1923.] Ring with a Miniature of King Charles I. lessness of his cause, had extinguished his attachment. It may be naturally expected, that the life of the man who thus ingeniously secreted the semblance of features, which in all probability were as firmly impressed on his heart, must have manifested many proofs of zeal in the royal service, and it is therefore presumed, that the following brief memoir of him, with an account of the inanner in which this memento of loyalty has passed to its present possessor, will not be deemed an inappropriate addition to these par ticulars. The ring is supposed to have originally belonged to John Giffard, of Brightley, in Devon, Esq. the representative of an ancient and highly respectable family, which had been seated there for many generations, and were allied to the best houses in that county; amongst others to those of Grenville, Earle, Coriton, and Leigh. He was born at Brightley about the year 1600, and to use the words of his Biographer,† "having had a virtuous and liberal education, he became a very accomplished gentleman." In the civil wars he adhered zealously and constantly to the King, was appointed a Colonel in his army, and afforded his utmost aid to his service. During the Commonwealth Colonel Giffard suffered severely both in his person and property, having been "decimated, sequestrated, and imprisoned," and was obliged to pay £.1136 as a composition for his estates. He continued to be persecuted and oppressed until the Restoration, when, like too many other royalists, "the greatest part of the recompense he had for all his losses, was the satisfaction of seeing both church and state peace 37 ably settled upon their ancient bottoms." This account of Colonel Giffard will be concluded in the words of his friend and biographer above quoted: -" He was a gentleman of a very grave and comely aspect, of an obliging carriage, of a sober life, and a pious conversation; such was his deportment towards men in all his actions, as if he were conscious the eye of God was upon him; and such his behaviour towards God, in the instances of devotion and religion, as if he thought he was a spectacle to angels and to men. Insomuch his sobriety and piety brought great reputation to the royal cause in those parts where he lived, and he was an excellent ornament to his profession, both as a subject and a christian." Col. Giffard died in 1666, leaving several children § by Joan, his wife, the youngest daughter of Sir John Wyndham, of Orchard, in Somersetshire, ancestor of the Earl of Egremont. Her brother, Sir John Wyndham, Knt. married the sister of Ralph Lord Hop-. ton, who distinguished himself in the command of the royal army at the battle of Stratton, in Cornwall. The loyalty of the Wyndham family is well known from the emphatic admonition of Sir Thomas Wyndham, a cousin of Mrs. Giffard's, to his son, "not to desert the crown though it hung upon a bush." || On the death of Colonel Giffard, the ring containing the picture of King Charles was, it was confidently supposed, given to his daughter Margaret, who just before her father's demise, married John Keigwin, of Mousehole, in Cornwall, Esq. The Keigwin family were also zealous loyalists, and one of them, who com * Prince, in the "Worthies of Devon," says, he was born in 1594, but the Heralds" Visitation of that county in 1620, calls him 18 years old in that year. + Prince. § John Giffard, Esq. the late Accountant General of Ireland, of whom there is an interesting memoir in the Gent. Mag. for 1819, part I. p. 481, was descended from the eldest son of Colonel Giffard. He died in 1819, leaving two sons, the eldest of which is the present Chief Justice of Ceylon, who is the representative of this ancient family. The second son, Stanley Lees Giffard, Esq. is a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temble. || Arthur Giffard, the youngest brother of Colonel Giffard, was also a severe sufferer in the royal cause; he was Rector of Biddeford, in Devon, to which he was presented by his kinsman, Granville, Earl of Bath, but soon after the death of the King, he was ejected from his living, when he took shelter under the roof of Philip Harris, Esq. Recorder of Great Torrington, who married his sister. On the return of Charles II. Mr. Giffard was restored to his benefice, shortly after which he died without issue, and is buried in the Chancel of Biddeford Church. ‡ Prince. manded 36 Ring with a Miniature of King Charles I. and the oil, running out, carried with it the paunch and entrails, while the nitre consumed the flesh, leaving nothing but skin and bones. The bodies of the poorer people were filled with a nitrous composition, which had such virtue and efficacy as to consume the intestines. They were afterwards wrapt up in bundles of reed, or branches of the palm-tree. (Herod. lib. ii. c. 87.) The same care was bestowed on the sacred animals, such as the ibis, the dog, the cat, the ape, the scarabæus, the sheep, and in some parts, the crocodile18; but more especially, on the sacred apis, or ox, whose festivals were celebrated with great solemnity and rejoicings. What raillery have this superstitious people been exposed to from their sottish veneration for irrational creatures! Herodotus, Diodorus, and Ælian, are consentient in their ridicule of this stupid idolatry. When a house was on fire, the father of a family would be more anxious to rescue his cat from the flames, than to save his wife, his children, or property. (Herod. 1. ii. c. 66.) So infatuated were they, that mothers accounted it a blessing (oh, horror!) for their children to be devoured by the ravenous crocodile; they gloried that their offspring be came food to that fierce creature. (Ælian. de Nat. Animal. 1. 10, с. 21.) Nay, more, in the extremities of famine it is said that this deluded people would rather eat one another, than lay violent hands on these disgusting objects of worship. (Diod. lib. i. p. 93.) Juvenal exposes these enormities in nervous and eloquent language: "Quis nescit, Volusi Bithynice, qualia de Mr. URBAN, [July, April 22. a SEND you the description of curious ring, which I think will be acceptable to many of your readers. I believe it is unique, but should any of them be better informed, they will perhaps oblige me by stating where there is another precisely like it. The ring, which is made of thin pure gold, and has four diamonds set on the top, does not at first sight appear particularly worthy of notice; on a closer inspection, however, an opening is perceptible in the raised part, and on lifting it up, a very beautiful miniature of the head of King Charles the First, enamelled on a turquoise, presents itself. The size of the painting does not exceed the fourth part of an inch; the execution is particularly fine, and the likeness excessively faithful; the small part of his Majesty's dress which is visible appears similar to that in which he is usually represented, and a piece of the riband to which the George is suspended, is discernible; on closing the ring, the portrait becomes perfectly hid. Although miniatures of Charles the First are not uncommon, this is peculiarly valuable from the portrait being concealed, and also from its being supposed to be the smallest of him which is extant. There can be no doubt that it was worn by a royalist, when it was dangerous to avow the attachment with which many of Charles's adherents cherished the memory of their unfortunate sovereign. Relics of this kind are consecrated by much higher associations than what the mere crust of time bestows on them; and even were they not sufficiently old to excite 'the notice of the antiquary, they are well deserving of attention from their exhibiting a memorial of feelings, which must ever command respect and admiration. Loyalty, like friendship, can only be tried by adversity; and a mere trifle becomes valuable when it enables us more justly to appreciate the real sentiments of men who sacrificed their fortunes to their principles. The ring, which is the subject of this article, perpetuates the faithful devotion of one of Charles's adherents much more forcibly than the pen of the biographer, since it is evident that neither the death of the master, nor the hope 18 Τοισι μεν δη των Αἰγυπτιων ίροι εἰσι οἱ κροκοδειλοι, τοισι δ ̓ οὐ, ἀλλ ̓ άτε πολεμίους περιέπουσι. Herod. Omne fere genus bestiarum Ægyptii consecrarunt. Cic. de Nat. iii. 39. lessness manded 1823.] Ring with a Miniature of King Charles I. lessness of his cause, had extinguished his attachment. It may be naturally expected, that the life of the man who thus ingeniously secreted the semblance of features, which in all probability were as firmly impressed on his heart, must have manifested many proofs of zeal in the royal service, and it is therefore presumed, that the following brief memoir of him, with an account of the inanner in which this memento of loyalty has passed to its present possessor, will not be deemed an inappropriate addition to these particulars. 37 ably settled upon their ancient bottoms." This account of Colonel Giffard will be concluded in the words of his friend and biographer above quoted: - "He was a gentleman of a very grave and comely aspect, of an obliging carriage, of a sober life, and a pious conversation; such was his deportment towards men in all his actions, as if he were conscious the eye of God was upon him; and such his behaviour towards God, in the instances of devotion and religion, as if he thought he was a spectacle to angels and to men. Insomuch his sobriety and piety brought great reputation to the royal cause in those parts where he lived, and he was an excellent ornament to his profession, both as a ubject and a christian." Col. Giffard died in 1666, leaving several children § by Joan, his wife, the youngest daughter of Sir John Wyndham, of Orchard, in Somersetshire, ancestor of the Earl of Egremont. Her brother, Sir John Wyndham, Knt. married the sister of Ralph Lord Hopton, who distinguished himself in the command of the royal army at the battle of Stratton, in Cornwall. The loyalty of the Wyndham family is well known from the emphatic admonition of Sir Thomas Wyndham, a cousin of Mrs. Giffard's, to his son, "not to desert the crown though it hung upon a bush." || The ring is supposed to have originally belonged to John Giffard, of Brightley, in Devon, Esq. the representative of an ancient and highly respectable family, which had been seated there for many generations, and were allied to the best houses in that county; amongst others to those of Grenville, Earle, Coriton, and Leigh. He was born at Brightley about the year 1600, and to use the words of his Biographer, † "having had a virtuous and liberal education, he became a very accomplished gentleman." In the civil wars he adhered zealously and constantly to the King, was appointed a Colonel in his army, and afforded his utmost aid to his service. During the Commonwealth Colonel Giffard suffered severely both in his person and property, having been "decimated, sequestrated, and imprisoned," and was obliged to pay £.1136 as a composition for his estates. He continued to be persecuted and oppressed until the Restoration, when, like too many other royalists, "the greatest part of the recompense he had for all his losses, was the satisfaction of seeing both church and state peace-alists, and one of them, who com On the death of Colonel Giffard, the ring containing the picture of King Charles was, it was confidently supposed, given to his daughter Margaret, who just before her father's demise demise, married John Keigwin, of Mousehole, in Cornwall, Esq. The Keigwin family were also zealous loy * Prince, in the "Worthies of Devon," says, he was born in 1594, but the Heralds' Visitation of that county in 1620, calls him 18 years old in that year. + Prince. ‡ Prince. § John Giffard, Esq. the late Accountant General of Ireland, of whom there is an interesting memoir in the Gent. Mag. for 1819, part I. p. 481, was descended from the eldest son of Colonel Giffard. He died in 1819, leaving two sons, the eldest of which is the present Chief Justice of Ceylon, who is the representative of this ancient family. The second son, Stanley Lees Giffard, Esq. is a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temble. || Arthur Giffard, the youngest brother of Colonel Giffard, was also a severe sufferer in the royal cause; he was Rector of Biddeford, in Devon, to which he was presented by his kinsman, Granville, Earl of Bath, but soon after the death of the King, he was ejected from his living, when he took shelter under the roof of Philip Harris, Esq. Recorder of Great Torrington, who married his sister. On the return of Charles II. Mr. Giffard was restored to his benefice, shortly after which he died without issue, and is buried in the Chancel of Biddeford Church. 38 Prodigious!-Fall of St. Mary-le-Bow Tower, 1270. manded a small vessel in the king's service, is designated in a dispatch from the Parliamentary forces in Cornwall, "as a notable active knave against the Parliament." Mrs. Keigwin survived her husband many years, by whom she had a large family, and at her death, in 1739, bequeathed her jewels and trinkets to her youngest son, the Rev. John Keigwin, Clerk, who married Prudence, the sister and heiress of William Busvargus, of Busvargus, in Cornwall, Esq. * and by her left two daughters and coheirs. Miss Busvargus, however, married to her first husband, the Rev. Jonathan Toup, Clerk, and was by him the mother of the learned Jonathan Toup, Clerk, the Editor of Longinus, Emendationes in Suidam, &c.† As Mr. Keigwin, who died in 1761, appointed his widow his sole executrix, the ring passed to her, and she dying in 1773, left her son by her first marriage, Mr. Toup, her executor, when that gentleman became possessed of it. Mr. Toup died unmarried in 1785, and by his will entailed the estates of his mother's family on the issue of his nieces, the three daughters and coheirs of Anne, his half sister, the youngest daughter of his father-in-law, John Keigwin, and the grand-daughter of Margaret Giffard, daughter of Colonel Giffard, of Brightley. Phillis, the eldest of these daughters, married Nicholas Harris Nicholas, of East Looe, in Cornwall, Esq. Major of the Royal Cornwall Fencible Cavalry, and being Mr. Toup, inherited the ring, but dying sine prole in 1799, it went to her husband, who died in 1816, likewise without issue, and by his will bequeathed the ring to his nephew, John Toup Nicholas, Esq. a Captain of the Navy, and Companion of the Order of the Bath, on whom also, as the eldest son of the only one of Mr. Toup's three nieces before mentioned, who had issue, that celebrated scholar's estates are entailed, and who is the great-great-great-grandson of Colonel Giffard, the original owner of the ring in question. likewise the executrix to her It is proper to add that, in the me [July, mory of the oldest member of the family, it has always been called "King Charles's ring. Χ. Mr. URBAN, Manchester, May 1. T will not be considered as greatly volumi lessening the fame of SO nous and excellent a writer as the author of "Guy Mannering," to have detected him in one instance of plagiarism. It occurs in the character of Do minic Sampson, who frequently uses the exclamation "prodigious!" That highly-esteemed novel having been dramatised, and the expression having become of frequent occurrence in common conversation, it appears to be proper to give the merit of it to Congreve, who had employed it in exactly a similar sense in two of his plays, viz. in "The Old Batchelor," and in "The Double Dealer," long before the publication of "Guy Mannering." M. WARD, M.D. Mr. URBAN, T May 8. HE accident alluded to (Part I. p. 305) happened in the 55 Henry III. (1270), and is, with the circumstances which arose out of it, stated in the Iter Roll for London, comprising en tries of the Pleas of the Crown, held during that and several precedent and subsequent years. The following is a correct transcript of the record, and may be acceptable to some of your readers. By this it appears that the stone, and other materials of the Bell Tower, valued at 20 marks, which became forfeited to the King as a deodand, were restored by him to the Prior and Convent of the Church of Christ at Can terbury. "Accidit die m'cur' proxima ante festum Pur' b'e Mar'. q'd quid'm Joh'nes de Gyn ges. Alex' de Asshwell & Matild' de Haliwell. Matild' nept' eiusd'm. Marg'ia de Hau'hulle. Ph's Tilly. Will'ms de Harwes. Clemencia que fuit vx' Rob'i de Penkerk. Agn' de Huntyngfeud. Joh'nes le Polet'. Alicia de Vynere. Andr' de Suthwerk. Andres que fuit vx' Joh'nis de Albemton. opp'ssi fuerunt campanario ecc'ie sc'i Mar' de Arcub'. London' que cecidit sup' ip'os. * The family of Busvargus were originally called Lethon, but on purchasing the estate of Busvargus in the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, they assumed that name. As a proof of the manner in which the old Cornish families intermarried with each other, it is worth remarking, that for six generations the Busvargus family married within thirty miles of their own house, and generally within ten miles: it is equally curious, that the marriage portions of each wife never, in the whole of that period, varied more than 501. + For a memoir of this eminent scholar, see Gent. Mag. for 1785, р. 185. Pretium 1823.] Buckingham Painted Window. -County Courts. Pretium Campanarii xx m'rc' vnde vic' r'. Quis vicu'. ven. p't' Steph'm de Cornhill et fuit attach' p' Anketum de Ventull' & Rob'm de Camaile J'o in m'ia. & non ma lecr'. Nullus inde malec'r'. Jud'im. Infortuniam. Et sup' hoc venerunt p'fati vicecomites & proferunt bre' Dn'i Regis in hec v'ba. H. dei gr'a vicecomitib' suis London sal'm. Cum nup' p' infortunatam oppressionem viror' & mulierum que p' ruinam Campanarii ecc'le beate Mar'. de. Arcub' & cuid'm domus Prior & Convent'. eccl'ie x'pi Cantuar'. nup' accidit in Vico de Weschep petram maeremiu' & plumbum & om'ia alia eiusd'm domys tanq'm d'do cepi'tis in manu' n'ram, nos, eisd'm Priori & Conventui' gr'am facer' volentes ad p'sens dedimus & concessim' eisd'm petram maeremium plumbum & o'a alia eiusd'm dom' que d'ca ocasione cepistis in manum n'ram de gr'a n'ra speciali. Et i'o vobi' mandam' q'd eisd'm Priori & Conventui petram maeremium plumbu' & omia alia d'te Dom'. in manu' n'ram capta occ'one p'd'ca restitui faciat de dono n'ro. T. meip'o apud Westm'. xij die Mart'. anno R. n'. quinquagesimo q'nto." I shall be obliged to any of your Correspondents who will refer me to a work on the French Monasteries, or afford me information respecting the Abbey of St. Lamber of Letiens. This Abbey and a Deed in 1211 from the Abbot Abbey was founded before 1145, and Chapter of that Monastery is dated at Ath: I therefore presume that the House was situate in or near that town. In Cave's Chartophylax : Mr. URBAN, N Part I. July 12. page 163, you mention the magnificent present of the Duke of Buckingham to the Church of Buckingham, without naming the Artist, Mr. W. R. Eginton, of Birmingham. The work having received the highest eulogiums from all that have seen it, I think you will agree with me, that Mr. Eginton's name should be record ed with your account of this splendid window, on which is painted the following inscription: "This Painted Window was presented to the Church of the Borough and Parish of Buckingham, by the Most High, Mighty, and Most Noble Prince Richard Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Marquis of Chandos, and Earl Temple of Stowe, in the County of Buckingham, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Marquis of Buckingham, Earl Temple, and 39 Viscount and Baron Cobham in Great Bri- Mr. URBAN, THE June 4. THE County Courts are of a very ancient origin; and, considering that they are (generally speaking) the only Courts we have for the recovery of Debts under 40s. and such as the poorer class chiefly resort to, ought to dispense justice at a light expence, and suitable to the condition of the suitors. On the contrary, they are expensive Courts; frequent instances oecur where a person is summoned for payment of a shilling; it may happen that the money has been paid; and the party summoned knowing it, but ignorant that the Court will require further proof than his own, attends the summons; if the matter is settled here the costs incurred are, I believe, five shillings and four pence. They may almost be styled Courts where strict justice cannot be had; if a man swears that I owe him a sum of money, although I may never before have seen him, this is sufficient to entitle hiin to a verdict, whatever I may swear to the contrary; and indeed, an officer of one of the Courts confessed to me, that nothing but a receipt would discharge you from the debt; a receipt, you will say, when I never owed the debt! It has always been considered, that to entitle a Plaintiff to sue in the County Courts, he debt to somewhat less than 40s. and must reduce his is precluded from recovering more; but by the present system, I am told, that a Plaintiff may harass his debtor for 100l. by summoning him first for $9s. 114d. and then for as much more, being remainder of the debt, and so "toties quoties" in like manner, until the 100l. is paid. This is, I conceive, the very contrary of justice. I could wish that Mr. Brougham, who has already succeeded in preventing the poor from being robbed of their charities, would take the trouble, as he has the power, to institute an inquiry into the practice and fees of the inferior Courts. J. A. |