anover Rat_, I am curious to know if Mary Cooper, the publisher,
was put under surveillance for her share in its production; for to me it
appears a more aggravated libel upon the reigning family than that of the
_Norfolk Prophecy_--for the publication of which, Boswell says, the great
Samuel Johnson had to play at hide and seek with the officers of justice.

The advent of both Pretenders was preceded by _straws_ like these cast out
by their adherents, to try _how the current set_. The present _jeu
d'esprit_, however, is a double-shotted one: for, not content with
tampering with the public allegiance, this aboriginal rat seems more
innocently enjoying a laugh at the Royal Society, and its ingenious
_fellow_ Mr. Baker, in as far as regards the aforesaid elaborate treatise
upon _polypes_.

J. O.

* * * * *

FONT INSCRIPTIONS.

(Vol. vii., p. 408.)

MR. ELLACOMBE desires examples of these. I can supply the following:--

At Bradley, Lincolnshire, is a very large font, of the Decorated period,
with this inscription round the bowl in black letter:

"Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Criede, leren ye chyld yt es nede."

This is an early instance of the use of _English_ for inscriptions. The
sketch was engraved in the work on _Baptismal Fonts_.

At Threckingham, Lincolnshire, I believe I succeeded in deciphering an
inscription round the font, which was said to have been previously studied
in vain. It is somewhat defaced; but in all probability the words are,--

"Ave Maria gracia p... d... t..."

_i. e._ of course, "plena, dominus tecum." The bowl of the font is Early
English; but the base, round which the inscription runs, appears to be of
the fifteenth century.

At Burgate, Suffolk, an inscription in black letter is incised on the upper
step of the font:

"[Orate pro an--b'] Will'mi Burgate militis et d[=n]e Elionore uxoris
eius qui istum fontem fieri fecerunt."

Sir William Burgate died in 1409. It is engraved in the _Proceedings of the
Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute_.

At Caistor, by Norwich:

"Orate pro animab ... liis ... ici de Castre."

At Walsoken, Norfolk:

"Remember the soul of S. Honyter and Margaret his wife, and John
Beforth, Chaplain."

with the date 1544.

At Gaywood, Norfolk, is a font of Gothic design, lust probably of
post-Reformation date. On four of the eight sides of the bowl are these
inscriptions:

"QVI .