus meum. Ideo pono sanguinem tuum 

 super vulnera mea ; immo totam substantiam meam in- 

 volvo sanguine tuo ; ut qui de ccenulenta mundi voragine 

 te vocante sordidatus egredior, lavari merear et emaculari 

 in sanguine tuo, Salvator mundi," &c. — Anglia Sacra, 

 ii. 316. t 



But words so beautiful that the dying man 

 uttered in the hearing of a few friends around 

 him, were often written for the world at large to 

 know and read, for ever, upon the stone which 

 over-spread his lifeless body in its grave ; and 

 frequently do our old sepulchral brasses give us 

 inscriptions such as those : — 



" Omnem patratum Christus purgando reatum 

 Nobis sublatum te numerot his (Sanctis) sociatum." 

 — On Abbot de la Moote's tomb, St. Alban's. Weever'a 

 Fun. Mon. p. 561. 



" Vir crucis et Christi turaujo jacet insitus isti 

 Carcere do tristi salvetur sanguine Christi." 



Mon. Aug. ii. 202. 

 «Qu A DTD P 



OS nguis irus risti ulcedine avit 

 H Sa M Ch M L." 



Weever's Fun. M. 175. 



" Cryst who dyed for us on the rood tree 

 Sav the sowl of my hosbond, owr chyldren, and mee." 



lb. p. 333. 



I have now, I hope, shown by quotations which 

 I could have multiplied, from our medlasval 

 popular literature, that tlie full belief in the 

 Atonement was the earliest sown of any thing in 

 the hearts of our forefathers : it was made to 

 grow up with their growth, and bud and flower 

 ihere; to lend its own rosy colour to their daily 

 thoughts, and shed the sweetness of its fragrance 

 upon their Avords and deeds, from the cradle to 

 the grave. Not only in, but out of church, they 

 had that great mystery set before their minds ; 

 they were hourly told about it in those lighter 

 compositions which were written for their amuse- 

 ment rather than their instruction : the song, the 

 ballad and romance, the tale, and even little jest 

 of Robin Hood dropped it quietly into their bo- 

 soms, for the national literature of those times was 

 Christianized. Mr. J. G. Nichols has only to 

 look into the works printed by the Camden and 

 other such societies, and he will there find abun- 

 dant means for allaying his " fear" upon this and 

 other points connected with the evangelical be- 

 lief and teaching in the olden times of England. 



D. Rock. 



Brook Green, Hammersmith. 



[The following letter, selected from those which have 

 already reached us upon this subject, will, we are sure, 

 justify us in the eyes of our readers in here, closing a 



discussion which is assuming a character altogether at 

 variance with that tone of friendly intercommunication 

 which "N. 8i Q." has hitherto so successfulh' maintained. 

 —Ed. " N. & Q."] 



THE HARROW BRASS : MR. J. G. NICHOLS AND 

 DR. ROCK. 



I have seen with pain, not unmingled with sur- 

 prise, the observations of Db. Rock on the " fear " 

 of Mr. J. GouGH Nichols in reference to the 

 meaning of verbere on the inscription on the 

 Harrow brass. 



Among the few periodicals whiqli one could 

 read without apprehension of being involved in 

 controversy, " N. & Q." has hitherto stood con- 

 spicuous. The insertion of the observations of 

 Dr. Rock goes far to destroy the strictly literary 

 and uncontroversial character of your periodical. 

 Those observations open up the whole dispute 

 between the two churches ; and if justice is to be 

 done in the questions thus broached, the contro- 

 versies of Jewel and Harding, and Chillingworth 

 and Knott, must be resumed in your pages. If, 

 startled at the chasm into which Dr. Rock has 

 plunged your readers, you draw back, and re- 

 sume your wonted path (which I trust you will 

 not hesitate to do), it will, even now, be at the 

 risk of injustice to opinions which are upheld by 

 the majority of your subscribers. 



Allow me to ask you to consider what are the 

 grounds on which Db. Rock has involved your 

 publication in the chaos of theological discussion ? 

 Let us examine them, as stated by Dr. Rock 

 himself. 



" Mr. J. G. Nichols tells us : My first suggestion [as 

 to the meaning of ' verbere '] was ' by the stripes ' of 

 Him b\'- whom the Gospel teaches us we are healed; but 

 I fear that is too evangelical a sense for the time when 

 the epitaph was written." 



What is Dr. Rock's comment — what the con- 

 struction which he puts upon Mr. Nichols's 

 calm remark? I quote his words as you have 

 printed them : — 



" Upon what grounds this fear of his rests, Mk. J. G. 

 Nichols does not say; yet, in giving such a distinct 

 utterance to it, he more than whispers, through ' N. & 

 Q.,' an open assertion that the great truth of the Atone- 

 ment was quite unknown to, and wilfully hidden from 

 Englishmen up to the change of this country's religion 

 in the sixteenth century. This is no small charge to lay 

 against the millions of the gone-b}' teachers and the 

 taught of this our fatherland, which thej' adorned with 

 such costly and lasting monuments of their Christian 

 zeal. ' N. ■& Q.' afford the proper list for this question, 

 first, because the challenge was first thrown down within 

 their pages; secondh', the question is closely bound up 

 with the olden ritualism, the olden literature, the olden 

 customs, the olden men of this land, about all of which 

 ' N. & Q.' profess a warm and especial interest ; and 

 thirdly, knowing as I do the Editor to be at heart a true 

 Englishman who loves fair play, I am sure he will not 

 shut me out from meeting and answering an accusation 

 upon the spot where he allowed it to be uttered." 



Was there ever such a conclusion drawn from 



