ble of explaining this singular piece :" I believe, has any one yet remarked what that other mansion was nor, which had the honour of being the more sequestered retreat of the great Cecil and his son. There can, however, be no question that it was a house in the parish of Edmonton, which Norden, in his Survey of Middlesex, briefly describes as "Pymmes, a proper little house of the right honourable Lord Burghley, Lord High Treasurer of England.9" The Queen prolonged her stay at Theobalds at this time for ten days. On the 16th of the month she "dyned abrode,"—that is, out of her Privychamber," in the chamber called the Queen's Arbor, in company with the French Ambassador and L.” On her Majesty's departure, on the 20th, she bestowed the honour of knighthood on Sir Robert Cecil." "I suppose you have heard," say Sir T. Wylkes in a letter to Sir R. Sydney, "of her Majeson the 18th of June, ty's great entertainment at Tibbuls; of her knighting Sir Robert Cecill, and of the expectation of his advance to the Secretaryship. But so it is (as we said in Court) that the knighthood must serve for both." 8. The next visit was in "1593. June 13. The Queen came to Thebolds, and continued there to the 21st thereof." And then it must have been that Sir Robert Cecil, pursuing her Majesty's former jest of the Hermit, " penned' "the Hermit's Oration at Theobalds," which is printed in Queen Elizabeth's Progresses, vol. iii. pp. 241–245. "I am the poor Hermit," he said, your Majesties Beadman, who, at your last coming hither (where God grant you may com many years), upon my complaynt, by your pryncely favor was restored to my HERMITAGE, by an injunction, when my Founder, uppon a strange conceite, to feed his owne humour, had placed me, contrary to my profession, in his HOUSE, amongst a number of worldlings, and retired himselfe in my poore cell, where I have ever since, by your only goodness (most peerelesse and powerful Queen), lived in all happines, spending three parts of the day in repentance, the fourth in praying for your Majestie, that as your virtues have been the world's wonder, so your dayes may see the world's end. * * 9 Dr. Robinson, in his History of Edmonton, p. 60, says: This house was situated on the north side of Watery Lane; it is now entirely demolished. It took its name from William Pymme, who built it: the family were settled in Edmonton in the reign of Edward II. It is mentioned in the Inquisition on the death of Robert Earl of Salisbury, 1612; as in that of Lord Burghley (see Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, p. 189). On the 12th July 1594," says Lord Burghley in his Diary, "the Queen came to Robert Cecill's house to speak with me." This was probably Pymmes. 10 Lord Burghley's Diary. Some commentator has added a note,- Qu. who is L.? Probably Lord Treasurer Burghley" but it is much more probable that the meaning was, the Ambassador Extraordinary and the Leiger or Resident Ambassador. 11 “May 20. Robert Cecill made Knight at the Queen Majesties removing."Lord Burghley's Diary. 12 i. e. to Pymmes; where, it may be presumed, one of Lord Burghley's grandchildren died, being interred in the parish church of Edmonton, and thus recorded in the register: Frances Vere, fil. Comitis Oxfordiæ, sepult. September 12, 1587 64 the Queen at Theobalds, and followed her to Enfield, must have been in the year 1597, as it was about a year after his father's death, and when his brother had been appointed Chamberlain in the place of Lord Cobham, who died in March 1596-7. "The Queene lay at Theobalds; went that day to Enfield House; and had toiles set up in the parke to shoot at buckes after dinner." 10. On the 7th Sept. 1597 the Queen was again at Theobalds, and there gave audience to the Danish Ambassador. It was her birthday; and the Ambassador "tooke thereby occasion to say, That sithen it had pleased God on that day to glorifie the worlde with so gratious a Creature, who had brought so great happiness to the Realme, and the neighbour Kingdomes, hee doubted not but that the Kinge his maister shoulde in that happy day have an happy answere of his request." To which the Queen made this witty reply: "I blame you not to expect a reason. able answere and a sufficient; but you may think it a great miracle, that a Childe borne at four of the clocke this morning should bee able to auns were so learned and wise a Man as you are, sent from so great a Prince as yours, about so great and waighty affayres as you speake of, and in an unknowne tongue, by three of the clocke in the afternoone." And so, "after using with him more prudent and gracious wordes, shee ended, and gave him leave to depart." And here, after this confident testimony, from the Queen's own mouth, to her skill in languages, of which her Majesty seems to have been not a little proud, we have an opportunity to notice an interlude written by the celebrated Sir John Davies, in which, among other topics of personal adula. tion, Elizabeth's accomplishments as a linguist are particularly alluded to, and which has been connected with the name of Theobalds. It is entitled "A Conference between a Gentleman Huisher and a Poet, before the Queene, at Mr. Secretary's House," and Mr. Nichols has printed it in his Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. iii. pp. 76-78, under the year 1591, supposing it to have been delivered " at Theobalds." But there is nothing to shew that Theobalds was here designated by the title of " Mr. Secretary's house;" and another similar "pretty Dialogue of John Davies, 'twixt a Maid, a Widow, and a Wife" (of which no copy is known), was performed so late as Dec. 1602, at "Mr. Secretary's house" in London; which adjoined on the east to his brother's mansion in the Strand, called Burghley House, and afterwards Exeter 'Change, and was itself called Cecil House, and I believe afterwards Salisbury House. Lord Burghley died in London on the 4th of August 1598; and the Queen is said to have been again at Theobalds on the 5th of the following month; but, as I have found no subsequent notices of Elizabeth being at Theobalds, and have already written to a considerable extent, I will defer the further annals of the mansion, during the next and subsequent reigns, to another letter. 13 Usher.-Art thou a Post, and hast ridden so manie myles, and met with so many men; and hast thou not hard that which all the world knowes, that shee speakes and understands all the languages in the world which are worthy to be spoken or understood?" 14 See Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, iii. 601. FONT IN SHORNE CHURCH, KENT. THE Font represented in the accompanying plate, by the able pencil of Mr. Hollis, jun., is the same which was very inadequately delineated, fifty years ago, in Thorpe's Custumale Roffense. Its architectural panelling shows it to be of the later period of Pointed ar chitecture; as well as the circumstance that its basin is not sufficiently capacious for baptism by immersion. Each of its eight sides exhibits a sculptured bas-relief, except one, which formerly stood against the wall. They occur in the following order: 1. the sacred name of Jesus, in its customary abbre viated form, placed on a shield within a quatrefoil; 2. St. Michael weighing a soul, an evil spirit being unable to pull down the balance; 3. St. John baptizing Christ, the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove, directed by a hand from the clouds; 4. the sacramental chalice and wafer, the real presence being manifested by a small human figure with a radiated head; this panel of the Font is that opposite the altar; 5. the Resurrection; 6. St. Peter, to whom the church is dedicated, represented in pontifical robes and pall, holding a church on his right hand and a great key in his left, his head surrounded by a nimbus; 8. the Holy Lamb, the symbol of the Baptist; and made to exhibit the cross three times,—in the staff, the nimbus round its head; and the position of one of its fore legs. It is remarkable that there is another font of the same pattern, with some slight variations in the sculptures, in the church of Southfleet, a few miles distant. We are informed it is of better execution than that of Shorne, though not in so good preservation. From the print and description given by Thorpe, we are able to particularize the variations. The most important is that instead of St. Peter, that in Southfleet church exhibits a figure of its own tutelar saintSt. Nicholas; who is represented as a bishop, with a mitre, but without a pall, his right hand raised in benediction, and a pastoral staff in his left. The figure of St. Michael has a small cross on his forehead. The Baptist has the customary dress of camel's hair, with the head (we believe intended for the camel's head) near his feet, and a label proceeding from his mouth, inscribed Ecce Agnus Dei. Lastly, the holy Lamb is entirely surrounded with rays of glory, instead of the nimbus round its head. The Southfleet font is of hard grey marble, and this of Shorne we presume is formed of the same material. the illegality of arresting dead human bodies, and prohibit that shameful practice by a severe penalty, for the vulgar error is not quite eradicated. It is not long since I noticed in the papers the arrest of the corpse of a female at Barnstaple by a nephew for an alleged debt, and that the money was paid. These are the bare facts, but there were circumstances of great aggravation and malice. Another instance, not many years ago, was the perpetration of the like barbarous and illegal procedure on the corpse of the comedian Wewitzer. About thirty years since an occurrence of this sort took place, I think at Hoxton. The vile act excited general indignation, and the consequence was, that the arrest was immediately withdrawn, the bailiff was dismissed, and he and the plaintiff were indicted and punished; the attorney in the action not appearing to be culpable: and yet, at this enlightened day, when Reform and the March of Intellect are in full speed, we have still occasional instances of this revolting experiment being successfully put in practice. Now, I submit to you, that plaintiff, his attorney, the sheriff's office, and all others concerned in such nefarious proceedings should be called to an account, and that this gross abuse of legal process should be legislatively prohibited under a severe penalty. When the absurdity of the thing is considered, it is really incredible that it ever should have been obtained. At the time this practice originated, the Writ (which has lately been altered, though not materially as to the matter in question,) commanded the Sheriff to take A. B. and have his body in the King's Court on a future day, which was called the return day, and was sometimes distant several months. For instance, if the Writ was sued out after Trinity Term, which ended in June or July, it would be returnable the next Michaelmas Term, which ends in November. The Sheriff, by his Under-Sheriff, issues a warrant to his Bailiff to make the caption. The object of the arrest was expressed in the writ to be, either that A. B. might answer the claim of C. D. if the action was bailable, or that he should pay a sum that had been previously adjudged to C. D. when it was 2 M |