"A map of every country known, On this poor globe, from Ptol. the First; A group of all the British kings, A decent, venerable show, Writ a great while ago, they tell us, And Ovid's tales of nymphs and grottos, It was here, too, (I mean in this humble building,) that Mrs. Barbauld penned her charming poem, The Mouse's Petition, the elegance of feeling of which has enshrined it in the memory of our early school-days. She was then Miss Aikin, and with the freedom of intercourse which her affection for Dr. Priestley's family induced, had made her way one morning into the vacant study of the philosopher, and finding the little animal, which she immortalized by her verses, imprisoned in a trap, for the purpose of being experimented upon, and of course killed in the trial, she wiled away the interval of Dr. Priestley's absence by the composition of this short but beautiful poem. I shall not quote it here, for the verses have become household words. Leaving the quiet quadrangle of the Academy, which was once closed by a handsome iron gateway and railing, we turn for a short distance further down the Butter-Market Street, for here, directly opposite to the Dispensary, is the house formerly occupied by the talented family of the Aikins. When the first Dr. Aikin came to Warrington in 1758, his daughter, subsequently Mrs. Barbauld, was fifteen years of age, and this house was her beloved home until 1774, a period of sixteen years, when she married the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, and removed to Palgrave, in Suffolk. "The years passed by her at Warrington," says her biographer, Miss Lucy Aikin, "comprehended perhaps the happiest, as well as the most brilliant portion of her existence." Here were written her earliest Poems, from which I have quoted largely, and from them all we may gather with what emotions she would recur to this scene of her early affections and friendships. The house we are regarding was of course the home of her brother also, Dr. John Aikin, who was only eleven years of age when he came to Warrington, and his daughter in his biography at this period says, that "he was immediately entered among the students, and attended the lectures of his father and the other tutors. Three diligent years passed in this situation, enabled him to add a considerable superstructure of various knowledge to the firm grammatical foundation previously laid at Kibworth, and what was of still more importance, imbued him indelibly with that love of letters which became at once the ornament and safeguard of his youth, and the occupation and solace of every succeeding period of his life." For some subsequent years he was mostly absent in Scotland, London, Manchester, and elsewhere, engaged in the study of the medical profession, of which he commenced the actual practice at Chester in 1770, but quitted it for Warrington in the year following. His career as a literary writer commenced immediately, and all his early productions, like those of his sister, were printed at Warrington by Mr. Eyres. His success in the medical profession, during his residence of thirteen years at Warrington, was good, but still below his expectations, and in 1784 he left this town for Yarmouth, but eventually settled in London. "Notwithstanding the circumstances," says Miss Lucy Aikin, "which had rendered him justly dissatisfied with his professional situation at Warrington, his feelings on the near prospect of departure made him sensible, that in the way of social and friendly enjoyment he had many sacrifices to make in quitting that county which had extended so affectionate an adoption to his parents, his sister, and himself; and which was the scene of all the dearest recollections of his youth, and the birthplace of his children." These children who were born to him in Warrington were-1. Arthur, who was for many years Secretary to the Society of Arts, and Lecturer on Chemistry at Guy's Hospital. 2. Charles Rochemont, the author of a " Dictionary of Chemistry and Mineralogy," who settled as a medical practitioner in London, and married the daughter of Gilbert Wakefield. 3. Edmund, a well-known architect in Liverpool. And 4. Lucy, the authoress and biographer, who is now the sole surviving child. There are, perhaps, few private residences which can boast of such a constellation of talent and worth combined in one family under one roof, and I therefore look upon the residence of Dr. Aikin in Warrington as a spot attended with our most pleasing and refined associations. There is yet one other shrine included in my purpose of illustrating the vestigia of the Warrington Academy, to which I would fain direct a visitor, the house of Gilbert Wakefield, in Bewsey Street, were it not for the intricacy of the route, and the alterations which it has undergone from its original appearance. But this is of less importance, since his name is always linked with that of Dr. Aikin by the bonds of that long abiding friendship which commenced at Warrington, and was cemented by still dearer ties. Mr. Wakefield came to Warrington, 1779, as classical tutor in the academy, and remained here until its close in 1783. In his personal memoirs, written some years afterwards, he says, "I reflect to this day, with a pensive pleasure, saddened by regret, on the delightful converse, "That flow of reason, and that feast of soul," which I enjoyed at Warrington with my colleagues; especially at a weekly meeting, holden alternately at the house of each other, and rendered still more agreeable by the occasional accession of some congenial spirit, resident on the spot, or casually introduced as a visitor : "While summer suns roll unperceived away." So far as I know we have now visited each spot which can be safely identified with the Warrington Academy and its tutors. I feel that the remarks which I have made have done their subject but scanty justice, and yet I am not without an emotion of fear that I have assigned to it an interest which exists only in my own "amor loci." But without such a feeling it is not likely that any of our local annals will be long preserved. Not that we can use these annals as a matter for boasting, but rather as a salutary proof of our own littleness, for if we compare the present intellectual condition of Warrington with that of the era of its Academy, we cannot deny, but are bound to confess, that "there were giants in those days." True it is, that all these Worthies' were members of other communions than my own; but advocate as I am for the lasting union of our church and state, I can yet live in harmony with those who have been led to think differently. The reign of bigotry and prejudice has passed away, and we are now free to admire the possessors of character and talent, however much they may differ from us in politics or religion. NOTICES OF BRITISH ANTIQUITIES-NO. 2. OBJECTS IN GLASS. By Edward Benn, Esq. (READ 4TH JANUARY, 1855.) In my paper, No. 1, on British Antiquities* an opinion was expressed, founded on observation made upon the circumstances under which the various objects of a remote period were found in Ireland, that articles of stone were more recent than those of bronze, iron, and glass, which many suppose to be quite modern in comparison. As a farther illustration of this matter, nothing is more surprising than the accounts I have frequently received of the discovery of glass beads. These articles are found under such circumstances as would lead one to infer that they belonged to an age so distant as to seem quite incredible;-in those localities, indeed, in which are discovered those great fossil teeth, said to have been of an extinct horse. These extraordinary teeth are scattered over the county of Antrim, for instance, in considerable numbers, and their history and origin are to me quite inexplicable. I do not mean to assert that the teeth have been found in absolute connection with the beads, but both have been discovered at the same depth in the subsoil and in the alluvial soil, as I have taken pains to ascertain. Some of these beads exhibit a considerable degree of skill, but indeed to make glass of any kind proves that a people have advanced far beyond the savage state. The question is, were these beads fabricated in Ireland? That some of them were, we must believe, till it is shewn that similar productions are met with in other countries, and many of them are so remarkable and have such a curious appearance, that if discovered in the ground elsewhere, the circumstance would, it is most probable, be generally known. Till such shall prove the fact they must, therefore, be classed as Irish. There is, however, it must be confessed, a great liability to error in an inquiry of this kind. We know that beads have been used at the most remote period, and that they are also in use at the present day; and it therefore requires much caution in assigning a great age to what may be found comparatively modern. Keeping this fact in view, therefore, I will confine myself to descriptions and exhibitions of beads actually found in the earth in a given locality, hoping that those who are * Volume vi. p. 102. G in possession of facts confirming what is stated or otherwise, will make their information known, as it is only by such co-operation that the truth can be reached, and it is also highly important to compare the productions of one locality with those of another. With these preliminary observations I exhibit a bead, No. 1, which is not glass, nor of British manufacture. It is found commonly in Antrim, under circumstances corresponding with those of the other beads referred to; also in England, and I believe generally over the Continent. A necklace of beads of this kind was discovered, I think, in making the foundation for London Bridge, in connection with Roman remains as old as about the commencement of our era. We will not probably err in assigning to them, therefore, an age of about 2000 years. They are of Terra Cotta and have been of a beautiful ultramarine colour. I have never seen them of any other colour, except one, which was a brilliant carmine red, and which was found four feet deep in alluvial soil near Belfast. These beads were of different sizes. That which I exhibit is very large and was probably the centre of the necklace, being gradually smaller as they receded to each extremity. If I am rightly informed, what I may call Irish beads have been found, indicating, from their depth in the ground or otherwise, a much higher degree of antiquity than the red one to which I have referred. There is a remarkable circumstance connected with the foreign beads. Their form is what the world calls graceful or classic, their type being an orange or melon. The colours have also been very beautiful, but they have not stood the test of time, as it is only from remaining spots we can judge of their original brightness, nor have I ever seen any attempt at variety of form. On the other hand, those which I consider to be British have such variety of form and ornament that it is difficult to find two of the same pattern. There is scarcely any shape that a bead could be made to assume, of which examples could not be found among them. There are also a great many shades of colour; dark blue, however, is the most prevalent; they are generally not brilliant, but seem to be extremely durable, and having retained their original appearance for so many centuries, we might almost conclude them to be indestructible by the agency of time alone. Does this singular difference between the Continental and British workman in glass appear to have continued almost to our own time? When I call these beads "glass" I do so on good authority, though some of them are so opaque as to transmit |