tion, and other disquisitions by Barrow and Sanderson. It will be seen that there are here assembled the very best, soundest, and most approved works of our great divines; we might say, the very heart of our body of Divinity. Certainly, this collection exceeds those that have preceded it in the arrangement and unity of its plan; the want of which we always thought disadvantageous to the success of Bishop Watson's Theological Tracts. We think it would have been better had the editor added to it a compendious list of the theological works most useful to the class of readers to whom he has addressed his book; and the study of which might follow upon that of his. It would have been useful to those who wished to follow out any one branch of inquiry, further than they are enabled to do in the pages of a work which only pretends to give specimens of various disquisitions. In parting we cannot help observing, that the editor's own style, in his preface, appears to us peculiarly quaint and formal; and, as we should think, designedly formed after the style and manner of Mr. Wordsworth the poet. This we consider to be lamented, when manly simplicity and unaffected clearness were peculiarly demanded. We cannot say that the Porch has an unity of character with the Temple: but the sentiments and motives of the writer are worthy of all praise.

The History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton. By George Baker. Part IV being the first of Vol. II. fol. pp. 260.

THIS portion of Mr. Baker's labours comprises the whole of the two Hundreds of Norton and Cleley, the former containing nine parishes and the latter thirteen. It also includes the religious houses of Canons Ashby, Luffield, Wedon, and Sewardsley, the Honour of Grafton (with the biographies of the Widviles and Fitzroys), and the Forest of Whittlebury; and it is on the whole a very interesting portion of Mr. Baker's always excellent work.

With regard to the Forest we must observe, that the numerous and multi

farious items of information connected with it have been arranged with Mr. Baker's usual tact and lucid system; and that we, have here a more satisfactory picture of the economy of one of the old Royal Forests (all Forests were royal, for if granted to a subject they became only Chaces), that, as far as we are aware, is hitherto in print.

In the formation of his pedigrees, Mr. Baker is always indefatigable, perhaps sometimes too minute, if we compare the time they consume with the extent of the work still before him. Indeed, he himself confesses:

"I have frequently spent days, and even nights, in endeavouring to ascertain a single fact, or clear up a doubtful point, which when accomplished would scarcely add a single line to the narrative. In pedigrees these discrepancies and difficulties are continually occurring, and it would be a much easier task to adopt without further examination the authority which is deemed best, than carefully to investigate the comparative evidence in favour of each, and submit every statement and hypothesis to the test of public records, private deeds and wills, parochial registers, and every species of collateral or positive evidence which can be brought to bear on the subject."

From an anxious desire for the more rapid continuation of a work by which topography is so highly benefited, we would respectfully entreat our author not to lose sight of that dissatisfaction among his subscribers, and that personal loss, to which he himself acknowledges this fastidiousness subjects him at the same time, we are sure that his care and research will not be purchasers of his History, nor by its undervalued either by the original

future owners to the most distant generations. It is to be remembered that his genealogies illustrate the descent not only of the landholders of Northamptonshire from the earliest known periods to the present; but that they comprise among that number a large proportion of the elder baronage, whose descents are investigated with the same research as the rest.

We know it is thought by some persons, that Mr. Baker has devoted his time to unnecessary objects in detailing these pedigrees, unless in cases where the head of the barony was within the county. There is certainly

we are enabled to extract, and we must add that we consider it well worthy of the attention of those architects who are led to design in the Norman style.

We trust that after an interval much shorter than the last we may be enabled to announce that another stage has been performed of Mr. Baker's undertaking; and that, as his collections are already accumulated and digested, he will, with accelerated steps, proceed to give the public the benefit of the invaluable stores he has now amassed, without aiming too assiduously in further efforts after that fulness and perfection which, after all, in

works of this nature, must still leave many minor features unfinished, because they are beyond the means and time of any single historian to accomplish.

La Hogue Bie de Hambie, a Tradition of Jersey; with Historical, Genealogical, and Topographical Notes. By James Bulkeley, Esq. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 300, 331.

THIS is a work evincing considerable fancy, taste, and industry, but at the same time bearing marks of haste and imperfect information. It is evidently produced with an expenditure

greatly exceeding not only what its sale will repay, but what its production, in any point of view, is worth. We might be thought unreasonable were we to remark, that those who have money to spare for literature would employ it far better in the encouragement of the labours of others, employed in fields of utility and originality, than in rearing and adorning with borrowed feathers the bantlings of their own creation: but this we may fairly say, that their offspring, if they must be brought before the world, would reflect far greater credit on the parents, if they were chastened with greater care, and not introduced into society too soon.

The present volumes contain a tale, and perhaps six times its quantity of notes. To the former we would assign a more than ordinary degree of merit : the language is animated and powerful; and in the descriptions, manners, and other accessories, there is an intention at least to be correct. With respect to the notes, they are an extensive and laborious compilation, comprehending a large circle of antiquarian topics, particularly in the early genealogy of Normandy; and they certainly are presented to the English reader in a form more popular and accessible than has been customary. They are, however, derived from the standard authorities (chiefly French), and therefore can afford little or nothing of value to those deeply read in such matters. Mr. Edgar Taylor's edition of Wace, noticed in another part of our present number, is a luminary before which the borrowed light of "La Hogue Bie" must veil its twinkling beams.

It is always the case, when a compiler comes at once to his work without previous study; he refers only to old authorities, to which he is led by their current reputation, but is quite in the dark with regard to more recent discoveries and corrections; so Mr. Bulkeley has discussed the history of the Conqueror's sister Adeliza (vol. ii. p. 154) without reference to Mr. Stapleton's essay, in the 26th volume of the Archæologia; and there are other modern (English) works of which he would have availed himself had he longer studied the subject. He is, besides, not unfrequently wrong in his names, GENT. MAG. VOL. VII.

translating them either imperfectly: as when he speaks of Halnac (Halnaker) in Sussex (vol. ii. 8); Waldero Count of Huntingdon (157) for Waltheof Earl of Huntingdon ; and several others; or when, which is much worse, they are mistaken altogether, as in p. 149 we are told of Baldwin Count of Bologna, instead of Boulogne, and in p. 132, of the Bishop of Evreux instead of York! Of his ignorance of English genealogies, of a date subsequent to their origins, or supposed origins, in Normandy, we cannot give a greater proof than his stating, p. 226, that of the illustrious branches of the family of " Aubigny"-" the chief are the Dukes of Norfolk and Arundel of Wardour;" a jumble certainly unauthorized and original enough; the latter family never having pretended any male descent from the Earls of Arundel, and even the former, from the various females that have intervened, being as little a "branch" of the family of Albini as the Arundells of Wardour or any other house in the peerage. What is more extraordinary, Mr. Bulkeley does not quote the Baronage of Dugdale; but continually Collins and sometimes Debrett!!!

Nor is his topography more accurate. Wallingford (ii. 202) is in Berkshire, not Buckinghamshire; there is no place named Pierrepoint in Sussex (p. 203), Hurstperpoint must be meant; and the following (i. 279) is a concatenation of error:

"the Priory of St. Michael, in Cornwall, now the seat of the Anglo-Norman St. Aubyns. Note. A borough town 247 miles W. by S. of London, situate almost in face of its mother abbey: the priory is seated on a hill."

We have here the borough of Michell confounded with St. Michael's Mount, which are more than thirty miles apart; the priory on a hill" (who has not seen views, or at least heard, of St. Michael's Mount, in Cornwall, as well as that in Normandy?) is at the latter; but it is not the seat of the St. Aubyns, but merely their property: we should explain that our author alludes to the Norman St. Michael's in speaking of "its mother abbey," an expression scarcely correct, though it is true that the Cornish house was made dependent on the Norman one.

Before we conclude, we must men4 L

tion that these volumes are illustrated by many very pretty vignettes, chiefly views of the ruins of Normandy; but we are surprised to see the old figures of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda again copied, in these enlightened days, for portraits; when it is so obvious that the former is attired in the style of our Henry the Eighth, and the latter in that of our Queen Anne! Nor is the presumed restoration of the Conqueror's palace at Caen (p. 159)

Tales of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. By Peter Parley.-The use of these little elementary books is not so much to im. part information as to excite curiosity; to give the first push to the wheel of the intellect and set it in motion. On astronomical subjects, Peter Parley has done his work very well; and taught little boys and girls the moon is probably not made of green cheese; and that the sun is something more than a round, shining-faced gentleman, whose business it is to ripen our peaches, and enliven our promenades.

Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, &c. By the Rev. Henry Duncan.-This is a work of similar interest with the former, to familiarize the phænomena of nature to the young mind, and to shew in wonderful arrangement and formation the perfections of the Creator. The work is well executed and well written; and the author has availed himself of the information which the latest books of science, as the Bridgewater Treatises, &c. have given to the world. It is, on the whole, a pleasing and useful work, as introductory to more scientific and elaborate treatises.

The Life and Persecutions of Martin Boos, an Evangelical Preacher of the Romish Church, translated from the German. By the Rev. C. Bridges.-Though there are some things both in the spirit and in the details of this work in which we do not agree, yet the account it gives of the subject of the memoirs and other circumstances of his life, are full of interest. "It will be seen,' as is observed in the Preface, "that for nearly the last fifty years a bold and unshrinking testimony has been borne by Protestant confessors, in the communion of the Church of Rome, even in the heart of Catholic Germany." Martin Boos on the Continent was called the Protestant Catholic. Indeed, when we consider that he appears to have renounced openly, or silently disclaimed, the great anti-Christian errors of the Romish Church, we need some

in the style of our Henry the Sixth, a less egregious anomaly.

Altogether, we regret to say, the book evinces more zeal than knowledge; and more industry than judgment: but we shall be sorry that the author should be deterred by our remarks, or by the indifferent reception which we fear awaits it, from the pursuit of inquiries, which we trust will, with greater caution, lead to more valuable results.

serious apology for his remaining in that communion. This is given in a Letter which will be found in the Preface, p. viii. but which to us is anything but satisfactory; and probably much cramped and confined his powers of useful exertion, as he was constantly crippled and opposed by the power of his enemies, and half his strength was lost in holding up the weight of his chains.

The original work, in German, is written by Gossner, Minster of the Bohemian Church of Berlin. It is well translated, and has a Preface containing sentiments, from which, in some parts, we differ, and in others as relate to the Roman Catholic Church, we find the author speaking the language of Religion, of Truth, and of the Protestant Church.

The Claim of Destitute Clergymen to Assistance. A Sermon preached at Salisbury by the Ven. Edward Berens.-We have always strongly advocated the claims of the parochial clergy, and we are delighted to find our opinions so firmly maintained and so ably advocated by Mr. Berens. Their situation is, we think, a national scandal; and we were in hopes that the Bishops and the Parliament, responding to the voice of the people, who know and lament their degraded situation, would, through the Reform Church bill, have paid their first and greatest attention to this, the greatest evil. We have been grievously disappointed. We see no one step made to an alleviation of the wants of the poor Clergy. To the Bishops are secured splendid incomes: they have new boundaries to their dioceses, about which none but themselves feel any interest; and the distressed ministers of the kingdom have been left, except where heavier duties have been forced upon them, just where they were. Mr. Berens mentions a case of a curate with a wife and two children, and a parish of six hundred people, existing on 301. a year, and possessing nothing else whatever!! Was ever such a portentous evil heard of in a country