went to the place with sticks, which they forced thro' the snow. At last one of them upon putting his stick down thought he heard something groan. Upon which he thrust it down with more force, which made the woman cry out, O for God's sake do not kill me. She was taken out to the astonishment of them all, and was found to have taken great part of her upper garment for sustenance. Upon inquiry, she told them she had lain very warm, and had slept most part of the time. One of her legs lay just under a bush, so that 'twas not quite covered with snow, by which it became almost mortifyed, but 'tis like to do very well. The woman is in a cheerful condition, and there has been a person in Oxford, who saw her walk the street since this amazing accident. She lay under the hedge at least seven days.*

On Thursday morning last dy'd Dr. Bayly, Principal of New-Inn-Hall.

*The accident which befel this poor woman, must remind our readers of a similar one which happened to Elizabeth Woodcock, who remained buried in snow near Cambridge, VOL. I.

LETTER LXXII.

Extract of a Letter from the same to the same.

Bidding to Prayer.-On the word Thwayte.

I SUPPOSE you have in your study the excellent book of Sir Hammond L'Estrange's called The Allyance of Divine Offices.* At the latter end of it (pag. 338) he has published the ancient form of Bidding of the Prayers, in which is the following passage, of which I should be glad to have the opinion not only of yourself, but of Mr. Dodwell and Mr. Brokesby. "Ye shulle bydde for tham that this cherche honour with book, with bell, with westiments, with THWAYTE, oder with lyght, oder with eny oder ournaments to roof, oder to grounde with londe, oder with rent where through God and our Lady, and all halhen of hevene beth the fairer inservit her, oder elliswar." This form was transcribed by a Cambridge gentleman from a spare parchment leaf put at the beginning of the Summs of Gulielmus

from the evening of the 2d, till the noon of the 10th, of February, 1799. She survived the accident about five months. For a curious narrative of all the particulars, see the Gent. Mag. for Aug. 1799.

* The Alliance of Divine Offices exhibiting all the Litur gies of the Church of England since the Reformation, &c. By Hamon L'Estrange, Esq. London, 1659, fol.

de Pagua in the University Library there, and so is above CCCC years old. The transcriber has added several conjectures and emendations in the margin, which Sir Hammond has taken care to print faithfully; but opposite to the word THWAYTE he has put quænam vox ista? signifying thereby that he was ignorant what the meaning of it should be. Nor has Sir Hammond offered at any solution. I was talking with Mr. Thwaites of Queen's College about this word, who told me that he formerly considered it, at the request of a Doctor of Divinity and Head of a College in this University, and that he gave it in as his opinion, that the word should be THWAYLE, and that it either comes from the Saxon word Ɖpeal, i. e. lotio, ablutio, dilutio; or else from Dpealu, i. e. lavacra; by which it will betoken Baptisteria or Fonts. This conjecture might be approved of, if we could find that the word was at this time used to signify so, or if it would agree with the other words which I have transcribed. They are commanded to pray for those who had made some extraordinary benefactions; but fonts were ordinary and of course in every church. The parish was obliged to find them, whether there were benefactors or no. Besides they had nothing of extraordinary in their work, unless now and then. By the Ecclesiastical Canons they were to be of stone, and so they have been

constantly. Hence they were called Font-stones in Geoffery Chaucer's time,

Mauricius at Font-stone they him calle.

[See in the Tale of the Man of Lawes, Part ii.]

and I believe that was the name they were called by at the time that the Form of Bidding was made. The rich Baptisterium, indeed, of Constantine the Great, had within it silver, and 'twas adorned with other things that were suitable; and so we read of a few others. But that was reckoned princely, and altogether against the common course. We must therefore look for something that may answer the other extraordinary gifts here mentioned, such as might strike an immediate zeal in the several members to put up their prayers for the respective benefactors. If we have recourse to the other Form of Bidding of Prayers, printed by Sir Hammond, pag. 181, the word must be equivalent to lamp, for so it is expressed" Also ye shall pray for all those that have honoured the Church with light, lamp, vestment, or bell, or with any other ornaments, by which the service of Almighty God is the better maintained and kept." This might be allowed, if the word did at all answer, or could we suppose that the word lamp could be so much corrupted. With more probability therefore I take the word THAYTE, TWAITE, or

THWAYTE (h being left out, or retained at liberty, as appears from a great number of instances) to signify a wood grubbed up and turned to arable. This explication is warranted by Sir Edward Coke upon Littleton. fol. IV. 6. Now this arable land being given to any church, it could not but be reckoned an extraordinary benefaction, and the donors accounted as deserving the greatest commendation, and to be always remembered in the prayers of the congregation. Such sort of benefactions were frequently made about the XIIIth Century, when the clergy were in great esteem, and vast tythes granted on that account, which is however chiefly owing to the cunning of the instruments of the Bishop of Rome.

Oxon, April 24th, 1709.

LETTER LXXIII

MATTHEW GIBSON to THOMAS HEARNE.

Mr. Brome.-History of Herefordshire.-Leland.

MY VERY LEARNED AND WORTHY FRIEND,

I MOST thankfully acknowledge that I received your's, dated the 17th of April last; and blush that I should be so tardy in making a return; which, indeed, nothing could excuse, but