has it right, as I remember, Headborn-Worthy, al. Mortimer Worthy. And so it is called in the Valor, Mortimer Worthy, and distinguished from Worthy-Regis, and Worthy-Martyris, which are different parishes. There is also Abbots-Worthy, but that is only a Tithing belonging to Kings-Worthy. The common name of our parish is Headborn-Worthy, and so I have always called it in the title page of my books,

whenever I had occasion to mention it. I cannot but wonder the person who was employed in giving an account of the Doctor's benefactions should make such a mistake against so many evidences, or at least should not consult you before it was printed, who could have better informed him. We have lately had a very good Benefactor die in this place, who was pleased to make me one of his executors in trust. He gives 157. per an. to a Charity School; 101. per an. for reading evening prayer at St. Lawrence Church in this City; 751. per an. for augmentation of poor livings throughout the nation. And the care of all these is committed in trust to the Dean and Chapter of Winton, who are to keep the 751. till it amounts, by four years income, to the sum of 3001. and then join it to the Queen's bounty of 2001. to make a perpetual settlement upon each Church. He has likewise given 2007 to Magdalen Hospital, near this place; 100l. to the poor of Aston, in Derbyshire, and the re

mainder of his estate, after debts and legacies are paid, to the poor of Winton. He gave one of his servants 2001. and to his two executors 501. each. His name was Mr. Joseph Percival, once a Spanish merchant. He died worth about 60001. and I think out of such a sum his benefactions are as considerable as most of the present age affords. I thought this short account might not be unacceptable to you, and therefore I give you the trouble of reading it, who am,

Canterbury Cathedral.-Epitaphs on Somner and Battely.

SIR,

Canterbury, Feb. 29, 1715-6.

I OUGHT to begin with an apology for not answering your last sooner; but I have deferred it so very long, that I am equally ashamed of my neglect, and unable to excuse it. I have not been in London this half-year, contrary

to my intent, which was to have returned thither above five months ago; and had I not been prevented, I had long since returned an answer to your kind letter, and with it, a just acknowledgment for the great obligation you have laid noț only upon me, but all the learned world, by your publishing of Leland, a book so long wanted, and so well known, that the vast labours of the author are not more surprising than the indolence of our own nation, in suffering a work of that extensive advantage to be so long expected by the public. However, I beg leave to take this late opportunity of returning my thanks, not only for that, but also for the very valuable and ancient copy of the "Acts of the Apostles," by which you have no less obliged the world, than by the former. Nor must I forget the favour, which Mr. Bedford tells me, you will add to all the rest, by reserving me a copy of Ross.

I cannot forbear making you partaker of the wonderful pleasure and satisfaction, which my conversation among those venerable remains of Antiquity, the many ornaments of this Cathedral Church, has afforded me; though I fear I shall interrupt you with a relation of little more, than what you have long since been informed of.

I need not repeat what Somner and Battely have observed concerning the particular monuments that lie exposed to public view, tho' that of the Black Prince is not to be omitted, whose

body is made of neat brass, deposited on a pedestal of the same metal, on which is the inscription inserted in Weaver; all supported by a stone basis, to the sides of which are pinned his arms in brass. It is indeed a very glorious monument, inferior to none but that of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in St. Mary's, in that city, (of which we have a draught in Sir Wm. Dugdale's admirable description of the County of Warwick) and that of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey. But nothing has made a greater impression upon me, nor given me more exalted ideas of the piety, as well as grandeur, of our forefathers, than the Lady-Chapel in the Undercroft, a building of that beauty and ornament, especially at the East end, where, I suppose, the statue of the V. M. was formerly placed, that I do not at all wonder that Erasmus was not able to describe it without transport. There is a contrivance, which is very surprizing. The cieling at the East end is painted black, and overlaid with stars of a great size, raised in a convex form, and covered over with glass, which by reflecting the rays communicated from the lights, must necessarily exhibit a very pleasing and venerable spectacle. It is a great pity Mr. Battely has not given us a draught of this chapel, as also of the three subterranean monuments erected here. He might very well have omitted (since he could not find patrons for them all) as many

of those that lye above in the Church, and are not exposed to the same inconveniences with these in the Undercroft, which might then have been preserved entire to posterity, whereas they now seem hardly capable of it, being already in some measure decayed, and continually exposed to the incurious humour of a brick-layer, belonging to the Church, by whom the whole Undercroft (as it stands separated from the French congregation) is scandalously used as a repository for his tools and rubbish. However, I have procured a description of them, two of which are done accurately enough, and the third (which is that of Archbp. Moreton) though not so accurate as I could wish, is yet more than sufficient to give one an idea of its form and magnificence.

I remember, when I was at Oxford, we were lamenting that so great a man as Mr. Somner should find nobody, that had respect enough for his memory, (and at the same time capacity sufficient) to raise a monument to it; not that his established name needs any such assistance to perpetuate it, for that he has done best himself; but it is a pious and commendable veneration for our ancestors that excites in us a curiosity to know, and a desire to inform the world of, the places of their burial. This, which I was then ignorant of, was performed by Mrs. Dawson, two years after the publishing of his Life, written by Kennet, who against the North Wall of