IVS F

IANA CONIVX M

LA CONIVX MAR

the Alps, and made their home in Brittany, whence they crossed to England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. How he knew this I am not aware, for there is no reference to Lombardy or Charlemagne upon the tile, though, as will presently be seen, there is a reference to Brittany. To continue: the next entries on the sherd, if I may except a long splash either of blood or r

tself, I here give the black-letter fac-simile, together with the original Latin without the contractions, from which it will be seen that the writer was a fair medi?val Latinist. Also we discovered what is still more curious, an English version of the black-letter Latin. Th

etter Inscription on

meo in manu ferebat q?d pe?itus illvd de?trueret, affirma?s q?d e??et ab ip?o ?athana co?flatu? pre?tigio?a et dyabolica arte q?re p?ter mevs co?fregit

f the above Black-

patri meo in manu ferebat quod penitus illud destrueret, affirmans quod esset ab ipso Sathana conflatum prestigiosa et dyabolica arte, quare pater meus confregit illu

ation of the above Latin Inscription from the She

onde y? he owghte uttirly ffor to ffru??he y? ?ame affyrmynge y? yt was ffourmyd & confflatyd off ?athanas hym ?elffe by arte magike & dyvelly??he wherefore my ffadir dyd take y? ?ame & to bra?t yt yn tweyne but I John de Vincey dy

of the above Black-

onde that he owghte uttirly for to frusshe ye same, affyrmynge that yt was fourmed and conflatyed of Sathanas hym selfe by arte magike and dyvellysshe wherefore my fadir dyd take ye same and tobrast yt yn tweyne, but I, John de Vincey, dy

e that did cost my father his life; for in seekynge for the place upon the east coast of Africa, his

family in the middle of the eighteenth century. It was a misquotation of the well-known lines in Hamlet,

hat makes me fix th

e eighteenth centur

acting copy of "Ha

e two lines are mis

I have little doubt

he potsherd heard t

course, the li

ings in heaven an

of in your phi

reaching his ears, the Vincey of the day, perhaps that same John de Vincey who years before had saved the relic from destruction and made the black-letter entry on the sherd in 1445, hurried off to Oxford to see if perchance it might avail to dissolve the secret of the mysterious inscription. Nor was he disappointed, for the learned Edmundus was equal to the task. Indeed his rendering is so excellent an example of medi?val learning and latinity that, even at the risk of sating the learned reader wi

tructor of Erasmus,

zantine at Florence

ter College, Oxfor

tter Latin Transl

on the Sherd

ecti p'tim ?ubmer?i ?umus p'tim morbo mortui ?um?: in fine aute? a fer? ho?i?bs portabamur p?r palud? et vada. ubi aviu? m'titudo celu? obu?brat dies x. donec advenim? ad cavu? que?da? monte?, ubi olim m?gna urbs erat, caverne quoq? im?e??e: duxeru?t aute? nos ad regina? Advena?la?ani?corona?tiu? que magic? utebat? et peritia omniu? rer? et ?alte? pulcrit? et vigore i??e?e?cibil' erat. Hec m?gno patr? tui amore p?cul?a p'mu

ret: po?tea eu? m?gica p?cu??it arte, at mortuu? efferebat i?de cu? fletib? et vagitib?, me p?r timore? expulit ad o?tiu? m?gni flumi? veliuoli porro in nave in qua te peperi, uix po?t dies hvc Athenas invecta ?u?. At tu, O Ti?i?the?, ne q'd quoru? ma?do nauci fac: nece??e eni? e?t muliere?

a q?de? at min?e ?cta

o, in Decretis Licenciatus e Coll. Exon: Oxon: docti??imi G

f the above Medi?v

s magni ejecti partim submersi sumus partim morbo mortui sumus: in fine autem a feris hominibus portabamur per paludes et vada, ubi avium multitudo celum obumbrat, dies decem, donec advenimus ad cavum quendam montem, ubi olim magna urbs erat, caverne quoque immense; duxerunt autem nos ad reginam Advenaslasaniscoronantium, que magica utebatur et peritiá omnium rerum, et saltem pulcritudine et vigore insenescibilis erat. Hec magno patris tui amore p

iceret: postea illum magica percussit arte, at mortuum efferebat inde cum fletibus et vagitibus, et me per timorem expulit ad ostium magni fluminis, velivoli, porro in nave, in qua te peperi, vix post dies huc Athenas vecta sum. At tu, O Tisisthenes, ne quid quorum mando nauci fac: necesse enim est mulie

quidem at minime ficta

Descretis Licenciatus, e Collegio Exoniensi Oxoniensi doctissimi

graphs, at least those of them that were still easily legible, "that is the conclusion of th

?" he asked, in

ove it, and therefore, however improbable it may seem, it must be accepted. But there I stop. That your remote ancestress, the Egyptian princess, or some scribe under her direction, wrote that which w

what my father saw and

ote that letter. He had met with a great trouble, and also he had allowed this story to prey on his imagination, and he was a very imaginative man. Anyway, I believe that the whole thing is the most unmitigated rubbish. I know that there are curious things and forces in nature which we rarely meet with, and, when

s true, I hope Mr. Leo won't meddle with no

o opinion. But I say this. I am going to set the matter at rest on

es or affections. Circumstances have been against me in this respect, and men and women shrink from me, or at least, I fancy that they do, which comes to the same thing, thinking, perhaps, that my somewhat forbidding exterior is a key to my character. Rather than endure this, I have, to a great extent, secluded myself from the world, and cut myself off from those op

nd the 'rolling Pillar of Life,' at any ra

pportunity, a

always wanted to kill a buffalo before I die. Do you know, my boy, I don't believe in the quest, but I do believe in big game

ould not lose such a chance. But how

s been accumulating for years, and besides that I have saved two-thirds of what

nd go up to town to see about our guns. By the way, Job,

but if both you gentlemen are going you will want somebody to look after y

f you. I won't have a word said to a living soul about this nonsense," and I pointed to the potsherd. "If it got out, and anything

we were on the ocean