516 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2«><J S. X. Dec. 29. '60. 



quired considerable importance, and Mr. Keuter's 

 reputation is now widely spread. 



Octogenarian desires to know where to ad- 

 dress Mr. Renter. About this I should think 

 there can be little difficulty. A letter, addressed 

 simply, " Reuter's Telegraph Office, London," 

 would doubtless find him; or a reference to the 

 Post Office London Directory would at once 

 suffice. J« T. 



Bishops and their Seats in Parliament 

 (2"^ S. X. 355.) — Chief Justice Hale and Bishop 

 Warburton are not unsupported in their opinion 

 respecting the bishops' seats in Parliament. A 

 right reverend and learned prelate of the present 

 day considers their seats independent of any tenure 

 per Baroniam, and that they sit in Parliament 

 7'atione officii. Your querist may like to have 

 the corroboration which the following extract 

 from the work of the eminent prelate referred to 

 supplies, viz. : — 



"Edward the Confessor granted his charters to the 

 Church of Westminster cum consilio et decreta Archie- 

 piscoporum, Episcoporum, Comitum, aliorumque Optitna- 

 tium. 



" And it is particularly worthy of remark, that they 

 had this their seat in the Parliament, or Great Council 

 of the Realm, not by reason of the tenure of their tem- 

 poral possessions (for hitherto their lands were held by 

 them in frank-almoigne), but simply and merely as 

 spiritual lords; so that even "the guardians of the 

 spiritualities, in the times of vacancy," as Selden * tells 

 us, and the Vicars-General of Bishops bej'ond the Sea 

 " had sometimes place and suffrage in the House of Lords 

 in the ages following."f 



To which the author adds the following note : — 



" After the Conquest, a new title to these seats accrued 

 to the Bishops by the change of the tenure of their lands 

 from frank-almoigne to military tenure. But this, as we 

 have seen, was not the foundation or origin of their seats, 

 but only conferred a new right to them. Before, they sat 

 ratione officii, thenceforward, both by right of office, and 

 in respect of their possessions. 



" And so plain is their right at common law to sit in 

 the House of Lords, that when Henry VHI. erected six 

 new Bishoprics, these new Bishops took their seats, with- 

 out any Act of Parliament empowering them to do so, 

 but simply by their common-law right, ratione officii." — 

 Letter to an English Layman on the Coronation Oath. By 

 Rev. Henrv Phillpotts, D.D., Rector of Stanhope. 8vo. 

 Murray, Lo'nd. 1828, p. 11. 



J. R. 



" Come thou Fount of evert Blessing " (2"* 

 S. vi. 55. 420. 485.)— Some time ago many of your 

 readers were surprised by my claiming the author- 

 ship of the well-known hymn, " Come, thou fount 

 of every blessing," for the Countess of Hunting- 

 don. It was generally understood that the Rev. 

 Robert Robinson of Cambridge had written two 

 hymns, of which one was, " Mighty God ! while 

 Angels bless thee ; " and that mentioned above 



* Selden's Works. 



t Titles of Honor, vol. iii. p. 748. 



was supposed to be the other. Having lately 

 been engaged in authenticating the authors of 

 several hundred hymns, I have found the one 

 which Robinson really composed, and send you a 

 copy of it. You will see that It very much re- 

 sembles that of the Countess, being of the length *, 

 and written in the same measure; and the opening 

 lines are so nearly alike, that it Is no wonder if 

 Dr. RIppon and others confounded them, and 

 ended by putting Robinson's name to her lady- 

 ship's production. 



I might add that the author of the Life and 

 Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, when he 

 saw the manuscript in my possession, confessed 

 that she had written several hymns, although he 

 could not specify them. Of course It is obvious 

 from the dates, that she could not have borrowed 

 from Robinson, but he probably did not scruple 

 to borrow from her. 



" Fellow heirs, and of the same body. Eph. iii. 6. 

 " Hail ! Thou source of ev'ry blessing, 

 Sov'reign Father of mankind ; 

 Gentiles now, thy grace possessing, ] 



In thy courts admission find. ,, 

 Grateful now we fall before thee, ' 



In thy church obtain a place ; 

 Now by faith behold thy glory. 

 Praise thy truth, adore thy grace. 



" Once far off, but now invited. 



We approach thy sacred throne : \ 

 In thy covenant united, 



Reconcil'd, redeem'd, made one. 

 Now reveal'd to eastern sages. 



See the star of merc}' shine ; 

 Myst'ry hid in former ages, 



Myst'ry great of love divine. 



" Hail ! Thou all inviting Saviour, 

 Gentiles now their off 'rings bring : 

 In thy temple seek thy favour, 



Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. 

 May we, body, soul, and spirit. 



Live devoted to thy praise, 

 Glorious realms of bliss inherit, 

 Grateful anthems ever raise." 



Daniel Sedgwick. 

 Sun Street, City. 



Napoli (2°* S. X. 410.) — Nauplia, In Argolis, 

 like Nauportus of the Taurisci, has raD$, a ship, 

 for the root of the first syllable. Napoli, Naples, 

 and Neapolitani, are formed from vidiroKis, a new 

 city, and Nablous is the Arabic corruption (not 

 having the letter p) of the same Greek word, and. 

 which is probably also the origin of Napoule in 

 France. T. J. Buckton. 



Lichfield. 



Vulgar Errors in Law (2"* S. x. 191,)— An- 

 other prevails in this country, and may be derived 

 from Europe. It is firmly believed by many of 

 the uneducated, that it is wrong for anyone to 



* Three verses. The Countess d!d not publish the two 

 last verses that are in the Manuscript. 



