Retrofped of Domeftie Literature.—Topography and Antiquities. 599 
them are thofe of the abbey of Abingdon, 
and of the Norreys, with their motto 
« Feythfully ferve’ frequently repeated.” 
Of the larger towns and villages, the 
defcriptions are more extenfive; but of 
the fmaller and obfcurer parifhes they are 
proportionately confined. The defcent of 
property, bowever, in them all, is parti- 
cularly noticed. If the reft of the vo- 
lumes have but equal merit, the work 
will be truly valuable. Its progrefs will 
be faithfully reported. 
Among the more curious alfo of the 
topocraphical works, we reckon Mr, 
Turner’s *Colledions for the Hiftory 
of the Town and Soke of Grantham. 
They have evidently been compiled with 
confiderable care ; though, we think, the 
occafional lifts of benefaégtors and contri- 
burors to churches, might have been as 
well omitted. The mof valuable part of 
the volume, however, is that which re- 
lates to Woollthorpe; where the memoirs 
of Sir Tfaac Newton, by Mr. Conduitr, 
which formed the ground-work of Fonte- 
nelic’s Eulegium, are given in full. We 
perufed them with pleafure, and firongly 
recommend them to the attention of our 
readers. . Sir Ifaac, we are told, faid, a 
little before his death, “* f do not know 
what I may appear to the world ; but to 
myfelf, I teem to have been only like a 
boy playing on the fea fhore, and divert- 
ing myfelf in now and then finding a 
{moother pebble or a prettier fhell than 
ordinary, whilft the creat ocean of truth 
lay all undifcovered before me.”’ 
The preface to Mr. Harwoop’s §¢ Hi/f- 
tory and Antiquities of the Church and 
City of Litchfield,’ details his plan fo 
fully that we fhail make no apology for 
quoting from it. ** An account of the 
fine cathedral, of the ravages it fuftained 
during the civil war in the fevenreenth 
century, and of the reftoration to its pre- 
fent ftate of elegance; a defcription of the 
public inftitutions, churches, hofpitals, 
Ychools, charitable dcnations, and popu- 
lation; and memorials of remarkable per- 
fons, are the principal objeéts of the 
work.” The early hiftory of the city 
affords but few details. At the Norman 
conquett it was fcarcely known ; nor did it 
acquire any great importance till the civil 
wars of Charles the Firft, when its clofe 
fiood three fieges. The cathedral is un- 
doubtediy its fineft ornament; but it is 
to be lamented, fays Mir. Harwocd, that 
there are no documents among the papers 
of the church, by which the date of the 
prefent building can be afcertained. We 
are only left to {sy, from ite analogy with 
ftat mihi S. Smallbroke.” 
other ftructures, that it muft have been 
erected in the fourteenth century. The 
fepulchral in{criptions, however, feem to 
occupy more roem than probably was ne. 
ceflary. OF thefe we fhall take particular 
notice but of one. In1793, a monument 
of mixed marble was erected in the wall 
of the Dean’s antient confiftory court, to 
the memory of Dr. Samuel Johnfon, upon 
which is a buft not remarkable for its re- 
femblance to the great original, and the 
following infcription. 
‘¢ The friends of Samuel Johnfon, LL.D. 
A native of Litchfield, 
erected this Monument 
as a tribute of refpeét to the memory of 
a Man of extentive Learning, — 
a diftinguifhed moral writer, and a fincere 
Chriftian. 
He died the 13th of December, 1784, 
Aged 75 years. 
The cathedral library, we are told, con- 
tains feveral valuable books and MSS. ; 
the moft remarkable among the latter of 
which, is the work which has been fo long 
known to antiquaries by the name of St. 
Chad’s Gofpels: itis written in the plain 
Saxon charaéter, and is illuminated. The 
following note was, half a century ago, 
inferted at the end by Bifhop Smallbroke. 
¢ Hic Liber Evangeliorum MS. antiquif- 
fimus ad Bibliothecam Ecclefiza Lichteld~ 
enfis pertinet, hodie vulgo diétus Codex 
Sti. Ceaddze, fed olim Landavii in Wallia 
Cambrorum Auftralium, in Altari, ad 
jus-juranda et donationes confirmandas 
adhibitus, id quod ex marginibus liquet, 
A S,,. Gilda) canferiptus ante A.D. 720: 
mzena ex parte, mira fortuna refervatus, 
ne uno quidem folio, ufque ad Luce caput - 
tertium amiffo, in hunc ufque annum £75¢, 
inter tot clades civium illefus. Ita con- 
And at the 
end, ‘* Ne totus hic liber pereat, Lec- 
tiones (quos vocant) variantes,; omnés 
exicripfi, * S: 5. 17680): 
The lives of the bifhops, with the mere 
minote particulars relating to the hiftory 
of church property, fcem very caretu‘ly 
recorded ; followed by lifts of the minor 
officers and dignitaries of the church. 
James the Second, we find, in 1687, in 
the middle choir of the cathedral touched 
for the evil. The form of the certificate 
for which is twice printed, p. 309, and 
p. 475. 
At p. 398, is a hilt of the moft remark. 
able members of the city puild, extracted 
from the original regifter of the frater- 
nity: ‘not,’ fays Mr. Harwood, ‘ for 
the purpofe of unneceffarily increafing the. 
bulk of the volume; but ag it includes 
the 
Sa  S e 
