sixth century. At the village of Valcabrère, (Vallis caprarum,) formerly a Roman town, situated at the foot of the hill on which St. Bertrand de Comminges now stands, is a church dedicated to St. Just, said to have been erected in the sixth century, immediately after the retirement of the Germanic hordes. It was evidently constructed with such materials as were at hand, and particularly with the columns of former Roman buildings, which are placed together as twin columns, and even one upon another, without a very nice regard to proportion. Several Roman funeral tablets are built into the walls, and two fragments of a frieze, of bold design and exquisite workmanship. It would appear that the whole superstructure is placed upon the base of an ancient building, probably of some heathen temple, for the stones of the substructure are squared and very massive, whilst the upper works are of stones of the ordinary size; and the base at the eastern end was evidently not planned for the present church. Again, at the height of about three feet from the ground, a very bold and massive stone cornice runs round three sides of the building, and as this cornice is found both in side and out at the same height, it is most likely that it is composed of massive stone slabs, which run through the whole thickness of the walls, and thus once formed a base for some other structure. The plan of the church resembles, gene rally, that of Sère, already described, but the church is much more lofty, and the walls of the side-naves are relieved with circular arches and columns. A bold string of billet ornament runs round the circular

part of the apse, and the same ornament appears on the capitals of the pilasters. Large plain pearls are the only ornaments on the bases of two of the square pillars. The external part of the small centre window of the apse is of Roman design. The altar-top is composed of one block of dark grey stone, about four feet six inches square, said to have been of great antiquity; and as it is hollowed out, so as to leave a projecting rim, it is evident it was made before altar-cloths were in use. The doorway on the north side is of the tenth century. The tympanum represents the usual figure of our Saviour, with the four Evangelists kneeling towards Him. On each side of the door, in lieu of the usual columns, are four figures in Roman costume, and with decidedly Italian countenances: one female figure, with a plain crown, supporting a cross on her breast with her left hand; two ecclesiastics and one layman, two of them holding each an open, and one a closed, book. Possibly the crowned figure may be meant to represent Queen Brunehaute, regent of the kingdoms of Austrasie and Burgundy, whom Gregory the Great exhorted to induce her subjects to abolish idolatry; but this is merely a conjecture. The capitals represent the martyrdom of St. Just, the stoning of St. Stephen, and other kindred subjects. The remains of the Roman theatre, aqueduct, Via Tiberiana (which runs towards the village of Tiberan), &c., will well repay the examination of the antiquary. In the village he may remark some of the white and black gradins of the theatre devoted to some common use. I am, &c., B. WILLIAMS, (F. S. A.)

MR. URBAN,-Although I can scarcely say that I was surprised at seeing in your Number for this month an answer to my letter on the state of Gresham College, yet the apparently plausible signature under which its writer communicates with you certainly caused in me no small astonishment. Your correspondent is, no doubt, a very great admirer of the principle expressed by the words "audi alteram partem," but I really think that he might improve his argumentative faculties by learning to keep strictly to the question in point. He commences by stating that, in his opinion, the subject will admit of "no small amount of ventilation;" but towards the end of his letter, the "amount of ventilation" that he has applied seems to have altogether blown away the question which I first raised.

That question, as I stated it, was simply

as follows:-Is not the Government in equity bound to give some assistance to Gresham College, seeing that in bygone years it deprived them of valuable property, from which much profit has accrued to the public, and by the loss of which a damage felt even to this day has been inflicted on the foundation? The only notice that your correspondent takes of this, is to blame the trustees for having disposed of the site of the college so cheaply, and to commend the Government for having made so good a bargain. Allow me to tell him that both his censure and his praise are misapplied. The sale was effected by act of parliament, and therefore did not at all partake of the nature of a bargain. As for my being "terribly alarmed" at the threatened interference of Government, I can only say that I feel, in common with many others, no small

anxiety as to the fate of an institution so ancient and valuable as that of Gresham College; of an institution to which I feel sure all true-hearted citizens must turn with pride and veneration.

And now permit me to make a few remarks on the sweeping reform which, if it ever took place, would give so much delight to your conservative correspondent -"Audi alteram partem."

We are first of all startled by the abrupt assertion that the City of London contains no inhabitants. How then, it is argued, can the lectures be delivered to an audience worthy of the talents for which the respective professors are eminent, when, after business hours, the city is a desert place? But we are told that the musical lectures are well attended. Well, here is a plain contradiction. If the city can send a good audience to one lecture, it can send a good audience to all.

Proceeding on the assumption that London, properly so called, is empty, "Audi alteram partem" has the boldness to propose that Gresham College should be carried off to the west end, and incorporated with, or, as I would rather term it,

swamped in, the University of London. Thus an institution which has now for centuries existed in the city, and that for the benefit of the citizens, is to be suddenly swallowed up by a modern establishment and consigned to everlasting oblivion.

I admit that Gresham College is not what it should be; but at the same time, I reprobate the idea of snatching it away from those for whose good it was intended-the citizens of London. I imagine that it is not reform, but assistance and development that are required. Let funds be supplied to the trustees, sufficient for enabling them to hold out advantages to those who might be desirous of studying the various sciences, and then it will be soon shewn that the city has as many aspirants after knowledge as any other portion of the metropolis. But never let the removal of old Gresham's bequest to his fellow citizens remind us of those words learnt long ago at school-" Urbs antiquæ fuit."

With many apologies for again intruding, I beg once more to subscribe myself Feb. 3, 1857. AN OLD FRIEND.

MR. URBAN,-In the pedigree of the Meade family, your correspondent, Mr. Sperling, has confounded the first two generations, by making both Thomas Meade, the father, and Thomas Meade, the son, judges, the former of the Common Pleas, the latter of the King's Bench. There was, in fact, only one judge in the family, and he was the son; and to his memory, and not to his father's, was the altar-tomb in Elmdon Church erected. He became reader at the Middle Temple in autumn, 1562; was made Serjeant-at-law at Easter, 1567, and received his appointment as judge of the Common Pleas on November 30, 1576 or 1577, as the successor of Mr. Justice Harpur. Of that court he afterwards became second judge, and was so at the time of his death, in May, 1585, according to the inscription on his monument. He never was, as Mr. Sperling calls him, a judge of the King's Bench; the expression de Banco applying solely to the Common Pleas, and not, as frequently misconstrued, to the King's Bench; the judges of that court being designated Justic. ad Plac. coram Rege.

The confusion arises from Dugdale, in his Chronica Series, p. 100, having erroneously inserted Meade's name as a judge of the Common Pleas, twelve years after his death, under the thirty-ninth GENT. MAG. VOL. CCII.

year of Elizabeth, 1596-7, from a Patent Roll de diversis annis, instead of the nineteenth year, 1566-7; but that the latter is the correct date, is not only proved by Dugdale himself, in his List of Fines, (Origines Jurid. p. 48,)-the first one levied before this judge being of Hilary Term, 1578, and the last being of Trinity Term, 1585; but also by the judge's name not appearing in the Reports of Dyer, Plowden, or Coke, either before or after those dates.

No doubt existing of the correctness of the date of the judge's death in 1585, as inscribed on the monument, and full credence being given to the insertion of a Judge Meade in Dugdale's list of 1597, Mr. Sperling was, perhaps naturally, led into the error of supposing they were dif ferent persons, and consequently that there were two judges of the same name.

The judge was not, as Mr. Sperling de, signates him, a Knight; Queen Elizabeth seldom conferring that dignity on the puisne members of the Bench. The judge's son and heir, a third Thomas, however, was afterwards knighted. Of the same family was the learned divine, Joseph Meade, or Mede. (See Morant's Essex, vol. ii. p. 593.) Street-End House, near Canterbury.

EDWARD Foss.

MR. URBAN,-At p. 200 of your present volume an interesting letter from Anstis, Garter king-at-arms, has been communicated by your correspondent H.L.J., with the expectation that some of " your readers will be able to find out what it refers to, and may, perhaps, trace the picture mentioned in it."

Horace Walpole's "Catalogue of Engravers, with the Life and Works of George Vertue," published by Dodsley, 1782, enumerates, at p. 293, the four following engravings as forming his "first number of historic prints, published with explanations".

"1. Henry VII. and his Queen Elizabeth of York; Henry VIII. and his Queen Jane Sey

I will confine myself at present to Vertue's "observations" on the original picture of No. 3, addressed "to Charles Lenox, Duke of Richmond and Aubigny, K.G., &c."

"The Rt. Hon. the Earl of Pomfret being possest of a very remarkable old painting relating to the death of K. Henry Darnley, of Scotland, which he some time since presented to her late majesty, Mr. James Anderson, the eminent Scottish antiquary and publisher of the four volumes of historical collections concerning Mary Queen of Scots, when he saw it, judged it a piece of so much curiosity as to deserve very particular notice, and he accordingly drew up an exact description of it, with remarks, in the year 1727, for the Rt. Hon. the late Earl of Oxford, in whose library they remain with a fine copy of the picture itself, in water-colours, which his lordship had caused to be made.

"Since this, his grace the Duke of Richmond, Lennox, and Aubigny, having found in his castle of Aubigny, in France, a duplicate or very old copy of the same picture, which, though it has suffered by time, happens to be perfect in several parts where the other was defective or decayed: he has caused the same to be brought over to England, that by a careful comparison of the two together, one complete picture might be made out, and the whole design of the work by that means be the better understood. Of this comparison, the following pages are the result, into which we have taken the liberty of transcribing Mr. Anderson's paper, so far as we judged necessary, adding thereunto such other particulars and remarks as have further occurred to us.

"The picture is painted on a canvas of 7 feet 4 inches long by 4 feet high; and on the upper corner towards the right hand is this inscription, as a title to the whole:

"Tragica et Lamentabilis Internecio
"Serenissimi Henrici Scotorum Regis."

Vertue then gives us a full description of the inscriptions and medallions, as well as the various coats of arms on the banners and tomb.

Several erasures in the medallions and inscriptions, reflecting upon Queen Mary, had been made in Lord Pomfret's picture, which do not occur in the Duke of Richmond's.

It appears from one of the inscriptions to have been painted by direction of the Earl and Countess of Lennox at London, January, 1567. The name of the artist, Vertue says, appears on the Earl Pomfret's picture in small characters, (being then, A.D. 1740, in Kensington palace,) to be "Lerinus venetianus," or "Vogelarius me fecit."

I possess a beautiful water-colour drawing of this picture, 19 inches by 12, by "B. L.," most probably Bernard Lens, who died about 1741, and may be that painted for Lord Oxford; for I likewise have the drawing of Queen Elizabeth's procession to Hunsdon-house, (No. 2, above noticed.) copied by Vertue from Lord Digby's curious picture at Coleshill, since removed (Walpole says at p. 260) to Sherborn-castle, in Dorsetshire; and with the execution of which Lord Oxford was so pleased that he sent as a present about 60 oz. of plate to Vertue.

b

Both the above drawings are in similar frames, black and gold, and were, I believe, purchased by my father about 1796, at a sale-Lord Oxford's ?

A drawing of No. 1, in a similar frame, was sold at the Strawberry-hill sale in A. D. 1842.

From the commencement of Anstis'd letter, communicated by H.L.J., in which he acknowledges the receipt of "the picture which I shall carefully return with many thanks," and from his reference to Lord Pomfret's, there can be no doubt the letter was addressed to Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond, &c., probably prior to Vertue's observations in 1740.

By a typographical error in that of your correspondent, you have made Queen Mary to be daughter of James V., and Mary and Douglass half-brother and sister, and herself the half-sister of her husband Darnley. The omission of Mary of Lorraine as the wife of James V. and Mary's mother, has caused this confusion.

Yours, faithfully, E. J. RUDGE. Abbey Manor, Evesham.

Painted by Marc Gerrards.

The original picture by Hans Holbein.

MR. URBAN,-The GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, vol. lxii., part 2, at page 798, contains a letter giving an account of the family of John Locke the philosopher. The letter is signed with the initials “H. F. Z.," and is dated at East Brent, Somersetshire, July 17, 1792. Can you, Mr. Urban, or any of your readers, furnish any clue to the writer of this letter, or the sources of his information ? At the conclusion of the letter, any person requiring further information is referred to Mr. Locke, late mayor of Oxford; Wadham Locke, Esq., of Devizes, Wilts; or Thomas Locke, Esq., Norroy king-at-arms. There is nothing, however, in the previous account to shew that any one of these gentlemen was connected with the family of the philosopher.

Thomas Lock, who was appointed Rougedragon Pursuivant in 1763, Clarenceux in 1784, and died in 1803, is stated in "Noble's History of the College of Arms" to have been descended from a branch of the philosopher's family. He was buried at Warnford, in Hants, and is described in a grant of arms, which he took in 1767, as son of John Lock of that place. Upon a

print of the Heralds' College, by White, round which the arms of the heralds are given, his coat has a martlet for differ

ence.

It is remarkable that during Thomas Lock's connection with the Heralds' College, three grants of arms were made to the name of Lock,-one to the herald himself in 1767; the second to John Lock, of Mildenhall, in Suffolk, in 1770; the third to William Lock, of Norbury-park, Surrey. All the new coats are slight variations of the arms granted to Sir William Lock, sheriff of London in 1548, which were, Per-fess or and azure, a pale counterchanged between three hawks with wings addorsed of the last. It is this latter coat which is sculptured on the monument of John Locke the philosopher, at Laver, in Essex. It seems probable, from the date of the three grants above-mentioned, and for the similar and less usual spelling of the name, that the two other grantees of arms were connected with the herald. Can any of your readers supply any information about either of these families, or that of the herald? F. N.

MR. URBAN,-The eccentricities of the late Dr. Parr are patent to every one, but I do not recollect seeing the following anecdote in print, and at this moment of religious excitement as to the accuracy of scriptural interpretation, it may not inap. propriately represent the difficulties awaiting a revision of Holy Writ.

A very talented young friend of mine, while on circuit in March, 1822, spent Sunday with his old acquaintance, Dr. Parr, and was not a little startled and amused in church by the learned Doctor's

the sixteenth century? If not, perhaps some of your readers could help me to the information I require.

A. L.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Jan. 22. Edward Hawkins, Esq. V.-P., in the chair.

The President's appointment of Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq., Octavius Morgan, Esq., M.P., Lord Aveland, and John Bruce, Esq., as auditors of the Society's accounts for the past year, was read.

Señor Uriocoechea exhibited a number of photographs of idols and other objects, found in New Grenada.

The Abbé Cochet, Honorary Fellow of the Society, communicated "Notes on the Interment of a young Frank Warrior at Envermeu, Seine Inférieure, in September, 1856." A translation of this paper was furnished by Mr. Wylie, who appended to it some remarks of his own. This grave was found intact, and contained the skeleton of a young person. On each side the head was a large ear-ring, the pendent or naments tastefully set with coloured glass, cut in facets; round the neck a string of beads; on the breast a bronze stylus, and between the femoral bones the jewelled guard of a purse and two boar's tusks. On the right side of the head lay the iron cusp of a small spear, which, in the Abbe's opinion, clearly shewed that the defunct had been an effeminate Frankish fop. Mr. Wylie's remarks directed attention to the stylus, which he considered evidence of the spread of education among the Frank population at the period to which this interment may be ascribed.

The reading of the Queen of Bohemia's Letters to Sir Edward Nicholas was resumed.

Jan. 29. The Earl Stanhope, President, in the chair.

James Buckman, Esq., Professor of Geology in the Agricultural College, Cirencester, and William Lawrence Banks, Esq., of Brecon, were elected Fellows.

Mr. J. T. Auckland exhibited a gold twisted ring found at Ringmer, near Lewes, a short time since. The workmanship resembles that of a gold ring found with coins of Edward the Confessor, (see the "Journal of the Archæological Institute, vol. viii. p. 100,) and that of a silver ring engraved in the Archaologia, vol. xxxvi. pl. 17, fig. 6. Mr. Auck land also exhibited a silver gilt finger-ring, bearing the letters I. C.

Mr. Samuel Tymms exhibited, 1, a gold ear ring, apparently of oriental workmanship; 2, a bronze finger-ring, inscribed with an undecypherable legend, and a

mass of silver coins of Edward the Confessor, apparently fused by the action of fire. This last was found in the garden of Sir Edward Bunbury, at Great Barton.

Mr. Frederic Ouvry, Treasurer, by permission of Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart, exhibited three silver rings, found in the year 1843, in a rude urn, with a number of silver and copper Roman coins, in Sir Edmund's estate, near Amesbury, Wilts. Two of the rings bore engraved figures assimilating in style to Anglo-Saxon art, but the influence of Roman art was perceptible in the third, which bore three galeated heads. The coin ranged from Tetricus to Theodosius the Second, son of Arcadius, (A.D. 408-A.D. 450,) and the period of the deposit is doubtless in the latter half of the fifth century.

The Rev. Edward Trollope exhibited drawings of urns found lately at Kirton in Lindsey, and at Ancaster, Lincolnshire. They resemble the urns found at Little Wilbraham, and at Kingston, near Derby, as well as those described by Mr. Kemble to the Society in the last session, found at Grade on the Elbe, and are evidently the reliques of a people of Teutonic race, who observed the rite of cremation in the burial of their dead. Mr. Trollope also exhibited a gold armilla, apparently of the Celtic period, found at Cuxwold, near Caistor, and a bronze dagger-sheath and handle of the later Celtic period, found in the bed of the river Witham, near Fiskerton.

Mr. Trollope himself read a memoir of the captivity of John, king of France, in England, after the battle of Poictiers. This communication was illustrated by a groundplan of Gomerton castle, for a long period the residence of the gallant but unfortu nate monarch, and a drawing of the effigy on his tomb at St. Denys.

Feb. 5. The Earl Stanhope, President, in the chair.

A letter from Mr. John Evans, F.S.A., addressed to the Secretary, was read, announcing a donation from James More Molyneux, Esq., F.S.A., of a series of proclamations of the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. The unanimous thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Molyneux for his liberal and most acceptable gift.

The ballot was taken for the Hon. Fred. Lygon, who was declared duly elected Fellow.

The Rev. Lambert Larking, Local Secre