A. N.
Whipping Graves.
—Excommunicated persons were formerly restored to the Church, according to the old Rituale Romanum, by the ceremony of whipping their graves. When it was resolved the dead party should be restored to the communion of saints, it was ordered that the body should not be disentombed, but that the "graves shall be whipped, and while the priest whips the grave, he shall say—'By the authority which I have received I free thee from the bond of excommunication, and restore thee to the communion of the faithful.'" I do not find this in the copy of the Ritual I possess. Have any readers of the "N. & Q." a copy with the directions for this singular service?
CYRUS REDDING.
John Rogers, Protomartyr
John Rogers, Protomartyr, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, and Rector of St. Sepulchre's, was burnt at the stake in Smithfield, rendering his testimony to the true religion of the Catholic Church of England: he left a wife and ten children. It is remarkable that no memorial of this celebrated man is to be found in the church of which he was the rector. Can any of the readers of "N. & Q." afford information as to his present descendants? John Rogers, Gentleman, of Charter House Square, was buried in the nave of the church, Nov. 19. 1775, aged fifty-four. The degree of consanguinity to the former rector is required for genealogical purposes.
KT.
Autograph Music by Handel.
—Before me lies a MS. duet in the autograph of Handel, and also an unfinished "Sonata da Cembalo" by the same composer. The former piece is thus authenticated by a note written at the bottom of the last page:
"This duett was given to G. Malchair by Philip Hayes, Mus. Dr., with a declaration that it is Mr. Handel's ohne handwriting."