gation. They are mistaken in both conjectures. The Parlia ment that met on Tuesday in the quintaine of Hilary, was dissolved on the 17th February. A great Council was then held at Westminster, which met on the 26th of April, and sat till the 29th of May. A Parliament was then convoked at Westminster on the 13th of June, which sat till the 27th of June. And, lastly, writs were issued to recal the knights who had sat in that Parliament, or to have others chosen in their place, to meet at Lincoln on the Thursday after St James (22d of July): And this, which was the second Parliament at Lincoln within the year, continued to sit till the 8th of August, (Prynne, 4. 43-50.) These corrections to some of our readers will appear trifling; but there is such an apparent anxiety in the Report to be exact in the most minute particulars, that, where the Committee have erred, they will forgive us for correcting their mistakes.

The Committee have found no evidence of writs for the election of knights, citizens and burgesses, in the 11th of Edward II. (p. 277.) The writs they have been unable to find are referred to by Prynne, (2. 77.)

They tell us there are no writs on record for the convocation of Parliament a month after Easter, in the 12th of Edward II. (p. 278.) They are mistaken. The writs are published and referred to by Prynne, (1. 23. & 2. 77.)

They have not found (p. 284) any writs for the election of knights, citizens and burgesses, to attend the Parliament which met at Westminster three weeks after Candlemas, in the 17th of Edward II.; and, from no mention of the Commons in a statute of that Parliament, they conclude, that even at that time it was not distinctly understood, that to make a law on every subject the assent of the Commons was necessary,' (p. 285); and yet, when they find the substance of that statute circulated throughout England in writs to the Sheriffs, they infer that this precaution was taken to supply the want of authority in a ⚫ statute made by the King and Lords, without the concurrence ⚫ of the representatives of counties, cities and boroughs,' (p.286.) It is unnecessary to make any remarks on the consistency of these opinions. It is sufficient to observe, that the writs of summons for knights, citizens and burgesses to this Parliament have been published by Prynne (2. 78), and that the writs for their expenses are given by the same author (4. 62); from which it appears, that they sat for 24 days.

We have now followed the Committee through the reigns of the two first Edwards, and trust we have pointed out errors in their Report, sufficient, in number and importance, to induce them to undertake a calm and deliberate revision of their work.

We consider ourselves greatly indebted to them for their labours; but have deeply to lament, that so much industry has been conjoined with such negligence,-that so much unnecessary caution on some topicks has been accompanied with such rashness of assertion on others,—and that so many sound and liberal views respecting our antient Constitution have been obscured by prejudices from the school of Brady, and other enemies of popular rights. We know of no way to reconcile these inconsistencies, unless on the supposition, that the Author of the Report is a young adventurer in the paths of constitutional antiquities, who brings with him to the pursuit an active mind, exercised in subtile and minute investigations, but who is still dazzled with the novelty of the scenery, and.not yet sufficiently acquainted with the region he attempts to explore, to know in what quarter to direct his steps, or on what objects to fix his attention,-while his judgment is warped and perverted by the false and prejudiced accounts he has perused of former travellers, on whom he obstinately pins his faith, in opposition to the evidence of his own senses.

ART. II.1. Almanach des Gourmands; Servant de Guide dans les moyens de faire excellente Chère. Paris. 8 Tom.

2. Chimie du Gout. Paris. 1 Tom.

3. Manuel des Amphytrions. Paris. 1 Tom.

4. L'Almanach Comestible. Paris.

5. Cours Gastronomique. Second Edit. Paris, 1809. 6. La Gastronomie, Poëme didactique. Par BERCHOUX. Paris. 4trieme Ed. 1805.

7. Dictionnaire de la Cuisine. Pars, 1814.

8. Apicius Redivivus, or the Cook's Oracle. Second Edit. London, 1818.

9. Peptic Precepts. London, 1821.

10. Tabella Libaria. London, 1820.

WE take blame to ourselves for not bringing the subject of these interesting publications oftener before our readers; being well aware of the truth of Dr Johnson's profound remark, that there are few things of which a man thinks so seriously as his dinner,'-and that the pleasures of the table are

the first we enjoy, the last we leave, and those we taste often

est.

We were half tempted to touch on this subject in our recent examination of the Comparative State of Science in England and France; but, on consideration, we felt that justice could not be done to it, except in a separate article.

The entire superiority of our neighbours in the arts of cookery and dancing, has been very long established, in their own estimation--and, indeed, is very generally admitted: and modern philosophers seem pretty clearly of opinion, that the latter perfection is very much a consequence of the former. The Revolution, indeed, is supposed to have robbed them of this proud preeminence. The on reign of Bonaparte nearly destroyed the rising generation of cooks; and although there are some veterans, whose green old age has weathered the storms of the times, a lamentable number of those who, in the order of nature, should have supplied their places, have themselves furnished food to the Eagles of Russia and Spain: while the conscription must have materially affected the advancement of an art which requires so long and so assiduous an apprenticeship. +

It is now, we believe, generally admitted, that the best served tables in this country are at least equal in every respect to the best served tables of France; but this, we candidly confess, is no sure or sufficient test of our national superiority: For though our superior riches, increasing luxury, and less severe domestic troubles, may allow some few to devote their whole minds to the science, and thus advance before the age in which they live; in general knowledge of the art, it is to be feared that we are far behind our neighbours. On a review of the esculent productions of this country and France, the balance may at first sight appear to be in our favour: But the cheapness of most of the articles of luxury in France renders them far more accessible; while their numerous kinds of fine fruit and vegetables enable them, at a small expense, to give a greater variety to their repasts. In England nothing is cheap. The first of our artists regard economy with disdain; and he who will have a good dinner must pay for it. In France, however, it is otherwise. Valere, in L'Avare, says, Voilà, une belle merveille que de faire bonne chère avec bien

In the article of portable soup (the constant food of the French soldiers), perhaps the art of cookery owes something to French wars, and French armies. C'est la soupe qui fait le soldat, a well known saying in France.

;

still less importance, the true spirit of the Reformation began to wax feeble, the fires of their sanctuaries were buried in ashes and a renewed dispensation of the Spirit of power and grace became necessary, to renew their strength and to re-kindle their glory. So will always be. The zeal expended upon things merely external, so much withdrawn from what is due to those things which are spiritual; and the jewel is forgotten, and in danger of being lost altogether, in the bustle of those who will tinker the casket. The guilt of these damaging controversies rests, of course, with the aggressors, and with those who encourage them, whosoever the be; just as the guilt of the mischief that may accompany, or follow, the European war now opening its thunders, rests with the Russian Czar, and with those who may_abet him. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind," as to what Church or Society it is that most nearly approaches the scriptural standard, and will best subserve, in his own case, the great objects which all Churches ought to promote; and then let him study to "be quiet and do his own business," and "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Should he want other work, there is better work to be done, if the Apostle was right, than that of meddling with those who are given to change." Our own country demands of the Churches a more thorough cultivation, andthe field” of “the world" is all before them. Let their " wars cease." Let them "beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks," and let them "learn war no more." "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

دو

ART. VII.-1. State Papers published under the Authority of Her Majesty's Commission.-King Henry the Eighth. Eleven Vols. 4to. London. 1830-1852.

2. Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain, from the Commencement of the Twelfth Century to the Close of the Reign of Queen Mary. Edited chiefly from the Originals in the State-Paper Office, the Tower of London, &c. By MARY ANNE EVERETT WOOD. Three Vols. London: Colburn. 1846.

3. Writings and Disputations of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, on the Lord's Supper. Edited for the Parker Society by THE REV. JOHN EDMUND COPE, M.A. Two Vols. 8vo. Cambridge. 1844.

4. Sermons and Remains of Hugh Latimer, sometime Bishop of Worcester. Edited for the Parker Society by THE REV. GEORGE ELWES CORRIE, B.D. 8vo. Cambridge. 1845.

5. Remains of Myles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter. Edited for the Parker Society by THE REV. GEORGE PEARSON, D.D. 8vo. Cambridge. 1846.

THE transition periods of history present to the mental vision of the philosophic thinker phases fraught with deep interest, not only from their ultimate bearing upon the wide out-stretching destinies of countries and kingdoms, some of them slumbering in the mysterious haze of a yet undreamed-of future, but also from their developments of human power and human passion, alternately swaying, and swayed by, the strong current of events. Great men and great events have, from the world's beginning, sprung up simultaneously. Whether the men create the events, or the events bring out the else latent powers of the men, is a question ever mooted, but never to be decided, unless we can come to the conclusion that He who controls both fits his instruments for the work which He has in store for them to do, and the work for the men whom He has thus supremely gifted.

But what is to be understood by a transitional period of history? Not that which bears the impress of external force, when the iron rod of conquest, stretched over a desolated country, strikes down half its inhabitants, and makes slaves of the rest. The reckless conquerors subdue, but they do not convince; and the crushed victims submit, but are not changed. No one of the many conquests to which England, in its earlier history, was subjected, can be called a transitional period, excepting that of the Roman; when, not by the power of the sword, but by the introduction of wise and beneficent laws, of civilized usages, and of the benignant influences of Christianity, a complete, though not a rapid, change was produced in the whole character of the population; and this, not after the manner of the fierce Saxon, the piratical Dane, and the hardy Norse-man of after times,-by so large an indraught of the conquering nation, as made the natives only a small proportion of the whole population, but by the strong influence exercised over those natives themselves. Far more important than the changes produced by the rush of conquest, are those that spring up silently from a nation's heart, as the progress of resistless truth makes for itself a deepening course, and bursts down, one after another, the barriers which the prejudices of ages have heaped in its way, but which were never before felt as barriers; for the strong stream had not reached their limits. Now they are slowly undermined, or bravely-it may be, fiercely-overleaped; and broad and gushing lies the outspread stream, widened as well as deepened, and laughs at the feeble strength which would have held in its course.

Who is not conscious of the thrillingness of the transitional periods of his own life, or of the young lives, perhaps still dearer, growing up around him? With what earnest hope we watch