1808.] 
as she was going along, every body fell 
down on their knees, The ladies of the 
court followed next to her, very hand- 
some and well shaped, and for the most 
part, dressed in white: she was guarded 
on each side by the gentlemen pensioners, 
fifty in number, with giltbattle axes. In 
the antichapel next the hall, where we 
were, petitions were presented to her, and 
she read them most graciously, which oc- 
easioned the acclamation of * Long live 
queen Elizabeth.’ She answered it with 
“[ thank you, my good people.’ In the 
chapel was excellent music. As soon as 
the service was over, which scarce ex- 
ceeded balfan hour, the queen returned 
in the same state and order, and prepared 
to goto dinner. But while she was still 
at prayers, we saw her table set out with 
the following solemnity :— 
“« A ventleman entered the room, bear- 
ing a rod, and along with him another,. 
> ? > >) 
who had _ a table ciuth, which, after they 
had both kneeled three times with the 
utmost veneration, he spread upon the 
table, and after kneeling again they both 
retired. Then came two others, one 
with a sait-seller, a plate, and bread; 
when they had kneeled, as the others had 
done, and placed what was brought upon 
the table, they too retired, with the same 
ceremonies performed by the first. At 
last came an unmarried lady (we were 
told she was a countess) and along with 
her amarried one, hearing atasting knife ; 
the former was dressed in white silk, who, 
when. she had prostrated herself three 
times in the most graceful manner, ap- 
proached the table, and rubbed the plates 
with bread and salt with as much air as 
if the queen had been present; when 
they had waited there a little while, the 
yeomen of the guards entered barehead- 
ed, clothed_in scarlet, with a golden rose 
upon their backs, bringing in at each turn 
a course of twenty-four dishes, served in 
plate, most of it gilt; these dishes were 
received hy a gentleman, in the same or- 
der they were brought, and placed upon 
the table while the lady-taster gave to 
each of the guards a mouthful to eat of 
the particular dish he had brought, for 
fear of any poison. During the time that 
this guard, which consists of the tallest 
and stoutest men that can be found in all 
England, being carefully selected for this 
service, were bringing. dinner, tweive 
trumpets, and two kettle drums made the 
hail ring for halfan hour together. At 
the end of all this ceremonial, a number 
of unmarried ladies appeared, who with 
Extracts from the Port-folw of a Man of Letters. 
569 
particular solemnity lifted the meat off 
the table, and conveyed it into the queen’s 
inner aid more private apartment, where 
after she has chosen for herself, the rest 
goes to the ladies of the court. 
““ The queen dines, and sups alone, 
with very few aitendants; and it is very 
seldom that any body, foreigner or native, 
is admitted at that time, and then only at 
the intercession of somebody in power.” 
SEDITIOUS SERMONS. 
Inthe year 1622, the privy council, by 
the direction of King James, wrote toCam- 
bridge university concerning awicked ser- 
mou preached by one Knight, who shelter- 
ed himself under the doctrine taught by 
Pareus in his Commentary on the Thir- 
teenth Chapter of Romans, which the 
bishops had declared seditious, scanda- 
lous, and contrary tothe Scriptures. The 
heads of the university were therefore 
enjoined to stop such doctrines, and to 
search all the libraries; and in case any 
such books were found there, to burn 
them. 
DR. THORNDIKE. 
Dr. Herbert Thorndike was a fellow of 
Trinity college, Cambridge, and proctor of 
the university mm 1638. On the death of 
Dr.Ward, he was elected master of Sidney 
college, but was for some time kept out 
of his situation by the violence of the 
times. He leaned to the churchof Rome, 
probably in some degree from his utter 
aversion to the sectaries of the day. He 
maintained that the Romish-was the true 
church, that the pope was not antichrist, 
and the papists not idolaters. He died 
prebendary of Westminster in 1672. He 
assisted in the Polyglot bible, 
ARCHBISHOP SANCROFT, 
Dr. Cosins, bishop of Durham, made 
Dr. Sancroft a prebendary of his cathe- 
dralin 1661, and adopted him as his most - 
intimate friend and confidant, princi« 
pally on account of his surprising clas- 
sical attainments, 
LAWS OF COURSING. 
The following ‘Laws of the Leash’ or 
Coursing,’ were established by Thomas 
Duke of Norfolk in the reign of queen 
Elizabeth :—_ 
“¢ First, it was ordered, that he which 
was chosen fewterer, or letter loose of the 
greyhounds, should receive the Grey- 
hounds match to run together into his 
leash, as soon as he came into the field, 
and to follow next to the hare-finder, till 
he came unto the form: and no horse:nan 
nor footman, on pain of disgrace, to ga 
before them, or on either side, but di. 
rectly 
