authors, in the compilation of a new work. Thus, Florence of Worcester transfers Asser's Life of Alfred, entire, to his own pages; Matthew of Westminster takes whole pages from Matthew Paris; and "Walsingham" is such a plagiary, that were he resolved into his component parts, scarcely a vestige of him would remain, instead of occupying, as he now does, 550 closely printed folio pages. Roger of Wendover continued his history down to the year 1235."

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II. MATTHEW PARIS was likewise a Monk of St. Alban's, and succeeded Wendover in the office of Historiographer. "He was," says Pits, "an elegant poet, an eloquent orator, an acute logician, a subtle philosopher, a solid divine, a celebrated historian, and, which crowned the whole, a man justly famous for the purity, integrity, innocence and simplicity of his manners." "He was also," adds Dr. Henry," an exquisite sculptor iu gold, silver, and other metals, and the best painter of the age in which he flourished." On terms of intimacy with his own Sovereign, Henry III., he was courted and trusted by foreign princes. Haco, King of Norway, with whom he was in habits of correspondence, availed himself of his knowledge and piety in restoring Monastic discipline in his Kingdom, and in compliance with a Bull from Pope Innocent IV., he made a Voyage to this country in A.D. 1248. It was during his residence in Norway, that he acted as Ambassador for Louis IX. King of France. "No Historian," says Dr. Henry, "who has recorded the transactions of his own countrymen, in his own times, can be compared with Matthew Paris for intrepidity. He censures without ceremony, and in the plainest language, the vices and follies of persons of the highest rank and greatest power. Though he was a Monk, he paints the insatiable avarice, intolerable tyranny, unbounded luxury, and abandoned perfidy of the Court of Rome, in stronger colours than any Pro

testant writer hath done. From all his writings, he appears to have been a man of genius, taste, and learning.” He gives the History of the Reign of eight of our Kings, from William the Conqueror to Henry III.; and so forcibly does he lead you back to the events he describes, that it is as difficult to tear oneself away from the bewitching pages of his History, as to leave off in the middle of a well written and amusing novel. "He rejoices," says Sharon Turner, "in the acquired liberties of the nation; notices without acrimony the faults of the Royal Administration; and states with a fair censorial impartiality, the avarice and tyranny of the Popedom. I THINK I HAVE NEVER READ A MORE HONEST HISTORIAN." He died at St. Alban's in 1259, having been a member of that fraternity since January 21, A.D. 1217.

III. WILLIAM RISHANGER, like the two preceding writers, was a Monk of St. Alban's, and Historiographer of the Abbey, or rather, according to Bishop Nicolson, Historiographer Royal. He is indebted to his predecessor for his celebrity, and as the continuator of the valuable Annals of Matthew Paris, whose impartiality he copies, deserves the gratitude of posterity.* He died, at a very advanced age, A.D. 1312.

IV. MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER is supposed to have flourished in the year 1377; but Bishop Nicolson, perhaps more correctly, places his death A.D. 1307, ascribing the continuation of his Annals to another hand. As has been already stated, he copied and transcribed largely from Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris. "He wrote with so scrupulous a veracity, that he is never found to wander a tittle from the truth; and with such diligence that he omitted nothing worthy of remark." He is com

The Camden Society has recently published his "Chronicle of the Barons' Wars," edited by Mr. Halliwell.

mended also for his acuteness in tracing, and his judgment in selecting facts, his regularity in the method of his plan, and his skill in Chronological Computations. With the exception of Bishop Nicolson, he is highly esteemed by every writer on the subject, and has deservedly been accounted "one of the most venerable fathers of English History." He was a Benedictine Monk of the Abbey of Westminster, from which he derives his name.

The Entire Series will probably not exceed Twenty Volumes, and contain the following writers :-ASSER; BEDE; EADMER; GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH; GILDAS; GESTA STEPHANI; INGULPH; MATTHEW PARIS; MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER; NENNIUS; RICHARD Of CirenCESTER; RICHARD OF DEVIZES; RISHANGER; ROGER OF WENDOVER; SAXON CHRONICLES; SPROTT; WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY; WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, and FRAGMENTS OF OTHER WRITERS.

FIVE HUNDRED COPIES only are printed, of which 250 are already subscribed for. As each author is sold separately, the Publisher can only pledge himself to supply the entire Series to those gentlemen who may favour him with their names, for which purpose

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES WILL BE RECEIVED BY ALL BOOK

SELLERS.

12, King William Street,

March 1st, 1843.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

MORNING HERALD.

“This admirable publication appears to be carried on steadily towards its completion. In placing thus within the reach of the general reader, and in the attractive guise of well-executed and inexpensive versions, the works of the Old Chroniclers of Britain, the Editor has opened to the general refreshment those ancient springs of historic lore, which have hitherto been kept sealed and secluded for the sole use of the antiquarian student and book-worm. Dr. Giles has acquitted himself of his editorial duty with much judgment and care. The manner in which the Publisher has done his part in producing this National Work of the Monkish Historians, is also in every way much to his credit."

MORNING CHRONICLE.

"We sincerely hope that the success of these publications will be such as to induce the Editor to make the Series complete. It is really a matter of national interest that the early Historians (and especially those who wrote of contemporary events) should be made accessible to English readers. No modern work, however superior in accuracy from the collation of different accounts, can give such vivid impressions of a distant age, as a contemporary writer does unconsciously. The present series is well entitled to the attention and favour of Englishmen. It is edited with judgment, and got up with elegance."

THE ERA.

"It is scarcely credible, that whilst the press has continued to produce numerous re-impressions of the Histories of Hume and Smollett, Henry and Goldsmith, those great sources of information, the Monkish Chroniclers, have been suffered to remain entombed in the obscurity of a dead language. How forcibly they depict the passing occurrences which they narrate, carrying the reader back with them to the time in which they lived, and introducing him personally among the scenes they describe! The transactions of our ancestors must always possess greater interest for us as Englishmen than the history of any foreign nation. We hail, therefore, with pleasure, these Monkish Historians, translated from the Latin, and edited by Dr. Giles."

WILLIAM STEVENS, PRINTER, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR.