m a Barn in Kent, &V. 1,15

the infcription from a drawing made in conformity to Profeflbr Ward's idea of it [/]. In Dr. Wallis's letter to Dr. Plot he writes " I have given you this particular account of the mantle- tree, and caufed it to be ex- actly delineated, that upon the whole matter you may fee how little reafon there is to fuipect any thing of forgery and impofture." That the Doctor had not any intention to deceive the Royal So- ciety I am fully perfuaded, though not equally fatisfied of the ex- actnefs of the drawing. Or if it be a fac iimile, there is a part of the infcription which lhall be by and by noticed, that might not, as I apprehend, be accurately carved. Notwithftanding the avowed particularity of Dr. Wallis's ac- count, he neglected to mention the kind of manfion and room in which he met with this ornamented mantle-piece, a point that deferved fome regard. For fuppofmg the parlour to have been co- eval with the date of the year that the Arabic numerals 1133 im- port, it is an older room than Weftminfter Hall ; and if the whole building was of the fame era, Helmdon Parfonage is probably far more antient than any other rectory-houfe in the kingdom. But if, which is the only probable fuppofition, the edifice had been rebuilt again and again, and had likewife undergone many repairs in the courfc of five centuries and a half, does it not fomewhat border on the marvellous that all the workmen employed mould have been fo extremely careful as not to have in the leaft injured this relic of antiquity ? for the Doctor apprifes us " that he did not remember any other defacing than a late paring off of one letter with a knife, by a perfon whom curiofity prompted to fee the co- lour ot the wood underneath." [*] Philofophical Tranfaftions, V. XXXII. Tab. II. Fig. ft. See alfo V, XXXIX. N 439P- 127- Q 2, The