St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-09-20

| Com any by the Statute ", Edward l.
AS matter of fact, the Goldsmiths
have had an assay Office for more than
500 years; and Ia the statute just cited
it is provided that all manner of vessels
of gold and silver are expected to be of
a good and true alloy, that is, "gold OF
a certa touch" and silver of the
sterl ng a 10y, and mo vessel is to de-
part out of the hands of the workman
until it j: assayed by the workers of the
goldsmiths' craft." The expression
'eood and true alloy presents curl
Gus exam, lie o1 the mutations to which
modern languages have been subjected.
Our work .'alLoy" is derived from the
French "a" and "loi," according to
law, and meant primarily the
legal standard of purity. Thus,
the French still speak of money ''de bon
aloi," that is to say, money which
has not been debased below the legal
standard, and the inferior metal, which
we call 'talIoy" they term ''alliage. y
In this country we have kept the old
French word, but have wholly pervert-
ed it's meaning. The statute of Edward
speaks of gold and silver ''of good and
true alIoy;" but according to modern
meaning attached to the word in En-
gland, the more a coin was alleged the
less it would possess the elements OF
goodness and truth. Thus there would
be an intolerable amount of ''alloy" in
the happily burked ''Childerses.
':It IS, however, when we come to
consider the pyx itself that the very old
English nature of the solemnity per-
formed on Thursday becomes pleasing
ly apparent to the antiquarian. In the
east cloister of Westminster Abbey,
| close to the remains of the dormitory
of the old monks, is an ancient double
door, which can never be opened except
bv the orders of the Government on
their representatives, who are at pres
ent the Lords Commissioners Of the
Treasury, bearing seven keys, some OF
them Of LARGE dimensions, which alone
will give admission to the chamber
within. The chamber is the historic
Treasury of England, known. from the
remains ofan altar and ''piscina," as the
Chapel of the Pyx, and it is now used
as the depository of the standard
weights and measures, Doth old and
new, of the realm. The Standard
act vested the sole custody of the Chap
ell of the Pyx in the Treasury; and the
transfer of the keys of the Exchequer
took place in May, 1866. In this store
house, no doubt, Immediately after the
Conquest, the Norman kings lodged
their treasures, under what was con-
sidered to be the inViolable sanctuary
consecrated to st. Peter, and sancti-
fed by the bones of the Confessor.
Dean Stanley, in his ''Memori-
ais of Westminster Abbey" has
drawn a parallel equally striking
and accurate between the exceptionally
sanctifed chapel and the cave hewn out
of the rocky side of the Hill of Mycene,
where in the same vault are yet to be
seen the tomb and the treasury of the
House of Aureus. Similarly, benea'h b
the cliff OF the Capitolne Hill at Rome,
the Treasury of the Roman Common
wealth was also the shrine of the most
venerable of the Italian gods the Tenn
pie of Saturn. As for the Chapel of the
Pyx, it seems to have somewhat fallen
from its high estate as a repository for
precious things, since at different
periods it was the receptacle of the re-
gala of the Saxon Kings, the Black
Rood of st. Margaret, or Holyrood-
cross, from Scotland, the ampulla OF
Henry w., and the sword Of Wayland
Smith. At a later period the West
minister Treasury was used only for the
custody of the regalia, the Abbey relic,
the records of treaties and the pyx or
box containing the standard trial pieces
of gold and silver. At the time of the
Restoration the relics vanished. leaving
no vestige behind. The treaties went
to the Record Office, and, after the Res
toration, the regalia were removed to
the Tower. The pyx only remained
London Telegraph.