The Sun.
London, England, 1823-11-22 00:00:00

ANTIQUITIES.

Some time ago a discovery was accidentally
made of the remains of an ancient building, and
particularly of a curious and very handsome
tessellated pavement, in a field, part of an estate
lately purchased by —Wst. REENwoon,
at Bramdean*, Hants. These remains have
since continued to be objects of mach curiosity
and speculation among antiquarians, and others
who resort there to see them, and as we have
seen no notice taken of the circumstance in any
of the public Prints, we trust, that the following
attempt at a description extracted from the letter
of a friend, who visited the spot, will not be un-
acceptable to our readers :—He says,
• " It appears to have been a building of immense size, from
the number of floors and extensive foundations in various W.,
rections, over a great part of the field. The floors are chittly
laid with red and white bricks, about three quarters of an inch
square; the workmanship of two deserves to be particularly
noticed. The first is an octagon within a square of tesselated
pavement elegantly wrought, and in each of the eight compart-
ments is a head, viz. ;—Mars, Venus, Neptune, Minerva, Mer-
cury, Esculapius, and two others, which are so injured by time
as to prevent their being known, and in the center is the head
of Medusa. The other room, which is ;square, has also an
octagon in the center, within which are two figures represented
as If wrestling, supposed to ha Hercules and Amens-44 the
two diagonal corners of the square are caps of liberty, and in
each of the other two are two hearts;-.diagonally between the
octagon and the four corners of the square are tour heads which
resemble each other, and are well executed, but apparently not
intended to represent any particular person. In the centre of
each ot' two opposite sides of the square, our the border, is 04"
figure of a Dolphin, and in the same manner at each of the
other two sides is an urn, The floor now described is equal
in appearance to the best manufactured carpet of the present
day. A considerable quantity of charcoal is found among the
rubbish removed, and several ancient Roman coins."

Our correspondent remarks that, from the cir-
cumstance of so much charcoal being found
there, the building was probably destroyed by
fire ; but quere, if it might not have been a tem-
ple, tout the charcoal used in sacrifices, &c.?
We shall be much obliged If any of our cor.
respondents can favour us with a more detailed
description of these remains of Roman antiquity,
or throw any light upon them as connected
with the history ociour island.

* Brarndean is a village about nine miles from Winchester,
Len from Petersfield, and four or five from Alresfortl.

In the Magdeburg papers of the 4th instant,
Mr. HI PPOLITUS CARNOT (sOO of General C. who
died in that city) has addressed a voiepeard,
couched in the most obliging terms, to the inha-
bitants of Magdeburg. He states, substantively,
that being about to quit that residence for his
native country (France), he cannot take his de.
parture without offering them his most sincere
thanks for the delicate regard she wn to the misfor-
tunes of his revered father; and that, wherever
he may be, the recollection of their noble 44nd
disinterested kindness never can be effaced from
his memory 1
A decision in a case of cessio lately took
place in the First Division of the Court of Sips-
.sion, which may be of some importance to half-
pay officers. A Captain on half-pay, who hid
obtained his commission by raising an hide.
pendent company at the commvocement of the
war, had become insolvent in consequence
of some farming speculation. He had lost
a small estate left to him by his father,
and had incurred
.debts to the amount of 54004
to meet which he possessed nearly 4,00 W., thus
affording to his creditors about 129. or 13s. ice the
pound. T woof the credi torsov hose claims amount-
ed to about 1301., objected to the pursuerobtsin-
ing the benefit of the ceateio, until he made over
some part of his pay. A variety of cases Wire
stated by their Counsel, in which officers in similar
circumstances were called upon to give up half
or a third of the government allowance. The',
Court, however, found that if it had no powei to
compel An °RICCI" to enter into any errtlegment
of that kind, though a contrary belief had for
a considerable, number of years prevailed. No
imputation of fraud had been made on the pie-
sent occasion, and it was obServed, that the-sum
craved for would scarcely amount to a •farthing
in the pound to th© objecting creditors, or pay
the Counsel then at the bur for his appearance,—
(Edinburgh Observer.)