colonnade there; and the upper part of the grounds, next the Strand, was let to builders, who continued the street next the Strand, from Temple Bar towards Westminster, and built thereon the several streets called Arundel, Norfolk, and Surrey Streets, leading from the Strand as far as the cross street called Howard Street, which ran parallel therewith. A cross wall was built to separate the ground let for building from that reserved for the family mansion; and many of the workmen, to save the expense of carrying away the rubbish, threw it over this cross wall, where it fell upon the colonnade and at last by its weight broke it down, and falling upon the statues, &c. placed there, broke several of them. A great part of these statues, &c., in that sad condition, were purchased by Sir William Fermor, from whom the present Earl of Pomfret is descended, and he removed them to his seat at Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, where he employed some statuary to repair such as were not too much demolished. There they continued until the year 1755, when the present countess made a present of them to the University of Oxford. In this collection was the famous sleeping Cupid represented lying on a lion's skin to express his absolute dominion over fierceness and strength, some roses being scattered on the skin, probably as emblems of silence and secrecy, as Cupid presented that flower to Harpocrates, the god of silence, as a bribe to him to conceal the amours of his mother, to whom the rose is also supposed to be sacred. Below the foot of Cupid on the cushion is the figure of a lizard, which some have supposed to have been placed here as a known ingredient of great efficacy in love-charms; others, as a proper attendant on those who sleep, from an opinion that this reptile wakes them on approach of danger. But the real design of the sculptor is, rather to perpetuate his name by this symbol, for it was Saurus. The Romans, observing how much the Grecian sculptors excelled them in this art, whenever they employed them to execute any work of this sort forbade them to put, as had been customary, their names to their works; and Pliny tells us that Saurus had recourse to this expedient, by putting the lizard upon this figure, as well as on another which he executed jointly with Batrachus, on which they were not permitted to put their names, therefore they placed on the bases the figures of a frog and a lizard.

"Some other of these broken statues, not thought worth replacing, were begged by one Boyder Cuper, who had been a servant (I think gardener) to the family, and were removed by him to decorate a piece of garden ground which he had taken opposite Somerset water-gate, in the parish of Lambeth,[3] which at that time was a place of resort for the citizens and others in holiday time, still called after him by the name of Cuper's, and thence corruptly Cupid's Gardens, which were much of the same nature as Sadler's Wells and Mary'bone Gardens. Here they continued for a considerable time, till Mr. John Freeman of Fawley Court, near Henley-on-Thames, and Mr. Edward Waller of Beaconsfield, observing something masterly in the designs and drapery of several of them, desired I would treat with Mr. John Cuper for them. I agreed with him for 75l., and soon afterwards they were divided between these two gentlemen, and sent part to Fawley Court, and part to Beaconsfield, where they at present remain.

"What statues and broken fragments yet remained undisposed of in Arundel Gardens, the Duke of Norfolk obtained leave from the Crown to remove across the water, just on the opposite shore, to a piece of waste ground in the manor of Kennington, belonging to the principality of Wales; and one Mr. Arundel, a relation of the Duke's I think, at the latter end of the reign of King Charles II. or King James II., did obtain a grant of the said piece of ground at a small rent for a term of years, which was renewed on paying a fine. (These are again referred to.)

"What were thought not worth removing were buried in the foundations of the buildings in the lower parts of Norfolk Street and the other buildings on the gardens. Mr. Aislabie, who inhabited one of these houses, found a broken statue in his cellar, which he carried to his seat in Yorkshire; and he tells me there is a sarcophagus in the cellar of Mr. James Adamson, who lives in the corner house on the left hand going into the lower part of Norfolk Street.

"As to those carried over the water and laid on the Prince of Wales' ground, Mr. Arundel, soon after he obtained the grant of the ground, let it for a timber-yard, and the person who took it built up a wharf; and when the foundation of St. Paul's was laid (Mr. Cunningham gives 1st May, 1674, as the date when the ground began to be cleared), great quantities of the rubbish were brought over thither to raise the ground which used to be overflowed every spring tide, so that, by degrees, these statues and other marbles were buried under the rubbish, and lay there for many years forgotten. About 1712 this piece of ground was rented by my father, who, on digging foundations, frequently met with some of these broken fragments, which were taken up and laid on the surface of the ground. The late Earl of Burlington having heard of the things which had been dug up, and that they had formed part of the Arundel collection, chose what he pleased and carried them down to Chiswick House, where he placed one piece of basso-relievo on the pedestal of an obelisk he erected there. Some years after this, the Right Hon. Lord Petre, speaking to me about these things of the Earl of Burlington's, told me he had heard that on some parts of my ground there were still many valuable fragments buried, and obtained my leave to employ men to bore the ground. After six days' searching of every part, just as they were going to give over, they fell upon something which gave them hopes, and upon opening the ground they discovered six statues without heads or arms, lying close to each other, some of a colossal size, the drapery of which was thought to be exceedingly fine. These were soon afterwards sent down to Worksop, the seat of his present Grace the Duke of Norfolk, in Nottinghamshire, where they remain.

"There were some few blocks of a greyish veined marble, out of which I endeavoured to cut some chimney-pieces and slabs to lay in my house, the Belvedere in Lambeth parish, over against York Buildings, but the expense was more than their worth; however, as they were cut out, some of them were used. The fragment of a column I carried into Berkshire to my house, Waltham Place, and converted it into a roller for my bowling-green, it being about six feet long and eighteen inches diameter."

[3] Mr. Cunningham mentions that the Waterloo Bridge Road now runs over the very centre of these gardens.

Sic transit gloria mundi!

Such are the particulars recorded by Mr. Theobald. When I met with them lately, I determined on asking a place for this Note in your valuable publication, thinking that its contents might be new to some of even your readers, and might form an acceptable page of topographical illustration.

WILLIAM SIDNEY GIBSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Oct. 1851.

PANSLAVIC LITERATURE, AND THE LIBRARY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

There existed, even in ancient times, some connecting links