Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-10-08

Z selves.
| In its new binding, ornamented with
| silver, 1t turns quite a nineteenth century
face to lookerson; but you have only to
| open 1t to see, in spite of the excellent
! preservation, that 1T is no child of our
| time.
have been TO see it many times, but
never got rid of a certain Telling, hslf of
awe and half of pride that am touching
that which the hands of our forefathers
wrought 500 years ago-hands which even
now seem to have the power to force us
back to the time which they have so sc-
cdrrately pictured.
was there yesterday again, and said
to the professor who stood by; u won
der if anything we do in this year of
1886 will stand the test of eight hundred
years as this 'Domesday Book has
dones"
Il can not say" he replied "and we
shall not be alive to see" he dryly added.
And then he called TO my mind the anec-
dote of the man who, hearing that raw
ems lived two hundred years, bought one
to try.
This book is among records what the
koh-i-noor is among diamonds and has
been the object of inceSsaut care from
'A'N AASb NssN ~ ANS NAASbNlICt uAlh now
1t was the constant companion of cur
early kings, travelling with them where
SoeVer they went, until in the reign of
John, ii was almost lost i'll the Wash
with several other valuable records. After
this it was thought better to keep it in a
place of safety, and we find that it was
early brought to Westminster. and kept
with the kings seal, in the exchequer
under three locks and keys, in charge of
the auditor of the eNchequer.
The name by which this book is known
is startling one, and it is worth while to
inquire the reason for giving it such
title. 1t is supposed by some to have re
ceiyed it from "domus Dol" a chamber in
the Cathedral at Winchester SO called. in
which the returns were arranged and
written down and where for a time the
book was deposited, 1t is probable the
words We're pronounced as in ltal-
ian. which would give "domus del very
much the sound of dOmesday.
4 second reason for the same may he
found in that fact that doom" and day"
(dOm. bocSl are Saxon cquivlents of iu-
dicium and their union in the compost
tlon of its title thus emphasizes "Domcs-
day Book rs the greatest judicious record
of the age.
third reason tor such name is that
the authority of "Domesiay Book" has
never been permitted to hc called in ques-
tiou, and where recourse has been had to
IT To determine a doubt concerning the
tenure of land or other matter there could
be no appeal against its decision any
more than a sentence pronounced at
domsday. Hence says an ancient his
torian 1T is called Domesday Book"
Having looked at the outside, and taken
peep at the inside, we will look to its
origin and purpose; and in order 10 do
this, we must go back to the pears of
vigilance and anxiety in quilting rebellion
within and without. Like many another
couqueror, when the battles were over
and period of peace and rest arrived, he
wanted to take stock of his gains and see
if they were sufficient to repay him for
years of sorrow, disappointed and blood
shed, and if not to make them SO. A man
who could employ his leasure in thinking
and working out such n scheme as the
general survey of his country eight hun
dred years ago was no ordinary man and
we shall the bettor understand this if we
quote passage concerning him from
the Saxon ChroniCles,n where he is de
scribed from personal observation:
THE King William about whom we
speak was a very wise man, and very
powerful more dignihed and strong then
any of his predecessors. He was mild to
the good man who loved God and over all
measure severe to the man who gainsaid
his will. He was also very dig
nitied; so also was he a very rigid and
cruel man, SO that no one burst do any
thing against his will
With this character he was not likely to
have allowed any obstacles To stand in the
way of carrying out any purpose he had
at heart. His idea was To take survey
of his kingdom in SO accurate and detail
ed manner that, when completed, he
should be able to discover at Il glance
every hide of land, waste, and water with+
in its borders, the value and the owners
of the same, the condition, employment,
wealth and consequence of every indivld
ual of the population.
"Not hid! or yard of land, not an OK,
COW, or hog was omitted in the censur,
says an ancient historian, and Fuller, in
his Church History" concludes sen
tence concerning the survey with the
words: $50 accurate were they in the very
fractions of land" There il no doubt
that the survey was made with so much
exactitude and conciseness that the king
not only had no difficulty in getting
perfect knowledge of the possessions of
the crown and the military strength of
the country but it also pointed out to
have the means of increasing his revenue.
1t is said that vii liam rendered him
self universal proprietor of England, and
shat his own annual fixed income amount
ed to 100000. To understand this sum
it is necessary to remember that ut that
time a pound contained three times the
amount of silver that it does at present,
and that provisions were ten times AZ
cheap then as now: so that all things con
sidered his income could not have been
less then $9,0O0.0O0 or $lO,000,00O of our
money. To be able to read for ourselves
all that the "Domesday Book" could teach
US, we should be obliged TO study an an
cient form of Norman French
The picture that we get from the "Do.
mesday Book" of the England of eight
hundred years ago is as unlike our Eng
land of to day as it is well possible TO i'm
agine. Vast districts were then covered
with parks and forests of many thousand
acres in extent, and innumerable herd. Of
swine we're turned loose in them to feed
upon the acorns and mast. Our eastern
were then dreary swamps, undrained and
almost profitless. Our Westminster abbey
and St. Margarets stood nearly alone,
backed by thick wood which sheltered
thousands of swine. The country seats
of the upper classes were then four
roomed houses, with the staircases, as
rule. outside, and rarely possessing the
luxury of either chimneys or glazed WIN
dows and as TO the laborers cottages they
were nothing but mud novels.
Again, we find that the trades followed
by our forefathers were very few and
sim pie compared with those in our day.
OF these there were smiths, tanners, and
carpenters, but the manufacturing inter
ests," as represented in "Domesday," is
confined to cloth-workers and potters.
The women of the various households
were, as we alearn, so industrious and
clever as to do away with the necessity
of employing bakers, brewers, tailors, ana
weavers. They were quite able TO perform
these tasks for their own homes and fam
lilies.
The editor OF the Corsicans, Tex, OBJ
server, Mr.. @. p. Miller, had severe at
=