406 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Ko. 55. 



" Res Deus nostras celeri citatas 

 Turbine versat." 

 " Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas, 

 Pejus merenti melior, ct pejor bono." 

 On I1L3 restoration Du Garcl pleasantly re- 

 torted, — 

 " Du Gardum scquitur Stephanus, Stephanumque 

 vicissim, 

 Du Gardus : series versat utrinquc Deus." 



M. W. 



OuErtCiS. 



DRYDEn's " ABSAXOM AND ACHITOPHEL." 



In my small library I Lave neither Malone's 

 ^if^ of Drydeu, nor that of more recent date by 

 Sir AV alter Scott; and, possibly, either of those 

 woi'lis woultl i-ender my present Quei-y needless. 

 It relates to a copy oi Absalom and Achitophel now 

 lying before me, which is a mere chap-book, 

 printed on bad paper, in the most economical 

 manner, and obviously intended to be sold at a 

 very reasonable rate : indeed, at the bottom of the 

 title-page, which is dated "1708," we are told 

 that it was " Printed and sold by H. Hills, in 

 Black-fryars, near the Water-side, /or the Benefit 

 of the Poor." It consists of twenty-four pages, 

 small 8vo., and, in order that the poem should not 

 occupy too much space, one of the pages (p. 22.) 

 is in a smaller type, and in double columns. At 

 the end is the following singular 



" ADVEKTISEMEXT. 



" To prevent tlie publicks being impos'd on, this is 

 to give notice that the book lately published in 4to. 

 is very imperfect and uncorrect, in so much that above 

 thirty lines are omitted in several places, and many 

 gross errors committed, whicli pervert the sense." 



The above is in Italic type, and the body of the 

 tract consists of only iho first part of Absalom and 

 Achitophel, as ordinarily printed : allowing for 

 misprints (which ai-e tolerably numerous), the 

 poem stands very much the same as in several 

 common editions I have at hand. My Query is, 

 Is the work known to have been so published "for 

 the benefit of the poor,"and inordertogive itgreater 

 circulation, and what is the explanation of the 

 " Advertisement ? " Tu£ Hermit of Holypok r. 



N.B. A short " Key " follows the usual address 

 "To the Reader." 



Edward the Confessoi-s Crucifix and Gold Chain. 

 — In 1G88 Ch. Taylour published A Narrative of 

 the Finding St. Edward the King and Confessors 

 Crucifix and Gold Chain in the Abbey Church of 

 St. Peter''s, Westminster. Are the circumstances 



attending this discovery well known ? And where 

 now is the crucifix and chain ? 



Edwabd F. Rimbatjet. 



The Widow of the Wood. — Benjamin Victor 

 published in 1755 a "narrative" entitled The 

 Widoic of the Wood. It is said to be very rare, 

 having been " bought up " by the AVolseleys of 

 Staffordshire. What is the history of the publi- 

 cation ? Edward F. Rimbault. 



Cardinal Ershine. — I am anxious to obtain 

 some information respecting Cardinal Erskine, a 

 Scotchman, as his name would impart, but called 

 Cardinal of England ? I suppose he was elevated 

 to the sacred college between Cardinal Howard, 

 the last mentioned by Dodd in his Church History, 

 and the Cardinal of York, the last scion of the 

 house of Stuart. 



And is the following a correct list of English 

 Cardinals since Wolsey, who died in 1530 ? 



Elevated ia 

 John Fl>Iier, Bishop of Rochester - - 1535 

 Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury - 15,36 

 AVilliam Peyto, Bishop of Salisbury - - 1557 



AVilliam Allen 1587 



Philip Howard 1675 



Erskine - - . . • 



Henry Stuart of York - - . . 1747 



Thomas Weld 1«30 



Charles Acton ... is.39 or 1842 



Nicolas Wiseman, who is the 53rd on the list 



of English Cardinals - - . . 1850 



Both the latter were born abroad ; the former at 

 Naples, the latter at Seville : but they were born 

 of British subjects, and were brought to England 

 at an early age to be educated. The Cardinal of 

 York was born in Rome ; but being of the royal 

 family of England, was always styled the Cardinal 

 of England. G. W. 



October 2G. 1 8.50. 



Thomas Regiolapidensis. — Where can I find 

 any information as to the saint who figures in the 

 following curious story ? Begiolapidensis may 

 probably mean of Konigstein, in Saxony ; but 

 Albon Butler takes no notice of this Thomas. 



" Incipit narratiuncula e libro vingto, cui titulus 

 Vita atij. Gesta B. Thomcc Hegiolapidtnsis, ex ordine 

 FF. Prccdicatorum, excerpta. 



•' Quuni vero pra;dicator indefensus, misslonum ec- 

 clesiasticarum causa, in borealibus versaretur partibus, 

 miraculuni ibi stupendum sane patravit. Conspexit 

 enim taurum ingentem, vaccarum (sicut poiita quidam 

 ex ethnicis ait) ' magna comitante caterva,' in prato 

 quodani graminoso ferocientem, niaceria tantum bassd 

 inter se et belluam istam horrendam interposita. Con- 

 stitit Thomas, constitit et bos, horribiliter rugiens, 

 Cauda erecta, cornibus immaniter sjevicns, ore spumam, 

 naribus vaporem, oculis fulgur emittens, maceriam 

 transsilire, in virum sanctum irruere, corpusque ejus 

 venerabile in aera jactitare, visibiliter nimis paratus. 



