4 JULY 1885, Page 23

Historical Richmond. By Edwin Beresford Chancellor. (Bell and Sons.)—There is

a good deal to be said about Richmond, a place which has, we believe, the distinction of being the largest village in England ; for a village it still is, though at the last census it num- bered 20,000 inhabitants. Its neighbourhood to London, coupled with the remarkable beauty of its situation, has attracted to it the dis- tinguished inhabitants which make a place interesting. And it has had the advantage of being a habitation of Royalty. Henry I. seems to have lived there ; but his was only a temporary residence ; and it served the same purpose for Edward L When the Palace was built does not seem to be quite clear ; but Edward III. died there. Richard II. had it pulled down ; Henry V. rebuilt it. It was sold during the Commonwealth to Sir Geoffrey Norton, one of the regi- cides. Only a small portion of it remains. The " Green," the " Parish Church," the " Hill " (a propos of which we are told that £1,000 was paid for the recipe of the famous "Maids of Honour "), the " Park," the "Bridge," and the "River," have all chapters allotted to them. Mr. Chancellor, who seems to have written this book while still under seventeen (for he tells us that he could not consult the books in the British Museum), has done his work very creditably.