The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-07-11 00:00:00

DORSET AROEI/EOLOGY.

To the Editors.
As the time for the meeting of the Archeological
Institute at Dorchester draws near when questions
of importance and interest to the antiquary, ethno.
ligist, &c., will be brought forward • the following
questions, some of which refer to extinct races of
men, and others which have not as yet been sails-
faetorily answered, offer to the antiquary, &c., a
wide scope from which he may interpret the un-
written story of bygone ages :
, 1. What remains are there in Dorset of the
people of the flint period? Can they be found and
identified either by their dwellings, their burials,
earthworks, or other implements beside their flint
weapon,? Ls their ethnology as yet understood, and
at what period did this people exist? Were they
not a pre-Aryan race? Are there any traces of this
people to be found in our river beds or marshes?
2. Which of the remains of stone circles is the
oldest—that at Mayne, Polkswell, or Winterborne ;
and which of them is dedicated to the worship of
the sun?
3. Where is the clavinium of the Romans, and
how far is itvfrom Weymouth?
4. Where dwelt the large Roman population in
the neighbourhood of Weymouth? The number
and extent of the Romo-British cemeteries prove
they must have lived there.
5. Where did the victorious Teutonic people,
whether Jute, Friscan, or Saxon, after the
departure of the ROMMIII bury their dead? Was it
in Roman cemeteries or elsewhere?
6. Are there any stone monuments of the Ramo-
British cemeteries to be found in Dorset that can be
identified by inscriptions, architectural construction,
&c„ or any funeral altars or sepulchral inscriptions
having the words Dens Manibus ?
7. Is the ethnology of the different race found
in the Dorset tumuli, and those in the many Remo.
British cemeteries as yet identified?
Weymouth, July 1, 1865.

THE EARTH-CLOSET.
(From the Gardeners' Chronicle.)
Allow me, through you, to thank your caries-
Fondest, "W. O. K.," for severel very valuable
remarks ia his article in your Telegram of June 29.
In particular I would thank him for what he states
respecting the importance to health of the Dry
System in villages and country houses. From those
very dauseswhich be bas mentioned, I have known the
rate of mortality in one small village in Dorset to
have been on an average of 10 years, 331 per thou.
mud, The promotion of health in country districts,
therdore, has beta from the first my main object;
and when I added wealth as • sesiond object to be
obtained by the earth system, I had especial reference
in all individual oases to the cottager. I believed, sad
still believe, that by using earth meths medium of
preserving and removing house manure he would
vastly increase the produce of his garden. Indeed,
this is no longer a matter of mere belief or opinion;
it me became a matter of frequent experience. I
object greedy, therefore to" W. 0. IL's" idea of
the farmer buying up this stock of manure from the
cottager. For I know many villages in which the
privy vault affords the only chance of his obtaining
manure at all. Let the farmer seek it partly from
his own house, partly from railway stations, and TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION.
from public institutions, and (notwithstanding your
Opinion, sir, to the contrary, 1 say) let him seek it THE LADY IN BLACK.
in towns. For partly from the great and increasing
difficulties of the water system, especially in the Simple hiatoire 40 years ago.
pollution of rivers, partly from the little cost of the In the year of grace, 1825, I was just turned 20,
eufb,syeiewl,,_ ,wifh the
simplicity system, and hill of classical honours and expectations, but, un-
DOW 111/111 the greatly increased simplicity in worn- fortunately, haring neither faith nor friends in elye
lug the 'mirth system, I feel persuaded that it POE reigning party, and thinking too much of the
will be in operation in towns." W. 0. 1lL" says Republics of Greece and Rome, I was ready for
that I sin pressing the subject in Dorset. I. this I every polemic, riot, and revolution. No wonder I
beg leave to say he is mistaken. The subject has was a mom enemy to the restored Bourbons, these
been pressing itself, aided indeed by the advertise- unhappy French Moira, that had been imposed esi
menu of Messrs. White and Co., and it it forcing France by the allied maim. Besides which
itself not only in England but in various other parte original sin without redemption, the Bourbons were
of the world. For instance, the mar which I had beaming more and more illiberal and intolerant;
the honour of reading before the :goody of Arts in so that, though I would have rather liked to be,
the year 1883, has beim reprinted by order of the Roman soldier of yore, yet I loathed the idea of being
Supreme Government of India; it has been trans. virtually militant for the Roman Pontiff. There-
hoed by the Government of the Punjab into the fore my parents bought me a substitute, a poor
language of that country, and it has been the
fellow who pocketed my money and fought in my
of introducing the system into,
I believe' every geet I stead, and afterwards was killed in Africa, fighting
and almost every barrack in our Indian posoooeiooo far kie °mutiny and ma. menflerhilee of course, 1
This does not look much like my having
the prospects of the system, as W. O
joined in all pablio or secret demonstrations or
" . IL
am doing, by insisting on drying sheds and on exertions, to Jet rid of the hateful yoke imposed on
France by • the oombined Governments of Europe.
clay, and on the five-fold repetition of the nip 1 was oonstantly thinking of these beautiful model
In this too be is not a little mistaken. I patriots of antiquity, Thrasybulas, Tinsoleon,
common surface earth and clay, if dry and atteu, a Harmodiva and A ristorteon, Brutus, Cassius, Caw
the best deodorisers, and within the reach of every and other worthies, so I would have made a very
person. That their deodorising capabilities are snob bad attache or jesuit Foremost among the Liberal
that 21b weight of either is sufficient for complete leaders of the French opposition was Jacques
deodorisation in each use of a closet. And this I Lafitte, the great and generous banker, a Liberal in
am sure cannot be said of ashes. At the same time every sense of the word, whose das, and popularity,
ashes, if not added in • very large proportion, will ware truly remarkable. Being borrezicr plebeian,
produce fermentation and a very offensive smelt he had been recommended to the Perregaux
And every one who has tried the two will say that
the manurial value of ashes is very small compared no vacancy, as junior clerk in his offices; however, there was
with that of saturated mirth. If people like to and the humble candidate withdrew
with man/ apologies. But the banker saw him
ashes with the earth they can, but I can say stoop in ha yard and pick up a pin which be stuck
many eaPerimanf° flat they will n 4 meeitillufin" his lapel. Whereupon the banker, thinking
veniences arising from them, especially if need hi
°lambert. If they like to lb. very small qua-tothat this trilling sot proved a great spirit of order
under difficulties, called him book, and told him he
440.1." hartares sees ervaie uoie.de
• on sif aseff ;than fele4iS =

, 1116116/ I

om
from

._oost

an I

might enter as a supernumerary until the first
vacancy, which, indeed,, took place in a few days.
Then in a few months the young clerk rose to a
poet of trust, then in a few years to partnership
tinder the firm " Perregaux, Latitte, and C 0.." and
lastly Jacques Lalitte sine, and in this quality he
received, in deposit, the lait savings of Napoleon 1.,
which he faithfully returned t his heirs. Such
honesty, similar to that of the head of the RothrichiLla
towards the Grand [hike of Hcsae, was likewiee
rewarded by unbounded coutiJeLea and wealth.
But never fortune fell into such generous hands.
Many a victim of invasion was succoured by barn.
Many a disbanded or disabled officer or collier was
helped by Lafitte ; in fact, every helpless cage was
sent to him as to another Providence. Besides bib
private beneficence, his public subscriptions were
unbounded for charitable and philanthrophie usocia•
tines. No wonder that he became Premier under
Louis Philippe, and died insolvent. Yet be still
blended utile. duki. For in order to join the talents,
geniuses and liberal minds of all nations, he gave
for some years an international ball every Saturday
evening, which cost hun about £4OO in the heat
music, most profuse refreshments and choicest
flowers. In his splendid apartments were already
collected some of the finest pictures, statues and
bronzes from all artists and countries. There you
see together B. Constant and Sir Rob. Wileon,
Chateaubriand and Lord Byron, Mina Edgeworth and
Sontag, Lady Morgan and Pasta, dc. There
Liberalism reigned in all its glory. There was a
cosmopolitan atmosphere of wealth, genius, talent,
and beauty, by which equality WAS tempered. On
one of those enchanting Saturdays, I wandered to
the entrance for the treble purpose of getting
fresh air, admiring some greenhouse flowers, and
hearing a few arrivals announced by the f xitman,
where I saw a beautiful English lady in deep black
called out. Lady Fila— something, was it —roy,
—herbert,--gerald, or anything else. I was so much
taken aback by her dress and beauty, that only the
Fitz has remained for me. This lady, though a
widow, was younger than I. She entered as cool
as ice, as fair as snow. She seemed to freeze every
one hut me, for she was the only lady in mourning
among all the colours of the rainbow. I addressed
her then, and she answered me in pretty good
Frenoh, that she would not have come bad she
known it was a dancing party. I rejoined that I
would be happy to he her cavalier, take her every-
where, to the bufet, to the greenhouse, and ex-
plain everything, and every person to the best of
my abilities. She replied that she was a widow, on
her passage to Italy, and thanked me for keeping a
widow's company, whilst 1 blessed nay eters that she
knew nobody but Mr. J. Lafitte.
Fancy a tall, fair, Spartan beauty walking arm in
arm with a dark Alcibiades, et vera incesca patuit
Den! Fancy me taking her to the bidet and
ministering to her wishes out of the incessant cornu-
copia of the most reclierch4 refreshments, now
explaining to her the various pictures and groups,
now sitting by her side before the promenaders.
How short were theses hours! alas! midnight
struck ; midnight, fatal hour for witches and lovers.
My widow, as a Protestant, must needs retire
before Sunday. I saw her to her carriage, and then
an it rained, she kindly offered to drive me home,
And I, delicate youth, I missed the forelock
presented me by the goddess fortune. I politely
declined, saying I would call at her hotel the next
day, which I did, but she was already gone, the
fair vision had vanished for ever.

Is that beautiful lady in black still alive ? lam
still among the living, but I cannot now cut capers
which were still in the fashion then, perhaps she
beta also a daughter! d 'mare pulchra flia pukhrior !
Where is she? or where are they? What haa
become of us all! Oh that fairy fabric of a vision!
ANGLO-FRF,NCH.