with pleasure from Mr. Ellis (who presides over the MS. department of the British Museum), that it is in contemplation to publish faithful and particular copies of all the ornaments, in this invaluable book, at the expense of the Antiquarian Society;" and he justly adds, "the sooner this is commenced the better: for the public begin to be weary of representations of broken pots and pans, spear heads, barrows and buttresses." As the author appears to be in the confidence of the officers of that Society, he will perhaps inform us, in his next work, why that intention was not carried into execution; but did not the learned bibliographer, who thus ridicules the objects upon which that Institution lavishes its resources, make a point of attending to vote against the recent efforts, to accomplish among other improvements, the abolition of memoirs and likenesses "of broken pots and pans, spear heads, barrows and buttresses," and to effect instead the very thing which he has recommended? Mr. Ellis, whom he compliments so highly, and the present Treasurer of the Society, can inform him that, within the last two years, it was earnestly suggested to them to publish a series of fac-simile engravings of the most curious illuminations in the MSS. in the Museum.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Registrum Wiltunense, Saxonicum et Latinum, in Museo Britannico asservatum, ab Anno Regis Alfredi 892, ad Annum Regis Edwardi 1045; nunc demum Notis illustraverunt J. J. Ingram, S. Å.S.; Sharon Turner, S. A. S.; T. D. Fosbrooke, S. A. S.; Thomas Phillips, Bart. S. A. S.; Richard C. Hoare, Bart. S.A. S. Sumptibus R. C. Hoare. Londini: Typis Nicholsianis, 100 Exemplaria, impressa Anno 1827. Folio, pp. 56.-We are not sure whether the work we are about to notice comes within our critical jurisdiction, since we believe it is printed only for private distribution; but we take so deep an interest in those pursuits to which Sir Richard Hoare has devoted a large portion of his life and fortune, that we cannot neglect the present opportunity of making a few remarks on the Registrum Wiltunense. Among the Harleian Collection in the British Museum there has been preserved a portion of a very ancient cartulary that belonged to the Abbey of Wilton. The MS. itself is clearly not older than the reign of King John, but it contains transcripts of deeds that relate to a remoter period. The reader, perhaps, will be surprised to learn that this curious volume consists of more than thirty royal grants to the Abbey of Wilton, extending from the reign of Alfred the Great to that of Edward the Confessor. Nearly all the property mentioned in the MS. lies in Wiltshire; hence it is of great importance to the topography of that county, and is not indeed wholly uninteresting to the general reader, as it affords instances of the piety and munificence of our Saxon kings. It first attracted the particular attention of Sir Thomas Phillips, who had it copied ; and from that gentleman's transcript Sir Richard Hoare has caused a hundred copies to be printed. Perhaps the most curious portions of the Registrum Wiltunense are what conveyancers technically call the parcels; these are expressed in Anglo

Saxon, while the body of each grant is in Latin. It is seldom, indeed, that the topographer can trace property to a source more ancient than Domesday Book, the general starting-post of local history: here, however, he has territorial boundaries described with much accuracy nearly two centuries before that celebrated census was compiled, and, which renders them of still greater interest, they are not unfrequently associated in this curious record with Wansdyke, with the military roads of the Romans, and the still more ancient tumuli of our British ancestors. Most of the lands contained in the Registrum Wiltunense, with the other valuable possessions of Wilton Abbey, were bestowed, at the dissolution, on Sir William Herbert, and they still belong to his descendant, the present Earl of Pembroke; so that the work before us displays, in a singular manner, the stability of property during the long period of more than nine centuries.

Besides the labours bestowed on it by Sir Richard Hoare and Sir Thomas Phillips, the work has been critically examined by Professor Ingram, Mr. Sharon Turner, and Mr. Fosbrooke, who have illustrated several obscurities in the Anglo-Saxon text. A seal, which has been engraved, and serves as a frontispiece to the work, seems to have puzzled Sir Richard exceedingly. Nor does the worthy baronet stand alone in this respect, as Mr. Douce, about fourteen years ago, addressed a long memoir upon it to the Society of Antiquaries, whose paper on the subject, though a specimen of the "much ado about nothing," and egotism for which the articles in the Archæologia are celebrated, contains, nevertheless, some valuable remarks on the early use of seals, however much he may be mistaken respecting the one in question. We are satisfied that the seal represents the queen of Edward the Confessor; and we justify our opinion by the following considerations:-there is nothing in history more certain than that the name of Edward the Confessor's wife was Eadgyth; and even if we could resist the authority of the Saxon chronicle, the Registrum Wiltunense expressly states the fact. Camden tells us, on the authority of a Life of Edward the Confessor, to which he had access, that this queen "laid the foundation of a stately monastery of stone instead of the wooden church at Wilton, where she was educated1." With these circumstances the seal corresponds: we there see a female with upraised hands, the right in the attitude of benediction, the left holding probably a charter of endowment, or possibly the plan of the monastery she had built on the site of a more ancient abbey; the legend around the figure on the seal is "Sigillum Eadgythæ regalis adelphæ," the seal of Eadgyth, royal sister. We will now deavour to explain this inscription; and for that purpose we must refer to the customs of our catholic ancestors. It was the practice of the Saxon kings and queens, and of the nobles generally, to get themselves incorporated as brethren or sisters of the more celebrated abbeys, that they might be entitled to the suffrages and the privileges of those religious societies". Persons so incorporated,

en

1 See Gibson's Camden.

2 See Dr. Lingard's Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 206.

however, were not necessarily involved in the rigid austerities of the order to which they belonged. They considered it highly honourable to be attached to these pious establishments; and this consideration operating on the Confessor's queen induced her to become a member of the abbey of Wilton, to which she had been so munificent a benefactress, and to prefer the simple title of royal sister of a convent, to any of those pompous appellations that were applied to persons of her exalted rank. Thus it seems to us that Eadgyth was a titular sister, if not actually one of the nuns, of St. Mary's Abbey of Wilton, and that this seal belonged to her. We think that Sir Richard Hoare has somewhat hastily called it the abbey seal; for, the document to which the wax impression is appended seems by no means to justify such an opinion. The matrix, probably, passed from abbess to abbess, with other valuables belonging to the convent, and was occasionally used by them; but still it never, as we apprehend, could have been the conventual seal. The word "Adelpha," in the legend, is quite in character with the charters, which abound in terms of Greek origin; and this circumstance would lead us to think that the scribes who penned them were familiar with that language, or at least were fond of using, what our older writers call "inkhorn words."

Having thus given a sketch of the Registrum Wiltunense, we cannot help recurring to the learned and amiable baronet under whose auspices it has appeared; for it is gratifying to observe persons of rank and fortune shunning the coarser pleasures of the world, and devoting their time and their wealth to the ennobling pursuit of intellectual gratifications. Unlike too many of us, Sir Richard Hoare must contemplate the actions of his past life with feelings of enviable satisfaction: a man of letters himself, he has always been among the foremost to encourage those of kindred habits; and, far better, has often been the active friend of indigent merit.

The Bibliographer's Manual, by William Thomas Lowndes. Part I. 8vo. pp. 120.-The plan of the celebrated " Manuel du Libraire” of Monsieur Brunet has at length been imitated in reference to English literature; and we feel considerable pleasure in noticing a work so likely to afford information of constant use to persons interested in literary pursuits as the one before us. Mr. Lowndes confines himself to giving an account " of rare, curious, and useful books, published in or relating to Great Britain and Ireland, from the invention of printing to the present time, with bibliographical and critical notices, collations of the rarer articles, and the prices at which they have been sold in the present century."

The articles are placed under the names of their authors, and considerable pains seem to have been taken to ascertain the real names of the writers of works which appeared anonymously, or under feigned signatures. The First Part justifies the expectation, that the Editor will perform his laborious undertaking with credit to himself and advantage to the public; and we entertain sanguine hopes, that so great a desideratum as a book of reference to the best works on all subjects will now be attained. That there will be errors and omissions, the

editor says in his preface he is well aware; and had he entertained any other opinion on the subject, he would only have proved his unfitness for his task, for in such a compilation entire accuracy is impossible. A notice of the prices at which the different books referred to have been sold, is extremely acceptable; and so far from injuring booksellers, it will materially promote their interests, for numerous persons in the country are deterred from ordering an old book from ignorance of the price they may be called upon to pay for it. The critical notices have been chiefly taken from reviews or other authorities; and we wish Mr. Lowndes had always cited them. "The Bibliographer's Manual" will, the preface informs us, contain references to above 30,000 articles, and it is likely, we imagine, to become a book of constant reference for information on subjects connected with English literature. More than this it would not be proper to say until it is completed; and it would be injustice to say less, since we think highly both of the merits of Mr. Lowndes's plan, and of the research which his pages display.

Calendar of Knights, containing Lists of Knights Bachelors, British Knights of Foreign Orders; also Knights of the Garter, Thistle, Bath, St. Patrick, from 1760 to the present time; and also of the Guelphic and Ionian Orders. By Francis Townsend, Pursuivant of Arms. 8vo.To those who are interested in heraldic or genealogical pursuits, and acquainted with the distinguished professional and literary attainments of several members of the Heralds' College, it has been a subject of regret, that neither of the present gentlemen, with the exception of Norroy King of Arms, has given the public the fruits of his researches1. The example of Dugdale, Vincent, and others of their predecessors, would doubtless have been imitated, but for the little encouragement which such works as theirs now meet with; since even in the best days of the history of that College, it was never richer in talents and learning than at this moment.

It is, therefore, with very considerable pleasure that we are called upon to notice a publication by a "Pursuivant of Arms," who has modestly omitted any other designation after his name than his professional title. Mr. Townsend has the double merit of setting a laudable example to his confreres, and of producing a very useful work on a dignity which has so fallen in public esteem, that no regular list of those who enjoy it has been compiled for many years.

The title-page states the classes of persons included in the work, excepting those knighted by the Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, who are also included. It commences with Knights-Bachelors: all the lists are arranged in alphabetical order, and from the following extracts it will be seen, that, though the information afforded of each Knight

We do not forget, however, that the name of Sir George Nayler, Knt. Garter, occurs in the title-page of the first part of a splendid work on the Coronation of his present Majesty in 1821.

Bachelor is not extensive, it is very useful in identifying parties, and hence is particularly deserving of the attention of Solicitors.

"Ainslie, Philip, of Pilton, N. B. and Lieutenant-Colonel of Horse-Guards, 25th Feb. 1778, elder brother of the above Sir Robert Ainslie, died June, 1802.

"Gambier, James, Consul-General in the Netherlands; 27th April, 1808."

The next division embraces the British Knights of foreign orders, and, with the subsequent list of the Knights of the Bath', present the names of nearly all the English military and naval heroes who distinguished themselves during the late war. After each Knight follows a notice of his rank, of the orders he has received, and of the services for which they were conferred. It is well known that, since 1800, no British subject can legally accept a foreign order without a licence from his Sovereign; and that such licence contains a clause especially commanding it, together with the relative documents, to be recorded in the College of Arms. Mr. Townsend states the dates of such licences, and marks whether they have been so recorded or not; and it is not a little remarkable that numerous instances occur of individuals, among whom is even the Duke of Wellington, possessing such distinctions without having obtained a licence to wear them, and not a few where the royal command for recording those warrants in the Heralds' Office have not been obeyed 2.

In the preface the Editor has given a very clear and satisfactory account of the manner in which English subjects have been permitted to accept foreign orders, and to which we shall allude on some other occasion. The general impression is, that before March, 1813, a licence to an individual to accept a foreign order was considered to authorise him to assume the title of "Sir," but that after that period, in consequence of a clause in such licences,

"That his Majesty's licence and permission doth not authorise, and shall not be deemed or construed to authorise, the assumption of any style, appellation, rank, precedence, or privilege, appertaining unto a Knight Bachelor of these Realms,"

he had no right to use that title

We, however, entertain some doubts on this subject. As the licence authorises a man to accept and wear a decoration which to all intents and purposes renders him a Knight, we cannot imagine how the English title of knighthood, the appellation "Sir," can be withheld. The crown forbids "the assumption of any style, appellation,

1 Mr. Townsend would have increased the value of his work, if he had shown, by some mark opposite the name of each Knight of the Bath, whether his pedigree is registered in the College of Arms.

2 The number of licences which have been granted, but of which, according to this list, no record occurs in the College of Arms, are thirty-six, and the time which has expired since they were issued appears from Mr. Townsend's work to be as follows:one, three years; one, five years; one, six years; two, seven years; four, eight years; two, ten years; one, eleven years; nine, twelve years; five, thirteen years; two, fourteen years; five, fifteen years; one, sixteen years; and two, even seventeen years. Why these licences have not been registered we know not.