of the aisles, were, I doubt not, those of the chantry of William Swayne; and the benefactors of these improvements seem to have extended their liberality around the Church for the laudable purpose of producing uniformity to the chantry of Robert Godmanstone, where, on a beam of the panelled ceiling, may be observed the arms of the Hungerford and other families. The ceiling (more ancient than that of Swayne's) may, also, at that time, have been much out of repair.

To close this architectural discussion I now advance the opinion, that the only portions of this Church, which I can recognise as of the original building, are-the arch, dividing the nave from the chancel, (which is formed on the same principle as those of the coeval, and neighbouring, Cathedral, that is, struck on the base line of an equilateral triangle,) and so much of the walls of the nave and the chancel, as is above the summits of the arches and beneath the line of the capitals in the former, and the base of the windows in the latter; and, of course, this line of wall must be understood to include the shafts between the windows in the nave surmounted with the shields, and capitals.

I have thus endeavoured to explain my views as to the progressive advance of this curious Church of St. Thomas à Becket from its original to its present state; and, I hope, that I have succeeded in giving that explanation to those of my readers, who, perchaunce, may feel an interest in the subject, in comprehensive, and intelligible, terms.

Since I penned the foregoing humble dissertation (if dissertation it may be yclept) on the architecture of the abovementioned Church, I have reviewed the building with Mr. Osmond, an eminent architect of Salisbury, who corroborated the whole of my opinions.

Having completed my observations on the architecture of this interesting Church, (whither the worthy John Halle, and his amiable family, without doubt, did customarily, and piously, resort,) I cannot close my note without acquainting you, gentle reader, with a singular discovery, which has been lately made, literally, within the walls of the sacred edifice. On the north side of the Church was a large entrance porch surmounted by a room, which had not been used within the memory of man, and the access to which was by a staircase, entered from within the Church, and winding through its wall. In this room was a

A SMALL CRUCIBLE real size/ which was found, with four others, on taking down the Northern Porch of the Church of St Thomas, Salisbury,

March 12th 1835.

8. Martin & Lithog 14. 5 Martin's Lane, 26, Long Acre

fire-place, and, by its side, was discovered, on taking down the walls, a small niche, which had been plastered over. In this niche were found five crucibles, of which the one pourtrayed in the accompanying plate is the largest. I immediately recognised them (when I viewed them) as the crucibles of some Alchymista Rosicrucian, who, locked within the walls of this sacred edifice, passed his solitary hours at a distance from the business of life, and, unannoyed e'en by the hum of men,

Apart from noise, and ceaseless strife,
He sought the means to lengthen life→→→

he assiduously, and perseveringly, passed his time in vain endeavours to counteract the silent, but resistless, approaches of old age-to connect the spring of youth with the autumn of declining years-but no!-he toiled in vain; and, at length, perceiving, that his smooth, and rosy, visage yielded to the furrows of time, and the pallor of advancing age-that the serenity of his mind, too oft, was discomposed by the twinges of rheumatism, and the pains of gout-that his eyes became dim, and that, in hearing, he heard not as he was wont-in fact that, in spite of Alchymy, he was-as all men aremortal; he, then, at length, allowed, that Horace had good cause to exclaim to his friend Posthumus―

"Eheu! fugaces, Posthume! Posthume!
Labuntur anni: nec pietas moram

Rugis, et instanti senectæ

Afferet, indomitæque morti."*

He then in the vexation of spirit, and in the bitterness of disappointment-walled up his crucibles-folded his arms-and quietly, and piously, awaited the universal doom of nature.

In the dark, and middle, ages the Philosophers of the day yielded themselves to the most subtle researches; and, in the

• The above lines are thus elegantly translated by Francis :"How swiftly glide our flying years!

Alas! nor piety, nor tears
Can stop the fleeting day;

Deep-furrow'd wrinkles, posting age,
And death's unconquerable rage,

Are strangers to delay."*

"Poetical Translation of the Works of Horace." Book ii. Ode 14,

ardency of their minds, they sought for ends, which are impossible to be attained-for discoveries, impossible to be made under the keenest research, and the most indefatigable attention of mortal man. The science of such researches was denominated Alchymy. I shall refrain from entering into the question of the etymology of this word, as it is very doubtful, and would be of interest but to the few. Some, however, consider it to be in part compounded from the Arabic Language, as, say they, is shown from the particle al. If this be true, then we may presume, that the sciences of alchymy, astronomy, astrology, &c., to which I may add the art of magic, sprang, primarily, from the East; and this, I do think, is most probable. The witty Butler, in his "Hudibras," (Part ii. Canto 3,) satirises the celebrated Lilly, the astrologer, and prophetic almanacmaker, (at that time living,) under the character of Sidrophel; and, in the conference between him and Hudibras, he makes the former say

"As for the Rosicross Philosophers,

Whom you will have to be but sorcerers,
What they pretend to is no more
Than Trismegistus did before,
Pythagoras, old Zoroaster,

And Apollonius, their master;

To whom they do confess they owe

All that they do, and all they know.”

The science of Alchymy-the endless toil, and chase, after that, which could never be arrived at, has proved the ruin of many a wise fool. Harris, the author of the "Lexicon Technicum, or an Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," when describing the alchymist, thus adds: "This Study of Alchymy hath been rightly defined to be, Ars sine Arte, cujus principium est mentiri, medium laborare, & finis mendicare:'* that is, An Art without an Art, which begins with Lying, is continued with Toil and Labour, and, at last, ends in Beggary.' And so poor Penotus found it, who, after he had spent his whole Life and Fortune in this vain Study, died at last in an Almshouse at Yverden, in Switzerland; and used to say, he would recommend the Study of Alchymy to a mortal Enemy, whom he did not dare openly to attack.”

This terse, and correct, description of Alchymy first came, as I believe, from the pen of the celebrated French Chymist, Lemery.-E. D.