The station of Cilurnum, containing five acres and a quarter, is the largest but one on the line of Hadrian's Wall. It guarded the bridge which connects the traffic on the two sides of the North Tyne, and it commanded the woody defile along which that river flows from the north to the south. It is situated in a fertile district, which would at all times attract a numerous population. During the period of Roman domination the forum of Cilurnum would be the resort of many seeking justice at the hands of the prefect, and of others who brought their wares to supply the wants of the garrison and the suburban population.

The want of a really good biographical dictionary of Englishmen is, perhaps, more felt by those whose vocation it is to investigate the details of the great civil war of the seventeenth century than by students of any other class. The fame of three or four of the leading spirits of the time has eclipsed in the common memory almost all the other people who took an important part in the struggle between Charles the First and his Parliament. Such must be in a great degree the case whenever the dramatic interest of the story centres in the actions of one commanding intellect or the misfortunes and errors of a single sufferer; but there is, we believe, no other great crisis in modern history where the less known have been permitted to remain so entirely unknown as the time of which we speak.

Glass is, in many respects, one of the most remarkable substances in the world. No known substance combines such varied uses with such matchless beauties. For innumerable domestic purposes it has for centuries been considered a necessity of daily life. Without glass innumerable paths in science and the arts would never have been explored; and in these paths progress has been made in proportion as the methods of making glass have been improved. On the other hand the peculiar beauties inherent in or incident to this material are so great that at no period in history has man been able to grasp completely more than one of them at once. The Venetians realized above all others the marvellous capacity of glass for being wrought into all kinds of beautiful forms; our Gothic forefathers developed beyond all others its capabilities in respect of colour; the Phoenicians and Romans did wonders both in form and colour, but were nevertheless inferior to the Venetians in the former, and to our Gothic forefathers in the latter; we, in our day, excel in developing to the utmost (wonderful talent that it is!) the crystalline transparency and brilliancy of glass, but it is in this direction only that we have any true art or artists—in form and colour we do comparatively nothing. Thus, in each instance, the full realization of a period has been but as it were a passing glimpse—it has never been found possible to retain it, so as to carry it into the full realization of another period; even as the highest natural beauty is but for a moment—it increases until maturity, and then immediately begins to fade.

It has long been known that the Romans had a camp at South Shields. The entrance into the Tyne was strongly protected by them. On the north bank of the river was a fort where Tynemouth Priory now stands, and another at Blake Chesters, about two miles to the west of Tynemouth. On the south bank were the camps of South Shields and Jarrow.

You have made the study of the Deæ Matres and the Matronæ so peculiarly your own, by the notices, in Collectanea Antiqua and Roman London, of the many memorials of these lesser Roman divinities which exist in Britain, Germany, and France, that, in venturing on the same subject, I feel almost like a trespasser. Yet we are all bound to contribute our respective gleanings to the general stock of information. Moreover, the Cisalpine examples of the cult of the Matronæ, which I now propose to consider, though perfectly analogous to those of other countries—the subjects of your studies—yet have their respective points of difference. These, though difficult to explain, should not pass unnoticed, and your labours have lightened my task.

Kempley is about seven miles from Ross. It is in Gloucestershire, but on the borders of the county of Hereford, and was formerly in the diocese of Hereford, though now in that of Gloucester and Bristol. The church, which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, is of the usual type of small parish churches of the Norman period, being made up of aisleless nave and chancel, the former about 34 feet by 19 feet, the latter about 18 feet by 14 feet, inside the walls. All the original walls remain, though most of the windows have been replaced by later ones, and a tower of the fifteenth century has been added at the west end. The chancel is roofed with a plain barrel-vault of rubble.

An apology is needed for my presumption in reading a paper this evening on the Churchwardens' Accounts of Stratton. They certainly ought to have fallen to the lot of some Cornish man. My attention, however, was directed to them by their present owner, William Maskell, Esq. E.S.A. and I found them so interesting that I could not resist the temptation of bringing certain gleanings I have made therefrom under the notice of this Society.

The city of Ravenna possesses a museum adjoining the municipal library, and known by the name of “Museo Classense.” It is not often visited by foreigners, whose attention is generally absorbed by the splendid ancient buildings of which that town is still so full.

The two Psalters which Mr. Bragge has been good enough to exhibit on this occasion, at my request, are good specimens of writing and of illumination, of the middle of the thirteenth century; but are particularly interesting from the curious entries in the calendars prefixed to them.