They are from a satirical poem by John Skelton, who died in 1529; and the subject of them is Sir Thomas More.
"But now we have a knight That is a man of might, All armed for to fight, To put the truth to flight By _Bowbell_ policy."
_Quid est Episcopus?_ (Vol. v., p. 255.).--I know not to whom Bingham may refer these words in the edition of 1843; but in that of 1840 he expressly refers them to "the author of the _Questions upon the Old and New Testament_, under the name of _St. Austin_." But, the spurious book being part of the collection printed as _S. Augustini Opera_, the reference "Aug.," &c. very properly occurs there "at the foot of the page."
_Nightingale and Thorn_ (Vol. iv., pp. 175. 242.).--As an addition to the examples already adduced concerning this fable, I give the following:
"Come, let us set our careful breasts, Like Philomel, against the thorn, To aggravate the inward grief That makes her accents so forlorn."
_The Article "An"_ (Vol. v., p. 297.).--"_Hospital_" is to be found with the prefix "an" in Addison, and probably in the works of all other writers who need the word and the prefix; but, as to there being only _six_ words beginning with _h_ to which the case of the said prefix will apply, I cannot assent to the assertion. Witness the following words, which will form decided exceptions to a supposed rule of that kind:--_Harangue_, _hereafter_, _historical_, _hour_, _hostler_, _hyperbole_, _hypothesis_, _hysteric_. Can any one speak these words in succession with the prefix "a" to each without impediment? I trow not.
The six words mentioned by NIL NEMINI, that begin with the letter _h_, and have the article "an" prefixed, are not quite the same as those I was taught at school. This is my list "_Heir_, _honest_, _honour_ (including _honourable_), _hour_, _herb_, and _hospital_."
_The Countess of Desmond_ (Vol. v., p. 323.).--Having succeeded in eliciting notices of various pictures of Oliver Cromwell attributed to Cooper, without discovering the original miniature bequeathed to Richard Burke by Sir Joshua Reynolds, I am tempted to mention that I once saw a portrait of the Countess of Desmond, hitherto not described by any of her biographers, but very much resembling the Windsor picture and Penant's engraved print, though evidently the work of an inferior artist. The portrait in question was a short time in my father's possession, soon after the year 1800, having been delivered to him by the executor of Mrs. Elizabeth Berkeley, an eccentric old lady, well known as a correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, who left the picture, with many others, to Lord Braybrooke. But it was soon claimed by a Mr. Grimston of Sculcoates, in Yorkshire, who seemed to be entitled to a great portion of the collection, and my father was glad to be allowed to retain two fine views of Venice, painted by Canaletti for Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, who was the father of Mrs. Berkeley's husband, and which are still at Audley End. Perhaps this statement made from memory at the end of fifty years may be of no value, but it shows the existence of another likeness of the person always described as the Countess of Desmond, and as it came originally from the collection of an Irish prelate, it probably, like the lady herself, belonged to the Emerald Isle.