renders his narrative very interesting; that of Mr. Williams is more ambitious, it approaches more nearly to what is often called 'fine writing,' but will not, we fancy, be generally preferred. Occasionally, indeed, the necessity which he has imposed upon himself of altering the Bishop's phraseology, whether for better or worse, whilst he retained his facts, has driven him to curious straits, and now and then into blunders in facts and oddities in style greater than any which modern refinement could discover in the sentences of Burnet. For instance, Burnet wrote,

He loved building much, which he affected chiefly because it employed many poor people; but one thing was observed in all his buildings, that the changes he made in his houses were always from magnificence to usefulness; for he avoided every thing that looked like pomp or vanity, even in the walls of his houses. He had good judgment in architecture, and an excellent faculty in contriving well.'

Mr. Williams alters it thus :

He was fond of architecture, and his love to it was increased by the employment it created to the poor. His judgment in it as a science was good; in the indulgence of his taste, however, he avoided vanity and pomp, and connected utility with every contrivance and every change.'

Burnet properly used building' in one sense, and architecture' in another sense. Mr. Williams confounds the two words, and uses one of them in both senses. Again, Burnet wrote:

And he was scarce ever seen more angry than with one of his servants, for neglecting a bird that he kept, so that it died for want of food.'

especially so speedily after the recent reprint of Burnet's Lives under the editorship of the venerable Bishop Jebb.

Annals and Antiquities of Lacock Abbey, in the County of Wilts, with Memorials of Ela, the Foundress, the Countess of Salisbury, &c. by W. L. Bowles, M.A. and John Gough Nichols. 8vo.

THE history of Monasteries as it has generally been written, after the model of the great work of Dugdale, in which brevity was indispensable, has seldom extended beyond a description of the ruins and architectural remains, a catalogue of the superiors of the convent, and a transcript of the most important charters relative to the foundation.

It is not a little remarkable that the proverbial minuteness and elaborate research of our English antiquaries has never yet been exercised in working out the history of one of our great abbeys, in a manner at all approaching to the completeness which the still existing records would authorize. If investigated fully and closely, any one of them would afford ample materials for an important volume, possessing a main current of considerable interest, and a ramification of contributary sreamlets, illustrating the topography and genealogy of the neighbouring

district.

In comparison with many, Lacock was a foundation of humble pretensions. Even in the same county there were two larger nunneries-Wilton and Amesbury; and from the time of its foundation (the history of which, and of its Foundress, as enlarged upon

'Never was his anger seen to glow so hot, as towards one of his servants who had negligently starved a bird to death,

FOR WANT OF FOOD.'

It is of such alterations and transpositions, that the bulk and substance of Mr. Williams's book is made up. He has written in a Christian spirit, and we have no doubt with a good intention; but the little he has added to our knowledge of the subject of his biography, does not justify his having inflicted a new book upon the world;

of high and even romantic interest) until the dissolution, it remained in the second rank of such establishments, the peaceful and unpretending retreat of female devotion. Its history, however, as given in the present work, shows what might be done by the use of every available record, combined with a methodical arrangement, in elucidating the histories of monasteries of greater importance.

The first objects for examination are the foundation charters, the confirmations obtained from superior jurisdic

tions, ecclesiastical and feudal; and the coadjutors in the foundation; then the most important subsequent benefactors; the surveys and valuations of the monastic property at different periods; and the succession of superiors. The charters and records relative to estates may be best arranged under the head of each place, as in the 15th Chapter of the present volume, in which the history of each, as connected with the abbey, is given in a brief narrative.

In cases where the monks themselves have left the annals of their house, they are found chiefly to record the architectural works executed at successive periods, the legal controversies with secular aggressors or professional rivals, the election of abbats, the fallings of timber, cleansing of fishponds, and most important agricultural operations, extraordinary seasons, storms and eclipses, famines, plagues, and murrains; together with the deaths in the families of their patrons, and such public events as struck the attention of the chronicler, either from their importance, or the vicinity of the place of their occurrence.

Such are some of the principal materials available to the writers of monastic history; and which have been faithfully employed in the present work as far as the records of Lacock extend, whilst their deficiencies have in some respects been supplied by illustrations drawn from those of similar establishments. We think the accounts of the discipline and domestic economy of the nuns, the ceremonies of profession, consecration, election of abbesses, funerals, &c. will be new to the modern reader, at least to those uninitiated in the mysteries of the church of Rome.

Lacock abbey possessed a book of history, the work of one of its inmates, not recording, however, the annals of the house, but relating the romantic history of the Foundress and first Abbess Ela, the heiress of the Earldom of Salisbury. Following the statements of this authority, Mr. Bowles has been induced to enter at large into the history of the early Earls of Salisbury; so that, in fact, a great portion of this work is biographical detail and genealogical disquisition. The genealo

gies of de Sarisbury, Longespé, and Romara, and their connections, have received considerable accessions and corrections; and among the important discoveries developed, and prevalent errors corrected, we may instance the following

That the first Earls of Salisbury were not named Devereux, but only de Sarisbury.

That they had a common origin with the house of Roumara, which produced an Earl of Lincoln: and that the Tancarvilles, Chamberlains of Normandy, were probably of the same lineage.

That Ela of Salisbury had two sisters: though, the Earldom being an indivisable fief, she was made the sole heiress, and their names have been hitherto unknown.

That, as William Longespé, Earl of Salisbury, was the son of Fair Rosamond, Geoffrey Archbishop of York, who was more than fifteen years his senior, is not likely to have been the King's son by the same mother. The difficulties attending Rosamond's history, have arisen from her being assigned as the mother of Archbishop Geoffrey.

That the present representative and heir general of the Longespés is Lord Stafford and not Lord Audley: as will be more fully shown by Mr. Beltz in his History of the Order of the Garter.

We shall only add that the work is written throughout with taste and elegance; that many pleasing little digressions occur to relieve the dryness of antiquarian detail; that the romantic incidents connected with the monastic history are skilfully interwoven with the historic narrative; some very natural and elegant poems are interspersed, among which the Lay of Talbot the Troubadour pleased us particularly; the reflections by Mr. Bowles on the Monastic Life,-his last visit to Old Sarum,-his observations on Stonehenge, and many other passages, are of superior interest; while the imagination of the Poet sheds a pensive gleam, like that of the evening sun, upon the venerable ruins which it has preserved from obscurity. We therefore thus bid Mr. Bowles farewell:

The Knight and the Enchantress; with other Poems. By the Lady Emmeline Stuart Wortley.

WE were just going to commence our review of this little volume, when we happened to be favoured with a sight of a letter from a lady, to whom the noble authoress, we presume, had presented the volume, in return for the gift; and she has so well expressed our sentiments, that we begged permission to make use of her epistle, which she kindly granted.

Grosvenor-square, May 25.

My dear Lady Emmeline, I cannot say how much Frederick* and myself have been delighted with the beautiful volume of Poetry which found on our table last night, after our

we

J. M.

return from the Opera. Indeed, I do think Frederick has already more than half of it by heart: but do you know, it really was likely to have produced a most violent quarrel between us. Frederick doats upon the character of the Enchantress; while I absolutely rave, when I hear the admirable descriptions of the Knight: however, we have compromised the matter satisfactorily, by allowing that My dear Lady Emmeline! how could you their respective excellence is nearly equal. write such charming poetry, so finished, so delicate, so refined in expression, so musical in the rhythm (as I believe it is called) which I think is much prettier than to talk about verses having feet; and Frederick (who is looking over my shoulder) adds, so masculine in thought: I assure you we are all amazement! You must excuse my transcribing the opening of the Poem:

they amount to near fifty-five, without the last couplet, which we consider to be a noble conclusion: it is our pet of the whole.

GENT. MAG. VOL. IV.

K