340 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magaztne. 
SIR, 
RELY on your candour and i impar- 
tiality for the infertion of the following 
oblervations on’ Mr. Belfham’s letter, 
in your laft Magazine, containing fome re- 
marks on the firft volume ofthe Magna Bri- 
tannia publifhed by my brother andinyfelf. 
It mutt be futhciently obvious, that an 
ungualided aflertion that our Hiftory of 
the County of Bedford “is deemed by 
perfons who poffefs the beft information 
ref{pecting multifarious fubjetts treated 
in it, to contain a confiderable number 
_of errors and inadvertencies,” and a 
charge of “ri/quing random prefumptions,” 
e(pecially when brought forward through 
the medium of a publication fo extenfive- 
ly circulated as your Magazine, mutt be 
very injurious to the credit of a work 
“whofe efience (as Mr. Belfham juittly 
obferves) 1s to exhibit plain matter of 
fact.” 'That,in a volume of fuch extent, 
comprehending a ¢reat variety of matter, 
collected from fuch numerous fources of 
enquiry, errors fhould be found, arifing 
ir fome initances irom muifinformation, 
iu others from inadvertency, cannot be 
deemed extraordinary; we are forry 
when any fuch come to our knowledge, 
yet thankful to thofe who vive us an 
opportunity of correction, by pointing 
them vut with candour. Thofe per{cs 
therefore whom Mr. Belfham alludes to, 
as pofieffing the beit information refpect- 
ing the hiftory of Bedfordfhire, will do 
usa great favour by tranfmitting fuch 
errors, as they may have difcovered, to 
our bookfeilers, that we may infert cor- 
rections of fuch as are of importance at 
the end of our iecond volume. We have 
exprefled cur acknowledgements to fome 
gentlemen of the county of Bedford who 
were pointed out to us as molt conver- 
fant with that kind of information, which 
was wanted for our work, and we can 
confidently appeal to thofe gentlemen, 
when we affert that we were not remifs 
in our enquiries ; aud hope they will find 
that we have faithfully ftated the fub- 
fiance of their communications. Ifthere 
were others who. poffefled better informa- 
tion than our correfpondents, it is our 
misfortune they were not alfo pointed 
out to us. We can moft confidently 
vailert, that where the means of acquiring 
information have been within our 
knowledge or power, prefumption has 
never been fub{tituted for matter of fact ; 
~detter after letter has been written, to 
afcertain a fingle date ; and we can fafe- 
ly affirm, that there are individuals living 
2 
Mr. Ly fons, in Reply to Mr. Belsham. 
[May i 
in, or conne¢ted with, every parifh with- 
in the feyveral counties comprifed) in 
our firft volume, and in fuch part of the 
fecond as is ready for the prefs, whe 
can bear witnefs to the exteniive circu- 
lation of our queries. . Nor have we 
been lefs anxious to avoid errors, than 
diligent in our endeavours to procure 
information ; and where we have had 
reafon to fufpeét inaccuracy, either im 
written communications, or printed au- 
thorities, we have never ceafed inquiring 
till our doubts (as far as poflible) have 
been fatisfied ; therefore, although an 
erroneous. date may have crept im, or 
fouth by inadvertency have been written 
for north, or north for fouth, we truft 
that the work will not be found, gene- 
rally {peaking, to deferve the character of 
maccuracy. In thofe departments which 
‘confift chiefly of figures, we have been 
particularly careful; in the abftraét of 
the population of each county, every: 
figure was collated, as it went through 
the prefs, with the original report print- 
ed by authority of parliament ; the fame 
care was-taken with the Index, every 
reference of which was in the fame man- 
ner collated with the text. Your readers 
will excufe my having. enlarged on thefe 
general heads, as it is not only of imper- 
tance to the author, but to the public, 
to have it known whether a work whofe 
chief utility depends on its accuracy, 
be or be not upon the whole accurate. 
With refpect to Mr. Belfham’s correc- 
tions we admit that he has pointed out a 
few errors; they are not of much impor- 
tance ; and might (with about two excep- 
tions) be defended even from the charge 
of inadvertency on our part, and mott ‘of 
them had been noted for correétion, be- 
fore we read that gentleman’s letter. 
We were certainly mifinformed or mif- 
under{tood our information, if the Single 
Brethren of the Moravians did not 
refide in community at Bedford in the 
year 1800. ‘The fame may be obferved 
as to the Gurnows pofletiing Caldwell 
priory; the Gardiners certainly were in 
poffelfion in the year 1682, and [ under- 
{tood that they continued. to poffefs it 
till the time mentioned in our work; but 
was deceived no doubt by the fimilarity 
of found in the two names. As to the 
increafed population of Bedford, I can- 
not help doubting whether our informa= 
tion was erronecus. Browne Willis, in 
the laft edition of his Notitia Parliamen- 
iaria, {peaks of the total number of voters 
in the borough, as being fomewhat more 
than 600; at the lat contefted election 
iA 
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