and that there was an excellent collection of them in Liverpool, in Mr. Mayer's museum-that antiquaries differed with respect to the use of them; some supposing that they were weapons, and others that they were implements used by the ancient Britons and other uncivilized tribes. He drew the attention of the meeting to the circumstance that, on each side of the one now exhibited, there were some slight attempts at ornamenting it, by small raised ribs or projecting lines; and that on one side of it there was a bronze loop (which was not uncommon in other celts), apparently intended to suspend it by means of a thong, or string, to the neck or belt of the person who carried it; all of which showed an advanced degree of skill in the workmanship, when compared with the very rude and ill-shaped celts found in some museums. He observed that moulds for casting celts have been discovered in this country; and that several of them are in the British Museum, in one of which, in consequence of some defect in the casting, there is a celt fast in the matrix. Mr. BROOKE also stated that the celt now exhibited was found in Northamptonshire, and was presented to him last May, when visiting for the second time Bosworth Field, by Mr. John Rubley, of Dadlington Fields, near there, whose kindness, in pointing out the various objects of interest connected with the battle, Mr. Brooke had occasion to mention to the Society, when reading his paper upon the "Field of the Battle of Bosworth." Mr. BROOKE likewise mentioned, as an interesting circumstance, that the ancient custom of tolling the curfew bell, still existed in some places in Lancashire and Cheshire, and that he had been told that Winwick was one of them; but that the custom was certainly kept up at Wilmslow, in Cheshire. He had had occasion, during many years past, to go occasionally into the neighbourhood of Wilmslow, and had very often heard it; and even as recently as last week he had repeatedly heard it. The curfew was always tolled there at eight o'clock in the evening, except Saturdays and Sundays. To accommodate the publicans, a deviation from the hour on those days had lately been made, and instead of eight o'clock, as formerly, it was now tolled at eleven in the evening of Saturday, and at nine in the evening of Sunday, in order to warn them to close their houses in Wilmslow. Mr. T. C. ARCHER remarked that the curfew was regularly tolled in the cathedral at Chester, and other instances were cited by different members. This concluded the business of the meeting. SECOND ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, November 2nd, 1857. DR. INMAN, PRESIDENT, in the Chair. It was announced that the Council, in order to extend the usefulness of the library, had communicated with other societies, with a view to an exchange of publications, and had also made arrangements for the more free circulation of books among the members. Referring to the bequest of the late Mr. Yates, including the Transactions of the British Association up to the year 1854, the SECRETARY mentioned that Dr. Inman had, in the handsomest manner, promised to continue the series during his own lifetime, he being a life-member of 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 WARWICK AND SALISBURY, CALLED THE KING-MAKER. BY RICHARD BROOKE, ESQ., F.S.A. WARWICK "For thou shalt know, this strong right hand of mine 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 |