LAMBERT B. LARKING.
Ryarsh Vicarage. Dec. 14. 1849.
The Talisman of Charlemagne.—I beg to refer your correspondent, on the subject of Charlemagne's Talisman, to what professes to be a correct representation of this antique relic, in The Illustrated London News, of March 8th, 1845; but it is not there described as "a small nut, in a gold filigree envelopment," and gives the idea of an ornament much too large for the finger or even wrist of any lady: that paper says,—
"This curious object of virtu is described in the Parisian journals as, 'la plus belle relique de l'Europe;' and it has, certainly, excited considerable interest in the archæological and religious circles of the continent. The talisman is of fine gold, of round form, as our illustration shows, set with gems, and in the centre are two rough sapphires, and a portion of the Holy Cross; besides other relics brought from the Holy Land."
The rest of the description much resembles your correspondent's, and asserts the talisman to be at that time the property of Prince Louis Napoleon, then a prisoner in the château of Ham.
S.A.M.
Sayers the Caricaturist.—In Wright's England under the House of Hanover, vol. ii. p. 83 n., it is stated that James Sayer, the caricaturist, "died in the earlier part of the present century, no long time after his patron, Pitt." In Sepulchral Reminiscences of a Market Town, by Mr. Dawson Turner (Yarmouth, 8vo. 1848), p. 73 n., the caricaturist is called Sayers, and is said to have died on the 20th of April, 1823.
C.H. COOPER.
Cambridge, Dec. 29. 1849.
May-Day.—To what old custom does the following passage allude?