tive to the king's journey to the North, upon the march of the rebels; but this we must decline to infert, on account of its length, and that of the preceding quotation. However apparent might be the expediency of the king's journey to the North, at this important juncture, he seems to have been no better prepared than the rebels, for the exigence of the occafion. Of this there needs no other evidence than the minutes of the council of peers at York, which occupy ninety pages of this volume, and are therefore too long to be derailed. The impoverished ftate of the royal finances is farther confirmed by the dispatches, from fecretary Vane, who accompanied the king, to his colleague Windebank, which alfo afford a number of other interefting anecdotes, too tedious to mention. Number V. contains. two papers, from the Harleian manufcripts, relating to Monmouth's rebellion; one is an account of the battle of Sedgemoor, by king James; and the other, farther information, respecting the fame fubject, by Mr. Wade. Our readers will obferve, that the noble editor has paffed over the reign of Charles II. this period of the British history having been lately fo much elucidated, in confequence of the documents which have been published by fir John Dalrymple and Mr. Macpherson. The next Number comprehends extracts from king William's Letters relative to the Partition Treaty. Number VII. contains the Somers Papers in the poffeffion of the earl of Hardwicke. The valuable manufcripts of lord Somers filled upwards of fixty volumes in quarto, but fo many of them were confumed by a fire which broke out at Lincoln'sInn, in 1752, that the honourable Charles Yorke, in whofe poffeffion they were, could rescue from the flames no more than what he afterwards bound in a folio volume. The first of thofe Papers, with which we are prefented, contains notes of what paffed in the convention upon the day the queftion was moved in the house of commons, concerning the abdi cation of king James; but being much too extenfive for infertion, we must refer our readers to the work. Almost all the other papers in this number are letters, chiefly to or from lord Somers, whofe authority as a lawyer and a statesman, was held in the greatest esteem. Number VIII. contains Papers relative to lord Oxford's adminiftration, and the treaty of Utrecht, copied from the ori. ginals in the Paper-office. In the prefatory introduction to this Number, an anecdote is related of queen Anne, which it would be improper to with hold from our readers. • Queen Queen Anne frequently attended her cabinets; and lord Bolingbroke affured a late great minifter, from whom the editor had it, that she herself propofed the famous reftraining orders to the duke of Ormond, which his lordfhip folemnly declared he had not been apprized of; and in the firft emotion, was going to have objected to them; but after the queen had delivered her pleasure to the lords, fhe made a fign with her fan at her mouth, which lord Bolingbroke knew he never did, but when fhe was determined on a measure; he, therefore, unhappily for himself and his country, acquiefced; and infinuated, when he told the story, that the advice was folely fuggested by his rival lord Oxford. Sir William Temple obferves very truly in his Memoirs, on a fimilar occafion, that when princes call their Counsellors together, it should be with a refolution to hear what they have to fay, before a measure is determined and that to have counsellors, who do not give counsel, is a folecism in go vernment.' : Number IX. includes various papers in the poffeffion of the earl of Hardwicke, relative to lord Stair's embaffy in France. In this correfpondence we meet with the first movements towards the pardon of lord Bolingbroke, which feems to have originated in the favourable representations of lord Stair. Number X. contains two letters, copied from the originals in the Paper-office, as a fequel to lord Stair's embafly. The last article in the volume comprises four letters from the Paper-office, the first three from Mr. Robinson (afterwards lord Grantham) to Mr. Delafaye, and the remaining one from Mr. Keen to Mr. Robinson. Having now finished the general account of those Papers, it remains to acknowledge the great judgement displayed in their publication by the noble editor, who has every where. elucidated them with fuch obfervations as evince his extenfive acquaintance with hiftory. Should we afcribe the masterly execution of the editorial office, in part, to the rev. Dr. Douglas, refidentiary of St. Paul's, we have lord H's authority for fuch a declaration, in the Preface, where the useful affiftance, and eminent qualities of that gentleman, are mentioned in the warmest terms.The following note, relative to a letter in the Appendix to the first volume of those Papers, has been communicated to the authors of the Critical Review. "The editor of this collection wishes for an opportunity of acknowledg"ing his mistake in giving the letter about Jane Shore, as printed for "the first time, when it had been already communicated to the public by "Mr. Walpole, in his Hiftorical Doubts. Should thefe Papers come to a "fecond edition, the error shall be fet right, by omitting this Letter, and inferting fome other.” The 1 The Hifiory and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and THIS HIS volume is compiled upon the fame plan as the firft: it contains a minute inveftigation of every stone and every foot of land, a tire fome enquiry into the families of every parish and corner, in the county of which it treats.-Readers, who are not natives of Weftmorland and Cumberland, may not be very curious to know whether a private family in those counties can trace its pedigree through ten ог a dozen reigns; or whether a particular chapel was founded before the Conqueft or fince: nor will readers who do not live im mediately in, or very near to, the parish of Afpatria, or Af patrick, which is in the barony of Allerdale below Derwent, be much obliged to Mr. Nicholson and Dr. Burn for informing them that the parish in question was fo first named from Gofpatric, earl of Dunbar, father of Waldieve, first lord of Allerdale; nor will they acknowledge any great obligations to the hiftorians, who kindly inftruct them that this parish is bounded by Elne river from the foot of Elne bridge, close to the ring dike that parts Allerby and Crosby fields, and fo, along that ring hedge northwards to the divifion between Hayton and Canonby fields, then turning eastward between Hayton and Allanby meadows, and fo as the divifion parts between Newton demefne and Afpatria's north riding, fo directly eastward along the common to the middle of Broodhead, and fo into Crumbock, and then up that beck to Prieft croft, o turning westward by the ring hedge of Leefrigg to Kinggate, and then to Baggray lane end, and fo along the hedge which fevers Brayton demefne from Baggray field to Elubrig clofe, and fo to the foot thereof,' and fo to Mr. Nicholson and Dr. Burn alone know where; till at last we find ourselves, just where we fet out, viz. in a little parish in a corner of Cumberland, of which few have ever heard, but its inhabitants. This volume, however, as well as the former, contains much to please enquiry, and much to gratify curiofity. The antiquarian difcovers himself in fomething more than phrafeology; and we every where trace a genius equally laborious and indefatigable, whether the tafk be to investigate a controverted point in hiftory, or to adjust the oppofite claims of different parishes to a particular family or a flip of land. To this volume, as to the firft, is prefixed a large, and, as it appears, an accurate map of the county, of which it contains the hiftory, di vided into its wards. Here too we find an appendix, which contains, among other, curious matter, an alphabetical catalogue of rare and curious plants growing wild about Kendal, and other places in the county of Weftmorland. The authors have fubjoined a gloffary of the antiquated words that occur in the work; which might have included certain words and expreffions fufficiently obfolete and antiquated, to be found only in this hiftory, and in our tranflation of the Bible, or in books written about that period. A few of the most curious paffages we fhall tranfcribe, from this volume, for the entertainment of thofe of our readers, who would think themselves perhaps but ill paid, if they were obliged to pick them out from a load of lefs interefting and amufing matter.. A charter of certain lands given by king Athelstan, is a beautiful specimen of the artless fimplicity of former days, in the manner of conveyancing I king Athelstan, gives to Pallan, Als quid, and als fayre, Als ever they myne weare: And yar to witness Maulde my wife.' For this we are referred to Drake's Hiftoria' Anglo-Scotica, p. 160. It affords a ftriking contrast to the prolixity of a modern conveyance; and nothing can mark more pointedly the unfufpicious confidence of former days than the circumftance of naming his wife as the only witness. Much is continually faid about the prefent corruption of manners-Point out any nation which abounds in laws and lawyers, and whofe law proceedings are verbofe and prolix; and the manners of that nation will appear to be corrupt. The fubfequent paragraph contains fomething wonderful. In the river Irt the inhabitants at low water gather pearls, and the jewellers buy them of the poor people for a trifle, but fell them at a good price. And it is faid, that Mr. Thomas Patrickfon, late of How in this county, having employed divers poor inhabitants to gather thefe pears, obtained fuch a quantity as he fold to the jewellers in London for above 8ool.' In another paffage we find fomething not less curious The town of Egremont was an ancient burgh, and fent burgeffes to parliament; until the burghers becoming poor and unable (at least unwilling) to pay their burgeffes their wages, they to free themfelves from that future burden did petition the king and parliament that they might be exempted from that charge.' We We also have petitions; but not from towns, that they may nat fend burgeffes to parliament, not from burgeffes, that they may not fit. Speaking of the collieries at Whitehaven, our hiftorians. mention fome curious circumstances. The late Mr. Spedding, who was the great engineer of these works, having obferved that the fulminating damp could only be kindled by flame, and that it was not liable to be fet on fire by red hot iron, nor by the fparks produced by the collifion of Hint and feel, invented a machine, in which while a fteel wheel is turned round with a very rapid motion, and flints are applied thereto, great plenty of fiery fparks are emitted, that afford the miners fuch a light as enables them to carry on their work in close places, where the flame of a candle, or lamp, would occafion dreadful explosions. Without fome invention of this fort, the working of thefe mines, fo greatly annoyed with thefe inflammable damps, would long ago have been impracticable. But not fo many mines have been ruined by fire as by inondations. And here that noble invention the fire-engine difplays its beneficial effects. It appears, from pretty exact calculations, that it would require about 550 men, or a power equal to that of 110 horfes, to work the pumps of one of the largest fire-engines now in ufe (the diameter of whofe cylinder is seventy inches), and thrice that number of men to keep an engine of this fize conftantly at work: and that as much water may be raised by an engine of this fize kept conftantly at work, as can be drawn up by 2520 men with rollers and buckets, after the manner now daily practised in many mines; or as much as can be borne up on the shoulders of twice that number of men, as it is faid to be done in fome of the mines of Peru.-So great is the power of the elaftic fteam of the boiling water in thofe engines, and of the outward atmosphere, which by their alternate actions give force and motion to the beam of this engine, and by it to the pump rods, which elevate the water through tubes, and discharge it out of the mine. There are four fire engines belonging to this colliery; which, when all at work, difcharge from it about 1228 gallons every minute, at thirteen ftrokes; and after the fame rate 1,768,320 gallons every twenty-four hours. By the four engines here employed, nearly twice the above-mentioned quantity of water might be difcharged from mines that are not above fixty or feventy fathoms deep, which depth is rarely exceeded in the Newcaftle collieries, or in any of the English collieries, thofe of Whitehaven excepted *.' For thefe obfervations on the coal mines at Whitehaven, we are obliged to the very ingenious Dr. Brownrigg's notes on a beautiful little poem of Dr. Dalton's, on the return of two young ladies from viewing those mines.' Of |