512 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"<» S. VIII. Dec. 24. '69. 



"familiar epistles on the IRISH . stage." 



Who was the author of a 12mo. volume, entitled 

 Familiar Epistles to Frederick E. Jones, Esq. on 

 the Present State of the Irish Stage, pp. 178 ? It 

 attracted no small amount of public attention in 

 its day ; and having reached a fourth edition, 

 "with considerable additions" (Dublin, 1805), 

 it has been usually attributed to the pen of the 

 late Right Hon. John Wilson Croker. But re- 

 garding its authorship, " sub judice lis est." 



In Mr, Wm. J. Fitzpatrick's recent publication, 

 entitled The Friends, Foes, and Adventures of Lady 

 Morgan, p. 137., the following words may be 

 found : — 



" An unadorned slab, almost smothered by rank weeds, 

 in the churchyard of St. Werburgb, Dublin, communi- 

 cates to the reader the melancholy fact, that Edwin, one 

 of the most promising Irish actors, died in 1805, from a 

 broken heart caused by an illiberal criticism in Croker's 

 Familiar Epistles on the Irish Stage." 



But Mr. Gilbert's statement, as given in his 

 History of the City of Dublin, vol. ii. pp. 221. 226., 

 differs from the foregoing : — 



"Early in 1804 the dramatic world of Dublin was 

 thrown into a state of commotion by the appearance of 

 a small anonymous pamphlet, entitled Familiar Epistles 

 to Frederick Jones, Esq. on. the Present State of the Irish 

 Stage. The authorship of this production, which was 

 kept a profound secret, has been ascribed to John Wilson 

 Croker, who, however, pledged his honour to Jones that 



he had not written it Jones always considered 



the Epistles to have been written by the late Baron Smith 

 [Sir Wm. Cusack Smith, Bart.], and ascribed the greater 

 part of the notes to a barrister named Comerford, editor of 

 the Patriot newspaper." 



Some reader of " N. & Q." may perhaps be 

 able and willing to set the question at rest.* 



Abhba. 



:^tn0r cSucrteS. 



Hymns. — Can any of your correspondents tell 

 me where to find the originals of the well-known 

 hymn — " Lo ! He comes with clouds descending " 

 by Oliver, a Methodist shoemaker (?) ; of " Great 

 God ! what do I see and hear ;" and of the mo- 

 dern hymns, " Glory to thee, O Lord," for Inno- 

 cents' Day, in the collection of the Society for 

 Promoting Christian Knowledge ; and " Our blest 

 Redeemer ere He breathed a tender last farewell," 

 in Mercer's book ? H. W. B. 



The Book of Hy-Many. — In Dr. O'Donovan's 

 valuable work on The Tribes and Customs of Hy- 

 Ulany, printed by the Irish Archaeological Society 

 from the Book of Lecan, the learned editor, in his 

 introductory remarks, observes that " the Book of 



j^* The work is attributed, without any Query, to John 

 Wilson Croker in the Catalogue of the British" Museum. 

 — Ed.] 



Hy-Many, supposed to contain various tracts re- 

 lating to the territory, is still in existence, and is 

 believed to be in the possession of a private col- 

 lector in England ; it is, however, inaccessible to 

 the editor." 



Can you, Sir, or any of your numerous corre- 

 spondents, inform me whether Dr. O'Donovan's 

 belief is correct ? an<l, if so, in whose custody this 

 doubtless highly curious ancient MS. is at the 

 present time ? William Kelly. 



Leicester. 



Terence. — Can you oblige me by answering the 

 two following Queries regarding English transla- 

 tions of Terence? 1st. Terences Comedies, made 

 English, 12mo., 1694, by Mr. L. Echard and 

 others ; revised and corrected by Dr. Echard and 

 Sir (Roger ?) L'Estrange. Who were the " other" 

 translators. 2nd. There is an edition of Terence, 

 Latin and English, Svo., 1739, by John Stirling. 

 Is Mr. Stirling the author of the English transla- 

 tion in this edition ? R. Inglis. 



Spoon Inscription. — 



" AN. NO. 1669. 



DJCSBLVT . ESV CffilST . GOTESSOIN . DEPwMS 



GVNSREIN VONaLLEN SVKDEN 



CHIIST TVML. BSBEN. ASTF. ALBES SER 

 DENSLENS. WASSEN." 



The above is an inscription on a curiously 

 carved spoon, the handle of which represents the 

 Virgin and child, with two little cherubs clasping 

 her robe, standing on Sin, represented by a nude 

 female with long hair and a serpent's tail. At 

 the back is a head with long flowing wig. I 

 should be grateful if any of your numerous corre- 

 spondents would tell me whether it is probable 

 that this spoon was used in the rite of baptism, 

 and who the head might represent ? W. P. L. 



Greenwich. 



Was Lady Jane Grey buried at Bi'adgate ? — A 

 Query on this subject was inserted in 1" S. ix. 

 373., from my friend Mr. T, R. Potter, which 

 has not yet received any reply. As it would be 

 interesting to ascertain the last resting-place of 

 the remains of this unfortunate lady, permit me 

 to renew the Query ; and to ask whether there is 

 any evidence to invalidate the tradition that 

 "her body was privately brought from London 

 by a servant of the family, and deposited in the 

 chapel at Bradgate ?" William Kellt. 



Leicester. 



Henry Maclellan. — Can you give me any in- 

 formation regarding Mr. Maclellan, who is author 

 of an alteration of Romeo and Juliet, which seems 

 to have been acted at Norwich about 1757. This 

 author is not noticed in the Biographia Drama- 

 tica. In the Gentleman's Magazine, 1823 (vol. 

 xciii. Part ii. p. 605.), I find the two following 



