been supposed by some to be corroborated by its being called Tela Chib, or "the Hill of Greif," in the Syriac version of the Old Testament.

But this designation would appear to be connected with a totally different association of ideas that of the wailing of the Israelites -and to be another name for the Tel Abîb of Ezekiel, the latter being, as we have shewn, on the river of Chebar, or the Euphrates of Borsippa, and the same as Tela Chib, and as the Birs Nimrûd.

It is hence not at all improbable that this was the so-called Tel or eminence from whence, in the time of the Captivity, the Prophet denounced the rebellious children of Israel. Rabbi Petachia, we have seen, called the Birs Nimrûd, Al Ajûr, another reading or version of Tel Abîb; and it is remarkable that the Greek translators rendered Tel Abîb by meteoros, or "in mid air," from an old tradition that the Prophet was supported in mid-air when denouncing the Israelites-a hyperbolic mode of expression—of which a position taken up by Ezekiel on the top of, or on the steps of, the tower of seven stages, would be at once the most suitable, and the most acceptable, illustration.

king Richard's Crusade.

M

UCH valuable information respecting Richard Coeur de Lion and his Crusade has been lately brought to light by letters and documents found in Genoese archives; for it was on Genoese ships that the kings of France and England sailed for Palestine, and in their capacity of "carriers " the Genoese displayed all the astuteness of a commercial race, who carefully secured by contracts that they should incur no financial loss in the part they took in the Holy Wars.

As events went on, and when the stronghold of Acre fell into the hands of the Christians, the two crusader monarchs found themselves at variance; Philip of France returned home, and Richard of England was left to prosecute his plans of attacking the Soldan of Egypt single-handed.

VOL. IV.

57

In this extremity he penned the following letter to his friends in Genoa :

Richard, by the grace of God King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Aquitaine, to the venerable and most well-beloved friends the archbishop, podestà, consuls, and council, and other worthy men of Genoa, to whom this present letter shall come, sendeth greeting.

Seeing that you, above all other men, show the greatest solicitude for the maintenance of the holy land of Jerusalem, we have thought fit to point out to you what are the measures we propose to carry out for the defence of the same. Let it be known, therefore, to your kindly feeling for us, that in the coming summer we, with all our forces, shall hasten into Egypt against Babylon and Alexandria, to the honour of God and to the confounding of the arrogance of the Gentiles, if you will give us your assent; hence do we instantly recommend ourselves to your sincerity, and implore you that out of regard for the Divine piety, and for your own welfare, you will join the Christian army with the full panoply of your forces, and without any delay, feeling assured that every part and convention which we have made with you, and you with us, shall be entirely observed, apart from the contract we have already signed for our transport to the coasts of Syria.

If you will bring with you ships, men, provisions, and armour, sufficient for the enterprise, of whatever lands by the grace of God we shall be able to acquire from the Saracens, so much shall be given to you as shall be agreed between us. At any rate you shall obtain whatever may be proportionate to the succour lent by you, whether it be money, ships, or men. Be assured that we will pay the half of the expenses for the time employed by the galleys in sailing to the Christian army.

As to the rest, we send you Maurius di Rodoano, an honoured man, and a friend of the Christian cause, who formerly was your consul in Syria, concerning the business of Christendom, begging that you will give credence to all he may propose to you, as to a true friend of the Christians. Concerning all the things that the said Maurius shall say and do, we shall consider them as binding as if we had said or done them ourselves. Do you, therefore, intimate to him what you can do about this business, and the number of galleys that you will send to join the Christian army.

Written with our own hand at Acon, 11th October.

Apparently the Genoese acquiesced in Richard's request, for there is another letter, bearing no date, which says that, "if we obtain from Genoa the half only of what your messengers promise, we will freely give unto you the third part of all the conquests which, with the grace of God, we shall gain. from the Saracens."

But Richard must have experienced the full force of Virgil's cutting lines on Ligurian treachery

F

Yet like a true Ligurian, born to cheat, At least whilst fortune favoured his deceit ; for the promised succour never arrived.

Of the original treaty alluded to in King

Richard's letter I have been able to discover no traces in Genoese archives; but that made by Philip II. of France is still extant, and we may presume that they made one of the same nature with the English king before they took the two kings on board their galleys, to the command of which two Genoese admirals were appointed, Sunone Vento, and the above mentioned Rodoano.

The Genoese came to terms with Philip of France in this wise: their merchants not only traded largely with the coast of Syria, but pushed far into the heart of France, hence they were recognized as the most fitting people to transport the troops.

A contract is still in existence by which Hugh, Duke of Burgundy, granted these merchants, in 1190, enormous mercantile concessions in his towns of Chalons and Dijon. Bearing a date only two days subsequent to this, and negotiated by the same duke on behalf of the French king, is the contract for the transport of the crusaders, the principal features of which are that Philip of France was to pay the Genoese 5850 silver marks for the transport of 650 soldiers, 1300 squires, and 1300 horses, together with their arms and trappings, food for eight months, and wine for four months, from the day of their departure from Genoa. In addition to which every concession they demanded for the extension of their commerce in the conquered countries, and large immunities throughout France, were granted them.

We can hardly doubt that the king of England's contract was worded in much the same way, and that the sum paid down and the commercial advantages were equally large.

Let into the wall, underneath the tower of this church, is a curious old monument, representing a head, round which is the following inscription in Latin :

Of Master William Acton I am here the home,
For whom let whosoever passes by a pater say.
In 1180, in the time of William, it was begun.

It is curious to find an English name connected with this tomb and this church. In looking through an old register of the foundation of this building, dated 30th September, 1198, I read the following statement:

I, William, commendator of the Hospital of St. John, admit to having received from you, Master John of England, doctor, thirty-seven pounds in deposit, which deposit Master John made, fearing blessed St. Thomas of Canterbury, in which he set the judgment of God, in the journey of the most out, and if he did not return to Genoa, he bequeaths the said thirty-seven pounds to the said hospital.

It is somewhat difficult to decide on two points. Is the William of the tomb the William of the document, and did he, as was customary in those days, build a home to receive his bones a long time before his death?

curiosity. Sufficient is proved by it that This indeed is but a matter for antiquarian travellers in Italy at the time of Richard Englishmen were by no means uncommon Cœur de Lion's crusade, and perhaps the old commenda of St. John could rival the more palatial halting-places of modern days in the number of its Anglo-Saxon visitors.

J. THEODORE BENT.

The Kentish Garland.*

T is somewhat strange that the inhabitants of the famous county of Kent, which has been well celebrated in ballads and songs,

*The Kentish Garland. Edited by Julia H. L. de Vaynes. With Additional Notes and Pictorial Illustrations, copied from the rare originals, by J. W. Ebsworth, M.A., F.S.A. Vol. I.-The County General. Hertford: Stephen Austin & Sons, 1 in 8vo, pp. xx. 455. 880.

the past uncollected. Now a lady comes forward to supply this deficiency, and, with the help of the well-known ballad-lover, Mr. Ebsworth, Miss De Vaynes has produced the first volume of her most interesting Garland, devoted to the county in general, and promises a second, on persons and places, to follow shortly. The great event in the history of Kent, when the men of Kent, sword in hand, obtained from the Conqueror the ratification of their customs, is fully recorded. First, there is Deloney's ballad of "the valiaunt courage and policye of the Kentishmen, with long tayles, whereby they kept their ancient lawes, which William the Conqueror sought to take from them," which commences :

When as the Duke of Normandie,
With glist'ring speare and shield
Had ent'red into fayre England,
And foil'd his foes in fielde.
On Christmas Day in solemne sort,
Then was he crowned here
By Albert, Archbishop of Yorke,
With many a noble peere.

Then comes the most popular of Kentish songs, Tom D'Urfey's Brave Men of Kent:

The hardy stout Freeholders,

That knew the tyrant near:
In girdles and on shoulders,
A grove of oaks did bear,

Whom when he saw, in Battle draw,

And thought how he might need 'em ;
He turn'd his arms, allow'd their terms,
Compleat with noble freedom.

No wonder that those whom Wordsworth apostrophized as

Vanguard of Liberty, ye men of Kent,

resent the misplaced criticism of those historians who doubt the whole story of "the bold men of Swanscombe," and deny the claim that

Left single, in bold parley, ye of yore

Did from the Norman win a gallant wreath; Confirm'd the charters that were yours before. A valuable note by Mr. James R. Scott, F.S.A., in which an attempt is made to prove that the leader of the demonstration in favour of Kentish rights at Swanscombe was a member of the family of Swene the outlaw, a son of Godwin, Earl of Kent, and brother

of Harold, the last Danish king of England, is printed in this volume.

It is a long leap from the Norman Conquest to the Civil Wars, but the poets have little to tell of historical doings between these two events. We find that the Royalists quite outshine their rivals in the power of saying their say:-rebels, and their leader, "good Oliver," are treated badly in The Kentish Fayre; but the men of Canterbury, who declared themselves for "God, King Charles, and Kent," and found that their loyalty led them to sing like "birds in cages," receive due due poetical honours. Although Kent generally stood by the King, Ashford gained a name as the hot-bed of Nonconformity; but even there the other side dared to speak out. Thomas Wilson, the vicar of All Saints', publicly rebuked from the pulpit Andrew Broughton, the regicide mayor, for his share in the King's death, and when he rose from his seat to leave the Church, cried after him, "he ran away because he was hard hit."

The joy of the country when Charles II. was restored to his kingdom is vividly portrayed in The Glory of these Nations, and the various points of the progress from Dover to Walworth Fields, Newington Butts and Southwark, are fully described, the whole winding up with

The Bells likewise did loudly ring,
Bonfires did burn, and people sing;
London conduits did run with wine;
And all men do to Charles incline;
Hoping now that all

Unto their trades may fall,
Their famylies for to maintain,
And from wrong be free,
'Cause we have liv'd to see

The King enjoy his own again.

After the more general pieces there follow these headings-Kentish Election, Kentish Volunteer, Kentish Bowmen, Kentish Tour, Kentish Cricket and Kentish Hop groups, all of which, as their names would imply, are of considerable interest. In a collection of old ballads, that popular class relating to wonders and miracles is sure to be well represented. One of these ballads relates how a distressed widow and her seven small children, in the Wild of Kent, lived for seven weeks "upon a burnt sixpenny loaf of bread, and yet it never decreased." Mr. Ebsworth has given spirited reproductions of the old

Her children cry for bread, and she sells the coat from off her back, but loses her money on her way home.

Her very coat she from her back did sell
For five poor shillings, as is known full well;
But mark how this poor soul was strangely crost,
Her purse was cut, and all her money lost.

Then she goes to her husband's brother, but he pays no heed to her prayers and tears. This cruel uncle, whose mercy, as Mr. Ebsworth says, was squint-eyed, and "on the north side o' friendly," is shown in the next cut.

The group of songs relating to the great volunteer movement at the time when Napoleon was expected to invade our coast, is of great interest, as shewing the deep national enthusiasm evoked, which was strong over the whole country, but particularly so in one of the counties that was specially exposed. As Mr. Ebsworth remarks, the feeling of cheerful confidence which animated the nation was encouraged by the preaching of the clergy, and the pastor of Lyminge, who reminded his congregation that, "perhaps before the next Sunday dawns we shall have ceased to be an independent nation," was one of a small minority. The Holmesdale Volunteer asks

Shall unconquer'd men of Kent,

Who withstood the Norman pow'r,
Bow before a vile usurper,

Rais'd in mad rebellion's hour?

and all the poets answer this, or similar questions, with a determined negative.

The Society of Kentish Bowmen flourished from 1785 to 1802; and had George, Prince of Wales, for its President. It was founded by Mr. J. E. Madox, of Mount Mascal, in North Cray parish, and consisted at first of eleven members. In 1787, the Society removed its meetings to Dartford Heath, and after obtaining the patronage of the Prince of Wales, the numbers rose to one hundred and twenty-three. It was an expensive association, for every member paid ten guineas on

election, and, in addition, annual

subscription of £1.11s. 6d. and guinea a year for dinners. If a member married he had to pay a fine of £100. Among the

officers were four standard

bearers, a

treasurer, a

61

No Kentish Garland would be complete without some record of the doings of Kentish cricketers. Here is printed a poem, "written in consequence of a match between Hamp

shire and Kent, Aug. 19, 1772, which was decided in

favour of the latter," that professes to be the first song written in praise of the national game.

The Volume is com

of

re

pleted with a group poems lating to that famous product which

is almost peculiar to

the county the hop, or, as it has been

called

-the "Ken

tish Vine."

The hop that

swings so

lightly,

The hop that

glows brightly,

SO

A Bowman's life's the life to court, There's none can charm so dearly,

As roving, butting, all in sport,

To the sound of the bugle cheerly.

Will sure be honour'd rightly
By all good men and true.

We owe it to Mr. Ebsworth's kindness that his charming version of Hayman's scene in a hop garden, which illustrates Christopher Smart's poem, is here given.

We hope we have said enough to show that this book is a valuable addition to our