grand and distinguishing features of an entire district, the interest and attention of the reader might be powerfully assisted and strengthened by the introduction of them. But then they should be kept in their proper places-as auxiliaries-not as principals; and the selection of subjects should be such as best to correspond with the main object of the work-not such as from their poetical and limited nature (however lovely and romantic) have no more immediate connexion with the topography of the district than would be exhibited by a groupe of indigenous flowers in the manner of Van-Huysum, or of cattle or horses in the best style of Cuyp or of Wouvermans. It is difficult indeed to say what bounds will ever be set to the increase of this pernicious species of luxury, unless the pride of authorship, or (what is better) the genuine love of science, step in to avert the sacrifice, which must otherwise soon follow, of all that is really valuable in works of topography to the love of outward shew and embellishment; and we may form some notion of the strides which a mania (so hostile to the true interests of literature) has already made in this department, by comparing the splendid picture-book, thus honoured by the name of Whitaker, with the dwarf folio" put forth" during the infancy of county-history by Mr. Daniel King of Chester, under the proud designation of "The Vale-Royal of England, or County Palatinate of Chester illustrated-adorned with maps and prospects, and the coats of arms belonging to every individual family of the County, 1656,"-in which the "courteous reader" is indulged with one view of the provincial metropolis (the south-west side), with the names of the different buildings obligingly engraven over them—the ichnography or "groundplott" thereof the city arms, and those of the earls, and of the eight barons of the County Palatine-a small map of the county-a coin of Domitian, with the reverse and legend-and a votive altar dug up at Chester in 1653-all in the compass of a single sheet, a single prospect of the cathedral (a bird'seye), and one other engraving (a fancy-piece) of the good Earl Lupus sitting in his parliament; and for these the author claims the special favour of his countrymen, as having " adorned" the history of his native county with several pieces of sculpture, for the more graceful appearance of the work," while his "old acquaintance and true friend, Thomas Brown," superscribes an epistle congratulatory, which is prefixed to the publication, with peculiar reference to this branch of its merits, thus-"To his endeared friend Mr. Daniel King, the ingenious author of that worthily-to-be-commended work, and accurate piece of the geographical and historical description of the Vale-royal of England, or County Palatine of Chester, most artificially adorned with typography and sculpture."

Before we dismiss, however, the subject of graphic illustration, we cannot forbear noticing, with due praise, the publicspirited proceeding of several of the gentry of Durham and its vicinity, who, at a meeting held for the purpose on occasion of the then approaching publication of Mr. Surtees's excellent history of that county, entered into certain resolutions, of which the following deserve to be more widely circulated :—

"I. That it is desirable to preserve by engravings some of the more curious specimens of ancient architecture in this county, and also the portraits of a few of the most distinguished men born in or connected with it.

"II. That the county-history now preparing for the press by Robert Surtees, of Mainsforth, Esq. affords a favourable opportunity of securing these purposes.

"III. That the proposal already circulated, for raising a subscription to furnish such engravings to the author for insertion in his work, meets the approbation of this meeting, as a measure calculated to preserve the more interesting remains of antiquity, and to contribute to the useful embellishment of the work, without rendering it necessary to impose so high a price upon it as would greatly limit its circulation and utility.

"IV. That the castles or other residences of gentlemen are not proper objects to be engraved out of this subscription.

The publication itself, which this very laudable measure was designed to adorn and compliment, constitutes one of the best and most perfect specimens of county-history that it has been our fortune to meet with, blending together, in very happy proportions, the severer labours of the genealogist and antiquary, and the more congenial reflections and illustrations of the man of taste and feeling*. The engravings, which have been so liberally contributed, are for the most part finely executed, and in general also well selected. Portraits of distinguished individuals are among the most interesting and useful of the illustrations peculiarly fitted to county-history; but, for the smaller memorials of antiquity, such as seals, rings-for detached pieces of architectural variety or adornment-for the generality of monumental remains-for fonts, stalls, and piscina-and a number of other subjects which will readily suggest themselves to the mind of the experienced antiquary-we would strongly recommend a much humbler and cheaper style of execution, even where (as in this instance) the author is

* We have only to subtract from this general commendation the superfluity of ancient deeds and evidences given at full length, a practice which tends enormously to swell the dimensions of a countyhistory, without any advantages at all commensurate with the increased expense of the publication.

personally saved from the expense attending it, for the sake of securing the preservation of these and similar relics in so much greater extent and variety than can possibly be accomplished on a scale of undiscriminating, and in such instances, useless magnificence.

We cannot at present treat of the many excellent works which have successively appeared in illustration of our provincial antiquities during the last and present centuries,—at the head of which stands Hutchins's Dorset, and the long line embraces Mr. Nichols's voluminous History of Leicestershire; nor can we afford space more than to notice the remainder of the list of county-histories already in progress or promised to the public; and, in so doing, we shall revert to the preface of Sir Richard Hoare, with which we commenced our remarks on the present auspicious state of topographical undertaking.

After observing (in a passage which we have quoted already) upon the advances hitherto made in the pursuit,-

"Much still," he adds "remains to be done; for many a county is yet undescribed, though some are now actually in preparation and printing. Amongst the former, I may state the intended history of Northampton, by Mr. Baker; and amongst the latter, the splendid histories of Hertfordshire, by Mr. Clutterbuck-Durham, by Mr. Surtees and a portion of Yorkshire, by the late Dr. Whitaker, in whom the lovers of topography have experienced a severe loss. The History of Cheshire has been lately published by Mr. Ormerod-a part of Sussex, Hereford, and Rutland; and we may shortly expect to be gratified by a well-arranged history of the ancient town of Shrewsbury, as well as of a portion of Suffolk, by Mr. Gage."

The last-mentioned gentleman has recently published a history of his family seat and parish of Hengrave, valuable no less for the ornamental and useful illustrations, than for the very curious details of private history and biography, and of ancient customs and characters, which it exhibits; and we should rejoice at being told that the entire county of Suffolk, (than which none in England stands more in need of the labours of the topographer,) was in such able hands.

Of other counties which still remain to be illustrated by the labours of the topographer, that of Devon (with which the great work projected by the Messrs. Lysons has, we fear, abruptly terminated) is still unhonoured by any thing which deserves the name of a separate history; and Hampshire, Lincoln, Lancashire, Shropshire, the greater part of York, Derby, Huntingdon, Bedford, Berks, Buckingham, and Middlesex, to which may be added most of the Welsh counties, are those which immediately occur to us as unprovided with even the name of an historian.

After making so favourable a report as to the present state and prospects of topographical science in England, it would be palpably absurd to complain of the want of public encouragement, or of a due appreciation of the rank which topography is entitled to hold among the objects of literary pursuit. But it is only of late years that a genuine feeling in its favour has begun to diffuse itself; and it has as yet made only a very uncertain and partial progress in the general estimation. The important aid and advancement which it has received from the publications made by the record commissioners has perhaps contributed in no small degree to the increasing popularity of the science.* A great deal still remains to be looked for, however, from the same high source of encouragement; and we may possibly, at no distant period, revert to the subject of our present discussion, for the purpose of explaining the peculiar use and value of the various stores which have thus been opened, as well as of those which still remain, either wholly or comparatively, inaccessible to public research. But the example thus set by the wisdom and liberality of the Legislature may be reasonably expected to operate upon other public bodies, and also upon individuals, in proportion to their respective resources, and to the means which they possess of contributing to the general object-that of preserving and transmitting to posterity the perishable memorials of local history and antiquities throughout the kingdom. The "absurd jealousy," of which Dr. Whitaker speaks in terms of merited ridicule, which formerly proved the means of shutting out from the inspection of the eager antiquary many of the sources of in

* In this increased encouragement to works illustrative of local and family antiquity, we may perhaps detect a sign of the altered spirit of the times, with reference to what has been often disdainfully called "the pride of ancestry." For a considerable time before the French Revolution—indeed during the greater part of the last century— it was accounted philosophical and gentlemanly to forget these vain and adscititious distinctions-or, if remembered, to convert them into subjects of ridicule and satire. The family pedigree was consigned to dust and cobwebs, if not parted with to the taylor and cheesemonger— the family arms disappeared from the places which ancient custom had rendered conspicuous by them-unornamented neatness, and almost republican simplicity, became the fashion of the day, in furniture, houses, and monuments; and, so far from boasting of a long line of illustrious ancestors, people began to look as if ashamed to own that they ever had a grandfather. A more natural, as well as more honourable and grateful feeling, has replaced this sickly cant of equality; and an English gentleman is no longer afraid of being laughed at for displaying the proudest feather in his cap of gentility.

an

formation contained in the evidences of private families, exists (if at all) in a much smaller degree than heretofore, and is pretty nearly extinguished among men of liberal education, and a tolerable degree of acquaintance with the laws of their country. It is not to be doubted, however, that in many an unsuspected corner of many an old family mansion there still repose, among the dust and cobwebs of ages, (undisturbed, more perhaps owing to the indolence and indifference, than to the fears or scruples of the possessor,) multitudes of papers, consisting of private correspondence, or auto-biographical memoirs; no less deeply interesting to the families under whose custody they are kept in hereditary and disregarded wardship, nor less valuable to the elucidation of ancient customs or privileges, nor less important to the general history of the periods to which they refer, than the Paston and Tixal Letters, the Memoirs of Mrs. Hutchinson, or the History of the Earls of Sutherland; and, in the present state of antiquarian research, it ought to be impressed on the minds of such careless and irreverent proprietors, that they are guilty of no less than sacrilege towards the manes of their ancestors, as well as of the greatest injustice (equivalent to a robbery) towards the public, by withholding any longer from the curious and intelligent the license of inspecting and examining the store-houses, in which it is at least probable that so many of these hidden treasures are deposited. To corporations, ecclesiastical as well as civil, and other public bodies, the conservators of documents relating to their particular districts, it should be represented that, as trustees for the public, they cannot, without the grossest dereliction of duty, suffer to remain hoarded in inaccessible chests and boxes the muniments and records of which the usufruct is in those of whose interests they are the guardians, whenever the public service (of which this is a part) requires their inspection. And to individuals, who, without possessing any peculiar means of adding to the general stock of information, have yet that local interest (which all ought to experience) in the places of their births or residence, the spirited example of the gentry of Durham may be held forth as a stimulus to similar (or perhaps more important without being more expensive) acts of liberal aid and encouragement. In those counties, more particularly, which have within their reach the great advantages to be derived from public literary institutions (hitherto so little understood, or applied to purposes of practical utility), the topographical historian has a right to expect assistance and encouragement the more extensive from the greater facility of their attainment. We would suggest, for example, the obvious expedient of the circulation, in the name and by the authority of such institutions, through all the parishes, or other local districts of the county, and addressed to