140 PAPERS, ETC. 



the leadeu cross. To say the least, the addition of the 

 words IN INSULA AYALONIA, is suspicious. The adverb 

 hie (here), would be sufficient to determine the locality 

 without the addition of the very name of the place. It is 

 an addition, I admit, very unlikely to be made under the 

 circumstances. It would be interesting to know if similar 

 forms ever occur in sepulchral inscriptions. I do not 

 know of another instance myself. After all, it is quite 

 within the ränge of possibility. In other respects, the 

 form of the letters, which are of the debased Roraano- 

 British type, and the character of the inscription, appear 

 to harmonize with its alleged antiquity. The descrip- 

 tion given of the sarcophagus itself — namely, a solid oak, 

 hollowed out — adds very much to the evidence in favour 

 of its genuineness. It is well known that this was not the 

 mode of sepulture in vogue at the time the exhumation 

 took place, and that it was occasionally, at least, adopted 

 in the very early ages of the Christian ajra. It is known 

 also that the cross, the hallowed symbol of the Christian's 

 faith and hope, was iised in this way at a very early period; 

 and there is no reason to doubt its having been eniployed 

 to mark the grave of the great Christian king, and nephew 

 of a man so distinguished in the Chruch as St. David, 

 Bisbop of Älenevia. 



lipon the wholc, then, I am led by these considerations 

 to the conclusion that it is more than probable that King 

 Arthur had found a resting place, after his mortal wound 

 at Camalet, in the precincts of the Abbey of Glastonbury ; 

 and that the interesting traditions connected with these 

 beautiful ruins are founded upon fact. 



At the close of this paper a discussion ensued in which 

 Messrs. Warre, Bouverie, Freeman, Parker, Jones, and the 



