Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/163

 iv. AUG. 12, low.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 131 sentation to Irstead described William of Wykham, the presentee, as the king's chap- lain. See also the 'JD.N.B.,' Ixiii. 226, and Leach's 'History of Winchester College,' p. 56. A friend lately sent me a cutting from an issue of The Hampshire Chronicle (the date of which I should be glad to learn), proving that the above identification is not correct. It appears that Mr. Fred. Johnson, of 33. Queen's Koad. Great Yarmouth, has found the will of "Willelmus Wykham, parson of the church of Irstede." It is dated Thursday next after the Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle, 1376, and was proved on 8 March, 1376/7, in the Norwich Consistory Court, the reference being " Heydon, folio 139." Having seen at the Record Office the Patent Koll of 23 Edw. III., part 2, I am able to say that the presentation does not describe this William of Wykham as the king's chap- lain, but simply as "Willelmus de Wykham, capellanus." The next entry on the Koll shows that on the same date and under the same circumstances the king presented "Rogerus de Wikham, capellanus," to the vicarage of Northwalsham. Presumably the two presentees, William and Roger, hailed from the same place. Blomefield and Parkin (v. 1447) describe Roger as of "East Wyken- k.ini. Will some one kindly identify this place for me? Meanwhile, I venture to doubt the suggestion, which appeared in The Hampshire Chronicle, that William of Wyk- ham, rector of Irstead, was born in the Hampshire village from which William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, is reputed to have taken his name. While I was correcting the proof of this reply, my attention was drawn to M. N.'s article on Wykeham and Irstead in The AihencEum of the 5th inst., No. 4058, p. 178. H. C. TESTOUT (10th S. iv. 69).—This surname is common in France in various spellings— Testont, Testot, Testut, Testu, &c. It is, of course, derived from the ancient teste, modern tele, and might, be rendered "headstrong." The final / is silent, but as to the s there is some difference of opinion. Dr. Hoefer, in the ' Nouvelle Biographic Generale,' t.v. ' Testu,' says, " On ne prononce pas P* dans ce nom." Others prefer to sound it, and I cannot help thinking that its retention gives a pleasing flavour of archaism. JAS. PLATT, Jun. 'THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD' (10th S. iv. 45). —The original picture, now in Keble College, Oxford, was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1854. The replica was first exhibited in the rooms of the Fine-Art Society in 1904. It was purchased by the Right Hon. Charles Booth, whose intention is to exhibit it in the British colonies free of charge to the public, and then to present it to the nation. The replica is about twice the size of the original, and contains several improvements and varia- tions in treatment. The original picture (No. 508 in the R.A. Catalogue) bore the title 'The Light of the World,' the artist choosing for his motto the text, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. iii. 20). By some the picture was very adversely criticized. For instance, Tlie Athenaeum of 6 May, 1854, described it as "most eccentric and mysterious," the writer thus finishing his account:— "The face of this wild fantasy, though earnest and religious, is not that of a Saviour. It expresses such a strange mingling of disgust, fear, and im- becility, that we turn from it to relieve the sight. The manipulation, though morbidly delicate and laboured, is not so massive as the mute passion dis- played in the general feeling and detail demands. Altogether this picture is a failure." Ruskin was evidently deeply impressed by the picture, for while it was on view he pub- lished a very appreciative criticism in The Times of 5 May, 1854, which contains the fol- lowing notable words:— "Now when Christ enters any human heart He bears with Him a twofold light: first, the light of conscience, which displays past sin, and afterwards the light of peace, the hope of salvation. The lan- tern, carried in Christ's left hand, is the light of conscience. Its fire is red and tierce; it falls only on the closed door, on the weeds which encumber it, and on an apple shaken from one of the trees of the orchard, thus marking that the entire awakening of the conscience is not merely to committed, but to hereditary guilt. "The light is suspended by a chain, wrapt about the wrist of the figure, showing that the light which reveals sin appears to the sinner also to chain the hand of Christ. " The light which proceeds from the head of the figure, on the contrary, is that of the hope of salva- tion : it springs from the crown of thorns, and, though itself sad, subdued, and full of softness, is yet so powerful that it entirely melts into the glow of it the forms of the leaves and boughs which it crosses, showing that every earthly object must be hidden by this light, where its sphere extends. "I believe that there are very few persons on whom this picture, thus justly understood, will not produce a deep impression. For my own part, I think it one of the very noblest works of sacred art ever produced in this or any other age." The original picture was exhibited at the Holman Hunt Exhibition, in the rooms of the Fine-Art Society, New Bond Street, in