4.  “A treatise of charitie, 1534.

    5.  “Here be the Gathered Counsales of Sainete Isidorie, &c.,
    1539.

6.  “A compendious and a very fruitful treatise teaching the waye of dyenge well, written to a frende by the floure of lerned men of his tyme, Thomas Lupsete, Londoner, late deceassed, on whose sowle Jesu have mercy. 1541.”

Almost all these treatises are printed by Thomas Berthelet.  I know not if any of these treatises are now scarce.  On the fly-leaf opposite the first page we find the following scriptural sentences, which are, in my opinion, and in that of others to whom I have shown the book, evidently written by the hand of the queen.

It will be only necessary to give the first and last of these sentences: 

    “Delyte not in Þe multytude of ungodly men, and haue no pleasure
    in Þem, for they feare not God.

    “Refuse not Þe prayer of one yt is in trouble, and turne not
    away thy face from the nedye.”

We need not quote more; but on the opposite side of the fly-leaf are some verses of a different character, and which I suspect to be from the royal pen of Henry VIII.  The writing is uncommonly difficult to decypher, but it bears a strong resemblance to all that I have seen of Henry’s handwriting.  A portion of the verses, as far as I can make them out, are here subjoined: 

  Respect.

  “Blush not, fayre nimphe, tho (nee?) of nobell blod,
  I fain avoutch it, and of manners good,
  Spottles in lyf, of mynd sencere and sound,
  In whoam a world of vertues doth abowend,
  And sith besyd yt ye lycens giv withall
  Set doughts asyd and to some sporting fall,
  Therefoor, suspysion, I do banyshe thee”

Then follows a line I cannot decypher, and at the bottom of the page is

  “You will be clear of my suspysion.”

Are these verses from some old poet, or are they composed as well as written by the royal tyrant? for no other would, I think, have addressed such lines to “Kateryn the Quene.”

I have only to add that the volume was given me by the sister of the late President of the English college at Valladolid, and that he obtained it during his residence in Spain.  It is not unlikely it may have been carried thither by some of the English Catholics, who resorted to that country for education.  In 1625 it seems to have belonged to John Sherrott.

I should be glad of any information about the verses.

E. Charlton, M.D.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, August 18. 1850.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR CHEAP BOOKS OF REFERENCE.

Although your space is generally devoted to the higher and more curious inquiries respecting antiquities and literature, I am sure you will not grudge a little room for facilitating and improving the means of popular information and instruction.