"Lene me a mark”-quod he-" but dayes thre." Chaucer, Chan. Ÿem. Ta. 15.

"I shal lene the a bowr."-Havelok, 2072. But what Mr. Halliwell appears to deny is, the existence of the verb leue; and this is the point

to come to.

Dr. Stratmann's account of it is, that leue or leve is the A.-S. lefan, German erlauben, to give leave to, permit, allow. Now this word, in various forms, lyfan, lefan, alyfan, gelyfan, is common enough in Anglo-Saxon, and as f between two Vowels had the sound of v, it would necessarily produce leve in Old English. There are three undoubted examples of its occurrence. Thus, in the Ormulum, we have (vol. i. p. 308) the line "Godd allmahhtigg lefe uss swa

To forthenn Cristess wille,"

i. e. "God Almighty grant (or permit) us so to further Christ's will." Here the spelling with makes the word certain; and to make doubly sure, we have a similar expression in the same volume, at p. 357. But there is a third instance. In Douglas's Virgil is the phrase "Gif us war lewit," which is equivalent to leuit, as explained by Jamieson. Here again, the use of the w makes the word altogether certain; for w has the force of v very commonly in Lowland Scotch. The signification of the phrase is "if it were permitted to us."

That the two words have been so hopelessly jumbled together is no doubt owing to the fact that each can be represented by the words to grant; but it really makes all the difference whether we are speaking of to grant a thing to a person, or to grant that a thing may happen. "God lene thee grace" means, "God grant thee grace," ," where to grant is to impart; but "God leue we may do right" means, "God grant we may do right," where to grant is to permit. The difference between the two is distinct enough, and the instances of lefe in the Ormulum render the blunder here protested against quite unjustifiable. Briefly, lene requires an accusative case after it, leue is followed by a dependent clause. And now for the results. The following are true examples of leue : —

"God. . . save and gyde us alle and some, And leue this sumpnour good man to become." Chaucer, Freres Tale, 346. Printed lene by Tyrwhitt, and leene by Morris. "Ther he is now, God leue us for to meete." Prioresses Tale, 231.

Printed lene by Tyrwhitt and Morris.

"Depardieux "-quod she-"God leue all be wele." Troil. and Creseide, ii. 1212. "God leue hym werken as he can devyse." Ibid. iii. 7. "God leue us for to take it for the best." Ibid. v. 1749.

Morris prints lene. Tyrwhitt prints leve, but recants this opinion in his Glossary (s.v. "Leveth"), in all three instances.

The three instances in Havelok occur in similar

exclamations, in the forms "God leue" or "Crist

leue," and Halliwell need not have called such a spelling absurd. The quotations from the Ormulum entirely establish the phrase.

Lastly, by way of a crucial test, take Pierce the Ploughman's Crede. I regret that I have, in all four places, printed lene in the text. Yet, strictly speaking, there are two instances of lene, in lines 445, 741; and two of leue, in lines 366, 573, where the phrase is "God leue," &c. And now observe a circumstance that clinches the whole result. In lines 445 and 741 all three copies of the Crede have lene; but in lines 366 and 573 the best MS. can be read either way; the British Museum MS. shown by my footnotes. Surely future editors of has leve, and the old printed edition has leue, as Chaucer ought to note these corrections.

here the other senses of the word leue, viz. (1) to believe, (2) to leave, and (3) dear. Curiously enough, all these three occur in one line: · "What! leuestow, leue lemman, that i the leue wold?" William of Palerne, 2358. WALTER W. SKEAT.

Of course I have not taken into consideration

1, Cintra Terrace, Cambridge.

BISHOPRIC AND CATHEDRAL OF HEREFORD.

The ancient district of Siluria, of which the city of Hereford and its vicinity form a portion, was nominally Christianised before its conquest by the Saxons. It is stated both by Archbishop Usher and Heylin that a Bishop of Caerffawidd (the ancient British name of Hereford) attended an ecclesiastical meeting convened by the Archbishop of Caerleon (whose seat was afterwards removed to Saint David's) in the year 544, and the see of Hereford is considered to be the oldest in England.

The names of all the bishops are recorded except two-those constituted in 544 and 601. The third, Bishop Putta, succeeding in 676, is the first name on the roll of Hereford. There were twentynine bishops before the Conquest, the last being Walter de Lorraine in 1061. His successor, Robert Losinga (temp. William I.), took possession of the see in 1079.

The bishops constituted since the Norman Conquest up to the death of the late Right Reverend Renn Dickson Hampden in April last, and presid ing with two intermissions only of four years and fifteen years, the latter from 1646-1660, on demise of Bishop Coke, are sixty-seven-in all ninety-six. The Right Reverend James Atlay, D.D., consecrated on June 24 last, and enthroned in the cathedral on Thursday, July 1, is there

fore the ninety-seventh prelate wearing the episcopal mitre within the ancient and loyal city of Hereford.

Saint Augustine, who was invested with archiepiscopal dignity by Pope Gregory A.D. 597, was confirmed by Ethelbert, King of Kent, at the instigation of his queen (a Christian princess) Bertha, daughter of Charibert, King of France, to the city of Canterbury with its dependencies some years after, when the church of Canterbury was made a cathedral and dedicated to the name of Christ.

The earliest Christian temple at Hereford, known as the Chapel of Fernlege, preceded the first cathedral by a century or two, which cathedral is supposed to have been built on the site of the present cathedral on the accession of Bishop Putta, A.D. 676.

The cathedral and city of Hereford bordering so closely on the principality of Wales, have suffered several times by the incursions and ravages of the ancient Britons. The permanent establishment of Hereford as a bishop's see was completed by Archbishop Theodore, who, after the Council at Hertford (A.D. 673), divided the great diocese of Mercia, as he had done that of East Anglia, into several bishoprics. It was in 676 that Mercian dominions were divided into the sees of Hereford, Worcester, Lichfield, and Leicester; and Putta, Bishop of Rochester, was then translated to Hereford. Of the bishops of this see (A.D. 688 to A.D. 1012) between Putta and Ethalstan little is recorded but their names. Cuthbert (736-740) is an exception, and in the latter year he was translated to Canterbury. In his archiepiscopate the Lord's Prayer and the Creed were ordered to be universally taught in English. The first Saxon cathedral at Hereford, in Bishop Putta's time (according to Polydore Vergil), was of timber, and was destroyed by fire.

In the year 792 the importance of the cathedral at Hereford was increased by the murder of Ethelbert, King of the East Angles, at the palace of Offa, King of Mercia, at South Town (now Sutton Walls), five miles from the city. The young prince had been invited thither by Offa, and was there affianced to Elfrida his daughter, and on the following night was, at the instigation of the Queen Quendreda cruelly beheaded. His body was first buried at Marden church, but was subsequently removed to Hereford cathedral, and over it was placed a magnificent tomb. After his canonization the cathedral was dedicated to Saint Ethelbert and the Virgin Mary; and in expiation of his crime Offa endowed the cathedral with large possessions, which it now enjoys.

Offa on his return from Rome, whither he went to the pope for absolution, built the Abbey of St. Albans, and died childless, his son and daughter having predeceased him.

Athelstan (1012-1056) rebuilt the cathedral from the foundations; but in 1058 Hereford was burnt by a body of Welsh and Irish under Aeolfgar, the exiled Earl of Mercia, and the cathedral was left in a state of desolation, and the good bishop was interred within its walls. He was succeeded by the bishops Leofgar, Walter of Lorraine, and Robert de Losinga, in 1079, who found the cathedral in ruins, and he rebuilt it on the model of the church at Aachen (Aix-de-laChapelle). The existing choir is regarded as part of his work.

The structure was not completed until the episcopate of Reinhelm (1107-1115), who in an obituary of the canons of Hereford is mentioned as "fundator ecclesiæ S. Ethelberti." But there is no direct proof of the fact.

During the troubles of Stephen's reign, and whilst Robert de Bethune was bishop (1131-1148), the city of Hereford suffered greatly, and the cathedral was desecrated and deserted. The bishop was obliged to take flight in disguise; but upon his return, "he cleansed and repaired the building." This prelate was succeeded by Gilbert Ffolliott (1148-1163), Abbot of Gloucester, a most inflexible antagonist of Becket. Whether or not he added to the cathedral is not known, but Ffolliott was annually commemorated in the canons of Hereford as one who "multa bona contulit Herefordiensi capitulo."

Giles de Bruce, or de Braose, bishop from 1200 to 1215, is said to have built the central tower and west front of the cathedral: the latter fell to the ground on Easter Monday, 1786. This portion was replaced by Mr. James Wyatt, whose design may be pronounced to be a sad disfigurement of the sacred fabric.

Thomas Cantilupe (1275-1282), the last Englishman canonised before the Reformation, and styled St. Thomas of Hereford, conferred distinguished honour on the see; was Chancellor of England under King Henry III. in 1265, and died on August 25, 1282, at Orvieto, on his return from Rome.

The northern transept was enlarged, and very probably altogether rebuilt, during the episcopacy of Richard Swinfield (1283-1317), and the remains of Cantilupe were removed to it in 1287. In the same prelate's time, the cloisters and upper portion of the choir, the central tower above the roof, and the eastern transept as it now exists, were either completed or were in progress.

The original cathedral of Bishop Athelstan appears to have comprised only the nave and its aisles, the choir, and the north and south transepts. When the ancient chapter house, once the glory of the edifice, was erected is uncertain. This splendid appendage to the church was on the south side, occupying the site of the garden now lying between the college cloisters and bishop's

cloisters. It fell into decay during the Parliamentary wars of Charles I., and was finally demolished by Bishop Bisse, 1713-1716. The present small chapter house was formerly the Treasury.

The principal additions which have been made subsequently to the cathedral, are the Lady Chapel (1230-1250), in the lancet or pointed style, under Bishop Maidstone and Peter d'Acquablanca; to which is attached the chapel by Bishop Audley about 1493, in the decorated style; also the north porch by Bishop Booth (1516-1534), in the late perpendicular style. He, during his lifetime, erected his own tomb under a pointed arch in the north wall of the nave; and Bishop Stanbury's chapel (1453-1474),

in the north-eastern aisle of the choir.

The Bishop's Cloister, of which only two sides now remain, built about 1450, in the perpendicular style, connect the garden of the bishop's palace with the cathedral.

Attached to the cathedral also is a college of priest-vicars, which, with its cloisters, hall, and quadrangle, were erected between 1462 and 1472. It comprises a capitular body, presided over by its own custos and members, and distinct from the dean and chapter of the cathedral itself.

Several styles of architecture prevail throughout the building, affording good examples of each. In the southern transept (a portion of Athelstan's church) is preserved much of its early Norman character. The pillars and bays of the nave, and the interior of the choir, are Norman. The Lady Chapel is in the lancet or pointed style, similar to the chancel and Lady Chapel of Dore Abbey church; and the north transept may be considered a fine specimen of the geometrical style.

Underneath the Lady Chapel is a fine crypt (early English, circa 1220), which is sixty feet long, and consists of a nave and aisles, and is approached by a porch, having descending steps

entering from the north side of the cathedral.

Between the years 1786 and 1840, no material alterations were made in the cathedral. About the latter year was commenced the restoration of the Lady Chapel, great central tower internally, the choir, and north transept, at the instance, and under the zealous supervision of the then dean, the very Rev. John Merewether, D.D., who died in 1850. He was succeeded in his dignity and valuable labours by the very Rev. Richard Dawes, M.A., who as dean was fortunate enough to be a witness of their completion in June, 1863.

The cathedral contains the tombs, and other memorials, of more bishops and deans, than any similar structure in England. It also possesses several fine brasses, and a few examples of (ancient) stained glass. In modern stained windows it has memorials to Archbishop Musgrave, Bishop Huntingford, Dean Merewether, Archdeacon Lane

CHARLES LAMB'S "OLD FAMILIAR FACES."

The tragic story of Lamb's early life was first detailed in an article in the British Quarterly Review, in a review of Talfourd's Memorials-at least, I never knew the facts till I read that reFaces," as given in "blank-verse by Charles view. The pathetic verses, the "Old Familiar Lloyd and Charles Lamb. London, printed by T. Bentley for John and Arthur Arch, No. 23, Gracechurch Street, 1798," contain one line which

seems to have been omitted in the later copies of the poem, or at least is new to me:

"Where are they gone, the old familiar faces? I had a mother, but she died and left me, Died prematurely in a day of horrorsAll, all are gone, the old familiar faces." All the other verses have only three lines each; sonal reminiscence-seems to have been omitted. and the line in italics-a curiously painful perIn the last verse, part of the second line is printed in italics in the copy before me, and doubtless refers to the same sad fact:

"For some they have died, and some they have left me, And some are taken from me: all are departed; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. 'January, 1798."

ESTE.

BINDING VARIOUS AUTHORS.-I frequently see Historia, and Moses and Aaron, by the same a volume for sale containing Godwyn's Romana author, bound with Archæologia Attica, by Francis Rous, "Scholler of Merton Colledge in Oxon." and I am puzzled to know how these three works by two different authors are so often met with in the same volume. It sometimes happens that the treatises are transposed, but they are invariably bound together, although the editions of each vary as well as the publishers. Could it have been an old stock lying by as dead literature in "Abing

don School"?

Darlington.

GEORGE LLOYD.

HUMBER. Amongst the various suggested derivations of the name of this river, I have never met with the Early English word Umbre, rain, from the Latin Imber, which signifies water as well as rain. In one of the alliterative poems in the West Midland dialect, the Almighty declares to Noah that he will never again destroy the world

for the sin of man; that summer and winter shall never fail.

"Ne hete, ne no harde forst, vmbre ne drouthe." The Humber receives the surplus rainfall of “ a basin estimated at 9000 square miles, or one-sixth of the surface of England."

Taylor, in his Words and Places, appears to think that the word Humber is a corruption of Inver and Aber, the etymology and meaning of which two words are the same-a confluence of waters, either of two rivers or of a river with the sea. Elsewhere he connects the names of several rivers with the root from which the English word rain is derived, and again and more frequently with words signifying water.

em

The "water of Humber" is charged and ". browned" with an immense quantity of liquid mud. Nares defines Umber to be a sort of brown colour. And Shakspeare makes Celia say to Rosa

lind

"I'll put myself in poor and mean attire,

And with a kind of umber smirck my face." Alexander Neckham says:

"Fluctibus æquoreis nautæ suspectior Humber, Indignans urbem visere, rura colit. Hunnorum princeps, ostendens terga Locrino, Submersus nomen contulit Humber aquæ." Milton speaks of

"The Humber loud, that keeps the Scythian's name; and Drayton, in his elegy upon three sons of the Lord Sheffield drowned in the Humber, says:

"O cruell Humber, guiltie of their gore!

I now believe more than I did before The British story, whence thy name begun Of kingly Humber, an invading Hun By thee devoured; for 'tis likely thou With blood wert christened, bloodthirsty till now.' E. S. W. Melton.

"His LORDSHIP said he had set the example of leaving off the wig in consequence of the unprecedented heat of the weather, as he thought there were limits to human endurance.

"Sir R. COLLIER expressed a wish that this precedent might be generally followed, and hoped that the obsolete institution of the wig was coming to an end-a hope in which many members of the Bar heartily concur."

This innovation took place in the Court of Probate and Divorce, Sir J. P. Wilde being on the bench. S. F. CRESSWELL, M.A.

Dartford Grammar School, Kent.

DR. JOHNSON'S EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO A BIRMINGHAM NEWSPAPER.—It is stated by Boswell that Johnson furnished some numbers of a periodical Essay printed in the newspaper of which a Mr. Warren, the first established bookseller at Birmingham, was the proprietor; but, adds Boswell," after very diligent inquiry I have not been able to recover those early specimens of that particular mode of writing by which Johnson afterwards so greatly distinguished himself."

Having just seen the announcement by Mr. Cadby, bookseller, Birmingham, of a Bibliotheca Birminghamiensis; or, a Catalogue of Books exclusively relating to Birmingham and the Neighbourhood, it occurs to me that possibly the Bibliotheca, which I have not yet had an opportunity of consulting, may furnish some clue towards the discovery J. MACRAY. of the Essays alluded to.

Oxford.

Queries.

AMBASSADORS KNIGHTED.- Le Neve writes in his "Notebook," as printed in the Topogr. and Geneal, iii. 509

"Seignior Grimani, Venetian Ambassador, knighted according to custom, and had an augmentation to his arms, dated April, 1714.”

What evidence is there of this custom? how did it arise? and when was it discontinued?

Diball, who died Decr 11th, 1863, aged 78 years.... W. H. S.

TEWARS. BRIDGEMASTERS OF LONDON.-Who were the a list of them?

G. W. M.

CLASSIC CHURCHES.-Telford, the engineer, rebuilt the collegiate church of St. Mary Magdalen, formerly situated within the walls of the ancient castle of Bridgenorth, in a Grecian style, about the year 1742, in sad contrast to the fine old Gothic building represented in Back's engraving. Many churches after the Reformation were erected at least in imitation of the ancient style, though its character had become debased.

When did the fashion for building such purely classical churches as the one described commence ? THOMAS E. WINNINGTON.

DANISH LAW. — - Against St. Mary's church, Beverley, is an oval stone with two swords crossed and the following inscription:

"Here two young Danish soldiers lie.
The one in quarrel chanced to die;
The other's head by their own law
With sword was sever'd by one blow.
Dec 23,
1689.

Would any one now be tried and executed by
Danish law in England? And how late would it
have been done?
L. C. R.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE CHEVALIER D'EON.-Lysons, at p. 278 of the Supplement to the first edition of the Environs of London, states that a friend of his (apparently an Englishman) is preparing a biography of the Chevalier d'Eon from the deceased's MSS. Does any one know who this friend was, or what became of the biography?

E. X. ANCIENT SCOTTISH DISTILLATION.—I have read somewhere, I think in Holinshed, that the ancient Scots distilled a powerful beverage from the mountain heath, but I cannot find the passage. Perhaps some of your readers may give a light.

CHARLES ROGERS, LL.D.

Snowdoun Villa, Lewisham, S.E.

KINGS IN COUNCIL. - Turning over a sixpenny acquisition of two somewhat shabby 12mos, published in Amsterdam (Paris ?) in 1759, under the title of Curiosités Historiques, ou, Recueil de Pièces utiles à l'Histoire de France, et qui n'ont jamais paru, I lighted on a "Jugement" of the king (Henri Quatre), dated at St. Cloud, August 2, 1589, the day after the assassination of his predecessor by Friar Jacques Clement, on another of the brotherhood, Jehan Leroy, who had killed a certain Captain Hermos, to the effect that "pour les cas résultans du procès," his reverence should be tied up in a sack, and thrown into the river; the which order was, as the official phrase delicately runs, "carried out" on the day but one ensuing.

Did this mode of execution form a part of the then existent French code, or was it a pro re natá of the royal appointment?

E. L. S.

KINGS OF SPAIN. — In Longfellow's translation of the Coplas de Manrique several kings of Spain are enumerated, whom I find it impossible to identify. The poet mentions first, "Don Juan"; then King Henry

"Whose royal court displayed Such power and pride";

and lastly

"His brother, too, whose factious zeal
Usurped the sceptre of Castile."

"Spain's haughty Constable" is also celebrated by the poet for the "countless treasures of his care." But to neither one nor the other of these

can I attribute any identity with historical personages. I should be glad if any of your correpondents, more deeply versed than I in Spanish history, could help me in my difficulty. A. E.

LASSUS. May I ask some one to explain the allusion to Lassus contained in the concluding sentence of Lord Lytton's Devereux? From the remarkable article in The Athenæum of July 4, entitled "Stop Him," it may be inferred that the author of With Maximilian in Mexico is equally puzzled with myself. The only author named Lassus that I can find any notice of is a musical composer in the sixteenth century. F. R. S.

LEADEN BRONZES.-Lately a friend of mine had offered him, and had agreed to purchase, some very fine medallions by Andrieu. They were apparently of bronze, but were mounted in frames and glazed. They proved on examination to be

no more than lead bronzed on the surface. Are such imitations common? B. H. C.

CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION. - Will any one have the kindness to inform me if a certificate of naturalization can be examined; and if so, at what office? M. L.

POEMS.-If any of your readers can assist me to find these two poems, and answer the third question I annex, they will confer a kindness on one

at a distance.