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etiquette, and the wax was highly scented; besides their heraldric family seals, they had others with curious devices and expressive mottoes, thus, CLAVSA SECRETA TEGO, I keep close secrets. Another, which expressed that the letter might be opened by some one in attendance, although not addressed to them, thus, OMNIBUS AD QUOS, To all to whom, meaning, to any one whom it might concern. There is a very old seal which belongs now to the Salopean Masonic Lodge; the device is a death's head, pick-axe, and shovel; above it an hour-glass with wings, the motto is QUALIS VITA FINIS ITA, Such is the end of life. Dr. Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, 1611, used a novel seal, in the shield was our Saviour crucified on an anchor: the family arms was a sheaf of snakes; he made this alteration when he entered into holy orders, and gave the following reasons for so doing :

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Adopted in God's family, and so

Our old coat lost, unto new arms I go,

The cross (my seal of baptism) spread below,
Does by that form into an anchor grow."

A collection of these ingenious devices might be formed, that would fill a small duodecimo.

CARDS. Although cards are now mostly used for the purpose of gambling, yet in former times, they were occasionally applied to more useful purposes. Although our ancestors were arrant gamblers, some of them knew the happy tact, of how

"To please by scenes unconscious of offence,
By harmless merriment or useful sense."

I select the following account of some of them from the catalogue of the Doucean Museum, Goodrich Court, Herefordshire. "Grammatical cards, printed in 1677, for S. Mearn and A. Clark, bound together in a book.”

"A set of cards to teach heraldry, time of Charles I.

"Ditto, time of James II., being a collection of the arms of sovereigns and nobility, arranged according to the suits, with explanations in French."

"Another set of grammatical cards in Latin, time of Charles I." "A set of orthographical cards, time of Queen Anne.” "A set of optical cards, by Ryland, in 1773."

"A pack of comical cards, quite modern."

"An imperfect set of modern geographical cards."

"A set of Spanish cards to teach fortification, time of Charles II."

"Three cards about the time of Queen Anne, which were part of a pack, to describe the ancient buildings in England; the northern countries being marked by clubs, the western spades, the eastern hearts, and the southern diamonds."

"Sixteen cards to illustrate surveying, time of William III." "The literary cards, by Thomas Foubert, 1758." "Orme's puzzle cards."

"Asiatic circular cards, two of moons, one of barrels, one of hats, and one of caps, these are of ivory."

"Asiatic square cards of ivory, twelve with Arabic inscriptions, eleven with barrels, twelve with moons, twelve with caps, twelve with hats, twelve with suns, one tiger and one sun, two pictured, two with European costume, two Asiatic," &c.

CASKETS. During the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, there were beautiful caskets made of silver, ivory, and wood, for the ladies to hold their bijouterie; they were elegantly inlaid, and tastefully decorated with numerous quaint devices. But as money, from the discovery of this continent, became more plentiful, they became transferred from the ladies' toilettes to the gentlemen's bureaux. Francis Douce, Esq., of Goodrich court, collected some hundreds, many were made in England, and many had been originally presents from foreign powers.

The following description of one, is from that judicious collector's extensive catalogue:

"A lady's casket, of ivory, said to have once belonged to Agnes Sorel, the favourite mistress of Charles VII., King of France. The costume upon it fixes its date to the early part of Henry VI.'s reign. Its length is seven inches, breadth six inches, height two and a quarter, and is made to open at nearly half its apparent thickness. On the lid, which contains the principal subject, is a representation of the Morris or Moorish dance, and the characters who compose it are the lady of the May, called Marian the shepherdess, who was generally a boy in a girl's dress, which seems pointed out, by the leg being so much exposed, three Morris dancers, a fool, and a piper. Four subjects are consecutively represented on the sides of the box. The first is a pastime in which the lover beats the leaves of a tree, to be caught in the lap of his mistress, attended by male and female minstrels, the former with a pipe, the latter with a harp and Cauchoise head-dress. Next is a joust, the combatants in which, wear those large fanciful sleeves, of Lombard fashion, which became general at this period. The immense spurs, with rowels so disproportioned, are characteristic of the time, as are the jousting helmets. The long bow is introduced, in the next compartment, as used in the chase. Hunting with

staff and horn, is the subject of the last compartment. The bottom of the casket has on it a chess table."

In his choice cabinets modern belles might see every variety of the most beautiful articles for their toilettes and work boxes, with their fittings up of every age, and for all purposes, both ornamental and useful, combined with an arrangement the most instructive; verily, the sight is a great treat; for, if I may be a little jocose,

Here, "heroes' wits are kept in pondrous cases,
And beaux, in snuff-boxes and tweezer cases.'

This selection was made by a gentleman who fortunately had ample means, and was in the possession of two other rare qualities, which, with the ample means, are seldom united together; which Lord Bacon calls, "a diligent and delicate curiosity." It is so extensive, and descends to such minute articles, that

"He shows, on holidays, a sacred pin,

That touch'd the ruff, that touch'd Queen Bess's chin." YOUNG.*

The keys of their caskets, and also of their grand, massive wardrobes, cabinets, and bureaux, were very elegant in the bows, curiously inlaid, and elaborately chased and carved, with initials, heraldry, mottoes, and other tasteful designs. And although the locks were poor things, compared with the patent ones of our day, of which we may say :

"Loud as the bull makes hills and vallies ring,
So roard'd the lock, when it releas'd the spring."

Yet this historical circumstance proclaims with true heraldric pomp, the sounder morality of these reigns, arising from their more easy mode of living, and political condition. This little incident alone should make statesmen and rulers reflect that taxation can only be carried to a certain extent, without deteriorating the morals of a nation. Paine says: "People have other things to do with their money, besides paying taxes." When taxation is forced beyond a certain point, it produces misery, and criminality is the inevitable result. "The belly has no ears when hunger comes upon it," is a saying as old as the hills. The clergy may preach, the moralist may lecture, law-makers may make laws more severe, and, consequently,

* Since writing the above, I have been informed he is no more, and therefore it may be perfectly proper for me to say, shortly, in his praise, that beside his antiquarian zeal, proofs innumerable of which he left behind him, he daily exhibited,

"With all; the gentle morals, such as play

Around life's cultur'd walks and charm the way."

then more cruel, for "the rigour of the law is the rigour of oppression." Judges may expound them, new jails and penitentiaries may arise, but all will be in vain. Once "Merrie Englande," is now, unfortunately, teaching this sad lesson to the world. God grant she may not teach in vain!

GOLD AND SILVER PLATE.-Davenant says, (( more family plate was wrought from 1666 to 1688, than had been fabricated in 200 years before,"* this was openly and of course osten

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tatiously displayed on their side-boards and buffets, but which would not now remain so exposed for twenty-four hours in any house in the three kingdoms, without there was a police-man

Harrison says, their "costlie cupboards of plate was worth 500 or 600 or £1000, and their tables covered with carpets, and laid with fine naperie." The collection often consisted of chargers, dishes, plates, porringers, saucers, vases, cups, tankards, flaggons, pitchers, pottels, ewers, creuses, bowls, goblets, washing-basins, and jugs; caudle-cups, crnets, spice-poter, spiceries, salt-cellars, and candle-sticks.

a watchman, or steel traps and spring guns actually set to protect them. To my sorrow, I am compelled to state that those wealthy families who can afford to keep a service at each residence, when they leave, have their chest of plate uniformly sent either to their London or provincial banker for safe keeping. In former days, country constables need not, as the facetious Hudibras describes:

"Search the planets and the moon,

For thief in thimble, thief in spoon,"

they did not then, as now, number legion.

Oh! what a change; who is there now who covets the crown of England? Verily, Queen Victoria is at once the most to be envied and the most to be pitied, of any lady in the world. Alas! where is there a female in this union who, after knowing all the circumstances under which she reigns, would exchange places with her? Yet the fault is not hers.

I write this on her birth-day, 24th May, being reminded thereof by the rattling of the guns of her ship, the Warspite, now reverberating amidst the prominences of this beautiful harbour, and I know the same is the case in every harbour of any consequence on the face of the globe; of this circumstance every native Englishman may be justly proud; but, alas! a thrill of dissatisfaction must come across the minds of those who reflect that the mass of the labourers over whom she reigns are in misery and distress, although the most industrious of any people in the world, and all for the want of not having bare justice meeted out to them, yet are we told, that "he who stops at bare justice, halts at the beginning of virtue." The system wants a change; it may be all very well for the Arkwright's, the Baring's, the Rothschild's, the Peel's, and other leviathan fundholders, to cry up "national faith;" but is not "national faith" also due to the children in the cradles, none of whom have been a party to these iniquitous, usurious contracts, yet no one cries out for them. Their parents have borne

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If this statement wants farther corroboration, I can quote from "A short statement of facts connected with the proposed changes in our Commercial Tariff," &c. by the Rev. T. Farr, 1841, this discriminating clergyman_states, "that in England the taxation falls like a lump of lead on the poor, and like a feather on the rich." What says the sagacious De Tocque

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