bring tweyne of his neighbours; and in the meyn time, the said bailiff shal take with him tweyne of the freeholders of the lordship of Whichenour, and they three shal goe to the manour of Rudlowe, belonging to Robert Knyghtleye, and there shal somon the forsaid Knyghtleye, or his bailiffe, commanding hym to be ready at Whichenour, the day appointed, at pryme of the day, with his carriage, that is to say, a horse, and a sadyle, a sakke and a pryke, (i. e. spur) for to convey and carry the said baconne and corne a journey owt of the countee of Stafford, at his costages; and then the said bailiffe shal, with the said freeholders, somon all the tenaunts of the said manior, to be ready at the day appoynted, at Whichenour, for to doe and performe the services which they owe to the baconne; and at the day assigned, all such as owe services to the baconne shal be ready at the gatte of the manoir of Whichenour, frome the sonne risinge to noone, attendyng and awayting for the comyng of hym that fecheth the baconne; and when he is comyn, there shal be delivered to hym and his fellowes chapeletts, and to all those whiche shal be there, to doe their services deue to the baconne; and they shal lede the seid demandant wythe trompets and tabours, and other manner of mynstralscye to the hall dore, where he shal fynde the lord of Whichenour, or his steward, redy to deliver the baconne in this manere.

"He shall enquere of hym which demandeth the baconne, if he have brought tweyne of his neighbours with him, which must answere, they be here ready:' and then the steward shall cause theis two neighbours to swere, yf the said demandant be a weddyt man, or have been a man weddyt: and yf syth his marriage one yere and a day be passed: and if he be freeman or villeyn. And if his said neighbours make othe that he hath for hym all theis three poynts rehersed, then shal the baconne be take downe, and brought to the halle dore, and shall there be layd upon one half a quarter of wheatte, and upon one other of rye. And he that demandeth the baconne, shal kneel upon his knee, and shal hold his right hande upon a booke, which booke shall be layd above the baconne and the corne, and shall make oath in this manere:

"Here ye, Sir Philip de Somervyle, lord of Whichenour, mayntayner and giver of this baconne, that I, A. syth I wedded B., my wife, and syth I had her in my keeping, and at my wylle, by a yere and a daye after our marryage, I wold not have chaunged for none other, farer ne fowler, richer ne powrer, ne for none other descended of gretter lynage, slepyng ne waking, at noo tyme. And if the said B. were sole, and I sole, I wolde take her to be my wife before all the wymen of the worlde, of what condytions soever they be, good or evyle, so helpe me God and his seyntys, and this flesh and all fleshes.'

:

"And his neighbours shall make oath, that they trust verily he hath said truly: and yf it be founde by neighbours before-named, that he be a free man, there shall be delyvered to him half a quarter of wheatte and a cheese and yf he be a villein, he shall have half a quarter of rye, without cheese; and then shal Knyghtley, the lord of Rudlowe, be called for to carry all theis thynges to fore rehersed: and the said corne shal be layd upon one horse, and the baconne above yt, and he to whom the baconne apperteigneth, shal ascend upon his horse, and shall take the cheese before hym, if he have a horse, and yf he have none, the lord of Whichenour shall cause him to have one horse and sadyl, to such tyme as he passed his lordshippe; and so shall they departe the manoyr of Whichenour, with the corne and the baconne to fore him that hath wonne yt, with trompets, tabourets, and other manoir of mynstralcye.-And all the free tenants of Whichenour shall conduct him to be passed the lordship of Whichenour, and then shall all they retorne, except hym to whom apperteigneth to make the carriage and journey withoutte the countye of Stafford, at the costys of his lord of Whichenour. And if the said Robert Knightley doe not cause the baconne and corne to be conveyed as is rehearsed, the lord of Whichenour shall do it to be carried, and shall distreigne the said Robert Knightley for his default, for one hundred shillings in his manoir of Rudlow, and shale kepe the distresse sotakyn, irreplevisable."

*

COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE'S EPITAPH.

THE well known epitaph of the celebrated countess of Pembroke, the sister of Sir Philip Sidney, has been generally ascribed to Ben Jonson. The first stanza is printed in Jonson's Poems; but it is found in the MS. volume of Poems, by William Browne, the author of "Britannia's Pastorals," preserved in the Lansdown collection, British Museum, No. 777; and on this evidence, may be fairly appropriated to him, particularly as it is known that he was a great favourite with William, earl of Pembroke, son of the countess.

Dr. Aikin, in his last edition of the British Poets, printed in 1820, gives the first verse as Jonson's, though this evidence (with which he ought to have been acquainted) is sufficient to establish the fact of authorship.

On the Countess Dowager of Pembroke.
"Underneath this sable hearse
Lies the subject of all verse;

SYDNEY'S sister! PEMBROKE's mother!
Death, ere thou hast slain another,
Fair, and learn'd, and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee!

Marble piles let no man raise
To her name for after days;
Some kind woman, born as she,
Reading this, like Niobe

Shall turn marble, and become
Both her mourner and her tomb.

THE TWO ROGUES.

It was thought very witty in lord North, when speaking of two brothers, who were celebrated contractors, to denominate one "a rogue in spirit," and the other" a rogue in grain." Of the truth of the appellation, we know nothing; since, although one of the persons, (the "rogue in grain,") underwent the ignominious punishment of the pillory, yet parliament reversed the sentence, and afterwards admitted him as one of its members.

Some have denied to lord North the merit of originality, in the designation he gave to the corn contractor, and have attributed it to Dr. Bentley, who embodied it in an epigram. The fact is, that it originated with neither of them, but is to be found in the following epigram, by Robert Heath, whose works were printed in 1650.

"A ROGUE IN GRAIN.

To Pistor.

"When Pistor's bread is found too light, 'tis sent
To the poor prisoners for his punishment:

I do not approv't; 'tis charity mistane,

Pistor, you're still an arrant rogue in grain.”

POETICAL TRIBUTES ON THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

IN a MS. at the British Museum, No. 4712, in Ayscough's Catalogue, there is the following verses on the death of queen Elizabeth, which will be admired for their force and quaint

ness.

Britannia Lachrymæ.

Weep, little Isle ! and for thy mistress' death,
Swim in a double sea of brakish water!

Weep, little world! for great Elizabeth,

Daughter of warre, for Mars himself begat her!

Mother of Peace, for she bore the latter.

She was and is (what can there more be said?)
On earth the first, in heaven the second maid.

On the funeral of the maiden queen, a poet of the day described the national grief in the following stanzas:

The queen was brought by water to Whitehall,

At

every stroke the oars did tears let fall;

More clung about the barge; fish under water
Wept out their eyes of pearle, and swome blind after.
I think the bargemen might, with easier thighs,

Have row'd her thither in her people's eyes;

For, howsoe'er, thus much my thoughts have scann'd,
Sh'ad come by water had she come by land.

FUNERAL SERMON ON OLIVER CROMWELL.

ON the death of Oliver Cromwell, one Edward Matthews dedicated a funeral sermon to his son Richard, in very singular terms. It was entitled "Threrie Hybernici; or, Ireland sympathizing with England and Scotland, in a sad lamentation for the loss of her Josiah, represented in a sermon preached at Christ Church, in Dublin, before his excellency, the lord deputy, with divers of the nobility, gentry, and commonality, there assembled to celebrate a funeral solemnity, upon the death of the late lord protector. By Dr. Harrison, chief chaplain to his said excellency.

And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him, 2 Chron. xxv. 24. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamenta

tion, Ezek. xix. 14. 4 Reg. xiii. 14. Pater mê, currus Israel, et auriga ejus. 4 Reg. ii. 12.

"Cicer. Somn. Scip. Omnibus qui patriam conservarint, adjuverint, auxerint, certus est in cæno ac definitus locus, ubi beati ævo sempiterno fruentur.

"Senec. Nunquam Stygias fertur ad umbras inclita

virtus.

"London: Printed by E. Cotes; and are to be sold by John North, bookseller, in Častle Street, at Dublin, in Ireland,

1659."

The following is the Dedication.

"To the most illustrious Richard, lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging :

"May it please your highness: It was a saying of David, (Psalm cxii. 6.) the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance; and of Solomon, (Prov. x. 7.) the memorial of the just shall be blessed. Divine Providence made it my lot to hear this sermon pathetically delivered by that pious divine, Dr. Harrison, in a full, fluent manner, extracting tears from the eyes, and sighs from the hearts, of the hearers. I moved the doctor for the printing thereof, being so precious a piece, touching so unparalleled a person, that it was more fit to be made public, than perish in oblivion; who, in a modest manner, termed it a sudden, imperfect, and unpolished collection of scattered thoughts and notes, which brevity of time, and burthen of spirit, would not permit him more completely to compile; yet, upon my importunity, he was pleased to condescend to my motion, and delivered me this copy, now printed, written with his own hand. The usefulness of the piece, replete with so many observations, together with the desire of erecting all lasting monuments that might tend to the eternising of the blessed memory of that thrice renowned patron and pattern of piety, your royal father (whose pious life is his never-perishing pyramid, every man's heart being his tomb, and every good man's heart an epitaph), hath emboldened me, in all humility, to present it to your highness as a lively effigies to mind you of his matchless virtues. And, as the learned author intended it, not so much for the eye or ear, as for the heart; not for reading only, but practice principally; so may your highness please to make use thereof, as a pattern of imitation for piety and reformation in the nations. That your highness may become a successful successor of such a peerless predecessor, to inherit his goodness with his greatness, that