1829.] REVIEW. Anne of Geierstein. from the servants and Judges of the Holy Vehme. Though a thousand leagues lie between thee and the Red Land, and thou speakest in that where our power is not known; though thou shouldst be sheltered by thy native island, and defended by thy kindred ocean, yet, even there, I warn thee to cross thyself when thou dost so much as think of the Holy and Invisible Tribunal, and to retain thy thoughts within thine own bosom; for the Avenger may be beside thee, and thou mayest die in thy folly. Go hence, be wise, and let the fear of the Holy Vehme never pass from before thine eyes.' At the concluding words, all the lights were at once extinguished with a hissing noise. Philipson felt once more the grasp of the hands of the officials, to which he resigned himself as the safest course. He was gently prostrated on his pallet-bed, and transported back to the place from which he had been advanced to the foot of the altar. The cordage was again applied to the platform, and Philipson was sensible that his couch rose with him for a few moments, until a slight shock apprised him that he was again brought to a level with the floor of the chamber in which he had been lodged on the preceding night, or rather morning. He pondered over the events that had passed, in which he was sensible that he owed Heaven thanks for a great deliverance. Fatigue at length prevailed over anxiety, and he fell into a deep and profound sleep, from which he was only awakened by returning light. He resolved on an instant departure from so dangerous a spot, and without seeing any one of the household but the old ostler, pursued his journey to Strasburg, and reached that city without farther accident." We have only room for the portrait of Margaret of Anjou. "Arthur sank on his knees before the dauntless widow of Henry the Sixth, who so long, and in such desperate circumstances, upheld, by unyielding courage and deep policy, the sinking cause of her feeble husband; and who, if she occasionally abused victory by cruelty and revenge, had made some atonement by the indomitable resolution with which she had supported the fiercest storms of adversity. Arthur had been bred in devoted adherence to the now dethroned line of Lancaster, of which his father was one of the most distinguished supporters; and his earliest deeds of arms, which, though unfortunate, were neither obscure nor ignoble, had been done in their cause. With an enthusiasm belonging to his age and education, he in the same instant flung his bonnet on the pavement, and knelt at the feet of his ill-fated sovereign. "Margaret threw back the veil which concealed those noble and majestic features, which even yet, though rivers of tears had furrowed her cheek, though care, disappointment, domestic grief, and humbled pride, had quenched the fire of her eye, and wasted the smooth dignity of her forehead, -even yet showed the remains of that beauty which once was held unequalled in Europe. The apathy with which a succes sion of misfortunes and disappointed hopes had chilled the feelings of the unfortunate Princess, was for a moment melted by the sight of the fair youth's enthusiasm. She abandoned one hand to him, which he covered with tears and kisses, and with the other stroked with maternal tenderness his curled locks, as she endeavoured to raise him from the posture he had assumed. His father, in the meanwhile, shut the door of the chapel, and placed his back against it, withdrawing himself thus from the group, as if for the purpose of preventing any stranger from entering, during a scene so extraordinary. ""And thou, then,' said Margaret, in a voice where female tenderness combated strangely with her natural pride of rank, and with the calm, stoical indifference induced by the intensity of her personal misfortunes; thou, fair youth, art the last scion of the noble stem, so many fair boughs of which have fallen in our hapless cause. Alas, alas! what can I do for thee? Mare garet has not even a blessing to bestow. So wayward is her fate, that her benedictions are curses, and she has but to look on you and wish you well, to ensure your speedy and utter ruin. I-I have been the fatal poison-tree, whose influence has blighted and destroyed all the fair plants that arose beside and around me, and brought death upon every one, yet am myself unable to find it!'" We have but little to add to the observations we have already made. Every page bears proof to the writer's unrivalled talents, and displays his graphic powers, whether in single portraits or in active combination. He has withdrawn the veil of past centuries, rolled away the clouds and darkness which had settled on a romantic period, and presented to us a vivid representation of manners and customs, the relies of expiring feudalism, and thus revived for us the spirit of those stirring times which were not less remarkable for the high and glorious achievements they produced, than for the treachery and deceit that deformed their brightest annals. It is in these contrasts, and with these varying materials, that Sir Walter Scott works, and revels, the verisimilitude is perfect, no clumsy anachronisms shock the taste of the antiquary, and no historical discrepancies confuse the judgment of the well 524 REVIEW.-Sketches of British America. informed student of by-gone times ;yet over all is cast the hues of a brilliant Imagination, while a correct judgment and a classic purity of diction render the perusal as delightful to the general reader as it is refreshing to the scholar, and recreating to men of all enlightened and liberal professions. Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the THE object of the author is to recommend emigration to our North American possessions, "because the soil, climate, and productions adapt them for the support of as great a population as any country on earth; and in this respect they are infinitely more valuable than any of our other posses sions." Pref. v. He seems to consider the preference given to New Holland and Van Dieman's Land, as politically injurious, because there are not to be found the fisheries which form sailors; and he makes out a case concerning Newfoundland, which merits governmental attention. We are not qualified to give a sound opinion concerning our author's positions. It seems, however, to us, that, if Canada and its adjuncts may be deemed permanent parts of the British Crown, and to be treated as the best check of American ambition, by alarming it with war at its doors, then the population cannot be too speedily increased; but, if reliance cannot be placed upon these our northern possessions, then all our pains will, in of revolt, only render them more valuable acquisitions to the enemy. For our own parts, we do think that the elevation of Canada into a military nation, full of forts, garrisons, and soldiers, is the best mode of making the Americans desirous of cultivating peace with us, and that, as to sailors, the more natives of England are concerned in the maritime intercourse the better. Maritime settlers and soldiers cannot be too numerous. case mple Our author gives us very ample statistical accounts of these colonies, to which we must refer our readers. As to the severity and duration of the winters, he assures us, in p. 44,* that * We utterly disregard the opinion that the climate has not been ameliorated by the assartment. [June, the assartment of the woodlands has both abated and shortened those gloomy periods. We shall notice a fact which may serve to enlighten the public mind concerning our violent slave-trade abolitionists. "Slavery does not exist in Nova Scotia > the number of free negroes may be equal to 1500; part of whom came from the West India Islands, others from the United States, and the residue were born in the province. A settlement was laid out a few miles from Halifax for these people, and every facility afforded them by the provincial Government, yet they are still in a state of miserable poverty; while Europeans who have settled on woodlands under circumstances scarcely so favourable, thrive, with few exceptions. Whether the wretchedness of these negroes may be attributed to servitude and degradation having extinguished in them the spirit that endures present difficulties and privations, in order to attain future advantages; or to the consciousness that they are an unimportant and distinct race in a country where they feel that they must ever remain a separate people; or that they find it more congenial to their habits to serve others, either as domestic servants or labourers, by which they make sure of the wants of the day, certain it is that they prefer servitude, and generally live more comfortably in this condition, than they usually do when working on their own account. I do not by this observation nean to inculcate the revolting doctrine that slavery is the most happy state in which the unfortunate negroes in the West Indies and America can live; but I am certainly of opinion that, unless they are gradually prepared for personal liberty, they will, on obtaining their freedom, become objects of greater commiseration than they now are in a state of bondage; and the condition of the free negroes in Nova Scotia will fully substantiate this assertion." P. 126. Among the entertaining things (and they are numerous) is the following curious fact, that iron driven into a species of fir, called the hemlock tree, will not corrode even under water. P. 20. We rejoice in publications of this kind, because we are certain that ample acquaintance with the means and products of our colonies is exceedingly beneficial in a political and commercial view, The History and Antiquities of the Town and Minster of Beverley in the County of York, from the earliest period; with Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Abbies of 1899.] REVIEW. Oliver's History of Beverley. Watton and Meaux, the Convent of Hal- Hamlets comprised within the liberties of Engravings on Copper, Wood, and Stone, and other valuable Embellishments. By George Oliver, Vicar of Clee, a Corresponding Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Baldwin and Co. 4to. pp. 576. WE have ever considered ourselves admirers of the justly celebrated Dr. Whitaker, because we entertained an opinion that as a topographer and antiquary he was unequalled. It is true he occasionally indulged his powerful mind in certain eccentric flights of fancy, which time inay discover to be erroneous; but his works are the sterling productions of an intelligent and active intellect, and we have never ceased to regret the calamity which deprived the reading world of such a valuable friend. To the County of York, in particular, the loss of his services will be long felt; for it was hoped that his life would have been spared until he had furnished a complete History of every division of that extensive and interesting province. While engaged in these reflections, Mr. Oliver's book was placed in our hands; and although we have seen and admired some of his antiquarian productions, yet we opened the volume with a heavy heart, anticipating the apparent hopelessness of success in the illustration of any part of that County after the splendid and laborious performances of Whitaker. But we had scarcely read the first chapter, before our opinion began to waver; our apathy was superseded by an excited interest, and instead of skimming over the surface, we resolved really and truly to read the book through without omitting a single note. We have done so, and the result is, that although we cannot pronounce Mr. Oliver equal to our favourite, yet common justice obliges us to confess he follows closely in the rear; nor do we hesitate to admit, from the specimen before us, that we consider the author fully competent, in point of ability, to complete in that County what Whitaker has left unperformed. The town of Beverley stands on the 525 site of the ancient Petuaria, and was ge. The district, for rites Mysterious, rites of such strange potency, As done in open day would dim the Sun, Though throned in noontide brightness." Their occupancy was superseded by the Romans. Christianity was introduced, and a church was built on this spot in the second century, which was destroyed on the hostile inroad of the Saxons, but afterwards rebuilt on a larger and more permanent plan by the same people. In the seventh century, JOHN, surnamed oF BEVERLEY, flourished. He was elevated to the archi episcopal throne of York, and built a monastery and church at Beverley, which was subsequently made colle giate by Athelstan, with privilege of sanctuary; and a charter of liberties was conceded by the same Monarch to the townsmen. The bones of St. John were finally translated and enshrined, and his merit as a saint so universally recognised, that crowds of pilgrims annually visited his shrine to offer gifts and worship. Such was the situation of the town and church when the Norman conquest rendered the existence of both somewhat problematical. But Mr. Oliver has produced a series of monkish legends on the authority of Leland, which were in early times received as the ostensible reasons why the church of St. John was not desecrated by the ravages of the invading army. Certain it is that in the fiat of general destruction which was denounced against the whole district from the Humber to the Tees, after the unsuccessful revolt of the Anglo-Saxons in the North, the territories of St. John of Beverley were spared by a special mark of Royal clemency; and if we reject the miraculous causes of the Conqueror's regard for this hallowed precinct, the true ones do not appear. After this event, Beverley, like other towns, which were the residence of opulent men, proceeded in a gradual and uniform career of prosperity; churches and religious houses were REVIEW. Oliver's History of Beverley. 526 built and endowed; guilds or companies were instituted for the protection of trade, according to the policy of the age; and the town received public charters from almost every monarch who swayed the British sceptre. Its civil concerns were managed by a Provost, who was also the principal officer of the collegiate establishment under the Archbishop of York; and this high situation was filled by many men of great eininence. To mention [June, to have commenced, which cast a baleful shade over this once flourishing town, and served to perpetuate its degradation; yet how melancholy soever may be the task of tracing the steps of its gradual decline, we are, still relieved and invigorated by a distant prospect of progressive improvement and renewed importance. A tremendous hurricane came over the town in 1608, which did incalculable mischief. The minster being a prominent object, and much exposed to its fury, received considerable damage. Its superb windows were demolish only two, Thomas à Becket, Arch-ed, its roof stripped of the lead, and fears 1829.] bishop of Canterbury, whose history and fate are too well known to need a single observation here; and John Maunsell, Lord High Chancellor of England in the reign of Henry III. who supported an establishunent equal to that of a sovereign prince, and in addition to his secular offices, held in his own hands seven hundred eccle siastical preferments, and was reputed to be the richest man in England. The supremacy of the Church was paramount, and hence the abundance of miraculous legends, to which the concerns of the town gave birth. It should appear that a difference of opinion exists amongst the inhabitants respecting the probability of its having been originally a walled town. Mr. Oliver has bestowed some pains to decide this question; and from the evidence which he has adduced, we should incline to the opinion that doubts the existence of these bulwarks of defence. The borough possessed considerable influence before the Reformation; but the event which destroyed its church establishment alienated the ecclesiastical property, which was enormous, dissolved the connection between the town and the Archbishop of York, and so crippled its resources, that it gradually declined, till, in the year 1599, "The inhabitants were incapable of paying their just proportion of the taxes necessary for carrying on the business of the State. Their incapability was laid before the Queen, who, with her usual grace and kindness, remitted a portion of her demand, and gave the mayor and governors a discharge, by which the town was relieved from the payment of the sum of 3211.6s. due to the crown for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, fifteenths and tenths, granted to her Majesty, by an Act of Parliament passed in the 39th year of her reign (c. xxvii.) and further exonerating the town from the payment of fifteenths and tenths during the Royal pleasure. "A long train of misfortunes appear now were entertained for the safety of the fabric. "In the early part of the year 1610, the town was visited by the plague, which raged with such violence as to thin its population. Thirty-two persons died in July, and were buried in Saint Mary's churchyard; besides forty others whose remains were thrown into large holes without the performance of any religious ceremony. In August, the disease became so fatal, that in the parish of Saint Mary no entries are made in the registers. A lazaretto or pesthouse was erected on the ruins of the commandery of Saint John of Jerusalem, to which those who were infected fled for refuge. But the dead were so numerous, that they were buried in tumuli of considerable extent on the western side of the moat. It gradually diminished from August till November, when it entirely ceased." Amidst all this mass of calamity, the minster became dilapidated, the church of St. Nicholas was wholly destroyed, and the town still further impoverished during the dissentions that agitated the country in the reign of Charles I. in which the inhabitants bore a conspicuous part; for it was garrisoned first with the Royal troops, and afterwards with the Parliamentary soldiers during the whole continuance of that disastrous period, and more than one bloody battle was fought in its streets. this point of time, a party of London citizens, who were in the habit of attending a few of the principal fairs in the country, having been refused the accustomed privilege of exposing their goods for sale at Howden, on account probably of the decisive part they had taken against the King, solicited permission to vend their merchandise in the town of Beverley, at a moment when the inhabitants expected an at At tack from the rebel troops in Hull garrison. This favour was reluctantly granted, and for a time the bustle and activity of social traffic superseded the pressure of other cares; but the wily tradesmen by their brief connexion REVIEW. Oliver's History of Beverley. with the town, had auginented all the former fears of the inhabitants, by exaggerated statements of what was passing in the Metropolis; by inagnified details of kingly aggression, and the oppressive burdens imposed by arbitrary power; and soon succeeded in conjuring up before the imagination, a sanguinary and insatiable monster, under the name and shape of Charles Stuart, who delighted in blood, and was only happy in the midst of slaughter and devastation; whose design was to establish an absolute monarchy, and triumphantly erect Popery and the Inquisition on the ruins of the Protestant establishment. Long after these occurrences the town remained in a state of perfect depression; until, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the minster had become so much dilapidated, that its restoration was despaired of. The windows were shattered, the roof decayed, the gutters, battlements, and other parts perishing from neglect, and the whole transept was an absolute ruin. The north gable had fallen away from the building, as it appeared, irretrievably; for the upper part overhung the foundation, at least three feet and a half; and fears were entertained that it would speedily fall, and involve the choir and other connected and dependent parts in its own destruction. At this time (1706) Sir Charles Hotham and John Moyser, esq. were the representatives for Beverley; the latter of whom, happily for the town, was an adept in the science of architecture. His active mind contemplated the ruinous state of this once magnificent fabric, and he determined that it should be restored to its former splendour. Mr. Hawkesmoor, a London architect, was employed to survey the building, and make an estimate of the expense; and he pronounced that it would cost restore it to 527 water, and the projected improvements were commenced with spirit, and carried on with assiduity. During the progress of the work Sir Michael Warton died, and bequeathed by will the sum of 4000l. as a fund to keep the minster in perpetual repair. This increase of means gave a new impulse to the work, and many expensive decorations were added. The task of reinstating the north gable in its true perpendicular was the most arduous by an ingenious device of Mr. Thornand difficult, but it was accomplished ton, of York, who invented a machine with which he screwed up this ponderous wall, and replaced it in its true situation. The floor was taken up, and a new one laid in its present ornamental form. At this time also the nave was completely fitted up with new pews, a pulpit, and galleries for the performance of divine service, and all the plans of Mr. Moyser, both for ornament and utility, were carried into full effect. From this period the town has experienced a complete renovation; the haven has been repaired and rendered efficient for every mercantile purpose; the country round has been drained at an enormous expence; and many decorations, in the form of a Market Cross, Sessions Hall, House of Correction, spacious Gas Works, and sundry gentlemen's houses, have been added; which reflect much credit on the taste and spirit of the inhabitants. And its moral, civil, and religious construction are of no inferior order. tremely well executed; and is illusThe topographical department is extrated by a series of ingenious and learned observations in the form of notes, which afford entertainment, and convey information to the critical reader; and the public at large ought to be obliged to Mr. Oliver for his industry and perseverance, which have thrown much light on the history beauty and perfection. Sir Charles of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Hotham and Sir Michael Warton, the members, together with the Mayor and Aldermen of Beverley, petitioned the King to allow thein the privilege of using the materials of the decayed monastery of St. Mary at York; and a licence was granted, enabling them to pull down and carry away such materials as might be necessary for their purpose, during the period of three years. Accordingly, a great quantity of stone was removed to Beyerley by chapter on the minster church is singularly excellent, and exhibits an intimate knowledge of architecture and heraldry, as displayed in the details of an ecclesiastical edifice. But our remarks must draw towards a close. In his Sketches of the adjacent villages, Mr. Oliver has been happy, and we must compliment him on his modesty in making use of a phrase which he might justly liave exchanged into Histories. Much la |