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ISCOVERIES IN WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.-The fine cathedral church of this see has been for some years undergoing repairs and restorations, and during the progress of the works very interesting discoveries have been made. In 1856 the workmen uncovered in the south-east transept two stone coffins of great size. Both contained skeletons, one of which was that of a man who must have been 6 ft. 6 in. high. No remains of garments or ornaments were found; but, as almost all the tombs in the cathedral have been interfered with at different periods of its history, such articles may have been previously appropriated. It is very probable that these were the remains of ancient bishops of the see. In December of last year a very interesting discovery was made. In removing a portion of the wall on the north side of the choir, and near the east end, the workmen brought to light a stone coffin, a portion of which fell away, disclosing the remains of a bishop in his episcopal vestments. The coffin had been very carefully chiselled out of a single block of stone. It had been disturbed at some former VOL. CIV.

time, the original cover removed, and replaced by three stones. The upper and lower of these in their turn had been displaced, and, consequently, rubbish had fallen into the lower part of the coffin, and the vestments covering the upper part of the body had decayed into shreds and become of a deep chocolate colour, while those parts protected by the middle stone remained undisturbed. The body had apparently been vested in the alb, tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, and stole, with the amice round the neck, the mitre on the head, and the maniple suspended from the left arm.

Of the mitre, the lower portion, constituting the band round the forehead, was still apparent. The vestments were exceedingly rich, of gold tissue and embroidered work, embellished with scrolls and other accessories, figures of kings and birds. The pastoral staff was lying on the left side of the body; but neither the crook nor the ferrule could be found, though there were some fragments of ivory which had probably formed part of the former. Neither the episcopal ring nor the chalice, usually buried with a deceased bishop, were found; they B

had probably been taken away by those who had formerly disturbed the remains. But a silver-gilt paten, ornamented, was found in the coffin, and a small silver ornament, resembling a "morse" had been placed on the chasuble, in front of the breast. The question arises, Of what prelate are these the remains, which thus for the second time had been exposed to light after the repose of centuries? There seems great ground for concluding that they are those of Bishop Walter de Cantilupe, who presided over the see of Worcester for the thirty years from 1236 to 1266, and who took a prominent part in public affairs in the reign of Henry III. As has been al ready stated, most of the tombs in Worcester Cathedral have been disturbed during successive ages, and the monuments and effigies removed from their original positions to other sites. The most remarkable instance of this transfer is presented by the effigy of King John. The corpse of the kingthe first of our Norman sovereigns entombed in England-was originally deposited at the east end of the church, and his tomb was closed by a sumptuous effigy, representing him in his royal robes, richly coloured, gilt, and jewelled, the crown upon his head, the sceptre and sword in his hands. When Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII., died at Ludlow, in 1502, his father buried him in a sumptuous mortuary chapel in this cathedral, and for the construction of this resting-place of the Tudor prince it became necessary to remove the tomb of the old Plantagenet, which was accordingly transferred to the middle of the choir and placed upon a "high tomb;" but tradition still points

to a stone on the original site as covering the body of the king. In 1797, the restorers of that time sentenced the splendid monument to a further removal; but on raising the effigy, the stone coffin containing the remains of the king was found at the base of the tomb, level with the pavement. The original lid was gone, and two elm boards formed the only covering. These being removed, the corpse of the monarch was discovered in perfect preservation, and arrayed in precisely the same robes and royalties as were represented in the effigy, save that the crown and sceptre had disappeared, probably on the occasion of the removal of the corpse from its original restingplace. There can be no doubt that the effigy is a most accurate copy of King John, "in the same figure like the king that's dead." The effigy probably formed the original coffin lid. Upon this interesting discovery, the monumental effigy was replaced and the tomb suffered to remain in situ.

In the Lady Chapel are three effigies of bishops, which have evidently been removed from the tombs they originally covered. Two of these are of prelates of a very early period. One of them, of the fourteenth century, is sculptured in good and bold relief on a coffinshaped slab of dark-coloured marble. The deceased bishop is represented in full pontificals, and so far there is nothing to identify it as the effigy of any prelate of that era; but from the circumstances that there is sculptured on the front of the chasuble an ornament resembling that in silver found on the corpse recently discovered,. from the arrangement of the maniple over the left arm, and, above all, that the slab coincides in

its exact size and angles with the stone coffin, there is little doubt that this effigy formed the original covering. The second episcopal effigy lying in the Lady Chapel has been ascribed to William de Blois, who died in 1236, and was succeeded by Walter de Cantilupe. It is of thirteenth-century date, and is supposed to have formed the lid of the stone coffin found by the side of that ascribed to Bishop Cantilupe. The third effigy represents a bishop of a full century later date, perhaps Bishop Brian, who died in 1361, or Bishop Lynn, who died in 1373. There are in other parts of the cathedral effigies of early bishops which have been removed from their tombs, but which cannot with any reason be assigned to particular prelates.

The finding of these episcopal coffins was not the only discovery of interest in the course of these restorations. Within the rails at the east end of the choir was found a leaden coffin, moulded to the shape of the body, and roughly indicating the features and limbs of its tenant. It had originally been placed in a wooden casing, which had utterly decayed. There was no inscription to be found; but a plan of the cathedral of the date of 1795 leaves little doubt that the coffin contains the remains of the Duke of Hamilton, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Worcester, and died in the city. The victorious Parliamentarians would not allow the remains of the general of the Scotch army to be conveyed to his own country for interment.

WRECKS IN 1861.-The Chronicle of the last volume of the ANNUAL REGISTER records under various dates storms of wind of almost unprecedented violence, oc

casioning terrible disasters by sea and land. The "Wreck Return of the Board of Trade proves that the year did not receive its gloomy colouring from a few casualties of great interest; but that the number of wrecks and of lives lost far exceeded that of any year since careful records have been kept.

The total number of wrecks and casualties on our coasts, from causes other than collisions, exceeds the number reported during any of the preceding nine years, and was not fewer than 261 in excess of the average of the last six years. In 1857 the total of these disasters was 866; in 1858, 869; in 1859, 1067; in 1860, 1081; and in 1861, 1171. The number of collisions in 1861 was 323, being 25 in excess of those in 1860, but 26 fewer than those in 1859. The total number of wrecks and casualties in 1861 was therefore 1494. The larger proportion of these disasters was due to the terrible gales which raged around our coasts in the months of January, February, and November. In the former of these months the wrecks were 137; in the second, 355; and in the third, 350. It will be remembered that in the fearful storm which raged during the 19th, 20th, and 21st of February, the tower of Chichester Cathedral was blown down, and a wing of the Crystal Palace, at Sydenham, was destroyed. It must not, however, be overlooked, in considering these terrible losses, how largely the mercantile navy traversing the British seas has increased year by year. In 1858 the tonnage of vessels engaged in the foreign trade (and therefore exclusive of the enormous tonnage employed in the coasting trade), entering inwards and clearing out

wards from all our ports, was 22,309,981; in 1860 it had risen to 24,689,292 tons; and in 1861 to 26,595,641 tons.

So numerous calamities to the vessels must necessarily have been accompanied by fearful loss of life. The number of unfortunate persons who perished by wreck in 1861 (including, of course, those only who perished by well-ascertained disasters), was not fewer than 884, being 348 in excess of the number that perished in 1860. This sacrifice of human life does not, however, much exceed half of that of 1854, when 1549 persons were lost; or that of 1859, when the loss of life was 1645. The enormous excess of these years was chiefly due to the loss of certain large passenger ships on our coasts. It will be remembered that, in 1859, 459 persons perished in the wreck of the Royal Charter, on the Island of Anglesea, and 386 in that of the Pomona, on the coast of Wexford. The increase of the loss in 1861 over that in 1860 is attributable to the effects of the gales of January, February, and November, in which 465 lives were lost. The most terrible of these disasters were the wrecks of the Guttenburgh, stranded on the Goodwin Sands on the 1st of January, when 26 persons perished; of the Kingston, on the Hasborough Sands, 18 drowned; and the loss of the crew of the Whitby life-boat, 12 persons, in their heroic attempt to rescue the crew of a schooner.

The geographical distribution of these catastrophes is curious. On the east coast, from Dungeness to the Pentland Frith, the casualties were 778; on the south coast, from the Land's End to Dungeness, 164; on the Irish coast, 185; on the Scilly Islands, 9; on the west

coast, from the Land's End to Greenock, 285; on Lundy Island, 10; on the Isle of Man, 26; on the Northern Islands, 37.

Of the 261 collisions which occurred in 1861, 62 involved total loss. Of the 1494 casualties, 1271 occurred to British ships, 221 to foreign ships, and 2 to vessels whose nationality was unknown. But of the 1271 British vessels, 487 were coasting colliers, and 385 other coasters.

What was the total value of the vessels and cargoes jeopardized in all these casualties cannot possibly be ascertained; but 716 vessels are reported as insured for 874,0661., and 122 cargoes for 151,5241. 320 vessels and 197 cargoes are reported as uninsured ; 458 vessels and 907 cargoes unknown; the total estimated loss, as reported, 1,000,9577.

The inquiry into our losses of property and life on the ocean must always be a melancholy task; for it involves, in addition to such just occasions of sorrow, a painful suspicion of recklessness, ignorance, or worse, which may have occasioned them. The inquiry into what has been done in the way of rescue is, on the other hand, a cause of the noblest emotion. We know that hundreds of lives have been preserved by the exertion of the most heroic courage and fortitude and the noblest unselfishness. The return which chronicles so much disaster also records 4622 persons rescued from death. Of these, 743 were saved by life-boats; 447 by the rocket and mortar apparatus; 298 by luggers, coast-guard boats, and small craft; 971 by ships and steamboats; 1560 by the ships' own boats; 28 by individual exertions; and 577 by other means. The

number of life-boats belonging to the National Life-Boat Institution is now 120; under other management, 59. The number of stations of the rocket and mortar apparatus is 235, and there are 62 stations supplied with life-belts and lines. The sums paid from the Mercantile Marine Fund towards saving life from shipwreck amount to 63651., of which 10767. is paid to the crews of life-boats, and 7537. in gratuities to fishermen and others for their services at wrecks.

3. FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE IN THE STRAND.-At about half-past 3 o'clock, a destructive fire, which was unfortunately attended with the loss of three lives, broke out on the premises occupied by Mr. Price, machine ruler, Fountain Court, Strand. It appears that the second floor of the house where the fire originated was tenanted by a man and his wife and four children. Shortly before the fire broke out, the woman went out, leaving the four children together; but previous to doing so she took the precaution to extinguish the fire in the grate, and to secrete some lucifer matches which were in the room. She had scarcely left home, however, before one of the children bolted the door from the inside of the room, and presently afterwards, one of them, losing a ball with which they had been playing under the bedstead, found the lucifer matches and lit one to look for it, and almost instantaneously set fire to the bed. Before assistance could be procured the room in which the fire occurred, and those on the floor above, were destroyed, and three of the children suffocated; the fourth fortunately escaped.

7. SINGULAR BANK-NOTE FORGERY.-For many years foolish or

evil-disposed persons have amused themselves and endeavoured to attract attention by the circulation of imitation "bank-notes "— that is, not notes counterfeiting the promissory notes of established banks, but bearing so much general resemblance to those instruments as to mislead the unwary. Of these, an advertising circular, bearing the words "Bank of Elegance," and presenting a strong outward resemblance to a "Bank of England" note, was put largely into circulation. These imitations had been used by different kinds of sharpers with great success. Duffers had displayed large rolls in the parlours of public houses, and challenged raw farmers to a display of the contents of their pocket-books. Servant girls had been induced to change their vails and Christmas boxes for the more convenient

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form of a "Bank of Elegance " note; and other close imitations were hawked about the streets at a penny a-piece. The frauds perpetrated through this agency were so considerable that in the Act consolidating the laws relating to forgery, passed during the last session of Parliament, a clause was inserted, declaring the fraudulently engraving any such imitations, or the possession of such engravings, or putting off any impressions therefrom, a felony, punishable by fourteen years' penal servitude. This imitative passion has presented itself in a very singular form. Mr. Freshfield, the solicitor of the Bank, produced before the Lord Mayor an engraving on porcelain of a 51. Bank of England note, executed in all its details, even to the signature, with remarkable fidelity. The porcelain plate was stated to have formed the lid of an inkstand, a considerable number of which had