ond §, No 14, Apri 5.°56.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
273 
to revive that true spirit of Christianity, which was so 
much the glory of primitive times. And I see no reason 
why men may not meet together to improve one another 
in christian knowledge, and by mutual advice take mea- 
sures how best to farther their own salvation, as well as 
promote that of their neighbours, when the same liberty 
is taken for the improvement of trade and for carrying on 
the pleasures and diversions of life.” 
Ihave quoted the passage at length, because 
this preface is totally omitted in many modern re- 
prints; and my object is to inquire for some in- 
formation respecting the Religious Societies here 
alluded to. Where can the View of the Religious 
Societies mentioned in the margin be seen ? 
While on the subject of Nelson’s admirable 
book, may I also ask on what authority the head- 
ings of “the collects and prayers for each so- 
lemnity”” rest? There are none in the edition of 
1704, the second edition; and therefore, I sup- 
pose, none in the original edition of 1703: but in 
modern reprints headings appear. In a recent 
edition from the S. P. C. K., the collect for 
Christmas Day bears the title “A Prayer for 
Regeneration:” this surely does not betoken 
Nelson’s own hand. A. A.D. 
{The allusion in Nelson’s preface is to the Orders of 
one of the numerous Societies which sprung up between 
1684 and 1712 for the Reformation of Manners, and which 
occasioned the publication of the following works: 1. An 
Account of the Societies for Reformation of Manners in 
London and Westminster and other parts of the Kingdom, 
8vo. and 4to., 1699, frequently republished. 2. An Ac- 
count of the Rise and Progress of the Religious Societies in 
the City of London, &e. By Josiah Woodward, D.D., 
12mo., fourth edition, 1712. At p. 107. the Orders of the 
Poplar Branch are quoted. Watt. in his Bibliotheca 
notices sixteen sermons preached for these societies. 
Nelson’s Fasts and Festivals first appeared in 1703, and 
eight or nine editions, with considerable additions, were 
published before -his death, which took place on Jan. 16, 
1714, The fourth edition contains the heading of the 
collects and prayers as now printed by the Christian 
Knowledge Society. (See Mr. Marriot’s letter in the 
British Magazine, vol. xxi. p.417.) Although “renova- 
tion” is a more correct heading than “regeneration ” for 
the Christmas Day collect, it is a singular coincidence 
that the latter word is the heading to the same collect in 
the new edition of Bishop Wilson’s Sacra Privata, pub- 
lished from the bishop’s own manuscript in Sion College. ] 
Hanging for Nonconformity. — Not a mile from 
this town is a spot of ground, till three winters 
o common or waste land, called Gallows Green. 
radition says that there two men were hanged, 
their crime nonconformity to the established re- 
ligion. Will any orte kindly say in what year this 
tragedy was enacted, and what were the names of 
the victims ? Joun P, SrrnweEtt. 
Dorking. 
[The following extract relating to this spot may assist 
in the solution of our correspondent’s query: “ By the 
Dorking parish registers of burials, it appears that the 
assizes were held here in 1625, 1636, 1637, 1639, 1647, 
1668, and 1669, in which years several criminals who had 
been condemned were executed here, and buried in the 
churchyard. The place of execution was in a sandy 
lane at the south end of the town, leading to Boar Hill, 
and which is now sometimes called Gallows Lane. There 
is no similar entry since 1669.” — Manning and Bray’s 
Surrey, vol. iii. p. cxxx., Appendix. ] 
Galway Juries. —In what way, and when, did 
Galway juries acquire a character for intelligence 
and integrity beyond that of any other juries in 
Ireland ? ABHBA. 
[The Galway jurors are celebrated in Irish history for 
resisting the commission’of the Earl of Strafford in 1635, 
to inquire by the oaths of a jury what estate, right, or 
title, the king had to every county in the province. 
Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, and Mayo, found the king’s 
title without scruple; but this arbitrary measure met 
with the most determined opposition at Galway; for 
upon their refusing to find a title in the crown to the 
estates of their countrymen, the sheriff was fined in 10002, 
the jurors in 40007. each, and to be imprisoned until the 
fines were paid. This circumstance is noticed in Hardi- 
man’s History of Galway, p. 104., and in Dr. Curry’s 
Review of the Civil Wars in Ireland, vol, i. p. 153. ] 
‘Nolo episcopari.” — When and by whom was 
this phrase first used? I am told that an im- 
pression prevails among certain classes, that when 
a bishop is consecrated, he pronounces the words 
“ Nolo episcopari.” Bo H.C. 
[ Mr. Christian, in a note on Blackstone’s Commentaries, 
book 1. ch. xi. vol. i. p. 380., says, “It is a prevailing 
vulgar error that every bishop, before he accepts the 
bishoprick which is offered him, affects a maiden coyness, 
and answers ‘ Nolo episcopari.’ The origin of these words 
and this notion I have not been able to discover; the 
bishops certainly give no such refusal at present, and I 
am inclined to think they never did at any time in this 
country,” | 
Replies. 
PROGNOSTICATIONS DRAWN FROM THE DAY OF THE 
WEEK ON WHICH THE NEW YEAR COMMENCES. 
I shall, perhaps, comply with the request of 
E. G. R. (2° 8. i. 203 ) most effectually by tran- 
scribing the whole series of prognostications con- 
tained in the Cambridge MS. Ff&y. 48. fol. 74, b.sq. 
They are very curious, and had already arrested 
my attention while engaged, with others, in pre- 
paring the new Catalogue of our University MSS. 
«A man pt will of wisdam lere 
Herkyn to p° boke of profetts here, 
Listene swithe and vynderstonde 
Off prophecy and lawe of londe. 
Ther was sum tyme an olde prophett 
Ezechiel forsoth he hett 
He was in p® lond of byhest 
Gode and gret clerk with pb best, 
He cowthe speke well latyne, 
He went to b° scole of devyne ; 
berin he sped hym right well 
Of p* maist of law syvell; 
Off astronomy he couthe inough, 
His wisdam into a hoke he drogh, 
