of Josephus, who would be sufficiently accurate in describing the town where he was wounded. At the same time, the ruins of Kerazeh were too extensive to be those of an insignificant village like Chorazin, and those of the supposititious Bethsaida were contrariwise too few, and contained no indications of the family mausoleum of Herod Philip. He concluded that Tel Hum was more probably the real site of Capernaum and that the ruins of Abou Shushah and a considerable amount of philological evidence illustrated these statements. At the close of the reading of this paper an interesting discussion ensued, in which the Chairman and the following gentlemen took part, W. R. A. Boyle, Esq., Dr. Cull, S. M. Drach, J. Macgregor, Esq., M.A., and Captain Wilson. THE second walk this season took place on the 25th ult., when the Church of St. Mary Magdalen and Trinity College were visited. Mr. James Parker gave a brief outline of the early history of the church. He said that it dated from a period soon after the Norman Conquest. At that time Oxford was in the diocese of Lincoln, and there were now existing in the chapter-house in that city a series of documents, which it was a great misfortune for them were not printed, as they would throw much light upon the buildings in Oxford. Robert D'Oily founded the Castle, and attached to it the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, which was outside the north gate of Oxford. It appeared from Anthony Wood that a Chantry was founded here in 1194, in the time of Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln. No work of this date now remained. A Chantry was supposed to have existed on the south side of the church in 1388, and the windows on that side seemed to agree with that date. Mr. Parker observed that the Oxford Architectural Society, by reviving the true principles of Gothic in church restoration, had been the means in a great measure of making it difficult to decide what was of modern date and what ancient in many of their old buildings. It was impossible in many instances to decide what was old and what was new, because many old stones were scraped over, and in others only a little alteration had been made in the mouldings. Wood, in describing the church at the close of the 17th century, says, it was fifty-four feet long and thirty-two feet wide, exclusive of the chancel, and that it consisted of a nave and two aisles, the north aisle reaching to the top of the nave, above which were two small chapels. It was difficult to understand what he meant by chancel in a church like that. Perhaps he meant the southernmost aisle, for it was said that there was an altar set up against the south wall. The date of the south aisle was probably in Edward II.'s time. The north aisle had been entirely rebuilt. It had originally a chapel for students of Balliol College, anterior to the year 1293, when they had permission to perform divine service in their own college. That portion of the church used by the students was dedicated to St. Catherine. The tower was commenced in 1511. At the north-west corner of the north or Martyrs' aisle might be seen the actual door of the cell in Bocardo, where the martyrs where confined. The martyrdom of the two bishops, Latimer and Ridley, took place in the centre of Broad Street, they being burnt in the then town ditch. Mr. James Parker gave an outline of the early history of Trinity College, which was next visited, and remarked that both Trinity and Worcester Colleges were founded on the site of more ancient halls or colleges. Gloucester Hall, now Worcester College, was first founded in 1283, and belonged to one monastery only; but in 1291 it became a hall for all the Benedictine monks throughout the country. Durham College, which was now called Trinity College, might be said to be founded by Hugo de Derlington, because he sent scholars to Oxford in 1285; but he found that Richard de Hoton built a place for them about 1290. It appeared, from the register of St. Frideswide, that a grant of two plots of land was made from the Convent of St. Frideswide to the monks of Durham, in the suburbs of Oxford, and in St. Mary Magdalen parish. A more important grant of land, belonging to Godstowe Nunnery, was made to them about the same time, or, perhaps, in the year 1291. He found that this includes "all ther arable londes, the which they had fro a diche thurt over in Beaumont, that is to say, from the londe of Philipp Ho Burgeys, of Oxenforde, unto the londe that was of Roger Semer, in the same tilthe, in the subarbis of Oxenforde." There was a confirmation of this grant in the Patent Rolls, 19 Edward I. (1291), in which were mentioned three and a half acres by Roger Semer, Another Roll of the same time mentioned the gift of single one acre by Thomas Leswegs, and one acre by Walter Bost. "tofts" by Laurence de Juvene, John de Sclater, and Henry de Diteneshale, and of two "tofts" by John Feteplace and Richard de Dedyngton, besides five acres given by Gilbert, the son of Amicia. All these lay round the habitations of the monks, outside the north wall of Oxford. Mr. Parker then went on to explain the situation of these lands, and quoted from the document which referred to the King's Highway, and observed that on this document a great deal would depend in deciding as to whether the Parks Road was a public highway or not. It was found that on the election of Robert de Greystanes, Prior of Durham, in 1366, mention was made amongst the "compromissarii of Johannes de Beverlaco, "Prior Oxoniæ." This meant that John of Beverley was the Prior of Durham College. What was going on in Oxford at this time was not shown in the Durham Rolls, to which they were mainly indebted for their information, till 1345, when Thomas Hatfield succeeded Richard de Bury as Bishop of Durham. The latter gave a great library of books, and, no doubt, left money in his will, which was not expended at once. In the Durham Rolls it was said of the great builder at Durham that he refounded this college, "Præterea Collegium octo monachorum studentium in loco Monachorum Dunelmensium Oxoniæ super Candige fundavit." This candige, or can-ditch, Mr. Parker explained, ran outside the city wall on the south side of Broad Street. In 1410, a Bull was obtained from Pope John XXIII., giving them permission to bury in the chapel of the college. This was the chapel shown in Loggan's View of the College (which was handed round to the company). The chapel appeared, from this view, to have been built early in the 15th or even late in the 14th century. It was not of so early a date as mentioned by Wood, who spoke of it as being erected in 1330. There was a chapel then, and even before that time, but it had been rebuilt. He (Mr. Parker) believed that the chapel was built about 1380-perhaps with Bishop Hatfield's money. Everything was confiscated in the reign of Henry VIII., and Durham College seemed to have given place to the present Trinity College, the founder of which was Sir Thomas Pope, who had been appointed "Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations," and had conducted as part of his duties the sale of the monastic possessions. He saw the injury that was being inflicted by the confiscation of this property, and no doubt from that circumstance, and his holding the above office, it suggested to him the purchase of this property, and the money that he put into his pocket by those sales with one hand he took out with the other. Hence it was that the college was refounded. The first president was admitted under the new foundation in the year 1556. No new buildings were erected by Sir Thomas, but Dr. Kettel, who was president from 1599 to 1643, added a good many out-buildings (and also cocklofts) as Wood terms them. What Wood meant by the latter was chambers in the roof, several of which were now remaining. The present hall was begun in 1618 and finished in 1620. Dr. Bathurst, who was president from 1664 to 1704, added most to the college; he rebuilt the greater part of the president's lodgings, and began the north side of the new northern quadrangle. This was completed in 1667, and was shown standing by itself in Loggan's view of 1673. The west side of the same quadrangle was completed in 1682, as the date upon it showed. A commonroom was built in 1665, and gates set up in 1667 leading to the grove. Numerous contributions of money were recorded at this time. Dr. Bathurst repaired and reopened the old chapel. The money, however, was too plentiful, and the old chapel shown in the view (and a fine specimen of the 14th or 15th century) was pulled down in 1691, and by 1694 the present structure was nearly completed, to match with the new buildings, and in accordance with the classic taste of the age. From correspondence which exists it appears that Sir Christopher Wren made suggestions for placing the building of the college, but his design, which was similar to the building at Versailles, was not carried out. Some additions and alterations were made in 1728, and the additional storey to the north side of the quadrangle, in place of the roof and dormer windows as shown in Loggan's view, was made in 1805. REVIEW. By (To decay. In estimating the general character of our churches, it is but fair to bear in mind the singular fatality attending them in former times by the destruction of towers and spires, generally by lightning, as might be expected from their being surrounded by forest; in one instance by Dutch cannon balls. The rule of using the produce of the district was general in those days, and necessarily so when, from impracticable roads, heavy materials were with difficulty conveyed any long distance. They are by no means imposing, but as ancient themselves and abounding as they do generally in brasses and other sepulchral memorials of more or less antiquity, they are deeply interesting to all who, in a fast age, find help and refreshment in tearing themselves away from the cares and worries of the present to contemplate the past.' Subsequently each of these sacred fanes is separately described with much perspicuity, as well as the schools, benefactions, clergy and churchwardens, families, and sta tistics of the several parishes in the neighbourhood of Stifford. Various extracts are also given from the parish registers and churchwardens' accounts which tend to throw much light on the local history of the last three centuries. The following "Vestory Bill, April ye 21st, 1747," is a sample of the bill of fare at the Easter convivialities at Stifford in the last century, paid out of church-rate funds. "To the Dresing of Diner Sydor Punch Pd. for Beef Do Lamb The Poor Ale £ s. d. 5 0 2 10 O 2 3 O 3 O 8 056 2 12 3" Stifford and its Neighbourhood, Past and Present. WILLIAM PALIN, M.A., Rector of Stifford, 1871. be had only by direct application to the author.) IT is always an agreeable task to turn over the pages of a beautifully "got up" and well illustrated book on the history, topography, and antiquities of any portion of Her Majesty's dominions. The work now before us, descriptive of a district in the south of Essex, is one of these, and is really deserving of far more praise than we can attempt to give it in a brief notice of this kind. It is, to say the least, a handsome volume, printed in a first-class style of typography and adorned with a large number of exceedingly graphic illustrations from sketches and photographs, executed We must, however, leave our readers to peruse the book in the best style of lithography. All the churches in the for themselves if they wish to learn all about Stifford and its neighbourhood of Stifford, with one exception, are faithfully of Grays Thurrock, Little Thurrock, Chadwell St. Mary, neighbourhood, a term that by-the-bye includes the parishes depicted, and sometimes interior as well as exterior views are East and West Tilbury, Mucking, Stanford-le-Hope, Corgiven. The church at Stanford-le-Hope is so strikingly delineated that we cannot help directing particular attention ringham, Fobbing, Horndon-on-Hill, Laindon Hill, Bulphan, to it, while the interior view of Stifford Church shows, since Orsett and Aveley. The work, indeed, is full of pleasant its restoration in 1861-3, what the inside of every village reading, and it will find a permanent resting-place on the church should be. We may safely say that the illustrations library book-shelf. Nor must we omit to add that a suppleby themselves would be worth the greater part of the pur-mentary volume entitled "More about Stifford, &c.," is chase money for the entire volume. Our only regret is that partly in type for subscribers only. In conclusion, we corthe author has not deemed it expedient to publish the book dially recommend our readers to lose no time in securing for in the usual way, so that the public might have had better themselves a copy of both works before the list of subscribers opportunities of appreciating his labours. We understand for the second volume is closed. that a few surplus copies may still be had at the very moderate price of half-a-guinea. And now a word or two on the letterpress. The work commences with a general view of Stifford and its neighbourhood, concisely treating of the religious history, roads, churches, education, scenery, manors, antiquities and many other points of interest. On the churches, within the district, our author makes the following general observations:"As would be expected in a chalk district, the churches are built of flint, dating from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. There are parts of some of them of somewhat earlier date, as will be shown (along with later additions or alterations, sometimes meekly intended as improvements upon the original design), under the several parishes. The general rule of building out of the natural produce of the district is seen to have been followed by the preference shown for wooden spires, from the district abounding in those days in forest timber. There are exceptions, but where there are towers only they are generally low, having had spires, until the latter perished from lightning or ARCHEOLOGY IN INDIA. THE local authorities in the Oosoor Talug, of the Salem District, in Madras, have sanctioned the sum of 200 reals, for the opening of the cairns and cromlechs which exist there with a view of collecting some specimens of ancient weapons of warfare. These' weapons will be placed in the London Museum. The golden Htee, made of solid gold, ornamented with rubies, and presented to the Shoay Dagon Pagoda by the King of Burma, was expected shortly to reach Rangoon from Mandalay. A high Burmese official, a hundred soldiers, and several phoongyees were to accompany the Htee as an escort. The Rangoon Gazette says that there is an old Burmese prophecy to the effect that when the King of Burma crowns the Shoay Dagon Pagoda he will recover possession of Pegu within a year from that date. DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT WARWICK CASTLE. THIS grand old baronial mansion of the Earl of Warwick, so familiar to every tourist, and so attractive to artists and antiquaries, was the scene of a destructive fire on Sunday, the 3rd instant. An alarm was raised, and messengers were despatched to Leamington, Kenilworth, and Coventry for assistance, which speedily arrived, but the flames had, however, made such progress, that entire destruction seemed inevitable. The front part of the castle was inaccessible from its height above the river, and consequently the burning structure could only be played upon from the courtyard, where there was only a limited supply of water. So quick was the progress of the flames, that the whole east wing was speedily gutted. The only things saved were a few of the most valuable pictures and some books. Meanwhile the fire was leaping across the staircase and attacking the hall, with its carved Gothic roof, emblazoned with heraldic devices, its floor of Venetian marble, and its curious antique wainscoting hung round with ancient arms and armour. Here was Cromwell's battered helmet, and the doublet in which Lord Brooke died at Lichfield. It also contained antique statues, ancient tombs, and other curiosities, which have all perished. Through the chinks between the massive doors separating the Great Hall and the Red Drawing-room the flames could be seen. Preparations were therefore made for the worst, by stripping this and adjoining apartments of their almost priceless treasures. The pictures by Rembrandt, Vandyke, and Rubens, were borne to a place of safety, and when every portable article of value was removed, still further precautions were deemed necessary. The gilt drawing-room, and state bed-room were also cleared of their principal contents. The tapestry round the state bed-room, made in Brussels in 1694, was carried to a place of security, together with the portraits of "Queen Anne," by Kneller, the "Earl of Essex," by Zucchero, and other rare paintings. The pictures by Holbein, Rubens, Vandyke, Titiens, Salvator Rosa, Sir Peter Lely, and Caracci's "Dead Christ" were also taken down. The costly tables and treasures in the cabinets were carried to the remotest corner of the castle, ready to be again moved in case of necessity. Fortunately, the efforts of the firemen practically arrested the fire at the end of the great The damage, however, done to the building can hardly be estimated. Many of the most valuable contents of the castle have been damaged by hasty removal. Lady Warwick only left the castle on Friday, and Lord Broke on Saturday. Lord Warwick had been at Torquay for a few days. Lady Eva Greville and the Hon. Sydney Greville were sleeping over the dining-hall when the fire broke out, but, happily, neither was injured. Her ladyship's jewels are safe, and also the plate, the apartments in the basement, where there is a large fireproof safe, being hardly injured, except by the heat of the burning apartments above, and the water thrown upon the fire. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained. Some men had been employed on Saturday painting and decorating that part of the building where the fire is supposed to have originated; but it is stated that there was no fire in this part of the castle. hall. Active preparations have since been begun for the work of restoration and repair rendered necessary by the ruin resulting from the fire. With regard to the walls of the hall, it is some comfort to find that their stability has not been interfered with, and the room can, therefore, be easily restored to its former grandeur. There is no crack or fissure of any significance in the surrounding masonry, and the work of restoration will therefore be confined to a new roof, and the redecoration of the walls. Among the works of art rescued is a small painting of the bust of Shakespeare in Stratford Old Church, of inestimable value as a work of great national interest. On the back there is a label containing the following memorandum :"This old painting of the monumental effigy of Shakespeare is a great curiosity, being one painted by Hall before he recoloured the bust in 1748. The letters proving this are in the possession of Mr. Richard Greene, F.S.A., who printed them some years ago in Fraser's Magazine. I purchased this picture of Mr. Greene who is the lineal descendant of the Rev. Joseph Greene, of Stratford, the owner of the painting, about 1770.-J. O. HALLIWELL." THE OLD DEPTFORD DOCKYARD. DEPTFORD DOCKYARD, dismantled and degraded from its olden service to the Navy, has just been converted into a foreign cattle market and shambles. In recording the change we mention some leading points of historical interest which circle about the scene. Here, at the Stone House, King Edward III. frequently resided; here stood, until 1780, Old Trinity House, where King Henry VIII., in the fourth year of his reign, incorporated the Company of the Marines of England; this was the dockyard established by that sovereign for the better preservation of the Royal Navy, and in which he built his famous ship the "Royal Harry," carrying 100 brass guns. Here Queen Elizabeth messed on board the "Golden Hand," and knighted Sir Frances Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe. From this yard was launched the "Oliver Cromwell," which the Protector adorned with a figure-head of himself mounted on horseback, holding a laurel wreath above his head, and trampling upon emblems of five nations. In the time of King James I. and King Charles I., the residence of the Warden of the Navy was at Deptford, and this has been the yard where the royal yachts were built, repaired, fitted, and laid up. Under the huge sheds of what were called "Slips No. 4 and No. 5," but now transformed into portions of the covered cattle lairs, the Czar, Peter the Great, swung his axe and adze, lodging meanwhile in the manor-house of Saye's Court, which, with the mulberry tree planted by the Czar, still stands hard by. At that time, and also while the poet Cowley resided here, this was the home of John Evelyn, the celebrated author of " Sylva" and "Terra," whose taste had formed a charming garden upon grounds afterwards added to the dockyard. In fact, the greater portion of Deptford Dockyard has been held by the Admiralty from about the year 1681 down to the sale of a section during last year, under a singular deed of John Evelyn, who, anxious to encourage shipbuilding, let his property to Government for a peppercorn rent, on condition that there should always be a ship on the stocks, and that the place should never be surrendered to any private enterprise. During twenty-six years prior to 1843, in which the dockyard was unused, the letter of the lease was complied with by permanently leaving a ship's keel laid down in building slip No. 1, though in the year 1843 occurred the incident of the proprietor entering the dockyard for non-fulfilment of the conditions, and the Admiralty saving their lease by hastily putting down a keel. Work on the old ships and steam vessels came to an end in 1869. The last vessel built was the "Spartan," christened by Princess Louise; and the "Druid," launched in March, 1869, was the last ship fitted out from the yard, in which month the dockyard was finally closed. Last year that portion forming the site of the new market was sold by the Admiralty to Mr. T. P. Austin by private contract for 70,000l., and subsequently transferred to the Corporation of London for 91,500l., with a further sum of 3140l. paid to the Admiralty for the erection of a gashouse and of a boundary wall separating the area from the Victualling-yard. The ranges of slaughter-shops have been formed of the arsenal and store-rooms, a quadrangular pile of brick buildings erected in the last century, around the remains of an old monastery, which still stands, bearing the date A.D. 1513. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON. OBITUARY. Palestine. At the conversazione at the London Institution, on March 13, Captain Burton will deliver a lecture on his Two Years' Gleanings in Syria and Palestine." ANTIQUARIAN WORKS, FRANCE.-Amongst noticeable publications on the antiquities of France are an "Etude sur la Construction de la Cathédrale de Troyes," by M. Léon Pigeotte; a volume on the "Monumens Celtiques de l'Alsace," by M. Max de Ring, published at Strasbourg in 1870; and a work on "Les Inscriptions Antiques de la Haute-Savoie," by M. Véron. A MRS. RYVES. This extraordinary lady died on the 7th inst., at her residence, Haverstock-hill. For nearly a quarter of a century she has resided in Camden-town, and EXTRAORDINARY SUPERSTITION.-The following is rewas the heroine of the cause célèbre for many years con- ported from a village near Ilchester, in Somerset :-A wellstantly before the legal tribunals. The active figure of the to-do farmer, who has always borne the reputation of a "little old lady in black" has been familiar in the neigh- shrewd man of business, a few weeks since had the misforbourhood of Haverstock-hill for a lengthened period. tune to find a strange fatality among his herd of cows. Until the moment of her death she retained full possession veterinary surgeon was called in, and every precaution taken, of her faculties, and it was only a few days before her decease and the remainder of the herd were in a fair way to recovery, that she walked, to see some relations, to Stockwell and back when suddenly the farmer became suspicious and insisted again to her residence. Her constitution, although in her that he and his cows had been "overlooked," and immediseventy-fifth year, was remarkable for its unimpaired vigour. ately sought out a "wise woman" residing in an adjacent She was born on March 16, 1797. The father of Mrs. town. Acting upon the advice of the old hag, the farmer Ryves was John Thomas Serres, a celebrated painter and returned home, and shortly encircled with a fagot the last marine draughtsman to the Admiralty. The late Mr. Clark-bullock that died, ignited the pile, and burnt the carcass, an son Stanfield was his great pupil. Her grandfather, incantation being pronounced over the burning beast. The Dominic Serres, was one of the first forty incorporated by remainder of the herd recovered, and their recovery is of the Act of George III. as Royal Academicians, and Mrs. course attributed by the farmer and his simple-minded Ryves for years received an annuity from the Academy. neighbours, not to the skill of the veterinary surgeon, but to The paintings of her father and grandfather may be seen at the success of the weird ceremonial prescribed by the forWindsor Castle, in the Painted Hall at Greenwich, and at tune-teller. Hampton Court Palace. Their family was of French extraction, and numbered an archbishop and a marquis among A CENTENARIAN. - -A maiden lady, named Catherine the members. Her mother was the celebrated Olive Wil- Tickle is now residing in Westgate Street, Launceston, mot, better known as claiming to be the Princess Olive of Cornwall, who has, beyond all doubt, attained the age of Cumberland, daughter of His Royal Highness Henry 100 years. The register of baptisms for the parish of St. Frederick Duke of Cumberland, brother to George III. | Mary Magdalen contains an entry of her baptism on the 7th Mrs. Ryves was married to Anthony Thomas, son of Captain of November, 1771. Her father died at the age of ninetyThomas Ryves, of Ranston Hall, Dorset, and obtained a two years. Miss Tickle is still living with her widowed divorce in the Ecclesiastical Court a mensa et thoro from her sister, aged eighty-eight. The centenarian has been a husband for adultery and cruelty. She leaves two sons and cripple ever since she was four years of age. three daughters to lament her death. LONGEVITY.-The journals announce the death at the age of ninety-nine, in his residence in the Rue de Varenne, of Baron de Saint-Pons de Letaye, formerly a cornet of cavalry under Louis XVI. He had passed a great part of his life in England, where he had withdrawn at the moment of the emigration. He leaves no heirs, and his title becomes extinct. MISCELLANEA. THE SERPENT MOUND AT LOCHNELL. Mr. John S. Phené, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., the discoverer of the serpent and saurian mounds in Great Britain, and who has been for a considerable time engaged in opening tumuli in Scotland for the Duke of Argyll, the Marquis of Lothian, and others, is at present in company with an eminent civil engineer in Glasgow and his staff, engaged in again visiting the great saurian mound on an estate near Oban-with the 'object of making cross sections of the structure, and making a more minute survey of its details. It is intended to construct a perfect model of this ancient structure, which is clearly a relic of serpent worship. When the model is completed, Mr. Phené intends to present a cast of it to the town of Oban. CAPTAIN BURTON will, it is understood, read further papers before the Anthropological Institute, and describe, with topographical notes, the various objects which he collected during his twenty-two months of service in Syria and THE CHAUCER SOCIETY.-Mr. Edward A. Bond, the Keeper of the Manuscripts in the British Museum, will edit next year, for the Chaucer Society, the fragments of the MS. Household Book of Elizabeth, wife of Prince Lionel, which contain the earliest mention of the name of Geoffrey Chaucer, and possibly of the Philippa, whom he afterwards married. Chaucer's name is three times repeated, in the years 1357-1359. Mr. Bond's article on these fragments, in the Fortnightly Review of August 15, 1866, excited much attention at the time, and has frequently been referred to since; but the fragments have not yet been printed at length. THE editorship of the Archeologia Cambrensis, the journal of the Cambrian Archæological Association, has been undertaken by the Rev. D. S. Evans, of Llanymawddwy, Merionethshire. A NEW magazine, entitled the Librarian, devoted to the antiquarianism of literature, is about to appear. It will reproduce poetical and historical incidents which have been too much lost in oblivion. THE title of the second volume of Mr. Ruskin's collected works is, "Munera Pulveris," and the third volume will consist of the "Lectures on Sculpture," which he delivered at Oxford. WITH the New Year, a monthly journal, called the Inđi an Antiquarian, will be commenced at Bombay. SINCE INCE the organization of a body of British archeologists for exploring the buildings and buried antiquities of ancient Rome, so much that is both new and important has been made known, and so many doubtful points settled, that it would require a good thick volume to narrate, even in a brief manner, the various discoveries that have resulted from excavations made under their direction. It is not, however, our intention to attempt so laborious a task, our chief object at present being to give a short resumé of the work done last winter by the little band of English explorers at Rome. But before doing this we desire to say a few words on the prospectus of a Roman Exploration Company that has been appended to a pamphlet on "Excavations in Rome," recently distributed by Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., whose labours in the field of archæology are so widely known. It will be in the remembrance of some of our readers that the work of the British Archæological Society at Rome commenced in the year 1868, and has since been carried on through successive seasons with very gratifying results, setting at rest many questionable points on the topography of the city, and adding much to our knowledge of its architectural and antiquarian treasures. But these excavations have not been planned and superintended without much anxiety, nor without many severe restrictions on the part of the papal authorities, as well as of the owners of property. But much of the jealous feeling towards foreigners has now happily been removed, and we heartily hope and trust that the explorations in future will be carried on with greater freedom. The Italian Government, at any rate, is not averse to such archæological researches, for it has already commenced to excavate the Palatine Hill and the slopes round it, and has given some assurances of encouragement to private explorers. Hitherto the funds of the British Archæological Society at Rome have been kept up by subscriptions and donations, but a proposal is now made to form in addition what is called a Roman Exploration Company, with a capital of 50,000l., so that researches on a larger scale than hitherto may be planned and commenced. To do this it is proposed to purchase land at a fair price, then excavate it, and afterwards dispose of it in the market. Speaking of the intended sale of the monastic property at Rome, it is observed in the prospectus that "if the proposed company were to buy one of these monasteries, with its large gardens, in places where it is well known that interesting antiquities have been buried for centuries, excavate them and make an exhibition of them, until the novelty has worn off, the fees from tourists would pay all the expenses of the excavation, as has been proved by experience at Pompeii, and the land would be worth more after the exhibition is over than it was before." This extract will give some idea of the course intended to be pursued by the company, and we cannot do otherwise than wish a successful issue to whatever work is taken in hand. There can be no doubt but that antiquities of great historic interest remain buried under the present surface of the Roman capital, and if only some of these be brought to light, there will be at least a partial return for the money invested. But Mr. Parker, who seems to be at the head of the scheme, has more sanguine hopes even than this, and expects that a dividend of at least 5 per cent. will be available. How far these expectations may be realized will much depend on the judicious management of the company, and the selection of suitable sites for examination. Let us now review in a brief manner the results of the excavations undertaken during the last winter, 1870-71, by the Society. Mr. Parker delivered an admirable lecture on the subject in July last before the Archæological Institute, and he has lately published it with other matter in the form of a pamphlet, to which we have before alluded. Society has been instrumental, it appears, during the last season, in carrying on excavations of an important character in at least seven different places in Rome. It has thus been ascertained The (1.) That the wall of Aurelian passed through a large vineyard outside the Porta Portese, near the Tiber, on the western side of the river, in a direction straight towards the Emporium and the Marmorata on the opposite bank. (2.) That under each of the arches of the Porticus, "begun by Caracalla, and completed by Elagabalus," on the Appian Way, were bath chambers, alternately one long chamber and two smaller ones, an arrangement that is continued the whole length of the arcade. Close by, some fresco paintings were discovered on a wall, faced with bricks of the time of Hadrian. (3.) That the line of the aqueducts along the Via Latina extended from Porta Furba, two miles from the Porta Maggiore, to the therme of Caracalla, and its course can still be traced along a great part of the route. (4.) That important buildings existed on the northern side of the Viminal Hill, just opposite the church of St. Vitale, which stands against the cliff of the Quirinal. It appears that ancient buildings were formerly visible on this site, but had been buried again. The Society, having obtained the requisite permission to open the ground, have brought to light "more clearly the foundations of two towers against the cliff, the walls of which are of tufa, in the style of the Kings of Rome, and which belonged to the original fortifications, when the Viminal was a separate fortress, with its arx, or citadel near this part. Just below one of these towers a cave was found, dug out of the rock, described by Flaminius Vacca as a cave of Mithras, but the exact site of it was not known. It had been thoroughly rifled in his time, but the niches remain in the wall, and three short marble columns were found, which had served as bases for images." The remains of the lavacrum of Agrippina were also excavated, and a fine mosaic pavement found. (5.) That the concrete wall under St. Saba, on the |