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of the Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Bezæ, only the right hand stroke of the A is perpendicular d; the right hand stroke of the ▲ and A is turned round towards the left at top; the M is like an inverted n; the r is like the present Greek capital of that name; and the x a little turned to the right and left at the top. The erect form of the right limb of the Alpha, we believe to be peculiar to this MS, and the fragment at Tours. In all other respects, the letters cast for Drs. Woide's and Kipling's fac similes, would, the size excepted, fully express the writing of this MS.

As the punches and matrices formed for those fac similes are still in being, and the letters agree so nearly in their forms with the most ancient MSS., it may be an object to those who feel inclined to favour the world with fac similes of the frail remains of antiquity to know, that with the addition of a few peculiarly formed letters, the founts already in existence will afford them a comparatively cheap supply. The mere size, we should suppose, can be no object, as long as the real shape is preserved; especially if a few lines of the MS. be cut in wood, or engraved on copper, as a fac simile. We mention this particularly, as we have reason to believe the great expense of new characters or engraved plates, deters several learned men from enriching literature with the valuable contents of many MSS. now perishing in our public libraries.

As a specimen of its Varia Lectiones, we lay the following before our readers; those who are versed in this kind of criticism, will easily discover the reputable family to which this MS. belongs.

Matt. i. 18. For yamas it has yes and in this it agrees with B. (Cod. Vatican.) C. (Cod. Regius) P. (Cod, Guelpherby tanus) A. S. (Cod. Vatican. 354,) This reading Griesbach has received into his text.

Ib. omits yag with B.-the Cod. Basiliensis Reuchlini numbered 1. in Griesbach, both the Syriac versions, the Coptic, Armenian, Antehieronymian, &c.

Ver. 19. For Tagadayaroa, reads dayparica with B. i. Origen, Eusebius, Antehieronymian, Vulgate, &c.

Ver. 22. Omits Tou before Hugo in which it agrees with the Codex Vaticanus numbered in Griesbach 142.

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Ver. 24. For daysglas it has eyeges with B. C. 1, and Epiphanius.

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Ib. It omits the : before Iwon with the Harleian MSS. 5647, 5540, 5567, and the Vienna MS. (Lambec. 31.) a MS. of Matthai in uncial characters, marked B. and some others in the same author's collection.

Ver. 25. After vov it omits auras TOV TEWTOTONOV, with the Cod. Vatican. B; the Cod. Basiliensis, 1. one of the Colbert MSS.

numbered 33, in Griesbach; the Coptic, 3 of the old Itala or Antehieronymian, Hilary and Ambrose.

C. ii. ver. 15. It omits the Tou before xvgov, as do B. C. D. and some others of the first respectability.

Ib. 18. It omits gavos na with B. K. (the Codex Cyprius) 1. and the major part of the ancient Versions, Hilary, Ambrose, and Jerome.

Ib. for dugues, it seems originally to have read Buyos, (a part of the word is now erased) a singular reading, found we believe in no other MS.

C. iv. 5. for now it has snow, with B, C, D, (the Cod. Beza) and several others.

Ib. 10. it adds now, with C, D, L, (Shepherd's ») M. (one of the Codd. Reg.) and a vast number of the most reputable MSS. Versions and Fathers.

Ib. 12. it omits o Indous with B, D, and many others.

C. v. 47. for ourw it reads ovτws, as in several other places.

Ib. 48. for o ev Tols oupavors, it reads o ovganos with B, D, E, (Cod. Ba · sil. B. vi. 21.) L, and several others with the principal Versions and many of the Fathers.

. C. vi. 1. for xa, received into the text by Griesbach, reads ελεημοσυνην.

Ib. 4. Ev Tw Qaveρw is omitted in this and in the 6th verse, as also B, D, and several others.

Ib. 5. for ώσπερ, reads ως..

Ib. 13. omits οτι σου εσιν η βασιλεια, και η δύναμις, και η δόξα, εις τους αιωνας αμην. with B, D, some others, and all the latin Fathers.

For the rest of its various readings we must refer to the work itself, observing only that we have collated the above with the Text and Varia Lectiones of the last Edition of Griesbach. Dr. Barrett has not given a Table of the defects in this MS.; on a close inspection, we find them to be the following:

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Beside all these general deficiencies, there are but few

xxvi. 72-75

lines in the whole MS. that are not less or more mutilated; and the xxvii and xxviii. chapters are entirely wanting, as the MS. ends with the 71 verse of the xxvi.

We cannot take our leave of this part of Dr. Barrett's work, without returning him our heartiest thanks for the zeal and industry he has displayed in this difficult undertaking, and for the service he has performed to biblical criticism and the literary world; we sincerely hope that his labours may de duly appreciated and suitably rewarded.

The consideration of that part of his Prolegomena which relates to the genealogy of our Lord as given by St. Matthew and St. Luke, we shall reserve to a future number.

Art. II. Magna Britannia; being a concise topographical Account of the several Counties of Great Britain. By the Rev. Daniel Lysons, A. M. F. R. S. F. A. and L. S. Rector of Rodmarton in Gloucestershire; and Samuel Lysons, Esq. F. R. S. and F. A. S. Keeper of his Majesty's Records in the Tower of London. Vol. i. containing Bedfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, 4to. pp. 764. Price 31. 3s. Cadell and Davies. 1806.

A PERIOD of two hundred and thirty years has elapsed, since our renowned antiquary, Camden, published his Britannia, in a small Latin octavo. It received various improvements from the author's hand, within the following twenty years; and it has since been augmented, in an English form, from one to two, and even to three capacious folios. That, for so long a time, our antiquaries should have limited their pretensions to the enlargement of Camden's work, without aiming to supersede it, affords a strong argument in favour of his original plan, and of the standard merit of its ex-. ecution. His performance, indeed, combined the different advantages of a general, and of a particular description, as much, perhaps, in most respects, as was practicable at the time of its appearance. Laying his foundation in the remotest antiquity to which he had access, and deducing his general divisions of our island from the supposed situations of tribes by which it was earliest inhabited, he proceeded to describe the several counties, thus arranged, in a method which was perfectly geographical; following the line of our coasts, and ascending one bank, and descending the other, of all the rivers by which our country is intersected, and by which, in many instances, its provincial boundaries are formed.

Acquisitions of topographical knowledge, however, are necessarily progressive and although Camden's plan was adapted to comprise the utmost accessions that successive dis- coveries, or ameliorations, could supply, yet it is obvious that perpetual additions to his original work, must be attend

ed with growing inconvenience. Messrs. Lysons therefore, have, in our judgement, greatly added to the obligations which they had already conferred on the lovers of British topography and antiquities, by their present undertaking; the nature and occasion of which they thus briefly but accurately explain.

Although copious and well-executed histories of several counties have been published, and although the Britannia of the learned Camden has been universally and justly regarded as an excellent work relating to the kingdom at large; yet as the former, besides being for the most part very scarce, are moreover so bulky, as to form of themselves a library of no inconsiderable extent; and as the Britannia gives only a general view of each county; it appeared to us that there was still room for a work, which should contain an account of each parish, in a compressed form, and arranged in an order convenient for reference.' p. vii.

It is therefore evident, that this work is to be considered as a collection of county histories, abridged from such as have been published, or, where these are wanting, supplied from manuscripts, and the personal inquiries of the compilers. It should be expected, not to form, like Camden's, a whole, connected in its various parts,; but to afford local informa tion to persons whose curiosity, or whose interest, directs their attention peculiarly to certain spots, or districts, of our island.. On this account, we apprehend that it would have been an important accommodation to the public, and consequently very advantageous to the circulation of Messrs. Lysons' work, if they had allowed their collections on every county to be sold separately, instead of combining, in one bulky volume, two or three parts, naturally unconnected, and unequally interesting to the purchaser. The probable extent of the whole plan may be conjectured from the observation, that all the subjects of the present bulky volume occupy only thirty pages of Bp. Gibson's first folio edition of Camden, or about a thirtieth part of the whole. Therefore, if the compilers' plan should ever be completed, which is uncertain, if not improbable, considering its magnitude, few persons can be expected to purchase the whole; and consequently many odd volumes are likely to remain unsold: whereas if the history of each county could be procured separately, no reader who is interested in it, would scruple a guinea, or more in proportion to its extent, for the acquisition. We heartily wish that the publishers may pay timely attention to this advice. Otherwise the damage will increase with every successive volume. As yet, this is trifling; especially as the counties already described, have some mutual connexion: but, as the arrangement is alphabetical, we expect soon to travel from Cambridgeshire to Cheshire, and from Cheshire to Cornwall. If the pub

lication of detached parts be disapproved, a different arrangement should be adopted; and descriptions of counties, which have a natural connection with each other, should be included in the same volume.

The General Introduction, as it is called, hardly occupies nine pages; and treats almost solely of the ancient divisions of England. The authors were unacquainted with the origin of the name of Britain. The Welch who have always spelled it Prydain, have preserved very ancient documents, which assert, that our island was thus named after one of its princes, who brought the several tribes of its earliest inhabitants into a state of general coufederacy. All modern writers, with Messrs. Lysons, have assigned the county of Lincoln to Mercia, during the Saxon Heptarchy; and we do not deny that it was sometimes united with that kingdom: but we apprehend that it originally belonged to the East Angles. It is more likely, that they allowed the Mercians a passage through that country to the interior, than that they had not occupied it before the Mercian invaders arrived: and Bede's account of the establishment of Christianity at Lincoln, implies that city to have been then subject either to the East Augles, or the Northumbrians. To the modern ecclesiastical division of England, that of the Judiciary circuits would have been a useful addition.

The description of every county consists of two parts, the former of which is general and introductory. This is distributed under the following heads: ancient inhabitants and government; historical events; ancient and modern division; ecclesiastical ditto; monasteries and hospitals; market and borough towns; population; principal land-owners at various periods, and extinct families; nobility, and places which have given titles; noblemen's seats; baronets extinct and existing; principal gentry and their seats; geographical and geological description; produce; natural history; fossils, rare plants; rivers; roads; manufactures; antiquities; Roman remains; Roman roads and stations; church architecture ; stained glass; rood lofts, screens, &c.; fonts; stone stalls and piscine; ancient tombs; monastic remains; sites of castles and ancient mansions; camps and earth-works. Etymologies of names of counties, non-resident families having estates, crown-lands, castellated mansions, navigable canals, and mineral waters, are also introduced, occasionally, as distinct heads. The -second grand division under each county, consists of parochial topography, alphabetically arranged; in which are given those particulars of every parish, which have not been introduced under the preceding general heads, with as little re

Bedæ Eccl. Hist. 1. II. cc. 14, 15, 16.

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