Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/348

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. m. MAY e, mi.

Masters, an apothecary, Dr. Gifford, Dr. Andrews. Dr. Meverell, and Fr. White, a servant. May 29. Secretary John Cpoke to the College, asking their opinion if Lane died of poison and if the medicine sent by the apothecary had any poisonable in- gredient. After taking further evidence, the College reply that Lane died a violent death by poison."

II. CROMWELL'S PRAYER ON HIS DEATH- BED.

Edmund Gibson, born in 1669, who after- wards became Bishop of London, was a zealous collector of ancient MSS., and chaplain and librarian to Archbishop Tenison before his appointment to the see of Lincoln in 1716. The " codices Gibsoniani " at Lambeth Palace are due to him. I am indebted to the courtesy of the present librarian for facilitating the following tran- script (vol. 930, f. 156) :

" His highness prayer Thursday in y e afternoon being 2 Sept. 1658. Dyed y e 3rd.

" ' I am a poore foolishe fellowe O Lord and Thy people would fain have me live. And they think it best for them I should live. And they think if I live it will redound much to Thy glorie. And all the stir is about this. And some would fain have me dead. Lord pardon them and pardon Thy foolishe people and forgive their sinn. And do not forsake them, but love them and bless them and give them rest and bring them to a consistency. And give me rest for Jesus Christ his sake. To whom w th Thee and Thy Holy Spirit be glory and praise for evermore. Amen.

" ' And now, Lord, forgive the sinn of this little foolish prayer of mine.

" ' I am a Conqueror, more then a Conqueror through Jesus Christ that strengthens me.'

" After these words he had but little sense, but after some hours tossings, about 3 on fryday morning he lay still and so continued till he expired at 3 in the afternoone.

" [Transcribed from an original paper of Maj r Gen 1 Butler, who is said to have taken the words at y* beds feet of Oliver Cromwell.]"

Daniel Neal, a learned Dissenting Minister, born in 1678, published the first volume of his 'History of the Puritans' in 1732, and the fourth and last in 1738. P. 197 of vol. iv. says of Cromwell :

" About twelve hours before he died he lay very quiet, when Major Butler, being in his chamber, says he heard him make his last prayer to this purpose : ' Lord, I am a poor foolish crea- ture, the people would fain have me live, they think it best for them and that it will redound much to Thy glory, and all the stir is about this. Others would fain have me die. Lord, pardon them and pardon Thy foolish people, forgive their sins and do not forsake them, but love and bless and give them rest, and bring them to a con- sistency, and give me rest ; for Jesus Christ's sake, to whom with Thee and Thy Holy Spirit be all honour and glory now and for ever. Amen. The protector died Sept-ember 3, 1658, about three in the afternoon."

It is clear that if these versions of the prayer are accurate, that printed by Carlyle is not genuine. I shall deal with Carlyle's version at its proper time (which was not the date of Cromwell's death), merely re- marking that Carlyle's " Charles Harvey,'* upon whom he bases his last chapter, is not inown to have written anything at all,, and that he certainly was not the author of he pamphlet upon which Carlyle relies.

J. B. WILLIAMS. (To be continued.)

MUSICAL DICTIONARIES.

WHO and what was the author of "A New Dictionary of Music. By W. Wilson Esq., London, printed and published by William Hughes, Islington ; Sherwood & Co., Paternoster Row " ? No date, but it was published in 1835, according to ' The English Catalogue,' and it was noticed in The Athenceum in 1836.

It is a duodecimo. My copy has first the title, then comes a page of "Musical Characters," unpaged, then eight pages of musical examples, and an index to the examples and musical characters on sig- nature fi unpaged ; then pp. vii to xxiv r and pp. 1 to 292, the last leaf, pp. 291-92, not being numbered. The price was 7s. 6c, I am not certain that my copy is complete.

Previously to quoting this dictionary in my note on spelling (10 S. vii. 52), I looked everywhere I could think of for some infor- mation about the author in order to get some idea of the authority of the book. But I found practically nothing.

Brown and Stratton in their * British Musical Biography ' are mistaken in ascrib- ing to James W. Wilson " The Musical Cyclopedia : being a collection of the most approved songs .... By James Wilson .... To which is prefixed an elaborate essay. . . . by Wm. Grier, A.M. A new edition, 1836." The advertisement is dated 1834. The 1852 issue is precisely the same except as to the title - page. This work is not a dictionary.

Notwithstanding the numbers of authors in the ' D.N.B.' and Mr. Boase's 'Modern English Biography,' which alone contributes upwards of 20,000 names between the period 1850 and 1900, there are many musicians and authors, even of note, as the columns of ' N. & Q.' constantly testify, who are still unnoticed in our biographical dictionaries.