press to "Stothard's Monumental Effigies," whose intimate knowledge in these matters enables him to well authenticate dates; and he considers this relic may safely be attributed to the early part of the twelfth century; it was discovered in the Temple Church, and had originally formed a portion of a pyx, or small shrine, in which the consecrated host was kept. Our engraving is more than half the size of the original, which represents the soldiers watching the body of our Lord, who was, in mystical form, supposed to be enshrined in the pyx. They wear scull-caps of the Phrygian form, with the nasal like those in the Bayeux Tapestry; andthe mailles or rings of the hauberk appear, as in the armour there, sewn down, perhaps, on a sort of gambeson, but not interlaced. They bear kiteshaped shields, raised to an obtuse angle in the centre, and having large projecting bosses: the third of these figures is represented beside the cut in profile, which will enable the reader more clearly to detect its peculiarities. On two of these shields are some approaches to armorial bear 1238 2 ings; the first is marked with four narrow bendlets; the second is fretted, the frets being repeated in front of his helmet, or chapelle de fer: all the helmets have the nasal. A long tunic, bordered, and in one instance ornamented with cross-lines, or chequered, appears beneath the tunic. The sword is very broad, and the spear, carried by the first figure, obtuse in the head,-a mark of its antiquity. The shoes are admirable illustrations of that passage of Geoffry of Malmesbury, where, representing the luxury of costume in which the English indulged at the time when Henry I. began his reign, he says: "Then was there flowing hair, and extravagant dress; and then was invented the fashion of shoes with curved points: then the model for young men was to rival women in delicacy of person, to mimic their gait, to walk with loose gesture, half-naked." The curvature of the points of the shoes in the little relic before us, in conformity with the custom censured by Malmesbury, is quite remarkable. One turns up, another down; one to the left, another to the right; and scarcely any two in the same direction. THE QUEEN'S SHARKS. The harbour of Trincomalee swarms with gigantic sharks, and strange to relate, they are all under British protection; and if any one is found molesting or injuring them, the fine is £10, or an im prisonment! How this ridiculous custom originated, it is hard to say; but we are told, that in the early days of British conquest in the East, sailors were apt to desert, and seek refuge in the then inaccessible wilds of the interior; and of later years, when civilisation has unbarred the gates of Cingalese commerce to all nations of the world, the soldiers of the regiment stationed at Trincomalee, discontented with their lot in life, were wont to escape from the thraldom of the service, by swimming off to American and other foreign vessels, preferring chance, under a strange flag, to a hard certainty under their own. Thus the Queen's sharks are duly protected as a sort of waterpolice for the prevention of desertion both from the army and navy. OLD VERSES ON QUEEN ELIZABETH. The following quaint and curious verses are taken from a very old volume, entitled A Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses, Gathered out of England's Royall Garden, &c., &c. By Richard Johnson. A SHORT AND SWEET SONNET MADE BY ONE OF THE MAIDES OF HONOR UPON THE DEATHE OF QUEENE ELIZABETH, WHICH SHE SOWED UPON A SAMPLER IN RED SILKE. To a new tune, or "Phillida flouts me." Gone is Elizabeth, Whom we have lov'd so deare; She our kind mistres was England she govern'd well, France she befrended, Papists rejected, RANELAGH. Ranelagh, of which no traces now remain, was situated on part of Chelsea Hospital garden, between Church Row and the river, to the east of the Hospital. It takes its name from a house erected in 1691, by Viscount Ranelagh. This house, in which the Viscount had resided from the period of its being built, was sold in 1733 to an eminent builder named Timbrell for £3,200, who advertised it for sale in the following year, as a freehold with garden, kitchen garden, and offices, and a smaller house and garden with fruit trees, coach-houses, &c., &c. These were the first vicissitudes of Ranelagh, preparatory to its conversion into a place of public amusement. Walpole, in one of his entertaining letters to Mann, April 22nd, 1742, thus speaks of the gardens, which were then unfinished: "I have been breakfasting this morning at Ranelagh Garden; they have built an immense ampitheatre, with balconies full of little alehouses; it is in rivalry to Vauxhall, and cost above twelve thousand pounds. The building is not finished, but they got great sums by people going to see it and breakfasting in the house: there were yesterday no less than three hundred and eighty persons, at eighteen-pence a piece." Again, under the date May 26th, 1742, he writes to his friend as follows: "Two nights ago, Ranelagh Gardens were opened at Chelsea; the prince, princess, duke, much nobility, and much mob besides were there. There is a vast ampitheatre, finely gilt, painted, and illuminated; into which everybody that loves eating, drinking, staring, or crowding, is admitted for twelve pence. The building and disposition of the gardens cost sixteen thousand pounds. Twice a week there are to be ridottos at guinea tickets, for which you are to have a supper and music. I was there last night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a little better, for the garden is pleasanter, and one goes by water." "The only defect in the elegance and beauty of the ampitheatre at Ranelagh," says the London Chronicle for August, 1763, is an improper and inconvenient orchestra, which, breaking into the area of that superb room about twenty feet farther than it ought to do, destroys the symmetry of the whole, and diffuses the sound of music with such irregular rapidity, that the harmonious articulations escape the nicest ear when placed in the most commodious attitude; it also hurts the eye upon your first entry. "To remedy these defects, a plan has been drawn by Messrs. Wale and Gwin, for adding a new orchestra, which being furnished with a well-proportioned curvature over it, will contract into narrower bounds the modulations of the voice, and render every note more distinctly audible. It will, by its form, operate upon the musical sounds, in the same manner as concave glasses affect the rays of light, by_collecting them into a focus. The front of this orchestra being planned so as to range parallel to the balustrade, the whole area also will be disencumbered of every obstruction that might incommode the audience in their circular walk. There is likewise provision made in this plan for a stage capable of containing 30 or 40 performers, to offieiate as chorus-singers, or otherwise assist in giving additional solemnity on any extraordinary occasion." "At Ranelagh House, on the 12th of May, 1767," says the Gentleman's Magazine, "were performed (in the new orchestra) the much admired catches and glees, selected from the curious collection of the Catch Club; being the first of the kind publickly exhibited in this or any other kingdom. The entertainments consisted of the favourite catches and glees, composed by the most eminent masters of the last and present age, by a considerable number of the best vocal and instrumental performers. The choral and instrumental parts were added, to give the the catches and glees their proper effect in so large an amphitheatre; being composed for that purpose by Dr. Arne." diameter, with an The chief amuse The Rotunda, or amphitheatre, was 185 feet in orchestra in the centre, and tiers of boxes all round. ment was promenading (as it was called) round and round the circular area below, and taking refreshments in the boxes while the orchestra and Vocalists executed different pieces of music. It was a kind of 'Vauxhall under cover,' warmed with coal fires. The rotunda is said to have been projected by Lacy, the patentee of Drury Lane Theatre. "The coup d'œil," Dr. Johnson declared, "was the finest thing he had ever seen.' The last great event in the history of Ranelagh was the installation ball of the knights of the Bath, in 1802, shortly after which the place was pulled down. The tradition is, that the East India Company, incorporated December 31st, 1600, first transacted their business in the great room of the Nag's Head Inn, opposite St. Botolph's Church, Bishopsgate Street. The maps of London, soon after the Great Fire of 1666, place the India House on a part of its present site in Leadenhall Street. Here originally stood the mansion of Alderman Kerton, built in the reign of Edward VI., rebuilt on the accession of Elizabeth, and enlarged by its next purchaser, Sir W. Craven, Lord Mayor in 1610. Here was born the great Lord Craven, who, in 1701, leased his house and a tenement in Lime Street to the Company at £100 a year. A scarce Dutch etching, in the British Museum, of which the annexed engraving is a correct copy, shows this house to have been half timbered, its lofty gable surmounted with two dolphins and a figure of a mariner, or, as some say, of the first governor ; beneath are merchant ships at sea, the royal arms, and those of the Company. This grotesque structure was taken down in 1726, and upon its site was erected the old East India House, portions of which yet remain; although the present stone front, 200 feet long, and a great part of the house, were built in 1798 and 1799, and subsequently enlarged by Cockerell, R.A., and Wilkins, R.A. ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE LAST CENTURY. The following strange advertisements have been culled at random from magazines and newspapers circa 1750. They give us a good idea of the manners and tastes of that period : "Whereas a tall young Gentleman above the common size, dress'd in a yellow grounded flowered velvet (supposed to be a Foreigner), with a Solitair round his neck and a glass in his hand, was narrowly observed and much approved of by a certain young lady at the last Ridotto. This is to acquaint the said young Gentleman, if his heart is entirely disengaged, that if he will apply to A. B. at Garraway's Coffee House in Exchange Alley; he may be directed to have an interview with the said young lady, which may prove greatly to his advantage. Strict secresy on the Gentleman's side will be depended on." "A Lady who had on a Pink coloured Capuchin, edged with Ermine, a black Patch near her right eye, sat in a front seat in the next Side Box but one to the Stage on Wednesday night at Drury Lane Playhouse; if that Lady is single and willing to treat on terms of honour and generosity of a married state, it would be deemed a favour to receive a line directed to C. D., at Clifford's Inn Old Coffee House, how she may be address'd, being a serious affair." "To be seen this week, in a large commodious room at the George Inn, in Fenchurch-street, near Aldgate, the Porcupine Man and his Son, which has given such great satisfaction to all that ever saw them: their solid quills being not to be numbered nor credited till seen; but give universal satisfaction to all that ever see them; the youth being allowed by all to be of a beautiful and fine complexion, and great numbers resort daily to see them." "A Bullfinch, that pipes, Britons rouse up your great magnanimity,' at command, also talks, is to be sold at the Cane Shop facing New Broad Street, Moorfields; likewise to be sold, two Starlings that whistle and talk extremely plain. "Great variety of fine long Walking Canes." THEODORA DE VERDION. This singular woman was born in 1744, at Leipsic, in Germany, and died at her lodgings, in Upper Charles-street, Hatton Garden, London, 1802. She was the only daughter of an architect, of the name of Grahn, who erected several edifices in the city of Berlin, particularly the Church |