254 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. X. Sept. 29. '60. 



translation of the letter of Erasmus already men- 

 tioned, with valuable original notes, does not 

 in any way mention the miracle ; but he trans- 

 lates the passage, above cited, " but so that they 

 should not be enjoin'd to admit above a certain 

 number, viz. 153." The first allusion appears to 

 be made by Thomas Fuller, and that in terras by 

 no means importing anything farther than in his 

 mind a noticeable coincidence. He says': — 



" A free school indeed to all natives or foraigners of 

 •what Country soever, here to have their education .... 

 to the number of one hundred fifty and three (so many 

 fishes as were caught in the net by the Apostles)." 



Dr. Knight, a Pauline, whose work was first 

 published in 1724 (it was reprinted at the Claren- 

 don Press with additional notes in 1823) refers to 

 the miracle once only — in a note to the passage 

 already cited from the statutes — and in the fol- 

 lowing words : — " Alluding to the number of 

 fish taken by St. Peter." The passages I have 

 quoted, coupled with an inscription on the old 

 school — " Pueri in hac schola gratis erudiendi 

 sunt CLiii. tantum ad numerum sedium " — seem 

 rather to lead to an inference that the selected 

 number had reference to the amount of accommo- 

 dation the school contained. 



The question is now of some importance, as on 

 account of the enormous increase in the school- 

 revenues, it has become a serious consideration 

 how far the founder intended to fix with unalter- 

 able certainty the number of its scholars. 



An Old Pauline. 



I know of only one life of Dean Colet, and that 

 not a very good one ; but there is a better autho- 

 rity for the number of scholars jfrovided for in 

 Dean Colet's foundation than any biography, and 

 that is the will of the dean himself or the deed of 

 endowment executed by him, I wrget which. In 

 one or both of those documents it is expressly 

 stated that the number of the scholars is to be 

 153, " according to the number of the fishes." 



S. H. M. 



St. Thomas Cantiltjpe, Bishop of Heret-ord 

 (2"'* S. ix. 77. 151. 171.) — The question of the 

 bii'th-place of St. Thomas of Hereford is settled 

 beyond all dispute by the testimonies recorded in 

 that wonderful repertory of hagiological lore, the 

 Acta Sanctonim, alias the BoUandists. With a view 

 to his canonisation, a commission was appointed by 

 the Pope to examine in England the life and vir- 

 tues of the holy prelate. Not less than 323 wit- 

 nesses gave their evidence before this commission ; 

 many of whom had been either closely related to 

 him, or enjoyed his intimacy or acquaintance. 

 The place of his birth was, among the rest, the 

 subject of inquiry. From the evidence on this 

 point, recorded as given before these commissioners. 



I extract the following as given in the Acta Sanc- 

 torum: ad diem 2 Octoh-is. 1°. His successor in 

 the See, Richard Swinfield : — 



" . . . . interrogatus ubi fuit natus et baptizatus dictus 

 Dilus Thomas, respondit se audivisse ab eo quod fuerat 

 natus in dioecesi Lincolniensi, in quodam manerio tunc 

 patris sui, in villa de Hameldene. Et dixit se credere 

 quod ibi fuerit baptizatus ubi comes Cornubiaj, dominus 

 scilicet Edmund us, filius Domini Eichardi quondam Regis 

 Alamannias, construxit oratorium ob reverentiam Dei et 

 dicti Dili Thorns, quern in vita sua reputabat sanctum, 

 sicut idem Dominixs Episcopus dixit se audivisse a dicto 

 comite. Et in dicto oratorio Dominus dicitur pro dicto 

 domino Thoma miracula operari." 



2°. William de Cantilupe, nephew of the saint, 

 being interrogated, answered : — 



" . . . . quod apud Hameldene, dicecesis Lincolniensis ; 

 et in dicto loco in quadam capella, constructa per comitem 

 Cornubia) in loco in quo dictus dominus Thomas dicitur 

 natus fuisse, Deus pro ipso domino Thoma dicitur mira- 

 cula operari. Item interrogatus ubi fuerat baptizatus 

 dictus Thomas, respondit se credere quod in ecclesia paro- 

 chiali dicti loci de Hameldene." 



3°. Robert of Gloucester answered : — 



". . . . quod in comitatu Buckingham, Lincolniensis 

 dicecesis, m quadam villa quje vocatur Hameldene, juxta 

 Wj'cumbe per tria vel quatuor milliaria, sicut dixit se 

 audivisse referri ab eodem, quantum ad originem." 



The oratory above named was afterwards much 

 visited by pilgrims. Is any vestige of it still in 

 existence? After the remains of St. Thomas were 

 brought over from Italy where ho died, his heart 

 was deposited in the monastery of Ashridge, Bucks, 

 founded by the Earl of Cornwall for a community 

 of Bons-hommes. See last edition of Dugdale; 

 s. V. Ashridge, quoting the authority of a Bodleian 

 MS. 



By the way, the writer of TJHistoire des Ordres 

 Iteligieux is mistaken in supposing that this new 

 order of Bons-hommes was in fact a continuation 

 under another name of the Fratres de Sacco ; who 

 thus, notwithstanding the decree of the Council of 

 Lyons, continued to exist in England down to the 

 general dissolution of monasteries under Henry 

 VIII. This is a mistake : the two orders were 

 quite distinct. John Williams. 



Arno's Court. 



Snoring of'Owls (2"^ S. x. 212.) — Attending 

 the afternoon service in a parish church of recent 

 construction in Kent, the congregation was dis- 

 turbed by a loud snoring during the sermon, which 

 of course I attributed to some one on the other 

 side of the aisle taking his nap instead of listening 

 to the " truths divine " which flowed from the 

 preacher's lips. On the conclusion of the service 

 I found that my opposite neighbours made the 

 same charge against those on my side of the 

 church ; but on inquiring among the congregation 

 (by no means a large one) I could discover no one 

 who would acknowledge himself or herself to be 

 the delinquent. 



