Irenæus names the Celts as amongst the nations enlightened by the truth; and the British Isles, being then inhabited by a Celtic race, may reasonably therefore come within his enumeration. Eusebius asserts that Britain owes her knowledge of the truth to one of the apostles. An obscure passage in Gildas, the earliest of our historical writers, leads to the conclusion that Christianity was known to the Britons before the defeat of Boadicea. St. Paul, Aristobulus, Claudia, and Joseph of Arimathea, have been severally named as the instrument, under God, of the introduction of Christianity: but, to whomsoever this honour is really due, it is clear that at a very early period Christ was preached in Britain; and that whatever authority Augustine might claim, as Gregory's missionary over the Saxons, yet, as regarded the British Church, he could have no spiritual jurisdiction at all when he claimed it he could only claim it on untenable grounds. To those who are fond of curious facts this book will prove most entertaining. We have not space to quote from it as we would wish. We learn from it that the barbaric practice of tattooing the skin continued throughout the whole Anglo Saxon period, and was mentioned as "a vice of the English" by a Norman historian: that gloves appear to have been very rare at that time, five pair being considered as a very handsome present to the king from a company of German merchants (we did not know that they were of so venerable an origin); that cookery was considered a great art, so that an opulent lady bequeathed her cook to her friend, whilst personal cleanliness was most carefully observed. The last particular was, we presume, the result of Danish civilization; for the Saxon despised his Danish conqueror for effeminacy-his effeminacy consisting in the fact that he changed his clothes often, combed his hair once a day, and washed once a week: how often, or how seldom, the Saxon performed this social ceremony is matter of doubt. The peculiarities of dress, games, and amusements, warlike weapons and musical instruments, manner of living and articles of food, with prices of cattle and land, are all enumerated in Mr. Eccleston's book; and the work itself will well repay, in the amount of information gained, a very careful perusal. We labour under a good deal of illusion in considering the condition of the past, which a book of facts serves wholesomely to dissipate, and it is in this respect that Mr. Eccleston's book is valuable. Feudal life, to the imagination, presents a series of pictures full of brilliant colouring: we cannot discern the coarse canvass on which the colouring is laid till some such account of the discomforts of social life as old Harrison and Holingshed give us instructs us how to look for it. All the fabled glories of "the roast beef of old England," with the magnificent ideas of feasting and of plenty which they suggest, vanish in the perusal of such a document as the Duke of Northumberland's household book; whilst the simple fact, that one of the queens of Henry VIII. was compelled to send to Belgium for a salad, shows the small progress which the science of gardening had attained. Herbal medicine was at that time principally in use, and the "herberie" attached to every nobleman's house seems to have exhausted the skill as well as the knowledge of the domestic gardener. Mr. Eccleston despatches the vexata quæstio of the origin of heraldry in a sentence, attributing it to the Crusades. We have not space to enter into the controversy, but we should be happy to refer him to many a ponderous tome of continental literature, wherein he would find his assertion stoutly contested, and, we think, disproved. The origin of heraldry has been traced to the distinctive badges of the tribes of Israel, the jus imaginum of the Romans, and the period of German chivalry and tournament; whilst not a few have asserted it to have been a science known to ancient Greece. Our own notion is that it is of eastern origin, derived, like the institution of chivalry, from Arabia, or at least improved as a science from the intercourse of the crusader with his more polished opponent. The first crusade was in 1096-the conquest thirty years previous-and it is pretty certain that the Normans brought with them into this country both the practice of bearing armorial ensigns and the rules by which the bearing of armorial cognizances was regulated. Hereditary arms and hereditary surnames became a custom contemporaneously: the one was derived from an office held, or was attached as a cognizance of feudal service to an estate granted; the other either from the name of an office, or a property, or some personal qualification. At the time of the conquest the Norman followers of William took their designations from the lands which they had held in Normandy, or the fiefs granted to them in England, or else from the offices of state which they filled, or a perseral quality; so that the father bore one name and his sons others. In like manner they were distinguished by their several cognizances. Thus we have Normannus Crassus, William Lures, Ralph de Nova Villa, Robert le Camerarius, le Grosveneur, &c., the ancestors of the Lovels, the Nevilles, the Chamberlairs, the Grosvenors, one being the little wolf" another of the new town," another "the chamberlain," and another the grand huntsman" of the king. In course of time the name and the arms of the founder of the family, at first only descending to the holder of the estate, became the common property of his posterity, and family surnames and family cognizances thenceforth were hereditary. Our Saxon fathers are to be met with under the less euphonious designations of White, and Black, and Brown, by which their personal appearance was designated; or Smith, Wheeler, &c., by which their occupations were signified. We are very sorry that Mr. Eccleston's book has reached us so late. It deserves a much fuller notice than we are able to bestow upon it. We hope, on some future occasion, to renew our acquaintance with it, and can only now add that it is, as we think, the best book of the kind that has been published, and greatly calculated, not only to contribute to Mr. Eccleston's reputation as an author, but to forward and regulate the study of antiquity amongst the classes for whom it is intended. A Christian's Solicitude for the Ark of his Faith. By the Rev. THIS is a sermon which was preached at Horncastle, by the rector of Kirkby, on the occasion of the Archdeacon of Lincoln's visitation in the spring of the present year, and is published at the request of the clergy of the diocese, with the concurrence of the archdeacon. It is an eloquent and sensible discourse, in which the main object of the writer appears to be to enforce the study of the old divines of our Church as the best antidote to the heresies which are threatening its purity. Egypt and Nubia. From Drawings made on the spot, by DAVID ROBERTS, R. A.; with Historical Descriptions, by WILLIAM BROCKEDON, F. R. S. Lithographed by Louis Haghe. London: Moon. 1847. THIS, although the first number of a section, is but a continuation of the work, twenty parts of which are already before the public, whose appreciation of this almost gigantic undertaking has been so marked that it would be a sufficient commendation, for all purposes connected with the prosperity of the work, to say that the portion before us is worthy of the preceding. But justice demands of us more. A new and most attractive feature is presented to us in the sky-tinting of the back grounds, which gives marvellous effect and mellowness to the pictures. The vignette title-"The Entrance to the great Temple of Aboo-Simble, Nubia"-forms a striking and most interesting introduction to the section: the next subject, "The Pyramids of Geezeh," is remarkable for delicacy and effect; but the following one, "Slave Boat on the Nile," is the most perfectly natural and exquisitely drawn subject we have ever seen in any style of engraving: the bark, picturesque in its form in the highest degree, appears literally to float and almost to move, while the water is transparency itself. "Pompey's Pillar" is on the next leaf, and immediately after we have "the Remains of the Portico of the Temple of Kom Ombo," buried almost to the capitals of the pillars in sand, to the varied character of which the bright blue-sky behind forms a striking and agreeable contrast. "The Great Temple of Aboo-Simble" presents to us some sedent figures, cut apparently out of the living stone, and of stupendously colossal proportions, the faces full of expression and force. We should notice, though somewhat out of its order, the plate of the "Temple of Tafa," the ancient Taphis, beautiful in point of drawing, but of little architectural interest. If Mr. Roberts had no other basis for his fame than this superb work it would be secure: this is high praise, but it is fully his due there is no modern artist who has contributed more to our knowledge of the architecture of other countries than this gifted painter, the numerous extracts from whose journal, scattered profusely through the letter-press of the work before us, display keen observation, sound sense, and right feeling. Indeed, his pen, in graphic power, is second only to his pencil. Mr. Brockedon, the bold and intelligent explorer of the Alps, has acquitted himself of his task in this great undertaking in a manner which does him infinite credit, and enhances our opinion of his varied talent. The Late Fast. By JOHN POYNDER, Esq. London: Painter. 1847. MR. POYNDER is already well known to us as a philanthropist and a sound churchman. He takes a bold and manly position against the attacks of the Dissenters on the one hand, and the more insidious but not less dangerous invasions of Romanism on the other refers to the quæstio vexata of education for the poor; and concludes by some very pertinent remarks on the various sermons preached on the occasion of the recent Fast; and we are particularly struck by the tribute which the author takes occasion to pay to the consistency with which, to quote his own words, the rector of St. Stephen's "has stuck to his text" on the subject of Catholic Emancipation. London: W: E. Painter, Church and State Gazette Office, 342, Strand. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Quarterly Review. OCTOBER, MDCCCXLVII. ART. I.-Ecclesiastical and Civil History philosophically considered, with Reference to the Future Re-union of Christians. The first Three Books comprising the Period from the Ascension of our Lord to the Death of Wycliffe. By the Rev. G. TOWNSEND, D.D., Canon of Durham, &c. Two vols. 8vo. Rivingtons, 1847. IN an enlightened age, when all who read are already in possession of general information, the books required to carry it forward are not such as profess to teach anything new; but rather such as suggest new trains of thought, or present the information which men already possess in some other form, or under some new aspect, so as to enlarge, and deepen, and sharpen their apprehension of the truth, and render the knowledge, which is current in society, applicable to higher objects and conducive to further ends; and thus to lead onwards not only the individual but the class to which he belongs, and the very age to which he is inseparably linked by social bonds, as any one member to all the other members of a living body. When books are so abundant, and the subject of ecclesiastical history has been so carefully investigated and so largely discussed as of late years, we do not expect additional information; but men do need to be taught how the knowledge which they possess may be turned to the best account, and how even individual enjoyment, which the selfish vainly strive after by isolation, is to be attained in its truest sense, and in its fullest measure, only by co-operation based on Christian union. VOL. XXII.-S |