QUEEN MATILDA'S TAPESTRY. Concluded from Vol. LXXIII,p.1228.) XXXIX. Hic exeunt cavalli de navibus.-The troops are already landed, and the unladen fhips are ranged along the thore. The painter reprefents here only the landing of the horfes. It is to be obferved, that he has omitted, in the history of this debarkation, William's accidental fall, which he himfelf conftrued into a good omen. XL. Et hic milites feflinaverunt Hef tinga, ut cibum raperentur.-Hortemen armed are feen marching towards Haftings. Foragers have already brought from the neighbouring farms a number of cattle and sheep. XLI. Hic eft Wadard. This horfeman, armed, fuperintending the butchers and cooks who follow, and whofe mere furname is written without any defeription, is, probably, the grand purveyor. This omillion of his title, and the name standing as that of a perfon fufficiently known, is an internal proof, confirming the tradition, that the tapestry is contemporary with the Conqueft. XLII. Hic coquitur caro, et hic miniftraverunt miniftri.-The cooks are preparing the provifions in various Ianners. A large caldron is on the fire. Some are preparing fowls of the farm-yard; and others meats of a rarer kind. XLIII. Hic fecerunt prandium, et hic epifcopus cibun et potum benedicit. Here are feen two large tables; the one is round, and is defigned for the officers belonging to the Court; the other, more remarkable, is in the form of a half circle. At this are feated Duke Willians and the Barous of his fuite. A Bishop bletles the table, and a page on his knees prefents the cup. XLIV. Odo Ep's. Wilel'm. Robert. -The Duke of Normandy holds a council at Haflings, on the operations of the campaign. He is feated between his two brothers, with his fword in his hand. At his right hand is Odo Bifhop of Bayeux; and Robert Count of Mortain is on his left. Probably it is decided in this council to encamp themfelves, and fortify Hatings-to await there the approach of the enemy, who, proud of his victory over the Norwegians, marches, in full confidence, to give battle. XLV. Ifte juffit ut foderetur caftelbum at Haftenga-As this infeription immediately follows the name of Ro bert, it appears that this Count of Mor tain had the charge of fuperintending the operations ordered in council. It is, therefore, this officer, who, with a fall ftandard in his hand, encourages the labourers to work. They are digging in the trench, and already the camp is pallifadoed. The infcription ceaftra, for caftra, thews the camp. XLVI. Hic nuntiatum eft Willelmą de Harold. A foldier approaches Williar, whom he appears to inform, with a myfterious air, of the enemy's approach. XLVII. Hic domus incenditur.—It appears that, in confequence of the news of the enemy's approach, William's troops fet fire to a house, which embarraffed the movement of the army. A woman, leading her fon by the hand, is coming out of the house, to which two men are fetting fire. Hiftory is filent on this fact. It is known, however, that, after the battle of Haltings, when Dover was taken and burnt by the foldiery, the Duke of Normandy ordered a compenfation to be made to the inhabitants. Perhaps the woman and child represent a fimilar act of humanity performed by William on this occafion. XLVIII. Hic milites exierunt de Haftenga, venerunt ad prælium contra Haroldum regem -The Duke of Normandy did not wait for Harold in his camp, but marched out to meet him. The Duke is feen completely armed, and ready to mount his charger. The horfe are marching toward the enemy. XLIX. The Willelm' Dux interrogat Vital fi vidiffet exercitum Haroldi.—The Duke, at the head of his horie, a baton in his hand, is questioning a horfeman, who approaches him on the full gallop. The horfeman appears to be the chief of a troop of cavalry, fent to reconnoitre. The infeription gives us his name; he points to the fide on which the enemy is approaching. L. Ifte nuntiat Haroldum Regem. de exercitu Wilielmi Ducis.--The King of England had alio fent to reconnoitre; he had even fent fpies into the camp of William, who, difcovering them, ordered every part of his preparations to be fhewn to them, and then (ent them back to their mafter. A foot-foldier who precedes Harold points to the ercitum.-The two armies are drawn up in the prefence of each other; the Duke of Normandy harangues the French, encouraging them to the oufet, the Hiftorians of the times give his fpeech. In the picture, William appears to be near the conclufion of his fpeech; his troops begin to charge the enemy; there is only a fingle horfeman near William, who turns round to liften to his concluding words. The battle commences; the horle couch their lances; the archers, marching on foot before the horfe, have their bows bent; a fhower of arrows is difcharged; the bucklers of the enemy are fuck full of them; many of the enemy fall; the carnage is great. The border of this pinnel, at the bottom, is covered with Gead bodies In the fame manner, the bodies of Amazons form the frife of a Sarcophagus, on which is reprefented their battle with the Athenians: fo the bodies of the children of Niobe ornament the borders of a tomb, the basrelief of which reprefents the vengeance of the fon of Latona on that unfortunate family. LII. Hic ceciderunt Lewine et Gurd, fratres Haroldi Regis.-The latter, who is here called Gurd, is known in h fiory by the title of Count of Word; he and his brother Lewin fell in the combat. LII. Hic ceciderunt fimul Angli et Franci in prælio.-Hiftorians fpeak of a ditch where the French are thrown into confufion towards the end of the battle. The English are feen rallying on the edge of the ditch. The conteft is bloody, and numbers of the combatants of both armies are feen plunged together into the ditch. LIV. He Odo Eps. baculum tenens comfortat Francos.-The misfortune at the ditch difconcerts the Duke of Normandy's troops. Bishop Odo, mounted on horfeback, and completely armed, taifing his baton, reanimates the French, and leads them back to the combat. The lager words of the infeription are ellared. LV. Hic efl Dux Will's —The Duke is at the dich, encouraging his troops. He railes his cafque, to thew hindelf to his men. As he had been wounded, it is probable that the news had difcouraged his troops. He revives their firits; and from that moment the victory is no longer doubtful. IVII. The Frenci prenent et reciderunt qui erant cum Haroldo-The French rally; and Harold's army is cut to pieces. The tapestry here reprefents the French, who return to the combat with more vigour than ever. The English are routed, and cut to pieces. eft.-He dies with his arms in his hand. LVIII. Hic Harold Rex interfectus and extended on the ground. He had He is here feen, fallen from his horse, reigned only nine months. A horfe Harold's thigh; at which, according to man, without, difinounting, pierces the Hiftorians, Duke William was fo from the rank of a horfeman. The much difpleafed, that he degraded him battle of Haftings, which placed William the Conqueror and his defcendants on the throne of England, was fought on the 14th of October, 1066. This finifhes the embroidery of Matilda. Some of the latter figures are a little injured by Time. Some learned men have been of opinion, that this fethe crowning of William; which opiries of pictures carried on the ftory to remains to put the quefiion out of nion is not improbable, though nothing doubt. ANTIQUARIOLUS. I Mr. URBAN, Liverpool, Jan. 5. CANNOT forego the pleasure I felt in my laft vifit to London. The improvement on Snow-hill is worthy of and the people who direct it. Thole the City of London and its magiftrates, alfo near Temple-bar have much merit; and on my next vifit I hope to fee another improvement, fo obvious to every firanger, the opening of Oxford→ ftreet, from the end of Tottenhamcourt-road, to the South-east corner of Southampton-fireet, Bedford-fquare, tinels, Dyot-street and its appendages, tryman leave to give another opinion If you will permit, then, a plain coun(perhaps von will fay it is prefuming in him to add fo much), I would recom mend a road to be cut directly from the corner of Old Change, down to Bridgerow, in a traight line. It will interfere with no large public building, nor, in the line, would I dettroy any. From thence, widen Caunon-street, Eattencap, at the end of Idoi-lane; puts on; cut a fresh fireet, in a freight line, to East Smithfield; from which a ready communication may be made to your New Docks. An opening from this new line, betwixt Billingsgate and the Cultom Cuftom-houfe, would be found useful; at prefent it is inconvenient. I am confident this would coft a great deal of money; but the question is, would it not be well laid out? If you build docks, you ought to make good roads to them. The docks will be a great acquifition; and the roads will make them more generally ufeful and productive, in the encouragement of trade, and the facilitating the transportation of merchandize to every quarter of the world, from all parts of this fuperb City. I have one objection to make; I don't like the lofty building on Snowhill. From this conftruction of building, our heavy lofs in Liverpool was faid to follow, whereby buildings to the amount, or lofs fay, of 60.0001. laft September, occurred, and property in them to the amount of 440,000 1. more; never having more than one building, at any one time, burnt before, nor ever having any built with a defign to be more fecured, by partywalls and extra roofs, than these were, all of them nearly new. Yours, &c. MATT. GREGSON. Mr. URBAN, 4, Chapel-flr. Dec. 15. IF you pleafe, you may infert the following hints in your useful Magazine. They appear to me of great importance to thofe of your readers who poffefs landed property. Hints on Hedges, and Hedge-row Timber. A hedge is ufed for thelter, and as a Tence for cattle; and it is the beft hedge that poffeffes thefe properties in the leaft fpace of ground. Now the hedges in molt counties of England, and particu. larly in the neighbourhood of London, occupy fix and often twelve times more ground than is neceflary for this purpofe, and, notwithflanding, they are very incomplete fences. Any traveller might obferve this, by comparing them with the hedges in Berwickshire, and other Northern counties. I confider thefe obfervations as a fufficient reafon for offering the following outline of my ideas upon this fubject, which I fhall arrange under two gene. ral heads, viz. Planting, and Training of Hedges. ift. Planting. In a dry foil, a hedge is improperly planted, if the plants are railed above the level of the general furface of the field. In a wet foil, it is equally improper to plant the hedge without either railing the furface, draining, planting by what is called ditch and hedge, or using aquatic plants. In whatever kind of foil, or fituation, a hedge is planted, the ground fhould be previoufly cleanfed and pulverized, either by fallowing, trench-plowing, or digging. In planting, whatever is the direction of the hedge-row, none of the plants fhould deviate from that line of direction. A fingle row of thorns (only) is fufficient to raile a complete hedge on any foil: the plants from fix to eighteen inches afinder, according to its nature. The birch, the horubeam, the alder. the elder, &c. will be found preferable to thorns; the two former in poor dry, and the two latter in wet foils. 2d Training. Every fpecies of training is improper, which does not rear the hedge to a living wall, of a pyramidal form; and for the general purpofes of hedges, four or five feet high, twenty inches broad below, and eight at top, is fufficient. This is eafily accomplished by keeping the plants free from weeds, and pruning their lateral fhoots pretty clofe to the ftem. A light hedge knife is the proper infirument for pruning hedges; no hedge-fhears fhould be used on any account. By training a hedge in a tapering or pyramidal form, every inch of its furface enjoys the full benefit of the fun, air, and rain; hence it is uniformly cloathed with verdure from the roots to the top; and this makes a more complete and durable fence than any other mode of training. Let any one contraft the above directions for planting and rearing hedges, which are put in practice in feveral of the counties in the Northern divifion of this ifland, with the mode followed in England, and particularly in the vicinity of London. Every intelligent perfon, who reflects upon the fubject for one moment, will allow, that it is a mode much less expenfive (and if we only confider the wide space which hedges in general occupy, it will appear), and that many gentlemen, by adopting it, might add a confiderable number of acres to their eftate, and have much better fences, at one half the expence. Hedge-row Timber. Hedges trained in the way I have defcribed must be much more favourable for the growth of timber-trees, than the common method. All that I propofe to obferve here, however, is to recommend the ah ath for planting in hedge-rows, in preference to the English elm. I object to the English elm in hedge rows, Firtt, because an elm-tree, to become good timber, fhould not be pruned; and Secondly, because the English elm is of little value, as timber, at any rate. I recommend the afh for hedge-rows in England; Firfi, because its timber is next in value to the oak, and is always fearce, being too much neglected by planters. Secondly, it will profper, and produce excellent timber, where neither the oak nor elm can. Thirdly, it produces the greatest quantity, and the best quality of timber, when trained to a ingle ftem; this being precifely the mode of treatment that trees in hedge-rows require, in order to favour the growth of the hedge under them, and the crop on each fide. In fome counties, naturally unfavourable to the growth of the oak, it is there cultivated to the great advantage of the land-holder, who, befides the annual rents of the lands, draw an immenfe fum from the hedge-rows alone. If the hedges in England were reared in the manner I have defcribed, and if the common afh was planted in place of the English elm, the pafture, or arable lands, would be greatly increated, and a vast quantity of valuable wood acquired; which would be an incalcu lable advantage to individuals, and a great benefit to the nation. Being lately employed in laying out a gentleman's grounds in Surrey, I was led to make the above remarks from their efficacy on his eftate; to which I added one tenth part, in acres, more than it used to be farmed for; and fome time ago, at another place, in the fame county, a field, of 8 acres, furrounded with cumberfume hedges, I converted into 12 acres of excellent pafture, the hedges much better than before, and kept in or der at a much less expence. I hope thefe hints may fiimulate many to do likewife; and profit in a fimilar manner. J. LOUDON. Lincoln, 1789; G. F. Nott, of All Souls, 1802. B. S. vol. LXXIII. p. 1126, makes very pertinent remarks on the fubject of Mafiers and Truttees of Free-schools; but he must go a little deeper into it before he can bring it even before the Chancellor. When a majority of truftees or a veftry, to whom many of them are to report their refolutions, encourage and connive at the mifconduct of matters, what good can be ex• pected? It is but too true, that the Ars Grammatica, required by the founders' ftatutes to be taught in our free fchools, has been abfurdly conftrued into Greek and Latin, because English was hardly reduced to grammatical accuracy when they were founded, and, it may be, was contrary to the ignorance of their mother-tongue in which children were kept before the Reforma tion. Thefe fchools being intended as fubftitutes to the fchools in the monaf teries, it is natural to fuppofe the fame kind of knowledge would be continued to be taught in them; but at the fame time that a mafter, having a fmall falary, a house rent-free, an allowance of coals, and other perquifites, fhould prefer teaching Greek and Latin to four young gentlemen at 1001. a year to teaching all the dirty boys of the town or village to jabber over English as faft and as inarticulately as may be, for the chance of their parents reimburfing him the expences of books, paper, and pens, is not to be wondered at. When it is farther confidered that every man who conceits himfelf fufliciently learned to teach others fets up a day-fchool in every lane on the very risk aboveftated, and with the only certainty of getting pay for children of other parithes put out to nurfe; what man, while he laments the hard fate of thefe afpiring fpirits, does not pity that of the grammar-mafiers thus undermined? A third grievance muft not be forgotten, in which Religion is made a fialking horfe, under cover of Morality, to propagate particular doctrines; when perfons are invited to fubferibe, and be put on a committee, under the lure that the place of worship to which the fcholars fhall go fhall be determined by the majority who are already provided. When farther there is a fociety of fchoolmatters united to protect their claims and privileges, there is a rampart through which the Chancellor hinfelf would find it difficult to break. A ha A lift of free grammar-fchools was morals, the relief of an idle hour, and a fashionable lounge, without reaching the heart or conduct. Pacificus, vol. LXXIII. p. 1132, is fo attentive to the charge of Quaker corndealers, that he reminds us of the repeated advertisement of the Society in the year of fcarcity, vindicating alt their members from fuch naughty practices. But is it not well known that, fo long as members continue their contributions to the Society's fund, their actions must be very grofs indeed to exclude them from fellowship? I confefs myfelf as unable as D. H. to understand the meaning of Mr. Gabb's expreffion, vol. LXXIII. 806, before he explained himself, p. 1134. Whatever be the propriety in the ufe of the term Villa, vol. LXXIII. 1134, one cannot help wishing the line "The feaft of resfon, and the flow of foul,” were lefs hackneyed. G. R. *Our correfpondent A. B. C [who would feel himself greatly obli-, ged to Mr. Urban if through the medium of the Gentleman's Magazine he would inquire into the authenticity of a well-known letter, purporting to have been written by Publius Lentulus to the Senate of Rome concerning our Saviour, which Lord Exeter has puť up near the famous picture of Carlo Dolce at Burleigh; or, if Mr. Urban fhould himfelf know, as he most probably would, what is the authority for the letter in queftion] is referred to the feveral books published on the Eviden ces of Chriftianity; among others, to the works of Dr. Lardner, where he will find fufficient detection of the spurioufnels of this letter, equally fo with thofe of Abgarus king of Edeffa to our Saviour himself, and of Seneca to St. Paul. Tertullian (Apologet. V.) fays, that Tiberius communicated to the Senate the accounts he received from Syria Paleftiura refpecting the truth of his di vinilu; but the Senate, and particu larly Sejams, refuted them. The Emperor, however, maintained his own opinion, and threatened those who informed against the Chriftians with punifhmen. (Brotier's Tacitus, Supplem. Annal. v. ch. 8.) Calmet (Diet. v. Lentulus) fays, 66 There has been often printed a letter from Lentulus, the sup pofed proconful of Judea, to the Roinan Senate. There has appeared here |