Ossian Collection > Gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle > Volume 66, Part 2

642 Illujf rations of the Monogram I. H. S. — Dr. Heatlicote. [Aug;
rr»«ntal wafer, denctcr* the name of
Jefus. '* P.inis autem hie formatur in
modum dtnarii In hoc enim pane
faepe fcribitur nomen, et imae" impera-
toris nollri. (Rationale, lib. IV. c. xxx.
No. VIII.)" And, if fo, it fliould feem
I. H. S was not imagined in that age
(cent, i^.) to convey an idea of the
office of the Saviour of mankind, by
making each of the letters the initial
of an entire word in Latin. But An-
tiquaries, both great and little, will,
as well as Doflors, differ; and this
latter prevailing notion is pertina-
cioufly, and fomewhat farcKftic;illy,
maintained, in a periodical work of
high refpeftabiiity * :
" The common interpretation of I. H.S.
is, in our opinion, undoubtedly right, tlie ci-
pher being adopted in our churches from
the Latin, for the beft of all reafons, lie-
caufe Latin was at that very time the very
tatiguage of all our fervices in the church,
the derivation of it from the Greek or He-
brew writer?! being merely the creature of
pedantry, alfefting fnblimities, and Hum-
bling over common [itijc\."
In the ipfe dtx.t, or rather ipfi dlx-
e'runt, of thefe cenfors (for, the adjudi-
cation is in the plural number,) per-
haps R. B. may think it politic and
wife to acquiefcc, even though he pro-
feffes to have in hirn a fpirit of cnar-
chifm, and naay have for a fecond
L E (fee vol. LX. p. 697), snd for a
third P. Q^ (yo!. LXII. p io«9).
If the ie;ider turns to the under-
jnentioned volumes of Gent. Mag. he
%vi!l find three more of Mr, Urban's
correfpondents who differ from the
abovementioned di£iatorial pofition
concerninsj this monogram.
Vol. XX.XVir. p. 444. Defcription
of Antiquities at Aldfriflon, Sulitx,
by D. D. *' At the bottom of the par-
Jour beam \^Z — inferibed with the nat^ie
Jelus.
Vol. XLIV. p. J33, fig. 10. Ab-
breviation of i. H. S faljely inttrpre-
sed Jfjuf bominum Sal'Vater. Sign.
T. R.
Vol. LXIV. p. 414, in which Inda-
gator Roffenfis has cited a paffage from
the works of Angelus Rocca, which he
thinks is authority fufficient to deter-
mine the point fo long controverted,
whether it lignifiesthenameortheoflice
of Jhefus, and whether it be an abbre-
* Britii'h Clitic (if April, pp. 391, 39i.
f In the opinidn infallible of tills Critic,
Dur;uid nm!t li;ive haenoneol the pedaiitic
ilumblers over common fenl'e.
viatioRof a Greek word, or a compound
of letters from three Latin words.
Aware that it will be prefumptuous
in a puifne champion to enter the lifts
againff fuch a formidable literary pha-
lanx; nothing more fiisli be added,
that I mav not expofe myfelf to the ■
imputation of being frivolous and
Otherwise.
Mr. Urban, Slaujioti, Leic. Aii^. 8.
IN the North wall of Mr. VVarne.'s
houfe at Cranoe, in this neighbour-
hood, on a circular freeftone, is the jn-
clofed crofs (plate III. fig. 5) ; which
probably was originally placed on the
battlements at the ridge of the Eaft
end of the nave of the church; as there
is a fione rifing fome inches above the
battlements, or parapet, correfponding'
with the bottom of the fhaft, as in the
figure. When or how it was broken
off from there, or when placed where
it now is, is not known; tradition
fays nothing about it. The diameter
of the Hone is 15 ijiches ; breadth of
the fiiaft of the crofs, 4 inches ; breadth
of the traofveife and ourer rim, i S
inches; depth of ditto, 4 inches. 1
imagine it was placed where it now is
as a fubilituie for a window-frame,
the quarters being originally cut away,
or quite through, though they are now
walled up \vith ftone or mortar. The
letters i!c,$~, and the crofs at bottom,
are in rehtvo, &r raifed above the fur-
face of the flone. Is the ftroke througfi
the }) intended to reprefent a crofs, or
as an abbreviation of the word Jefus ?
I rather think the latter, according to
the opinion of P. Q. on the fame fub-
jetf, vol. LXIJ. p. 1089; fee alfo
:n that volume, S. S. p. 981.
Youis, &c. J. TailbY.
Mr. Urban, April ^,
ACADEMICUS, p. 203, holds mc
*' properly coire6lrd tor my mif-
repreientation, or confufed flatement,
ot your recital of Mr. Jones's Memoirs
of the good Eilhop (Horns);" and
fays, Jhat 1 am "equally contufcd as
to the author of the anonymous pam-
phlet ; which I aver, in contrudiiiioK
of your recital, was not ivntltn by Dr.
Heathccte ;" whilft he, on the other
hand, a'Vin, in leturn, "neither Mr.
Jones nor your recit^il mention it was;
but th-t the Apology (and what he
means by the Apology I know not, for
I rtever heard of it before) contained
an anfwsr to aauJher pani|:)hltt lately
wriEtew