it holds, in the state in which it was discovered. The intaglio represents an urn, ornamented with a small figure of Victory in a biga, trampling upon a warrior who has fallen upon one knee. Above the handles of the urn are two figures of Atlas, bearing globes on their shoulders.

Seth William Stevenson, esq. of Norwich, F.S.A. exhibited an ivory casket of considerable size, ornamented with basreliefs, probably not of later date than the fourteenth century, and believed to be of continental workmanship. It is one of those ivory caskets adorned with carvings, which, though varying in form, size, and in artistic design, have yet various features of remarkable similarity that strongly mark them as emanating from a common origin, inasmuch as they graphically exhibit representations of subjects bearing reference to certain popular legends and favourite romances of the middle ages. An ivory chest formerly belonging to the Rev. Mr. Bowles, of Idminston in Wiltshire, and afterwards to Gustavus Brander, esq. very similar in size and general description to the present casket, was engraved by Carter in his "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting." The agreement, however, of this with Mr. Stevenson's casket is general only as to subjects; several points of difference are so material as fully to shew that they are two distinct pieces of workmanship, and that one is not a copy of the other. Mr. Stevenson's letter was accompanied by a descriptive account of the basso-relievos on the front, back, ends, and lid of his casket, the reading of which was deferred to a future evening.

A letter from Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas was read, supplementary to the Memoir communicated by him last year, on the Origin and History of the Badge of Edward, Prince of Wales. Sir Harris Nicolas then stated that there was no contemporary authority for the popular idea that the Ostrich Feathers were derived from the crest of the King of Bohemia, who was slain at Crecy, and that it could not be traced to any earlier writer than Camden. He has since found, at the end of the anonymous historian of the reign of King Edward the Third, printed by Hearne, a remarkable passage quoted from the medical treatise of the celebrated physician John de Ardern; of which there are several copies in the British Museum, but only two containing the passage in question. In his chapter on Hemorrhoids, Ardern says, that he has depicted on a previous folio a nastere (a species of clysterpipe), and a feather of the Prince of Wales, adding-" Et nota quod talem pennam albam portabat Edwardus primogenitus

filius Edwardi Regis Angliæ super crestam suam, et illam pennam conquisivit de Rege Boemiæ quem interfecit apud Cresse in Francia; et sic assumpsit sibi illam pennam quæ dicitur Ostrich Fether quam prius dictus Rex nobilissimus portabat super crestam. Et eodem anno quo dictus strenuus et bellicosus Princeps migravit ad dominum, scripsi libellum istum manu propria, videlicet anno Domini 1376, et dictus Edwardus Princeps obiit vi idus Junii, videlicet die Sanctæ Trinitatis apud Westmonasterium in magno Parliamento, quem Deus absolvat, quia fuit flos milicia mundi sine pare." In the margin of these manuscripts representations are given of the prince's feather, labelled. We have therefore a contemporary statement in point: but Sir Harris Nicolas confesses that, although Ardern's opinion is entitled to great weight, he does not feel quite convinced of its accuracy; and he still expects that proof will some day be found, that the ostrich feather and the mottoes Ich dien and Houmout were derived from the prince's maternal House of Hainault.

Sir Henry Ellis laid before the Society, as a reading only, a letter which he had received last year from the Rev. Dr. Oliver, of St. Nicholas's Priory at Exeter. It contained the substance of a very curious roll of the year 1326, preserved among the archives of Exeter Cathedral: the inventory of the personal goods and chattels of Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter; who, upon the sudden return of Isabel, Queen of Edward the Second, to England, was beheaded with two of his servants at the Standard in Cheap, on the 15th of October that year, by the citizens, or rather by the mob, of London, "because," says Stow, as the saying was, he had gathered a great army to withstand the Queen." The property was divided into the following heads: I. Church Ornaments; II. Books; III. Chamber; IV. Wardrobe; V. Hall; VI. Cellar; VII. Bakehouse; VIII. Kitchen; IX. Larder; X. Plate (vasa argentea): followed by the enumeration and value of the live and dead stock on the estates belonging to the see of Exeter, in the several counties in which the Bishop had property.

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A considerable quantity of medals, pottery, pins, &c. have been discovered at Droitwich by the workmen employed on the line of the Oxford and Wolverhampton Railway, and also the foundation of a villa of very considerable dimensions, containing in one of the rooms a pavement in excellent preservation.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

June 3. The Marquess of Lansdowne moved the second reading of the POOR RELIEF SUPERVISION (IRELAND) Bill. The Earl of Ellenborough objected that the Bill would have the practical effect of making the Chief Secretary and the Under Secretary in Ireland the real administrators of the Poor-law; and that the relief of the poor would thus be mixed up with party prejudice and party patronage. -The Marquess of Lansdowne said the Bill was founded on the necessity of entrusting the administration of the law to persons who were directly responsible to Parliament. It was read a second time without a division.

June 10. The Marquess of Lansdowne moved the second reading of a Bill for establishing a new BISHOPRICK AT MANCHESTER. The means existed of supporting this new episcopal dignity out of funds consecrated to the episcopal maintenance. It was considered inexpedient however to add to the number of prelates in that House, and this Bill would enact that, saving the rights of the two archbishops, and the sees of London, Durham, and Winchester, the other bishops would take their seats in that House by seniority. After several objections had been discussed, the Bill was read a second time without a division.

June 15. Lord Stanley moved the following resolution on the Intervention in PORTUGAL:-"That the papers presented to both Houses of Parliament, by Her Majesty's command, afford, in the opinion of this House, no justification for the recent interference of this country, by force of arms, in the internal affairs of Portugal."-The Marquess of Lansdowne defended the conduct of Government, and was supported by the Duke of Wellington. Their Lordships divided: for the motion 47, against it 66.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

May 31. In Committee on the DESTITUTE POOR (IRELAND) Bill, for grant ing temporary relief, the Chanelclor of the Exchequer moved that a further sum of 600,000. should be granted for the relief of destitution in Ireland. He stated that the relief works had been almost entirely abandoned, and that for VOL. XXVIII.

the last week for which they had any return, namely, the week ending May 29, the expenditure in all works, including drainage, had been only 53,0007., and a considerable reduction had been made since then. The relief system by rations was a great improvement on the system of relief works; it was more economical, and it was more directly felt by the ratepayers, as it was required that on every advance a rate should be struck. The 300,000l. voted in March had all been placed to the credit of the Relief Committees, and there were applications to the Treasury for about 600,000l. more. The number of persons receiving rations daily in the last week was 2,253,000; and the best estimate which he could form was that 2,600,000l. would be the cost up to the harvest, one-half to be raised by loan and the remainder by rate. The vote was agreed to.

June 2. The JUVENILE OFFENDERS Bill, introduced by Sir J. Pakington, for giving magistrates greater powers for the summary conviction of youths charged before them with offences, was considered in committee.-Mr. Escolt opposed the clause giving the magistrates power to sentence juvenile offenders to whipping.— The committee divided-For the clause, 55; against it 7.-Mr. Bodkin objected to the clause giving magistrates a power to substitute a fine for flogging, and the committee again divided-For the clause, 30; against it, 27. The other clauses were then agreed to.

June 3. Sir G. Grey moved that the House should go into committee on the PRISONS Bill, and explained the general object of that measure, as well as the Custody of Offenders Bill, with which it was connected. The Prisons Bill proposed to constitute a new board of management for the three Government or national prisons of Milbank, Parkhurst, and Pentonville. The members of the board would consist of men of large experience, whose attention had been directed to the subject of prison discipline, aided by a paid Commissioner, who would be required to give his whole time to the duties of the commission, to be in constant communication with the Secretary of State, and, in fact, to discharge all the functions which are at present exercised by the governor of MilL

bank prison and the inspectors of prisons. It was also intended that the hulks and other places for the confinement of convicts should be placed under the control of the same board. The second bill, which was entitled "A Bill to Amend the Law as to the Custody of Offenders," proposed to place the Irish convicts on the same footing as the English and Scotch, with reference to transportation; and that offenders under sentence of transportation in Great Britain or Ireland may be removed from the county prisons in which they are severally confined to any other prison or penitentiary, by order of the Crown. Transportation having failed altogether as a secondary punishment, and having given birth to a system of atrocious criminality amongst the convict communities who were assembled together in distant colonies, the Government propose that the first or strictly penal part of imprisonment shall be passed in the prisons of this country, and that at the expiration of a limited period of separate confinement, the convicts shall be employed in this country, at Bermuda, or at Gibraltar, on public works; and if, after this period, the sentence of transportation remain still, that they shall be removed to the Australian colonies, and there placed in the same position as the prisoners now emerging from the second class of punishmentwith this exception, that, instead of having undergone a process which has been demoralizing to an appalling extent, they shall have reaped benefit from a system conducing largely to moral and mental improvement.

June 9. The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved a series of resolutions agreed to by a select committee, with respect to the RAILWAY Bills now before the House. The committee had determined against compulsory suspension and selection, but they recommended that a power should be given to companies of suspending their own proceedings, and carrying forward the progress they had made in committee to a future Session, the deposits being in the meantime returned to the depositors. It was also intended to introduce a provision in all present and future Bills, prohibiting the payment of any interest or dividend out of capital.

Sir H. Halford moved a renewal of the debate (adjourned from the 5th May) on the second reading of the HOSIERY MANUFACTURE Bill.-Mr. M. Gibson met it

with direct opposition. The Bill contained provisions for preventing the intervention of middlemen between the stockinger and the master manufacturer, and for prohibiting persons from hiring out stock

ing-frames. He therefore opposed it, as a measure interfering mischievously with the rights of property, and fraught with injury to the workmen, whom it proposed to benefit. On a division the Bill was lost, the second reading being negatived by 77 to 57.

June 10. The adjourned debate on the PRISONS Bill, relating to the abolition of Transportation, was resumed, when, after some debate, a division took place,-for the committal of the Bill-Ayes, 124; Noes, 76 Majority in favour of the Bill, 48.

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June 11. Mr. Hume moved a resolution, "That in the judgment of this House the armed interference of this Government between political parties in PORTUGAL is unwarrantable in principle, and likely to lead to serious and mischievous consequences." -Lord John Russell said that the censures passed on the Government were founded on the supposition that they had been engaged in establishing in Portugal an absolute Government, and in maintaining there a despotic power; but the supposition was an error. The capture of Das Antas and his troops which had taken place would lead to the acceptance by the Junta of the proposed terms, and thus the peace and liberties of Portugal would be restored.— The debate was resumed on the two following days, when it terminated by the House being counted out.

June 16. Mr. S. Crawford moved the second reading of a Bill for giving CoмPENSATION TO TENANTS in Ireland for improvements, and to establish fixity of tenure in certain cases. He recommended the measure as a means of promoting the application of capital to agricultural improvement in Ireland.-Mr. Monahan, Solicitor-General for Ireland, moved that the Bill should be read a second time on that day six months. The Government, he said, were preparing a general measure on the subject, and the machinery of the present Bill would be found inefficacious. -After a short debate the House divided, and the numbers were-For the second reading, 25; against it, 112: majority against the Bill, 87.

June 18. On the order of the day for going into committee on the HEALTH OF Towns Bill, Colonel Sibthorp moved that the Bill be read that day three months. -Lord J. Russell should have been glad had the metropolis been included in the Bill; but, yielding to expediency, he excluded the metropolis, with the hope that in a short time it would be also subject to a similar measure.-The House dividedFor the amendment, 50; for going into committee, 191.-The Bill was then committed pro forma.

SPAIN.

The Madrid Gazette publishes a royal decree, authorising Don Manuel Godoy, Prince of Peace, to return to Spain. Another decree partly establishes the decimal system of coinage. M. Pacheco and Count de Thomar regulated, on the 1st June, the conditions of the intervention in Portugal, so far as Spain was concerned, Spain to place 14,000 men at the disposal of Queen Donna Maria, and to pay those troops as if they were in her service; and Portugal undertook to complete the extraordinary allowance. The Carlists are still in considerable force in Catalonia.

PORTUGAL.

On the 31st May the British squadron off Oporto captured the three armed steamers, and some other transports, under the orders of the Junta, on their coming out from the Douro, and having on board 2,500 troops, destined for St. Ubes. The vessels seized by the allied squadron were the following:-steamers, Royal Tar, Mindello, Porto, corvette Eighth of July; merchant vessels, Flor da Amizade and Amor da Patria, and six hiates, in all 12 vessels, the military commander of the expedition being the Conde das Antas, and the naval commander an Englishman, named Salter, who deserted at the commencement of this insurrection from the naval service of the Queen of Portugal. The order to surrender was obeyed without resistance. The Junta were fully informed that such an expedition would be intercepted; and there can be little doubt, therefore, that the chiefs of the Junta, who wished to accept the terms offered to them, but who were prevented from doing so by the violence of their followers, sent this expedition out to sea on purpose that it should be taken, and in order that they might thus have a fair excuse for submitting, as they seem afterwards to have done. Thus, within a fortnight after the decision of the 21st of May was taken, the civil war has been quietly put an end to, and the waste of life and property which it was occasioning has been arrested. The prisoners were landed and secured in Fort St. Julien. The Lisbon government made a very strong effort to retain the command of that fort, but after a lengthened discussion, during which Admiral Parker declared that if the point was not conceded, he would send the whole of the prisoners, steamers and all, back to Oporto, the demand made by him, of complete command in the fort, was granted, and a Major's guard of 200 marines occupied the place.

TAHEITE.

The Moniteur has published despatches from Rear-Admiral Bruat, dated Papeete, in the island of Moorea, on the 7th Feb. 1847, announcing the complete submission of Queen Pomare, and of the entire population of the Society Islands, to the French Protectorate. The Governor went to meet the Queen at Moorea, and at the interview which he had with her in the Protestant temple, he told Pomare that if she had joined him from the beginning many misfortunes would have been avoided, and recommended her not to listen in future to those foreign influences which had been so fatal to her. The Queen replied, that she was determined to join him in future in all things for the good of the government; and that she was, moreover, resolved not to pay attention to mendacious words. The Governor afterwards re-established her, in the name of King Louis Philippe, in her rights and authority, which she was from that day to exercise in all parts of the kingdom, as the Queen recognised by the Government of the Protectorate.

MEXICO.

The Mexican army, under Santa Anna, has been defeated at Cerro Gordo. The engagement opened on the 17th of April with a slight skirmish. On the 18th a combined attack was made upon Santa Anna's position: and shortly after noon on that day Santa Anna himself gave the signal and example of flight, accompanied by General Almonte and Canalizo, and a few thousand men, towards Jalapa. The Mexican loss in the engagement is estimated at 300, subsequently swelled in the pursuit of the fugitives towards Jalapa, and that of the Americans in killed and wounded at 250. Five general officers were captured, and the whole Mexican army was completely disorganised. Santa Anna's carriages, papers, plate, and baggage, fell into the hands of the Americans; Jalapa and Perote surrendered without resistance, and at the capital the defeat of the General had created the greatest alarm. Puebla was threatened. Santa Anna, with from 1000 to 2000 troops, was at Orazaba, and, it is said, had written to the capital for money and reinforcements. His applications are said to have been unattended to. He contemplated the institution of a guerilla warfare upon the enemy. The capture of Tuspan was effected on the 18th of April, without much loss. The Americans were beginning to feel th effects of the climate severely.

CHINA.

In consequence of the repeated aggressions of the Chinese upon British subjects in the neighbourhood of Canton, and the unsatisfactory replies of the Imperial High Commissioner to the demands for redress made by her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Sir John Davis, his Excellency on the 1st April instructed Major-Gen. d'Aguilar, C.B. commanding her Majesty's troops in the island of Hong Kong, to proceed to Canton and demand reparation on the spot. Capt. McDougall, of her Majesty's steam-frigate Vulture, was the senior naval officer in the Chinese waters; and these officers, accompanied by H.M. 18th Regt. and the 42d Madras Nat. Inf., immediately proceeded up the river to execute their purpose. The forts at the Bocca Tigris were surprised early on the morning of the 2d April, the guns spiked and ammunition destroyed, and the garrisons permitted to retire without molestation. The next day four strong

forts near Wampoa were served in like manner; and on the 5th the six forts of the city of Canton. In all 847 iron ordnance and 32 brass ordnance were destroyed. The Chinese submitted just in time to arrest the destruction of Canton. The whole of these important operations have been conducted without the loss of a man. The General acknowledges in his despatch the assistance of Lieut.-Col. Brereton, C.B. (the second in command), Lieut.-Col. Phillpotts, the commanding Royal Engineer, Major Aldrich (Aide-decamp to the General), Capt. J. Bruce, 18th Regt. as Adjutant and Field engineer, Capt. Clark Kennedy, as Quartermaster, Lieut.-Col. Cowper, C.B. 18th Regt., Major Fitzgerald, 42nd Madras N. Inf., Capt. Durnford, R. Eng., Lieut. Edm. Sargent, Aide-de-camp to Sir John Davis, Captains Graves and Campbell of the 18th Regt., and Captains Stuart and McLeod of the 42d Madras N. Inf.

Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to command that a medal should be struck to record the services of her fleets and armies during the wars commencing in 1793 and ending in 1815, and that one shall be conferred on every officer, noncommissioned officer, petty officer, soldier, seaman, and marine, who was present in any action, naval or military, to commemorate which medals have been struck by command of Her Majesty's royal predecessors, and distributed to superior officers, according to the rules of the service at that time in force. The following is the list of actions for which gold medals are issued to flag officers and captains :Lord Howe's action of the 1st June, 1794.

Lord St. Vincent's action, off Cape St. Vincent, 14th February, 1797.-(The Admirals of the Fleet gold medals.)

Lord Duncan's battle off Camperdown, 11th Oct. 1797.-(Adm. Sir W. Hotham.) Lord Nelson's battle of the Nile, 1st August, 1798.

Captain (now Admiral) Sir Edward Hamilton, H.M. ship Surprise, re-capture of the Hermione, 25th Oct. 1799.

Lord Nelson's battle of Trafalgar, 21st Oct. 1805.-(Adm. Sir E. Codrington and Vice-Adm. Sir C. Buller.)

Sir Richard Strachan's action, 4th Nov. 1805.

Sir John Duckworth's action off St. Domingo, 6th Feb. 1806.-(Admiral Sir R. Stopford and Vice- Admirals Sir F. W. Austen and Sir S. Pym.)

Capt. Brisbane, H. M. ship Arethusa, with H. M. ships Anson, Fisgard, and Latona, capture of the Island of Curaços, 1st Jan. 1807.

Capt. Michael Seymour, H. M. ship Amethyst, capture of the Thetis, 10th Nov. 1808.

Capt. Stewart, H. M. ship Seahorse, capture of Badere Zaffer, 6th July, 1808.

Capt. William Hoste, H. M. ship Amphion, with H. M. ships Cerberus, Active, and Volage, action off Lissa, 13th March, 1811.-(Rear-Admirals Sir J. A. Gordon and Phipps Hornby.)

Capt. Christopher Cole, H. M. ship Caroline, capture of Banda Neira, 9th Aug. 1810.

Capt. (now Adm. the Hon. Sir John) Talbot, H. M. ship Victorious, capture of Rivoli, 22d Feb. 1812.

Capt. Broke, H. M. ship Shannon, capture of Chesapeake, 1st June, 1813. Capt. E. Palmer, H. M. ship Hebrus, capture of L'Etoile, 27th March, 1814.

Capt. (now Rear-Adm.) H. Hope, H. M. ship Endymion, action with President, 15th Jan. 1815.)