In his way to the Eastern parts, from which he is recently returned, Mr. Sams visited Sicily, and whilst at Girgenti, the ancient Agrigentum, was struck with the beauty and curiosity of the fine vase referred to, and the choice collection to which it belonged. These, with many of the best vases now known, were dug up at Girgenti. This city was one of the most flourishing of the Greek colonies (see vol. XCI. pt. ii. 113,396.) The collection of vases was in the possession of Signor G. the chief and almost the only banker of note in the place. He had been for years endeavouring to enrich his cabinet of Greco-Sicilian vases with all those of interest that he could procure, discovered in the excavations that were made near the temples of the ancient city.

Mr. Sams, having letters of recommendation to this gentleman, made him an offer for his entire collection; which being accepted, the whole, including the very rare and fine vase described by Mr. Millingen, are now in Mr. Sams's collections in Great Queen street. The vase described in Mr. Millingen's paper is the only one with this remarkable and highly curious subject for its painting, that is known in Europe, or indeed to be in existence. The dimensions of this vase, which is of the finest ware, are about 15 inches in height by 37 in circumference. Another in the collection, which has on the obverse a large and fine painting of the Dioscuri, and on the reverse" due Ginnasti ed un Iniziati," measures 16 inches high by the circumference 39. "Uno de' Ginnasti ha la streghia in mano." A third is 18 inches in height by 42 in circumference. This is a very noble Sicilian vase, and has fine large paintings, composed of several figures on each side. Another, a Panathenaic vase, is remarkable as being supposed to contain the fourth in measure of that in the possession of Mr. Burgon. It is about 18 inches in height by 26 in circumference. The subject of this vase, on the principal side, is a fine whole-length figure of Minerva Pallas, armed with the round shield, high-crested helmet, and erected lance. She is standing betwixt two columns, each of which is surmounted by the disc. The reverse consists of three men, one of whom is throwing the disc, a subject that no other vase of this kind at present in this country is known to be adorned with. The entire number in Mr. Sams's possession is perhaps upwards of a hundred and fifty, and they form by themselves a most interesting museum; the pleasure of viewing which was only exceeded by the historical instruction in the progress of the arts in periods of the remotest antiquity, which we derived from a survey of the numerous and extraordinary miscellaneous articles obtained by Mr. Sams from the tombs of the Egyptian Thebes, of which, at some future opportunity, we may speak further in detail.

SWORD FOUND NEAR OSWESTRY. A few weeks since, as some workmen were digging in a field near Oswestry, they turned up the hilt and part of the blade of an antique sword, the workmanship being of more than ordinary elegance.

The blade was in two pieces, much corroded and covered with rust. On being cleaned, however, the steel was found to be of an excellent temper. The handle is apparently of ebony, or some similar wood, but being encrusted with the oxide occasioned by the steel inserted within it, has acquired the resemblance of buck's horn. The part of the sword attached to the hilt remains in the scabbard, the canvas of which is still visible. The scabbard and hilt are mounted with richly-chased silver, as perfect as when it came out of the hands of the graver. On the end of the hilt is an eagle pouncing on its prey, and a representation of Jupiter and Leda. On each side of the guard is a full-length figure, and on the sword-end of the hilt are the figures of a spread eagle and of a doe couchant regardant. The latter figure appears as a crest. On the silver plate which covers the opening of the scabbard, is a representation of an Arcadian shepherd scene. The sword is, in short, a specimen of those worn by the cavaliers, and there can be no doubt but it was dropped by one of them in the rout to which the Royalist army was put by Sir Thomas Middleton when they made an attempt to regain possession of the town of Oswestry, on the 2nd of July, 1644, after its capture by the Parliament force; which supposition is confirmed by the relic being found in the line of pursuit, the road having formerly passed over the field in which it was discovered.

GOLD RING.

An octagon-headed gold ring, with armo rial bearings, was lately found by a pauper in the ashes in the Brickfield, adjoining the Workhouse, Exeter. It is heavy, and worth 11. 7s. as gold. The crest is an armed arm holding a tilting spear; the arms are, azure, three pheons, with a chevron ermine.

A ROSARY OF HENRY VIII.

The Duke of Devonshire has in his possession the rosary worn by Henry the Eighth. Upon the four sides of each head are four circles, within which are carved groups; the subject of each group being taken from a different chapter in the Bible. Nothing can surpass the exquisite beauty of the workmanship of this relic of other days. Every figure is perfect, in spite of the extreme minuteness of their size; and the whole is from the design of that great master, Holbein, who has painted Henry in these identical beads. The rosary is ingeniously preserved from injury, while it is exhibited to full view, from being suspended within a bell of glass.

ADVICE.

Non destar 'l can che dorme.

COMMENCE not tailor without thimble,
Nor be with edge-tools over nimble;
Rouse not a lion from his den,
Nor climb a rock, nor wade a fen,
Nor let a spark on powder fall,
Nor excavate too near a wall,
Nor touch the cat without a glove,
Nor give the dancing bear a shove,
Nor look for prudence in a prig,
Nor hope forbearance from a Whig,
Nor work a windmill in a storm,
Nor tamper with a state-Reform.

For if, to compass private ends,
Demolish foes, ennoble friends,
Or win the mastery in a squabble,
Thou fire the passions of the rabble,
A mine explodes; and, once begun,
Tumult from bad to worse will run,
Unsettle order, banish peace,
Extirpate rule, and never cease
Till in annihilation lie
Religion, Laws, and Liberty.

Think then and never let Ambition,
In hope to better her condition,
With Discord and with Treason palter;
For retribution hath an halter,
And he who first awakened all
The havoc, shall be first to fall.

Nasce a guisa di rampollo Appiè del vero il dubbio.

C. H.

DOUBT, from the tree of knowledge sprung, When Adam swerved to sin,

Aspiring by forbidden ways

New privilege to win.

E'en with the very act of guilt
The penalty began;

And they who thought to be as gods
Degenerate from man.
The light unlawfully pursued

To fog and darkness changed;
And mortals, driven from Paradise,
Through worlds of error ranged.
Yet heaven vouchsafes a mingled cup
Of antidote and bane;

And, showing us how wide we roam,
Leads to the fold again.

Infirmity keeps down the growth
Of vanity and pride,

Affliction teaches us to seek
A counsellor and guide.

Uncertainty impels us on

To question and explore:

Little we know; and therefore strive
To make that little more.

Yet think it not enough to seek,
Nor e'en to find the way;
For what is learning, till it teach
To practise and obey?

A contrite heart, an upright life,
Denote the truly wise;

Their frankincense is praise and prayer,
And alms their sacrifice.

Tandem aliquando.

THE winter's night is long and cold, And brief the winter's day;

Yet e'en the winter's sun may shed

A momentary ray.

C. H.

The morning may be veiled in mist,
The noon be clouded o'er,
And yet at evening may be found
One cheerful gleam in store.
Youth may be blighted; manhood's toil
And struggle may be vain :
Yet age may steal into the grave
Exempt from care and pain.

O'er half, and more than half of life
May want and sorrow lour;

And yet contentment may descend
On the departing hour.

E'en fame, that long refused to hear
Or own the poet's lay,

May deign a transitory smile

To sooth him in decay.

But why on earth and gauds of earth
The descant thus prolong?
For not to space or time are given
The triumph and the song.
Terrestrial things are but a cloud,
A shadow, or a breath;

And we must vanish from the world
Into the dust of death;

Ere the last trumpet harbinger,
The peace and jubilee
That fill the irrevoluble orb
Of blest eternity.

Past, present, future, disappear

In one perpetual Now,

Where angel hosts and saints redeemed
Before the presence bow.

Wealth, pleasure, glory and domain,
And all the world are dust,

When comes the final bliss that crowns
The labour of the just.

There peril, anguish, e'en the sins
That were the deadly seven,

Shall be remembered but as themes
To swell the joy in heaven.

C. H.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 2.

:

A number of petitions were presented on various subjects; and several against the New Plan of EDUCATION in IRELAND; when Lord Plunket informed the House that the opposition to the new system had wholly failed within a short period, 600 applications from various places had been received, praying that the advantages of the plan might be extended to them—and no less than 125,000 children were at present receiving their education under the new system.

The Earl of Roden brought forward a motion on the STATE OF IRELAND in a long speech, involving many subjects of complaint. The Noble Earl spoke of the attacks made by the peasantry on the Protestants, on the supineness of Ministers, on the necessity of firmness on the part of the Executive, on the non-payment of Tithes, the union of the peasantry against the Tithe System, &c., and concluded by moving," that an humble address be presented to His Majesty, praying that he would take into his gracious consideration the afflicted state of the Protestants of Ireland, to adopt such measures, as, under the distressing circumstances of that part of the empire, were absolutely necessary to uphold the Protestant religion, and to protect the liberty and property of all classes of His Majesty's subjects."-The motion was supported by the Dukes of Wellington and Cumberland, the Earls of Caledon, Eldon, and Wicklow, and the Marquess of Westmeath; and opposed by Viscount Melbourne, Lord Plunkett, and the Marquess of Lansdowne.-On a division, there were for the motion, 79; against it,

120.

In the HOUSE of COMMONS, the same day, Mr. Kennedy, in the Committee of Supply, moved the resolutions on the ORDNANCE ESTIMATES. In the sum total, which was 1,247,000l., the Estimates present a saving of 100,000l., as compared with last year; and of 250,000l., as compared with the year before.

The House went into Committee on the IRISH REFORM Bill, when several clauses were, after some discussion and two divisions, agreed to.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 4.

On the motion of the Lord Chancellor, the SCOTCH REFORM Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on the 9th inst.

The BOUNDARIES' BILL went through a

Committee, and the several amendments being agreed to without discussion, the report was ordered to be received.

In the COMMONS, the same day, a conversation took place on the subject of the CHOLERA MORBUS, in the course of which, Mr. G. Lamb said, that, with the exception of two or three days, it had never wholly disappeared in the metropolis. It was to be apprehended that the disorder was likely, under certain circumstances, to return at all periods. Latterly, however, few cases had terminated fatally, owing to the attention paid by the faculty immediately on the first symptoms becoming manifest.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 5.

The Lord Chancellor brought in a Bill to abolish the HIGH COURT of DELEGATES (the place of appeal from the decision of the Ecclesiastical Courts), and to transfer such appeals to the decision of the Privy Council. Read a first time.

The report of the BOUNDARIES' BILL was received, agreed to, and the bill ordered to be read a third time on Monday, the 9th inst.

In the HOUSE of COMMONS, the same day, Mr. Stanley rose to move for leave to introduce three bills on the subject of IRISH TITHES. The first bill was to render the tithe composition compulsory and permanent, varying only according to the variations in the price of agricultural produce, and falling on the landlord. His second Bill was to constitute a Corporation in each diocese, consisting of the Bishop and beneficed Clergy, who were to collect the whole incomes of the Clergy in the diocese, and to divide them agreeably to the shares to which the Clergy are respectively entitled. The object of this was to remove individual Clergymen from collision with their parishioners. All distress on property was to be abolished. The landlord, on non-payment, was to be liable to an action of debt. His third Bill was to allow landlords to redeem tithes, and the Corporation to invest the price in land. The Hon. Member said, that no man was more anxious than he to have reformed the abuses of the Church, to have the working clergy more equally remunerated for their labours, while others were so profusely paid; and any measure to that end should receive his support. Mr. J. Gratian objected to the scheme of Mr. Stanley, as compositions could not be enforced. He was anxious to see something like the Scotch system established for the

present. He proposed a series of Resolutions, stating that it is essential to the peace of Ireland that Tithes should cease and determine; that the House recognises the various interests, and the duty to provide compensation, and the liability of landed property to contribute to a fund for religion and charity; but that the mode of levying and distributing the fund be left to a Reformed Parliament. Several Members declared that a Protestant Establishment in Ireland was a great grievance, however respectable the Protestant Clergy as a body may be. The debate was then adjourned to the 9th inst.

July 6. In a Committee of SUPPLY a vote of 1000l. was agreed to for a Survey to ascertain the best means of obtaining a supply of Pure Water for the metropolis.

In a Committee on the IRISH REFORM Bill clauses 10 to 53 were agreed to.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 9.

After a long discussion relative to some amendments in the Punishment of Death Bill, on which their Lordships insisted, a conference with the Commons on the subject, was agreed to.

an

The Duke of Richmond moved the third reading of the BOUNDARIES' BILL. The Marquis of Clanricarde moved, as amendment, that Dursley be substituted for Thornbury, as the polling place in Gloucestershire. The Duke of Rutland said that a commission had been sent down to Gloucester, and had reported in favour of Dursley. On a division there appeared for the amendment 46; against it, 27.On the motion of Earl Gower, Arundel was appointed one of the polling places for the western division of the county of Sussex. -Earl Grey said that the labours of the boundary commissioners had been most praiseworthy and impartial, and he thought the public were much indebted to them for the manner in which they had executed their laborious and important duties.-The Lord Chancellor also bore testimony to the zeal, talent, and strict impartiality with which the commissioners had executed the important trust confided to their care.The Bill was then read a third time, and passed.

On the motion that the House resolve itself into a Committee on the ScorCH REFORM Bill, the Earl of Haddington complained that an additional Member was to be given to the University of Dublin, while the Universities, science, and literature of Scotland, were to be left unrepresented. He should now move that it be an instruction to the Committee, that one Member should be given to the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and another to the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrew's.

The Lord Chancellor said that the Noble Earl had by no means satisfied him, either

as to the justice or necessity of granting Members to the Scotch Universities. He did not think that the stillness or sacredness of literary pursuits ought to be broken upon by the madness of political commotion; and was very doubtful that, even in England and Dublin, the elective franchise ought to be bestowed on the Universities. The amendment was negatived.-In the Committee the Earl of Haddington moved that the number of Representatives for Scotland be 61, instead of 53. But the amendment was negatived without a division, and the original motion, granting 53 Members to Scotland, was agreed to.-Several clauses were subsequently agreed to.

In the COMMONS, the same day, the House having resolved itself into Committee on the IRISH REFORM Bill, Mr. D. Browne moved, that Portarlington, New Ross, Enniskillen, Mallow, and Bandon, should be disfranchised. The Members of the three first of these he would give to the counties of Mayo and Donegal, and to the city of Dublin; and the Members for the two last he would give to the county of Cork, which contained upwards of 700,000 inhabitants. The five other towns which he would disfranchise were Athlone, Coleraine, Cashel, Dungannon, and Ennis; and their representatives he would throw into the several counties in which they were situated. He moved to introduce a clause embodying the views which he had just stated. Mr. Stanley opposed the clause, which was ultimately withdrawn. After several other amendments had been proposed and rejected, on the suggestion of Mr. Croker it was agreed to extend the elective franchise of Dublin University to all persons who had obtained the degree of Master of Arts or any higher degree.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that it was intended to hold a Council on Wednesday the 11th to consider the propriety of altering the dates in the Reform Bill, with respect to notices by overseers, and registration, so that the dates should be, instead of the 25th of June, the 20th of July; and instead of the registration being on the 20th of July, it should be on the 20th of August, and in this way the registration should take place one month later than had been originally intended. In answer to a question from Sir R. Peel, Lord J. Russell said the registration would be completed on the 1st day of December. The probability of a dissolution occurring, would, therefore, be easily determined by the Right Hon. Baronet; as, if a dissolution should take place before that day, the whole registration would be nugatory.

The House went into Committee on the IRISH BOUNDARIES' BILL. The clauses having been gone through, the House resumed, and the report was ordered to be received on the 16th.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 10. The Duke of Richmond moved the Order of the Day for going into Committee on the SCOTCH REFORM BILL, when the remaining clauses were agreed to.

After a few observations from the Marquis of Westmeath, the Lord Chancellor, and the Duke of Leinster, the ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS' BILL was read a third time and passed.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, the same day, Mr. Spence obtained leave to bring in a Bill to diminish the delay and expense of proceedings in the COURT OF CHANCERY in certain cases-more particularly as to the proceedings with respect to estates of testators, which at present were very tedious, expensive, and open to endless litigation. Instead of the present process of bill and answer, and subsequent reference to the Master for reports, he proposed that the matter should be disposed of at once by a very brief and simple form of citation, to which the legatee should make no answer, unless on grounds of admitted validity.

Mr. Stanley moved the order of the day for resuming the adjourned debate on the IRISH TITHES' BILL.-Mr. Hume contended that it ought to be postponed till the new Parliament was returned.-Mr. Stanley observed, that the Government stood pledged to one of the Bills-that which made the Tithe Compensation Act permanent and compulsory. After the debate had proceeded for some time, Mr. Callaghan moved that it should be adjourned till Friday, on account of the thin attendance of Members -a motion which was finally agreed to.

July 12. Lord Althorp moved for a Committee of the whole House to take into consideration the convention with Russia, regarding the RUSSIAN DUTCH LOAN. The Noble Lord related the history of the treaty, which he would not defend upon the principle of right or wrong, but on the principle of honour. The subject was discussed at length by Mr. Herries and other Hon. Members, who stated that they regarded the public purse as a sacred depository not to be lightly invaded; adding, that the present suggestions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer would place a heavy drag upon the resources of the nation, against every principle of justice. Mr. Herries moved a resolution, in effect declaring "that the payment of the money to Russia (when a new convention had been entered into, and not communicated to Parliament),

was

contrary to law."-Dr. Lushington defended the conduct of Government.-Sir C. Wetherell thought that some explanation was due from Ministers as to the new treaty. -The Attorney-general was of opinion, that the attempt made by the mover of the resolution was intended to excite the people against the Government.-After a long

discussion, the motion was carried, on a division, by a majority of 46, the numbers being 243 against 197.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 13.

On the motion of Earl Grey the Scotch Reform Bill was read a third time and passed.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, the same day, the debate on the IRISH TITHE COMPOSITION BILL was resumed, when, after much discussion, there appeared for the measure, 124; against it, 32.-The report was then received, and the Bill ordered to be read a third time on Monday the 16th. inst.

July 16. The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved for a Committee of the whole House on the RUSSIAN DUTCH LOAN ; when a lengthened discussion ensued: one party contending that after the separation of Belgium and Holland, the British Government was not bound to continue the payment of the loan (originally 5,000,000l.) to Russia. To this it was answered, that the present opposition was made solely with the hope of turning out the present Ministry: that there undoubtedly existed in England an indisposition to pay Russia, but that that country had not lost her claim to our money, by having, in the case of Poland, earned a title to our detestation; that 5,000,000l. was a large sum, but that the character of England was beyond all price, and that it were better to lose every thing except our honour, than to win the world without it. On a division, there appeared-for the motion, 191; against it, 155: majority for Ministers, 36.

July 18. In answer to an inquiry by Col. Sibthorp, Mr. Thomson said that he had an objection to produce documents relative to the state of the cholera in the metropolis. The average of deaths in and about London was from 20 to 30 a day; were daily announcements to be made, the ports of other countries would be closed against our vessels.

The IRISH REFORM BILL was read a third time, and passed; and the IRISH TITHE BILL was read a second time.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 19. The IRISH REFORM BILL was read a first time, to be read the second time on Monday.

The ANATOMY BILL was read the third time.-Earl Grey then moved as an amendment that the person convicted of murder should be liable, at the discretion of the Judge, to be ordered to be hung in chains, or to be buried within the precincts of the prison, and that this part of the sentence should be expressly stated by the Judge, in pronouncing sentence.-This amendment was agreed to, and the Bill was passed.