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in the conclusions of Mr. Prestwich and Mr. Evans, which I believe have also met with general acquiescence in this country, having been confirmed by similar discoveries here. The forthcoming work of Sir C. Lyell will, doubtless, afford a luminous view of all the evidence bearing on the question of the antiquity of the human

race.

"Having visited the Museum, I went to Menchecourt and Moulin Quignon, where are the beds of gravel in which the implements and remains of extinct animals have been found. At that moment they were not being worked, but the view of the strata is sufficient to convince one who is not a geologist, that their deposition has been the work of very remote ages, and causes very different from those now in operation. M. Boucher de Perthes may well express his satisfaction that a controversy, in the course of which both his honesty and his judgment have been called in question, has terminated so entirely in his favour."

Nov. 4. W. PROCTER, Esq., M.D., in the chair.

After the reading of a paper "On Fossil Rain Prints," by Mr. Ford, the Rev. J. Kenrick read "A Notice of some Waxed Tablets with Inscriptions in Roman Cursive Character, recently discovered in the Mines of Transylvania," which we give in extenso. He said,

"I have been induced to bring this subject before this Society by a letter which I lately received from my old friend and former pupil, Mr. Paget, the well-known author of Travels in Hungary and Transylvania,' who is now resident in the neighbourhood of Clausenburg. He says, 'We have established a museum here, and among other things sent have been some Roman waxed tablets, found chiefly in the mines near Veres Patak, in the mountainous district between Hungary and Transylvania. One of them-that which is best preserved-was discovered by a Wallack miner, very possibly the lineal descendant of some poor Dacus, to whose taskmaster the tablet belonged. It was without difficulty obtained for the Museum without money. I mention these facts to shew that there was no interest, as indeed there could be no possibility, of a forgery. The good preservation of these tablets is owing to their having been bound together. I hear that it has been deciphered, but I do not know what they have made of it. I hear they have sent copies of the photographs to the Royal Society, and intend doing so to the Archæological'-probably the Society of Antiquaries.

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To understand fully the interest which attaches to this discovery we must go back to the history of an earlier one.

"No person here needs to be informed that it was the common practice of the Romans to write with a pointed stylus on thin tablets of wood, coated with wax. The use of waxed tablets continued in the Middle Ages, when the papyrus had ceased to be used, and linen paper had not been introduced. A few specimens of this medieval writing are in existence, but till lately we knew of none from the Roman times. This is not very wonderful. The hot ashes which buried Pompeii, and the volcanic mud which overwhelmed Herculaneum, were not likely to spare tablets of wood and wax; they are indeed so perishable that we may rather wonder that any specimens have escaped. In the year 1835, a Hungarian nobleman, who had formed a museum at Pesth, brought to Munich two examples of these tablets, one of beech, the other of deal. They much resemble a small writing-slate. Their form is that of a triptych; that is to say, they are composed of three leaves, perforated at the side, and fastened together. The outer sides have no writing; the four inner pages are covered with wax, shrunk and blackened with age, and filled with writing, which in most places is still distinct. That of beech was found in the gold mine of Torocskkoi, in 1807, and that of deal in a gold mine in the same neighbourhood, probably in 1790. The account given by the Hungarian nobleman was that they had come into his hands felici fato. Mr. Paget informed me, when in England in 1851, that they had been in the library of the Unitarian College at Clausenburg, from which they had been abstracted. This circumstance is of some importance, as an evidence of their genuineness.

"No one had been able to read them, with the exception of a Greek couplet, written two or three times over on one of them, till their possessor placed them in the hands of Professor Massmann, of the University of Munich. At first they appeared wholly unintelligible; but by closer inspection he thought he saw traces 4 T

GENT, MAG. VOL. CCXIII.

of Latin words, and following up this clue, and having been previously well versed in the forms of Latin writing in the decline of the Empire, he succeeded in discovering the meaning of nearly the whole. According to him, the document is in duplicate; it bears date iv. non. Feb.,' in the Consulship of Lucius Verus and Quadratus, which we know from the Fasti to answer to A.D. 167. Its purport is to declare, on the part of Artemidorus, who was the master of a college (by which, in Roman law phrase, nothing more is meant than a legalised association) consisting of fifty-four persons, formed for the purpose of contributing to funeral expenses, of whom only twelve survived, that his colleague had not appeared to render his accounts, that they had no money in hand to pay for funeral expenses, and that during a certain time, which appears to have been fixed by law, no one had paid a contribution. Consequently notice is given that no application for burial money could be received. The notice appears to have been posted in a statio, one of those offices in which, in later times, persons acting at once as lawyers and law-stationers sat, to give legal advice or draw up legal documents. In the appendix to my little work on Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions,' I have given the rules of a burial club. This document, if genuine, records a break-up.

"Massmann published fac-similes of these tablets in 1840, with a very elaborate commentary. No complete example had before been known of Roman cursive writing, but he traces, through known inscriptions, the gradual approximation of the lapidary to the cursive character. I hardly need say that we have no Latin MSS. of the second century; the oldest known, of the fifth century perhaps, are in capitals. It is evident that a great change would naturally take place when the characters were transferred from the rigid material of stone or brass to the yielding surface of wax. Angles would give place to curves, and letters be joined which stood separate in inscriptions. And such is the case when we compare the tablets with the ordinary Roman character. A corresponding change is seen when we compare the cursive Greek character in the papyri of the Ptolemaic times with that of the inscriptions of the same age. There is the same rounding and joining of the letters, but the character is more coarse, as being made with a reed pen instead of a stylus. Some of the Greek papyri are written with intervals between the words, others without. The probability is, that if an inscription were found in a Transylvanian mine it would be in Latin. Trajan, in the beginning of the second century, had subdued Dacia in two campaigns, the first of which is chronicled in the sculptures on his column at Rome. From that time Transylvania formed part of the Roman province of Dacia; a regular administration of the gold mines was established there, and to this day the Wallachian language bears traces of the continuance of Roman dominion for a century and a half.

"Massmann has pointed out another circumstance connected with the characters in which this inscription is written. The reporters at Rome had a short-hand, which, from its supposed invention by Tiro, the secretary of Cicero, is called "Tironian notes.' By means of it, if we may believe an epigram of Martial, they had attained such marvellous rapidity, that they could take down a speaker's words before he had finished uttering them. These Tironian notes have been preserved in manuscript; they are evidently contractions from a written character, and several of the forms correspond with those of the tablets.

"These seem strong presumptions of genuineness. Yet, some very eminent men have pronounced them a forgery. Letronne, I think, was the first who declared his disbelief; while on the other hand, Henzen, who continued the work of Orelli on Latin inscriptions, has admitted them into his collection, and pronounces the objections of Letronne groundless. They were quoted as genuine in Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities;' on seeing which Sir F. Madden, in a letter published in Notes and Queries' of July, 1856, declared them to be forgeries. No name stands higher in the science of palæography than his; it was owing to him that the British Museum escaped the mortification which so ne other learned bodies had to endure, of being taken in by the forgeries of Simonides. I do not find, however, from his letter that he had seen Massmann's tablets or even his book; he appears to have known them through Silvestre's Palæographie Universelle. The passage in this work to which he appeals is as follows:-A singular palæographical discovery has lately been made known, namely, that in 1790 certain tablets of wax, whereon was inscribed a Latin Act, dated in the third Consulate of Lucius Verus, were discovered in the gold mines of Hungary, which, having long lain neglected, were exhibited by their possessor in 1835 to M. Massmann, of Munich, who pub

lished them at Leipsic. Hence, as the date assigned to them reaches back to A.D. 167, they have been placed at the head of the existing specimens of cursive minuscule writing. Unfortunately an examination of M. Massmann's fac-similes has caused the tablets to be rejected as fictitious. The following are the reasons assigned for this opinion by M. Champollion Figeac, who wrote the illustrative text to Silvestre's work :-Notwithstanding the care which the modern inventor has taken to disguise his hand, by imitating with much skill the forms of certain letters, such as the E formed by two vertical lines, and A and D, as found in authentic documents, yet the indications of fraud are evident, the chief of which consists in the separation of the words, of which no example occurs either in the longest Roman inscriptions, or in those monuments which are most analogous to them; in proof of which may be cited the Libellus of Velius Fidius, of the year 155 A.D., in letters slightly rustic, unequal, conjoined, and somewhat approaching the cursive; a model, unfortunately for the wax tablets, so evidently resembling them as to shew the latter to be but disguised copies.' To his reference to Silvestre, Sir F. Madden adds that these very tablets, or similar ones, were offered to him for purchase several years ago, but were rejected at once as palpable forgeries.' It is not possible, I think, that these were either Massmann's tablets, or those of which Mr. Paget has sent me photographs; but that similar ones should be hawked about, after Massmann's book had made them famous, is quite what would be expected by any one who is acquainted with the history of archæological forgeries. Neither Silvestre nor Champollion appear to have seen the originals.

"The opinion of two such eminent experts will naturally have great weight. Yet, independently of the fresh discovery, which seems to preclude the idea of forgery, I confess the alleged reasons for rejecting Massmann's opinion do not appear to me satisfactory. When it is said that in no Roman monuments is there any separation of the words, Champollion must mean, that where there is a separation it is marked by points, as any Roman monument will shew. But what was more natural than that when cursive writing began, these troublesome points, which were really useless, should be dropped in cursive writing? What is rapidly written is intended to be rapidly read; and the difficulty of reading square characters, without distinction of words, is great; but running hand, without such distinction, would be a puzzle indeed.

"Champollion supposes the forger of the Massmann tablets to have taken a document of the year 155 A.D. as his model, and to have fashioned his letters accordingly. How came he then to overlook the want of separation between the words? The objection from the use of spaces does not seem to be sound. If we had a series of documents in cursive character, and in none of them, prior to the fourth century, the separation by spaces occurred, it might reasonably be argued that a tablet bearing date in the second century could not be genuine. But the fact is that between 155 and the second half of the fourth century no specimen of anything like cursive writing is known, if the Massmann tablets are forgeries. How then, having nothing to compare them with, can we argue their forgery from the separation of the words? I have mentioned that on one of the tablets (not that which contains the document which I have quoted) a Greek distich and a sentence from the 2nd Alcibiades of Plato are written. The modernism of these characters is certainly suspicious, unless we suppose them to have been scratched by some one who was making a trial of writing on the tablet subsequent to its discovery.

"One naturally asks, too, with what view were they forged? There have been mischievous people who have forged ancient documents, for the mere pleasure of laughing at the antiquaries, but they seldom bestow much labour on their work. Those who spend a long time over them do so in the hope of selling them at a high price. And what labour must the author of the forgery of this tablet have undergone! He must have carefully formed his alphabet by a study of Roman inscriptions and the Libellus of Velius Fidius; he must, next, have studied Roman legal phraseology and antiquities, so as to have given his Latin an archaic character and meaning; then prepared a waxen tablet on which he scratched it; then smoked it to the proper hue of antiquity. And what has he gained by his labour? It is not probable that the Massmann tablets were purchased at a high price by the college to which they belonged; the community is far too poor to indulge in such costly rarities. Besides, a forger would have given some intimation what it was that he offered; but when the Hungarian baron brought the tablets to Munich

no one had any suspicion of their real character, and they had been supposed to be Moso-Gothic. Mr. Paget's account completely negatives the idea that the tablets of which he has sent photographs can have been forged for gain. Without, therefore, pretending to question the judgment passed by Sir F. Madden and M. Silvestre, as if it were not justified by the evidence before them, I do think it reasonable to ask for a re-hearing, on the ground that additional evidence has come to light."

*** The author of this paper has, since its publication, received an obliging communication from Sir F. Madden, in which the latter states that the tablets to which he referred in "Notes and Queries" were shewn to him by the late J. G. Children, Esq., before the publication of Massmann's book, which Mr. Kenrick was wrong in supposing that he had not seen. Sir Francis also remarks that one of the Herculanean papyri contains a Latin poem written in small capitals.

RESTORATION OF RIPON CATHEDRAL. — The works of restoration at this venerable structure are now being carried on by Mr. G. G. Scott, R.A., of Spring Gardens, London, in a most satisfactory manner. The works intended

to be carried out at the present time embrace the entire restoration, both externally and internally, of the north-west tower, and the complete underpinning, or, more properly speaking, taking out the imperfect foundations and substituting one of sufficient strength and solidity, not only to sustain the mass of masonry above, but to bear in addition the timber and leaded spires, of which the towers have been so long deprived; also the renewing of the choir roof to its original pitch, and substituting in lieu of plaster-groining a very rich and elaborate ceiling of English oak.

The underpinning of the tower, which has been a work of great difficulty, has been very successfully accomplished, for nothing was omitted that could be considered necessary to ensure not only the safety of the tower itself, but also the men engaged during the critical and dangerous operation.

In order to accomplish this the tower had to be held up upon supports of timber, some going horizontally through the walls, which are of a thickness of 6 ft., supported by timber perpendicularly placed, whilst many other supports were fixed in an oblique direction against the walls, one timber overreaching the other until a height of 86 ft. was attained above the ground level of the building. The soil was then excavated for a distance of 5 ft. around the tower, and about 3 ft. under the same, to a depth of 14 ft. below the ground line, at which depth an excellent bed of strong gravel was reached, and upon that bottom concrete was thrown in, composed of ground blue lias, hydraulic lime, and gravel and sand mixed, forming a solid body, 8 ft. wide and 7 ft. thick, upon which the new foundations of the tower are built. They consist of heavy courses of masonry of the hardest description of stone that could be procured. The blocks measure from 4 ft. to 5 ft. long, 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide, and 1 ft. in depth, and many of them weigh upwards of one ton each. They were fixed with Roman cement, and the whole of the old work behind the new foundations has also been fixed with liquid cement of the best description, thus securing and amalgamating the old with the new work up to the height of the existing plinth line of the tower. The new foundations also will be protected and secured by concrete up to the level of the plinth.

The whole of the works are under the supervision of Mr. George Clark, the clerk of works employed by the architect.

Correspondence of Sylvanus Urban.

[Correspondents are requested to append their Addresses, not, unless agreeable, for publication, but in order that a copy of the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE containing their Communications may be forwarded to them.]

COATS OF ARMS IN THE CHURCHES OF STAMFORD AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD (concluded).

BAINTON. (Northamptonshire.)

On the north wall of the north aisle is a monument to Robert Henson, Gent., who departed this life June y 30th, 1755. "In the year 1734 (when parties ran high) he was returning officer for the borough of Stamford. His conduct and integrity were such that he not only obtained the approbation but applause of all wise and honest men, bribes not being able to corrupt, promises seduce, nor threats deter him from doing his duty. Also to Bridget his wife, daughter of William Cheselden, Gent., of Manton, Rutland, who departed this life ye 13th of July, 1757." Above are these arms:- Gyronny of eight, argent and gules, impaling Argent, a chevron gules between three (2, 1) crosses moline of the last.

Near to the above is another to Cheselden Henson, Esq., who died Sept. 1, 1789, and Penelope his wife, who died April 10, 1798:-Quarterly: 1 and 4, Gyronny of eight, argent and gules; 2 and 3, Azure, three leopards' faces or, in chief a mullet argent.

The arms of England mentioned by Bridges, vol. ii. p. 606, as being in the north window of the cross aisle, is not now to be seen.

BRACEBOROUGH. (Lincolnshire.)

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On the north wall is a tablet to Jane Wansey, who died June 18, 1805:Ermine, on a bend gules three escallop-shells or, impaling Per pale gules and vert, three lions rampant counterchanged.

In one of the windows near to the above memorial are two shields, one bearing Argent, a rose or, within a bordure verdoy; and the other is the same, only the bordure is entoyer.

GREATFORD. (Lincolnshire.)

On the north wall of the chancel is a tablet to the Rev. Peter Lafargue, who died March 16, 1804. Underneath is a marble shield of arms, which is almost entirely erased,—A chevron sable, a roundle of the last in base, is all that is

now seen.

On the east wall of the north aisle is a shield of arms near to several tablets of the Willis family, bearing-A chevron gules between three mullets, impaling Paly of six, over all a fesse. Crest, A mullet, as in the arms. Motto, Integrity.

When Blore wrote his "History of the county of Rutland" he gave, at p. 93, an account of the family of Browne, merchants of the staple of Calais, and their descendants, (a member of which family, Robert, was the founder of the sect of Brownists, who died in Northampton gaol in 1630, to which he had been committed for an assault on the constable who came to demand a parish rate from him); and at p. 96 illustrations of their pedigree. He there speaks of the following monuments as existing at this time, being in the north chapel of this church :A stone to Edward Browne, Esq., who departed this life May ye 15th, 1713;

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