Fuller (Worthies of England) relates that "King Edward the Sixth used to say of his Tutors, that Randolph the German spake honestly, Sir John Cheke talked merrily, Dr. Coxe solidly, and Sir Anthony Cooke weighingly." The King himself in the introduction to his Diary names only two of these preceptors, "master doctor Cox, who was after his almoner, and John Cheeke, master of arts;" and that "also John Bellmaine, Frenchman, did teach him the French language." I wish to ask,-1. The authority for considering Sir Anthony Cooke to have been one of the king's tutors? 2. Who was Randolph the German? 3. Is anything known of the history of his French teacher? J. G. N.

D. H. inquires, What were Signets in the 16th century, as distinguished from Seals and from Sealing-rings? In 1579 Sir William Booth of Dunham Massey bequeathed to his son and heir "his best chain of gold with his Signet," and to his mother his "Sealing Ringe usually worne upon his little finger." (Stanley Papers, edit. Raines, p. 193.) And in 1578 William Tatton of Withenshaw, co. Cest. esq. left as heir-looms "his chains of gold, Signet of gold, his Seal of arms engraven in silver," &c. &c. (Ibid. p. 194.) In both these cases the Signet appears to have been of gold. That the terms signet and "ring" were occasionally used indifferently at the same period appears from a side-note of Foxe the martyrologist to his story of archbishop Cranmer when he relates that the king delivered him "this my Ring," in order to enable him to appeal from the lords of the council to the king in person, Foxe's side-note being, "The kinge sendeth his Signet in the behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury."

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doubt sold at his sale, but I know not what became of it. If any one had a part of it, or could trace it, and would kindly communicate it to the Suffolk Archæological Society, they would confer a favour." We take the liberty to remark that Lord A. Hervey had evidently been misled by some old stories which we have long since refuted. It will be recollected that in our Magazine for 1842 we gave a full description of all the curiosities sold at Strawberry Hill, and in vol. XVII. pp. 17, 24, some remarks will be found on the objects alluded to. They are not carvings, but paintings on panel, and appear to have formed, not a shrine, but a triptych; moreover, they were supposed to have come from the church of Allhallows Barking, and not from Bury Abbey. They were once in the possession of Mr. Thomas Martin of Palgrave, and their reputed association with Bury probably arose from that circumstance. They were purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale by the Duke of Sutherland, who has recently exhibited them at the British Institution.

We may here take the opportunity of noticing another article of virtu which has been regarded by English antiquaries with great interest: we mean the Ivory Casket which belonged to the late W. S. Stevenson, esq. F.S.A. of Norwich; and which was exhibited a few years ago to the Society of Antiquaries, and fully described by Mr. Wright in the Journal of the British Archæological Association. At the sale of Mr. Stevenson's library and collection by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson, it was sold for 717. to Mr. Walesby. It had for many years been in the possession of Mr. Stevenson and his father.

The late James Montgomery, the Poet, has bequeathed to local charities as follows:-Fulneck Moravian Schools, 3007.; Moravian Missions, 3007.; Sheffield Boys' Charity School, 507.; Girls' Charity School, 50.; the National Schools, 501.; the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, 501.; the Aged Female Society, 50.; the Boys' Lancasterian School, 257.; the Girls' Lancasterian School, 251.; total, 9007. All these legacies are to be paid, exempt from duty, twelve months after the demise of the testator. The will was made twenty-seven years ago, in the year 1827.

THE Life led by Charles II. anterior to the year 1660 is a good subject for historical inquiry. Dr. Hoskins has chosen a portion of that subject which possesses some peculiar points of interest, and, although he has mixed up in his volumes various other matters, neither very interesting nor very closely connected with Charles II. and his fortunes as an exile, the book is one which will well repay perusal.

At the breaking out of the Civil War, Prince Charles was a boy of twelve years of age. He served as captain of a troop of horse at the battle of Edgehill, or, we ought rather to say, he held that rank at the time of the battle, for the prudence of Dr. Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, to whose care Charles and his brother James were confided during the engagement, withdrew the royal youngsters from the scene of bloody strife. Aubrey tells us, on the authority of Harvey himself, that he and his pupils sought at first the shelter of a hedge on the outskirts of the field of battle. Harvey drew from his pocket a book, and sitting calmly down, began to read, whilst the boys probably peeped out upon the proceedings of the troops. Ere long the whizzing of a bullet disturbed the meditations of the philosopher, and warned him and the boys intrusted to him, to seek shelter more secure, from the advancing army of the parliament. Three years afterwards the young prince was appointed to the general command of his father's army; but the war was then nearly at an

end. All that the council of the young generalissimo could accomplish was to carry off his royal highness into the West and successively to retreat, under his nominal authority, from Oxford to Bath, and thence to Bristol, Bridgewater, Exeter, Pendennis, and ultimately to the Isles of Scilly.

Clarendon tells us of a "notable inconvenience" to which the boy commander-in-chief was subjected in the course of his retreat through the western counties. On his arrival at Bridgewater he fell in with his former nurse, or as Dr. Hoskins seems to think she was, his "nursery governess," Mrs. Wyndham, whose husband was the governor of the town. She was "a woman," says Clarendon, "of great rudeness, and of a country pride, nihil muliebre præter corpus gerens; and valued herself much upon the power and familiarity which her neighbours might see she had with the Prince of Wales." With the good temper which distinguished Charles II. at all periods of his life, he was delighted to renew his acquaintance with his early friend, and the lady on her part thought it right to resume all her ancient authority over her royal nurseling. Taking entire possession of the youthful general, she withdrew him (probably nothing loth) from the serious business to which he had just begun to give attention; she filled his mind with jealousies and suspicions of his council, inveigled him into schemes for the private benefit of herself and her family, and in the end exercised such influence over his mind, and

created such confusion and embranglement in the public affairs cominitted to his nominal management, that, in order to extricate their master and themselves, the council were obliged to carry off their commanderin-chief in a very summary and unceremonious manner. To counteract the influence exercised by Mrs. Wyndham, the King's generalissimo was compelled to make an ignominious retreat from Bridgewater to Exeter. This first example of the power of female authority over the mind of Charles was but too exact a type of what subsequently occurred more fatally in instances almost innumerable.

Charles's removal to Scilly was the result of mis-information, and ended in disappointment. St. Mary's, the principal island of the Scilly group, was found to be indefensible and incapable of maintaining the not over modest court of the Prince of Wales with the few troops who followed him. The question then arose, whither was he next to fly? Here again female influence interfered. The queen was in France, where she was vainly striving to procure assistance from Cardinal Mazarin. Uninfluenced by the many weighty reasons which should have prevented the heir-apparent from leaving his country so long as he could remain with anything like safety within its boundaries, nothing would please her majesty but that her son Charles should join her in Paris, and assist in certain intrigues which she had then in hand. The prince's council were all but unanimous in their opposition to the queen's proposal, but, aware of her power, they thought it better to recommend a half measure rather than meet her with direct contradiction. Thus

Jersey came to be named as a place of refuge. The distance from the King, who had now surrendered himself to the Scots, was the only objection, and not a very powerful one, to the selection of that island. This was overruled upon further consideration, and ultimately Prince Charles and his band of councillors set sail from Scilly on the 16th April, 1646. The ship which bore the fortunes of the youthful heir of England was named The Proud Black Eagle, a frigate of 160 tons and 24 guns. After a favourable voyage Charles cast anchor under the walls of

Elizabeth Castle in the afternoon of the day following, and during the same night there arrived two smaller vessels freighted with the members of Charles's household, and the few soldiers who constituted his body guard, a train altogether amounting to about 300 persons.

Jersey had been secured, although with difficulty, in its obedience to the crown, whilst its fellow island Guernsey had taken the parliamentary side in the great public quarrel. The inhabitants of Jersey received Charles with a welcome which seems oddly enough to have been omitted by the governor of Elizabeth Castle. 66 No single piece of cannon was fired by way of salute, no flag fluttered in the breeze," but "soon after nightfall every prominent hillock throughout the island was crowned by a blazing bon-fire, every man contributing his faggot as a token of his loyal satisfaction." In the history of Charles's doings, Dr. Hoskins has had the benefit of a manuscript account of the events of those times, written in Jersey by John Chevalier. Building upon this valuable foundation, Dr. Hoskins thus describes the events which immediately succeeded upon Charles's arrival.

The next few days were dedicated to holding levees in the great hall of the castle, where the chief functionaries, the principal gentry, in short the beau monde of Jersey, were presented to his highness, and kneeling on one knee were indulged with the honour of kissing his royal right hand. The good-humoured familiarity of manner, and the desire of acquiring popularity, for which he was afterwards so celebrated, seems to have characterised him even at this early period. "C'etoit un Prince grandement benin," says Chevalier, and the islanders, expecting more stateliness, were astonished and propor

tionately fascinated with his "benign" demeanour, and the affability with which he gave them audience. Predisposed to sympathise in the misfortunes of a young prince, barely sixteen years of age, who had already experienced so many vicissi tudes, and encountered so many dangers, they were now flattered into a perfect delirium of loyalty, at the idea that their rock was deemed worthy of affording him shelter, and that they were selected to be the protectors of the heir apparent to the British crown.

To add to the delight, Prince Charles occasionally gratified their curiosity by

admitting them to see him dine in state, according to the courtly fashion of the times. Our unsophisticated chronicler, a sort of Samuel Pepys in his way, must have been himself an eye-witness of these prandial ceremonies. Dazzled by first impressions, he describes them with cir cumstantial minuteness; he is astonished at the magnificent display of gold and silver plate; marvels at the precision of the arrangement; and admires the adroitness of the numerous attendants. "Quand au sujet du maintien de la table de ce Prince, il etoit tel, que chacun savoit son poste, et les choses y etoient mises par un si bon ordre, que le tout se faisoit avec plaisir, et contentement à les voir, comme chacun étoit prompt à son office."

At the upper end of the table were laid a plate, a knife, and fork, all of silver; and then in massive dishes of the same metal were served up meat, fish, and other viands, under the direction of the sewer (Mr. Duncombe). His highness, before placing himself at table, stood uncovered whilst a doctor of theology pronounced the blessing; he then, putting on his hat, seated himself, the reverend doctor standing at his right hand, and the lords and gentlemen in waiting, all uncovered, around him. A page, kneeling on one knee, now presented a ewer and bason of silver gilt, and a napkin; and, after his highness had rinsed his hands and dried them, each dish in succession was offered to him. That which he selected as most agreeable to his palate, whether fish, flesh, or fowl, was conveyed to the carver stationed at the opposite end of the board, who, after carving slices from the dish honoured by royal selection, tasted them, and deposited them on the silver platter, which being taken back, his highness condescended to cut the slices up himself and eat them. Another kneeling page presented him with bread, cut up into long slender junks, on a silver salver; and, when the prince had finished the first course, his plate was removed, and the dish trenched upon was sent away. The cupbearer, a youth about the prince's own age, offered him beverage on bended knee, having previously tasted it; and whilst the prince was drinking, he held a vessel under his chin, to prevent a drop from being spilt on his vestments. The cup being empty, Ganymede received it back, and making a low obeisance retired.

The same tedious ceremonial-selecting, carving, tasting, offering food and drinkwas repeated at each course; and, when the prince had appeased his appetite on solids, the carver collected the remnants of broken bread, &c. in a silver platter. The dessert was then served, and this, in turn, being disposed of, the chaplain said

grace, and his highness, rising from table, retired.

There were grand doings at Elizabeth Castle on Friday, the 24th April, 1646; grander doings than any that figure in the annals of Jersey, either before or since that period. The Prince of Wales, in the exercise of a prerogative, recently acquired, that of conferring titles of honour on deserving cavaliers, not only confirmed his Majesty's patent in favour of Sir George Carteret, by personally going through the form of dubbing him a knight, but he went a step further and created him baronet. Chevalier ever after this alludes to Sir George as knight and baronet, and the same titles are appended to his name in all official letters addressed to him by Charles the Second. On the same day, and in the same place, the captain of the Prince's frigate was transformed into Sir Baldwin Wake, preparatory to his relieving Sir Peter Osborne from the irksome duty he had so long performed as Governor of Castle Cornet.

Elizabeth Castle, in which Charles took up his abode, is situate upon an islet in the bay of St. Helier's. For a week the young prince remained there without landing on the main island. On Sunday, the 26th April, he made his entry into St. Helier's, in order to attend divine worship in the town church.

Great preparations in anticipation of this joyous event were made by the anxious citizens in arranging and ornamenting their church. Seats and benches-there is no mention of pews-were removed from before the pulpit. The open space thus formed was carpeted; a chair of state, with a small table before it, was fitted up, cushions being placed thereon to support his highness's elbows, and other cushions for him to kneel upon. The carpet, the table, and the aisles were strewed with a profusion of flowers, and herbs of sweet savour; whilst the pillars of the ancient Gothic structure were decorated with boughs of trees, intermingled with bouquets and garlands of flowers.

Early in the morning of the auspicious Sunday the militia assembled to guard the avenues leading to the temple. The whole rural population capable of locomotion, chiefly women and children, the men being under arms at their different posts, collected like a vast army on the beach within view of the castle; while the townspeople occupied every window, every house-top, every wall, every favourable point, from whence a glimpse of the royal progress was to be obtained.