432 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»i S. IX. June 2. '60. 



refutation is inadmissible? This is both unjust 

 and ungenerous. F. C. II. 



LEWIS AND KOTSKA. 

 (1 st S. xii. 135.; 2 nd S. iii. 93., ix. 183.) 

 I think there is some exaggeration in the state- 

 ment that the saints " were killed, whether with 

 their own consent or not is uncertain, by being 

 laid on the bare stone floors, when sick from 

 starvation and penance." Sacchinus thus de- 

 scribes the death of Kotska : — 



" Inde institit, ut sinerent humi sese abjectum, ultimum 

 exbalare spiritnm : quod cum primo Rector negasset, ite- 

 rum instanti, ex parte indulgendum ratus, hactenus con- 

 cessit, ut humi cum culcitra stemerctur. Ita liumi jacens, 

 divinissima mysteria, et sua ac circumstantium conso- 

 latione magna suscepit ; ad preces, quce adhibebantur, 

 atteute, pieque respondeus," p. 47. 



"Adedque leniter felix ille animus ab suo corpusculo, 

 quod iidelissimum socium, atquc administrum habuerat, 

 segregatus est; cique tarn vividum colorem, oculos usque 

 eo nitentes reliquit, ut adstantes migratio fefellerit ; man- 

 sitque deinceps venustissima in ore demortui species, 

 quasi leniter et dulce renidentis." — Vita Beat i Stanislai 

 Kotskce, p. 49. Ingolstadii, 1609, 12mo. 



In the Tragicomcedia, quoted by me (2 nd S. iii. 

 93.) in the argument of the fourth act, Ludovicus, 

 being aware of his approaching death, goes to the 

 cell of Stanislaus Kotska : — 



"Ingressus deinde illud idem cubiculum, in quo Sta- 

 nislaus dicessit e vita, ejusque facinora tabellis circum 

 undique appensis, mandata miratus, maxime invidet feli- 

 cissima: mortis maturitatem; quam h Deo impetrasse 

 societati nuntiet." 



I can find no account of Ghisberto. The only 

 picture relating to these saints which I have seen 

 was among the " Old Masters " at the British In- 

 stitution, 1851. It is described in the Catalogue, 



" St. Louis di Gonzaga, eldest son of the Duke of 

 Mantua, who abdicated bis succession in favour of his 

 brother, and entered the societ}' of the Jesuits in the ICth 

 century. Guercino. The property of G. Giant, Esq." 



It is a large and beautiful picture, and, if I re- 

 member rightly, it represents an angel appearing 

 to the young saint as he is praying. There are, 

 no doubt, many other pictures about which in- 

 formation will be acceptable. 



The books which I have cited are old, and not 

 likely to understate austerities. I mention this 

 because, in new and revised editions, many strange 

 things are omitted and others " rationally " inter- 

 preted, or softened. This has happened to no one 

 more than to St. Francis. Thus in La Vie Intime 

 de St. Franqois ci 'Assise, Aix, 1858, published with 

 the approbation of the archbishop, Frere Loup is 

 a bandit converted by St. Francis, who receives 

 the dress of the order, and the name of " Frere 

 Agnelle," — a great change from Frater Lupus in 

 L' Alcoran des Cordeliers, i. 214., and the Fra 

 Lupo described in " N. & Q." 1" S. xi. 387. The 

 sermons to the birds and the fishes are greatly 



modified. In L" Alcoran, i. 225., is a plate of St. 

 Francis rolling naked in the snow, and (ii. 69.) 

 another of him lying down on a large fire, from 

 which it would seem that his desires were so 

 strong that he tried homoeopathy as well as allo- 

 pathy, and succeeded with each. The cuts are by 

 Picart; the edition, Amsterdam, 1734. H. B. C. 

 U. U. Club. 



The article thus headed relates to Saint Aloy- 

 sius Gonzaga, and Saint Stanislas Kostka. Now 

 the first was not laid on the floor, but died in his 

 bed ; the second earnestly requested, in the spirit 

 of humility and penance, to be laid on the floor 

 to receive the last Sacraments, and to die thus in 

 the posture of a penitent. His request was with 

 difficulty granted, but a blanket was spread upon 

 the floor, and the dying saint was laid upon it. 

 This was in the afternoon, and he died a little 

 after three the next morning. His death oc- 

 curred on the 15 th of August, at Rome, in a 

 warm country, and in the hottest month in the 

 year, so that there is no truth in the assertion 

 that he died " from cold on the bare stone floor." 



F. C. H. 



An Essay of Afflictions (2 nJ S. ix. 388.) — 

 There can be no doubt that Wood is correct in 

 ascribing this tract to Sir John Monson. As G. 

 M. G. has seen this rare little volume, it is sin- 

 gular he did not observe the monogram of John 

 Monson which is affixed to the title-page, and 

 also to the preliminary address with the date 

 20 April, 1646. Sir John Monson was then with 

 Charles I. at Oxford. He remained there on the 

 King's flight, and as a Commissioner for the sur- 

 render was lauded for his upright conduct by 

 both his own and the opposite party. The tract 

 was reprinted after the Restoration, and the se- 

 cond edition is equally scarce. Neither are to be 

 found in the British Museum or Bodleian Library. 



Another little essay by Sir John Monson, An 

 Antidote against Error in Opinion, was printed 

 privately at the same time, 1647, and again re- 

 published in 1661-2. The monogram is not at- 

 tached to this, but it bears internal evidence of 

 the same authorship, to any one who might know 

 Sir John's works. He published two other very 

 similar books later in Charles the Second's reign. 

 They abound in references to and quotations from ■ 

 the Bible and- the classics. The Antidote is dedi- 

 cated " To the Right Honourable and most worthy 

 of all Honour," with a monogram containing the 

 letters B. C. H. K., beginning " My Honoured 

 Lord," and ending " Your Lordships in all affec- 

 tion to be disposed of." He states that the per- 

 son addressed had already seen the work in loose 

 papers, but he " did not presume to pass it under 

 his name, as he denied it the subscription of his 

 own." 



