B. (continued 2)

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

28Barnwell, St. And.paNorthampOundle2Thrapston6Stamford1779284

15BarnwoodpaGloucesterGloucester2Cheltenham8Painswick6104419

35Barr, Great[A]paStaffordWalsall4Wednesbury4Birmingham5114779

35Barr, PerryhamStafford...5Birmingham5Sutton3114777

29BarrasfordtoNorthumb.Hexham7Bellingham10Corbridge9284232

6BarringtonpaCambridgeCambridge6Caxton8Royston846485

34BarringtonpaSomersetIlminster4Ilchester10Crewkherne8134468

4Barrington, Great[B]paBerks & GlosBurford4Northleach7Stow876532

15Barrington, LittlepaGloucesterBurford4Stow8Northleach776162

10BarrowpaDerbyDerby6Kegworth12Burton10125584

15BarrowtoGloucesterCheltenham4Tewkesbury5Gloucester798238

29BarrowtoNorthumb.Allenton5Wooler16Bellingham1831414

32BarrowchapRutlandOakham5Stamford12Cottesmore2101144

[A] GREAT BARR is an agreeable village, which has long been the property of the Scott family, who have here one of the finest mansions in the county. This seat stands in a beautiful valley, affording the most delightful prospects of hill and dale, varied by wood and water. Shady walks and rustic seats furnish the most attractive conveniences for the promenade. One object in particular fixes the attention; it is an urn near the flower garden, to the memory of Miss Mary Dolman, the cousin of Shenstone, whose elegant pen supplied a beautiful tribute in Latin. The summit of Barr Beacon, which is 653 feet in height, was the spot from Barr Beacon, 653 feet high. whence the Druids gave notice, by watch-fires, of their periodical sacrifices; and it was used both by the Saxons and the Danes, as a beacon to alarm the country in times of danger. The chapel of the village is of remarkable beauty; its eastern window contains a painting on glass by Mr. Eginton, who has improved upon the design of the Rev. Mr. Peter's "Spirit of a Child."

[B] GREAT BARRINGTON is a parish containing about 1000 acres, including some portion of Oxfordshire within its limits, as well as a small tract belonging to Berkshire. Previous to the conquest, the manor was held by Earl Harold; the present owner is Lord Dynevor, Lord Lieut. and Cust. Rot. of Carmarthen. Barrington church appears to have been erected about the time of Henry VII. Beneath one of the windows of the aisle are the monument and effigies of Captain Edward Bray, Capt. Edward Bray. grandfather of Sir Giles Bray, lord of the manor, who is represented in armour, with a ruff round his neck and a sword girt on the "right" side. This peculiarity originated from the captain having killed a man at Tilbury camp; and, in token of his sorrow, he determined never more to use his right hand. Lord Chancellor Talbot was buried in this church; he was the son of William Talbot, Bishop of Durham, and was born in the year 1684. After being elected a fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford, he married, and consequently was compelled to give up his fellowship. When he left the university, he was admitted a member of the society of Lincoln's Inn, and was speedily called to the bar. He was chosen to represent the now disfranchised borough of Tregony, in Cornwall, and afterwards was made member for the city of Durham. He died in the enjoyment of the highest character, after a short illness, on the 14th of February, 1737. Few Chancellors have been more lamented, both in public and private life. Lord Talbot acquired universal esteem. The Hall was built by him in the year 1734, soon after which it was destroyed by fire. The grounds furnish a good specimen of the "ferme ornee," (ornamental farm) and the park, about three miles in circumference, is well planted with a variety of beautiful trees.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

33BarrowpaSalopM. Wenlock4Bridgenorth6Broseley2146351

36BarrowpaSuffolkBury6Newmarket9Mildenhall969856

34Barrow-GourneypaSomersetBristol5Axbridge12Pensford7120279

7Barrow, Greatpa & toChesterChester6Northwich13Tarporley5183436

24Barrow-on-HumberpaLincolnBarton3Grimsby17Brigg111671334

34Barrow, NorthpaSomersetCastle Carey3Ilchester8Wincanton8116150

34Barrow, SouthpaSomerset...4...7...9117139

23Barrow-on-Soar[A]pa & toLeicesterMount Sorrel2Loughboro'3Leicester91076254

24BarrowbypaLincolnGrantham2Newark12Colterswor10112687

32BarrowdenpaRutlandUppingham6Stamford8Oakham892485

22BarrowfordtoLancasterColne2Clitheroe5Burnley62162633

54BarrypaGlamorganCardiff9Cowbridge7Llandaff916972

54Barry Isle[B]IsleGlamorgan...9...8...9169...

[A] BARROW. This large and pleasant village appears to have taken its name from an ancient tumulus. It is occupied principally by gentlemen farmers, many of whom, however, derive great profit from the quantities of lime which they get up and burn. This village having been for many Superior lime quarries. centuries celebrated for a hard blue stone, similar to that in the vale of Belvoir, and when calcined, produces a very fine matter, from which is prepared a particularly hard, firm, and greatly esteemed cement. Various fossil remains are found amongst the limestone. One of the petrifactions, still preserved at Cambridge, with Dr. Woodward's fossils, is a plain and bold representation of a flat-fish, about twelve inches long. Mr. Jones, in his "Philosophical Disquisitions," notices it by saying, that "our country hath lately afforded what I apprehend to be the greatest curiosity of the sort that ever appeared. It is the entire figure of a bream, more than a foot in length, and of a proportionable depth, with the scales, fins, and gills, fairly projecting from the surface, like a sculpture in relievo, and with all the lineaments, even to the most minute fibres of the tail, so complete, that the like was never seen before." Dr. William Beveridge, one of the most learned prelates of the English church, was born here in the year 1638. At St. John's College, Cambridge, he applied The pious Beveridge born here. himself with intense application to the study of oriental literature. He reviewed the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan tongues, and produced a Syriac grammar. He was raised to the see of St. Asaph, in the year 1704, but he enjoyed his new dignity for a short period,—his death took place in the year 1708. In his divinity he was Calvinistic; from the simplicity and piety of his character, he was beloved by all parties. He lies buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

[B] BARRY ISLAND, the name of which has been thought to have been derived from St. Baroche, a hermit, who, according to Cressy, died here in the year 700. This island, which lets for about £80. a year, is estimated to contain about 300 acres. In Leland's time there was, in the middle of it, a "fair little chapel used," but there was no dwelling. Since that period, however, a house has been erected for the residence of a farmer, which, in the summer, is converted into a boarding-house, for the reception of sea-bathers. The family of Giraldus de Barri, are said to Remarkable noises heard here. have taken their title from this island, of which they were once lords. "It is remarkable," observes Giraldus, "that in a rock near the entrance of the island, there is a small cavity, to which, if the ear is applied, a noise is heard like that of smiths at work—the blowing of bellows, strokes of hammers, grinding of tools, and roaring of furnaces; and it might easily have been imagined, that such noises which are continued at the ebb and flow of the tides, were occasioned by the influx of the sea under the cavities of the rocks." Sir Richard Hoare, in his additions to Giraldus, observes as follows:—"Towards the southern part of the island, on a spot called Nell's Point, is a fine well, to which great numbers of women resort on Holy Thursday, and, having washed their eyes at the spring, each drops a pin into it. The landlord of the boarding-house told me, Curious custom. that on clearing out the well he took out a pint full of these votive offerings." On the main land, opposite the western extremity of the island, lies the village of Barry, near which are some remains of the castle. A few miles north-westward from Barry are the remains of Penmark castle, anciently the property of Sir Gilbert Humphreville, one of the followers of Fitzhamon. Llancarvan, in this vicinity, was once the seat of a religious house, said to have been founded by Cadoc the Wise, in the 6th century. Llancarvan is also distinguished as the birth-place of Caradoc, the Welsh annalist, who compiled a history of the Principality, from the abdication of Cadwaladyr, 686, to his own time. Tref Walter, or Walterston, in this parish, was the residence of Walter de Mapes, a writer of some note towards the middle of the 12th century. He was Archdeacon of Oxford, and Chaplain to Henry I. He built the church of Llancarvan, a large substantial edifice, and the village of Walterston, with a mansion for himself. His literary labours comprise a translation of the British Chronicle into Latin, and a Welsh version of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fabulous paraphrase of the same work. He wrote also a Treatise on Agriculture in the Welsh language.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

36BarshampaSuffolkBeccles3Bungay5Halesworth9109182

27Barsham, (East)paNorfolkFakenham3Walsingham3Burnham M.10102219

27Barsham, (North)paNorfolkWalsingham2Wells6Fakenham411384

27Barsham, (West)paNorfolkFakenham3Walsingham3Creek4112101

39BarstonpaWarwickWarwick12Coventry9Birmingham13100342

17BartestreechapHerefordHereford5Bromyard14Ledbury1213250

7BarthertontoChesterNantwich2Whitchurch10Audlem416334

21Bartholomewlib.KentCanterbury13Deal7Ramsgate66861

7Barthomley[A]pa & toChesterSandbach7Newcastle7Nantwich11157449

7BartingtontoChesterNorthwick4Warrington8Knutsford717776

6Bartlow[B]paCambridgeLinton2Haverhill6Saff. Walden648106

14Bartlow EndhamEssex...3...6...547205

4BartonhamBerksOxford6E. Illsley9Dorchester75614

6BartonpaCambridgeCambridge4Caxton8Royston1249273

7BartontoChesterChester10Malpas7Tarporley12175168

[A] BARTHOMLEY contains several townships. The nave of the church has a richly carved wooden roof, dated 1589. On the 22d of December, 1643, a troop of Lord Byron's passing through the village, made an attack upon this venerable edifice, into which several of the inhabitants had gone for safety; they soon got possession of it, and having set fire to the forms, rushes, and mats, made such a smoke that the men who had retreated into the steeple were obliged to call for quarter, but their assailants having got them into their power, are said to have stripped them all, and most cruelly murdered twelve of them in cold blood, three only Cruel murder. being suffered to escape. A free school was founded here, in the year 1676, by the Rev. Mr. Steele, in which ten children are educated. In the year 1787, Mrs. Mary, Mrs. Margaret, and Mrs. Judith Alsager, ladies of the manor, obtained an Act of Parliament to enable them to finish a new church, or chapel, to be called Christ's Church, or Chapel, in that township. The same ladies built a school-house, and founded a school there, for the education of children of both sexes.

[B] BARTLOW. Near this place, are four contiguous barrows, known by the name of Bartlow Hills, from their situation with respect to Bartlow Church. These are vulgarly, though erroneously, regarded as the tumuli raised over the slain in the battle fought between Edmund Ironside and the Danish King, Canute, in the year 1016. It is evident, indeed, from our account of Ashington, at page 50, that the place of action should be sought for, rather in the vicinity of the sea than at the northern extremity of the county. Camden states, that these stone coffins, with broken human bones in them, were found in one of these barrows; and Hollingshead affirms, that two bodies were found in one stone coffin. Mr. Gough remarks, that we do not find the use of stone coffins amongst the northern nations in their Pagan state; and the Danes were not converted until long after the time of Canute. The origin of these barrows, therefore, cannot now be traced.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

17BartontoHerefordKington1Presteign5Hereford21156...

30BartonpaNottinghamNottingham6Rempstone7Derby13121379

40Barton, (High),[A]pa & toWestmorlndAppleby3Orton6Brough112721537

23BartonhamLeicesterM. Bosworth2Leicester14Ashby10108163

27Barton BendishpaNorfolkStoke Ferry4Swaffham8Downham892459

10Barton-le-BlountpaDerbyDerby10Ashborne9Uttoxeter813660

3Barton in the ClaypaBedfordSilsoe3Luton7Ampthill438720

44Barton, St. Cuthbertpa & toN.R. YorkDarlington5Richmond7Barnard Cas14238499

34Barton, St. David's,paSomersetSomerton4Glastonbury7Castle Cary7120410

36Barton, (Great)paSuffolkBury3Ixworth4Thetford1374702

5Barton HartshornepaBuckinghamBuckingham4Bicester8Brackley659145

39Barton on the heath[B]paWarwickShipston6L. Compton2Chip. Norton779208

[A] BARTON. Stockbridge Hall, an ancient edifice, was the seat of the Lancasters, whose arms are yet seen on the ceiling of the dining-room, and who continued here through twelve generations, when their estates fell to the Lowthers. The church, which is a low and extensive building, with a heavy tower between the chancel and the nave, contains the tomb of one Remarkable epitaph. of the Lancasters; some escutcheons of several families in the neighbourhood, and a brass plate, on which is this remarkable epitaph:—

"Under this stone, reader, interred doth lie, Beauty and virtue's true epitomy. At her appearance the noone sun Blushed and shrunk in, 'cause quite undone. In her concentered did all graces dwell; God plucked my rose that he might take a smell. I'll say no more, but weeping, wish I may, Soone with thy dear chaste ashes come to lay."

The lady thus extravagantly eulogised, was Frances, the wife of Launcelot Dawes; she died in 1673. Barton school was founded in 1641, by four priests, natives of this parish.

[B] BARTON. Near this village is a large stone, called Four-shire stone, from its forming the point of junction of the four counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, and Oxford. Here once resided an attorney of so pacific a disposition that he usually acted as mediator when disputes arose. This anomalous person, named Dover, instituted the annual festivities termed Cotswold Games, and was for forty years their chief supporter. Cotswold games. These diversions were celebrated upon the Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire, and prodigious multitudes are said to have resorted to them. They consisted of wrestling, cudgel-playing, leaping, pitching the bar, throwing the sledge, tossing the pike, with various other feats of strength and activity. A castle of boards was erected on this occasion, from which guns were frequently discharged. Dover received permission from James I. to hold these sports, and he appeared at their celebration in the very clothes which that monarch had formerly worn; but it is said there was much more dignity in his form and aspect. John Heywood, the epigramatist, speaking of these games, says—

"He fometh like a bore, the beaste should seem bold, For he is as fierce as a lyon of Cotsolde."

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

24Barton[A]m.t.LincolnHull7Brigg11Lincoln341673231

22Barton on IrwelltoLancasterManchester6Newton14Warrington141858976

36Barton, LittlepaSuffolkMildenhall1Newmarket9Bury1270591

44Barton, St. Mary,chapN.R. YorkDarlington5Richmond7Barnard Cas.14238....

35BartonchapStaffordBurton on Tr.5Lichfield9Abbotts Brom81301344

28Barton SegravepaNorthamp.Kettering2Thrapston8Wellingboro875203

16Barton StaceypaHants.Whitchurch6Andover6Winchester962626

31Barton Steeple[B]paOxfordDeddington5Woodstock7Charlbury963606

15Barton StreethamGloucesterGloucester1Cheltenham9Ross17103786

43Barton in StreetpaN.R. YorkNew Malton5Pickering5Helmsley10222436

27Barton TurfpaNorfolkColtishall5Worstead4Norwich13121391

31Barton WestcottpaOxfordEnstone4Woodstock7Deddington564258

43Barton in the Willows,tN.R. YorkYork10New Malton8Sutton10206202

45BarughtoW.R. YorkBarnsley3Wakefield9Huddersfield14175946

43Barugh, Gt. & Little,paN.R. YorkPickering3New Malton5Scarborough18223294

23BarwellpaLeicesterHinckley2M. Bosworth7Leicester111011505

14BarwickpaEssexChipp. Ongar6Dunmow8Chelmsford102797

34BarwickpaSomersetYeovil2Sherborne6Crewkherne8123415

41Barwick BassetpaWiltsCalne7Swindon8Marlborough883164

[A] BARTON. This ancient town is pleasantly situated about three-quarters of a mile from the southern bank of the Humber. It was formerly surrounded by a rampart and fossee, the remains of which are still discernable. It was doubtless a place of great strength before the conquest, and served as a barrier against the irruptions of the Saxons and Danes. At the period of the conquest it was a principal port of the Humber, and Once a place of importance. until the rise of Kingston-upon-Hull it enjoyed an extensive commerce. At present its derives its principal consequence from being the point whence the communication with the Lincoln road is continued across the Humber to Hull, a distance of about six miles and a half.

Market, Monday.—Fair, Trinity Thursday, for cattle.—Mail arrives 3.0 afternoon; departs 11.15 morning—Inn, The Waterside Inn.

[B] STEEPLE BARTON. In this parish is situated Rowsham, which was, for several centuries, the seat of the Dormers, and it continued in their possession until the decease of General Dormer, in the year 1750. That gentleman bequeathed the mansion and estates to his cousin, Sir Rowsham House. Clement Cottrell, Knight, Master of the Ceremonies to George II., who annexed the name of Dormer to his own, and in whose family the property has since remained. The situation is extremely fine, and the grounds, which were laid out by Kent, during the life-time of General Dormer, afford a variety of picturesque and pleasant views. The mansion was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but a few alterations were made at subsequent periods. The walls are embattled, and the doors are singularly enough perforated with holes (with slides to cover) so as to admit muskets being pointed through them. There is a large hall, and valuable library, containing many old and rare authors. A very excellent collection of paintings, (about 180 in number), and of busts and other figures in bronze, (amounting to fifty-five), has also been formed here. Horace Walpole, in one of his eloquent letters to George Montague, has thus spoken of this place:—"But the greatest pleasure we had, was in seeing Sir Charles Cotterell's, at Rowsham: it reinstated Kent with me; he has no where shewn so much taste. The house is old, and was bad; he has improved it—stuck as close as he could to gothic; has made a delightful library, and the whole is comfortable. The garden is Daphne in little, the sweetest little groves, streams, glades, porticoes, cascades, and rivers imaginable: all the scenes are perfectly classic. Well, if I had such a house, such a library, so pretty a place, and so pretty a wife, I think I should let King George send to Herenhausen for a Master of the Ceremonies." The pleasure-grounds are beautifully shaded by flourishing and noble beech trees; they are also ornamented by several stone statues, which all throw up water, except a very fine one of the dying gladiator, and a group of the lion tearing the horse, by Sheemacher.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

27BarwickpaNorfolkBurnham4Wells11Fakenham1111735

45Barwickpa & toW.R. YorkWetherby7Tadcaster7Abberford21881922

33BaschurchpaSalopShrewsbury8Oswestry10Ellesmere91611321

7BasfordtoChesterNantwich5Sandbach8Woore716085

30Basford[A]paNottinghamNottingham3Mansfield12Arnold31276325

35Basford[B]toStaffordLeek3Longnor7Cheadle7151300

45BashalltoW.R. YorkClitheroe5Lancaster16Blackburn10222310

4BasildenpaBerksReading8Streatley2Wallingford847780

14BasildonchapEssexBillericay4Gravesend12Rochford1227124

16Basing, Old[C]to & chHantsBasingstoke2Odiham5Alton12441113

[A] BASFORD lies in a bottom, approached from the race-ground. The scenery around it is rich in the extreme. This village has greatly increased The trade. of late, from various manufactures, and the improvements consequent upon them. Here are corn and cotton-mills, and the bleaching and dying branches of business are carried on with considerable success. The church has a very handsome spire, with a nave and side aisles in very good order, but there are no ancient inscriptions. The importance of this place has also been kept up, by its being the seat of the Court of the Honour of Peverel, since it was removed from Nottingham. It sits twice in the year, to try causes as high as £50. A jail for the court is situated here, which Howard describes as having, at the time of his writing, merely one room, with three beds; but the keepers told him he had another little room for women prisoners, of whom there being none in his custody, he applied the apartment to domestic uses. A bowling-green, close by the jail, is much frequented by the inhabitants of Nottingham. At Mapperley, a hamlet in this parish, is a handsome seat of Ichabod Wright, Esq., a banker of Nottingham.

[B] BASFORD. Here was born, in 1630, the celebrated Charles Cotton, a burlesque poet of the seventeenth century. He received his education Charles Cotton. at Cambridge, and afterwards travelled through France. On his return to England he resided with his father at Basford, in the neighbourhood of the Peak. His first production was, a poetical essay on the gallant Earl of Derby. In 1656, he married a daughter of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, a Nottinghamshire Knight. Two years after this his father died; he then succeeded him in the family estate, which was encumbered with mortgages: being of an improvident disposition, he was subject to constant embarrassments, and was even confined for some months in a prison for debt. After the death of his first wife, he married the Countess Dowager of Ardglass. He died at Westminster in 1687. Some of his poems, of considerable merit, were published after his death.

[C] BASING, or OLD BASING, though a small village, is of some importance, as the scene of a desperate and bloody battle between the Danes and the Saxons, in 871, commanded by King Ethelred and his brother Alfred, when the latter were defeated. It was, however, rendered more famous by the gallant stand made against the parliamentary forces in the reign of Charles I., by John Poulet, Marquis of Winchester, a lineal descendant Great battles fought here. of Hugh de Port, who, at the time of the Domesday Survey, held 55 lordships in this county. This small village was the principal of these extensive possessions, and appears to have been the very site of a castle, as mention of the land of the old castle of Basing is made in a grant allowed by John de Port, to the neighbouring priory at Monks Sherborne, in the reign of Henry II. His grandson, William, assumed the surname of St. John; and Robert, Lord St. John, in the 43d of Henry III., obtained a license to fix a pole upon the bann of his moat, at Basing, with permission to continue it so fortified during the pleasure of the King. In the reign of Richard II., Basing was transferred by marriage to the Poynings; and again, in the time of Henry VI., to the Paulets, by the alliance of Constance with Sir John Paulet, of Nunny Castle, in Somersetshire. Sir William Paulet, Knt., third in descent from this couple, created Baron St. John, of Basing, by Henry VIII.; and Earl of Wiltshire, and Marquis of Winchester, by Edward VI., was a very accomplished and polite nobleman, greatly in favour at court during most of the successive changes that occurred in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He held the office of treasurer nearly 30 years, sustaining himself by the courtly maxim, of "being a willow, and not an oak." He rebuilt Basing Castle, in a magnificent, and even in a princely style; indeed, so much so, that Camden, in allusion to the immense expense of living entailed on his family by its splendour, observes that, "it was so overpowered by its own weight, that his posterity has been forced to pull down a part of it." Here, in 1560, he entertained Queen Elizabeth with "all good cheer," and so much to her satisfaction, that she playfully Queen Elizabeth splendidly entertained here for 13 days. lamented his great age; "for by my troth," said she, "if my Lord Treasurer were but a young man, I could find it in my heart to have him for a husband before any man in England." William, the great-grandson of this nobleman, and fourth Marquis of Winchester, had also, in 1601, the honour of having Queen Elizabeth for a guest for "thirteen days, to the great charge of the sayde Lorde Marquesse." During her residence here, the Duke of Biron, accompanied by about 20 of the French nobility, and a retinue of about 400 persons, were accommodated at the Vine, the seat of Lord Sandys, which had been purposely furnished with hangings and plate from the Tower, and Hampton Court, and with seven score beds and furniture, "which the willing and obedient people of the countrie of Southampton, upon two days' warning, had brought in thither to lend the Queen." When Elizabeth departed from Basing, she affirmed, that "she had done that in Hampshire, that none of her ancestors ever did; neither that any Prince in Christendom could do: that was, she had in her progresses, in her subject's houses, entertained a royal ambassador, and had royally entertained him." John, son of the preceding, and fifth Marquis of Winchester, was the brave nobleman who rendered his name immortal by his gallant defence of Basing House, in the cause of Charles I., during a tedious succession of sieges and blockades, which, with short intermissions, continued upwards of two years. The journal of the siege, printed in Oxford, in 1645, is one of the most eventful pieces of history during the civil war. The final investment appears to have been undertaken by Cromwell, who took it by storm, in October 1645, and burnt it to the ground, in despite of the Aimez Loyaulte, which the Marquis Burnt by Cromwell. had written with a diamond in every window, and which has ever since been the motto of the family arms. The plunder obtained on this occasion is said to have amounted to £200,000. in cash, jewels, and rich furniture. The number of soldiers slain before the walls from the commencement of the siege, is recorded to have been upwards of 2,000. There is a traditionary report, that the garrison was partly surprized through some of the troops being engaged at cards when the assault commenced. From a survey made in 1798, it appears that the area of the works, including the garden and entrenchments, occupied about fourteen acres and a half. The form was extremely irregular, the ditches very deep, and the ramparts high and strong; some of the remains are yet very bold and striking. The site of the ruins is particularly commanding. The canal from Basingstoke has been cut through a part of the works, and the outward entrenchments have been rendered very obscure and imperfect from recent improvements in the grounds. The brave Marquis, whose property was reduced to ruin in the cause of his Sovereign, lived to the restoration, but received no recompence for his immense losses. He died in 1674, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles, who, when he saw that other men of sense were at their wits' end, in the arbitary and tyrannical reign of James II., thought it prudent to assume the character of a madman, as the first Brutus did, in the reign of Tarquin. He danced, hunted, or hawked, a part of the day, went to bed before noon, and constantly sat at table all night. He went to dinner at six or seven in the evening, and his meal lasted till six or seven in the morning; during which time he ate, drank, smoked, talked, or listened to music. The company that The sixth Marquis of Winchester, a singular character. dined with him were at liberty to rise and amuse themselves, or to take a nap, whenever they were so disposed; but the dishes and bottles were all the while standing upon the table. Such a man as this was thought a very unlikely person to concern himself with politics, or with religion. By this conduct, he was neither embroiled in public affairs, nor gave the least umbrage to the court; but he exerted himself so much in the revolution, that he was, for his eminent services, created Duke of Bolton: he afterwards raised a regiment of foot for the reduction of Ireland. Charles, son of the former, and second Duke of Bolton, assisted in the great work of the revolution; and was one of the noblemen appointed at Exeter, in November, 1688, to manage the revenues of the Prince of Orange, as Sovereign of England. In 1717, he was declared Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Charles, the eldest son, and third Duke of Bolton, filled several high offices in the state. This nobleman, on the death of his first wife, from whom he had long been separated, wedded the celebrated Lavinia Beswick, or Fenton, more known by the name of Polly Peachem, from her celebrity Polly Peachem. in the performance of that character in the "Beggar's Opera." The parish church of Basing is a large, ancient, and curious structure, standing at a short distance from the site of Basing House, with a tower rising in the centre. In a niche at the west-end is a figure of the Virgin Mary: the roof is supported by round arches, springing from massive columns. This edifice was repaired in 1510, by Sir John Paulet, who, with his father, John Paulet, Esq., and their respective wives, lie buried beneath two arched tombs, one on each side the chancel. Beneath the south aisle is the family vault of the Paulets, in which six Dukes of Bolton, with many of their noble relations, are deposited. A mural monument has also been erected in this church to the memory of Francis Russel, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A., a native of Basingstoke, who assisted Mr. Nichols in his History of Leicestershire. He died in 1795.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

16Basingstoke[A]mt & pHants.Andover13Reading15Winchester 17 46 3581

[A] BASINGSTOKE. This large, ancient, and populous town is situated in a pleasant and well-wooded part of the county, and commands a considerable trade from its standing at the junction of five great roads. In the "Domesday Book" it is mentioned as always having been a royal Royal manor. manor, and as never having paid any tax, nor been distributed into hides: it is also noticed in that survey as having a market, whose tolls were worth "thirty shillings": we presume this to have been the weekly collection—a large sum in those days. From this town a canal was made to the river Wey, in Surrey; it was commenced in 1778. Its length is thirty-seven miles and a quarter, and the expense of cutting it amounted to £100,000. A large portion of this sum was laid out in forming a tunnel, nearly three quarters of a mile in length, through a hill near Odiham. Besides corn and flour, coals, timber, manure, and goods of almost every description are conveyed to different parts of the country by this channel. The first barge arrived at Basingstoke Wharf in January, 1794. Among the numerous projected advantages which led to the formation of the canal, was, the presumed cultivation of Bagshot Heath, and other heaths within the line of its course. A beautiful ruin overlooks the town on the north side, called Holy Ghost chapel. This was founded by Sir William, afterwards Lord Sandys, who with Bishop Fox, obtained a licence from Henry VIII. to found a brotherhood, to continue in perpetual succession, for the maintenance of a priest to perform divine service, and for the instruction of youth in literature. On an eminence in the vicinity, is an ancient encampment of an elliptical form, supposed to be British, three thousand three hundred Aubrey Camp. feet in circumference; it is called "Aubrey Camp," or familiarly "Bury Bank;" the ditch on the outside is partly filled up by the labours of the agriculturist; and in Rook's Down, in this neighbourhood, while cutting a new road in 1831, a number of human skeletons were discovered, supposed to be of those who fell in some battle fought near this place. The free grammar school adjoins the venerable ruins of the chapel of the Holy Ghost; it is an ancient edifice, and is supposed originally to have been the parish church. This grammar school was first founded by Sir William Sandys, in connexion with the "Guild of the Holy Ghost," and was re-established upon the dissolution of that fraternity, by Queen Mary, in the succeeding reign. There are twelve boys at present on the foundation. Drs. Jos. Warton, the refined poet and critic, and his brother Thomas Warton, Poet Laureate, were both educated here, under their father, Thomas Warton, B.D., Professor of Poetry in the university of Oxford, a writer of considerable ability. John De Basinge, a learned Greek scholar, a friend and contemporary of that intelligent historian, Matthew Paris, was a native of this town. He was a man eminent for piety and learning, and a perfect master of the Greek and Latin languages—an eloquent orator—an able mathematician, and a sound divine. Having laid the foundation of his university learning at Oxford, he went to Paris, and from thence to Athens; upon his return to England, he brought over several curious Greek manuscripts, and introduced the use of Greek numerical figures Eminent men born here. into this country; and to facilitate the knowledge of that rich language, which at that remote period was very little known or appreciated in the western world. He translated from the Greek, into the Latin, the celebrated Grammar, entitled "The Denatus of the Greeks," and the learning and piety of this truly good man, recommended him to the esteem of all the lovers of literature of that time: particularly that of Robert Grosteste, Bishop of Lincoln, by whom he was promoted from the Archdeaconry of London, to that of Leicester; he died in 1252. Among other subjects he wrote a Latin translation of the harmony of the four Gospels; and it was this learned individual that informed Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, that he had seen at Athens, a book called "The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs," upon which the Bishop sent for it and translated it into Latin; this valuable MS. was first printed in 1555, and has often been reprinted in English. At Basingstoke, was also born Sir James Lancaster, an eminent navigator, who in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, explored the Arctic Sea. Thomas Warton, the historian of English Poetry, was descended from an ancient and honorable family in Beverly, County York, and born at Basingstoke, in 1728; from his infancy he discovered a vein for poetry, and at the age of nine years he wrote to his sister that remarkable production of his genius: viz. a translation from the Latin of Martial:—

"When bold Leander sought his distant fair, (Nor could the sea a braver burthen bear) Thus to the swelling waves he spake his woe, Drown me on my return—but spare me as I go."

This curious document bears date from the school of Basingstoke, Nov. 1737. In March 1773, at the age of sixteen, he was admitted a Commoner at Trinity College, Oxford, and soon after elected a Scholar. At this college Mr. Warton continued, with trifling intervals, forty-seven years. In 1745, he published "The Pleasures of Melancholy." In 1749, in consequence of a foolish riot occasioned by some of the scholars, Mason, the Poet, produced a poem called the "Isis," reflecting upon the loyalty of the college, upon which Mr. Warton immediately wrote the "Triumph of Isis," a poem of some merit, and a severe commentary upon the other production. About this time, his talents being generally acknowledged, he became Poet Laureate, and in 1750 he took a Master's Degree, and in 1751 succeeded to a Fellowship. In 1754 he published his observations on the "Faerie Queene of Spencer." In 1757, upon the resignation of Mr Hawkins, of Pembroke College, he was elected Professor of Poetry, which he held according to the usual custom for ten years. He died, May 21, 1790. Basingstoke is one of the polling places for the northern division of the county.

Market, Wednesday.—Fairs, Easter Tuesday, for cheese and cattle; Whit-Wednesday for pedlary; September 23, for cattle and hiring servants, Devonport. Mail arrives 12.55 morning; departs 1.48 morning.—Bankers, Raggett and Co., draw on Masterman and Co.—Inn, Crown.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

24BasingthorpepaLincolnCorby3Grantham8Folingham10105122

53Basingwerk[A]vilFlintHoleywell1Flint5Park Gate7204

10BaslowchapDerbyMiddleton3Bakewell5Chesterfield10158863

[A] BASINGWERK. This place is chiefly celebrated for the remains of its ancient abbey; for the vestiges of a house belonging to the Knights Templars; and for a castle, once the key to this part of the country. The abbey, which had the names also of Maes-Glas and Greenfield monastery, Ancient Abbey. is beautifully situated in a meadow between two hills, on the eastern side of the mouth of the Holywell river. It was founded, according to Tanner, in 1131, by Ranulph, Earl of Chester; others say in 1150, by Henry II. The abbot was frequently summoned to attend in parliament by Edward I. and at the dissolution of monasteries, the annual revenue amounted to £150 7s. 3d. The remains convey an imperfect idea of the original architecture. The doors and lower arches were semi-circular and unornamented, the windows were long, narrow, and pointed; but the south wall of the transept, one doorway, and one pointed arch, are all that remain of the church, and the offices have entirely disappeared. At a short distance from the ruins is an oak of great age, called the Abbot's Oak, which measures fifteen feet two inches in circumference. But the oaks and elms in this neighbourhood, though of a large size, appear withered and blasted by the effect of the channel breezes; the sycamores and maples are the only trees that flourish; a useful hint to planters. The house for the lay order of the Knights Templars, was instituted by Henry II., for the purpose of defence against the inroads of the Welsh, and of this no more than some portion of the offices remain. Vestiges of the castle Mostyn Hall. are yet visible in the fragments and foundation of a wall at some distance from the abbey, on the very margin of Watts-dyke. On a slope among hanging woods, near the township of Bagilt, stands Bagilt hall, a substantial mansion of ancient erection, late the seat of Paul Panton, Esq. Mostyn hall, a seat of Sir Thomas Mostyn, exhibits a variety of interesting features. Approached by a venerable avenue and a magnificent gateway, it stands in a small but beautiful park; it consisted originally of a square tower and two halls, in the larger of which the festive orgies of the baronial board were performed; but large additions were made in 1631, and many of its pristine features are defaced. Numerous paintings decorate the rooms, consisting for the most part of portraits, which illustrate all the varieties of costume in the several ages of their production; among the treasures of art are also many unique statues, busts, bronzes, and other articles of ancient or foreign production. In this neighbourhood are numerous collieries, the different appearance of which are phenomena interesting to the geologist. On the summit of a height called Mostyn mountain, is a monumental stone denominated Maen Achwynfan (the stone of lamentation). Its form is that of an obelisk; in height twelve feet, and two feet-four in thickness. It is probably a memorial of the dead slain in battle; but there appear to be no certain grounds for determining the period of its formation.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

26Bassaleg[A]paMonmouthNewport3Cardiff11Bristol121511664

9BassenthwaitepaCumberlandKeswick5Cockermth10Ireby8296549

23Basset Houseex.p.libLeicesterLeicester13Atherstone8Lutterworth1110023

6BassingbournpaCambridgeRoyston5Potton9Caxton9421446

24BassinghampaLincolnNewark9Lincoln9Navenby7133704

29BassingtontoNorthumbAlnwick4Eglingham4Whittingham7312613

24BastonpaLincolnM. Deeping4Bourn4Stamford993709

27BastwickpaNorfolkAcle5Norwich9Yarmouth9117219

35BaswichpaStaffordStafford2Rugeley8Penkridge6139546

12BatcombepaDorsetSherborne10Cerne4Dorchester12127178

34BatcombepaSomersetBruton3Shepton6Frome10112839

34Bath[B]citySomersetSalisbury38Cheltenham41Bristol1410638063

[A] BASSALEG, a beautiful picturesque little village. In this parish was a Priory of black monks of the Benedictine order, founded by Robert de Haye, and Gundreda, his wife, between the years 1101 and 1120. No remains of this building exist but a ruin in a wood, about one mile distant from the church, called Coed-y-monachty, which is supposed to have been part of the structure. At about one mile distant, near the road to Llanfihangel, is a circular encampment, called Careg-y-saesson, but almost obscured by underwood. Its name has induced some to attribute it to the Saxons, but saesson is a term of reproach, which the Welsh bestow on all foreigners. The entrenchment is a single foss and rampart of earth. About one mile distant is another of a singular shape, with loose stones lying in the foss, probably the remains of walls. These fortresses are apparently British, and a meadow near Machen Place, called Maes Arthur, records the memory of that celebrated hero. From Bassaleg to the vale of Machen, the country is undulating and fertile. This vale is pleasingly Machen place. sequestered, yet intermixed with wildness and cultivation. The hills which skirt it are partly covered with herbage, and partly overhung with thick forests. The Rumney continues the boundary of the two counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan. This river, with the church, and Machen hill, almost covered with lime-kilns, give variety and cheerfulness to the scenery. Machen Place lies at the commencement of the vale, under the hanging groves of Rupara. A circular apartment called the hunting-room is decorated with a rich stuccoed ceiling, representing Diana in the middle, surrounded with seats, churches, and parties, in twelve compartments.

[B] BATH. This ancient and far-famed city is the chief ornament of the west of England; that it is indebted to its medicinal springs for its origin as well as importance, there can be little doubt, but the period of its foundation is altogether unknown. The discovery of its springs, or rather, of their virtues, was for a long time ascribed to King Bladud, traditionally recorded "as the son of Lud Hudibras, King of Britain, about 2,500 years ago. In his youth he became infected with the leprosy, and, at the petition of the courtiers, who feared the contagion, was banished by his father from the palace. The Queen, on his departure, gave him a ring, as a token by which he should make himself known to her if ever he recovered. The young prince, when he reached Keynsham, met with a swineherd, by whom he was retained as an assistant. In a short time, King Bladud. he perceived that he had tainted the pigs with his leprosy. To conceal this misfortune, he sought permission to drive the herd to the opposite side of the Avon, under pretext that the acorns there were finer, and more abundant. Passing the river at a ford, since denominated Swineford, he led his herd to the hills on the north-side of Bath. While he was addressing his prayers to the rising sun, the pigs, impelled by a sudden phrenzy, ran up the valley to the spot where the hot-springs, boiling up, The discovery of the Baths. mixed their waters with the decayed weeds and foliage, and formed a bog. In this warm oozy-bed they began to roll, and wallow with delight; nor could their keeper allure them away, until extreme hunger pressed them to follow him. On washing them, he perceived that some had shed their white scurf; and he had not been many days longer in these parts, here he perceived that one of his best sows, which had been long wandering in the mire about the waters, was perfectly cured. Bladud, judging that the remedy which had succeeded in a particular instance, would prove generally efficacious, stripped himself naked, alternately rolled in the mud, and washed in the waters; and, after a few repetitions of this discipline, came out perfectly sound. Elated by this good fortune, he drove home his Bladud and his pigs. pigs, returned to court, and, shewing his ring, was recognized with rapture, and restored to his former rank and dignity. His father afterwards determined on sending him to Athens, to improve his natural genius. A splendid retinue was ordered to attend him; but Bladud preferred to travel as a private person, considering the parade of grandeur as an impediment to the acquisition of knowledge. After devoting eleven years to the study of literature, mathematics, and necromancy, he returned to Britain, was appointed Regent during his father's old age, and succeeded to the throne after his death. One of his first public works was the erection of a city near the springs, which thenceforward became the capital of the British monarchs. In his old age he devoted himself to the formation of visionary projects; the most daring of which was the construction of a pair of wings to fly with. In one of his attempts he fell and broke his neck, much to the grief of his subjects, who had enjoyed the blessings of his wise government more than twenty years." This account of the origin of Bath was long popular; but the inquiries of the present day have proved it unworthy of credit, and have adduced reasons to conclude that the city was founded by the Romans, about the middle of the first century. The The Roman city. form of the city approached to a parallelogram, extending on one side so as to form an outline somewhat pentagonal, and stretching in length, from east to west, about 1200 feet, and in the broadest parts, from north to south, 1140 feet. The wall, which enclosed this space, appears, from subsequent discoveries, to have been twenty feet above ground in height, and in thickness sixteen feet at the base, and eight at the summit, strengthened with five towers, rising at the angles, and having four portæ, or entrances, facing the cardinal points, which were connected by two grand streets, dividing the city into four parts, and intersecting each other at the centre. Near the point of intersection were the springs, which the Romans converted into magnificent baths, by attaching to them suitable edifices, which, when complete, extended to two hundred and forty feet from east to west, and one hundred and twenty from north to south. The Roman appellation of the city, expressive of the genial heat and vigour derived from the springs, was Aquæ Solis, the waters of the sun. Roads were soon constructed to communicate with the neighbouring posts and encampments, and "a little Rome began to adorn a dreary and inhospitable wild." Agricola passed a winter here, after his successful campaign in Wales; and Arian erected here a "fabrica," or college of armourers. About the year 208, Geta, the younger son of Septimius Severus, resided in Bath, while his father was in Caledonia, quelling an insurrection. Some complimentary statues were raised on this and other occasions. The most eminent of the Roman structures was the temple of Minerva, on Their temples and baths. the eastern side of the great fosse-way, and nearly mid-way between the Porta Decumana, and the Porta Flumentana. Its western front consisted of a portico, supported by large fluted columns, of the Corinthian order. Behind this temple, towards the east, stood the splendid baths, the foundations of which were discovered in 1755, at the depth of twenty feet beneath the surface. Of the remains of Roman grandeur discovered from time to time, various specimens are preserved, and deposited, by order of the corporation, in a small building erected for the purpose, at the end of Bath-street. In the year 493, a large army of Saxons, under the command of Ælla, and his three sons, Cymenus, Pleting, and Cissa, encamped on Lansdown, and laid siege to Bath. At this period the heroic Arthur was performing wonders in favour of his countrymen. Apprized of the operations of the Saxon general, he hastened after him, attacked, and defeated him in a bloody and obstinate battle. About twenty-seven years afterwards, he again delivered Bath from the assaults of these ferocious invaders, by defeating a powerful army, on which occasion he is said to have slain four hundred and forty men with his own hand. John de Villula, a native of Tours, purchased the demesne of Rufus, in 1090, for five hundred marks, and obtained permission to remove the Pontifical seat from Wells thither; he rebuilt the monastery and church, restored the public and private edifices, and thus became the founder of a new city, on the ruins of the old one. Henry I. confirmed and extended the privileges The monastery. which his predecessor had granted, by adding the hidage of the city; and, in 1106, Villula, then Bishop of Bath, conferred the whole on the monastery of St. Peter. Henry paid a visit to Bath in the Easter of 1107. The city remained in the possession of the bishops until 1193, when Savaric gave it to Richard I., in exchange for the rich Abbey of Glastonbury. The prior, however, continued to hold the city under an annual rent of thirty pounds, exclusive of the levies which were made by the king on extraordinary emergencies. One of these occurred in the forty-seventh year of Edward III., to the amount of £13. 6s. 8d., a sum which conveys the idea of the inferiority of Bath, in point of population, to Bristol, which paid seven times as much. Four years after that period, the number of lay inhabitants in the city, above the age of fourteen, amounted to 570, and that of the clerics, in the archdeaconry, to 201. In this and succeeding reigns the property of the monastery was greatly augmented; and the monks of Bath are said to have cultivated the manufacture of cloth to such an extent as to render it one of the principal cities in the west of England for that branch of trade. This city sent Members to Parliament Monks were clothiers. as early as 1297. Queen Elizabeth, in 1590, granted a charter, which declared Bath to be a city of itself, and constituted a certain number of the citizens as a corporation, by "the name of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the City of Bath." In the reign of James II. the corporation shut the gates against the Duke of Monmouth, when he summoned them, and apprehended the few adherents to his cause that remained within their walls. Six of these unfortunate persons afterwards fell victims to the vindictive cruelty of Jefferies. The Jacobite principles prevailed at Bath long after the revolution; and Carte, the historian, is said to have headed a party in favour of the pretender, during the rebellion of 1715. Being discovered, he leaped out of a window in his canonicals, and fled. The city is nearly surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills of considerable height. This range of hills opens to allow a course for the Avon, which winds around it, receiving numerous articles of merchandize, from hence conveyed in barges to Bristol. Bath is divided into four parishes: St. Peter and St. Paul, St. James, St. Michael, and Walcot, exclusive of the out parishes of Bath-Hampton, Bath-Wick, Bath-Ford, and Bath-Easton. Cathedral and other churches. The parish of St. Peter and St. Paul occupies the centre of the city, and formerly contained two churches, the abbey church, and the church of St. Mary of Stall, which stood on the spot of ground now occupied by the houses connected with the Pump-room Piazza. The Abbey church of Bath is of that class of architecture commonly denominated the Florid Gothic. It remains in the same form as when finished in 1532. It was founded by Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells. It is in length, from east to west, 210 feet; length of the cross aisles, from north to south, 126 feet; breadth of the body and aisles, 72 feet; height of the tower, 152 feet; and the height of the roof, or vaulting, 78 feet. The west window is of extreme richness. The buttresses, on each side of the aisle windows, are ornamented with rolls, containing inscriptions, not now legible, but are said to contain the following allegorical allusion to the founder's name, taken out of the book of Judges, chap. ix. verse 8:—

"Trees, going to choose their king, Said—be to us the Olive king."

The windows of this church, fifty-two in number, are supposed to have given rise to its appellation of the Lantern of England. Here are various monuments, ancient and modern, and a handsome altar-piece, representing The Wise Men's Offering, given by General Wade. Here is also a fine specimen of monumental architecture in the little chapel, or oratory of Prior Bird, who died in 1525. This chapel has suffered much from having its tracery despoiled, and a part of it cut away to make room for a wooden seat, called the Bishop's Throne. One of the most beautiful and conspicuous monuments which ornament the transepts and nave is, that of Bishop Montague, at the north centre end of the nave. It is an altar-tomb, over which the effigy of the prelate in his robes, lies prostrate on its Quin's monumental inscription. back. Opposite to this is a pillar, bearing a neat monument, having on a pyramid of Sienna marble, a medallion, with a half-length figure of the witty and celebrated Quin. On a tablet below is the following inscription:

"That tongue which set the table in a roar, And charm'd the public ear, is heard no more: Closed are those eyes, the harbingers of wit, Which spake, before the tongue, what Shakspeare writ; Cold is that hand, which living was stretch'd forth, At friendship's call to succour modest worth. Here lies James Quin:—Deign, reader, to be taught, Whate'er thy strength of body, force of thought, In nature's happiest mould however cast, 'To this complexion thou must come at last.' D. GARRICK. Ob. MDCCLXVI. Etatis LXXIII."

Near the last mentioned monument lies buried the celebrated Beau Nash, long master of the ceremonies at Bath. Richard Nash was a native of Swansea in Glamorganshire, and was born October 18, 1674. His parents Account of the celebrated Beau Nash. were in a respectable situation of life; and young Nash received a competent classical education at Carmarthen school, from whence he was sent to Jesus College, Oxford, at the early age of sixteen. He was intended for the profession of the law; but this study was too dull and dry for a person of his volatile turn. Pleasure was the goddess he adored; and to whose service he devoted himself. He soon involved himself in an intrigue with an artful female in Oxford, of which description there are always numbers who are laying baits for young men of family or personal appearance, and in consequence of this he was removed from the University. His relations now purchased a pair of colours for him in the army; and here his taste for gallantry and dissipation would have been fully gratified, had not his inferior rank, and the duties attached to it, subjected him to subordination and restraint, which appeared intolerable to a man born for empire, and whose ruling passion was too strong to submit to control. He, therefore, left the army in disgust, and returned to the law, which he had discarded, by entering himself a student of the Middle Temple. Soon afterwards Nash was presented with an opportunity of exercising his natural talents. It had been an ancient custom with the society to which he now belonged, to entertain every new sovereign with a revel and a pageant. On the accession of William, Prince of Orange, Nash was selected as the most proper person to conduct this mighty business; and he succeeded so Refused to be knighted. well, that, it is said, William offered to knight him, an honour which he declined. His abilities, however, had attracted public notice, and this paved the way to his future success. Bath then beginning to rise into some little repute as a place of fashionable resort, Nash was induced to visit it in pursuit of pleasure, and soon made himself conspicuous by his taste, wit, and gaiety. At this period, it was the fashion for both sexes to bathe together quite naked, and for ladies to adorn their heads before they entered the bath with all the lures of dress. By these means their charms were set off to such advantage, that the husband of a lady in the Cross Bath, who with Nash and other spectators were admiring the female dabblers, told his wife "she looked like an angel, and he wished to be with her." Nash seized the favourable occasion to establish his reputation as a man of gallantry and spirit, and therefore suddenly taking the gentleman by the collar and the waistband of his breeches, soused him over the parapet into the bath. The consequence was a duel, in which Nash was wounded in the sword-arm; and, as it does not appear he was fond of fighting, it is probable that this incident prompted him when he rose to power, to issue his edict against wearing swords at Bath, "except by such as were not entitled to wear them at any other place." About this time a vacancy happening in the office of master of the ceremonies, a place hitherto of little profit or honour, the well known talent of Nash for the direction and invention of amusements, operated so much in his favour, that he was chosen "arbiter elegantiarum," and invested with the fullest power to order, arrange, and improve, the manner of the company, routine of amusements, and points of etiquette. Under the equal administration of Conduct of Nash towards the Princess Amelia. Nash, no rank could protect the offender, nor any dignity of situation influence him to connive at a breach of his laws. He deliberately desired the Duchess of Queensbury, who appeared at a dress ball in an apron, to take it off; and when the Princess Amelia requested to have one dance more after eleven o'clock, he replied, that the laws of Bath, like those of Lycurgus, were unalterable. This firmness of character was attended with the most beneficial consequences; and Nash, not ignorant what majesty is when stripped of its externals, took care by his dress and equipage to support the rank he assumed. He wore a large white hat, and drove a carriage with six greys, escorted by several persons on horseback, and foot, with French horns and other kinds of musical instruments. The Prince of Wales, the Prince of Orange, the nobility and gentry, all treated him with respect; and the corporation, who might be considered as his privy council, never took any steps without his fiat. His prosperity was of long duration; and, if a man who supported himself by gambling and intrigues, can be said to deserve prosperity, it was justly due to this celebrated character: but at length age and infirmities approached! and though Horace says, we should preserve consistency to the last, it appeared ridiculous to see grey hairs and decrepitude aping the gaiety and hilarity of youth. His admirers in consequence fell off; and he lived to be sensible of the folly of a life solely devoted to pleasure, and the vanity of pomp, whether real or affected.—Beau Nash died February His death. 3, 1761, and was buried at the expence of the corporation, in the abbey church, with much pomp and solemnity. The crowd that attended his funeral was so great, that not only the streets were filled, but the very tops of the houses were covered with spectators.—Amongst the places of Dissenting Chapels. worship for the Dissenters, are the Unitarian chapel, in Trim Street; the Baptist chapel, in Garrard Street; the Quaker's meeting-house on St. James's Parade; the chapel of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians, in Monmouth Street; a chapel belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists, in New King Street; an Independant Calvinist chapel, in Argyle Street; a sort of semi-episcopal chapel, in the connection of the late Countess of Huntingdon, in Harlequin Row; and a Roman Catholic chapel in Orchard Street. The original pump-room, began in 1704, was opened under the auspices of Mr. Nash. Its object was to enable the drinkers to take exercise without exposing themselves to the weather. The room was enlarged in 1751; a portico, stretching from it in a northerly direction, was added in 1786; and a superb western frontispiece in 1791. Five years afterwards, Mr. Baldwin the architect, erected a new pump-room on the site of the old one, on a more extensive and magnificent scale. During the full season, a company of musicians perform in the gallery every morning. Those who drink the waters, are expected to pay about a guinea per month, besides a gratuity to the pumper. The public baths are the King's Bath, and Queen's Bath, which are connected with each other; the Hot Bath, and the Cross Bath. The private baths are those belonging to the corporation, in Stall Street, adjoining the King's Bath, built in 1788, with dry pumps, sudatories, and every other accommodation; and the neat and convenient baths, called the Duke of Kingston's, or the Abbey Baths, belonging to Earl Manvers. The latter are supplied from the same source as the great pump-room. The Bath springs are said to have three distinct sources, the King's Bath, the Hot Bath, and the Cross Bath, which arise within a small distance of each other. They contain a small quantity of carbonic acid gas, and also of azotic gas; some sulphate of soda, and muriate of soda; selenite, carbonate of lime; siliceous earth; and a portion of oxyd of iron. These waters, taken internally, operate as a stimulant; they increase the action of the blood-vessels, and promote the various secretions, particularly those Use of the waters in certain disorders. of urine and perspiration. The diseases in which their external and internal uses render most service, are affections of the liver and stomach, jaundice, hypochondriasis, and chlorosis. They are especially efficacious in that state of gout termed atonic. The external application of the water is highly beneficial in palsy, chronic rheumatism, cutaneous diseases, scrofula, lameness, contractions, &c. The water, in all cases, should if practicable, be drunk hot from the pump. Its effect on the stomach and nerves are sometimes remarkably speedy; persons who have lost their appetites and spirits by high living, have, by using them a few days, recovered their powers of digestion and cheerfulness of mind. The quantity taken is seldom more than a pint and a half in the course of the day, and is divided into three portions, two before breakfast, allowing half an hour between them, and a third at noon. The condition of the patient is, however, to be strictly attended to: and the quantity must be regulated at the discretion of the physician. The General Hospital of this city was established for the reception of all the sick poor in the united kingdom, whose complaints require relief from the springs of the place; excepting the resident poor, who have the advantage of taking the waters at their own houses, at a moderate charge. Edward the Sixth granted upwards of eighty tenements, gardens, &c. within the city and its suburbs, for the purpose of founding a grammar-school at Bath, and maintaining ten poor folk within the said town for ever. The Bath Theatre is scarcely inferior to those of the metropolis. The present building was erected The Theatre. about the year 1805, in the centre of the city; and from its height, it forms a prominent object in the distance from all its environs. There are three entrances; the grand front being in Beaufort Square. The audience part is somewhat smaller than was that of the late Covent Garden Theatre, but the space behind the curtain is much larger. The length, within the main walls, is one hundred and twenty feet; the breadth sixty feet; and the height seventy. The exterior buildings are very extensive; there are three lofty tiers of boxes, affording a depth of rows towards the centre. Cast iron bronzed pillars are placed at a distance of two feet from the front, by which the first row of each circle appears as a balcony, independent of the main structure, and thus an inconceivable lightness is obtained. The private boxes are inclosed with gilt lattices: the entrance to them is by a private house, part of the property connected with the theatre, and they are accommodated with a suite of retiring rooms. The decorations are very splendid, particularly the ceiling. The Harmonic Society was instituted under the patronage of Dr. Harrington; and there is another musical society, called the York House Catch Club. The Sydney Sydney Gardens. Garden Vauxhall, at the extremity of Great Pulteney Street, abounds with groves, vistas, lawns, serpentine walks, alcoves, bowling-greens, grottoes and labyrinths. It is known to have contained four thousand persons. The riding school affords the public, amusement in wet weather. Lansdown races are in June and July. Besides the Public Library, the circulating libraries are numerous and well supplied, and the harmonic concerts and local institutions of a literary character, are easily accessible. It is intended to convert the common fields in the neighbourhood of Marlborough Buildings into a public park, laid out with numerous rides and walks, ornamental fountains, and plantations. Hackney coaches, and chariots, on the same principle as those used in London, are established here.

Markets, Wednesday and Saturday.—Fairs, February 14; (Holloway) July 10; and Aug. 10, (Lansdown) for cattle, horses and all kinds of merchandise. The Falmouth Mail arrives 7.54 morning, and departs 6.30 afternoon. The Carmarthen Mail arrives 7.48 morning, and departs 6.56 afternoon.—Bankers, (Bladud Bank) Tufnell and Co.; draw on Jones, Lloyd and Co.; Tugwell and Co., draw on Barnard and Co.; (Old Bank) Hobhouse and Co., draw on Jones, Lloyd and Co.; (City Bank) Smith and Moger, draw on Barclay and Co.—Inns, York Hotel, White Hart, White Lion, Greyhound, Castle, and Elephant and Castle.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

34BathamptonpaSomersetBath2Chippenham11Devizes15104314

34BathealtonpaSomersetWiveliscomb3Milverton3Wellington515398

34Batheaston[A]paSomersetBath3Chippenham10Devizes141031783

34BathfordpaSomerset...4...9...13102870

30BathleytoNottinghamNewark4Muskham1Southwell7128197

34BathwickpaSomersetBath1Chippenham12Devizes161054035

45Batleypa & toW.R. YorkWakefield7Leeds8Bradford818911335

15BatsfordpaGloucesterMoreton2Campden4Stow788107

35BatterleyhamStaffordSandbach8Barthomley1Newcastle8158242

43BatterslyhamN.R. YorkStokesley5Gisborough7Helmsley1424277

37Battersea[B]paSurreyClapham2Putney3Hammersmith345540

36BattisfordpaSuffolkNeedham2Ipswich4Bildeston871436

[A] BATHEASTON. This village is situated on the London road from Bath. The upper part contains the church, and amongst some handsome houses, is one which was formerly the residence of John Wood, Esq., the ingenious architect, to whom Bath owes many of its noblest buildings. The church is antique. At the west-end it has a fine square tower, one hundred feet high. The inside is remarkable for its neat and decent appearance. A custom long observed at the villa of Sir John Millar, Bart., displays his elegance and refinement in the choice of his amusements, as well as of his visitors. He had purchased an antique vase, discovered at Frescati, in Italy, in 1759; and having placed it in a room convenient for the purpose, he consecrated it to Apollo, and ordained Lady Miller, high priestess. He then issued a general invitation to all votaries of the muses, to assemble on a certain day in each week, and offer their poetical oblations The vase of Apollo. at the shrine; the degree of merit each possessed was decided by the public voice, and the author of the best was crowned with myrtle. A collation succeeded. This attic pastime continued for some years, till some witling contaminated the purity of the urn by a licentious composition, and the vessel was closed for ever. Two small volumes of these effusions have been published.

[B] BATTERSEA is seated on the Thames, and gives the title of Baron to the family of St. John. The church contains many monuments, chiefly of the above noble family; particularly one in grey marble, to the memory of the celebrated statesman, Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, and of his second wife, whose profiles are sculptured in bass-relief. A monument near the south wall, represents Sir Edward Wynter in the act of Sir E. Wynter's exploits. performing two extraordinary exploits, thus described in his epitaph:—

Alone, unarmed, a tyger he oppressed, And crush'd to death the monster of a beast. Twice twenty mounted Moors he overthrew, Singly on foot, some wounded, some he slew, Dispersed the rest—what more could Sampson do?

A neat tablet, at the east end of the church, commemorates Thomas Astle, who was long a distinguished member of the Society of Antiquaries, Keeper of the Records in the Tower, a Trustee of the British Museum, and author of Treatise "on the Origin and Progress of Writing." He died in 1802, and left a valuable collection of manuscripts. Here are also interred, Arthur Collins, Esq., known as the author of an "Historical Account of the Peers and Baronets of England;" William Curtis, author of the "Flora Londinensis," and the Rev. Joseph Gardner, author of "Views on the Rhine," and otherwise distinguished by his attachment to the arts. Bolingbroke House was a spacious edifice, said to have contained Bolingbroke house. fifty rooms on a floor, of which a few only remain; among which is the favourite apartment of Lord Bolingbroke, wainscotted with cedar. A horizontal air-mill now occupies the site of this mansion, and in the gardens have been erected bullock-houses. Sherwood Lodge, near the Thames, is the residence of James Wolf, Esq. whose valuable collection of plaster-casts, from antique statues, are deposited in a gallery of Doric architecture, remarkable for the purity of its style. A wooden bridge was built over the Thames at this place, in 1771.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

38Battle[A]m.t. & paSussexTunbridge26Hastings8Bexhill6562999

48Battle[B]paBreconBrecon3Trecastle9Builth15174192

[A] BATTLE, anciently called Epiton, derived its present denomination from the conflict between William the Norman, and Harold Harefoot, which decided the fate of these realms, and gave to the former the surname of Conqueror. This engagement happened on the 14th of October, 1066, and continued from morning until sunset, when the Normans had sustained a loss of 15000 men, and the English four times that number, among whom was their king. The Conqueror, grateful for his victory, and in performance of a vow, commenced the foundation of an abbey on that part of the field where the battle had raged most fiercely, causing the high altar to be raised on the spot where the body of his valiant antagonist; or, as others say, his standard had been found. This The Abbey. abbey was dedicated to St. Martin, and the privileges enjoyed by the superiors within its precincts were almost regal; an exclusive right of inquest in cases of murder—the property of all treasure discovered there—free warren and exemption, even for their tenants, from all ecclesiastical jurisdiction—right of sanctuary for their church in cases of homicide—and the power of pardoning any condemned thief whom they should meet going to execution. From the foundation of this abbey, till its dissolution, it was governed by thirty-one abbots. Sometime after the latter period, it was the property of the Montagues, who sold it to Sir Thomas Webster, and that gentleman made it his residence. Sir Godfrey Webster, Bart., is the present owner. In its present state, Battle Abbey bears ample testimony to its ancient magnificence, the ruins being extensive, and exhibiting a mixture of the light Norman with the solid Saxon architecture. These remains occupy two sides of a quadrangle, of which one is an ancient gateway. Nine elegant arches, now filled up, are all that remain of the church. Two detached buildings, supposed to have been refectories, are now converted into offices. The town of Battle consists of one street, and has a handsome church, the windows of which are embellished with stained glass. The chancel contains a fine altar-monument to the memory of Sir Anthony Browne, armour-bearer to Henry VIII. This place is celebrated for a manufacture of gunpowder, inferior only to that at Dartford.

Market, Thursday.—Fairs, Whit-Monday; Nov. 22, cattle and pedlary; second Tuesday in every month, cattle.—Bankers, Smith, Gill, and Co., draw on Spooner and Co.—Mail arrives 4.20 morning; departs 9.40 afternoon.—Inn, George.

[B] BATTLE. The church is placed upon an eminence on the east side of the Escir river. It is a low edifice surrounded by a cemetry, bounded by a wall. A few straggling houses give this place the name of a village. History has fixed this spot as the scene of action where the fate of Brecknockshire Scene of a Welsh battle. was decided, upon its attack by Bernard Newmarch. The vestiges which indicate such an event, are, a well called Ffynon Pen Rhys; a lane called Heol y Cymri, and a long upright stone below the church on the south side; no other vestiges remain to recall the event. Half a mile eastward from Battle, appears the stately residence of the vicar of Llandevalle. Upon the wall of an inner court is an inscription in Latin. From the windows of this house are three most beautiful views; on the east side through a small vista, are seen the village of Llanddew, and in the back ground the black mountain beyond Talgarth. From the library, in which is a capital picture of our Saviour bearing the Cross, by Correggio, looking west, is the vale of Usk, with the highly ornamented grounds above Penpont; beyond which, Abercamlais, and the mountains in Llywel and Devynock close the scene. Nearly opposite is the gradually rising knoll of Benni, covered to the top on all sides with wood, beyond which appear the precipitous and majestic summits of the Beacons. Merthyr Cynog, or Saint Cynog, lies about four miles north. Cynog or Canoc, was the illegitimate son of Brychan Brecheinog. He was slain or murdered in one of the early eruptions of the Saxons into Wales, in the 5th century, on the summit of a hill in this parish, nearly opposite Castlemadoc, called Vanoleu, and according to Owen, was buried in Merthyr church. The edifice which remains, does not appear to be of an earlier date than the Norman era; it is situated upon a lofty ridge between the vales of Escir fawr and Escir fechan, in nearly the centre of the parish. It resembles a large barn, in which are some divisions, like pens for sheep, thrown in disorder to rot, when unfit for use.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

25Battle BridgehamMiddlesexHolborn Bars1Paddington2Hoxton21

3Battleden[A]paBedfordWoburn3Hockliffe2Leighton439145

33Battlefield[B]paSalopShrewsbury4Wem9Shawbury415570

16BaughurstpaHantsBasingstoke7Kingsclere3Newbury1154434

4BaulkinghamBerksFarringdon4Wantage6Lambourne766185

34BaumberpaLincolnHorncastle6Wragby8Louth12141356

15BauntonpaGlocesterCirencester2Northleach9Gloucester1791144

56BauseleytoMontgomeryWelch Pool10Shrewsbury12Oswestry11165365

41BaverstockpaWiltsWilton4Salisbury7Shaftesbury13292166

29Bavington, GreattoNorthumbHexham12Bellingham12Newcastle208870

29Bavington, LittletoNorthumb...11...12...229172

[A] BATTLEDEN lies between the two great north-western roads. The family of Firmband, or Fremband, twice represented the county in parliament, as early as the reign of Edward III. In the reign of Elizabeth it became the property of the Duncombes; and it is to one of this family that we are indebted for the accommodation of the now antiquated sedans, The invention of Sedan chairs. or close chairs; and in the year 1634, Duncombe is said to have procured a patent, which vested in him and his heirs the right of carrying persons "up and down in them," for a certain term. "It is probable, (observes Lysons,) that Sir Saunders, who was a great traveller, had seen them at Sedan, where Dr. Johnson, supposes that they were first made; and it is remarkable that Captain Bayley first introduced the use of Hackney Coaches in the same year." In the year 1706, this manor was purchased by Allen Bathurst, Esq., a distinguished political character during the reigns of Queen Anne and George I. It was for many years the country seat of Lord Bathurst, and the resort of a celebrated constellation of wits, of whom he was the patron and friend.

[B] BATTLEFIELD is a parish in the liberties of Shrewsbury, and derives its name from a sanguinary battle which was fought there on Saturday the 21st of July, 1403, between Henry the Fourth and the Battle between Henry the Fourth and Percy of Northumberland. Rebels, under Percy, Earl of Nothumberland, and in which Lord Henry Percy, well known as the valiant Hotspur, was slain, together with nearly 2300 gentlemen and others, and upwards of 600 common soldiers fell on that memorable occasion. After this signal victory, Henry the fourth caused a collegiate church to be erected on the spot for secular canons, which was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, the battle having been fought on the anniversary of that day. This college was dissolved in the general wreck of establishments of this kind, when its revenues amounted to £54 10s. 4d. per annum; it is now the parish church. At the east end, over the altar window, is a figure of Henry the Fourth, much defaced by the corroding hand of time. In a niche in the south wall, is a rude carving in wood of the Virgin and child; and in the east window are still to be traced some mutilated remains of stained glass; but the most interesting object in this church, is a splendid gothic monument, recently erected to the memory of the late John Corbet, Esq. of Sundorne. This beautiful specimen of architecture is called Splendid monument. the Tudor gothic; the interior represents the miniature aisle of a cathedral or cloister, with its elaborately groined roof, and the front is adorned by the heraldic blazonings of the family. This fine and highly prized piece of art was designed by the Rev. Archdeacon Owen, of Shrewsbury, and most admirably executed by Messrs. Carline of that town, in a warmly tinted fine grained stone, from the Grinshill quarries in the neighbourhood.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

27BawburghpaNorfolkNorwich5Wymondham5E. Dereham12105440

27BawdeswellpaNorfolkReepham4Swanton3...7107587

34BawdrippaSomersetBridgewater4Glastonbury11Stowey12136373

36BawdseypaSuffolkWoodbridge8Orford10Ipswich1380454

27BawseypaNorfolkLynn3Cas. Rising4Middleton39939

46Bawtry[A]m.t.W.R. YorkDoncaster9E. Retford8Gainsboro'131531149

39BaxterlypaWarwickAtherstone5Tamworth7Coleshill7111189

41BaydonpaWiltsRamsbury4Lambourne4Swindon1069358

27BayfieldpaNorfolkHolt2Cley2Wells1012217

18BayfordpaHertsHertford4Hatfield6Hoddesdon521332

34BayfordpaSomersetWincaunton1Bourton3Mere6107

36BaylehampaSuffolkNeedham3Ipswich7Bildeston972238

22BayleytoLancasterClitheroe6Blackburn7Preston12219

25Bayswater[B]hamMiddlesexTyburn1Acton4Southall81

[A] BAWTRY is a small town situated on the edge of Yorkshire, adjoining Nottinghamshire. It is handsome and well built; and the high street, through which lies the great North Road from London to Edinburgh, is very broad, and contains some elegant houses. At the upper part of this street is the market-place, in which are some excellent shambles. The town stands on a gentle but pleasant eminence, which slopes from the north and east down to the river Idle, which river is navigable to this place for small craft. On the western side of the town the ground is high and exceedingly pleasant, but the eastern, or marshy side, is subject to frequent winter inundations. The object which most travellers consider more especially worthy of attention, is the elegant mansion of the Viscountess Galway. The edifice is built of brick and is pleasantly situated at the southern extremity of the town; it has an extensive and handsome front, but a high brick wall secludes it from public view. The pleasure Seat of the Viscountess Galway. grounds which are kept in excellent condition, are stocked with Chinese pheasants, and other rare and curious birds. Near this place the Archbishops of York had a palace; and at this mansion, Archbishop Savage, in the time of Henry VII. delighted to take his pleasure in hunting; and in the next reign it was the residence of Cardinal Wolsey. The palace stood in a very low and damp situation, close to the confluence of the small river Ryton with the Idle. The great gateway, and the porter's lodge, were taken down towards the end of the last century, and what remains of the palace has been converted into a farm house.

Market, Saturday.—Fairs, Whit-Tuesday; and November 22, for cattle and horses.—Inn, Crown—Mail arrives 2.0 afternoon; departs 11.30 morning.

[B] BAYSWATER is situated on the Oxford Road, and is the first place passed after leaving London; it has been much increased of late by the building of new streets and genteel residences. A reservoir, under the same management as the water works of Chelsea, is in the neighbourhood. Bayswater Tea Gardens were formerly the Botanic gardens of Sir John Hill, who cultivated there his medicinal plants, and prepared his Water Dock, Essence, and Balsam of Honey. The reservoir before mentioned, was intended for the supply of the palace at Kensington, and the bason before the palace was to be kept constantly full by the proprietors; and, it was upon this condition that the property was granted them. It now supplies that part of the city estates situated in about Bond-street, with water.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

14Baythorne EndEssex Haverhill 4 Ridgewell 2 G. Yeldham 5 55

42BaytonpaWorcesterBewdley6Tenbury8Mamble2130445

57BayvillpaPembrokeNewport3Cardigan9Fishguard10248160

4BayworthhamBerksAbingdon2Oxford4Cumnor558

5Beachampton[A]paBucksBuckingham6Stratford3Newport953254

27BeachamwellpaNorfolkSwaffham6Stoke Ferry6Marham594263

18BeacheshamHertsBuntingford7Standon7Barkway632

15Beachley[B]hamGloucesterChepstow3Bristol13Monmouth18131

27BeaconNorfolk Cromer 6 Lt. Houses 10 Bacton 5 135

5Beaconsfield[C]to & paBucksUxbridge8Wycombe6Amersham6231763

[A] BEACHAMPTON. The remains of the mansion of the Bennetts have been converted into a farm-house, but the great hall is still standing. In the parish church are some monuments of this family; among which there is one to the memory of Sir Simon Bennett, who was created a baronet in 1627, and is recorded in history as having been a great friend to the poor, and to University College, Oxford. This monument, it appears, was set up by the college 100 years after his death, and great blame is imputed to them for having delayed it so long. Mr. William Elmer, Free grammar school. by his will, bearing date 1648, founded a free grammar school in this parish. The school-house was finished in 1667. The master, by an express clause in the founder's will, must be a single man, and is to reside in the school-house. It is endowed with lands, which are charged with the payment of a certain pension of £2. per annum, to eight poor men, and £1. per annum to as many poor women; and it is further provided, that three of each of these shall be inhabitants of this parish.

[B] BEACHLEY from its almost insulated situation, has always been of great importance in a military point of view, for there are extensive earthworks of British origin still remaining. Offa's-dyke, which terminates here, is still to be traced. In the civil wars this place was considered of much importance, for Prince Rupert despatched a body of 500 horse and foot to occupy and fortify it. But history relates, that even before the fortifications were completed, the garrison was dislodged with great loss, by Governor Massie. After this, a battle was fought between the royalists and the parliamentary forces, under Sir John Wyntor, when the latter was defeated with the loss of 220 men; and it is currently reported that Once a place of great importance. he himself was forced to leap from the cliff into the river Severn, where a small boat lay ready to receive him; it is certain the place still goes by the name of "Wyntor's leap." The ferry over the river Severn has been before mentioned at page 63. Here is an inn called Beachley Passage House Inn. The time of high water is nearly the same as at Bristol Quay, and is always to be seen in the Bristol Newspapers. If the wind be northerly, this passage may be crossed for five hours before high-water; and if the wind be southerly or westerly, it may be passed for seven hours after high-water.

[C] BEACONSFIELD is a small place, although it is one of great thoroughfare, but the market is almost wholly disused; in fact, Wycombe and Uxbridge appear to have drawn away the business. The manor, anciently an estate of the Windsors, afterwards became the property of the Monks of Burnham Abbey, a building but a few miles distant. Edmund Waller, the poet. Waller, the poet, was born at Coleshill, in this neighbourhood, at which place see his life; he was proprietor of the very pleasing seat, called Hall Barns, an ancient mansion belonging to the family; he lies buried in the churchyard, and a monument has been erected to his memory, with a latin inscription, too long and too dry to be given in our work. Gregories, in this parish, was the seat of the celebrated Edmund Burke, who, for critical taste and brilliancy of language, will ever be ranked amongst the most fascinating of English writers. His company was sought for by all The celebrated Edmund Burke. who could make the slightest pretension to kindred genius. He died in this town, and was buried in the church, where a marble tablet is set up, with a short inscription, to his memory. The apartments at Butler's Court, formerly Gregories, contained some fine paintings, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and some valuable marbles. This seat, we believe, came into the possession of Mr. Burke through the friendship of Lord Verney and the Marquis of Rockingham, by whose munificence he was enabled to purchase it. The widow of the late Mr. Burke continued to reside at Butler's Court till the period of her death, which took place a few years after that of her late husband; the mansion and estate was afterwards purchased by James Dupre, Esq., who let the house to the master of a boarding-school, and in whose occupation it was destroyed by fire: the grounds have since been adapted to the purpose of agriculture. For the following interesting sketch of the illustrious and distinguished statesman, (Burke,) we are indebted to Dr. Watkin's Biographical Dictionary:—"He was born at Dublin, in 1730. His father was an attorney, and a Protestant. The son received his education under Abraham Shackleton, a Quaker, who kept a school at Ballytore, near Carlow, and it is recorded to the honour of Mr. Burke, that whenever he visited Ireland he always paid his respects to his old tutors: in 1746 he entered as a scholar at Sketch of his life. Trinity College, which he left on taking his bachelor's degree in 1749, and soon after became candidate for the professorship of logic at Glasgow, but did not succeed. In 1753 he entered of the Middle Temple, where he applied more to general literature than to the law, and supported himself by writing for the booksellers. Falling ill, through too close an application to his studies, he removed to the house of Dr. Nugent, a physician, whose daughter he afterwards married. In 1756 he published a pamphlet, entitled, "A Vindication of Natural Society." This piece was purposely drawn up in the manner of Lord Bolingbroke, and for a time imposed upon the friends of that writer as his real productions. His next performance was the Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, published in 1757. This philosophical piece of criticism, written in a fine and elegant style, procured the author a great reputation, and the esteem of the first literary characters of the age; the principal of whom was Dr. Johnson. In 1758, he suggested to Mr. Dodsley, the bookseller, the plan of the "Annual Register," the historical part of which he wrote for several years. In 1761 he went to Ireland as the companion of his friend Mr. Hamilton, secretary to the Earl of Halifax, then Lord-Lieutenant. That gentleman, who was generally known by the name of Single-speech Hamilton, from the circumstance of his making only one speech in parliament, but one of uncommon eloquence, procured him a pension of £300. on the Irish establishment. On his return from Ireland he was made private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham, First Lord of the Treasury, who brought him into parliament for Wendover. The Rockingham party continued in power but a short time, and on going out of office, Mr. Burke wrote a forcible pamphlet upon the subject, entitled, "A Short Account of a Short Administration;" after which, he became an active member of the opposition, as a senator and also as a writer. A pamphlet of his, entitled, "Thoughts on the Causes of the present Discontents," excited considerable interest as a bold exposure of court intrigues and favourites, in controlling the operations of ministers. In the struggle between Great Britain and the colonies, Mr. Burke bore a distinguished part as an opponent to the ministry. His speeches were vehement, and had so powerful an influence upon the people, that the citizens of Bristol, in 1774, invited him to be one of their representatives, without his being at the least expense. But at the next election in 1780, he was rejected by them for having supported the Irish petition for a free trade, and the bill for relieving Roman Catholics. He was then returned for Malton, in Yorkshire. At this time he gained great popularity by his introduction of a bill for a reform in the national expenditure, on which he spent prodigious labour, but it was unsuccessful. When the Marquis of Rockingham returned to power on the resignation of Lord North, in 1782, Mr. Burke obtained the post of Paymaster-general of the Forces, and a seat in the Privy Council; but this was of short duration, for on the death of his patron, Lord Shelbourne became First Lord of the Treasury, and Mr. Burke, with several of his friends, resigned their places. In the coalition, which for a little while succeeded the Shelbourne administration, Mr. Burke had his share both of emolument and abuse. The leading particulars of his political life, after this, were his exertions against Mr. Hastings, in which he manifested uncommon industry to fasten guilt upon that gentleman, with no small share of personal asperity; his vigorous opposition to Mr. Pitt's design of forming a limited regency on the King's illness in 1788; and above all, his ardour against the actors and defenders of the French revolution. On the latter subject he evinced peculiar sagacity at the outset, and when many worthy men were rejoicing at the prospect of rising liberty and happiness to the world, Mr. Burke predicted, with remarkable precision, the desolation, bloodshed, anarchy, and misery which ensued. He displayed his detestation of the revolutionists in the House of Commons, and separated himself in consequence from Mr. Fox, and many other of his old associates. In 1790 he published his famous "Reflections on the Revolution in France," which attracted wonderful attention, and produced a surprising effect upon the public mind. Many publications appeared in answer to this book; the most noted of which was Paine's pamphlet, entitled "The Rights of Man," wherein the principles of republicanism were so artfully addressed to the feelings of ordinary persons, as to excite for a time no small alarm to the friends of government. Mr. Burke, after this, published a variety Burke's reflections on the French revolution, &c. of pamphlets in support of his positions: as, "A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly;" "An Appeal from the New Whigs to the Old;" "Thoughts on a Regicide peace," &c. His zeal on this occasion, as well as his extraordinary talents, recommended him to the royal favour, and he obtained a pension, which gave room for those who had been galled by his arguments, to reproach him, and some illiberal animadversions were made upon him in the senate, which drew from him that admirable defence, his "Letter to a Noble Lord," in which he retaliates upon a celebrated Duke in a strain of keen irony and dignified remonstrance. Mr. Burke withdrew from parliament in 1794, leaving his seat for Malton to his son, an accomplished young man, who died shortly after. This melancholy event hastened his death, which happened the 8th His death. of July, 1797. A little before his death he caused to be read to him Addison's paper in the Spectator, on the Immortality of the Soul. Mr. Burke was very amiable in his private life, of correct deportment, faithful in his attachments; charitable to the poor, and religious without being superstitious. He had a fine taste for the arts, and was fond of gardening and architecture," Bulstrode, the seat of the Duke of Portland, is within three miles of the town; a more detailed account of this elegant mansion will be given in a future portion of our work.

Market, Wednesday.—Fairs, Feb. 13; and Holy Thursday, for horses, cows, and sheep.—Mail arrives 11.10 night; departs, 3.30 morning.—Inn, Saracen's Head.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

43BeadlamtoN.R. YorkHelmesley3Kirkby2Gillamoor3225157

29BeadnelltoNorthumbBelford9Aluwick13Ellingham8321251

11BeafordpaDevonTorrington5Chumleigh10Hatherleigh9200624

45BeaghalltoW.R. YorkPontefract6Snaith7Selby6178563

21BeaksbournepaKentCanterbury4Wingham3Dover259351

29BealhamDurhamBelford8Berwick8Wooler233070

36Bealing, GreatpaSuffolkWoodbridge3Ipswich7Wickham876367

36Bealing, LittlepaSuffolk...4...6...975272

34Beamhurst..StaffordCheadle7Uttoxeter3Checkley2139...

12Beaminster,[A]m.t.& chDorsetDorchester18Bridport6Crewkerne71412968

13BeamishtoDurhamGateshead6Durham6Sunderland102651848

45BeamsleytoW.R. YorkSkipton6Addingham2Otley10215279

29BeanleytoNorthumb.Alnwick8Wooler9Belford11314169

10BeardtoDerbyAshton8Manchester15Sheffield23177283

37Bear Green..SurreyDorking4Horsham9Capel228...

39BearlypaWarwickStratford4Warwick8Henley597230

21BearstedpaKentMaidstone3Milton10Chatham937594

33BearstontoSalopDrayton4Eccleshall9Nantwich1215795

10Bearward-CotetoDerbyDerby6Sudbury8Uttoxeter13130...

40Beathwaite Green,hamWestmorlndKendal6Millthorpe3Burton7258...

10Beauchief Abbey,e.p.lDerbySheffield4Dronfield4Chesterfield1016085

39Beaudesert[B]paWarwickHenley1Stratford9Birmingham16102199

[A] BEAMINSTER is a town of very great antiquity; it is situated on a fertile spot near the banks of the small river Birt. The prebendaries of Salisbury were formerly lords of the manor, until the parliamentary commissioners (who appear to have made very free with church property) seized it, and for a time it passed into other hands, but it was only for a time: the right at length became acknowledged, and in the possession of the prebendaries of Sarum it now remains. This town has suffered much by the devastation of fire, and still more by the destructive sword of civil, or rather uncivil, warfare. Britton speaks of a record of the former being preserved in a blank leaf of an old Bible, in the possession of a gentleman of this town, which memorandum ran as follows:—"The towne of Beaminster was burnt on Palme Sunday, being the 14th day of April, and in Destroyed by fire in 1644. the year of our Lord 1644. At the same time prince Maurice, being in the towne seven dayes before the fire, and there continued till the fire burnt him out of his quarters. The fire was first kindled in John Sergeant's house, in North-street; it was a musket discharged in the gable; and it was wild-fire, and the winde lying directly with the towne, the whole place was destroyed in two hours; and those goods for the most part which were saved out of the fire were carried away by the soldiers. There were seven score and four dwelling-houses, besides barns and stables, burnt." An eye-witness in Sir Thomas Fairfax's army describes it as "a place of the pitifullest spectacle that man can behold; hardly a house left not consumed by fire." Two thousand pounds were granted by the parliament to assist in re-building the town: this, with other sums, raised by the neighbouring gentry, answered the purpose. But it appears that the place was doomed to destruction, for in June, 1684, it Burnt down in 1684, and again in 1781. was again consumed, and the loss is said to have amounted to £10,000.: nor did its misfortunes end here, for in the gusty month of March, in the year 1781, upwards of fifty dwelling-houses, besides barns, stables, and other buildings, were reduced to ruins in the short space of three hours. Mrs. Tucker founded a free-school here, in 1684, for the purpose of affording education to twenty of the poorest boys in the town; three or four of these boys were to be apprenticed annually, and it is necessary that one of these, at least, should become a seaman. The Rev. Mr. Samuel Hood, father of Lord Hood, was master of this school in the year 1715. The inhabitants are principally engaged in the manufacture of sail-cloth, and in the production of iron, tin, and copper ware. The work-house is a large commodious building; formerly an alms-house.

Market, Thursday.—Fairs, April 4; September 19, for horses, sheep, and cattle.

[B] BEAUDESERT. This place is situated in the hundred of Barlichway. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and exhibits some good specimens of ancient architecture. The village was the birth-place of Richard Jago, the poet, who was the son of the rector: he was born in 1715, and was educated at Solihull grammar-school, about eleven miles distant from this place. His first poetical production which attracted notice was an "Elegy on the Death of a Blackbird," and this was followed by a poem, descriptive of the "Battle of Edgehill," which is considered the most finished of his works: the subject was in all probability suggested by his residence in the neighbourhood of the scene of action. He died on the 8th of April, 1781.

Map Names of Places County Number of Miles From Dist. Lond. Popul ation.

16Beaulieu[A]pa.HantsLymington7Hythe5Southampton7821298

23Beau Manorex. pl.LeicesterMount Sorrel3Loughboro3Leicester810698

[A] BEAULIEU. The river Exe, over which there is a bridge, is navigable up to this village. Here is a manufacture of coarse sacking. The ruins of Beaulieu Abbey are beautifully situated on the eastern banks of the river. The delightful valley which surrounds these venerable remains, is of a circular form, bounded by well-wooded hills, and in itself, consists of a rich variety of ground. The Abbey was founded, A.D. 1204, by The Abbey founded by King John. King John, for monks of the Cistercian order; a class of friars to which that monarch had been previously particularly adverse. The king, it is said, after various oppressive measures exercised against the Cistercians, summoned the Abbots and principals of that order, to Lincoln, whither they hastened, flattering themselves that he would there confer upon them some marks of his grace and favor. Instead of this, say the monkish historians, "the savage monarch ordered the Abbots to be trodden to death, by horses: but none of his attendants being found sufficiently cruel to obey the sanguinary command, the ecclesiastics, dreadfully alarmed, retired hastily to their inn. In the course of the ensuing night, when the monarch slumbered on his bed, he dreamt that he was standing before a Judge, accompanied by the Cistercian Abbots, who were commanded to scourge him severely with rods and thongs; and when he awoke in the morning, he declared that he still felt the smart of the beating. On relating this dream to a certain ecclesiastic of his court, The king's singular dream. he was advised to crave pardon of the Abbots, whom he had before so barbarously treated; and assured, that the Almighty had been infinitely merciful to him, in thus revealing the mysteries of his dispensations, and affording him paternal correction. The king, adopting this counsel, ordered the Abbots to attend him; and, contrary to their expectations, received them with kindness:" and the remembrance of his dream still continuing to influence his conduct, he shortly after granted a charter for the foundation of the Abbey of Beaulieu. It was greatly enriched by succeeding grants; and at the Dissolution, its possessions were estimated at the annual value of £428. 6s. 8d. The manor of Beaulieu, with all its rights, privileges, and appurtenances, (the rectory and right of patronage excepted), was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, Esq. afterwards Earl of Southampton. The circumference of the manor embraces an extent of 28 The manor extends 28 miles. miles, and the clear annual revenue amounts to between £4000 and £5000. The immediate precincts of the Abbey were encircled by a stone wall, the remains of which are richly mantled with ivy. An edifice, nearly square, now called the palace, but originally built for the Abbot's lodging, was converted into a family seat after the Dissolution. Over the entrance is a canopied niche, in which stood the image of the Virgin Mary. The hall is a well proportioned room, handsomely vaulted, the ribs springing from pilasters, and spreading over the roof in beautiful ramifications. Eastward from this edifice is a long building, supposed from the extent and height of the apartments, to have been the dormitory; beneath it are several good cellars. The ancient kitchen is also standing, and near it is the refectory, a plain stone edifice, with strong buttresses: this is now the parish church of Beaulieu; the Abbey church, which stood to the north-east, having been entirely destroyed. On the west side is the ancient rostrum, or pulpit, from which lectures were read when the monks were assembled at their meals below. The site of the Abbey Church may be traced by the unevenness of the ground; but not a vestige of the building is remaining. Fragments of demolished tombs are occasionally dug up here, this having been the burial-place of various illustrious and noble personages, Burial place of Queen Eleanor. and among them, Queen Eleanor, mother of King John. Some traces of the cloisters are yet distinguishable. Whilst Beaulieu Abbey was invested with the privilege of a sanctuary, its walls afforded a temporary protection to Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI.; who, returning from the continent, in expectation of being reinstated in her former dignity, was informed of the imprisonment of her husband, the destruction of his army, and the death of the Earl of Warwick, and the elevation to the throne of Edward IV. Another celebrated fugitive, to whom this abbey afforded sanctuary, was Perkin Warbeck, who, after many vicissitudes, was executed at Tyburn, in 1499.