times to call him to order. At the close, he addressed the jury in his defence, still protesting that he was the son of Sir Hugh Smyth, but admitting that, in the assertion of his legal claim, he had done some things which could only be justified by the circumstances. In the course of his speech, he produced, with an air of triumph, an enormous pigtail, two feet long, which up to that moment, both on this and on the former trial, had been kept concealed under his coat; and turning round, he displayed the curious appendage ostentatiously to the court and the jury, appealing to it as an irrefragable proof of his aristocratic birth, and declaring with solemn emphasis, that he was "born with it!" adding, that his son also was "born with one six inches long!" The verdict of the jury was, "guilty;" and the prisoner was sentenced to twenty years' transpor

tation.

The forged Wills, the Bible, the jewels, the picture, and other fabricated instruments are now in the possession of the family at Ashton Court, as also the "pigtail" of the prisoner! These memorials represent a harassing episode in the history of Ashton Court, and the loss of between five and six thousand pounds, in defending it from the machinations of an unprincipled adventurer.

The Oglanders of Nunwell and of
Normandy.

66 Jussa pars

mutare Lares et urbem

Sospite cursu."-HORACE.

NORMANDY! The very name has something pleasing and noble in its sound. That fair province of France possesses a double charm. Beautiful as a country, it is for us more beautiful still in those historic and genealogical memories, which attach it to England for ever. "Omnes boni nobilitati favemus," and certes, all within these realms who show such favour, must mingle with it a feeling of filial reverence for Normandy. The Norman spirit and energy, joined to Saxon industry and perseverance, made the whole British people what they are. No less truly, the Norman love of race grafting itself on the Saxon love of land, created that combined pride of birth and tenacity of estate, which formed our higher classes into a nobility that, whether titled or untitled, has not, for conduct, cogency, and cohesiveness, had its equal in the world. Yet Normandy, itself, after parting with the host of adventurers who crossed over to found such mighty names and mighty houses in England, has not, in very

many instances, preserved the original stems from which those adventurers came; and this for the simple reason, that most of those stems were not at the time of the Conquest of much import in the mother country, though the offshoots from them grew into such goodly trees in the country to which they were transplanted. Even with regard to those Norman families who were of standing and power in Normandy, when their sons sought their fortunes in England under William the Conqueror and his immediate successors, few have survived the havoc that changes of dynasty and revolution have caused in France, and consequently few have brought their existence, much less their position and prosperity, through intervening centuries, down to the present day. Among the rare exceptions to this state of things, a very remarkable instance occurs in the very ancient family of Oglander or Orglandes, which was a goodly Norman race when William won England at Hastings, and which same race now flourishes in undiminished credit, both on Norman and on British soil.

In the Isle of Wight, about one mile from Brading, and about four miles from Ryde, stand on an eminence the beautiful house and grounds of Nunwell, whence the spectator has beneath him a glorious panorama of the whole island, and a fine view also into the mainland. Nunwell is the seat of Sir Henry Oglander, Bart., and has been the chief residence of the English Oglanders for close upon eight hundred years.

In the lovely department of the Orne, in Lower Normandy, nigh to Bellesme, is the old Château of Lonné,

E E

the seat of the present Count d'Orglandes, the representative of a house which has held its Norman lands from times beyond the memory of man.

To

I will, with the reader's permission, take a glance at the descent of either Oglander, French or English. begin with that of the Baronet of the Isle of Wight.

Sir Henry Oglander's immediate ancestor came from Caen, a fit town to inaugurate so lengthy and so honourable a pedigree. Caen, indeed, has this in common with the Oglander race, that, among the cities of Europe, it is the one which has, perhaps, had the most sustained duration. It has constantly borne, through ages to the present time, a combined reputation for profound learning, historic celebrity, and architectural splendour.

"Caen," says M. Trebutien, in his eloquent preface to his history of the place, "was the city of William the Conqueror's predilection, and he left upon it the mark of his strong hand-the eternal impression of his power and his greatness. No other town, probably, is so rich in noble memories, nor, as has been said, sums up better the national and Christian past of France. Architecture, science, arms,—a large share of this triple glory of our country has fallen to Caen."

From such a city, then, whose churches, schools, monuments, and very streets, preserve at this hour their pristine vigour and grace, it well became an Oglander to issue when about to found a line that eight hundred years have left unscathed and without a sign of dying out. This Oglander, the ancestor of the present Sir Henry, was Richard de Okelander, who left his native Caen to act in

England as a Marshal of the Conqueror. Richard de Okelander, intent on rendering essential services in promoting the conquest, went, by William's leave, with William FitzOsborne, in his rank of Marshal, on an expedition against the Isle of Wight. Having effected the reduction of that island, he settled there at Nunwell; and there his successors, in an uninterrupted male line to the present period, have had their principal abode. In proof of this, and particularly of their doings during the reigns of Kings Henry III., Edward I., and Edward II., several deeds, inquisitions, records, and documents can be adduced. This Richard had a son, Robert Oglander, who died in the 30th year of King Henry III., having married Roberta, daughter of Sir Theobald Russel, of Yaverland, Knight, ancestor of the Dukes of Bedford. From this Robert descended Sir John Oglander, Deputy-Governor of Portsmouth, in 1620; and in 1624, Deputy-Governor of the Isle of Wight. Sir John was a stanch cavalier, and during the disastrous Civil War, suffered much from his zealous attachment to the royal cause, both in person and fortune. He was confined for some years in London by the Committee of the Commons, and was obliged to pay a large sum to procure his discharge. He married Frances, daughter of Sir George More, of Losely, in the county of Surrey, Knight, Chancellor of the order of the Garter, Sir John's son and successor, Sir William Oglander, Knight, of Nunwell, was even a more distinguished cavalier than his father. He was knighted by the hand of King Charles I.; he sat as Member of Parliament for Newport in 1664; and he was also Deputy-Governor of the Isle of Wight. The good