54 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. No 81., July 18. '67. 



Y en el nial que le espera nunca advierte 

 Hasta que su peccado es sii homicida. 



En su culpa obstinada, y no sentida, 

 El incierto plazer que le divierte, 

 Es amigo traydor que le da muerto 



Con el proprio deleyte de la vida. 



Diclioso el que justo se prohibe, 

 Del mundo vano que injuriar le quiere, 

 Adonde muerte en el vida recibe. 



Que h quien, por ser humilde, el siglo hiere 

 No se puede dezir que entonces vive, 

 Por que no tiene vida hasta que muerte." 



U. U. Club. 



H. B. C. 



SEPARATION OF SEXES IN CHURCHES. 



(2nd S. iii. 108. 178.) 



I have just received my volume of the Archwo- 

 logia, •which contains Mr. Ashpitel's paper in 

 extenso, with notes. That gentleman cites the 

 same passage in the Apostolical Constitutions as 

 your correspondent F. C. H. ; but quotes from 

 the Greek as given by Labbe (i. 226.), and not 

 from a Latin version ; he considers them as ema- 

 nating from the Eastern Church, and not older 

 than circiter a.d. 250. He also cites the same 

 passage from St. Chrysostom, alluded to by F. C. 

 H., but does so at greater length. The conclud- 

 ing paragraph, in fact, quite nullifies the dictum 

 that the separation alluded to was of primitive 

 origin : for the saint says, expressly, it was not so 

 in former times, and speaks of men and women 

 praying together in the upper chamber in the time 

 of St. Paul. That it was rather an early practice 

 in the Eastern Church to place women in a sepa- 

 rate place, and even to draw curtains before them, 

 is .universally conceded. But was it so in the 

 Latin or Western Church ? Mr. Ashpitel lays 

 much stress on the silence of Stephen Durantus, 

 and the still more celebrated ritualist, Durandus. 

 Where Roman Catholics have been mingled with 

 Protestants, they have often adopted many of their 

 customs ; but it is certain that throughout the 

 whole of Italy, and greater part of France, and 

 Germany, no such custom has ever prevailed. As 

 so much has been said on the subject lately, I 

 should feel much obliged if any reader of " N. & 

 Q." would inform me on the following points : — 



1. Of what date are the Apostolical Canons and 

 Constitutions, how much of them are genuine, and 

 did they originate from the Eastern Church ? 



2. Does any Latin Father, or early ritualist, 

 mention the practice of the separation of sexes in 

 Western Churches ? 



3. Does any such practice exist in any Roman 

 Catholic church, except where they are in fre- 

 quent contact, or mixed with Protestants ? 



4. There is a tradition among the Roman 

 Catholic cantons of Switzerland, that the practice 



originated at Geneva, under the sanction of Zuin- 

 glius or Calvin : and this practice, which still 

 obtains among the Protestant cantons, is urged 

 against them as a modern innovation. Can any 

 readers of " N. & Q." refer me to any passages of 

 the writings of the Swiss Reformers which bear 

 on the subject ? 



5. In several old English country churches, the 

 sexes have formerly sate on separate sides. Can 

 this practice be traced earlier than the Puritan 

 times, or about the period of the general use of 



pews , 



F. S. A. 



CHATTEETOn's interment in ST. MARY REDCLIFF 

 CHURCHYARD, BRISTOL. 



(2"'» S. iv. 23.) 



It would, I fear, be trespassing too much upon 

 the space in " N. & Q." were I to reply at length 

 to all the arguments Mr. Gutch so ably sets 

 forth against the above assumption : before al- 

 luding to them, let me say my mind has never 

 been satisfied that the poet was buried in Shoe 

 Lane. Mr. Gutch takes it for granted that he 

 was, and confines the question simply to the pos- 

 sible re-interment. Now if he were, as it is al- 

 leged, buried at Shoe Lane, was there at that time 

 no register or official document, in which the fact 

 would have been recorded ? or were the paupers' 

 bodies all huddled together through this "hori- 

 zontal cellar door" into the "pit," utterly unre- 

 corded ? 



If such a register, let it be produced, and the 

 point would be decided. If not, I should like to 

 know upon what grounds we are implicitly to be- 

 lieve Chatterton's body found a resting-place 

 there ? 



As to the Redcliff interment, when I remember 

 the characters of Mr. Cumberland and Mr. Cottle, 

 — how extremely cautious they were in receiving 

 and imparting information, without first assuring 

 themselves of, and the strongest belief in, its ac- 

 curacy, — and that whilst Messrs. Le Grice, Smith, 

 and Grant dwell only upon probabilities, Cottle 

 and Cumberland rely upon the testimony of two 

 most respectable witnesses, — I must say I rather 

 incline to adopt the Redcliff story, based though 

 it be on " hearsay or secondary evidence." It is 

 true that Chatterton's relatives could not have 

 well afforded the expense of removing the corpse 

 from London to Bristol, much as a mother's love 

 will do when put to such a test : but it must not 

 be forgotten, that Barrett still lived, and was still 

 intimate with the family : it is also well known he 

 was exceedingly fond of the poor boy. Let me 

 ask then, was it so very difficult a matter for this 

 friendly surgeon — a gentleman of some standing, 

 wealth and influence — to beg perhaps his brother 

 professional, who bad made the post mortem ex- 



