gravel-heaps in the south-western parts of the county of Durham. Near to the ancient beds from which all the granite blocks were torn, the Wastdalebeck rolls over prodigious quantities of them; and about three years since, when the workmen were employed in improving the road from Shap to Kendal, they had a great many of them to remove just on the north side of Wastdale beck; and under some, found considerable quantities of Roman coins, all belonging to emperors, prior, as I understood my informant, to the reign of Trajan, but principally of Vespasian and Domitian. There were 19 of gold, and about 580 of silver, and all in fine preservation. Several of them found their way into the cabinet of Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bart. of Eden Hall, in Cumberland. This discovery is highly interesting, inasmuch as it serves to show that the route of Agricola's army from Wales, was by that way into Caledonia. I hope this notice may be the means of procuring you some further and more particular account of the coins themselves, and of the circumstances under which they were found. V. W.

COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF HISTORY. (Continued from Aug. Mag. p. 112.) OF those ancient coins which present us with dates the next in order, but far superior to those of Bithynia in importance, are the coins of the kings of Pontus and the Bosphorus; and as they exhibit not only the dates, but also the portraits, of the contemporary Roman emperors on one side, they are of great utility in confirming the dates of the emperors' reigns, and in fixing the exact periods and order of succession of the reigns of their own kings.

The first dates which appear on them are 29, which is found on a coin of Mithradates III., the name being so spelt on the coins, although most historians spell the word Mithridates; and 173 on one of Mithradates V.; but with Mithradates VI. they become numerous, commencing with 205, which corresponds with 92 B. C., the æra from which these dates are counted being 297 B. C., which is found by means of the portraits of the contemporary Roman emperors, which appear on one side of the coins; thus the date 489 occurs on one with the

head of Commodus, and 490 on one of Severus, between which two reigns there was the interval of a year; the former year must, therefore, have been the last of Commodus, and the latter the first of Severus; subtracting, therefore, 192 A. D. from 489, or 193 from 490, it will give the æra 297 B. C.; and the same rule will be found to apply in other instances, where the first or last year of the emperor's reign appears on the coins. Sometimes, indeed, an apparent difference of a year occurs, but this is accounted for by their year commencing in au

tumn.

Having thus ascertained the year of their æra, let us now consider the information we derive from their dates.

The dates on the coins of Mithradates VI. are from 205 to 225 inclusive; those of Pharnaces II. 240 to 247; those of Asander are only marked with the years of his reign, from 4 to 17. Frælich makes his reign only 15 years; but he had not seen any date higher than 14. Those of Polemo I. have no dates; nor have those of Pythodoris, Queen of Pontus and the Bosphorus, except the date 60, which refers to the æra of Pontus. The coins of Sauromates I. king of the Bosphorus, bear on the reverse, the heads of Augustus and Tiberius, but no date. Those of Rhescuporis I. king of the Bosphorus, the heads of Augustus and Drusus, Augustus and Tiberius, and Caligula, and various dates, from 304 to 334, of the æra of the Bosphorus. The coins of Polemo II. at first king of Pontus and Bosphorus, but afterwards of Pontus only, present us with numerous dates, but only of his reign as king of Pontus. The portraits of the Roman emperors, however, which appear on the reverse, enable us to fix the period of his accession to the throne of Pontus; for the date 17, which appears on coins both of Claudius and Nero, must have reference to the last year of Claudius, and the first year of Nero, which was A.D.; by which we find the first year of Polemo's reign to have been 37 A. D.; and the last of his numerous dates being 24, would extend his reign over Pontus to at least the year 61 A. D.; and that 37 A. D. was also the first year of his reign over the Bosphorus, appears probable from the coins of his predecessor Rhescuporis I., the last of whose dates, 334, corresponds with 37 A. D.

The remaining kings are all of the Bosphorus only. Those of Mithradates are without dates. Those of Cotys 1. bear the heads of Claudius, Nero, and Vespasian, and the dates 342 to 365. Josephus makes mention of this prince as being king in the 3rd year of Claudius; which would answer to 340 or 341 of the æra of the Bospho

rus.

Those of Rhescuporis II. bear the head of Domitian, and date 380; those of Sauromates II. the heads of Trajan and Hadrian, and dates 395 to 422. Those of Cotys II. commence with 426; and the termination of his reign, and the commencement of that of his successor Rhæmetalces, is marked by the date 428, which appears on coins of both.

The termination of the reign of Rhametalces, and the commencement of that of Eupator, is nearly ascertained by the date 450 on a coin of the former, and 452 on one of the latter.

The dates of Eupator commence with 452, and end with 467. Those of Sauromates III. commence with 474, and end with 505. The dates of Rhescuporis III. are from 508 to 525; and as the latter date occurs also on coins of Cotys Ill. that year marks the end of the reign of the former and beginning of that of the latter.

The date 526, which we find on coins of Cotys III. and Sauromates IV. in like manner marks the extent of the reign of the former, and the period when that of the latter began. The dates of Sauromates IV. are 526, 7, 8, and those of Cotys IV. are 527, 8, 9, 30; by which it appears that these two kings, at least for some time, reigned jointly. The only date found on the coins of Minthimevus is 531, and his reign must have been very short, as we find the same date on the coins of Rhescuporis IV. The coins of the latter present us with the heads of nine Roman emperors, who reigned in succession from Maximinus to Gallienus inclusive, and various dates from 531 to 563.

The only date of Sauromates V. is 572, and as 573 occurs on the coins of his successor Teiranes, we can nearly ascertain the period when the reign of the former terminated, and that of the latter commenced. The date 575 on coins both of Teiranes and Thothorses separates exactly the reigns of these two princes. The numerous dates of Thothorses are from

It will thus be seen by this dry detail of the dates of these coins, that in six instances they furnish us with the exact year which marks the termination of one prince's reign, and the commencement of that of his successor, and in five others very nearly that period; that we can nearly determine the extent of a great many of these reigns, and the order of succession of them all, which, as to very many of them, it would be impossible to do from any other sources; and that they also highly illustrate the chronology of the Roman empire.

PARTHIA.

We now come to the kings of Parthia, whose chronology, although not so satisfactorily illustrated by their coinage as that of the kings of the Bosphorus, is yet of vastly more importance in an historical point of view, as the history of the former kings is more connected with that of those countries which were at that period the theatre of the greatest events, than that of the kings of the Bosphorus, of whose actions history takes but little notice.

Writers have greatly differed as to the æra from which the Parthian dates are counted; but Pellerin and several other numismatic writers have fixed it at 442 V. C. and Sestini at 443, and their arrangement appears far more probable than that of those who have adopted a later æra; for as the last date on the coins of the Parthian kings is so late as 530, and as in 979 V. Č. their kingdom fell into the hands of the Persian kings of the race called Sassanida, who used coins of a totally different character, it is impossible that the Parthian æra could have been later than 449 V.C. Vaillant has fixed on 498, and Corsini 525 V.C.; but in doing so, they were forced to assign several of the later dates to Artaxerxes and Sapor, kings of the Sassanidæ, an arrangement which, as the numerous coins of these two races of princes differ so widely, the Arsacidæ using the Greek, and the Sassanidæ the Pehlavi character, must be considered as in the highest degree improbable.

As almost all the Parthian kings bear on their coins the common name of Arsaces, a considerable difficulty

exists as to their classification; most of them may, however, be distinguished by one or more of the following modes.

1st. The surnames found on several of them, as Sanatroeces, Onones, Artabanus, Pacorus, Volagases, &c. 2d. Their portraits, which on some appear executed with neatness and exactness. 3d. The form of the letters, particularly the sigma and omicron; the former on the coins of the first 11 princes, being generally Σ, and afterwards L, except on those of Onones, which bear C; and the omicron being on the first twelve princes of the usual form, and on all the rest, except Onones, and sometimes those of Arsaces XIV. and XV. of the square form. 4th. The historical accounts we have of the length of their reigns. 5th. Their dates.

Our present business being with their dates, I shall confine my observations to them, merely observing, that without a close attention to the modes of distinguishing the coins of these princes, the dates themselves will be but of little use. The first date we meet with on them is 173, which occurs on a tetradrachm assigned to Arsaces VII.; no other date, however, appears until 275, which we find on a coin of Arsaces XV.; but from that period until the termination of the dynasty in 979 V.C. a period of about 260 years, they are extremely numerous, and afford considerable assistance in determining the order of succession and length of reign of the Parthian kings. The numerous dates of Arsaces XV. (Phraates IV.) are from 275 to 311. The former date must have been soon after the commencement of his reign, as, according to Justin, XLII. 4, and others, the death of Orodes took place soon after that of Pacorus, who was defeated and slain by Ventidius in 714 V.C. answering to 271 or 272 of the Parthian æra. The death of Arsaces XV. is variously placed by historians at from 757 to 764 V. C.; but his dates do not extend so far as either.

both of Bardanes and Gotarzes, marks the termination and commencement of those respective reigns. The dates of Gotarzes are only 357, 358; and it is not probable that he reigned much longer than the last-named date, as Josephus mentions that his reign was but short. Volageses, his brother, succeeded, and his dates are 367-389. To him succeeded his brother Pacorus, whose only date is 394. The dates of Chosroes are 422-431; the former of which nearly corresponds with 865 V. C., the year in which Trajan is supposed to have given a king to the Parthians. The dates of Volageses II. commence with 433, which must have been soon after the beginning of his reign, and end with 460. The reigns of Volageses II. and III. are, if their coins are rightly appropriated, nearly separated by the dates 460, which occur on those given to the former, and 461 on those of the latter. The reigns of Volageses III. and IV. are also nearly separated by the date 502 on coins of the former, and 504 on those of the latter; whilst again, the date 518 on coins of Volageses IV., and 520 on those of Volageses V., nearly distinguish these two last reigns. The dates of Volagases V. who closes the Parthian series, are 520 to 530; and the end of the dynasty is 536, if the æra adopted by Sestini is right, as it certainly must be very nearly so.

It will be seen by this recital, that the dates on the Parthian coins are of considerable use in distinguishing the reigns of their kings, provided they are rightly appropriated; but, after an attentive examination, it must, I fear, be admitted, that the appropriation of many of them is far from satisfactory.

CHARACENE.

ed about thirty years later than the date on the coins of Adinnigaus.

The last of these coins, which present us with dates, are those of Monneses, whom several numismatic writers have formerly considered as one of the Parthian kings. The dates on his coins are 422-425; the last answering to 113 of the Christian æra. JOHN LINDSAY.

(To be continued.)

July 7.

Mr. URBAN, THE excellent Dr. Hall, Bishop of Norwich, in a Sermon preached by him at Exeter on the consecration of a New Burial Ground in that City, 24th Aug. 1637, observes on the practice of burying in Churches, that,

"I cannot but hold it very unfit and inconvenient, first, in respect of the majesty of the place; and that how well soever we loved our deceased friends, yet when their life is dissolved, there is none of us but would be loath to have their corpses inmates with us in our houses; and why should we think fit to offer that to God's house which we would be loath to endure in our own? The Jews and we are extremes in this way; they hold the place unclean where the dead lies, and will not abide to read any part of the law near to ought that is dead; we make choice to lay our dead in the place where we read and preach both law and gospel. Secondly, in regard to the annoyance of the living; for the air (kept close within walls) arising from dead bodies, must needs be offensive, as we find by daily experience; more offensive now than of old to God's people; they buried with odours, the fragrance whereof was a good antidote for this inconvenience. ("She did this to bury me," saith our Saviour). Not so with us; the air receives no other tincture than what arises from the evaporation of corrupted bodies."

In this opinion the learned and pious Bishop was not singular. Many men of the greatest judgment and piety, have thought that the practice of burying in Churches, instead of answering any good purpose, is injurious to health, and a mark of unbecoming ostentation. The great Sir Matthew Hale used to say that, "Churches were for the living and church-yards for the dead."

There was no such thing as burying in Churches for the first 300 years after the introduction of Christianity, though it was a custom with the primitive Christians to hold their assemblies frequently at the burying-place of the martyrs. Even after the Em

pire became Christian, laws were enacted prohibiting and restraining men from burying both in cities and churches. In the sixth century church-yards were made buryingplaces; and afterwards kings, bishops, and other eminent persons, were by some laws allowed interment in churches, but the practice did not become general till Popery was fully established.

During the late pestilence, at some parochial meetings held in London it was wisely resolved to avoid the burial of persons who had died of the Cholera, or any other complaints, in the vaults under the churches, and that no such interment be allowed unless the corpse is inclosed in a leaden coffin well and securely soldered down; and it is to be hoped that, for the sake of the public health, as well as for the pious motives alleged by Bishop Hall, the practice of interment in churches, particularly those of the metropolis, will be henceforward abolished.

MR. URBAN,

Αντιλοιμος.

The late Lord Tenterden was, I believe, in early life a chum in chambers with the well-known antiquarian literateur, Sir Egerton Brydges. In the preface to the second volume of the Čensura Literaria, (written in 1806), is the following paragraph, which I have no doubt relates to this circumstance.

"There is indeed one friend, the companion of my early studies, the correspondent of my youth, the severe director of my first efforts as an author, but who has long since left me behind him in that road of ambition, in which I earnestly hope that he will attain the exalted station he merits; to him I dare not express with more particularity the obligations which I feel to him, for having stolen an hour from his more important occupations, to add variety to my pages, by an singular interest, which few, if any, bearticle containing abstruse information of sides himself could have imparted."

I am enabled to add that the article alluded to is that on the Libro del Consulado, the Book on the Consulate of the Sea, the most ancient and most generally received body of written customs relating to the maritime commerce of modern Europe. This was a subject of a congenial nature to the only publication by Lord Tenterden mentioned in your Obituary, "his celebrated work on Shipping." The article comprises a history of the code, and a catalogue of its several editions, and occupies pp. 81-90. Yours, &c.

H.