22 



THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



AN ANCIENT ANCHOR. 



A Cowes fisherman, named Paskins, was recently 

 off Portland fishing, when his net came in contact 

 with a heavy substance at the bottom of the sea. 

 He had to procure the aid of several fishermen near 

 in order to haul in the catch. When it came to the 

 surface they found that they had secured a curiosity 

 in the shape of a very old anchor. Competent judges 

 pronounce it to be atleast three hundred years old. It 

 has a thick incrustation of stone and shell of stonelike 

 hardness. Mr. Ledicott, of Holyrood-street, Newport, 

 who is always on the look out for ancient curios, has 

 secured the prize, which is certainly very interesting. 

 It is not at all improbable that the anchor was sunk 

 in the engagement which took place off Portland 

 between the " Invincible '' Armada and the British 

 fleet. 



AN OLD POLITICAL DOCUMENT. 

 A letter from the Marquis of Lansdowne, dated 

 " Southampton Castle, September i7th, 1807," was 

 recently discovered beneath the floorboards of an old 

 house in South-street, Gosport. It is a very long 

 document, and is addressed to " Thomas Pannell, 

 Esq.," being a reply to one from that gentleman in 

 reference to Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary 

 Reform. Lord Lansdowne says he is of opinion that the 

 arguments adduced in favour of those claims are 

 plausible enough, but he has long observed that 

 Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary reform, 

 however commendable, if attainable, are merely 

 engines made use of by the politicians of both Houses 

 to obtain credit with the lower classes, whom they 

 never fail afterwards to sacrifice when their interests 

 come to be at variance with their professions. " This 

 truth has been sufficiently demonstrated by the con- 

 duct of Mr. Pitt and that of Mr. Fox." The writer 

 proceeds to enforce his views at length. As to Parlia- 

 mentary Reform, " the difficulty of bringing the 

 several advocates for it to agree on any specific plan 

 constitutes an almost insuperable bar to the under- 

 taking. Moreover, as it cannot be denied that the 

 representatives of the people are quite as virtuous as 

 the people who depute them, it would seem necessary, 

 as a preliminary step, to reform mankind at large, 

 which I do not expect to see accomplished." 

 Catholic Emancipation " is capable of being 

 clearly defined," but the effect " would be 

 by no means commensurate with the mighty 

 importance which is attached to it. It would open 

 the door to certain honour to a few individuals, not 

 the most enlightened, for what enlightened person is 

 there in this age who does not see the folly of differ- 

 ing in this world about what is to happen in the next? 

 It would do nothing for the great bulk of the Irish 

 people. It would neither put food into their bellies 

 nor remove whiskey from their lips." There is more 

 of this plain speaking, and his lordship concludes as 



follows: " For my own part I can conscientiously 

 declare that were I Roman Catholic I should feel no 

 difficulty in conforming externally to the usages of 

 the Established Church, reserving to myself the 

 privilege of believing exactly what I pleased, and of 

 worshipping God privately in my own way." 



The Marquis of Lansdowne (then Lord Wycombe), 

 who lived somewhere on the other side of the Itchen, 

 bought Southampton Castle in 1804, and spent a 

 large amount of money on it. He .lie 1 in 1839, and 

 his successor eventually sold the mansion for build- 

 ing material, a considerable portion of it being used 

 in the erection of East-street Baptist Chapel. The 

 Marquis presented to the town the statue of George 

 III in the niche on the south side of the Bargate over 

 the central archway. It is an imitation of that in the 

 British Museum of the Emperor Hadrian, and in his 

 letter of presentation the Marquis said it bore "no 

 mean resemblance to his Majesty." It took the place 

 of a statue of Queen Anne, which was relegated to 

 and still stands in the interior of the hall. 



A PATHETIC STORY. 



In the Newport old burial ground stands an 

 Obelisk, on which are the following inscriptions : 



To the Memory of VALENTINE GRAY, the little Sweep. 



Interred January 5th, 1822, in the tenth year of his age. 



In testimony of the General Feelinjr for suffering 

 Innocence, this Monument is erected by Public Sub- 

 scription. 



There are but few of the present generation who are 

 acquainted with the circumstances which led to the 

 erection of this monument. In 1822, and for several 

 years previous, a man whose name was Davis resided 

 in South-street, Newport, and was the principal 

 chimney sweeper of the town and neighbourhood. 

 He had several climbing boys in his employ, whom 

 he cruelly treated. Their onh- sleeping place was in 

 an out-house on bags of soot stored there. Valentine 

 Gray (his parents were unknown) was one. He be- 

 came ill and unable to work, but this, instead of 

 exciting the sympathy of his master, only led to 

 harsher treatment, which hastened his death and 

 ended his mortal suffering. All grades of society 

 then sympathised with the little boy who was thus 

 brought to an untimely end. A collection was made 

 to raise a memorial stone over his remains, and 

 though no subscriber paid more than one penny, a 

 sum was soon raised sufficient to erect the monument 

 above referred to. Davis was sentenced to twelve 

 months' imprisonment, and after his release from gaol 

 he did not return to Newport, knowing that the 

 public feeling was so strong against him, and he 

 located himself out of the Island. The singularity of 

 the name is accounted for as follows : The little fellow 

 was taken into Davis's employ on the i-jth of 

 February, and Davis not knowing his Christian name 

 called him Valentine. J. DORE. 



