Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/582

 480 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. x., 1922. be no more successful in getting at the truth than the historian he proposes to criticize, and we certainly think that this is the aspect of the matter which should first be presented to him. Very many of the documents collected in this, book might be, and indeed have been, read ignorantly or read without judgment, and read wrong. But while we believe that, as a rule, the student cannot tackle original records for himself with any great profit, and that there is just now some tendency to lay too much stress on their use at early stages in the reading of history, we must certainly welcome such a piece of work as this before us, in which a selection of documents is made the subject of a series of admirable essays and notes. Every page bears the impress of Dr. Tanner's experience as a guide. The texts, in the main, are of the first importance, represent- ing cardinal moments in the history of the Con- stitution, yet we question whether to the student they themselves will not prove to be secondary in value to the rich commentary which serves ostensibly as their setting. Dr. Tanner has not tediously insisted on giving each Act or other legal document in full in fact the omissions are often considerable. We pass from the foundation of the Tudor monarchy to the several Church settlements of the sixteenth century. These first 200 pages compose an excellent account detached, cir- cumstantial, by no means devoid of smaller human interest yet faithful to the broad lines of development in thought and policy of the constitutional aspect of the severance of the English Church from Borne. The next subjects dealt with are the King's Secretary, the Privy Council and the Star Chamber. The immense variety of affairs which the Privy Council had to take in hand is most successfully illustrated. In the history of the Star Chamber Dr. Tanner shows that the Parliamentarian lawyers were in error, who, at the time of its abolition, took the Star Chamber to have been established by the Act of 1487. The Court so designated was, in origin, a part of the King's Council, which, while the rest of that body attended the King in his movements about the realm, remained stationary in London to deal with business chiefly judicial business that could not other- wise be conveniently transacted. They met most often but not invariably in 2u chamber in the Palace of Westminster, which had a ceiling decorated with stars, and the first use of the expression Star Chamber denotes merely the room, not a court. In fact the Act of Henry VII. which was taken to have established the Star Chamber does not contain the words. Its effect was to give to the said stationary portion of the Council certain freshly defined powers, in the exercise of which it did in time become separate from the Privy Council. Among the select cases by which the work of the Star Chamber is illus- trated we have that for trespass brought by the hermit of Highgate against the vicar of St. Pancras in 1503. The civil jurisdiction of the Council may be taken as represented in the Court of Bequests. Unlike the Star Chamber, it would seem that the beginning of this Court has been wrongly referred to the times of the later Plantagenets when in fact it was a Tudor establishment. The Financial Courts, the Ancient Courts of Common Law, Admiralty and the Constable and Marshal, and the Franchise Courts not only form a necessary part of the whole picture of the administration of the realm, but also reveal the needs which the Council had to frame itself to fill. The section on the Ecclesiastical Courts contains among its illustrations a case of witchcraft, dealt with in 1492, which is of great interest. The remaining sections deal with the Law of Treason, Local Government, Parliament and Finance : all are admirable both as to the commentary and to the selection of documents, but we would single out the first as especially good in both respects. Tivinings in the Strand. By E. E. Newton. TwiNiNGS was founded in the year 1706. Not only is it the oldest house of its kind in the king- dom, but it still occupies its original site, and the business is still conducted by members of the original family. So long an existence, touch- ing at more than one point the general com- mercial history of the nation, might even be thought worthy of a more extended account than our correspondent Mr. Newton gives it in this pleasant little brochure. The Twining of the day suggested Pitt's " Commutation Act," one effect of which was to increase the yearly con- sumption of tea from 4 to 15 million pounds. Several members of the family from the eighteenth century onwards have attained eminence in literature, art and science. It would 'be interesting to collect the histories of any other firms of over two hundred years old which are still conducted by the descendants of the founder. They must be few, indeed, in number. Publisher would be pleased to hear from any subscriber who may have a copy of the Index to vol. vi., 12th Series, to spare. to EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' ' Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lisher " at the Office, Printing House Square, London, E.G. 4 ; corrected proofs to The Editor, ' N. & Q.,' Printing House Square, London, E.C.4. ALL communications intended for insertion in our columns should bear the name and address of the sender not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. WHEN answering a query, or referring to an article which has already appeared, correspondents are requested to give within parentheses immediately after the exact heading -the numbers of the series, volume, and page at which the con- tribution in question is to be found. WHEN sending a letter to be forwarded to another contributor, correspondents are requested to put in the top left-hand corner of the envelope the number of the page of ' N. & Q.' to which the letters refers.