rightly judging that I was not one of their game or stamp." At this time some of the bowling-greens remained that had distinguished this luxuriant quarter; for he says, "I passed by one of them, where it was as agreeable to observe the facility with which the bowl ran over the smooth green, as to see persons playing.” BAYEUX TAPESTRY.-A correspondent informs us that, some years since, the Society of Antiquaries devoted a considerable portion of its annual funds to the completion of coloured engravings of the Bayeux tapestry, which has been several years before the world. It was understood that the Society intended to publish a paper embracing the various communications and dissertations upon this interesting subject. Several years, however, have elapsed without so desirable an object having been accomplished. It is therefore suggested to us to call the attention of the officers of that body to the point, in the hope that some of them will be found sufficiently zealous to devote a little time to the arrangement of the observations which have been communicated, and to see that they are given in such a form as will render them a proper accompaniment to the plates, so as to make a perfect volume. In compliance with this request, we do call upon them, But will they obey when we do call on them ?" We fear, indeed, that nothing short of a voice sufficiently powerful to fill the last trumpet will have any effect upon the present officers of that institution. CRITICAL NOTICES. Debrett's Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in two volumes. Seventeenth edition. 1828. The Annual Peerage of the British Empire, 2 vols. 1828. [By Anne, Eliza, and Maria Innes.] A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, exhibiting, under strict alphabetical Arrangement, the Present State of those exalted Personages, with their Armorial Bearings, &c. By John Burke, Esq. A new and enlarged edition. London. 1828. 1 vol. pp. 724. THE last and present season have been so unusually fertile in the manufacture of "Annual Peerages," that we expect we shall performi a useful act by examining their various merits; because, as very few persons purchase more than one of them, it is necessary that they should possess a guide to the best. "Place aux dames" is a rule as obligatory upon critics as upon courtiers. The Misses Innes have arranged their volumes upon a new plan, which, with a little trouble, may be readily understood. In the compilation of their work the fair authoresses have displayed very creditable industry; and to those who may be satisfied with brief particulars of the existing members of families of our nobility we sincerely recommend their elegant little volumes. The statements which they contain are more accurate, and were apparently obtained from more authentic sources, than those which occur in productions of higher pretensions. Whilst bestowing our approbation upon every part of the "Annual Peerage" in which its authoresses are concerned, we cannot refrain from noticing the publisher's trick of calling the present a new edition, when the sole difference between it and the original work consists in adding a list of peers deceased since the commencement of the printing," or more truly since March 1827, and placing the figures 1828, instead of 1827, in the title-page. The "General and Heraldic Dictionary" consists of short articles on the families of all the peers and baronets of England, Ireland, and Scotland, in alphabetical order; and by those persons who want the appearance of a great deal for their money, and are indifferent whether what they find be true or false, this volume will be eagerly purchased. With this remark we should have dismissed it, but for the following arrogant preface: "The absolute want of any book of reference, appertaining to those elevated ranks, the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom, in which the slightest confidence, as AN AUTHORITY, could be reposed, suggested the compilation of the work now submitted to the public. Deeming books of this description only valuable so far as they can be easily understood and implicitly relied upon, the compiler," &c. . . . " He confidently trusts that he shall finally succeed in the object he had originally in view,— that of completing a work upon the hereditary dignities of the British empire which may, in his own and in after times, be consulted as an AUTHORITY." It therefore becomes desirable to inquire, how far the work thus pompously ushered into the world is calculated to justify so unusual a flourish; and to judge, by the present specimen, what are the probabilities in favour of the editor's accomplishing his modest object. We pass over the introduction, in which the history of the Peerage, and of its various ranks, is discussed in eight or nine pages, and open the volume at hazard. Mr. Burke's talent seems chiefly to consist in tracing descents to a period which no other genealogist would dream of approaching within three or four centuries, or, to use his own words, "in deducing the pedigrees from the remotest periods," and in connecting individuals with families, not only without a shadow of proof, but sometimes in direct opposition to a decision of the House of Lords. We are informed, for example, that the present Earl of Aldborough traces his pedigree to the time of Alfred! and that the name of Turnour, Earls Wintertoun, is derived from the ancient place of residence of the family, in Normandy, "La Tour Noir!" The ancestors of the Countess of Dysart were, according to Mr. Burke, bell-ringers. He says, "The very ancient and illustrious family of Tollemache is of Saxon descent, as the name denotes, being derived from the Saxon word toll-mack,' tolling of the bell." Sir Thomas Lethbridge is said to be descended from Lothbroke, a Dane, who landed in England in 970! though it is notorious that his pedigree, in the College of Arms, commences with his father's great-grandfather, whose baptismal name is not known. And we are told, with irresistible gravity, that Sir Robert Williams " deduces his pedigree, with singular perspicuity, from Brutus! son of Silvius Posthumius!! son of Ascanius!!! son of Æneas!!!! which Brutus was the first king of this island, and began his reign above 1100 years before the birth of Christ!!!!!!" That Mr. Burke did not invent this nonsense we admit, nor will we impeach his intellects by supposing that he believes it; but he betrays a lamentable want of judgment in giving such assertions a place in his volume. A more severe expression is deserved when we find him reviving the exploded story of the descent of Sir Egerton Brydges from the Lords Chandos, especially as he refers to the decision of the House of Lords on the subject, which he mentions in the following words: "The claim was contested before the House of Lords from 1790 to 1803; the opposition was strenuous, and the Lords came to a resolution, by which the right, so far as a committee could go, was suspended;" a sentence which is intended to mean, that the Lords' committees negatived the claim. Is Mr. Burke ignorant, that the arms which he correctly assigns to the present Baronet are not the arms of the ancient house of Brydges, but a recent grant to the individual whom he represents as "persevering in the claim," and who "asserts himself" to be legally entitled to the barony? The account of the ancestors of Sir Jonathan Wathen Waller is not true. It is well known that that gentleman is not descended from the ancient family of Waller, that the arms which he bears were recently granted to him, and of course are not those of the family from which he wishes it to be believed his maternal grandmother derived her origin'. The statement of Colonel Berkeley relative to his pretensions to the earldom of Berkeley is curious, and proves how readily the editor will insert whatever may be sent to him. Did he learn from the same quarter, that the present Earl of Berkeley is also Baron Mowbray, Segrave, and Breaus [Braose] of Gower? Among the Baronets, the title "Payne" occurs, though it is not to be found in Debrett's Baronetage, simply because it is extinct. Whether Mr. Burke is more correct in his account of the existing state of families than of their ancestors, will appear from the following examples: HERALDIC DICTIONARY. Sir Edmund Antrobus. No issue given. Sir Charles Burton, succeeded to the Baronetcy in 1735, ninety-two years since. Mr. Burke gravely states in a note, that he has not had any communication from that gentleman, and therefore has no authority for the date of accession but the works which have preceded him. When he does hear from the worthy Baronet, he will perhaps inform his readers. Sir John Cope. No wife mentioned. Sir Hugh Everard succeeded his brother in 1742. THE FACT. Has a son, and other children. Sir Charles succeeded in 1705, and died in great poverty, unmarried, when the title became extinct.-Nichols's Leicestershire. Has been married many years. According to Mr. Burke, the Baronet uses the motto "Azincourt;" but this must be a mistake; for it would be a libel on Sir Wathen to believe he could commit so silly an act as to attempt to commemorate the supposed deeds of an individual from whom he cannot establish his descent. The preceding are a very few specimens of the diligence displayed in the compilation of the "General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage," and which may convince our readers of the justness of its claim to be a book of authority. It has, however, one merit, which is not possessed by any existing work of the kind, namely, notices of the Baronets of Scotland and Ireland. These titles are omitted in Debrett's Baronetage, a work in its present state so bad as to be only one degree better than Mr. Burke's. The arms in the “General Dictionary" are wretchedly engraved, and if the editor superintended them, he must be woefully ignorant of even the rudiments of heraldry. Of this two or three examples are sufficient: The arms assigned to Sir Charles Hardinge are those of the late Baronet impaled with his wife's, with the chief of honorary augmentation granted to his grandfather drawn over both coats. We remember seeing them so painted on the hatchment on the late Baronet's house, and which, we presume, is Mr. Burke's authority. Another instance is that of the coat of Warren, which is attributed to Waller'. In the old editions of Debrett's Peerage, the arms of the Marquess of Hastings are erroneously represented with the coat of Rawdon instead of Hastings in the first quarter, whence Mr. Burke has copied them. Professedly "impelled by a sense of gratitude for former favour," but more truly, we believe, influenced by fear of the effects of the competition they have experienced, the proprietors of "Debrett's Peerage" have made important improvements in the seventeenth edition of that work; and though it is still far from what it might, and perhaps will be made, it is infinitely more valuable than any other Peerage of the day, though the proprietors judiciously disclaim so ambitious an expectation as Mr. Burke has avowed. The improve 1 Plate 91. ments in this edition do not so much consist in a new set of plates, for though they are much better than the former ones, and exhibit the charges more correctly and distinctly, they are not what they ought to have been, as in the typographical department. The issue of each peer is given in a much smaller type, and a distinct paragraph is assigned to every child, so that the confusion which prevailed in the former editions is completely avoided; for the eye need no longer be fatigued by tracing from whom the eternal 1 John, 2 William, 3 Robert, &c. were descended. Considerable care has been obviously employed in correcting and adding to the various statements; and we believe that the editor has, like Mr. Burke, sent circular letters to the nobility for particulars of their families. It is amusing to observe the places where the editor has been indebted to the "Annual Peerage," or to Mr. Burke, and where, from having the fear of plagiarism before his eyes, he has shrunk from copying from them. In some cases he has repaid the favours they conferred upon him, in following his former mistakes, by adopting their blunders; and in others, he has omitted to benefit by their corrections and additions. This was an unnecessary squeamishness, for they have not hesitated to copy whatever suited their purpose from the labours of the venerable Debrett. Could they then, in common fairness, refuse to bestow a fact or two upon his descendant, adorned as he is in red cloth, and emerged from the fat, dumpy, citizen-like figure by which he was known for sixteen generations, into the sleek, genteel form in which he now presents himself? Ladies are never ungrateful ; hence we will answer for the amiable Misses Innes' allowing the invisible Mr. Debrett to sport at large over their preserves; whilst Mr. Burke, with the generosity peculiar to his country, would, we are sure, offer his hand to his rival, and say, “All is fair in war-take and take, and welcome." Upon Mr. Debrett's appearance the next season, we beg to apprise him, that we shall expect, 1st, That the age of every peer will be mentioned, even if he be obliged to ask his rivals for the information: 2nd, That no feeling of gallantry will induce him to suppress the ages of the wives, or of the married, and especially of the unmarried daughters of peers: 3rd, That he will not retain his present affectation of omitting to call illegitimate issue by their proper name: 4th, That if a nobleman marries his mistress, the newly-made "honest woman” may receive the honours due to her promotion: 5th, That considerable pains be taken in ascertaining the dates and causes of noblemen assuming names; so that a man who calls himself Smith, or Jackson, instead of Beauchamp, or Seymour, may not lie under the reproach of having uselessly evinced bad taste: 6th, That no insinuation will occur, that a family of the same name as an ancient nobleman sprung from the same ancestor, when it derived its origin from a much humbler source1: and, 7th, That accurate blazon of the arms, crests, and supporters of the peers will be given under their respective titles, For instance, in the case of Howard, Earl of Wicklow: "This branch of the family of Howard," &c. |