English poetry, several of Lydgate's works, Occleve, Hampole, and a metrical Capgrave. There is a second MS. of Euclid, with diagrams; a copy of the Greek Gospels; manuscripts of Eusebius and Theodoret; an old English manuscript of the Rule of the Monastery of Sion; and a very remarkable manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci. A sufficient list has been here enumerated to show the good sense of the President and Council of the Royal Society in offering the collection, in exchange for duplicate books of science, to the trustees of the British Museum, These subjects being totally foreign to the purposes for which the Royal Society was instituted, and the British Museum having become the general depository of manuscripts, Sir Humphry Davy, at the time he was President, suggested the exchange now contemplated. In the course of the present year, the negotiation has been brought to a successful issue; and all the essential conditions of the exchange have been agreed upon, not only with the knowledge, but with the entire consent and approbation of the present Duke of Norfolk, and of his son the Earl of Surrey. Great pains haye been taken to obtain a fair and just valuation of the manuscripts to be exchanged; and all parties have finally agreed, that their value in this exchange shall be estimated at 3,5591. 3s. The British Museum have transinitted catalogues of some of the duplicates at their disposal, out of which the Council of the Royal Society are to select such only as they shall deem proper to be added to their library. These catalogues have been for some time in the hand of a Committee, which has been appointed by the Council to report thereupon, and which, previous to their examination of the catalogues, agreed upon certain general principles for their guidance in making the selection. Sixth Report of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, dated 5th June, 1826. This Report was presented to the House of Commons, and ordered to be printed. It embraces a period of three years from 1826 to 1829 and is very full and satisfactory. We shall select a few particulars which are generally interesting. St. Mary's Abbey, York.-A grant of three acres of the Manor Shore estate, York, with part of the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for a Museum and Botanicgarden, at a yearly rent of 20s. If the ground shall cease to be so appropriated, the whole to be resumed by his Majesty. Little Queen-street, Holborn.-A plot of ground, of the estimated value of 5000l. for a site for a new Church in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-fields. St. Katherine's Hospital.-The Grant of 547 part of the Regent's Park to St. Katherine's Hospital has not yet been perfected. Adult Orphan School. One acre of ground in the Regent's Park, on lease, to the Adult Orphan Institution, at 100%. ayear rent; but 50l. is returned in support of the Institution, as it extends its protection to the Orphan Daughters of the Officers of the Army and Navy. Waste Lands at Hastings. - In 1826 a considerable tract of land, which had been part of the shore, had been taken possession of as waste land, by various persons, without due authority. The claims of the Crown to these lands were established, and the rent will amount to about 1500l. a-year. New Quadrangular Mews near Westminster Abbey-These handsome Mews have been erected for the accommodation of occupiers of the mansions on the Crown estate in Privy-gardens, Whitehall, &c. and have cost the sum of 35,263l. 19s. 11d. Buckingham Palace.-The whole amount paid by the Commissioners on account of the Palace during the last three years, is 534,4811.16s. 9d. leaving still 98,4444.3s.3d. to be paid; besides which, is the cost of the Marble Archway now in progress; to which will be to be added, the commission of the architect, clerks of the works, gatekeepers, &c. the amount of which is estimated at 63,2431. York House, St. James's.-On the death of the Duke of York the lease and premises were valued by two referees at 81,9137.; at which price it was purchased by Govern ment. But in Dec. 1827 it was sold to the Marquess of Stafford for 72,000l. who has been let into possession, and the purchase money has been invested in the names of trustees, till the conveyance shall be perfected. Improvements on the site of Carlton House. -The ground for fifteen houses fronting the terrace next St. James's Park has been let at four guineas per foot on that frontage, amounting to 26231. 12s. per annum; and ground for seven other houses, at 8281. 9s. making a rental of 3,452l. 1s. per ann. exclusive of the rent of the ground abutting on Pall Mall. When Carlton Stables and Riding-house are removed, there will be ground to let having a frontage of 160 feet towards the park. Improvements in St. James's and Hyde Parks. These improvements consist of the bridge over the Serpentine river; bringing to the same level, and uniting the two pieces of water on each side of that bridge; new entrance-gates and lodges at Cumberland, Grosvenor, and Stanhope-street gates; new lodges and entrance-gates at Constitutionhill and Hyde Park-corner; a new drive round Buckbine-hill, in front of Kensington-gardens, and along the north side of the Serpentine river; alteration of the roads near Hyde Park-corner, and from thence to 548 Literary Intelligence. Grosvenor-gate; a general improvement of Improvements at Charing Cross, &c.— WESTMINSTER SCHOOL. The Phormio of Terence was performed uncom no less dresses assumed by the pupils on occasions [Dec. characters in the dresses to which they PROLOGUS IN PHORMIONEM. Hoc primum-constat vix satis doctissimis, EPILOGUS IN PHORMIONEM. Dignus, qui partes Centurionis agat. Miror. (Enter Demipho, dragging in Phormio dress adest. D. Est ubi te ulciscar probe, et in nervom,(Cr.) obsecro comem, Illum atque humanum (D.) vim mihi nema tulit. Cri. Vim ille! incredibile est, nam fiunt cuncta "secundum Actum" (H.) et custodi cuique libellus adest. visere (D.) visas-- Ph. Quo melius norim teque, domumque tu Nil aliud (D.) secreta domus tu: (H.) pudet horum? Et qui cognati, quæ nova nupta (D.) tace Fama bona est ---nil cuiquam debeo, solvo tribut Ec semper "sit Rex salvus" 10 ore meo estQuid porro cum cive rei est tibi? (H) co tionem Hanc ex officio tu facis ergo tuo? tia vestra notabit Sic descriptum (Cri.) illi tuque modestus eras Ph. Sane (Cri.) nil præter licitum hic fecis videtur; Dixi (H.) Fratri ego consentio (Cri.) et ips D. Sie agitis? neque jam propriâ inviolatus simul. arce 1829.] Literary Intelligence. Anglus erit? (H.) vix tu concipis ista satis--- Tu capias, visum est lege cavere nová-- semper Præstitit (Cra.) ætatem, respice, amice, tuam--Non somno excutiere (D) odi alta silentia noctis; Me turbæ et strepitus et crepitâcla juvant. Acta tua fuerint in statione refer? Ph. Distrahor hinc illine; sed me magis omnibus unum Turbat (H.)quid nam istic? (Ph.) Omnibus; inde timor; Rheda nova, aut aliquid simile est. (Cra.) Cur nomine ab isto Dicta? (Ph.) id me incertum sollicitumque sor init- Ph. Res plana est--istas attentius observabo, Hunc jubeo fumim devoret ipse suum--- Ph. Grande illud, credo, seditionis opus- (Enter Dorio as Chabert, in the charge of a Extraxi furno hunc, vir prope tostus erat--- D. Chelseiensis aqua his omnibus antidoton. H. Fac mergatur (D.) Eho an non me jugulem aut suspendem, Quæso, aut præcipitem fas nisi pace tuâ? Cri. Desine Quid jam actum cum furibus, o bone, (Ph.) abactum est, 549 Id genus omne, Niger, Leno, Corinthiacus. Atque suæ Alsatiæ limina nota petunt. Ch. Obsecro, tu miles civibus «ffer opem--- Prætor et a tergo civicus ipse premit... (To Phormio,) H. Ut potes occurras, præveniasque malo; Instruito turmas-reliqua hic curabo. (D.) ma neutem Laudo--præter eam ne fugitote casam--- Vos paucis moneam, auditis nuntius iste NORTHERN LIBRARIES. Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. Sec. S. A. has issued a circular, stating that he has recently received an interesting letter from Professor Rafn, Sec. of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen, and Hon. Member of the Society of Antiquaries of London, describing the successful foundation of two public libraries in Iceland; of a third in one of the Feroe Islands; and of his intention to establish a fourth in Greenland, to which it is proposed to add a MUSEUM of Natural History, which cannot fail to be of importance in the diffusion of knowledge. Mr. Carlisle justly calls to our recollection the celebrity which the Icelanders acquired many years ago by the splendour of their poetry and their knowledge in history; so that now to supply them with such treasures of science as have been accumulated by successive centuries of improvement in other parts of Europe, seems only to be an honest acknowledgement of a debt of gratitude. Mr. Carlisle therefore requests the benevolence of all lovers of learning in assisting Professor Rafa to carry his laudable efforts into effect; and offers to receive money, as Messrs. Arch do books, for these literary institutions. ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Dec. 3. Thomas Amyot, esq. Treasurer, in the chair. A letter was read from John Wiatt, esq. giving an account of certain sepulchral remains, presumed to be British, discovered in November 1827, at Wheathamstead in Hertfordshire. They consisted of a round cylinder, one foot ten inches in height, and three feet in diameter, placed upright, between two square stones, having round cavities to fit above and beneath it. Within were a square glass bottle and some patere. The cylinder is now used as a cistern in the farrger's yard. The second paper read was a letter from William Hamper, esq. F.S.A. to Mr. Douce, containing Observations on a penny of Offa King of Mercia, which displays the singularity of a Runic inscription. The readings of the evening were concluded by a letter from Frederick Madden, esq. F.S.A., addressed to Mr. Amyot, on a review of those collections in the British 550 Antiquarian Researches. Museum (Harl. MSS. 6215 to 6233, which are bound in one volume) from which the latter gentleman extracted the Chronicle of Edward the First, which was printed in the last published volume of the Archæologia. It appears that these MSS. were in the possession of the chronicler Stowe, and afterwards in that of Sir Simonds D'Ewes; but Mr. Madden has reason to suppose that we are indebted for their collection to one R. Stevenson, who wrote titles to several of them. Among them occurs the publication of treason against the Duke of Northumberland, and others, passed by the Privy Council on the accession of Queen Mary. Dec. 10. H. Hallam, esq. V. P. in the chair. E. Lowth Badeley, esq. and Thomas Mc. Garth, M.D. of Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, were elected Fellows of the Society. Sir George Thomas Staunton exhibited to the Society a brass key recently found at Havant in Hampshire. It is about 34 inches in length, of solid weight and curious form; and from comparison with other specimens, has been conjectured to be Ro man. Sidney Smirke, esq. F.S.A. communicated a beautiful drawing of a large mural monument of the date 1359, existing in the ancient chapel at the Campo Santo in Piza. It consists of an architectural canopy over a recumbent effigy, and is considered curious by Mr. Smirke, as a specimen of the architecture of the period, and as a remarkable example how the Gothic style, which assimilated in its fashions in most parts of Europe, was always in Italy mixed with the more ancient forms which surrounded the builders. Mr. Smirke took the opportunity of appending some observations on the architecture of the chapel itself, in pursuance of the discusssion by himself and the late Sir Henry Englefield, already printed in the Archæologia. A Petition of Richard Troughton to the Council of Queen Mary, July 11, 1553, was read, extracted by Mr. Madden from the MSS. before described. It contains a familiar picture of the uncertainty in which the question of the succession to the throne was involved for a considerable space of time after the death of King Edward the Sixth; and details the circumstances of a journey of the writer (who describes himself as a warm partizan of Queen Mary, although imprisoned on suspicion of the contrary,) to various towns in Lincolnshire, during that agitated period, and in particular a visit to Sir John Harrington of Exton. Dec. 17. Mr. Amyot in the chair. A paper was read, from Crofton Croker, esq. respecting some subterranean chambers on Mr. Cummins's farm at Garranes in the south of Ireland; and which was concluded by a letter from Mr. O'Callaghan Newenham, describing numerous chambers simi [Dec. larly constructed in the neighbourhood of Fermoy. Dec. 24. Mr. Hallam in the chair. Ten Fellows were added to the Society, viz. the Ven. Henry Kaye Bonney, D.D. Archdeacon of Bedford; and John James Francis Coindet, esq. " formerly of Geneva, but now of South Lambeth, Officer of Artillery in the armies of the Helvetic Confederation, a gentleman well versed in the architecture and arts of the middle ages, and who by the works published under his direction, has greatly promoted the study on the Continent of such branches of antiquarian knowledge" (certificate of recommendation); Reinhold Thos. Forster, esq. Storekeeper of Deptford Dockyard; James Robinson Planché, the celebrated dramatic writer; Thomas Saunders, esq. the architect, of Great Surrey-street; the Rev. George Stonestreet Griffin Stonestreet; Robert Allen, esq. M. A. of Worcestershire; Charles Higgins, esq. or Bedfordshire; Thomas Rickman, esq. of Birmingham; and Philip Hurd, esq. of Kentish-town-house and of the Temple. The reading of Richard Troughton's petition was concluded; and was followed by a paper from Thomas Farmer Dukes, esq. being an essay on the Roman history of Uriconium, now Wroxeter, iu Shropshire; part of which, containing remarks on some neighbouring station, was deferred to a future perusal. The Society then adjourned over the Christmas vacation to the 14th of January. HERCULANEUM. The following are some of the results of the researches recently made by the Government of Naples in the ruins of Herculaneum : -They have discovered the most splendid private house of the ancients ever seen by modern eyes. It has a suite of chambers, with a court in the centre. There is a part of the mansion allotted to the females, a garden surrounded by arcades and columns, and a grand saloon, which probably served for a meeting of the family. Another house was very remarkable, from the quantity and nature of provisions found in it, none of which had been disturbed for eighteen centuries. The family was, in all likelihood, laying in provisions for the winter when the city was overwhelmed. The provisions consist of dates, chesnuts, large walnuts, dried figs, almonds, prunes, corn, oil, peas, lentils, pies, and hams. The internal arrangement of the house announced that it had belonged to a rich family, and to admirers of the arts; for there were discovered many pictures, representing Polyphemus and Galatea, Hercules and the three Hesperides, Cupid and a Bacchante, Mercury and Io, Perseus killing Medusa; also vases, and articles in glass, bronze, and terra cotta, as well as medallions in silver, representing, in relief, Apollo and Diana, -1929.] Antiquarian Researches.-Select Poetry. ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. The remains of ancient Roman buildings are so numerous at Baval, in the department of the north of France, that the inhabitants who want building materials, have only to dig some depth in the fields or gardens to find great quantities of stones ready cut, and fit for immediate use. A letter from M. Visconti, communicated by M. Raoul Rochette to the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, states, that a statue lately discovered at Falleri, and supposed to represent Juno, is decidedly a statue of Fortune or Clemency; the only attribute belonging to it being the horn of plenty, which is common to those 551 divinities. M. Visconti mentions the disbaked clay, of exquisite workmanship; and covery of a half figure of Bacchante, in two figures of Silenus, intended for fountains, also of good execution. He states, that by a continuation of the researches, it has been proved that the Via Sacra did not pass under the Arch of Titus, and that all the interpretations of the vases of Martial, Ovid, and Horace, which appeared so conclusive on this subject, are erroneous. the vicinity of the Temple of Peace, a beautiful mosaic pavement has been discovered; and in the ruins of the villa of Cassius, at Tivoli, several mosaic pieces have been found; one of which is of hard stone, and of beautiful execution. In SELECT POETRY. FAREWELL TO TWENTY-NINE. Addressed to the Author's Friend, Don Ma nuel Esparaça y Villondes. FAREWELL to the Year Twenty-nine, And welcome his next younger brother; The sun will, I warrant, as bright on him shine, As ever he shone on another! Some will still in unhappiness pine; Its vices, its crimes, and its madness; Above that of the Year Twenty-nine! From the banks of the Thames to the And all Britons in Thirty with glee, Farewell to the Year Twenty-nine, May the next that's to come be more plea- Such another we want not again! Nor vainly let's weep for its loss; Then let the bells merrily ring, J. W. On seeing the ruinous condition of the Tomb of JOHN GOWER in St. Mary Overey, Oct. 25, 1829. GOWER! is this thy resting place, Thy country's honour and disgrace? |