In using Asser's Life of King Alfred as the ground-work of a biographical sketeh of that Monarch, some doubts have arisen in my mind as to the authenticity and character of that well-known work, which I take the liberty of laying before the Society of Antiquaries. It is an important question, because it affects one of the most interesting periods of our national history; and I hope that these observations may lead to a more thorough investigation of the question by those who are better capable of deciding than myself. It will be had in mind that the book in question purports to be a life of King Alfred, written in the 45th year of his age (i. e. A.D. 893 or 894), by his intimate friend Bishop Asser.

Page 176, note, line 7, for Burnet read Burnel.

The announcement in the French journals of the month of August 1838, that by the researches of the distinguished antiquary of Normandy, M. Deville, the lost effigy of King Richard had been brought to light from beneath the pavement of the choir in Rouen Cathedral, induced me to take the earliest opportunity of visiting that city, with the special purpose of examining so interesting a memorial. During the last summer I had the occasion of correcting the observations previously made, and which I had reserved in the hope that no long interval would elapse, before a second similar investigation, conducted with the same enthusiasm, and rewarded by a like success, might enable me to add to this notice of the relics of the Lion-hearted Richard, some account of the Tomb of Henry his elder brother, whose remains were deposited near to the spot where the effigy of Richard has been discovered, and whose memorial shared the same fate, by which both tombs were barbarously condemned to be destroyed. Owing to unexpected circumstances no further researches have hitherto been permitted, and as I am not aware, that during the interval any accurate report of the discovery made in 1838, has been made public, I am induced to hope that a short notice on a subject so interesting both in relation to early art, and to monumental antiquities, may not be unacceptable to the Society.

In 1832 I had the honour of addressing you on the occasion of the first excavation made by Lord Maynard at the Bartlow Hills. These hills were represented by me to consist of a line of four greater barrows, and of a line of three smaller barrows in front of the others; and I acquainted you that we then opened the three latter, and that, in each, we found a variety of Roman sepulchral objects.

In the autumn of 1838, and in the spring of last year, excavations were made for the foundations of cottages, and also for materials for brickmaking, in a field called Church-field, situate on the banks of the Medway, between the town of Strood and the Temple farm, and opposite the castle of Rochester.

Some jet rings, and an ornament of the same material bearing a Medusa's head, were exhibited to the Society about a twelvemonth since, with a brief remark, stating the fact of their having been found during the progress of the work, with several hundred coins.

This announcement induced me to visit the spot. Finding that the report was not exaggerated, but, on the contrary, that other discoveries had been made and might still be looked for, I repeated my visit several times during the summer, and now lay the result before you ; at the same time I am enabled to furnish information relative to contemporary investigations in other parts of the county of Kent.

The drawing which accompanies this Memoir represents two undescribed leaden fonts existing in the several parish churches of Llancaut, and Tidenham, situated within the manor of Tidenham in Gloucestershire, apparently of the Saxon period, and certainly casts from the same mould. The Memoir itself and the accompanying map relate also to other ancient remains existing within the same district of Strigul, which are of a local nature, but tending to connect some minor links of our national antiquities.

The volume of Monumental Effigies, drawn and engraved by Mr. Charles Alfred Stothard, F.S.A. the late draughtsman to the Society, is so generally known and so highly appreciated wherever known, that it is only necessary, in order to introduce the subject of the following remarks, to remind the reader that it was left imperfect, in consequence of the author's sudden death, from a lamentable accident which occurred in the pursuit of his congenial profession. It was a part of Mr. Stothard's plan to have included in his work a complete series of the effigies of the Kings and Queens of this country; and for that purpose he visited France, and brought from Fontevraud his drawings of the statues of Henry the Second and his Queen, of Richard the First, and of Isabella Queen of John; and from the Abbey of L'Espan, near le Mans, the effigy of Berengaria, Queen of Richard I., as well as the figure of Geoffrey, Comte of Anjou, from an enamelled Plate in the church of St. Julien at le Mans. There were others, however, and those by no means inferior to any in beauty or interest, which had been left, perhaps from the very reason of their being within immediate reach, until some convenient opportunity, which was frustrated by the premature close of the artist's career. I allude particularly to those of Queen Philippa, King Richard the Second, and his Queen Anne of Bohemia, all in Westminster Abbey.

Having at the request of his Excellency Sir Henry Bouverie undertaken the superintendance of the excavations near Casel Crendi in this island, he has suggested to me that a short description of them, illustrative of the ground plan, taken for him by Mr. Foulis of the 59th Regiment, might be an acceptable present to the Society of Antiquaries. I have therefore taken the liberty of forwarding it to you, accompanied by a lithograph of the images.

Position.—ORFORD Castle is in no way remarkable for its position. It lies nearly two miles from the sea, and about half a mile from the river Ore, which here flows through low swampy ground, whilst on the land side the country is for some miles perfectly flat. But this natural weakness of its situation has been in some measure made up by the keep being erected upon a mound, that in a degree is artificial, and being surrounded by a fosse, varying from twenty to thirty feet in depth. In addition to this, the multangular keep was encircled by a lofty wall, that had merlons and a parapet walk all round. This concentric defence terminated at the approach across the fosse on the south-western side. Very little of it now remains, and even the whole of that which does, is so much hollowed out and broken near the ground, that it stands in a precarious and dangerous state.

I beg to submit to the Society of Antiquaries a sketch of the interior of the west end of the Nave and South Aisle of Saint Mary Overy's Church, Southwark (Plate XXIX.), in compliance with the request which you made in the early part of last year. I will trouble you with only a few remarks upon this ancient and elegant specimen of architecture. It was disclosed to view upon the removal of the masonry by which it had been concealed in the latter part of the fifteenth century, at which period the west doorway and window were inserted. The arches alluded to in a double tier at the west end of the nave, the clustered pillars attached to the same wall, the arches under the windows in the side aisles, the windows themselves in the westernmost compartment of both aisles, and the south porch, are all of the same age. The architectural features in these portions of the church are distinguished from the rest by the general design of the capitals, and the detail of the sculptured ornaments, both of which present a near resemblance to the forms characteristic of late Norman architecture, and may fairly be assigned to the reign of King John. It was owing to an unaccountable deviation from parallel lines in the position of the newer pillars in the nave, that the groined vault in the western portion of the aisles was constructed in the irregular manner shewn in the drawing. The bases of all the columns were nearly concealed by the pavement. It was observed, upon their being opened, that they had been carefully restored in cement; but the period of this restoration, and of that when the floor was raised, are unknown.

Through my friend, Dr. Rowlands, I transmit to you my observations on the site of Camulodunum. My first intention was to have traced the whole of the 9th Iter, but I have been prevented by my professional duties from attempting so much, and have confined my inquiries to my own neighbourhood. To Messrs. Tayspill and Gilbert I am greatly indebted for their kindness in tracing on the Ordnance Map the various roads and places mentioned in the Paper. The Roman works are marked in red, and the British works in blue. In addition to what relates to my paper, those gentlemen have also traced, from their own observations, the road leading from Colonia to Mersea Island, at least so much as has come under their notice, and this road they have also marked in red, and the site of the Propraetor's house, and the Roman beacon in Mersea Island. I was afraid to add more notes, lest I should make the paper too tedious; at the same time it was necessary to add some for explanation. And if what I have written meets the approbation of the Society, I shall be amply rewarded.

I now proceed to submit to you some remarks on the presumed Saxon Fibula or Ouche, which I had the pleasure to exhibit last year to the Society. (Plate X.)

During a late visit to Bittern, the site of Clausentum, I observed in the garden of the Manor House, which (together with a lawn and plantations) now occupies a large part of the Roman station, an inscription to the Emperor Tetricus, which does not appear to have been published.

In Dr. Whitaker's Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 229, there is a copy of a Runic inscription upon a stone cross of some beauty and very great antiquity. The inaccuracy of this copy was noted by me in my Memoir on the Anglo-Saxon Runes, published in the Archæologia, vol. XXVIII. page 347, as presenting an insuperable bar to any attempt at explaining the inscription.

I have read with much interest the letters of Thomas Winter and Lord Mounteagle, communicated by Mr. Bruce to the Society of Antiquaries in February last; and as I hesitate to adopt the conclusion which that gentleman deduces from the latter of the two letters, I venture to submit a few observations upon the subject to the consideration of the Society.

The interest occasioned by the removal of the Regalia from the Jewel House to a place of greater safety, during the late fire at the Tower, will, I trust, be a sufficient excuse for the liberty I take in requesting the favour of your communicating to the Society of Antiquaries the following particulars relative to that portion of the Regalia which was made for the Coronation of Charles the Second.

In continuation of my accounts of discoveries of Roman Remains in the City of London, those recently made on the site of the Royal Exchange now demand our attention.

The perusal of the curious letters of Thomas Winter and Lord Mounteagle, lately discovered by Mr. Bruce, suggested to my mind some remarks upon the historical effect of those letters which I have already submitted through you to the Society of Antiquaries. In my former communication I fully explained my reasons for thinking that the letter of Lord Mounteagle published by Mr. Bruce does not afford a solution of the problem respecting that nobleman's implication in the Gunpowder Plot; and I further expressed an opinion that the tendency of the evidence we now possess is to exonerate his character from the suspicion of having been in the first instance a party to the plot, and having afterwards betrayed his companions.

Few persons, generally speaking, are aware that establishments called Monti di Pièta, institutions for lending money at a moderate interest to necessitous persons upon pledges, have long existed in Italy. They originated in the fifteenth century, in consequence of the excessive usury of the Jews and Lombards, who sometimes went so far as to take an interest of twenty-five per cent. The earliest of these Institutions is believed to have been that at Fadua founded in 1491. Leo the Tenth soon after adopted the plan at Rome, as a public benevolent institution under the inspection of the Government.

Among the objects acquired by the British Museum, in the year 1836, from the magnificent collection of the late Mr. Salt, were parts of some tombs, taken from the vast cemetery in the immediate vicinity of the Pyramids at Gizeh. Portions of these comprise two false doors, apparently from the same tomb, each being nearly a fac-simile of the other; and they contain the name and titles of the functionary for whom the tomb was excavated or erected, with the prenomen of the monarch during whose reign the individual lived, and other indications, such as style and composition of the hieroglyphical texts, of having been executed soon after the period when the Pyramids were erected. The replacing together of the separate pieces, as they at present exist among the other monuments of the national collection, has been executed from drawings made by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, who saw them in their original state, previous to their removal by Mr. Salt; and the interest which attaches to every attempt of collating the royal names found in this vicinity with the lists of the Greek authors, entitles them to the most profound attention of the archæologist.