"in his own family, and of which he was one of the tran"slators. V. Collins's Ecclesiast. Hist., vol ii, 154." (The portions of the Bible translated by Archbishop Sandys were the books of Kings and Chronicles.) The library also includes a quarto edition of Chaucer of 1561; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, 1617; Fox's Martyrs, 1641; Purchas his Pilgrims, 1625; Poole's Synopsis, 1669; and many other books of standard value and ancient date. It was founded by the above-named Daniel Rawlinson, who gave several books nd incited others to follow his example; and in 1669 gave £100 to be applied in diverse manners to the purposes of the school. The Rev. Thomas Sandys and the Rev. William Wilson left certain sums to be laid out in books; and in 1789 Thomas Bowman, A.M., then master, added considerably to the library, and proposed that each scholar should pay to it five shillings per annum, and, on leaving school, present any book or books he might choose. This was carried out for a time but has fallen into disuse, the only book known to have been presented to the library since Mr. Bowman's death, in 1829, being a copy in sheets of Valpy's Greek Lexicon, quarto.

The following is a list of the masters since the foundation of the school, with their dates of appointment, as painted on a board hung up in the library :

Haygarth Taylor Baines, A.M., Christ's College, Cambridge

1756

.

1758

1766

1781

1781

1786

1829

1862

Being twenty masters during the two hundred and eighty years the school has existed.

I shall treat of the strictly rural parts of the parish of Hawkshead in a future essay.

ON BRITISH SILVER MILITARY WAR-MEDALS.

By J. Harris Gibson Esq.

(READ 12TH JANUARY, 1865.)

THE object of this evening's paper is not to tell over again the many victories which have been won by British arms since medals were first awarded; but simply to notice the medals themselves, descriptively and with regard to classification. I shall therefore proceed with the few remarks I intend to make according to the following arrangement:

Medals or honorary distinctions granted to British soldiers by Charles I and the Protector.

The Peninsular medal.

Waterloo.

Medals given for Actions and Campaigns in India, closing with the Mutiny, 1857-8.

The China Wars of 1842 and 1860.

The Kaffir War.

The Crimean Campaign.

Medals for long service, meritorious and distinguished conduct.

It is not certain that many of the medals of Queen Elizabeth and James I, which are known to exist, were actually granted to be worn as military or naval decorations; though, from their character and appearance, I think we may infer that they were originally intended to be worn as badges commemorative of some great military or naval achievement.

M

Their oval form, and the fact that they have either loops or rings attached to them, would seem to lead to no other conclusion. But as so little is known of the early history of our military medals, I will leave them, with the hope that some abler pen may some day remove the obscurity in which they at present remain, and pass on to those which claim our more immediate attention.

The first medal of which we have any authentic account, as having been conferred by royal favour and worn as a military decoration, was granted by King Charles I, in 1643, to soldiers who distinguished themselves in forlorn hopes. The badge was of silver and represented His Majesty and Prince Charles.

It is also recorded that an especial mark of favour was conferred upon one Robert Walsh (who commanded a troop of horse at the battle of Edge Hill, 1642), for recovering. the King's colours taken by the enemy and capturing two pieces of cannon; he received the honour of knighthood from the King, who commanded that a medal of gold should be made, which decoration Walsh afterwards received.

On the 3rd September, 1650, Cromwell's army defeated the Scots at Dunbar: for this service it was ordered that silver medals should be given to each of the officers and men. These medals, which are oval, have on the obverse the bust of Cromwell in armour; behind the bust is a distant representation of his army; above is the legend :—

WORD
AT DUNBAR.

THE LORD OF HOSTS.

SEPT. 3RD, 1650.

The reverse represents the interior of the Parliament House-the members are sitting, with the Speaker at their head. There are two sizes of this medal: the larger, in all probability, was given to those in command, the smaller to the common or private soldier.

The Dunbar medal was engraved by Thomas Simon, who