The manuscript which forms the subject of this communication is a small quarto volume, consisting at present of eighty-five leaves, six and a half inches long and five inches broad, the property of Mr. David Laing, the Librarian of the Signet Library at Edinburgh.

It may be considered improbable that any new light can be thrown on the history of Mary Queen of Scots; but the interest in her romantic story never ceases. I have in my possession a document which relates to an important event in her life. I am inclined to make it known to the public in consequence of the recent publication by the Society of Antiquaries of the interesting communication by the Rev. R. S. Ellis, respecting the imprisonment, death, and burial in Denmark of the Earl of Bothwell (see Archaeologia, vol. XXXVIII).

On a former occasion I traced the history of St. Hugh from his birth in his father's castle at Avalon, on the borders of Savoy, and a few miles from Grenoble, then in the kingdom of Burgundy, to his death and burial in his choir at Lincoln, then just completed, and, as he died in the year 1200, this marks an important turning-point in the history of architecture, as many authors have observed.

When, in words which were prompted by others, Queen Anne of Cleves had declared, upon receiving the report of Convocation against the validity of her marriage with Henry VIII. that she at once accepted and approved their sentence, although she also declared that her case was a very hard and sorrowful one from the great love which she bore to the king; and when, further, she had written (under similar dictation) to her brother to announce this her acquiescence, and to assure him that the divorce need not cause any cessation of friendship between him and the sovereign who now called her “sister” instead of “wife;” it was no wonder that the separation appeared to excite little attention or sympathy either at home or abroad. The happy temper of equanimity which enabled Anne to bear her lot so calmly, with such fortunate results of peace and comfort for herself to the end of her days, prevented the arousing of any such interest as might have been wakened had she made some passionate appeal to her countrymen and friends, or refused to lay down at the king's bidding the rank to which he had called her. Only once (as it was supposed) when, in a short year and a half after the divorce, her successor was in the Tower awaiting her own condemnation, was there any step taken to urge the claims of Anne; and we may well believe that the then abortive negociation of her brother's ambassador, who in December 1541 sought to enlist the sympathies of Cranmer and of the Earl of Southampton in her behalf, was one which had hardly been undertaken with her knowledge and approval at a time when the perils of royal wifehood were being so evidently demonstrated.

Having lately had occasion to examine with some particularity the sequence of domestic events during the first four years of King Edward the Fourth, especially in connection with the movements, during part of that time, of the deposed King Henry and his consort, Margaret of Anjou, it has surprised me to find how confusedly the period in question has been treated.

The accompanying documents, which have been transcribed from the register of John Longland, who was Bishop of Lincoln from 5 May 1521 until 7 May 1547, will not, I think, be without interest for some of our Fellows, throwing as they do a clear though but feeble light on the manner of life in certain monastic houses immediately before the Dissolution. In case you agree with me in this, I shall be obliged to you if you will read them at any meeting of the Society when it may be convenient for you to do so. I am indebted for the transcript from which my copy is taken to the Reverend A. R. Maddison, M.A., F.S.A.

The Crown of England claimed in the sixteenth century, “by right of discovery and actual possession, taken on the part of Queen Elizabeth, by the deputies of Sir Walter Raleigh,” whatever lay to the north of the parallel of 32° on the American continent. The claim was limited in terms, perhaps, to the eastern or Atlantic shores: but the grants did not long stop there, for, so early as 1609, when the width of the continent was scarcely known, they were made to extend across it “from sea to sea,” and it was fiercely denied that Spain, which had never planted a colony in that region, possessed prior or any rights there.

The Roll of Accounts, which is here printed in full, is the property of Colonel Smyth of Welwyn, and was sent to the Society for exhibition by the Right Rev. the Bishop Suffragan of Nottingham, D.D., F.S.A. There are, in fact, two separate rolls, measuring in length, the first six feet six inches, the second twelve feet. Each roll is composed of sheets of paper sewn together, and the reason for the two being now joined is, that they were presented for audit as one account; and the receipt for the balance due to the king is still appended to them.

At this period the system of government of the United States is exciting universal attention.

I am the owner of the original Charter which founds the liberties of Pennsylvania.

It is on two skins of parchment, dated 25th April, 1682.

If you think it worthy of the attention of the Society of Antiquaries, I beg to produce it for their inspection.

The folio MS. which I have the honour to exhibit to the Society, and which has been bound in calf and vaguely lettered Varia Curiosa, is a fragment consisting of 45 leaves, forming ff. 197-241 of the original compilation, and appears to belong to the latter part of the fifteenth century, and to be the production of some German artist of the Augsburg school. The treatise is of an astronomico-astrological character, and commences with some general observations headed “Concerning the whole of the heavens and stars,” which deal with astronomical distances, etc. The writer passes on (f. 199) to speak of the heaven of the fixed stars: “The firmament of heaven is a circle, in which circle are the fixed stars or the constellations. Under the same circle is another circle, that of the Zodiac.” He then proceeds (ff. 199A-210A) to treat of the Zodiacal Signs, and mentions whether each is diurnal or nocturnal.” Throughout the treatise he uses the formula: “—is a Sign of the heaven and has many stars.”

The Chapel of King Henry the Seventh, orbis miraculum, as Leland calls it, has passed through troublous times with less injury to itself than most of our ecclesiastical buildings have, and than its especially exposed position might lead us to expect; and it still possesses much of the rich furniture and decorations with which it was originally fitted up. Amongst the latter, of one hundred and seven stone images in niches which once adorned the interior, not less than ninety-five remain, and of the twelve missing ones, we can discover the subjects of some, and explain the absence of all. The outside was once also rich in images, as the empty niches still testify, and they seem to have stood there until the beginning of the last century. I have not found the exact date of their removal, but Dart says they were “taken away lest they should fall upon the heads of those who attend the Parliament.” They were forty-eight in number, the six eastern turrets having four niches apiece, and the eight others three. The outside of the Chapel is all new, but is a very good copy for the time when it was done. The pedestal under each niche has a scroll, with a name, as it were that of the figure formerly above, but, I fear, not worth much as evidence of what was originally there. The selection has a very modern look, and there seems to be no system of arrangement. Apostles, prophets, and kings are mixed up in the most complete confusion; but the apostles and evangelists are all there, as are the greater and lesser prophets.

The Manor and Soke of Rothley, in the county of Leicester, compose a franchise described in Domesday as having been held by the Confessor, and being held, as ancient demesne, by the Conqueror at the date of the Survey. After one or two temporary alienations, manor and soke were granted by Henry III., in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, to the order of the Temple, when they were at once erected into a preceptory.

In the spring of 1878 it was requisite to sink a pit, about twelve feet deep, on the south side of the nave of St. Paul's Cathedral, and within a few feet of the walls, for a gas-meter.

Near the bottom of this pit was found a fragment of a foundation which seemed to belong to the old Cathedral. It was evidently not of the Norman construction, because it was partly formed of Norman fragments. It seemed therefore to belong to the cloister or chapter-house.

Grabhügel, Todtenhügel, Tumuli sind bekanntlich Grabdenkmäler, in welchen, unter einem Erdhaufen, ein oder mehrere Leichname unverändert oder zu Asche verbrannt, und in letzterem Falle in einer Urne verwahrt, gewöhnlich auf dem ursprünglichen, natürlichen, Boden beigesetzt sind. Um die Urne zu schützen, ist dieselbe in eine im natürlichen Boden angebrachte Vertiefung versenkt,(1) oder sie ist in einem rohen Gewölbe von Feldsteinen aufgestellt. (2) Ueber den Leichnamen erhebt sich ein 3—30 Fuss holier Hügel von Erde und Steinen, und bis auf 60 Durchmesser. In einigen steinigen Gegenden ganz aus Steinen. Ein Theil der Hügel ist von einem einfachen, zwei- und bisweilen dreifachen Kranz von Steinen umgeben, deren Gewicht bis zu einem Zentner ansteigt. Die Spitze der Hügel ist ebenfalls zuweilen mit solchen Steinen besetzt.(3) Oftmals deckt derselbe Hügel mehrere Leichname von denen, einige verbrannt, die anderen unverbrannt sind. Man findet in diesen Hügeln keine Waffen aus Stein; und obwohl viel Bronzegeräthe darin angetroffen wird, so gehört doch keiner von ihnen in die eigentliche Bronzezeit, da auch Eisen in ihnen reichlich vorhanden ist.

In the early part of September 1877 there was found on Bremeridge farm, in the parish of Westbury, Wilts, belonging to Charles Paul Phipps, esq. of Chalcot, a hoard of 32 gold coins. They were found during repairs and improvements of the homestead, about a foot and a half below the surface, in the courtyard, piled one above another, without any appearance of a purse or box. The place of deposit would be indicated by a line producing the east end of the main building southwards to a distance of about 13 ft. from the wall of the present back kitchen.

It has long been known that King Charles I. of England, some two years or little more after his accession to the throne and marriage with Henrietta Maria, a daughter of Prance, ordered that a diamond should be engraved with his arms, as a signet, designing it probably for his Queen's private use.

Although such signet has been lost sight of and forgotten, the record still exists of payment made to the artist for executing the work, and from it alone have we hitherto derived that knowledge.

A knowledge of the working of the English Law of Attainder and Forfeiture for High Treason is essential to a proper understanding of the History of England in the Middle Ages, especially during the period of the Wars of the Roses.

Perhaps the working of the law can be shown best in individual cases. Let us select as examples the fortunes of the dignities and estates which but for forfeiture and other intervening circumstances would have centred in the ill-fated Edward Earl of Warwick, last male scion of the splendid House of Plantagenet.

One of the commonest as well as most characteristic forms of ornamentation on the old pottery, spindle-whorls, and even buildings of ancient Mexico and Peru, dating as far back as, or anterior even to, the Spanish conquest of America, is one very nearly allied to, if not indeed identical with, the well-known meander, Greek fret or key-pattern.

The earthwork known as Cæsar's Camp or Castle Hill is one mile and three-quarters (3 kil.) to the north-west of Folkestone Harbour. It is a conspicuous object from the railway to all who look for it, being situated on the summit of the line of hills termed by geologists the Chalk Escarpment, and overlooking from a commanding position the whole of the low ground between it and the sea. A good view of it taken from the east may be seen in the frontispiece to Mr. W. Topley's Geology of the Weald. Geologically the ground on which the Camp has been constructed corresponds to that of Mount Caburn on the opposite side of the weald valley; both overlook the weald valley, but from opposite directions, both occupy the chalk ridges which bound the valley on three sides, and both are situated not far from the coast line on which that extensive geological area opens into the English Channel.

The village of South Ferriby is situate on the south bank of the Humber, and is the northernmost of a chain of small villages nearly all having names terminating in “by,” placed under or on the western escarpment of the Lincolnshire Wolds, where they approach the Humber, and overlook the valley through which flows the river Ancholme. The small parish church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is chiefly deserving of notice on account of its peculiar situation and plan, and for the curious early Romanesque doorhead or tympanum shown by the accompanying illustration (Fig. 1). The church is built on a level platform cut out about half way up the hill. It consists of a nave standing north, and south, with a small chancel projecting eastward and considerably above the level of the nave, a low tower occupying the north-east angle between the nave and chancel, and a west porch opposite the chancel. Judging from some window tracery still remaining, the church seems to be of fourteenth century date, but it has been subjected to numerous alterations culminating in a restoration, in which the chancel has been converted into a vestry and the altar placed at the north end of the nave, which has been lengthened and made precisely like a barn in its general plan and arrangement. It is said that at one time there was a kind of western aisle formed by oak posts and struts supporting a beam, but no traces of this remain in the present renovated nave.