Charles Lamb's Epitaph.—Perhaps the following lines, which I have copied from the gravestone of Charles Lamb, who lies in the churchyard at Edmonton, may be interesting to those of your readers who are among the admirers of the witty and gentle Elia:—

I have heard it conjectured that the above were written by Wordsworth. I shall feel obliged if any of your readers will inform me whether the late laureate was the author of them or not?

Maria S.

Edmonton.

M. or N. (Vol. i., p. 415.; Vol. ii., p. 61.).—There have been several suggestions as to the origin of the use of these letters in the services of the church, but I do not think that any correspondent has hit upon the very simple one which I have always considered to be most probably the true explanation; which is, that as these services were compiled when algebra stood much higher in the rank of sciences than it does at present, it is by no means unlikely that these two letters should be used to signify indefinite and variable names, as they are in algebra to represent indefinite or variable numbers, in the same manner as A.B.C. are as signs of known or definite, and X.Y.Z. of unknown sums.

E. H. Y.

Henry VIII. and Sir Thos. Curwen.—The following quaint extract from Sandford's MS. History of Cumberland, now in the library of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, exhibits that "reknowned king," Henry VIII., in so good-natured a light, that I think, if you can find a corner for it, it may amuse some of your readers. That the good knight and "excelent archer" should have been so outwitted by his son-in-law is a matter of some regret to one of his descendants:—

"Sir Thos. Curwen, Knight, in Henry the Eight's time, an excelent archer at twelvescore merks; and went up with his men to shoote with that reknowned King at the dissolution of abbeys: and the King says to him, Curwen, why doth thee begg none of these Abbeys? I wold gratify thee some way. Quoth the other, Thank yow, and afterward said he wold desire of him the Abbie of ffurness (nye unto him) for 20^ty one yeares. Sayes the King: take it for ever: quoth the other, it is long enough, for youle set them up againe in that time: but they not likely to be set up againe, this Sir Tho. Curwen sent Mr. Preston, who had married his daughter, to renew the lease for him; and he even rennewed in his own name; which when his father-in-law questioned, quoth Mr. Preston, you shall have it as long as you live; and I think I may as well have it with your daughter as another."

After some descents, this family of Preston, of the manor of Furness, terminated in a daughter, who married Sir William Lowther, whose grandson left his estates in Furness and Cartmell to his cousin, Lord George Cavendish, through whom they are inherited by the Earl of Burlington. As Harry the Eighth's good intentions towards Sir Thomas Curwen have been frustrated, his descendants must console themselves by knowing that the glorious old ruin of Furness could not be in better hands than his lordship's.

H. C.

Workington.

Periodical Literature, 1707.—

"The author of the Observator is Mr. Ridpath, y^e author of the Flying Post. The base author of the late paper, which has been some time since dropp'd, viz. The Observator Reviv'd, was one Pearce, an exchange broker, some time since concerned in the paper called Legion's Address, and forced to fly on that account into Holland. The publisher of the Phoenix is a Presbyterian bookseller, named J. Darby, in Bartholomew Close, who has told me that he was chiefly assisted therein by the famous Mr. Collins, the supposed author of The Use of Reason in Propositions, &c., and Dr. Tindal's familiar acquaintance."—Original Letter of the Rev. Robert Watts, M.A., dated London, Feb. 6. 1707-8.

P. B.

Archbishop Sancroft.—It is well known that Dr. William Dillingham, Master of Emanuel College, Cambridge, published, in 1678, a volume of Latin poems, partly translations from George Herbert, partly pieces of his own, with some few added from other sources. But it is not known that most of the pieces in this volume were corrected by the hand of Archbishop Sancroft, and that one certainly was from his own pen. It occurs at p. 155. of the octavo volume alluded to, and is entitled "Hippodromus." This is a translation from an epigram by Thomas Bastard, first printed in 1598, and beginning:

That it is Archbishop Sancroft's is proved from an original letter addressed to him by Dillingham in 1677, and preserved in the Bodleian.

P. B.

Sir Henry Slingsby.—This gallant cavalier, who was murdered (as Lloyd says in his Memoirs) by Oliver Cromwell in 1658, wrote an account of the scenes in which he bore a part, from 1638 to 1648, which he called "Commentaries, containing many remarkable occurrences during the Civil Wars." Can any of your correspondents tell me where the original manuscript is to be found, and whether it was ever printed? I have seen an indifferent transcript, beginning, "The chappel at Red House was built by my father, Sir Henry Slingsby." If it has never been published, it would be an acceptable contribution to the historical memoirs of the times, and worth the attention of the Camden Society.

P. B.

Origin of a Surname.—Martha Denial, widow, aged seventy-five, was buried in Ecclesfield churchyard, 3rd February, 1851. Her husband, Joseph Denial, told the parish clerk that his grandfather was found when an infant deserted in a church porch; and that he was surnamed Denial, as one whom all deny; and was christened Daniel, which is composed of the same letters. This is the tradition of the origin of a surname now common in this parish.

A. G.

Ecclesfield.

Madden's Reflections.—Madden's Reflections and Resolutions for the Gentlemen of Ireland. In the preface to the reprint of this work we meet with the following paragraph:

"The very curious and interesting work which is now reprinted, and intended for a wide and gratuitous circulation, is also of uncommon rarity: there is not a copy of it in the Library of Trinity College, or in any of the other public libraries of this city [Dublin], which have been searched on purpose. The profoundly-learned Vice-Provost, Doctor Barrett, never met with one; and many gentlemen well skilled in the literature of Ireland, who have been applied to for information on the subject, are even unacquainted with the name of the book."

The full title of the work to which I refer, and which is an 8vo. volume of 200 or 300 pages, is Reflections and Resolutions proper for the Gentlemen of Ireland, as to their Conduct for the Service of their Country. It was printed in Dublin in 1738; it was reprinted there in 1816 at the sole expense of the well-known philanthropist, Thomas Pleasants, and the author was Samuel Madden, D.D., the author of several publications: a great patron of arts and literature in his native land, and one of whom Dr. Johnson remarked with truth,—"His was a name Ireland ought to honour." For some authentic information respecting him, see Nichols's Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii. pp. 31. 699.; and Grosley's Tour in England, vol. ii p. 260. These writers, however, make no mention of his Reflections.

The original edition may indeed be looked upon as rather rare, but not so rare as some appear inclined to think. I have a copy, and until lately had two; and at different times I have met with copies for sale. However, the copy now in the library of the Royal Dublin Society was purchased some years ago at a high price; and, unless I am mistaken, there is not one as yet in the British Museum. The reprint which is there is much to be preferred by readers in general.

Abhba.