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your indulgence, and shall reserve my opinion on the discovery of the bones of the sacred Bull, the representative of Osiris, for the first leisure that more urgent avocations may afford. Let it suffice, for the present, to remark that this discovery is palpable, ocular proof of the truth of a portion of the Books of Moses, of some allusions of the Prophets, and additional evidence of the VERACITY of Herodotus and Diodorus. The silence of the former, as to the Tomb of Cephrenes, and the positive denial of the latter, as to the burial of either of the forementioned Kings in these Pyramids, by no means justify the obloquy of your Correspondent A. H. nor even the expectations of Signor Belzoni, or the Rev. Mr. Faber.

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Ancient Anecdotes, &c. from VALERIUS MAXIMUS, by Dr. CAREY, West Square. (Continued from p. 328.)

THE HE son of Prusias, king of Bithynia, instead of separate teeth in his upper jaw, had one solid undivided piece from side to side, unattended with either unsightliness or inconvenience.-Lib. 1, 8, Ext. 12.

Dripetine, daughter of the famous Mithridates, king of Pontus, who was conquered by Pompey, had a double row of teeth, productive of considerable deformity.-Ibid. 13.

The poet Antipater was annually visited by a periodic fever, which continued no longer than one day, viz. the anniversary of his nativity; on which precise day it at length carried him off at a very advanced age. Ibid. 16.

When the Roman general, Regulus, was waging war against the Carthaginians in Africa, he had to contend with a huge serpent, which infested the bank of a river whence his soldiers had to fetch water, and destroyed several of them, on their approaching to procure it. That monster was invulnerable to darts or jave lins, and was at length with difficulty subdued by showers of ponderous stones hurled against him from the artillery, [if I may venture to give that name to the Ballista, or great cross-bows on carriages, almost equal, in execution, to our modern cannon; ás appears from Tacitus, Hist. 3, 23,

where one is noticed, which swept away whole ranks of the enemy.]— The serpent's hide was sent to Rome, and measured one hundred and twenty feet in length.-Lib. 1, 8, Ext. 19.

It is well known that the ancient Romans lay reclined on couches or sofas at their meals. But, during the early ages of the city, while the men took their repast in that recumbent posture, the women, from considerations of decency, sat upright-[which custom, however, was not observed by the ladies in succeeding ages.]— Lib. 2, 1, 2.

No case of divorce ever occurred at Rome before the year five hundred and twenty from the foundation of the city. The first instance was that of Spurius Carvilius, who dismissed his wife, because she bore him no children which motive, however reasonable in his own opinion, did not screen him from the censure of his fellow citizens, who did not consider his partner's infecundity, or his own desire of having children, as a sufficient cause to justify a rupture of the matrimonial tie.-Lib. 2, 1, 4.

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At Rome, in summoning a matron appear in a court of justice, it was not lawful to touch her person; the touch, in such case, being esteemed a breach of decorum, and a violation of the respect due to her character. Lib. 2, 1, 5.

In the early ages of Rome, the women were debarred from the use of wine.-Ibid.

Among the Romans, it was considered as highly indecent for a father to bathe in company with his son, after he had attained to the age of puberty-or for a father-in-law to bathe with his son-in-law. -Lib. 2, 1, 7.

During several centuries from the foundation of Rome, the proceedings of the senate were never divulged, so long as there existed any motive for secrecy: and, in the year of the city six hundred and three, when that assembly resolved to declare war against Carthage, Fabius Maximus was severely reprimanded by the consuls, for having inadvertently disclosed that resolution, even to a man who had held a high office in the state, but was not yet chosen a member of the senate; though Fabius made the disclosure under the mistaken supposition that the person in question

question actually was a member. Lib. 2, 2, 1.

On this same subject of senatorial secrecy, I here introduce (for the purpose of refutation) a scandalous anecdote, related by Aulus Gellius, lib. 1, 23, and quoted (as he says) from a speech of the elder Cato quoted, however, from memory, not from book. The story is as follows. The senators (according to this account) were permitted to take with them into the senate their sons yet under age: in consequence of which permission, one of those youths, of the Papirian family, happened to be present during an interesting debate on a subject of high importance: and the further discussion of the business being adjourned to the following day, a strict injunction was laid on all the persons present, not to disclose any part of the proceedings, until the question should be finally determined. On young Papirius'es return home, his mother inquired of him what had been done in the house: and, on his refusal to violate the enjoined secrecy, she continued to urge him so far, that, at length, to escape her further importunity, he told her a fictitious tale, that it had been debated, which would be the more advantageous to the state, that each man should have two wives, or each woman two husbands. Startled at this information, the mother hastily ran to communicate it to all the matrons of her acquaintance; and such was the general alarm excited among them by the intelligence, that, at the meeting of the senate on the following day, the house was besieged by a multitude of women, earnestly entreating the members as they entered, that they would rather allow two husbands to each woman, than two wives to each

man.

The senators were, of course, astonished and shocked at this strange behaviour, and utterly at a loss to account for it, until young Papirius explained the cause. They commended the youth for his faithful observance of secrecy, but decreed, that thenceforward the young sons of senators should not be allowed to witness the debates; with an exception, however, in favor of Papirius, to whom, in commemoration of his youthful prudence, they gave the surname of Prætextatus, from the

Prætexta, or boyish dress*, which he wore. So far Gellius; and Macrobius (who has copied him almost verbutim in his Saturnalia, lib. 1, 6) makes this further addition, that the surname of Prætextatus became, from that circumstance, an hereditary family name. Such is the story told by Gellius and Macrobius. But, for the honor of the fair sex, I would willingly consider the whole as a fabricated tale, for the following reaSons. 1st. The time when Cato is said to have made the speech in question, was only about a couple of years posterior to the abovementioned reprimand of Fabius. 2. The admission of boys into the house is hardly reconcileable with the anxious attention to secrecy evinced in Fabius'es case.-3. If they were admitted, Papirius would probably not have been the only one present; and, from some of the others, the ladies might have learned the truth.-4. The name of Prætestatus never once occurs in Livy, Tacitus, Florus, or Paterculus, tho' the Papirian family make a conspicuous figure in history through successive generations: nor is it mentioned by Cicero, in his genealogic enumeration of the family, in lib. 9, 21, of his Epist. ad Fam.-5. If the story had been known and believed in the time of Valerius Maximus (who wrote nearly a hundred years earlier than Gelliusand who searched through such a multiplicity of books, to make up his collection of near a thousand anecdotes) we can hardly doubt that he would have introduced it among the number. I now return to him.

During the early age of Rome, and long after, persons, not possessed of a certain (though small) amount of property registered in the Censors' list, were exempted from serving in the army; though we ought, perhaps, to consider that ostensible exemption in the light rather of an exclusion, under the idea, no doubt, that men, who had little or no pro

* I would not be understood as confining to boys alone the use of the Prais sufficiently known to have been the offitexta, or purple-bordered garment, which cial dress of Consuls, and others in high office, though allowed to be worn by the sons of the nobility, until they reached the age of manhood.

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perty to lose or preserve, were less fit to be intrusted with the defence of their country, than those who bad a greater interest at stake. But, whatever may have been the intent, it was not till about six centuries and a half from the building of the city, that the custom was infringed by Marius (the elder Marius, whose subsequent cruelties are recorded in the page of history, in letters of blood). At the abovementioned period, Marius being chosen consul, and appointed to carry on the African war against Jugurtha-and being himself a man of low birth, a mere soldier of fortune resolved to abolish the invidious distinction, as far as his own example could serve as a precedent. Accordingly, in levying an army for the African expedition, he enrolled the canaille of the lowest degree, without any inquiry into their censual qualification, and almost entirely fill ed his ranks with volunteers of that description.-Val. Maximus, Lib. 2,

3, 1.

(To be continued.)

Mr. URBAN,

Nov. 3.

To the Epitaphs communicated by your Correspondent ORDOVEX, vol. LXXXIX, part i. p. 624, which reprobate the pernicious practice of burying in Churches, I would add the following.

1. Inscription in the burying ground of Saint Etienne du Mont, at Paris:

Simo Pietreus Doctor Medicus Par: Vir pius et probus, hic sub Dio sepeliri voluit, ne mortuus cuiquam nocerat, qui vivus omnibus profuerat *.

Menage informs us that M. Pietre gave directions by his will, that his body should not be buried in a Church, for fear of injuring the living by any putrid exhalations.

2. On a marble monument in the Church of the Holy Trinity at Dorchester, Dorset:

mote the health of his fellow Citizens, should prove detrimental to it when dead. He was born at Edinburgh, Sept. 30, 1714. He died March 25, 1788 +.

Not only the health of the congregation is liable to be injured by the exhalations issuing from dead bodies deposited in vaults and graves, (for even the lead coffin is not an effectual security, as the solder is often dissolved by damp,) but the fabrick of the Church is exposed to danger by the excavations. Your Readers are informed in a late Magazine, p. 123, that the Church of St. Martin's, commonly called Carfax, in Oxford, has received injury from this cause; and a church in Essex actually fell down in consequence of the pillars being undermined by vaults and graves. I was a witness some years ago to a proceeding which threatened the safety of one of the finest Churches in Somersetshire. An innkeeper had died in the town, and the masons were at work in the Church, making a vault immediately under one of the pillars of a most beautiful tower which stands in the centre of the building, and were actually removing a part of

the foundation. I expostulated with them on the impropriety of what they were about, and so far convinced them of the danger, that they filled up the ground adjoining the pillar, and dug the vault at a little distance. But it is not on account of the walls and pillars only, that the practice is to be reprobated, for the floor is sure to be loose and uneven whenever it covers, or is near the grave. Until some legislative provision shall be made for prohibiting the thing altogether, I would recommend, as a salutary example, a resolution lately made by the minister and parishioners of a neighbouring town in vestry assembled, which orders that no person shall be buried in the Church, without a fee of 10 Guineas being paid to the minister, and a like sum to the Churchwardens. Though the freehold of the Church is vested in the Incumbent, yet the floor belongs

Near this place lie the remains of William Cuming, M. D. fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Edinburgh, who practised physic in this town and county during the space of 49 years, and who desired to be buried in the Church-yard rather than the Church, p. 48. 2nd edit. Jest he, who studied whilst living to pro

* Menagiana, Tom I. p. 191. Edit. Amst.

Hutchins's Hist. of Dorset, vol. II.

The fine old Church of Saint Chadd, at Shrewsbury, and a part of the Cathedral at Hereford, are supposed to have fallen from the same cause.

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to the parishioners, and cannot be legally taken up or broken without the consent of the Churchwardens. This circumstance ought always to be kept in mind by the latter, as it is their duty to take care of the fabrick, and though a needy minister may be disposed to acquiesce for the sake of a fee, yet the Churchwardens having no such motive, should either withhold their consent, or demand such a sum to be paid, as will, in a great measure check, if not altogether put an end to, so mischievous a prac

tice.

Among those Canons who seem to have been made before Edward the Confessor, the ninth bears this title, De non sepeliendo in Ecclesiis, and begins with a Confession that such a custom had prevailed, but must be now reformed, and no such liberty allowed for the future, unless the person be a priest, or some holy man, who by the merits of his past life might deserve such a peculiar favour. See Kennett's Parochial Antiquities, 592, 593.

In many Church-yards the earth is accumulated round the walls of the Church for several feet above the level of the floor. This has been done partly by burials, but chiefly by earth carried out on making vaults in the Church, and by rubbish left on the successive repairs of the fabrick. As this accumulated earth tends to make the Church damp, I would recommend that in all cases it should be immediately removed to the depth of at least two feet, leaving all the graves distinctly marked by the ridge of turf as before; and in order that the whole may be removed at a future season, I would recommend that all new graves should be dug three feet or more below the level of the floor. Care should also be taken to ventilate the Churches by means of casements in the windows and by grated doors.

Mr. URBAN,

A

J. B. R.

Sutton Coldfield,
Oct. 21.

POEM has lately made its appearance, entitled "The Angler; a Poem, in Ten Cantos; with proper instructions in the Art," &c. "by Piscator." Printed in London, 1819. You may judge of my surprize, on being informed, and by finding on examination myself, that this Poem

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contains in it, at different intervals,
and with slight occasional variations,
nearly the whole of a MS Poem in
my own possession. That poem is
entitled "The Angler," and contains
in one book (for it is not divided),
634 lines, with notes. The subscrip-
tion is "Ipswich, Jan. 4, 1755." The
name of the author is Thomas Scott,
who was my great-uncle by my mo-
ther's side. He published several
poems; a poetical Version of the
Book of Job; Lyric Poems, devo-
tional and moral; a poetical Version
of the Table of Cebes, which is to be
found in the sixth volume of Dods-
ley's collection; and some other
Poems. I should add, that my MS.
is an autograph of the author, of
whose hand-writing I have two other
specimens. And it is important like-
wise to add, that most of the notes in
this Poem are copied almost verbatim
into the modern one. The first
thought which occurred to me, on
being made acquainted with this ex-
traordinary incorporation, was that
some acknowledgment might be made
of the fact by the author, and the
whole procedure be satisfactorily ex-
plained. But nothing of the kind is
to be found. And indeed the follow-
ing sentence in the Preface, p. ix.
seems to exclude all obligations in
the poetical portion of the work :-
"The performance of such a work
can deserve no higher appellation
than that of a compilation, arranged.
in a new, that is to say, a poetical
form. How new the poetical form
is, the foregoing statement deter-
mines. I beg to observe, that al-
though I do not rate the poetical
effusions of my relation extrava-
gantly, there occur in them many
passages, of which, in my opinion,
the Muses need not be ashamed; and,
with reference to those which are in-
troduced from the poem in question
into that which has just appeared, I
must be permitted to add, that I feel
no temptation to be vain of the so-
ciety to which, in so unexpected a
manner, they have been admitted.

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I had no other object in taking up. the pen on the present occasion, than, to make this appeal to your tribunal of literary justice; but the interest of the subject to me induces me to trespass upon your indulgence a little farther, by some inquiry respecting other publications of this writer. I

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have an original Letter of Mr. Thomas Scott to his brother, which mentions a Poem as published, entitled, "Father's Instruction to a Son." But the direct object of the Letter is to consult about the publication of another similar poem, entitled "Father's Instructions to a Daughter." The Letter is accompanied with fifty-four lines, intended as the Introduction, and addressed to his brother. If any of your numerous Readers should be able to communicate information on either or both of these pieces, the gratification would be considerable to, Yours, &c. J. M.

Mr. URBAN,

IT

Nov. 4.

T has been often observed that the English language has received great additions by adopting words from other languages. Your Correspondent, J. F. premier, seems to have enriched it by the application of a French expression to a landscape, which I had not seen before A landscape à la brute. In answer to my enquiry as to the meaning, he has been so good as to say, p. 216, that it means rough. In the beginning of the French revolution, I remember a wig being introduced in this country, from France, which was called a Brutus, certainly a very rough one, and which, I suppose, took its name from a Roman patriot, held" in great admiration by those patriots, from the rough manner in which he treated Julius Cæsar; I need not add, that it was by stabbing him in the Senate-house. J. F. however, is so obliging as to give a definition of roughness, which is so exceedingly clear, that I cannot help repeating it for the edification of such of your readers as may happen to see this, without having seen your former paper. And I hope that it will be adopted in the next edition of Johnson's Dictionary. His words are these ; Roughness, according to such Critics of Nature as Gilpin, &c. is that quality which begets the metaphysical effect, associated with the sight of picturesque objects."

Pleased as I am with this, I can

not agree with him, that Mr. Lye proves weald and wold synonimous.

1. "Veald, a weald, wild, wold;" but what are the Latin words added as an interpretation? Sallus, sylva, ne

mus-every one of which signifies a

wood.

2. "Veold, saltus;" campus is added, but it must be inaccurate. Sylva is decidedly wood; campus, according to Ainsworth, is a plain field, therefore these two words cannot both be applied to veold (which, in fact is the same word as veald); and the weald or wild of Surrey and Sussex is all low ground, and was for. merly, beyond a doubt, nothing but a wood, and cleared as it has been in parts, is still chiefly wood; whereas the wold in Gloucestershire is a high hilly country, very bare of wood, except where plantations have been made. I believe those in Lincolnshire are the same, though I do not know so much of them.

Mr. URBAN,

A.

Skinner-street, Oct. 1.

of mine, at Willoughby, near A T an Inn kept by a worthy friend Daventry, known by the sign of the Four Crosses, Dean Swift sometimes stopped when on his journey into the North of England.

house, it was known by the name of Previous to the Dean's visiting the the Three Crosses. The Landlady paying, as the Dean considered, too much attention to the common folks, and neglecting his Worship, he considered the Landlady a fit object of his satirical wit, and with a diamond ring wrote the following lines on the window of the Bar, which were to be seen till within these few years (as, can be attested by respectable persons living), but by some unlucky accident the glass was broken: "There are Three Crosses at your door

Hang up your Wife, and you'l count

Four."

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