but closer to the centre of the Seal, appearing on the field between the King's cloak and the back of the horse. Two more roses are under the letters A and E in FRANCIÆ, but closer to the centre of the Seal.

These roses, although distinctly visible on some of the Seals, are on some so little raised above the ground that unless one knows where to look for them they are liable to be overlooked altogether. On the Seals attached to the Charters dated 22nd Nov. 1678 and 2nd Dec. 1682, the only rose showing on each of them is the one under the word GRATIA on the horse side.

It would be interesting to know the exact date when the Seal was altered, and also the reason for the alteration. With a view of ascertaining this, if possible, I obtained permission to search the records of the Privy Council. But I regret to state that from them I have been unable to learn anything, although I have most carefully searched their records bound up in "Volume xiii, Charles II", which contains all the entries made between 2nd May 1677 and 31st December 1678, inclusive.

Nos. 155 and 156.

GEORGE I.

In a note upon engravers of Great Seals' I mention that John Roos was " Engraver of public Seals", both under Queen Anne and George I, but I have hitherto been unable to state that he was the engraver actually employed upon any one of the Great Seals of England. Through the kindness of W. V. Morten, Esq., I am now able definitely to state that the Seal of George I was engraved by John Roos. Mr. Morten has sent me the original warrant for the payment of this Seal, from which I make the following extracts:—

"After Our hearty Commendac'ons, By vertue of his Mats Generall Letters l'atent Dormant, bearing date the 14th day of August 1714. These are to pray and require Your Lord'p to draw an Order for paying unto the Executors or Administrators of John Roos, Gent., late Cheife Ingraver of his Mats Signetts and Seales, or their Assignes, the sum of Five hundred, Fifty-one pounds, Sixteen shillings, and Ten pence, without Account, in full Satisfaction for the Severall Seals here under menc'oned, made and delivered

1 The Great Seals of England, p. 190.

pursuant to the Severall directions he received under his Mats Royall Signe Manual, the Same having been Examined by the Principal Officers of his Mts Mint, and the Prices therein contained by them Certified as reasonable to be allowed. That is to

For the Silver of the said Seal, weighing 117oz. 10dwt., at five shillings and two pence per

ounce

£551 16 10

And let the said Order be satisfyed out of any money remaining in the Receipt of his Mts Exchequer applicable to the Uses of his Majesties Civil Government. And for so doing this shall be your Lord'ps Warrant.

"Whitehall Treasury Chambers,

7 Aug. 1717.

"To Our very good Lord George Earl of Halifax, Auditor of the Receipt of his Mats Exchequer."

GEORGE III.

Whilst dealing with this subject of the Great Seals of England, I take this opportunity of mentioning that the Obverses of the two Seals 667 and 668, described on pp. 76 and 77 in the Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, are, in my opinion, only impressions of Great Seals of George III taken during the course of their engraving. In both cases the space left for the Royal Arms and inscribed Garters are only cut out (or "laid in") in the matrix; no attempt has been made so far, when the impressions were taken, to engrave the Arms or to letter the Garter. There are also several other parts of the Seals in a similar condition. No. 667 is the impression of George III's Great Seal of Ireland, where in the legend MAG. is put for MAGNE, which appears in his Great Seal of England. When finished this Seal had a harp upon each side of the Royal Arms. Amongst the very many impressions of George III's Great Seals attached to documents which I have examined, both at the British Museum and elsewhere

throughout England, I have never come upon one in which the Royal Arms had been left incomplete on the matrix; nor have I been able to hear of anyone else who has seen such a Sea!. The casts of the Reverses of both 667 and 668 are probably both taken from some Seal in use. In the Reverse of 668 the marks of the cord passing through the Seal are plainly seen.

As a guide to any student of the Great Seals of England, I desire here to note Mr. W. de G. Birch's paper on a Seal of Henry III, with altered legend, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Second Series, vol. xii, pp. 426-429.

THE DISCOVERY OF A SAXON BURIAL-PLACE NEAR READING.

BY JOSEPH STEVENS, ESQ., M.R.C.P.L.

(Read during the Winchester Congress, 3rd Aug. 1893.)

THE particulars which I now bring to the knowledge of this Society bear reference to a series of interments, which were dug out in 1891, in removing ballast alongside the Great Western Railway, during the process of widening the line. The site of the cemetery is a platform of a small elevation 630 ft. south of the Thames, and about 50 ft. above its level, at about three-quarters of the distance between the railway bridge at the Kennet's mouth at Reading, on the east, and the brickkiln at Earley, on the west, the space in which the remains were found comprehending 68 ft. from north to south, and 57 ft. from east to west, in a line parallel with the railway. The surface at the spot was irregular, but there were no indications of tumuli; and if such had been present they were most likely removed in preparing the ground at the time the railway was first constructed. The distances the interments lay apart favour the opinion that small tumuli were at one time present, although it is not unusual to find graves without tumuli in pagan Saxon cemeteries, of which instances might be quoted in those of Fairford in Gloucestershire,1 Little Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire," and Harnham Hill near Salisbury.3 The interments included both the incinerated and inhumed, the inhumed bodies lying east and west; and it is worth noting that in the Saxon tumulus which was opened at Taplow, a few miles distant, in 1883, the body was found extended in the same direction.

The earlier relics were not found till about the middle of April, but it was on May 4th that Mr. George William Smith of Reading, to whom the discovery is due, and

1 Fairford Graves, Wylie. 4to. Oxford, 1852.

2 Saxon Obsequies, Neville. London, 1852.

3 Archæologia, vol. xxxv, p. 259.