language in which he asks or acknowledges a favor. On his theological and philosophical works I cannot say the correspondence throws much additional light. He constantly mentions the works from time to time published or in progress, but it seems as if he did so rather from feeling bound to give an account of his labors than as having much community of ideas with his correspondent. I have probably however said enough to describe the nature of the contents of the letters, and hope that in indicating some new materials for biography, not wholly unimportant, I have not occupied too much of your time and attention, for the bestowal of which I beg to offer you my thanks.

DESCRIPTION OF A UNIQUE VASE IN MR. MAYER'S MUSEUM.
By F. R. Paul Bööcke, Esq.

(READ 1ST FEBRUARY, 1855.)

In reference to the vase found at Canosa, I beg to offer the following

remarks.

This vase was formerly in the possession of the Prince of Syracuse, from whose collection it was purchased and brought to England. It is of a globular form, with the head of Medusa on the front and at the back, that on the front being surmounted by a bas-relief with two cupids, which is placed against the neck of the vase. In front, a little below the neck, are two half figures of Centaurs, one on each side of the opening, and attached to the body of the vase, the top is surmounted by three figures, intended to represent a scene from a tragedy by Sophocles, who was born near Athens B. C. 495. The following is a brief description of them.

The figure to the left with the Phrygian cap on, (as on the coins of Ithaca), is Ulysses, king of Ithaca and Dulichium; that to the right wearing a helmet, is Diomedes, son of Tydeus, and king of Etolia, who Justinian says was the founder of Brundisium and Arpi. The centre figure is that of Dolon, son of Eumedes, a Trojan. The historical portion of the scene is during the Trojan war, and is as follows:-Dolon was sent by

F

Hector, during the night, to spy the Grecian camp, for which service, if it proved successful, he was promised the horses of Achilles; but he was taken by Ulysses and Diomedes, to whom he instantly disclosed the plans of his countrymen, and at the same time offered a large sum of money for the preservation of his life. They were not, however, induced to accede to his request, but punished his infidelity and treachery with death.

The figures are most admirably and spiritedly modelled, and shew very great artistic skill. There is much action and life in all three, representing, as the subject does, the peculiar feelings which animate them,-Dolon hearing the approach of some one whom he cannot see, while Ulysses and Diomedes, gliding noiselessly along, are anxiously watching to secure their prisoner.

The vase itself is nearly eighteen inches high; and with the figures, measures altogether about thirty-two inches. It is in a perfect state of preservation, and is a very fine specimen of the early Grecian art in terra-cotta. It has been formerly painted with various colours, which in many parts are still remaining. It was found in a grave at Canosa, and the probability seems to be that it was presented to some celebrated warrior or tragedian. Alike, both for its historical and artistic merit, it is perfectly unique; as no similar specimen exists in any museum in Europe.

A MORNING'S RAMBLE IN OLD WARRINGTON.'

By James Kendrick, M.D.

(READ 1ST FEBRUARY, 1855.)

Hundreds of years ago, the town of Warrington, in Lancashire, was designated and known as 'Old Warrington,' and although this venerable appellation has fallen into disuse in later times, I see no harm in reviving it, for this evening at least, as a catch-word in the title of my paper, the chief interest of which will lie in its being a record of vestigia within its limits, as yet little altered, but still fast fading away. Had our ancestors of the sixteenth century possessed a knowledge of the remains, Saxon, Roman, and early British, which have of late years been here disinterred, we should probably read of it as 'Ancient Warrington,' a title both appropriate

and well deserved. But I prefer to use the term 'Old Warrington,' since it is not to its ancient history that my present remarks have reference, nor even to the eventful passages of which it was the scene during the Civil War, but simply to a space of twenty-five years in the latter part of the past century, namely, from 1757 to 1782, in which Warrington was, next to the metropolis, the great focus of the masters of science and elegant literature.

On the 23rd of October, 1757, the well known Warrington Academy was opened for the education of ministers to officiate in the pulpits of protestant dissenters, and of young laymen of the like persuasion. That neither pains nor expense were wanting in this effort to supply the dissenting body with a system of education, little if at all, inferior to that afforded by the English universities, is evidenced by the men of mark who were selected as tutors, and by the station in science and literature which was acquired in after life by many of the alumni of the Academy. Amongst the former the learned Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich, author of the "Hebrew Concordance to the Bible," was selected as professor of divinity, and had as a coadjutor, and subsequently as a successor, the first Dr. Aikin, who brought with him to Warrington his world-renowned son, and his daughter who afterwards became Mrs. Barbauld. No less eminent, and proudly illustrative of the high-toned literary society which then existed at Warrington, are the names of Priestley, Clayton, Enfield, Seddon, Reinhold Forster, and Gilbert Wakefield, who were almost simultaneously resident here as tutors in the Academy. Amongst the students who acquired at Warrington the education which afterwards fitted them for a high position in the historic literature of their country, we may select the names of Philip Taylor, Dr. Rigby of Norwich, Dr. Percival, Dr. Bostock, Rochemont Barbauld, Dr. Parry of Cirencester, Pendlebury Houghton, Markham Salisbury, Malthus, and the Wedgwoods. "Warrington Academy," says Miss Lucy Aikin (herself a native of Warrington), in the Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld prefixed to her works, "included among its tutors names eminent both in science and in literature; with several of these, and especially with Dr. Priestley and Dr. Enfield, and their families, she formed sincere and lasting friendships. The elder and more accomplished among the students composed an agreeable part of the same society; and its animation was increased by a mixture of young ladies, either residents in