the Association. The intimation elicited a very warm acknowledgment from the members present.

An application for a subscription to a memorial to Jeremiah Horrocks, the astronomer, was referred to the Council. In the application, Horrocks was spoken of as a hardworking curate," which, it was observed, decided the question which has been raised, as to whether he had ever been in holy orders or not.

Dr. THOMSON exhibited two ancient and valuable coins, found recently in Wiltshire. The one was a gold British coin, of such antiquity that its date was a matter of conjecture; the other was a Roman silver coin of Augustus, of very fine workmanship.

Mr. T. C. ARCHER exhibited a piece of siliceous conglomerate of the Eocene period, found at the junction of the Uraguay and Paraguay, in South America. It contained nodules of wood-agate, chalcedony, and opal, showing the district to be rich in minerals.

The REV. H. H. HIGGINS exhibited four specimens of fungoid plants, found in this neighbourhood, which attracted much attention, particularly Lycoperdon giganteum, from its enormous size, and Peziza aurantia, an undried specimen, on account of the extreme beauty of its tints. The others were, Polyporus sulphureus, and Polyporus squamosus.

Mr. SWINTON BOULT showed an elevation of a pianoforte manufactory at Boston, which employed four hundred hands, and turned out thirty-five instruments in a week, each requiring six months to perfect it; notwithstanding which, the supply was not equal to the demand. The following paper was then read:

AN OUTLINE OF THE LIFE OF

RICHARD NEVILLE, THE GREAT EARL OF WAR-
WICK AND SALISBURY, CALLED THE
KING-MAKER.

BY RICHARD BROOKE, ESQ., F.S.A.

WARWICK "For thou shalt know, this strong right hand of mine
Can pluck the diadem from faint Henry's head,

And wring the awful sceptre from his fist,

Were he as famous and as bold in war,

As he is fam'd for mildness, peace, and prayer."
Shakespeare's Henry VI., part 3, act 2, scene 1.

Richard Neville, the eldest son of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and Alice his wife, daughter of Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, married Anne, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, sixteenth Earl of Warwick (by his second wife), and sister and sole heiress of the whole blood of Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick, and in consequence of his marriage with her, and also on account of his services in war, Richard Neville, by patent of the 27th year of King Henry VI., obtained the title and dignity of (18th) Earl of Warwick, and as will be mentioned afterwards, he acquired various other titles, dignities, and offices, of great rank and importance.

The Earl of Warwick was one of the most powerful noblemen, whom England produced in the fifteenth century. He possessed vast property and wealth, was related or nearly allied to the principal and most influential of the English families of rank; and his own family (the Nevilles), reckoned amongst its members the most potent and warlike noblemen of the realm. The Earl of Warwick's grandfather was Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, who died in the fourth year of Henry IV., and had by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Hugh,

Earl of Stafford, a son, John Lord Neville, who died before his father, leaving a son, Ralph Neville, second Earl of Westmoreland; and by his second wife, Joan, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and widow of Sir Robert Ferrers, (first) Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury before mentioned, (second) William Neville, Lord Falconberg, (third) George Neville, Lord Latimer, (fourth) Edward Neville, Lord Abergavenny, and (fifth) Robert Neville, Bishop of Durham; besides which he had by his second wife five daughters, four of whom married noblemen of high rank, and one became a nun; his fifth daughter, Cecily Neville, married Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, the potent and formidable rival of King Henry VI., and the claimant of the throne of England. Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, by his wife Alice, daughter of Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, had several sons, viz., Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the subject of this paper, (second) Sir John Neville, afterwards Lord Neville, afterwards Earl of Northumberland, and more recently Marquis of Montague, (third) Sir Thomas Neville, and (fourth) George Neville, Bishop of Exeter, afterwards Archbishop of York, and Lord Chancellor, and six daughters, all of whom married noblemen of great power and rank.

Besides the alliance of the Nevilles with the Duke of York, they were through him related by marriage to the great and potent family of Bourchier, the Duke of York's sister, Isabel, having married Henry Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, afterwards Viscount Bourchier, and afterwards Earl of Essex, and he, together with his brothers William Bourchier, Lord Fitzwarine, Thomas Bourchier, Bishop of Ely, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Cardinal, and John Bourchier, Lord Berners, were the sons of William Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, and Anne his wife, daughter of

Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, sixth son of King Edward III., and widow of Edmund, Earl of Stafford, slain at the battle of Shrewsbury, in 1403.

The alliances of the mighty Nevilles, so far as they are material to the proper elucidation of the contents of this paper, will be found in the portion of the accompanying pedigree.

At the period when the Duke of York aspired to, and was cautiously taking his measures to obtain the crown, his principal confidential friends, through whose assistance and power he hoped to secure the prize which he coveted, were the Earl of Salisbury, the Earl of Warwick and John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, between whom and the Duke of York there was a family connection, from the Duke of Norfolk's having married Anne Bourchier, sister of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, afterwards Viscount Bourchier, and afterwards Earl of Essex, and the latter having married Isabel, sister of the Duke of York, as before mentioned.

The Earl of Warwick had given repeated proofs of his valour, was warlike and talented in military matters, and was beloved by the soldiers.

He, like other powerful noblemen of England, in the feudal ages, could command the services, in war, of large bodies of retainers and vassals, and, as will be soon noticed, Warwick's power in that respect, caused him to be a most valuable ally, to any one whose cause he espoused, and a most formidable foe, to whoever he considered to be his adversary. He was liberal, generous, frank, and munificent; which qualities rendered him exceedingly popular.

With respect to his extraordinary hospitality, we have the authority of one of the most authentic of our old historical writers, that at the Earl of Warwick's house, in London, six oxen were usually eaten at a breakfast; and