the two inscriptions point to beliefs of very diverse kinds-the first form has often been found in connection with early Christian burials, the second, of course, never-but let their creeds have been what they may, those few words rudely cut upon the stones by Tyneside carry down to us along the ages that unerring "touch of nature that makes the whole world kin," sending through our human hearts a thrill of brotherly pity for those unknown troubled souls who have passed beyond the reach of human pity so long ago! I might give numbers of other as touching examples of memorial stones set up by parents to their children and children to their parents, husbands to wives and wives to husbands, brothers to sisters and sisters to brothers, that have been found at various of the Roman stations by Tyne. Pity it is that stones like these should ever be moved from the spot where Roman hands first placed them ; but unfortunately, if they are to be preserved at all, they must be removed. Hundreds, no doubt, have been lost, broken up for road mending and otherwise destroyed; and most of those that remain have, in recent years, been carried to museums and private collections. The first stone, the inscription on which I have quoted, is now lodged in Trinity College, Cambridge. Were it not for the careful diligence of the local antiquaries, Dr. Bruce's magnificent books on the Roman wall, and Hodgson's Northumbrian history, we should now find it an impossible task to name correctly the Roman towns, and localise the inscribed stones and other Roman remnants that still abide with us. The Roman towns, most of which have preserved more or less distinct traces of their existence, some having considerable portions of their walls still standing, are: Segedunum (Wallsend), Pons Ælii (Newcastle), Condercum (Benwell), Vindobala (Rutchester), Hunnum (Halton), Cilurnum (Chesters), Procolitia (Carrawburgh), Borcovicus (Housesteads), Vindolana (Chesterholm, or Little Chesters), Esica (Great Chesters), Magna (Carvoran), Bremenium (High Rochester), Habitancum (Risingham), Corstopitum (Corchester), Alionis (Whitley Castle). There are also the remains of a Roman town at Ebchester, and remains of military stations at North and South Shields, at Jarrow, and other places. The force which constantly garrisoned the Tyne portion of the wall and the adjoining towns and stations may be computed roughly to have amounted to from 6,000 to 8,000 fighting men; besides an unnumbered host of civilians, women, and children. The troops, although all officered by Italians, were composed of many nationalities. Inscriptions found in profusion testify to the presence of legionary soldiers, along with auxiliary alæ of cavalry and cohorts from all parts of Europe. There

were Dacians from the east, Gauls from the west, Batavians from the north, Varduli from the south. There was a cohort of Frisians from Holland, and there were two cohorts of Nervi from Belgium. There was a cohort of Thracians from Roumelia, and a cohort of Dalmatians from the borders of the Hadriatic Sea. There were Moors from Africa, and Hamians from Syria. And of Spanish cavalry there were three Asturian alæ. Many inscriptions we have prove that not a few of the above-named troops were permanently localised throughout the entire Roman occupation as the established guardians of these parts; as, for example, the cohort of Batavians, which fought in the battle of the Grampians, under Agricola, have left traces of their occupation of Procolitia (Carrawburgh) for more than three hundred years, to the beginning of the fifth century, when they are recorded in the Notitia as being still quartered in this place. The same may be said of the Tungrian cohorts quartered at Borcovicus (Housesteads), and of others. Of course in times of emergency, when the Caledonians threatened the Roman forces in overwhelming numbers, and bore down upon them with indomitable courage, as they often did, the Tyne and Eden troops would have to be largely augmented from the more southern parts of Britain; as also when all was peace up here, and disturbances broke out in other directions, portions of the wall forces would probably be sent south for a time. But as a rule the legions, or portions of legions, the alæ and cohorts remained permanently localised, individual soldiers changing as their terms of military service concluded, and they were at liberty to return home.

Whoever undertakes to write the memoir of this river will have to unravel a long and chequered story, and one well worth the telling. The Tyne has indeed witnessed many stately, as well as terrible, passages in England's history. Not only have Roman emperors trod its banks, Saxon kings also have held their courts within the walls of its chief towns, and Danish leaders have sailed up its tide, and from hence have carried fire and sword and fearful desolation through all the country round, extinguishing utterly, for a time, the calm, pure torch of Christian piety that had blessed the land exceedingly, having here doubtless first flickered into being in those early ages of the Roman occupation. Norman conquerors followed, and throughout Northumberland found tougher work to do than perchance they found elsewhere in the whole of England; and roughly and terribly they did their work up here; the fertile lands became a howling wilderness; men, women, and children, driven from their homes, died by hundreds and thousands in the ditches; in their misery and hunger

they would feed greedily on horses and dogs, and at last even prey upon human flesh. Then die, they would if die they must-these men of Saxon, Danish, and Scandinavian blood-sooner than submit to be sold as slaves by their cruel conquerors. If Tyne river could only speak, what horrible records of suffering under Norman rule might be disclosed, which now lie hidden in that deep mournful bosom of the buried past! Northumberland we know lay in ruins long after the Conquest, and Doomsday Book has naught to record of possessions here, save a dreary iteration of "Waste, waste, waste!" The ravished country, however, was not without some strong, determined men, who clung to it tenaciously; nor could the fierce Normans hold their own against those wild Northumbrian spirits until A.D. 1080, when the proud conqueror's son set about the task, and reared the New Castle close by, or rather upon the old Roman station of Pons Ælii upon Tyne, using in its construction the very stones that were cut and fashioned by the imperial troops of Rome eight centuries before. And there still stands the New Castle, joint memorial of the Roman Hadrian and the Norman William, now surrounded by the wealthy, busy town to which it has given a name. The grim old donjon keep, firm as in the days when Robert Curthous built it, is a stately marking-post, reared just midway in our island story. Outside, round its black walls, rolls the vast stream of trade, the bustling hurry of present life; within, carefully gathered together, lie the most valuable collection of British Roman antiquities we possess, consisting of altars to many gods, funeral memorials to individuals of many nations, inscribed slabs with historic names thereon, and allusions to many dates and events of deepest interest, broken pillars, capitals, tiles, household belongings of pottery, glass, iron, shoes, trinkets, money, &c.—a vast variety of matters gathered out of the ruins of Tyneside Roman towns. But after Roman, and Saxon, and Dane, and Norman had swept along, leaving their varied traces by the waters of the Tyne, however other parts of England may have more or less rested in quietness, up here, albeit the gleaming light of saintly lives and righteous deeds glowed out bright and calm now and again, the commonest sights and sounds continued to be battle-cries and bloodshed, flaming homesteads and depopulated villages, and devastated fields, that lay often untilled through a whole generation by reason of the anarchy that prevailed through all those centuries of Scottish raids and Border turmoil that followed the Norman Conquest, afflicting Tyneside bitterly down to the reign of George III., when, for the first time, the sheriff of Northumberland was able to execute process through the valleys of Tynedale. Even now, at Newcastle,

when you hear the great bell of St. Nicholas Church ring out an unaccountable peal on the evening preceding the horse and cattle fair, be it known to all whom it may concern that the church is announcing that while the fair lasts, and until, at its conclusion, another peal is heard from the crowned steeple, no inconvenient questions shall be asked of those who come with beasts for sale as to how those beasts came into their possession; neither shall any man be asked why he presumes to come under the arm of the law by venturing into the good town of Newcastle. In fine, the bell you hear is the "Thief and reaver bell," without which authoritative guarantee being given as an arranged signal of oblivion, for the time, to cattle-lifters, outlaws, and the like, in "the good old times," no fair could possibly have been held in Newcastle, for no horses or cattle could have been procured-all the beasts being ill-gotten, and all who brought them to the fairs being to a man only too well known as outlaws! Happily times are somewhat changed, though the bell still rings for the old custom's sake.

MARK HERON.

253

IF

TABLE-TALK.

F there is one stranger of American extraction whose reception, should he ever arrive, might inspire jealousy in the mind of General Grant, it is the Colorado beetle. Already, before he has sent any direct intimation of his coming, the ceremonial which attends the progress of distinguished foreigners is prepared, and the artists who lie in wait to catch the lineaments of greatness have in a spirit of subtle flattery discounted public enthusiasm and rendered us familiar with his appearance in anticipation of his visit. Whether we shall light such fires of welcome as have blazed in Germany remains to be seen. Meantime, it seems likely that public curiosity will not prove to have been vainly stimulated, but that the august stranger, like most of those whose reception at home has been out of keeping with their own estimate of their merits, will take up permanently his abode in our midst. According to a report, which has since received official contradiction, he has already been seen, a gentleman having claimed to have detected him on one of the Dublin quays, which he had reached by means of a rope from a vessel. His unobtrusive appearance in that portion of the United Kingdom best provided with his favourite esculent, would, had the report been true, have spoken for his sagacity as well as his modesty. According to a statement of Mr. Andrew Murray, F.L.S., read before the Horticultural Society, the Colorado beetle is less restricted in its views upon food than is generally believed. Anyhow, it is well to disseminate widely the information that Paris Green mixed with gypsum or flour and dusted over the leaves of the plants it affects, is likely to prevent a too rapid propagation of its larvæ.

A

Two

NY anecdote relating to science is always welcome, and especially if it is connected with the Electric Telegraph. friends of mine, A and B, were asked to dine with C the other day, but were not quite certain whether it was a bachelor party or otherwise. If Mrs. C. was at home, they would have to appear in evening clothes (which they hated), and B deputed A to discover this. He did so, and telegraphed to B: "You must wear a tail coat." Struck