(Vol. iii., p. 88.)
I recollect having seen the stone in question in the collection of the late
Mr. Douce, in whose possession it had been for some years before his
communication of it to the Society of Antiquaries. It is quite evident that
he was satisfied of its authenticity, and it was most probably an
accidental purchase from some dealer in antiquities, who knew nothing about
it. I happen to know that it remained in the hands of Sir Henry Ellis at
the time of Mr. Douce's death, and your correspondent H. C. R. will most
probably find it among the other collections of Mr. Douce now in the museum
at Goodrich Castle.
The doubt expressed by your correspondent is evidently founded upon the
engraving and accompanying paper in the 26th volume of the _Archaeologia_;
and as it conveys such a grave censure of the judgment of the director of
the council and secretaries of the Antiquarian Society, it appears to me
that it is incumbent upon him to satisfy his doubts by seeing the stone
itself, and, if he should be convinced of his error, to make the _amende
honorable_.
It is to be regretted that he did not state "the points which have
suggested this notion of its being a hoax." For my own part, I cannot see
the motive for such a falsification; and if it is one, it is the
contrivance of some one who had more epigraphic skill than is usually found
on such occasions.
There is nothing in the objection of your correspondent as to the size and
form of the stone which would have any weight, and it is not necessary to
suppose that it "must have been loose in the world for 858 years." On
pulling down the old church, the foundation-stone in which this was
imbedded may have been buried with the rubbish, and exhumed in
comparatively recent times. It had evidently fallen into rude and ignorant
hands, and suffered by being violently detached from the stone in which it
was imbedded.
Every one who knew the late Mr. Douce must have full confidence in his
intimate knowledge of mediaeval antiquity, and would not easily be led to
imagine that he could be deceived on a point like this; but are we to
presume, from a vague _idea_ of your correspondent's, that the executive
body of the Society of Antiquaries would fail to detect a forgery of this
nature?
S. W. S., _olim_ F. S. A.
_Foundation-stone of St. Mark's, Venice_ (Vol. iii., p.88.).--This singular
relic is now preserved in the "Doucean Museum," at Goodrich Court,
Herefordshire, with the numerous objects of art and antiquities bequeathed
by Mr. Douce to the late Sir Samuel Meyrick. I believe that nothing can now
be ascertained regarding the history of this stone, or how it came into the
possession of Mr. Douce. Sir Samuel enumerates it amongst "Miscellaneous
Antiquities," No. 2., in his interesting Inventory of this Collection,
given in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, Feb., 1835, p. 198. The Doucean Museum
comprises, probably, the finest series of specimens of sculpture in ivory
existing in any collection in England. The Limoges enamels are also highly
deserving of notice.