building it, to have been plentifully embued with the spirit of dullness, at that time proverbial, as existing in his native town. The body of the church was not erected till the year 1779, when the old structure was taken down, and the present edifice built under the direction of a certain Job Collins, also an architect of Warwick all that we need to say of it is, that it is perfectly worthy of the Tower. The monuments within the church are neither numerous nor remarkable.

We have already said that Warwick is particularly rich in charities, exclusive of nearly a dozen other institutions by various individuals, for dif ferent worthy purposes, it has a Lying-in Charity, six different sets of Alms Houses, two Poor Houses,' a Chapel School, Sunday Schools, and benefactions for almost every want; besides

LEICESTER HOSPITAL,

an Institution of sufficient magnitude and utility, to merit a more extended notice, this very ancientbuilding, situated at the western extremity of High street, appears to have been originally the abode of two united Guilds, or lay fraternities of the Holy Trinity, and St. George, established in the reign of Richard the Second, the former by William Hobkins, John Cooke, and eleven others, all inhabitants of Warwick, and the latter by John de Dynelay, and two others, also of Warwick, empowered to purchase estates, extend the number of

A

their fraternity, and found a chantry in their chapel, which stood over the west, gate. The union of these two Guilds took place in the reign of Henry the Sixth In the reforming Eighth Harry's time, when black Friars, and white, blue Friars and grey were all brought to book, it appeared, there were four Priests belonging to this fraternity, who were incontinently put down by Bluff Hal, and the whole fraternity dissolved; and in the year 1551, their mansion was granted by Edward the Sixth to Sir Nicholas le Strange, Knight, and his Heirs; but in Elizabeth's reign, became the property of her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, no doubt through the interest of his mistress, by whom it was converted into an asylum or hospital for twelve indigent men, to be called brethren, with a master, who must be a minister of the established church, the vicar of St. Mary's having always the refusal of the presentation. The land, with which it is endowed, was valued at that time at £200, which has now increased to £2000. The brethren must be natives or inhabitants for five years at least of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, and must not be worth more than £5 a year, and wear a blue dress gown, with the crest of a bear and ragged staff fastened or the left sleeve. Some variations in these rules have lately been introduced by Act of Parliament, the number of its members is now

{

1

increased to 22, with an income of £80 each, and an increase of the master's salary to £400 per annum, the qualification of property being extended from £5 to £50 per annum. The buildings of Leicester Hospital are handsome and complete; in what was called the great hall, James the First was magnificently entertained by Sir Fulk Greville, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sep. 4, 1617. St. James's chapel adjoining, and now belonging to this hospital, is a small but beautiful structure, where the fraternity daily assemble for morning and evening prayers, except on those days when their attendance is required at St. Mary's church.

THE PRIORY.

Another object of interest and antiquity in War wick, formerly called the Priory of St. Sepulchre, situated on the north side of the town, on the site of the old church of St. Helen, was according to Rous Roll, founded by Henry de Newburg, Earl of Warwick, and completed by his son Roger, in the reign of Henry the First. It was originally erected for a society of regular canons, instituted in imitation of one of the same order established at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and was for many years high in Royal favour: to whose princely liberality, joined to the bounty of those unvaried and mu

nificent patrons of Warwick, its noble Earls, it was indebted for many valuable privileges and endowments; but in the dissolving period of the reformation, it shared the general fate of all other religious institutions, and fell into the clutches of the Crown, in which it remained till the year 1547, when the building and lands belonging to it were granted to Thomas Hawkins, and his heirs, to be held in soccage of the castle at the yearly rent of 26s. 9d.

By Hawkins, who had risen from a very humble origin to great power and wealth, the ancient edifice, with the exception of two galleries and part of the chapel, was immediately pulled down, and the present large and handsome structure erected on its site; the garden front was not however added to it till a couple of centuries after. Hawkins completed his part of the mansion in 1556; and, from its situation in a grove of lofty elms, gave it the name of "Hawkin's Nest," a name, however, that did not supersede its more ancient title, the Priory, which it still retains.

In the month of September, 1567, the Priory was honoured with a visit from Elizabeth's favourite, the haughty Leicester, accompanied by a long train of Nobles, on which occasion the most splendid festivities were indulged in for several days, the Earl being served in a separate apartment on

dishes of pure gold, the attendants kneeling: and in 1572, Hawkins, or Fisher as he was often called, (from his father having sold fish in the market place at Warwick,) was honoured with a visit from Elizabeth herself, she being at that time residing at Kenilworth, to which place he afterwards accompanied her. Hawkins did not survive this gratifying honor many years, for on January 10th 1576, he died, and was buried in the upper end of St Mary's church. His son Edward, to whom the Priory with all its vast estates descended, like most descendants of men who have acquired vast wealth by painful prudence, squandered away the property ntuch more quickly than it had been acquired, and ended a spendthrift's wretched existence in the Fleet Prison. The Priory was purchased from him by Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Mr. Serjeant Puckering, in whose family it remained till the year 1700, when it was purchased by Henry Wise, Esq. Superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court, in whose family it has ever since remained. As a specimen of an Elizabethan Family Mansion, it is well worthy of notice, its park and pleasure grounds adding much sylvan beauty to its antiquity, but Warwick's greatest glory is undoubtedly