speaks with great power and earnestness; his arguments and eloquence, however, being chiefly levelled against the war party in America. There is novelty in his views and manner of treatment; and to every Englishman the reasoning is valuable, where he endeavours to prove, that any two nations might preserve the whole world at peace; but especially that if the people of this country and of America should perseveringly and strenuously demand peace, their rulers would never dare to provoke and wage war with one another. His specific remedy is also worthy of serious consideration; his argument being that free trade is the sure and true bond of unity between nations.

ART. XX.-The Topographer and Genealogist. Part I.

This work is to be continued quarterly, the principal feature in the first part, being "a specimen, on a limited scale, of such a peerage as our modern resources ought to enable us to produce." We are also told in the introductory observations relative to the ancient Earldoms of England, that “it is proposed to compile, for the present work, the early history and genealogy of some of the English Earldoms," that being the "oldest of our titles of peerage.' The Earldom of Lincoln is the first of the subjects. The pedigree of the family of Hord; a Survey in the time of Philip and Mary, of estates late belonging to the Earl of Devon, &c. ; a Catalogue of Monumental Art, existing in parish churches, Bedforshire being the division of the country first introduced; and the Bibliography of Genealogy and Topography, form some of the other branches of the partbefore us. The work, of course, is one that will not be very interesting to readers who have not made some progress in heraldic and antiquarian lore; although there are here and there curious facts and notices which address themselves to all. The compilation appears to us to display extensive knowledge in the departments which properly fall under the title of the book, and a warm zeal for such studies as Dugdale has recommended to multitudes, infecting them with an unquenchable enthusiasm in their pursuit. We cite a specimen taken from the chapter on the ancient earldom of Lincoln.

"The dignity of Earl within the shire of Lincoln first appears in the reign of Stephen. According to all accounts hitherto accepted, the Norman chieftain upon whom it was then conferred, derived some hereditary claims to it from Anglo-Saxon ancestors, and even by descent from the Saxon Earls of Mercia. But, as this statement rests only upon the assertions of monkish genealogists, a most blundering race, and indeed in great measure, if not entirely, upon the chronicle and charters of Croyland abbey, one of the most voluminous series of monastic fabrications, we can only give partial credit to its representations, so far as we find them supported by sounder authorities. "Camden says, "Comites suos Lincolniensis hic ager jactat, post Eggam qui anno 716 floruit et Morcarum Saxones, Gulielmum de Romara Normannum e Lucia Morcari sorore et Rogero Fitz-Gerold Romari natum," &c.

"Of Egga nothing more be said but that his name occurs

can

among the witnesses of the fictitious charter, purporting to be that of the foundation of Croyland abbey by King Ethelbald, in the year 716.

"Earl Morcar is a person of more certain historical existence. He was the son of Algar Earl of Mercia, or Leicester; his brother Edwin is said to have succeeded to the same dignity, whilst Morcar himself was Earl of Northumberland; and their sister Edgiva, or Algytha, was the Queen of the unfortunate Harold.

The monkish chroniclers have further stated that there was another sister named Lucy, who is made by them the mother of William de Romara, Earl of Lincoln, and of the second Ranulph Earl of Chester. Of her more presently. But first of her assumed grandmother the Countess Godeva.

"THE COUNTESS GODEVA or Godgifa, whose name is still popular in Warwickshire as the gracious authoress of the liberties of Coventry, and who was undeniably a great benefactress to the church of that city, was the wife of Earl Leofric, the father of Earl Algar. Leofric died in 1057, and Godeva probably survived. Either to that cause, or to her having great power over her property even during her husband's life, we may ascribe the frequent mention of her name. She joined with her husband in the foundation of the monastery of Stow, near Lincoln.

ART. XXI.-The Wives of England. By Mrs. ELLIS.

"The Wives of England; their Relative Duties, Domestic Influence, and Social Obligations," by the author of the "Women" and the "Daughters" of England, completes the series of these elegant and searching works. The counsel and the cautions which Mrs. Ellis urges with singular closeness and without the slightest attempt to flatter the vanity of her sex, either by exaggerating their qualities and misrepresenting the sphere of their actions, or by depreciating the character and rank of the lords of the creation, contrast strongly with the tone and lessons attempted to be conveyed by the author of "Woman and her Master," and other female writers who have undertaken the championship of the sisterhood. The knowledge, earnestness, and polished force of the writer have combined in a manner remarkably felicitous for the practical ends contemplated by her, and must send home lastingly to the heart of many a young wife the shafts of conviction, and the precise nature of the difficulties to be encountered, the disappointments to be endured, and the duties to be performed in the married state. There is strong moral healthfulness throughout the volume, which cannot but impart itself more or less to her teachable readers, and tend to make woman real instead of artificial.

We have alluded to Mrs. Ellis's impartial dealing in stating plain and emphatic truths to her own sex, when measured with the other. She distinctly admits the superiority of man, as will be seen in the following passage :

Beyond this, however, it may be said to be a necessary part of man's nature, and conducive to his support in the position he has to maintain, that he should, in a greater degree than woman, be sufficient unto himself. The

nature of his occupations, and the character of his peculiar duties, require this. The contending interests of the community at large, the strife of public affairs, and the competition of business, with the paramount importance of establishing himself as the master of a family and the head of a household, all require a degree of concentrated effort in favour of self, and a powerful repulsion against others, which woman, happily for her, is seldom or never called upon to maintain.

"The same degree of difference in the education of men and women,leads, on the one hand, to a more expansive range of intellect and thought, and on the other, to the exercise of the same faculties upon what is particular and minute. Men, consequently, are accustomed to generalize. They look with far-stretching views to the general bearing of every question submitted to their consideration. Even when planning for the good of their fellowcreatures, it is on a large scale, and most frequently upon the principle of the greatest good to the greatest number. By following out this system, injustice is often unconsciously done to individuals, and even a species of cruelty exercised, which it should be woman's peculiar object to study to avert; but at the same time, to effect her purpose in such a way as neither to thwart nor interfere with the greater and more important good."

She even makes it out that the lords have a vast deal of inconvenience and annoyance to put up with through the usages of society and the tyranny of politeness, in the forced services which they have to perform, for the fair.

"It is too much regarded merely as a thing of course for men to be obliging and attentive; and it is too little remembered at what cost to them we purchase their help and their indulgence. Nor is it only in solitary instances or for especial favourites that these efforts have to be made. It is the sacrifice of a whole lifetime for a man to be polite. There is no fireside so warm but he must leave it on a winter's night to walk home with some female visiter, who has probably no charm for him. There is no situation so eligible but he must resign it if required. There is no difficulty he must not encounter, no fatigue he must not endure, and no gratification he must not give up; and for whom? All would do this perhaps for one being in the world-perhaps for more; but to be willing to do it every day and every hour, even for the most repulsive or the most selfish and requiring of their sex, there is a martyrdom of self in all this, which puts to shame the partial kindness and disinterestedness of woman."

Among the forewarnings given by our authoress, there is one that we opine will hardly be anticipated by any young lady on the eve of her marriage, but which is yet calculated to be so useful that none should sneer at it; for it concerns the matter of jealousy. Having remarked that the manner of man's love differs from woman's, in that while "she employs herself through every hour in fondly weaving one beloved image into all her thoughts, he gives to her comparatively few of his," we are informed of the rival who will daily usurp his attention and distract his thoughts.

"It is a wise beginning, then, for every married woman to make up her mind to be forgotten through the greater part of every day; to make up her

mind to many rivals, too, in her husband's attentions, though not in his love; and among these, I would mention one whose claims it is folly to dispute, since no remonstrances or representations on her part will ever be able to render less attractive the charms of this competitor. I mean the newspaper; of whose absorbing interest some wives are weak enough to evince a sort of childish jealousy, when they ought rather to congratulate themselves that their most formidable rival is one of paper."

These short specimens, we observe, have commanded the admiration of a weekly journalist. But they are in no respect superior to numberless paragraphs and passages in the volume, which will, like its predecessors of the series, to a certainty go from edition to new edition at a rate scarcely to be matched by any recent publications. The large circulation of such useful and unavoidably influential works, neutralises in some degree the gloomy picture which appears in our pages, of the condition of women in England, of the middle classes.

INDEX.