Quarter Sessions Records of Somersetshire. Edited by the Rev. C.
H. Bates Harbin. (Somerset Record Society.)—The period covered by these records is from Jan. 1, 1625—Jan., 1628-29, and we get, as we read them, some interesting glimpses of the time. For instance, we see an offender, charged with playing fives against the wall of Williton Church, replying that "the [true] church is where the congregation is assembled." The Puritan element, again, may have had something to do with an order that all ale-houses should be suppressed unless they were on a great thoroughfare. This zeal for the public welfare co-existed, however, with much brutality on the part of authorities in regard of persons and of punishments generally. We may express the hope that the Somerset Record Society, which issues this volume, may be adequately supported.
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