elf to let
and stop our prayers."--Vol. i. p. 829. Parker Soc. edit.

"Every patron, when he doth not diligently endeavor himself to
place a good and godly man in his benefice, shall make answer
before God."--Vol. ii. p. 28.

"Let them endeavour themselves." [I have forgotten the reference
in this case, but it is in vol. i.]

"How much, then, should we endeavour ourselves to make ready
towards this day, when it shall not be a money matter, but a
soul matter." (ii. p. 62)

As I am engaged on a work on the "Homilies," I should feel very grateful
for any allusions to them in writers between 1600 and 1650, and for any
notices of their being read in churches during that period. Can any of
your readers inform me where the fullest account may be found of the
state of preaching in England prior to the Reformation?

THOMAS COX.

Preston, May 25. 1850.

_Three Dukes_ (Vol. ii., p. 9.).--The verses themselves called them
"three _bastard_ dukes;" but the only bastard duke I can find at that
time was the Duke of Monmouth; all the other creations of the king's
bastards were subsequent to that date. And even if, by poetical licence
or courtly anticipation, they could be called _dukes_, they were all too
young to have any share in such a fray. I must further observe, that
_Evelyn's Diary_ is silent as to any such events, though he is, about
that time, justly indignant at the immoralities of the Court. The
"park" referred to, but not named in the verses, is the {47}
disreputable place called "Whetstone Park," near Holborn.

C.

_Christabel_ (Vol. i., p. 262.).--After a long hunt among Manx and
Highland superstitions, I have just found that the passage I was in
search of belongs to "the Debateable Land."

"'Reverend father,' replied Magdalen, 'hast thou never heard
that there are spirits powerful to rend the walls of a castle
asunder when once admitted, which yet _cannot enter the house
unless they are invited, nay, dragged over the threshold_? Twice
hath Roland Groeme been thus drawn into the household of Avenel
by those who now hold the title. Let them look to the
issue.'"--_The Abbot_, chap. 15., ad fin., _and note_.

C. FORBES.

Temple, April 15.

_Derivation of "Trianon"_ (Vol. i., p. 439.; vol. ii., p. 13.).--Your
correspondent AREDJID KOOES is certainly right: Trianon was the _name of
a village_, which formerly stood on