their associates, as well in those things which pertain unto God as in those which belong to the world. The guild was to assist at all times him who had the most just claim. When any member died, he was carried by the brotherhood to the place of sepulture chosen

by himself; any member neglecting to attend the funeral was fined in a sextarium of honey. The guild-scipe contributed half the expense of the interment, each of the brethren two pence for alms, and what was meet and proper was given to the church of Saint Etheldrytha.

NTIQUARIES have failed in determining to what extent the aboriginal Britons were acquainted with the art of smelting iron-ore. The words of Cæsar are not conclusive on this point; though, on a careful consideration of them, most persons would be disposed to infer that the inhabitants of this island were to a limited extent in possession of that art at the time of his arrival. "Utuntur aut ære, aut taleis ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro nummo. Nascitur ibi plumbum album in mediterraneis regionibus, in maritimis ferrum; sed ejus exigua est copia: ære utuntur importato."

Strabo, who flourished in the century preceding the christian era, and was contemporary with Cæsar,* states in

* We are not informed of the date of Strabo's birth, though it seems to be generally admitted that he flourished under Augustus, and died at an advanced age under Tiberius.

According to Clinton, Fasti Hell. ii. 552, he was living B.C. 71, 58, 24, and A.D. 14; see Clinton's elaborate discussion, Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica, Encyclopædia Londinensis, &c.

66

Strabon, le premier géographe de l'antiquité, sous le rapport historique et

his account of Britain, that it produces corn and cattle, gold, silver, and iron, which articles are thence exported.

Φέρει δὲ σίτον, καὶ βοσκήματα, καὶ χρυσὸν, και ἄργυρον, καὶ σίδηρον ταῦτα δὲ κομίζεται ἐξ αὐτῆς. Lib. iv. 199, p. 305 ; Strabonis Geog. cum notis Casauboni, Amsterdam, 1708.

The following arguments in support of the early knowledge of the use and manufacture of iron in this country, are advanced by Mr. Scrivenor * :—

Herodotus, who died about B.C. 414, tells us that the Greeks knew the Phoenicians fetched their tin† from Britain [from the Cassiterides: the words of Herodotus ‡ are, "neither am I certain that there are islands called the

littéraire, naquit à Amasée dans la Cappadoce, environ cinquante ans avant I. C.; ses ancêtres du côté maternel étaient au nombre des personnages les plus distingués de la cour de Mithridates."-Biographie Universelle, tom. xliv. à Paris, 1826.

*Comprehensive History of the Iron Trade, by Harry Scrivenor, 1841,

p. 23.

That tin was procured from Britain in a very early age, appears probable from the concurrent testimony of the most ancient historians. The Phoenicians are said by Strabo to have passed the Pillars of Hercules, now the Straits of Gibraltar, about twelve hundred years before Christ At what pre

cise period they discovered the Cassiterides or tin islands is unknown, nor is their exact situation determined, but it is generally believed that the Scilly islands, and the western part of Britain, were the places from whence these early navigators procured the tin which they exported to other countries. The Phoenicians were extremely anxious to conceal from the rest of the world the true situation of the Cassiterides. Herodotus, who wrote about four hundred and fifty years B.C. could not learn where these islands were situated.—Rees's Cyclopædia.

Cassiterides, islands in the western ocean where tin was found, supposed to be the Scilly islands, with a part of Cornwall.-Mannert, ii. 238. Lemprière's

Classical Dict.

† Οὔτε νήσους οἶδα Κασσιτερίδας ἐούσας, ἐκ τῶν ὁ κασσίτερος ἡμῖν φοιτᾷ. τοῦτο δὲ, οὐδενὸς αὐτόπτεω γενομένου οὐ δύναμαι ἀκοῦσαι, τοῦτο μελετῶν, ὅκως θάλασσά ἐστι τὰ ἐπέκεινα τῆς Εὐρώπης. ἓξ εσχάτης δ ̓ ὧν ὅ τε κασσί τερον ἡμῖν φοιτᾷ καὶ τὸ ἥλεκτρον.-Herod. Thalia, 115.

Cassiterides from whence tin is imported to us,-though I have sought the information, I have never heard from any one who had seen and knew that there is a sea beyond Europe, yet it is certain that our tin and amber are brought from those extreme parts."-Herod. Thalia, 115.]

"This remark," continues Mr. Scrivenor, "establishes the fact of a trade of some standing; and can we suppose that the Britons, during that intercourse, seeing the ships of their visitors, with all the usual requisite iron arms and appointments, did not, even if before ignorant of iron and its uses, become fully instructed how to obtain it from its ores, and probably to form it into such things as they saw used, or as the Phoenicians from accident or shipwreck might need to replace losses. More to confirm the preceding supposition that the Britons knew and practised the manufacture of iron, we may remark that Henry (in his Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 215, quoting Diod. Sic. lib. v. p. 22), informs us that the Gauls were of the same origin and spoke the same language as the ancient Britons, and that the Gaulish nations got possession of these coasts. It is unreasonable to suppose that a warlike nation should colonise Britain, and that the colonists should not bring with them their knowledge of iron and its uses, in arms, &c. and at once labour to supply themselves."

No doubt, however, remains, that the iron-mines of this country were extensively explored by the Romans, and that they established foundries in various parts of the kingdom. In Yorkshire, in the Forest of Dean, in the Weald of Sussex, and other places, there are immense beds of cinders, the remains of ancient iron-works, in which their coins and pottery have been found. In communications made to the Sussex Archæological Society, Mr. M. A. Lower has made public some highly interesting researches on the ancient Iron-works of that district. At

Maresfield,* about twelve miles north of Lewes, is a bed of cinders extending for some acres, in which have been found several coins of Nero, Vespasian, Tetricus, and Dioclesian, together with other Roman vestiges.

In the absence of further evidence, Mr. Lower is unwilling to speculate largely upon the date of the commencement of these iron-works; but, from the preponderance of the coins of Vespasian, he advances a conjecture that it took place during the reign of that emperor or his successor, Titus, at a time when Agricola, then governor of Britain, was successfully introducing the arts of civilisation into this island. That the works were still carried forward in Dioclesian's time is clear from the coin of that monarch.

Since the discoveries at Maresfield, Mr. Mercer, of Sedlescombe, in the same county, has observed two other sites of iron-works, where Roman coins have been found; viz. at Sedlescombe and at Westfield. The scoriæ still contains much metal,-a proof that the Romans were not very skilful in smelting.

With regard to the seven or eight centuries which succeeded the departure of the Romans from Britain, history and archæology seem alike silent on the subject of iron. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that the Romanized

* The place in question is the site of one of the innumerable fields of iron scoriæ marking the localities of the extinct furnaces and forges of the Sussex weald. The coins, &c. which Mr. Lower has inspected, are as follow:66 Nero, A.D. 54-68; two.

"Of those which cannot be appropriated, some may belong to the intervening emperors." Among other Roman antiquities here found, are, a brass fibula and many fragments of coarse fictile vessels, principally domestic. The pottery of this kind is in great quantities, and of great variety as regards shape,

Britons retained this most useful art of smelting and working iron, and that the Anglo-Saxons after them continued it upon the old sites.* Further examination of our cinder-beds may hereafter bring to light Romano-British and Saxon remains, and prove for those peoples what Maresfield has proved for the Romans. In the mean time we are, perhaps, justified in assuming that when so valuable and necessary a manufacture had been once introduced, it would be retained so long as the three essentials for its perpetuation--the ore, the fuel, and the flux-continued in sufficient abundance of supply; in other words, that the iron trade of Sussex was carried on uninterruptedly from Roman times till its extinction in consequence of the failure of fuel almost within our own recollection.†

The art of working in metals was more highly esteemed than any other by the Anglo-Saxons. Their best artisans were the clergy. Edgar established a law, that every priest, to increase knowledge, should diligently learn some handicraft. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, to the arts of music, engraving, painting, and writing, added the craft of a smith, and was an expert workman. Stigand and Ethelwold, both bishops, were celebrated for their

colour, and fineness. Several fragments of the vessels known as mortaria have the potters' names boldly stamped upon them, particularly IVCVN (for Jucundus ?) and EVAI. Fragments of fine red or Samian ware, both figured and plain. Several of these likewise bear potter's marks or stamps, particularly OF. (officinâ), MIRAVI, and IVAN or IVANI.—Archæological Notices of the Iron-works of the County of Sussex, by Mark Antony Lower, p. 173.

* Domesday-book makes no mention of iron under the county of Sussex, though it does under those of Somerset, Hereford, Gloucester, Cheshire, and Lincoln.-Ibid. p. 177.

† Archæological Notices of the Iron-works of the County of Sussex, by Mark Antony Lower; Sussex Archæological Collections and Archæological Journal.

Turner's Anglo-Saxons; Pictorial History of England, &c.