350 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 261. 



versial pamphlet, and to those readers whose 

 jaded appetites require cayenne pepper and a 

 spice of the odium theologicum. As a matter of 

 fact, however, it would seem that supi-a in this 



f)lace means on and not above merely. In a vo- 

 ume of some authority the following account is 

 given of this ceremony : 



" Le meme jour, deux heures avant la nuit, le Pape, 

 revetu de sa chappe et couvert de sa mitre, est portd sur 

 I'autel de la chapelle de Sixte, ou les cardinaux avec leurs 

 chappes violettes viennent adorer une seconde fois le 

 nouveau Pontife, qui est assis sur les reliques de la pierre 

 sacree ; en meme tems on ouvre la porte de la chapelle et 

 les conclavistes viennent aussi I'adorer. Cela etant foit, 

 on rompt la cloture du conclave ; et les cardinaux pre- 

 cedes de la musique descendent au milieu de I'eglise de 

 saint Pierre. Le Pape vient ensuite, porte' dans son siege 

 pontifical, sous un grand Dais rouge, embelli de franges 

 d'or ; ses ^tafiers le metteat sur le grand autel de Saint 

 Pierre, oil les cardinaux I'adorent pour la troisifeme fois ; 

 et apres eux les anibassadeurs des princes, en presenc;e 

 d'une infinite de peuples dont cette vaste eglise est 

 remplie jusques au bout de son portique. On chante le 

 Te i)eum laudamus, puis le cardinal doyen etant du cot^ 

 de I'epJtre dit les versets et oraisons marquees dans le 

 ceremonial romain ; ensuite on descend le Pape sur le 

 marchepie de I'autel," &c. — Tableau de la Cour de Rome, 

 par le Sr. J. A. \_Aimon'\ Mre. et Jurisc, 1726, p. 66. 



I^ow if, as H. P. suggests, this custom was de- 

 rived from the ceremonial used at the coronation 

 of the Emperors of Germany (i barbari), we may 

 suppose that its beginning might be sought for in 

 those ages when the newly elected king was borne 

 aloft upon a shield raised on the shoulders of his 

 chieftains, and so presented to his subjects ; or, to 

 come to rather more recent times and another 

 reason, since the altar covered, or was supposed to 

 cover, the relics of saints, and an oath taken on such 

 relics was held to bind more surely, the emperor 

 might be raised and made there to promise " to 

 God's church and to all Christian people . . true 

 peace," from a notion that even Austrian perfidy 

 would dread to break such an oath. All this, 

 however, does not explain the reason for its intro- 

 duction at Rome, and its special applicability at 

 the election of the pope. 



As to the apologetic speculation of H. P., that 

 " the altar is not the seat of Deity, but the place 

 for the victim sacrificed," it may suffice to re- 

 mind him that " the Lamb slain " is the Deity, 

 and His altar the throne of the Incarnate One. 



Not, however, to speak of such solemn truths 

 here, I would conclude this note by a Query as to 

 the time when this custom began, and the re- 

 ferences to it found, for such there must be, in 

 the writings of ritualists and travellers. 



W. Denton. 



"THE POOR VOTERS SONG. 



(Vol. X., p. 285.) 



I beg to inform your correspondent M. that this 

 song was written by an intimate friend of mine, 

 resident in the neighbourhood of Maidenhead. It 

 has been set to music by F. Lancellot, and pub- 

 lished by Dimcombe and Moon, 17. Holborn. I 

 have a copy of the song, presented to me by the 

 author ; and, as it may interest some of your 

 readers, I send a transcript of it. 



Newburiensis. 



" The Poor Voter''s Song, written by Tliomas Noel, Esq., 

 author of the ' Pauper's Drive ; ' the Music composed by 

 F. Lancellot, and respectfully dedicated to Lord John 

 Russell. 



" They knew that I was poor, 



And they thought that I was base. 

 And would readily endure 



To be cover'd with disgrace. 

 They judged me of their tribe 



Who on dirty Mammon dote. 

 So they off"er'd me a bribe 



For my vote, boys, vote ! 

 So they offer'd me a bribe for my vote. 

 shame upon my betters, 



Who would my conscience buy I 

 But shall I wear their fetters ? 



No, no, no, no, no, 

 Not I, indeed, not I. 



" My vote ? It is not mine, 



To do with as I will ; 

 To cast, like pearls to swine. 



To these wallowers in ill. 

 It is my country's due. 



And I'll give it, while I can, 

 To the honest and the true. 



Like a man, boys, man ! 



shame, &c. 



" What though these men be rich, 

 And what though I be poor, 



1 would perish in a ditch 



Ere I'd listen to their lure. 

 They may treat me as a prey, 



But their vengeance shall be braved, 

 I've a soul as well as thej- 



To be saved, boys, saved ! 

 O shame, &c. 

 " Did I swallow down the hook 



That was baited by the base, 

 How could I dare to look 



My young ones in the face ? 

 Could 1 teach them ' the right way,' 



While I heard a voice within 

 Keproach me night and day 



With my sin, boys, sin I 

 O shame, &c. 



" No, no ; I'll hold my vote 



As a treasure and a trust ; 

 My dishonour none shall quote. 



When I'm mingled with the dust; 

 And my children, when I'm gone. 



Shall be strengthen'd by the thought, 

 That their father was not one 



To be bought, boys, bought ! 

 shame." &c. 



