1825.) 
and is now in the possession of the Duke 
of Devonshire. Hamlet first appeared, ac- 
cording to Malone’s calculation, in 1600, 
therefore the edition, which has called forth 
these remarks, was published only three 
years after the tragedy was produced. 
A most curious collection of autograph 
letters of distingnished persons, from the 
reign of Elizabeth to that of James II, 
were sold recently at Southby’s auction- 
room ; amongst them were those of [liza- 
beth; Mary, Queen of Scots and her 
mother, Mary of Guise ; Cardinal Bexton ; 
the Regents Arran, Mar and Murray ; the 
Earls of Sussex and Bedford; Lord Huns- 
don; James VI. of Scotland; Anne of 
Denmark ; Charles I. and II. ; the Queen 
of Bohemia; the Duke of Monmouth and 
Lord Chancellor Bacon ; Lord Rochester, 
&c. A considerable number of these letters 
“ yelate to that period of the Scottish history 
to which the public attention has been 
awakened by the pen of the author of 
Waverley ; there is one letter of Claver- 
house, describing the battle with the cove- 
nanters at Drumolog, which was purchased, 
by the Duke of Buckingham, for 12gs. ; 
a letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Lord 
Gray, sold for 11/.; a large portion of the 
letters, connected with Scotland, were pur- 
chosed by Mr. Constable of Edinburgh, for 
ths Advocates’ Library. There were in 
the whole 120 letters, and they produced 
upwards of 2701. 
A mask of sponge has been recommend- 
ed as a preservative against the accidents 
arising from foul airin wells, &e., and the 
destructive effects of the noxious particles 
inhaled, by the workmen, in white-lead, 
cotton and other manufactories; a mask 
of this sort, made sufficiently large to cover 
the lower part of the face, including the 
nose and mouth, and tied to the back of 
the head, is said to have been used by a 
person who stayed for a_ considerable 
time in a very foul cesspool, without in- 
jury, while acrust of poisonous matter ad- 
hered to the outside of the mask, which, 
if inhaled, would have destroyed him. 
Discoveries at Rochester Cathedral.— Mr. 
Cottingham, in taking down the Corin- 
thian altar-piece, with which this fine gothic 
cathedral was deformed at the time of the 
Reformation, has brought to view the whole 
of the original composition of the east end 
of the choir, consisting of three beautiful 
’ gothic arched recesses and windows, in the 
purest style of the thirteenth century ; and, 
on scraping off the white-wash, the decora- 
tions of the high altar appeared in nearly 
all their pristine glory, consisting of birds 
and beasts, jlewrs-de-lis, lilies, crescents, 
stars, scroll foliage, fleury-crosses, lace- 
work borders, &c. arranged in the most 
beautiful order, and finely contrasted in 
the colours, which consist of the brightest 
crimsons, purples, azures, greens, &e. In 
addition to this interesting display of archi- 
tectural elegance, another antiquarian trea- 
Montury Mac. No, 406. 
Literary and Miscellaneous Intelligence. 
sure has been discovered of equal curiosity. 
This is a monument, with the effigies of 
one of the early bishops of Rochester, in 
his pontifical robes, judged to be of that 
period when the arts of sculpture and 
architecture were at their zenith of splen- 
dour—the reign of Edward III. The - 
crozier, mitre and robes are tastefully dis~ 
posed and gorgeously enriched—the crozier 
with gilded foliage, and the mitre in dia- 
mond compartments of jewellery work, 
the execution of which is in the highest 
degree elaborate. A part of the archi- 
tectural decorations of the tomb have also 
been found; the beautiful carving, gilding 
and colouring of which place them among 
the most perfect specimens of Gothic art. 
Of this elegant monument, and its incom- 
parably fine effigy, not the slightest men- 
tion has ever been made. We understand 
Mr. Cottingham is engaged in making a 
perfect restoration of this tomb, from the 
fragments found on the spot; until which 
time, both tomb and effigy will be covered 
up, In order to prevent their sustaining 
any damage. 
Modern Rome the Depot of the Arts.—A 
letter from Rome states that some valuable 
copper-plates, engraved by Dorigny and 
Aquilla, from several of the choicest works 
of Raphael, Annibal Carracci, and othergreat 
masters, have been lately destroyed by order 
of the librarian of the Holy See, on account 
of their profane exhibition of the human 
form divine! Are we returning to the era 
of vandalism, that such an outrage should be 
committed in the emporium of the fine arts ? 
or do the Jesuits wish to extinguish every 
trace of art, in Europe, except that of hood-. 
winking mankind ? 
One of those rare birds, the silk-tailed chat- 
terer, (ampelis garrulus )was lately caught in 
the neighbourhood of Melville. This is 
one of the most beautiful of our occasional 
visitants from the arctic circle, and has been 
seen in Britain only at long intervals. The 
present one corresponded, very exactly, with 
Bewick’s description, and had on each wing 
six of those flat vermillion-coloured horny 
appendages, which form so peculiar a cha- 
racteristic of the bird. When caught it ap- 
peared much exhausted, and on being put 
into a dark cage ate a few of the haws of the 
evergreen thorn, rejecting the seeds, but 
died in the night. 
Witchcraft.—It may not be generally 
known, that Sir Henry Cromwell, as Lord 
of the Manor of Warboys, after the convic- 
tion of the Witches of Warboys, in 1593, 
left their property, which was forfeited to 
him, to the Corporation of Huntingdon, on 
condition that they should give forty shil- 
lings every year to a Doctor or Batchelor in 
Divinity of Queen’s College, Cambridge, to 
preach a sermon at All-Saints Church, in 
Huntingdon, on the annunciation of the 
blessed Virgin, against the sin of witchcraft, 
and to teach the people how they should 
discover and frustrate the machinations of 
L witches 
