Morning journal and courier., 1892-12-06

nrO1eteT,
Near the brook Of Bell
There is q well
Which is richer than any men can tell
Doubtless in q wealthy commercial city
overwhelmed with sudden destruction, as
was the case with the ancient Uriconium,
much treasure was sctuslly buried or
thrown into wells or drains. But then the
treasure seekers of the Middle Ages have
generally exploited such sites pretty thor
oughly, and modem excavations made In
the interests of archaeological researches
have brought little to light In the way of
treasure. Great boards of copper coins Of
the empire have often been brought TO
light, but not much In the way of the pre-
cious metals.
We might expect that more treasure was
concealed here and there during the long
continued strife between Briton and Saxon,
and the Norman Conquest may have caused
some deposits Of buried boards. Bat the
Norman kings themselves, with their habits
of accommodating boards of specie against a
rainy day, offer the most tempting studies
to the treasure seeker. .
King John, for instance, is q capital sub
ject, for he was both seeker for and hider
of treasure. We end him digging for
treasure in Northumberland about the sites
of the stations on the Roman wall, and he
was reputed to have great stores of treasure
in his favorite strongholds. Somewhere
buried in the sandy es;uAries of Lincoln
shire are the golden crown aud jewels Of
st. John, with the chests of treasure that
were carried in his train. Bu. we may
speculate, too, about other boards, chiefly
buried beneath the foundations of his cas-
tie walls, the sscret of which was lost In
the sudden death of the greedy king.
Again there is Q royal treasure, perhaps,
at this moment, lying hid in some rocky
chssms of the mountains of WAles-noih-
| ing less than the treasure of King Edward
the second, which be carried with him in
AIS fii,Shs ss5E. - .-:unnhG-. green and
her paramour, and which they vainly, II
would seem, after his capture, endesyored
10 recover.
The wars of the Roses, too, with their
sudden catastrophes and total reversal of
fortunes, gave rise without doubt to many
secret deposits, the clue to which wss lost
by the destruction of those who made
| them. Then came the dissolution of the
| monssteries, and though rumor exaggerated
| the wealth of these establishments, and the
| kings commissioners had a yigilAnt eye 10
all their belongings, yet many precious
/ treasures must have been hidden away by
| deyout brethren, who looked forward &c
| seeing them once more devoted TO the ser
| vice of the sanctuary.
The civil wars, too, had their deposits
both of plunder and of secret boards; anG
we may be on the trail of buried treasur,
in following the detours of plots and con
spirscies for which secret deposits of coir
may have been made, abandoned in th,
heat of flight or lost sight of by the violen
4 deaths of those concerned. How common
| and necessary the practice was of buryinI
ones savings in time OF panic we ma,
learn from Mr.. Pepys' "Diary," who, OIL
the alarm of the Dutch invasion, hurrieS
down with all his guineas to his father
house In Huntington. and there buried hi
treasure in the gsrden. His agonies o
mind for the safety of his treasure and tn
trouble he had in digging it up and siftinI
earth from guineas, are naively told by tn
| diarist