BOOK CLIII. ton. of Northamptonshire are the same with those of the other counties, but the horned cattle and black horses of this territory are of an extraordinary size. The towns here are of small importance, but Peterborough, on the left bank of Peterbothe Nen, contains an elegant cathedral and 5000 inhabit- rough. ants: this was the birth place of Dr Paley. Northampton, Northampon the same river, fourteen leagues above Peterborough, is the shire town: its streets are handsome and the houses elegantly built. There is a great market for horses at different times of the year held in this place. The neighborhood of Northampton was the scene of a battle between the rival parties of York and Lancaster, in which the Lancastrian forces were put to the rout, and king Henry VI, was taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick. donshire. The small territory of Huntingdonshire was in former Huntingtimes renowned for its forests filled with game:* the tracts on the south and west of the Ouse are still covered with groves separated by fields, which give the most agreeable variety to the landscape: the banks of the river are fringed with meadows: morasses occupy the whole northern part, though some spots have been converted into rich pasture land. The undrained portions form, along with a lake two leagues in length and one in breadth called Whittlesea Mere, one fifth of the surface of the county. The moisture here imparted to the air renders this neighborhood unhealthy, particularly to strangers. This county which is wholly destitute of manufactories, and furnishes no other products than grass, corn, and the fish of its ponds, has for its chief town Hunting- Huntingdon, a small place consisting of a single street with a few lanes don. crossing it: the town however is neat and well lighted. We take leave of this county, which, as well as Bedford- Bedfordshire, its southern boundary, was formerly peopled by the shire. Catieuchlani, better known by the name of Cassii, who sent ambassadors to Cæsar to declare their submission to the Romans. These last, and more lately, the Saxons and Normans, have left in Bedfordshire the traces of their dominion: the hamlet of Sandys, near Potton, stands on the site of the Magiovinum of Antonine. Near Bradford Magna may be Its name is a sufficient proof. Hunting Downs.. BOOK CLIII. Bedford. Warwick. seen the remains of an amphitheatre: a Roman way, called Ickenild Street, traverses the county, and passes by the little town of Dunstable, known for its manufacture of straw hats; another crosses this way to the north of the town; a third crosses the Ouse, and extends toward Newport Pagnell. The shire town is Bedford, in the centre of the county: in the Saxon chronicles it is called Bedicanford, and its antiquity is established by the testimony of an elegant stone bridge over the Ouse. The most remarkable objects in Bedford are its schools and charitable institutions. In 1556, Sir William Harper, an alderman of London, founded here a public school, and endowed it with 13 acres of land, the present annual income of which is nearly 27,000 dollars: this sum is applied to the support of divers benevolent institutions, and to the portioning of 40 young women. The castle of the Earl of Warwick is seated on a rock overlooking the city of this name: the castle is approached by a winding path hewed out of the rock: this is one of the finest structures of the middle age. The city, which is approached by four other roads, likewise cut in the rock, in the direction of the four cardinal points, employs a great number of hands in combing and spinning wool, and making stockings. It is washed by the Avon, and situated in the centre of the county. Four leagues to the northeast, the Coventry. ancient town of Coventry, containing 21,000 inhabitants, has been long celebrated for its ribands and clocks. But the most important city in Warwickshire, and which, nevertheless, is not represented in Parliament, is Birmingham. The population of this city, with its suburbs, is about 100,000. Its manufactures of arms, sheet iron, hardware, and jewelry, are immense. Here is the grand machinery of Watt, the inventor of steam engines; it employs 1200 men, and turns out every week 1500 muskets: a single machine for coining money strikes 30 or 40,000 pieces in an hour. A monument is erecting in the city to the memory of this celebrated mechanician. Birmingham. Warwickshire. One of the great advantages of this county is the number of its canals, by which it enjoys a communication with every part of the kingdom. The neighborhood of Birmingham, and all the northern part of this territory, was formerly one great forest; this is now almost entirely destroyed, and fields and meadows occupy its place, but heaths and morasses occur here and there. The country produces excellent cheese. South of Warwick is a region called the Feldon, which is productive in corn. Between the Avon and the little river Leam, one of its branches, we may obtain a sight of the Heath of Dunsmore, the scene of the exploits of Guy of Warwick, the Goliah of England. Near the frontier of Oxfordshire, is the low plateau of Edgehill, celebrated for a battle fought in 1642, between the royal and parliamentary armies. gar BOOK CLIII. shire. Newcastle. In Staffordshire, the Trent waters also several fertile Staffordtracts the varied course of this river, bordered with dens and villas, is not inferior in beauty to the charming landscape which its banks present to the view in Leicestershire. The country traversed by it is furrowed by canals, and the theatre of a multifarious industry, fashioning metals into every variety of shape, and transforming clay into pottery and china of high value. Upon the Lyne, a branch of the Trent, we descry at a distance the lofty square tower of the church of Newcastle, and perhaps may hear its chime of eight bells. Six leagues toward the south is Stafford, on Stafford. the left bank of the Sow, carrying on a great trade in cloths, leather, and shoes. This county was formerly inhabited by the Cornavini, who fell under the Roman subjection. The remains of several camps of the conquerors are still to be seen. The Romans had in these parts four military stations two leagues from Stafford, Mediolanum is now the little village of Knightley: the village of Wrottesley was formerly Uriconium: this last is situated near Wolverhampton, a town with 18,000 inhabitants, and famous for its japan, and manufactures of tin, iron, and copper. The hamlet of Barbeacon was once a place of importance, called Etocetum at a short distance from this stood Uracona, the site of which is now occupied by Litchfield. This town has Litchfield. a population of 5000 souls, and is a bishop's see: it contains one of the most superb churches in the kingdom, where may be seen the tombs of Addison, Johnson, Garrick, and Anna Seward, with their epitaphs by Walter Scott. These celebrated individuals, whose ashes repose by the side of BOOK CLIII. the remains of Lady M. W. Montague, known for her interesting letters from Constantinople, and for having introduced inoculation for the small pox into this place, were all natives of Litchfield. The stream of the Severn and numerous canals, which ought not to have thrown the neighbouring roads into neglect, give an immense activity to the manufactures of linen, Shropshire. cotton, and woollen, and the operation of the mines of Shropshire or Salop. Lead was obtained here by the Romans, and there is every reason to believe that rich veins of it still exist. The collieries in this county produce annually 130,000 tons. The manufactories contain 180 steam engines, and employ 6000 workmen. There is not a village that does not contain some manufactory. At the village of Colebrook Dale, the Severn flows under an iron bridge, forming a single arch 100 feet in span. At Wellington, a town of 8000 inhabitants, the gothic church is supported by cast iron pillars. These two towns rival each other in the importance of their foundries. The chief town of the county is Shrewsbury, which has two fine bridges over the Severn, and is an elegant place, built by the Britons on the site of a more ancient town, named Uricium: in the neighborhood is a statue of Lord Hill, upon a stone column. Some distance from this monument, an elegant promenade occupies a wide space between the walls of the town and the river. Shrewsbury, moreover, is famous for its cakes and salt pork. Shrewsbury. Worcestershire. Kidderminster. The beauty of the scenery on the banks of the Severn might induce us to follow its course throughout the whole extent of Worcestershire, but the charming valleys, verdant hills, and flowery fields of this region, and the gardens which supply the neighboring towns with vegetables, are not objects of sufficient importance to detain us. We must glance for a moment at the two most important towns in the county. Kidderminster, upon the Stour, in the midst of a territory surrounded by canals, has in its neighborhood several mineral springs. The manufactures of this place are very flourishing: that of carpets occupies more than 1000 looms, and that of silk more than 700, One third of its inhabitants, to the number of 10,000, are thus employed. BOOK On a canal joining the Severn, we meet with the small town of Droitwich, producing annually salt to the value of more CLIII. than 550,000 dollars. Continuing to descend the river, we pass an elegant stone bridge, and arrive at Worcester, built Worcester. upon an eminence which affords a fine prospect of the beautiful fields in the vicinity. The cathedral at this place, finished in 1374, is a gothic edifice of rich architecture, 500 feet in length: among the monuments it contains may be remarked the tomb of King John. This capital suffered much during the bloody wars of York and Lancaster; but the most remarkable scene that passed under its walls was the famous battle between Cromwell and the Scotch, in which these last were defeated with the loss of 2000 killed and 8000 prisoners, who were nearly all sold for slaves in America. shire. If Dorsetshire is the garden of England, Herefordshire Hereford must be called its orchard: the fruits of this county have been celebrated since the time of Charles I. Large quantities of cider and perry are exported: agriculture is the chief occupation of the inhabitants: cheese, barley, kitchen stuff, and fine breeds of cattle, give an importance, no less for their abundance than quality, to the productions of this territory. Hereford, the chief town, is watered by the Wye, Hereford. and is a place of great antiquity. According to some writers, the name bestowed upon it by the Silures, who dwelt here before the Roman invasion, was Ersinna. Others imagine that it was built upon the site of Ariconium, mentioned by Antonine, and which was destroyed by an earthquake. Besides these conjectures, there are many tending to show that the name of Hereford, derived from the Saxon, signifies the ford of an army, and that this name was applied by the Saxons, in crossing the river, while in pursuit of the ancient Britons who fled into Wales. Hereford began to flourish about the year 825, when Misfred, King of Mercia, built here a church in memory of Ethelbert, King of the East Saxons, who was assassinated by the wife of King Offa, at the moment when he was about to seduce her daughter. A short time afterwards, this church took the rank of a cathedral: it was rebuilt in the 11th century, demolished by the Welsh in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and built a |