A VIEW of Saint George's Tower, a solitary relic of the once-formidable castle of Oxford, will it is hoped be deemed an appropriate illustration of your valuable Magazine, which has uniformly distinguished itself by a predilection for our national antiquities.

The origin of this ancient structure is blended in the same obscurity which envelopes the history of the city to which it appertains; and the labours of Camden, Wood, Hearne, King, and other antiquaries, have failed to dispel the gloom which hangs over this important question. The well-known facts of the residence of Offa, when Oxford was included within the limits of his kingdom of Mercia, of Alfred the Great, after the heptarchy had merged in the kingdom of England, and of Canute the Dane, together with the ceremonial of the Coronation of Harold Harefoot, sufficiently demonstrate the existence of a regal mansion at Oxford in the time of the Saxons; and the silence of Domesdaybook affords strong presumption that that mansion was no other than the Castle, which at the time of the Norman survey was held by Robert d'Oiley, to whom it was granted in 1067 by William I. in acknowledg. ment of the services he had rendered the Conqueror during the invasion and subjugation of his newly-acquired kingdom. Under that powerful Ba, ron, Oxford Castle gained much additional importance as a fortress, being augmented and partly rebuilt on a stronger and grander scale; d'Oiley also founded and liberally endowed a chapel, which speedily became a parish and even a collegiate church, within the precincts of the castle, The external enclosure appears to have been formed by a strong octagonal wall and moat, the latter being filled with water from a branch of the Isis, which flows under the south-western boundary, Four strong and lofty towers; two gates, one of them accessible only by means of a long and well-fortified bridge; a donjon or keep, elevated on an immense mound of earth, and commanding the adjoining city and country; together with the sacred edifice before mentioned; constituted the principal features of the ancient fortress, which wanted not suitable buildings for the accommodation of the numerous GENT. MAG. November, 1832.

ecclesiastical and civil dependants necessary to the splendour of feudal magnificence.

Here in 1141 the Empress Maud was besieged by Stephen; and her escape by night, in a white dress, during a severe frost, and when the ground was covered by snow, has been often related.

Little alteration appears to have been made in the general form and appearance of the castle until after the civil wars. In 1649 Colonel Ingoldsby, the Parliamentarian Governor, demolished great part of the ancient buildings and fortifications, and in their stead erected some expensive works on the mount of the old keep; but these soon fell into decay, and were removed in their turn.

Upon the conversion of the Castle into the county gaol, the dilapidated and ruinous edifices of former times necessarily gave place to erections more appropriate to its modern desti, nation; yet, after all these mutations, the Tower of Saint George remains an interesting specimen of castellated architecture, of a date little posterior to the era of the Norman Conquest, and probably owing its existence to one of the actors in that national tragedy. The characteristics of this building are simplicity and strength; it is divided into stories by a diminution, at the proper stages, of the solidity of its walls, which at the basement are of prodigious thickness; and security being the first object of its erection, it presents on its external faces, the north and west, no openings but in the parapet, which has been carried up considerably above the roof, and pierced with loopholes for arrows. The apartments of its dismal interior are now seldom used, those dungeons be. ing reserved for offenders of peculiar atrocity.

The surrounding houses, although adjoining the Castle, are unconnected with it. The buildings which stand on the river are corn mills. X.

I took some trouble to obtain my information, and I can answer for not being wilfully in error.

During the Spring of 1831, I made some enquiry into the state of agriculture in Normandy. The following are the results, after having taken the data from one parish. I was assisted in my enquiry by Lieut. Watt of the Navy, who had resided twelve years in the parish of Allemagne, and twentytwo years in France. There are four distinct qualities of soil in Allemagne : first, that above the quarries, which is but a thin layer with a great mixture of stone, yielding little return for labour, except in very wet seasons. There is also a portion of half reclaimed heath, which must be classed with the former as very bad, but is a slight improvement in the depth of soil, still very much mixed with stone: it, however, sometimes produces good crops of buck wheat. The third quality has a tolerable depth of soil over clay, which renders it cold, yielding however good crops, particularly in dry seasons; and its rental is estimated at fifteen sous the perche (26 feet English, each side), or 40 sous the English acre, and is by far the most general in the parish. There is however a fourth quality, consisting of a strong dark loam, the rental of which is 20 sous the perche, or 21.19s.ld. the acre. There is also a considerable quantity of meadow land, which is included in the fourth quality as yielding the best return to the farmer. There are some small portions of coppice distant three miles from the market of Caen.

The quantity of land in the parish is 1650 acres, 11 perches; and the number of inhabitants is 800. There are 11 farming establishments in the parish, and about 20 persons who cultivate land upon a small scale, belonging to themselves, in addition to their other trades or business.

The largest farms consist of 100 arpens (or 155 English acres); the least of about 8 arpens (or 12 English acres) in the parish, and of an equal number in an adjoining one. This not being sufficient to occupy the small farmers, they plough and sow for the small occupiers. The average rent is about 15 sous the perch (27. 10s. the acre), including every description of land. This, on enquiry, is found

too high, as there is a considerable quantity of bad land; and perhaps il. 12s. the acre is a juster average. The tenants of the larger farms do, in general, agree to pay in kind to their landlords a few articles, but so trifling as not to cause the rent to exceed what I have stated. For instance, one of Mons. St. Marie's tenants, who farms 100 acres, agrees to cart six loads of wood, or of any other article, to town each year; and to supply for the house twelve fat fowls, twelve chickens, twelve ducks, and a quantity of straw. But the rent is below 21. the acre; the farmer pays no tax except that called personal (poll) and mobilier (furniture) nor does he pay anything to the poor, but what he gives in alms at his door; nor to the clergyman, but for his seat in the church, and the fees for marriage and burial. The poll and furniture-tax about equals our window and land-tax.

The average quantity of wheat produced is one hectolitre on eight perches, or about twenty-four English bushels the acre; cole seed about the same quantity; and barley from 36 to 42 bushels the acre. Oats are not suited to the soil, and are seldom cultivated. The rotation crops are wheat, barley, and cole seed; and sometimes artificial grasses are sown with the barley. Sainfoin remains three years on the ground, after which it is usual to sow two successive crops of wheat.

The rents mentioned are nearly the same for several leagues round; towards the sea they are higher. Each farm of 155 acres employs twelve men and a boy; besides the farmer and a female servant, a shepherd, and one or two threshers, who are usually paid by the day, and are not lodged. The principal servant, or grand valet or ploughman, has eight guineas a year wages, and about two guineas profits; a boy, called his domestique, gets from 21. 10s. to 31. wages; and a man or lad, called petit valet, gets 51. a year. The shepherd has the same as the grand valet (or sometimes less wages, with permission to keep a given number of sheep with his master's flock, which amounts to the same thing). These are all boarded and lodged; their food consisting (except in harvest time) of bread and small cider for breakfast; at dinner they have soup and meat five days in the week; on the fast days soup maigre

and a dish of vegetables, green or dry, according to the season: in short, they have two beef days, three pork days, and two banian days. Their supper is generally soup au lait, milkporridge, or soup of some description always. The bread has generally a mixture of barley, except that used for the soup, which is entirely of wheat. The shepherd has soup morning and evening; the threshers have the same food, and 15 sous (74d.) per diem, but are not lodged, as they are in general married. The farmers do not sit at the same table, though they eat of the same food, with perhaps the addition of butter for their breakfast, and an additional meal called collation betwixt dinner and supper. Day-labourers and harvest labourers are nearly invariably boarded by the farmer: besides which, at harvest time a labourer earns from 30 sous (15d.) to 40 sous (20d.) per diem, by the piece. The expense of a day-labourer's lodging with his family may amount to 30 livres (251.) per annum.

There is no case of extreme poverty in the parish; nor any distress except from casualties, which are always kindly attended to by the neighbours. And sometimes, in an extreme case, a collection is made either by the priest, or by some person taking an interest in the party requiring relief. Bread

is sometimes distributed by the priest on the occasion of a funeral service, at the expense of the relative of the deceased, for whom the prayers of those receiving the bread are requested in return.

The poor are perhaps not more contented here than elsewhere; but they are not loud in their complaints. In fact, I conclude their wants are fewer than with the same class in England, as they have little or no idea of domestic comfort, food and clothing comprising all their wants; and they do not care to work for anything further this being easily procured, they are consequently very independent. The ordinary price of a substitute for the army was two thousand francs (801.); it is however considerably encreased since the late and present demand for men, and I think I may rate it at double that sum. This fact speaks volumes as to the relative state of the lower orders in the two countries.

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The price of grain is more readily obtained at Caén. This year is how

ever decidedly a dear one. Meat is eight sous the pound (4d.); in the country the pound being equal to eighteen English ounces; and this is probably the rate at which it is bought by the butcher, when he has the hide, tallow, and offal for his profit.

There are no manufactures at Allemagne; but a great portion of the inhabitants derive their support from the stone quarries, which they rent for a trifle from the proprietors of the soil, and they sell the stone which they extract for their own profit. They thus clear by their labour 50 sous a day (25d.), whilst the women and female children all make lace, by which they can earn from 15 to 20 sous a day, sparing a little time for their household affairs, in which they are never particularly neat, as is very observable.

In all the market towns in France, most articles of consumption are subjected to a heavy toll called Droit de l'Octroi. Grain, with the exception of oats, is exempt; and the toll varies according to the class of the town. In Caén the toll is as follows: an ox or cow 18 francs (15s.); a sheep 30 sous (15d.); pigs of every size 4 francs (3s. 4d.); calves from 6 to 12 francs (5s. to 10s.); lambs 1 franc (10d.); hay 2 francs (1s. 8d.) for every 1500 lbs.; straw half that sum; cider 2 francs, 12 sous (2s. 2d.) for each cask of twentyfive gallons; oats 3 sous the bushel.

The price of grain, &c. at this moment at Caén (and which is considered very high) is as follows:-Wheat is 18s. 4d. the hectolitre of 160 lbs. French, equal when good to 179 lbs. English. The hectolitre I consider equal to three Winchester bushels. Oats 8 francs 11 sous the hectolitre, weighing 100 lbs. French, or 102 lbs. English. Barley 10 francs 10`sous, or 88. 9d. the hectolitre, weighing 130 lbs. French, or 145 lbs. English. Cole seed 21 francs (17s. 6d.) the hectolitre. Meat is, for the best, 5d. the lb. (18 ounces English). Eggs in summer 5d. the dozen. Butter from 7d. to 18. according to the quality. Poultry is very good and cheap, in comparison to England. Bacon, by retail, 74d. Candles the same price. Salt very dear; coarse, 2d. pound; fine, 4d.

Cider, the usual drink, 2d. the quart. Clothing is considerably dearer than in England. Landlords are subject to a very heavy property tax, or