The intense interest which has been associated with Jerusalem and the Holy Land by every class and every nation of Christians, has latterly been assisted by many concurrent circumstances. Steam has bridged the Mediterranean, and overcome the desert, effecting even the removal of Moslem prejudices hitherto insurmountable. The examination of the principal localities of Palestine, endeared to the pious of every nation, has aroused universal inquiry, and a visit to Jerusalem has superseded Italy, and even Greece and Egypt, in the “grand tour“ to which our own excursionists formerly limited their attention. A critical study of Biblical history has vindicated its proper place among the mere elegances and artistic delights of European travel, and the ground trodden by “the blessed feet” of the Messiah is now the beaten track of all the world, and the subject of nearly universal contemplation.

History is, of all studies, the most interesting and the most generally followed. By this means we become acquainted with what has taken place during the ages of the world which preceded our own; and vast and valuable indeed are the lessons to be learned from the extended experience thus afforded. Of all the various branches of history, that which relates to the domestic everyday life of our fellow-creatures who have lived before us under very different circumstances from those by which we are surrounded, and who have been influenced by events and causes totally different from any of those by which we can be affected, appears to me to be by far the most useful for us to be acquainted with. An account of the wars which have been waged between different nations, a narrative of the political intrigues which have been carried on in certain states, a description of the various kings and queens who have reigned over particular peoples, possess their peculiar attractions for some tastes; but a relation of what were the modes of life, the daily pursuits, the ōrdinary occupations, and the common resources of the people themselves at these various periods of the world's history, appears to me to be a subject that comes home more nearly to us, and is calculated more warmly to excite our interest than any of the former matters. We shall thus be led to trace out the earliest dawn of civilisation, and shall have an opportunity of watching its course from the period when its light first gleamed above the horizon, to that when its midday splendour served to disperse the darkness of barbarism, and to diffuse knowledge and refinement wherever its rays had penetrated.

The history of the Trent bridges at Nottingham is particularly interesting. Their early history is clouded in the mists of antiquity. The site of these bridges has for many hundred years been the crossing place of the Trent, between the south of England and the north. During the excavations for the foundations of the new bridges, to which we shall refer subsequently, traces of what we may infer to have been a landingstage have been brought to light. These consist of some “cross-braced framing, formed of black oak beams trenailed, together with oak pins, the whole resting upon large unhewn blocks of stone.”

The Will of Sir Jerome Alexander, a parchment transcript of which is preserved in the Chief Probate Office, Dublin, is a document of more than ordinary interest; even with its cumbrous repetitions we owe no apology for producing it in full:–

“In the name of God Amen. I, Sr Jerome Alexander of the City of Dublin, one of the unprofitable servants of Almighty God, being of a perfect sound disposing memory, praised bee God, this three and twentieth day of March in the yeare of the Raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Charles the Second of that name by the grace of God of England, Scotland, Fraunce and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c. the two and twentieth, and hereby renounceing and admitting and declareing all former Wills and Testaments by mee at any time heretofore made to bee utterly void & of none effect, doe declare this to bee my last true Will and Testament in manner & form following and doe now soe declare it to bee.

There are as many different modes of writing the history of each country, as there are differences between one country and another in all those various qualities which contribute to constitute the character of a nation. Some histories treat on the laws and constitution, some on the political contentions, some on the commercial enterprises, and some on the natural productions, of a country. That, however, which appears to me to be the most important and the most interesting department of history relating to any country,—that which comes home nearest to our hearts and feelings,—is its domestic history, embracing an account of the manners and customs, the pursuits and habits, and every-day life of the people at large. This, however, strange as it may seem, is one of the most neglected portions of history, not only as regards nations in general, but more particularly as regards our own.

It is singular and instructive to mark how close is the resemblance between the popular discontents of different times and the spring as well as the progress of their action. During the fourteenth century the great body of the people, especially in England, was gradually rising in the scale of civilisation, and, at the same time that the pressure on them was increased, the simplest civic rights were denied them. During the age we are referring to, there was a contemporaneous movement of the lower classes—of the body of the people—in various countries. The stern slavery under the feudal system was relaxing. The voice of the serf, who so long in silence had endured his bondage, was at length more or less heard. The spirit of freedom, which heretofore had animated only the noble and the high-born, was now inflaming the hearts of those who, under the bonds of villain-service, had been part of the ownership of the soil. There was an almost simultaneous rising of the lower orders of the people, and its not being confined to any one country, can only be explained by general, and, doubtless, various causes affecting European society and governments at large.

The duties required of a captain of the navy during the Continental war, at the beginning of the present century, were peculiarly difficult. They often involved questions of great national importance, which required intelligence, judgment, and energy, not always united in the same person. On the possessors of such qualities we look back with pride and satisfaction, as to them we owe our high position among the nations. Similar occasions may not again occur for developing such qualities. International and maritime law is now more correctly defined, and the same scope is not given to commanders of iron-clads, as to those who commanded wooden ships. The latter depended on their sailing qualities and power of manoeuvring; the former have only to find out the weak parts of their antagonists, and by the weight of artillery to send their opponents to the bottom. But while these changes in ships have taken place, the race of seamen continues the same. The like courage remains, ready to fight the country's battles and to gain victories, as in former days, when the sailor was prepared to undergo every hardship, and with calmness and sagacity to take advantage of every passing event for maintaining the national glory.

In his paper entitled “Notes in the History of Sir Jerome Alexander, Second Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland,” Dr Rogers has supplied a variety of details in the earlier part of the life of this Judge, which, added to those it has been my lot to pick up, serve to complete his biography. Early in life I happened to meet with a pamphlet in the fine collection of historical works concerning Ireland contained in the Library of King's Inns, Dublin, entitled “True Way to render Ireland Happy and Secure; or a Discourse wherein 'tis shewn that 'tis the Interest both of England and Ireland to encourage Foreign Protestants to Plant in Ireland, 410. Dublin: Andrew Crook, 1697,” in which is the following passage:—

The word Bohemia, it is well known, is a conventional appellation devoid of truth; a name derived from the Boij, a Gallic tribe which settled in that country, 587 B.C. In the seventh century, the Czechs, a Slavonian people, conquered it, and that branch of the great Slavonian race has ever possessed a distinct and original life, as well as a vernacular culture, that has not met with the attention it deserves at the hands of historical students. The Germans of the hereditary house of Habsburg, proclaim that the Czechs owe everything to them— arts, science, civilisation; they have often done so in a somewhat insulting language, despite several glorious epochs in the history of Bohemia, namely, the reign of Ottokar, the competitor of Rodolf of Habsburg to the imperial crown, in 1272; the greatness of the University of Prag, in the fourteenth century, and the glorious episode of George of Podiebrad. As to the Bohemian kingdom of Ottokar, by its importance and extent, it alone deserves a special history. It comprised, besides Bohemia proper, great part of modern Prussia, Carinthia, Croatia, Illyria; it extended from the Baltic to the Adriatic sea, with the harbour of Nao on the latter, thus justifying, as it were, Shakespeare, in whose “ Winter's Tale ” a Sicilian fleet sails into Bohemia, a statement that was eagerly ridiculed by Ben Jonson and others.

James the First of Scotland has, as a poet, been associated with Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate; and, on competent authority, has been ranked with the more distinguished musicians. In the present memoir, we shall advert to his claims as a sovereign, as well as to his personal accomplishments.

In rising to address you I cannot but feel that I am occupying the place of one who was illustrious not only by the accomplishment of his great work, the “History of Greece,” but by his extensive learning, his love of liberty, and his reverence for ancient institutions, combined with readiness to embrace truth from whatever quarter it might come. These qualities won him the attachment of the society in which he lived, and the admiration and respect of the nation to which he belonged.

The third day of creation was ushered in by an Oorayoo . Then “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job xxxviii. 7). This may be held to prove that other orbs had been inhabited before this globe appeared. The “shout” was used as a battle cheer; after an “Hourah” of the men of Judah, a vast number of the men of Israel fell down slain (2 Chron. xiii. 15–17).

In 1863 a correspondent in Notes and Queries inserted the following entry from “Mr James Haig's List of Books published in England prior to the year M.D.C., in the Library of the King's Inns, Dublin, 1858, p, 14:”—

The influence of the literature of Greece and Rome, not only upon that of the nations the groundwork of whose language may be traced back to classical sources, but on those civilised races who descend from a wholly different origin, has been a subject which has received much attention and abundant illustration. We formerly gave a collection of examples to be found in the writings of Shakespeare, and also from several of our English poets; and availing ourselves, as before, mainly of the labours of Henderson, give a continuation of our excerpts. They are very far indeed from being exhaustive, but they may encourage others to fill up the blanks that have been left.

During the spring of 1872, while engaged in the Public Record Office in some important researches, I chanced to discover a small quarto MS. volume, bearing the following inscription:—“Index of ye Nobility of Scotland in ye Time of James ye First.” The volume was in the handwriting of Sir Joseph Williamson, and, though undated, clearly belonged to the period between 1666 and 1701, when the transcriber held office as Keeper of the State Papers. Along with a written narrative concerning the nobility and their several families were descriptions of their armorial escutcheons, partly in French, and other entries of an extraneous and unimportant character.