THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. DECEMBER, 1823. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. THE RING OF ALHSTAN, BISHOP OF SHERBORNE, POUND AT LLYSFAEN, CARNARVONSHIRE. I Mr. URBAN, Chester, Dec. 1. SEND you sketches of the front and extent of this precious relic of the ornamental taste and magnificence of the ninth century; the ring is now in my possession. The use of rings is of very remote antiquity. Nuptial rings were worn by the antient Greeks and Romans, and Tertullian notices the custom as having been adopted by the early Christians. The episcopal ring is also of very remote origin, forming, indeed, an especial part of the ceremonial of consecration, and used occasionally as seals. Of this description is the one now under notice. It was found about 50 years ago, by a labourer, near to the surface of the ground, on a common at Llys faen. It is of massy gold, weighing nearly an ounce and a quarter. The workmanship is very neat, and the enamelling distinct and perfect. The pattern is alternately a circle and a lozenge; the outer part wrought in an ornamental style. The circular compartments, four in number, bear the epigraph: On the first A (in Saxon characters), A; on the second LH; on the third ST; on the fourth A; and the Runic N, like X, forming the word Ahlstan. The lozenges are occupied with different devices; on the first is a rude representation of a dragon, the cognizance of the kingdom of Wessex, and under which Alhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, often led its armies to battle. There were three Bishops of London of this name, and one (the seventh) of Sherborne; but the ring is supposed to have been the property of the latter (who filled the episcopal chair from 817 to 867), being well known as an efficient member of the true Church militant. Dr. Pegge, quoting the Saxon Chronicle, observes, that in 823 (after his consecration as Bishop), King Egbert sent his son Ethelwolf, Alhstan his Bishop, and Woolfherd his Alderman-a curious trio-to drive Baldred, King of Kent, across the Thames. On the accession of Ethelwolf to the throne, the Bishop distinguished himself, that is, to use the French phraseology, "covered himself 484 Ring of Bp. Alhstan.-Literary Jeu-d'esprit. with glory," in many military actions; nor was he less distinguished as a naval hero, for, according to Matthew of Westminster, he, in conjunction with Earl Other, attacked the Danes off Sandwich, put their fleet to the route, and captured nine of their largest ships. In 828 Egbert visited North Wales, in a hostile manner; and Dr. Pegge argues the probability of Alhstan having had the command of the army, and that this ring was at that period lost. We have no proof, however, that the invaders penetrated so far as Carnarvonshire, in the N.E. corner of which the ring was found. Soon after its discovery, another gold ring of much greater weight was picked up near the same place,-a situation close to the sea; but its manufacture was extremely coarse when compared with this. In order to account for the superiority of workmanship in this ring, at a time when the Saxons were so barbarous in their manners, the learned Doctor says, that Egbert the Great resided in his younger age not less than 12 years at the Court of Charlemagne, and it is not improbable that some artists in the enamelling line might have been brought by him into England from thence. This ring attracted the particular notice of Dr. Pegge, in 1771; and in 1773 he read a paper respecting its history before the Society of Antiquaries, on the 2d of December; which is printed in Archæologia, IV. 47. I have in my possession a brass medal, a little larger than half-a-crown, on one side of which is a figure in a Scotch military habit, in the attitude of command, standing on a ground strewed with flowers; beneath him is a demi-figure of a man reclining on a studded shield; encircling these are the words "CAROLUS PRINCEPS." On the other side, a figure of Fame hovering over a city, bearing in the left hand an imperial crown, and issuant from the trumpet, "TUUM CUIQUE." To what does this owe its origin? Is it in commemoration of the entrance of Charles Edward Stuart into Edinburgh? Perhaps some of your readers will satisfy me on this head? J. H. HANSHALL. Mr. URBAN, [Dec. bears), from which I can scarcely doubt that those who have friendship for the Veteran will be pleased. It assumes the establishment in England of an Order of Literary Merit, and describes the members originally elected; and the subsequent candidates for admission, and the pretensions on which they found their claims, together with the objections which were made, on the part of the Chapter; for it is a Chapteral order who elect their own members. In the number introduced, it contains of course a mixture of praise and censure. Among the deceased who are recorded, are Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Smith, Miss Seward, Mr. John Hunter, Hayley, Warren Hastings, Ricardo, and one particularly long dead, the unjustly-neglected Dr. Sneyd Dávies. If desired, extracts of two or three more characters shall be sent you. "Next came the venerable J... N......; Most noble and honourable Chapter (he began), though the fathers of many of you were not born when I commenced the fearful career of authorship, I humbly and with dif fidence solicit at your hands the distinction so justly coveted, ere I die!It is true that I have not entirely conformed to the changing fashions of the times; nor will it be expected, by an Order of which liberty of thought is among the primary privileges, that I should always have approved them. I have laboured rather in the regions of FACT than of FANCY: if it appears to me that the commencing century has gone too much the other way, I trust I may be forgiven. I was brought up in a school of classical criticism; perhaps not unjustly blamed, as mere verbal criticism;-but if this species of criticism was once too highly prized, it is now surely too much neglected. It may exercise the memory, rather than the higher faculties of the mind; but in seeking precision of expres sion, how often do we arrive at precision of thought! It is true that I was afterwards led into another course of investigation, neither so elegant, nor so scholarlike; I fell, by my intimacy with Mr. Gough, into what are called the dry, thorny, and barbarous paths of National and Local Antiquities: but I found flowers scattered continually in A d'esprit (not published) has fallen my way, and I can exclaim with my in my way (no matter what title it lamented acquaintance Thomas War ten, 1823.] Remarks on Circumstantial Evidence. ton, that Not rough and barren are the slighted paths of hoar Antiquity.' "Of opinions and speculations, except from the few gifted beings who rise once in a century, the fashion and the charm soon passes away: facts are materials which never lose their value. This is the rock on which I stand. In this field 1 have toiled: and on this pretension I found the merit of the Monthly Register which it has fallen to my lot to conduct for almost fifty years, which, having outlived by half a century all its contemporaries, is now approaching the 100th year of its age, becomes more mellow and rich by the operation of time, and of which the few weeds, scattered among its flowers and fruits, will never destroy the virtue or the bloom!" "Fortunate Senex !" exclaimed a young member, warmed by the frank, cheerful, and benevolent manner of the Veteran: the words ran through the assembly; and J... N.............. was voted into the Order by acclamation. B. Mr. URUAN, TH Dec. 28. HOUGH no person has a greater regard for the established laws of his country than myself, or has a higher veneration for those learned, virtuous, and independent characters, by whom these laws are now with a firm and equal hand administered, I never could see with what justice a man should forfeit his life for the transgression of them, on evidence merely circumstantial. We have the happiness to be governed by a code of law's more pure and merciful, probably, than those of any state in the world; still that is no reason why a particular law should not be abrogated, if, after long experience, it be found unjustly to deprive a single subject of his life. However clear and strong the circumstantial evidence may be, by which an unbiassed and upright jury may convict a person of murder; yet with what pain and anguish would a feeling and conscientions Judge and jury be affected, if, after a life thus sacrificed, time should bring to light other evidence, by which the innocence of the poor sufferer is clearly substantiated! How much better, then, would it be for the person so convicted not to suffer death, but to be transported for life. If, in future, any thing should arise to attest his innocence, he might again be re 485 stored to honour, to his friends, and to liberty. To conviction on circumstantial evidence I ever had an utter abhorrence; and this abhorrence was increased by the following circumstance, which oc curred to me some years ago.-Having been invited to dine with a friend in the country, I arrived at his house at an early hour. In order to amuse me before dinner, he produced a number of antient coins. As I was unable at the time to make out one of them, Distressed at this man's obstinate perseverance in falsehood, I immediately left him in disgust, and returned to my house; when lo! my cook brought to me the very identical coin which I had lost! Now, Mr. Urban, what evidence can be adduced more remarkable, or more circumstantial than this? I will leave it to a more skilful arithmetician than myself to calculate the odds against the like coincidence, viz. that a rare coin should be found nearly at the very same place, and at the very samie time, in which a similar coin was lost! The 486 Poetry of Ralph, and Miss Blamire. The above circumstance has taught me a very useful lesson;-it has taught me never to préjudge a man without indisputable evidence; and, instead of condemning an accused person by appearances, by surmises, by vague report, or by evidence merely circumstantial, I have acquired, I trust, a portion of that charity which "thinketh no evil, which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." Yours, &c. P. W. Mr. URBAN, Kellington, Dec. 12. Tant human, fe is circumstance HAT human life is short, fleeting, around us sufficiently evinces. How apt we in general are to neglect this admonition, and how prone we all are to flatter ourselves that it possibly may be our lot to extend life to its most protracted limits, every day's experi ence confirms. The following elegant lines by Sir Thomas More"Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem, Rides, cum non sit forsitan una dies"were as elegantly and feelingly paraphrased by a lady, at p. 360 of your Magazine for last October. Permit me to offer to your readers another translation of these impressive lines from the pen of a Cuniberland poet (Ralph), whom I have before noticed in your pages; and whose poems, perhaps, from the provincial dialect in which they are for the most part writ ten, are, it is presumed, less generally known than their merits seem to de serve. "Wretch man would cry, If sure to die Before a month is past; Yet laughs away This poor short day, Which is perhaps his last." When we are upon the subject, Mr. Urban, of Cumberland Poets, you may perhaps recollect that you did me the honour to insert in your pages some time ago a copy of verses, entitled "To-morrow," which I believed at that time, and still have strong reasons to believe, proceeded from the pen of a Miss S. Blamire, of ThuckwoodHook near Carlisle, and accordingly communicated them to you as such. M. H. the authoress of" Affection's Gift," however, claimed them as the production of a Miss Parker, upon the authority of Dr. Styles, who, in his [Dec. "Early Blossoms," has published them as the effusions of that lady's Muse. In consequence of this charge, I made every inquiry in my power to ascertain their real author. I communicated the result of my researches to you, and which seemed fully to satisfy the inquiries of M. H. as far at least as I was concerned, and who also at the same time, with her acknowledgments for my candour in communicating the sources from which I derived them, added a hope that Dr. Styles would act with the same frankness and liberality. Whether, however, the Doctor has never seen this appeal (which I can scarcely suppose), whether he is so much rupt up in evangelical rhapsodies, or whether he is so much dazzled with the glare of Royal splendours, as to be utterly incapacitated from giving any attention whatever to the certainly just request of an amisble lady, I am unable to say; or whether he is so much engaged in the contemplation of his own academical honours, as altogether to disregard the giving satisfaction to one who can claim no higher distinction than that of a regular member, late Fellow, and, for nearly twenty years, a resident, in what he flatters himself may justly be esteemed the first College (Trinity) of the first University of Europe. No disparagement is here meant to the late publications of Dr. Styles. The elegant language in which they are written, and the sacred principles of morality and true religion which they inculcate, are certainly well calculated to implant in the youthful mind the desire of attaining whatever is praiseworthy, and whatever is conducive to dignify their nature, and to make them useful members of society. I subjoin another copy of verses from the plaintive Muse of Miss Blamire, and to the legitimacy of which, it is presumed, there can be no objection whatever. Written on a gloomy Day in Sickness at But to the pensive, thoughtful miud, Those kindred glooms are truly dear, When in dark shades such wood-notes wind, As woo and win Reflection's ear. The birds that warble over head, The 1823.] Act.-Lawrence Dalton. New Marriage That self-amus'd would carrol loud, And all her paths with garlands strew'd? Or she who droops and fades like me! Save what some dying plant bestows, And mark how strong the likeness grows. With balmy dew from yonder leaf. THE NEW MARRIAGE ACT. HE New Marriage Act, which came into operation on the 1st of November last, has, we trust, at length established the subject upon a solid and permanent foundation: and it is hoped that an Institution, which it has ever been the best policy of States to leave unshackled, so far as is consistent with its sacred character, will not again be embarrassed by the innovations of inexperienced or interested Legislators. The present Act, for which, it is understood, we are indebted to one of the most eminent legal characters in the Upper House, has for its basis the 26 G. II. c. 33, commonly called Lord Hardwicke's Act, with some judicious modifications, calculated chiefly to afford facilities to contracting parties, and at the same time to defeat the mercenary views of designing fortune-hunters. In furtherance of these ends, it is provided, That the Bishop of the Diocese may authorise the publication of Banns, and solemnization of Marriages, in any public Chapel. That the Minister shall have written notice seven days previous to the publication of Banns; and that they shall be published from a proper register book, instead of from loose papers. That if the Marriage be not solemnized within three months after the pub 487 lication of Banns, or the date of the Licence, a republication shall take place, or a fresh Licence be obtained. That a residence of fifteen days only, of one of the parties prior to obtaining the Licence, shall be suf ficient; and if either party be a Minor, an oath, that the proper consent has been obtained, shall be alone required. That the bond shall be dispensed with -which having been subject to a heavy stamp duty, materially reduces the expence of a Licence, and thus renders it accessible to many, who were before deterred by that consideration. That in any fraudulent Marriage contracted with a Minor without consent, the Marriage shall remain good, but the guilty party shall forfeit all property which would have accrued from the Marriage, and which shall be secured for the benefit of the innocent party and the children. Such are some of the judicious regulations of the present Act, which, as connected with a subject involving the morals, and consequently the happiness of society, cannot be too generally known, and will, it is presumed, prove acceptable to your circle of readers. N. D. Mr. URBAN, Bath, Dec. 9. your labours, I find an enquiry. that I am fortunately able to answer (VOL. LXXV. i. p. 520). Lawrence Dalton, esq. Norroy King of Arms, was of the ancient Lancashire family of that name; and bore, Azure, crusuly of crosslets, a lion rampant guardant Argent; being the second son of Roger Dalton, of Bispham, esq. as may be seen in the last Visitations of that county. The family afterwards removed to Thurnham Hall, where the head still resides. Norroy was an able and industrious Herald, leaving numerous Visitations, &c. now in the College of Arms, British Museum, and private collections. I have seen a small dark portrait on wood of him somewhere in the North of England, probably by some of Holbein's copyists. By Dorothy, his wife, he had several sons; one of them, Walter, settled in Oxfordshire. His posterity were living in respectability near Witney about sixty years ago. Their landed property was lost by their loyalty to their Sovereign during the civil wars, wherein they likewise suffered personally. Yours, &c. SEXAGENARIUS. Mr. |