Surrey Archæological Society.

also recorded the charitable gifts of the parish to individuals who had met with unforeseen misfortunes of various kinds . In 1572 was erected a new " clicking" or "ducking" stool , an institution for the disciplining of women who made too free use of their tongues ; the operation of ducking being repeated as often as was considered necessary for the patient ' s cure—one Anne Downing for instance , was ducked three times "for that she was a common

scold and fighter . " Mr . Hart here exhibited an invention called the " scold's bridle , " an iron frame to fit the head and confine the tongue with a kind of bit . The registers also contain a varied record of deaths by violence aud misadventure . 'The register of Petersham acquires interest from its frequent allusion to Ham House and the former occupiers of that mansion , and its records of marriages and deaths in the Desart and Murray familiesand

, among their dependents . A branch of the Surrey Archaeological Society has been established for the purpose of examining the parish registers , and the present paper has been the result . The thanks of the society were expressed to the clergy for the assistance they have rendered in these researches . 3 . " On the Antiquities of Richmond , " by Mr . AVilliam Chapman . Mr . Chapman observedthat Richmond possessed but few

, antiquities to strike the eye , but its history contains many highly interesting particulars . Although the ancient name " Sheen" is undoubtedly Saxon , there is no mention of it in Saxon records . Happily there are no records of great battles or dire calamities to give it a place in early history , and previously to the time of

Henry VII ., the name of Richmond did not exist in this part of the kingdom . In the time of Henry IL , the manor of AVest Sheen belonged to the Wyndsor family . Eventuall y it was purchased by Bernal , Bishop of Bath and AVells , who obtained from the reigning sovereign the ri ght of free warren aud other privileges . . Edward III . died at Sheen , as did Anne , the queen of Richard II . ; the latter monarch in his grief for her loss caused the whole of

the buildings upon the manor to be rased to the ground . Henry IV . allowed Sheen to remain in this desolate condition , but Henry V . rebuilt the palacs , and also established in that town the Carthusian monastery of Jesus of Bethlehem . The culminating point of the splendour of Sheen was in the reign of Henry VII ., who gave it the name it now bears . In this reign the palace was entirely destroyed in three hours ba terrible fireHenry rebuilt it

y ; in 1501 , made it his favourite residence , and died there . Henry VIII . was more partial to Greenwich , and was little at Richmond ; but for a short time AA olsey resided there , much to the disgust of the inhabitants , after his gift of Hampton Court to the king . Queen Elizabeth was very fond of Richmond , and died there . Charles I . was educated there , but after his death the palace was sold by order of the Commonwealth . A small portion of the

building is still in existence . _ The three papers were of hi ghly interesting character , and were listened to throughout with great attention . The authors having received die thanks of the meeting , a similar vote to Lord Abingcr , for his kindness in presiding , was moved b y Mr . Evelyn , and carried with applause .

An interesting descri ption of the ancient monuments in the parish church was then given , which had been drawn up by the Rev . AA . Bashall , and the company proceeded to inspect the church and the surrounding grave-yard . The church is not of great antiquity , the oldest part being of the Tudor period only . Among the most striking monuments arc several of the time of Charles I . and Charles II . ; one in particular to the dissolute and infamous Brouncker

, some time cofferer to Charles II . Anion " the modern tablets is one to the memory of several officers of the Guards who fell in the Crimea , erected by the Freemasons' LocKc at Richmond of which they all were members . The poet Thomson is buried in the north aisle ; and the great Edmund . Kcan lies in the churchyard , where a tomb has been erected to his memory by his son .

At three o ' clock Lord Abingcr proceeded to open the temporary local museum , which was formed in the lecture hall of the new Cavalry College , by the permission of the commandant . His lordshi p very briefly recommended the collection to the notice of the visitors , observing that amongst such variety there must be surely something to suit all tastes . There were mcdiicval weapons , Indian guns , and Captain Cook ' s teakettle ; every kind of old to

key open old locks , and an autograph poem of Robert Burns to open the heart . He would not , however , detain them , for he had but _ small claims to the title of an antiquarian—though he might himself very properly be classed among the antiquities . Mr . Hart then proceeded with the catalogue raisonnee of the collection , which among various objects deserving careful examination , comprised a number of ancient seals and seal-rings ;

a spoon aud a fork of Sir "Walter Raleigh ; some old time-pieces ; many valuable coins ; some beautiful specimens of Roman glass ; various old muniments and leases ; specimens of illuminated missals , and early book-binding ; numerous rubbings from ancient brasses , plaster casts from old monuments ; and an excellent selection of rare autographs , and some very curious autograph letters , especially one from Flora Macdonald acknowled g ing the

receipt of £ 1 , 500 for the services rendered to Charles Edward Stuart , thus setting at rest that disputed question . An account was given by Mr . Wright , of the excavations now being carried on at Wroxeter , near Shrewsbury , in which a buried Roman city , " Uriconinm , " like another Pompeii , has , through his exertions , been exposed , after ages of forgotten burial , to the light of day and the research of modern investigation . This able

antiquary has already succeeded in tracing two of the streets of the little town , with their paved causeways iu perfect preservation , and composed of close set , small , angular stones , exactly resembling the rough paving still met with iu so many of our villages aud quaint , old-fashioned towns . Besides these , he has clearly made out a double row of shops , with the debris or remains of the original occupiers' calling still remaining .

It has long been a matter of belief among antiquaries that mineral coal was known to the Romans , especially in this country . The discoveries made b y Mr . AVright at Uriconium have set this matter beyond dispute , as quantities of coal have been found mixed with wood and charcoal , both in the shops and holocausts investigated in the ruins . That some fearful calamity of fire and sword ,

some suuden and overwhelming irruption of the 1 lets and Scots , or hostile tribes of AA elch Britons , burst upon the little colonial town and destroyed it in one savage onslaught , is made evident by the ruins of the chief public building and the position and character of the humanjiones found within its precincts ; for , with only one exception , the remains are all those of women and children , clearly showing that the male population had mustered

in some other part of the city to meet the invaders , while the women fled to the prefecture or chief building of the town for safety , and as the foe approached hid themselves in vaults , and even in the holocausts , where great numbers were found , and where , before the enemy could reach them , no doubt many were burnt or suffocated . An infant ' s skeleton was found by itself in the court yardand the only male remainswere those of a very old

, , man , crouching in a vault , holding in his bony fingers a box containing many hundred coins . 'The only other tenant of this living grave had been a woman , who , probably , unknown to the miser , had secreted herself in an opposite corner . Mr . AVright has , also , by these investigations demonstrated the filet that the Roman dwellings in this island were in many instances tiled with slates , as vast numbers of them were found among the ruins . Not the

least interesting discovery , however , was the certainty afforded that the houses had glass windows . The specimens of g lass exhibited , and of which large quantities were strown all along the ruins , prove that glass windows were in use in this country a thousand years before it was supposed to have been known in northern Europe . It is Mr . Wright ' s intention shortly to publish a full account of his explorations .

At six o ' clock the members of the association and their friends re-assembled at the Castle Hotel , where an elegant collation , and the music of a military band , terminated a very deliarhtful dav .

THE HUMAN HAND . —The most powerful imagination can scarcely conceive anything of which the hand is incapable . It aided the savage of old in the mountain cha . se , hunting for his daily bread , equally with the discoverer of the sextant aud goniometer . It worked its way for the Carthaginians through the flinty Alps ; shaped lake inferos and the pyramids of Egypt ; reared the temples of Atheus and their divine statuary ; peopled the world with cities ; formed canals that connected

seas ; bore aloft Babylon , with its hanging gardens , and its towers that were stronger than the Tigris : and descending to humbler but not less useful purposes , it disdains not to upturn with hard labour the stubborn glebe , and to weave the constant toil of commerce , so that our fields abound with the green grass and golden fruit , and our seas are whitened , with the sails of our ships , and shook with the rush of their prows . And to the hand , aa it is now formed , do we trust to all that art and science shall effect for the futureTo the end of all timeand amid all

. , the mighty improvements of centuries , do we trust to this simple organ for our advancement , happiness , and prosperity . This small flexible assemblage of bone , tendon , ligament , muscle , nerves , arteries , veins , and other tissues , is what we trust to : —this hand , that is both flexible and strong , graceful though powerful , almost fully capable even when maimed and injured , and ever the instrument of the mind to fulfil its loftiest and most daring efforts , — John Walker Ord ,