Dscebel (the old mau of the mountain), and THE COLOSSEUM. and This building, which has so long attracted notice, and excited inquiry, will soon be opened. The original plan for the building, we believe, was simply the construction of a panorama on a grand scale, and the spirited proprietor justly conceived that he could not do better than begin with the capital of his native country, which is not only the largest in Europe, but exhibits more objects of vast undertaking and intrinsic value than any in the world. With this view, during three or four summers, he had his tent pitched on the summit of St. Paul's, and in the serenity of the mornings, and while the city was yet unobscured by the smoke which, during the day, is poured forth from half a million of chimneys, was occupied in tracing the outlines of the city, and the prominent objects of the country for at least 20 miles round. This being completed, it naturally occurred that the space around the building might be laid out in such a manner as to form an additional attraction to the public, and for this purpose he planned a great variety of buildings and works of different kinds, which are in the course of being completed, and which in a few weeks will probably excite more interest than the principal object, the panorama itself. This is the only part of the undertaking that is finished, and consequently our remarks must be chiefly confined to it. It extends round the whole of the interior of the building, and the canvass on which it is drawn is said to be between one and two acres in extent. The spectator is supposed to be placed in the lantern of St. Paul's, and has a view of London, such as it appears in a very clear day about noon. Those who have not seen the original in a fine day, at the height of 300 feet above the surface of the earth, will be astonished and delighted with the imposing scene which this panorama presents to view. A space of nearly seven miles square, covered with houses and shops of every description, churches and spires, warehouses, docks, public buildings, palaces, &c., interspersed with the finest squares in the world, and traversed by the [Jan. the winding Thames covered with thousands of The external works are in an unfinished For JOURNAL OF THE PROTECTORate. 1829.] Antiquarian Researches. well. has been discovered among a mass of books and manuscripts belonging to a Literary Society in New York, which for many years had remained undisturbed. This Journal has heretofore been lost, and no traces of it discovered by the British Historians and Antiquaries. The manuscripts were probably taken to America by the regicides, who fled thither on the Restoration, with a view to prevent the attainder of their friends, and to conceal the proceedings of the Rump Parliament. KING'S COLLEGE. According to the regulations adopted by the Council of the King's College, a chapel of the established church is to be built in the College. At prayers in this chapel, all the students, resident and non-resident, are to be required to attend every morning, The resident students are required to attend the service of the Church of England in this chapel on Sundays, and the non-resident students, whenever they are required by the principal, must attend there also. Persons properly recommended will be allowed, however, under the sanction of the principal, to attend lectures in any particular course of study, but never to such an extent as to interfere with the education of the students, or the discipline of the College. Persons so attending will not be recognised as students, nor will they be entitled to contend 69 for prizes and rewards: nor will certifieates of attendance at lectures be granted to any persons who have not gone through the prescribed course of religious instruction. PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. Dr. Brookes, in his address at the anniversary meeting of the Zoological Club, stated, that its Museum contained 600 species of mammalia, 4,000 birds, 1,000 reptiles and fishes, 1,000 testacea and crustacea, and 30,000 insects; and that during the short period of seven months, the Gardens and Museum have been visited by upwards of 130,000 persons. The Vivarium contains upwards of 430 living quadrupeds and birds; buildings for the accommodation of animals have been erected, so disposed as to afford them the opportunity of enjoying every approximation, consistent with their captive state, to the habits with which they are endowed by nature-as the bear's pit, the lama-house, beaver-dam, kangaroo-hut, aviaries for hawks, for owls, for small birds, &c. The vast outlay required for these works, for their preservation, and for the care and support of the animals, has been met this year, to the extent of 10,000l., partly by the admission of the public, and by the contributions of the members of the Society, who already exceed 1,200 in number. ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Jan. 8. W. R. Hamilton, esq. in the chair: Decimus Burton, esq., Col. Sir A. Dickson, K.C.B., John Hugh Smith Pigott, esq., Rev. Stephen Hyde Cassan, M. A., and William Lynch, esq., of Dublin, were elected Fellows of the Society. Mr. Ellis, Sec. A. S. exhibited an impression of the seal which he described as that of the bailiff of the town of Bruges; but erroneously, as we are informed by a friend. Our correspondent says, that an impression of the same was some time ago presented to him, as from the seal of Bridgenorth, in Shropshire, and he believes it to be the same as is still used by the bailiffs of that town; which is called Bruges in a charter of King John, aud in one of as recent a date as the reign of Charles I. is styled "Bruges, alias Bruggenorth, alias Bridgenorth."-Mr. Ellis also contributed a paper on the privileges of the precincts of Black Friars and White Friars, London; introductory to a curious document, a "Note" of the liberties of the above district, temp. Elizabeth, and illustrative of the Alsatia, a leading feature in "The Fortunes of Nigel," and which was not finally disfranchised till the passing of an act of Parliament of the 8 and 9 William and Mary. Jan. 15. H. Hallam, esq. V. P. in the chair; Thomas Stapleton, esq. was elected Fellow. Mr. Ellis communicated the instructions to Henry Killegrew, esq., who was sent into Scotland in 1572, soon after the news had arrived of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. In some prefatory observations, Mr. Ellis remarked, that Walsingham was then the English Ambassador at the court of Paris; and it was evident from his correspondence that he was at the time impressed with a persuasion that the diabolical achievement had been "premeditated and minded long time before," by the party of the house of Guise. The object of Killegrew's mission into Scotland was to acquaint the Scottish Lords how decidedly this was the opinion of the English Queen; and to assure them of her support, should any danger induce them to require proof of her amity. Jan. 22. W. R. Hamilton, esq. V. P. in the chair; James Hoffman, esq. was elected Fellow. A communication was read from Frederick Madden, esq. F. S. A. one of the librarians of the British Museum, illustrating and giving an abstract of a highly curious poem in Norman French, preserved ΤΟ Antiquarian Researches.-Select Poetry. in the Harleian MSS. No. 913. The author is Friar Michael of Kildare, a writer whom Ritson has enrolled among the poets of the fifteenth century, whereas he should be placed at the latter end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth. The present poem has been described in the Harleian Catalogue as merely relative to the disputes of two great chieftains named Sir Maurice and Sir Walter, by which names are meant Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, the head of the Geraldine faction, and Walter de Burgh, Earl of Ulster; but its chief value is in a topographical, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, a statistical point of view. It gives a particular account of the vigorous and enthusiastic manner in which the walls of the town of New Ross were erected by the townsmen in the year 1265; describing the manner in which the several trades divided the labour, so that each should work at the foss one day in the week; and concluding by saying, that all the ladies of the town contributed their proportion on Sunday. Every day's proceedings were commenced by a triumphant procession, with banners, &c. to the scene of the operations: and the afternoon was generally speut in feasting, and drinking success to the undertaking. Altogether, by his animated descriptious, and by furnishing a census of the different crafts, the poet conveys a very interesting and valuable view both of the military and commercial importance of one of the most [Jan. flourishing port towns in Ireland at that period. Mr. Madden prefaced his extracts by an able survey of the political events which had stimulated the inhabitants of New Ross to provide their dwellings with a sufficient protection; and having appended to his letter a copy of the original poem, it will probably be printed entire in the Archæologia. CHESTER ANTIQUITIES. In excavating a deep sewer under the road leading to the intended new bridge at Chester, was lately found a Roman stylus of ivory, in an excellent state of preservation, about four inches in length, and about the thickness of a goose quill. Another stylus was found about forty years ago, in Martin's Ash, in that city. It is made of brass, with an ornamental head: and is now in the possession of Mr. John Lowe, goldsmith. Near the spot where the ivory stylus has now been found (that is in Nuns' garden, near the castle), the men discovered, also, a piece of red Roman pottery, being the half of a female face, most beautifully delineated in relief. Also a small silver coin of Severus, in fine preservation; on the obverse of which is a head, inscription, "Severus Pius Aug." On the reverse, a female sitting, with an olive branch in her right hand, on the left a trident, inscription, "Restitutor Orbis." SELECT BAYLY'S BUTTERFLY TRANSLATED. Εὔθ ̓ εἴην ψυχὴ ἐνὶ κήπῳ, Wrapt in a vail of more than midnight gloom, As when a thundering storm is hush'd to [deep, That fiercely lash'd, erewhile, the foaming When from the ocean rolls its cloudy car, And its dark legions cease their furious war, Then on the confines of some distant shore, Where sleep the waves, that wildly raged [tered form, Thro' hovering mists that clothe its shatA wreck appears, the trophy of the storm. before, Select Poetry. 1829.] Thus o'er the scene, where once the lofty [power, The swelling dome proclaimed th' abode of Where now in dust their mouldering stones are spread, tower Pompeii frowning rears her widowed head; A shape'ess pile, a city but in name, The tomb of pomp, the sepulchre of fame. Where rose majestic fanes, with sculptures crown'd, [low'd ground; There mouldering fragments press the halNo suppliant throng within her temple bends, Nor fragrant incense hence to heaven ascends; From its deep base the massive altars hurl'd, And quench'd the flame that round the pillars curl'd. But 'tis not gone-the fingers of decay Each graceful remnant have not torn away, Still gleams there, hovering round, with faintest rays E'en now the glory of departed days: Mark the proud column trembling rear its head, Mark at its base its scattered honours spread; See where the sculptor's hand the marble traced, [faced, There beauty lingers-lingers though deStill hovers o'er her once beloved abode, Nor leaves the favoured ground that Romans trod. If here, when twilight dims the light of day, Some chance direct a stranger's lonely way, With trembling step he treads the hallow'd ground, With fearful eye surveys the scene around: retreat: So drear that calm-that silence, oh! how deep, [sleep, Here where entomb'd unnumber'd victims Where linger none to call one spot their own, To weep its blasted power, its glory flown. Awake! dread genius of the slumbering plain! Awake! if here extends thy silent reign; Rise from thy haunt, stern spirit of the clime; Unfold the records of forgotten time! 'Tis thine to paint the terrors of that day, That scene unknown, that awful scene display. [gloom Lo round Campania's coasts the gathering Advancing slowly speaks th' impending doom; Deep roars the thunder's voice, as pillowed high 71 Now clothed in mists it hides its glowing light, On frowning clouds it traverses the sky; And foams unseen upon the distant height; It comes the fiery stream-its foaming tide side, now It rushes thundering o'er each craggy brow, And stops not-turns not-till with hollow sound It pours resistless on the trembling ground: His flaming sword impatient to destroy. the soul HISTORICAL CHRONICLE. FOREIGN NEW S. FRANCE. An inquiry of some statistical importance is now going on in France, the object of which is to ascertain whether it is most expedient for the interests of the country to encourage the growth of the sugar required for home consumption in the colonies belonging to France, to obtain it from the settlements of other states, or promote the establishments already undertaken for its manufacture from the beet root. With this view a number of experienced persons have been called up to Paris, among whom are colonists from Guadaloupe, old settlers in St. Domingo, traders to the island of Cuba, refiners, &c., several of whom have already undergone examinations before a commission specially appointed by the government. In the progress of the business, a very interesting fact has been elicited respecting the manufacture of sugar from the beet root, and results obtained which could only have been done by experience, and not scientific researches. M. Morel de Vinde, a peer of France, has made repeated trials on the beet root, and contends that its cultivation will improve French agriculture more than that of any other kind of vegetable. He asserts that the general adoption of this plant would render France in lependent of foreign supplies of sugar, and that it is, besides, the best food for fattening cattle. At a recent sitting of the French Geographical Society, one of the members read a report on a work by the late General Andreossy, entitled Constantinople and the Bosphorus, in the years 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1816. In the introduction, the author sketches the vicissitudes undergone by the ancient Byzantium. To the historical description of Constantinople, succeeds a brief view of the political and private conduct of the reigning Sultan (Mahmoud II.), to whom the author pays a tribute of praise for the ability and firmness which he has displayed since his accession to the throne, accusing him of only one error, the treaty of Bucharest, signed on the 28th of May, 1812, the effect of which was to place Turkey in a false position with reference to its formidable adversary Russia. The body of the work is divided into three books. The first treats of the situation of the Ottoman empire; the second is devoted to the canal of Constantinople, and its neighbourhood. The third part of the work consists of an account of the manner in which Constantinople is supplied with water, both by aqueducts and by subterraneous conduits; and General Andréossy considers the system superior to any which has been adopted in the other parts of Europe. Several of the notes at the end of the respective books are exceedingly interesting; among others, a notice of the first anatomical and medical work printed at Constantinople, by order of Mahmoud, in 1812; and the biography of the Ambassadors from France resident in the capital of the Ottoman empire from 1535 to 1826. There is also an elaborate map of Constantinople and of the Bosphorus. PORTUGAL. The Lisbon Gazette contains an account of the reception of Donna Maria at the English Court. It styles her the Princess of Para, the title by which it affirms she was received, and says that three of the London Journals confirm this statement. A revolution in favour of the young Queen was attempted on the 9th January, which failed, owing to the Government having had full information of the proceedings of the conspirators. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. The Turks, notwithstanding the severity of the season, continue to harass the Russians in every possible way. On the night of the 8th December Hussein Pacha made a new attack on the Russian divisions in Bulgaria, and caused them considerable loss. His object appears to be to force General Roth to pass the Danube, and leave Varna isolated, in order to facilitate the intended attack on the place by the Grand Vizier. The Russians have altered their plans for the next campaign. They are to leave the fortresses of the Danube, the entrenchments of Choumla, and the passes of the Balkan on their left, instead of profiting by the advantages which the possession of Varna presents for an advance in that quarter, and to push through Servia and Bosnia into the interior of Turkey! The Sultan no sooner heard that the war was likely to take a new course, than he caused the fortifications of Sophia to be put into a state of defence, and ordered a camp of 50,000 men, chiefly cavalry, to be established before that cityAt Constantinople itself, fortifications were forming of so extensive a nature as to secure the possession of the wells and aqueducts by which the city is supplied with water, and to cover a force of 200,000 men, should the Sultan be compelled, like the last of the Constantines, to fight for empire and life under the walls of his capital. The Sultan had ordered a firman to be published in all the churches, enjoining |