"All you that in the condemn'd hold do lie, Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die. Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near, That you before the Almighty must appear. Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not to eternal flames be sent. And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls, The Lord have mercy on your souls! Past twelve o'clock!" The following extract from Stowe's _Survey of London_, p. 125. of the quarto edition, printed 1618, will prove that the above verses ought to be repeated by a clergyman instead of a bellman: "Robert Doue, citizen and merchant taylor, of London, gave to the parish of St. Sepulchre's the sum of 50l. That after the several sessions of London, when the prisoners remain in the gaole, as condemned men to death, expecting execution on the morrow following; the clarke (that is the parson) of the church shoold come in the night time, and likewise early in the morning, to the window of the prison where they lye, and there ringing certain tolls with a hand-bell appointed for the purpose, he doth afterwards (in most Christian manner) put them in mind of their present condition, and ensuing execution, desiring them to be prepared therefore, as they ought to be. When they are in the cart, and brought before the wall of the church, there he standeth ready with the same bell. And after certain tolls rehearseth an appointed prayer, desiring all the people there present to pray for them. The beadle also of Merchant Taylors' Hall hath an honest stipend allowed to see that it is duely done." This note is an extract from the _Romance of the Forum_, vol. ii. p. 268. J. W. FARRER. {566} * * * * * HERBERT'S "CHURCH PORCH." (Vol. ix., p. 173.) I venture the following as the meaning of the curious stanza in George Herbert's _Church Porch_, referred to by your correspondent S. SINGLETON: "God made me one man; love makes me no more, Till labor come and make my weakness score." If you are single, give all you have to the service of God. But do not be anxious to make the gift larger by toil: for God only requires that which is suitable to the position in which He has placed you. He bestows a certain "estate" upon every man as He bestows life: let both be dedicated to Him. For if you give first yourself, and then what He has given you, this is sufficient; you need not try to be more rich, that you may be more charitable. But if you choose a life of labour to gain an "estate" beyond the original position assigned to you in the providence of God, then you must reckon yourself responsible for the "one man" which God "made" you, and for _the other_ which you make yourself besides. I conceive the stanza to be a recommendation of the contemplative life with poverty, in preference to the active life with riches. J. H. B. * * * * * ANCIENT USAGES OF THE CHURCH.