Kтav and adding oa, we shall have E-Kтav-σα, with a v before a, which we see the genius of the Greek language, if not of the Latin, had a tendency to repudiate; and the Greek being thus driven from the regular form of the first aorist, either threw out the σ, as in eveiμa, eonva, or adopted, with the short instead of the long root, that of the imperfect tense, making the second aorist -Krav-ov. In the second future, which would have been formed by adding σω to the short root, as τύπ-σω, κτεν, the short root of κτείνω would have made κTév-ow, with the objectionable concurrence of the close palate letter and s, which seem to have been parted by an e, making the future tense κτενέσω, whence by syncope of a we have κτενέω and by contraction κτενῶ. Thence we see why so few verbs have in use both a first and second aorist, and why the second aorist shape is taken mostly by verbs ending in the liquids, and why they have no first future tense. We cannot wonder that some few verbs are found of both forms, any more than that we have two past tenses, brake and broke, spake and spoke. W. BARNES.

MR. URBAN, Winchester, Dec. 10. THE traveller, in viewing the antiquities of this city, will not fail to have noticed, near the Westgate, (the only one I am sorry to say remaining,) an obelisk bearing an inscription commemorative of the plague which desolated the country about the year 1666. In no place is it said to have been felt with greater severity than here, the dead being carried out by cart-loads at a time, and buried on the eastern downs.

Almost all trade and intercourse were at end, nor was it without great difficulty and under strict precaution the country-people could be induced to bring their provisions to market. The custom was for the buyers and sellers to keep at a considerable distance from each other whilst they made their bargain; the commodities were then left by the country-people upon a large flat stone, now forming the basis of the obelisk, and fetched away by the inhabitants, who, in return, threw the money agreed on into a vessel of water provided for that purpose.

Upon the ceasing of the contagion,

the surviving inhabitants, in a spirit of benevolence and charity, formed themselves into a society for the relief of the orphans and widows, under the title of the "Natives' Society."

As it may afford interest to some of your readers to see an account of the first meeting held in 1669, and the manner of its celebration, I send you a verbatim copy of it, extracted from the original book in which every year is entered.

THE ACCOMPT of ye first yeares feast held att St. Johns House in ye Citty of Winchester on ye 26th day of August in ye yeare 1669 for ye natives of ye said Citty as followeth,

PRIORY OF LEWES IN SUSSEX.

made. And so the monks of Clugny were

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

I William de Warren, and Gundreda my wife, being desirous of making a pilgrimage to St. Peter in Rome, visited many monasteries in France and Burgundy for the sake of devotion. But when we arrived in Burgundy we learnt that we could not safely proceed owing to the war which was then being carried on between the Pope and the Emperor.† So we turned aside to the Monastery of Clugny, a great and holy Abbey in honour of St. Peter. And there we paid our devotions, and sought his assistance, and finding that the holiness, piety, and charity of the place was very great, and that we were honourably treated by the good prior and holy convent, who received us into their society and fellowship, we began to feel love and devotion towards this order and house above all the other houses which we had seen. But Lord Hugh, their holy abbot, was not then at home. And whereas I and my wife, by the advice of my Lord Lanfranc Archbishop, both previously, and especially at that time, had resolved to found a religious house, as a satisfaction for our sins, and for the good of our souls, we now thought that to no order should we so gladly dedicate it as to that of Clugny. Wherefore we sent and requested Lord Hugh and his holy brotherhood, to assign to us two, three, or four monks, in order that we might grant to them the church beneath the castle of Lewes, built of old in honour of St. Pancras, which we had lately converted from wood to stone, and together therewith as much land, cattle, and goods, as would suffice for the support of twelve monks. But the holy abbot was at first very reluctant to listen to our petition, on account of our foreign land lying so far off, and across the sea. But afterwards we obtained permission from our Lord King William to introduce the Cluniac monks into England, and the abbot having on his part requested the consent of the king, gave and granted to us four monks, Master Lanzo, and three companions. To these we gave at the outset all we had promised, confirming it by a charter, which we sent to the abbot and convent of Clugny, for they would not send us the monks till the king, as well as ourselves, had confirmed, according to promise, all the gifts which we had

* Monast. Anglic. vol. I. p. 615, and vol. V. p. 1. New Edit.

+ S. Gregory VII. and Henry IV.

English ground. But after the death of my master, King William, on the arrival of his son in England to assume the throne, there being much strife concerning his succession, and doubts as to the result, much peril also daily accruing to myself, Master Lanzo, the prior, and my monks, reminded me that the deed of confirmation of the gifts which I had made to them at the first was at Clugny, and that they had no evidence thereof, and owing to the perilous times that were at hand, I ought to secure to them as much as possible the gifts and grants I had made. This, having advised with my friends, I willingly did by means of another charter which is as

follows:

Know all men present and future, that I William de Warren, Earl of Surrey, have given and granted to God and St. Peter, and the abbot and convent of Clugny, the church of St. Pancras, which is situate under my castle of Lewes. And to the same St. Pancras and the monks of Clugny who shall serve God in the church of St. Pancras for ever, for the health of my soul, and the soul of Gundreda my wife; and for the soul of King William my master, who brought me into England, and by whose permission I introduced the said monks, and who confirmed my former donation; also for the health of my mistress Queen Matilda, my wife's mother; also for the health of my lord King William, his son, after whose arrival in England I gave this charter, and who made me Earl of Surrey; also for the health of all my heirs, and the faithful in Christ, living and dead;-I have likewise given, for the support of the said monks of St. Pancras, the messuage called Falemel, and all the land I hold there in demesne, with all the hide of land which Eustace holds in Burgamel, appertaining to the said messuage. The messuage also called Carlenton, which my mistress Queen Matilda gave to my wife Gundreda and myself, and which my master King William granted and confirmed in aid of the endowment of our new monks, being all our possessions in that place. And in Swansbergh five hides and a half. The land also which is called the Island, near the monastery, with its meadows and pastures. Also all the land which I hold in demesne within the Island wherein the monastery is situate, with the mill which is on the pool near thereto, and with one suburb adjoining called Lewin.

In Tuniac, the land which belonged to Norman, the rood of land which is called Redrewell, and the other rood called Stanford. In Wasteden, two hides with

MR. URBAN,

I HAVE prefixed the foregoing remark to this paper, because it first suggested to me the idea of selecting and translating some of the ancient charters and documents relative to religious foundations, one of which I now offer to you. Commencing with that to which Mr. Hunter has referred, I propose, should it prove interesting, to follow it up with a few other specimens, varying, as much as may be, in their character and incidents. The charters will by this means, I trust, become interesting to the general reader, while for those who care to pursue the subject further, they will tend to illustrate the motives by which the founders of religious houses were actuated, the spirit in which the monks entered upon their new abodes, and the prevailing temper and character of the period during which such houses were chiefly founded. In England, this period extended from the Norman conquest in 1060, to the year 1216, witnessing, during its continuance, the foundation of about 350 monasteries, five sevenths (that is) of the whole number dissolved by Henry VIII.* These charters are likewise calculated to throw light on several collateral points, legal and historical, and each reader will probably find the number of these increase in proportion to the degree of previous knowledge which he brings with him to their perusal.

Even to one not more conversant with these subjects than myself, the following document throws light, for instance, on the character of William 1. and on the mode in which, during the period referred to, tithes were allotted by the Lords of the Soil, not uniformly to the parish church, but to such religious objects, parochial or otherwise, as they thought most bene

* Anderson's Hist. of Commerce, II. 41. GENT. MAG. VOL. XIX.

ficial for God's service. I will draw attention to these points in my notes to the translation, and only preface it further by a short notice of those whose names it introduces to the reader.

William de Warren was one of the Norman Earls who came over with the Conqueror, and Gundreda, his wife, was the Conqueror's daughter. De Warren bore the title of Earl in Normandy, and received from his father-in-law extensive grants of forfeited lands. The charter opens with an account of the simple manner in which the Earl and his wife travelled through France, of the devotion with which they visited the several monasteries there, and of the motives which led them to select the Cluniac order for their new foundation. then proceeds to narrate the steps which were taken towards the establishment of the priory, and recites the several gifts of land and tithes made to it. The founder concludes by recommending it to the fostering care and patronage of his heirs, solemnly calling down upon them blessings or curses, according as they shall treat his monks with favour and kindness, or oppress and deal unjustly by them.

The charter

The perusal of this charter may perhaps excite a desire to know the subsequent fate of the priory. It was the common and melancholy one. Earl William's successors continued to foster his foundation, and it became wealthy by their gradual benefactions. Thus enriched it did not, of course, escape the general dissolution, and the site and buildings were granted to Lord Cromwell. The Monasticon contains a letter to him from the Commissioner, detailing the demolition of the priory, and boasting of the unusual rapidity with which the work of destruction had been carried on. Yours, &c.

E

V.V.

four villeins and one meadow. The tithes also of my lands,* and specially those

* Perhaps it is by a little reflection on such incidental notices of grants of tithe as the charter here affords to us, that we shall better understand their true history than by following implicitly every abstract theory or general assertions with regard to them. Mr. Selden, it is well known, denied that tithes were due to the church jure divino, and would no doubt have considered this antecedent possession of them by William de Warren, and their allotment or what is technically called "arbitrary consecration," to the priory of Lewes, as favorable to his position. The opponents of Mr. Selden, on the other hand, have thought it necessary for their argument to assert, that, unless by a grant from the church itself, tithes could never be in lay-hands without impiety, and that appropriations of them to monastic houses were derogatory to the just rights of the parochial clergy, and wrung from the laity by the artifices and persuasions of the monks.

But here we find a case which cannot be reconciled with this theory. We find a nobleman of a religious life, and regulating his conduct (as he himself tells us) by the direction of a holy archbishop, who speaks openly, and, as it would seem, without self-reproach or fear of censure, of his being possessed of tithes, and who further proceeds to assign them, absolutely and unhesitatingly, to the use of a religious

house.

What then is the true account of these two phenomena ? With regard to the first we may answer briefly that at a time when there was no general legal establishment of the right of tithe, and the whole of William de Warren's land revenues were at his own disposal; his very speaking of a tenth part of them as virtually separated from the rest, implies that he considered such part consecrated to the divine service, and that, although it was not as yet actually devoted to any definite religious object-necdam deputate religioni (according to an expressive phrase in another charter, Monast. II. 154.) still the character in which he held it was simply fiduciary. With regard to the second of these facts, it may safely be admitted that so long as the Bishop of the Diocese and his presbyters were to any individuals the sole representations of the church, there could be no doubt into whose hands he ought to pay his tithes. But when the Monastic Institute had grown up by the side of the church, and with its sanction, when in many places no parochial limits were as yet settled, or presbyters created;

which Richard the priest holds, and is to enjoy during his life on condition of their passing to the monks after his death.

I likewise made a grant of all the tithes which my vassals had then given or should give hereafter. Afterwards I gave them Walton, with all the free-men and the messuage which Gundreda then held of me, and all I then had between the rivers of Lime and Wellstream, both lands and marshes and pastures and waters, with the men and all their services and goods whatsoever. Reserving for myself and my heirs two lodgings during the year, one in going into Yorkshire, the other in returning, in lieu of all the services which the men of the marsh were used to render to me in carriages, and the transport of baggage to and fro by

but the religious supplied their places, and dispensed the sacraments of life to the people; what could be more natural than that the laity should consecrate their tithe to their support. The parochial and monastic systems were to them equally of a divine origin, and in contributing to the support of either a tenth portion of their revenues, they felt themselves equally discharged of their obligation to dedicate it to the divine service.

Such then, would seem to be the natural account of the position and feeling of a religious layman holding and granting tithes in the manner described above. It would be absurd to deny that there were also cases of persons not under the influence of religious feelings retaining, for their own benefit, a tenth part of their property, after conscience had suggested to them a proper mode of consecrating it. Nor that after the parochial system was more generally established, great injury did not result from tithes being granted together with advowsons, or, as it is technically called, "appropriated" to religious houses. But this is, beyond the present question, a case of abuse such as may arise under any circumstances.

It appears further from this part of the

charter that the lord of the fee exercised a control over the destination of his vassals' tithes as well as his own. William de Warren grants to the priory "all the tithes which his vassals had then given, or should thereafter give." By which I understand that as each tenant brought his land into cultivation, and became able and willing to devote a tenth part of the produce to the giver of it, Earl William took upon himself to designate the special object to which they should dedicate their offering.

+ Summasiis; from summos, a horseload. Ellis's Introd. to Domesday, i. 134.