Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Edited by the Rev.
Charles Rogers, LL.D. Vol. VII. (Printed for the Royal Historical Society.)—Among the papers in this volume may be mentioned one on "John of Jenstein, Archbishop of Prague, 1378-1397," an eccle- siastic in whom Mr. Wratislaw discovers a certain parallel to Thomas ii Becket. The Archbishop's importance lies in his connection with that famous personage St. John Nepomuk. The Baron de Bogonshevsky contributes an interesting paper on " The English in Muscovy." Mr. Cornelius Walford's "Early Bills of Mortality" will have a special interest in these days, when a visit from the Plague is at least a possibility. In 1562 the total deaths in London were 23,630, " whereof of the Plague, 20,136." In 1582 we have an interesting comparison with the number of births (or more properly of the christenings). The deaths seem to have been nearly double,—about 8,000, as against 4,500. In 1603 the total deaths were more than 42,000, six-sevenths being due to the Plague. 1624 was not a Plague year, but the total was more than 12,000. The next year the Plague reappeared, and the number rose to 54,000. In 1665, the " Plague year," par excellence, it was 97,306. The details of this bill are very curious. We have a Dublin bill for 1671. It gives 3,850 for the number of families, and 1,007 for burials. The rate could hardly have been less than 50 per 1,000. In 1695, the population of Dublin was found by "exact sur- vey" to be 40,508. The deaths are estimated at 1,800. This gives a rate of about 45 to the 1,000. Of other papers we may mention " Some Account of Ancient Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Michael's, Bath," and " The Growth of Nationality in Canada."—We have to acknowledge The Genealogist, edited by George W. Marshall, LL.D., Vol. II. (Golding and Lawrence), full of curious information, which quite defies anything like enumeration ; and the yearly issue of The Church Builder (Rivington).
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