Thomas Gale, in his _Hist. Brit. &c., scriptores_, xv. (Oxon., 1691), published that portion of it, in the original Latin, which comes down to 1066. Three early translations of the _Polychronicon_ exist. The first was made by John of Trevisa, chaplain to Lord Berkeley, in 1387, and was printed by Caxton in 1482; the second by an anonymous writer, was written between 1432 and 1450; the third, based on Trevisa's version, with the addition of an eighth book, was prepared by Caxton. These versions are specially valuable as illustrating the change of the English language during the period they cover. The _Polychronicon_, with the continuations and the English versions, was edited for the Rolls Series (No. 41) by Churchill Babington (vols. i. and ii.) and Joseph Rawson Lumby (1865-1886). This edition was adversely criticized by Mandell Creighton in the _Eng. Hist. Rev._ for October 1888. HIGGINS, MATTHEW JAMES (1810-1868), British writer over the nom-de-plume "Jacob Omnium," which was the title of his first magazine article, was born in County Meath, Ireland, on the 4th of December 1810. His letters in _The Times_ were instrumental in exposing many abuses. He was a frequent contributor to the _Cornhill_, and was a friend of Thackeray, who dedicated to him _The Adventures of Philip_, and one of his ballads, "Jacob Omnium's Hoss," deals with an incident in Higgins's career. He died on the 14th of August 1868. Some of his articles were published in 1875 as _Essays on Social Subjects_.