got up, and very reasonably cheap; and the account of Dartmoor is a valuable addition to the whole.

Salem Redeemed, or the Year of Jubilee: a Lyrical Drama, in 3 Acts. By Edmund Peel.-This, though greatly deficient in real dramatic interest, is a very beautiful poem, abounding in fine thoughts harmoniously expressed. If the author should add to his power of diction and his high-toned sentiment something more awakening in incident, more lifelike and various in character, we may safely expect he will accomplish some far superior work.

Tales. By the late Lady Doherty. 1 vol. 12mo. As we are told in the preface to this modest volume that the author's

earthly pilgrimage is over, and as she is represented as having been a quiet, unobtrusive, yet earnest Christian, we should be unwilling to criticise with severity the short stories here collected. They cannot in truth be placed above mediocrity; but they all give proof of an amiable spirit, and a heart in harmony with Christian influences.

Income Tax Tables. By Charles M. Willich. (4th edition).-The vexed question of the income tax, so much discussed last winter, is now we hope finally settled, and a sliding scale of duties adopted, which are to cease altogether in 1860. At the same time the tax has been extended to

For 2 years from April 5, 1853 341. 1855 3d. 1857 24d.

2

3

24. 21. d.

Any person whose income is below 1007. a year will be exempt from duty, and any person whose total income is below 150/. though above 1007. will pay 5d. in the pound. There are, therefore, eight different rates of duty, and we have no doubt that the public will appreciate the convenience of a set of tables like those before us, by means of which the amount chargeable on any sum from a few shillings to 10,000., at whatever rate of duty it may be liable, may readily be obtained.

Mr. Willich has prefaced his tables with a short abstract of Mr. Gladstone's Income Tax Act, and comparison of the plans adopted by Mr. Pitt and Sir Robert Peel, together with some interesting statistical information of the assessment of property and income, and the produce of the tax at different periods.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

Nov. 17. This Society re-assembled for the Session, and the noble President, Lord Viscount Mahon, took the chair. It was announced that the collection of Engraved Portraits belonging to the Society had been arranged in alphabetical order by the Trea

surer.

It consists of more than five hundred portraits of English subjects by English engravers, including many curious and rare specimens. William Salt, esq. had presented two volumes of Proclamations, one of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the other of that of James the First. They were a contemporary collection formed by Humphrey Dyson, and are of considerable value. O. Smith, esq. presented a Proclamation of Queen Anne, 15 June, 1704, relative to Foreign Coins passing in the Colonies.

George Octavius Hopton, esq. surgeon,

and William Boyne, esq. were elected Fellows of the Society.

C. R. Weld, esq. exhibited Sir Martin Frobisher's arm-chair, which he has recently purchased. It originally formed a portion of Frobisher's furniture at Altoffs Hall, near Wakefield, which estate (in his native county) was conferred upon him as a reward for his services, on his return from his third Arctic voyage in 1578. The chair bears this inscription,

M. FRUBISHER, 1580.

Edward Hawkins, esq. Keeper of the Antiquities in the British Museum, exhibited six MS. volumes containing an accurate account of the researches of the Rev. Brian Faussett, who opened about 800 Anglo-Saxon graves in eight or parishes in Kent. The antiqui were exhumed are still pres Faussett collection at Hep

Canterbury, which, since the recent death of the Rev. Godfrey Faussett, D.D. has been offered to the British Museum.

J. Y. Akerman, esq. Secretary, read a report of the excavations made by him in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Harnham Hill, near Salisbury, of which we gave a full account in our last Magazine, p. 514. Mr. Akerman made the remark that no traces of coffins were discovered, but the greater part of the bodies were protected by large flint stones; and among the earth, in immediate contact with the remains, were fragments of Roman or RomanoBritish pottery, evidently shards picked up by the way-side, and not broken purposely. These shards, already noticed by English and by continental antiquaries, have been supposed to illustrate a passage in Shakspere (Hamlet, Act v. Scene 1.) The writer was for a long time disposcd to withhold assent to this explanation, but the appearance of the shards found in the Harnham graves seems to settle the question, since they are all worn at the edges, and the major part belong to a period antecedent to that of these interments.

Mr. Akerman exhibited a Map of a considerable extent of land in the valley of the Avon, reaching from Britford to the western end of the county, and including perhaps with Harnham many places mentioned in a grant of Cenwealh, the second Christian King of the West Saxons, to the church of Winchester. Aided by Mr. Josiah Goodwire, of Salisbury, he had been enabled to identify the chief localities mentioned in the land limits appended to the charter in question, which was perhaps granted in or about the year 646. This charter is important, as probably deciding the latest period of the interments at Harnham, although it must be borne in mind that pagan practices lingered among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors after their conversion.

This report was followed by one from Dr. Thurnam, on the crania of the skeletons. In the opinion of this gentleman the ancient inhabitants of Harnham were of a humble grade, probably of the lower rank of the Anglo-Saxon settlers and conquerors, an opinion which the relics discovered with their remains seem to confirm.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES Or

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.

Nov. 2. The reception of a copy of the new work by the Rev. H. T. Scarth, on the Roman Antiquities of Bath, having suggested for consideratiu the importance of publishing engr scribed Roman st the Society, a r GENT, MAG.

this proposition be carried out under the superintendence of Dr. Bruce and Mr. Story, the latter gentleman having offered his assistance in making the drawings.

John Clayton, esq. read a few notes of the disinterment of the remains of the Housesteads Castellum, or Mile Castle, which was thus noticed by Hodgson, the historian of Northumberland: -" Under the north wall of Borcovicus, the Housesteads crags begin to rise in rude and pillared majesty, and to the west were crowned with a Castellum, the remains of which, and of the Murus, are still very interesting. At the foot of these crags lie long columns of basalt, which, probably many centuries since, fell from their sides, and some of them worthy to be set up and inscribed as monuments." The writer, an ardent admirer of the beauties of Nature, proceeds to enlarge upon the natural beauties of the scene. He describes the crags of this district, upon the top of which the Roman Wall runs, as bearded with witchwood, rowantree, ferns, bilberry, and heath, and their heads everywhere perfumed with wild thyme, and garlanded with the sunflower cistus.

There are amongst us those who cherish a pleasing recollection of the amiable author, and who delight to dwell on the memory of his gentle nature, his simple manners, and the enthusiasm of his character, which sometimes inspired the use of language which the cold in blood are disposed to regard as extravagant. Those whose fortune it has been to wander through this solitude, on a calm and bright day of July or August, will acknowledge the truth of Mr. Hodgson's description of the natural attractions of the scene

which have since been further illustrated by the pen of our learned and esteemed colleague, Dr. Bruce, not less distinguished by the freshness and vigour than for the accuracy of his descriptions.

This Castellum stands 320 yards west of the western gateway of the station of Borcovicus (measuring along the military way); its distance from the Mile Castle to the east, near the Busy Gap, is somewhat less, and from the Mile Castle to the west in the Milking Gap, somewhat more,than the usual distance of a thousand Roman paces. The building is, like the rest of the mile castles, a parallelogram, having its southern corners rounded off. It measures inside, from east to west, 58 feet; and from north to south, 50 feet :-dimensions very much the same as those of the Cawfields Mile Castle. In its western wall there are six courses of stones standing; and in the Murus, which is its north

wall, and which stands 14 feet high, less than thirteen courses. The south4 K

ern gateway has resembled very cic.cly the southern gateway of the Cawfields Mile Castle, described in Dr. Bruce's Roman Wall (p. 218, second edition). The most interesting feature of the building, however, is its northern gateway, the remains of which are very considerable. It is 10 feet in width, and has been spanned by an arch, the springing stones of which are in their places, whilst the massive stones of the rest of the arch, each of them weighing about half a ton, are lying amongst the debris of the Castellum. The pillars of this gateway are standing perfect on each side. They are of a very solid character, measuring 5 feet in breadth, and are carried through the great Wall, which is here 10 feet in thickness. The gateway opens northward on a part of the crags where the precipice is less precipitous than usual; and there has evidently been a roadway for the march of soldiers down its face. This description applies to the gateway in its original state. During the latter part of the period of the Roman occupation of Britain, when their garrisons grew feebler, this northern gateway was built up wholly to the height of 4 feet from the original threshold; and above that height, its breadth has been reduced to 3 feet 10 inches. The arch has been taken down, and a new and narrowed roadway, with a new threshold of stone, has been formed, thus diminishing the space through which the Roman garrison would be assailable by the enemy approaching from the north. The necessary consequence of this change has been that inside the Castellum there were two floors -one at the original base, and the other at the higher level adopted for the narrowed gateway. Amongst the stones of this upper floor was found a stone, much worn, on which can be traced the letters of the name of Aulus Platorius Nepos, the legate of Hadrian. It seems probable that to this Mile Castle belongs the inscribed stone, of which one half was found in 1715, and the other in 1731, built up in the wall of a farm-house at Bradley, and which Dr. Bruce thus puts together in his Roman Wall (second edition, p. 202):

IMP CÆS TRAIAN HADRIANI AUG

LEG. 11. AUG

A PLATORIO NEPOTE LEG PRP

A perfect duplicate of this inscribed stone, which is in the collection of this Society, is supposed to have come from the next Mile Castle, at the Milking Gap.

On the slope of the hill, descending from the Housesteads Mile Castle to the south, has been found a fragment of an altar dedicated by the soldiers of the Second Legion to Jupiter-accidentally dropped

(no doubt) in its passage in the character of building materials to the farm-house at Bradley, or some other structure in the neighbourhood. The letters which remain are these:

1. 0. M. MILITES

LEG. II. A.

The minor objects of antiquity which have been picked up in the disinterment of this Mile Castle consist of coins of Hadrian and of Antoninus Pius; a mason's chisel, found amongst the stone chippings in the deepest part of the foundations of the northern gateway; the head of an axe; a sacrificing knife, precisely resembling that carved on the sides of altars; and the usual fragments of Samian ware which mark the localities of Roman occupation; and amongst them part of a vase on which is scratched the word "DEDICO."

Mr. Clayton also presented to the Society drawings of a gold signet ring and a gold pendant from the ear, recently found in the station of Borcovicus, near to the southern gateway, and which are drawn to the full size. With them was taken up a large brass coin of the Emperor Commodus, beautifully executed, and apparently fresh from the Mint; the reverse is a figure of Providence; and it is dated in his third consulate, between the years 181 and 183.

In the admirable summary of the events of the Roman occupation of Britain with which Dr. Bruce commences his history of the Roman Wall, we are told that in the reign of Commodus the Britons "broke through the wall which separated them from the Roman province, killed the general, ruined the army, and in their ravages carried all before them." In the midst of such a scene of violence it is not to be wondered at that the ladies who adorned the Roman garrisons of the Barrier should have been doomed to lament the loss of their trinkets as well as of their husbands. The authority for this statement is Dion Cassius, who wrote within fifty years of the event he was recording. The passage states that the Britons "scaled the wall which separated them from the camps of the Romans." The word teichos in Greek answers to murus in Latin, which is used for a wall of defence, in contradistinction to paries, a wall for purposes of architecture; and the Greek word stratopeda answers precisely to the Latin word castra. Can any one doubt that the historian in this passage refers to the Murus of the Lower Isthmus, (and to the Castra, 18 in number,) which it separated from the Britons? The Vallum, which, according to the theory of those who still adhere to the standard of Severus, would be the only rampart existing in the time of Commo

dus, is south of all the Castra, and could not have separated them from the Britons; and we find within the walls of Borcovicus, one of the strongest fortresses supporting the Wall, and evidently contemporaneous with it, this coin of Commodus fresh from the Mint, which must have been deposited in the place in which it was found a quarter of a century before the expedition of the Emperor Severus into Britain. The ground on which we tread in the mural district is pregnant with evidence of the existence of the Murus and its supporting stations anterior to the reign of Severus; and the time approaches when all will admit the truth of the proposition originated by Mr. Hodgson, and ably and successfully maintained by Dr. Bruce, that Hadrian built the Wall.

Mr. H. G. Potter asked Mr. Clayton if he had found any voussoirs before? Mr. Clayton replied in the negative. He had found several at this place, and the keystone of the arch.

ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY OF THE ARCH

DEACONRY OF NORTHAMPTON.

Oct. 19. The autumn meeting of this Society was held at Northampton, the Rev. Lord Alwyne Compton in the chair, who, in introducing the business of the meeting, stated that Lord Overstone and Mr. Rainald Knightley, M.P. had become members of the Society, and it was proposed by the Committee that this meeting should elect them Vice-Presidents, which was done accordingly. The Committee were re-elected. His Lordship also stated that, since their last meeting, a curator of their museum had been appointed. The Rev. Thos. James, the Secretary, read the report, which enumerated various restorations, effected, in progress, and contemplated. Harleston Church is being reseated, and the chancel restored, after designs by Mr. Scott. Tysoe and Warmington are to be reseated by the same architect. Plans had been laid before them for reseating Castle Ashby, also by Mr. Scott. The plans for restoring Oundle church had been abandoned, and the large sum raised for the purpose had been restored to the subscribers. It was to be hoped that this fine church would some time or other be put into a proper condition; but, meantime, it was better to do nothing than not to do it properly. The church of Weldon had been almost finished by Mr. Slater. How far it was expedient to give a more ecclesiastical character to the lantern had not been determined; but that this curious feature should be preserved there could be no doubt: although its old use as a land-mark for travellers through Rockingham Forest

was gone by, it was, at least, interesting as a time-mark. Little Gidding had been thoroughly completed. Barnack was about to be reseated and repaired, but not a stone of the old Saxon work would be injured. The chancel of Barnwell had been refitted by Mr. Scott, that of Winwick by Mr. Law, and that of Wilby by Mr. Salvin. Exton had been restored by Mr. Pearson, of London. Adverting to St. Giles's church, Northampton, Mr. James stated that he need not reopen the discussion which had arisen on the subject of the alterations going on, but he was quite ready to reassert the principle upon which the Society had given its sanction to the work. While they were careful not needlessly to destroy anything that was worthy of preservation, they were yet bound to accommodate the church to the wants and the spirit of the times, and this was not to be done in a cheap and clumsy manner, but in the spirit of the churchbuilders of old, who added to the fabric whenever it became necessary for the accommodation of the parish. He should be willing, indeed, to rest the superior claim of Gothic architecture upon its capability of receiving additions as they might be needed. A more serious case was that of the church of St. Sepulchre, which, although a large sum had been subscribed, was still without sufficient funds for the contemplated improvements. It seemed impossible for a church to put forward stronger claims. St. Mary's, Stamford, had been completed, and the improvements certainly were very great, but he must protest against the benches with sloping backs, and pillars painted and sanded over. There could be no doubt of the awkward effect, architecturally, of the sloping backs; and it was a mistake to suppose them more comfortable than upright backs, because, if the seats were wide enough, people were sure to sit according to the angle most agreeable to them. Mr. James added that he hoped to lay before the next committee plans for such alterations in his own church at Theddingworth as should at least make it, not a model church, but one which the secretary of an architectural society need not be ashamed of, which he certainly was at present. The rev. gentleman then described the proceedings of the Society archæologically: Sir Henry Dryden, at the request of the Society, had undertaken to make careful plans of Castle Hill, which was threatened with demolition by the railway; Mr. De Sausmarez had promised to watch the excavations for any remains that might turn up. The library of the Society had received a valuable addition of one hundred volumes, on archi

tectural and other kindred subjects, from Lord Spencer.

The Dean of Peterborough, in moving the adoption of the report, said it was but simple justice to the late dean (Dr. Butler) to say that the improvements in the choir of Peterborough Cathedral had originated with him. During his long illness he had occupied himself in a careful translation of the Latin Statutes into English, and in the course of that task he became strongly aware of the duty of carrying out the choral service. The Dean added that he was most anxious to throw open the cathedral to the public, and he was making preparations to that effect.

The Rev. C. H. Hartshorne then read a paper on a remarkable stronghold of very remote antiquity in one of the Isles of Arran, at the mouth of the Bay of Galway, called Dune Aengus. The island is for the most part a bare and unproductive rock, paved, as it were, with slabs of splintery limestone, with wide and frequent fissures, through which grass grows luxuriantly. In some parts the coast line is 300 feet high. The flooring is extremely slippery, and is, in wet weather, impossible to be trodden by ordinary shoes. The Arranites wear sandals of an exceed ingly primitive kind, being made of cowhide with the hair left on, and bound on the foot with whipcord. In this, as well as in their boats, which resemble the coracles on the Dee, the Wye, and the Severn, although much larger, traces are observable of an ancient race. These vessels are eight feet long, square at one end and pointed at the other, and the Arranites cross over to the main land in safety in them, when the turbulent state of the sea renders all other vessels useless. Mr. Hartshorne described the stronghold of Arran as one of the most magnificent barbaric monuments in Europe. It is a circular pile of dark grey masonry, the walls being fifty feet high and twenty in thickness, and as a work of dry masonry quite unequalled. The portal is four feet wide and three feet six inches high, with a heading formed of a huge monolith. It is surrounded by a glacis, two ditches, two walls, and, lastly, by a chevaux-de-frize of upright limestones. Mr. Hartshorne discussed at some length and with much ability the various conjectures as to the origin of this and similar monuments, arriving at the conclusion that they were defences round sacred buildings.

Sir Henry Dryden said he should some day, perhaps, produce plans of monuments in the north of Scotland and in Shetland, which, although they presented some radical differences, had some radical similarities also.

Rev. A. G. Poole then read a paper on Cathedral Derangements, regarding the subject in an artistic view.

MUSEUM OF IRISH ANTIQUITIES, IN THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION OF 1853.

The late Industrial Exhibition of Dublin possessed, as our readers are aware, two striking peculiarities which distinguished it from that of Hyde Park, namely, a fine collection of Ancient and Modern Paintings, and a Museum of Irish Antiquities of great extent, originated by the zeal and energies of Lord Talbot de Malahide, and to which all the chief local collections contributed.

The apartment in which the antiquities were exhibited was on the south side of the building, and of oblong form, about 24 yards long and 10 wide. An ancient architectural character was imparted to it by the introduction of casts of portions of some of the most singular religious edifices in the country. The apartment was divided as into a nave and chancel, by the six-times-recessed chancel-arch of Tuam, with its strange Egyptian-like sculptures ; and the east end was lighted by the three curiously ornamented round-headed windows from the same building. The three entrances were casts of curiously carved and inscribed doorways of ancient churches, and over the west door was inserted the circular window, assigned to the eighth century, from Rahan Church, figured in Petrie's Round Towers, p. 241. In addition to these casts, the Fine Arts Committee also obtained casts of the two great crosses from Monasterboice, as well as the originals of four other curiously carved stone crosses from other parts of Ireland - that from Tuam being more than twenty feet high. These crosses were placed near the entrance of the great central hall, and in the Fine Arts Gallery were also casts of a number of the finest recumbent monumental figures in Ireland, as well as several fonts of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth cen. turies. In the small model-room was an extensive series of rubbings of sepulchral brasses (chiefly English), and an interesting collection of small models of various ruined civil and religious edifices, round towers, and crosses in Ireland.

The collection of Antiquities comprised the whole of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. The Royal Dublin Society and the collection of Dr. Petrie also furnished most valuable materials, as well as those of many other well-known collectors.

Down the middle of the apartment were ranged a series of glazed cases, contain