terms, Early English, Decorated English, and Perpendicular English. The debase. ment ensued in what has often been called the Tudor Age; and, though with some considerable variations, continued to be the universally prevailing style, through the reigns of the virgin Queen and her successor King James the First. Debasement though it be accounted, and strangely mixed with no small portions derived from the recently attempted revival of the Roman orders, it is yet a style that in our times seems to be peculiarly dear to Englishmen. And justly is it so. For, in the construction of country residences, large or small, there is no other that harmonizes so well with the general scenery of our native land. Amid the variety of orders and styles, the ornaments of ages more or less remote, that have been extensively adopted in the buildings of the present century, the public estimation has decidedly marked this peculiar style as its own; and the appropriate term Elizabethan will descend to our posterity, as designating the many fine examples, that have lately been modelled from existing edifices of the last reign of the Tudors, and the first of the Stuarts.

Of the many Churches that have been built, several may be observed as successful erections after the three pure orders of Greece, which are now perfectly well understood. The Roman orders have not been so frequently followed; but, as in the domestic department, the designs for a considerable majority of sacred edifices have been sought in our own land. Within the last few years many Norman and Early English churches have arisen, a few of the Decorated, and still more of the Perpendicular style. If there be any cause for regret, it is in cases where the means have not been sufficiently ample, to do justice to the acknowledged taste and skill of the respective architects.

The styles that in our age have been adopted, especially for Domestic purposes, were derived however from a still wider range. The ancient and massive temples of Egypt have given rise to some correct imitations, though on a very small scale; and where a lighter and truly oriental style has pleased the fancy, China and Hindostan, Persia and Turkey, have afforded designs, which, though not in accordance with the general taste, have contributed to augment the variety, so strikingly presented by modern architecture. To come nearer home; the timber houses of Switzerland, with their exterior stairs and galleries, and the older mansions of the same material, so general in this country and on the continent, while the ancient forests were yet in being, have each had their

cess.

practical admirers, and with equal sucThe thatched cottage, which seems best fitted for the abode of humble life, in the more retired villages and fields, has been constructed in numerous instances for the occasional residence of the highest classes of society, and even of royalty itself. In one remarkable instance, (the Royal Cottage in Windsor Park) the requisite extent of building, for the accommodation of a large establishment, was so judiciously concealed by varied plantations and evergreen fences on well chosen spots, that the views of the cottage from different parts of the lawns and gardens could not possibly offend the eye of taste, by displaying too broad a mass of building, in proportion to the height, which of necessity was very limited.

The old castellated buildings of France and Scotland, with their characteristic accompaniments of round embattled towers and high conical roofs, appear to have been but once imitated in England, in the Penitentiary on the outskirts of Westminster: while a style, of a very different class, called modern Italian, Romanesque, or Tuscan, has met with many admirers, and been extensively adopted, for domestic use, during the last twenty years. It may be either simple in its outline and details, or admit of considerable and even extreme enrichment; and it is well suited for many important purposes, in no ordinary degree. Several judicious and commodious structures of the kind have been erected, varying greatly in form, as occasion may have required, but all evidently bespeaking a common origin. It may either be square and compact in figure; or, consistently with the utmost convenience, and without any violation of rule, it may be planned with the greatest possible irregularity. The effect is often exceedingly picturesque; and future additions may be made, without the slightest injury to this desirable and attractive quality.

One of the earliest structures in this style, that excited more than ordinary attention, is the tower which was built on Lansdown, near Bath, by William Beckford, esq. soon after he had disposed of his estate at Fonthill, in the year 1822. Of the buildings that are square and compact, as best suited for street architecture, perhaps the most elegant specimens are, the Travellers' Club House in Pall Mall, the two fronts of which were designed from the Pandulfi Palace at Florence; the Reform Club House, recently erected in the same street; the Club Chambers, about the same time, in the first division from thence of Regent Street; and the London and Westminster Bank, near the Bank of England. The edifices that have

been designed with more or less of irregularity, as being well adapted for country residences, are already very numerous. There are indeed many to be admired; and without depreciating their peculiar merits, it may suffice to mention the handsome and commodious house, built a few years ago at Bromley Hill in Kent, by the late Lord Farnborough; and of still more recent erection, and for a purpose interesting to humanity, Tue Brook Villa, near Liverpool, the property and residence of John Owen, esq.

In the last century, nearly all the more costly structures of the period were properly speaking of the Palladian School. They were according to the revived architecture of Rome; and admitted of no deviation whatever from the strict rules of the Five Orders, as laid down by the best professors of the art, in the Augustan age. For the domestic retirement of rural life, neither these, nor the still more rigid regulations of the pure Grecian orders, have had any decided preference shewn them in our days, compared with the much greater number of mansions, that have been raised on plans of more unlimited freedom, both of outline and decoration. This liberty has been found, and extensively acted upon, in following the Elizabethan examples of our own land, as well as those of modern times in Italy, which are correctly designated by the term Romanesque. These two styles, which comprise some principles of affinity to each other, that have occasionally produced a resemblance by no means distant, are to be seen in high perfection, as the ornaments of many a fair park and lawn, in almost every district of the kingdom.

To sum up these remarks on the Architecture of the Nineteenth Century, it may be added, that in the hemisphere which contains Europe, Asia, and Africa, the buildings of every country, that either is, or has been civilized, have been carefully examined, for the advancement of the art in the united kingdom. SAXON.

OXFORD ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.

Feb. 26. A paper was read by Mr. Derick, on St. Mary Magdalene Church, Oxford, showing from a careful examina. tion of the construction, that the original chancel is the work of the twelfth century, though little of the original work now re. mains. The very singular east window he showed to be of the fourteenth century, by careful drawings and sections of details: this window is remarkably plain, though belonging to the style called "Decorated." The north aisle is the work of the thirteenth century, though

much mutilated. The beautiful south aisle, or chapel, is of the time of Edward II., and supposed to be founded by that monarch as a chapel to the monastery of the Carmelites or White Friars, he having given them his palace of Beaumont for their monastery, in fulfilment of a vow made at the battle of Bannockburn, by the advice of his confessor, who was a monk of this fraternity. The nave and tower were rebuilt in the reign of Henry VIII., but in the tower a quantity of old materials, brought from Rewley Abbey at the time the church there was pulled down, are built into the later work. Mr. Derick showed, by his drawings and sections, that the very singular window on the west side of the tower is quite of the French Flamboyant style, not only in its general character, but also in its mouldings and details, and by the manner in which it is built into the other work must have been brought from some other building, the masonry as well as the style being different from that of the tower itself. He then supported the conclusions he had drawn from the examination of the building, by extracts from Dugdale and Antony Wood.

March 11. A letter was read from Professor Wilson, on the subject of Gothic churches in India, stating the difficulties which would have to be encountered. Some remarks upon this letter were also read, showing how these difficulties might perhaps be avoided, observing that good taste is not necessarily expensive, but often the reverse; that elegant forms do not necessarily cost more than ugly ones; and that ornament is not essential to Gothic architecture. That even if not more than a thousand pounds could be raised at once for a church, that sum might suffice to build a chapel on the model of Littlemore, which might afterwards become the chancel of a large church. And this plan appears to have been frequently acted upon in the middle ages in poor districts. Mr. Sewell mentioned that a similar plan has lately been acted upon in Ireland with great advantage; the chapel which is to form the nucleus of a future church being also used as a school-room.

A paper was read by Mr. Parker on St. Michael's church, Oxford, illustrated by several drawings. The tower of this church is supposed to be Saxon, and has several balustre windows, also long-and-short work at the angles; but the peculiar form of the abacus used in all the windows, and

in an original doorway now blocked up, looks more like Norman than Saxon work. The chancel is plain and somewhat rude work of the 13th century; the east window

partly filled up, and its proportions spoiled, to accommodate the wainscoting. The nave and south aisle of the 14th. One of the windows of this aisle is an uncommon one, a plain window of three lancetformed lights under one arch, with mouldings of the early part of the 14th century, very clear and distinct. The north side is of the 15th century. At the east end of it are three very elegant niches of an unusual form, which have originally been the reredos of an altar. The porch is a good specimen of the 14th century.

OXFORD MEMORIAL OF CRANMER,
RIDLEY, AND LATIMER.

A meeting of the subscribers to this undertaking was holden in the Town Hall, Oxford, on Thursday March 5th. The Committee have found it impracticable to obtain an eligible site for "A Church commemorative, chiefly by external decoration, of the three Martyr Prelates." It was therefore resolved, in accordance with the spirit of the Resolution of January 31, 1839, to substitute for this a Monumental Structure at the northern extremity of St. Mary Magdalene churchyard, in connexion with the rebuilding and enlarging the northern aisle of the church, so as to be capable of containing about the same number of persons as it was proposed to accommodate in a separate building; that aisle to be called the Martyrs' aisle, and to be commemorative of them chiefly by external decoration. The monumental structure will be a cross of the character of those of Queen Eleanor, and the alterations of the church will be in accordance with the style of the monument. A Committee was authorised to choose a design, and adopt all necessary measures for carrying the resolutions into effect.

THE LITERARY FUND.

March 11. At the anniversary there was a general re-election of the President, Vice-Presidents, and other officers of this excellent Institution; and a manifest improvement on their efficiency as a body was made by reviving two offices which had fallen into desuetude, viz. the offices of Honorary Solicitor and Honorary Physician. The trouble of the former was generously undertaken by William Tooke, esq. (already one of the Treasurers of the Fund); and for the latter, Dr. Fraser, now returning from Rome, also offered his services in the most liberal manner. When it is remembered how often medical aid may be administered to the applicants, and be far more valuable than any pecuniary aid which could be given them, the

value and importance of this arrangement can hardly be too highly estimated.

RECENT DESTRUCTION OF EXCHEQUER RECORDS AT SOMERSET-HOUSE.

The attention of that portion of the public which entertains a regard for historical literature has been strongly excited by some recent disclosures made respecting the destruction of a very large mass of valuable national records. The subject was brought before the House of Peers by Lord Redesdale, and an address was carried for copies of all communications between the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Exchequer respecting this untoward transaction. These communications were laid before the House on the 17th of March, and have since been printed. On that occasion Lord Monteagle assured the House that every document of the least value had been preserved; but whether his Lordship had been rightly informed, our readers will be better able to judge when they have perused what follows. It appears from the correspondence, that the first intimation of the state of these documents was conveyed to Sir John Newport, the late Comptroller, in March 1836, by Mr. Frederick Devon, who reported that they were lying in a vault of Somerset House, the doorway of which had been built up for many years, and which he entered by means of a ladder at a place which was once a window; and that there was nothing to prevent their being stolen by any one who knew of their situation. A communication was made by Sir John Newport to the Treasury; but nothing was done for nearly two years, until in March 1838 an agreement was made with Mr. Charles Jay, a fishmonger in Hungerford Market, for their sale at the price of 87. a ton. The further details of the operations we shall give in the words of Mr. Ashburnham Bulley, the principal officer employed.

"The papers, books, parchments, &c. contained in above 100 large boxes, besides an immense heap upon the floor of the vault, upon removal and investigation, have been found to consist of all varieties of official papers connected with the transactions of the different departments of the ancient Exchequer, ranging from the time of Edward IV. to the year 1788 in the reign of George III., referring chiefly to the expenditure of the State, and the larger quantity belonging to the periods approaching our own times. They have been deposited in the vault at different uncertain periods anterior to the last fifty years, and have there laid, dirty, mouldering, and

rotting, until this examination. The great mass was composed of Treasury letters of direction, rough accounts and account books, of receipts for the several services and for small sums, of warrants and orders long since satisfied, relating in great measure to loans raised by way of annuity, lottery, &c. to carry on the wars in which this country was engaged during the last century. These documents, although possessed of no real value at the present time, would probably, if allowed to go out in their perfect form, originate troublesome inquiries and mistaken claims upon the Government by the descendants of the individuals named in them; it has therefore been considered necessary to deprive each order and warrant of its signature, &c.; the books also have been effectually destroyed; and the whole, after having been thus subjected to careful examination and mutilation, have been disposed of under the contract approved by the Treasury.

"The Exchequer, at an earlier period, not only took cognizance of, controlled, and recorded the income and expenditure of the country in its masses, but appears to have entered into, and to have been the depository of, the most minute details of every circumstance connected with matters of account. It could not, therefore, but be anticipated that amongst such a mass of papers referring to its Transactions some few would be discovered, possessed not only of official value as records, but of general interest, as bearing the most authentic, because original, evidence upon many points of curiosity to the antiquarian, or of doubt to the student and the historian. Accordingly I have the satisfaction of stating below the titles of some very curious and valuable documents which have been preserved, in addition to the rolls and books reserved towards supplying the deficiencies of the series of records already established here. The entire books, documents, &c. having been subjected to the action of damp in a vault on a level with and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Thames for upwards of half a century, many of them had become decomposed, and the whole mass would, if still left to the operation of the same influence, have shared in the same undistinguishing destruction. I trust, therefore, that these results, whilst they prove the necessity and advantage of the examination instituted by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, will also be received as evidence of the care with which it has been conducted, and will be satisfactory to their Lordships and to yourself.

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS RESERVED.

1st. As Official Records.

Issue Rolls, various, from the time of Edward. IV. Receipt Ditto. Privy Seal Books. Patent Ditto. Warrant Ditto. Books of Issue. Books of Receipt. Privy Seals, &c.

2d. As possessed not only of official but general interest and value.

Imperfect Books of entry of Letters to Queen Elizabeth, concerning Mary Queen of Scots, and various other subjects, Anno 1571-2, dated from Blois and Paris ; likewise of several addressed to Lords Leicester, Sussex, Burghley, and other Statesmen.

Quarterly Returns of State Prisoners in the Tower of London and Gatehouse at Westminster, signed by Lords of the Council and Lieutenant of the Tower, with expenses of the same, &c. from 1570. (Incomplete.)

Court Rolls from the Manor of Bermeghem (Elizabeth.)

Copy of the Bonds delivered to the French Ambassador upon the payment of 60,000l. into the Exchequer from the Queen Regent of France, due from the late Henry IV. of France to Queen Elizabeth. 7th November 1612.

Account of Jewels, Gold, Silver, and Diamonds, &c. sold (and to whom) or coined for Her Majesty's Benefit, amounting to the sum of 9,8107. 16s. 10d. Anno 1600. 42 Elizabeth.

Accounts of a like nature.

Sir Benjamin Tichbourne's (and others) account for carrying certain Prisoners from Bagshot to Winchester; viz. Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Griffin Markham, Sir Edward Parham, Lord Cobham, &c. Anno 1603.

Articles of Agreement between Henry VIII. and the Parliament. Signed by the King.

Expenses of Diet of Lords of the Council, &c. at the Star Chamber, from 1560 to ; stating (in many instances) the Lords present on each day, with name and price of each article provided.

Ditto of Lords of the Council at the Palace.

Ditto of Cardinal Wolsey.

A few Bulls of the Pope on several subjects about the same period.

A Diplomatic Correspondence (temp. Henry VIII.) partly in Latin and in cipher, principally addressed to Cardinal Wolsey.

Twenty-three Articles of Impeachment exhibited against the Earl of Kildare by the Earl of Ormonde. Signed by Cardinal Wolsey.

Privy Seals of Prince Charles, signed by him. Anno 1623.

Household Expenses of Prince Charles. Anno 1618, 1619, 1620.

Composition Book (in counties), stating sums paid by each individual to be exempted from Knighthood at the Coronation of Charles I.

Original Commission for Loans in the county of Derby, with Returns of the Sums lent by the several Parties. (Charles I. and subsequently.)

Number of Persons touched for the King's Evil, and Medals delivered to the same. Signed by the Clerk of the Closet. Various dates, from 1669 to 1675.

Rolls of Ushers of the Exchequer. (Oliver Cromwell.) &c. &c. &c.

"These Books and Documents reserved are in the Record Room of this Office, and the vault at Somerset House is perfectly clear, and is, I believe, now appropriated to the use of another Department. The paper disposed of (after undergoing the mutilation above mentioned, and under the contract approved by the Treasury), amounting by weight to eight tons and three quarters, and the boxes, have produced the sum of 791. 2s., which remains in my hands; the purchaser paying all expenses of raising from the vault, and removing them to and from the Exchequer, which alone, as I am informed, cost him 301. "In order to accomplish the examination within the shortest period, since the 15th of last March, with few exceptions, to the present time, the following persons have been engaged in it, in extra official hours: -Myself, upon an average three hours daily; two clerks, each five hours; two messengers, each six hours; every precaution having been successfully taken against fire; and for this extra occupation, during a period of nine months, undertaken by the direction of the Lords of the Treasury, and to be specially remunerated, no remuneration has been hitherto received. In respectfully calling, by your aid, the attention of their Lordships to this point, I should feel myself wanting in justice to those employed under me in the task if I failed to point out the extremely disagreeable if not unhealthy nature of the employment; and, in so doing, I hope to establish a claim to their Lordships' most liberal consideration. The Papers, &c. having been, as I have stated, for above half a century lying in a damp vault, and many of them mouldering away, the room appropriated for their examination became constantly charged with the decomposed particles and dust, to be inhaled by those engaged in the operation; and the weight alone of papers sold (not including those entirely destroyed, rotten, or reserved),

each of which had to be examined and mutilated, will prove that the duty has been extremely laborious; in fact I have never had to perform a more arduous or unpleasant task."

For the performance of these services. the sum of 2001. was awarded to Mr. Bulley, to his two clerks 21. 28. per week each, and to the two messengers a gratuity of 301. each. It has been already seen that the total sum received from the fishmonger was less than 807. Viewed merely in a financial point of view, it is by no means satisfactory that the papers should have been brought to so bad a market. No sooner do the dealers in autographs hear rumours of the game in view, than they go and offer to Mr. Jay a profit of 5007. per cent. We are informed on good authority that Mr. Waller, a dealer in curiosities, gave Jay 30s. a cwt. for such portions only of the documents as were written on paper, those on parchment being more valuable. Thus the first profit was enormous; but from amongst each hundredweight of papers there were doubtless many documents, the market value of which in one of our literary auction-rooms would be some pounds each. Thus the amount of the public loss by the fishbasket plan is incalculable.

But then comes the more important question-why should this rich and intelligent country, acting upon such a pennywise and pound-foolish system, sell its national muniments at all? Why should an employment of so "extremely disagreeable if not unhealthy nature" be imposed upon the delicate frames of the clerks of the Exchequer? why should not documents, admitted to be of by-gone times, deposited the very latest fifty, and many of them a hundred years ago," be removed for sortation to the dry, warmed, and ventilated basement story of the British Museum, and be there examined by another class of public officers, who have had more experience in matters of the kind? would be very easy for the Government departments to retain the power of recall upon any documents which, on the inspection of an inventory or calendar, it might be considered premature to submit to the public eye: but to pretend that historical documents can be properly estimated by mere arithmeticians, accountants, and porters, is the very height of absurdity.

It

Of the truth of this opinion we have ample proof in the statement made by the Earl of Aberdeen in the House of Lords, on the 23d March. The noble President of the Society of Antiquaries then remarked, that he had no doubt that there was a large mass of papers