persons to believe they were the remains of the two young princes who were said to have been murdered, by smothering, in that fortress, by their uncle, Richard the Third. They were discovered about ten feet under the surface of the ground, in a wooden chest, as the workmen were taking away the stairs which led from the royal apartments into the chapel of the White Tower. Wren, through whom this discovery was communicated to the king, and without whom nothing in this way appears to have been done, was, as usual, desired to attend to it, in the following order from the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesty's household:

"These are to signify his Majesty's pleasure, that you provide a white marble coffin, for the supposed bodies of the two princes lately found in the Tower of London; and that you cause the same to be interred in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, in such convenient place as the Dean of Westminster shall appoint and this shall be your warrant. Given under my hand, this 18th day of February, 1674-5. ARLINGTON.'

:

To Sir Christopher Wren, Knt. Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Works.'

"In pursuance of this warrant, Sir Christopher designed an elegant urn of white marble, on a pedestal with an inscription; which being approved by his Majesty, were erected in the east wall of the north aisle of king Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westminster,

HSS
Reliquiæ

Edwardi Vti, Regis Angliæ, et Richardi Ducis Eborac.
Hos fratres germanos in Arce Londinensi conclusos,
Injectisque culcitris suffocatos,

Abditè et inhonestè tumulari jussit
Patruus Richardus perfidus regni
Prædo.

Ossa desideratorum diù et multùm quæsita
Post annos CXCI.

Scalarum in ruderibus (scalæ nuper istæ ad sacellum
Turris albæ ducebant)

Altè defossa indiciis certissimis sunt reperta,
XVII. Die Julii, Anno Domini MDCLXXIIII.
Carolus Secundus, Rex clementissimus, acerbam
Sortem miseratus,

Inter avita monumenta, principtbus infelicissimis
Justa persolvit

Anno Domini 1678, Annoque Regni sui, 30.

These few passages, owing to the influx of new books, must suffice to show with what sort of materials Mr. Elmes has constructed this his magnum opus.

SKETCH OF THE ABBEY OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL, AT SHREWSBURY.

THE great mitred abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, founded A. D. 1083, by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, was built on the site of a timber church, erected by Siward, who exchanged with the Earl for the village of Langafielda, which Siward at his death bequeathed to the new foundation. It was peopled with Benedictine monks from

Seez, in Normandy. The Earl endowed the house largely, and encouraged all over whom he had any influence to contribute liberally. Roger himself, with the permission of his lady Adelisa, was shorn, and became a monk of his own abbey, and enriched it with the coat of St. Hugh, of the monastery of Cluni, which precious relic the Earl himself sometimes wore. The founder died in 1094, and was buried here; as was Hugh his son, slain in the Isle of Anglesey. The first abbot of this house was Fulcheredus, said to have been a man of great eloquence. Robert Pennant, the fourth abbot, obtained, with great difficulty, the reliques of St. Wenefrede, and enshrined them, which added much to the emolument of the abbey. Thomas Butler was the last abbot: he appears to have been rather a tool to the Dissolution party, by whom he was rewarded with an annuity of 801. At the general Dissolution, Dr. Lee, and Masters Kendle, Harley, &c. the King's Commissioners, were sent down. They convened the abbot and monks to the chapter-house, caused some deeds to be signed with the common seal of the house, then ordered an officer, to break it, and declared the convent to be dissolved. The revenues were valued by Dugdale at 5327. 4s. 10d. and by Speed at 656l. 4s. 3d. The site of the abbey, with its buildings, was purchased by E. Watson, Esq. and W. Herdson, a tanner, dealers in monastic plunder, and soon after sold to W. Langley, of Salop, tailor; and it con

tinued in that family till 1702, since which it has been in possession of the Baldwins and Powises.

སྙ

Of this once famous abbey, the present remains are small: of the chapter-house, cloister, and refectory, not a single vestige remains. The church of the abbey appears to have been spacious and magnificent, but great devastations were made at the Dissolution. The nave, western tower, and northern porch remain, under considerable mutilation; but of the choir, transept, and chapels, scarce a fragment remains. The great western aile, or nave, from its earliest date, was appropriated as the parish church, for the use of the neigh bouring inhabitants; and this probably prevented the entire destruction of the building. In Queen Elizabeth's time the church was made parochial, and called the church of the Holy Cross, which name it still retains. The western part is the most entire. The tower, though plain, is finely proportioned; the entrance a round Norman arch recessed, and a pointed arch inserted within it, undoubtedly of later date. In a niche on each side of the great west window, were formerly statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. Between the bell-windows, within a niche, is a statue, which has been generally supposed to be the founder, Roger de Montgomery; but others, with more probability, conjecture it to be King Edward III. not merely from the costume of the figure, but from the tower having been erected about that period. In this

tower formerly hung the great bell of St. Wenefrede, thus inscribed:

Sancta Wenefreda, Deo hoc commendare memento,
Ut pietate sua, nos servet ab hoste cruento.

This bell remained till the year 1673, when it was sold towards defraying the expence of a new peal of eight bells. The interior of the church, though in so mutilated a state, retains a solemn grandeur. On each side of the middle aile (the ancient nave) are five arches, which separate it from the side ailes. The two which join to the tower are pointed, as are the windows over them. The other arches are semicircular, with immense round pillars, short and plain. Above was a gallery of smaller arches in the same style. Within the second arch from the west end, are vestiges of what is supposed to have been an ancient chantry chapel there are several niches, but much mutilated, and the statues gone. The church has of late been very judiciously improved and decorated, by the addition of a handsome new organ, placed on an appropriate Gothic screen; and likewise with an east window of stained glass. In the centre compartments are large figures of St. Peter and St. Paul; above are the arms of England, the see of Lichfield, the founder of the abbey, and of Lord Berwick, the patron of the living; on each side are the arms of the vicars, from the year 1500. In the east window of the south aile are three ancient