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GRAVE OF HAMLET AT Elsinore. MANY objects of interest present themselves to the stranger at Elsinore. Among them, more particularly, are the fortress, and the garden of Marienslust, where is to be seen what is traditionally said to be the grave of Hamlet. Yet, the interior of the fortress contains nothing remarkable; and the grave is a misnomer; for Hamlet lived, reigned, died, and was buried in Jutland. As the earlier chronicles relate, being apprised of the conspiracy against his life by his stepfather and mother, he feigned imbecility of mind, and in a retaliatory revenge, destroyed them in their house, by blocking up the doors, and setting fire to it. Hamlet then reigned in quiet, maintained his dignity respectably, and died a natural death. Those who have wept over the sorrows of Ophelia, as portrayed by England's dramatic bard, may be relieved by the assurance, that the whole is a fiction by Shakespeare, and that nowhere, near Elsinore, is there any brook, with willows, in which Ophelia could have perished.

The grave of Hamlet, as shewn in Denmark, is about a stone's throw distance at the back of the mansion of Marienslust. The sea is seen between a continous clump of trees planted in a circle, and the grave is noted by some scattered square stones of small size, which appear to have once served for a cenotaph, and stand on a knoll or rising mound covered and surrounded by beech trees. Nothing of their history is known, they seem to be little respected or thought about by the towns-people of Elsinore; but pious and romantic pilgrims from another fatherland, have borne off considerable portions as relics, and a few years will probably witness their total disper

sion.

M.

CHRISTMAS-DAY.-In Current Notes, vol. iv. p. 12, the remark that "December 25th was fixed on, as more likely than any other to be the correct day, in the absence of any specific information as to the exact period," being quite new to me, I will attempt to fix the date.

Spanheim, in his fifth Dissertation "de Capricorno in Nummis," exhibits the reverse of a small brass coin of Agosta, so named in honour of Augustus, on which Capricorn is depicted holding in front a globe, and in the field behind, a star.* This star, I presume to have been the same, that preceded the Magi to the birth-place of our Saviour.

Landseer, Sabean Researches, p. 288, presents a remarkable signet, that, at p. 290, he describes as "the Capricorn of the Babylonian Zodiac, the mechanical figure beneath being an early and rude attempt to shew, by means of measured degrees, that portion of the zodiac, that was occupied by the stars of Capricorn." Referring to a portion of the vignette, almost every line in these early representations, which relate to the coming of the

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Messiah, being significant, I shall explain only what applies to the present purpose. The ladder-like figure of six bars beneath Capricorn, contains four spaces, cach containing or representing beyond doubt, five days; thus the five spaces indicate twenty-five days. Above Capricorn, precisely over the termination of the fifth space, is the symbol of the obedient son with power: the crescent before his head, to denote the predicted time; and in front of the whole is a priest receiving or acknowledging his belief in the certain accomplishment and truth of the first revelation given to mankind.

Referring to the Oriental Zodiac, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. p. 303; as their year began in Aries, or March, Capricorn is consequently the sign of December. It is named Macar, and one of its significations is "the God of Love." The eighteenth figure in Macar's lunar mansion, called Jyeshtha, p. 293, has in the fish-like tail of Capricorn, three stars, which deserve particular attention. These three stars form an equilateral triangle, in a dark circle, intended to portray the womb of time; and the inner concentric circle of Jyeshtha is light, typifying birth; the entrance into this world, or the nativity of our Saviour.

That the very day of his nativity should have been foretold, may be considered as improbable, but is it more surprising than that the very year 4000 should have been predicted (leaving four years for purity of life in Paradise, that may be shewn to be probable)? or is it more surprising, than that the wise men from the East should arrive at Bethlehem at the very period of time foretold the event would happen?

It appears, therefore, the star that conducted the Magi finally settled over the sacred manger of the Messiah on the 25th of December; that in the symbolic tail of Capricorn (December), was contained three stars typifying a Tri-une God, and answering to J. d. ɛ. in the belief in the revelation, made to our first parents, the tail of our Capricorn; and that by the priesthood, den wisdom" of God. was kept secret, and held as "a mystery, even the hid T. R. BROWN.

Vicarage, Southwick, March 6.

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HEWING BLOCKS WITH RAZORS. Who made use of

this expression, or where is it to be found? F. A.

To endeavour to work upon the vulgar with fine sense, is like attempting to hew blocks with a razor. Dean Swift.

A QUERY?" Do you think it will answer?" said a thrifty lady about purchasing a second-hand dumb waiter. "Yes, certainly, Madam," replied the broker, "without a question!"

CURIOUS SIGN BOARDS IN SOMERSETSHIRE.

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This volume adds more to the assistance of the student in the history of Greece, than any other work that has I THINK Mr. Warne's explanation of the Case is preceded it, and proffers much to the numismatist that altered,' Current Notes, p. 13, is the correct one; but may in vain be sought for elsewhere. Its range embraces, I am not satisfied, that my suggestion respecting the as far as found practicable, descriptions and notices of Pall Inn, having been the 'resting-place for the corpse on Greek coins, the productions of all the countries, over its way to its last home,' is not the true origin of the which the monetary art and excellence of Greece exname? I have received a letter offering a very inge-tended; and of every age, from the earliest known spenious solution of the difficulty that considering it still a cimens, to the reign of Gallienus, a space of eight hunvexata questio, and having obtained permission, I take dred years. To render more clearly its value and imthe liberty of transcribingportance, the following retrospective notices are submitted.

Bridport, Feb. 25.

Dear Sir, I have just seen in Willis's Current Notes of this month, your note about the sign of the inn at Yeovil, I am satisfied you are on the wrong scent. The true origin, I doubt not, must have been the adjacent church having been anciently dedicated to St. Mary, this inn was then probably a sort of religious out-house appurtenant, perhaps a refectory, where the jolly priors and monks experimentally studied their anti-dry-rot specifics, and when fuddled, are likely to have irreverently toasted their patroness, as Poll, which word is now corrupted to Pall. In this same way, I really believe, that Pall Mall in the Metropolis, was so named in honour of the two first class Beauties of King Charles's days, of the same name, but commonly distinguished as Poll and Moll. Indeed, I have often wondered that the elegant dandies of the Athenæum, and the United Service, have not yet refined their street nomenclature by altering Pall Mall to The Two Marys.' Pray forgive this an tiquarian speculation.

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F. G. FLIGHt.

Although Mr. Flight further states that he considers my notion as rather appalling, I confess that the old adage of

A man convinced against his will,

Is of the same opinion still;

But from their monuments, scarcely any thing is known of Egypt and Assyria. The kingdom of the Pharaohs was not available to the historical researches of the Greeks, until after its subjugation by the Babylonians and the Persians; nothing even of its history remained, save its monuments, in the time of the Ptolemies, with two or three confused lists of regal names, and but a single date, that rested on a recognized basis. The monuments of Assyria have their interpretation solely in the Old Testament; in like manner, so great has been the destruction of Greek literature by the ravages of barbarism, bigotry and ignorance, that of the immense number of Greek writings anciently collected in the libraries of Egypt, Greece and Italy, but little remains, and scarcely any contemporaneous of the events related. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that when the hydrographical outline of the ancient countries was but very partially known; when the interior was almost a blank on the map; when scarcely any of the supposed sites of celebrated cities had been explored, the most diligent study of the printed authorities elicited little more than a history of Athens, giving rise to a commonly received opinion, that the glory of Greece was of short duration; but geographical knowledge and

somewhat applies to me, and I shall be glad of any monumental evidence, have greatly enlarged, corrected further ideas on the subject. DORCHESTER, March 13.

JOHN GARLAND.

The Editor distinctly disavows all or any such heterodoxical antiquarian notions, and the best apology is that like the burden of Count Bellino's song

-'tis but Fancy's sketch!

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Who Mr. Flight's two first class Beauties were, are shrouded in conjecture, but supposing one of the Two Marys,' to have been Mary Davis; it is surprising, that in his anxiety to award such saint-like honours to two of the commonly distinguished' frail sisterhood, he did not, with the same propriety and truth assert Moldavia, one of the principalities now in dispute, was also so named in national respect to the meretricious Moll Davis? The etymological derivation is doubtless equally correct, but, as Willis's Current Notes, have the honour of being extensively known and read by many of the members of the Athenæum and the United Service Clubs, a passing repudiation is sufficient.

and improved the history of Greece; not so much in its annals, as in the far more important and instructive details of a great nation: its manners and institutions; its proficiency in art and science; and particularly in proving the vast extent of the influence of those qualities, which rendered the Greeks superior to every other ancient race. We may admit without disparagement to the Greeks, that excepting the two Persian wars, there is little in their annals more edifying than in mediæval or modern history, but the real glory of Greece is to be estimated by the extent and duration of its language. A collection of Greek coins is sufficient evidence that the customs or institutions, which were certainly the cause and consequence of Greek civilization, lasted more than a thousand years, and extended over countries and peoples from Spain to India; proving, at the same time, that the Greeks constantly maintained that innate

feeling and habit of the race, that in all ages is the foundation of national freedom; namely, the system of separate communities, each conducting its own internal concerns, whether as an independent state, or as member of a federation under a dominant republic; or as forming part of the dominion of a Macedonian king, or of a Roman emperor, Nor are the Greeks, as evidenced by their proceedings at this hour, deteriorated in their habi-versary of the nativity of St. John Baptist, 'on the tude or inherent recognition of the ancient system even under Turkish vassalage.

The coins of Greece are indisputably, beyond all comparison, the most numerous of Greek monuments, and it is but reasonable to believe that if the German writers of the last century possessed our present information on the geography and monuments of Greece, most of their extravagant theories would never have been promulgated; hence the Numismata Hellenica has been rendered as conducive as possible to the illustration of the geography, art, mythology and history of ancient Greece, and as a volume of reference, commends itself to the notice of all numismatists and scholars, and should be found in all collegiate, public, and provincial town libra

ries.

Anciently the rites of St. John Baptist were observed, when it was the custom to turn or roll a wheel about, in signification of the sun's annual course, or the sun then occupying the highest place in the zodiac, was about descending. Many years since, a merry-andrew, to attract young men and maides' to his stage-play, advertised he would on Midsummer-day, being the annicucke-stool at Harleston,' among other extraordinary antics, Take a ride round the sunne, From the heaven should cumm.'

His performance was to have been on the boarded stage over the water; and the sun alluded to wheel, as here was simply the shewn, used for the lowering the cuck-stool, with the scold, into the water, and in raising it; but from its very decayed state, in the midst of his feats, the framework gave way, and he was im

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MERIT is often an obstacle to fortune and success, and the reason is, it always produces two bad effects-envy and fear. Envy in those who cannot rise to the same degree of perfection; and fear in those who are established, and who dread, that by advancing a man possessed of more abilities or more attainments than them-mersed in the selves, they may be supplanted.

NELL GWYNNE. Among the curiosities dispersed at the sale of the Duchess of Portland's Museum, in May 1786, No. 1119, was "an emerald and gold enamelled smelling bottle, formerly the property of Nell Gwynne." Bought by Jones, a jeweller, for 71. 10s.

CUCKING OR DUCKING STOOLS IN NORFOLK. BLOMEFIELD, referring to the fact that St. George's Gild had a tenement in Norwich, which they sometimes used as a Gildhall, adds, they had also customs at Fyve Brigge Stathe, and were obliged to find a Coke-stool there. From the Court book, he further notices two instances of the use of the Cucke-stool.*

1562. A woman for whoredom to ryde on a cart, with a paper in her hand, and tynklyd with a bason; and so at one o'clock to be had to the cokyng-stool, and ducked in the water.

1597. Margaret Grove, a common skould, to be carried with a bason rung before her to the Cucke-stool, at Fyebridge, and there to be three times ducked.

• History of Norfolk, 1741, fol. p. 739.

creating no small degree of diversion and uproar amid
many hundreds of spectators. This was the last ducking
effected from the old constructed stage, as what remained
of the timber work was afterwards removed, and the
water enclosed within palings; but even then some in-
voluntary duckings took effect. A boy shambling on
the rails of the cuck-stool water, fell over, and was
plunged in head foremost. Saturated in the water,
mud and duckweed, he at length got out, and scampered
off homeward, screaming aloud. The mother hearing
her boy, ran to his assistance, and as she approached,
said,-Ther ber donunt make such a noyze, yew carnt
be twe thankd-full to Gaud, that yew ar eut.' To which
young hopeful replied,-"Spoze thu-n Ime too too
than-k-um fur put-ting me in-mar'nt make a noize!'

The pales or railings have since in their turn been
taken away, and the present wall as an enclosure built.
Yarmouth.
W-.

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THE SQUARE OF TWELVE.-Some persons retain the ruling passion that influenced their actions during life, to the last moment of their existence. M. de Lagny, a member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a great calculator, became in his last illness insensible, when M. Maupertius approached his bed, and in the hope of arousing him, said, " M. de Lagny, what is the square of twelve?" He replied, "An hundred and forty-four," and instantly expired.

NORWEGIAN SONG OF FREEDOM.
Translated from the Danish of

J. NORDAHL BRUN, BISHOP OF BERGEN.

To Norway, mother of the brave,
We crown the cup of pleasure;
Dream of our freedom come again,

And grasp the vanish'd treasure;
When once the mighty task's begun,
The glorious race is swift to run.

Chorus. To Norway, Mother of the brave,
We crown the cup of pleasure!

Drink, to the children of the rocks,
To Norway's honest bosoms!
For him alone, who breaks our chains,
Our wreath of glory blossoms;
And when did mountain youth deny,
For Norway's cause to live and die?

Chorus. Drink, to the children of the rocks,
To Norway's honest bosoms!

One glass to faith and friendship flows;
One to Norwegia's daughters-

Drink each the girl his heart adores,

And shame on him who falters!
Shame on the wretch who welcomes chains,
And woman, wine, and song disdains.

Chorus. One glass to faith and friendship flows,
One to Norwegia's daughters!

Drink to Norway's hills sublime,
Rocks, snows and glens profound;
Success! her thousand echoes cry
And thank us with the sound:
Old Dofra mingles with our glee,
And joins our shouts with three times three.
Chorus. To Norway, Mother of the brave,
We crown the cup of pleasure!

Dofra is an immense ridge of mountains which form the boundary between the southern and the northern parts of Norway. The name is derived from the giant Dovre. Throughout the whole extent of Dovre, there are but four houses to be found-Drivstuen, Kongsvold, Gierkin or Hierkin, and Fogstuen; the possessors of which are exempted from all taxes, and receive besides some allowance from the adjacent districts, in consideration of which, they are bound to convey, lodge, and succour travellers.

Another translation, omitting the second verse of this
highly popular song, by Mrs. Borneman, wife of the
Judge Advocate General of Denmark, and daughter of
Mrs. Parsons, the authoress.; printed in Boydell's
Scenery of Norway, has many beautiful traits.
To Norway, valour's native sphere,
We drink with boundless pleasure;
O'er wine we dream of freedom near,
In fancy grasp the treasure.
Yet shall we at some period wake,
And bonds compulsive nobly break.

Chorus. To Norway, valour's native sphere,
We drink with boundless pleasure.

One glass at friendship's shrine is due,
One to Norwegian beauty,

Some nymph, my friend, may claim for you,
From us this welcome duty.

Shame on the slave spurns not his chains,
And woman, wine, and song, disdains.

Chorus. To Norway, valour's native sphere,
We drink with boundless pleasure.

Now, Norway, we thy mountains boast,
Snows, rocks, and countless wonders;
While Dovre echoes to the coast,

And thrice 'rapt plaudits thunders:
Yes! three times three, the Alps around
Shall health to Norway's sons' resound.

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Chorus. To Norway, valour's native sphere,
We drink with boundless pleasure.

In the Voyage dans le Nord de l'Europe, par A. Lamotte, p. 336, is a version in Latin of this latter translation, 'par le Docteur G * * * * *.'

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VICISSITUDES OF A NUMISMATIST.

terms of the contract, in rendering the Otho to his enthusiastic friend the Lyonnese collector.

The gold coins that Vaillant so singularly preserved, it is stated were of extreme beauty and rarity, were religiously revered among the gems of the French cabinet, and were placed in the golden vase, till stolen by burglars from that establishment, and the whole melted. Many were deemed uniques, and that appreciation appears to be sustained, by few others occurring to repair that loss.

THE BEARD IN THE PULPIT.

FRANCIS the First, disgusted with the prevailing practice in his day, of the clergy retaining their beards, obtained from the Pope, a brief by which all ecclesiastics throughout France were compelled to shave, or pay a large sum for the privilege of appearing with a beard. The bishops and richly beneficed clergy readily paid the prohibitory fine, but the poorer sort, unable to comply, were reduced to the grievous necessity of surrendering this ornament of the chin. The license obtained by compliance with the terms of the papal brief, was, ever, secondary to the statute regulations of the Church, which in some instances were directly inhibitory of the bishop himself performing the service, unshaven; and of this fact, Duprat was in his person as a prelate, a remarkable instance.

VAILLANT, a distinguished numismatic writer, was employed many years in collecting the rarest and most choice coins for the Royal Cabinet of Louis the Four-long teenth. On one occasion having to go to Rome, he embarked with other Frenchmen of character and distinction, at Marseilles, in a vessel belonging to Leghorn, that was captured at sea by an Algerine corsair, on the day following that of his departure. As France was not then at war with the Dey, Vaillant and his companions consoled themselves, the Algerines would soon set them on shore, at liberty, but the corsair captain excused himself by saying he was too far from the French coast, and had no more provisions than were barely sufficient for his immediate return. The Algerines, therefore accosting them with "bona pace Francesi," stripped Vaillant and his companions, and carried them to Algiers, where they were treated as slaves. The applications by the French consul for their liberation, were constantly resisted by the Dey's insisting on their detention, by reason of there being eight Algerines, in the king's gallies, whose enlargement he could not obtain. Vaillant after being four months and a half a slave, was permitted to return to France, and twenty gold coins of which he had been despoiled by the corsair, were restored to him. He embarked in a small ship, bound for Marseilles, and after sailing for two days, a Sallee rover was seen advancing towards them, the pirate by means of their oars, baffled every manoeuvre made by the sailing vessel to avoid a rencontre, and was soon within cannon shot. Vaillant, in extreme anxiety for the twenty gold coins, jeopardised by his recent captivity, swallowed them, without the slightest hesitation; but a breeze at the moment springing up, the vessel quickly darted beyond the reach of the pirate, and was driven upon the coast of Catalonia, where it fortunately escaped becoming a total wreck. The captain subsequently entangled himself among the shores and sand-banks of the Rhone, where he lost his anchors, and Vaillant in a boat, with much difficulty, reached the shore. The gold coins, which weighed between four and five ounces, were still within him, and greatly incommoded him; he consulted two physicians as to the proper method of relieving himself of them, but singular as it may appear, they differed in opinion, and Vaillant would not adopt the prescription of either. Abstaining from medicine, nature from time to time gave him relief, and he reached Lyons when he had recovered about half of his treasure. In that city he hastened to a brother antiquary, one of his numismatic associates, related circumstantially his mishaps, not forgetting the manner of his secreting the gold coins. He showed his delighted friend, those he had in possession, and described those he hourly expected. Among these in the womb of time, was an Otho his friend was most desirous of acquiring, and busily engaged in stipulating with Vaillant for its purchase at a stated sum, forgot to render his friend any assistance, till Vaillant complying, was with some difficulty, enabled that day to fulfil the

how

Duprat, son of the Chancellor of that name, had naturally a beard that excited general admiration; and shortly after his return from the Council of Trent, where he had displayed his eloquence, and distinguished himself by his writings was appointed to the see of Clermont. On Easter-Sunday he appeared at the cathedral to take possession, but found the doors closed. Three dignitaries of the Chapter awaited him at the entrance; one held a razor; another, a pair of scissors; and the third, a book containing the ancient statutes of that church, to which, with his finger, that officer pointed to the wouldbe bishop the words barbis rasis-no beards. In vain did Duprat endeavour to avoid that despoilment, and argued the sinfulness of doing any work on so solemn a day; but inexorably determined, those who held the razor and the scissors resisted his entering, and protruded their weapons in such guise, that the non-inducted bishop, to save his beard, fled in dismay, abandoned the honour, and grief in a few days rendered him for ever insensible to the advantages of a prelatical position, or the vain solicitude created by the unusual elegance of

a beard.

Even in old England,' where it is said common sense finds a home, there are found highly reprehensible attempts of the clergy to wear a beard in the pulpit. A correspondent of the Durham Advertiser states, it is reported the clergyman at Cockfield has given so much offence to his parishioners by wearing his beard, that they have discontinued their attendance at church.

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