106
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
