It is material to observe that Le Neve must have derived his information from some other source than the Visitation of Warwickshire in 1683, since his account differs from it; first, by his calling Christopher the third son instead of the fourth, which probably arose from his being the third son then surviving; secondly, by the omission of the place in Worcestershire of which the father of Constance Clent is described in the pedigree in that Visitation; thirdly, by the omission of the words " onely child;" and lastly, by Le Neve stating that Thomas, the son of Christopher, was in 1694 about eighteen years old, whereas, if he had merely followed the pedigree in question he would have said that he was about twenty-three years

of age in that year. Under these circumstances, no other inference can be drawn than that the person from whom he had derived his information was as ignorant in 1694, as Lord Leigh was in 1683, that his Lordship's uncle, Christopher Leigh, had left issue by a former wife; and it seems actually incredible that the individual who recorded such minute information of his uncle as to state the very day of his funeral, and the age of his son, should call that son his only child, if, as the supposed monument affirms, he had by a former wife two sons and two daughters, one at least of whom must have been then living! Nor is it likely that a similar statement should be made by so celebrated a Herald as Le Neve, when, as we have shown, he must have derived his information from a new source, if the Hon. Christopher Leigh had left issue by a former wife. The question is however before the House of Peers, and it would ill become us to enter into any farther discussion of its merits.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

WHEN we undertook the ungracious task of exposing the abuses which for so many years have existed in this Society, our most sanguine hopes did not allow us to flatter ourselves with the expectation of being able to commence our third paper on the subject in the language of congratulation. A new era has, however, we are happy to say, dawned upon the institution; and though the spirit of reform has only entered its portals, it has met with a reception, which justifies the belief, that the day is close at hand, when dulness will no longer be the characteristic of the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, nor incapacity and supineness the only traits for which its officers

VOL. I.-PART III.

L L

and the members of its councils are distinguished. Many of the Fellows are already roused from their lethargy, and it is impossible to doubt that others will speedily be influenced by their example. Thus the friends of the institution look forward to its becoming really useful to the world, and to its being likely to confer honour upon all who are connected with it; but to accomplish these desirable objects, much, very much, remains to be done. The means of attaining it are fortunately in the hands of the body at large, and they consist in selecting ten independent and zealous individuals to supply the places of that number who must retire from the council on the next anniversary; unless it be also advisable to remove the officers who, as it is our purpose to state, have refused the Fellows the exercise of a right which belongs to the members of every corporation in the kingdom.

The proceedings of the Society, since our last number, have been of almost unprecedented importance; and it is material that they should be detailed at length: for, whilst they show that the Fellows are disposed to shake off the torpidity in which they have long existed, they prove that its servants are, if possible, more indifferent to their duties, and more eager to enrich themselves out of its funds; and that its officers and its present council, by refusing an application for access to the accounts and records of the Society, have virtually invaded the rights of all its members by resolving to exclude them from a knowledge of the manner in which the money they have contributed has been expended.

We announced that on the 29th of November a ballot was to take place, for voting an addition of fifty guineas per annum to Mr. Ellis, the junior secretary, on the ground that he had edited the publications of the Society for several years; and we reminded our readers of the enormous labour which that learned gentleman must consequently have undergone. Previous to the appointed day, several of the diurnal journals commented upon this application in a manner which would have shamed most persons from persisting in it but the individual in question appears to possess nerves which are not to be so easily shaken; for the question was suffered to be put to the vote, and though only fifty-two members were present, nineteen of them were sufficiently conscious of propriety to vote against it. The proposition was, of course, carried', though the sense of that portion of the Society which Mr. Ellis must and does respect the most, was sufficiently

:

The officers of the Society and Members of the Council present were ten in number, who, doubtless, supported their own proposition, which, deducted from thirteen, left the question carried by the three only!

evinced to have induced him to refuse a boon, which had been granted merely by the votes of his own personal friends, of the council who sanctioned it, and of the tradesmen of the Society, who ought not to be allowed a voice upon any pecuniary subject. A question arose after this decision, whether the forms prescribed upon submitting the recommendation had been complied with; and a curious piece of information was elicited, which speaks volumes on the necessity of a revision of the statutes. It is requisite that a proposition to alter or repeal one of the bye-laws should be proposed in writing, and publicly read, and then shall be hung up in the Society's meeting-room for three ordinary meetings;" but it was proved, by the admission of the senior secretary, that the proposition was never suspended even for a single hour, and hence that the whole proceeding was void ab initio. Upon this being pointed out, the officers stated that they had been in error, not, however, in the omission, but in considering the proposed augmentation, as "the repeal or alteration of a bye-law," and consequently that it was only necessary that it should have been recommended by the council, for it to be put to the vote at the very next meeting of the Society. We admit, that, by the present statutes, the council may propose a grant of money, or any other measure, no matter how ridiculous or injurious, five minutes before a meeting, and that it may be balloted for immediately. That such a state of things should be allowed to exist is incredible, and demands the immediate attention of the Society; but we insist, that a vote of an annual payment is a creation of a bye-law, and requires the observance of the statute regulating the mode in which byelaws are to be made; and we, therefore, contend, that the additional salary has been voted to the secretary in an illegal manner.

Within a very few weeks after this event, Mr. Ellis deservedly succeeded to the office of head Librarian of the British Museum, a situation of considerable emolument, when it was supposed that he would have resigned the secretaryship of the Society, because there are but few persons who seek to retain every thing they can hold, and perhaps still fewer who would not have seized the opportunity of retiring from an office in which they had just received a severe and humiliating mortification. But our opinion of that gentleman's feelings seems to have been much too favourable: he remains, "with all his blushing honours thick upon him," and must therefore submit to the general impression, that he is excluding a much more efficient person.

It is, we believe, the opinion of some of the most important persons in the Society, that its secretaries ought to be well paid to ensure an attentive performance of their duties. They will not believe in the possibility of any one being sufficiently ac

tuated by a love of the objects for which the institution was formed, to labour with zeal and vigour in the prosecution of them with no other reward in view than reputation; and they consider that the incentives to literary exertions are those alone which influence a mechanic or a peasant. Against the justice of that opinion we warmly protest, and we could cite many proofs of its fallacy, even among the members of the Society; but it is our present object to prove that, if the secretaries were not paid one shilling, instead of above three hundred pounds per annum, it would be quite improbable that the very little which they have to do would not be as well performed.

Upon the meeting following the memorable one on which the additional grant of fifty guineas per annum was made to Mr. Ellis, that gentleman favoured the Society with a communication. The peculiarity of his situation excited the utmost interest: his friends thought that all his abilities would be called into action, as a mark of gratitude for their support; and those who had voted against him were impressed with the idea, that the splendid display which was to take place would cover them with confusion for hesitating to reward a man who could produce so unrivalled an article towards the enrichment of the "Archæologia." It was, too, considered as a test of the opinions to which we have alluded, that an increase of emolument would produce a corresponding increase of exertion; and even the "giddy faction," which had the presumption to dispute the will of the council, expected to "hear away its rage."

The mountain was manifestly in travail; and the result of its throes was awaited with hope by some, with fear and dismay by others, with anxiety by all. Never before did the introductory sentence, "The following communication is addressed to the Earl of Aberdeen by Mr. Ellis," excite such interest; but, alas, how vain are human expectations! No dark event of history was to be cleared, no disputed question was to be elucidated, no impostor was to be detected; Perkin Warbeck and Richard the Third remain the same personages as before: nor has any light been thrown into the gloom of Antiquarian investigation. The line of a celebrated Roman poet was forcibly illustrated,

"Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus,"

for the paper proved to be a copy of the narrative of the attempt to steal the crown by Blood; a circumstance as well known as that George the Fourth succeeded George the Third! A smile, either of pity or derision, pervaded every face in the assembly; for who had not read the identical narrative in his childhood? The most instructive fact respecting Mr. Ellis's "mouse," however,

remains to be stated, because it proves, in the most unequivocal manner, the labour which this previously ill-paid servant was induced to undergo in consequence of the Society having yielded him an increase of salary.

The article which he so happily selected for this auspicious occasion occurs in the Harleian MS. 6859, and though the printed index refers to another copy in the Harleian MS. 7034. fol. 437, it is quite obvious, that the learned secretary considered it too much trouble to turn to the MS. last mentioned, to ascertain whether they differed from each other, because, if he had done so, he would have there learnt, what we are sure every other man in the metropolis, excepting the secretaries of the Society of Antiquaries, was well aware of, namely, that it was printed in that liber rarissimus, Stow's Survey of London !!! To the copy in the MS. just referred to, the following note actually occurs:

"See Mr. Edward's Account in Stow's Survey, published by Mr. Strype, vol. i. p. 92, 93, &c."

The truth is, that the narrative is not only printed, as nearly as possible verbatim, in that work, but the greater part of it was introduced by Echard in his History of England'; and it is especially referred to by a writer, of whom Mr. Ellis must have heard-one Rapin.

Among the other "novelties of the season," was a long paper upon shipping by Dr. Meyrick, which accompanied the exhibition of a curious roll of Henry the Eighth's navy; but as the learned civilian's remarks will doubtless be printed in the Archæologia," we shall reserve our comments upon them until its appearance, which we may perhaps hope will take place some time in the present reign; but we beg to remind the author, that some views of ships of the period, scarcely less valuable, will be found among the Cottonian MSS.; a fact which he perhaps might not have learnt from either of the secretaries, though one of them has been, for several years the custos of them. The perusal of Dr. Meyrick's paper occupied two or three evenings, after which "S. Timms, Esquire," was so good as to enlighten the Society on the subject of Peg Tankards; but not wishing to waste so valuable a treatise on such an arid soil as the "Archæologia," he has, we perceive, kindly bestowed it upon Mr. Urban. We are delighted to add, however, that a copy of the three pages and a half, with the engraving, have been stitched together, and presented to the library by J. B. Nichols, Esq. F.S.A., the printer of the Society.

1 Vol. ii. p. 282.