[The following note from p. 131. of Mr. Hardwick's recently published History of the Articles will furnish a reply to this Query:—
"He (Laud) was accused of forging the contested clause in Art. XX. And after appealing to four printed copies of the Articles, one of them as early as 1563, and all containing the passage which the Puritans disliked, he added, 'I shall make it yet plainer: for it is not fit concerning an Article of Religion, and an Article of such consequence for the order, truth, and peace of the Church, you should rely upon my copies, be they never so many or never so ancient. Therefore I sent to the public records in my office, and here under my officer's hand, who is public notary, is returned to me the Twentieth Article with this affirmative clause in it, and there is also the whole body of the Articles to be seen.'—Remains, ii. 83. (quoted by Bennet, 166.) The copy thus taken before the destruction of the records is said to be still extant; Bennet made use of it, and has printed it in his Essay, 167-169.">[
Exons of the Guard.
—Can any of your readers inform me what are the duties of these officers, and the derivation of their title? I find, in the papers describing her Majesty's state ball, the following: "the exons or capitaines exempts de la garde du corps;" but that does not throw much light upon the subject.
E. N. W.
Southwark.
[The name of Exempts or Exons is manifestly borrowed from that of the officers in the old French Garde du Corps, who were styled in their commissions Capitaines Exempts des Gardes du Corps. Richelet describes the Exempt as the officer who commanded in the absence of the Lieutenant or Ensign, and who had charge of the night watch. In both cases, the duties of the English and French officers are completely parallel.]
Curious Monumental Inscription: "Quos Anguis tristi."
—Have any of your readers seen Latin verses constructed in the following curious manner? I copied these many years ago from an old magazine:—
| "Qu | an | tris | di | c | vul | stra | |
| os | guis | ti | ro | um | nere | vit, | |
| H | san | Chris | mi | t | mu | la |