590 Religious Instruction of the Welsh.-Bastardy. from whose rich stores this Latin Author has extracted and digested, in a small compass, the best system that ever was composed of medicine. Mr. URBAN, FROM April 11. ROM the time which had elapsed since the insertion of my enquiries respecting the provision made for the religious instruction of the Welsh in your extensively circulated Magazine, I was afraid that they had escaped the attention of those best qualified to give the desired information; it was therefore with much pleasure that I observed the Letter of your Liverpool Correspondent, "S. R." in p. 215; and I have to request that he will, as soon as possible, forward to you such other information on the subject as he may possess, especially the prospectus or other publications of this Liverpool Society. I trust that others of your Correspondents will follow the example of S. R." and I have no doubt that public attention being called to the subject, the long-cherished wishes of the Welsh population of many of the principal towns and cities of England will be fulfilled. I am sure, too, that an appeal to the feelings of the English nation would not be disregarded. I will here venture to suggest, that if the principal Welsh inhabitants of the Metropolis were to form themselves into a Society for this purpose, Branch Societies would soon follow in every part of the kingdom, where any number of antient Britons were resident. Surely, while the nobility and gentry of other parts of the empire are exerting themselves to provide the means of religious worship for those whose circumstances exclude them from partaking of the benefits of the Established Church, those of Wales will not linger behind, but will stand for ward and prevent their countrymen from becoming the prey of sectarians or of ignorance, by supplying them with places of public worship and with religious instructors. It plainly appears that some of the Welsh nobility and gentry are aware of the lamentable fact of their countryinen having no place where they can worship their Maker, and that they are willing to contribute liberally towards the establishment of Chapels and the support of Clergymen; let, then, any of these, however few in [XCIL number, once meet in London, and they will soon be joined by a nume rous body of well-wishers to the cause of Religion: I am fully convinced that they will have no want of liberal contributors and zealous friends; English Charity would lend its aid; there would be no backwardness in the inhabitants of the Principality; even the poor Welshman, for whose benefit the Society would be established, would spare a mite. Let, therefore, some Welshman not ashamed of his country or his religion, stand forward and commence the good work, and he will receive, as he deserves, the thanks of every well-wisher of the Church of England and the Principality. Your Correspondent, "A MAGIS TRATE, p. 216, states it to be the invariable rule, in cases of Bastardy, to compel the mother, if she does not nurse her infant, to contribute towards its support. How this may be managed in the country I know not; but most certainly it is not the invariable. practice in the Metropolis; on the contrary, such an order is of rather rare occurrence. If parish officers were to oblige the mothers of illegitimate children, without exception, to nurse their offspring till they attained a proper age to be weaned, instead of permitting them to obtain situations as wet-nurses in respectable families, the punishment would operate upon many as a lesson to restrain their passions: whereas the present practice of allowing them to procure places where they obtain a higher rate of wages, more indulgences, and have fewer privations to endure, than if they had continued chaste, acts rather as an encouragement to vice, and cannot but have a most injurious effect upon the minds of other women in the lower ranks of life. AP-R. AP-H. PART 1.] Remarks on Bastardy Laws.-Peryn's Sermons, 1546. she will either be married to the father, or be totally released from support of the child." So far is the latter part of this sentence from being true, that in every order of filiation, the mother of a Bastard is made subject to the payment of a certain weekly sum for the maintenance of the child, which is generally a third, sometimes one half of the sum ordered to be paid by the father. In addition to this, the Bastardy Laws are so far from encouraging fornication, that the woman who has produced an illegitimate child, which becomes chargeable to the parish, is liable to a very severe punishment for her incontinence; viz. an imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, nor less than six weeks. With such a punishment hanging over her head, which punishment is frequently inflicted with more or less rigour, according to oircumstances, how can the present laws be said to reward fornication by a bounty, or to invite perjury, and promise it impunity? The remedy which is proposed by your Correspondent for this supposed evil, appears to me also to be as inadequate to the disease, as the reasons upon which it is founded are erroneous. To forbid a single woman from marrying the man by whom she is pregnant, would probably have the contrary effect to that which is expected and intended. A measure like this would at any rate be an encouragement to a young man, who would be more likely to indulge his inclination for variety, when he found that so far from being obliged to marry any of the women he may have succeeded with, he was expressly forbidden by the law to make to the unfortunate female the only recompense in his power for the injury he has done her. I have repeatedly found, upon enquiry, that a large proportion of those who have been obliged to apply to magistrates, have forfeited their chastity under a solemn promise of marriage, which youth and inexpe rience have induced them to consider June 6. 591 and blessed Sacrament of the Aulter. Mr. URBAN, Na stroll through, Islington very lately, I picked up a small blackletter volume, in excellent preservation, entitled "Thre godly and notable Sermons of the moost honorable The Dedication is "unto the Ryght Reverend Father in God, and his special good lorde and mayster, Edmund (by the grace of God)_Bysshope of London, &c. Wyllyam Peryn, Preest, wysheth grace, peace, and helth in God." "Although ye corrupt state and malingnytie of thys present tyme (ryght honorable Lorde) be a spurre, sharpe and quicke enough to sturre up and to provoke a Christane hart (in whome is any sparke of love and zeale, eather toward the syncere Christiane faythe, eyther towarde the spirituall or goostley weale of this our naturall contraye), to bende and force hymselfe in the defence of the fayth catholycke; wyth all wyt and studye agaynst the vigolent and Yet I havynge also in consideracyo' ye great manyfold pestyferous stormes of heresie. accompt that I have to render unto my Lorde Christe, for the lytle talent delivered unto me, to employ (no doubt) to the edyfyenge of his mysticall bodye y Churche, here unto added also, the importune postulacyon and request of certayne Catholyque parsons my frendes, I am (in maner) forced to dyvulgate and set forth a part of my smal and slender studye, taken here before abought certayne sermons that I made of ye most blessed and venerable Sacrament of the Aulter. Where unto I was moved by a certayn rumor delated, and brought very oft tyme unto my eares (whyche at the length Ifered and found it to be to trewe), that the horryble heresie of Berrengary and Wykclyfe (sacramentaryes abhomynable) was raysed agayne of late, and by meanes of evell and pestyferous bokes, crepte secretly into the hartes of manye of the yonger and carnall sort. The which heryse I had well hoped to have lynne to deapelye buryed (wyth the ashes of Frythe and Nicholson), to have ben revyved and raysed up agayne in this realme. Wherefore I fearyng the en cresse of that mischevous malady (amonge the unstable and vulgare people), thought somewhat to breke the great vyolens of suche pestilent blastes (amonge the unlearned sort), as moche as lay in the weake power and tenuyte of my simple and small talent, untyll more better reskew and re-, systens (by great lerned men) shuld come. And thus I preeched in foure days, four severall Sermons, onely and specially of the mooste 586 Ancient Liverpool. also at low water, men, provisions, and military stores, might be brought into the town. This fortress was planted with cannon, for the protection of the town and shipping in the harbour, at the entrance of the pool, the space now occupied by the Old Dock. The harbour was also defended by eight pieces of cannon. At this crisis the town received a considerable reinforcement of inhabitants in consequence of the emigration of those Irish protestants who had escaped the massacre in 1641. These settlers brought with them a large quantity of wool, with which the garrison covered the tops of the mud walls, as a security against the shot of the besiegers. With these means of defence the numerous and welldisciplined garrison was prepared to resist the attacks of the Royal army, which, under the command of Prince Rupert, nephew of King Charles I. commenced the siege on June 2, 1644. At this period Liverpool was a small and inconsiderable place (as appears from a view of it in 1680 in vol. LXXXIII. part ii. p. 537, with the Beacon above alluded to, in the back ground); its fortifications, however, together with the Mersey, strongly environed the town, and as the river afforded a depth of water sufficient for the reception of vessels of the largest burthen, the garrison were readily supplied with provisions and military stores; but the adjacent high lands, on which the besiegers were encamped, rendered its reduction inevitable. This last consideration induced the Prince, as he approached the town, its low situation towards the river being partly hidden from his view, to compare it sarcastically to a crow's nest; but 'ere he became master of the works, the courage and intrepidity of the garrison, obliged him to acknowledge, that an eagle's nest, or even a den of lions, would have been a more appropriate denomination. Prince Rupert encamped at the Beacon Hill, then a full mile distant from the town, and stationed his officers in the adjacent villages, fixing his own head quarters in a small cottage, nearly upon the summit of Everton Hill (see the accompanying woodcut). From these points he daily brought detachments to open the trenches and erect batteries; the latter [XCII. were chiefly raised upon a ridge of ground extending from the North of Townsend's Mill to the late Copperas Works. Entrenchments were also formed in the lower grounds for the protection of the besiegers, who were relieved from the camp twice every four hours. From these fortified posts the Prince bombarded the town, and attacked the besieged and their works; but for the space of a month the determined bravery of the garrison succeeded in repulsing his troops with great slaughter. After a brisk siege, and a bombardment for 24 days, the number of the garrison had become so much diminished by the well-directed fire, and almost incessant assaults of the Prince's troops, that they were no longer able to defend their line of fortifications, and began gradually to abandon their works. This was soon known to Prince Rupert, and as the ramparts on the Northern side of the town appeared to be but feebly defended, he immediately resolved to storm in that quarter. Accordingly on the 26th June (1644) at three in the morning, the Prince entered the town by escalade, and his troops indiscriminately put every person they met with to the sword, until they had gained the High Cross, then situate nearly where the Town Hall now stands. Here the remainder of the brave, but reduced garrison, who were drawn up in battle array, beat a parley, and demanded quarter, confident that further resistance would be vain, and could only bring further destruction upon the few who still survived the carnage of the siege. To this entreaty the Prince readily conceded, on condition of their becoming prisoners of war, and surrendering the castle, with all its artillery and ammunition, into his power. These terms being complied with, he immediately took possession of the fortress in person, and the garrison were sent to close confinement in the Church of St. Nicholas, and the Tower in Water-street, near the river. Both these buildings appear in the view of Liverpool before mentioned; the latter, formerly the town residence of the Derby family, but of late years used as the Borough Gaol, Built it is supposed in 1252. Embattled by Sir John Stanley, by permission from Henry IV. was was pulled down in 1820, together with an eliptic arch, which formed the entrance to Tower Garden, and was the last remnant of Antiquity in Liverpool. The following is a transcript of the first charter to Liverpool, granted by Henry II. in 1173. "Henricus, Dei gratia, Rex Anglie, Dux Normannie, Aquitanie, et Comes Andegavie, omnibus comitibus, baronibus, justiciariis, et fidelibus suis, salutem. Sciatis, quod totum æstuarium de Mersha sit in perpetuum portum maris, cum omnibus libertatibus ad portum maris pertinentibus; et quod homines de Lyrpul quondam vocant Litherpul, juxta Stockestede *, et utraque parte aque veniant et redeant navibus et mercandis, libere et sine obstruc tione." ISLAND OF TERCEIRA. THE THE Island of Terceira, like all the Azores or Western Islands, is evidently of volcanic origin. Its capital, as also that of the islands contiguous, is Angra, the residence of the Governor and other officers composing the Civil and Military Establishments, and of the British and other consuls. The population of the Island is rather numerous, and estimated at more than 40,000 souls; about one-tenth of whom are Priests, under the controul of a Bishop, who lives at Saint Michael's. Angra is the only city, and conjectured to contain nearly 8000 inhabitants, of which about 1000 compose the military, who, in case of invasion, are joined by 2000 militia, formed from the inhabitants of all classes, armed with a pike, about 10 feet in length, having a goad at the end. In addition to the city, there are three towns, called Praya, New Town, and San Sebastio. The ecclesiastical establishments, as may be conjectured from the number of Priests, are very numerous, and consist of 30 large Churches (the chief Now Toxteth, at that time only a manor, in possession of the Molyneux family, with whom, under the title of Earl of Sefton, it remains to this day. -587 of which is denominated the Cathedral), besides smaller ones, situated in 22 parishes, named after the Virgin and Saints of the Romish Calendar. There are also six Convents for Nuns, with a proportionate number of Priests, in addition to one for the reception of married women when their husbands are from home! The houses are tolerably well built, and the streets broad and paved; notwithstanding which, much inconvenience is experienced from the number of swine allowed to prowl about them for their daily food, owing to none of the inhabitants, from the closeness of their dwellings, being them in; and as almost every person enabled to have proper places to keep has pigs, some idea may be formed of the difficulty often sustained in passing from one part of the town to the other. Another annoyance met with arises from the carts, whose wheels and axle-trees being firmly united, produce a loud and unpleasant noise from the friction of the latter against the body of the cart. These vehicles are drawn by bullocks, and so infatuated are the owners to this laborious work for their cattle, that they highly approve of it, and say that the animals not only go faster with their burthens, but are more animated than they would be if no noise was pro duced. The inhabitants are attentive and obliging, and appear more neat and cleanlier in their persons than is met with at other places. The English dress is imitated by both sexes, and the males of the lower class wear short jackets with trowsers, or small clothes, and blue cloth caps, trimmed with red or brown. The women, in general, may be considered as rather handsome, but in walking, a loitering and awkward gait detracts from their appearance. Their dress commonly consists of black bombazin skirts, with a hood, which when they go from home is pulled over their heads, and serves for a cloak: in the house it is thrown back. Much hospitality is shewn to strangers, who are not a little surprised at having all the provision brought to table ready cut up in the several dishes, and handed to the company for each individual to take what his' inclination may think fit; and it is no uncommon occurrence to see se Jections 585 Norfolk Arms.-Gorges Family.-Courtenay. lections made from four and five dishes, of different sorts of food, heaped together in one plate, and those devoured with a high relish. Wheat, Indian corn, and some bar ley, are among the productions of the Island, and average nearly 800,000 bushels annually. There is also some Orchilla weed obtained, but if attention was shewn in procuring it, the number of tons would be considerably increased. About four thousand pipes of wine are annually made, but as the whole of it, or, nearly so, is distilled into brandy, the wine consumed in the island is imported from Madeira and other places. The climate of Terceira is delightful, with an atmosphere generally clear and serene, and it is a question whether it may not be better adapted for the residence of invalids than any of the Western Islands. The communication from Angra to the several parts of the Island is of a superior description to what exists at some of the neighbouring places, excellent roads having been formed to render travelling safe and easy. The soil is good and prolific, insomuch that European and tropical plants grow and thrive abundantly, while the views in every direction are diversified and enriched with gardens, vineyards, orangeries, and pastures; and various specimens of volcanic productions are met with, similar to those found in the adjacent islands. Iam vero, inquires why tus, whos of Norfolk bear the arms of Scotland As I regret the appearance of false statements in books of reference, and more especially in such as are considered good authority, I cannot re frain from noticing a very inaccurate copy of the inscription on the Gorges tomb in Chelsea Church, in vol. LXXX. part i. page 417. It is in fact the tomb of the SON OF Sir Arthur Gorges, and not of himself, as may be seen by the true copy of the inscription, which I send you, as follows, viz. "Here lies the body of that generous worthy gentleman, Arthur Gorges, Esq. eldest son of Sir Arthur Gorges, Knt. the last surviving branch of the first male line of that honourable family, who departed He married Mary, this life April 8, 1668. one of the daughters and coheirs of Paul Lord Viscount Banning; she first married wards to Charles Earl of Anglesey, and to William Lord Grandison, and afterthirdly to the said deceased Arthur Gorges, whom she survived, and departed this life. Lies here buried with her loving husband, to whose and her own memory she erected this tomb." Here follows the epitaph which your Correspondent has given NEARLY COFrect. And now, Mr. Urban, having touched on the subject of this family, can any of your Correspondents inform me who was the first Gorges who settled in Ireland? I should also feel obliged for any information relative to the parentage of Sir Arthur Gorges, Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, PERMIT A GENEALOGIST. March 19 me to corroborate a few statements respecting the Courtenay family, which your correspondent "H.” p. 134, seems to desire. Sir Hugh Courtenay, of Haccombe, Devon, (brother to Edward, and grandfather of Edward, Earls of Devon) married three wives; 1st. Elizabeth, daugh ter of Sir Miles Cogan, by whom he had no issue; 2nd. Philippa, daughter of Sir Warine Archdeacon, by whom he had issue a daughter, Joan, who married, first, Nicholas Lord Carew, and second, Sir Robert Vere, Kt.; Sir Hugh married thirdly, Maud, daughter of Sir John Beaumont, by whom he had issue, Margaret married to Sir Theobald Grenville, Kt. and Hugh, his son and heir, who was seated at Bocconnoc, Cornwall, and married Margaret, daughter and coheir of The mas Carminow, by whom he had issue two sons and four daughters. Of Ancestor to the Earls of Bath of that name. the |
