Sept. 17. 1853.] 



XOTES AND QUERIES. 



273 



Sir Ralph Winwood, private secretary to James I., 

 and should feel much obliged if any of your nu- 

 merous correspondents would favour me with any- 

 thing they may know concerning him, or with the 

 titles of any works in which his name is mentioned. 



H. P. W. R. 



[Ciograpliical notices of Sir Ralph Winwood will 

 be found in Biographia Britamiica, Supplement ; Lloyd's 

 State Worthies; VI ooA's AthencB ; Granger and Chal- 

 mers' Biographical Dictionaries. Sir F. Drake's Voyage, 

 by T. Maynarde, is dedicated to him. Letters to him 

 from Sir Thomas Roe, in 1615, 1616, are in the 

 British Museum, Add. MS. 6115. fol. 71. 75. 146. 

 And a letter to him from Sir Dudley Carlton will be 

 found in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ivii. p. 143. 

 The Diaries of the time of James L may also be con- 

 sulted ; a list of them is given in " N. & Q.," Vol. vi., 

 p. ^6S.'] 



BOOKS CHAINED TO DESKS IN CHURCHES. 



(Vol.viii., p.93.) 



The authority for this ancient custom appears 

 to be derived from an act of the Convocation which 

 assembled in 1562. Strype informs us (^Annals, 

 vol. i. c. 27.) that at this Convocation the follow- 

 ing injunctions were given : 



" First, That a Catechism be set forth in Latin, 

 whicli is already done by Mr. Dean of Paul's [Dean 

 No well], and wanteth only viewing. Secondly, That 

 certain Articles [the Thirty-nine Articles], containing 

 the principal grounds of Christian religion, be set forth 

 much like to such Articles as were set forth a little 

 before the death of King Edward, of which Articles 

 the most part may be used with additions and correc- 

 tions as shall be thought convenient. Thirdly, That 

 to these Articles also be adjoined the Apology, writ by 

 Bishop Jewell, lately set forth after it, hath been once 

 again revised and so augmented and corrected as occa- 

 sion serveth. That these be joined in one book ; and 

 'by common consent authorised as containing true doc- 

 trine, and be enjoined to be taught the youth in the 

 Universities and grammar schools throughout the 

 realm, and also in cathedral churches, and collegiate, 

 and in private houses : and that whosoever shall preach, 

 declare, write, or speak anything in derogation, de- 

 praving or despising of the said book, or any doctrine 

 therein contained, and be thereof lawfully convicted 

 before any ordinary, &c., he shall be ordered as in case 

 of heresy, or else shall be punished as is appointed for 

 those that offend and speak against the Book of Com- 

 mon Prayer, set forth in the first year of the Queen's 

 Majesty's reign that now is : that is to say, he shall 

 for the first offence forfeit 100 marks ; for the second 

 offence, 400 marks ; and for the third offence, all his 

 goods and chattels, and shall suffer imprisonment 

 during life." 



It is probable that this book found a place in 

 churches as affording a standard of orthodoxy 

 easy of reference to congregations in times not 



sufficiently remote from the Reformation, to render 

 the preaching of Romish doctrines unlikely. This, 

 if the surmise be correct, would be emphatically 

 to bring the officiating minister to book. In Prest- 

 wich Church, the desk. yet remains, together with 

 the " Book of Articles," bound up as prescribed 

 with Jewel's Apology (black-letter, 1611), but the 

 chain has disappeared. The neighbouring church 

 of BIngley has also Its desk, to which the chain is 

 still attached; but the "Book of Articles" has 

 given place to some more modern volume. 



John Bookek. 

 Prestwich. 



Mr. Simpson will find some account of the 

 Paraphrase of Erasmus so chained (of which he 

 says he cannot recal an instance) at Vol i., p. 172., 

 and Vol. v., p. 332. 



The following list (remains of which more or 

 less perfect, with chains appended, are still ex- 

 tant) will probably be Interesting to many of your 

 readers : 



" Boohs chayned in the Church, 25th April, 1606. 

 Dionisius Carthusian vpon the New Testament, ia 

 two volumes. 



Origen vpon St. Paules Epistle to the Romanes. 



Origen against Celsus. 



Lira vpon Pentathucke of Moses. 



Lira vpon the Kings, &c. 



Theophilact vpon the New Testam'. 



Beda vpon Luke and other P" of the Testam*. 



Opuscula Augustini, thome x. 



Augustini Questiones in Nouu Tcstamentii. 



The Paraphrase of Erasmus. 



The Defence of the Apologye. 



Prierius Postill vpon the Dominicall Gospells." 



From Ecclesfield Church accounts. 

 J. Eastwood. 



In Malvern Abbey Church is a copy of Deau 

 Combei''s Companion to the Temple, chained to 

 a desk, and bearing a written inscription to the 

 effect that it should never be removed out of the 

 church ; but should remain chained to Its desk 

 for ever, for the use of any parishioner who might 

 choose to come in and read it there. 



N. B. I have mislaid my copy of this Inscrip- 

 tion : and should feel greatly obliged to any of 

 your correspondents who may be residing in or 

 near Great Malvern, for a transcript of It. As it 

 may be thought somewhat long for your pages, 

 perhaps some correspondent would kindly copy it 

 out for me, and inclose it to Rev. H. T. GRirriTH, 

 Hull. 



University Club. 



EPITAPHS. 



(Vol. vll. passim^ 

 A goodly collection of singular epitaphs has ap- 

 peared in "N. & Q." ; but I believe it yet lacks 



