132 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 95. 



his death by a splinter of his spear running into the 

 kind's eye. But most probably she was tlie widow of 

 that lord's son, whicli I conjecture from the distance of 

 the time of that king's death to her death, which must 

 needs be near seventy years, as she lived at Cloford to 

 tlie year 1628. She must certainly be a considerable 

 heiress, as several estates came with her into the family, 

 and, among others, Postlebury-woods in particular, and, 

 possibly, also the Puddimore estate ; as her son, Sir 

 John Horner, was the first of the family that presented 

 a clerk to that living in 1639, viz., William Kemp, 

 who was afterwards one of the suffering clergy. Her 

 jointure was 500/. a-year, which was very considerable 

 at that time." 



Can any of your readers assist in elucidating 

 this story, of which no existing family records 

 affoi'd any corroboration, and which the parochial 

 registers of the neighbourhood appear rather to 

 invalidate in some of its statements ? As far as 

 ■we can gather from such sources, the gentleman 

 alluded to in the extract was not George but 

 Thomas Horner, born 1547, M.P. for Somerset- 

 shire 1585, and sheriff 1607, who was buried 1612. 

 He married three times : first, Elizabeth Pollard, 

 who died, as well as her only son John, in 1573; 

 secondly, Jane Popham, who died 1591, having 

 had, amongst other issues, Sir John, born about 

 1580; and thirdly, as it would seem, a person 

 called " The Lady Elizabeth," who had issue 

 Edward, born 1597, and who was buried at 

 Cloford in 1599. Even allowing for the errors 

 attendant upon a tradition, it is scarcely possible 

 that this " Lady Elizabeth" should have been 

 widow of Count Gabriel de Montgomery, — 

 Elizabeth de la Zouch, — who married her first 

 husband in 1549, and was left a widow in 1574. 

 She might have been widow of one of his sons ; 

 though the only two mentioned in the Biogi'aphie 

 Univcrselle, Gabriel and Jacques, left issue, to 

 whom their wives' property would have probably 

 descended. 



The whole matter, as far as I have been able to 

 examine it, is a very obscure one, and yet can 

 hardly, I should think, be without some foundation 

 in fact. The title-deeds of Postlebury and Pud- 

 dimore perhaps would throw light upon it. 



C.W.B. 



POPE AND FLATMAN. 



I possess a small volume entitled ]\Tanchester 

 al Mondo ; Contemplations of Death and Immor- 

 tality, by the Earl of Manchester: the 15th edit., 

 1688. At the end are appended several short but 

 quaint poems on the subject of mortality. One of 

 them is stated to be taken from the " incomparable 

 Poems by the ingenious Mr. Thomas Flatman," 

 and is entitled " A Thought of Death." I have 

 transcribed it side by side with Pope's celebrated 

 ode, " The Dying Christian to his Soul," in which 



some lines run remarkably parallel. Is it probable 

 Pope borrowed his idea of the fine couplet, 

 " Hark ! they whisper ; angels say, 

 Sister Spirit, come away ! " 

 from Flatman? If not, the coincidence is remark- 

 able : has it been noticed before ? Perhaps some 

 of your readers may be better able to enter into 

 the subject than he who communicates this. 



William Babton. 

 19. Winchester Place, South wark Bridge Road, 



"THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL. 



" Vital spark of heavenly flame. 

 Quit, oh quit this mortal frame ! 



* Tremhling, hoping, lingering, flying ; 

 Oh the pain, the bliss of dying ! ' 



Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife. 

 And let me languish into life ! 



j- Hark ! they whisper ; angels say. 

 Sister Spirit, come aioay f 

 What is this absorbs me quite, 

 Steals my senses, shuts my sight. 

 Drowns my spirits, draws my breath ? 

 Tell me, my soul, can this be death ? 



The world recedes ; it disappears 1 

 Hea\en opens on my eyes ; my ears 



With sounds seraphic ring! 

 Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! 1 fly ! 

 O Grave ! where is thy victory? 



O Death 1 where is thy sting?" 



Alexander Pope, 



" a thought of death. 

 " When on my sick Bed I languish. 



Full of sorrow, full of anguish, 

 * Fainting, gasping, trembling, crying. 

 Panting, groaning, speechless, dying. 

 My Soul just now about to take her flight 

 Into the llegions of eternal night ; 

 O tell me, you 

 That have been long below, 

 What shall I do? 

 What shall 1 think when cruel death appears. 



That may extenuate my fears ? 

 f Methinhs I hear some Gentle Spirit say. 



Be not fenrfid, come nway ! 

 Think with tliyself that now thou shall be free, 

 And find thy long-expected liberty. 

 Better thou mayest, but worse thou canst not be, 

 Than in this vale of Tears and Misery. 

 Like Cassar, with assurance then come on, 

 And unamaz'd attempt the Laurel crown 

 That lyes on th' other side Death's Rubicon." 



Thomas Flatman. 



j3iltiiar caucitCiS. 

 80. Southampton Brasses. — French Churcli, 

 otherwise God's House, Southampton. About 

 eight or nine years ago, two monumental brasses 

 were discovered, in making some alterations in 

 this church. I should feel greatly obliged to any 



