Among many other curious labours of our forefathers to be seen in our old Abbey Church of Romsey, I had long noticed some singular irregularities, appearing somewhat like groupes of figures, on the capitals of two of the pilliars at the east end of the north and south aisles; but, from their having been in a great measure obliterated by successive coats of white-wash bestowed upon them from time to time, under the idea, no doubt, of beautifying, no conjecture whatever could be formed of what they were meant to represent, until some little time since I came to the resolution of having them thoroughly cleaned for that purpose. This being done, I was not a little rejoiced to find that the figures on both were in tolerable preservation, sufficiently so as to allow of their being traced on paper, whereby I am enabled to send you a fac simile of them in their proper size and situation. I have also made drawings of both on a small scale on one piece of paper, whereby the whole may be seen at one view, for the purpose of your laying them before the Antiquarian Society, should you judge them to be worth their attention.

The ingenious writer of the foregoing very interesting account, having forborne to give in it any conjecture relative to the subject of the sculpture and inscriptions which he has described, I cannot forbear adding to his memoir a few observations which may perhaps throw some little light on the subject, and will at least serve to engage others of deeper research to attempt a more satisfactory explanation of them.

There are few of our churches which contain a greater number of antient tombs, or such as are more likely to be interesting to an antiquary, both on account of the richness of their decorations, and eminence of the persons to whose memory they have been erected, than the abbey church of Tewkesbury. Many of them have been so erroneously described in the printed accounts of that church, and so frequently assigned to wrong persons that I flatter myself an attempt to ascertain them, will not prove unacceptable to this Society; especially as frequent opportunities of examining them leisurely, and of seeing several of them opened, have given me some advantages over those who have only been enabled to form their opinions from a more hasty view.

This is a true Copy of the Record in the Tower of London, having been examined.

It must be generally allowed, that a strict accuracy in chronology is of the utmost importance in all cases, but more especially to historians, biographers, lawyers, and antiquaries; and to those who have quoted and printed our national records, many of whom have misled themselves, and those who have implicitly followed them, from the paths of truth, the consequences of these errors will presently be manifested. For avoiding the mistakes alluded to, it is absolutely necessary for historians and others to be very attentive to the times of the commencement of each year of our Lord, and of the reign of our kings. In England the legal year commenced on the 25th of March till 1752, when, by the statute of the 24th of his late Majesty, chap. 23, it was enacted, that, from and after the last day of December 1751, it should in future commence on the first of January in each year.

As Rhime is a very distinguished ornament of modern poesy, it is an object of reasonable curiosity to inquire by whom, and how early, it has been used. If a few observations on this subject be not unworthy of the attention of the Antiquarian Society, I will beg the savour of your submitting them to its consideration.

I troubled you a few months ago with some examples of the antiquity of rhime in the western nations of Europe. Many of them had not been noticed before; especially our Saxon Aldhelm, whose work completely establishes the certainty that rhime was in existence in the seventh century. Aldhelm's authority is the more important, because he characterises the instance he quotes with the epithet “rythmico.” The instances which were given of its earlier use derived additional probability from Aldhelm's example.

I will thank you to present to the Society, in the name of M. Millin, superintendant of the National Museum at Paris, an engraving, received from him two days ago. It exhibits the face of the celebrated Persepolitan monument, brought lately to France by M. Michaux. The identity of characters upon it with those on the ruins of Persepolis, and their likeness to the characters on the bricks of Babylon, have induced me to consider the latter with attention. The remarks, however, which I here offer, chiefly concern the Brick of Dr. Hulme, recently submitted to the inspection of the Society. By presenting them for me, if you think them entitled to attention, you will much oblige.

I have sent herewith the two first volumes of the Archaiology of Wales, as an acknowledgement of my respect to the Society; the archives of which are well adapted to secure the longest duration to a copy of the work, which is of a character that requires some precaution of this kind.

As I have made some further progress in my researches in Sole Field, in which I have been successful, I take up my pen to send you some account of what I have recently discovered in the same spot; which I think will decidedly determine it to be a Roman burial place. Within a small distance of the former tomb, and at about three feet beneath the surface of the earth, I found a pavement of stone, of the common Kentish ragstone, which being removed, I discovered under it, nearly in the centre, a sarcophagus, or massy stone, divided into two parts, top and bottom, very nicely fitted in a groove; upon taking off the top, I found it had been excavated in an oval form, both top and bottom, with a rough or coarse stonemason's chissel; in this oval recess were placed two large glass urns or Vases, containing each a considerable quantity of the remains of burnt bodies; both the urns were open at the top, but one of them, containing the lesser portion of the bodies (which occupied about one third of it) was filled to the very brink with a transparent liquor, which did not appear to have been diminished in the smallest degree, by evaporation, (this circumstance appears extremely curious): the liquor has no taste or smell, has no acid or alkali, but is probably some mucilaginous substance, which I wait the result of a chemical inquiry to ascertain.

I take the liberty of transmitting to you a short account of three Roman urns found some years since in this neighbourhood, and mentioned briefly in a former letter which I did myself the honour of sending you, together with some notice of a very curious cromlêh lately discovered by accident.

The detention of my papers for more than five years in the Levant, and the loss of the better part of them, will account for so late a communication of my survey of the great walls of Constantinople, accompanied by some sketches of them, which I beg leave, by your favour, to submit to the Society. They were made in 1795 from repeated examinations, and with a curiosity heightened by objects of so much historical consequence, and exhibiting a picturesque grandeur unequalled in any part of Europe.

A dissertation has been already read to the Society of Antiquaries, on the subject of the Ogmian Hercules, by Frid. Samuel Schmidt, where he has endeavoured to show that ὄγμος has the same meaning in Celtic as in Greek, and is properly a furrow, and a boundary; for which he has been very rudely handled by Mr. Toup, who insists upon it that ὄγμιος is corrupted for ὁμόγνιος and that the Hercules of Lucian is ὁμογένιος or one of the Dii Penates, like Jupiter Gentilitius.

Especiall Ordinances for the advancement of my Service, and ordering of my Houshold affaires, given the 16 of October 1610, at Richmond.

Page 81, for “Nympthfield,” read “Nympsfield.”

130, in notes, for “Pl. XXXIV.” read “Pl. XXXV.”