the goldsmyth upon a Fridai, and say v. pater nosters als thu did be fore and vse it alway afterward.'' Some of the rings formed according to these instructions, may still be in existence; and, perhaps, the passage quoted may be the means of explaining what has hitherto been misunderstood, or identifying the use of what has been uncertain. Lord Berners, the translator of Froissart, when at the Court of the Emperor Charles V. as ambassadour from Henry VIII., in a letter dated 21 June, 1518, says to Wolsey," If your grace remember me with some crampe-rynges ye shall do a thing much looked for, and I trust to bestow thaym well, with Godd's grace." A letter from Dr. Magnus to Cardinal Wolsey, written in 1526, contains the following curious passage: "Pleas it your Grace to wete that M. Wiat of his goodnes sent vnto me for a present certaine Cramp Ringges which I distributed and gave to sondery myne acquaintaunce at Edinburghe, amonges other to M. Adame Otterbourne, who, with oone of thayme, releved a mann lying in the falling sekenes, in the sight of myche people; sethenne whiche tyme many requestes have been made unto me for Cramp Ringges at my departing there, and also sethenne my comyng frome thennes. May it pleas your grace, therefore, to shew your gracious pleasure to the said M. Wyat that some Ringges may be kept and sent into Scottelande; whiche, after my poore oppynnyoun shulde be a good dede, remembering the power and operacion of thaym is knowne and proved in Edinburgh, and that they be gretly required for the same cause booth by grete persounages and other." Andrew Boorde in his Breviary of Health, speaking of the Cramp, has an allusion to the supposed power of the King to expel it. He says that "the Kynges Majestie hath a great helpe in this matter in hallowing Crampe Ringes, and so geven without money or petition."m J. STEVENSON. ON THE PROJECTED DEMOLITION OF CHURCHES IN THE CITY OF LONDON. Mr. URBAN, I am induced to call your readers' attention to a fact, which to a very great majority of them will be scarcely credible, that at the present moment active preparations are on foot in the City of London to effect the destruction of more than TWENTY OF THE CHURCHES OF THE METROPOLIS. Were I not certain of the truth of this statement, I should feel great hesitation in making an assertion which must to many appear to be begirt with incredibility. The specious plea of improvement may be advanced to blind the eyes of many respectable individuals, who aware of the excellence of their own conduct, and the purity of their motives, will hesitate to ascribe feelings of an opposite kind to others; but let them pause, and before they suffer themselves to be misled, look well into the workings of a busy meddling faction, which is at this time in active operation, with the ultimate object of overthrowing, not the tithes only, nor the patronage, nor the pluralities, but the Established Church itself. That the churches which are to be destroyed do not stand in the way of any improvement projected or contemplated, is well known to the advocates of this measure; that not the most remote plea of expediency exists for their destruction, is as certain as the very existence of these churches.—No, the real object for their removal is the injury of the Establishment, an early step towards the overthrow of the Church, and the exaltation of the friends of heresy and irreligion. The first object of the attack is St. Clement's Church, near the site of the desecrated fane of St. Michael, of which not a stone remains, and amidst the carts and bustle of one of the new fashioned openings to London Bridge, the consecrated ground is lost and extinguished. But that church actually stood in the way of what by some was called an improvement: to say the least, a dif i MS. Arundel 275, fol. 23b. MS. Harl. 295, fol. 119b; cited by Ellis, i. 128. 1 MS. Cott. Calig. B. 11. fol. 112. ference of opinion existed on the question of its removal; but as to St. Clement's, the new street is so completely clear of its site, that there is actually room for the erection of an entire dwelling, between that edifice and the new road, and so it would appear to every one, if the works in that quarter had been proceeded with. We shall hear perhaps that the church presents in its exterior features no claims to architectural beauty. This even is not strictly true; but, whatever may be the plainness of the outside, the interior may rank among the finest of Sir Christopher Wren's designs, and the wood work displays a profusion of Gibbon's carvings. I shall not at present enter into a minute description of its architectural character, but will do this at a future opportunity. All I wish to effect at present is to awaken the attention of such of your readers as may possess influence in the Realm, and to excite them to aid and second the exertions of a trusty band of real and tried friends to the Church, who are engaged in the noble work of saving, if possible, the splendid works of Sir C. Wren, and the temples of the Deity, from the hands of faction. If improvement of the City is the object, why is it not effected by the demolition of private houses, and not churches, where the ashes of the dead at least ought to remain sacred. The consent of the Archbishop and the Bishop of London are necessary to sanction the act of destruction; but why should the burden be entirely cast on them? Let the friends of religion, the admirers of beauty in the fine arts, and every one who has the least pretension to the character of a man of taste, unite to assist the Dignitaries of the Church in refusing their sanction to the iniquitous measure. The Clergy must, I am sure, feel at this time the importance of a stand being at once made. If they look on supinely at this attack on the Church, they will find to their sorrow, that the fall of the Cathedral will involve the destruction of the Mitre, and the abolition of Tithes will speedily follow the demolition of the Altar. Your readers may expect to hear more on this subject, and to be astounded with a list of churches doomed to destruction, the magnitude of which will exceed their utmost apprehensions, Dec. 21, 1833. Yours, &c. TITLE OF ESQUIRE. CHICHELE. Mr. URBAN,-The question proposed in your magazine for November, p. 386, relative to the rules by which the Heralds were guided in allowing or withholding the title of Esquire at their Visitations, can perhaps to a certain extent be satisfactorily answered. The very general application of the title of Esquire, without the slightest reference to the pretensions of persons, is certainly to be reprobated, if it be only for the reason that it has driven the respectable designation of Gentleman into obscurity. The visiting officers of Arms received certain instructions from the King of Arms whose Province they were deputed to visit, and by which I apprehend they regulated themselves as far as circumstances would permit. As regards such instructions upon the point in question, I send you an extract from those issued under the hand of Sir Henry St. George, Clarenceux King of Arms, to Thomas May, Esq. Chester Herald, and Gregory King, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, his Marshalls and Deputies appointed to visit the Counties of Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, and Warwick, in 1681 and 1682, by virtue of the powers granted to him under a Royal Commission to visit his Province, and which was the last Commission under which any surveys were made by the officers of arms. "Article 2." "In the allowance of titles you shall enter the persons whose descents you take, with no other titles but such as they may justly and lawfully bear according to the Law of Arms: and you shall inform the several Knights of His Majesties proclamation for registring the times of their respective Knighthoods, and the danger of neglecting the same: and you shall allow the title of Esq", to these and no other. 1. The heir male of the younger sons of Noblemen 2. The heir male of a Knight. 3. Officiary Esq. viz. such who are so made by the King by putting on a collar of S.S. or such who are so virtute officii, without that ceremony, as the High Sheriff of a county, and a Justice of the Peace, during their being in office or Commission; with this caution, that you always enter the said office or qualification in speciall terms. As for Sergeants at Law, Doctors in Divinity, and dignified Prebends, you shall register them by those titles or qualifications only, but you shall except [accept] them in quality as an Esq. Barristers at Law you shall enter by that title, but you shall except [accept] them as Gentlemen only, unless otherwise qualified to bear the title of Esq." The foregoing extracts will inform your correspondent of the rules observed so late as 1682. Dec. 6. Yours, &c. F. E. RANK OF COLONIAL BISHOFS.-IRISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS. Mr. URBAN,-Your correspondent J. T. (October, p. 290) waiving the question of right, as clearly untenable, yet claims as a matter of courtesy, the title 'My Lord" for the Colonial Bishops, in virtue of their descent from the Apostles; but were they (the Apostles) so addressed?-As to J. T.'s difficulty about addressing Bishops otherwise than as Lords, I can see none. As for instance "Doctor Heber," "Bishop"-the latter is often the mode of addressing a Lord Bishop by persons on terms of sufficient intimacy. It is a fact not generally known that the Irish Roman Catholic Bishops are always installed as such in the ancient Cathedrals, though now appropriated to Protestant worship. This is effected by stealth, the new R. C. Bishop, &c. obtain admission as visitors merely; and whilst the Verger or Clerk's attention is otherwise occupied, the installation is hastily arranged. Yours, &c. T. L. C. STAGE COACHES. Mr. URBAN,-The following extracts from old newspapers concerning Stage Coaches in former times may amuse the readers of the Gentleman's Magazine. The first is from "The Norwich Gazette or the Loyal Packet," dated 1710. "Advertisements.-Samuel Bann of Northwalsham, designing to undertake Brewing and Malting, intends to leave off drawing the Stage-coach from Northwalsham to Norwich; hath a very good and new Coach and Herse, and a very good set of Horse to dispose of, a good Peniworth. 'Tis a very advantageous Stage, and any one as undertakes it will meet with encouragement." The next is from the same paper. "Norwich Flying Stage-coach in one day, begins on the 29th of this instant May, and sets out from the Feathers near Tombland, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to London, and returns Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from the Green Dragon and Four Swans within Bishopsgate Street in London. Each Passenger is to pay 25s. and to carry but 14 Pounds weight. The Coach sets out exactly at two o' Clock. Performed, if God permit, by Tho. Bayly and Tho. Beecroft." The following is from "The Post Man," dated Nov. 19-21, 1719. "Nottingham, Derby, Loughborough, and Leicester Stage Coaches continues still to go in Three Days from the Ram Inn in Smithfield every Monday and Thursday, and from the Places above named the same Days, at the usual prices. Performed by John Needham and Tho. Smith." From "Crossgrove's News," 1739. "Norwich Stage Coach to London, by Bury St. Edmund's in Suffolk, sets out every Wednesday morning from Mr. John Godfrey's, at the Duke's Palace in Norwich, which Coach will continue going and coming some weeks longer in two days from Norwich to London, and from London and Norwich, there being a sufficient quantity of Horses laid upon the road between Bury and London to convey the Passenger in due time, and Moons will be carried before the Coach, when dark, on mornings and evenings, for the safety of the Coach in travelling. Performed by us, William Allen, Thomas Taylor. N.B. Notice will be given in this Paper, a week before the Coach will leave off performing this stage in two days." An Essay on the Villas of the Augustan Age, their architectural disposition and enrichments, and on the remains of Roman domestic edifices discovered in Great Britain. By THOMAS MOULE 8vo. pp. 179. Modern discoveries have furnished most satisfactory data for a work like this; and, when they are compared with incidental passages in classic writers, a doubly reflected light both on the volume and the vestige itself must be the result. This, indeed, is the mode which has been judiciously adopted in the publication before us. In the time of Horace, who wrote in the reign of Augustus, every man, who was rich enough, had his country seat in the charming Campania, and the district of Naples, Baiæ, Puteoli, &c. was preferred, being the most beautiful sea-coast in the world." On this, we observe, that the love of rural retirement and relaxation was so strong with the ancients, that they considered it as the supreme happiness and the reward of spirits admitted into a blissful eternity. Hence the fabled Elysian Fields. In this remote province of the Roman Empire, Britain, the same taste evidently prevailed; and hence the extensive remains of splendid villas which have been found from time to time at a distance from any acknowledged Roman station. Horace dwells with delight, whenever he has an opportunity, on the pleasures of a country life, and the younger Pliny's elegant description of his Tuscan Villa should be referred to whenever these matters become the subject of discussion. Although a general conformity of style and disposition of apartments may be supposed in the larger mansions of the Romans, existing remains and the authority of classic writers shew that one strictly uniform rule of design cannot be insisted on. The Roman Villa after Vitruvius is made the immediate text for the author's illustrations (see the elegant little Plan prefixed to the volume). The principal features noticed are the Prothyrum, vestibule, or lobby; contiguous to this, was the porter's lodge, inscribed with the caution, "Cave Canem," Beware of the Dog. The porter was a slave chained to his post. The dog was, sometimes, merely a painting of the animal on the wall, or a representation in mosaic. In the country, it is rational to suppose that a real Cerberus would guard the porch of the villa. The atrium, or covered hall; here the domestics and retainers of the family congregated. In the centre was an open space, styled the "Impluvium,” in which was a Tank, Compluvium, for retaining the rainwater falling from the roof. The Peristyle, or inner court, was surrounded on all sides, as its name implies, by a colonnade; in the centre was a cistern for gold and silver fish, or an ornamental fountain. A Xystus, or parterre of shrubs and flowers, filled up the remainder of the open space. On either side of the Peristyle were the cubicula, or apartments of the family; the Pinacotheca, or picture gallery; the Bibliotheca, or library; the Exhedræ, spacious parlours, or locutories. The Oeci, or saloons, of which, it is stated, there were several, are defined as banquetting rooms, and were painted with designs, from which each particular room received its name, as the Hall of the Seasons, &c. Here is a discrepancy between the text and the plan, for we do not find the position Plin. Epist. lib. V. epist. VI. The Romans frequently placed shrubs upon the roofs of their villas, thus forming a sort of hanging garden. See several examples in paintings on the walls of Pompeii. of these oeci described upon the latter, and are left either to consider them as identical with the Triclinia or dining rooms, or distinguish them from the latter as we may. However, "asarotos oecus, the unswept room, was a name once given to a Triclinium, on account of the singularity of the design of the mosaic pavement, which, by the caprice of the artist, was made to represent all kinds of fragments of a feast." p. 129. A pavement of this kind, it may be remarked, was lately discovered at Rome.c The oecus, if not identical with the peristyle, as some have thought, may be considered to be a larger triclinium, for the purpose of entertaining company; it was, according to Vitruvius, to be made of the same proportions as to length and breadth as the triclinium, that is, twice its width in length. If it was surrounded by a simple row of columns, it was called Corinthian; but, if constructed of two orders, the upper closed with windows, it was termed Egyptian, and appeared like a Basilica. In either case the area included was left uncovered for the admission of light. There were oeci which were constructed open towards the north, with a view of the viridarium; they were made sufficiently capacious to admit of two triclinia opposite to each other, and commanded, by windows, a view of the hortus or garden. The Viridarium, or pseudo-garden itself, was occasionally used as a dining-room; for, in that of the house of Actæon, at Pompeii, a triclinium, with its reclining stone benches, and trapezophoron, or table-foot, are visible. We are not, ourselves, disposed to confound the oecus with the peristyle, but, we believe, it was the most important and splendid apartment of the house, and so termed okos, par excellence; it had no small correspondence with the great hall of the mansions of the middle age, which was always, it will be remembered, the banqueting room. Although not the peristyle as a distinctive term, its columns ranked it in the peristyle order. The spacious room at the end of the peristyle, with a semicircular termination, and facing the garden in Mr. Moule's plan, lettered E, may, therefore, be referred to as oecus or basilica. Other details are the Sacrarium or domestic chapel, a little private court, in the midst of which stood an altar for sacrifice; and, on the opposite side, a little temple dedicated to the Bona Dea. The Lararium, in which the Penates were lodged; of these there were four classes, the celestial, marine, and infernal gods, and all demi-gods or heroes who had received divine honours; these last, comparable in some sort with the saints of Romish worship, to whom supplications are idolatrously made. The Culina or Kitchen— "The extent of the Roman kitchen was enormous, being sometimes no less than 148 feet in length.-The decoration appropriated to a kitchen was a representation of the Fornicalia, or festival in honour of the goddess Fornax, who expressly presided over ovens. This favourite subject was surrounded by abundance of fish, flesh, and fowl; with all the various kinds of food required in grand entertainments. Here was found painted on the wall fish ready for dressing, hams, wild boars prepared for the spit, birds, hares, and, in short, every edible thing-not unlike the celebrated Flemish pictures of dead game. The pavement of the Culina was a fine black composition, possessing the peculiar property of imbibing water, so that the floor was always dry."-p. 89. The Hortus and Viridarium cannot have been placed as synonymous epithets; for the Viridarium was a conservatory, the walls of which were painted in imitation of a garden; at least, this was the case in town residences of the Romans, where there might, sometimes, be no open Hortus. The old style of gardening was strictly Roman, for they clipped their shrubs into forms of animals, pillars, &c. The box, Pliny tells us, was cut into a thousand different forms; sometimes into letters expressing the name of the master, sometimes that of the artificer, whilst here and there little obelisks rise intermixed alternately with fruit trees."" c See it described in Gent. Mag. vol. c111. pt. ii. p. 63. d Pompeiana, vol. 1. p. 148. f Melmoth's Pliny, book 5, letter VI. e Ibid. p. 177. |