Do you, oh briars! chain me too,
And courteous brambles nail me through!"
L. M. M. R.
Descendants of Dr. Bill.—Are there any records extant of the family or descendants of Dr. Bill, whose name is first on the list of those who drew up the Prayer-Book, tempus Edward VI.? He was also Lord Almoner to Queen Elizabeth. Dr. Bill's only daughter and heiress, Mary Bill, was married to Sir Francis Samwell: had she any family, and did they assume the name of Bill?
Did a branch of the family settle in Staffordshire, and where?
A. R. M.
"The Rebellious Prayer."—Can any of your readers inform me whether some stanzas entitled "The Rebellious Prayer" have ever yet appeared in print, and, if so, in what collection of poems they are to be met with? The opening lines are as follows:
"It was a darken'd chamber, where was heard
The whisper'd voice, hush'd step, and stifled sounds
Which herald the deep quietness of death," &c.