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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. AUG. 6, '98.

his will, he directed that his executors should ' cause my heart to be imbalmed and to be put into a small vrne made of the hardest stone and Hastened in it placed vpon a Pillor of the best and hardest black marble to be sett vp in Hammersmith Chappell neare my Pew the place I soe dearly loved and I appoint my body to be put into a leaden coffin and laid in a vault in St. Mildred's Church in Bread Strete in London that I made for m Parentes and Posterity which Leaden Coffin appoint to be put into a Stone Coffin to be covered with a stone.' The heart of Sir Nicholas, in an urn, stood for many years in the old church of St. Paul's, near to a bust which he had caused to be erected to the memory of his old master Charles 1., and was afterwards removed to the present edifice. A short time ago, when Messrs. Dove Brothers, builders, were removing the human remains from the church of St. Mildred's, Bread Street, they came upon the coffin of Sir Nicholas Crispe, in an excellent state of preservation, and, on the application of Mr. Gery Milner - Gibson - Cullum, of Hardwick, Bury St. Edmunds, whose ancestor, Sir Thomas Cullum, married Mary Crispe, first cousin to Sir Nicholas Crispe, a faculty was issued for the removal of the coffin to Hammersmith for reinterment, so that both ' heart and body ' might rest in the same place. The body was conveyed from St. Mildred s on Saturday morning, and deposited in a tomb which had been prepared for it against the outer walls of the east end of the church. At the top of the tomb a, black marble slab, which had covered the coffin in St. Mildred's Church, has been inserted in the wall, bearing the original inscription and coat of arms of the deceased : ' Here lyeth ye body of Sir Nicholas Crisp Ktt and Baronet one of ye Farmers of His Magestees Cvstomes who departed this life ye 27 of Febrvary 1665. Aged 67 years.' The service attend- ing the reinterment was opened by the singing of the 261st Hymn, followed by prayers and the fifteenth Psalm, after which the Rev. John H. Snowden, the vicar, delivered a short address, setting forth how Sir Nicholas Crispe was one of the original peti- tioners for the founding of the old church of St. Paul's, Hammersmith, as the church at Fulham was too remote ; and how he gave the bricks for the building and contributed to the endowment. It was said Fairfax watered his horses in this old edifice. Sir Nicholas in his lifetime was one of the prime movers in the restoration of the Stuart dynasty, and placed both his money, to the extent of 100, OOW., and his estate at the service of the King. When the body had to be renioved from St. Mildred's, it was thought that it might well be re- interred in Hammersmith, where he had resided and worshipped. He had lived in troublous times, and in all his chequered fortunes he had comported himself nobly and well. A procession to the grave was then formed, led by a surpliced choir, and further hymns and prayer followed by the side of the tomb, where the coffin lay exposed to view. A scarlet, heart-shaped mass of flowers rested on the coffin, sent from St. Mildred's Church, and a wreath of oak leaves and mignonette was deposited at the top of the tomb from Mr. Milner-Gibson- Cullum. Mr. Thomas Edward Crispe, barrister, of the Middle Temple, a descendant of the deceased Knight, then delivered an address, and said he was worthy of the honour they had done his remains. Sir Nicholas was born in Bread Street, and as Milton was born in the same street about the same period, they might h.av been known to each other, The

deceased Knight was one of the pioneers of English colonial exploration. The service closed with the Benediction. The tomb was afterwards closed by a large slab being placed on the top of it. The St. Paul's Guild of Ringers, in the course of the proceedings, rang a peal on the bells, some of which were given by Sir Nicholas Crispe."

W. E. LAYTON.

Cuddington Vicarage, Surrey.

A CHILD'S EPITAPH. There is a small brass on the north wall of Mortlake parish church inscribed as follows :

In obitum Do. Abigail Rashleygh 5 ann defunct' xx die

lulij 1616

For yeares A childe, for

Sparkles of Gods grace

A lewell rich, intoomb'de

Lies in this place. Her ashes (onelie) here ; all .ell's

Is gone to rest.

God takes them youngest, who' He lovetn best.

HENRY ATTWELL.

Barnes.

ANTICIPATION OF X RAYS. In Thomas Nugent's translation of Father Isla's 'History of Friar Gerund de Campazas,' published in 1772, we are informed that there is a popular idea in Spain that certain persons called Zahoris are "born with the faculty of seeing clearly anything which is covered, even though it should be under the earth, so that it be not covered with a blue cloth " (vol. i. p. 365). K. P. D. E.

BERTOLINI'S HOTEL, ST. MARTIN'S STREET. After having undergone many vicissitudes this once famous hotel has succumbed to the hand of Time, having been condemned as a dangerous structure and pulled down. The hotel, which was situated on the east side of St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square, at the corner of Orange Street, was a noted resort of literary men, actors, and musicians about fifty years ago, and was celebrated for its cleanliness and cheapness. Among its habitues were Tennyson and Albert Smith, the latter of whom alludes to it in a parody on "She wo re a wreath of roses," beginning:

He dined at Bertolini's

The night that first we met, A single pint of port there was

Upon the table set ; His dinner had the lightness,

And his voice the humble tone, Of one to whom a shilling

Was not intimately known.

Mr. Austin Dobson, in an article in the Sketch for 22 June, entitled 'A House with a History,' confounds Bertolini's with the