_Foundation Stone of St. Mark's, Venice._--In vol. xxvi. of the
_Archaeologia_ is a paper by the late Mr. Douce, "On the foundation stone of
the original church of St. Mark, at Venice," &c., accompanied by an
engraving of the mutilated object itself, which also appears to have been
submitted to the inspection of the Society of Antiquaries at the time the
paper was read. The essay contains, in reality, very little information
relating to the stone, and that little is of no very satisfactory kind; and
I have never been able to divest myself of the idea that it bears somewhat
the semblance of a hoax. Were I inclined to discuss the points which have
suggested this notion, the necessity there is for brevity in corresponding
with the Editor of "NOTES AND QUERIES" would preclude my doing it; but I
must quote the following passage, which comes immediately after the
statement that the original church, in the foundation of which this stone
was deposited, was destroyed in 976.
"It is very possible that, in clearing away the rubbish of the old
church, the original foundation stone was discovered, and, in some way
or other, at present not traceable, preserved."
{89} If the fact is so, this stone, "of a circular form, the diameter six
inches and a quarter, its thickness half an inch," must have been loose in
the world for 858 years from its exhumation to 1834, when Mr. Douce's essay
was read, and during that time has lost only the least important part of
its inscription and ornaments.
Can any one say where this stone now is? When and where Mr. Douce obtained
it? And, I must add, what history was attached to it when in his
possession? for he was not a person likely to possess such an object
without, at least, endeavouring to trace its history. On these points the
essay contains not a word.