new facing would not assist the walls one pound!" Such being the case, the contest rests between the lover of ancient architecture, whether he shall still enjoy the contemplation of an almost unrivalled example of magnificent Norman architecture; and the uninformed citizen, whether his gaol shall not look as spruce and as smooth as that of any other city. We trust that under such circumstances the opinion of a man of taste, and of unusual knowledge on the subject, will have its due weight with the county magistrates. Mr. Dawson Turner, of Yarmouth, whose splendid work on the Architectural Antiquities of Normandy entitles him to the gratitude and attention of not only his provincial neighbours but of his countrymen at large, has declared:-" In my opinion the Castle ought unquestionably to be left standing if possible as it now is. There is not in all Normandy, and I believe there is not in the whole world, an equally beautiful example of castellated architecture of the same style and era; to meddle with it therefore at all, unless it is actually likely to fall, is unquestionably to be deprecated. I had no idea of its being in contemplation to make the South and West sides of the Castle similar to what we now see on the East. Such a step I should indeed consider an abomination, and I trust it will never be resorted to." In these sentiments we cordially coincide; fully confident, that the occasional insertion of stones, and filling up of hollows (which has been sneered at by the innovating party) will accomplish, and perhaps exceed, what is really necessary. Should, however, the injudicious measure be accomplished, there will remain to the architectural antiquary this one consolation, that the new facing will again crumble away very long before the artificial rock which constitutes the ancient walls. TRANSMISSION OF NEWSPAPERS. After the 1st of October, Newspapers duly stamped may be sent by packet boats to any of his Majesty's colonies and possessions, free of postage, provided the same be sent in covers open at the sides, to be put into the General Post Office within seven days of publication. If they extend beyond that period they are to be charged full duty of letter postage. Newspapers brought from the British colonies and possessions by packet boats without or within covers, are to be delivered free of duty, according to a first direction, or (in case of persons' removal) to a redirection, provided in the interim they have not been opened or used; if it should have been opened, such newspaper shall be charged as a single letter from the place of re-posting to that of delivery. ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. ROMAN REMAINS AT STANFORDBURY. At Stanfordbury, near Shefford, some labourers were lately employed by E. W. Brayley, Esq. and Mr. Inskipp, for two days, in exploring further the Roman remains of which some account has already been published in Brayley's Graphic Illustrator. They found an armlet of jet, a small silver girdle-buckle, some stone rings, the remaining part of the wind instrument mentioned in the Graphic Illustrator, a fibula, remains of urns, and pateræ, brass pins, extremely corroded, and an imperfect portion of an iron vessel ornamented with a species of Silenus mask. There was a large camp at Stanfordbury, which Mr. Brayley considers was probably equestrian. It would com municate with the Roman station Salaæne. They bad an extensive burial-place at Shefford. The same gentlemen propose to continue their researches and excavations in the neighbourhood in the course of next summer. ELTHAM PALACE. Some interesting discoveries have lately been made here by Mr. King and Mr. GENT. MAG. VOL. II. Clayton, of Eltham. Under the ground floor of some apartment of the palace, a trap-door, where recently a new arch has been partly formed, opens into a room under ground, 10 feet by 5 feet, and proceeding from it, a narrow passage of about 10 feet in length, conducts the passenger stairs, and shafts, some of which are to the series of passages, with decoys, vertical, and others on an inclined plane, which were once used for admitting air, and for hurling down missiles, or pitch balls upon enemies, according to the mode of defence in those ancient times; and it is worthy of notice, that at points where weapons from above could assail the enemy with greatest effect, there these shafts verge and concentrate. About 500 feet of passage have been entered, and passed through, in a direction west, towards Middle Park, and under the moat for 200 feet. The arch is broken into in the field leading from Eltham to Mottingbam, but still the brick-work of the arch can be traced further, proceeding in the same direction. The remains of two iron gates completely carbonized were found in that part of the passage under the moat; 3 H and large stalactites, formed of supercarbonate of lime, hung down from the roof of the arch, which sufficiently indicate the lapse of time since these passages were entered. In order to defray the expenses already incurred in clearing out and making secure the excavations, it is proposed to receive subscriptions on the spot. SEPULCHRAL REMAINS FOUND AT LEWES. As some workmen were employed in excavating in a field in St. Ann's, Lewes, for the formation of a tank for the Water Works' Company, they discovered a variety, of ancient British vases and human skeletons, at the head and feet of which were placed what antiquaries term drinking cups, of the barrel form, supposed to have contained food for the dead. There were also several sepulchral urns, containing the calcined ashes of human bones. One of these urns having an ornamented handle, was evidently moulded by hand, and decorated with some pointed instrument. Two of these relics were discovered at an unusual depth from the surface of the earth (at least 14 feet), embedded in the solid chalk rock, and placed at right angles; surrounding these were the bones of various animals, such as sheep, hogs, calves, cats, birds, boars' tusks, &c. The whole of the vases were of rude workmanship, and composed of the usual coarse black earth. ROMAN ANTIQUITIES AT GLENALMOND. As some men were lately digging in n enclosure, belonging to Mr. Moray of Abercairney, on the site of the Roman Camp in Glenalmond, they came upon a very large pot which broke into pieces on being handled; within it were found two smaller vessels, in the form of goblets, with a long handle attached to each. Along with these were lying three spear ends, three horse branks of a very strong make, two pairs of irons, a pair of hinges mounted with silver, and two parcels of buckles tied together. ANCIENT SITE OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. An opportunity has lately offered itself, for ascertaining the site and dimensions of the Cathedral church erected by Bishop Osmund at Old Sarum. The continued dry weather has brought to view the ground-plan of an edifice which has disappeared for centuries; and of which even the situation had become a matter of conjecture. It was in the form of a plain cross, not terminating at the east end in a semicircle, as was generally the case in buildings of that era, with side aisles to the nave and choir. The following may be considered as an approximate measurement of its several parts, which show great harmony of proportion:-Total length, 270 feet; length of the transept, 150; of the nave, 150; of the choir, 60; breadth of the nave, 72; of which 18 feet were taken on each side for the aisles; of the transept, 60. At the west end, the aisles, to the length of 30 feet, appear to have been partitioned off, as if for chapels. This edifice, which was standing a full century after the foundation of the new Cathedral, was demolished in virtue of letters patent of Edward the Third, 1331. RUNIC INSCRIPTION. A Danish journal (the Dansk Ugeskrift) has lately published a report from the pen of M. Finn Magnussen, keeper of the archives, relative to the most ancient known Danish inscription, that on the Runic stone on the heath of Braavalla, in Blekingen, which ever since the twelfth century, has been the subject of fruitless investigation. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen last year sent a commission, consisting of M. Finn Magnussen, M. Molbech, counsellor of justice, and M. Forchhammer, a naturalist, to examine whether these enigmatical characters were to be considered as writing, or as a mere lusus naturæ. These gentlemen positively decided against the last hypothesis, though unable to explain the meaning of the inscription. M. Finn Magnussen, however, lately conceived the happy thought of endeavouring to read it from right to left, by which means all became suddenly clear. It is in the old Norwegian language, in the most ancient alliterative verse, or syllabic rhyme; and was composed shortly before the battle on the heath of Braavalla, about the year 735, being a prayer to Odin, Freya, and other divinities. to give to King Harald Hiiltekirn (Hildetand) the victory over the perfidious princes Ring and Ole. Counsellor Schlegel has made the appropriate remark, that this, the oriental mode of writing, is the most ancient; that it was superseded on the introduction of Christianity, and, therefore, that it affords a valuable criterion to determine the antiquity of the Runic stones. This discovery will doubtless lead to the explanation of other Runic monuments scattered over Europe, and even beyond its boundaries. We may shortly expect from M. Finn Magnussen some farther light respecting the voyage which, in his opinion, Columbus made to Iceland in the year 1477. HISTORICAL CHRONICLE. FOREIGN NEW S. FRANCE. Louis Philip, having placed the antique chapel of the chateau of St. Germain en Laye at the disposal of the English and French Protestants residing in that town, it was opened with great form for public service on the 14th of Aug. The Gazette de France is indignant at such "a profanation of a place of worship sanctioned by the presence of St. Louis, embellished by the munificence of Francis I. in which Louis XIV. was baptised, and so many Royal alliances contracted, and where the unfortunate James II. of England came to seek the fortitude necessary to sustain him under his afflictions." The Prefect of the Department has just decided on the appropriation of 1,500,000fr. for works in the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées, which will be proceeded with to the amount of 300,000fr. annually till they are completed. There will be a great basin, with an elegant fountain, in each of the four squares of the Place, and six fountains in different parts of the Champs Elysées, where handsome buildings will be erected for dances, concerts, exhibitions, and other establishments, such as coffee-houses, eating-houses, and readingrooms. These buildings will be, for a term of years, conceded to individuals, who will undertake their erection conformably to the plans and conditions which shall have been previously decided on by the city of Paris. All the paltry buildings which now exist in the Champs Elysées are to be demolished, but not a tree is to be cut down. The works will be begun in the spring of 1835. The quays recently enlarged, from the Pont Neuf to the Place de Grève, are to be continued in the same proportions to the Pont de la Tournelles. The latter to be completed in 1835. The fine tower of Saint Jacques-de-la-Bourcherie is about to be purchased of its present proprietor. The surrounding buildings are to be taken down, and a fountain erected in the Place that will be thus formed. A subscription is about to be opened at Boulogne, and a company formed, under the guidance of the Chamber of Commerce, for the purpose of constructing a railway from Boulogne to Amiens, parallel with the coast from Abbeville. This company will afterwards join that for forming a railroad from Amiens to Paris. SPAIN. The debates of the Chambers have been carried on with unusual animation; and matters of great importance have been freely discussed. On the 3d of Sept. the Proceres came to a vote without any division, for excluding from the throne of Spain Don Carlos and his family. The ministers, Martinez de la Rosa and Count Toreno, justified this step on the necessity of the case, and dwelt at much length on the precedent of our Convention Parliament, in excluding the family of James II. In the Chamber of the Procuradores, the Ministers of the Queen Regent were defeated on the "Bill of Rights;" the Cortes having succeeded in establishing their right to demand security for life, person, and property, by a fundamental measure to which they require the consent of the government. On the second article there appearedfor the liberty of the press, without censure, 57; for the ministers, who opposed the measure, 55 The third article, "Individual Liberty," was also carried by 50 to 48, leaving the ministers in a minority of 2. The Finance Committee divided on the evening of the 3d Sept. Five members voted for the full recognition of the loans of the Cortes, capital and arrears of interest included, and for the complete repudiation of the royal loans. Four members voted in favour of the acknowledgment of all the foreign loans, whether contracted before or after 1823. The Queen has issued a decree abolishing the degrading punishment of flogging in the schools and colleges of Madrid. The masters of colleges are directed to correct the faults of their scholars by the means of emulation and good example, and by privations which cannot produce evil consequences, either physical or moral. The army of the Queen, under General Rodil, has not yet succeeded in suppressing the insurrection of the Basques, nor in taking the fugitive Carlos. The skirmishing in the mountains continues to be unimportant. Some successes are claimed for Zumalacarreguy on the 4th Sept. near Viana. The ponderous monastic establishment at Roncesvalles, in Navarre, has been dissolved, and the Canons and Curates forwarded under a strong escort to the citadel of Pampeluna. Rodil's troops were all provided with wine from the cellars of these holy men. There were some pipes of wine at least 50 years old. The cholera has broken out most violently in Catalonia-and in Valencia the deaths amounted to four hundred a day. PORTUGAL. On the 15th of Aug. the Cortes assembled, and the Session was opened by the Regent in a speech from the throne, the Queen, Empress, and Infanta, being present. The Emperor, in his address, recapitulated the hopelessness of their first enterprise, the means by which he had become the first recruit in that army of which he was himself the chief commander. The liberty of the press, the responsibility of Ministers, and the stability of public credit, were then spoken of as things demanding immediate attention. The expediency of continuing the Regency in the person of Don Pedro, and the advisableness of the young Queen's marriage with a foreign Prince, were also to be brought before the consideration of the Chambers. It was also hinted that, owing to the present position of affairs in Spain, it would be necessary to maintain the army and navy on a larger scale than in time of peace. The Regent concluded by announcing that the extraordinary session was thereby opened. Their Majesties were received with enthusiasm both in going to and coming from the palace of the Cortes, and also at the theatre, which they visited in the evening. On the 16th the Chambers held their first preparatory sitting. In the second sitting the Conde de Taipa presented a project of law on the liberty of the press, which produced a long discussion and was carried. The 25th Don Pedro was elected Regent in the Chamber of Deputies by a majority of 90 to 5; and on the 28th, in the Peers, by a majority of 9 to 4. Don Pedro has since swamped the peers with twentyfour new creations. ITALY. VESUVIUS.-Some afflicting details of a recent eruption of Vesuvius, surpassing every thing which history has transmitted to us, have been received from Naples. It began on the morning of the 18th of August, when two new craters, which had formed on the sides of the larger ones, began to send forth volumes of ashes and stones. In the evening, after a tremendous earthquake upon the mountains, four discharges of lava took place from the old crater in front of Torre del Greco. This was followed by immense volumes of smoke and fire from the larger orifice, which involved the whole country in impenetrable darkness. In the afternoon of the 19th three new streams broke out from the old crater, while the former ones continued to pour forth their liquid torrents for a mile in length. In the old crater two canals were formed, from which volcanic matter poured like water. At seven in the evening the lava ceased to flow, but immense discharges of ashes, fire, and stones continued; on the 20th, the columns of smoke darkened the air all around; towards midnight, after an interval of repose, the lava again burst forth from no less than fourteen different openings. In the midst of terrific roars, immense masses of fire, stones, and water were ejected, and the bright full of the moon became invisible. On the 21st, at two in the morning, these phenomena had almost ceased, but at two in the afternoon eight new discharges of lava broke out from every side. In the evening of this day a part of the edge of the large crater fell in, by which the orifice became widened nearly 200 feet. On the 22d the lava ceased to flow, the other phenomena began to decline, and on the following day the agitated Vesuvius gave rea son to anticipate the return of its tranquillity. But on the 27th, 28th, and 29th, the eruption recommenced with renewed violence. Several new craters opened, and produced ravages awful to contemplate. Thousands of families were seen flying from their native fields, old and young, dragging through heavy masses of heated cinders. Fifteen hundred houses, palaces, and other buildings, and 2,500 acres of cultivated land, were destroyed. The first explosion destroyed the great cone situated on the top of the mountain. The abundance of inflamed matter produced flashes which darted through the mountain's flanks. A new crater burst open at the top of the great cone, and inundated the plain with torrents of lava. The King and the Ministers hastened to the seat of the catastrophe, to console the unfortunate victims. The village of St. Felix, where they first took repose, had already been abandoned. The lava soon poured down upon this place, and in the course of an hour, houses, churches, and palaces were all destroyed. Feur villages, some detached houses, country villas, vines, beautiful groves, and gardens, which a few instants before presented a magnificent spectacle, now resembled a sea of fire. The palace of the Prince of Attayauno, and 500 acres of his land, are utterly destroyed. The cinders fell during an entire night over Naples, and if the lava had taken that direction, there would have been an end to that city. EAST INDIES. Advices have been received from Sincapore, to the 25th of April, and their contents are of an interesting nature, as they refer to the commencement of the free trade in tea. The 22nd of April being the day on which the East India Company's privileges ceased, permits were issued the next day at Sincapore. The demand for European piece goods was more active to meet the exports to China. Between 6,000 and 7,000 chests of tea had been brought by Chinese junks, and a great quantity more was expected in consequence of the free-trade system coming into operation. Nine vessels of the free trade were at Sincapore, of which eight were destined for England. Thomas Church, esq., had been appointed acting Governor of the Straits of Malacca, according to the order of the GovernorGeneral. The war against the Rajah of Coorg, as detailed in our last, has been terminated by the surrender of the prince, and the taking of his capital. The Coorg territory was entered on the 2nd of April, and the Rajah yielded on the 10th. The loss sustained by the Company's forces amounted to six commissioned officers, and eighty-nine non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and ten commissioned and 185 non-commissioned officers and privates wounded. The province of Coorg has been annexed to the Company's terri DOMESTIC SCOTLAND. tories; its revenues are estimated at two and a half lacks annually; and Colonel Frazer is appointed political agent. WEST INDIES. The 1st of August being the day for the emancipation of the Colonial Slaves, considerable anxiety has been felt on the occasion. By all accounts, however, with few trifling exceptions, the day passed quietly over. In Barbadoes, it was observed throughout the island, as a day of solemn thanksgiving. The negroes attended their places of worship, and the day passed over in peace and harmony. Their conduct subsequently had been most exemplary, and gave the best assurrance that the period of apprenticeship on which they have now entered, will be one of industry and obedience. At Dominica, St. Lucie, Antigua, Montserrat, Tortola, and Tortole, all passed off quietly. At Trinidad, however, some discontent appeared; and at Grenada, the negroes on two estates struck work, when measures were taken by the governor to enforce obedience. At St. Kitt's, there appears to be a passive resistance to apprenticeship; but the negroes seem generally to misunderstand the extent of labour required from them, and the abolition of punishment on the part of the masters. The state of things in St. Kitt's is supposed to be in a great measure owing to its contiguity to Antigua, where there is no apprenticeship. OCCURRENCES. Sept. 15. This day a grand national banquet, in honour of Earl Grey, took place at Edinburgh, in a splendid although temporary building erected on the Calton Hill. In the pavilion 1550 persons dined, and upwards of 600 took dinner in the High School, and joined the company in the former place after the removal of the cloth. In addition, a gallery provided for the ladies was crowded with the beauty and fashion of the Scottish metropolis. Among those present were Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, the Earl of Rosebery, the Earl of Errol, Lord Lynedoch, Lord Bellhaven, Lord Durham, Sir J. C. Hobhouse, Mr. Professor Arago, the Solicitor-General, Sir J. Abercromby, the Marquess of Breadalbane, Lord Stair, the Rev. H. Grey, &c. The speeches delivered on this occasion were not remarkable for the developement of any fact with which the public were not before fully acquainted. In returning thanks for the enthusiastic manner in which his health had been drank, Earl Grey spoke in a tone of gratification at the highly-flattering mark of honour conferred upon him by the citizens of Edinburgh, who had paid him the great compliment to declare, at the close of his political career, that he had deserved well of his country. In conclusion, his Lordship expressed his sincere gratitude for the extraordinary honour which had been conferred upon him, and which he ascribed to the happy circumstance of his having been instrumental in carrying a measure of Reform which would be sure to accomplish all that was necessary to the complete enjoyment of that free system of government, the essentials of which the country had already possessed. The speeches of Lords Brougham and Durham were very eloquent effusions. During his progress through Scotland Earl Grey has been received in the most enthusiastic manner by the inhabitants of Edinburgh, North Shields, Tynemouth, Newcastle, South Shields, Kirkley, Melrose, &c.-all expressive of the gratitude entertained towards his Lordship in those populous and commercial places.—Lord Brougham has also experienced a most enthusiastic reception in Scotland. He was received in great state at Aberdeen, |