Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/517

 2 nd s. N 26., JUKE 28. '56.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

F for the Fire-works let off at night ;

G for the Grandeur those works will display,

H for the Hundreds we for them must pay ;

J for John Bull, just as blythe as a lark,

K for the Kickshaws built up in the Park ;

L for the Long-boats, our gala to crown,

M for the Men who conveyed them to town ;

N for the Noise, which seems never to stop,

O for the Oil-skin o'er each Temple's top ;

P for the Powder that's used by the fleet,

Q for the Queer ones that plann'd such a treat ;

K for the Regent, of all this the giver,

S for the Ships on the Serpentine River;

T for the Temples, of all town the talk,

V for the Vessels afloat in the Park ;

W for the Winds ; and oh ! may they prove fair ;

X for the Crosses these vessels must bear ;

Y for the Youngsters this sight keeps from school,

Z for the Zeal with which we play the fool."

K. \V. HACKWOOD.

PRAYERS COMPOSED BT HENRY VI.

Copy of a paper in the hand-writing of Dr. Harbin, librarian to 1st and 2nd Viscounts Wey- mouth :

" In an old MS. Missal printed (s:) * in 8vo., in the reign of K. Henri VIII., p. 48. are two Latin Short Prayers made by K. Henri VI. as is affirmed in an index to the said book, p. 155. at y c end of y e said Missal.

"Domine JesuChriste, qui me creasti, redemisti et prae- ordinasti ad hoc, quod sum, tu scis quid de me facere vis : fac de me secundum voluntatem tuam cum rniseri- cordia."

" Domine Jesu Christe, qui solus es sapientia : Tu scis quid mihi peccatori expediunt : prout tibi placeret, et sicut in oculis tuse Majestatis videtur, de me ita fiat cum mise- ricordifi tua. Amen."

Ibid. p. 153. Orationes beato Regl Henrico, [Vlto.]

" Rex Henrice, sis amicus nobis in Angustia, Cujus prece nos a nece salvemur perpetual. Lampas morum, spes ffigrorum, ferens medicamina, Sis tuorum famulorum, ductor in Coalestia. Pax in terra mm sit guerra Orbis per coniinia : Virtus crescat, et fervescat Charitas, per omnia. Non sudore vel dolore moriatnur subito, Sed vivamus et plaudamus coelis sine termino."

" Ver. Ora pro nobis Devote Rex Henrice.

" Resp. Ut per te cuiicti superati sint inimici.

' Pnesta quxsumns Omnipotent et Misericors Deus, ut qlri Derotissimi Regis Henrici merita miraculis fulgentia pife mentis afFectu recolimus in terris, ejus et omnium Sanctorum tuorum intercessionibus, ab omiii peste, febre, morbo, ac improvisa morte, ceterisque eruamur malis, et gaudia sempiterna adipisci mereamur, per Christum Do- minum nostrum. Amen."

"This Missal is in the Earl of Oxford's Library at Wimpole, in Cambridgeshire. Feb. 173JL."

[* We take this to mean, that it was a printed Missal containing MS. additions ; if so, it was sold with the Earl of Oxford's other printed books by Thomas Osborne in 1744. Ei>.]

It would appear from the above that this Mis- sal ought now to be found in the Harleian Collec- tion of the British Library ; but not recollecting ever to have seen the beatification of King Henry VI. mentioned by our historical writers, it may be of interest to readers of " N. & Q." to make researches on the point.

The prayers attributed to him are of such in- trinsic merit, as to recommend themselves.

A. MT.

[These prayers of King Henry VI. were the occasion of a keen controversy among our antiquaries about seventy years ago. They are printed by Tom Hearne in the Pre- face to Otterbourne and Whethamstede, p. liv., but we very much doubt whether they were ever used in " the public offices of religion," as Henry VI. was never canonised) or registered in the calendar of saints. Hearne says : " Quae quidem auctovitas quum longe levior esset in Henrico Octavo, nulla fere ratio fuisse videtur, qum ad hoc nego- tium suscipiendum impelleret Henricum VIII., ad cujus tamen regni principium (id quod plus centies audivi) Henrici VI". virtutes tantopere decantabantur, ut in publicis illis Offieiis (quze illo sevo potissimum probaren- tur) preces ipsi (perinde ac si jam rnortuus patrocinium supplicantibus praebere quiverit, eaque etiam prsestare, quse ratio et religio praescripserint) solenniter funderentur. Cujusmodi preces ipse vidi. Imo mine ejusmodi preca- tiunculam ob oculos habeo in Codice, a Wynkino de Worde, A.D. 1510, excuso, B. Maria Virginis horas con- tinente. Hanc scilicet in sententiam, fol. 151, a."

Dr. Samuel Pegge possessed a MS. Manual of Latin Prayers containing an illumination of Henry VI. in his robes, crowned, with sword and monde, and the words De beato Henrico written underneath. It also contained the antiphona and prayer, as well as " A prayer qwhece Henry VI. mad," the same as given by Dr. Harbin. In an edition of Horce in usum Sarum, printed by Pigouchet, 1498, 12mo, the two prayers by Henry VI. are noticed in the Contents as " Two lytil Prayers whyche Kyng Harry the Sixth made." This copy does not contain the in- vocation to him. The latter first appears in Hore beate Marie Virginis in usum Sanim, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1502, an earlier edition than that mentioned by Hearne, 1510. The Earl of Oxford's copy was dated 1504. Each of these editions contains the antiphon and prayers by the king, as well as the invocation to him. This invocation occurs also in the Hore printed by K. Pynson, 1522, as also in those printed by Regnault at Paris, 1524, 1530, 1534, 1535, 1536. William Cole, the Cambridge antiquary, also possessed Regnault's edition of Hore in usum Sarum, Paris, 1530, adorned on every page with elegant plates and carvings, with English ru- brics. At folio c, is a print of a king with the above antiphon .and prayer. (Gough's British Topography, vol. ii. pp. 112. 315., and Cole's Hist, of Cambridge, Add. ilS. 5814. pp. 2, 3.)

Upon a review of the whole controversy, respecting these Prayers, (see Gentleman's Mag., 1786, 1787) it would appear that Henry VI. was originally canonised by the apocryphal press oi' Wynkyn de Worde, and some foreign heretical printers, who copied after him. A difference of opinion prevails among our historians respecting the un- successful efforts made by Henry VII. to enshrine him in the Calendar. Rapin, following Camden, supposed the expense deterred Henry VII. from pursuing the canoni- sation ; but Lord Bacon has suggested the following witty reason, " because the Pope would put a difference between a saint and an innocent." Hearne, however, who like a sturdy nonjuror, was a stickler for the divine right,