one of those miraculous billets," referring to these words in the text. "The cathedral church remains in a very imperfect state; it is pity so fine a beginning was never completed. In the year 1162, the three pretended kings who came to adore our Saviour were brought from Milan into this church, where fame attributes many miracles to them. They sell for a penny a dozen little billets or notes which have touched them, and communicate their virtue." The billet is very coarsely engraved, and has a representation on it of the Virgin, the infant Christ, Joseph, and the three kings, which, it is worthy of notice, have each received German names. It is thus inscribed: Orate "Sancti tres Reges, Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, pro nobis nunc, et in horâ mortis nostræ : Ces billets ont touché aux trois testes des S. S. Roys à Cologne: il sont pour les voyageurs contre les malheurs des chemins, maux de tête, mal cadúque, fievres, sorcéleries, toute sorte de malefice, et mort subite." THE REGALIA OF CHARLEMAGNE. The crown, sceptre, globe, sword, &c. of this celebrated monarch were kept in the castle of Nuremburg when Misson wrote his new voyage to Italy. The recent affairs of Europe make' these these curious articles interesting beyond their claim to antiquity; and, as we have a modern Emperor of the West who frequently refers to the acts of his predecessor, I beg leave to present the reader with an engraving of the regalia, accompanied by Misson's description of it, and two of his MS notes on the subject: "The diadem, or the crown, called Infula*, is of gold, and covered almost all over with precious stones. It is not closed as the Imperial crown is usually painted. Suppose that, instead of the fleurets on ducal coronets, there are plates rounded on the top, which are joined by the sides, and make the compass of the are eight of them, richly adorned. cap. There and that before is the most There is a cross on the top of all, and a semicircle supported between the two plates behind, which is raised above the bonnet, and joined to the top of the cross. The sceptre and globe are of gold; and they say that the sword was brought by an angel from heaven." The French sentences following are the MS nots alluded to: "C'est ici la Couronne que le Roi pose sur le tout dans l'écu des armes de sa Maison, en qualité d'Archi-Thésorier de l'Em "This is the crown of Charlemagne; it weighs fourteen pounds. The privilege of keeping this crown was granted to Nuremburg by the emperor Sigismund. Je pourrois donner une description tres particuliere de cet même Couronne. : pire: office qui est présentment attaché à sa dignité d'Electeur de Brunswick. Son altesse Electorale porte cette marque plutôt qu'une autre, par la raison que cette Couronne est la piéce la plus noble, la plus riche, et la principale des Regalia, ou plutôt des Imperialia, c'est à dire, des ornemens qui servent à la solemnité de la ceremonie du sacre des empereurs.' "Ils disent Lipsana, à Nuremberg, asiava, espéces de reliques: et en effet ils gardent aussi des reliques." ARREST OF AN AMBASSADOR FROM RUSSIA, IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. Although this event was too important to pass unnoticed in our annals, a necessary attention to brevity has occasioned it to be more slightly mentioned in the histories of England than it will appear in these pages. The czar Peter the Great had appointed M. Andrew Artimonides de Matueof his ambassador to the British court; and on the 1st of August, 1708, his excellency was debtor to Mr. Morton, a laceman in Covent-garden, to the amount of £50. who arrested him on that day, and compelled the ambassador to find bail or be impri soned. It is of little importance at present whether a dispute as to the charges in the bill caused delay in the payment, or whether Matueof was mean and prevaricating, or the tradesman insolent |