CHRONICLES OF THEBERTON.
Chronicles of Theberton. By Henry Montagu Doughty. (Mac- millan and Co. 7s. Gd. net.)—Mr. Doughty has made a highly interesting book: almost any parish affords an intelligent writer a subject capable of such treatment, and where there is an equip- ment of records, registers, parish books, and so forth, success is assured. Theberton, a Suffolk parish not far from Saxmundham, appears in Domesday Book ; part of the land was owned by Religious Houses; then the list of rectors is in existence ; and there are other sources of information. Unfortunately the manor rolls before 1641 are lost, but the parish records seem to be more than usually plentiful. Altogether, the volume gives us many curious glimpses into the manners and customs of our ancestors. Pro- fessor Skeet has furnished an introduction and illustrates the text from time t3 time with notes. Mr. Doughty is perplexed, we see, by tho sariations which have taken place in the value of the benefice, and seems inclined to think the commutation value (.2430 10s.) excessive. The acreage of the parish is 1,954. This works out at 4s. 4d. per acre, a very fair average for an ordinary parish. The Commutation Act, as a rule, gave the parsons something that approached their due, but seldom exceeded it. Mr. Doughty has some interesting information about " briefs," but he does not make plain the difference between " the piivate appeal for help" and the " statutory brief." A village, say in Cornwall, was burnt down, and the sufferers got permission to circulate a brief. This went to every parish in the kingdom, a thing that could not be done without great expense. Here is the essential part of the specimen account given :—" Collected on 9,986 briefs, .2614 12s. 9d. ; charges, .2330 16s. Gd." Of course, it was an expensive way of raising money; but the main item, "9,986 briefs at 6d. each," is not excessive. "Jewell's appolligie," which in 1662 cost is., was not "a High Church publication."
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