He died April 11, 1447, and Rapin has recorded the Cardinal died in despair that his riches could not exempt him from mortality.

In his will he required that ten thousand masses should be said for his soul as soon as possible after his decease, namely, three thousand of requiem, three thou sand de rorate cœli desuper, three thousand of the Holy Ghost, and one thousand of the Trinity. He appointed three masses to be celebrated by three monks every day in the chapel of his sepulchre at Winchester, and the name of Henry Cardinal to be pronounced each time. To the abbey and convent of St. Augustine he remitted a debt of 3667. 13s. 4d., in consideration of their embodying his name in three masses daily. In like manner, and on a similar condition, he remitted to the Convent of Christ's Church, Canterbury, one thousand pounds, that they provided three monks to celebrate three masses for his soul daily for ever in his Church of Winchester, and that they observed his obit every year. Sir John Nevill in 1449 required his executors to "ordayne an honest and a kunning priest" to sing for his soul twelve months, whose salary was to be ten marks. Ann, Duchess of Buckingham, in her will proved Oct. 31, 1480, directed twenty pence to be given to every priest in Sion, and in the Charter Houses of London and Shene, for five masses and as many diriges for the soul of her most dear and best beloved husband, Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, her own soul, and all her children's souls. She willed also 6s. 8d., to the anchorite in the wall beside Bishopsgate, to pray in twenty masses for the souls before mentioned.

Sir Thomas Lyttleton, the celebrated Judge and author of the well known Treatise on Tenures, who died at Frankley in Worcestershire, August 23, 1481, in his will appears singularly devout and liberal. Three good priests were to be found to sing three trentals, so that every priest by himself said one trental, and they were to have right sufficiently for their labour. Another priest was to sing five masses and a rowe; and the Prior of the Monastery of our Blessed Lady at Worcester was to receive one hundred shillings yearly, for singing daily at seven in the morning at the altar of St. George and St. Christopher. Every monk of the said convent who said a mass of requiem every Friday was to have two pence paid to him for his trouble, by the hands of the sexton; and whenever the convent sang the annual Placebo, Dirige, and Requiem, they were to have 6s. 8d. for their disport and recreation, and one hundred pounds in fee, for performing that divine service.

The practice of these fallacies and delusions which the Papal religion so insidiously inculcated in the minds of its votaries were summarily annihilated in the subversion of the monasteries and chantries by King Henry the Eighth, and his successor King Edward the Sixth.

THE celebrity of the visit of King Henry the Eighth to Francis the First, in 1520, will be as nothing in History, compared with that of Queen Victoria to the Emperor Napoleon.

THE SKIMMING-DISH HAT.

The enamoured rhymist who in his jollity of soul began his exordium with

To Ladies eyes a round, boys,

We can't refuse, we can't refuse!

had he lived in our days, and noticed the round hats worn by our ladies of all ages and classes, would doubtless have been as laudatory of their hats, which seem to have no bounds in their circular extent. Fashion has a strongly diversified impulse, and appears in some matters to bear an all-powerful sway even over the good sense of many, or why this general adoption of a hat that renders some faces ludicrous in the extreme? In the reign of Louis the Sixteenth, a period of much inconsistency and erratic rule, which presented a direful presage of what did follow, though the court and its parasites were too blind to foresee the more than probable results; the hat as at present worn by the ladies had the same prevalence of fashion, but was then induced by a cause not very generally known. The king and his brothers were no Josephs, and in one of the dairies attached to the grounds of the palace was a young woman of more than ordinary beauty and attractions. Monsieur d'Artois had glanced his eye on this charming servant of the crown, and doubtless fancied his position, gave him every authority to press his suit. Proof against his importunities, she one day bade him to be seated, and placing a skimming dish upon his head, ran out of the dairy at the instant that some of the courtiers were in quest of him. The surprise of the moment and the odd figure Monsieur presented, excited whispered from one to another, till it reached the ears a general laugh, nor did the matter stop here, it was of the ladies of the court, who in satisfying their curiosity had hats made in the form of a skimming dish, and these being found not inconsistently to add charms to many a really pretty face; it became general, and as popular as now.

TILED IN. We say of a man in good circumstances, or of one in a thriving condition; or of one who appears to be relieved from any particular application to business as a means of maintenance-he is tiled in. I have asked frequently what does this phrase mean? The answer has been his hat covers his head, and I am told, a hat is a tile! It is clear there is some hidden meaning in the saying, will any reader of Current Notes solve it? E. B. H.

Bath, August 13.

The phrase is possibly derived from the fact, that rich men in the olden time lived in houses of which a principal enrichment was the tiles laid in the floors, or which lined the walls, in radiant and splendid colours. This species of decoration of houses, was formerly held in high esteem, and was a distinctive mark of wealth in the possessors, hence arose the old Spanish proverb, Nunca hará casa con azulejos-He will never have a house adorned with glazed tiles; that is, he will never thrive, or be a rich man. To be tiled in, therefore implies, he has already sufficient to maintain the expenses of his house.

CHINESE MYTHOLOGY ON PORCELAIN.

The following Notes, though written by the late Mr. James Christic, so long since as 1807, will be found to proffer much curious detail in reference to the embellishments and mythological figures on various objects of Oriental Porcelain, and will doubtless be considered as explanatory of many incidents and persons generally considered inexplicable.

The scanty reports of Missionaries, and even of later travellers in China, leave much to be known respecting that country; and the difficulty of the Chinese language prevents our deriving much intelligence from the natives. Amidst this dearth of information, it is satisfactory to know that we possess valuable documents at home. The proficiency of the Chinese in the chief branch of their manufactures, the state of their fine arts, and even the religious opinions of the people may be collected

from their Porcelain.*

In the numerous private cabinets in this metropolis are specimens of the most precious kinds of Porcelain, for which the Chinese have been for many centuries pre-eminent, and the manufactories of our own country already experience the benefit of these models. With the advantages of more correct principles of design, the

The etymology of the word 'porcelain,' has long been the subject of different opinions. The inventory of the goods of the Duc d'Anjou, 1360, in which is noticed.-Une escuelle d'une pierre appelée pourcellaine; is sufficiently conclusive as to the use of the word in France in the fourteenth century; but this "stone called porcelain," appears to have been some precious material, for the object to which it is attached when mentioned in other instances, is

always richly attached or set in gold with pearls or precious stones. It was possibly chalcedony which resembling por: celain in its milky hue and its semi-translucent character, the name porcelain may have been transferred to the substance of the pottery subsequently introduced into Europe by the Portuguese, early in the sixteenth century. Porcellana in the Portuguese language, originally signified "a little pig," and the cowries or small shells used for money in the East, from the similarity of their shape to the back of a little pig, were called by the Portuguese, 'porcella.' Whether the Portuguese who first doubled the Cape of Good Hope, at the close of the fifteenth century. really believed these vessels were made of such shells or of

some composition which resembled them, is doubtful, but certain it is, porcellana is found in later Portuguese dictionaries to signify a cup,' and the derivation of the word is thence generally deduced.

Porcelain, or China ware, appears to have been known in England in the time of King Henry the Eighth. Sir Edward Montague, an ancestor of the Duke of Manchester, by his will dated July 17, 1556, directed his sons whom he appointed his executors, to "sell as much of his plate, china, rings and jewels, as they think convenient." Later, we find among the New year's gifts presented to Queen Elizabeth on new year's day 1588, Lord Burghley proffered one porrynger of whyte porselyn,' garnished with gold; and Mr. Robert Cecill, afterwards Earl of Salisbury, cup of green pursselyne.'

a Collins' Peerage of England, edit. 1756, vol. ii. p. 638.

6 a

knowledge of perspective, and of the harmony of colours, we are only deficient in understanding the mixture of the materials, and the plastic part, to rival the productions of Eastern Asia in this line. The former may be made good to us by our superior chemical science, the latter will no doubt be acquired by patience and care. Every one must therefore, applaud the curiosity which leads to forming such collections, and must cease to wonder at the high price at which objects of such beauty and importance have been estimated.

The kind of Porcelain chiefly prized, is termed MANDARIN, or Egg-shell. It displays the greatest ingenuity in the fabric, its characteristic is extreme delicacy, and the objects depicted upon it are of the most exquisite pencilling and enamel. The marks however by which the Mandarin Porcelain may be known are not decidedly agreed upon: some persons have ventured to recommend it by the thinness and transparency of the material; others by the contrast of some rich colour on the outside, with a green verditer within; others again rely, and perhaps with juster reason, upon the quadrangular cluster of characters inscribed on the bottom of the vessels. These groups, it is believed, are the most ancient characters of China, changed from their hieroglyphical to a quadrate form, and are used as a court character. The inscription merely records the Dynasty and Emperor, under which the specific piece of porcelain was made.

The CRACKLE China is admired for the cracks observable in the varnish, which it is believed, are occasioned by the vase being suddenly exposed to a cool draught of air, while the varnish is yet warm.

*

The more thick ENAMEL China is less to be admired

for its earth and painting, than for the richness of the colours laid on in varnish, and for the curious symbols with which it is embellished.

The BURNT-IN China is considered of inferior quality, but this mode of colouring gives admirable richness and effect, when introduced upon the genuine specimens of the Old Japan, which is of massive manufacture, and admired for its weight.

The properly so called, OLD JAPAN, combines almost lain of China. The broad flowers depicted upon it are every quality that is separately admired in the porcedisplayed in blue and red, burnt in, with the addition of a little enamel. But what chiefly gives richness to these specimens, is the bold relief in which some of the flowers are executed, and afterwards gilt and burnished.

The Chinese have discovered a fertile source for the embellishment of these different kinds, in the Fables of their religion; and it is remarkable, that like the Greeks, they have chosen their earthenware to commemorate their most secret doctrines.

In Marryat's Collections towards a History of Pottery and Porcelain, 1850, 8vo. p. 108, Father Solis, a Portuguese Missionary, is quoted as describing some of these operations as arising from the use of oils of several kinds, some of which are metallic, and by laying the china some months in the mud so soon as it comes from the furnace.

A Chinese Emperor is said to have observed, that the dragons upon his vest were designed for more than merely ornament, that they had a moral signification; we may affirm that many subjects depicted upon porcelain have also a recondite meaning. The operation of the elements upon each other to produce the first created universe, according to the material notions of the gentiles, seems to be expressed by the combinations of the fiery dragon, with the Fung Hoang, or bird of Paradise, expressive of air; the Ky-lin or horned-dog, perhaps denoting earth; and the tortoise, fish or the lotus, which indifferently imply water.

FоHI, the ancient founder of the Chinese empire, coeval with Noah, is reported to have seen a tortoise issue from the water, bearing on its back a mystical diagram. This subject is expressed upon some vases, and on this account we find a tortoise-shell pattern adopted upon china, as a border, having open compartments in which flowers are painted and enamelled in natural colours. Hence the date of this appearance to Foш being considered, we may conclude, the combined emblem denotes the vegetable creation arising from Water. We collect from Bayer, that FoпI appointed eight Tchin or Spirits; these were preserving spirits to watch round mortals; they are probably no more than the eight persons preserved at the general destruction of mankind, with which Four must have been coeval, but which he and a few others survived. These persons may be seen on bowls, plates, and other ware, standing on water, generally supported upon a fish or aquatic animal, and are thus distinguished:

1. How Cing Koe-a female with a landing net. 2. Hon Chong lie-a boy with a flute.

3. Lit Hit Quay-a man with a crutch and doublegourd.

4. Tong-fong-sok—a man with a fan, and the fruit of immortality.

5. Tchow lok how-a man with rattles or castanets. 6. Lut hong pan-a man with a sword and cowtail. 7. Tchang colao-a man with a bamboo tube and pencils.

8. La mi tsui woo-a youth, or female with a basket of flowers.

The implements depicted upon enamel China, are the symbols of these divinities, and the fruit borne by the fourth person above named has suggested the form of many vessels in porcelain: were a Chinese to present liquor in a vessel so shaped, it might be deemed a flattering mode of salutation.

We find a ninth person superior to these, who may perhaps represent the material heaven; he is almost invariably seated, he rides upon the stork, a bird of supposed longevity, he is bald and aged, and he carries a sceptre. He seems to be THE ANCIENT ONE, a title well known in the Egyptian, Scythian and Greek Mythologies, as Pi-apas and Jupiter Pappaus. The combats of these eight Tchin with various evil spirits, are an interesting branch of the Chinese thology, but of this too little is yet known to permit our

enlarging upon it. The contest seems to correspond with the Titan war of the Western Pagans.

These very imperfects hints may be thought improperly obtruded upon notice; they need not however arrest the attention of the lover of elegant form and ornament: the inquisitive may possibly turn them to useful account.

SCHOLA SALERNITANA.

The author of this work was John of Milan, one of the doctors of the Medical School at Salerno; and the 'Rex Anglorum' to whom it was inscribed was EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, as shown by Muratori. Antiquitates, Tom. III., Dissert. xl. See also Gibbon, chap. 56, vol. x. p. 279, where he remarks upon the opinion or rather error of Pasquier. Recherches de la France, vii. 2, and Ducange sub verbo Leonini.

Louis Vaslet, who at the end of his edition of Alvarez's Latin Prosody, 1730, thus gives the title from an old copy-Schola Salernitana præcepta de Conservanda Valetudine, a Johanne de Mediolano medico Salernitano composita, adds-Inscripsit Roberto Gulielmi primi, Angliæ Regis Conquestoris, filionatu minori, circa 1100. Here is a double mistake, for Robert was not the youngest but the eldest surviving son of the Conqueror.

In Stephens' Geographical Dictionary, by Lloyd, under Salernum, we read-Cujus doctores librum conscripserunt, et Anglorum regi dedicarunt, non Henrico octavo, ut quidam putant, sed Ricardo Secundo, sive Edvardo primo. Heylyn in his Cosmographie, p. 71, makes the same observation, but for Richard the Second

writes Richard the First.

That Arnold de Villanova was the author, has been asserted by some who were seemingly led into error by the title of the editio princeps Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum a Magistro Arnaldo de Villanova Catalano veraciter expositum ac noviter correctum et emendatum per doctores Montispessulani regentes anno 1480, predicto loco actu† moram trahentes; or of that of another edition, without place or date, which readsRegimen Sanitatis ad regem Aragonum a Magistro Arnaldo de Villanova directum et ordinatum. In other editions the titles read thus-Schola Salernitana, auctore Joanne de Mediolano, cum Arnoldi Villanovani exegesi in singula capita. An English metrical translation of the Schola Salernitana, by an MD., was published not long since in London. Hawkshead, August 9.

D. B. H.

The tradition in the family is, that they are descended from one of considerable antiquity in the North of England, one of whom is noticed by Dugdale as an itinerant justice in 1165, 11 Hen. II. The ancestor of the Suffolk branch is said to have been disinherited by his father, and to have settled at Halesworth in that county during the troubles in the time of the great rebellion.

John Kirby, originally a schoolmaster at Orford, but subsequently the occupier of a Mill at Wickham Market, was the compiler of the Suffolk Traveller, printed at Ipswich in 1735,* and of a small map of Suffolk.

6

His son, Joshua Kirby, F.R. and A. S., born at Parham, near Wickham Market, settled at Ipswich as a house painter. He had a genius for painting, but it must be admitted was a very young artist, when he made the drawings of Schole Inn, and what are called 'the Twelve Prints.' He was however principally eminent for his knowledge of perspective, and his book published in 1755, entitled, Dr. Brook Taylor's Method of Perspective made Easy,' contained much original matter, and was received with general approbation. It obtained for him the notice of the Earl of Bute, by whom he was ever afterwards deservedly and highly esteemed; and he introduced him to his present Majesty [King George the Third] when Prince of Wales. Under his patronage, and by his munificent aid, he published in 1761, his magnificent volume, entitled The Perspective of Architecture,* deduced from the principles of Dr. Brook Taylor.' The architectonic sector explained in that work was the Earl's invention. In conjunction with my father, he in 1766 published an improved edition of my grandfather's map of Suffolk, upon a larger scale, with engravings of the arms of the principal families in the County, and Views of the Castles of Burgh, Mettingham, Framlingham, Orford, and Bungay; Leiston Abbey, and the gateway to Bury Abbey, the Priories of Butley and Blighburgh; Covehithe Church and St. James's Church, Dunwich.

Joshua Kirby married Bull, by whom he had two children. William, a very promising artist, who was employed by his Majesty to make drawings in Italy for the Royal Collection. He married Elizabeth Anderson, of Chelsea, and died v. p. leaving no issue. His second child, Sarah, who married Mr. James Trimmer, of Old

An edition of this work, with considerable additions by the Rev. Richard Canning, perpetual curate of St. Laurence, Ipswich, was printed anonymously in 1764, 8vo.

These iron grated yets or gates were formerly used as inner doors to the principal entrances of old castles in Scotland; several of them remain and present perfect representations of their construction and strength. Their general application appears to have followed upon the disuse of the portcullis, and were well adapted as effective safeguards against the invasion of the Cateran, or highland robber, as well as a sure defence against the premeditated assault of one baron upon the home and dependents of another. All baronial buildings situated near any pass in the highlands, or usual roadway or thoroughfare in the lowlands, were provided with them, and remain an incontestable proof of the general insecurity consequent on the lawless state of North Britain, till a very recent date. Still, these yets or gates, however needfully required for the protection of life and property, were not permitted to be attached to private dwellings without especial leave and license from the king, and as these documents are now of ex

Mrs. Trimmer died Dec. 15, 1810, in her 69th year.