weighty considerations for exertion; and they cannot refrain from expressing a confident hope, founded upon the encouragement which the Society has already received, and the progress which it has made, that the time may arrive when its funds may justify the extension of its operations, and when, no longer confined to the Saxon Kingdom of Northumberland, it may consider the whole of Britain as the field of its labours. From these anticipations of the future, the Council call the attention of the Members of the Society to the matter of fact proceedings of the year which this day closes. At a meeting of the Council, to whom the sixth rule gives the selection of the first year's publications, held on the 4th of December last, it was "determined that "Four hundred copies of a MS., hitherto unpublished, entitled • Reginaldi Monachi Dunelmensis de admirandis Beati Cuthberti virtutibus quæ novellis patratæ sunt temporibus,' be printed by the Society, the manuscript to be transcribed for the press under the direction of the Secretary, and at the expense of the Society." And it was also "ordered "That four hundred copies of a selection from unpublished Wills and Inventories, of all classes of persons, from the eleventh century downwards, illustrating the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, &c., of their respective periods, to be transcribed under the superintendence of the Secretary, be also printed." The first of these orders has been carried into full effect. Reginald the Monk is now public property, and whatever he contains of historical, or otherwise valuable matter, is before the world. The Council do not deem it necessary to draw the attention of the Society more particularly to the matters of history or fact detailed in this volume, as they are concisely alluded to in the Preface, which it has been considered expedient to prefix to it, and are still more minutely specified in an appended abstract of each chapter. With respect to the archaisms of our author, and other matter interesting to the Philologist, a Glossary has been added, which, it is hoped, will sufficiently explain such terms as may be new to those versed only in pure latinity. Indexes of men and places have been subjoined; and the apology for the imperfections of his compilation, which Reginald thought it necessary to make to the venerable Abbot of Rievaulx, to whom he dedicated it, let him now make to the world; and let him hope for the same favourable judgment on the merits of his performance which he doubtless received at the hands of Ethelred. "De quibus omnibus," says he, "compacto libello, vobis transcurrendum transmittimus, et vestro examini propriè reservavimus. Erit igitur vestræ providentiæ, minùs decenter dicta immutando polire, deficientia vel omissa replendo substituere, supersticiosa vel pervacua delendo descidere, singula æquæ discretionis modulamine ponderare. Quæ vero vobis complacurint, testificando veritati certiora efficere; quæ autem in beneplacito vestro non sederint, moderato æquitatis libramine complanando corrigere." 1580. The selection of Wills is so far advanced in the press, that it will be completed in three weeks, and the public will be put in possession of a series of the most authentic documents, abound. ing with the most valuable and novel information. The volume commences with the year 1095, and comes down to the year It will consist of about four hundred and thirty pages, three hundred and fifty of which are already printed; a brief temporary Introduction will be given along with it, drawing the attention of the reader to some of the more important matters which it elucidates; and an Index of Testators, &c. will be appended. These arrangements are made, partly because there will be no time for more minute and copious details and indexes, but chiefly because it is hoped by the Council that the proposal to continue the series of Wills and Inventories down to the year 1660, made by Mr. Allan, one of its Members, may eventually be carried into effect, when a general Preface, a fuil abstract of the valuable matter the two volumes will contain in illustration of almost every point in the history of our ancestors, and copious Indexes, will be required and supplied. At the meeting held on the 4th December, above mentioned, the Secretary was directed to put in force that part of the sixth rule which enjoins him to call annually upon twenty Members, in alphabetical order, to supply matter for the press for the ensuing year. This order has been complied with, and letters have been received in which not fewer than seven subjects have been proposed, all of them, save one, apparently worthy of the serious attention of the Society. Although, by rule the 7th, it is not within the province of this meeting to decide which of these MSS. shall be printed, and which not, yet the Council beg to specify the subjects which have been proposed, and relative to which a circular will ere long be addressed to each Member, in conformity with that rule :— 1. A Selection from the Townley Plays, the MS. of which is written in the Dialect of Lancashire. Temp. H. vi. 2. Vita Oswini Regis Deirorum, et de miraculis ejus. 5. Registrum Cartarum de Holm juxta Alnwic. 6. Divers Catalogues of the Library of the Monks of Durham, the first dated in 1391. 7. A Continuation of the volume of Wills and Inventories. That seven such subjects as the above should be in one year proposed, is a sufficient proof that the Society has upon its list men who thoroughly understand its objects, and are anxious to benefit it by their labours. The Accounts of the Society stand as follows: Account of the Treasurers of the Surtees Society for the Year 1834-5. After presenting these statements relative to the proceedings of the Society during the first year of its existence, the Council, in conclusion, pledge themselves to make every exertion in their power towards carrying into full effect, as far as they are concerned, the two-fold object contemplated in its establishment— the doing honour to the memory of Mr. Surtees, by publishing, in accordance with his intentions and plans, such antient and hitherto inedited Authors as tend to illustrate the intellectual, the moral, the religious, and the social condition of our ancestors within the period and limits prescribed. Durham, July 13, 1835. The Society is indebted to Thomas Willement, Esq., now one of its members, for the suggestion of this most appropriate embellishment. It is, in fact, the seal of Sir Thomas Surtees, of Dinsdale, who was Senescal of the Palatinate under Bishops Beaumont and Bury, in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, mutato nomine, with the addition of the family crest. +Considerable portions of Reginald were gratuitously transcribed by members of the Society and others. |