That, at each extremity of the channel between the island and Hampshire, the tide rushes in and out with fuch impetuofity as to render thefe parts the deepest and most dangerous, whereas, near the midway, where the tides meet, though the conflict makes a rough water, according as the wind may affist the one or the other, there is no rapidity of current to carry away the foil and deepen the bottom; accordingly we difcover a hard gravelly beach there, extending a great way across the channel, a circumftance not to be found in any other part of it. Correfponding with this, on the Hampshire fide, is a place called Leap, poffibly from the narrowness of the pafs, and on the Isle of Wight, oppofite this, is a strait open road, of at least two miles in length, called Rew-ftreet, probably from the French word Rue, to which the tranflation of it might afterwards be added: this road, after having croffed the foreft, may be traced by an obfervant eye from St. Auftin's Gate to the weft of Carifbrook caftle, over a field called North Field, by Sheat, and fo on to the south fide of the ifland. Many parts of this road are of little or no ufe at this time, and, unless it was heretofore used for the purpose of con veying tin, it is not easy to conjecture what purpose it was to answer.'

>

The argument drawn from the apparent defign of the road above mentioned, carries with it great force in determining this controverfy; nor is the want of hiftorical evidence, refpecting the disjunction of the Ifle of Wight from the main land of Britain, fufficient reafon for queftioning the existence of the event, when we know of many such inftances in the natural hiftory of the world.

The fecond chapter treats of the military history of the ifland ; the feveral defcents made by the Romans, Saxons, Danes, and French; the ancient feudal military force, and prefent ftate of the militia; with an account of the castles and forts. The narrative recites the various defcents which have been made on the Ifle of Wight, from the year 43, when it was conquered by the Romans, to the invafion of the French in 1545. In detailing thofe tranfactions, the author has had recourse chiefly to the Saxon Chronicle; and in what respects the ancient military force of the island, to authentic records, of which copies are given in an Appendix. induce people to fettle in the Ifle of Wight, feveral privileges and immunities were conferred on the inhabitants by a grant of Edward the Third. They were not to be charged with the aid granted to the king; and no inhabitant of the island could be compelled to ferve on any jury or inqueft out

of it.

To

The defcription of the caftle of Carifbrooke is drawn with great accuracy. It appears that at the fouth-east angle of this B 2 fort

fort there are the remains of a tower, the walls of which were in fome places no less than eighteen feet thick. Here is a well, faid to be three hundred feet deep; but it has been partly filled up as useless and dangerous. Under a small building in the caftle-yard is another well, more than two hundred feet deep, whence the water for the use of the garrison was drawn by means of a large wheel, turned by an afs. This duty, we are told, was for forty years performed by the fame animal, not long fince dead. Down this well, the hiftorian informs us, it is ufual to drop a pin, which after a lapse of about three feconds of time, produces a greater found than can well be conceived by those who have not heard it.

Carifbrooke Caftle is remarkable for the confinement of Charles the First, who was detained in it a prisoner from November 1647, to September the following year. All the other forts, of which are several in the island, were erected in the reign of Henry VIII.

The third chapter recites the fucceffion of the lords of the ifland, with their franchifes. The hiftorian observes, that the lordship of the Isle of Wight does not appear to have been granted to any fubject before the Norman conquest. The first that held this honour was William Fitz.Osborne, kinsman to William the Conqueror, from whom he obtained a grant of it. Fitz Ofborne founded two abbeys in Normandy, one at Lyra, the other at Cormeilles, and also a priory at Carisbrook, which, with fix churches in the Isle of Wight, befides several others, he gave to the abbey at Lyra. He furvived the conqueft only four years, being flain in battle, and was buried in the abbey of Cormeilles.

The fecond lord of the Ifle of Wight was Roger de Breteville, or de Briftolis, earl of Hereford. This nobleman having entered into a confpiracy against the king, was tried and found guilty of treafon, for which his lands were confiscated, and he was fentenced to perpetual imprisonment.

The lordship of the island being forfeited on this event, continued in the crown until Henry the First granted it to Richard de Redvers, Ripariis, or Rivers, a defcendant of Richard, firft duke of Normandy, by an illegitimate fon. Richard de Redvers dying in the first year of the reign of Stephen, was fucceeded in the lordfhip of the Ifle of Wight by his fon Baldwin. The lordship of the island continued in this family for feveral generations, till Edward the First obtained it by purchase from Isabella de Fortibus. It was again separated from the crown by Edward the Second, who granted it to his favourite Piers Gavefton; but on a remonstrance of the nobility, the king refumed the grant the following year, and

con

conferred the lordship of the island on his eldest fon Edward, afterwards king Edward the Third. This prince retained it in his poffeffion till his death; but Richard the Second afterwards granted it to William Montacute, earl of Salisbury, for life. He dying without iffue, the lordship was next conferred on Edward, earl of Rutland, afterwards duke of York. On his death, the duchess of York obtained a grant of the Isle of Wight, for her life; at the expiration of which it devolved, by a reverfionary grant, on Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, fon of Henry the Fourth. He is fupposed to have held the island to the time of his death, notwithstanding two years before that event, Henry Beauchamp, duke of Warwick, was crowned king of the Isle of Wight; king Henry the Sixth, in perfon, affifting at the ceremonial, and placing the crown on his head. This, the hiftorian obferves, though a very honourable mark of the royal favour, conveyed no regal authority, the king having no power to transfer the fovereignty of any part of his dominions. There is reafon to conclude, that, though titular king, he did not even poffefs the lordship of the ifland; no surrender appearing from duke Humphrey, who was then living, and had a grant for the term of his life. Under thofe circumftances, the honour conferred on the duke of Warwick muft appear very whimsical.

For an account of the subsequent lords of the Isle of Wight, we shall present our readers with an extract from the work.

Among the records in the Tower of London are found two petitions from the inhabitants of the ifland, dated the twentyeighth of Henry the Sixth, one to the king, and the other to the parliament, complaining of the bad government, and defence. lefs ftate of the ifland at that time; and, though the particulars are not clearly stated, nor, perhaps from the confufion of affairs, illuftrated by any contemporary records, yet they nevertheless afford fufficient evidence to rank Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, father of king Edward the Fourth, among the lords of the ifland. He is not indeed exprefsly fo termed, but is mentioned in the second petition as exercifing fuch acts of government there, as could only be performed by one vefted with that authority for he had appointed one John Newport his lieutenant, and steward of the island; and, on his misbehaviour, difplaced him, and conferred that employment on Henry Bruin. Newport, af er his difiniffion, although negotiating with the king for his re-establishment, took advantage of the relaxed state of government, and committed great outrages on the inhabitants, both by land and fea, which are pathetically fet forth in the petition; but the king and parliament, as well as the duke of York, were then too much engaged to afford them relief.

:

The history of the duke is well known; the king's confti tutional imbecility increafing, he was invefted with the admi niftration of government, under the title of protector: his birth, influence, and connexions infpired him with the hopes of afcending the throne, but his conduct in the attempt was too mild and cautious for the turbulence of thofe times, though fufficiently explicit to drive him into meafures that terminated in his deftruction. He loft his life at the battle of Wakefield, leaving his more daring fon to reap the fruit of his pretenfions,

In the thirty-first year of Henry the Sixth, Edmund, duke of Somerfet, who married the fifter and coheir of Henry, duke of Warwick, before mentioned as king of the ifland, having fome time before fupplanted the duke of York in the regency of France, obtained a grant of this ifland, and the caftle of Carifbrooke, to him and the heirs male of his body, in fatisfaction, as it was alleged, for certain fums of money due to him from the king's exchequer, and for the duties of petty customs in the port of London, which were part of his inheritance. This duke was flain at the first battle of St. Alban's, in the thirty-third year of Henry the Sixth.

Henry, duke of Somerset, his fon, fucceeded him in the lordfhip of this ifland: on fome difguft he quitted the royal party, and went over to that of the duke of York, but afterwards returning to the king's fervice, he was taken prifoner by the Yorkists, at the battle of Hexham, and by them beheaded.

In the fixth year of Edward the Fourth, Anthony de Wydeville, or Woodville, lord Schales, and after his father's demife, earl Rivers, had a grant of this ifland, with the caftle of Carifbrooke, and all other rights appertaining to the lordship, to him and his heirs male; after the decease of that king, he, standing in the way of the ambitious views of Richard, duke of Gloucester, was feized, and, without any legal procefs, beheaded in Pontefract caftle.

Sir Edward Wydeville, brother of the afore mentioned Anthony, earl Rivers, was, in the first year of Henry the Seventh, made captain of the Ifland. Sir William Dugdale fuppofes him to have been the brother of the firft earl Rivers; but in that he is mistaken, as well as in terming him governor of the Isle of Wight, a title not affumed till many years after, by the captain of the ifland. This fir Edward Wydeville, in the fourth year of Henry the Seventh, undertook, with a force raifed in this ifland, to affift the duke of Brittany, against the king of France, conceiving it would be pleafing to his mafter, who was fuppofed secretly to favour the duke's intereft, though then acting as a mediator between the contending parties. Sir Edward, therefore, firft afked permiffion to engage in that cause, and receiving a denial, imagined it was only given to fave appearances, and that the king would not be difpleafed with a private attempt in the duke's favour; he therefore repaired to the Ifle of Wight, and,

convening the inhabitants by a general muster, he then proposed the bufinefs to the gentlemen, telling them how acceptable it would be to the king, how honourable to themselves, and how greatly demonstrative of their regard to him, which he should ever gratefully retain in his memory; and that to requite them, he would not only employ his whole fortune, but alfo all his intereft with his fovereign. He farther expatiated on the juftice of the cause, informing them that the king of France was not only endeavouring to poffefs himself of the dukedom of Brittany, but alfo the duke's daughter, the lawful wife of Maximilian, king of the Romans; and that if thefe defigns were fuffered to fucceed, they would have a very difagreeable neighbour, instead of their ancient and good allies the dukes of Brittany. This harangue had but too good fuccefs, great numbers flocking to his standard; out of these he selected about forty gentlemen, and four hundred of the ftouteft from the commonalty, who embarked at St. Helen's in four veffels; they were clothed in white coats, with red croffes, and were joined by fifteen hundred of the duke's forces, dreffed in the fame uniform, to make the auxiliaries appear the more numerous. Unfortunately, at the battle of St. Aubin's, in Brittany, the duke was defeated, and fir Edward, with all the English flain, except one boy, who brought home the melancholy tidings, particularly fo to this ifland, as there was fcarce a family but what loft a relation in this expedition. Sir Edward died unmarried.

It was this tragical event that occafioned an act of parliament to be paffed, intended to promote the population of the island, by prohibiting any of its inhabitants from holding farms, lands, or tithes, exceeding the annual rent of ten marks. A regulation that could not, from the conftant decrease of the value of money, remain long in force: to make a law of this nature permanent, the quantity of land, and not of rent, fhould be afcertained; but political writers are by no means agreed as to the effects of fuch restrictions.

It is not certain whether fir Edward was lord of the island, or, as his title imported, only captain thereof, though, from the great influence he appears to have had over the inhabitants, instanced in their engaging in his ill-fated expedition, the former feems most probable. After his deceafe, Henry the Seventh, intent upon leffening the power of the barons, never granted away the lordship of this ifland, which has ever fince remained in the crown: thus its government was changed into a more military appointment; and though the captain, or governor, might hold fome lands, that remained to the caftle, they are annexed to the charge of it, and were enjoyed, jure officii only.'

The detail of the lords of the Isle of Wight is illuftrated by feveral plates, exhibiting chiefly the feals of the different families; an embellishment which fhews the great attention paid by fir Richard Worfley to the fplendor of the work. B 4

The