deficient, and in those parishes of which he has not treated, have afforded still more essential service.

Whatever we could obtain from records, we have availed ourselves of; where we have not had an opportunity of access to the originals, we have quoted such abstracts as are to be found in public libraries. The abstracts of the inquisitions, post mortem, among the records of chancery, made by Mr. Thomas Cole, and now deposited in the British Museum, will be found frequently quoted under the name of Cole's escheats. The extensive collections relating to Cambridgeshire, by the Rev. William Cole, in the same valuable repository, have been looked over, and are occasionally, but not very frequently referred to; as we have preferred quoting the originals of the very numerons records and other MSS. which he had copied with such indefatigable industry. The more modern part of our account of the respective parishes has been collected from personal observation and inquiry, aided by various information respecting local circumstances, communicated by the clergy, and other obliging correspondents.

In our brief accounts of the several colleges in Cambridge, we have taken the history of their foundation, &c. from Parker and Fuller; their constitution and present state, from the last edition of the University Callendar; and, in most instances, either the master or some intelligent person in each college has kindly undertaken to revise and correct them.'

Under the parochial topography, we find, in its turn according to its initial letter in the alphabet, a particular account of the University and town of Cambridge; and the articles, although concise, are comprehensive, and contain a good portion of information in a little compass. To give our readers an idea of the work in this department, we present them with the account of Peter-House; premising that we have chosen it because it is the first in order, is of a moderate length, and, according to its size, is a tolerably fair specimen of the others:

The first endowed college at Cambridge was Peter-House, founded in 1257 by Hugh de Balsham, then sub-prior, afterwards Bishop of Ely, who having purchased two hostels belonging to the jesuits, and the friars of Penance, united them, and appropriated the building for the residence of students; but it was not till 1280, after his promotion to the see, that he endowed the college with revenues for the support of a master, 14 fellows, two bible-clerks, and eight poor scholars. After his death, a new college was built on the site of the new hostels, for which purpose the bishop gave, by will, the sum of 300 marks; he gave them also the church of St. Peter. Among the principal benefactors in subsequent times were Simon Langham, Bishop of Ely, who gave the rectory of Cherry-Hinton; bishop Montacute, who appropriated the church of Triplow, and gave the manor of Chewell in Haddenham; Margaret Lady Ramsay, who founded two fellowships and two scholarships, and gave two advowsons; and Dr. Hale, one of the masters, who gave the sum of 7000l., and two rectories. There are now fourteen fellowships on the old foundation; seven of the fellows must be from the northern, and seven

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from the southern, part of the kingdom, and only two from any county, excepting Cambridge and Middlesex, from each of which four natives are eligible. Besides these, there are eight fellowships, called bye-fellowships, the election to which is open, but the fellows have no vote, nor are they entitled to any office or preferment in the society. The present number of scholars is 48; the stipends are small; a few of them are in the patronage of Lord Melbourne, a preference being given to persons educated at Hertford school. There are ten livings in the gift of this society, two of which are in Cambridgeshire, one in Huntingdonshire, one in Leicestershire, one in Rutlandshire, one in Somersetshire, and four in Suffolk, besides the rectory of Knapton in Norfolk, of which the master has the alternate presentation: Triplow, which was given by Bishop Montacute, and is enumerated by Fuller amongst the livings in the gift of this college, is now in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely, who is visitor.

Among the eminent persons who have been members or masters of this society, are Cardinal Beaufort, Archbishop Whitgift, Andrew Perne Dean of Ely, Moryson the traveller, Crashawe the poet, Bryan Walton editor of the Polyglot Bible, Dr. Sherlock Dean of St. Paul's, Sir Samuel Garth, the learned Jeremiah Markland, and Gray the poet.

This college, which stands on the west side of Trumpingtonstreet, consists of two courts; the larger of which, being 144 feet by 84, has been cased with stone; the north side of the lesser court has a modern front: the chapel, which stands in this court was built by subscription in the year 1632; in the east window is a painting on glass of the crucifixion. On the north wall is the monument of Dr. Joseph Beaumont, master of the college, a learned divine, who died in 1699; on the opposite side that of Samuel Horne, a fellow, who died in 1634. On the floor are memorials for Dr. Bernard Hale, master, who died in 1663; Dr. Thomas Richardson, master, 1733; Dr. John Whalley, master, 1748; and Charles Beaumont, fellow, a great benefactor to the buildings, who died in 1726. The master's lodge is a detached building, on the opposite side of Trumpington

street.'

On the subject of Downing College, lately founded, we meet with these particulars:

The foundation of Downing College, not yet built, received the sanction of the royal charter, in the year 1800, after many years liti gation with the heirs at law of the founder, Sir George Downing, Bart., who, by his will, bearing date 1717, bequeathed all his valuable estates in the counties of Cambridge, Bedford, and Suffolk, in trust for that purpose, provided that such of his relations as he had left the reversion of them to, in succession, should die without issue. Sir Jacob Garratt Downing, the last of his relations, who had any claim under his will, died without issue in 1764. The college is intended to consist of a master, two professors, one of law, the other of medicine, and 16 fellows. The master, professors, and three fellows only, were appointed by the charter: the other fellowships are to be filled up by the King's sign manual, after the college shall be built,

The

The future masters are to be elected by the two Archbishops and the masters of St. John's College and Clare Hall, out of those who shall be, or have been, professors or fellows of the college. The professors are to be elected by the same persons, together with the master of Downing College. The annual salary of the master is 6ool.; that of the professors 2001. each; and of the fellows 1ool. each. The fellowships are to be held only for 12 years, unless by particular dispensation.

A spot of ground had been for some time fixed on and marked out for the site of the college, in the fields called the Lease, opposite the beast-market, and some plantations made: the first stone of the building was laid with much solemnity on the 18th of May 1807; and the work is now proceeding from the designs, and under the direction, of Mr. Wilkins, junior.'

Among the anecdotes of the parish of Willingham, we meet with this extraordinary account:

This parish was the birth-place of Thomas Hall, who, having attained almost to the height and proportions of manhood, died at the age of five years and ten months, on the 3d of September 1747. An account of this extraordinary boy was published in a pamphlet, called Prodigium Willinghamense, by Mr. Dawkes, a surgeon. Some particulars concerning him had been communicated, in 1744, to the Royal Society by Mr. Almond, of Willingham, and were published in the Philosophical Transactions; his age was then two years, and ten months; he had attained the height of three feet eight inches and a half, and was large in proportion. Mr. Almond states that he was so strong, as to be able to throw from his hand a blacksmith's hammer of seventeen pounds weight: his voice was a deep bass; he had the marks of puberty, and whiskers on his upper lip; at this time he was carried about as a show: it appears from Mr. Dawkes's pamphlet, that this boy grew at the rate of an inch a month, until the end of March 1745; in the next thirteen months he grew only five inches; in November 1746, his height was four feet five inches and five-tenths; the length of his foot was eight inches, and the calf of his leg ten inches six-tenths in circumference; he then weighed eighty-five pounds, or six stone and one pound. He was buried at the churchyard in Willingham, where it was intended that a tombstone should have been erected to his memory, but it does not appear that it was ever put in execution: an epitaph designed for it, written in Latin and English by Mr. Dawkes, is printed at the end of his pamphlet.' The number of parishes in the county of Cambridge is 165, and each of them is particularly but concisely described.

The history of the county of Chester is written on the same plan with that of the before-mentioned, but, for the reasons which have been already stated, is extended to nearly double the length of the other. It commences with the following particulars :

This county takes its name (which is an abbreviation of Chestershire, formerly written Ceastre-Scyre,) from the ancient city of Chester.

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In the earlier periods of our history, Cheshire formed part of the territories of a British tribe, called the Cornavii, When the Romans, after their invasion of Britain, divided it into two great districts, this county was included in Britannia Superior: the kingdom being afterwards subdivided into smaller provinces, it became part of Flavia Casariensis. After the departure of the Romans, Cheshire was repos. sessed by the Britons, and excepting a temporary occupation of it by Ethelfrid, King of Northumberland, appears to have escaped the Saxon yoke till the year 828, when it was conquered by Egbert, under whom the Saxon heptarchy was united. After this it is probable that it formed part of the dominions of the last Mercian kings, who were tributary to Egbert, and his successors: it is certain that upon the division of England into three great districts by Alfred, Cheshire was included in the one called Mercen-lage, or the Mercian Jurisdiction, and in the reign of that monarch, and his son, Edward the Elder, it was successively governed by Ethelred, Duke of Mercia, and his widow Ethelfleda, Álfred's daughter. Although the petition of the men of Cheshire to King Henry VI,, in 1450, intimates as much, it does not appear, from any other records, that the succeeding Dukes or Earls of Mercia, or of Chester, who governed this county under the Saxon and Danish monarchs before the conquest, were invested with larger powers than other governors of provinces; and it seems sufficiently evident, that it was not till the reign of William the Conqueror, that Cheshire obtained the privileges of a county palatine; that monarch having granted to his nephew, Hugh de Auranches, commonly called Hugh Lupus, the whole county of Chester to hold as freely by the sword, as he himself held the kingdom of England by the crown, In consequence of this extensive grant, the Earl had his barons, one of whom was hereditary constable, and another hereditary steward; assembled parliaments; established his courts of law, and exercised almost every act of regal authority: his descendants continued to enjoy this sovereignty till the death of John, Earl of Chester, in 1237; who leaving no male issue, King Henry III, seized on the county of Chester; gave other lands in lieu of it to the sisters of the deceased earl, and be stowed the earldom of Chester on his son, Prince Edward. King Richard II, having erected it into a principality, among his other royal titles, styled himself Princeps Cestria; this act was abrogated by his successor, and Cheshire again became a county palatine, and it con tinued under the King's eldest sons, who from time to time were created Earls of Chester, to be governed, as in the time of its ancient Earls, by a jurisdiction separate from, and independent of the parliament of England. In the reign of King Henry VI. an attempt was made to infringe the privileges of the palatine by the parliament at Leicester, which issued a commission for levying a subsidy in Cheshire, in common with the other counties. Upon this the abbots, priors, and clergy, the barons, knights, esquires, and commons of Cheshire, presented a petition to the King, in which they state that the Earls of Chester always had their high courts of parliament, to hold at their wills; that since the grant of the Earldom of Chester to Hugh Lupus, to be held by the sword, they had their court of com

mon

mon law, in which, as by the common law of England, the tenor of the indictments rap contra coronam et dignitatem, so in their court it was contra dignitatem gladii Cestria; that they had also their courts of chancery, of exchequer, and of common pleas; and had never sent any knights, citizens, or burgesses, to any parliament holden out of the county. The prayer of their petition was granted; they were discharged of the levy of the subsidy, and their separate jurisdiction and privileges being recognized and confirmed, remained in full force till the reign of King Henry VIII., when they were much abridged; but some of their privileges were continued, and were again confirmed in the year 1568, by Queen Elizabeth, who, by her patent of that date, recognizes the powers of the justice of Chester, and of the chamberlain; an officer, whose jurisdiction is described as being similar to that of a chancellor: it is declared by the same patent, that all pleas of lands and tenements, and all contracts, causes, and matters, rising and growing within the said county, (except in cases of error, foreign plea, or foreign vouch,) could legally be tried within the county of Chester only; and that the president and council of the principality of Wales had no jurisdiction within the county or city of Chester: for the enjoyment of their liberties, on the accession of every new Earl, the county was to pay a fine of 3000 marks, called a mize.

The authority of the judges and officers of the great session of the county palatine extends over the counties of Chester and Flint, and one seal is used for both counties; the king's writ does not run in the county palatine, but all writs issuing from the superior courts are directed to the chamberlain, (and not to the sheriff, as in other counties,) who issues his mandate to the sheriff.'

that

Respecting Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, we are informed

This county was, in ancient times, subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Mercia, who sometimes had their seat at Chester. Peter, who was bishop of this diocese in the reign of William the Conqueror, removed the episcopal see to Chester, placing it, as it is said, in St. John's church: his successors were, for more than three centuries, occasionally called by historians, Bishops of Chester, although his immediate successor, Robert de Lindsey, had removed the see from Chester to Coventry, where he had built a magnificent palace. Mathew Paris says, that in his days, the bishopric had three seats, Chester, Lichfield, and Coventry. In the year 1541, King Henry VIII. made Chester a distinct bishopric, assigning it for a diocese, the archdeacons of Chester and Richmond, severed from the sees of Lichfield and Coventry, and York: and comprising the whole of Cheshire and Lancashire; part of Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland; one chapelry in Denbighshire, and four parishes in Flintshire. the King's charter, the new bishopric was placed in the province of Canterbury; but by an act of parliament passed 33 Henry VIII., the diocese of Chester was transferred from the province of Canterbury to that of York. The original revenues of the bishopric consisted of the manor of Weston, in Derbyshire, the manor-house of which was

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intended