Professor Earle, which was read at the meeting of the Institute in 1860 b.

I now come to the mine of unwrought material contained in the accounts of the officers of the ancient priory; and here I must again remind you of the elementary character of the report I am as yet able to make. You will find in nearly every one of the small documents submitted to your notice in the Museum some point of interest, some item of instruction, which would occupy a considerable portion of your time if properly considered. During the short time I have been able to devote to this enquiry, some hundreds of rolls of accounts and some thousands of deeds of various kinds have passed through my hands, and you will not therefore expect much in the way of description of them I wish simply to indicate their existence as a fact.

In the paper quoted by Professor Willis as the production of the prebendary Mr. Hopkins, there is a list of the officers of the ancient priory which preceded the present cathedral. Accounts of all the officers he has mentioned have been found in considerable numbers, and besides them I have found others furnished by the "precentor," the "refectorarius," and the "sub-cellerarius." There are no lists of these rolls of account: therefore if Mr. Hopkins' list of these officers is that upon which our idea of the priory is to be established, we have at once to make three additions to it. Many of these accounts contain interesting particulars of the inner life of the members of the priory.

I have already spoken of the very considerable number of the deeds and other documents not entered in books. Among them it may be safely said that very many exist bearing with great particularity and minuteness upon many points and circumstances which we should have great interest in elucidating, Among them I will specify a few, of which the subject-matter seemed of more than usual interest.

A pitiful letter from the Prior and Chapter of Worcester, transmitted by the Bishop to the Archbishop of Canterbury, setting out the causes (particularly specifying actions with the citizens of Worcester) through which they had come to such decay and poverty that it was a scandal to the Church (A.D. 1330). Numerous notarial instruments relating to matters in which the priory was concerned.

b GENT. MAG., Sept. 1860, p. 270.

Grants of lands in the city and county of Worcester, leases and records of other transactions relating to the same, containing many local names and boundaries.

Notification by the Bishop of Worcester of the limits of the cemetery and sanctuary (A.D. 1460), in consequence of so many disputes having arisen respecting them. They were said to begin "from the great door of the cathedral charnel-house by the great stone wall of our palace to the great gate of the said palace," and continuing through the whole circuit.

A portion of a copy of a statute roll 5 Edward III.

An account of arms and soldiers' apparel in the reign of Elizabeth, headed "A remembraunce what was bestowed at London for furnyture for Mr. Deane and Chapt"."

A letter to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester on behalf of Bartholomew Mason in respect of the vicarage of St. John's, signed by Lord Burleigh and others of Elizabeth's council.

Ordinances made for the almsmen of the priory in the fourteenth century, setting out that they should be clerks of elegant stature, poor, but apt to learn, and containing provisions as to their food and education, together with their due castigation and monition when required.

Lastly, I would mention a Saxon copy of a charter nearly three centuries earlier than the copy (A.D. 770) by which Uhtred, "Regulus" of the Wiccians, grants certain privileges to his officer Ethelmund. In Thomas's History of the Cathedral there is a notice of a charter of the same date to the monastery of Worcester granting land at Stoke; but without consulting authorities not now at command, it is impossible to speak of the interest to be attached to the instrument found on Saturday afternoon. It is, however, a fine specimen of Latin written in the Saxon character.

The mention of this deed brings me fairly to some remarks upon the neglected condition of the collection, now kept in a chamber in the clerestory of the cathedral. Here was an instrument not later than the eleventh century, and probably anterior to the Norman Conquest, found crumpled and dirty, pushed in a drawer with dozens of others more crumpled and dirty still, of all kinds and of all dates. Certainly with the accommodation at the disposal of those having charge of these documents, nothing less could be expected, however it might be desired. The conveniences at their disposal seem not to extend beyond what is due for the safety of those which relate to the

business matters in their administration, and to which of course their attention is first given. It is not for me, however, to trace the causes which have reduced the numerous documents I have been most obligingly permitted to examine to the condition in which they now exist, but it would be very easy to do so. Their condition is doubtless a source of great regret to those having charge of them, but it is not easy to propose a remedy for it. In the Dedication of the excellent History of the learned Dr. Thomas, he speaks of many of the original papers and letters which he had transcribed and printed as having "long lain a prey to moths and worms, and are in several places scarcely legible." With the exception of some to which the attention of the officers has been called, they are still in the condition lamented by Dr. Thomas. The rolls of accounts have been only partly sorted out, and many of them are much injured by dirt, and by being crumpled up. But the smaller deeds are perhaps in the worst condition. It is probable that for centuries they have had no protection whatever, and large numbers must have been lost, while others are damaged beyond repair. Under such circumstances many seals must have perished, and I must draw special attention to the fact that the one example of the seal of the famous Wulstan known to Dr. Thomas, and engraved in his work, is not now known to be in the collection. In our Museum we have, however, been able to exhibit an example of the seal by the favour of Mr. Dixon of York, to whom it belongs. It is attached to a very fine charter, which has been printed in the "Archæological Journal," and was obtained for exhibition to the inhabitants of the place to which it refers through the kind mediation of Dr. Raine of Durham.

Before leaving the collection of the Chapter documents, I must refer to a parcel very lately brought to our notice by the obliging attention of Mr. Hooper. It is a small packet of original letters of Charles I., all signed by him, and dated from the 5th May, 1641, to 20th October, 1643. They are directed to the Bishop of Worcester, who was then Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and in that position, in the chief city devoted to the royal cause, of great consideration to his Sovereign. They relate chiefly to matters coming before him in that capacity, but one of them refers specially to this city, as it directs the levy of troops to protect the Bishop, and prevent his being re

moved from his diocese, as he "hath bin menaced to be sent for in disgracefull maner to the Parliament." They will be an interesting addition to the memorials of those sad times.

I have but very few remarks to make upon the collection of documents belonging to the Corporation, to which access has been most courteously afforded me. The collection is very small, but it is in good condition, and (with the exception of one small parcel) the substance of every document has been fairly calendared. Their contents have been turned to considerable account in the interesting and entertaining volumes relating to this city which have been produced by Mr. Noake; but that they had not been exhausted by him, I may refer to a highly interesting paper upon the "Fortifications of Worcester," written by Mr. Woof, and by him contributed to the Natural History Society. I should wish to direct your attention particularly to this production. I think, however, that the municipal documents will still supply illustrations of the early condition of this city which have not yet been noted.

I will now make a few references to the collections of those gentlemen who have been kind enough to contribute some of their documentary stores to our Museum. These, however, must be looked upon simply as specimens. I have been informed that the documents relating to the Hanley Castle property of Sir Edmund Lechmere are very numerous, and among them many of interest would doubtless be found. Among those in the Museum, I would specially mention a small but fine charter of Ralph de Mortimer in the twelfth century, to which the seal is attached in a manner of which no example has yet been noticed.

The bulk of MSS. of various kinds preserved at Stanford Court, independent of those relating to the property, is considerable, and they were chiefly collected by Solicitor-General Winnington in the seventeenth century. By the obliging courtesy of the present baronet, we are permitted to exhibit in the Museum two documents of great interest-not, however, connected with the county. One is a finely illuminated MS. collection of the statutes made at the latter part of the fifteenth century, and the other is an able State paper, drawn up by the advisers of Queen Elizabeth, to exonerate her from blame in the matter of the Queen of Scots. It is a valuable historical paper, not quite new to the historical student, and Sir Thomas Win

nington has kindly placed it in the hands of the Camden Society, who are about to publish it. It will then doubtless receive the attention it deserves.

The most considerable collection of original charters shewn in the Museum are those belonging to the Right Hon. Sir J. Pakington. Possessing the site of the nunnery at Westwood, the title-deeds of the house are also in his hands; although I am not aware of their extent, nor can I speak of their importance or interest, beyond what are exhibited in the Museum. If they are at all complete or considerable, they will contain much of interest relating to the community to which they belonged, to its transactions with those about them, and to its connexion with the neighbouring property.

I must close these few and imperfect notices in the most imperfect manner, by referring to the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps. The wealth of that collection in documentary evidences of all kinds is well known as a fact, but it is a matter of deep regret that so little has yet been made known of their nature and extent; and though an old member of the Institute, he is not with us to afford any information respecting them.

I will now conclude by begging you to consider these few remarks simply as aids to those who may have leisure and inclination to examine the original sources of information. The time at my disposal has been so short, and, as regards the Chapter documents, their condition is so unfavourable, that my examination has been carried on under the greatest disadvantages. If my remarks should in any way conduce to their improvement in that respect, I shall feel amply repaid.

Since reading the above, I have been permitted to examine the books preserved in the chapter-house of the cathedral. Of these, an account given in Smith's Catalogue has been lately reprinted. It gives but an imperfect idea of the collection, which is rich in the religious, medical, and philosophical works of the Middle Ages. Many of the works are, unfortunately, much injured by damp, and by the very bad condition or total want of covers or bindings. There is a fine specimen of the English language of the middle of the fourteenth century, in a large Psalter, of which the texts are the only Latin portion. On pointing out the unsuitability of the presses against the wall for the books, the presses have been removed, and a fine Norman arcade found behind them.

GENT, MAG. VOL, CCXIII,

3 B