36 Decorating Churches with Evergreens.- Shakspeare's Henrý IV. [July, discontinuance of the custom of placing evergreens in our Churches at Christmas, I beg to enter my protest against any such innovation. The custom is extremely antient; and whether it be meant to commemorate the entrance of our Saviour into Jerusalem, when branches of trees were strewed before him, or whether the evergreen, as the emblem of that lively and never-dying faith which should mark the true Christian, is displayed. at the period most interesting to the Church, the foundation stone of which was then laid, it is unquestionably a custom endeared to us from the earliest recollections of our infancy, and which has from that period been associated with all those holy and pious ideas peculiarly excited by the approach of Christmas. I believe that, in general, the evergreens used for this purpose are provided in a regular manner, and from acknowledged sources; and have no reason to think, that in many instances they are the fruits of plunder. For myself, I have for many years taken much pleasure in furnishing from my own shrubbery the annual decoration of my parochial Chapel, and consider my evergreens as almost hallowed by such a dedication of them. I further beg to subjoin a few lines written some years since, which may serve to illustrate the feeling produced in my mind by the custom so much condemned by R. which I should be happy to think may possibly redeem it in his opinion. On seeing St. Pancras Chapel decorated O! be the type through heavenly love, As leaves that never fade. WESTONIENSIS. Mr. URBAN, Windsor, 22 July. SUBMIT to your critical judgment the following attempts to elucidate two passages in a scene of the first act of the First part of Shakspeare's Henry IV." The extract you will perceive commences with the concluding lines of Hotspur's address to his father and uncle, pregnant with indignant feelings at the conduct of the King. Extract from Hotspur's Speech in reproof to his Father and Uncle. HOTSPUR. "Shall it for shame be spoken in these days, Or fill up chronicles in times to come, went? No: yet time serves, wherein you may redeem Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves Into the good thoughts of the world again: Revenge the jeering, and disdain'd contempt, Of this proud King!" planation of the act of" o'er-walking a current on a spear!" remarks, "That the spear was laid across;" and the accurate Mr. DOUCE, in confirmation of the practice of constructing " a bridge by means of a sword or spear, by the heroes of ancient chivalry," refers to Lancelot of the Lake; and the first vol. of Mr. Carter's Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting, where such an incident is represented. But still it may be inquired, what could be the perils, or loud-roaring of a current, the breadth of which might be determined by the length of a spear? Some of these were of the extent of fourteen feet; but could a spear of that length be of stability to serve as a bridge to a warrior, or a hunter, over a rapid current? or It is possible that Shakspeare's genuine expression was SPAR, SPARRE (in the Teutonic and Dutch). Dr. Johnson explains "Spar" "Spar" to be "a small beam;" and in a dockyard, or in countries intersected with dikes and channels of water, spars are very usually applied to serve as bridges, But even these can be only passed over by expert persons, and great peril is sometimes attendant on the enterprize. Spars are also laid across rapid currents among the Welch mountains, and are so denominated, especially in the neighbourhoods of boat-builders; spars being a material article in their professional operations. Still, however, if evidence could be furnished of the hunters of wild boars in Germany being, in the course of a chace, in the habit of applying their spears, either singly, or bound securely with one or two others, to form a bridge over an interruptive current, the word SPEAR would, I con ceive, be entitled to preference, as the one indicating most risk to an adven turer. I now come to HOTSPUR's vaunting apostrophe: "By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced MOON," &c. &c. &c. Gildon has condemned this as rant; Dr. Warburton has extolled it on the ground of its beautiful allegory; and Dr. Johnson, with the judicious David Garrick, have justified it by temperate reasonings; but neither of them have presented such illustration as the ima gery and language seems to require. Soon after Henry's elevation to the throne, he assumed very devout man ners, to entrap the superstitious and weak. His servile support of the papal hierarchy was manifested by his early sanguinary act (a disgrace to our Statute-Book), which orders the burning of heretics, with a view of preventing the growth of reason; and the inference is fair, that a Prince who could enforce one measure of oppression. to gain the attachment of the clergy, might, still more to secure them to his interest, project another, likely to be popular with the nation. Such would be a CRUSADE, which could not fail of being attractive to the warlike spirits of England, among whom Hotspur held forward rank. The Mahometan CRESCENT was, therefore, the Moon the chivalric Percy had in contemplation, and every expression in his speech seems to confirm this conjecture; nor could he have this object on his mind for an instant, without figuring the heroic exploits of Caur-de-Lion. We are even reminded by "the bottom of the deep," and "plucking up drowned Honour by the locks," of Richard's stern resentment of the indignities his shipwrecked Queen had suffered on the inhospitable shores of Cyprus; and, indeed, the constituent substance of Hotspur's speech may be thus expressed:-" A seeming impossibility may be attained, if boldly attempted; and difficulties be overcome, however encompassed by dangers; if that the ATCHIEVER be allowed to enjoy the merited honour; but this King has a a hollow purpose." But after all, it is in zeal for Shakspeare that this effort is tried. Whatever Hotspur says, he made him speak; and that the crusading-scheme of the King was strong in Shakspeare's recollection, is evident; it is alluded to, more than once, in the Second Part of Henry IV. In one of the scenes, the King craftily remarks to the Prince of Wales:-"That those by whose working he was first advanced, had also power to displace him." "Which to avoid, I cut them off;-and had a purpose now In addition to this endeavour at elucidation, I beg to inquire, whether the house of Northumberland did not, about that period of our history, bear in their arms a MOON?-If not, what construction is to be applied to the en 38 Biographical Notices of Admiral Sir H. Walker. suing passage from Sir John Beaumont's Poem of BOSWORTH FIELD, written in 1629. King Richard, having received information before the battle of the probable defection of Stanley and Northumberland, pronounces indignantly the sarcasm contained in the concluding couplet of the part quoted. "When RICHARD knew that both his hopes IN July 20. 66 ne Mr. URBAN, N your Magazine of December 1819, "W. H." requests "information on some points," doubtless very cessary to the completion of that memoir which he wishes to prefix to one of the private journals of Rear Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker," as an account of its writer. It is to be regretted, that his Journals, which (with any books whereof he died possessed) were by will bequeathed to his brother Sir Chamberlen (not Chamberlain, as spelt by "W.H."), should have fallen into hands for which their author had not designed them. Without going back to Sir David Gam (and quere? whether a pun be intended in assigning that progenitor for the family of Walker?), I shall inform "W.H." that the Admiral was the second son of Col. William Walker, of Tankardstown in the Queen's County, and of Elizabeth Chamberlen, eldest daughter of Peter Chamberlen of London, M.D. and sister of two ingenious and celebrated physicians, Drs. Paul and Hugh Chamberlen; the former the intimate, and sometimes the butt of Prior the poet; the latter justly described in the epitaph upon his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The grandfather of Sir Hovenden was a private gentleman, John Walker, Esq. eldest son of the Rev. John Walker of Kiltail or Dysart Enos in the Queen's [July, County, about 1580, who founded a Lectureship at Maryborough, its chief town, for inculcating publicly the doctrines of the Protestant religion. John Walker, Esq. before mentioned, intermarried with Mary Hovenden, the only daughter of Thomas Hovenden of Tankardstown in the Queen's County, who possessed very considerable estates therein, derived from his ancestor Giles Hovenden or Hoveden, who passed from England into Ireland in the reign of Henry the Eighth, and thus was the sirname Hovenden introduced to serve as a Christian name in the Walker family, whilst those of Chamberlen and Middleton, from Dr. Chamberlen and Sir Hugh Middleton (one of whose daughters was married to Dr. Peter Chamberlen), were also used as appellatives for others of his sons, by Colonel Walker. Sir Hovenden had an elder brother (William), who was disinherited by their father, and died childless, leaving a horse, which appears to have been his only possession, to his brother Chamberlen, third son of Col. Walker, already mentioned. The younger brothers were (besides those named), Walter, Middleton, and John; the two latter lived to man's estate, and left descendants. There were several sisters, who intermarried with the families of Bolton, Barrington, Welstead, and others of respectability in England and Ireland. The subject of "W. H.'s" inquiry, Sir Hovenden, was born about the year 1656, and died in Dublin of a fit of apoplexy in 1728. His ill success on an expedition fitted out at an improper season of the year, to the river St. Laurence, by Queen Anne's Ministry in 1711, and the loss of his ship and personal property to a large amount, when the former (called the Edgar) was consumed by fire off Portsmouth shortly after his return, are accounted for and vindicated in an able memoir by himself, which is to be found in public libraries. Campbell and Kent, in their lives of British Admirals, have acquitted him of blame. He had been at first laid on the shelf, through the animosity of party, Secretary St. John (afterwards Lord Bolingbroke) having been his patron when Minister; but after that animosity had subsided, in the latter years of the reign of George the First, he was restored to his rank, and employed with advantage advantage to his country in the West Indies. He first married the daughter of Colonel Pudsay, an English officer of good family, by whom a regiment, called Pudsay's, had been raised to assist King William. By this marriage Sir Hovenden had no surviving issue. He married, 2dly, Margaret daughter of Mr. Justice Jefferson, puisne Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, and she survived him. By this lady he had one child, a daughter, named Margaret, who died in England about the year 1777, unmarried. If" W. H." be curious to learn the antiquity of the family of Walker, he will find on making due research, that it is of Saxon origin, and that it gave a Bishop to the See of Durham in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The branch from whence Sir Hovenden descended, is supposed to have come from Cambridgeshire, and to have been nearly connected with the Walkers of Staffordshire. Z. Mr. URBAN, July 15. WENT into Feltham Church the other day, in order to copy the inscription on the monument recently erected to the memory of the late Vicar of Ealing, and the classical Latin epitaph on the monument of C. Wilkinson, esq.; when, finding that there were in all but eleven monuments in the Church, I extended my labours, and am enabled to send you copies of all the inscriptions, most of which, for various reasons, deserve a place in your unperishable Miscellany. Some future time I may send you a short history of the parish; at present I can only refer your readers to the very brief notice of it given by Lysons, in his " Middlesex Parishes," p. 45. On the first tablet, or rather group of tablets on the North side of the Church, are the three following inscriptions: "In the same vault are deposited the remains of ANNA-MARIA LE BAs, late wife of CHARLES LE BAS, and daughter of NICHOLAS and MARY WEBB, who departed this life, Sept. 17, 1785, in the 28th year of her age. "Reader! it was not pride that influenc'd a fond husband to raise this modest stone: justice to the memory of the best of women demanded it of him. Know then! that here reposeth all her mortal part; but know likewise, that she was form'd of Nature's purest mould, and only liv'd to make a Husband, Child, and all her Friends lament she e'er should die." And on the third tablet: "Also the body of ELIZABETH BRUTTON, wife of the late JOHN BRUTTON, Esq. and daughter of the late NICHOLAS WEBB, Esq. and MARY his wife; who died on the 15th of March, A. D. 1815, aged 60 years." Of the parties commemorated by these tablets, I can learn no particulars except so far as regards the Charles Le Bas, on the middle tablet, whom I remember in my younger days Master of the Ceremonies at Margate, where he was held in high estimation. The "Child," mentioned in the last line but one in the epitaph, is now Professor in the East India College at Hertford, and Prebendary of Lincoln. He obtained very high honours when he took his B. A. degree in 1800, being the first Chancellor's Medallist, and fourth Wrangler that year. At a considerable distance from the last, is the chaste and elegant monument (by Westmacott) recently erected to a most worthy man and pious Christian, the father of the present Bishop of Chichester; the name of the sculptor is sufficient to declare the beauty of the execution: "Sacred to the memory of the Rev. COLSTON CARR, LL.B. Vicar of Ealing, Middlesex, and formerly Vicar of this parish. He died July 6th, 1822, aged 81 years. Benevolent and kind in his temper, he discharged the duties of his Christian profession with guileless simplicity and truth, respected and beloved by all his parishioners as their faithful minister and friend. This tablet is erected by his widow and surviving children, as a lasting memorial of their love and affection for one whose worth and excellence as a husband and a father was rarely equalled, and could not be surpassed. Also to the memory of his five children: COLSTON, who died in 1796; MARIA, in 1797; EDWARD JAMES, Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, in 1802; SARAH ISABELLA, in 1816; On the second tablet is the follow- and HENRY WILLIAM, K. C. B. and K. T.S. "In a vault under this pew, are deposited the remains of MARY WEBB (late wife of NICHOLAS WEBB, of Feltham Hill, Esq.) obiit Nov. 25, 1781, ætat 52. Also NiCHOLAS WEBB, Esq. ob. April 8, 1791, æt. 67. Also the body of JOHN BRUTTON, Esq. son-in-law to the above NICHOLAS and MARY WEBB, who died Dec. 8, 1798, aged 47 years." ing: Lieut. 1 40 Questions on Druidism.—Passage from Prince's Worthies. [July, Lieut.-Colonel in the 3d Reg. of Foot Very near this is the most ancient monument in the Church, on which is the following inscription: "Neer this place lies interred the body or NATHANIEL CREWE, Esq. son of Sr THOMAS CREWE of Steane, in ye county of Northampton, Knight, who departed this life the 3d day of Febrvary, Anno Dom'. 1688, aged 81 yeares." Over this inscription is a shield, bearing on a field Sable, a lion rampant Argent, with a mullet Or in the dexter chief point, to denote that the deceased was the third son of Sir Thomas Crewe; a circumstance which is proved by a fragment of stone lying at the door of the vestry-room. On the North side of the Communion-table is the following: "ANN KILGOUR, daughter of the Rev. Dr. KILGOUR, died March 28th, 1798, aged 25 years. ELIZABETH KILGOUR, wife of the above Dr. KILGOUR, died April 24th, 1809; aged 57 years. The Rev. Dr. KILGOUR died Jan. 24th, 1818, in the 79th year of his age." This Dr. Kilgour left a son, who died in 1819, at Long Stow in Cambridgeshire, of which parish he was the Rector. J. M. (To be continued.) Mr. URBAN, PERMIT July 12. me to ask a few questions on the subject of Druidism. They may possibly lead to a dissertation of some length. 1. Was not a large portion of our island covered with woods in the days of Druidism* ? 2. Was not the population of the island excessivet? 3. Such being admitted, let me again ask, where shall we look for Druidical Temples, but to the woods? Is it likely that the Druids would have consecrated the open grounds, whether hills or vallies, whether downs or lowlands, which must have been inhabited in all their extent, and in every cornert? See Strabo, p. 305. Richard, pp. 26 -32. Ptolemy, B. i. ch. xii. s. 2. "Infinita multitudo." Cæsar, Lib. v. The riches of the Britous consisted chiefly in their cattle, which were kept on the open grounds. Cæsar, p. 88, and Mela, Lib. iii. c. 6. 4. Would they not rather have retired to the forest or the grove, and have hailed their rock-idols more aweful from a depth of umbrage? 5. Besides, how are we assured In Cornwall and in Devon almost all that Stonehenge was a Druid Temple? the Cromlechs, Logan-stones, and Rock-basons (as they are called) are at this moment, or were once, in the midst of oaks. There is scarcely a oaks or the vestiges of oaks do not remnant of reputed Druidism, where exist. 6. And with respect to Tacitus, can we doubt his positive assertion? Shall a fact stated clearly and decisively, be resigned to a mere hypothesis? 7. Why should the Romans have forborne to cut down, or in any way destroy woods occupied by the Druids, as well as any other woods §? 8. Did the Druidical and Roman Polytheism coalesce? 9. Were the Druids friendly to the Roman invasion? I rather suspect the contrary. Mr. URBAN, V. July 17. N the fine character of Colonel John Giffard, of Brightley, which I copy from Prince's "Worthies of Devon,' the part I have marked with italics seems to be taken from some classic author. I have a very faint recollection of meeting it some where, and would feel much obliged to any of your Correspondents who could refer me to the original. NORMANUS. "He was a gentleman of a grave and comely aspect, of an obliging carriage, of a sober life, and a pious conversation. Such was his deportment towards me in all his actions, as if he were conscious the eye of God was upon him; and such his behaviour towards God in the instances of devotion and religion, as if he thought he was a spectacle to angels and to man. In so much, that his sobriety and piety brought great reputation to the royal cause in those parts where he lived, and he was an excellent ornament to his profession, both as a subject and a Christian." Prince's W. D. edit. 1810, p. 412. § According to your ingenious correspondent Merlin," the Romans deemed the existence of the Druids incompatible with their ambitious projects." He is certainly right. |