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sented in this county. In sixteen of the chief manufactures are engaged-males, 33,186; females, 19,604; total, 52,790. A few of the statistics, of which these numbers form the total, may be interesting:-Silk employs 3639 men, and 9531 women; ribbons, 4196 males, 4928 females; buttons, 2491 males, 2902 females; guns, 2866 males, 142 females; needles, 1269 males, 1106 females; watches, 2219 males, 52 females; toys, 761 males, 174 females; brassfounders, 4946 males; silversmiths, 2627 males.

The county is divided into five hundreds, or two divisions. It contains 1 city, 1 county town, 14 market towns, and 158 parishes. It is in the province of Canterbury, partly in the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, and partly in that of Worcestershire. Ten members are returned to Parliament (ex clusive of two for Tamworth, which is on the borders of the county, and partly situated in Staffordshire), viz., two for each division, two for the borough of Warwick, two for the town of Birmingham, and two for the city of Coventry. The annual value of real property, assessed to property tax, in 1850-51, was £2,430,861.

WARWICK.

HOTELS.-Castle, Jos. Mann-Bed 1s. to 2s., breakfast 1s. 6d., dinner 28. to 3s., tea 1s. 6d. Warwick Arms, Grace, Lake, and Son-Bed 1s. to 2s., breakfast 1s. 6d. to 2s., dinner 2s. to 3s., tea 1s. 6d., private room 2s. 6d. George, Mrs. Tims; Globe, Henry Elvins; Woolpack, John Court; Bowling Green, James Bryan.

Population in 1851, 10,973. Inhabited houses, 2229.

Warwick from London, 944 miles; from Birmingham, 21; from Manchester, 106; from Liverpool, 883; from Bristol, 115; from York, 151; from Edinburgh, 3233.

THE county town is beautifully situated on elevated ground,

near the bank of the river Avon. There can be no doubt that it is a town of high antiquity. John Rous, the famous antiquary, dates its origin as far back as the beginning of the Christian era. According to this account, to which Dugdale gives the sanction of his name, it was founded by Gutheline, or Kimbeline, a British king at the time of the birth of Christ. It was called by him Gaerleon, the word being compounded of Caer (civitas), and his own name; Caer-Cuthleon being shortened into Caerleon. Another account makes its foundation considerably less ancient, attributing it to the Saxons. According to the antiquary_already_quoted, the town, having been destroyed by the Picts and Scots, was rebuilt by the great Caractacus, whose heroism in resisting the Romans for nine years has procured for him immortality on the page of Tacitus. Again it was destroyed, when it was rebuilt by Warremund, the first of the kings of Mercia, from whom it was named Warrewyk. Ethelfleda, daughter of king Alfred the Great, by the erection of a strong fortified building in 915, contributed very materially to its increase and prosperity. The Norman Conquest considerably benefited this town. William the Conqueror allowed Turchill, then vicecomes of Warwick, to retain his title and remain in possession

of his estates, giving him orders at the same time to enlarge and fortify the castle, and strengthen the town with a ditch and gates. He afterwards created the earldom of Warwick, bestowing the title on Henry de Newburgh, one of his followers. From this time the town continued to prosper, the Earls of Warwick appearing to have in general administered its affairs in a manner tending to promote its welfare. In the reign of Edward I., Warwick was the scene of various knightly tournaments. In this and the following reigns various charters are mentioned as having been obtained by the earls, empowering them to levy taxes for the construction of the walls and other public purposes. A charter of incorporation was obtained in the reign of Mary and Philip. James I., in one of his progresses, visited Warwick, when he was magnificently entertained in Leycester's Hospital, 4th September 1617. In common with other parts of the county, this town suffered during the civil war of the seventeenth century, the castle at one time sustaining a short siege from the Royalists. In 1694 the greater part of the town was destroyed by fire. The damage was estimated at the time at £90,600; but a sum of £120,000 had to be expended to repair the damage. Warwick is indebted to this occurrence for an improved style of architecture. William III. visited Warwick in 1695, when he was the guest of Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke, in Warwick Castle.

Warwick contains numerous charities. The College School, built in the reign of Henry VI., by Richard Beauchamp, was endowed by Henry VIII., for the education, free of expense, of the native children of the town. The remainder of the annual income of this institution, after the payment of salaries, is devoted to the repair of the two churches and other public buildings, and to charitable purposes. Two exhibitions of the value of £70 each, for the space of seven years, are attached to this institution, for the education of young men at the University of Oxford. The building, situated at the east end of St. Mary's churchyard, is of considerable size, and of an antique appearance. Leicester's Hospital, a fine example of the old half-timber style of building, stands at the western extremity of High Street. This structure originally belonged to the guilds of "The Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin," and "St. George the Martyr," and came after the dissolution into the possession of the famous Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who endowed it as a collegiate hospital for twelve impotent men, and one master, a professor of divinity. The men admitted to this charity are called "brethren," and must wear

a blue gown with Leicester's crest of a bear and ragged staff on the left sleeve, without which badge they are not allowed to appear in public. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1813, modifying the original settlement. The number of brethren was increased to 22, with an allowance each of £80 a year; the master's salary being advanced to £400. The annual revenue of the institution is about £3000 per annum. In the appointment of brethren (which rests in the heir-general of the noble founder), the preference is given to those who have been maimed in the service of their country. Candidates must not have more than £50 a year. The garden of the Hospital is very tastefully laid out, and commands a fine view of the adjacent country. In the adjoining Chapel of St. James the brethren meet for daily prayer, except when there is service at St. Mary's, when they are required to attend there. This small chapel, reared over the west gate, is neatly fitted up for the use of the master and brethren. It has a fine window of stained glass, and a good painting of the Ascension by Millar. It was in the Great Hall that James I. was entertained, as already mentioned. His host was Sir Fulke Greville, Chancellor of the Exchequer. A tablet at the upper end of the hall commemorates the circumstance. Sir Thomas White's Charity has the object of assisting young tradesmen, "inhabitants, being of good fame," by the free loan of £50 for nine years, on giving security. The revenue of this charity is upwards of £800 a year. The alms-houses are numerous. The chief are Oken's, Iffler's, West Gate, Puckering's, Saltsford, and Yardley. There are, besides charity and Sunday schools, a lying-in hospital, dispensary, etc.

Warwick is of little commercial importance. Its manufactories for spinning and combing wool, for weaving cotton, and for making lace and hats, have to a great extent been discontinued. The municipal government is vested in a council of twenty-four, consisting of six aldermen and eighteen councilmen. The mayor is elected annually by the council. The electoral constituency numbered 747 in the year 1853. Two members are returned to Parliament.

Two scholars of note were natives of this town. Walter of Coventry, the Benedictine monk, author of several works on English history, was born here about the middle of the twelfth century. John Rous, the zealous and laborious Warwick antiquary, after studying at Oxford, returned to his native county, and became a chantry priest at Guy's Cliff. His writings, which were more voluminous than valuable, have almost all perished. He died in 1491, and was interred

in St. Mary's Church. The more famous of the Earls of Warwick will be noticed in connection with the Castle.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. MARY is perhaps altogether the most interesting ecclesiastical building in the county. It is a noble structure on an imposing site, forming one of the most prominent objects on a distant view of the town. The time of its foundation cannot be precisely ascertained; but it is certain, from the Doomsday survey, that a church existed on this site long before the Conquest. According to that survey it was endowed with a hide of land by Turchill, the last Saxon Earl of Warwick. The present building, as the tourist will perceive at a glance, does not at all belong to the same period. A Latin inscription on the north, west, and south sides of the tower gives a brief account of the changes that have passed over it. It was repaired by Roger de Newburgh, second Norman Earl of Warwick, in the reign of king Stephen. Then, in 1394, it was restored by the first Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who founded the choir, which was finished by his son, of the same name, who also rebuilt the whole edifice. In 1694 it was almost wholly destroyed by the great fire already alluded to; the Choir, the Lady Chapel, the Chapter House, the Lobby, and the Vestry Room on the north, alone escaping the ravages of the flames. The new church, "begun by public, was finished by royal piety, under the joyful auspices of Queen Anne, in the memor able year 1704.' The architectural style of this church has often been severely commented upon. The design has been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, but without any very tangible grounds. Though a somewhat incongruous mixture of styles is observable, it cannot be denied that the effect of the whole is grand and imposing. The fine proportions of the Tower are particularly worthy of notice. From a base of 36 feet square, it rises from four groined arches to the height of 130 feet, above which again, at each corner, rise pinnacles to the height of 44 feet. Beneath the piers is a passage, allowing of the transit of carriages. The extreme length of the church is 180 feet, and the breadth, measured along the transept, 106 feet. The styles of architecture, as has been stated, are different in the ancient and modern parts of this structure. The Lady Chapel is an exquisite specimen of the purest Gothic. The other parts of the building which escaped the great fire are in the same style. The more modern part is of a mixed Saxon order. The great windows have double rows of heavy arches, terminated by grotesque heads; and

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