ana," vol. xvi., and illustrated in vol.
xvii.

Two other gilt cups and two patens, made at London in 1662-63, were
given to the cathedral by Dr. R. Cooke, who had, the inscriptions tell
us, become a prebendary in 1660. Each cup has engraved on it a copy of
the common seal of the dean and chapter, with Dr. Cooke's arms above.
The button bases of the patens bear the donor's crest.

The oldest and most interesting pieces at Rochester are, however, two
alms-basins or patens (perhaps originally ciboria), made at London in
1530-31. The insides of the bowls, except the nearly vertical rims, are
embossed with a honeycomb pattern, and beneath each hexagon here, there
is a plain circle outside. The knops are ornamented with flowers and
half-flowers, and the stems beneath have each a frilled collar and a
pattern in repousse of overlapping scales or leaves. The foot, under a
cable moulding, is beaten into an egg-and-tongue pattern. One has on its
rim, in Lombardic capitals, the inscription, _Benedicamus Patrem et
Filium cum Sancto Spiritu_, and the other, the same except for the
curious contraction, _Sper._, for the last word. There is also a cover
of silver gilt, which was made at London in 1532-33. Its button handle
has four supports, moulded like cords, and it is itself decorated in
repousse.

One solitary survivor of the old monastic plate remains, and some
mention of it seems appropriate here. We allude to the famous #Rochester
mazer#, made in 1532, and given to the refectory _per fratrem Robertum
Pecham_. This is now in the possession of Sir A. W. Franks, by whom it
was acquired at the sale of the Fontaine collection at Narford Hall. It
is illustrated in "Archaeologia," xxiii., 393, and described by Mr. St.
John Hope in the same publication, vol. 1., 168.

#Monuments, etc.#--When the great bishop, Walter de Merton, died, in 1772,
a sumptuous monument was erected over his remains at the end of the
north choir transept. His executors' accounts give us particulars as to
the cost. The chief feature was the enamel work by Jean de Limoges, who
was paid L40 5_s._ 6_d._ for executing it, bringing it over and setting
it up. The balance between this sum and the total amount of L67 14_s._
6_d._ was paid for the rich, vaulted canopy and other masonry, the two
stained glass windows and the iron railing.

This tomb suffered much at the time of the Reformation, and the Merton
College authorities undertook its repair, during Sir Henry