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LITTLECOATES, WILTS.

We have again the pleasure of presenting to our readers a cut from one of the beautiful prints in Mr. Nash's Mansions of England in the Olden Time, representing one of those rich interiors which form such striking features in that work

The Hall represented in our frontispiece forms part of the mansion of Littlecot, or Littlecoates, the residence of General Popham; and is situated partly in the parish of Chilton-Foliot, and partly in that of Ramsbury, Wiltshire. The house was erected in the early part of the sixteenth century, by the family of the Darrels; and was some years afterwards, sold to Sir John Popham, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James the First. The family of the Pophams was very ancient, and of great note. They were first raised to the rank of nobility by the Empress Matilda and her son Henry the Second. One of them was styled, on account of the offices he filled, "Chauncelar of Normandy, Capitaine of Vernoile, of Perche, of Susan, and Bayon, Tresoror of the King's Household," His body was buried in the Charter-House Church, London; and his effigy was fixed over the door of St. Sepulchre's Church, he having contributed large sums towards its erection. He is said by Leland to have left "a very great treasure in strange coynes." Sir John Popham, the chief Justice to whose hands Littlecoates passed, was among the most eminent branches of the family, having adorned his high station equally by his ability and his integrity. The descendants of this gentleman, in the male line, inherited the mansion till the beginning of the present century, when it passed by will to General Edward Leybourne, who thereupon assumed the name of Popham. In the family of this gentleman we believe the estate still remains.

The mansion of Littlecoates was built, as has been remarked, "about the time of the termination of feudal warfare, when defence came no longer to be an object in a country mansion." The park in which it is situated comprises an area of about four acres in extent, and is adorned with groups of beautiful trees. On one side of it rises a lofty hill, crowned with wood, and forming a fine contrast with the luxuriant and level meadows spread along the banks of the river Kennet; a branch of which river runs through the garden, and there constitutes a preserve for fish.

Considerable alterations have been made in the exterior of the mansion in modern times; but the interior presents many of the features which it exhibited two or three centuries ago. On the first floor of the building is a noble picture gallery, one hundred and ten feet long, and hung with many curious portraits, painted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; among which is one of Chief Justice Popham, and one of Nell Gwynne, by Verelst. There is also preserved here a curious piece of needlework, representing a large Roman tessalated pavement, which was discovered in the adjoining park by Mr. George, steward to the estate, in 1728. The Society of Antiquaries caused plate of it to be engraved by Vertue, and a description to be written by Professor Ward. This pavement measured about forty feet by thirty-three, and seems to have formed the floor of a temple. It consisted of two divisions, the templum and sacrarium, answering to the nave and chancel of our churches. The templum, or outer part, which was nearly square, was ornamented with a compartment of figures inlaid, in the centre of which was a large two handled cup, supported by two sea-monsters with fishes tails, and behind each a dolphin and two conchæ, or shell-fish, probably in allusion to Neptune, Opposite was a border, with a similar cup, supported by two tigers. The floor of the sacrarium was a square, enclosing a circle. Within this circle was a smaller one, in which was a figure of Apollo playing on the harp;

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and in four surrounding compartments, four female figures representing the Seasons, riding at full speed. One was exhibited holding a flower in her hand, and seated on a deer, to represent Spring; the second appeared seated on a panther, and holding a swan, as an emblem of Summer; the third, who rested her arm on a branch of a vine, rode on a bull, and personified Autumn; and the fourth, seated on a goat, without anything in her hand, denoted the barrenness of Winter. Exterior to the circle enclosing these figures were three compartments, each displaying a face of the sun, emitting bright and extended rays in the form of a semicircle; many conjectures have been offered respecting the nature and purport of this remarkable specimen of ancient art; but we need not dwell on them here.

We have said that the piece of tapestry, or needlework, representing this pavement, is preserved in the long gallery on the first story. On the ground floor is an apartment still more attractive as a relic or memorial of old times; we mean the Great Hall, represented in our frontispiece. This hall is very spacious, paved with stone, and lighted by large and very lofty windows. It measures forty-six feet in length, twenty-four in width, and twenty-five in height; and its walls are hung with numerous relics of ancient armour, such as coats of mail, helmets, cross-bows, old-fashioned pistols, carbines, leather jerkins, and other defensive and offensive accoutrements. Here is also a pair of elk's horns, measuring seven feet six inches from tip to tip. The old furniture of the room is preserved nearly in the same state as it was in by-gone days, and Mr. Nash has presented them with his accustomed fidelity. Among these articles of furniture is an old arm-chair, said to have been used by Chief Justice Popham; it is constructed of wood, curiously turned, and has a very lofty back, and a triangular seat. The centre of the hall is occupied by a large oak table, reaching nearly from one extremity to the other. This table probably formed the hospitable board on which in days of yore, the vassals were feasted by their lord. Mr. Nash, however, has represented this table as being the scene of the game of "shovel-board," a favourite pastime among the higher classes in the time of Charles the Second; and it appears not unlikely that the same table might serve both purposes.

As the game here alluded to is now quite osbolete, the reader may not deem a few remarks concerning it superfluous. Shovel-board was an inferior kind of billiards, in which a small object was struck or thrown, so as to pass to a particular part of the table. Strutt remarks, that the residences of the nobility, or the mansions of the opulent were not thought to be complete without a shovel-board table; and this fashionable piece of furniture was usually stationed in the great hall. Dr. Plott, in his History of Staffordshire, says:

It is remarkable that in the hall at Chartley, the shuffleboard table, [it appears to have been spelt both ways,] though ten yards one foot and an inch long, is made up of about two hundred and sixty pieces, which are generally about eighteen inches long, some few only excepted, that are scarce a foot; which, being laid on longer boards for together, that no shuffle-board whatever is freer from rubs support underneath, are so accurately joyned and glewed or castings. There is a joynt also in the shuffle-board at Madely Manor exquisitely well done.

The general width of these tables is about three feet, and the surface is as level and smooth as it can be made. The player stands at one end of the table, and near the other end is a mark which determines the success of the player. This mark or line is drawn across the table at a distance of three or four inches from the end, which end is unprovided with any ledge or stay, and at about four feet distance from this mark or line another is drawn, parallel to it. The toys with which the game is played Each one in turn impels a weight from the near to the are flat metal weights, of which each player has four. remote end of the table; and his object is to use such a

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degree of force as shall lodge the weight in the narrow between the farthest mark and the remote end of the table. If the force is too weak to carry the weight beyond the nearest line, or if it is so powerful as to drive the weight off the table at the other end, it counts for nothing; if the weight rests on the farthest line, or in any part of the space between the two lines, the player counts one; if it rests in the space between the farthest line and the edge of the table, he reckons two; and finally, if it reaches the edge so exactly as to incline a little over without falling, it is deemed the finest kind of play, and counts as three. Each person plays in turn; and when two only are playing, eleven is "game;" but when four play, the number to form game is higher. Such was a favourite indoor amusement two or three centuries ago; and though far inferior to billiards, it required some skill to attain success at it. In one of the Harleian Manuscripts is a passage which introduces us to Prince Henry, son of King James the First, playing at this game:

Once when the prince was playing at shoffle-board, and in his play changed sundry pieces, his tutor being desirous that even in trifles he should not be new-fangled, said to him, that he did ill to change so oft; and therewith took a piece in his hand, and saying that he would play well enough therewith without changeing, threw the piece on the board; yet not soe well, but the prince, smileing thereat, said, Well throwne, sir. Whereupon, Master Newton telling him that he would not strive with a prince at shoffleboard, he answered, You gownsmen should be best at such exercises, being not meete for those that are more stirring. Yes, quoth Master Newton, I am meete for whipping of boyes. And hereupon the prince answered, You need not vaunt of that which a ploughman or cart-driver can doe better than you. Yet can I doe more, said Master Newton, for I can governe foolish children. The prince respecting him, even in jesting, came from the further end of the table, and smiling said, while he passed by him, Hee had need be a wise man himself that could doe that.

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THE most imposing object in the vegetable kingdom is the solemn forest. Single trees on a plain, or a sufficient number to form a grove, are objects of beauty, and consequently of pleasure. The dark, close forest carries the mind back through an indefinite lapse of time, and conveys to it a sentiment of the actual presence of the work of the Creator, as it came from his hand unchanged by any act of man.

With this seeming stamp of originality on it, yet the long-enduring forest which appears ever the same, is silently and hourly submitting to the laws of Nature, ever varying and changing; and though life among its members, like life among the members of the human family, has its limits, and within some definite term not one of all that are seen will remain, yet it is still the same forest to the human eye. From the most deep-rooted and long-enduring of this vast assembly, down to the many perfect vegetables which are invisible to the naked eye, there are general laws of beginning, continuing, and ending the term of life.

Yet, between these extremes there are many genera, or kinds, capable of precise and well-understood classification. Among these classes each has its own order of being; and these are again subdivided, and known by distinctions of form, internal structure, and in foliage, in flowers, in fruits, in juices, and fragrance. Each of seems to have been given for some purpose, or necessary to the animal kingdom.§.tntivi ilona os doidy and to Le is quien brod quoll to mour-eeds

pleasing, rent,

HYPOCHONDRIACISM.

Or the miseries the hypochondriac experiences, the following extract of a letter to a physician, will afford a specimen :-"My poor body is a burning furnace, my has fled, and I am suffering martyrdom. I am in agony nerves red-hot coals, my blood is boiling oil; all sleep when I lie on my back; I' cannot lie on either side; and I endure excruciating torture when I seek relief by lying on my stomach; and, to add to my misery, I can driacs are frequently of the most extraordinary nature; neither sit, stand, nor walk." The fancies of hypochonone patient imagines that he is in such a state of obesity as to prevent his passing through the door of his chamber made of glass, will not sit down for fear of cracking; a or his house; another impressed with the idea that he is third seems convinced that his head is empty; and an intelligent American, holding a high judicial seat in our

West Indian colonies, could not divest himself of the occasional conviction of his being transformed into a turtle.

The most melancholy record of the miseries of hypochondriacism is to be found in the diary of Dr. Walderstein of Gottingen. He was a man much deformed in person, and his mind seemed as distorted as his body. Although of deep learning and research, and convinced of the absurdity of his impressions, yet he was unable to resist their baneful influence.

My misfortune, (says the doctor,) is that I never exist in this world, but rather in possible combinations created by my imagination to my conscience. They occupy a large portion of my time, and my reason has not the power to banish them. The malady, in fact, is the faculty of extractI often felt the most wretched being, because I had not been ing poison from every circumstance in life, so much so that able to sneeze three times together. in bed I felt a sudden fear of fire, and gradually became as One night when I was much oppressed by imaginary heat as though my room were in flames. While in this situation, a fire-bell in the neighbourhood sounded, and added to my intense sufferings, I do not blush at what might be called superstition, any more than I should blush in acknowledging that my senses inform me that the earth does not move. My error forms the body of my judgment, and I thank God that he has given it a soul capable of correcting it. When I have been perfectly free from pain, as is not unfrequently the case when I am in bed, my sense of this happiness has brought tears of gratitude in my eyes. I once dreamt, (adds Wal, derstein,) that I was condemned to be burnt alive. I wa very calm, and reasoned coolly during the execution of my sentence. Now,' I said to myself, I am burning, but not yet burnt; and by-and-by I shall be reduced to a cinder: this was all I thought, and I did nothing but think. When, upon awaking, I reflected upon my dream, I was by no means pleased with it, for I was afraid I should become all thought, and no feeling.

It is strange that this fear of thought, assuming a corporeal form in deep affliction, had occurred to our poet Rowe, when he exclaims, in the Fair Penitent,

Turn not to Thought my brain.

What is very distressing, (continues the unfortunate narrator,) is that when I am ill I can think nothing, feel noIt seems to me thing, without bringing it home to myself. that the whole world is a mere machine, expressly formed to make me feel my sufferings in every possible manner. What a fearful avowal from a reflecting and intelligent Does it not illustrate Rousseau's definition of the knowledge of our folly. wond [MILLINGEN'S Curiosities of Medical Experience.] bolus ongoi I gb kitsui) bolles omg 4 To

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IN love of home, the love of country has its rise; and who are truer patriots or the best in time of need, those who venerate the their earth, and all they produce? or those who country, boasting not a foot of ground in all its cante dont voy ame main? DICKENSil to mobrania 307 9am dammen tod ung glɛegalėjonų vysty

that owning its wood, and so and

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ON CHESS.

VII. CHESS-WRITERS AND PLAYERS.

'CHESS-KING, AS DESIGNED BY FLAXMAN

High in the midst the rev'rend kings appear,
And o'er the rest their pearly sceptres rear:
One solemn step, majestically slow,

They gravely move; and shun the dang'rous foe;
If e'er they call, the watchful subjects spring,-
And die with rapture if they save their king!
On him the glory of the day depends:

He once imprisoned, all the conflict ends.-SIR W. JONES.

THE knowledge of the game of chess has been extensively diffused for many centuries past, as may be seen by the numerous manuscripts and printed treatises which have appeared on the subject. The latter have been written in, or translated into, nearly all the European languages, and several of the Oriental ones; and it may perhaps prove interesting to such of our readers as have not met with any notice of these works, to take a cursory glance at them, and at the players and modes of play they celebrate.

As early as the commencement of the ninth century, the game of chess was in such high repute in the East, that Al Amin, Khalif of Bagdad, is said to have commanded the different provinces of his empire to send to his court all such persons as were the most expert at chess, to whom he allowed pensions, and passed the most considerable part of his time among them. On one occasion, when he was playing at chess with his freed-man Kuthar, without the least apprehension of impending danger, Al Mamûn's forces pushed the siege of Bagdad with so much vigour, that the city was upon the point of being carried by assault. On being warned of his danger, Al Amîn cried out "Let me alone! for I see cneck-mate against Kuthar." This anecdote is quoted by Dr. Hyde from an Arabic history of the Saracens. At this period (about the year 808), chess was not unknown to the monarchs of the West. Charlemagne is represented, in the curious and ancient French romance called Guerin de Montglave, as being exceedingly fond of the game. This romance was alluded to in our History of the Origin of Chess, and the anecdote there referred to is, as follows:-"I bet," said the emperor to the hero of the tale, that you would not play your expectations against me at chess, unless I were to propose some very high stake." "Done," replied Guerin, "I will play, provided only you bet against me your kingdom of

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France." "Very good, let us see," said Charlemagne, who fancied himself to be strong at chess. They play forthwith, Charlemagne loses his kingdom, but laughs the matter off as a joke. Guerin, however, is not disposed to view it in this light, and swears by St. Martin and all the Saints of Aquitaine that he must receive some compensation. The emperor then gives him permission to conquer Montglave (Lyon) from the Saracens, and surrenders to Guerin all his right in that city..

Other romances of that period contain notices of the game of chess, and it is in fabulous histories that we get the first mention among western authors of this celebrated amusement. There is nothing to induce the supposition that at this time, the European players had attained any great degree of skill at chess; but we find mention made of a player at Tripoli, in Syria, who in the year 970 was famed for going through the game blind-fold. This man, Jusuph Tchelebi by name, was accustomed to use very large chess-men, and to play not by naming the moves, but by feeling the men, and placing them in the squares or removing them from the board as occasion required. At the period we are now speaking of, the chess-table seems often to have been the scene of fierce dispute, and violent anger. Two or three fatal affrays are represented by the French romancers to have taken place, in consequence of the termination of a game of chess, and though we are prepared for highly-coloured pictures in works of this description, there is no doubt but that some measure of truth is to be found in such recitals, and that they had their foundation in the customs of the times. In a book published at Stockholm in the Icelandic language, King Canute, so celebrated for his wisdom, is described as resenting very deeply a provocation received at chess. The passage runs thus:

As King Canute and Earl Ulf were playing at chess, the king made a false move, in consequence of which the earl took one of his knights; but the king would not allow this, and replacing the piece, insisted on his playing differently. The earl waxed angry, overturned the chess-board, and was going away, when the king called after him, saying "Ulf, thou coward, dost thou flee?" The earl returned to the door, and said, "You would have taken a longer flight in the river Helga, had I not run to your assistance when the Swedes beat you like a dog; you did not then call me Ulf the coward." The earl then retired, and the next morning the king ordered him to be killed.

Of the fondness of the Danes for chess and dice we have an instance in the fact that when Bishop Etheric came to Canute the Great on important business, and entered the royal presence at midnight, he found the king and his courtiers busily engaged at these games, even at an hour which in those early times must have been considered a most unseasonable one for the purposes of amusement.

In an old book, called the Anatomy of Melancholy, where chess is recommended as "a good and wittie exercise of the minde for some kinde of men; but too troublesome, too full of anxiety," and "all but as bad as study" to others, it is given as an illustration of its tendency to promote a testy choleric feeling in him that loseth the mate, that "William the Conqueror in his younger years while playing at chess with the prince of France, lost a mate, and was so provoked thereat, that he knocked the chess-board about his adversary's pate, which was a cause afterwards of much enmity between them." The chess contest seems to have been afterwards carried on in much the same spirit between their sons, for we find that towards the close of William's reign (1087), he appointed his two sons, Robert and Henry, joint governors of Normandy, and these going together to visit the French king were entertained with a variety of sports. Henry played with the Dauphin (Louis le Gros), at chess, and won a considerable sum of money of him, which so much irritated Louis that he threw the chess-men at Henry's head, using at the same time

offensive language towards him. Henry retaliated with blows; and the quarrel, it is said, reached such a height, that but for the interference of the Prince Robert it might have terminated fatally. John of Salisbury relates that in a battle between the French and English in 1117, an English knight seizing the bridle of Louis le Gros, and crying out, "The king's taken. Louis struck nim to the ground with his sword, saying "Ne scais tu pas qu'aux échecs on ne prend pas le roy?" "Dost thou not know that at chess the king is never taken?"

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We now approach the period when the first regular treatise on chess made its appearance. This was the work of Jacobus de Cosollis, or Cesolis, presumed to have been written before the year 1200. Verci says that the original work was written either in Latin or in French, and that the Latin manuscript is still preserved in the University of Padua. Two manuscript copies of this work are preserved in the British Museum. The first is entitled Liber moralis de Ludor Scaccor, and it is a quarto of fifty leaves of parchment, twenty-nine lines on a page. The first page has a miniature border, in gold and colours, representing flowers, a peacock, and other birds, with two angels. The first letter, which is a Gothic M of about an inch square, is ornamented with a king playing at chess with a monk. The colours are vivid and the drawing is good; eleven more capitals are embellished with flourishes in gold, and the writing is neat and wellpreserved. The other copy is written on paper, and unornamented. The work of Cesolis was translated into English by William Caxton, in 1474, but previous to that time there had appeared a curious manuscript of which we must first take account. It was called A Morality on Chess, and was ascribed to Pope Innocent III., but seems to have been written by an English monk named Innocent, about the year 1400. As it is not without its merits, and boldly points out the abuses which creep into the highest offices, we give it at full length; observing, however, that the description of the moves of the king and queen does not agree with that in the modern game, while the bishop's move is restricted to three squares, as in the "courier" game, which we shall have to notice hereafter.

This whole world is nearly like a chess-board, of which the points are alternately white and black, figuring the double state of life and death, grace and sin.

The families of this chess-board are like the men of this world; they all come out of one bag, and are placed in different stations in life. They have different appellations: one is called king, another queen, the third rook, the fourth knight, the fifth alphin (bishop), the sixth, pawn.

The condition of the game is, that one piece takes another; and when the game is finished, they are all deposited together, like man in the same place. Neither is there any difference between the king and the poor pawn: for it often happens that when the pieces are thrown promiscuously into the bag, the king lies at the bottom; as some of the great will find themselves after their transit from this world to the next.

In this game the king goes into all the circumjacent places and takes everything in a direct line, which is a sign that the king must never omit doing justice to all uprightly, for in whatever manner a king acts it is reputed just, and what pleases the sovereign has the force of law.

The queen, whom we call Fers, goes and takes in an oblique line; because women being of an avaricious nature, take whatever they can; and often, being without merit or grace, are guilty of rapine and injustice. The rook is a judge who perambulates the whole land in a straight line, and should not take anything in an oblique manner, by bribery or corruption, nor spare any one; else they verify the saying of Amos, "Ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock."

But the knight in taking, goes one point directly, and then takes an oblique circuit, in sign that knights and lords of the land may justly take the rents due to them, and their just fines from those who have forfeited them, according to the exigence of the case. Their third point being oblique applies to knights and lords when they unjustly exacti The poor pawn goes directly forward in his simplicity;

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The alphins are the various prelates of the church, pope, archbishop, and their subordinate bishops, who rise to their sees not so much by divine insipiration as by royal power, and take obliquely three points, for the minds of too many interest, entreaties, and ready money. These alphins move prelates are perverted by love, hatred, or bribery, not to reprehend the guilty or bark against the vicious, but rather to absolve them from their sins: so that those who should have extirpated vice are, in consequence of their own covetousness, become promoters of vice and advocates of the devil. insults and strikes one with his dart of sin; and if he that In this chess game the devil says "check" whenever he

is thus struck cannot immediately deliver himself, the devil resuming the move says to him "mate," carrying his soul along with him to prison, from which neither love nor money can deliver him, for from hell there is no redemption. And as huntsmen have various hounds for taking various beasts, so the devil and the world have different vices, which differently entangle mankind, for all that is in this world is lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, or proud living."

ON THE CUSTOM OF THE MAUNDY. THE reader may probably have noticed in Almanacs, that the day immediately preceding Good Friday in every year is called Maundy Thursday. The old customs connected with this day, and still partially observed, are very curious, and well worthy of general attention at this season of the year. But, before we proceed to detail them, it will be proper to state the opinions given as to the origin of the term maundy.

Our old writers, about the time of the Reformation, apply this word to the commands, then written " commaunds," of Christ, which He delivered to his disciples on the day before his crucifixion. These commands of our Blessed Lord related to the faith and practice of the future apostles while upon earth, and of the Christian church throughout all ages. He ordained the Holy Communion of His body and blood, to be observed by them and all faithful Christians till His second coming. He washed the feet of the disciples, (a common and necessary service in the East, which the climate renders desirable to be done,) in token of that humility which it behoved them to imitate; and He laid His affectionate injunctions upon them, that they should love one another as he had loved them. Christ was put to death on the Friday: the day before is thus termed "Maundy Thursday," as being the day of the last commands of our Lord, before the fulfilment of those sufferings in His own person, which should cleanse us from all sin.

Following the other authority, we find that Maundy Thursday is so named from the maunds, wherein were formerly contained gifts, which the king was wont to distribute on that day, to a certain number of poor persons at Whitehall. The Saxon word "mand," which afterwards became maund, is the name for a basket, (French manne,) and by consequence for any gift, or offering, contained in the basket. The sort of basket just referred to, is an open one with handles.

The day of which we speak was likewise once called Shere Thursday, (and by corruption Chare Thursday,) because as we are told, in ancient times, "people would that day shere theyr hedes and clypp theyr berdes, and so make them honest agenst Easter-day." In the miraculous legend of St. Brandon, it is related that he sailed with his monks to the Island of Sheep, about the year 565 A.D. This island, which abounded in sheep, was set down, in the ancient maps, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, near the Equator. Here on "shere

thursdaye, after souper, he wesshe theyr feet, and kyssed | secretary, and another gentleman, with similar sashes, them lyke as our lorde dyd to his dyscyples." and all carrying large nosegays. The church evening service was then performed, at the conclusion of which the silver pennies were distributed, together with woollen cloth, linen, shoes, and stockings; and a cup of wine was given to each to drink the king's health.

We propose now to notice several celebrations of the Maundy, beginning with the practice of it in the reign of her present Majesty, Queen Victoria, and going back into previous reigns, as far as our means will allow; concluding with notices of foreign observances of this day.

In the Times newspaper of April 16th, 1838, we observe the following account of her Majesty's Maundy donations:

The Queen's royal alms were distributed on Saturday by Mr. Hanby, at the almonry office, to the Maundy men and women placed on the supernumerary lists, owing to the difference of the ages between the late king and her present Majesty. Both men and women receive 21. 10s., and nineteen silver pennies, (being the age of the queen.) To the men, woollen and linen clothing, shoes, and stockings were given; and to the women, in lieu of clothing, 17. 15s., each. The Maundy men and women also received 17. 10s.,-a commutation, instead of the provisions heretofore distributed.

As the foregoing comprises a substantial account of the present celebration of the Maundy, we need not dwell further upon it, except to make a few remarks on the silver penny, which is now coined expressly for this

occasion.

Before the year 1672 there was no legitimate copper coinage in England: on which account the pecuniary donations of the sovereigns of England on Maundy Thursday were usually made in silver;-the silver pennies then in common use; as many silver pennies being given to each individual as the years of the monarch's age; besides clothes and food, as will be presently related. Mr. Till, an experienced numismatist, passes a high eulogium on the beauty and production of the small pieces termed Maundy money. He considers them as finely executed, and well struck up; in some instances being like proofs; judging from the specimen now before us, they certainly merit this eulogium. The Maundy pennies are of an inch in diameter. They are by order of Government declared current coins of the realm; so that they could not be refused, if tendered in payment: still, they are not in reality intended for that purpose. Besides the pennies, fourpenny pieces, three-penny pieces, and two-penny pieces are struck as Maundy money, and also used as presents for various officers attached to the crown, as well as to others.

We have seen that the practices of the Maundy are now considerably pared off: but, in order to give the reader some idea of the ancient customs of this day, wè will select a few instances of the observances of by-gone

years.

On Maundy Thursday, 1814, the royal donations were distributed at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, according to annual custom. In the morning, Dr. Carey, the sub-almoner, and Mr. Hanby, secretary to the lord high almoner, together with others belonging to the lord chamberlain's office, and a party of the yeomen of the guard, distributed to seventy-five poor men, and the like number of women, (being as many as the king was years old,) a quantity of salt-fish, consisting of salmon, cod, and herrings, pieces of very fine beef, five loaves of bread, and some ale to drink the king's health. At three o'clock they assembled again, the men on one side of the chapel, and the women on the other. A procession entered of those engaged in the ceremony, consisting of a party of yeomen of the guard, one of them carrying a large gold dish on his head, containing one hundred and fifty bags, with seventy-five silver pennies in each, for the poor people, which was placed in the royal closet, They were followed by the sub-almoner in his robes, with a sash of fine linen over his shoulder, and crossing his waist. He was followed by two boys, two girls, the sotrup sih 891 950 Sitalt

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The provisions were given away in large wooden bowls; the drinking-cup was made of maple. The bags containing the Maundy money were made of white kid: when gold was given away, it was put into a small red bag.

The ceremonial of the Maundy, as practised in 1731, consisted in distributing at the Banquetting House, Whitehall, to forty-eight poor men, and forty-eight poor women, (the king's age being forty-eight,) boiled beef and shoulders of mutton, with small bowls of ale, which is called dinner: after that, large wooden platters of fish and bread; viz., one large old ling, and one large dried cod; twelve red-herrings, and twelve white-herrings, all undressed; and four half-quartern loaves. Each person had one platter of this provision; after which they received shoes, stockings, linen and woollen cloth, and leathern bags, with one penny, two-penny, three-penny, and four-penny pieces of silver, and shillings; to each about four pounds in value. His grace, the Lord Archbishop of York, lord high almoner, performed the annual ceremony of washing the feet of a certain number of poor in the royal chapel, Whitehall, which was formerly done by the kings themselves, in imitation of our Blessed Saviour's pattern of humility. James II. is said to have been the last of our monarchs, who performed this ceremony in person.

In the year 1572, which was the thirty-ninth year of Queen Elizabeth's age, besides bestowing her maundy, her Majesty, as the kin s and queens of England had done before her, washed and kissed the feet of as many poor men and women as she herself was years old. This was done at Greenwich, on which occasion the feet of the poor persons were first washed by the yeomen of the laundry with warm water and sweet herbs; afterwards by the almoner and sub-almoner; and lastly, in a silver basin by the queen herself;—the person who washed, making each time a cross on the pauper's foot above the toes, and kissing it. This ceremony was performed by the queen, kneeling, being attended by thirtynine ladies and gentlewomen: the queen's part of the business took place after singing and prayers, and the reading of the Gospel, which describes the fact thus imitated. Her Majesty then distributed clothes, victuals, and money; the rest of the proceedings being similar to those in the cases mentioned before.

It appears that the money given to the maundy people, in addition to the pennies, was meant for the redemption of the sovereign's garments, which, according to the ancient order, it was usual to give away. Queen Elizabeth redeemed her gown by giving twenty shillings in a leathern purse to each person.

The ceremony of the archbishop washing the feet of the apostles, is performed in great style at Moscow, n Russia, on the Thursday before Easter. The priests appear in their most gorgeous apparel. Twelve monks, designed to represent the twelve apostles, are placed in a semicircle before the archbishop. The ceremony takes place in the cathedral, which is crowded with spectators. The prelate, who performs all, and much more than is related of our Saviour in the 13th chapter of St. John's gospel, takes off his robes, girds up his loins with a towel, and proceeds to wash the feet of them all, until he comes to the monk who represents St. Peter, who rises up, and holds the same discourse with the archbishop which is recorded as having taken place between our Blessed Lord and that apostle.

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