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management, and influence of Anselm, that at Gloucester. appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, the see having been then vacant, and the revenues going into the King's coffers for three years. Earl Hugh died a Monk in his abbey, having taken the cowl a few days before his death.

If charity consisted in endowing abbeys, we may easily understand how it might cover many sins, and the Monks of St. Werburgh had certainly nothing ill to say of their founder. Dan Bradshaw in his Life of the Saint has a very flattering picture of him, which may be compared with Ordericus Vitalis.*

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The contrast of the Canons with the Monks, is not to the advantage of the latter. The utter uselessness of miracles in changing evil inclinations, could hardly be better shown than in the history of Earl Hugh's successor, Earl Richard. He had gone in pilgrimage to Holywell "For "his great merite and gostly advantage." The wicked Welshmen were quite ready to take advantage of the situation, and "raised a cruell com"pany betwixt hym and Chester." The Earl, however, found means to send word to his Constable, William Fitz Nigel, and he assembled a mighty strong host in theyr best arraye Toward Hilburghee, on journey "ridyng fast"-expecting to find shipping to transport them across. "Wyllyam, the constable," in despair found no ships there, but he, as recommended by "a Monk there dwelling contemplatyve" prayed to St. Werburgh. His prayers were answered, and the dry sands appeared "in syghte of them each one." He crossed over, rescued the Earl, "Brought hym in safe garde agayne to Chester cite:" and returning his thanks to Saint Werburgh, gave her the village of Newton, and founded the Abbey of Norton.

* Forester's Translation, Bohn Antiq. Lib., vol. 2, p. 147, and Life of St. Werburgh, p. 181. He was, according to the poet, "a noble worthy prynce, Flowrying in chivalry, "bold and victorious, Manfull in batell, liberal and vertuous." It would seem that Cheshire held out against the Conqueror, and he gave it to Hugh to win and hold by the sword; he had no easy conquest, for it was not till after three defeats that he got possession of the county, and the slaughter and devastation, as is plain from Domesday book, must have been all but universal, at least as far as the owners of the land were concerned. Besides the more substantial endowments, he gave "royal riche ornaments, Copes, crosses, jewels of great royalty, Chalices, censors, vestures," a library of books to read and sing, and of these some remayne Within the sayed Monastery to this day certayne."

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"And where the host passed over betwixt bondes,

"To this day ben called the constable sondes."

Earl Richard did not participate in the grateful feelings of his Constable. He "Entended to alter and change the foundacion of the sayd abbaye "to another religion, Confirmed the same, sweryng most depely At his "whom comyng to England from Normandy."

Werburgh however, who with more female levity than becomes a Saint, seems to have transferred her affections from the old Canons to the Monks, was taking effectual means to free her new protegés from their danger.

"On saynt Katharins day at after mydnyght

"When matens where ended, and bretherne gon,
"Some mournynge waylyng for drede full ryght,
"Some busie in prayer and contemplacion,

"Werburge appeared to the secristan alone

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Sayenge ye may be joyfull in god and mery

"Erle Richarde is drowned your mortall ennemy.

The story of the shipwreck of Prince Henry and many of the nobility on St. Catherine's day, (Nov. 27th,) 1120 is well known.

I should be inclined to believe that the document included in Earl Randall's Charter was the first edition-and as, after all, it was a mere record, was corrected and improved in the second, which obtained the legal sanction of the Justiciary-but till more of the original Charters turn up, much doubt will necessarily rest upon the copies which we now possess of the grants of Earls Richard and Randall, the first and second. But even if it were not a hopeless, it would be not a very profitable task to enter into the investigation.

ON THE GREAT COMET OF 1858.

By John Hartnup, F.R.A.S., and J. T. Towson, F.R.G.S.

(READ 20TH January, 1859.)

During the latter part of September and the two first weeks in October of last year, (1858,) a visiter of no ordinary appearance attracted great attention from the inhabitants of this hemisphere. Generally the observations of comets, taken by astronomers for the purpose of ascertaining their positions in the heavens, and used for determining the elements of their orbits, possess so little public interest that they are communicated to those societies and publications only, which are devoted exclusively to the promotion of practical astronomy. A large majority of the comets seen by astrono mers are not visible to the naked eye, and their positions are often given with no further remark by the observer as to their appearance in the telescope, than such as-that the nebulosity appeared either round or elongated, more or less condensed towards the centre, and of a certain number of seconds diameter. The great comet of 1858, however, differed widely in appearance from these telescopic comets. The majestic sweep of the train, which was not projected in a straight line from the head, but in a curve of stupendous proportion, and the star-like appearance of the nucleus, could not have escaped the notice of the most casual observer. It has, therefore, been thought that the observed position of this comet, taken with the equatorial of the Liverpool Observatory, together with the physical observations undertaken by Mr. Towson, may not be deemed unworthy of a place in the transactions of the Historic Society.

The instrument with which the positions of the comet were taken, and through which it was seen as represented in the telescopic drawings of Mr. Towson, is an achromatic refractor, of twelve feet, focal length, and eight and-a-half inches' aperture. The hour circle and declination circle are each four feet in diameter, divided on silver; and each circle is read with two micrometer microscopes. The weight of the polar axis is upwards of four

tons, and this is turned in right ascension by a water-clock, at the same rate that the earth moves upon its axis, thereby keeping in the field of view any heavenly body that the observer wishes to scrutinize.

The observations for determining the positions of the comet were for the most part taken before the close of daylight, at which time the tail and coma not being visible, the nucleus was well defined and suitable for accurate observations. In table I, column 1 shows the day of the month on which the observations were taken; column 2, the Greenwich mean time to the nearest tenth of a second; column 3, the right ascension; column 4, the north polar distance of the comet; and column 5 shows the name or number of the star with which the comet was compared on each night that observations were taken.

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The observations are corrected for refraction and parallax in time and arc. The parallax is computed on the hypothesis that the distances from the sun are those stated in Table III; that the earth's mean distance from the sun is 95,363,000 miles, its mean hourly motion 68,348 miles, and that the sun's mean equatorial horizontal parallax is 8",58. Table II gives the assumed mean places of the stars of comparison for 1858, January o.

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Table III contains the distances of the comet from the earth and from the sun, and its hourly rate of motion as calculated from the foregoing data.

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