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diff --git a/13926-h/13926-h.htm b/13926-h/13926-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3956c2c --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/13926-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12227 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st February 2004), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of An History of Birmingham, by +W. Hutton.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + .loc { TEXT-ALIGN: right; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13926 ***</div> + +<h3>AN</h3> +<h2>HISTORY</h2> +<h3>OF</h3> +<h1>BIRMINGHAM.</h1> +<a name="image01.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image01.jpg"><img src= +"images/image01.jpg" width="100%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>A South View of BIRMINGHAM <i>from the Summer House, Cheapside, +Bordsley.</i></b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h3>THE SECOND EDITION,</h3> +<h4>WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS.</h4> +<br> +<h3>By W. HUTTON.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br> +<p>A preface rather induces a man to speak of himself, which is +deemed the worst subject upon which he <i>can</i> speak. In history +we become acquainted with things, but in a preface with the author; +and, for a man to treat of himself, may be the most +<i>difficult</i> talk of the two: for in history, facts are +produced ready to the hand of the historian, which give birth to +thought, and it is easy to cloath that thought in words. But in a +preface, an author is obliged to forge from the brain, where he is +sometimes known to forge without fire. In one, he only reduces a +substance into form; but in the other, he must create that +substance.</p> +<p>As I am not an author by profession, it is no wonder if I am +unacquainted with the modes of authorship; but I apprehend, the +usual method of conducting the pen, is to polish up a founding +title-page, dignified with scraps of Latin, and then, to hammer up +a work to fit it, as nearly as genius, or want of genius, will +allow.</p> +<p>We next <i>turn over a new leaf</i>, and open upon a pompous +dedication, which answers many laudable purposes: if a coat of +arms, correctly engraven, should step first into view, we consider +it a singular advantage gained over a reader, like the first blow +in a combat. The dedication itself becomes a pair of stilts, which +advance an author something higher.</p> +<p>As a horse-shoe, nailed upon the threshold of a cottage, +prevents the influence of the witch; so a first-rate name, at the +head of a dedication, is a total bar against the critic; but this +great name, like a great officer, sometimes unfortunately stands at +the head of wretched troops.</p> +<p>When an author is too <i>heavy</i> to swim of himself, it serves +as a pair of bladders, to prevent his sinking.</p> +<p>It is farther productive of a <i>solid</i> advantage, that of a +present from the patron, more valuable than that from the +bookseller, which prevents his sinking under the pressure of +famine.</p> +<p>But, being wholly unknown to the great names of literary +consequence, I shall not attempt a dedication, therefore must lose +the benefit of the stilt, the bladder, and the horse-shoe.</p> +<p>Were I to enter upon a dedication, I should certainly address +myself, "<i>To the Inhabitants of Birmingham</i>." For to them I +not only owe much, but all; and I think, among that congregated +mass, there is not one person to whom I wish ill. I have the +pleasure of calling many of those inhabitants <i>Friends</i>, and +some of them share my warm affections equally with myself. +Birmingham, like a compassionate nurse, not only draws our persons, +but our esteem, from the place of our nativity, and fixes it upon +herself: I might add, <i>I was hungry, and she fed me</i>; +<i>thirsty, and she gave me drink</i>; <i>a stranger, and she took +me in</i>. I approached her with reluctance, because I did not know +her; I shall leave her with reluctance, because I do.</p> +<p>Whether it is perfectly confident in an author, to solicit the +indulgence of the public, though it may stand first in his wishes, +admits a doubt; for, if his productions will not bear the light, it +may be said, why does he publish? but, if they will, there is no +need to ask a favor; the world receives one from him. Will not a +piece everlastingly be tried by its merit? Shall we esteem it the +higher, because it was written at the age of thirteen? because it +was the effort of a week? delivered extempore? hatched while the +author stood upon one leg? or cobbled, while he cobbled a shoe? or +will it be a recommendation, that it issues forth in gilt binding? +The judicious world will not be deceived by the tinselled purse, +but will examine whether the <i>contents</i> are sterling.</p> +<p>Will it augment the value of this history, or cover its +blunders, to say, that I have never seen <i>Oxford?</i> That the +thick fogs of penury, prevented the sun of science from beaming +upon the mind? That necessity obliged me to lay down the +battledore, before I was master of the letters? And that, instead +of handling systems of knowledge, my hands, at the early period of +seven, became callous with labour?</p> +<p>But, though a whole group of pretences will have no effect with +the impartial eye, yet one reason pleads strongly in my favor--no +such thing ever appeared as <i>An History of Birmingham</i>. It is +remarkable, that one of the most singular places in the universe is +without an historian: that she never manufactured an history of +herself, who has manufactured almost every thing else; that so many +ages should elapse, and not one among her numerous sons of +industry, snatch the manners of the day from oblivion, group them +in design, with the touches of his pen, and exhibit the picture to +posterity. If such a production had ever seen the light, mine most +certainly would never have been written; a temporary bridge +therefore may satisfy the impatient traveller, till a more skilful +architect shall accommodate him with a complete production of +elegance, of use, and of duration.--Although works of genius ought +to come out of the mint doubly refined, yet history admits of a +much greater latitude to the author. The best upon the subject, +though defective, may meet with regard.</p> +<p>It has long been a complaint, that local history is much wanted. +This will appear obvious, if we examine the places we know, with +the histories that treat of them. Many an author has become a +cripple, by historically travelling through <i>all England</i>, who +might have made a tolerable figure, had he staid at home. The +subject is too copious for one performance, or even the life of one +man. The design of history is knowledge: but, if simply to tell a +tale, be all the duty of an historian, he has no irksome task +before him; for there is nothing more easy than to relate a fact; +but, perhaps, nothing more difficult than to relate it well.</p> +<p>The situation of an author is rather precarious--if the smiles +of the world chance to meet his labours, he is apt to forget +himself; if otherwise, he is soon forgot. The efforts of the critic +may be necessary to clip the wings of a presuming author, lest his +rising vanity becomes insupportable: but I pity the man, who writes +a book which none will peruse a second time; critical exertions are +not necessary to pull him down, he will fall of himself. The sin of +writing carries its own punishment, the tumultuous passions of +anxiety and expectation, like the jarring elements in October, +disturb his repose, and, like them, are followed by stirility: his +cold productions, injured by no hand but that of time, are found +sleeping on the shelf unmolested. It is easy to describe his fears +before publication, but who can tell his feelings after judgment is +passed upon his works? His only consolation is accusing the critic +of injustice, and thinking the world in the wrong. But if +repentence should not follow the culprit, hardened in scribbling, +it follows, his bookseller, oppressed with <i>dead works</i>. +However, if all the evils in Pandora's box are emptied on a blasted +author, this one comfort remains behind--The keeper of a +circulating library, or the steward of a reading society can tell +him, "His book is more <i>durable</i> than the others."</p> +<p>Having, many years ago, entertained an idea of this undertaking, +I made some trifling preparations; but, in 1775, a circumstance of +a private nature occurring, which engaged my attention for several +years, I relinquished the design, destroyed the materials, and +meant to give up the thought for ever. But the intention revived in +1780, and the work followed.</p> +<p>I may be accused of quitting the regular trammels of history, +and sporting in the fields of remark: but, although our habitation +justly stands first in our esteem, in return for rest, content, and +protection; does it follow that we should never stray from it? If I +happen to veer a moment from the polar point of Birmingham, I shall +certainly vibrate again to the center. Every author has a manner +peculiar to himself, nor can he well forsake it. I should be +exceedingly hurt to omit a necessary part of intelligence, but +more, to offend a reader.</p> +<p>If GRANDEUR should censure me for sometimes recording the men of +mean life, let me ask, <i>Which is preferable</i>, he who thunders +at the anvil, or in the senate? The man who earnestly wishes the +significant letters, ESQ. spliced to the end of his name, will +despise the question; but the philosopher will answer, "They are +equal."</p> +<p>Lucrative views have no part in this production: I cannot +solicit a kind people to grant what they have already granted; but +if another finds that pleasure in reading, which I have done in +writing, I am paid.</p> +<p>As no history is extant, to inform me of this famous nursery of +the arts, perfection in mine must not be expected. Though I have +endeavoured to pursue the road to truth; yet, having no light to +guide, or hand to direct me, it is no wonder if I mistake it: but +we do not <i>condemn</i>, so much as <i>pity</i> the man for losing +his way, who first travels an unbeaten road.</p> +<p>Birmingham, for want of the recording hand, may be said to live +but one generation; the transactions of the last age, die in this; +memory is the sole historian, which being defective, I embalm the +present generation, for the inspection of the future.</p> +<p>It is unnecessary to attempt a general character, for if the +attentive reader is himself of Birmingham, he is equally apprized +of that character; and, if a stranger, he will find a variety of +touches scattered through the piece, which, taken in a collective +view, form a picture of that generous people, who <i>merit his</i> +esteem, and <i>possess mine</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE</h2> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#Page001">Some Account of the Derivation of the Name of Birmingham</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><i>page</i> <a href="#Page001">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SITUATION.">Situation</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SITUATION.">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SOIL.">Soil</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SOIL.">6</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#WATER.">Water</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WATER.">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BATHS.">Baths</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BATHS.">8</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#AIR.">Air</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#AIR.">*8</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#LONGEVITY.">Longevity</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LONGEVITY.">9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#Ancient_State_of_Birmingham">Ancient State of Birmingham</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Ancient_State_of_Birmingham">13</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BATTLE_OF_CAMP-HILL.">Battle of Camp-hill</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BATTLE_OF_CAMP-HILL.">*41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#MODERN_STATE">Modern State of Birmingham</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#MODERN_STATE">40</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#OF_THE_STREETS">Streets, and their Names</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#OF_THE_STREETS">53</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#TRADE.">Trade</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#TRADE.">57</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#The_BUTTON.">Button</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#The_BUTTON.">75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#The_BUCKLE.">Buckle</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#The_BUCKLE.">76</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#GUNS.">Guns</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#GUNS.">78</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#LEATHER.">Leather</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LEATHER.">79</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#STEEL.">Steel</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#STEEL.">80</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#NAILS.">Nails</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#NAILS.">*83</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BELLOWS.">Bellows</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BELLOWS.">*85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#THREAD.">Thread</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THREAD.">*89</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#PRINTING">Printing, by John Baskerville</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PRINTING">*90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BRASS_FOUNDRY.">Brass foundry</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BRASS_FOUNDRY.">*94</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#HACKNEY_COACH.">Hackney Coaches</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#HACKNEY_COACH.">81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BANK.">Bank</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BANK.">83</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#GOVERNMENT.">Government</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#GOVERNMENT.">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#CONSTABLES.">Constables</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CONSTABLES.">92</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#Bailiffs">Bailiffs</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Bailiffs">94</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#COURT_OF_REQUESTS.">Court of Requests</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#COURT_OF_REQUESTS.">*99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#LAMP_ACT.">Lamp Act</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LAMP_ACT.">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#RELIGION_AND_POLITICS.">Religion and Politics</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#RELIGION_AND_POLITICS.">105</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#PLACES_OF_WORSHIP.">Places of Worship</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PLACES_OF_WORSHIP.">111</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SAINT_JOHNS_CHAPEL">St. John's Chapel, Deritend</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_JOHNS_CHAPEL">112</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SAINT_BARTHOLOMEWS">St. Bartholomew's</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_BARTHOLOMEWS">113</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SAINT_MARYS">St. Mary's</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_MARYS">115</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SAINT_PAULS">St. Paul's</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_PAULS">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#OLD_MEETING.">Old Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#OLD_MEETING.">116</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#NEW_MEETING.">New Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#NEW_MEETING.">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#CARRS_LANE_MEETING">Carr's-lane Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CARRS_LANE_MEETING">118</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BAPTIST_MEETING.">Baptist Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BAPTIST_MEETING.">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#QUAKERS_MEETING">Quaker's Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#QUAKERS_MEETING">120</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#METHODISTS_MEETING">Methodist Meeting</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#METHODISTS_MEETING">121</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ROMISH_CHAPEL.">Romish Chapel</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ROMISH_CHAPEL.">*125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#JEWISH_SYNAGOGUE.">Jewish Synagogue</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#JEWISH_SYNAGOGUE.">*128</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#THEATRES.">Theatres</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THEATRES.">123</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#AMUSEMENTS.">Amusements</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#AMUSEMENTS.">127</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#HOTEL.">Hotel</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#HOTEL.">*132</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#WAKES.">Wakes</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WAKES.">132</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#CLUBS.">Club</a>s</i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CLUBS.">135</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#IKENIELD_STREET.">Ikenield street</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#IKENIELD_STREET.">140</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#LORDS_OF_THE_MANOR.">Lords of the Manor</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LORDS_OF_THE_MANOR.">153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ULUUINE">Uluuine</a></i>, 1050,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ULUUINE">156</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#RICHARD">Richard</a></i>, 1066,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#RICHARD">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM">William</a></i>, 1130,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#PETER_DE_BIRMINGHAM">Peter de Birmingham</a></i>, 1154,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PETER_DE_BIRMINGHAM">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM1">William de Birmingham</a></i>, 1216,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM1">163</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM2">William de Birmingham</a></i>, 1246,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM2">164</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM3">William de Birmingham</a></i>, 1265,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM3">165</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM4">William de Birmingham</a></i>, 1306,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM4">166</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SIR_FOUK_DE_BIRMINGHAM">Sir Fouk de Birmingham</a></i>, 1340,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SIR_FOUK_DE_BIRMINGHAM">168</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">Sir John de Birmingham</a></i>, 1376,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">169</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">Lord Clinton</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">Edmund, Lord Ferrers</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM">170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM5">William de Birmingham</a></i>, 1430,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM5">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SIR_WILLIAM_BIRMINGHAM">Sir William Birmingham</a></i>, 1479,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SIR_WILLIAM_BIRMINGHAM">171</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#EDWARD_BIRMINGHAM">Edward Birmingham</a></i>, 1500,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#EDWARD_BIRMINGHAM">172</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#JOHN_DUKE_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND">John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland</a></i>, 1537,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#JOHN_DUKE_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND">177</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#THOMAS_MARROW">Thomas Marrow</a></i>, 1555,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THOMAS_MARROW">180</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#THOMAS_ARCHER_ESQ">Thomas Archer</a></i>, 1746,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THOMAS_ARCHER_ESQ">181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ANDREW_LORD_ARCHER">Andrew, Lord Archer</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ANDREW_LORD_ARCHER">181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SARAH_LADY_ARCHER">Sarah, Lady Archer</a></i>, 1781,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SARAH_LADY_ARCHER">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#MANOR_HOUSE.">Manor house</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#MANOR_HOUSE.">182</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#PUDDING_BROOK.">Pudding-brook</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PUDDING_BROOK.">186</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#THE_PRIORY.">Priory</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THE_PRIORY.">187</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#JOHN_A_DEANS_HOLE">John à Dean's Hole</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#JOHN_A_DEANS_HOLE">195</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#LENCHS_TRUST">Lench's Trust</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LENCHS_TRUST">196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#FENTHAMS_TRUST">Fentbam's Trust</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#FENTHAMS_TRUST">200</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#CROWLEYS_TRUST">Crowley's Trust</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CROWLEYS_TRUST">201</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SCOTTS_TRUST">Scott's Trust</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SCOTTS_TRUST">202</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#FREE_SCHOOL.">Free School</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#FREE_SCHOOL.">203</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#CHARITY_SCHOOL:">Charity School</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHARITY_SCHOOL:">209</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#DISSENTING_CHARITY-SCHOOL.">Dissenting Charity School</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#DISSENTING_CHARITY-SCHOOL.">214</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#WORKHOUSE.">Workhouse</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WORKHOUSE.">215</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#OLD_CROSS">Old Cross</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#OLD_CROSS">227</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#WELCH_CROSS.">Welch Cross</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WELCH_CROSS.">229</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SAINT_MARTINS">St. Martin's</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_MARTINS">232</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SAINT_PHILLIPS">St. Philip's</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SAINT_PHILLIPS">246</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BIRTHS_AND_BURIALS.">Births and Burials</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BIRTHS_AND_BURIALS.">253</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#GENERAL_HOSPITAL.">General Hospital</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#GENERAL_HOSPITAL.">256</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#PUBLIC_ROADS.">Public Roads</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PUBLIC_ROADS.">259</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#CANAL.">Canal</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CANAL.">266</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#DERITEND_BRIDGE.">Deritend Bridge</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#DERITEND_BRIDGE.">269</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SOHO">Soho</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SOHO">271</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#DANES_CAMP:">Danes Camp, Danes Bank, or Bury Fields</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#DANES_CAMP:">272</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#GENTLEMENS_SEATS">Gentlemen's Seats</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#GENTLEMENS_SEATS">273</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#THE_MOATS.">The Moats</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THE_MOATS.">276</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BLACK_GREVES.">Black Greves</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BLACK_GREVES.">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ULVERLEY_OR_CULVERLEY">Ulverley, or Culverley</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ULVERLEY_OR_CULVERLEY">277</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#HOGGS-MOAT">Hogg's Moat</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#HOGGS-MOAT">278</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#YARDLEY.">Yardley</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#YARDLEY.">281</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#KENTS-MOAT">Kent's Moat</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#KENTS-MOAT">282</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SHELDON.">Sheldon</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SHELDON.">283</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#KINGS-HURST">King's hurst</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#KINGS-HURST">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#COLESHILL.">Coleshill</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#COLESHILL.">287</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#DUDDESTON.">Duddeston</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#DUDDESTON.">289</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#SALTLEY.">Saltley</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SALTLEY.">292</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WARD-END.">Ward-end</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WARD-END.">293</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#CASTLE_BROMWICH.">Castle Bromwich</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CASTLE_BROMWICH.">295</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#PARK-HALL.">Park hall</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PARK-HALL.">299</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BERWOOD.">Berwood</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BERWOOD.">300</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ERDINGTON.">Erdington</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ERDINGTON.">301</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#PIPE.">Pipe</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PIPE.">303</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#ASTON.">Aston</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ASTON.">306</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WITTON.">Witton</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WITTON.">309</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#BLAKELEY.">Blakeley</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BLAKELEY.">312</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#WEOLEY">Weoley</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WEOLEY">313</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#SUTTON_COLDFIELD.">Sutton Coldfield</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#SUTTON_COLDFIELD.">320</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#PETITION_FOR_A_CORPORATION.">Petition for a Corporation</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PETITION_FOR_A_CORPORATION.">324</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BRASS_WORKS.">Brass Works</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BRASS_WORKS.">329</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#PRISON.">Prison</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PRISON.">332</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#CLODSHALES_CHANTRY.">Clodshale's Chantry</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CLODSHALES_CHANTRY.">336</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#OCCURRENCES.">Occurrences</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#OCCURRENCES.">340</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#OCCURRENCES.">Earthquake</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#OCCURRENCES.">ibid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#PITMORE_AND_HAMMOND.">Pitmore and Hammond</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#PITMORE_AND_HAMMOND.">343</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#RIOTS.">Riots</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#RIOTS.">345</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <i><a href="#THE_CONJURERS.">The Conjurers</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THE_CONJURERS.">350</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#MILITARY_ASSOCIATION.">Military Association</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#MILITARY_ASSOCIATION.">353</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#BILSTON_CANAL_ACT.">Bilston Canal Act</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#BILSTON_CANAL_ACT.">357</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#WORKHOUSE_BILL.">Workhouse Bill</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#WORKHOUSE_BILL.">361</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#THE_CAMP.">The Camp</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#THE_CAMP.">370</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><i><a href="#MORTIMERS_BANK">Mortimer's Bank</a></i>,</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#MORTIMERS_BANK">372</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>DIRECTIONS</h2> +<h2>TO THE</h2> +<h2>BINDERS,</h2> +<h2>FOR PLACING THE</h2> +<h2>COPPER-PLATES.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image01.jpg">Prospect of Birmingham,</a></td> +<td align="right">to face the Title.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Plan,</td> +<td align="right">43</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image03.jpg">Alm's-houses,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image03.jpg">*58</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image04.jpg">St. John's Chapel, Deritend,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image04.jpg">111</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image05.jpg">St. Bartholomew's,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image05.jpg">113</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image06.jpg">St. Mary's,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image06.jpg">115</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image07.jpg">St. Paul's,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image07.jpg">116</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image08a.jpg">Old and New Meetings,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image08a.jpg">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image09.jpg">New Theatre,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image09.jpg">123</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image10.jpg">Hotel,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image10.jpg">130</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image11.jpg">Free School,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image11.jpg">203</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image12.jpg">Charity School,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image12.jpg">209</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image13.jpg">Workhouse,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image13.jpg">215</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image14a.jpg">Old and Welch Cross,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image14a.jpg">229</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image15.jpg">St. Martin's Church,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image15.jpg">232</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image16.jpg">St. Philip's,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image16.jpg">246</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image17.jpg">General Hospital,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image17.jpg">256</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image19.jpg">Canal,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image19.jpg">265</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image20.jpg">Navigation Office,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image20.jpg">267</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#image21.jpg">Brass Works,</a></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#image21.jpg">329</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<a name="Page001"></a> +<h3>AN</h3> +<h2>HISTORY &c.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p><i>Some account of the derivation of the name of +Birmingham</i>.</p> +<p>The word Birmingham, is too remote for certain explanation. +During the last four centuries it has been variously written +<i>Brumwycheham, Bermyngeham, Bromwycham, Burmyngham, Bermyngham, +Byrmyngham</i>, and <i>Birmingham</i>; nay, even so late as the +seventeenth century it was written <i>Bromicham</i>. Dugdale +supposes the name to have been given by the planter, or owner, in +the time of the Saxons; but, I suppose it much older than any +Saxon, date: besides, it is not so common for a man to give a name +to, as to take one from, a place. A man seldom gives his name +except he is the founder, as Petersburg from Peter the Great.</p> +<p>Towns, as well as every thing in nature, have exceedingly minute +beginnings, and generally take a name from situation, or local +circumstances. Would the Lord of a manor think it an honour to give +his name to two or three miserable huts? But, if in a succession of +ages these huts swell into opulence, they confer upon the lord an +honour, a residence, and a name. The terminations of <i>sted</i>, +<i>ham</i>, and <i>hurst</i>, are evidently Saxon, and mean the +same thing, a home.</p> +<p>The word, in later ages reduced to a certainty, hath undergone +various mutations; but the original seems to have been +<i>Bromwych</i>; <i>Brom</i> perhaps, from broom a shrub, for the +growth of which the soil is extremely favourable; <i>Wych</i>, a +descent, this exactly corresponds with the declivity from the High +Street to Digbeth. Two other places also in the neigbourhood bear +the same name, which serves to strengthen the opinion.</p> +<p>This infant colony, for many centuries after the first buddings +of existence, perhaps, had no other appellation than that of +Bromwych. Its center, for many reasons that might be urged, was the +Old Cross, and its increase, in those early ages of time must have +been very small.</p> +<p>A series of prosperity attending it, its lord might assume its +name, reside in it, and the particle <i>ham</i> would naturally +follow. This very probably happened under the Saxon Heptarchy, and +the name was no other than <i>Bromwycham</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SITUATION."></a>SITUATION.</h2> +<br> +<p>It lies near the centre of the kingdom, in the north-west +extremity of the county of Warwick, in a kind of peninsula, the +northern part of which is bounded by Handsworth, in the county of +Stafford, and the southern by King's-norton, in the county of +Worcester; it is also in the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, and +in the deanery of Arden.</p> +<p>Let us perambulate the parish from the bottom of Digbeth, thirty +yards north of the bridge. We will proceed south-west up the bed of +the river, with Deritend, in the parish of Aston, on our left. +Before we come to the Floodgates, near Vaughton's Hole, we pass by +the Longmores, a small part of King's-norton. Crossing the river +Rea, we enter the vestiges of a small rivulet, yet visible, though +the stream hath been turned, perhaps, a thousand years, to supply +the moat. We now bear rather west, nearly in a straight line for +three miles, to Shirland brook, with Edgbaston on the left. At the +top of the first meadow from the river Rea, we meet the little +stream above-mentioned, in the pursuit of which, we cross the +Bromsgrove road a little east of the first mile stone. Leaving +Banner's marlpit to the left, we proceed up a narrow lane crossing +the old Bromsgrove road, and up to the turnpike at the five ways in +the road to Hales Owen. Leaving this road also to the left we +proceed down the lane towards Ladywood, cross the Icknield street, +a stone's cast east of the observatory, to the north extremity of +Rotton Park. We now meet with Shirland Brook, which leads us east, +and across the Dudley road, at the seven mile stone, having +Smethwick in the county of Stafford, on the left, down to Pigmill. +We now leave Handsworth on the left, following the stream through +Hockley great pool; cross the Wolverhampton road, and the +Ikenield-street at the same time down to Aston furnace, with that +parish on the left. At the bottom of Walmer-lane we leave the +water, move over the fields, nearly in a line to the post by the +Peacock upon Gosty-green. We now cross the Lichfield road, down +Duke-street, then the Coleshill road at the A B house. From thence +down the meadows, to Cooper's mill; up the river to the foot of +Deritend bridge; and then turn sharp to the right, keeping the +course of a drain in the form of a sickle, through John a Dean's +hole, into Digbeth, from whence we set out. In marching along +Duke-street, we leave about seventy houses to the left, and up the +river Rea, about four hundred more in Deritend, reputed part of +Birmingham, though not in the parish.</p> +<p>This little journey, nearly of an oval form, is about seven +miles. The longest diameter from Shirland brook to Deritend bridge +is about three, and the widest, from the bottom of Walmer Lane to +the rivulet, near the mile-stone, upon the Bromsgrove road, more +than two.</p> +<p>The superficial contents of the parish may be upwards of four +miles, about three thousand acres.</p> +<p>Birmingham is by much the smallest parish in the neighbourhood, +those of Aston and Sutton are each about five times as large, +Yardley four, and King's-Norton eight.</p> +<p>When Alfred, that great master of legislation, parished out his +kingdom, or rather, put the finishing hand to that important work; +where he met with a town, he allotted a smaller quantity of land, +because the inhabitants chiefly depended upon commerce; but where +there was only a village, he allotted a larger, because they +depended upon agriculture.</p> +<p>This observation goes far in proving the antiquity of the place, +for it is nine hundred years since this division took effect.</p> +<p>The buildings occupy the south east part of the parish; perhaps, +with their appendages, about six hundred acres.</p> +<p>This south east part, being insufficient for the extraordinary +increase of the inhabitants, she has of late extended her buildings +along the Bromsgrove road, near the boundaries of Edgbaston; and +actually on the other side planted three of her streets in the +parish of Aston. Could the sagacious Alfred have seen into +futurity, he would have augmented her borders.</p> +<p>As no part of the town lies flat, the showers promote both +cleanliness and health, by removing obstructions.</p> +<p>The approach is on every side by ascent, except that from +Hales-Owen, north west, which gives a free access of air, even to +the most secret recesses of habitation.</p> +<p>Thus eminently situated, the sun can exercise his full powers of +exhalation.</p> +<p>The foundation upon which this mistress of the arts is erected, +is one solid mass of dry reddish sand.</p> +<p>The vapours that rise from the earth are the great promoters of +disease; but here, instead of the moisture ascending to the +prejudice of the inhabitant, the contrary is evident; for the water +descends through the pores of the sand, so that even our very +cellars are habitable.</p> +<p>This accounts for the almost total extinction of the ague among +us:--During a residence of thirty years, I have never seen one +person afflicted with it, though, by the opportunities of office, I +have frequently visited the repositories of the sick.</p> +<p>Thus peculiarly favoured, this happy spot, enjoys four of the +greatest benefits that can attend human existence--water, air, the +fun, and a situation free from damps.</p> +<p>All the <i>past</i> writers upon Birmingham have viewed her as +low and watery, and with reason; because Digbeth, then the chief +street, bears that description. But all the future writers will +view her on an eminence, and with as much reason; because, for one +low street, we have now fifty elevated.</p> +<p>Birmingham, like the empire to which she belongs, has been, for +many centuries, travelling <i>up hill</i>; and, like that, rising +in consequence.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SOIL."></a>SOIL.</h2> +<br> +<p>The soil is rather light, sandy, and weak; and though metals, of +various sorts, are found in great plenty, <i>above</i> the surface, +we know of nothing below, except sand and gravel, stone and water. +All the riches of the place, like those of an empiric, in laced +cloaths, appear on the <i>outside</i>.</p> +<p>The northern part of the parish, for about four hundred acres, +to the disgrace of the age, is yet a shameful waste.</p> +<p>A small part of the land near the town, is parcelled out into +little gardens, at ten or twenty shillings each, amounting to about +sixteen pounds per acre.</p> +<p>These are not intended so much for profit, as health and +amusement.</p> +<p>Others are let in detached pieces for private use, at about four +pounds per acre. So that this small parish cannot boast of more +than six or eight farms, and these of the smaller size, at about +two pounds per acre. Manure from the sty brings about 16s. per +waggon load, that from the stable about 12, and that from the fire +and the street, five.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WATER."></a>WATER.</h2> +<br> +<p>I think there is not any natural river runs through the parish, +but there are three that mark the boundaries of it, for about half +its circumference, described above; none of these supply family +use. After penetrating into a body of sand, interspersed with a +small strata of soft Rock, and sometimes of gravel; at the depth of +about twenty yards, we come to plenty of water, rather hard. There +are in the lower parts of the town, two excellent springs of soft +water, suitable for most purposes; one at the top of Digbeth, the +other, Lady-Well. Or rather, one spring, or bed of water, with many +out-lets, continuing its course along the bottom of the hill, +parallel with Small-brook-street, Edgbaston street, St. +Martin's-lane, and Park-street; sufficiently copious to supply the +whole city of London. Water is of the first consequence, it often +influences disease, always the habit of body: that of Birmingham is +in general productive of salutary effects.</p> +<p>That dreadful disorder, the stone, is seldom found among us. I +can recollect but very few, in my time, under this severe +complaint, which is perhaps owing to that valuable element. I +mentioned this remark to an eminent surgeon, who assured me, that, +in his long course of practice, he had never been concerned in one +operation in that unhappy disorder.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BATHS."></a>BATHS.</h2> +<br> +<p>At Lady-Well, are the most complete baths in the whole Island. +There are seven in number; erected at the expence of 2000<i>l</i>. +Accommodation is ever ready for hot or cold bathing; for immersion +or amusement; with conveniency for sweating. That, appropriated for +swimming, is eighteen Yards by thirty-six, situated in the centre +of a garden, in which are twenty four private undressing-houses, +the whole surrounded by a wall 10 feet high. Pleasure and health +are the guardians of the place. The gloomy horrors of a bath, +sometimes deter us from its use, particularly, if aided by +complaint; but the appearance of these is rather inviting. We read +of painted sepulchres, whose <i>outsides</i> are richly ornamented, +but <i>within</i> are full of corruption and death. The reverse is +before us. No elegance appears without, but within are the Springs +of life! The expence was great, the utility greater.</p> +<p>I do not know any author, who has reckoned man among the +amphibious race of animals, neither do I know any animal who better +deserves it. Man is lord of the little ball on which he treads, one +half of which, at least, is water. If we do not allow him to be +amphibious, we deprive him of half his sovereignty. He justly bears +that name, who can <i>live</i> in the water. Many of the disorders +incident to the human frame are prevented, and others cured, both +by fresh and salt bathing; so that we may properly remark, "<i>He +lives in the water</i>, who can find life, nay, even <i>health</i> +in that friendly element."</p> +<p>The greatest treasure on earth is health; but, a treasure, of +all others, the least valued by the owner. Other property is best +rated when in possession, but this, can only be rated when lost. We +sometimes observe a man, who, having lost this inestimable jewel, +seeks it with an ardour equal to its worth; but when every research +by land, is eluded, he fortunately finds it in the water. Like the +fish, he pines away upon shore, but like that, recovers again in +the deep.</p> +<p>Perhaps Venus is represented as rising from the ocean, which is +no other then a bath of the larger size, to denote, that bathing is +the refiner of health, consequently, of beauty; and Neptune being +figured in advanced life, indicates, that it is a preservative to +old age.</p> +<p>The cure of disease among the Romans, by bathing, is supported +by many authorities; among others, by the number of baths +frequently discovered, in which, pleasure, in that warm climate, +bore a part. But this practice seemed to decline with Roman +freedom, and never after held the eminence it deserved. Can we +suppose, the physician stept between disease and the bath, to +hinder their junction; or, that he lawfully holds, by prescription, +the tenure of sickness, in <i>fee</i>?</p> +<p>The knowledge of this singular <i>art of healing</i>, is at +present only in infancy. How far it may prevent, or conquer +disease; to what measure it may be applied, in particular cases, +and the degrees of use, in different constitutions, are enquiries +that will be better understood by a future generation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="AIR."></a>AIR.</h2> +<br> +<p>As we have passed through the water, let us now investigate her +sister fluid, the air. They are both necessary to life, and the +purity of both to the prolongation of it; this small difference +lies between them, a man may live a day without water, but not an +hour without air: If a man wants better water, it may be removed +from a distant place for his benefit; but if he wants air, he must +remove himself.--The natural air of Birmingham, perhaps, cannot be +excelled in this climate, the moderate elevation and dry soil +evinces this truth; but it receives an alloy from the congregated +body of fifty thousand people; also from the smoke of an +extraordinary number of fires used in business; and perhaps, more +from the various effluvia arising from particular trades. It is not +uncommon to see a man with green hair or a yellow wig, from his +constant employment in brass; if he reads, the green vestiges of +his occupation remain on every leaf, never to be expunged. The +inside of his body, no doubt, receives the same tincture, but is +kept clean by being often washed with ale. Some of the fair sex, +likewise are subject to the same inconvenience, but find relief in +the same remedy.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LONGEVITY."></a>LONGEVITY.</h2> +<br> +<p>Man is a time-piece. He measures out a certain space, then stops +for ever. We see him move upon the earth, hear him click, and +perceive in his face the uses of intelligence. His external +appearance will inform us whether he is old-fashioned, in which +case, he is less valuable upon every gambling calculation. His face +also will generally inform us whether all is right within. This +curious machine is filled with a complication of movements, very +unfit to be regulated by the rough hand of ignorance, which +sometimes leaves a mark not to be obliterated even by the hand of +an artist. If the works are directed by violence, destruction is +not far off. If we load it with the oil of luxury, it will give an +additional vigor, but in the end, clog and impede the motion. But +if the machine is under the influence of prudence, she will guide +it with an even, and a delicate hand, and perhaps the piece may +move on 'till it is fairly worn out by a long course of fourscore +years.</p> +<p>There are a set of people who expect to find that health in +medicine, which possibly might be found in regimen, in air, +exercise, or serenity of mind.</p> +<p>There is another class amongst us, and that rather numerous, +whose employment is laborious, and whose conduct is irregular. +Their time is divided between hard working, and hard drinking, and +both by a fire. It is no uncommon thing to see one of these, at +forty, wear the aspect of sixty, and finish a life of violence at +fifty, which the hand of prudence would have directed to +eighty.</p> +<p>The strength of a kingdom consists in the multitude of its +inhabitants; success in trade depends upon the manufacturer; the +support and direction of a family, upon the head of it. When this +useful part of mankind, therefore, are cut off in the active part +of life, the community sustains a loss, whether we take the matter +in a national, a commercial, or a private view.</p> +<p>We have a third class, who shun the rock upon which these last +fall, but wreck upon another; they run upon scylla though they have +missed charybdis; they escape the liquid destruction, but split +upon the solid. These are proficients in good eating; adepts in +culling of delicacies, and the modes of dressing them. Matters of +the whole art of cookery; each carries a kitchen in his head. Thus +an excellent constitution may be stabbed by the spit. Nature never +designed us to live well, and continue well; the stomach is too +weak a vessel to be richly and deeply laden. Perhaps more injury is +done by eating than by drinking; one is a secret, the other an open +enemy: the secret is always supposed the most dangerous. Drinking +attacks by assault, but eating by sap: luxury is seldom visited by +old age. The best antidote yet discovered against this kind of slow +poison is exercise; but the advantages of elevation, air, and +water, on one hand, and disadvantages of crowd, smoke, and effluvia +on the other, are trifles compared to intemperance.</p> +<p>We have a fourth class, and with these I shall shut up the +clock. If this valuable machine comes finished from the hand of +nature; if the rough blasts of fortune only attack the outward +case, without affecting the internal works, and if reason conduces +the piece, it may move on, with a calm, steady, and uninterrupted +pace to a great extent of years, 'till time only annihilates the +motion.</p> +<p>I personally know amongst us a Mrs. Dallaway, aged near 90; +George Davis, 85; John Baddally, Esq; and his two brothers, all +between 80 and and 90; Mrs. Allen, 92; Mrs. Silk, 84; John Burbury, +84; Thomas Rutter, 88; Elizabeth Bentley, 88; John Harrison and his +wife, one 86, the other 88; Mrs. Floyd, 87; Elizabeth Simms, 88; +Sarah Aston, 98; Isaac Spooner, Esq; 89; Joseph Scott, Esq; 94; all +at this day, January 9, 1780, I believe enjoy health and capacity. +This is not designed as a complete list of the aged, but of such +only as immediately occur to memory. I also knew a John England who +died at the age of 89; Hugh Vincent, 94; John Pitt, 100; George +Bridgens, 103; Mrs. More, 104. An old fellow assured me he had kept +the market 77 years: he kept it for several years after to my +knowledge. At 90 he was attacked by an acute disorder, but, +fortunately for himself, being too poor to purchase medical +assistance, he was left to the care of nature, who opened that door +to health which the physician would have locked for ever. At 106 I +heard him swear with all the fervency of a recruit: at 107 he died. +It is easy to give instances of people who have breathed the smoak +of Birmingham for threescore years, and yet have scarcely left the +precincts of of youth. Such are the happy effects of constitution, +temper, and conduct!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i><a name="Ancient_State_of_Birmingham"></a>Ancient State of +Birmingham</i>.</h2> +<br> +<p>We have now to pass through the very remote ages of time, +without staff to support us, without light to conduct us, or hand +to guide us. The way is long, dark, and slippery. The credit of an +historian is built upon truth; he cannot assert, without giving his +facts; he cannot surmise, without giving his reasons; he must +relate things as they are, not as he would have them. The fabric +founded in error will moulder of itself, but that founded in +reality will stand the age and the critic.</p> +<p>Except half a dozen pages in Dugdale, I know of no author who +hath professedly treated of Birmingham. None of the histories which +I have seen bestow upon it more than a few lines, in which we are +sure to be treated with the noise of hammers and anvils; as if the +historian thought us a race of dealers in thunder, lightning, and +wind; or infernals, puffing in blast and smoak.</p> +<p>Suffer me to transcribe a passage from Leland, one of our most +celebrated writers, employed by Henry the VIIIth to form an +itinerary of Britain, whose works have stood the test of 250 years. +We shall observe how much he erred for want of information, and how +natural for his successors to copy him.</p> +<p>"I came through a pretty street as ever I entered, into +Birmingham town. This street, as I remember, is called Dirtey +(Deritend). In it dwells smithes and cutlers, and there is a brook +that divides this street from Birmingham, an hamlet, or member, +belonging to the parish therebye.</p> +<p>"There is at the end of Dirtey a propper chappel and +mansion-house of timber, (the moat) hard on the ripe, as the brook +runneth down; and as I went through the ford, by the bridge, the +water came down on the right hand, and a few miles below goeth into +Tame. This brook, above Dirtey, breaketh in two arms, that a little +beneath the bridge close again. This brook riseth, as some say, +four or five miles above Birmingham, towards Black-hills.</p> +<p>"The beauty of Birmingham, a good market-town in the extreme +parts of Warwickshire, is one street going up alonge, almost from +the left ripe of the brook, up a meane hill, by the length of a +quarter of a mile, I saw but one parish-church in the town.</p> +<p>"There be many smithes in the town that use to make knives and +all manner of cutting tools, and many loriners that make bittes, +and a great many naylers; so that a great part of the town is +maintained by smithes, who have their iron and sea-coal out of +Staffordshire."</p> +<p>Here we find some intelligence, and more mistake, cloathed in +the dress of antique diction, which plainly evinces the necessity +of modern history.</p> +<p>It is matter of surprise that none of those religious drones, +the monks, who hived in the priory for fifteen or twenty +generations, ever thought of indulging posterity with an history of +Birmingham. They could not want opportunity, for they lived a life +of indolence; nor materials, for they were nearer the infancy of +time, and were possessed of historical fads now totally lost. +Besides, nearly all the little learning in the kingdom was +possessed by this class of people; and the place, in their day, +must have enjoyed an eminent degree of prosperity.</p> +<p>Though the town has a modern appearance, there is reason to +believe it of great antiquity; my Birmingham reader, therefore, +must suffer me to carry him back into the remote ages of the +Ancient Britons to visit his fable ancestors.</p> +<p>We have no histories of those times but what are left by the +Romans, and these we ought to read with caution, because they were +parties in the dispute. If two antagonists write each his own +history, the discerning reader will sometimes draw the line of +justice between them; but where there is only one, partiality is +expected. The Romans were obliged to make the Britons war-like, or +there would have been no merit in conquering them: they must also +sound forth their ignorance, or there would have been none in +improving them. If the Britons were that wretched people they are +represented by the Romans, they could not be worth conquering: no +man subdues a people to improve them, but to profit by them. Though +the Romans at that time were in their meridian of splendor, they +pursued Britain a whole century before they reduced it; which +indicates that they considered it as a valuable prize. Though the +Britons were not masters of science, like the Romans; though the +fine arts did not flourish here, as in Rome, because never planted; +yet by many testimonies it is evident they were masters of plain +life; that many of the simple arts were practiced in that day, as +well as in this; that assemblages of people composed cities, the +same as now, but in an inferior degree; and that the country was +populous is plain from the immense army Boadicia brought into the +field, except the Romans increased that army that their merit might +be greater in defeating it. Nay, I believe we may with propriety +carry them beyond plain life, and charge them with a degree of +elegance: the Romans themselves allow the Britons were complete +masters of the chariot; that when the scythe was fixed at each end +of the axle-tree, they drove with great dexterity into the midst of +the enemy, broke their ranks, and mowed them down. The chariot, +therefore, could not be made altogether for war, but, when the +scythes were removed, it still remained an emblem of pride, became +useful in peace, was a badge of high-life, and continues so with +their descendants to this day.</p> +<p>We know the instruments of war used by the Britons were a sword, +spear, shield and scythe. If they were not the manufacturers, how +came they by these instruments? We cannot allow either they or the +chariots were imported, because that will give them a much greater +consequence: they must also have been well acquainted with the +tools used in husbandry, for they were masters of the field in a +double sense. Bad also as their houses were, a chest of carpentry +tools would be necessary to complete them. We cannot doubt, +therefore, from these evidences, and others which might be adduced, +that the Britons understood the manufactory of iron. Perhaps +history cannot produce an instance of any place in an improving +country, like England, where the coarse manufactory of iron has +been carried on, that ever that laborious art went to decay, except +the materials failed; and as we know of no place where such +materials have failed, there is the utmost reason to believe our +fore-fathers, the Britons, were supplied with those necessary +implements by the black artists of the Birmingham forge. Iron-stone +and coal are the materials for this production, both which are +found in the neighbourhood in great plenty. I asked a gentleman of +knowledge, if there was a probability of the delphs failing? He +answered, "Not in five thousand years."</p> +<p>The two following circumstances strongly evince this ancient +British manufactory:--</p> +<p>Upon the borders of the parish stands Aston-furnace, +appropriated for melting ironstone, and reducing it into pigs: this +has the appearance of great antiquity. From the melted ore, in this +subterranean region of infernal aspect, is produced a calx, or +cinder, of which there is an enormous mountain. From an attentive +survey, the observer would suppose so prodigious a heap could not +accumulate in one hundred generations; however, it shows no +perceptible addition in the age of man.</p> +<p>There is also a common of vast extent, called +Wednesbury-old-field, in which are the vestiges of many hundreds of +coal-pits, long in disuse, which the curious antiquarian would deem +as long in sinking, as the mountain of cinders in rising.</p> +<p>The minute sprig of Birmingham, no doubt first took root in this +black soil, which, in a succession of ages, hath grown to its +present opulence. At what time this prosperous plant was set, is +very uncertain; perhaps as long before the days of Caesar as it is +since. Thus the mines of Wednesbury empty their riches into the lap +of Birmingham, and thus she draws nurture from the bowels of the +earth.</p> +<p>The chief, if not the only manufactory of Birmingham, from its +first existence to the restoration of Charles the Second, was in +iron: of this was produced instruments of war and of husbandry, +furniture for the kitchen, and tools for the whole system of +carpentry.</p> +<p>The places where our athletic ancestors performed these curious +productions of art, were in the shops fronting the street: some +small remains of this very ancient custom are yet visible, chiefly +in Digbeth, where about a dozen shops still exhibit the original +music of anvil and hammer.</p> +<p>As there is the highest probability that Birmingham produced her +manufactures long before the landing of Caesar, it would give +pleasure to the curious enquirer, could he be informed of her size +in those very early ages; but this information is for ever hid from +the historian, and the reader. Perhaps there never was a period in +which she saw a decline, but that her progress has been certain, +though slow, during the long space of two or three thousand years +before Charles the Second.</p> +<p>The very roads that proceed from Birmingham, are also additional +indications of her great antiquity and commercial influence.</p> +<p>Where any of these roads lead up an eminence, they were worn by +the long practice of ages into deep holloways, some of them twelve +or fourteen yards below the surface of the banks, with which they +were once even, and so narrow as to admit only one passenger.</p> +<p>Though modern industry, assisted by various turnpike acts, has +widened the upper part and filled up the lower, yet they were all +visible in the days of our fathers, and are traceable even in ours. +Some of these, no doubt, were formed by the spade, to soften the +fatigue of climbing the hill, but many were owing to the pure +efforts of time, the horse, and the showers. As inland trade was +small, prior to the fifteenth century, the use of the wagon, that +great destroyer of the road, was but little known. The horse was +the chief conveyor of burthen among the Britons, and for centuries +after: if we, therefore, consider the great length of time it would +take for the rains to form these deep ravages, we must place the +origin of Birmingham, at a very early date.</p> +<p>One of these subterranean passages, in part filled up, will +convey its name to posterity in that of a street, called +Holloway-head, 'till lately the way to Bromsgrove and to Bewdley, +but not now the chief road to either. Dale-end, once a deep road, +has the same derivation. Another at Summer-hill, in the Dudley +road, altered in 1753. A remarkable one is also between the +Salutation and the Turnpike, in the Wolverhampton road. A fifth at +the top of Walmer-lane, changed into its present form in 1764. +Another between Gosta-green and Aston-brook, reduced in 1752.</p> +<p>All the way from Dale-end to Duddeston, of which +Coleshill-street now makes a part, was sunk five or six feet, +though nearly upon a flat, 'till filled up in 1756 by act of +Parliament: but the most singular is that between Deritend and +Camp-hill, in the way to Stratford, which is, even now, many yards +below the banks; yet the seniors of the last age took a pleasure in +telling us, they could remember when it would have buried a wagon +load of hay beneath its present surface.</p> +<p>Thus the traveller of old, who came to purchase the produce of +Birmingham, or to sell his own, seemed to approach her by sap.</p> +<p>British traces are, no doubt, discoverable in the old +Dudley-road, down Easy-hill, under the canal; at the eight +mile-stone, and at Smethwick: also in many of the private roads +near Birmingham, which were never thought to merit a repair, +particularly at Good-knaves-end, towards Harborne; the Green-lane, +leading to the Garrison; and that beyond Long-bridge, in the road +to Yardley; all of them deep holloways, which carry evident tokens +of antiquity. Let the curious calculator determine what an amazing +length of time would elapse in wearing the deep roads along +Saltleyfield, Shaw-hill, Allum-rock, and the remainder of the way +to Stichford, only a pitiful hamlet of a dozen houses.</p> +<p>The ancient centre of Birmingham seems to have been the Old +Cross, from the number of streets pointing towards it. Wherever the +narrow end of a street enters a great thorough-fare, it indicates +antiquity, this is the case with Philip-street, Bell-street, +Spiceal-street, Park-street, and Moor-street, which not only +incline to the centre above-mentioned, but all terminate with their +narrow ends into the grand passage. These streets are narrow at the +entrance, and widen as you proceed: the narrow ends were formed +with the main street at first, and were not, at that time, intended +for streets themselves. As the town increased, other blunders of +the same kind were committed, witness the gateway late at the east +end of New-street, the two ends of Worcester-street, +Smallbrook-street, Cannon-street, New-meeting-streer, and Bull +street; it is easy to see which end of a street was formed first; +perhaps the south end of Moor street is two thousand years older +than the north; the same errors are also committing in our day, as +in Hill and Vale streets, the two Hinkleys and Catharine-street. +One generation, for want of foresight, forms a narrow entrance, and +another widens it by Act of Parliament.</p> +<p>Every word in the English language carries an idea: when a word, +therefore, strikes the ear, the mind immediately forms a picture, +which represents it as faithfully as the looking-glass the +face.--Thus, when the word Birmingham occurs, a superb picture +instantly expands in the mind, which is best explained by the other +words grand, populous, extensive, active, commercial and humane. +This painting is an exact counter-part of the word at this day; but +it does not correspond with its appearance, in the days of the +ancient Britons--We must, therefore, for a moment, detach the idea +from the word.</p> +<p>Let us suppose, then, this centre surrounded with less than one +hundred stragling huts, without order, which we will dignify with +the name of houses; built of timber, the interfaces wattled with +sticks, and plaistered with mud, covered with thatch, boards or +sods; none of them higher than the ground story. The meaner sort +only one room, which served for three uses, shop, kitchen, and +lodging room; the door for two, it admitted the people and the +light. The better sort two rooms, and some three, for work, for the +kitchen, and for rest; all three in a line, and sometimes fronting +the street.</p> +<p>If the curious reader chooses to see a picture of Birmingham, in +the time of the Britons, he will find one in the turnpike road, +between Hales-owen and Stourbridge, called the Lie Waste, alias Mud +City. The houses stand in every direction, composed of one large +and ill-formed brick, scoped into a tenement, burnt by the sun, and +often destroyed by the frost: the males naked; the females +accomplished breeders. The children, at the age of three months, +take a singular hue from the sun and the soil, which continues for +life. The rags which cover them leave no room for the observer to +guess at the sex. Only one person upon the premisses presumes to +carry a belly, and he a landlord. We might as well look for the +moon in a coal-pit, as for stays or white linen in the City of Mud. +The principal tool in business is the hammer, and the beast of +burden, the ass.</p> +<p>The extent of our little colony of artists, perhaps reached +nearly as high as the east end of New-street, occupied the upper +part of Spiceal-street, and penetrated down the hill to the top of +Digbeth, chiefly on the east.</p> +<p>Success, which ever waits on Industry, produced a gradual, but +very slow increase: perhaps a thousand years elapsed without adding +half that number of houses.</p> +<p>Thus our favourite plantation having taken such firm root, that +she was able to stand the wintry blasts of fortune, we shall +digress for a moment, while she wields her sparkling heat, +according to the fashion of the day, in executing the orders of the +sturdy Briton; then of the polite and heroic Roman; afterwards of +our mild ancestors, the Saxons. Whether she raised her hammer for +the plundering Dane is uncertain, his reign being short; and, +lastly, for the resolute and surly Norman.</p> +<p>It does not appear that Birmingham, from its first formation, to +the present day, was ever the habitation of a gentleman, the lords +of the manor excepted. But if there are no originals among us, we +can produce many striking likenesses--The smoke of Birmingham has +been very propitious to their growth, but not to their +maturity.</p> +<p>Gentlemen, as well as buttons, have been stamped here; but, like +them, when finished, are moved off.</p> +<p>They both originate from a very uncouth state, <i>without form +or comeliness</i>; and pass through various stages, uncertain of +success. Some of them, at length, receive the last polish, and +arrive at perfection; while others, ruined by a flaw, are deemed +<i>wasters</i>.</p> +<p>I have known the man of opulence direct his gilt chariot +<i>out</i> of Birmingham, who first approached her an helpless +orphan in rags. I have known the chief magistrate of fifty thousand +people, fall from his phaeton, and humbly ask bread at a parish +vestry.</p> +<p>Frequently the wheel of capricious fortune describes a circle, +in the rotation of which, a family experiences alternately, the +heighth of prosperity and the depth of distress; but more +frequently, like a pendulum, it describes only the arc of a circle, +and that always at the bottom.</p> +<p>Many fine estates have been struck out of the anvil, valuable +possessions raised by the tongs, and superb houses, in a two-fold +sense, erected by the trowel.</p> +<p>The paternal ancestor of the late Sir Charles Holte was a native +of this place, and purchaser, in the beginning of Edward the Third, +of the several manors, which have been the honour and the support +of his house to the present time.</p> +<p>Walter Clodshale was another native of Birmingham, who, in 1332, +purchased the manor of Saltley, now enjoyed by his maternal +descendant, Charles Bowyer Adderley, Esq.</p> +<p>Charles Colmore, Esq; holds a considerable estate in the parish; +his predecessor is said to have occupied, in the reign of Henry the +Eighth, that house, now No. 1, in the High-street, as a mercer, and +general receiver of the taxes.</p> +<p>A numerous branch of this ancient family flourishes in +Birmingham at this day.</p> +<p>The head of it, in the reign of James the First, erected +New-hall, and himself into a gentleman. On this desirable eminence, +about half a mile from the buildings, they resided till time, +fashion, and success, removed them, like their predecessors, the +sons of fortune, to a greater distance.</p> +<p>The place was then possessed by a tenant, as a farm; but +Birmingham, a speedy traveller, marched over the premises, and +covered them with twelve hundred houses, on building leases; the +farmer was converted into a steward: his brown hempen frock, which +guarded the <i>outside</i> of his waistcoat, became white holland, +edged with ruffles, and took its station <i>within</i>: the +pitchfork was metamorphosed into a pen, and his ancient practice of +breeding up sheep, was changed into that of <i>dressing their +skins</i>.</p> +<p>Robert Philips, Esq; acquired a valuable property in the +seventeenth century; now possessed by his descendant, William +Theodore Inge, Esquire.</p> +<p>A gentleman of the name of Foxall, assured me, that the head of +his family resided upon the spot, now No. 101, in Digbeth, about +four hundred years ago, in the capacity of a tanner.</p> +<p>Richard Smallbroke, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in the +reign of George II. was a native of Birmingham, as his ancestors +were for many ages, with reputation: he is said to have been born +at number 2 in the High-street, had great property in the town, now +enjoyed by his descendants, though they have left the place. The +families also of Weaman, Jennings, Whalley, etc. have acquired vast +property, and quitted the meridian of Birmingham; and some others +are at this day ripe for removal. Let me close this bright scene of +prosperity, and open another, which can only be viewed with a +melancholy eye. We cannot behold the distresses of man without +compassion; but that distress which follows affluence, comes with +double effect.</p> +<p>We have amongst us a family of the name of Middlemore, of great +antiquity, deducible from the conquest; who held the chief +possessions, and the chief offices in the county, and who matched +into the first families in the kingdom, but fell with the interest +of Charles the First; and are now in that low ebb of fortune, that +I have frequently, with a gloomy pleasure, relieved them at the +common charity-board of the town. Such is the tottering point of +human greatness.</p> +<p>Another of the name of Bracebridge, who for more than six +hundred years, figured in the first ranks of life.</p> +<p>A third of the name of Mountfort, who shone with meridian +splendor, through a long train of ages. As genealogy was ever a +favourite amusement, I have often conversed with these solitary +remains of tarnished lustre, but find in all of them, the pride of +their family buried with its greatness:--they pay no more attention +to the arms of their ancestors, than to a scrap of paper, with +which they would light their pipe. Upon consulting one of the name +of Elwall, said to be descended from the Britons, I found him so +amazingly defective, that he could not stretch his pedigree even so +high as his grandfather.</p> +<p>A fifth family amongst us, of the name of Arden, stood upon the +pinnacle of fame in the days of Alfred the Great, where perhaps +they had stood for ages before: they continued the elevation about +seven hundred years after; but having treasonable charges brought +against them, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, about two hundred +years ago, they were thrown from this exalted eminence, and dashed +to pieces in the fall. In various consultations with a member of +this honourable house, I found the greatness of his family not only +lost, but the memory of it also. I assured him, that his family +stood higher in the scale of honour, than any private one within my +knowledge: that his paternal ancestors, for about seven +generations, were successively Earls of Warwick, before the Norman +conquest: that, though he could not boast a descent from the famous +Guy, he was related to him: that, though Turchell, Earl of Warwick +at the conquest, his direct ancestor, lost the Earldom in favour of +Roger Newburgh, a favourite of William's; yet, as the Earl did not +appear in arms, against the Conqueror, at the battle of Hastings, +nor oppose the new interest, he was allowed to keep forty-six of +his manors: that he retired upon his own vast estate, which he held +in dependence, where the family resided with great opulence, in one +house, for many centuries, 'till their reduction above-mentioned. +He received the information with some degree of amazement, and +replied with a serious face,--"Perhaps there may have been +something great in my predecessors, for my grandfather kept several +cows in Birmingham and sold milk."</p> +<p>The families of those ancient heroes, of Saxon and Norman race, +are, chiefly by the mutations of time, and of state, either become +extinct, or as above, reduced to the lowest verge of fortune. Those +few therefore, whose descent is traceable, may be carried higher +than that of the present nobility; for I know none of these last, +who claim peerage beyond Edward the first, about 1295. Hence it +follows, that for antiquity, alliance, and blood, the advantage is +evidently in favour of the lowest class.</p> +<p>Could one of those illustrious shades return to the earth and +inspect human actions, he might behold one of his descendants, +dancing at the lathe; another tippling with his dark brethren of +the apron; a third humbly soliciting from other families such +favours as were formerly granted by his own; a fourth imitating +modern grandeur, by contracting debts he never designs to pay; and +a fifth snuff of departed light, poaching, like a thief in the +night, upon the very manors, possessed by his ancestors.</p> +<p>Whence is it that title, pedigree, and alliance, in superior +life, are esteemed of the highest value; while in the inferior, who +have a prior claim, are totally neglected? The grand design of +every creature upon earth, is to supply the wants of nature. No +amusements of body or mind can be adopted, till hunger is served. +When the appetite calls, the whole attention of the animal, with +all its powers, is bound to answer. Hence arise those dreadful +contests in the brute creation, from the lion in the woods, to the +dog, who seizes the bone. Hence the ship, when her provisions are +spent, and she becalmed, casts a savage eye, upon human sacrifices; +and hence, the attention of the lower ranks of men, are too far +engrossed for mental pursuit. They see, like Esau, the honours of +their family devoured with a ravenous appetite. A man with an empty +cupboard would make but a wretched philosopher. But if fortune +should smile upon one of the lower race, raise him a step above his +original standing, and give him a prospect of independence, he +immediately begins to eye the arms upon carriages, examines old +records for his name, and inquires where the Herald's office is +kept. Thus, when the urgency of nature is set at liberty, the bird +can whistle upon the branch, the fish play upon the surface, the +goat skip upon the mountain, and even man himself, can bask in the +sunshine of science. I digress no farther.</p> +<p>The situation of St. Martin's church is another reason for +fixing the original centre of Birmingham at the Old Cross. +Christianity made an early and a swift progress in this kingdom; +persecution, as might be expected, followed her footsteps, +increased her votaries, and, as was ever the case, in all new +religions, her proselytes were very devout.</p> +<p>The religious fervor of the christians displayed itself in +building churches. Most of those in England are of Saxon original, +and were erected between the fourth and the tenth century; that of +St. Martin's is ancient beyond the reach of historical knowledge, +and probably rose in the early reigns of the Saxon kings.</p> +<p>It was the custom of those times, to place the church, if there +was but one, out of the precincts of the town; this is visible at +the present day in those places which have received no +increase.</p> +<p>Perhaps it will not be an unreasonable supposition to fix the +erection of St. Martin's, in the eighth century; and if the +inquisitive reader chooses to traverse the town a second time, he +may find its boundaries something like the following. We cannot +allow its extension northward beyond the east end of New-street; +that it included the narrow parts of Philip street, Bell street, +Spiceal street, Moor street, and Park street. That the houses at +this period were more compact than heretofore; that Digbeth and +Deritend, lying in the road to Stratford, Warwick, and Coventry, +all places of antiquity, were now formed. Thus the church stood in +the environs of the town, unincumbered with buildings. Possibly +this famous nursery of arts might, by this time, produce six +hundred houses. A town must increase before its appendages are +formed; those appendages also must increase before there is a +necessity for an additional chapel, and after that increase, the +inhabitants may wait long before that necessity is removed. +Deritend is an appendage to Birmingham; the inhabitants of this +hamlet having long laboured under the inconveniency of being remote +from the parish church of Aston, and too numerous for admission +into that of Birmingham, procured a grant in 1381 to erect a chapel +of their own. If we, therefore, allow three hundred years for the +infancy of Deritend, three hundred more for her maturity, and four +hundred since the erection of her chapel, which is a very +reasonable allowance. It will bring us to the time I mentioned.</p> +<p>It does not appear that Deritend was attended with any +considerable augmentation, from the Norman conquest to the year +1767, when a turnpike-road was opened to Alcester, and when Henry +Bradford publicly offered a freehold to the man who should first +build upon his estate; since which time Deritend has made a rapid +progress: and this dusky offspring of Birmingham is now travelling +apace along her new formed road.</p> +<p>I must again recline upon Dugdale.--In 1309, William de +Birmingham, Lord of the Manor, took a distress of the inhabitants +of Bromsgrove and King's-norton, for refusing to pay the customary +tolls of the market. The inhabitants, therefore, brought their +action and recovered damage, because it was said, their lands being +the ancient demesne of the crown, they had a right to sell their +produce in any market in the King's dominions.</p> +<p>It appeared in the course of the trial, that the ancestors of +William de Birmingham had a MARKET HERE before the Norman conquest! +I shall have occasion, in future, to resume this remarkable +expression. I have also met with an old author, who observes, that +Birmingham was governed by two Constables in the time of the +Saxons; small places have seldom more than one. These evidences +prove much in favour of the government, population, and antiquity +of the place.</p> +<p>In Domesday-book it is rated at four hides of land. A hide was +as much as a team could conveniently plough in a year; perhaps at +that time about fifty acres: I think there is not now, more than +two hundred ploughed in the parish.</p> +<p>It was also said to contain woods of half a mile in length, and +four furlongs in breadth. What difference subsisted between half a +mile and four furlongs, in ancient time, is uncertain; we know of +none now. The mile was reduced to its present standard in the reign +of Queen Elizabeth: neither are there the least traces of those +woods, for at this day it is difficult to find a stick that +deserves the name of a tree, in the whole manor.--Timber is no part +of the manufactory of Birmingham.</p> +<p>Let us survey the town a third time, as we may reasonably +suppose it stood in the most remarkable period of English history, +that of the conquest.</p> +<p>We cannot yet go farther North of the centre than before, that +is, along the High-street, 'till we meet the East end of New +street. We shall penetrate rather farther into Moor-street, none +into Park-street, take in Digbeth, Deritend, Edgbaston-street, as +being the road to Dudley, Bromsgrove, and the whole West of +England; Spiceal-street, the Shambles, a larger part of Bell +street, and Philip-street.</p> +<p>The ancient increase of the town was towards the South, because +of the great road, the conveniency of water, the church, and the +manor-house, all which lay in that quarter: but the modern +extension was chiefly towards the North, owing to the scions of her +trades being transplanted all over the country, in that direction, +as far as Wednesbury, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. But particularly +her vicinity to the coal delphs, which were ever considered as the +soul of her prosperity. Perhaps by this time the number of houses +might have been augmented to seven hundred: but whatever was her +number, either in this or any other period, we cannot doubt her +being populous in every æra of her existence.</p> +<p>The following small extract from the register, will show a +gradual increase, even before the restoration:</p> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th align="center">Year.</th> +<th align="center">Christenings.</th> +<th align="center">Weddings.</th> +<th align="center">Burials</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="center">1555,</td> +<td align="center">37,</td> +<td align="center">15,</td> +<td align="center">27.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="center">1558,</td> +<td align="center">48,</td> +<td align="center">10,</td> +<td align="center">47.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="center">1603,</td> +<td align="center">65,</td> +<td align="center">14,</td> +<td align="center">40.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="center">1625,</td> +<td align="center">76,</td> +<td align="center">18,</td> +<td align="center">47.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="center">1660,</td> +<td align="center">76,</td> +<td colspan="2">from April to Dec. inclusive.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>In 1251, William de Birmingham, Lord of the Manor, procured an +additional charter from Henry the Third, reviving some decayed +privileges and granting others; among the last was that of the +Whitsuntide fair, to begin on the eve of Holy Thursday, and to +continue four days. At the alteration of the style, in 1752, it was +prudently changed to the Thursday in Whitsun week; that less time +might be lost to the injury of work and the workman. He also +procured another fair, to begin on the eve of St. Michael, and +continue for three days. Both which fairs are at this day in great +repute.</p> +<p>By the interest of Audomore de Valance, earl of Pembroke, a +licence was obtained from the crown, in 1319 to charge an +additional toll upon every article sold in the market for three +years, towards paving the town. Every quarter of corn to pay one +farthing, and other things in proportion.</p> +<p>We have no reason to believe that either the town or the market +were small at that time, however, at the expiration of the term, +the toll was found inadequate to the expence, and the work lay +dormant for eighteen years, till 1337, when a second licence was +obtained, equal to the first, which completed the intention.</p> +<p>Those streets, thus dignified with a pavement, or rather their +sides, to accommodate the foot passenger, probably were +High-street, the Bull-ring, Corn-cheaping, Digbeth, St. +Martin's-lane, Moat-lane, Edgbaston-street, Spiceal-street, and +part of Moor-street.</p> +<p>It was the practice, in those early days, to leave the center of +a street unpaved, for the easier passage of carriages and horses; +the consequence was, in flat streets the road became extremely +dirty, almost impassable, and in a descent, the soil was quickly +worn away, and left a causeway on each side. Many instances of this +ancient practice are within memory.</p> +<p>The streets, no doubt, in which the fairs were held, mark the +boundaries of the town in the thirteenth century. Though smaller +wares were sold upon the spot used for the market, the rougher +articles, such as cattle, were exposed to sale in what were then +the <i>out-streets</i>. The fair for horses was held in +Edgbaston-street, and that for beasts in the High-street, tending +towards the Welch Cross.</p> +<p>Inconvenient as these streets seem for the purpose, our dark +ancestors, of peaceable memory, found no detriment, during the +infant state of population, in keeping them there. But we, their +crowded sons, for want of accommodation, have wisely removed both; +the horse-fair, in 1777, to Brick-kiln-lane, now the extreme part +of the town; and that for beasts, in 1769, into the open part of +Dale-end.</p> +<p>Whatever veneration we may entertain for ancient custom, there +is sometimes a necessity to break it. Were we now to solicit the +crown for a fair, those streets would be the last we should fix +on.</p> +<p>If we survey Birmingham in the twelfth century, we shall find +her crowded with timber, within and without; her streets dirty and +narrow; but considering the distant period, much trodden, yet, +compared with her present rising state, but little.</p> +<p>The inhabitant became an early encroacher upon nor narrow +streets, and sometimes the lord was the greatest. Her houses were +mean and low, but few reaching higher than one story, perhaps none +more than two; composed of wood and plaister--she was a stranger to +brick. Her public buildings consisted solely of one, <i>the +church</i>.</p> +<p>If we behold her in the fourteenth century, we shall observe her +private buildings multiplied more than improved; her narrow +streets, by trespass, become narrower, for she was ever chargeable +with neglect; her public buildings increased to four, two in the +town, and two at a distance, the Priory, of stone, founded by +contribution, at the head of which stood her lord; the Guild, of +timber, now the Free School; and Deritend Chapel, of the same +materials, resembling a barn, with something like an awkward +dove-coat, at the west end, by way of steeple. All these will be +noticed in due course.</p> +<p>If we take a view of the inhabitants, we shall find them +industrious, plain, and honest; the more of the former, generally, +the less of dishonesty, if their superiors lived in an homelier +stile in that period, it is no wonder <i>they</i> did. Perhaps our +ancestors acquired more money than their neighbours, and not much +of that; but what they had was extremely valuable: diligence will +accumulate. In curious operations, known only to a few, we may +suppose the artist was amply paid.</p> +<p>Nash, in his History of Worcestershire, gives us a curious list +of anecdotes, from the church-wardens ledger, of Hales-Owen. I +shall transcribe two, nearly three hundred years old. "<i>Paid for +bread and ale, to make my Lord Abbot drink, in Rogation week, +2d.</i>" What should we now think of an ecclesiastical nobleman, +accepting a two-penny treat from a country church-warden?</p> +<p>This displays an instance of moderation in a class of people +famous for luxury. It shows also the amazing reduction of money: +the same sum which served my Lord Abbot four days, would now be +devoured in four minutes.--"1498, <i>paid for repeyling the organs, +to the organmaker at Bromicham</i>, 10<i>s</i>." Birmingham then, +we find, discovered the powers of genius in the finer arts, as well +as in iron. By '<i>the</i> organmaker,' we mould suppose there was +but one.</p> +<p>It appears that the art of acquiring riches was as well +understood by our fathers, as by us; while an artist could receive +as much money for tuning an organ, as would purchase an acre of +land, or treat near half a gross of Lord Abbots.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BATTLE_OF_CAMP-HILL."></a>BATTLE OF CAMP-HILL.</h2> +<h3>1643.</h3> +<br> +<p>Clarendon reproaches with virulence, our spirited ancestors, for +disloyalty to Charles the First.--The day after the King left +Birmingham, on his march from Shrewsbury, in 1642, they seized his +carriages, containing the royal plate and furniture, which they +conveyed, for security, to Warwick Castle. They apprehended all +messengers and suspected persons; frequently attacked, and reduced +small parties of the royalists, whom they sent prisoners to +Coventry.--Hence the proverbial expression of a refractory person, +<i>Send him to Coventry</i>.</p> +<p>In 1643, the King ordered Prince Rupert, with a detachment of +two thousand men, to open a communication between Oxford and York. +In his march to Birmingham, he found a company of foot, kept for +the parliament, lately reinforced by a troop of horse from the +garrison at Lichfield: but, supposing they would not resist a power +of ten to one, sent his quarter masters to demand lodging, and +offer protection.</p> +<p>But the sturdy sons of freedom, having cast up slight works at +each end of the town, and barricaded the lesser avenues, rejected +the offer and the officers. The military uniting in one small and +compact body, assisted by the inhabitants, were determined the +King's forces mould not enter. Their little fire opened on the +Prince: but bravery itself, though possessed of an excellent spot +of ground for defence, was obliged to give way to numbers. The +Prince quickly put them to silence; yet, under the success of his +own arms, he was not able to enter the town, for the inhabitants +had choaked up, with carriages, the deep and narrow road, then +between Deritend and Camp-hill, which obliged the Prince to alter +his route to the left, and proceed towards Long-bridge.</p> +<p>The spirit of resistance was not yet broken; they sustained a +second attack, but to no purpose, except that of laughter. A +running fight continued through the town; victory declared loudly +for the Prince; the retreat became general: part of the vanquished +took the way to Oldbury.</p> +<p>William Fielding, Earl of Denbigh, a volunteer under the Prince, +being in close pursuit of an officer in the service of the +parliament, and both upon the full gallop, up Shirland-lane, in the +manor of Smethwick, the officer instantly turning, discharged a +pistol at the Earl, and mortally wounded him with a random +shot.</p> +<p>The parliament troops were animated in the engagement by a +clergyman, who acted as governor, but being taken in the defeat, +and refusing quarter, was killed in the Red Lion-inn.</p> +<p>The Prince, provoked at the resistance, in revenge, set fire to +the town. His wrath is said to have kindled in Bull-street, and +consumed several houses near the spot, now No. 12.</p> +<p>He obliged the inhabitants to quench the flames with a heavy +fine, to prevent farther military execution. Part of the fine is +said to have been shoes and stockings for his people.</p> +<p>The parliament forces had formed their camp in that well chosen +angle, which divides the Stratford and Warwick roads, upon +Camp-hill.</p> +<p>The victorious Prince left no garrison, because their +insignificant works were untenable; but left an humbled people, and +marched to the reduction of Lichfield.</p> +<p>In 1665, London was not only visited with the plague, but many +other parts of England, among which, Birmingham felt this dreadful +mark of the divine judgment.</p> +<p>The infection is said to have been caught by a box of clothes, +brought by the carrier, and lodged at the White-hart. Depopulation +ensued. The church-yard was insufficient for the reception of the +dead, who were conveyed to Ladywood-green, one acre of waste land, +then denominated the Pelt Ground.</p> +<p>The charter for the market has evidently been repeated by divers +kings, both Saxon and Norman, but when first granted is uncertain, +perhaps at an early Saxon date; and the day seems never to have +been changed from Thursday.</p> +<p>The lords were tenacious of their privileges; or, one would +think, there was no need to renew their charter. Prescription, +necessity, and increasing numbers, would establish the right.</p> +<p>Perhaps, in a Saxon period, there was room sufficient in our +circumscribed market-place, for the people and their weekly +supplies; but now, their supplies would fill it, exclusive of the +people.</p> +<p>Thus by a steady and a persevering hand, she kept a constant and +uniform stroke at the anvil, through a vast succession of ages: +rising superior to the frowns of fortune: establishing a variety of +productions from iron: ever improving her inventive powers, and +perhaps, changing a number of her people, equal to her whole +inhabitants, every sixteen years, till she arrived at another +important period, the end of the civil wars of Charles the +first.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="MODERN_STATE"></a>MODERN STATE</h2> +<h3>OF</h3> +<h2>BIRMINGHAM.</h2> +<br> +<p>It is the practice of the historian, to divide ancient history +from modern, at the fall of the Roman Empire. For, during a course +of about seven hundred years, while the Roman name beamed in +meridian splendour, the lustre of her arms and political conduct +influenced, more or less, every country in Europe. But at the fall +of that mighty empire, which happened in the fifth century, every +one of the conquered provinces was left to stand upon its own +basis. From this period, therefore, the history of nations takes a +material turn. The English historian divides his ancient account +from the modern, at the extinction of the house of Plantagenet, in +1485, the fall of Richard the Third. For, by the introduction of +letters, an amazing degree of light was thrown upon science, and +also, by a new system of politics, adopted by Henry the Seventh, +the British constitution, occasioned by one little act of +parliament, that of allowing liberty to sell land, took a very +different, and an important course.</p> +<p>But the ancient and modern state of Birmingham, must divide at +the restoration of Charles the Second. For though she had before, +held a considerable degree of eminence; yet at this period, the +curious arts began to take root, and were cultivated by the hand of +genius. Building leases, also, began to take effect, extension +followed, and numbers of people crowded upon each other, as into a +Paradise.</p> +<p>As a kind tree, perfectly adapted for growth, and planted in a +suitable soil, draws nourishment from the circumjacent ground, to a +great extent, and robs the neighbouring plants of their support, +that nothing can thrive within its influence; so Birmingham, half +whose inhabitants above the age of ten, perhaps, are not natives, +draws her annual supply of hands, and is constantly fed by the +towns that surround her, where her trades are not practised. +Preventing every increase to those neighbours who kindly contribute +to her wants. This is the case with Bromsgrove, Dudley, +Stourbridge, Sutton, Lichfield, Tamworth, Coleshill, and +Solihull.</p> +<p>We have taken a view of Birmingham in several periods of +existence, during the long course of perhaps three thousand years. +Standing sometimes upon presumptive ground. If the prospect has +been a little clouded, it only caused us to be more attentive, that +we might not be deceived. But, though we have attended her through +so immense a space, we have only seen her in infancy. Comparatively +small in her size, homely in her person, and coarse in her dress. +Her ornaments, wholly of iron, from her own forge.</p> +<p>But now, her growths will be amazing; her expansion rapid, +perhaps not to be paralleled in history. We shall see her rise in +all the beauty of youth, of grace, of elegance, and attract the +notice of the commercial world. She will also add to her iron +ornaments, the lustre of every metal, that the whole earth can +produce, with all their illustrious race of compounds, heightened +by fancy, and garnished with jewels. She will draw from the fossil, +and the vegetable kingdoms; press the ocean for shell, skin and +coral. She will also tax the animal, for horn, bone, and ivory, and +she will decorate the whole with the touches of her pencil.</p> +<p>I have met with some remarks, published in 1743, wherein the +author observes, "That Birmingham, at the restoration, probably +consisted only of three streets." But it is more probable it +consisted of fifteen, though not all finished, and about nine +hundred houses.</p> +<p>I am sensible, when an author strings a parcel of streets +together, he furnishes but a dry entertainment for his reader, +especially to a stranger. But, as necessity demands intelligence +from the historian, I must beg leave to mention the streets and +their supposed number of houses.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>Digbeth, nearly the same as now, except</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> the twenty-tree houses between +the two</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> Mill-lanes, which are of a modern +date,</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> about</td> +<td align="right">110</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Moat-lane (Court-lane)</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Corn-market and Shambles</td> +<td align="right">40</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Spiceal-street</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dudley-street</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Bell-street</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Philip-street</td> +<td align="right">30</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>St. Martin's-lane</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Edgbaston-street</td> +<td align="right">70</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Lee's-lane</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Park-street, extending from Digbeth nearly</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> to the East end of +Freeman-street</td> +<td align="right">80</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>More-street, to the bottom of Castle-street,</td> +<td align="right">70</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Bull-street, not so high as the Minories,</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>High-street,</td> +<td align="right">100</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Deritend;</td> +<td align="right">120</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Odd houses scattered round the verge of</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> the town</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">----</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">907</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> The number of inhabitants, +5,472.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<p>The same author farther observes, "That from the Restoration to +the year 1700, the streets of Birmingham were increased to thirty +one." But I can make their number only twenty-eight, and many of +these far from complete. Also, that the whole number of houses were +2,504, and the inhabitants 15,032. The additional streets therefore +seem to have been Castle-street, Carr's-lane, Dale-end, +Stafford-street, Bull lane, Pinfold-street, Colmore-street, the +Froggery, Old Meeting-street, Worcester-street, Peck-lane, +New-street, (a small part,) Lower Mill-lane.</p> +<p>From the year 1700 to 1731, there is said to have been a farther +addition of twenty-five streets, I know of only twenty-three: and +also of 1,215 houses, and 8,250 inhabitants. Their names we offer +as under;--Freeman-street, New Meeting-street, Moor-street, (the +North part), Wood-street, the Butts, Lichfield-street; +Thomas's-street, John's-street, London-'prentice street, Lower +priory, The Square, Upper-priory, Minories, Steel-house-lane, +Cherry-street, Cannon-street, Needless-alley, Temple-street, King's +street, Queen-street, Old Hinkleys, Smallbrook-street, and the East +part of Hill-street.</p> +<p>I first saw Birmingham July 14, 1741, and will therefore +perambulate its boundaries at that time with my traveller, +beginning at the top of Snow-hill, keeping the town on our left, +and the fields that then were, on our right.</p> +<p>Through Bull-lane we proceed to Temple-street; down Peck lane, +to the top of Pinfold-street; Dudley-street, the Old Hinkleys to +the top of Smallbrook street, back through Edgbaston-street, +Digbeth, to the upper end of Deritend. We shall return through +Park-street, Mass-house-lane, the North of Dale end, +Stafford-street, Steel-house-lane, to the top of Snow-hill, from +whence we set out.</p> +<p>If we compare this account with that of 1731, we shall not find +any great addition of streets; but those that were formed before, +were much better filled up. The new streets erected during these +ten years were Temple-row, except about six houses. The North of +Park-street, and of Dale-end; also, Slaney-street, and a small part +of the East side of Snow hill.</p> +<p>From 1741, to the present year 1780, Birmingham seems to have +acquired the amazing augmentation of seventy one streets, 4172 +houses, and 25,032 inhabitants.</p> +<p>Thus her internal property is covered with new-erected +buildings, tier within tier. Thus she opens annually, a new aspect +to the traveller; and thus she penetrates along the roads that +surround her, as if to unite with the neighbouring towns, for their +improvement in commerce, in arts, and in civilization.</p> +<p>I have often led my curious enquirer round Birmingham, but, like +the thread round the swelling clue, never twice in the same tract. +We shall therefore, for the last time, examine her present +boundaries. Our former journey commenced at the top of Snow-hill, +we now set off from the bottom.</p> +<p>The present buildings extend about forty yards beyond the +Salutation, on the Wolverhampton road. We now turn up +Lionel-street, leaving St. Paul's, and about three new erected +houses, on the right<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a>; pass close to New-Hall, leaving it on the +left, to the top of Great Charles-street, along Easy-hill: we now +leave the Wharf to the right, down Suffolk-street, in which are +seventy houses, leaving two infant streets also to the right, in +which are about twelve houses each: up to Holloway-head, thence to +Windmill-hill, Bow-street, Brick-kiln-lane, down to Lady-well, +along Pudding-brook, to the Moat, Lloyd's Slitting-mill, Digbeth, +over Deritend bridge, thence to the right, for Cheapside; cross the +top of Bradford-street, return by the Bridge to Floodgate-street, +Park-street, Bartholomew's-chapel, Grosvenor-street, Nova +scotia-street, Woodcock-lane, Aston-street, Lancaster-street, +Walmer-lane, Price's-street, Bath-street, to the bottom of +Snow-hill.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +The above was written in May 1780, and the three houses are now, +March 14, 1781, multiplied into fifty-five.</blockquote> +<p>The circle I have described is about five miles, in which is +much ground to be filled up. There are also beyond this crooked +line, five clumps of houses belonging to Birmingham, which may be +deemed hamlets.</p> +<p>At the Sand-pits upon the Dudley-road, about three furlongs from +the buildings, are fourteen houses.</p> +<p>Four furlongs from the Navigation-office, upon the road to +Hales-owen, are twenty-nine.</p> +<p>One furlong from Exeter row, towards the hand, are +thirty-four.</p> +<p>Upon Camp-hill, 130 yards from the junction of the Warwick and +Coventry roads, which is the extremity of the present buildings, +are thirty-one.</p> +<p>And two furlongs from the town, in Walmer-lane, are seventeen +more.</p> +<p>I shall comprize, in one view, the state of Birmingham in eight +different periods of time. And though some are imaginary, perhaps +they are not far from real.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th> </th> +<th align="right">Streets.</th> +<th align="right">Houses.</th> +<th align="right">Souls.</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>In the time of the ancient Britons,</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">80</td> +<td align="right">400</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">A.D. 750,</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td align="right">600</td> +<td align="right">3000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1066,</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td align="right">700</td> +<td align="right">3500</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1650,</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td align="right">900</td> +<td align="right">5472</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1700,</td> +<td align="right">28</td> +<td align="right">2504</td> +<td align="right">15032</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1731,</td> +<td align="right">51</td> +<td align="right">3717</td> +<td align="right">23286</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1741,</td> +<td align="right">54</td> +<td align="right">4114</td> +<td align="right">24660</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">1780,</td> +<td align="right">125</td> +<td align="right">8382</td> +<td align="right">50295</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<p>In 1778, Birmingham, exclusive of the appendages, contained 8042 +houses, 48252 inhabitants.</p> +<p>At the same time, Manchester consisted of 3402, houses, and +22440 people.</p> +<p>In 1779, Nottingham contained 3191 houses, and 17711 souls.</p> +<p>It is easy to see, without the spirit of prophecy, that +Birmingham hath not yet arrived at her zenith, neither is she +likely to reach it for ages to come. Her increase will depend upon +her manufactures; her manufactures will depend upon the national +commerce; national commerce, will depend upon a superiority at sea; +and this superiority may be extended to a long futurity.</p> +<p>The interior parts of the town, are like those of other places, +parcelled out into small free-holds, perhaps, originally purchased +of the Lords of the Manor; but, since its amazing increase, which +began about the restoration, large tracts of land have been +huxtered out upon building leases.</p> +<p>Some of the first that were granted, seem to have been about +Worcester and Colmore streets, at the trifling annual price of one +farthing per yard, or under.</p> +<p>The market ran so much against the lesor, that the lessee had +liberty to build in what manner he pleased; and, at the expiration +of the term, could remove the buildings unless the other chose to +purchase them. But the market, at this day, is so altered, that the +lessee gives four-pence per yard; is tied to the mode of building, +and obliged to leave the premisses in repair.</p> +<p>The itch for building is predominant: we dip our fingers into +mortar almost as soon as into business. It is not wonderful that a +person should be hurt by the <i>falling</i> of a house; but, with +us, a man sometimes breaks his back by <i>raising</i> one.</p> +<p>This private injury, however, is attended with a public benefit +of the first magnitude; for every "<i>House to be Let</i>," holds +forth a kind of invitation to the stranger to settle in it, who, +being of the laborious class, promotes the manufactures.</p> +<p>If we cannot produce many houses of the highest orders in +architecture, we make out the defect in numbers. Perhaps +<i>more</i> are erected here, in a given time, than in any place in +the whole island, London excepted.</p> +<p>It is remarkable, that in a town like Birmingham, where so many +houses are built, the art of building is so little understood. The +stile of architecture in the inferior sort, is rather showy than +lasting.</p> +<p>The proprietor generally contracts for a house of certain +dimensions, at a stipulated price: this induces the artist to use +some ingredients of the cheaper kind, and sometimes to try whether +he can cement the materials with sand, instead of lime.</p> +<p>But a house is not the only thing spoilt by the builder; he +frequently spoils himself: out of many successions of house-makers, +I cannot recollect one who made a fortune.</p> +<p>Many of these edifices have been brought forth, answered the +purposes for which they were created, and been buried in the dust, +during my short acquaintance with Birmingham. One would think, if a +man can survive a house, he has no great reason to complain of the +shortness of life.</p> +<p>From the external genteel appearance of a house, the stranger +would be tempted to think the inhabitant possessed at least a +thousand pounds; but, if he looks within, he sees only the ensigns +of beggary.</p> +<p>We have people who enjoy four or five hundred pounds a year in +houses, none of which, perhaps, exceed six pounds per annum. It may +excite a smile, to say, I have known two houses erected, one +occupied by a man, his wife, and three children; the other pair had +four; and twelve guineas covered every expence.</p> +<p>Pardon, my dear reader, the omission of a pompous encomium on +their beauty, or duration.</p> +<p>I am inclined to think two thirds of the houses in Birmingham +stand upon new foundations, and all the places of worship, except +Deritend Chapel.</p> +<p>About the year 1730, Thomas Sherlock, late Bishop of London, +purchased the private estate of the ladies of the manor, chiefly +land, about four hundred per annum.</p> +<p>In 1758, the steward told me it had increased to twice the +original value. The pious old Bishop was frequently solicited to +grant building leases, but answered, "His land was valuable, and if +built upon, his successor, at the expiration of the term, would +have the rubbish to carry off:" he therefore not only refused, but +prohibited his successor from granting such leases.</p> +<p>But Sir Thomas Gooch, who succeeded him, seeing the great +improvement of the neighbouring estates, and wisely judging fifty +pounds per acre preferable to five, procured an act in about 1766, +to set aside the prohibiting clause in the Bishop's will.</p> +<p>Since which, a considerable town may be said to have been +erected upon his property, now about 1600<i>l</i>. per annum.</p> +<p>An acquaintance assured me, that in 1756 he could have purchased +the house he then occupied for 400<i>l</i>. but refused. In 1770, +the same house was sold for 600<i>l</i>. and in 1772, I purchased +it for eight hundred and thirty-five guineas, without any +alteration, but what time had made for the worse: and for this +enormous price I had only an old house, which I was obliged to take +down. Such is the rapid improvement in value, of landed property, +in a commercial country.</p> +<p>Suffer me to add, though foreign to my subject, that these +premises were the property of an ancient family of the name of +Smith, now in decay; where many centuries ago one of the first inns +in Birmingham, and well known by the name of the Garland House, +perhaps from the sign; but within memory, Potter's +Coffee-house.</p> +<p>Under one part was a room about forty-five feet long, and +fifteen wide, used for the town prison.</p> +<p>In sinking a cellar we found a large quantity of tobacco-pipes +of a angular construction, with some very antique earthen ware, but +no coin; also loads of broken bottles, which refutes the complaint +of our pulpits against modern degeneracy, and indicates, the +vociferous arts of getting drunk and breaking glass, were well +understood by our ancestors.</p> +<p>In penetrating a bed of sand, upon which had stood a work-shop, +about two feet below the surface we came to a tumolus six feet +long, three wide, and five deep, built very neat, with tiles laid +flat, but no cement. The contents were mouldered wood, and pieces +of human bone.</p> +<p>I know of no house in Birmingham, the inns excepted, whose +annual rent exceeds eighty pounds. By the lamp books, the united +rents appear to be about seventy thousand, which if we take at +twenty years purchase, will compose a freehold of +1,400,000<i>l</i>. value.</p> +<p>If we allow the contents of the manor to be three thousand +acres, and deduct six hundred for the town, five hundred more for +roads, water, and waste land; and rate the remaining nineteen +hundred, at the average rent of 2<i>l</i>. 10s. per acre; we shall +raise an additional freehold of 4,750<i>l</i>. per ann.</p> +<p>If we value this landed property at thirty years purchase, it +will produce 142,500<i>l</i>. and, united with the value of the +buildings, the fee-simple of this happy region of genius, will +amount to 1,542,500<i>l</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="OF_THE_STREETS"></a>OF THE STREETS,</h2> +<h3>AND</h3> +<h2>THEIR NAMES.</h2> +<br> +<p>We accuse our short-sighted ancestors, and with reason, for +leaving us almost without a church-yard and a market-place; for +forming some of our streets nearly without width, and without +light. One would think they intended a street without a passage, +when they erected Moor-street; and that their successors should +light their candles at noon.</p> +<p>Something, however, may be pleaded in excuse, by observing the +concourse of people was small, therefore a little room would +suffice; and the buildings were low, so that light would be less +obstructed: besides, we cannot guess at the future but by the +present. As the increase of the town was slow, the modern +augmentation could not then be discovered through the dark medium +of time; but the prospect into futurity is at this day rather +brighter, for we plainly see, and perhaps with more reason, +succeeding generations will blame us for neglect. We occupy the +power to reform, without the will; why else do we suffer enormities +to grow, which will have taken deep root in another age? If utility +and beauty can <i>be joined together</i> in the street, why are +they ever <i>put asunder</i>? It is easy for Birmingham to be as +rapid in her improvement, as in her growth.</p> +<p>The town consists of about 125 streets, some of which acquired +their names from a variety of causes, but some from no cause, and +others, have not yet acquired a name.</p> +<p>Those of Bull street, Cannon street, London Prentice street, and +Bell street, from the signs of their respective names.</p> +<p>Some receive theirs from the proprietors of the land, as +Smallbrook street, Freeman street, Colmore street, Slaney street, +Weaman street, Bradford street, and Colmore row.</p> +<p>Digbeth, or Ducks Bath, from the Pools for accommodating that +animal, was originally Well street, from the many springs in its +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>Others derive a name from caprice, as Jamaica row, John, Thomas, +and Philip streets.</p> +<p>Some, from a desire of imitating the metropolis, as, +Fleet-street, Snow-hill, Ludgate-hill, Cheapside, and +Friday-street.</p> +<p>Some again, from local causes, as High-street, from its +elevation, St. Martin's-lane, Church-street, Cherry-street, +originally an orchard, Chapel-street, Bartholomew-row, +Mass-house-lane, Old and New Meeting-streets, Steelhouse-lane, +Temple-row and Temple-street, also Pinfold-street, from a pinfold +at No. 85, removed in 1752.</p> +<p>Moor-street, anciently Mole-street, from the eminence on one +side, or the declivity on the other.</p> +<p>Park-street seems to have acquired its name by being +appropriated to the private use of the lord of the manor, and, +except at the narrow end next Digbeth, contained only the corner +house to the south, entering Shut-lane, No. 82, lately taken down, +which was called The Lodge.</p> +<p>Spiceal-street, anciently Mercer-street, from the number of +mercers shops; and as the professors of that trade dealt in +grocery, it was promiscuously called Spicer-street. The present +name is only a corruption of the last.</p> +<p>The spot, now the Old Hinkleys, was a close, till about 1720, in +which horses were shown at the fair, then held in Edgbaston-street. +It was since a brick-yard, and contained only one hut, in which the +brick-maker slept.</p> +<p>The tincture of the smoky shops, with all their <i>black +furniture</i>, for weilding gun-barrels, which afterwards appeared +on the back of Small-brooke-street, might occasion the original +name <i>Inkleys</i>; ink is well known; leys, is of British +derivation, and means grazing ground; so that the etymology perhaps +is <i>Black pasture</i>.</p> +<p>The Butts; a mark to shoot at, when the bow was the fashionable +instrument of war, which the artist of Birmingham knew well how to +make, and to use.</p> +<p>Gosta Green (Goose-stead-Green) a name of great antiquity, now +in decline; once a track of commons, circumscribed by the Stafford +road, now Stafford-street, the roads to Lichfield and Coleshill, +now Aston and Coleshill-streets, and extending to Duke-street, the +boundary of the manor.</p> +<p>Perhaps, many ages after, it was converted into a farm, and was, +within memory, possessed by a person of the name of Tanter, whence, +Tanter-street.</p> +<p>Sometimes a street fluctuates between two names, as that of +Catharine and Wittal, which at length terminated in favour of the +former.</p> +<p>Thus the names of great George and great Charles stood +candidates for one of the finest streets in Birmingham, which after +a contest of two or three years, was carried in favour of the +latter.</p> +<p>Others receive a name from the places to which they direct, as +Worcester-street, Edgbaston-street, Dudley-street, +Lichfield-street, Aston-street, Stafford-street, Coleshill-street, +and Alcester-street.</p> +<p>A John Cooper, the same person who stands in the list of donors +in St. Martin's church, and who, I apprehend, lived about two +hundred and fifty years ago, at the Talbot, now No. 20, in the +High-street, left about four acres of land, between +Steelhouse-lane, St. Paul's chapel, and Walmer-lane, to make +love-days for the people of Birmingham; hence, +<i>Love-day-croft</i>.</p> +<p>Various sounds from the trowel upon the premises, in 1758, +produced the name of <i>Love-day-street</i> (corrupted into +Lovely-street.)</p> +<p>This croft is part of an estate under the care of Lench's Trust; +and, at the time of the bequest, was probably worth no more than +ten shillings per annum.</p> +<p>At the top of Walmer-lane, which is the north east corner of +this croft, stood about half a dozen old alms-houses, perhaps +erected in the beginning of the seventeenth century, then at a +considerable distance from the town. These were taken down in 1764, +and the present alms-houses, which are thirty-six, erected near the +spot, at the expence of the trust, to accommodate the same number +of poor widows, who have each a small annual stipend, for the +supply of coals.</p> +<p>This John Cooper, for some services rendered to the lord of the +manor, obtained three privileges, That of regulating the goodness +and price of beer, consequently he stands in the front of the whole +liquid race of high tasters; that he should, whenever he pleased, +beat a bull in the Bull-ring, whence arises the name; and, that he +should be allowed interment in the south porch of St. Martin's +church. His memory ought to be transmitted with honor, to +posterity, for promoting the harmony of his neighbourhood, but he +ought to have been buried in a dunghill, for punishing an innocent +animal.--His wife seems to have survived him, who also became a +benefactress, is recorded in the same list, and their monument, in +antique sculpture, is yet visible in the porch.</p> +<br> +<a name="image03.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image03.jpg"><img src= +"images/image03.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>The Alms House</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="TRADE."></a>TRADE.</h2> +<br> +<p>Perhaps there is not by nature so much difference in the +capacities of men, as by education. The efforts of nature will +produce a ten-fold crop in the field, but those of art, fifty.</p> +<p>Perhaps too, the seeds of every virtue, vice, inclination, and +habit, are sown in the breast of every human being, though not in +an equal degree. Some of these lie dormant for ever, no hand +inviting their cultivation. Some are called into existence by their +own internal strength, and others by the external powers that +surround them. Some of these seeds flourish more, some less, +according to the aptness of the soil, and the modes of assistance. +We are not to suppose infancy the only time in which these scions +spring, no part of life is exempt. I knew a man who lived to the +age of forty, totally regardless of music. A fidler happening to +have apartments near his abode, attracted his ear, by frequent +exhibitions, which produced a growing inclination for that +favourite science, and he became a proficient himself. Thus in +advanced periods a man may fall in love with a science, a woman, or +a bottle. Thus avarice is said to shoot up in ancient soil, and +thus, I myself bud forth in history at fifty-six.</p> +<p>The cameleon is said to receive a tincture from the colour of +the object that is nearest him; but the human mind in reality +receives a bias from its connections. Link a man to the pulpit, and +he cannot proceed to any great lengths in profligate life. Enter +him into the army, and he will endeavour to swear himself into +consequence. Make the man of humanity an overseer of the poor, and +he will quickly find the tender feelings of commiseration hardened. +Make him a physician, and he will be the only person upon the +premises, the heir excepted, unconcerned at the prospect of death. +Make him a surgeon, and he will amputate a leg with the same +indifference with which a cutler saws a piece of bone for a knife +handle. You commit a rascal to prison because he merits +transportation, but by the time he comes out he merits a halter. By +uniting also with industry, we become industrious. It is easy to +give instances of people whose distinguishing characteristic was +idleness, but when they breathed the air of Birmingham, diligence +became the predominant feature. The view of profit, like the view +of corn to the hungry horse, excites to action.</p> +<p>Thus the various seeds scattered by nature into the soul at its +first formation, either lie neglected, are urged into increase by +their own powers, or are drawn towards maturity by the concurring +circumstances that attend them.</p> +<p>The late Mr. Grenville observed, in the House of Commons, "That +commerce tended to corrupt the morals of a people." If we examine +the expression, we shall find it true in a certain degree, beyond +which, it tends to improve them.</p> +<p>Perhaps every tradesman can furnish out numberless instances of +small deceit. His conduct is marked with a littleness, which though +allowed by general consent, is not strictly just. A person with +whom I have long been connected in business, asked, if I had dealt +with his relation, whom he had brought up, and who had lately +entered into commercial life. I answered in the affirmative. He +replied, "He is a very honest fellow." I told him I saw all the +finesse of a tradesman about him. "Oh, rejoined my friend, a man +has a right to say all he can in favour of his own goods." Nor is +the seller alone culpable. The buyer takes an equal share in the +deception. Though neither of them speak their sentiments, they well +understand each other. Whilst the treaty is agitating, the profit +of the tradesman vanishes, yet the buyer pronounces against the +article; but when finished, the seller whispers his friend, "It is +well sold," and the buyer smiles if a bargain.</p> +<p>Thus is the commercial track a line of minute deceits.</p> +<p>But, on the other hand, it does not seem possible for a man in +trade to pass this line, without wrecking his reputation; which, if +once broken, can never be made whole. The character of a tradesman +is valuable, it is his all; therefore, whatever seeds of the +vicious kind shoot forth in the mind, are carefully watched and +nipped in the bud, that they may never blossom into action.</p> +<p>Thus having slated the accounts between morality and trade, I +shall leave the reader to draw the ballance. I shall not pronounce +after so great a master, and upon so delicate a subject, but shall +only ask, "Whether the people in trade are more corrupt than those +out?"</p> +<p>If the curious reader will lend an attentive ear to a pair of +farmers in the market, bartering for a cow, he will find as much +dissimulation as at St. James's, or at any other saint's, but +couched in homelier phrase. The man of well-bred deceit is +'<i>infinitely</i> your friend--It would give him <i>immense</i> +pleasure to serve you!' while the man in the frock 'Will be ---- if +he tells you a word of a lye!' Deception is an innate principle of +the human heart, not peculiar to one man, or one profession.</p> +<p>Having occasion for a horse, in 1759, I mentioned it to an +acquaintance, and informed him of the uses: he assured me, he had +one that would exactly suit; which he showed in the stable, and +held the candle pretty high, <i>for fear of affecting the +straw</i>. I told him it was needless to examine him, for I should +rely upon his word, being conscious he was too much my friend to +deceive me; therefore bargained, and caused him to be sent home. +But by the light of the sun, which next morning illumined the +heavens, I perceived the horse was <i>greased</i> on all fours. I +therefore, in gentle terms, upbraided my friend with duplicity, +when he replied with some warmth, "I would cheat my own brother in +a horse." Had this honourable friend stood a chance of selling me a +horse once a week, his own interest would have prevented him from +deceiving me.</p> +<p>A man enters into business with a view of acquiring a fortune--A +laudable motive! That property which rises from honest industry, is +an honour to its owner; the repose of his age; the reward of a life +of attention: but, great as the advantage seems, yet, being of a +private nature, it is one of the least in the mercantile walk. For +the intercourse occasioned by traffic, gives a man a view of the +world, and of himself; removes the narrow limits that confine his +judgment; expands the mind; opens his understanding; removes his +prejudices; and polishes his manners. Civility and humanity are +ever the companions of trade; the man of business is the man of +liberal sentiment; a barbarous and commercial people, is a +contradiction; if he is not the philosopher of nature, he is the +friend of his country, and well understands her interest. Even the +men of inferior life among us, whose occupations, one would think, +tend to produce minds as callous as the mettle they work; lay a +stronger claim to civilization, than in any other place with which +I am acquainted. I am sorry to mutilate the compliment, when I +mention the lower race of the other sex: no lady ought to be +publicly insulted, let her appear in what dress she pleases. Both +sexes, however, agree in exhibiting a mistaken pity, in cases of +punishment, particularly by preventing that for misconduct in the +military profession.</p> +<p>It is singular, that a predilection for Birmingham, is +entertained by every denomination of visitants, from Edward Duke of +York, who saw us in 1765, down to the presuming quack, who, griped +with necessity, boldly discharges his filth from the stage. A +paviour, of the name of Obrien, assured me in 1750, that he only +meant to sleep one night in Birmingham, in his way from London to +Dublin. But instead of pursuing his journey next morning, as +intended, he had continued in the place thirty-five years: and +though fortune had never elevated him above the pebbles of the +street, yet he had never repented his stay.</p> +<p>It has already been remarked that I first saw Birmingham in +1741, accidentally cast into those regions of civility; equally +unknown to every inhabitant, nor having the least idea of becoming +one myself. Though the reflections of an untaught youth of +seventeen cannot be striking, yet, as they were purely natural, +permit me to describe them.</p> +<p>I had been before acquainted with two or three principal towns. +The environs of all I had seen were composed of wretched dwellings, +replete with dirt and poverty; but the buildings in the exterior of +Birmingham rose in a style of elegance. Thatch, so plentiful in +other towns, was not to be met with in this. I was surprised at the +place, but more so at the people: They were a species I had never +seen: They possessed a vivacity I had never beheld: I had been +among dreamers, but now I saw men awake: Their very step along the +street showed alacrity: Every man seemed to know and prosecute his +own affairs: The town was large, and full of inhabitants, and those +inhabitants full of industry. I had seen faces elsewhere tinctured +with an idle gloom void of meaning, but here, with a pleasing +alertness: Their appearance was strongly marked with the modes of +civil life: I mixed a variety of company, chiefly of the lower +ranks, and rather as a silent spectator: I was treated with an easy +freedom by all, and with marks of favour by some: Hospitality +seemed to claim this happy people for her own, though I knew not at +that time from what cause.</p> +<p>I did not meet with this treatment in 1770, twenty nine years +after, at Bosworth, where I accompanied a gentleman, with no other +intent, than to view the field celebrated for the fall of Richard +the third. The inhabitants enjoyed the cruel satisfaction of +setting their dogs at us in the street, merely because we were +strangers. Human figures, not their own, are seldom seen in those +inhospitable regions: Surrounded with impassable roads, no +intercourse with man to humanise the mind, no commerce to smooth +their rugged manners, they continue the boors of nature.</p> +<p>Thus it appears, that characters are influenced by profession. +That the great advantage of private fortune, and the greater to +society, of softening and forming the mind, are the result of +trade. But these are not the only benefits that flow from this +desirable spring. It opens the hand of charity to the assistance of +distress; witness the Hospital and the two Charity Schools, +supported by annual donation: It adds to the national security, by +supplying the taxes for internal use, and, for the prosecution of +war. It adds to that security, by furnishing the inhabitants with +riches, which they are ever anxious to preserve, even at the risk +of their lives; for the preservation of private wealth, tends to +the preservation of the state.</p> +<p>It augments the value of landed property, by multiplying the +number of purchasers: It produces money to improve that land into a +higher state of cultivation, which ultimately redounds to the +general benefit, by affording plenty.</p> +<p>It unites bodies of men in social compact, for their mutual +interest: It adds to the credit and pleasure of individuals, by +enabling them to purchase entertainment and improvement, both of +the corporeal and intellectual kind.</p> +<p>It finds employment for the hand that would otherwise be found +in mischief: And it elevates the character of a nation in the scale +of government.</p> +<p>Birmingham, by her commercial consequence, has, of late, justly +assumed the liberty of nominating one of the representatives for +the county; and, to her honor, the elective body never regretted +her choice.</p> +<p>In that memorable contest of 1774, we were almost to a man of +one mind: if an <i>odd dozen</i> among us, of a different +<i>mould</i>, did not assimulate with the rest, they were treated, +as men of free judgment should ever be treated, <i>with +civility</i>, and the line of harmony was not broken.</p> +<p>If this little treatise happens to travel into some of our +corporate places, where the fire of contention, blown by the breath +of party, is kept alive during seven years, let them cast a second +glance over the above remark.</p> +<p>Some of the first words after the creation, <i>increase and +multiply</i>, are applicable to Birmingham; but as her own people +are insufficient for the manufactures, she demands assistance for +two or three miles round her. In our early morning walks, on every +road proceeding from the town, we meet the sons of diligence +returning to business, and bringing <i>in</i> the same dusky smuts, +which the evening before they took out. And though they appear of a +darkish complexion, we may consider it is the property of every +metal to sully the user; money itself has the same effect, and yet +he deems it no disgrace who is daubed by fingering it; the disgrace +lies with him who has none to finger.</p> +<p>The profits arising from labour, to the lower orders of men, +seem to surpass those of other mercantile places. This is not only +visible in the manufactures peculiar to Birmingham, but in the more +common occupations of the barber, taylor, shoe-maker, etc. who bask +in the rays of plenty.</p> +<p>It is entertaining to the curious observer, to contemplate the +variation of things. We know of nothing, either in the natural or +moral world, that continues in the same state: From a number of +instances that might be adduced, permit me to name one--that of +money. This, considered in the abstract, is of little or no value; +but, by the common consent of mankind, is erected into a general +arbitrator, to fix a value upon all others: a medium through which +every thing passes: a balance by which they must be weighed: a +touchstone to which they must be applied to find their worth: +though we can neither eat nor drink it, we can neither eat nor +drink without it.--He that has none best knows its use.</p> +<p>It has long been a complaint, that the same quantity of that +medium, money, will not produce so much of the necessaries of life, +particularly food, as heretofore; or, in other words, that +provisions have been gradually rising for many ages, and that the +milling, which formerly supported the laborious family a whole +week, will not now support it one day.</p> +<p>In times of remarkable scarcity, such as those in 1728, 41, 56, +66, and 74, the press abounded with publications on the subject; +but none, which I have seen, reached the question, though +short.</p> +<p>It is of no consequence, whether a bushel of corn sells for six +<i>pence</i>, or six <i>shillings</i>, but, what <i>time</i> a man +must labour before he can earn one?</p> +<p>If, by the moderate labour of thirty-six hours, in the reign of +Henry the Third, he could acquire a groat, which would purchase a +bushel of wheat; and if, in the reign of George the Third, he works +the same number of hours for eight shillings, which will make the +same purchase, the balance is exactly even. If, by our commercial +concerns with the eastern and the western worlds, the kingdom +abounds with bullion, money must be cheaper; therefore a larger +quantity is required to perform the same use. If money would go as +far now as in the days of Henry the Third, a journeyman in +Birmingham might amass a ministerial fortune.</p> +<p>Whether provisions abound more or less? And whether the poor +fare better or worse, in this period than in the other? are also +questions dependant upon trade, and therefore worth +investigating.</p> +<p>If the necessaries of life abound more in this reign, than in +that of Henry the Third, we cannot pronounce them dearer.</p> +<p>Perhaps it will not be absurd to suppose, that the same quantity +of land, directed by the superior hand of cultivation, in the +eighteenth century, will yield twice the produce, as by the +ignorant management of the thirteenth. We may suppose also, by the +vast number of new inclosures which have annually taken place since +the revolution, that twice the quantity of land is brought into +cultivation: It follows, that four times the quantity of provisions +is raised from the earth, than was raised under Henry the Third; +which will leave a large surplus in hand, after we have deducted +for additional luxury, a greater number of consumers, and also for +exportation.</p> +<p>This extraordinary stock is also a security against famine, +which our forefathers severely felt.</p> +<p>It will be granted, that in both periods the worst of the meat +was used by the poor. By the improvements in agriculture, the art +of feeding cattle is well understood, and much in practice; as the +land improves, so will the beast that feeds upon it: if the +productions, therefore, of the slaughter house, in this age, +surpass those of Henry the Third, then the fare of the poor is at +least as much superior now, as the worst of fat meat is superior to +the worst of lean.</p> +<p>The poor inhabitants in that day, found it difficult to procure +bread; but in this, they sometimes add cream and butter.</p> +<p>Thus it appears, that through the variation of things a balance +is preserved: That provisions have not advanced in price, but are +more plentiful: And that the lower class of men have found in +trade, that intricate, but beneficial clue, which guides them into +the confines of luxury.</p> +<p>Provisions and the manufactures, like a pair of scales, will not +preponderate together; but as weight is applied to the one, the +other will advance.</p> +<p>As labour is irksome to the body, a man will perform no more of +it than necessity obliges him; it follows, that in those times when +plenty preponderates, the manufactures tend to decay: For if a man +can support his family with three days labour, he will not work +six.</p> +<p>As the generality of men will perform no more work than produces +a maintenance, reduce that maintenance to half the price, and they +will perform but half the work: Hence half the commerce of a nation +is destroyed at one blow, and what is lost by one kingdom will be +recovered by another, in rivalship.</p> +<p>A commercial people, therefore, will endeavour to keep +provisions at a superior rate, yet within reach of the poor.</p> +<p>It follows also, that luxury is no way detrimental to trade; for +we frequently observe ability and industry exerted to support +it.</p> +<p>The practice of the Birmingham manufacturer, for, perhaps, a +hundred generations, was to keep within the warmth of his own +forge.</p> +<p>The foreign customer, therefore, applied to him for the +execution of orders, and regularly made his appearance twice a +year; and though this mode of business is not totally extinguished, +yet a very different one is adopted.</p> +<p>The merchant stands at the head of the manufacturer, purchases +his produce, and travels the whole island to promote the sale: A +practice that would have astonished our fore fathers. The +commercial spirit of the age, hath also penetrated beyond the +confines of Britain, and explored the whole continent of Europe; +nor does it stop there, for the West-Indies, and the American +world, are intimately acquainted with the Birmingham merchant; and +nothing but the exclusive command of the East-India Company, over +the Asiatic trade, prevents our riders from treading upon the heels +of each other, in the streets of Calcutta.</p> +<p>To this modern conduct of Birmingham, in sending her sons to the +foreign market, I ascribe the chief cause of her rapid +increase.</p> +<p>By the poor's books it appears, there are not three thousand +houses in Birmingham, that pay the parochial rates; whilst there +are more then five thousand that do not, chiefly through inability. +Hence we see what an amazing number of the laborious class of +mankind is among us. This valuable part of the creation, is the +prop of the remainder. They are the rise and support of our +commerce. From this fountain we draw our luxuries and our +pleasures. They spread our tables, and oil the wheels of our +carriages. They are also the riches and the defence of the +country.</p> +<p>How necessary then, is it to direct with prudence, the rough +passions of this important race, and make them subservient to the +great end of civil society. The deficiency of conduct in this +useful part of our species ought to be supplied by the +superior.</p> +<p>Let not the religious reader be surprised if I say, their +follies, and even their vices, under certain restrictions, are +beneficial. Corruption in the community, as well as in the natural +body, accelerates vital existence.</p> +<p>Let us survey one of the men, who begin life at the lowest ebb; +without property, or any other advantage but that of his own +prudence.</p> +<p>He comes, by length of time and very minute degrees, from being +directed himself, to have the direction of others. He quits the +precincts of servitude, and enters the dominions of command: He +laboured for others, but now others labour for him. Should the +whole race, therefore, possess the same prudence, they would all +become masters. Where then could be found the servant? Who is to +perform the manual part? Who to execute the orders of the merchant? +A world consisting only of masters, is like a monster consisting +only of a head. We know that the head is no more than the leading +power, the members are equally necessary. And, as one member is +placed in a more elevated state than another, so are the ranks of +men, that no void may be left. The hands and the feet, were +designed to execute the drudgery of life; the head for direction, +and all are suitable in their sphere.</p> +<p>If we turn the other side of the picture, we shall see a man +born in affluence, take the reins of direction; but like +Phæton, not being able to guide them, blunders on from +mischief to mischief, till he involves himself in destruction, +comes prone to the earth, and many are injured by his fall. From +directing the bridle, he submits to the bit; seeks for bread in the +shops, the line designed him by nature; where his hands become +callous with the file, and where, for the first time in his life, +he becomes useful to an injured society.</p> +<p>Thus, from imprudence, folly, and vice, is produced +poverty;--poverty produces labour; from labour, arise the +manufactures; and from these, the riches of a country, with all +their train of benefits.</p> +<p>It would be difficult to enumerate the great variety of trades +practised in Birmingham, neither would it give pleasure to the +reader. Some of them, spring up with the expedition of a blade of +grass, and, like that, wither in a summer. If some are lasting, +like the sun, others seem to change with the moon. Invention is +ever at work. Idleness; the manufactory of scandal, with the +numerous occupations connected with the cotton; the linen, the +silk, and the woollen trades, are little known among us.</p> +<p>Birmingham begun with the productions of the anvil, and probably +will end with them. The sons of the hammer, were once her chief +inhabitants; but that great croud of artists is now lost in a +greater: Genius seems to increase with multitude.</p> +<p>Part of the riches, extension, and improvement of Birmingham, +are owing to the late John Taylor, Esq; who possessed the singular +powers of perceiving things as they really were. The spring, and +consequence of action, were open to his view; whom we may justly +deem the Shakespear or the Newton of his day. He rose from minute +beginnings, to shine in the commercial hemisphere, as they in the +poetical and philosophical--Imitation is part of the human +character. An example of such eminence in himself, promoted +exertion in others; which, when prudence guided the helm, led on to +fortune: But the bold adventurer who crouded sail, without ballast +and without rudder, has been known to overset the vessel, and sink +insolvent.</p> +<p>To this uncommon genius we owe the gilt-button, the japanned and +gilt snuff-boxes, with the numerous race of enamels--From the same +fountain also issued the paper snuff-box, at which one servant +earned three pounds ten shillings per week, by painting them at a +farthing each.</p> +<p>In his shop were weekly manufactured buttons to the amount of +800<i>l</i> exclusive of other valuable productions.</p> +<p>One of the present nobility, of distinguished taste, examining +the works, with the master, purchased some of the articles, amongst +others, a toy of eighty guineas value, and, while paying for them, +observed with a smile, "he plainly saw he could not reside in +Birmingham for less than two hundred pounds a day."</p> +<p>The toy trades first made their appearance in Birmingham, in the +beginning of Charles the second, in an amazing variety, attended +with all their beauties and their graces. The first in pre-eminence +is</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="The_BUTTON."></a>The BUTTON.</h2> +<br> +<p>This beautiful ornament appears with infinite variation; and +though the original date is rather uncertain, yet we well remember +the long coats of our grandfathers covered with half a gross of +high-tops, and the cloaks of our grandmothers, ornamented with a +horn button nearly the size of a crown piece, a watch, or a John +apple, curiously wrought, as having passed through the Birmingham +press.</p> +<p>Though the common round button keeps on with the steady pace of +the day, yet we sometimes see the oval, the square, the pea, and +the pyramid, flash into existence. In some branches of traffic the +wearer calls loudly for new fashions; but in this, the fashions +tread upon each other, and crowd upon the wearer. The consumption +of this article is astonishing. There seem to be hidden treasures +couched within this magic circle, known only to a few, who extract +prodigious fortunes out of this useful toy, whilst a far greater +number, submit to a statute of bankruptcy.</p> +<p>Trade, like a restive horse, can rarely be managed; for, where +one is carried to the end of a successful journey, many are thrown +off by the way. The next that calls our attention is</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="The_BUCKLE."></a>The BUCKLE.</h2> +<br> +<p>Perhaps the shoe, in one form or other, is nearly as ancient as +the foot. It originally appeared under the name of, sandal; this +was no other than a sole without an upper-leather. That fashion +hath since been inverted, and we now, sometimes, see an +upper-leather nearly without a sole. But, whatever was the cut of +the shoe, it always demanded a fastening. Under the house of +Plantagenet, it shot horizontally from the foot, like a Dutch +scait, to an enormous length, so that the extremity was fattened to +the knee, sometimes, with a silver chain, a silk lace, or even a +pack-thread string, rather than avoid <i>genteel taste</i>.</p> +<p>This thriving beak, drew the attention of the legislature, who +were determined to prune the exorbitant shoot. For in 1465 we find +an order of council, prohibiting the growth of the shoe toe, to +more than two inches, under the penalty of a dreadful curse from +the priest, and, which was worse, the payment of twenty shillings +to the king.</p> +<p>This fashion, like every other, gave way to time, and in its +stead, the rose began to bud upon the foot. Which under the house +of Tudor, opened in great perfection. No shoe was fashionable, +without being fattened with a full-blown rose. Under the house of +Stuart, the rose withered, which gave rise to the shoe-string.</p> +<p>The beaus of that age, ornamented their lower tier with double +laces of silk, tagged with silver, and the extremities beautified +with a small fringe of the same metal. The inferior class, wore +laces of plain silk, linen, or even a thong of leather; which last +is yet to be met with in the humble plains of rural life. But I am +inclined to think, the artists of Birmingham had no great hand in +fitting out the beau of the last century.</p> +<p>The revolution was remarkable, for the introduction of William, +of liberty, and the minute buckle; not differing much in size and +shape from the horse bean.</p> +<p>This offspring of fancy, like the clouds, is ever changing. The +fashion of to-day, is thrown into the casting pot to-morrow.</p> +<p>The buckle seems to have undergone every figure, size and shape +of geometrical invention: It has passed through every form in the +whole zodiac of Euclid. The large square buckle is the <i>ton</i> +of the present day. The ladies also, have adopted the reigning +taste: It is difficult to discover their beautiful little feet, +covered with an enormous shield of buckle; and we wonder to see the +active motion under the massive load. Thus the British fair support +the manufactures of Birmingham, and thus they kill by weight of +metal.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="GUNS."></a>GUNS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Though the sword and the gun are equal companions in war, it +does not appear they are of equal original. I have already +observed, that the sword was the manufacture of Birmingham, in the +time of the Britons.</p> +<p>But tradition tells us, King William was once lamenting "That +guns were not manufactured in his dominions, but that he was +obliged to procure them from Holland at a great expence, and +greater difficulty."</p> +<p>One of the Members for Warwickshire being present, told the +King, "He thought his constituents could answer his Majesty's +wishes."--The King was pleased with the remark, and the Member +posted to Birmingham. Upon application to a person in Digbeth, +whose name I forget, the pattern was executed with precision, +which, when presented to the royal board, gave entire satisfaction. +Orders were immediately issued for large numbers, which have been +so frequently repeated that they never lost their road; and the +ingenious artists have been so amply rewarded, that they have +rolled in their carriages to this day.--Thus the same instrument +which is death to one man, is genteel life to another.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LEATHER."></a>LEATHER.</h2> +<br> +<p>It may seem singular to a modern eye, to view this place in the +light of one vast tan-yard.--Though there is no appearance of that +necessary article among us, yet Birmingham was once a famous market +for leather. Digbeth not only abounded with tanners, but large +numbers of hides arrived weekly for sale, where the whole country +found a supply. When the weather would allow, they were ranged in +columns in the High-street, and at other times deposited in the +Leather-hall, at the East end of New-street, appropriated for their +reception.</p> +<p>This market was of great antiquity, perhaps not less than seven +hundred years, and continued till the beginning of the present +century. We have two officers, annually chosen, by the name of +<i>leather-sealers</i>, from a power given them by ancient charter, +to mark the vendible hides; but now the leather-sealers have no +duty, but that of taking an elegant dinner. Shops are erected upon +tan-fats; the Leather-hall is gone to destruction, and we are +reduced to one solitary tanner.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="STEEL."></a>STEEL.</h2> +<br> +<p>The progress of the arts, is equal to the progress of time; they +began, and will end together. Though some of both are lost, yet +they both accumulate.</p> +<p>The manufacture of iron, in Birmingham, is ancient beyond +research; that of steel is of modern date.</p> +<p>Pride is inseparable from the human character, the man without +it, is the man without breath: we trace it in various forms, +through every degree of people; but like those objects about us, it +is best discovered in our own sphere; those above, and those below +us, rather escape our notice; envy attacks an equal.</p> +<p>Pride induced the Pope to look with contempt on the European +Princes, and now induces them to return the compliment; it taught +insolence to the Spaniard, selfishness to the Dutch; it teaches the +rival nations of France and England to contend for power.</p> +<p>Pride preserves a man from mean actions, it throws him upon +meaner; it whets the sword for destruction; it urges the laudable +acts of humanity; it is the universal hinge on which we move; it +glides the gentle stream of usefulness, it overflows the mounds of +reason, and swells into a destructive flood; like the sun, in his +milder rays, it animates and draws us towards perfection; but, like +him, in his fiercer beams, it scorches and destroys.</p> +<p>Money is not the necessary attendant of pride, for it abounds no +where more than in the lowest ranks. It adds a sprucer air to a +sunday dress; casts a look of disdain from a bundle of rags; it +boasts the <i>honor</i> of a family, while poverty unites a sole +and upper-leather with a bandage of shop-thread. There are people +who even <i>pride</i> themselves in humility.</p> +<p>This dangerous <i>good</i>, this necessary <i>evil</i>, supports +the female character; without it, the brightest part of the +creation would degenerate.</p> +<p>It will be asked, "What portion may be allowed?" Prudence will +answer, "As much as you please, but <i>not</i> to disgust."</p> +<p>It is equally found in the senate-house, or the button-shop; the +scene of action is the scene of pride; and I, unable to adorn this +work with erudition, take a pride in cloathing a worn-out subject +afresh, and that pride will increase, should the world smi ---- +"But why, says my friend, do you forsake the title of your chapter, +and lead us a dance through the mazes of pride? Can there be any +connexion between that sovereign passion, and forging a bar of +steel?" Yes, he who makes steel prides himself in carrying the art +one step higher than he who makes iron.</p> +<p>This art appeared among us in the seventeenth century; was +introduced by the family of Kettle. The name of Steelhouse-lane +will convey to posterity the situation of the works, the commercial +spirit of Birmingham, will convey the produce to the Antipodes.</p> +<p>From this warm, but dismal climate, issues the button, which +shines on the breast, and the bayonet, intended to pierce it; the +lancet, which bleeds the man, and the rowel, the horse; the lock, +which preserves the beloved bottle, and the screw, to uncork it; +the needle, equally obedient to the thimble and the pole.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="NAILS."></a>NAILS.</h2> +<br> +<p>In most occupations, the profit of the master and the journeyman +bear a proportion: if the former is able to figure in genteel life, +the latter is able to figure in silk stockings. If the matter can +afford to allow upon his goods ten per cent. discount for money, +the servant can afford to squander half his wages. In a worn-down +trade, where the tides of profit are reduced to a low ebb, and +where imprudence sets her foot upon the premises, the matter and +the man starve together. Only <i>half</i> this is our present +case.</p> +<p>The art of nail-making is one of the most ancient among us; we +may safely charge its antiquity with four figures.</p> +<p>We cannot consider it a trade <i>in</i>, so much as <i>of</i> +Birmingham; for we have but few nail-makers left in the town: our +nailers are chiefly masters, and rather opulent. The manufacturers +are so scattered round the country, that we cannot travel far, in +any direction, out of the sound of the nail-hammer. But Birmingham, +like a powerful magnet, draws the produce of the anvil to +herself.</p> +<p>When I first approached her, from Walsall, in 1741, I was +surprized at the prodigious number of blacksmiths shops upon the +road; and could not conceive how a country, though populous, could +support so many people of the same occupation. In some of these +shops I observed one, or more females, stript of their upper +garment, and not overcharged with their lower, wielding the hammer +with all the grace of the sex. The beauties of their face were +rather eclipsed by the smut of the anvil; or, in poetical phrase, +the tincture of the forge had taken possession of those lips, which +might have been taken by the kiss.</p> +<p>Struck with the novelty, I inquired, "Whether the ladies in this +country shod horses?" but was answered, with a smile, "They are +nailers."</p> +<p>A fire without heat, a nailer of a fair complexion, or one who +despises the tankard, are equally rare among them. His whole system +of faith may be comprised in one article--That the slender +two-penny mug, used in a public house, <i>is deceitful above all +things, and desperately wicked</i>.</p> +<p>While the master reaps the harvest of plenty, the workman +submits to the scanty gleanings of penury, a thin habit, an early +old age, and a figure bending towards the earth. Plenty comes not +near his dwelling, except of rags, and of children. But few +recruits arise from his nail-shop, except for the army. His hammer +is worn into deep hollows, fitting the fingers of a dark and plump +hand, hard as the timber it wears. His face, like the moon, is +often seen through a cloud.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BELLOWS."></a>BELLOWS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Man first catches the profession; the profession afterwards +moulds the man.</p> +<p>In whatever profession we engage, we assume its character, +become a part of it, vindicate its honor, its eminence, its +antiquity; or feel a wound through its sides.</p> +<p>Though there may be no more pride in a minister of state, who +opens a budget, than in a tinker who carries one, yet they equally +contend for the honor of their trade.</p> +<p>Every man, from the attorney's clerk to the butcher's +apprentice, feels his own honor, with that of his profession, +wounded by travelling on foot. To be caught on his feet, is nearly +the same as to be caught in a crime. The man who has gathered up +his limbs, and hung them on a horse, looks <i>down</i> with dignity +on him who has not; while the man on foot offers his humble bow, +afraid to look up--If providence favours us with feet, is it a +disgrace to use them?--I could instance a person who condescended +to quit London, that center of trick, lace, and equipage; and in +1761, open a draper's shop in Birmingham: but his feet, or his +<i>pride</i>, were so much hurt by walking, that he could scarcely +travel ten doors from his own without a post-chaise--the result +was, he became such an adept in riding, that in a few months, he +rode triumphant into the Gazette. Being quickly scoured bright by +the ill-judged laws of bankruptcy, he rode, for the last time, +<i>out</i> of Birmingham, where he had so often rode <i>in</i>: but +his injured creditors were obliged to <i>walk</i> after the slender +dividend of eighteen pence in the pound. The man who <i>can</i> use +his feet, is envied by him who <i>cannot</i>; and he, in turn, +envies him who <i>will</i> not. Our health and our feet, in a +double sense, go together. The human body has been justly compared +to a musical instrument; I add, this instrument was never perfectly +in tune, without a due portion of exercise.</p> +<p>The man of military character, puts on, with his scarlet, that +martial air, which tells us, "he has formed a resolution to kill:" +and we naturally ask, "Which sex?"</p> +<p>Some "<i>pert and affected author</i>" with anxiety on his brow, +will be apt to step forward, and say, "Will you celebrate the man +of the sword, who transfers the blush of his face to his back, and +neglect the man of the quill, who, like the pelican, portions out +his vitals to feed others? Which is preferable, he who lights up +the mental powers, or he who puts them out? the man who stores the +head with knowledge, or he who stores it with a bullet?"</p> +<p>The antiquarian supports his dignity with a solemn aspect; he +treats a sin and a smile as synonimous; one half of which has been +discarded from his childhood. If a smile in the house of religion, +or of mourning, be absurd, is there any reason to expel it from +those places where it is not? A tale will generally allow of two +ingredients, <i>information</i> and <i>amusement</i>: but the +historian and the antiquarian have, from time immemorial, used but +<i>one</i>. Every smile, except that of contempt, is beneficial to +the constitution; they tend to promote long life, and pleasure +while that life lasts. Much may be said in favour of tears of joy, +but more on joy without tears. I wonder the lively fancy of Hogarth +never sketched the <i>dull</i> historian, in the figure of an ass, +plodding to market under his panniers, laden with the fruits of +antiquity, and old time driving up the <i>rear</i>, with his scythe +converted into an hedge-stake.</p> +<p>The bellows-maker proclaims the <i>honor</i> of his art, by +observing, he alone produces that instrument which commands the +winds; his soft breeze, like that of the south, counter-acts the +chill blasts of winter: by his efforts, like those of the sun, the +world receives light: he creates when he pleases, and gives +<i>breath</i> when he creates. In his caverns the winds deep at +pleasure; and by his <i>orders</i> they set Europe in flames.</p> +<p>He pretends, that a gentle puff in the eyes of a +<i>reviewer</i>, from a pair of his bellows, would tend to clear +the sight, and enable him to distinguish between a smile and a +serious face: that his circular board, like a ferula, applied by +the handle to an inferior part, would induce him to peruse the +<i>whole treatise</i>, and not partially pronounce from the +preface.</p> +<p>He farther pretends, that the <i>antiquity</i> of his occupation +will appear from the plenty of elm, once in the neighbourhood, but +long cut up for his use: that the leather-market in Birmingham, for +many ages, furnished him with sides; and though the manufacture of +iron is allowed to be extremely ancient, yet the smith could not +procure his heat without a blast, nor could that blast be raised +without the bellows.</p> +<p>Two inferences arise from these remarks, that the antiquarian +will frown on this little history; and that bellows-making is one +of the oldest trades in Birmingham.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THREAD."></a>THREAD.</h2> +<br> +<p>We, who reside in the interior parts of the kingdom, may observe +the first traces of a river issue from its fountain; the current so +extremely small, that if a bottle of liquor, distilled through the +urinary vessels, was discharged into its course, it would +manifestly augment the water, and quicken the stream: the reviving +bottle, having added spirits to the man, seems to add spirits to +the river.--If we pursue this river, winding through one hundred +and thirty miles, we shall observe it collect strength as it runs, +expand its borders, swell into consequence, employ multitudes of +people, carry wealth in its bosom, and exactly resemble +<i>thread-making</i> in Birmingham.</p> +<p>If we represent to our idea, a man able to employ three or four +people, himself in an apron, one of the number; but being +<i>unable</i> to write his name, shows his attachment to the +christian religion, by signing the <i>cross</i> to receipts; whose +method of book-keeping, like that of the publican, is <i>a door and +a lump of chalk;</i> producing a book which none can peruse but +himself: who, having manufactured 40lb. weight of thread, of divers +colours, and rammed it into a pair of leather bags, something +larger than a pair of boots, which we might deem the arms of his +trade <i>empaled</i>; flung them on a horse, and placed himself on +the top, by way of a <i>crest</i>; visits an adjacent market, to +starve with his goods at a stall, or retail them to the mercer, nor +return without the money--we shall see a thread-maker of 1652.</p> +<p>If we pursue this occupation, winding through the mazes of one +hundred and thirty <i>years</i>, we shall see it enlarge its +boundaries, multiply its people, increase its consequence and +wealth, till 1782, when we behold the matter in possession of +correct accounts, the apron thrown aside, the stall kicked over, +the bags tossed into the garret, and the mercer overlooked in the +grand prospect of exportation. We farther behold him take the lead +in provincial concerns, step into his own carriage, and hold the +king's commission as a magistrate.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PRINTING"></a>PRINTING,</h2> +<h3>By JOHN BASKERVILLE.</h3> +<br> +<p>The pen of an historian rejoices in the actions of the great; +the fame of the deserving, like an oak tree, is of sluggish growth; +and, like the man himself, they are not matured in a day. The +present generation becomes debtor to him who excels, but the future +will discharge that debt with more than simple interest. The still +voice of fame may warble in his ears towards the close of life, but +her trumpet seldom sounds in full clarion, till those ears are +stopped with the finger of death.</p> +<p>This son of genius was born at Wolverley, in the county of +Worcester, in 1706; heir to a paternal estate of 60<i>l</i>. per +annum, which, fifty years after, while in his own possession, had +increased to 90<i>l</i>. He was trained to no occupation; but, in +1726, became a writing-matter in Birmingham.--In 1737, he taught +school in the Bull-ring, and is said to have written an excellent +hand.</p> +<p>As painting suited his talents, he entered into the lucrative +branch of japanning, and resided at No. 22, in Moor-street.</p> +<p>He took, in 1745, a building lease of eight acres, two furlongs +north west of the town, to which he gave the name of +<i>Easy-hill</i>, converted it into a little Eden, and built a +house in the center: but the town, as if conscious of his merit, +followed his retreat, and surrounded it with buildings.--Here he +continued the business of a japanner for life: his carriage, each +pannel of which was a distinct picture, might be considered <i>the +pattern-card of his trade</i>, and was drawn by a beautiful pair of +cream-coloured horses.</p> +<p>His inclination for letters induced him, in 1750, to turn his +thoughts towards the press. He spent many years in the uncertain +pursuit; sunk 600<i>l</i>. before he could produce one letter to +please himself, and some thousands before the shallow stream of +profit began to flow.</p> +<p>His first attempt, in 1756, was a quarto edition of Virgil, +price one guinea, now worth several.--He afterwards printed +Paradise Lost, the Bible, Common Prayer, Roman and English +Classics, etc. in various sizes, with more satisfaction to the +literary world than emolument to himself.</p> +<p>In 1765, he applied to his friend, Dr. Franklin, then at Paris, +and now Ambassador from America, to sound the literati, respecting +the purchase of his types; but received for answer, "That the +French, reduced by the war of 1756, were so far from pursuing +schemes of taste, that they were unable to repair their public +buildings, but suffered the scaffolding to rot before them."</p> +<p>In private life he was a humorist; idle in the extreme; but his +invention was of the true Birmingham model, active. He could well +design, but procured others to execute; wherever he found merit he +caressed it: he was remarkably polite to the stranger; fond of +show: a figure rather of the smaller size, and delighted to adorn +that figure with gold lace.--Although constructed with the light +timbers of a frigate, his movement was solemn as a ship of the +line.</p> +<p>During the twenty-five years I knew him, though in the decline +of life, he retained the singular traces of a handsome man. If he +exhibited a peevish temper, we may consider good-nature and intense +thinking are not always found together.</p> +<p>Taste accompanied him through the different walks of +agriculture, architecture, and the finer arts. Whatever passed +through his fingers, bore the lively marks of John Baskerville.</p> +<p>His aversion to christianity would not suffer him to lie among +christians; he therefore erected a mausoleum in his own grounds for +his remains, and died without issue, in 1775, at the age of +69.--Many efforts were used after his death, to dispose of the +types; but, to the lading discredit of the British nation, no +purchaser could be found in the whole commonwealth of letters. The +universities coldly rejected the offer. The London booksellers +understood no science like that of profit. The valuable property, +therefore, lay a dead weight, till purchased by a literary society +at Paris, in 1779, for 3700<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>It is an old remark, that no country abounds with genius so much +as this island; and it is a remark nearly as old, that genius is no +where so little rewarded; how else came Dryden, Goldsmith, and +Chatterton to want bread? Is merit, like a flower of the field, too +common to attract notice? or is the use of money beneath the care +of exalted talents?</p> +<p>Invention seldom pays the inventor. If you ask, what fortune +Baskerville ought to have been rewarded with? "The <i>most</i> +which can be comprised in five figures." If you farther ask, what +he possessed? "The <i>least</i>;" but none of it squeezed from the +press. What will the shade of this great man think, if capable of +thinking, that he has spent a fortune of opulence, and a life of +genius, in carrying to perfection the greatest of all human +inventions; and his productions, slighted by his country, were +hawked over Europe, in quest of a bidder?</p> +<p>We must <i>revere</i>, if we do not <i>imitate</i>, the taste +and economy of the French nation, who, brought by the British arms, +in 1762, to the verge of ruin, rising above distress, were able, in +17 years, to purchase Baskerville's elegant types, refused by his +own country, and expend an hundred thousand pounds in printing the +works of Voltaire!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BRASS_FOUNDRY."></a>BRASS FOUNDRY.</h2> +<br> +<p>The curious art before us is perhaps less ancient than +profitable, and less healthful than either. I shall not enquire +whose grandfather was the first brass-founder here, but shall leave +their grandsons to settle that important point with my successor +who shall next write the History of Birmingham. Whoever was the +first, I believe he figured in the reign of King William; but, +though he sold his productions at an excessive price, he did not, +like the moderns, possess the art of acquiring a fortune: but now +the master knows the way to affluence, and the servant to +liquor.</p> +<p>To enumerate the great variety of occupations amongst us, would +be as useless, and as unentertaining to the reader, perhaps to the +writer, as to count the pebbles in the street.</p> +<p>Having therefore visited a few, by way of specimen, I shall +desist from farther pursuit, and wheel off in a</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="HACKNEY_COACH."></a>HACKNEY COACH.</h2> +<br> +<p>Wherever the view of profit opens, the eyes of a Birmingham man +are open to see it.</p> +<p>In 1775, a person was determined to try if a Hackney Coach would +take with the inhabitants. He had not mounted the box many times +before he inadvertently dropped the expression, "Thirty shillings a +day!" The word was attended with all the powers of magic, for +instantly a second rolled into the circus.</p> +<p>And these elevated sons of the lash are now augmented to +fifteen, whom we may justly denominate a club of tippling deities, +who preside over weddings, christenings, and pleasurable +excursions.</p> +<p>It would give satisfaction to the curious calculator, could any +mode be found of discovering the returns of trade, made by the +united inhabitants. But the question is complicated. It only admits +of surmise. From comparing many instances in various ranks of life +among us, I have been led to suppose, that the weekly returns +exceed the annual rent of the buildings. And as these rents are +nearly ascertained, perhaps, we may conclude, that those returns +are about 80,000. If we deduct for four weeks holidays, the annual +returns will be--3,840,000<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>Now we have entered the visionary regions of fancy, let us +pursue the thought a stage farther; and consider Birmingham as one +great family, possessed of a capital of Eight Millions. Her annual +returns in trade as above, from which we will deduct for the +purchase of</p> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>Raw materials</td> +<td align="right">1,920,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>House rent, repairs and taxes</td> +<td align="right">100,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Losses in trade</td> +<td align="right">50,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Maintenance, clothing, and pleasurable</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> expences, for 50,000 people, at +10<i>s</i>.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> per week</td> +<td align="right">1,300,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">---------</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">3,370,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">---------</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Annual addition to the capital</td> +<td align="right">470,000</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>Should a future antagonist arise, and attack me in numbers, I +promise beforehand to relinquish the field; for I profess only, to +stand upon ideal ground.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BANK."></a>BANK.</h2> +<br> +<p>Perhaps a public bank is as necessary to the health of the +commercial body, as exercise to the natural. The circulation of the +blood and spirits are promoted by one, so are cash and bills by the +other; and a stagnation is equally detrimental to both. Few places +are without: Yet Birmingham, famous in the annals of traffic, could +boast no such claim. To remedy this defect therefore, about every +tenth trader was a banker, or, a retailer of cash. At the head of +whom were marshalled the whole train of drapers and grocers, till +the year 1765, when a regular bank was established by Messrs. +Taylor and Lloyd, two opulent tradesmen, whose credit being equal +to that of the bank of England, quickly collected the shining rays +of sterling property into its focus.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="GOVERNMENT."></a>GOVERNMENT.</h2> +<br> +<p>Have you, my dear reader, seen a sword hilt, of curious, and of +Birmingham manufactory, covered with spangles of various sizes, +every one of which carries a separate lustre, but, when united, has +a dazzling effect? Or, have you seen a ring, from the same origin, +set with diamonds of many dimensions, the least of which, sparkles +with amazing beauty, but, when beheld in cluster, surprize the +beholder? Or, have you, in a frosty evening, seen the heavens +bespangled with refulgent splendor, each stud shining with +intrinsic excellence, but, viewed in the aggregate, reflect honour +upon the maker, and enliven the hemisphere? Such is the British +government. Such is that excellent system of polity, which shines, +the envy of the stranger, and the protector of the native.</p> +<p>Every city, town and village in the English hemisphere, hath a +separate jurisdiction of its own, and may justly be deemed <i>a +stud in the grand lustre</i>.</p> +<p>Though the British Constitution is as far from perfection, as +the glory of the ring and the hilt is from that of the sun which +causes it, or the stars from the day; yet perhaps it stands higher +in the scale of excellence, than that of its neighbours. We may, +with propriety, allow that body to shine with splendor, which hath +been polishing for seventeen hundred years. Much honour is due to +the patriotic merit which advanced it to its present eminence.</p> +<p>Though Birmingham is but one sparkle of the brilliant clustre, +yet she is a sparkle of the first <i>water</i>, and of the first +<i>magnitude</i>.</p> +<p>The more perfect any system of government, the happier the +people. A wise government will punish for the commission of crimes, +but a wiser will endeavour to prevent them. Man is an active +animal: If he is not employed in some useful pursuit, he will +employ himself in mischief. Example is also prevalent: If one man +falls into error, he often draws another. Though heaven, for wise +purposes, suffers a people to fulfil the measure of their +iniquities, a prudent state will nip them in the bud.</p> +<p>It is easy to point out some places, only one third the +magnitude of Birmingham, whose frequent breaches of the law, and +quarrels among themselves, find employment for half a dozen +magistrates, and four times that number of constables; whilst the +business of this, was for many years conducted by a single Justice, +the late John Wyrley, Esq. If the reader should think I am mistaken +and object, that parish affairs cannot be conducted without a +second? Let me reply, He conducted that second also.</p> +<p>As human nature is nearly the same, whether in or out of +Birmingham; and as enormities seem more prevalent out than in, we +may reasonably ascribe the cause to the extraordinary industry of +the inhabitants, not allowing time to brood over, and bring forth +mischief, equal to places of inferior diligence.</p> +<p>We have at present two acting magistrates to hold the beam of +justice, the Rev. Benjamin Spencer, and Joseph Carles, Esq; who +both reside at a distance.</p> +<p>Many of our corporate towns received their charters from that +amiable, but unfortunate prince, Henry the Second. These were the +first dawnings of British liberty, after fixing the Norman yoke. +They were afterwards ratified and improved by the subsequent Kings +of England; granting not only the manors, but many exclusive +privileges. But at this day, those places which were so remarkably +favoured with the smiles of royalty, are not quite so free as those +that were not. The prosperity of this happy place proves the +assertion, of which every man is free the moment he enters.</p> +<p>We often behold a pompous corporation, which sounds well in +history, over something like a dirty village--This is a head +without a body. The very reverse is our case--We are a body without +a head. For though Birmingham has undergone an amazing alteration +in extension, riches and population, yet the government is nearly +the same as the Saxons left it. This part of my important history +therefore must suffer an eclipse: This illustrious chapter, that +rose in dazling brightness, must be veiled in the thick clouds of +obscurity: I shall figure with my corporation in a despicable +light. I am not able to bring upon the stage, a mayor and a group +of aldermen, dressed in antique scarlet, bordered with fur, drawing +a train of attendants; the meanest of which, even the pinder, is +badged with silver: Nor treat my guest with a band of music, in +scarlet cloaks with broad laces. I can grace the hand of my +Birmingham fidler with only a rusty instrument, and his back with +barely a whole coat; neither have I a mace for the inaugeration of +the chief magistrate. The reader, therefore, must either quit the +place, or be satisfied with such entertainment as the company +affords.</p> +<p>The officers, who are annually chosen, to direct in this +prosperous feat of fortune, are</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>An High Bailiff.</td> +<td>Two High Tasters.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Low Bailiff.</td> +<td>Two Low Tasters.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Two Constables.</td> +<td>Two Asseirers. And</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Headborough.</td> +<td>Two Leather Sealers.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<p>All which, the constables excepted, are no more than servants to +the lord of the manor; and whose duty extends no farther, than to +the preservation of the manorial rights.</p> +<p>The high bailiff is to inspect the market, and see that justice +takes place between buyer and seller; to rectify the weights and +dry measures used in the manor.</p> +<p>The low bailiff summons a jury, who choose all the other +officers, and generally with prudence. But the most important part +of his office is, to treat his friends at the expence of about +Seventy Pounds.</p> +<p>The headborough is only an assistant to the constables, chiefly +in time of absence.</p> +<p>High tasters examine the goodness of beer, and its measure.</p> +<p>Low tasters inspect the meat exposed to sale, and cause that to +be destroyed which is unfit for use.</p> +<p>Asseirers ratify the chief rent and amercements, between the +lord and the inhabitant. And the</p> +<p>Leather sealers, stamped a public seal upon the hides, when +Birmingham was a market for leather.</p> +<p>These manorial servants, instituted by ancient charter, chiefly +possess a name, without an office. Thus order seems assisted by +industry, and thus a numerous body of inhabitants are governed +without a governor.</p> +<p>Exclusive of the choice of officers, the jury impannelled by the +low bailiff, have the presentation of all encroachments upon the +lord's waste, which has long been neglected.</p> +<p>The duties of office are little known, except that of taking a +generous dinner, which is punctually observed. It is too early to +begin business till the table is well stored with bottles, and too +late afterwards.</p> +<p>During the existence of the house of Birmingham, the court-leet +was held at the Moat, in what we should now think a large and +shabby room, conducted under the eye of the low bailiff, at the +expence of the lord.</p> +<p>The jury, twice a year, were witnesses, that the famous dish of +roast beef, ancient as the family who gave it, demanded the head of +the table. The court was afterwards held at the Leather-hall, and +the expence, which was trifling, borne by the bailiff. Time, +prosperity, and emulation, are able to effect considerable changes. +The jury, in the beginning of the present century, were impannelled +in the Old Cross, then newly erected, from whence they adjourned to +the house of the bailiff, and were feasted at the growing charge of +<i>two or three pounds</i>.</p> +<p>This practice continued till about the year 1735, when the +company, grown too bulky for a private house, assembled at a +tavern, and the bailiff enjoyed the singular privilege of consuming +ten pounds upon his guests.</p> +<p>It is easier to advance in expences than to retreat. In 1760, +they had increased to forty pounds, and in the next edition of this +work, we may expect to see the word <i>hundred</i>.</p> +<p>The lord was anciently founder of the feast, and treated his +bailiff; but now that custom is inverted, and the bailiff treats +his lord.</p> +<p>The proclamation of our two fairs, is performed by the high +bailiff, in the name of the Lord of the Manor; this was done a +century ago, without the least expence. The strength of his liquor, +a silver tankard, and the pride of shewing it, perhaps induced him, +in process of time, to treat his attendants.</p> +<p>His ale, without a miracle, was, in a few years, converted into +wine, and that of various sorts; to which was added, a small +collation; and now his friends are complimented with a card, to +meet him at the Hotel, where he incurs an expence of twenty +pounds.</p> +<p>While the spirit of the people refines by intercourse, industry, +and the singular jurisdiction among us, this insignificant pimple, +on our head of government, swells into a wen.</p> +<p>Habits approved are soon acquired: a third entertainment has, of +late years, sprung up, termed <i>the constables feast</i>, with +this difference, <i>it is charged to the public</i>. We may +consider it a wart on the political body, which merits the +caustic.</p> +<p>Deritend, being a hamlet of Birmingham, sends her inhabitants to +the court-leet, where they perform suit and service, and where her +constable is chosen by the same jury.</p> +<p>I shall here exhibit a defective list of our principal officers +during the last century. If it should be objected, that a petty +constable is too insignificant, being the lowest officer of the +crown, for admission into history; I answer, by whatever +appellation an officer is accepted, he cannot be insignificant who +stands at the head of 50,000 people. Perhaps, therefore, the office +of constable may be sought for in future, and the officer himself +assume a superior consequence.</p> +<p>The dates are the years in which they were chosen, fixed by +charter, within thirty days after Michaelmas.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CONSTABLES."></a>CONSTABLES.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>1680</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Simco</td> +<td>John Cottrill</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1681</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Wallaxall</td> +<td>William Guest</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1682</td> +<td> </td> +<td>George Abel</td> +<td>Samuel White</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1683</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Thomas Russell</td> +<td>Abraham Spooner</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1684</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Roger Macham</td> +<td>William Wheely</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1685</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Thomas Cox</td> +<td>John Green</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1686</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Henry Porter</td> +<td>Samuel Carless</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1687</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Samuel Banner</td> +<td>John Jesson</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1690</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Joseph Robinson</td> +<td>John Birch</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1691</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Rogers</td> +<td>Richard Leather</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1692</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Thomas Robins</td> +<td>Corbet Bushell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1693</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Joseph Rann</td> +<td>William Sarjeant</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1694</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Rowland Hall</td> +<td>John Bryerly</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1695</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Richard Scott</td> +<td>George Wells</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1696</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Joseph Haddock</td> +<td>Robert Mansell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1697</td> +<td> </td> +<td>James Greir</td> +<td>John Foster</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1698</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Baker</td> +<td>Henry Camden</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1699</td> +<td> </td> +<td>William Kettle</td> +<td>Thomas Gisborn</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1700</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Wilson</td> +<td>Joseph Allen</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1701</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Nicholas Bakewell</td> +<td>Richard Banner</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1702</td> +<td> </td> +<td>William Collins</td> +<td>Robert Groves</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1703</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Henry Parrot</td> +<td>Benjamin Carless</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1704</td> +<td> </td> +<td>William Brierly</td> +<td>John Hunt</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1705</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Jonathan Seeley</td> +<td>Thomas Holloway</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1706</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Robert Moore</td> +<td>John Savage</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1707</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Isaac Spooner</td> +<td>Samuel Hervey</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1708</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Richard Weston</td> +<td>Thomas Cope</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1709</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Samuel Walford</td> +<td>Thomas Green</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1710</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Foxall</td> +<td>William Norton</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1711</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Stephen Newton</td> +<td>John Taylor</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1712</td> +<td> </td> +<td>William Russel</td> +<td>John Cotterell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1713</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Shaw</td> +<td>Thomas Hallford</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1714</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Randall Bradburn</td> +<td>Joseph May</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1715</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Stephen Newton</td> +<td>Samuel Russell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1716</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Stephen Newton</td> +<td>Joseph Carless</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1717</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Abraham Foxall</td> +<td>William Spilsbury</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1718</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Gisborn</td> +<td>Henry Carver</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1719</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Samuel Hays</td> +<td>Joseph Smith</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1720</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Barnsley</td> +<td>John Humphrys</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1721</td> +<td> </td> +<td>William Bennett</td> +<td>Thomas Wilson</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1722</td> +<td> </td> +<td>John Harrison</td> +<td>Simon Harris</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<a name="Bailiffs"></a> +<h2>A LIST OF THE</h2> +<h2>HIGH BAILIFFS, LOW BAILIFFS, AND CONSTABLES,</h2> +<h2>Of the TOWN of BIRMINGHAM, from 1732, to 1782.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th>YEAR</th> +<th>HIGH BAILIFFS.</th> +<th>LOW BAILIFFS.</th> +<th colspan="2" align="center">CONSTABLES.</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1732</td> +<td>Thomas Wilson</td> +<td>John Webster</td> +<td>Joseph Bradnock</td> +<td>John Wilson</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1733</td> +<td>John Webster</td> +<td>Joseph Kettle</td> +<td>Thomas Nickin</td> +<td>James Baker</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1734</td> +<td>John Wickins</td> +<td>Thomas Lakin</td> +<td>Joseph Scott, esq;<a name="FNanchor2"></a>[<a href="#Footnote_2">2</a>]</td> +<td>James Taylor</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1735</td> +<td>Joseph Marston</td> +<td>John Russell</td> +<td>John Webster</td> +<td>Thomas Ashfield</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1736</td> +<td>Joseph Bradnock</td> +<td>Robert Moore</td> +<td>Thomas Wickins</td> +<td>Joseph Fullelove</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1737</td> +<td>James Baker</td> +<td>Isaac Ingram</td> +<td>John Kettle</td> +<td>Richard Porter</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1738</td> +<td>Joseph Smith</td> +<td>William Mason</td> +<td>William Hunt</td> +<td>Henry Hun</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1739</td> +<td>Thomas Wickens</td> +<td>William Harvey</td> +<td>Edward Burton</td> +<td>John England</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1740</td> +<td>Simon Harris</td> +<td>Thomas Russel</td> +<td>Joseph Richards</td> +<td>T. Honeyborn</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1741</td> +<td>Daniel Gill</td> +<td>George Abney</td> +<td>Thomas Turner</td> +<td>John Bedford</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1742</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1743</td> +<td>Josiah Jefferys</td> +<td>William Kettle</td> +<td>John Russel</td> +<td>Thomas</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1744</td> +<td>George Davies</td> +<td>J. Humphrys, Jr.</td> +<td>William Mason</td> +<td>William Ward</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1745</td> +<td>Edward Burton</td> +<td>Robert Moore</td> +<td>Joseph Wollaston</td> +<td>John Turner</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1746</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1747</td> +<td>Thomas Ashwell</td> +<td>J. Taylor, esq;</td> +<td>Joseph Walker</td> +<td>Josiah Hunt</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1748</td> +<td>Thomas Wickens</td> +<td>John Roe</td> +<td>Robert Moore</td> +<td>John Horton</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1749</td> +<td>Joseph Fullelove</td> +<td>Richard Brett</td> +<td>Henry Hunt</td> +<td>Joseph Ruston</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1750</td> +<td>Thomas Lakin</td> +<td>Joseph Smith</td> +<td>John Gill</td> +<td>Luke Bell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1751</td> +<td>Thomas Turner</td> +<td>Benj. Mansell</td> +<td>John Walters</td> +<td>W. Walsingham</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1752</td> +<td>James Baker</td> +<td>John Taylor</td> +<td>Price Thomas</td> +<td>Joseph Thomas</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1753</td> +<td>E. Jordan, esq;</td> +<td>Samuel Harvey</td> +<td>Samuel Birch</td> +<td>Samuel Richards</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1754</td> +<td>Thomas Cottrell</td> +<td>Joseph Richards</td> +<td>John Bellears</td> +<td>John Camden</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1755</td> +<td>Joseph Walker</td> +<td>John Wells<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a></td> +<td>Stephen Colmore</td> +<td>John Powell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1756</td> +<td>John Bellears</td> +<td>J. Kettle, esq;</td> +<td>Ambrose Foxall</td> +<td>John Gray</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1757</td> +<td>William Patteson</td> +<td>Joseph Webster</td> +<td>J. Darbyshire</td> +<td>Richard Brett</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1758</td> +<td>James Horton</td> +<td>T. Lawrence</td> +<td>Thomas Richards</td> +<td>Sam. Pemberton</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1759</td> +<td>John Walker</td> +<td>Thomas Abney</td> +<td>G. Spilsbury</td> +<td>Edward Weston</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1760</td> +<td>John Turner</td> +<td>Abel Humphrys</td> +<td>Richard Dingley</td> +<td>Web Marriott</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1761</td> +<td>John Baskerville</td> +<td>Stephen Bedford</td> +<td>Michael Lakin</td> +<td>Nehemiah Bague</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1762</td> +<td>Joseph Thomas</td> +<td>James Jackson</td> +<td>George Birch</td> +<td>John Green</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1763</td> +<td>John Gold</td> +<td>John Lee</td> +<td>William Parks</td> +<td>John Daws</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1764</td> +<td>Richard Hicks</td> +<td>J. Ryland</td> +<td>S. Bradburn, esq;</td> +<td>Geo. Anderton</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1765</td> +<td>Thomas Vallant</td> +<td>Sam. Richards</td> +<td>Ed. H. Noble</td> +<td>Elias Wallin</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1766</td> +<td>John Lane</td> +<td>Henry Venour</td> +<td>John Lane</td> +<td>Joseph Adams</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1767</td> +<td>John Horn</td> +<td>Jo. Wilkinson</td> +<td>Richard Rabone</td> +<td>Thomas Care</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1768</td> +<td>Gregory Hicks</td> +<td>W. Russell, esq;</td> +<td>Thomas Bingham</td> +<td>John Moody</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1769</td> +<td>James Male</td> +<td>Samuel Ray</td> +<td>Thomas Gisborne</td> +<td>William Mansell</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1770</td> +<td>Joshua Glover</td> +<td>Thomas Russell</td> +<td>T. Lutwyche</td> +<td>Thomas Barker</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1771</td> +<td>John Harris</td> +<td>J. Hornblower</td> +<td>Thomas Cooper</td> +<td>Walter Salt</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1772</td> +<td>William Holden</td> +<td>Jos. Tyndall</td> +<td>R. Anderton</td> +<td>T. Hunt</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1773</td> +<td>Thomas Westley</td> +<td>John Richards</td> +<td>Ob. Bellamy</td> +<td>John Smart</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1774</td> +<td>John Ward</td> +<td>John Francis</td> +<td>W. Hodgkins</td> +<td>Thomas Wight</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1775</td> +<td>Thomas Hurd</td> +<td>John Taylor, esq;</td> +<td>John Startin</td> +<td>T. Everton</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1776</td> +<td>E.W. Patteson</td> +<td>Josiah Rogers</td> +<td>Thomas Corden</td> +<td>Joseph Wright</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1777</td> +<td>Ed. Thomason</td> +<td>S. Pemberton</td> +<td>Joseph Jukes</td> +<td>Joseph Sheldon</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1778</td> +<td>Joseph Green</td> +<td>William Hunt</td> +<td>Thomas Wright</td> +<td>John Allen<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1779</td> +<td>T. Faulconbridge</td> +<td>W. Humphrys</td> +<td>John Guest</td> +<td>Jonathan Wigley</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1780</td> +<td>Daniel Winwood</td> +<td>William Scott</td> +<td>William Thomas</td> +<td>John Bird</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1781</td> +<td>William Hicks</td> +<td>W. Taylor, esq;</td> +<td>John Dallaway</td> +<td>Richard Porter</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1782</td> +<td>Thomas Carless</td> +<td>G. Humphrys</td> +<td>John Holmes</td> +<td>Thomas Barrs</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> +Joseph Scott, Esq; not choosing the official part, procured a +substitute to perform it, in the person of the late Constable James +Baker.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> +in office, Benjamin Mansell was chosen in his stead.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> +was charged with a fine of 25<i>l</i>. by the lady of the manor, +and John Miles chosen in his stead.</blockquote> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>Three of the Inhabitants have, since I knew the place, served +the Office of SHERIFF for the County, viz.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>John Taylor, Esquire, in</td> +<td>1756.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Edward Jordan, Esquire, in</td> +<td>1757.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>And Isaac Spooner, Esquire, in</td> +<td>1763.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<h2><a name="COURT_OF_REQUESTS."></a>COURT OF REQUESTS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Law is the very basis of civil society, without it man would +quickly return to his original rudeness; the result would be, +robbery and blood:--and even laws themselves are of little moment, +without a due execution of them--there is a necessity to annex +punishment.</p> +<p>But there is no necessity to punish the living, who are +innocent, by hanging the dead bodies of criminals in the air. This +indecent and inhuman custom, which originated from the days of +barbarism, reflects an indelible disgrace upon a civilized age. The +intention, no doubt, was laudable; to prevent the commission of +crimes, but does it answer that intention?</p> +<p>In 1759, two brothers, of the name of Darby, were hung in chains +near Hales-Owen, since which time there has been only one murder +committed in the whole neighbourhood, and that under the very +gibbet upon which they hung<a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5">[5]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> +Joseph Skidmore, a carrier of Stourbridge, having Ann Mansfield, a +young woman of Birmingham, under his care, ravished and murdered +her in the evening of December 10, 1774.</blockquote> +<p>Justice, however, points out a way wherein the dead body, by +conveying chirurgical knowledge, may be serviceable to the +living.</p> +<p>Laws generally tend, either directly, or remotely, to the +protection of property.</p> +<p>All wise legislators have endeavoured to proportion the +punishment to the crime, but never to exceed it: a well conducted +state holds forth a scale of punishments for transgressions of +every dimension, beginning with the simple reprimand, and +proceeding downwards even to death itself.</p> +<p>It will be granted, that the line of equity ought to be drawn +with critical exactness.</p> +<p>If by fair trade, persuasion, or finesse, I get the property of +another into my hands, even to the trifling value of a shilling, my +effects ought to be responsible for that sum.</p> +<p>If I possess no effects, he certainly retains a right of +punishing to that amount: for if we do not lay this line in the +boundaries of strict justice, it will not lie upon any other +ground. And if I am allowed fraud in one shilling, I am allowed it +in a greater sum. How far punishment may be softened by concurring +circumstances, is another question.</p> +<p>It therefore follows of course, that if my creditor has a right +to recover his unfortunate property, those laws are the nearest to +perfection, that will enable him to recover it with the most +expedition, and the least expence and trouble to us both.</p> +<p>If the charge of recovery is likely to exceed the debt, he will +be apt to desist, I to laugh at him, and to try my skill at a +second enterprize.</p> +<p>Trade and credit cannot be well separated; they are as closely +connected as the wax and the paper. The laws of credit, therefore, +ought to rest upon a permanent foundation: neither is law necessary +to restrain credit; for if, in a commercial state, it becomes +detrimental by its over growth, it finds itself a remedy.</p> +<p>Much has been said, and perhaps more than has been thought, +concerning the court before us. The loser is expected to complain, +and his friends to give him a partial hearing; and though he +breathes <i>vengeance</i> against his antagonist, it ends in a +<i>breath</i>.</p> +<p>The looker-on can easily spy an error in the actor. If a fault +is committed, we are glad it was done by another; besides, it is no +new thing for the <i>outs</i> to complain of the <i>ins</i>. It +will plead strongly in excuse, to say, the intention was right, if +the judgment was wrong. If perfection is required, she does not +reside upon earth.</p> +<p>But if these pleadings are not found a balance against +prejudice, and a man suffers his wrath to kindle against a valuable +institution, because perfection does not preside over it, let him +peruse an old author, who asks, "What shall we think of the folly +of that man, who throws away the apple, because it contains a core? +despises the nut, for the shell? or casts the diamond into the sea, +because it has a flaw?"</p> +<p>Decision is usually established upon oath, both in criminal +courts, and in those at Westminster, through which the oath is seen +to pass with free currency.</p> +<p>A judge is sometimes fond of sheltering himself behind an oath; +it may be had at an easy rate. Each of the contending parties +wishes to win his cause by an oath: but though oaths would be +willingly taken, they ought to be sparingly given.--They may be +considered what they generally are not, <i>of the last +importance</i>.</p> +<p>We may observe, that two opponents are ready to swear directly +contrary to each other; that if a man asserts a thing, he can do no +less than swear it; and that, after all, an oath proves +nothing.</p> +<p>The commissioners, therefore, wish rather to establish +<i>fact</i> upon <i>proof</i>; but, if this is wanting, then upon +circumstantial evidence; and if this support fails, they chuse to +finish a quarrel by a moderate, though a random judgment.</p> +<p>Much honor is due to that judicial luminary, William Murray, +Earl of Mansfield, who presides over the King's-Bench, for +introducing equity into the courts of law, where she had long been +a stranger.</p> +<p>The Court of Requests may justly be charged with weakness, and +what court may not? It is inseparable from man.</p> +<p>A person cannot chuse his capacity, but he may chuse to be a +rogue; one is an act of nature, the other of the will. The greater +the temptation to go astray, the greater must be the resolution to +conquer it.</p> +<p>One of the suitors presented a commissioner with a couple of +chickens, as a powerful argument to strengthen a feeble case; but +the commissioner returned his present, and the plaintiff lost his +cause; and no wonder, he sent a chicken to plead it.</p> +<p>The defendant, by disobeying the orders of the court, falls +under the power of the plaintiff, who can cause execution to issue +against his goods, and reimburse himself; or, against his body, and +confine him forty days, unless paid his demand.</p> +<p>There is no cause that can be brought before the Court of +Requests, but may be brought before a higher court, and at a higher +expence.</p> +<p>A cause passes through this court for seventeen-pence; and +cannot well, by chicanery or neglect, amount to more than two +shillings and nine-pence: So that ruin is not one of its +imperfections.</p> +<p>Though law is said to produce quarrels among friends, yet the +contending parties often go out of that court better friends than +when they came in.</p> +<p>It has been objected, that the publicans give credit to the +lower class, in expectation of relief from the court. But the +debtor is equally apprized of the remedy, and often drinks deeper, +in expectation of a mild sentence from the commissioners; besides, +is not all credit founded on the laws of recovery?</p> +<p>It has also been urged, that while punishment pursues the +debtor, for neglect of orders, his family falls upon the +community.</p> +<p>But the community would not wish to put a bar between a man and +his property--The precedent would be dangerous: Justice is no +respector of persons. A culprit will soon procure a family, if they +are able to plead his excuse: It would follow, that single men only +would be obliged to be honest. She does not save the criminal, +because he is an handsome man. If she did, beauty would increase in +value; but honesty, seldom be its companion.</p> +<p>But can accusation lie against a fair tribunal of rectitude? The +man does not exist that can quarrel with equity, and treat her as +the offspring of fraud---The most amiable character in the +creation, and the immediate representative of supreme excellence. +She will be revered, even by the sons of plunder!</p> +<p>Many of the causes that pass this court, are of a disputable +nature, and if not terminated there, would take a different +turn.</p> +<p>From distant views of relief here, even sickness herself finds +credit in the day of distress.</p> +<p>The use of the court is also favourable to trade, for, to oblige +a man to pay his debts, is to oblige him to labour, which improves +the manufactures.</p> +<p>Birmingham, in no period of her existence, has increased with +such rapidity, in people, buildings and commerce, as since the +erection of that court; so that depopulation is not one of its +inconveniencies.</p> +<p>From a consideration of the prodigious intercourse subsisting in +so vast a body of people, and the credit consequent thereon, it was +wisely judged necessary to establish an easy, and expeditious +method of ending dispute, and securing property.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of Birmingham, therefore, in 1752, procured an +act for the recovery of debts under Forty Shillings; constituting +seventy-two commissioners, three to be a quorum. They sit for the +dispatch of business in the chamber over the Old Cross every Friday +morning, and there usually appear before them between eighty and +one hundred causes: Their determinations are final. Two clerks +also, constituted by the act, attend the court to give judicial +assistance; are always of the law, chosen alternately by the lord +of the manor, and the commissioners, and to continue for life. Once +in every two years, ten of the commissioners are ballotted out, and +ten others of the inhabitants chosen in their stead.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LAMP_ACT."></a>LAMP ACT.</h2> +<br> +<p>Order, is preserved by industry. In 1769 an act was obtained, +and in 1773 an amendment of the act, for lighting and cleaning the +streets of Birmingham, and for removing obstructions that were +prejudicial to the health or convenience of the inhabitants.</p> +<p>These acts were committed to the care of about seventy-six +irresolute commissioners, with farther powers of preventing +encroachments upon public ground; for it was justly observed, that +robbery was a work of darkness, therefore to introduce light would, +in some measure, protect property. That in a town like Birmingham, +full of commerce and inhabitants, where necessity leads to +continual action, no part of the twenty four hours ought to be +dark. That, to avoid darkness, is sometimes to avoid insult; and +that by the light of 700 lamps, many unfortunate accidents would be +prevented.</p> +<p>It was also observed, that in a course of time, the buildings in +some of the ancient streets had encroached upon the path, four or +five feet on each side; which caused an irregular line, and made +those streets eight or ten feet narrower, that are now used by +50,000 people, than they were, when used only by a tenth part of +that number; and, that their confined width rendered the passage +dangerous to children, women, and feeble age, particularly on the +market day and Saturday evening.</p> +<p>That if former encroachments could not be recovered, future +ought to be prevented.</p> +<p>And farther, that necessity pleads for a wider street now, than +heretofore, not only because the inhabitants, being more numerous, +require more room, but the buildings being more elevated, obstruct +the light, the sun, and the air, which obstructions tend to +sickness and inconveniency.</p> +<p>Narrow streets with modern buildings are generally dirty, for +want of these natural helps; as Digbeth, St. Martin's-lane, +Swan-alley, Carr's-lane, &c. The narrower the street, the less +it can be influenced by the sun and the wind, consequently, the +more the dirt will abound; and by experimental observations upon +stagnate water in the street, it is found extremely prejudicial to +health. And also, the larger the number of people, the more +necessity to watch over their interest with a guardian eye.</p> +<p>It may farther be remarked, that an act of parliament ought to +distribute justice with an impartial hand, in which case, content +and obedience may reasonably be expected. But the acts before us +carry a manifest partiality, one man claims a right to an +encroachment into the street, of three or four feet, whilst another +is restricted to twelve inches.</p> +<p>This inactive body of seventy-six, who wisely argue against the +annihilation of one evil, because another will remain; had also +powers to borrow a thousand pounds, to purchase and remove some +obstructive buildings; and to defray the expence by a rate on the +inhabitants, which, after deducting about one hundred and twenty +pounds per ann. for deficiencies, amounted in</p> +<blockquote>1774, to 912<i>l</i>.<br> +1775, -- 902<i>l</i>.<br> +1776, -- 947<i>l</i>.<br> +1777, -- 965<i>l</i>.<br> +1778, -- 1,012<i>l</i>.<br> +1779, -- 1,022<i>l</i>.<br> +1780, -- 1,021<i>l</i>.</blockquote> +<p>Though the town was averse to the measure, as an innovation, +they quickly saw its utility, and seemed to wish a more vigorous +exertion of the commissioners; but numbers sometimes procrastinate +design. If it is difficult to find five men of one mind, it is more +difficult to find a superior number. That business which would run +currently through the hands of five, stagnates at fifteen, the +number required.</p> +<p>It is curious to observe a body of commissioners, every one of +whom conducts his own private affairs with propriety and success, +attack a question by the hour, which is as plain as the simplest +proposition in the mathematicks, when not being able to reduce it, +and their ammunition spent, leave the matter undetermined, and +retreat in silence.</p> +<p>In works of manual operation a large number may be necessary, +but in works of direction a small one facilitates dispatch.</p> +<p>Birmingham, a capacious field, by long neglect is over-grown +with encroaching weeds. The gentle commissioners, appointed to +reduce them, behold it an arduous work, are divided in opinion, and +some withdraw the hand from the plough; certainly, <i>the harvest +is great, and the labourers are few</i>. The manorial powers, which +alone could preserve order, have slept for ages. Regularity has +been long extinct. The desire of trespass is so prevalent, that I +have been tempted to question; if it were not for the powers of the +lamp act, feeble as they are, whether the many-headed-public, ever +watchful of prey, would not in another century, devour whole +streets, and totally prevent the passenger. Thus a supine +jurisdiction abounds with <i>street-robbers</i>.</p> +<p>There are cases where the line of the street should inviolably +be preserved, as in a common range of houses; therefore all +projections above a given dimension infringe this rule.</p> +<p>There are other cases where taste would direct this line to be +broken, as in buildings of singular size and construction, which +should be viewed in recess. Those of a public nature generally come +under this description, as the free-school, and the hotel, which +ought to have fallen two or three yards back. What pity, that so +noble an edifice as the theatre in New-street, should lose any of +its beauty, by the prominence of its situation!</p> +<p>As Birmingham abounds with new streets, that were once private +property, it is a question often discussed, In what point of time +the land appropriated for such streets, ceases to be private? But +as this question was never determined, and as it naturally rises +before me, and is of importance, suffer me to examine it.</p> +<p>When building leases are granted, if the road be narrow, as was +lately the case at the West end of New-street, the proprietor +engages to give a certain portion of land to widen it. From that +moment, therefore, it falls to the lot of the public, and is under +the controul of the commissioners, as guardians of public property. +I allow, if within memory, the grantor and the lessees should agree +to cancel the leases, which is just as likely to happen as the +powers of attraction to cease, and the moon to descend from the +heavens; in this case, the land reverts again to its original +proprietor.</p> +<p>Though the streets of Birmingham have for many ages been exposed +to the hand of the encroacher, yet, by a little care, and less +expence, they might in about one century be reduced to a +considerable degree of use and beauty. In what light then shall we +be viewed by the future eye, if we neglect the interest of +posterity?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="RELIGION_AND_POLITICS."></a>RELIGION AND +POLITICS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Although these two threads, like the warp and the woof, are very +distinct things; yet, like them, they are usually woven together. +Each possesses a strength of its own, but when united, have often +become extremely powerful, as in the case of Henry the Third and +the clergy. This union, at times, subsisted from a very early +date.</p> +<p>Power is the idol of man; we not only wish to acquire it, but +also to increase and preserve it. If the magistrate has been too +weak to execute his designs, he has backed his schemes with the aid +of the church; this occurred with King Stephen and the Bishops.</p> +<p>Likewise, if a churchman finds his power ascendant in the human +mind, he still wishes an addition to that power, by uniting +another. Thus the Bishop of Rome, being master of the spiritual +chair, stept also into the temporal.</p> +<p>Sometimes the ecclesiastical and civil governors appear in +malign aspect, or in modern phrase, like a quarrel between the +squire and the rector, which is seldom detrimental to the people. +This was the case with Henry the Eighth and the church.</p> +<p>The curses of a priest hath sometimes brought a people into +obedience to the King, when he was not able to bring them himself. +One could not refrain from smiling, to hear a Bishop curse the +people for obeying their Sovereign, and in a few months after, +curse them again if they did not; which happened in the reign of +King John. But, happy for the world, that these retail dealers in +the wrath of heaven are become extinct, and the market is over.</p> +<p>Birmingham, in those remote periods of time, does not seem to +have attended so much to religious and political dispute, as to the +course music of her hammer. Peace seems to have been her +characteristic--She paid obedience to that Prince had the good +fortune to possess the throne, and regularly paid divine honours in +St. Martin's, because there was no other church. Thus, through the +long ages of Saxon, Danish, and Norman government, we hear of no +noise but that of the anvil, till the reign of Henry the Third, +when her Lord joined the Barons against the Crown, and drew after +him some of his mechanics, to exercise the very arms they had been +taught to make; and where, at the battle of Evesham, he staked his +life and his fortune, and lost both.</p> +<p>Things quickly returning into their former channel, she stood a +silent spectator during that dreadful contest between the two +roses, pursuing the tenor of still life till the civil wars of +Charles I. when she took part with the Parliament, some of whose +troops were stationed here, particularly at the Garrison and +Camp-hill; the names of both originating in that circumstance.</p> +<p>Prince Rupert, as hinted before, approaching Birmingham in 1643 +with a superior power, forced the lines, and as a punishment set +fire to the town. His vengeance burned fiercely in Bull-street, and +the affrighted inhabitants quenched the flames with a heavy +fine.</p> +<p>In 1660, she joined the wish of the kingdom, in the restoration +of the Stuart family. About this time, many of the curious +manufactures began to blossom in this prosperous garden of the +arts.</p> +<p>In 1688, when the nation chose to expel a race of Kings, though +replete with good nature, because they had forgot the limits of +justice ; our peaceable sons of art, wisely considering, that +oppression and commerce, like oil and water, could never unite, +smiled with the rest of the kingdom at the landing of the Prince of +Orange, and exerted their little assistance towards effecting the +Revolution, notwithstanding the lessons of <i>divine right</i> had +been taught near ninety years.</p> +<p>In the reign of Queen Anne, when that flaming luminary, Dr. +Sacheverel, set half the kingdom in blaze, the inhabitants of this +region of industry caught the spark of the day, and grew warm for +the church--They had always been inured to <i>fire</i>, but now we +behold them between <i>two</i>.</p> +<p>As the doctor rode in triumph through the streets of Birmingham, +this flimsy idol of party snuffed up the incense of the populace, +but the more sensible with held their homage; and when he preached +at Sutton Coldfield, where he had family connections, the people of +Birmingham crowded in multitudes round his pulpit. But it does not +appear that he taught his hearers to <i>build up Zion</i>, but +perhaps to pull her down; for they immediately went and gutted a +meeting-house.</p> +<p>It is easy to point out a time when it was dangerous to have +been of the established church, and I have here pointed out one, +when it was dangerous to profess any other.</p> +<p>We are apt to think the zeal of our fathers died with them, for +I have frequently beheld with pleasure, the churchman, the +presbyterian, and the quaker uniting their efforts, like brethren, +to carry on a work of utility. The bigot of the last age casts a +malicious sneer upon the religion of another, but the man of this +passes a joke upon his own.</p> +<p>A sameness in religious sentiment is no more to be expected, +than a sameness of face. If the human judgment varies in almost +every subject of plain knowledge, how can it be fixed in this, +composed of mystery?</p> +<p>As the true religion is ever that which a man professes himself, +it is necessary to enquire, What means, he that is right may use, +to convert him that is wrong?</p> +<p>As the whole generations of faggot and torture, are extinct in +this age of light, there seems only to remain fair arguments +founded in reason, and these can only be brought as evidences upon +the trial: The culprit himself, <i>by indefeasible right +divine</i>, will preside as the judge. Upon a close enquiry it will +be found, that his sentiments are as much his private property, as +the coat that covers him, or the life which that coat incloses.</p> +<p>Is there not as much reason to punish my neighbour for differing +in opinion from me, as to punish me, because I differ from him? Or, +is there any to punish either?</p> +<p>If a man's sentiments and practice in religious matters, appear +even absurd, provided society is not injured, what right hath the +magistrate to interfere?</p> +<p>The task is as easy to make the stream run upwards, as to form a +nation of one mind. We may pronounce with confidence, an age of +bigotry is no age of philosophy.</p> +<p>The gentle hand of Brunswick, had swayed the British sceptre +near half a century, ere all the sons of science in this meridian, +were compleatly reconciled to this favourite line.</p> +<p>But unanimity, with benign aspect, seems now the predominant +star of the zenith: A friendly intercourse succeeds suspicion. The +difference of sentiment, that once created jealousy, now excites a +smile; and the narrow views of our forefathers are prudently +expanded.</p> +<br> +<a name="image04.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image04.jpg"><img src= +"images/image04.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>St. John's Chapel, Deritend</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PLACES_OF_WORSHIP."></a>PLACES OF WORSHIP.</h2> +<br> +<p>In a town like Birmingham, unfettered with charteral laws; which +gives access to the stranger of every denomination, for he here +finds a freedom by birthright; and where the principles of +toleration are well understood, it is no wonder we find various +modes of worship. The wonder consists in finding such +<i>agreement</i>, in such variety.</p> +<p>We have fourteen places for religious exercise, six of the +established church, three dissenting meeting houses, a quakers, +baptist, methodist, roman catholic, and jewish. Two of these only +are churches, of which elsewhere.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_JOHNS_CHAPEL"></a>SAINT JOHN'S CHAPEL,</h2> +<h2>DERITEND.</h2> +<br> +<p>This, tho' joining to the parish of Birmingham, is a chapel of +ease belonging to Aston, two miles distant. Founded in the fifth of +Richard the Second, 1382.</p> +<p>This chapel does not, like others in Birmingham, seem to have +been erected first, and the houses brought round it: It appears, by +its extreme circumscribed latitude, to have been founded upon the +scite of other buildings, which were purchased, or rather given, by +Sir John de Birmingham, Lord of Deritend, and situated upon the +boundaries of the manor, perhaps to accommodate in some measure the +people of Digbeth; because the church in Birmingham must, for +many-ages, have been too small for the inhabitants.</p> +<p>Time seems to have worn out that building of 1382; in the +windows of which were the arms of Lord Dudley, and Dudley empaling +Barckley, both knights of the garter, descended from the Somery's, +Barons of Dudley-castle: Also a whole figure of Walter Arden, Esq; +of ancient family, often mentioned, Lord of Bordesley.</p> +<p>The present building was erected in 1735, and the steeple in +1762. In 1777 eight of the most musical bells, together with a +clock, entered the steeple. The present chaplain, the Rev. Thomas +Cox--Income 80<i>l</i>.</p> +<br> +<a name="image05.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image05.jpg"><img src= +"images/image05.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>St. Bartholomew's Chapel</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_BARTHOLOMEWS"></a>SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S.</h2> +<br> +<p>Built in 1749, on the east side of the town, will accommodate +about 800 hearers; is neat and elegant. The land was the gift of +John Jennens, Esq; of Copsal, in the county of Leicester, possessor +of a considerable estate in and near Birmingham.</p> +<p>By the solicitation of Mrs. Weaman, Mrs. Jennens gave +1000<i>l</i>. and the remainder was raised by contribution to +accomplish the building.</p> +<p>Wherever a chapel is erected, the houses immediately, as if +touched by the wand of magic, spring into existence. Here is a +spacious area for interment, amply furnished by death. The infant +steeple, if it will bear the name, is very small but beautiful.</p> +<p>The chancel hath this singular difference from others--that it +veres towards the North. Whether the projector committed an error, +I leave to the critics.</p> +<p>It was the general practice of the Pagan church to fix their +altar, upon which they sacrificed, in the East, towards the rising +sun, the object of worship.</p> +<p>The Christian church, in the time of the Romans, immediately +succeeded the Pagan, and scrupulously adopted the same method; +which has been strictly adhered to.</p> +<p>By what obligation the Christian is bound to follow the Pagan, +or wherein a church would be injured by being directed to any of +the thirty-two points in the compass, is doubtful. Certain it is, +if the chancel of Bartholomew's had tended due East, the eye would +have been exceedingly hurt, and the builder would have raised an +object of ridicule for ages. The ground will admit of no situation +but that in which the church now stands. But the inconsiderate +architect of Deritend chapel, anxious to catch the Eastern point, +lost the line of the street: we may therefore justly pronounce, +<i>be sacrificed to the East</i>. Other enormities also, of little +moment, have issued from the same fountain.</p> +<p>The altar piece was the gift of Basil Earl of Denbigh; and the +communion plate, consisting of 182 ounces, that of Mary Carless. +Income 100<i>l</i>.--Rev. William Jabbitt, chaplain.</p> +<br> +<a name="image06.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image06.jpg"><img src= +"images/image06.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>St. Mary's Chapel.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_MARYS"></a>SAINT MARY's.</h2> +<br> +<p>Though the houses for divine worship were multiplied in +Birmingham, yet the inhabitants increased in a greater proportion; +so that in 1772 an act was obtained for two additional chapels.</p> +<p>St. Mary's, therefore, was erected in 1774, in the octagon form, +not overcharged with light nor strength; in an airy situation and +taste, but shews too little steeple, and too much roof. If a light +balustrade was raised over the parapet, with an urn in the centre +of the roof, the eye of the observer would be relieved.</p> +<p>The clock was seldom seen to go right, but the wonder ceases if +there are NO WORKS within.</p> +<p>The land was the gift of Mary Weaman, in whom is the +presentation, who inducted the Rev. John Riland. Annual income +about 200<i>l</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_PAULS"></a>SAINT PAUL's.</h2> +<br> +<p>The act was procured for this chapel at the same time as for +that of St. Mary's; but it was not erected till 1779, upon a spot +of ground given by Charles Colmore, Esq; upon the declivity of a +hill, not altogether suitable for the elegant building it sustains, +which is of stone--plain beauty unites with strength.</p> +<p>This roof, like that of St. Mary's, appears also too full. The +steeple intended for this useful edifice, will do honour to the +modern stile of architecture, whenever money can be procured to +erect it; which at present is only delineated upon paper.</p> +<p>Chaplain, the Rev. William Toy Young.--Income nearly as St. +Mary's.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="OLD_MEETING."></a>OLD MEETING.</h2> +<br> +<p>After the extinction of the Stuart race, who bore an invincible +hatred to presbyterianism, the dissenters from the establishment +procured a licence for a meeting at the bottom of Digbeth, which +yet bears the name of Meeting-house-yard. Here the rigid sons of +worship paid a weekly attendance. The place is now a work-shop: The +sound of the pulpit is changed into that of the bellows: Instead of +an impression upon the heart, it is now stamped upon the button. +The visitants used to appear in a variety of colours, but now +always in black.</p> +<br> +<a name="image07.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image07.jpg"><img src= +"images/image07.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>St. Paul's Chapel</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="image08a.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image08a.jpg"><img src= +"images/image08a.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>New Meeting.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="image08b.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image08b.jpg"><img src= +"images/image08b.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Old Meeting.</b></p> +<br> +<p>Another was erected in the reign of King William, now +denominated The Old Meeting, and from whence the street in which it +stands derives a name. This is large, and much attended.</p> +<p>Pastor, the Rev. Radcliff Scoldfield.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="NEW_MEETING."></a>NEW MEETING.</h2> +<br> +<p>Erected in the year 1730, at which time that in Digbeth went +into disuse. This is in a stile of elegance, and has few equals. +The Rev. Samuel Blyth, and the Rev. William Hawkes preside over +it.</p> +<p>In December 1780, Mr. Hawkes declining the pastoral care, the +congregation judiciously turned their thoughts towards the +celebrated Doctor Priestley, F.R.S. one of the first philosophers +of the age; whose merit seems obvious to every eye but his own.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CARRS_LANE_MEETING"></a>CARR's LANE MEETING.</h2> +<br> +<p>A scion of the Old Meeting, transplanted in 1748--The building +cost about 700<i>l</i>. This society hath been favoured with two +donations; one the interest of 800<i>l</i>. by the will of John +England, in 1771: The other Scott's Trust, mentioned in another +part.</p> +<p>This residence of divine light is totally eclipsed, by being +surrounded with about forty families of paupers, crouded almost +within the compass of a giant's span, which amply furnish the +congregation with noise, smoak, dirt and dispute. If the place +itself is the road to heaven, the stranger would imagine, that the +road to the place led to something worse: The words, <i>Strait is +the gate, and narrow is the way</i>, are here literally +verified.--Pastor, the Rev. John Punfield.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BAPTIST_MEETING."></a>BAPTIST MEETING.</h2> +<br> +<p>Founded in Cannon-street, 1738. This hill of Zion is also hid +from the public eye, but situated in a purer air.--The minister was +the late Rev. James Turner.</p> +<p>Some trifling differences arising in the congregation, to which +the human mind is everlastingly prone, caused discontent: +Individuals began to sting each other, which in 1745, produced a +swarm.</p> +<p>The destitute wanderers therefore, erected for themselves a +small cell in Freeman-street, where they hived in expectation of +harmony. Over this little society of separatists presided a +journeyman woolcomber: What elevation he bore in the comb-shop, +during six days of the week, history is silent; but having the good +fortune to procure a black coat and a white wig, he figured on the +seventh with parsonic elegance.</p> +<p>Whether <i>he</i> fed his people best, or <i>they</i> him, is +uncertain; but whether they starved one another, is not. Disgust, +which ever waits upon disappointment, appeared among them.</p> +<p>Though the preacher was certainly warmed in the shop, <i>with a +live coal from the altar</i>; yet unfortunately, Sunday was the +only day in which his <i>fire</i> was extinguished; <i>then</i> the +priest and the people hit the taste of the day, and slumbered +together; a priviledge never granted by a <i>reader</i> to an +<i>author</i>. Thus the boasted <i>liberty of the press</i> submits +to that of the pulpit.</p> +<p>This exalted shepherd dwelt upon the words of Paul, <i>He that +preaches the gospel, ought to subsist by the gospel;</i> and +<i>they</i> did not forget a portion in John, <i>Feed my sheep</i>. +The word, he well knew, promised both wine and <i>oil</i>, but he +was obliged to be satisfied with the latter.</p> +<p>Although the teacher might possess some <i>shining qualities</i> +at the combe-pot, he did not possess that of protecting his flock, +who in 1752, silently retreated to their original fold in +Cannon-street; and the place was soon after converted into a +dwelling, No. 16, when for the first time it produced +<i>profit</i>.</p> +<p>The growing numbers of this prosperous society induced them, in +1780, to enlarge the place of worship, at the expence of about +800<i>l</i>. in which is observable some beauty, but more +conveniency.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="QUAKERS_MEETING"></a>QUAKER's MEETING</h2> +<br> +<p>In Bull-street. A large convenient place, and notwithstanding +the plainness of the profession rather elegant. The congregation is +very flourishing, rich, and peaceable. Chandler tells us, to the +everlasting honour of the Quakers, that they are the only christian +sect who have never exercised the cruel weapon of persecution.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="METHODISTS_MEETING"></a>METHODIST's MEETING.</h2> +<br> +<p>We learn from ecclesiastical history, that the people in high +life are always <i>followers</i> in religion. Though they are the +best leaders in political and social concerns, yet all religions +seem to originate from the lowest class. Every religion is first +obstructed by violence, passes through the insults of an age, then +rests in peace, and often takes up the rod against another.</p> +<p>The first preachers of the christian faith, the short-sighted +apostles, were men of the meanest occupations, and their church, a +wretched room in a miserable tenement. The superb buildings of St. +Peter's in Rome, and St. Paul's in London, used by their followers, +were not within the reach of their penetration. They were also +totally ignorant of tripple crowns, red hats, mitres, crosiers, +robes, and rochets, well known to their successors.</p> +<p>The religion of a private room, soon became the religion of a +country: the church acquired affluence, for all churches hate +poverty; and this humble church, disturbed for ages, became the +church of Rome, the disturber of Europe.</p> +<p>John Wickliff, in 1377, began to renew her disturbance: this +able theologist planted our present national church, which +underwent severe persecutions, from its mother church at Rome; but, +rising superior to the rod, and advancing to maturity, she became +the mother of a numerous offspring, which she afterwards persecuted +herself; and this offspring, like <i>their</i> mother, were much +inclined to persecution.</p> +<p>Puritanism, her first born, groaned under the pressure of her +hand. The Baptists, founded by a taylor, followed, and were +buffeted by both.--Independency appeared, ponderous as an elephant, +and trampled upon all three.</p> +<p>John Fox, a composition of the oddest matter, and of the meanest +original, formed a numerous band of disciples, who suffered the +insults of an age, but have carried the arts of prudence to the +highest pitch.</p> +<p>The Muglitonians, the Prophets, the Superlapsarians, &c. +like untimely births, just saw the light and disappeared.</p> +<p>The Moravians, under the influence of Zinzendorf, rose about +1740, but are not in a flourishing state; their circumscribed +rules, like those of the cloister, being too much shackled to +thrive in a land of freedom.</p> +<p>James Sandiman introduced a religion, about 1750, but, though +eclipsed himself by poverty, he taught his preachers to shine; for +he allowed them to grace the pulpit with ruffles, lace, and a +cueque. Birmingham cannot produce one professor of the two last +churches.</p> +<p>The christian religion has branched into more sectaries in the +last two hundred years, than in the fifteen hundred before--the +reason is obvious. During the tedious reign of the Romish priest, +before the introduction of letters, knowledge was small, and he +wished to confine that knowledge to himself: he substituted mystery +for science, and led the people blindfold. But the printing-press, +though dark in itself, and surrounded with yet <i>darker</i> +materials, diffused a ray of light through the world, which enabled +every man to read, think, and judge for himself; hence diversity of +opinion, and the absurdity of reducing a nation to one faith, +vainly attempted by Henry VIII.</p> +<p>In those distant ages, the priest had great influence, with +little knowledge; but in these, great knowledge, with little +influence. He was then revered according to his authority; but now, +according to his merit: he shone in a borrowed, but now in a real +lustre: then he was less deserving; but now less esteemed. The +humble christian, in the strictest sense, worked out his salvation +with fear and trembling, and with tools furnished by the priest: he +built upon his opinions, but now he lays a foundation for his +own.</p> +<p>Though we acknowledge the scriptures our guide, we take the +liberty to guide them; we torture them to our own sentiments. +Though we allow their <i>equal</i> weight, we suffer one portion to +weigh down another. If we attend to twenty disputants, not one of +them will quote a text which militates against his sentiments.</p> +<p>The artillery of vengeance was pointed at Methodism for thirty +years; but, fixed as a rock, it could never be beaten down, and its +professors now enjoy their sentiments in quiet.</p> +<p>After the institution of this sect by George Whitfield, in 1738, +they were first covered by the heavens, equally exposed to the rain +and the rabble, and afterwards they occupied, for many years, a +place in Steelhouse-lane, where the wags of the age observed, "they +were eat out by the bugs."--They therefore procured a cast off +theatre in Moor-street, where they continued to exhibit till 1782; +when, quitting the stage, they erected a superb meeting-house, in +Cherry-street, at the expence of 1200<i>l</i>. This was opened, +July 7, by John Wesley, the chief priest, whose extensive +knowledge, and unblemished manners, give us a tolerable picture of +apostolic purity; who <i>believes</i>, as if he were to be saved by +faith; and who <i>labours</i>, as if he were to be saved by +works.</p> +<p>Thus our composite order of religion, an assemblage of the +Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Independent, and the Baptist; +fled from the buffetings of the vulgar, and now take peaceable +shelter from the dews of heaven.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ROMISH_CHAPEL."></a>ROMISH CHAPEL.</h2> +<br> +<p>I have already remarked, there is nothing which continues in the +same state: the code of manners, habits of thinking, and of +expression, modes of living, articles of learning; the ways of +acquiring wealth, or knowledge; our dress, diet, recreations, +&c. change in every age.</p> +<p>But why is there a change in religion? eternal truth, once +fixed, is everlastingly the same. Religion is purity, which, one +would think, admits of no change; if it changes, we should doubt +whether it is religion. But a little attention to facts will inform +us, <i>there is nothing more changable:</i> nor need we wonder, +because, man himself being changable, every thing committed to his +care will change with him. We may plead his excuse, by observing, +his sight is defective: he may be deceived by viewing an object in +one light, or attitude, to-day, and another, to-morrow. This +propensity to change might lead us to suspect the authenticity of +our own sentiments.</p> +<p>The apostles certainly formed the church of Rome; but she, +having undergone the variations of seventeen hundred years, St. +Peter himself, should he return to the earth, could not discover +one linament in her aspect; but would be apt to reject her as a +changling.</p> +<p>The church of England has not only undergone a change since the +reformation, but wishes a greater.</p> +<p>We should suppose the puritan of 1583, and the dissenter of +1783, were the same: but although substance and shadow exactly +resemble each other, no two things differ more.</p> +<p>When pride sends a man in quest of a religion, if he does not +discover something new, he might as well stay at home: nothing near +the present standard can take. Two requisites are necessary to +found a religion, capacity, and singularity: no fool ever +succeeded. If his talents are not above mediocrity, he will not be +able to draw the crowd; and if his doctrines are not singular, the +crowd will not be drawn--novelty pleases.</p> +<p>Having collected, and brightened up a set of doctrines, wide of +every other church, he fixes at a distance from all. But time, and +unavoidable intercourse with the world, promote a nearer +approximation; and, mixing with men, we act like men. Thus the +Quaker under George III. shews but little of the Quaker under +George Fox.</p> +<p>In two congregations of the same profession, as in two twins of +the same family, though there is a striking likeness, the curious +observer will trace a considerable difference.</p> +<p>In a religion, as well as a man, <i>there is a time to be born, +and a time to die</i>. They both vary in aspect, according to the +length of their existence, carry the marks of decline, and sink +into obscurity.</p> +<p>We are well informed how much the Romish religion has declined +in this country: three hundred years ago Birmingham did not produce +one person of another persuasion; but now, out of 50,000 people, we +have not 300 of this.</p> +<p>The Roman Catholics formerly enjoyed a place for religious +worship near St. Bartholomew's-chapel, still called Masshouse-lane; +but the rude hands of irreligion destroyed it. There is now none +nearer than Edgbaston, two miles distant; yet the congregation is +chiefly supplied from Birmingham.</p> +<p>If the Roman Catholics are not so powerful as in the sixteenth +century, they seem as quiet, and as little addicted to knowledge; +perhaps they have not yet learned to see through any eyes but those +of the priest.--There appears, however, as much devotion in their +public worship, as among any denomination of christians.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="JEWISH_SYNAGOGUE."></a>JEWISH SYNAGOGUE.</h2> +<br> +<p>We have also among us a remnant of Israel. A people who, when +masters of their own country, were scarcely ever known to travel, +and who are now seldom employed in any thing else. But, though they +are ever moving, they are ever at home: who once lived the +favourites of heaven, and fed upon the cream of the earth; but now +are little regarded by either: whose society is entirely confined +to themselves, except in the commercial line.</p> +<br> +<a name="image09.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image09.jpg"><img src= +"images/image09.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a></p> +<br> +<p>In the Synagogue, situated in the Froggery, they still preserve +the faint resemblence of the ancient worship. Their whole apparatus +being no more than the drooping ensigns of poverty. The place is +rather small, but tolerably filled; where there appears less +decorum than in the christian churches. The proverbial expression +"as rich as a jew," is not altogether verified in Birmingham, but +perhaps, time is transfering it to the Quakers.</p> +<p>It is rather singular, that the honesty of a jew, is seldom +pleaded but by the jew himself.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THEATRES."></a>THEATRES.</h2> +<br> +<p>The practice of the Theatre is of great antiquity. We find it in +great repute among the Greeks; we also find, the more a nation is +civilized, the more they have supported the stage. It seems +designed for two purposes, improvement and entertainment.</p> +<p>There are certain exuberances that naturally grow in religion, +government, and private life which may with propriety be attacked +by the poet and the comedian, but which can scarcely be reduced by +any other power. While the stage therefore keeps this great end in +view, it answers a valuable purpose to the community. The poet +should use his pen to reform, not to indulge a corrupt age, as was +the case in the days of Charles the Second, when indecency was +brought on to raise the laugh.</p> +<p>Perhaps there is no period of time in which the stage was less +polluted, owing to the inimitable Garrick, than the present: +notwithstanding there is yet room for improvement.</p> +<p>Tragedy is to melt the heart, by exhibiting the unfortunate; +satiate revenge, by punishing the unjust tyrant: To discard vice, +and to keep undue passions within bounds.</p> +<p>Comedy holds up folly in a ridiculous light: Whatever conduct or +character is found in the regions of absurdity, furnishes proper +materials for the stage; and out of these, the pen of a master will +draw many useful lessons.</p> +<p>The pulpit and the stage have nearly the same use, but not in +the same line--That of improving the man.</p> +<p>The English stage opened about the conquest, and was wholly +confined to religion; in whose service it continued, with very +little intermission, to the extinction of the Plantagenets. The +play-houses were the churches, the principal actors the priests, +and the performances taken from scripture; such as the Fall of Man, +the Story of Joseph, Sampson, Histories of the Saints, the +Sufferings of Christ, Resurrection, Day of Judgment, &c.</p> +<p>Theatrical exhibition in Birmingham, is rather of a modern date. +As far as memory can penetrate, the stroller occupied, +occasionally, a shed of boards in the fields, now Temple-street: +Here he acted the part of Distress, in a double capacity. The +situation was afterwards changed, but not the eminence, and the +Hinkleys dignified the performers booth!</p> +<p>In about 1730, the amusements of the stage rose in a superior +stile of elegance, and entered something like a stable in +Castle-street. Here the comedian strutted in painted rags, +ornamented with tinsel: The audience raised a noisy laugh, half +real and half forced, at three-pence a head.</p> +<p>In about 1740, a theatre was erected in Moor-street, which +rather gave a spring to the amusement; in the day time the comedian +beat up for volunteers for the night, delivered his bills of fare, +and roared out an encomium on the excellence of the entertainment, +which had not always the desired effect.</p> +<p>In 1751, a company arrived, which anounced themselves, "His +Majesty's servants, from the theatres-royal in London; and hoped +the public would excuse the ceremony of the drum, as beneath the +dignity of a London company." The novelty had a surprising effect; +the performers had merit; the house was continually crouded; the +general conversation turned upon theatrical exhibition, and the +town was converted into one vast theatre.</p> +<p>In 1752 it was found necessary to erect a larger theatre, that +in King Street, and we multiplied into two London companies.</p> +<p>The pulpits took the alarm, and in turn, roared after their +customers: But the pious teachers forgot it was only the fervour of +a day, which would cool of itself; that the fiercer the fire burns, +the sooner it will burn out.</p> +<p>This declaration of war, fortunately happening at the latter end +of summer, the campaign was over, and the company retreated into +winter quarters, without hostilities.</p> +<p>It was afterwards found, that two theatres were more than the +town chose to support; therefore that in Moor-street was set for a +methodist meeting, where, it was said, though it changed its +audience, it kept its primeval use, continuing the theatre of +farce.</p> +<p>In 1774, the theatre in King-street was enlarged, beautified, +and made more convenient; so that it hath very few equals.</p> +<p>About the same time that in New-street was erected upon a +suitable spot, an extensive plan, and richly ornamented with +paintings and scenery.--Expence seems the least object in +consideration.</p> +<p>An additional and superb portico, was erected in 1780, which +perhaps may cause it to be pronounced, "One of the first theatres +in Europe."</p> +<p>Two busts, in relief, of excellent workmanship, are elevated +over the attic windows; one is the father, and the other the +refiner of the British, stage--Shakespear and Garrick.</p> +<p>Also two figures eight feet high, are said to be under the +chissel, one of Thalia, and the other of Melpomene, the comic and +the tragic muses; the value one hundred and sixty guineas. Places +are reserved for their reception, to augment the beauty of the +front, and shew the taste of the age.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="AMUSEMENTS."></a>AMUSEMENTS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Man seems formed for variety, whether we view him in a rational +or an animal light. A sameness of temper, habit, diet, pursuit, or +pleasure, is no part of his character. The different ages of his +life, also produce different sentiments; that which gives us the +highest relish in one period, is totally flat in another. The +rattle that pleases at three, would be cast into the fire at +threescore: The same hand that empties the purse at twenty, would +fill it at fifty: In age, he bends his knee to the same religion, +which he laughed at in youth: The prayer book, that holds the +attention of seventy, holds the lottery pictures of seven: And the +amorous tale that awakes the ideas of twenty five, lulls old age to +sleep.</p> +<p>Not only life is productive of change, but also every day in it. +If a man would take a minute survey of his thoughts and +employments, for only twenty-four hours, he would be astonished at +their infinite variety.</p> +<p>Though industry be the ruling passion of this ingenious race, +yet relaxation must follow, as one period to another. Society is +therefore justly esteemed an everlasting fund of amusement, which +is found at the tavern, in the winter evening: Intoxication is +seldom met with, except in the inferior ranks, where it is visible +in both sexes.</p> +<p>A regular concert is established, where the music is allowed to +excel. This harmonious science, like other productions of taste, +though it be not the general study of the inhabitants, hath made an +amazing progress during the last thirty years.</p> +<p>In 1777, a coffee-house was opened at the East end of +New-street, the first in this department; which, drawing into its +vortex the transactions of Europe, finds employment for the +politician.</p> +<p>Assemblies are held weekly, which give room for beauty to figure +at cards, in conversation, and in the dance.</p> +<p>The pleasures of the field claim their votaries, but, in a +populous country, like that of Birmingham, plenty of game is not to +be expected; for want of wild fowl, therefore, the shooter has been +sometimes known to attack the tame.</p> +<p>However, the farmer need not be under any great concern for his +property; the sportsman seldom does any thing with his +arms--but--<i>carry them</i>. We are more famous for <i>making</i>, +than <i>using</i> the gun.</p> +<p>A pack of hounds have sometimes been kept by subscription, +termed, The Birmingham Hunt; but, as the sound of the dogs and the +anvil never harmonised together, they have been long in disuse: the +jocund tribe, therefore, having no scent of their own, fall into +that of the neighbouring gentry, many of whom support a pack.</p> +<p>The man of reflection finds amusement in domestic resources; +and, in his own mind, if unoppressed. Here the treasures collected +from men, books, and observation, <i>are laid up for many +years</i>, from which he draws pleasure, without diminishing the +flock. The universal riches of nature and of art; the part, the +present, and a glympse of the future, lie open to his eye.</p> +<p>Two obstructions only bound his ideas, <i>time</i> and +<i>space</i>. He steps from planet to planet, and if he cannot +enter immensity, he can verge upon its borders.</p> +<p>I pity the man, who through poverty, cannot find warmth by his +own fire-side; but I pity him more, who, through poverty of +thought, cannot find happiness.</p> +<p>For the entertainment of summer, exclusive of the two theatres, +there are five greens, where the gentlemen are amused with bowls, +and the ladies with tea.</p> +<p>There are also great variety of public gardens, suited to every +class of people, or which Duddeston, the ancient seat of the Holte +family, claims the pre-eminence.</p> +<p>The fishing-rod, that instrument which <i>destroys in peace</i>, +must find a place: other animals are followed with fire and tumult, +but the fishes are entrapped with deceit. Of all the sportsmen, we +charge the angler alone with <i>killing in cold blood</i>.</p> +<p>Just as a pursuit abounds with pleasure, so will it abound with +votaries. The pleasure of angling depends on the success of the +line: this art is but little practised here, and less known. Our +rivers are small, and thinly stored; our pools are guarded as +private property: the Birmingham spirit is rather too active for +the sleepy amusement of fishing.</p> +<p>Patience seems the highest accomplishment of an angler. We +behold him, fixed as a statue, on the bank; his head inclining +towards the river, his attention upon the water, his eye upon the +float; he often draws, and draws only his hook! But although he +gets no bite, it may fairly be said <i>he is bit:</i> of the two, +the fish display the most cunning.--He, surprized that he has +<i>caught nothing</i>, and I, that he has kept his rod and his +patience.</p> +<p>Party excursion is held in considerable esteem, in which are +included Enville, the seat of Lord Stamford; Hagley, that of the +late Lord Lyttelton; and the Leasowes, the property of the late Wm. +Shenstone, Esq. We will omit the journey to London, a tour which +some of us have made all our lives <i>without seeing it</i>.</p> +<p>Cards and the visit are linked together, nor is the billiard +table totally forsaken. One man amuses himself in amassing a +fortune, and another in dissolving one.</p> +<p>About thirty-six of the inhabitants keep carriages for their own +private use; and near fifty have country houses. The relaxations of +the humbler class, are fives, quoits, skittles, and ale.</p> +<p>Health and amusement are found in the prodigious number of +private gardens scattered round Birmingham, from which we often +behold the father returning with a cabbage, and the daughter with a +nosegay.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="HOTEL."></a>HOTEL.</h2> +<br> +<p>The spot where our great-grandmothers smiled in the lively +dance, when they possessed the flower of beauty in the spring of +life, is lost in forgetfulness. The floor that trembled under that +foot which was covered with a leather shoe tied with a silken +string, and which supported a stocking of dark blue worsted, not of +the finest texture, is now buried in oblivion.</p> +<br> +<a name="image10.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image10.jpg"><img src= +"images/image10.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Hotel.</b></p> +<br> +<p>In 1750 we had two assembly rooms; one at No. 11. in the Square, +the other No. 85. in Bull-street. This last was not much in use +afterwards. That in the Square continued in repute till in the +course of that evening which happened in October 1765, when Edward +Duke of York had the honour of leading up the dance, and the ladies +of Birmingham enjoyed that of the Duke's hand, He remarked, "That a +town of such magnitude as Birmingham, and adorned with so much +beauty, deserved a superior accomodation:--That the room itself was +mean, but the entrance still meaner."</p> +<p>Truth is ever the same, whether it comes from a prince or a +peasant; but its effects are not. Whether some secret charm +attended the Duke's expression, that blasted the room, is +uncertain, but it never after held its former eminence.</p> +<p>In 1772 a building was erected by subscription, upon the Tontine +principle, at the head of Temple row, and was dignified with the +French name of Hotel: From a handsome, entrance the ladies are now +led through a spacious saloon, at the extremity of which the eye is +struck with a grand flight of steps, opening into an assembly-room, +which would not disgrace even the royal presence of the Duke's +brother.</p> +<p>The pile itself is large, plain, and elegant, but standing in +the same line with the other buildings, which before were really +genteel, eclipses them by its superiority: Whereas, if the Hotel +had fallen a few feet back, it would, by breaking the line, have +preserved the beauty of the row, without losing its own.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WAKES."></a>WAKES.</h2> +<br> +<p>This ancient custom was left us by the Saxons. Time, that makes +alteration only in other customs, has totally inverted this.</p> +<p>When a church was erected, it was immediately called after a +saint, put under his protection, and the day belonging to that +saint kept in the church as an high festival. In the evening +preceding the day, the inhabitants, with lights, approached the +church, and kept a continual devotion during the whole night; hence +the name <i>wake</i>: After which they entered into festivity.</p> +<p>But now the devotional part is forgot, the church is deserted, +and the festivity turned into riot, drunkenness, and mischief.</p> +<p>Without searching into the mouldy records of time, for evidence +to support our assertion, we may safely pronounce the wake the +lowest of all low amusements, and compleatly suited to the lowest +of tempers.</p> +<p>Wakes have been deemed a public concern, and legislature, more +than once, been obliged to interpose for the sake of that order +which private conduct could never boast.</p> +<p>In the reign of Henry the Sixth, every consideration, whether of +a public or a private nature, gave way to the wake: The harvest in +particular was neglected. An order therefore issued, confining the +wakes to the first Sunday in October, consequently the whole nation +run mad at once.</p> +<p>Wakes in Birmingham are not ancient: Why St. Martin's, then the +only church, was neglected, is uncertain.</p> +<p>Although we have no wakes for the town, there are three kept in +its borders, called Deritend, Chapel, and Bell wakes. The two first +are in the spring of existence, the last in the falling leaf of +autumn.</p> +<p>Deritend wake probably took its rise at the erection of her +chapel, in 1382.</p> +<p>Chapel wake, in 1750, from St. Bartholomew's chapel, is held in +the meridian of Coleshill-street; was hatched and fostered by the +publicans, for the benefit of the spiggot.</p> +<p>Amongst other important amusements, was that of bull-baiting, +till the year 1773, when the commissioners of lamps, in the +amendment of their act, wisely broke the chain, and procured a +reprieve for the unfortunate animal.</p> +<p>Another was the horse-race, 'till a few years ago a person being +killed, rather slackened the entertainment. What singular genius +introduced the horse-race into a crowded street, I am yet to +learn.</p> +<p>In the evening the passenger cannot proceed without danger; in +the morning, he may discover which houses are public, without other +intelligence than the copious streams that have issued from the +wall. The blind may also distinguish the same thing, by the strong +scent of the tap.</p> +<p>Bell wake is the junior by one year, originating from the same +cause, in 1751, in consequence of ten bells being hung up in St +Philip's steeple.--'Till within these few years, we were at this +wake struck with a singular exhibition, that of a number of boys +running a race through the streets naked. Some of the inhabitants, +seeing so fair a mark for chastisement, applied the rod with +success, put a period to the sport, and obliged the young runners +to run under cover.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CLUBS."></a>CLUBS.</h2> +<br> +<p>It may be expected, from the title of this chapter, that I shall +introduce a set of ruffians armed with missive weapons; or, having +named a trump, a set of gamblers shuffling and dealing out the +cards: But whatever veneration I may entertain for these two fag +ends of our species, I shall certainly introduce a class of people, +which, though of the lower orders, are preferable to both.</p> +<p>Social compact is a distinguishing mark of civilization: The +whole British empire may be justly considered as one grand +alliance, united for public and private interest, and this vast +body of people are subdivided into an infinity of smaller +fraternities, for individual benefit.</p> +<p>Perhaps there are hundreds of these societies in Birmingham +under the name of clubs; some of them boast the antiquity of a +century, and by prudent direction have acquired a capital, at +accumulating interest. Thousands of the inhabitants are thus +connected, nay, to be otherwise is rather unfashionable, and some +are people of sentiment and property.</p> +<p>A variety of purposes are intended by these laudable +institutions, but the principal one is that of supporting the +sick.</p> +<p>Each society is governed by a code of laws of its own making, +which have at least the honour of <i>resembling</i> those of +legislature, for words without sense are found in both, and we +sometimes stumble upon contradiction.</p> +<p>The poor's-rates, enormous as they appear, are softened by these +brotherly aids. They tend also to keep the mind at rest, for a man +will enjoy the day of health, with double relish, when he considers +he has a treasure laid up for that of sickness.</p> +<p>If a <i>member</i> only of a poor family be sick, the +<i>head</i> still remains to procure necessaries; but if that head +be disordered, the whole source of supply is dried up, which +evinces the utility of such institutions.</p> +<p>The general custom is to meet at the public every fortnight, +spend a trifle, and each contribute six-pence, or any stated sum, +to the common stock. The landlord is always treasurer, or father, +and is assisted by two stewards, annually or monthly chosen.</p> +<p>As honour and low life are not always found together, we +sometimes see a man who is rather <i>idle</i>, wish the society may +suppose him <i>sick</i>, that he may rob them with more security. +Or, if a member hangs long upon the box, his brethren seek a +pretence to expel him. On the other hand, we frequently observe a +man silently retreat from the club, if another falls upon the box, +and fondly suppose himself no longer a member; or if the box be +loaded with sickness, the whole club has been known to dissolve, +that they may rid themselves of the burthen; but the Court of +Requests finds an easy remedy for these evils, and at a trifling +expence.</p> +<p>The charity of the club, is also extended beyond the grave, and +terminates with a present to the widow.</p> +<p>The philosophers tell us, "There is no good without its kindred +evil." This amiable body of men, therefore, marshalled to expel +disease, hath one small alloy, and perhaps but one. As liquor and +labour are inseparable, the imprudent member is apt to forget to +quit the club room when he has spent his necessary two-pence, but +continues there to the injury of his family.</p> +<p>Another of these institutions is the <i>rent club</i>, where, +from the weekly sums deposited by the members, a sop is regularly +served up twice a year, to prevent the growlings of a landlord.</p> +<p>In the <i>breeches club</i> every member ballots for a pair, +value a guinea, <i>promised</i> of more value by the maker. This +club dissolves when all the members are served.</p> +<p>The intentions of the <i>book club</i> are well known, to catch +the productions of the press as they rise.</p> +<p>The <i>watch club</i> has generally a watchmaker for its +president, is composed of young men, and is always temporary.</p> +<p>If a taylor be short of employment, he has only to consult a +landlord over a bottle, who, by their joint powers, can give birth +to a <i>cloaths club</i>; where every member is supplied with a +suit to his taste, of a stipulated price. These are chiefly +composed of batchelors, who wish to shine in the eye of the +fair.</p> +<p>Thus a bricklayer stands at the head of the <i>building +club</i>, where every member perhaps subscribes two guineas per +month, and each house, value about one hundred pounds, is balloted +for, as soon as erected. As a house is a weighty concern, every +member is obliged to produce two bondsmen for the performance of +covenants.</p> +<p>I will venture to pronounce another the <i>capital club</i>, for +when the contributions amount to 50<i>l</i>. the members ballot for +this capital, to bring into business: Here also securities are +necessary. It is easy to conceive the two last clubs are extremely +beneficial to building and to commerce.</p> +<p>The last I shall enumerate is the <i>clock club</i>: When the +weekly deposits of the members amount to about 4<i>l</i>. they call +lots who shall be first served with a clock of that value, and +continue the same method till the whole club is supplied; after +which, the clockmaker and landlord cast about for another set, who +are chiefly composed of young house-keepers. Hence the beginner +ornaments his premises with furniture, the artist finds employment +and profit, and the publican empties his barrel.</p> +<p>Thus we have taken a transient survey of this rising colony of +arts, uniting observation with fact: We have seen her dark +manufactures, in darker times: We have attended her through her +commercial, religious, political, and pleasurable walks: Have +viewed her in many points of light, but never in decline; 'till we +have now set her in the fair sunshine of the present day.</p> +<p>Perhaps I shall not be charged with prolixity, that unpardonable +sin against the reader, when it is considered, that three thousand +years are deposited in the compass of one hundred and forty little +pages.</p> +<p>Some other circumstances deserve attention, which could not be +introduced without breaking the thread of history: But as that +thread is now drawn to an end, I must, before I resume it, step +back into the recesses of time, and slumber through the long ages +of seventeen hundred years; if the active reader, therefore, has no +inclination for a nod of that length, or, in simple phrase, no +relish for antiquity, I advise him to pass over the five ensuing +chapters.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="IKENIELD_STREET."></a>IKENIELD STREET.</h2> +<br> +<p>About five furlongs North of the Navigation Bridge, in Great +Charles street, which is the boundary of the present buildings, +runs the Ikenield-street; one of those famous pretorian roads which +mark the Romans with conquest, and the Britons with slavery.</p> +<p>By that time a century had elapsed, from the first landing of +Caesar in Britain the victorious Romans had carried their arms +through the southern part of the isle. They therefore endeavoured +to secure the conquered provinces by opening four roads, which +should each rise in the shore, communicate with, and cross each +other, form different angles, extend over the island several ways, +and terminate in the opposite sea.</p> +<p>These are the Watling-street, which rises near Dover, and +running North-west through London, Atherstone, and Shropshire, in +the neighbourhood of Chester, ends in the Irish sea.</p> +<p>The Foss begins in Devonshlre, extends South-east through +Leicestershire, continuing its course through Lincolnshire, to the +verge of the German ocean.</p> +<p>These two roads, crossing each other at right angles, form a +figure resembling the letter X, whose centre is the High Cross, +which divides the counties of Warwick and Leicester.</p> +<p>The Ermine-street extends along the southern part of the island; +near the British channel; and the Ikenield-street, which I cannot +so soon quit, rises near Southampton, extends nearly North, through +Winchester, Wallingford, and over the Isis, at New-bridge; thence +to Burford, crossing the Foss at Stow in the Woulds, over +Bitford-bridge, in the County of Warwick, to Alcester; by Studley, +Ipsley, Beely, Wetherick-hill, Stutley-street; crosses the road +from Birmingham to Bromsgrove, at Selley oak, leaving Harborne a +mile to the left, also the Hales Owen road a mile West of +Birmingham: Thence by the Observatory in Lady-wood-lane, where it +enters the parish of Birmingham, crossing the Dudley road at the +Sand-pits; along Worstone-lane; through the little pool, and +Hockley-brook, where it quits the parish: Thence over +Handsworth-heath, entering a little lane on the right of +Bristle-lands-end, and over the river Tame, at Offord-mill, +(Oldford-mill) directly to Sutton Coldfield. It passes the Ridgeway +a few yards East of King's-standing, a little artificial mount, on +which Charles the First is said to have stood when he harangued the +troops he brought out of Shropshire, at the opening of the civil +wars, in 1642. From thence the road proceeds through Sutton park, +and the remainder of the Coldfield; over Radley-moor; from thence +to Wall, a Roman station, where it meets the Watling-street: +Leaving Lichfield a mile to the left, it leads through Street-hay; +over Fradley-heath; thence through Alderwas hays, crossing the +river Trent, at Wichnor-bridge, to Branson-turnpike: over +Burton-moor, leaving the town half a mile to the right: thence to +Monk's-bridge, upon the river Dove; along Egington-heath, +Little-over, the Rue-dyches, Stepping-lane, Nun-green, and +Darley-slade, to the river Derwent, one mile above Derby; upon the +eastern banks of which stands Little Chester, built by the +Romans.</p> +<p>If the traveller is tired with this tedious journey, and dull +description, which admits of no variety, we will stop for a moment, +and refresh in this Roman city.</p> +<p>In drawing the flewks of his oar along the bed of the river, as +he boats over it, he may feel the foundations of a Roman bridge, +nearly level with its bottom. Joining the water are the vestiges of +a castle, now an orchard. Roman coins are frequently discovered--In +1765, I was presented with one of Vespasian's, found the year +before in scowering a ditch; but I am sorry to observe, it has +suffered more during the fifteen years in my possession, than +during the fifteen hundred it lay in the earth.</p> +<p>The inhabitants being in want of materials to form a turnpike +road, attempted to pull up this renowned military way, for the sake +of those materials, but found them too strongly cemented to admit +of an easy separation, and therefore desisted when they had taken +up a few loads.</p> +<p>I saw the section of this road cut up from the bottom: the +Romans seem to have formed it with infinite labour and expence. +They took out the soil for about twenty yards wide, and one deep, +perhaps, till they came to a firm bottom; and filled up the whole +with stones of all sizes, brought from Duffield, four miles up the +river; cemented with coarse mortar.</p> +<p>The road here is only discoverable by its barren track, along +the cultivated meadows. It then proceeds over Morley-moor, through +Scarsdale, by Chesterfield, Balsover, through Yorkshire, +Northumberland, and terminates upon the banks of the Tine, near +Tinmouth.</p> +<p>There are many roads in England formed by the Romans: they were +of two kinds, the military, which crossed the island; and the +smaller, which extended from one town to another. The four I have +mentioned come under the first class: they rather avoided, than led +through a town, that they might not be injured by traffic.</p> +<p>Two of these four, the Watling-street, and the Ikenield-street, +are thought, by their names, to be British, and with some reason; +neither of the words are derived from the Latin: but whatever were +their origin, they are certainly of Roman construction.</p> +<p>These great roads were begun as soon as the island was subdued, +to employ the military, and awe the natives, and were divided into +stages, at the end of each was a fort, or station, to accommodate +the guard, for the reception of stores, the conveniency of marching +parties, and to prevent the soldiers from mixing with the +Britons.</p> +<p>The stations upon the Ikenield-street, in our neighbourhood, are +Little Chester (Derventione) a square fort, nearly half an acre; +joining the road to the south, and the Derwent to the west.</p> +<p>The next is Burton upon Trent (Ad Trivonam) thirteen miles +south. Here I find no remains of a station.</p> +<p>Then Wall (Etocetum) near Lichfield, which I have examined with +great labour, or rather with great pleasure: Here the two famous +consular roads cross each other. We should expect a fort in the +angle, commanding both, which is not the case. The Watling-street +is lost for about half a mile, leading over a morass, only the line +is faintly preserved, by a blind path over the inclosures: the +Ikenield-street crosses it in this morass, not the least traces of +which remain. But, by a strict attention, I could point out their +junction to a few yards.</p> +<p>Six furlongs west of this junction, and one hundred yards north +of the Watling-street, in a close, now about three acres, are the +remains of the Roman fortress. This building, of strength and +terror, is reduced to one piece of thick wall, visibly of Roman +workmanship, from whence the place derives its modern name.</p> +<p>Can you, says I to a senior peasant, for I love to appeal to old +age, tell the origin of that building?</p> +<p>"No; but we suppose it has been a church. The ruins were much +larger in my memory; but they were lately destroyed, to bring the +land into that improved state of cultivation in which you see +it."--And so you reduced a fortress in four years, which the +Britons never could in four hundred. For a trifling profit, you +eraze the work of the ancients, and prevent the wonder of the +moderns.--Are you apprised of any old walls under the surface?</p> +<p>"Yes; the close is full of them: I have broke three ploughs in +one day; no tool will stand against them. It has been more +expensive to bring the land into its present condition, than the +freehold is worth." Why, you seem more willing to destroy than your +tools; and more able than time. The works which were the admiration +of ages, you bury under ground. What the traveller comes many miles +to see, you assiduously hide.</p> +<p>What could be the meaning that the Romans erected their station +on the declivity of this hill, when the summit, two hundred yards +distant, is much more eligible; are there no foundations upon it? +"None."</p> +<p>The commandry is preferable: the Watling-street runs by it, and +it is nearer the Ikenield-street. Pray, are you acquainted with +another Roman road which crosses it? "No."</p> +<p>Do you know any close about the village, where a narrow bed of +gravel, which runs a considerable length, has impeded the +plough?</p> +<p>"Yes; there is a place, half a mile distant, where, when a +child, I drove the plough; we penetrated a land of gravel, and my +companion's grandfather told us, it had been an old road."--That is +the place I want, lead me to it. Being already master of both ends +of the road, like a broken line, with the center worn out, the +gravel bed enabled me to recover it.</p> +<p>The next station upon the Ikenield-street is Birmingham +(Bremenium) I have examined this country with care; but find no +vestiges of a station: nor shall we wonder; dissolation is the +preserver of antiquity, nothing of which reigns here; the most +likely place is Wor-ston (Wall-stone) which a younger brother of +Birmingham might afterwards convert into the fashionable moat of +the times, and erect a castle. The next station is Alcester +(Alauna) all which are nearly at equal distances.</p> +<p>In forming these grand roads, a strait direction seems to have +been their leading maxim. Though curiosity has lead me to travel +many hundred miles upon their roads, with the eye of an enquirer, I +cannot recollect one instance, where they ever broke the line to +avoid a hill, a swamp, a rock, or a river.</p> +<p>They were well acquainted with the propriety of an old English +adage, <i>Once well done is twice done</i>; an idea new cloathed by +Lord Chesterfield, <i>If a a thing be worth doing at all, it is +worth doing well</i>.</p> +<p>For their roads were so durably constructed, that, had they been +appropriated only to the use intended, they might have withstood +the efforts of time, and bid fair for eternity.--Why is this useful +art so lost among the moderns?</p> +<p>When time and intercourse had so far united the Romans and the +Britons, that they approached nearly to one people, the Romans +formed, or rather <i>improved</i>, many of the smaller roads; +placed stones of intelligence upon them; hence, London Stone, Stony +Stratford (the stone at the Street-ford) Atherstone, stone (hither, +near, or first stone from Witherly-bridge, a Roman camp) and fixed +their stations in the places to which these roads tended.</p> +<p>The great roads, as observed before, were chiefly appropriated +for military purposes, and instituted in the beginning of their +government; but the smaller were of later date, and designed for +common use. As these came more in practice, there was less occasion +for the military; which, not leading to their towns, were, in +process of time, nearly laid aside.</p> +<p>Antonine, and his numerous train of commentators, have not +bestowed that attention on the roads they deserve: a curious +acquaintance with the roads of a country, brings us acquainted with +the manners of the people: in one, like a mirror, is exactly +represented the other. Their state, like a master key, unlocks many +apartments.</p> +<p>The authors I have seen are <i>all in the wrong</i>; and as my +researches are confined, it is a mortification, I am not able to +set them right. They have confounded the two classes together, +which were very distinct in chronology, the manner of making, and +their use. If an author treats of one old road, he supposes himself +bound to treat of all in the kingdom, a task no man can execute: by +undertaking much, we do nothing well; the journey of an antiquarian +mould never be rapid. If fortune offers a small discovery, let him +think, and compare. Neither will they ever be set right, but +continue to build a mouldering fabric, with untempered mortar, till +a number of intelligent residents, by local enquiries can produce +solid materials for a lasting monument.</p> +<p>The Romans properly termed their ways streets, a name retained +by many of them to this day; one of the smaller roads, issuing from +London, penetrates through Stratford upon Avon (Street-ford) +Monks-path-street, and Shirley-street, to Birmingham, which proves +it of great antiquity, and the Ikenield-street running by it, +proves it of greater. We may from hence safely conclude, Birmingham +was a place of note in the time of Caesar, because she merited +legislative regard in forming their roads; which will send us far +back among the Britons, to find her first existence.</p> +<p>Though we are certain the Ikenield-street passes about a mile in +length through this parish, as described above; yet, as there are +no Roman traces to be seen, I must take the curious traveller to +that vast waste, called Sutton-Coldfield, about four miles distant, +where he will, in the same road, find the footsteps of those great +mailers of the world, marked in lasting characters.</p> +<p>He will plainly see its straight line pass over the Ridgeway, +through Sutton Park, leaving the West hedge about 200 yards to the +left; through the remainder of the Coldfield, till lost in +cultivation.</p> +<p>This track is more than three miles in length, and is no where +else visible in these parts. I must apprize him that its highest +beauty is only discovered by an horizontal sun in the winter +months.</p> +<p>I first saw it in 1762, relieved by the transverse rays, in a +clear evening in November; I had a perfect view upon the Ridgeway, +near King's-standing of this delightful scene: Had I been attacked +by the chill blasts of winter, upon this bleak mountain, the +sensation would have been lost in the transport. The eye, at one +view, takes in more than two miles. Struck with astonishment, I +thought it the grandest sight I had ever beheld; and was amazed, so +noble a monument of antiquity should be so little regarded.</p> +<p>The poets have long contended for the line of beauty--they may +find it here. I was fixed as by enchantment till the sun dropt, my +prospect with it, and I left the place with regret.</p> +<p>If the industrious traveller chooses to wade up to the middle in +gorse, as I did, he may find a roughish journey along this famous +military way.</p> +<p>Perhaps this is the only road in which money is of no use to the +traveller; for upon this barren wild he can neither spend it, nor +give it away.</p> +<p>He will perceive the Coldfield to be one vast bed of gravel, +covered with a moderate depth of soil of eight or ten inches: +During this journey of three miles, he will observe all the way, on +each side, a number of pits, perhaps more than a thousand, out of +which the Romans procured the gravel to form the road; none of them +many yards from it. This great number of pits, tends to prove two +points--That the country was full of timber, which they not +choosing to fall, procured the gravel in the interstices; for the +road is composed of nothing else--And, that a great number of +people were employed in its formation: They would also, with the +trees properly disposed, which the Romans must inevitably cut to +procure a passage, form a barrier to the road.</p> +<p>This noble production was designed by a master, is every where +straight, and executed with labour and judgement.</p> +<p>Here he perceives the date of his own conquest, and of his +civilization. Thus the Romans humbled a ferocious people.</p> +<p>If he chooses to measure it he will find it exactly sixty feet +wide, divided into three lands, resembling those in a ploughed +field. The centre land thirty-six feet, and raised from one to +three, according to the nature of the ground. The side lands, +twelve each, and rising seldom more than one foot.</p> +<p>This centre land no doubt was appropriated for the march of the +troops, and the small one, on each side, for the out-guards, who +preserved their ranks, for fear of a surprize from the vigilant and +angry Britons.</p> +<p>The Romans held these roads in great esteem, and were severe in +their laws for their preservation.</p> +<p>This famous road is visible all the way, but in some parts +greatly hurt, and in others, compleat as in the first day the +Romans made it. Perhaps the inquisitive traveller may find here, +the only monument in the whole island left us by the Romans, that +<i>time</i> hath not injured.</p> +<p>The philosophical traveller may make some curious observations +in the line of agriculture, yet in its infancy.</p> +<p>The only growth upon this wild, is gorse and ling: The +vegetation upon the road and the adjacent lands, seem equal: The +pits are all covered with a tolerable turf.</p> +<p>As this road has been made about 1720 years, and, as at the time +of making, both that and the pits must have been surfaces of neat +gravel; he will be led to examine, what degree of soil they have +acquired in that long course of years, and by what means?</p> +<p>He well knows, that the surface of the earth is very far from +being a fixed body: That there is a continual motion in every part, +stone excepted: That the operations of the sun, the air, the frost, +the dews, the winds, and the rain, produce a constant agitation, +which changes the particles and the pores, tends to promote +vegetation, and to increase the soil to a certain depth.</p> +<p>This progress is too minute for the human eye, but the effects +are visible. The powers above mentioned operate nearly as yeast in +a lump of dough, that enlivens the whole. Nature seems to wish that +the foot would leave the path, that she may cover it with grass. He +will find this vegetative power so strong, that it even attends the +small detached parts of the soil where-ever they go, provided they +are within reach of air and moisture: He will not only observe it +in the small pots, appropriated for garden use, but on the tops of +houses, remote from any road, where the wind has carried any small +dust. He will also observe it in cracks of the rocks; but in an +amazing degree in the thick walls of ruined castles, where, by a +long course of time, the decayed materials are converted into a +kind of soil, and so well covered with grass, that if one of our +old castle builders could return to his possessions, he might mow +his house as well as his field, and procure a tolerable crop from +both.</p> +<p>In those pits, upon an eminence, the soil will be found deep +enough for any mode of husbandry. In those of the vallies, which +take in the small drain of the adjacent parts, it is much deeper. +That upon the road, which rather gives than receives any addition +from drain, the average depth is about four inches.</p> +<p>The soil is not only increased by the causes above, but also by +the constant decays of the growth upon it. The present vegetable +generation falling to decay, adds to the soil, and also, assists +the next generation, which in a short time follows the same +course.</p> +<p>The author of the History of Sutton says, "The poor inhabitants +are supplied with fuel from a magazine of peat, near the Roman +road, composed of thousands of fir trees cut down by the Romans, to +enable them to pass over a morass. The bodies of the trees are +sometimes dug up found, with the marks of the axe upon them."</p> +<p>Are we then to suppose, by this curious historical anecdote, +that the inhabitants of Sutton have run away with this celebrated +piece of antiquity? That the cart, instead of rolling <i>over</i> +the military way, has rolled <i>under</i> it, and that they have +boiled the pot with the Roman road?</p> +<p>Upon inquiry, they seemed more inclined to credit the fact, than +able to prove it; but I can find no such morass, neither is the +road any where broken up. Perhaps it would be as difficult to find +the trees, as the axe that cut them: Besides, the fir is not a +native of Britain, but of Russia; and I believe our forefathers, +the Britons, were not complete masters of the art of transplanting. +The park of Sutton was probably a bed of oaks, the natural weed of +the country, long before Moses figured in history.</p> +<p>Whilst the political traveller is contemplating this +extraordinary production of antiquity, of art, and of labour, his +thoughts will naturally recur to the authors of it.</p> +<p>He will find them proficients in science, in ambition, in taste: +They added dominion to conquest, 'till their original territory +became too narrow a basis to support the vast fabric acquired by +the success of their arms: The monstrous bulk fell to destruction +by its own weight.--Man was not made for universality; if he grasps +at little, he may retain it; if at much, he may lose all.</p> +<p>The confusion, natural on such occasions, produced anarchy: At +that moment, the military stept into the government, and the people +became slaves.</p> +<p>Upon the ruins of this brave race, the Bishop of Rome founded an +ecclesiastical jurisdiction. His power increasing with his +votaries, he found means to link all christendom to the triple +crown, and acquired an unaccountable ascendency over the human +mind: The princes of Europe were harnessed, like so many coach +horses. The pontiff directed the bridle. He sometimes used the +whip, and sometimes the curse. The thunder of his throne rattled +through the world with astonishing effect, 'till that most useful +discovery, the art of printing, in the fifteenth century, dissolved +the charm, and set the oppressed cattle at liberty; who began to +kick their driver. Henry the Eighth of England, was the first +unruly animal in the papal team, and the sagacious Cranmer assisted +in breaking the shackles.</p> +<p>We have, in our day, seen an order of priesthood in the church +of Rome, annihilated by the consent of the European princes, which +the Pope beheld in silence.</p> +<p>"There is an ultimate point of exaltation, and reduction, beyond +which human affairs cannot proceed." Rome, seems to have +experienced both, for she is at this day one of the most +contemptible states in the scale of empire.</p> +<p>This will of course lead the traveller's thoughts towards +Britain, where he will find her sons by nature inclined to a love +of arms, of liberty, and of commerce. These are the strong outlines +of national character, the interior parts of which are finished +with the softer touches of humanity, of science, and of luxury. He +will also find, that there is a natural boundary to every country, +beyond which it is dangerous to add dominion. That the boundary of +Britain is the sea: That her external strength is her navy, which +protects her frontiers, and her commerce: That her internal is +unanimity: That when her strength is united within herself, she is +invincible, and the balance of Europe will be fixed in her hand, +which she ought never to let go.</p> +<p>But if she accumulates territory, though she may profit at +first, she weakens her power by dividing it; for the more she fends +abroad, the less will remain at home; and, instead of giving law to +the tyrant, she may be obliged to receive law from him.</p> +<p>That, by a multiplicity of additions, her little isles will be +lost in the great map of dominion.</p> +<p>That, if she attempts to draw that vast and growing empire, +America, she may herself be drawn to destruction; for, by every law +of attraction, the greater draws the less--The mouse was never +meant to direct the ox. That the military and the ecclesiastical +powers are necessary in their places, that is, subordinate to the +civil.</p> +<p>But my companion will remember that Birmingham is our historical +mark, therefore we must retreat to that happy abode of the smiling +arts. If he has no taste for antiquity, I have detained him too +long upon this hungry, though delightful spot. If he has, he will +leave the enchanted ground with reluctance; will often turn his +head to repeat the view, 'till the prospect is totally lost.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LORDS_OF_THE_MANOR."></a>LORDS OF THE MANOR.</h2> +<br> +<p>By the united voice of our historians, it appears, that as the +Saxons conquered province after province, which was effected in +about one hundred and thirty years, the unfortunate Britons +retreated into Wales: But we are not to suppose that all the +inhabitants ran away, and left a desolate region to the victor; +this would have been of little more value to the conqueror, than +the possession of Sutton Coldfield or Bromsgrove Lickey. The +mechanic and the peasant were left, which are by far the greatest +number; they are also the riches of a country; stamp a value upon +property, and it becomes current. As they have nothing to lose, so +they have nothing to fear; for let who will be master, they must be +drudges: Their safety consists in their servitude; the victor is +ever conscious of their utility, therefore their protection is +certain.</p> +<p>But the danger lies with the man of substance, and the greater +that substance, the greater his anxiety to preserve it, and the +more danger to himself if conquered: These were the people who +retreated into Wales. Neither must we consider the wealth of that +day to consist of bags of cash, bills of exchange, India bonds, +bank stock, etc. no such thing existed. Property lay in the land, +and the herds that fed upon it. And here I must congratulate our +Welch neighbours, who are most certainly descended from gentlemen; +and I make no doubt but the Cambrian reader will readily unite in +the same sentiment.</p> +<p>The Saxons, as conquerors, were too proud to follow the modes of +the conquered, therefore they introduced government, laws, +language, customs and habits of their own. Hence we date the +division of the kingdom into manors.</p> +<p>Human nature is nearly the same in all ages. Where value is +marked upon property or power, it will find its votaries: Whoever +was the most deserving, or rather could make the most interest, +procured land sufficient for an Elderman, now Earl; the next class, +a Manor; and the inferior, who had borne the heat and burthen of +the day--nothing.</p> +<p>I must now introduce an expression which I promised not to +forget.--In the course of a trial between William de Birmingham, +and the inhabitants of Bromsgrove and King's-norton, in 1309, +concerning the right of tollage; it appeared, That the ANCESTORS of +the said William had a market here before the Norman conquest. This +proves, that the family of Birmingham were of Saxon race, and Lords +of the Manor prior to that period.</p> +<p>Mercia was not only the largest, but also the last of the seven +conquered kingdoms--It was bounded on the North by the Humber, on +the West by the Severn, on the South by the Thames, and on the East +by the German ocean. Birmingham lies nearly in the centre. Cridda, +a Saxon, came over with a body of troops, and reduced it in 582; +therefore, as no after revolution happened that could cause +Birmingham to change its owner, and as land was not in a very +saleable state at that time, there is the greatest reason to +suppose the founder of the house of Birmingham Came over with +Cridda, as an officer in his army, and procured this little +flourishing dominion as a reward for his service.</p> +<p>The succeeding generations of this illustrious family are too +remote for historical penetration, 'till the reign of Edward the +Confessor, the last of the Saxon Kings, when we find, in 1050,</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ULUUINE"></a>ULUUINE, (since ALWYNE, now ALLEN,)</h2> +<center>master of this improving spot.</center> +<h2><a name="RICHARD"></a>RICHARD,</h2> +<h3>1066,</h3> +<br> +<p>seems to have succeeded him, and to have lived in that +unfortunate period for property, the conquest.</p> +<p>The time was now arrived when this ancient family, with the rest +of the English gentry, who had lived under the benign climate of +Saxon government, and in the affluence of fortune, must quit the +happy regions of hospitality, and enter the gloomy precincts of +penury--From givers, they were to become beggars.</p> +<p>The whole conduct of William seems to have carried the strongest +marks of conquest. Many of the English lost their lives, some their +liberty, and nearly all their estates. The whole land in the +kingdom was insufficient to satisfy the hungry Normans.</p> +<p>Perhaps William took the wisest method to secure the conquered +country that could be devised by human wisdom; he parcelled out the +kingdom among his greater Barons; the whole county of Chester is +said to have fallen to the share of Hugh Lupus: and these were +subdivided into 62,000 Knight's-sees, which were held under the +great Barons by military service. Thus the Sovereign by only +signifying his pleasure to the Barons, could instantly raise an +army for any purpose. We cannot produce a stronger indication of +arbitrary government: But, it is happy for the world, that +perfection is not found even in human wisdom; for this well laid +scheme destroyed itself. Instead of making the crown absolute, as +was intended, it threw the balance into the hands of the Barons, +who became so many petty Sovereigns, and a scourge to the King in +after ages, 'till Henry the Seventh sapped their power, and raised +the third estate, the Commons, which quickly eclipsed the other +two.</p> +<p>The English gentry suffered great distress: Their complaints +rung loud in the royal ear, some of them therefore, who had been +peaceable and never opposed the Normans, were suffered to enjoy +their estates in dependance upon the great Barons.</p> +<p>This was the case with Richard, Lord of Birmingham, who held +this manor by knight's-service of William Fitz-Ausculf, Lord of +Dudley castle, and perhaps all the land between the two places.</p> +<p>Thus Birmingham, now rising towards the meridian of opulence, +was a dependant upon Dudley castle, now in ruins; and thus an +honourable family, who had enjoyed a valuable freehold, perhaps +near 500 years, were obliged to pay rent, homage, suit and service, +attend the Lord's court at Dudley every three weeks, be called into +the field at pleasure, and after all, possess a precarious tenure +in villainage.</p> +<p>The blood of the ancient English was not only tainted with the +breath of that destructive age, but their lands also. The powerful +blast destroyed their ancient freehold tenures, reducing them into +wretched copyholds: and to the disgrace of succeeding ages, many of +them retain this mark of Norman slavery to the present day. How +defective are those laws, which give one man power over another in +neutral cases? That tend to promote quarrels, prevent cultivation, +and which cannot draw the line between property and property?</p> +<p>Though a spirit of bravery is certainly a part of the British +character, yet there are two or three periods in English history, +when this noble flame was totally extinguished. Every degree of +resolution seems to have been cut off at the battle of Hastings. +The English acted contrary to their usual manner:--Danger had often +made them desperate, but now it made them humble. This conquest is +one of the most extraordinary held forth in history; the flower of +nobility was wholly nipped off; the spirit of the English +depressed, and having no head to direct, or hand to cultivate the +courage of the people and lead it into action, it dwindled at the +root, was trampled under the foot of tyranny, and, according to +<i>Smollet</i>, several generations elapsed before any one of the +old English stock blossomed into peerage.</p> +<p>It is curious to contemplate the revolution of things--Though +the conquering Romans flood first in the annals of same at the +beginning of the Christian era, yet they were a whole century in +carrying their illustrious arms over the island, occupied only by a +despicable race of Britons. Though the Saxons were invited, by one +false step in politics, to assist the Britons in expelling an +enemy, which gave them an opportunity of becoming enemies +themselves; yet it was 130 years before they could complete their +conquest. And though the industrious Dane poured incessant numbers +of people into Britain, yet it cost them 200 years, and 150,000 men +before they reduced it. But William, at one blow, finished the +dreadful work, shackled her sons to his throne, and governed them +with a sceptre of iron. Normandy, a petty dukedom, very little +larger than Yorkshire, conquered a mighty nation in one day. +England seems to have been taken by storm, and her liberties put to +the sword: Nor did the miseries of this ill-fated kingdom end here, +for the continental dominions, which William annexed to the crown, +proved a whirlpool for 400 years, which drew the blood and treasure +of the nation into its vortex, 'till those dominions were +fortunately lost in the reign of Mary the First.</p> +<p>Thus the Romans spent one century in acquiring a kingdom, which +they governed for four. The Saxons spent 130 years, and ruled for +459. The Danes spent 200 and reigned for 25--But the Norman spent +one day only, for a reign of 700 years: They continue to reign +still.</p> +<p>It is easy to point out some families of Norman race, who yet +enjoy the estates won by their ancestors at the battle of +Hastings.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM"></a>WILLIAM,</h2> +<h3>1130,</h3> +<br> +<p>Like his unfortunate father, was in a state of vassalage. The +male line of the Fitz-Ausculfs soon became extinct, and Gervase +Paganell marrying the heiress, became Baron of Dudley-castle.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PETER_DE_BIRMINGHAM"></a>PETER DE BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1154.</h3> +<br> +<p>It is common in every class of life, for the inferior to imitate +the superior: If the real lady claims a head-dress sixteen inches +high, that of the imaginary lady will immediately begin to thrive. +The family, or surname, entered with William the First, and was +soon the reigning taste of the day: A person was thought of no +consequence without a surname, and even the depressed English, +crept into the fashion, in imitation of their masters. I have +already mentioned the Earl of Warwick, father of a numerous race +now in Birmingham; whose name before the conquest was simply +Turchill, but after, Turchill de Arden, (Matter of the Woods) from +his own estate.</p> +<p>Thus the family of whom I speak, chose to dignify themselves +with the name of <i>de Birmingham</i>.</p> +<p>Peter wisely consulted his own interest, kept fair with Paganall +his Lord, and obtained from him, in 1166, nine Knight's-fees, which +he held by military service.</p> +<p>A Knight's-fee, though uncommon now, was a word well understood +600 years ago. It did not mean, as some have imagined, fifteen +pounds per annum, nor any determinate sum; but as much land as +would support a gentleman. This Peter was fewer to Paganall, +(waited at his table) though a man of great property.</p> +<p>The splendor in which the great Barons of that age lived, was +little inferior to royalty.</p> +<p>The party distinctions also of Saxon and Norman, in the twelfth +century, began to die away, as the people became united by interest +or marriage, like that of Whig and Tory, in the eighteenth. And +perhaps there is not at present a native that does not carry in his +veins the blood of the four nations that were grafted upon the +Britons.</p> +<p>Peter himself lived in affluence at his castle, then near +Birmingham, now the Moat, of which in the next section. He also +obtained from Henry the Second, as well as from Paganall the Lord +paramount, several valuable privileges for his favourite +inheritance of Birmingham. He bore for his arms, <i>azure, a bend +lozenge</i>, of five points, <i>or</i>; the coat of his +ancestors.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM1"></a>WILLIAM DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1216.</h3> +<br> +<p>At the reduction of Ireland, in the reign of Henry the Second, a +branch of this family, and perhaps uncle to William, was very +instrumental under Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in +accomplishing that great end; for which he was rewarded with a +large estate, and the title of Earl of Lowth, both which continue +in his family. Perhaps they are the only remains of this honorable +house.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM2"></a>WILLIAM DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1246.</h3> +<br> +<p>By this time, the male line of the Paganalls was worn out, and +Roger de Someri marrying the heiress, became Baron of Dudley, with +all its dependencies; but Someri and Birmingham did not keep peace, +as their fathers had done. William, being very rich, forgot to ride +to Dudley every three weeks, to perform suit and service at +Someri's court.</p> +<p>Whereupon a contest commenced to enforce the performance. But, +in 1262, it was agreed between the contending parties--That William +should attend the Lord's court only twice a year, Easter and +Michaelmas, and at such other times, as the Lord chose to command +by special summons. This William, having married the daughter of +Thomas de Astley, a man of great eminence, and both joining with +the Barons under Simon Mountfort, Earl of Leicester, against Henry +the Third, William fell, in 1265, at the battle of Evesham; and as +the loser is ever the rebel, the Barons were prescribed, and their +estates confiscated.</p> +<p>The manor of Birmingham, therefore, valued at forty pounds per +annum, was seized by the King, and given to his favorite, Roger de +Clifford.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM3"></a>WILLIAM DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1265.</h3> +<br> +<p>By a law called the statute of Kenilworth, every man who had +forfeited his estate to the crown, by having taken up arms, had +liberty to redeem his lands, by a certain fine: William therefore +paid that fine, and recovered the inheritance of his family. He +also, in 1283 strengthened his title by a charter from Edward the +First, and likewise to the other manors he possessed, such as +Stockton, in the County of Worcester; Shetford, in Oxfordshire; +Maidencoat, in Berkshire; Hoggeston, in the county of Bucks; and +Christleton, in Cheshire.</p> +<p>In 1285, Edward brought his writ of quo warranto, whereby every +holder of land was obliged to show by what title he held it. The +consequence would have been dreadful to a Prince of less prudence +than Edward. Some showed great unwillingness; for a dormant title +will not always bear examination--But William producing divers +charters, clearly proved his right to every manorial privilege, +such as market, toll, tem, sack, sok, insangenthief, weyfs, +gallows, court-leet, and pillory, with a right to fix the standard +for bread and beer; all which were allowed.</p> +<p>William, Lord of Birmingham, being a military tenant, was +obliged to attend the King into Gascoigne, 1297, where he lost his +liberty at the siege of Bellgard, and was carried prisoner in +triumph to Paris.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM4"></a>WILLIAM DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1306.</h3> +<br> +<p>This is the man who tried the right of tollage with the people +of Bromsgrove and King's norton.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>WILLIAM DE BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>LORD BIRMINGHAM.</h3> +<h3>1316.</h3> +<br> +<p>Was knighted in 1325; well affected to Edward the Second, for +whose service he raised four hundred foot. Time seems to have put a +period to the family of Someri, Lords of Dudley, as well as to +those of their predecessors, the Paganalls, and the +Fitz-Ausculfs.</p> +<p>In 1327, the first of Edward the Third, Sir William was summoned +to Parliament, by the title of William Lord Birmingham, but not +after.</p> +<p>It was not the fashion of that day to fill the House of Peers by +patent. The greater Barons held a local title from their Baronies; +the possessor of one of these, claimed a seat among the Lords.</p> +<p>I think, they are now all extinct, except Arundel, the property +of the Norfolk family, and whoever is proprietor of Arundel castle, +is Earl thereof by ancient prescription.</p> +<p>The lesser Barons were called up to the House by writ, which did +not confer an hereditary title. Of this class was the Lord of +Birmingham.</p> +<p>Hugh Spencer, the favourite of the weak Edward the Second, had +procured the custody of Dudley-castle, with all its appendages, for +his friend William, Lord Birmingham.</p> +<p>Thus the family who had travelled from Birmingham to Dudley +every three weeks, to perform humble suit at the Lord's court, held +that very court by royal appointment, to receive the fealty of +others.</p> +<p>By the patent which constituted William keeper of Dudley-castle, +he was obliged to account for the annual profits arising from that +vast estate into the King's exchequer. When, therefore, in 1334, he +delivered in his accounts, the Barons refused to admit them, +because the money was defective. But he had interest enough with +the crown to cause a mandamus to be issued, commanding the Barons +to admit them.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SIR_FOUK_DE_BIRMINGHAM"></a>SIR FOUK DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1340.</h3> +<br> +<p>This man advanced to Sir Baldwin Freville, Lord of Tamworth, +forty eight marks, upon mortgage of five mills. The ancient coat of +the <i>bend lozenge</i>, was now changed for the <i>partie per +pale, indented, or, and gules</i>.</p> +<p>In 1352, and 1362 he was returned a member for the county of +Warwick; also, in three or four succeeding Parliaments.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SIR_JOHN_DE_BIRMINGHAM"></a>SIR JOHN DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1376.</h3> +<br> +<p>Served the office of Sheriff for the county of Warwick, in 1379, +and was successively returned to serve in Parliament for the +counties of Warwick, Bedford, and Buckingham. He married the +daughter of William de la Planch, by whom he had no issue. She +afterwards married the Lord Clinton, retained the manor of +Birmingham as her dower, and lived to the year 1424.</p> +<p>It does not appear in this illustrious family, that the regular +line of descent, from father to son, was ever broken, from the time +of the Saxons, 'till 1390. This Sir John left a brother, Sir Thomas +de Birmingham, heir at law, who enjoyed the bulk of his brother's +fortune; but was not to possess the manor of Birmingham 'till the +widow's death, which not happening 'till after his own, he never +enjoyed it.</p> +<p>The Lord Clinton and his Lady seem to have occupied the +Manor-house; and Sir Thomas, unwilling to quit the place of his +affections and of his nativity, erected a castle for himself at +Worstone, near the Sand-pits, joining the Ikenield-street; street; +where, though the building is totally gone, the vestiges of its +liquid security are yet complete. This Sir Thomas enjoyed several +public offices, and figured in the style of his ancestors. He left +a daughter, who married Thomas de la Roche, and from this marriage +sprang two daughters; the eldest of which married Edmund, Lord +Ferrers of Chartley, who, at the decease of Sir John's widow, +inherited the manor, and occupied the Manor house. There yet stands +a building on the North-east side of the Moat, erected by this Lord +Ferrers, with his arms in the timbers of the ceiling, and the +crest, a horse-shoe.</p> +<p>I take this house to be the oldest in Birmingham, though it hath +not that appearance; having stood about 350 years.</p> +<p>By an entail of the manor upon the male line, the Lady Ferrers +seems to have quitted her title in favor of a second cousin, a +descendant of William de Birmingham, brother to Sir Fouk.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_DE_BIRMINGHAM5"></a>WILLIAM DE +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1430.</h3> +<br> +<p>In the 19th of Henry the Sixth, 1441, is said to have held his +manor of Birmingham, of Sir John Sutton, Lord of Dudley, by +military service; but instead of paying homage, fealty, escuage, +&c. as his ancestors had done, which was very troublesome to +the tenant, and brought only empty honour to the Lord: and, as +sometimes the Lord's necessities taught him to think that money was +more <i>Solid</i> than suit and service; an agreement was entered +into, for money instead of homage, between the Lord and the +tenant--Such agreements now became common. Thus land became a kind +of bastard freehold:--The tenant held a certainty, while he +conformed to the agreement; or, in other words, the custom of the +manor--And the Lord still possessed a material control. He died in +1479, leaving a son,</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SIR_WILLIAM_BIRMINGHAM"></a>SIR WILLIAM +BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1479,</h3> +<br> +<p>Aged thirty at the decease of his father. He married Isabella, +heiress of William Hilton, by whom he had a son, William, who died +before his father, June 7, 1500, leaving a son,</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="EDWARD_BIRMINGHAM"></a>EDWARD BIRMINGHAM,</h2> +<h3>1500,</h3> +<br> +<p>Born in 1497, and succeeded his grandfather at the age of three. +During his minority, Henry the Seventh, 1502, granted the wardship +to Edward, Lord Dudley.</p> +<p>The family estate then consisted of the manors of Birmingham, +Over Warton, Nether Warton, Mock Tew, Little Tew, and Shutford in +the county of Oxford, Hoggeston in Bucks, and Billesley in the +county of Worcester. Edward afterwards married Elizabeth, widow of +William Ludford, of Annesley, by whom he had one daughter, who +married a person of the name of Atkinson.</p> +<p>But after the peaceable possession of a valuable estate, for +thirty seven years; the time was now arrived, when the mounds of +justice must be broken down by the weight of power, a whole deluge +of destruction enter, and overwhelm an ancient and illustrious +family, in the person of an innocent man. The world would view the +diabolical transaction with amazement, none daring to lend +assistance to the unfortunate; not considering, that property +should ever be under the protection of law; and, what was Edward's +case to-day, might be that of any other man to-morrow. But the +oppressor kept fair with the crown, and the crown held a rod of +iron over the people.--Suffer me to tell the mournful tale from +Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>1537,</h2> +<br> +<p>John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, a man of great wealth, +unbounded ambition, and one of the basest characters of the age, +was possessor of Dudley-castle, and the fine estate belonging to +it:--He wished to add Birmingham to his vast domain. Edward +Birmingham therefore was privately founded, respecting the disposal +of his manor; but as money was not wanted, and as the place had +been the honor and the residence of his family for many centuries, +it was out of the reach of purchase.</p> +<p>Northumberland was so charmed with its beauty, he was determined +to possess it; and perhaps the manner in which he accomplished his +design, cannot be paralleled in the annals of infamy.</p> +<p>He procured two or three rascals of his own temper, and rather +of mean appearance, to avoid suspicion, to take up their quarters +for a night or two in Birmingham, and gain secret intelligence when +Edward Birmingham should ride out, and what road: This done, one of +the rascals was to keep before the others, but all took care that +Edward should easily overtake them. Upon his arrival at the first +class, the villains joined him, entered into chat, and all moved +soberly together 'till they reached the first man; when, on a +sudden, the strangers with Edward drew their pistols and robbed +their brother villain, who no doubt lost a considerable sum after a +decent resistance. Edward was easily known, apprehended, and +committed as one of the robbers; the others were not to be +found.</p> +<p>Edward immediately saw himself on the verge of destruction. He +could only <i>alledge</i>, but not <i>prove</i> his innocence: All +the proof the case could admit of, was against him.</p> +<p>Northumberland (then only Lord L'Isle) hitherto had succeeded to +his wish; nor was Edward long in suspence--Private hints were given +him, that the only way to save his life, was to make Northumberland +his friend; and this probably might be done, by resigning to him +his manor of Birmingham; with which the unfortunate Edward +reluctantly complied.</p> +<p>Northumberland thinking a common conveyance insufficient, caused +Edward to yield his estate into the hands of the King, and had +interest enough in that age of injustice to procure a ratification +from a weak Parliament, by which means he endeavoured to throw the +odium off his own character, and fix it upon theirs, and also, +procure to himself a safer title.</p> +<p>An extract from that base act is as follows:--</p> +<p>"Whereas Edward Byrmingham, late of Byrmingham in the countie of +Warwick, Esquire, otherwise callid Edward Byrmingham, Esquire, ys +and standyth lawfully indettid to our soverene Lord the Kinge, in +diverse grete summes of money; and also standyth at the mercy of +his Highness, for that the same Edward ys at this present convected +of felony: Our seide soverene Lord the Kinge ys contentid and +pleasid, that for and in recompence and satisfaction to his Grace +of the seyde summes of money, to accept and take of the seyde +Edward the mannour and lordship of Byrmingham, otherwise callid +Byrmincham, with the appurtinances, lying and being in the countie +of Warwick, and all and singuler other lands and tenements, +reversions, rents, services, and hereditaments of the same Edward +Byrmingham, set, lying and beying in the countie of Warwick +aforesaid. Be yt therefore ordeyned and enacted, by the authoritie +of this present Parliament, that our seyde soverene Lord the Kinge +shall have, hold, and enjoy, to him and his heires and assignes for +ever, the seyde mannour and lordship of Byrmingham, &c."</p> +<p>In the act there is a reservation of 40<i>l</i>. per annum, +during the lives only of the said Edward and his wife.</p> +<p>It appears also, by an expression in the act, that Edward was +brought to trial, and found guilty. Thus innocence is depressed for +want of support; property is wrested for want of the protection of +the law; and a vile minister, in a corrupt age, can carry an +infamous point through a court of justice, the two Houses of +Parliament, and complete his horrid design by the sanction of a +tyrant.</p> +<p>The place where tradition tells us this diabolical transaction +happened, is the middle of Sandy-lane, in the Sutton road; the +upper part of which begins at the North east corner of Aston park +wall; at the bottom, you bear to the left, for Sawford-bridge, or +to the right, for Nachell's-green; about two miles from the Moat, +the place of Edward's abode.</p> +<p>Except that branch which proceeded from this original stem, +about 600 years ago, of which the Earl of Lowth is head, I know of +no male descendant from this honourable stock; who, if we allow the +founder to have come over with Cridda, the Saxon, in 582, must have +commanded this little Sovereignty 955 years.</p> +<p>I met with a person sometime ago of the name of Birmingham, and +was pleased with the hope of finding a member of that ancient and +honorable house; but he proved so amasingly ignorant, he could not +tell whether he was from the clouds, the sea, or the dunghill: +instead of traceing the existence of his ancestors, even so high as +his father, he was scarcely conscious of his own.</p> +<p>As this house did not much abound with daughters, I cannot at +present recollect any families among us, except that of +Bracebridge, who are descended from this illustrious origin, by a +female line; and Sir John Talbot Dillon, who is descended from the +ancient Earls of Lowth, as he is from the De Veres, the more +ancient Earls of Oxford.</p> +<p>Here, then, I unwillingly extinguish that long range of lights, +which for many ages illuminated the house of Birmingham.</p> +<p>But I cannot extinguish the rascallity of the line of +Northumberland. This unworthy race, proved a scourge to the world, +at least during three generations. Each, in his turn, presided in +the British cabinet; and each seems to have possessed the villainy +of his predecessor, united with his own. The first, only +<i>served</i> a throne; but the second and the third intended to +<i>fill</i> one. A small degree of ambition warms the mind in +pursuit of fame, through the paths of honor; while too large a +portion tends to unfavorable directions, kindles to a flame, +consumes the finer sensations of rectitude, and leaves a stench +behind.</p> +<p>Edmund, the father of this John, was the voracious leech, with +Empson, who sucked the vitals of the people, to feed the avarice of +Henry the Seventh.</p> +<p>It is singular that Henry, the most sagacious prince since the +conquest, loaded him with honours for filling the royal coffers +with wealth, which the penurious monarch durst never enjoy: but his +successor, Henry the Eighth, enjoyed the pleasure of consuming that +wealth, and <i>executed</i> the father for collecting it! How much +are our best laid schemes defective? How little does expectation +and event coincide? It is no disgrace to a man that he died on the +scaffold; the question is--What brought him there? Some of the most +inoffensive, and others the most exalted characters of the age in +which they lived, have been cut off by the axe, as Edward +Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, for being the last male heir of the +Anjouvin Kings; John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Sir Thomas Moore, +Sir Walter Raleigh, Algernon Sidney, William Lord Russell, &c. +whose blood ornamented the scaffold on which they fell.</p> +<p>The son of this man, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, favorite +of Queen Elizabeth, is held up by our historians as a master-piece +of dissimulation, pride, and cruelty. He married three wives, all +which he is charged with sending to the grave by untimely deaths; +one of them, to open a passage to the Queen's bed, to which he +aspired. It is surprising, that he should deceive the penetrating +eye of Elizabeth: but I am much inclined to think she <i>knew +him</i> better than the world; and they knew him rather to well. He +ruined many of the English gentry, particularly the ancient family +of Arden, of Park-hall, in this neighbourhood: he afterwards ruined +his own family by disinheriting a son, more worthy than +himself.--If he did not fall by the executioner, it is no proof +that he did not deserve it.--We now behold</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="JOHN_DUKE_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND"></a>JOHN, DUKE OF +NORTHUMBERLAND,</h2> +<h3>1537,</h3> +<br> +<p>Lord of the manor of Birmingham; a man, who of all others the +least deserved that honor; or rather, deserved the axe for being +so.</p> +<p>Some have asserted, "That property acquired by dishonesty cannot +prosper." But I shall leave the philosopher and the enthusiast to +settle that important point, while I go on to observe, That that +the lordship of Birmingham did not prosper with the Duke. Though he +had, in some degree, the powers of government in his hands, he had +also the clamours of the people in his ears. What were his inward +feelings, is uncertain at this distance--Fear seems to have +prevented him from acknowledging Birmingham for his property. +Though he exercised every act of ownership, yet he suffered the +fee-simple to rest in the crown, 'till nine years had elapsed, and +those clamours subsided, before he ventured to accept the grant, in +1546.</p> +<p>As the execution of this grant was one of the last acts of +Henry's life, we should be apt to suspect the Duke carried it in +his pocket ready for signing, but deferred the matter as long as he +could with safety, that distance of time might annihilate +reflection; and that the King's death, which happened a few weeks +after, might draw the attention of the world too much, by the +importance of the event, to regard the Duke's conduct.</p> +<p>The next six years, which carries us through the reign of Edward +the Sixth, is replete with the intrigues of this illustrious knave. +He sought connections with the principal families: He sought +honours for his own: He procured a match between his son, the Lord +Guildford Dudley, and the Lady Jane Gray, daughter of the Duke of +Suffolk, and a descendant from Henry the Seventh, with intent of +fixing the crown in his family, but failing in the attempt, he +brought ruin upon the Suffolk family, and himself to the block, in +the first of Queen Mary, 1553.</p> +<p>Though a man be guilty of many atrocious acts that deserve +death, yet in the hour of distress humanity demands the tear of +compassion; but the case was otherwise at the execution of John, +Duke of Northumberland, for a woman near the scaffold held forth a +bloody handkerchief and exclaimed, "Behold the blood of the Duke of +Somerset, shed by your means, and which cries for vengeance against +you."</p> +<p>Thus Northumberland kept a short and rough possession of glory; +thus he fell unlamented; and thus the manor of Birmingham reverted +to the crown a second time, the Duke himself having first taught it +the way.</p> +<p>Birmingham continued two years in the crown, 'till the third of +Queen Mary, when she granted it to</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THOMAS_MARROW"></a>THOMAS MARROW,</h2> +<h3>1555,</h3> +<br> +<p>Whose family, for many descents, resided at Berkeswell, in this +county.</p> +<p>In the possession of the High Bailiff is a bushel measure, cast +in brass, of some value; round which in relief is, SAMUEL MARROW, +LORD OF THE MANOR OF BIRMINGHAM, 1664.</p> +<p>The Lordship continued in this family about 191 years, 'till the +male line failing, it became the joint property of four +coheirs--Ann, married to Sir Arthur Kaye; Mary, the wife of John +Knightley, Esq; Ursulla, the wife of Sir Robert Wilmot; and +Arabella, unmarried; who, in about 1730, disposed of the private +estate in the manor, amounting to about 400<i>l</i>. per annum, to +Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London, as before observed, and the +manor itself to</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THOMAS_ARCHER_ESQ"></a>THOMAS ARCHER, ESQ.</h2> +<h3>for 1,700<i>l</i>. in 1746,</h3> +<br> +<p>Of an ancient family, who have resided at Umberslade in this +county more than 600 years--from him it descended to</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ANDREW_LORD_ARCHER"></a>ANDREW, LORD ARCHER,</h2> +<br> +<p>And is now enjoyed by his relict,</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SARAH_LADY_ARCHER"></a>SARAH, LADY ARCHER,</h2> +<h3>1781,</h3> +<br> +<p>Possessing no more in the parish than the royalty; as it does +not appear that the subsequent Lords, after the extinction of the +house of Birmingham, were resident upon the manor, I omit +particulars.</p> +<p>Let me remark, this place yet gives title to the present Lord +Viscount Dudley and Ward, as descended, by the female line, from +the great Norman Barons, the Fitz-Ausculfs, the Paganalls, the +Somerys, the Suttons, and the Dudleys, successively Lords +paramount, whose original power is reduced to a name.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="MANOR_HOUSE."></a>MANOR HOUSE.</h2> +<h3>(The Moat.)</h3> +<br> +<p>The natural temper of the human mind, like that of the brute, is +given to plunder: This temper is very apt to break forth into +action. In all societies of men, therefore, restraints have been +discovered, under the name of laws, attended with punishment, to +deter people from infringing each others property. Every thing that +a man can possess, falls under the denomination of property; +whether it be life, liberty, wealth or character.</p> +<p>The less perfect these laws are, the less a people are removed +from the rude state of nature, and the more necessity there is for +a man to be constantly in a state of defence, that he may be able +to repel any force that shall rise up against him.</p> +<p>It is easy to discover, by the laws of a country, how far the +people are advanced in civilization. If the laws are defective, or +the magistrate too weak to execute them, it is dangerous for a man +to possess property.</p> +<p>But when a nation is pretty far advanced in social existence; +when the laws agree with reason, and are executed with firmness, a +man need not trouble himself concerning the protection of his +property--his country will protect it for him.</p> +<p>The laws of England have, for many ages, been gradually +refining; and are capable of that protection which violence never +was.</p> +<p>But if we penetrate back into the recesses of time, we shall +find the laws inadequate, the manners savage, force occupy the +place of justice, and property unprotected. In those barbarous +ages, therefore, men sought security by intrenching themselves from +a world they could not trust. This was done by opening a large +ditch round their habitation, which they filled with water, and +which was only approachable by a draw-bridge. This, in some degree, +supplied the defect of the law, and the want of power in the +magistrate. It also, during the iron reign of priesthood, furnished +that table in lent, which it guarded all the year.</p> +<p>The Britons had a very slender knowledge of fortification. The +camps they left us, are chiefly upon eminences, girt by a shallow +ditch, bordered with stone, earth, or timber, but never with water. +The moat, therefore, was introduced by the Romans; their camps are +often in marshes; some wholly, and some in part surrounded by +water.</p> +<p>These liquid barriers were begun in England early in the +christian æra, they were in the zenith of their glory at the +barons wars, in the reign of king John, and continued to be the +mode of fortification till the introduction of guns, in the reign +of Edward the fourth, which shook their foundation; and the civil +wars of Charles the first totally annihilated their use, after an +existence of twelve hundred years.</p> +<p>Perhaps few parishes, that have been the ancient habitation of a +gentleman, are void of some traces of these fluid bulwarks. That of +Birmingham has three; one of these, of a square form, at Warstone, +erected by a younger brother of the house of Birmingham, hath +already been mentioned; it is fed by a small rivulet from Rotton +Park, which crosses the Dudley Road, near the Sand pits.</p> +<p>Another is the Parsonage house, belonging to St. Martin's, +formerly situated in the road to Bromsgrove, now Smallbrook street, +of a circular figure, and supplied by a neighbouring spring. If we +allow this watery circle to be a proof of the great antiquity of +the house, it is a much greater with regard to the antiquity of the +church.</p> +<p>The third is what we simply denominate the Moat, and was the +residence of the ancient lords of Birmingham, situated about sixty +yards south of the church, and twenty west of Digbeth; this is also +circular, and supplied by a small stream that crosses the road to +Bromsgrove, near the first mile stone; it originally ran into the +river Rea, near Vaughton's hole, dividing the parishes of +Birmingham and Edgbaston all the way, but at the formation of the +Moat, was diverted from its course, into which it never +returned.</p> +<p>No certain evidence remains to inform us when this liquid work +was accomplished: perhaps in the Saxon heptarchy, when there were +few or no buildings south of the church. Digbeth seems to have been +one of the first streets added to this important school of arts; +the upper part of that street must of course have been formed +first: but, that the Moat was completed prior to the erection of +any buildings between that and Digbeth, is evident, because those +buildings stand upon the very soil thrown out in forming the +Moat.</p> +<p>The first certain account that we meet with of this guardian +circle, is in the reign of Henry the Second, 1154, when Peter de +Birmingham, then lord of the see, had a cattle here, and lived in +splendor. All the succeeding Lords resided upon the same island, +till their cruel expulsion by John Duke of Northumberland in +1537.</p> +<p>The old castle followed its lords, and is buried in the ruins of +time. Upon the spot, about forty years ago, rose a house in the +modern style, occupied by a manufacturer (John Francis;) in one of +the out-buildings is shewn, the apartment where the ancient lords +kept their court leet; another out-building which stands to the +east, I have already observed, was the work of Edmund Lord +Ferrers.</p> +<p>The ditch being filled with water, has nearly the same +appearance now as perhaps a thousand years ago, but not altogether +the same use. It then served to protect its master, but now, to +turn a thread-mill.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PUDDING_BROOK."></a>PUDDING BROOK.</h2> +<br> +<p>Near the place where the small rivulet discharges itself into +the Moat, another of the same size is carried over it, called +Pudding Brook, and proceeds from the town as this advances towards +it, producing a curiosity seldom met with; one river running South, +and the other North, for half a mile, yet only a path-road of three +feet asunder; which surprised Brindley the famous engineer.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THE_PRIORY."></a>THE PRIORY.</h2> +<br> +<p>The site of this ancient edifice is now the Square; some small +remains of the old foundations are yet visible in the cellars, +chiefly on the South-east. The out-buildings and pleasure-grounds +perhaps occupied the whole North east side of Bull-street, then +uninhabited, and only the highway to Wolverhampton; bounded on the +North-west by Steelhouse-lane; on the North-east by Newton and +John's-street; and on the South-east by Dale-end, which also was no +other than the highway to Lichfield--The whole, about fourteen +acres.</p> +<p>The building upon this delightful eminence, which at that time +commanded the small but beautiful prospect of Bristland-fields, +Rowley-hills, Oldbury, Smethewick, Handsworth, Sutton-Coldfield, +Erdington, Saltley, the Garrison, and Camp-hill, and which then +stood at a distance from the town, though now near its centre; was +founded by the house of Birmingham, in the early reigns of the +Norman Kings, and called the Hospital of Saint Thomas,--The priest +being bound to pray for the souls of the founders every day, to the +end of the world.</p> +<p>In 1285, Thomas de Madenhache, Lord of the manor of Aston, gave +ten acres of land in his manor. William de Birmingham ten, which I +take to be the land where the Priory stood; and Ranulph de Rakeby +three acres, in Saltley: About the same time, sundry others gave +houses and land in smaller quantities: William de Birmingham gave +afterwards twenty-two acres more. The same active spirit seems to +have operated in our ancestors, 500 years ago, that does in their +descendants at this day: If a new scheme strikes the fancy, it is +pursued with vigor.</p> +<p>The religious fervor of that day ran high: It was unfashionable +to leave the world, and not remember the Priory. Donations crowded +in so fast, that the prohibiting act was forgot; so that in 1311, +the brotherhood were prosecuted by the crown, for appropriating +lands contrary to the act of mortmain; But these interested +priests, like their sagacious brethren, knew as well how to +preserve as to gain property; for upon their humble petition to the +throne, Edward the Second put a stop to the judicial proceedings, +and granted a special pardon.</p> +<p>In 1351, Fouk de Birmingham, and Richard Spencer, jointly gave +to the priory one hundred acres of land, part lying in Aston, and +part in Birmingham, to maintain another priest, who should +celebrate divine service daily at the altar of the Virgin Mary, in +the church of the hospital, for the souls of William la Mercer, and +his wife. The church is supposed to have stood upon the spot now +No. 27, in Bull-street.</p> +<p>In the premises belonging to the Red Bull, No. 83, nearly +opposite, have been discovered human bones, which has caused some +to suppose it the place of interment for the religious, belonging +to the priory, which I rather doubt.</p> +<p>At the dissolution of the abbies, in 1536, the King's visitors +valued the annual income at the trifling sum of 8<i>l</i>. 8s. +9d.</p> +<p>The patronage continued chiefly in the head of the Birmingham +family. Dugdale gives us a list of some of the Priors, who held +dominion in this little common wealth, from 1326, 'till the total +annihilation, being 210 years.</p> +<blockquote>Robert Marmion,<br> +Robert Cappe,<br> +Thomas Edmunds,<br> +John Frothward,<br> +Robert Browne,<br> +John Port,<br> +William Priestwood,<br> +Henry Drayton,<br> +John Cheyne,<br> +Henry Bradley,<br> +Thomas Salpin,<br> +Sir Edward Toste,<br> + AND<br> +Henry Hody.</blockquote> +<p>Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, a man of much honour, more +capacity, and yet more spirit, was the instrument with which Henry +the Eighth destroyed the abbies; but Henry, like a true politician +of the house of Tudor, wisely threw the blame upon the instrument, +held it forth to the public in an odious light, and then sacrificed +it to appease an angry people.</p> +<p>This destructive measure against the religious houses, +originated from royal letchery, and was replete with +consequence.</p> +<p>It opened the fountains of learning, at that day confined to the +monastry, and the streams diffused themselves through various ranks +of men. The revival of letters and of science made a rapid +progress: It soon appeared, that the stagnate knowledge of the +priest, was abundantly mixed with error; but now, running through +the laity, who had no private interest to serve, it became more +pure.</p> +<p>It removed great numbers of men, who lay as a dead weight upon +the community, and they became useful members of society: When +younger sons could no longer find an asylum within the gloomy walls +of a convent, they sought a livelihood in trade. Commerce, +therefore, was taught to crowd her sails, cross the western ocean, +fill the country with riches, and change an idle spirit into that +of industry.</p> +<p>By the destruction of religious houses, architecture sustained a +temporary wound: They were by far the most magnificent and +expensive buildings in the kingdoms, far surpassing those of the +nobility; some of these structures are yet habitable, though the +major part are gone to decay. But modern architecture hath since +out-done the former splendor of the abbey, in use and elegance and +sometimes with the profits arising from the abbey lands.</p> +<p>It also shut the door of charity against the impostor, the +helpless, and the idle, who had found here their chief supply; and +gave rise to one of the best laws ever invented by human wisdom +that of each parish supporting its own poor.</p> +<p>By the annihilation of abbots, the church lost its weight in +Parliament, and the vote was thrown into the hands of the temporal +Lords.</p> +<p>It prevented, in some degree, the extinction of families; for, +instead of younger branches becoming the votaries of a monastic +life, they became the votaries of hymen: Hence the kingdom was +enriched by population. It eased the people of a set of masters, +who had for ages ruled them with a rod of iron.</p> +<p>The hands of superstition were also weakened, for the important +sciences of astrology, miracle, and divination, supported by the +cell, have been losing ground ever since.</p> +<p>It likewise recovered vast tracts of land out of dead hands, and +gave an additional vigor to agriculture, unknown to former ages. +The monk, who had only a temporary tenancy, could not give a +permanant one; therefore, the lands were neglected, and the produce +was small: But these lands falling into the hands of the gentry, +acquired an hereditary title. It was their interest; to grant +leases, for a superior rent; and it was the tenant's interest to +give that rent, for the sake of security: Hence the produce of land +is become one of the most advantageous branches of British +commerce.</p> +<p>Henry, by this seisure, had more property to give away, than any +King of England since William the Conqueror, and he generously gave +away that which was never his own. It is curious to survey the +foundation of some of the principal religions that have taken the +lead among men.</p> +<p>Moses founded a religion upon morals and ceremonies, one half of +which continues with his people to this day.</p> +<p>Christ founded one upon <i>love</i> and <i>purity</i>; words of +the simplest import, yet we sometimes mistake their meaning.</p> +<p>The Bishop of Rome erected his, upon deceit and oppression; +hence the treasures of knowledge were locked up, an inundation of +riches and power flowed into the church, with destructive +tendency.</p> +<p>And Henry the Eighth, built his reformation upon revenge and +plunder: He deprived the <i>head</i> of the Romish see, of an +unjust power, for pronouncing a just decision; and robbed the +<i>members</i>, for being annexed to that head. Henry wished the +world to believe, what he believed himself, that he acted from a +religious principle; but his motive seems to have been <i>savage +love</i>.</p> +<p>Had equity directed when Henry divided this vast property, he +would have restored it to the descendants of those persons, whose +mistaken zeal had injured their families; but his disposal of it +was ludicrous--sometimes he made a free gift, at others he +exchanged a better estate for a a worse, and then gave that worse +to another.</p> +<p>I have met with a little anecdote which says, "That Henry being +upon a tour in Devonshire, two men waited on him to beg certain +lands in that county; while they attended in the anti-room for the +royal presence, a stranger approached, and asked them a trifling +question; they answered, they wished to be alone--at that moment +the King entered: They fell at his feet: The stranger seeing them +kneel, kneelt with them. They asked the favor intended; the King +readily granted it: They bowed: The stranger bowed also. By this +time, the stranger perceiving there was a valuable prize in the +question, claimed his thirds; they denied his having anything to do +with the matter: He answered, he had done as much as they, for they +only asked and bowed, and he did the same. The dispute grew warm, +and both parties agreed to appeal to the King, who answered, He +took them for joint beggars, therefore had made them a joint +present. They were then obliged to divide the land with the +stranger, whose share amounted to 240<i>l</i>. per annum."</p> +<p>The land formerly used for the priory of Birmingham, is now the +property of many persons. Upon that spot, whereon stood one +solitary house, now stand about four hundred. Upon that ground, +where about thirty persons lived upon the industry of others, about +three thousand live upon their own: The place, which lay as a heavy +burden upon the community, now tends to enrich it, by adding its +mite to the national commerce, and the national treasury.</p> +<p>In 1775, I took down an old house of wood and plaister, which +had stood 208 years, having been erected in 1567, thirty-one years +after the dissolution of abbies. The foundation of this old house +seemed to have been built chiefly with stones from the priory; +perhaps more than twenty wagon loads: These appeared in a variety +of forms and sizes, highly finished in the gothic taste, parts of +porticos, arches, windows, ceilings, etc. some fluted, some +cyphered, and otherwise ornamented, yet complete as in the first +day they were left by the chizel. The greatest, part of them were +destroyed by the workmen: Some others I used again in the fireplace +of an under kitchen. Perhaps they are the only perfect fragments +that remain of that venerable edifice, which once stood the +monument of ancient piety, the ornament of the town, and the envy +of the priest out of place.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="JOHN_A_DEANS_HOLE"></a>JOHN A DEAN'S HOLE.</h2> +<br> +<p>At the bottom of Digbeth, about thirty yards North of the +bridge, on the left, is a water-course that takes in a small drain +from Digbeth, but more from the adjacent meadows, and which divides +the parishes of Aston and Birmingham, called John a Dean's Hole; +from a person of that name who is said to have lost his life there, +and which, I think, is the only name of antiquity among us.</p> +<p>The particle <i>de</i>, between the christian and surname, is of +French extraction, and came over with William the First: It +continued tolerably pure for about three centuries, when it in some +degree assumed an English garb, in the particle <i>of</i>: The +<i>a</i>, therefore is only a corruption of the latter. Hence the +time of this unhappy man's misfortune may be fixed about the reign +of Edward the Third.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LENCHS_TRUST"></a>LENCH'S TRUST.</h2> +<br> +<p>In the reign of Henry the Eighth, William Lench, a native of +this place, bequeathed his estate for the purpose of erecting alms +houses, which are those at the bottom of Steelhouse-lane, for the +benefit of poor widows, but chiefly for repairing the streets of +Birmingham. Afterwards others granted smaller donations for the +same use, but all were included under the name of Lench; and I +believe did not unitedly amount, at that time, to fifteen pounds +per annum.</p> +<p>Over this scattered inheritance was erected a trust, consisting +of gentlemen in the neighborhood of Birmingham.</p> +<p>All human affairs tend to confusion: The hand of care is ever +necessary to keep order. The gentlemen, therefore at the head of +this charity, having too many modes of pleasure of their own, to +pay attention to this little jurisdiction, disorder crept in apace; +some of the lands were lost for want of inspection; the rents ran +in arrear, and were never recovered; the streets were neglected, +and the people complained.</p> +<p>Misconduct, particularly of a public nature, silently grows for +years, and sometimes for ages, 'till it becomes too bulky for +support, falls in pieces by its own weight, and out of its very +destruction rises a remedy. An order, therefore, from the Court of +Chancery was obtained, for vesting the property in other hands, +consisting of twenty persons, all of Birmingham, who have directed +this valuable estate, now 227<i>l</i>. 5s. per annum, to useful +purposes. The man who can guide his own private concerns with +success, stands the fairest chance of guiding those of the +public.</p> +<p>If the former trust went widely astray, perhaps their successors +have not exactly kept the line, by advancing the leases to a rack +rent: It is worth considering, whether the tenant of an expiring +lease, hath not in equity, a kind of reversionary right, which +ought to favour him with the refusal of another term, at one third +under the value, in houses, and one fourth in land; this would give +stability to the title, secure the rents, and cause the lessee more +chearfully to improve the premises, which in time would enhance +their value, both with regard to property and esteem.</p> +<p>But where business is well conducted, complaint should cease; +for perfection is not to be expected on this side the grave.</p> +<p>Exclusive of a pittance to the poor widows above, the trust have +a power of distributing money to the necessitous at Christmas and +Easter, which is punctually performed.</p> +<p>I think there is an excellent clause in the devisor's will, +ordering his bailiff to pay half a crown to any two persons, who, +having quarreled and entered into law, shall stop judicial +proceedings, and make peace by agreement--He might have added, "And +half a crown to the lawyer that will suffer them." I know the sum +has been demanded, but am sorry I do <i>not</i> know that it was +ever paid.</p> +<p>If money be reduced to one fourth its value, since the days of +Lench, it follows, that four times the sum ought to be paid in +ours; and perhaps ten shillings cannot be better laid out, than in +the purchase of that peace, which tends to harmonise the community, +and weed a brotherhood not the most amicable among us.</p> +<p>The members choose annually, out of their own body a steward, by +the name of bailiff Lench: The present fraternity, who direct this +useful charity, are</p> +<blockquote>Thomas Colmore, <i>bailiff</i>.<br> +George Davis,<br> +Win. Walsingham, <i>dead</i>,<br> +Michael Lakin,<br> +Benjamin May,<br> +Michael Lakin, <i>jun</i>.<br> +James Bedford,<br> +Samuel Ray,<br> +John Ryland,<br> +James Jackson,<br> +Stephen Bedford, <i>dead</i>,<br> +Joseph Tyndall,<br> +Joseph Smith,<br> +Robert Mason,<br> +Joseph Webster, <i>dead</i>,<br> +Abel Humphreys,<br> +Thomas Lawrence,<br> +Samuel Pemberton,<br> +Joseph Webster, <i>jun</i>.<br> +John Richards.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="FENTHAMS_TRUST"></a>FENTHAM'S TRUST.</h2> +<br> +<p>In 1712, George Fentham, of Birmingham, devised his estate by +will, consisting of about one hundred acres, in Erdington and +Handsworth, of the value then, of 20<i>l</i>. per annum, vesting +the same in a trust, of which no person could be chosen who resided +more than one hundred yards from the Old Cross. We should be +inclined to think the devisor entertained a singular predilection +for the Old Cross, then in the pride of youth. But if we unfold +this whimsical clause, we shall find it contains a shrewd +intention. The choice was limited within one hundred yards, because +the town itself, in his day, did not in some directions extend +farther. Fentham had spent a life in Birmingham, knew well her +inhabitants, and like some others, had found honour as well as +riches among them: He knew also, he could with safety deposit his +property in their hands, and was determined it should never go +out,--The scheme will answer his purpose.</p> +<p>The uses of this estate, now about 100<i>l</i>. per annum, are +for teaching children to read, and for clothing ten poor widows of +Birmingham: Those children belonging to the charity school, in +green, are upon this foundation.</p> +<blockquote>The present trust are<br> +Francis Coales, and Edmund Wace Pattison.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CROWLEYS_TRUST"></a>CROWLEY'S TRUST.</h2> +<br> +<p>Ann Crowley bequeathed, by her last will, in 1733, six houses in +Steelhouse-lane, amounting to eighteen pounds per annum, for the +purpose of supporting a school, consisting of ten children. From an +attachment to her own sex, she constituted over this infant colony +of letters a female teacher: Perhaps we should have seen a female +trust, had they been equally capable of defending the property. The +income of the estate increasing, the children are now augmented to +twelve.</p> +<p>By a subsequent clause in the devisor's will, twenty shillings a +year, forever, issues out of two houses in the Lower Priory, to be +disposed of at discretion of the trust.</p> +<p>The governors of this female charity are</p> +<blockquote>Thomas Colmore, <i>bailiff</i>,<br> +Joseph Cartwright,<br> +Thomas Lee,<br> +John Francis,<br> +Samuel Colmore,<br> +William Russell, <i>esq</i>.<br> +Josiah Rogers,<br> +Joseph Hornblower,<br> +John Rogers.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SCOTTS_TRUST"></a>SCOTT'S TRUST.</h2> +<br> +<p>Joseph Scott, Esq; yet living, assigned, July 7, 1779, certain +messuages and lands in and near Walmer-lane, in Birmingham, of the +present rent of 40<i>l</i>. 18s. part of the said premises to be +appropriated for the interment of protestant dissenters; part of +the profits to be applied to the use of a religious society in +Carr's lane, at the discretion of the trust; and the remainder, for +the institution of a school to teach the mother tongue.</p> +<br> +<a name="image11.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image11.jpg"><img src= +"images/image11.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Free School</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<p>That part of the demise, designed for the reception of the dead, +is about three acres, upon, which stands one messuage, now the +Golden Fleece, joining Summer-lane on the west, and Walmer-lane on +the east; the other, which hath Aston-street on the south, and +Walmer-lane on the west, contains about four acres, upon which now +stand ninety-one houses. A building lease, in 1778, was granted of +these last premises, for 120 years, at 30<i>l</i>. per annum; at +the expiration of which, the rents will probably amount to twenty +times the present income. The trust, to whose direction this +charity is committed, are</p> +<blockquote>Abel Humphrys, <i>bailiff</i>,<br> +John Allen,<br> +John Parteridge,<br> +William Aitkins,<br> +Joseph Rogers,<br> +Thomas Cock,<br> +John Berry,<br> +William Hutton,<br> +Thomas Cheek Lea,<br> +Durant Hidson,<br> +Samuel Tutin.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="FREE_SCHOOL."></a>FREE SCHOOL.</h2> +<br> +<p>It is entertaining to contemplate the generations of fashion, +which not only influences our dress and manner of living, but most +of the common actions of life, and even the modes of thinking. Some +of these fashions, not meeting with the taste of the day, are of +short duration, and retreat out of life as soon as they are well +brought in; others take a longer space; but whatever fashions +predominate, though ever so absurd, they carry an imaginary beauty, +which pleases the fancy, 'till they become ridiculous with age, are +succeeded by others, when their very memory becomes disgusting.</p> +<p>Custom gives a sanction to fashion, and reconciles us even to +its inconveniency. The fashion of this year is laughed at the +next.</p> +<p>There are fashions of every date, from five hundred years, even +to one day; of the first, was that of erecting religious houses; of +the last, was that of destroying them.</p> +<p>Our ancestors, the Saxons, after their conversion to +christianity, displayed their zeal in building churches: though the +kingdom in a few centuries was amply supplied, yet that zeal was no +way abated; it therefore exerted itself in the abbey.--When a man +of fortune had nearly done with time, he began to peep into +eternity through the windows of an abbey; or, if a villian had +committed a piece of butchery, or had cheated the world for sixty +years, there was no doubt but he could burrow his way to glory +through the foundations of an abbey.</p> +<p>In 1383, the sixth of Richard the Second, before the religious +fervor subsided that had erected Deritend-chapel, Thomas de +Sheldon, John Coleshill, John Goldsmith, and William att Slowe, all +of Birmingham, obtained a patent from the crown to erect a building +upon the spot where the Free School now stands in New-street, to be +called <i>The Gild of the Holy Cross</i>; to endow it with lands in +Birmingham and Edgbaston, of the annual value of twenty marks, for +the maintenance of two priests, who were to perform divine service +to the honor of God, our blessed Lady his Mother, the Holy Cross, +St. Thomas, and St. Catharine.</p> +<p>The fashion seemed to take with the inhabitants, many of whom +wished to join the four happy men, who had obtained the patent for +so pious a work; so that, in 1393, a second patent was procured by +the bailiff and inhabitants of Birmingham, for confirming the gild, +and making the addition of a brotherhood in honor of the Holy +Cross, consisting of both sexes, with power to constitute a master +and wardens, and also to erect a chantry of priests to celebrate +divine service in the chapel of the gild, for the souls of the +founders, and all the fraternity; for whose support there were +given, by divers persons, eighteen messuages, three tofts, (pieces +of ground) six acres of land, and forty shillings rent, lying in +Birmingham and Edgbaston aforesaid.</p> +<p>But, in the 27th of Henry the Eighth, 1536, when it was the +fashion of that day, to multiply destruction against the religious, +and their habitations, the annual income of the gild was valued, by +the King's random visitors, at the sum of 31<i>l</i>. 2s. 10d. out +of which, three priests who sung mass, had 5<i>l</i>. 6s. 8d. each; +an organist, 3<i>l</i>. 13s. 4d. the common midwife, 4s. the +bell-man, 6s. 8d. with other salaries of inferior note.</p> +<p>These lands continued in the crown 'till 1552, the fifth of +Edward the Sixth, when, at the humble suit of the inhabitants, they +were assigned to</p> +<blockquote>William Symmons, <i>gent</i>.<br> +Richard Smallbrook, <i>bailiff of the town</i>,<br> +John Shilton,<br> +William Colmore,<br> +Henry Foxall,<br> +William Bogee,<br> +Thomas Cooper,<br> +Richard Swifte,<br> +Thomas Marshall,<br> +John Veysy,<br> +John King,<br> +John Wylles,<br> +William Paynton,<br> +William Aschrig,<br> +Robert Rastall,<br> +Thomas Snowden,<br> +John Eyliat,<br> +William Colmore, <i>jun</i>.<br> + AND<br> +William Mychell,</blockquote> +<p>all inhabitants of Birmingham, and their successors, to be +chosen upon death or removal, by the appellation of the Bailiff and +Governors of the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth, for +the instruction of children in grammar; to be held of the crown in +common soccage, paying for ever twenty shillings per annum. Over +this seminary of learning were to preside a master and usher, whose +united income seems to have been only twenty pounds per annum. Both +are of the clergy. The hall of the gild was used for a school-room. +In the glass of the windows was painted the figure of Edmund Lord +Ferrers; who, marrying, about 350 years ago, the heiress of the +house of Birmingham, resided upon the manor, and seems to have been +a benefactor to the gild, with his arms, empaling Belknap; and +also, those of Stafford, of Grafton, of Birmingham, and Bryon.</p> +<p>The gild stood at that time at a distance from the town, +surrounded with inclosures; the highway to Hales Owen, now +New-street, running by the north. No house could be nearer than +those in the High-street.</p> +<p>The first erection, wood and plaister, which had stood about 320 +years, was taken down in 1707, to make way for the present flat +building. In 1756, a set of urns were placed upon the parapet, +which give relief to that stiff air, so hurtful to the view: at the +same time, the front was <i>intended</i> to have been decorated, by +erecting half a dozen dreadful pillars, like so many over-grown +giants marshalled in battalia, to guard the entrance, which the +boys wish to shun; and, being sufficiently tarnished with +Birmingham smoak, may become dangerous to pregnancy. Had the wings +of this building fallen two or three yards back, and the line of +the street been preserved by a light palisade, it would have risen +in the scale of beauty, and removed the gloomy aspect of the +area.</p> +<p>The tower is in a good taste, except being rather too narrow in +the base, and is ornamented with a sleepy figure of the donor, +Edward the Sixth, dressed in a royal mantle, with the ensigns of +the Garter; holding a bible and sceptre.</p> +<p>The lands that support this foundation, and were in the reign of +Henry the Eighth, valued at thirty-one pounds per annum, are now, +by the advance of landed property, the reduction of money, and the +increase of commerce, about 600<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>The present governors of this royal donation are</p> +<blockquote>John Whateley, <i>bailiff</i>,<br> +<i>Rev</i>. Charles Newling,<br> +Abraham Spooner, <i>esq</i>;<br> +Thomas Russell,<br> +John Ash, <i>M.D.</i><br> +Richard Rabone,<br> +Francis Goodall,<br> +Francis Parrott, <i>esq</i>;<br> +William Russell, <i>esq</i>;<br> +John Cope, <i>dead</i>,<br> +Thomas Hurd,<br> +Thomas Westley,<br> +Wm. John Banner,<br> +Thomas Salt,<br> +William Holden,<br> +Thomas Carless,<br> +John Ward,<br> +Edward Palmer, <i>esq</i>;<br> +Francis Coales,<br> + AND<br> +;Robert Coales.</blockquote> +<br> +<a name="image12.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image12.jpg"><img src= +"images/image12.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Charity School</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<p>Over this nursery of science presides a chief master, with an +annual salary of one hundred and twenty pounds; a second master +sixty; two ushers; a master in the art of writing, and another in +that of drawing, at forty pounds each: a librarian, ten: seven +exhibitioners at the University of Oxford, twenty-five pounds each. +Also, eight inferior schools in various parts of the town, are +constituted and fed by this grand reservoir, at fifteen pounds +each, which begin the first rudiments of learning.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHIEF MASTERS.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>John Brooksby,</td> +<td>1685.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>---- Tonkinson.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>John Husted.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Edward Mainwaring,</td> +<td>1730.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>John Wilkinson,</td> +<td>1746</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Thomas Green,</td> +<td>1759.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>William Brailsford,</td> +<td>1766.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Rev. Thomas Price,</td> +<td>1776.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHARITY_SCHOOL:"></a>CHARITY SCHOOL:</h2> +<h3>COMMONLY,</h3> +<h3>The BLUE SCHOOL.</h3> +<br> +<p>There seems to be three clases of people, who demand the care of +society; infancy, old age, and casual infirmity. When a man cannot +assist himself, it is necessary he should be assisted. The first of +these only is before us. The direction of youth seems one of the +greatest concerns in moral life, and one that is the least +understood: to form the generation to come, is of the last +importance. If an ingenious master hath flogged the a b c into an +innocent child, he thinks himself worthy of praise. A lad is too +much terrified to march that path, which is marked out by the rod. +If the way to learning abounds with punishment, he will quickly +detest it; if we make his duty a task, we lay a stumbling-block +before him that he cannot surmount.</p> +<p>We rarely know a tutor succeed in training up youth, who is a +friend to harsh treatment.</p> +<p>Whence is it, that we so seldom find affection subsisting +between master and scholar? From the moment they unite, to the end +of their lives, disgust, like a cloud, rises in the mind, which +reason herself can never dispel.</p> +<p>The boy may pass the precincts of childhood, and tread the stage +of life upon an equality with every man in it, except his old +school-master; the dread of him seldom wears off; the name of Busby +founded with horror for half a century after he had laid down the +rod. I have often been delighted when I have seen a school of boys +break up; the joy that diffuses itself over every face and action, +shews infant nature in her gayest form--the only care remaining is, +to forget on one side of the walls what was taught on the +other.</p> +<p>One would think, if <i>coming out</i> gives so much +satisfaction, there must be something very detestable +<i>within</i>.</p> +<p>If the master thinks he has performed his task when he has +taught the boy a few words, he as much mistakes his duty, as he +does the road to learning: this is only the first stage of his +journey. He has the man to form for society with ten thousand +sentiments.</p> +<p>It is curious to enter one of these prisons of science, and +observe the children not under the least government: the master +without authority, the children without order; the master scolding, +the children riotous. We never <i>harden</i> the wax to receive the +impression. They act in a natural sphere, but he in opposition: he +seems the only person in the school who merits correction; he, +unfit to teach, is making them unfit to be taught.</p> +<p>A man does not consider whether his talents are adapted for +teaching, so much, as whether he can <i>profit</i> by teaching: +thus, when a man hath taught for twenty years, he may be only fit +to go to school.</p> +<p>To that vast group of instructors, therefore, whether in, or out +of petticoats, who teach, without having been taught; who mistake +the tail for the feat of learning, instead of the head; who can +neither direct the passions of others nor their own; it may be +said, "Quit the trade, if bread can be procured out of it. It is +useless to pursue a work of error: the ingenious architect must +take up your rotten foundation, before he can lay one that is +solid."</p> +<p>But, to the discerning few, who can penetrate the secret +windings of the heart; who know that nature may be directed, but +can never be inverted; that instruction should ever coincide with +the temper of the instructed, or we sail against the wind; that it +is necessary the pupil should relish both the teacher and the +lesson; which, if accepted like a bitter draught, may easily be +sweetened to his taste: to these valuable few, who, like the +prudent florist, possessed of a choice root, which he cultivates +with care, adding improvement to every generation; it may be said, +"Banish tyranny out of the little dominions over which you are +absolute sovereigns; introduce in its stead two of the highest +ornaments of humanity, love and reason." Through the medium of the +first, the master and the lesson may be viewed without horror; when +the teacher and the learner are upon friendly terms, the scholar +will rather invite than repel the assistance of the master. By the +second, reason, the teacher will support his full authority. Every +period of life in which a man is capable of attending to +instruction, he is capable of attending to reason: this will answer +every end of punishment, and something more.</p> +<p>Thus, an irksome task will be changed into a friendly +intercourse.</p> +<p>This School, by a date in the front, was erected in 1724, in St. +Philip's church-yard; is a plain, airy, and useful building, +ornamented over the door with the figures of a boy and a girl in +the uniform of the school, and executed with a degree of elegance, +that a Roman statuary would not have blushed to own.</p> +<p>This artificial family consists of about ninety scholars, of +both sexes; over which preside a governor and governess, both +single. Behind the apartments, is a large area appropriated for the +amusement of the infant race, necessary as their food. Great +decorum is preserved in this little society; who are supported by +annual contribution, and by a collection made after sermon twice a +year.</p> +<p>At twelve, or fourteen, the children are removed into the +commercial world, and often acquire an affluence that enables them +to support that foundation, which formerly supported them.</p> +<p>It is worthy of remark, that those institutions which are +immediately upheld by the temporary hand of the giver, flourish in +continual spring, and become real benefits to society; while those +which enjoy a perpetual income, are often tinctured with +supineness, and dwindle into obscurity.--The first, usually answer +the purpose of the living; the last, seldom that of the dead.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="DISSENTING_CHARITY-SCHOOL."></a>DISSENTING +CHARITY-SCHOOL.</h2> +<br> +<p>About twenty years ago, the Dissenters established a school, +upon nearly the same plan as the former, consisting of about +eighteen boys and eight girls; with this improvement, that the boys +are innured to moderate labour, and the girls to house-work.</p> +<p>The annual subscriptions seem to be willingly paid, thankfully +received, and judiciously expended.</p> +<br> +<a name="image13.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image13.jpg"><img src= +"images/image13.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Work House</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WORKHOUSE."></a>WORKHOUSE.</h2> +<br> +<p>During the long reign of the Plantagenets in England, there do +not seem many laws in the code then existing for the regulation of +the poor: distress was obliged to wander for a temporary and +uncertain relief:--idleness usually mixed with it.</p> +<p>The nobility then kept plain and hospitable houses, where want +frequently procured a supply; but, as these were thinly scattered, +they were inadequate to the purpose.</p> +<p>As the abbey was much more frequent, and as a great part of the +riches of the kingdom passed through the hands of the monk, and +charity being consonant to the profession of that order, the weight +of the poor chiefly lay upon the religious houses; this was the +general mark for the indigent, the idle, and the impostor, who +carried meanness in their aspect, and the words <i>Christ Jesus</i> +in their mouth. Hence arise the epithets of stroller, vagrant, and +sturdy beggar, with which modern law is intimately acquainted.</p> +<p>It was too frequently observed, that there was but a slender +barrier between begging and stealing, that necessity seldom marks +the limits of honesty, and that a country abounding with beggars, +abounds also with plunderers. A remnant of this urgent race, so +justly complained of, which disgrace society, and lay the country +under contribution, are still suffered, by the supineness of the +magistrate.</p> +<p>When the religious houses, and all their property, in 1536, fell +a sacrifice to the vindictive wrath of Henry the Eighth, the poor +lost their dependence, and as want knows no law, robbery became +frequent; justice called loudly for punishment, and the hungry for +bread; which gave rise, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to that +most excellent institution, of erecting every parish into a +distinct fraternity, and obliging them to support their own +members; therefore, it is difficult to assign a reason, why the +blind should go abroad to <i>see</i> fresh countries, or the man +<i>without feet to travel</i>.</p> +<p>Though the poor were nursed by parochial law, yet workhouses did +not become general 'till 1730: that of Birmingham was erected in +1733, at the expence of 1173<i>l</i>. 3s. 5d. and which, the +stranger would rather suppose, was the residence of a gentleman, +than that of four hundred paupers. The left wing, called the +infirmary, was added in 1766, at the charge of 400<i>l</i>. and the +right, a place for labour, in 1779, at the expence of 700<i>l</i>. +more.</p> +<p>Let us a second time, consider the 50,000 people who occupy this +<i>grand toy shop of Europe</i><a name="FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6">[6]</a> as one great family, where, though the +property of individuals is ascertained and secured, yet a close and +beneficial compact subsists. We behold the members of this vast +family marked with every style of character. Forlorn infancy, +accidental calamity, casual sickness, old age, and even inadvertent +distress, all find support from that charitable fund erected by +industry. No part of the family is neglected: he that cannot find +bread for himself, finds a ready supply; he that can, ought to do +so. By cultivating the young suckers of infancy, we prudently +establish the ensuing generation, which will, in the commercial +walk, abundantly repay the expence: temporary affliction of every +kind also merits pity; even those distresses which arise from folly +ought not to be neglected: the parish hath done well to many a man, +who would not do well to himself; if imprudence cannot be banished +out of the world, companion ought not: he that cannot direct +himself, must be under the direction of another.--If the parish +supported none but the prudent, she would have but few to support. +The last stage of human life demands, as well as the first, the +help of the family. The care of infancy arises from an expectation +of a return; that of old age from benefits already received. Though +a man may have passed through life without growing rich, he may, by +his labour, have contributed to make others so; though he could not +pursue the road to affluence himself, he may have been the means of +directing others to find it.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a> +Burke.</blockquote> +<p>The number of persons depending upon this weekly charity in +Birmingham were, April 14, 1781, about 5240.</p> +<p>Whether the mode of distributing the bounty of the community, is +agreeable to the intentions of legislature, or the ideas of +humanity, is a doubt. For in some parishes the unfortunate paupers +have the additional misery of being sold to a mercenary wretch to +starve upon twelve pence a head. It is matter of surprise that the +magistrate should wink at this cruelty; but it is matter of +pleasure, that no accusation comes within the verge of my +historical remarks, for the wretched of Birmingham are not made +more so by ill treatment, but meet with a kindness acceptable to +distress. One would think <i>that</i> situation could not be +despicable, which is often <i>wished for</i>, and often +<i>sought</i>, that of becoming one of the poor of Birmingham.</p> +<p>We cannot be conversant in parochial business, without observing +a littleness predominant in most parishes, by using every finesse +to relieve themselves of paupers, and throwing them upon others. +Thus the oppressed, like the child between two fathers, is +supported by neither.</p> +<p>There is also an enormity, which, though agreeable to law, can +never be justified by the rules of equity--That a man should spend +the principal part of his life in a parish, add wealth to it by his +labour, form connexions in it, bring up a family which shall all +belong to it, but having never gained a settlement himself, shall, +in old age be removed by an order, to perish among strangers. In +1768, a small property fell into my hands, situated in a +neighbouring village; I found the tenant had entered upon the +premises at the age of twenty-two; that he had resided upon them, +with poverty and a fair character, during the long space of forty +six years--I told him he was welcome to spend the residue of his +life upon the spot gratis. He continued there ten years after, when +finding an inability to procure support from labour, and meeting +with no assistance from the parish in which he had been resident +for an age, he resigned the place with tears, in 1778, after an +occupation of fifty six years, and was obliged to recoil upon his +own parish, about twelve miles distant; to be farmed with the rest +of the poor; and where, he afterwards assured me, "They were +murdering him by inches." -- But no complaint of this ungrateful +kind lies against that people whose character I draw.</p> +<p>Perhaps it may be a wise measure, in a place like Birmingham, +where the manufactures flourish in continual sunshine, not to be +over strict with regard to removals. Though it may be burdensome to +support the poor of another parish, yet perhaps it is the least of +two evils: to remove old age which hath spent a life among us, is +ungenerous; to remove temporary sickness, is injurious to trade; +and to remove infancy is impolitic, being upon the verge of +accommodating the town with a life of labour. It may be more +prudent to remove a rascal than a pauper. Forty pounds hath been +spent in removing a family, which would not otherwise have cost +forty shillings, and whose future industry might have added many +times that sum to the common capital. The highest pitch of charity, +is that of directing inability to support itself. Idleness suits no +part of a people, neither does it find a place here; every +individual ought to contribute to the general benefit, by his head +or his hands: if he is arrived at the western verge of life, when +the powers of usefulness decline, let him repose upon his fortune; +if no such thing exists, let him rest upon his friends, and if this +prop fail, let the public nurse him, with a tenderness becoming +humanity.</p> +<p>We may observe, that the manufactures, the laborious part of +mankind, the poor's rates, and the number of paupers, will +everlastingly go hand in hand; they will increase and decrease +together; we cannot annihilate one, but the others will follow, and +odd as the expression may sound, we become rich by payment and +poverty. If we discharge the poor, who shall act the laborious +part? Stop the going out of one shilling, and it will prevent the +coming in of two.</p> +<p>At the introduction of the poor's laws, under Elizabeth, two +pence halfpenny in the pound rent was collected every fortnight, +for future support: time has made an alteration in the system, +which is now six-pence in the pound, and collected as often as +found necessary. The present levy amounts to above 10,000<i>l</i>. +per ann. but is not wholly collected.</p> +<p>As the overseers are generally people of property, payment in +advance is not scrupulously observed.</p> +<p>It was customary, at the beginning of this admirable system of +jurisprudence, to constitute two overseers in each parish; but the +magnitude of Birmingham pleaded for four, which continued 'till the +year 1720, when a fifth was established: in 1729 they were +augmented to half a dozen; the wishes of some, who are frighted at +office, rise to the word <i>dozen</i>, a number very familiar in +the Birmingham art of reckoning: but let it be remembered, that a +vestry filled with overseers is not calculated for the meridian of +business; that the larger the body, the slower the motion; and that +the time and the necessities of the poor demand dispatch.</p> +<p>From the annual disbursements in assisting the poor, which I +shall here exhibit from undoubted evidence, the curious will draw +some useful lessons respecting the increase of manufactures, of +population, and of property.</p> +<p>No memoirs are found prior to 1676.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th>Year.</th> +<th colspan="3" align="center">Disbursed.</th> +<th>Year.</th> +<th colspan="3" align="center">Disbursed.</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="center">l.</td> +<td align="center">s.</td> +<td align="center">d.</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="center">l.</td> +<td align="center">s.</td> +<td align="center">d.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1676</td> +<td align="right">328</td> +<td align="right">17</td> +<td>7</td> +<td>1684</td> +<td align="right">451</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>5-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1677</td> +<td align="right">347</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td>10-1/2</td> +<td>1685</td> +<td align="right">324</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1678</td> +<td align="right">398</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td>0-1/2</td> +<td>1686</td> +<td align="right">338</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>11</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1679</td> +<td colspan="3" align="center">omitted</td> +<td>1687</td> +<td align="right">343</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1680</td> +<td align="right">342</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +<td>1688</td> +<td align="right">308</td> +<td align="right">17</td> +<td>9-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1681</td> +<td align="right">363</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td>7</td> +<td>1689</td> +<td align="right">395</td> +<td align="right">14</td> +<td>11</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1682</td> +<td align="right">337</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>8-1/2</td> +<td>1690</td> +<td align="right">396</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1683</td> +<td align="right">410</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>1691</td> +<td align="right">354</td> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td>5-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1691</td> +<td align="right">360</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>4-1/2</td> +<td>1720</td> +<td align="right">950</td> +<td align="right">14</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1693</td> +<td align="right">376</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>3-1/2</td> +<td>1721</td> +<td align="right">1024</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td>6-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1694</td> +<td align="right">423</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>1-1/2</td> +<td>1722</td> +<td align="right">939</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>0-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1695</td> +<td align="right">454</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>1-1/2</td> +<td>1739</td> +<td align="right">678</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1696</td> +<td align="right">385</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td>11-1/2</td> +<td>1740</td> +<td align="right">938</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1697</td> +<td align="right">446</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>5</td> +<td>1742</td> +<td align="right">888</td> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td>1-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1698</td> +<td align="right">505</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +<td>1743</td> +<td align="right">799</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1699</td> +<td align="right">592</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>2</td> +<td>1744</td> +<td align="right">851</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>5-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1700</td> +<td align="right">661</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td>4-1/2</td> +<td>1745</td> +<td align="right">746</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1701</td> +<td align="right">487</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>1746</td> +<td align="right">1003</td> +<td align="right">14</td> +<td>9-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1702</td> +<td align="right">413</td> +<td align="right">14</td> +<td>0-1/2</td> +<td>1747</td> +<td align="right">1071</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1703</td> +<td align="right">476</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>10</td> +<td>1748</td> +<td align="right">1175</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td>7-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1704</td> +<td align="right">555</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>11-1/2</td> +<td>1749</td> +<td align="right">1132</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>7-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1705</td> +<td align="right">510</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>10</td> +<td>1750</td> +<td align="right">1167</td> +<td align="right">16</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1706</td> +<td align="right">519</td> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td>6</td> +<td>1751</td> +<td align="right">1352</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>8-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1707</td> +<td align="right">609</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>4-1/2</td> +<td>1752</td> +<td align="right">1355</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1708</td> +<td align="right">649</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td>9</td> +<td>1756</td> +<td align="right">3255</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>3-1/4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1709</td> +<td align="right">744</td> +<td align="right">17</td> +<td>0-1/2</td> +<td>1757</td> +<td align="right">3402</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1710</td> +<td align="right">960</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td>8-1/2</td> +<td>1758</td> +<td align="right">3306</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1711</td> +<td align="right">1055</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>10</td> +<td>1759</td> +<td align="right">2708</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td>5-3/4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1712</td> +<td align="right">734</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>11</td> +<td>1760</td> +<td align="right">3221</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1713</td> +<td align="right">674</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td>6</td> +<td>1761</td> +<td align="right">2935</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td>1-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1714</td> +<td align="right">722</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td>6-1/2</td> +<td>1762</td> +<td align="right">3078</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1715</td> +<td align="right">718</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>1763</td> +<td align="right">3330</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>11-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1716</td> +<td align="right">788</td> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td>2-1/2</td> +<td>1764</td> +<td align="right">3963</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td>0-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1717</td> +<td align="right">764</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>6-1/2</td> +<td>1765</td> +<td align="right">3884</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1718</td> +<td align="right">751</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>4</td> +<td>1766</td> +<td align="right">4716</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>10-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1719</td> +<td align="right">1094</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td>7</td> +<td>1767</td> +<td align="right">4940</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1768</td> +<td align="right">4798</td> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td>5</td> +<td>1775</td> +<td align="right">6509</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td>10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1769</td> +<td align="right">5082</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>9</td> +<td>1776</td> +<td align="right">5203</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td>9-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1770</td> +<td align="right">5125</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>2-1/4</td> +<td>1777</td> +<td align="right">6012</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1771</td> +<td align="right">6132</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td>10</td> +<td>1778</td> +<td align="right">6866</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td>8-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1772</td> +<td align="right">6139</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td>5-1/2</td> +<td>1779</td> +<td align="right">8081</td> +<td align="right">19</td> +<td>7-1/2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1773</td> +<td align="right">5584</td> +<td align="right">18</td> +<td>8-1/2</td> +<td>1780</td> +<td align="right">9910</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td>11-3/4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1774</td> +<td align="right">6115</td> +<td align="right">17</td> +<td>11</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<p>We cannot pass through this spacious edifice without being +pleased with its internal oeconomy; order influences the whole, nor +can the cleanliness be exceeded: but I am extremely concerned, that +I cannot pass through without complaint.</p> +<p>There are evils in common life which admit of no remedy; but +there are very few which may not be lessened by prudence.</p> +<p>The modes of nursing infancy in this little dominion of poverty, +are truly defective. It is to be feared the method intended to +train up inhabitants for the earth, annually furnishes the regions +of the grave.</p> +<p>Why is so little attention paid to the generation who are to +tread the stage after us? as if we suffered them to be cut off that +we might keep possession for ever. The unfortunate orphan that none +will own, none will regard: distress, in whatever form it appears, +excites compassion, but particularly in the helpless. Whoever puts +an infant into the arms of decrepit old age, passes upon it a +sentence of death, and happy is that infant who finds a reprieve. +The tender sprig is not likely to prosper under the influence of +the tree which attracts its nurture; applies that nurture to +itself, where the calls occasioned by decay are the most +powerful--An old woman and a sprightly nurse, are characters as +opposite as the antipodes.</p> +<p>If we could but exercise a proper care during the first two +years, the child would afterwards nurse itself; there is not a more +active animal in the creation, no part of its time, while awake, is +unemployed: why then do we invert nature, and confine an animal to +still life, in what is called a school, who is designed for +action?</p> +<p>We cannot with indifference behold infants crouded into a room +by the hundred, commanded perhaps by some disbanded soldier, termed +a school-master, who having changed the sword for the rod, +continues much inclined to draw blood with his arms; where every +individual not only re breathes his own air, but that of another: +the whole assembly is composed of the feeble, the afflicted, the +maimed, and the orphan; the result of whose confinement, is a +fallow aspect, and a sickly frame: but the paltry grains of +knowledge gleaned up by the child in this barren field of learning, +will never profit him two-pence in future; whereas, if we could +introduce a robust habit, he would one day be a treasure to the +community, and a greater to himself. Till he is initiated into +labour, a good foundation for health may be laid in air and +exercise.</p> +<p>Whenever I see half a dozen of these forlorn innocents quartered +upon a farm house, a group of them taking the air under the conduct +of a senior, or marshalled in rank and file to attend public +worship, I consider the overseer who directed it, as possessed of +tender feelings: their orderly attire, and simplicity of manners, +convey a degree of pleasure to the mind; and I behold in them, the +future support of that commercial interest; upon which they now lie +as a burden.</p> +<p>If I have dwelt long upon the little part of our species, let it +plead my excuse to say, I cannot view a human being, however +diminutive in stature, or depressed in fortune, without +considering, <i>I view an equal</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="OLD_CROSS"></a>OLD CROSS,</h2> +<br> +<p>So called, because prior to the Welch Cross; before the erection +of this last, it was simply called, The Cross.</p> +<p>The use of the market cross is very ancient, though not equal to +the market, for this began with civilization.</p> +<p>Christianity first appeared in Britain under the Romans; but in +the sixth century, under the Saxon government, it had made such an +amazing progress, that every man seemed to be not only <i>almost a +Christian</i>, but it was unfashionable not to have been a zealous +one. The cross of Christ was frequently mentioned in conversation, +and afterwards became an oath. It was hacknied about the streets, +sometimes in the pocket, or about the neck; sometimes it was fixed +upon the church, which we see at this day, and always hoisted to +the top of the steeple. The rudiments of learning began with the +cross; hence it stands to this moment as a frontispiece to the +battledore, which likewise bears its name.</p> +<p>This important article of religion was thought to answer two +valuable purposes, that of collecting the people; and containing a +charm against ghosts, evil spirits, etc. with the idea of which, +that age was much infested.</p> +<p>To accomplish these singular ends, it was blended into the +common actions of life, and at that period it entered the +market-place. A few circular steps from the centre of which issued +an elevated pillar, terminating in a cross, was the general fashion +throughout the kingdom; and perhaps our Vulcanian ancestors knew no +other for twelve hundred years, this being renewed about once every +century, 'till the year 1702, when the present cross was erected, +at the expence of 80<i>l</i>. 9s. 1d. This was the first upon that +spot, ever honoured with a roof: the under part was found a useful +shelter for the market-people. The room over it was designed for +the court leet, and other public business, which during the +residence of the lords upon the manor, had been transacted in one +of their detached apartments, yet in being: but after the removal +of the lords, in 1537, the business was done in the Leather-hall, +which occupied the whole east end of New-street, a covered gateway +of twelve feet excepted, and afterwards in the Old Cross.</p> +<br> +<a name="image14a.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image14a.jpg"><img src= +"images/image14a.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Welch Cross</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="image14b.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image14b.jpg"><img src= +"images/image14b.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Old Cross</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WELCH_CROSS."></a>WELCH CROSS.</h2> +<br> +<p>If a reader, fond of antiquity, should object, that I have +comprized the <i>Ancient state of Birmingham</i> in too small a +compass, and that I ought to have extended it beyond the 39th page; +I answer, when a man has not much to say, he ought to be hissed out +of authorship, if he picks the pocket of his friend, by saying +much; neither does antiquity end with that page, for in some of the +chapters, I have led him through the mazes of time, to present him +with a modern prospect.</p> +<p>In erecting a new building, we generally use the few materials +of the old, as far as they will extend. Birmingham may be +considered as one vast and modern edifice, of which the ancient +materials make but a very small part: the extensive <i>new</i>, +seems to surround the minute <i>old</i>, as if to protect it.</p> +<p>Upon the spot where the Welch Cross now stands, probably stood a +finger-post, to direct the stranger that could read, for there were +not many, the roads to Wolverhampton and Lichfield.</p> +<p>Though the ancient post, and the modern cross, might succeed +each other, yet this difference was between them, one stood at a +distance from the town, the other stands near its centre.</p> +<p>By some antique writings it appears, that 200 years ago this +spot bore the name of the Welch End, perhaps from the number of +Welch in its neighbourhood; or rather, from its being the great +road to that principality, and was at that time the extremity of +the town, odd houses excepted. This is corroborated by a +circumstance I have twice mentioned already, that when Birmingham +unfortunately fell under the frowns of Prince Rupert, 137 years +ago, and he determined to reduce it to ashes for succouring an +enemy, it is reasonable to suppose he began at the exterior, which +was then in Bull-street, about twelve houses above the cross.</p> +<p>If we were ignorant of the date of this cross, the style of the +building itself would inform us, that it rose in the beginning of +the present century, and was designed, as population encreased, for +a Saturday market; yet, although it is used in some degree for that +purpose, the people never heartily adopted the measure.</p> +<p>In a town like Birmingham, a commodious market-place, for we +have nothing that bears the name, would be extremely useful. +Efforts have been used to make one, of a large area, now a +bowling-green, in Corbet's-alley; but I am persuaded the +market-people would suffer the grass to grow in it, as peaceably as +in their own fields. We are not easily drawn from ancient custom, +except by interest.</p> +<p>For want of a convenient place where the sellers may be +collected into one point, they are scattered into various parts of +the town. Corn is sold by sample, in the Bull-ring; the eatable +productions of the garden, in the same place: butchers stalls +occupy Spiceal-street; one would think a narrow street was +preferred, that no customer should be suffered to pass by. Flowers, +shrubs, etc. at the ends of Philip-street and Moor-street: beds of +earthen-ware lie in the middle of the foot ways; and a double range +of insignificant stalls, in the front of the shambles, choak up the +passage: the beast market is kept in Dale-end: that for pigs, sheep +and horses in New-street: cheese issues from one of our principal +inns: fruit, fowls and butter are sold at the Old Cross: nay, it is +difficult to mention a place where they are not. We may observe, if +a man hath an article to sell which another wants to buy, they will +quickly find each other out.</p> +<p>Though the market-inconveniencies are great, a man seldom brings +a commodity for the support of life, or of luxury, and returns +without a customer. Yet even this crowded state of the market, +dangerous to the feeble, hath its advantages: much business is +transacted in a little time; the first customer is obliged to use +dispatch, before he is justled out by a second: to <i>stand all the +day idle in the market place</i>, is not known among us.</p> +<p>The upper room of this cross is appropriated for a military +guard-house. We find, December 16, 1723, an order made at a public +meeting, that "A guard house should be erected in a convenient part +of the town, because neither of the crosses were eligible." But +this old order, like some of the new, was never carried into +execution. As no complaint lies against the cross, in our time, we +may suppose it suitable for the purpose; and I know none but its +prisoners that pronounce against it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_MARTINS"></a>SAINT MARTIN's.</h2> +<br> +<p>It has been remarked, that the antiquity of this church is too +remote for historical light.</p> +<p>The curious records of those dark ages, not being multiplied, +and preserved by the art of printing, have fallen a prey to time, +and the revolution of things.</p> +<br> +<a name="image15.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image15.jpg"><img src= +"images/image15.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Saint Martin's Church</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<p>There is reason for fixing the foundation in the eighth century, +perhaps rather sooner, and it then was at a small distance from the +buildings. The town stood upon the hill, whose centre was the Old +Cross; consequently, the ring of houses that now surrounds the +church, from the bottom of Edgbaston-street, part of +Spiceal-street, the Bull-ring, Corn-cheaping, and St. +Martin's-lane, could not exist.</p> +<p>I am inclined to think that the precincts of St. Martin's have +undergone a mutilation, and that the place which has obtained the +modern name of Bull-ring, and which is used as a market for corn +and herbs, was once an appropriation of the church, though not used +for internment; because the church is evidently calculated for a +town of some size, to which the present church-yard no way agrees, +being so extremely small that the ancient dead must have been +continually disturbed, to make way for the modern, that little spot +being their only receptacle for 900 years.</p> +<p>A son not only succeeds his father in the possession of his +property and habitation, but also in the grave, where he can +scarcely enter without expelling half a dozen of his ancestors.</p> +<p>The antiquity of St. Martin's will appear by surveying the +adjacent ground. From the eminence upon which the High-street +stands, proceeds a steep, and regular descent into Moor-street, +Digbeth, down Spiceal-street, Lee's-lane, and Worcester-street. +This descent is broken only by the church-yard; which, through a +long course of internment, for ages, is augmented into a +considerable hill, chiefly composed of the refuse of life. We may, +therefore, safely remark, in this place, <i>the dead are raised +up</i>. Nor shall we be surprised at the rapid growth of the hill, +when we consider this little point of land was alone that hungry +grave which devoured the whole inhabitants, during the long ages of +existence, till the year 1715, when St. Philip's was opened. The +curious observer will easily discover, the fabric has lost that +symmetry which should ever attend architecture, by the growth of +the soil about it, causing a low appearance in the building, so +that instead of the church burying the dead, the dead would, in +time, have buried the church.</p> +<p>It is reasonable to allow, the original approach into this place +was by a flight of steps, not by descent, as is the present case; +and that the church-yard was surrounded by a low wall. As the +ground swelled by the accumulation of the dead, wall after wall was +added to support the growing soil; thus the fence and the hill +sprang up together; but this was demonstrated, August 27, 1781, +when, in removing two or three old houses, to widen St. Martin's +Lane, they took down the church-yard wall, which was fifteen feet +high without, and three within. This proved to be only an outward +case, that covered another wall twelve feet high; in the front of +which was a stone, elevated eight feet, and inscribed, "Robert +Dallaway, Francis Burton." Church-wardens, anno dom. (supposed) +"1310." As there is certain evidence, that the church is, much +older then the above date, we should suspect there had been another +fence many ages prior to this. But it was put beyond a doubt, when +the workmen came to a third wall, four feet high, covered with +antique coping, probably erected with the fabric itself, which +would lead us far back into the Saxon times.</p> +<p>The removal of the buildings to accommodate the street, the +construction of the wall, beautified with pallisades, is +<i>half</i> an elegant plan, well executed. If we can persuade +ourselves to perform the other half, by removing the remainder of +the buildings, and continuing the line to the steps, at the bottom +of Spiceal-street, the work will stand in the front of modern +improvement.</p> +<p>In the south-east part of the wall, covered by the engine-house, +upon another stone, nearly obliterated, is, John Enser, Richard +Higginson, Church-wardens, 1709.</p> +<p>Other church-yards are ornamented with the front of the +buildings, but that of St. Martin submits to the rear.</p> +<p>The present church is of stone; the first upon the premises; and +perhaps the oldest building in these parts.</p> +<p>As the country does not produce stone of a lasting texture, and +as the rough blasts of 900 years, had made inroads upon the fabric, +it was thought necessary, in 1690, to case both church and steeple +with brick, except the spire, which is an elegant one. The bricks +and the workmanship are excellent.</p> +<p>Though the fabric is not void of beauty, yet being closely +surrounded with houses, which destroy the medium of view, that +beauty is totally hid.</p> +<p>The steeple has, within memory, been three times injured by +lightning. Forty feet of the spire, in a decayed state, was taken +down and rebuilt in 1781, with stone from Attleborough, near +Nuneaton; and strengthened by a spindle of iron, running up its +centre 105 feet long, secured to the side walls every ten feet, by +braces--the expence, 165<i>l</i>. 16s.</p> +<p>Inclosed is a ring of twelve musical bells, and though I am not +master of the bob major and tripple-grandfire, yet am well +informed, the ringers are masters of the bell-rope: but to excel in +Birmingham is not new.</p> +<p>The seats in the church would disgrace a meaner parish than that +of Birmingham; one should be tempted to think, they are the first +ever erected upon the spot, without taste or order: the timber is +become hard with age, and to the honour of the inhabitants, bright +with use. Each sitting is a private freehold, and is farther +disgraced, like the coffin of a pauper, with the paltry initials of +the owner's name. These divine abodes are secured with the coarse +padlocks of a field gate.</p> +<p>By an attentive survey of the seats, we plainly discover the +increasing population of Birmingham. When the church was erected, +there was doubtless sufficient room for the inhabitants, and it was +probably the only place for public worship during 800 years: as the +town increased, gallery after gallery was erected, 'till no +conveniency was found for more. Invention was afterwards exerted to +augment the number of sittings; every recess capable only of +admitting the body of an infant, was converted into a seat, which +indicates, the continual increase of people, and, that a spirit of +devotion was prevalent among them.</p> +<p>The floor of the church is greatly injured by internment, as is +also the light, by the near approach of the buildings, +notwithstanding, in 1733, the middle roof of the chancel was taken +off, and the side walls raised about nine feet, to admit a double +range of windows.</p> +<p>Dugdale, who wrote in 1640, gives us twenty-two drawings of the +arms, in the windows, of those gentry who had connection with +Birmingham.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>1. Astley.</td> +<td>10. Freville.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>2. Sumeri.</td> +<td>11. Ancient Birmingham.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>3. Ancient Birmingham.</td> +<td>12. Knell.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>4. Ancient Birmingham,</td> +<td>13. Fitz-Warrer.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> the 2nd house.</td> +<td>14. Montalt.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>5. Seagreve.</td> +<td>15. Modern Birmingham.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>6. Modern Birmingham.</td> +<td>16. Hampden.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>7. Ancient and modern</td> +<td>17. Burdet.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> Birmingham,</td> +<td>18. Montalt.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> quartered.</td> +<td>19. Modern Birmingham.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>8. Peshale quartering</td> +<td>20. Beauchamp.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> Bottetort.</td> +<td>21. Ferrers.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>9. Birmingham quartering</td> +<td>22. Latimere.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> Wyrley.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<p>These twenty-two coats are now reduced to three, which are,</p> +<p>Number two, in the east window of the chancel, which is <i>or, +two lions passant azure</i>, the arms of the family of Someri, +Lords of Dudley-castle, and superior Lords of Birmingham; which +having been extinct about 450 years, the coat of arms must have +been there at least during that period.</p> +<p>Number three, in the south window of the chancel, <i>azure, a +bend lozenge of five points, or</i>, the ancient arms of the family +of Birmingham, which perhaps is upwards of 400 years old, as that +coat was not used after the days of Edward the First, except in +quarterings.</p> +<p>And number ten, in the north window, <i>or, a cross, indented +gules</i>; also, <i>five fleurs de lis</i>, the ancient arms of +Freville, Lords of Tamworth, whose ancestor, Marmion, received a +grant of that castle from William the Conqueror, and whose +descendant, Lord Viscount Townshend, is the present proprietor. +Perhaps this coat hath been there 400 years, for the male line of +the Freville family, was extinct in the reign of Henry the +Fourth.</p> +<p>Under the south window of the chancel, by the door, are two +monuments a-breast, of white marble, much injured by the hand of +rude time, and more by that of the ruder boys. The left figure, +which is very ancient, I take to be William de Birmingham, who was +made prisoner by the French, at the siege of Bellegard, in the 25th +of Edward the First, 1297. He wears a short mantle, which was the +dress of that time, a sword, expressive of the military order, and +he also bears a shield with the bend lozenge, which seems never to +have been borne after the above date.</p> +<p>The right hand figure, next the wall, is visibly marked with a +much older date, perhaps about the conquest. The effigy does not +appear in a military character, neither did the Lords of that +period. The value of these ancient relicts have long claimed the +care of the wardens, to preserve them from the injurious hand of +the boys, and the foot of the window cleaner, by securing them with +a pallisade. Even Westminster abbey, famous for departed glory, +cannot produce a monument of equal antiquity.</p> +<p>At the foot of these, is another of the same materials, +belonging to one of the Marrows, Lords of Birmingham.</p> +<p>Under the north east window, is a monument of white marble, +belonging to one of the Lords of the house of Birmingham: but this +is of modern date compared with the others, perhaps not more than +300 years; he bearing the <i>parte per pale, indented or, and +gules</i>.</p> +<p>In the church is an excellent organ, and in the steeple a set of +chimes, where the ingenious artist treats us with a fresh tune +every day of the week.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>Upon one of the CENTRE PILLARS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Here lieth the bodies of William Colmore, Gent. who died in +1607, and Ann his wife, in 1591: also the body of Henry Willoughby, +Esq; father to Frances, wife of William Colmore, now living; he +died 1609.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>NORTH GALLERY.</h2> +<br> +<p>John Crowley, in 1709, gave twenty shillings per annum, payable +out of the lowermost house in the Priory, to be distributed in +bread, in the church on St. John's day, to house-keepers in +Birmingham, who receive no pay.</p> +<p>Joseph Hopkins died in 1683, who gave 200<i>l</i>. with which an +estate was purchased in Sutton Coldfield; the rents to be laid out +in coats, gowns, and other relief for the poor of Birmingham: he +also gave 200<i>l</i>. for the poor of Wednesbury: 200<i>l</i>. to +distresed quakers: 5<i>l</i>. 10s. to the poor of Birmingham, and +the same sum to those of Wednesbury, at his death.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>SAME GALLERY.</h2> +<br> +<p>Whereas the church of St. Martin's, in Birmingham, had only 52 +ounces of plate, in 1708, for the use of the communion table; it +was, by a voluntary subscription of the inhabitants, increased to +275--Two flaggons, two cups, two covers and pattens, with cases: +the whole, 80<i>l</i>. 16s. 6d.</p> +<p>Richard Banner ordered one hundred pounds to be laid out in +lands within ten miles of Birmingham; which sum, lying at interest, +and other small donations being added, amounted to 170<i>l</i>. +with which an estate at Erdington, value 81. 10s. per annum, was +purchased for the poor of Birmingham.</p> +<p>Richard Kilcup gave a house and garden at Spark-brook, for the +church and poor.</p> +<p>John Cooper gave a croft for making of love-days (merriments) +among Birmingham men.</p> +<p>William Rixam gave a house in Spiceal-street, No. 26, for the +use of the poor, in 1568.</p> +<p>John Ward, in 1591, gave a house and lands in Marston Culey.</p> +<p>William Colmore gave ten shillings per ann. payable out of the +house, No. 1, High-street.</p> +<p>John Shelton gave ten shillings per annum, issuing out of a +house occupied by Martin Day.</p> +<p>Several of the above donations are included in Lench's +trust.</p> +<p>John Peak gave a chest bound with iron for the use of the +church; seemingly about 200 years old, and of 200 lb. weight.</p> +<p>Edward Smith gave 20<i>l</i>. per ann. to the poor, in 1612, and +also erected the pulpit.</p> +<p>John Billingsley, in 1629, gave 26 shillings yearly, chargeable +upon a house in Dale-end, to be given in bread, by six-pence every +Sunday.</p> +<p>One croft to find bell-ropes.</p> +<p>Richard Dukesayle, in 1630, gave the utensils belonging to the +communion table.</p> +<p>Barnaby Smith, 1633, gave 20<i>l</i>. to be lent to ten poor +tradesmen, at the discretion of the church-wardens for two or three +years.</p> +<p>Catharine Roberts, wife of Barnaby Smith, in 1642, gave +20<i>l</i>. the interest of which was to be given to the poor, the +first Friday in Lent.</p> +<p>John Jennens, 1651, gave 2<i>l</i>. 10s. for the use of the +poor, born and living in Birmingham; and also 20s. on St. Thomas's +day.</p> +<p>John Milward gave 26<i>l</i> per annum, lying in Bordesley: one +third to the school-master of Birmingham, (Free-school); one third +to the Principal of Brazen nose College, Oxford, for the +maintenance of one scholar from Birmingham or Haverfordwest, and +the remainder to the poor.</p> +<p>Joseph Pemberton gave 40s. per annum, payable out of an estate +at Tamworth, and 20s. out of an estate in Harbourne.</p> +<p>Richard Smallbrook gave to the poor of Birmingham 10s. per +annum, arising out of a salt vat in Droitwich.</p> +<p>Robert Whittall gave the pall, or beere cloth.</p> +<p>Widow Cooper, of the Talbot, No. 20, in High-street, gave one +towel and one sheet, to wrap the poor in the grave.</p> +<p>Mrs. Jennens gave 10<i>l</i>. per annum to support a lecture, +the second and third Thursday in every month.</p> +<p>The following offspring of charity seems to have expired at its +birth, but rose from the dead a few months ago, after an internment +of fifty-four years.</p> +<p>The numerous family of Piddock flourished in great opulence for +many ages, and though they were not lords of a manor, they were as +rich as those who were: they yet boast, that their ancestors could +walk seven miles upon their own land. It sometimes may be prudent, +however, to believe only <i>half</i> what a man says; besides, a +person with tolerable vigour of limb, might contrive to walk seven +miles upon his own land, if he has but one acre--a lawyer is not +the only man who can double.</p> +<p>Perhaps they were possessed of the northern part of this parish, +from Birmingham-heath to Shirland-brook, exclusive of many estates +in the manors of Smethwick and Oldbury.</p> +<p>Their decline continued many years, till one of them, in 1771, +extinguished their greatness by a single dash of his pen, in +selling the last foot of land.--I know some of them now in +distress.</p> +<p>William Piddock, in 1728, devised his farm at Winson-green, +about nine acres, to his wife Sarah, during life, and at her death, +to his nephews and executors William and John Riddall, their heirs +and assigns for ever, in trust, for educating and putting out poor +boys of Birmingham; or other discretional charities in the same +parish.</p> +<p>But William and John wisely considered, that they could not put +the money into any pocket sooner than their own; that as the estate +was in the family it was needless to disturb it; that as the will +was not known to the world, there was no necessity to publish it; +and, as it gave them a discretional power of disposal, they might +as well consider themselves <i>the poor</i>, for they were both in +the parish.</p> +<p>There is nothing easier than to coin excuses for a fault;--there +is nothing harder than to make them pass.</p> +<p>What must be his state of mind, who is in continual +apprehensions of a disgraceful discovery? No profits can compensate +his feelings.</p> +<p>Had the deviser been less charitable, William and John had been +less guilty: the gift of one man becomes a temptation to another. +These nine acres, from which the donor was to spring upwards, lay +like a mountain on the breasts of William and John, tending to +press them downwards. Although poverty makes many a rogue, yet had +William and John been more poor, they would have been more +innocent. The children themselves would have been the least gainers +by the bequest, for, without this legacy, they could just as well +have procured trades; the profit would have centered in the +inhabitants, by softening their levies.--Thus a donation runs +through many a private channel, unseen by the giver.</p> +<p>Matters continued in this torpid state till 1782, when a quarrel +between the brothers and a tenant, broke the enchantment, and +shewed the actors in real view.</p> +<p>The officers, in behalf of the town, filed a bill in Chancery, +and recovered the dormant property, which was committed in trust +to</p> +<blockquote>John Dymock Griffith,<br> +John Harwood,<br> +Thomas Archer, > +Overseers, 1781.<br> +William Hunt,<br> +Joseph Robinson,<br> +James Rollason,<br> +<br> +John +Holmes, > +Constables, 1782.<br> +Thomas Barrs,<br> +Joseph Sheldon,<br> +Charles Primer, > +Church-wardens,<br> +William Dickenson,<br> +Edmund Tompkins,<br> +<br> +Claud Johnson,<br> +Nathaniel Lawrence,<br> +Edward +Homer, > +Overseers, 1782.<br> +Thomas Cock,<br> +Samuel Stretch,<br> +Joseph Townsend,<br> +John Startin.</blockquote> +<p>The presentation of St. Martin's was vested in the family of +Birmingham, until the year 1537, since which it has passed through +the Dudleys, the Crown, the Marrows, the Smiths, and now rests in +the family of Tennant.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>RECTORS.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>1300</td> +<td>Thomas de Hinckleigh.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1304</td> +<td>Stephen de Segrave.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1304</td> +<td>John de Ayleston.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1336</td> +<td>Robert de Shuteford.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1349</td> +<td>William de Seggeley.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1354</td> +<td>Thomas de Dumbleton.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1369</td> +<td>Hugh de Wolvesey.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1396</td> +<td>Thomas Darnall.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1412</td> +<td>William Thomas.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1414</td> +<td>Richard Slowther.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1428</td> +<td>John Waryn.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1432</td> +<td>William Hyde.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1433</td> +<td>John Armstrong.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1433</td> +<td>John Wardale.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1436</td> +<td>Henry Symon.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1444</td> +<td>Humphrey Jurdan.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1504</td> +<td>Richard Button.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1536</td> +<td>Richard Myddlemore.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1544</td> +<td>William Wrixam.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1578</td> +<td>Lucus Smith.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><i>Thus far Dugdale</i>.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>----</td> +<td>------ Smith.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1641</td> +<td>Samuel Wills.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1654</td> +<td>------ Slater.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1660</td> +<td>John Riland.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1672</td> +<td>Henry Grove.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>----</td> +<td>William Daggett.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>----</td> +<td>Thomas Tyrer.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1732</td> +<td>Richard Dovey.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1771</td> +<td>------ Chase.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1772</td> +<td>John Parsons.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1779</td> +<td>William Hinton, D.D.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1781</td> +<td>Charles Curtis.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>During Cromwell's government, ---- Slater, a broken apothecary +of this place, having been unsuccessful in curing the body, +resolved to attempt curing the soul. He therefore, to repair his +misfortunes, assumed the clerical character, and cast an eye on the +rectory of St. Martin's; but he had many powerful opponents: among +others were Jennens, an iron-master, possessor of Aston-furnace; +Smallbroke, another wealthy inhabitant, and Sir Thomas Holt.</p> +<p>However, he with difficulty, triumphed over his enemies, stept +into the pulpit, and held the rectory till the restoration.</p> +<p>Being determined, in his first sermon, to lash his enemies with +the whip of those times, he told his people, "The Lord had carried +him through many troubles; for he had passed, like Shadrach, +Meshach, and Abednego, through the <i>fiery furnace</i>. And as the +Lord had enabled the children of Israel to pass over the Red Sea, +so he had assisted him in passing over the <i>Small-brooks</i>, and +to overcome the strong <i>Holts</i> of sin and satan."</p> +<p>At the restoration, suspecting the approach of the proper +officers to expel him from the Parsonage-house, he crept into a +hiding-place under the stairs; but, being discovered, was drawn out +by force, and the place ever after, bore the name of <i>Slater's +Hole</i>.</p> +<p>John Riland succeeded him, who is celebrated for piety, +learning, and a steady adherence to the interest of Charles the +First; in whose cause he seems to have lost every thing he +possessed, but his life. He was remarkable for compromising +quarrels among his neighbours, often at an expence to himself; also +for constantly carrying a charity box, to relieve the distress of +others; and, though robbed of all himself, never thought he was +poor, except when his box was empty.--He died in 1672, aged 53.</p> +<p>A succeeding rector, William Daggett, is said to have understood +the art of boxing, better than that of preaching: his clerk often +felt the weightier argument of his hand. Meeting a quaker, whose +profession, then in infancy, did not stand high in esteem, he +offered some insults, which the other resenting, told him, "If he +was not protected by his cloth, he would make him repent the +indignity." Dagget immediately stripped, "There, now I have thrown +off my protection."</p> +<p>They fought--but the spiritual bruiser proved too hard for the +injured quaker.</p> +<p>Among the rectors we sometimes behold a magistrate; at others, +those who for misconduct ought to have been taken before one.</p> +<p>The rectory, in the King's books, was valued, in 1291, at +5<i>l</i>. per annum; and, in 1536, at 19<i>l</i>. 3s. 6d.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i>A terrier of the rectory, written by the rector,<br> +about 1680</i>.</h2> +<br> +<p>A house wherein the present rector, Mr. Dagget, resides. +[Parsonage-house.]</p> +<p>Two other houses in Birmingham, [now three, at No. 15, +Spiceal-street.]</p> +<p>Three pieces of glebe land, nineteen acres, between the school +land and Sheepcoat-lane.</p> +<p>Three pieces, called the Five-way-closes twenty-one acres, +bounded by the lands of Samuel Smallbroke, Esq; and Josiah +Porter.</p> +<p>One close, two acres, bounded by Lady-wood-lane.</p> +<p>Parsons-meadow, two acres, bounded by the lands of Thomas Smith, +Sir Richard Gough, and Sir Arthur Kaye.</p> +<p>Horse pool-croft, half an acre, bounded by Bell's-barn-lane, +[Brickiln-lane] the lands of Robert Phillips and Samuel Smallbrook, +Esqrs.</p> +<p>Tythe of all kinds of grain: but instead of hay, wool and lamb, +a due of 12d. in the pound rent, called herbage, in all the parish, +except foreign, wherein the custom is 4d. per acre for meadow land; +3d. per acre for leas; 3d. for each lamb; 1d. 1/2 for a cow and +calf: and except part of the estate of William Colmore, Esq; with +the Hall-ring, Tanter-butts, Bell's-barns, [No. 1, Exeter-row] and +Rings; for the herbage of which is paid annually 13s. 4d. and also, +except part of the estate of Samuel Smallbrook, Esq; for which he +pays 8s. per annum; and, except the estate of Thomas Weaman, called +Whittall's-farm, [Catharine-street] for which he pays 2s. 8d.</p> +<p>All the above estates pay the customary modus, whether in or out +of tillage.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>SURPLICE FEES.</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th> </th> +<th>Rector.</th> +<th>Clerk,</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td>s.</td> +<td>d.</td> +<td> </td> +<td>s.</td> +<td>d.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>For burying in the church,</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>0</td> +<td> </td> +<td>1</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ditto church-yard,</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>6</td> +<td> </td> +<td>0</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Churching a woman,</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>4</td> +<td> </td> +<td>0</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Marrying by licence,</td> +<td>5</td> +<td>0</td> +<td> </td> +<td>2</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ditto without,</td> +<td>2</td> +<td>6</td> +<td> </td> +<td>1</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Tythe pig, if seven or upwards,</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>4</td> +<td> </td> +<td>0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Easter dues, man and wife,</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>4</td> +<td> </td> +<td>0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>---- each person above sixteen,</td> +<td>0</td> +<td>4</td> +<td> </td> +<td>0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Clerk's salary 20s. paid by the wardens; also 2d.</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> from each house keeper at +Easter.</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>From the above terrier, I am inclined to value the income at +about 90<i>l</i>. per annum.</p> +<p>The benefice, in 1771, was about 350<i>l</i>. per annum: the +late Rector, John Parsons, procured an act, in 1773, to enable the +incumbent to grant building leases; the grant of a single lease, in +1777, brought the annual addition of about 170<i>l</i>. The income +is now about 700<i>l</i>. and is expected, at the expiration of the +leases, to exceed 2000<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>The repairs of the chancel belong to the rector, and the +remainder of the building to the parish.</p> +<br> +<a name="image16.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image16.jpg"><img src= +"images/image16.jpg" width="45%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>St. Philip's Church</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SAINT_PHILLIPS"></a>SAINT PHILLIP's.</h2> +<br> +<p>We have touched upon various objects in our peregrinations +through Birmingham, which meet with approbation, though viewed +through the medium of smoke; some of these, being covered with the +rust of time, command our veneration; but the prospect before us is +wholly modern.</p> +<p>We have mounted, by imperceptable gradations, from beauty to +beauty, 'till we are now arrived at the summit.</p> +<p>If an historian had written in the last century, he would have +recorded but two places of worship; I am now recording the +fourteenth: but my successor, if not prevented by our own +imprudence, in driving away the spirit of commerce, may record the +four-and-twentieth. The artist, who carries the manufactures among +foreigners, or the overseer, who wantonly loads the people with +burdens, draws the wrath of the place upon his own head.</p> +<p>This curious piece of architecture, the steeple of which is +erected after the model of St. Paul's, in London, but without its +weight, does honour to the age that raised it, and to the place +that contains it. Perhaps the eye of the critic cannot point out a +fault, which the hand of the artist can mend: perhaps too, the +attentive eye cannot survey this pile of building, without +communicating to the mind a small degree of pleasure. If the +materials are not proof against time, it is rather a misfortune to +be lamented, than an error to be complained of, the country +producing no better.</p> +<p>Yet, amidst all the excellencies we boast, I am sorry to charge +this chief ornament with an evil which admits no cure, that of not +ranging with its own coemetery, or the adjacent buildings: out of +seven streets, with which it is connected, it lines with +none.--Like Deritend chapel, of which I have already complained, +from a strong attachment to a point of religion, or of the compass, +it appears twisted out of its place. We may be delighted with a +human figure, complete in stature, exactly moulded with symmetry, +and set off with the graces of dress; but we should be disgusted, +if his right side seemed to attempt to out-walk his left.</p> +<p>This defect, in religious architecture, arises from a strict +adherence to the custom of the ancients, who fixed their altars +towards the east. It is amasing, that even weakness itself, by long +practice, becomes canonical; it gains credit by its age and its +company. Hence, Sternhold and Hopkins, by being long bound up with +scripture, acquired a kind of scripture authority.</p> +<p>The ground, originally, was part of a farm, and bore the name of +the Horse-close; afterwards <i>Barley-close</i>.--Thus a benign +spot of earth, gave additional spirits to a man when living, and +kindly covered him in its bosom when dead.</p> +<p>This well chosen spot, is the summit of the highest eminence in +Birmingham, with a descent every way; and, when the church was +erected, there were not any buildings nearer than those in +Bull-street.</p> +<p>The land was the gift of Robert Phillips, Esq; whence the name, +ancestor to William Theodore Inge, Esquire.</p> +<p>In all degrees of people, from the bishop to the beadle, there +seems a propensity in the mind to arrive at the honours of +Sainthood: by joining our names in partnership with a faint, we +share with him a red letter in the almanack.</p> +<p>Out of six churches in Birmingham, three bear the names of the +donors. St. Bartholomew's would, probably, have taken that of its +founder, John Jennens, Esq; but that name happened to be +anticipated by Sir John de Birmingham, who conferred it upon +Deritend chapel. St. Mary's could readily perpetuate the name of +its benefactress, because we had no place of worship that bore it. +But as neither the popish, nor the protestant kalendar produced a +St. Charles, the founder of St. Paul's was unfortunately +excluded.</p> +<p>The gifts, which the benefactor himself believes are charitable, +and expects the world to believe the same, if scrutinized, will be +found to originate from various causes--counterfeits are apt to be +offered in currency for sterling.</p> +<p>Perhaps <i>ostentation</i> has brought forth more acts of +beneficence than charity herself; but, like an unkind parent, she +disowns her offspring, and charges them upon charity.</p> +<p>Ostentation is the root of charity; why else are we told, in +capitals, by a large stone in the front of a building--"This +hospital was erected by William Bilby, in the sixty-third year of +his age, 1709." Or, "That John Moore, yeoman, of Worley Wigorn, +built this school, in 1730."--Nay, pride even tempts us to strut in +a second-hand robe of charity, left by another; or why do we +read--"These alms-houses were erected by Lench's trust, in 1764. W. +WALSINGHAM, BAILIFF."</p> +<p>Another utters the word <i>charity</i>, and we rejoice in the +echo. If we miss the substance, we grasp at the shadow.</p> +<p>Sometimes we assign our property for religious uses, late in the +evening of life, when <i>enjoyment</i> is over, and almost +<i>possession</i>. Thus we bequeath to piety, what we can keep no +longer. We convey our name to posterity at the expence of our +successor, and scaffold our way towards heaven up the walls of a +steeple.</p> +<p>Will charity chalk up one additional score in our favour, +because we grant a small portion of our land to found a church, +which enables us to augment the remainder treble its value, by +granting building leases? a man seldom makes a bargain for heaven, +and forgets himself. Charity and self-interest, like the apple and +the rind, are closely connected, and, like them, we cannot separate +one without trespassing on the other.</p> +<p>In contributions of the lesser kind, the giver examines the +quantum given by those of his own station; <i>pride</i> will not +suffer him to appear less than his neighbour.</p> +<p>Sometimes he surrenders merely through importunity, which +indicates as much <i>charity</i>, as the garrison does +<i>merit</i>, which surrenders when closely besieged. Neither do we +fear <i>our left hand knowing what our right hand doth</i>, our +only fear is, left the world should <i>not</i> know it.</p> +<p>This superb edifice was begun by act of Parliament, in 1711, +under a commission consisting of twenty of the neighbouring gentry, +appointed by the bishop of the diocese, under his episcopal seal. +Their commission was to end twelve months after the erection of the +church.</p> +<p>Though Birmingham ever was, and perhaps ever will be considered +as one parish, yet a portion of land, about one hundred acres, +nearly triangular, and about three fourths built up, was taken out +of the centre of St. Martin's, like a shred of cloth out of a great +coat, to make a less, and constituted a separate parish, by the +appellation of St Philip's.</p> +<p>We shall describe this new boundary by an imaginary journey, for +a real one perhaps was never taken since the land was first laid +out, nor ever will to the end of time.</p> +<p>We include the warehouse, then of John Jenens, Esq; now No. 26, +in High-street, penetrate through the buildings, till we come +within twenty yards, of Moor-street, turn sharp to the left, cross +the lower part of Castle-street, Carr's-lane, and New +Meeting-street; pass close by the front of the Meeting-house, +through Bank-alley, into Hen's-walk, having kept Moor-street about +twenty yards to the right, all the way; we now enter that street, +at the bottom of Hen's-walk, pass through the east part of +Dale-end, through Stafford-street, Steelhouse-lane (then called +Whittal-lane) Bull-lane (then New-hall-lane) and +Mount-pleasant.</p> +<p>Our journey now leads us on the west of Pinfold-street, keeping +it about twenty yards on our left; up Peck-lane, till we come near +the top, when we turn to the right, keeping the buildings, with the +Free-school in New street, on our left, into Swan-alley. We now +turn up the Alley into New-street, then to the right, which leads +us to the Party-wall, between No. 25 and 26, in High-street, late +Jennens's, where we began.</p> +<p>In the new parish I have described, and during the journey, kept +on the left, there seems to have been, at passing the act, twelve +closes, all which are filled with buildings, except the land +between New-street and Mount-pleasant, which only waits a word from +the owner, to speak the houses into being.</p> +<p>The church was consecrated in 1715, and finished in 1719, the +work of eight years; at which time the commissioners resigned their +powers into the hands of the diocesan, in whom is the presentation, +after having paid, it is said, the trifling sum of +5012<i>l</i>.--but perhaps such a work could not be completed for +20,000<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>Three reasons may be assigned, why so small a sum was expended; +many of the materials were given; more of the carriage, and some +heavy debts were contracted.</p> +<p>The urns upon the parapet of the church, which are highly +ornamental, were fixed at the same time with those of the school, +in about 1756.</p> +<p>When I first saw St. Philip's, in the year 1741, at a proper +distance, uncrowded with houses, for there were none to the north, +New-hall excepted, untarnished with smoke, and illuminated by a +western sun, I was delighted with its appearance, and thought it +then, what I do now, and what others will in future, <i>the pride +of the place</i>.</p> +<p>If we assemble the beauties of the edifice, which cover a rood +of ground; the spacious area of the church-yard, occupying four +acres; ornamented with walks in great perfection; shaded with trees +in double and treble ranks; and surrounded with buildings in +elegant taste: perhaps its equal cannot be found in the British +dominions.</p> +<p>The steeple, 'till the year 1751, contained a peal of six bells, +which were then augmented to ten; at which time St. Martin's, the +mother church, having only eight, could not bear to be out-numbered +by a junior, though of superior elegance, therefore ordered twelve +into her own steeple: but as room was insufficient for the +admission of bells by the dozen, means were found to hoist them +tier over tier. Though the round dozen is a complete number in the +counting-house, it is not altogether so in the belfry: the octave +is the most perfect concord in music, but diminishes by rising to +an octave and a half; neither can that dozen well be crowded into +the peal.</p> +<p>But perhaps the artist had another grand scheme in view, that of +accommodating the town with the additional harmony of the chimes; +for only a few tunes can be played on the octave, whilst the dozen +will compass nearly all.</p> +<p>Whether we are entertained even by this <i>exalted</i> style of +music, admits a doubt; for instead of the curious ear being charmed +with distinct notes, we only hear a bustle of confused sounds, +which baffle the attention too much to keep pace with the tune.</p> +<p>These two steeples, are our <i>public</i> band of music: they +are the only <i>standing</i> Waits of the place. Two thousand +people may be accommodated in the church, but, at times, it has +contained near three thousand.</p> +<p>In the vestry is a theological library, bequeathed by the first +rector, William Higgs, for the use of the clergy in Birmingham and +its neighbourhood; who left 200<i>l</i>. for future purchase.</p> +<p>Under the centre isle runs a vault, the whole length of the +church, for the reception of those who chuse to pay an additional +guinea.</p> +<p>The organ excels; the paintings, mouldings and gildings are +superb: whether the stranger takes an external or an internal +survey, the eye is struck with delight, and he pronounces the whole +the work of a matter. Its conveniency also, can only be equalled by +its elegance.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>In the FRONT GALLERY.</h2> +<br> +<p>Upon application of Sir Richard Gough, to Sir Robert Walpole, +then in power, George the First gave 600<i>l</i>. in 1725, towards +finishing this church.</p> +<p>Three remarks naturally arise from this declaration; That the +prodigious sums expended upon this pious undertaking, were beyond +the ability of the inhabitants; that the debts contracted, were +many years in discharging; and that one of the best of Kings, the +head of the Brunswick line, bestowed a liberal benefaction upon a +people not compleatly reconciled to his house.</p> +<p>Whether monumental decoration adds beauty to a place already +beautiful, is a question. There are three very small and very +elegant monuments in this church. Upon one of the south pillars, is +that of the above William Higgs, who died in 1733. Upon another is +that of William Vyse, the second rector, who died in 1770, at the +age of 61. And, upon a north pillar, that of Girton Peak, Esq; an +humane magistrate, who died in 1770, aged 48.</p> +<p>Internment in the church is wisely prohibited; an indecency +incompatible with a civilized people. The foreigner will be apt to +hold forth the barbarity of the English nation, by observing, "They +introduce corruption in their very churches, and pay divine +adoration upon the graves of their ancestors."</p> +<p>Places of worship were designed for the living, the dead give up +their title with their life: besides, even small degrees of +putrefaction, confined in a room where the air cannot circulate, +may become prejudicial to health: it also ruins the pavement, as is +done at St. Martin's. Our first inhabitants, therefore, lie +contented in the church yard, by their unfortunate equals; having +private sepulchres appropriated for family use--Perhaps at the last +day, no inquiry will be made whether they lay on the in, or the +outside of the walls.</p> +<p>It is difficult to traverse the elegant walks that surround this +gulf of death, without contemplating, that time is drawing us +towards the same focus, and that we shall shortly fall into the +centre: that this irregular circle contains what was once generous +and beautiful, opulent and humane. The arts took their rise in this +fruitful soil: this is the grave of invention and of industry; here +those who figured upon the stage are fallen, to make way for +others, who must follow: though multitudes unite with the dead, the +numbers of the living increase; the inhabitants change, while the +genius improves. We cannot pass on without reading upon the stones, +the short existence of our departed friends, perusing the end of a +life with which we were well acquainted. The active motion that +veered with the rude blasts of seventy years, slops in this point +for ever.</p> +<p>The present rector, who is the third, is the Rev. Charles +Newling, and the benefice something like the following:</p> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th> </th> +<th><b>l.</b></th> +<th><b>s</b>.</th> +<th><b>d.</b></th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A prebendal stall in the cathedral</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> church of Lichfield,</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Eight acres and a half of glebe land,</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> at Long bridge, near +Birmingham,</td> +<td align="right">32</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Emoluments arising from the seats of</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> the church,</td> +<td align="right">140</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Surplice fees,</td> +<td align="right">50</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Easter offerings,</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>An estate at Sawley, in the county of</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> Derby, under lease for three +lives,</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> renewable by fine, at the +annual</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> rent of</td> +<td align="right">66</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="3">------------</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">304</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Out of which is paid to the rector</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> of St. Martin's, in +consideration</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> fees and offerings once +appropriated</td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> to that church,</td> +<td align="right">15</td> +<td align="right">0</td> +<td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td colspan="3">-----------</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">289</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BIRTHS_AND_BURIALS."></a>BIRTHS AND BURIALS.</h2> +<br> +<p>There are many inducements for an author to take up the pen, but +the leading motives, however disguised, seem to be pride and +poverty; hence, two of the most despicable things among men, +furnish the world with knowledge.</p> +<p>One would think, however, there can be no great inducement for a +man to write what he is conscious will never be read. Under this +class may be comprehended alphabetical collections, chronological +tables, books of figures, occasional devotions, etc. here also I +range the lists of officers in Birmingham, the annual sums expended +upon the poor, and the present chapter of numbers. These are +intended for occasional inspection, rather than for regular +perusal: we may consider them as deserts served up for a taste +only, not a dinner; yet even this rule may be broken by a resolute +reader, for the late Joseph Scott, Esq; founder of the trust +before-mentioned, assured me, in 1751, that he had perused Bailey's +Dictionary as methodically as he had done Tom Jones; and, though a +dissenter, he continued to read the Common Prayer Book from end to +end, about twice a year; which is more than, perhaps, the greatest +lover of that excellent composition can boast.</p> +<p>I shall, to avoid prolixity in a barren chapter of the two +extremes of life, select about every tenth year from the register. +Those years at the time of the plague, make no addition to the +burials, because the unhappy victims were conveyed to Lady-wood for +internment.</p> +<p>These lists inform us, that the number of streets, houses, +inhabitants, births, burials, poor's rates, and commercial +productions, increase with equal rapidity. It appears also from the +register, that there were more christenings lately at St. Martin's, +in one day, than the whole town produced in a year, in the 16th +century--The same may be found in that of St. Phillip's.</p> +<p>The deaths in Deritend are omitted, being involved with those of +Aston.</p> +<br> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<th>Year.</th> +<th> Births.</th> +<th> Burials.</th> +<th> Year.</th> +<th> Births.</th> +<th> Burials.</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1555</td> +<td align="right">37</td> +<td align="right">27</td> +<td> 1667</td> +<td align="right">146</td> +<td align="right">140</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1560</td> +<td align="right">--</td> +<td align="right">37</td> +<td> 1668</td> +<td align="right">113</td> +<td align="right">102</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1571</td> +<td align="right">48</td> +<td align="right">26</td> +<td> 1681</td> +<td align="right">251</td> +<td align="right">139</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1580</td> +<td align="right">37</td> +<td align="right">25</td> +<td> 1690</td> +<td align="right">127</td> +<td align="right">150</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1590</td> +<td align="right">52</td> +<td align="right">47</td> +<td> 1700</td> +<td align="right">172</td> +<td align="right">171</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1600</td> +<td align="right">62</td> +<td align="right">32</td> +<td> 1719</td> +<td align="right">334</td> +<td align="right">270</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1610</td> +<td align="right">70</td> +<td align="right">45</td> +<td> 1720</td> +<td align="right">423</td> +<td align="right">355</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1623</td> +<td align="right">81</td> +<td align="right">66</td> +<td> 1730</td> +<td align="right">449</td> +<td align="right">415</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1628</td> +<td align="right">100</td> +<td align="right">96</td> +<td> 1740</td> +<td align="right">520</td> +<td align="right">573</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1653</td> +<td align="right">--</td> +<td align="right">47</td> +<td> 1750</td> +<td align="right">860</td> +<td align="right">1020</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1660</td> +<td align="right">--</td> +<td align="right">75</td> +<td> 1760</td> +<td align="right">984</td> +<td align="right">1143</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1665</td> +<td align="right">--</td> +<td align="right">109</td> +<td> 1770</td> +<td align="right">1329</td> +<td align="right">899</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>1666</td> +<td align="right">144</td> +<td align="right">121</td> +<td> 1780</td> +<td align="right">1636</td> +<td align="right">1340</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="GENERAL_HOSPITAL."></a>GENERAL HOSPITAL.</h2> +<br> +<p>Though charity is one of the most amiable qualities of humanity, +yet, like Cupid, she ought to be represented blind; or, like +Justice, hood-winked. None of the virtues have been so much +misapplied; giving to the <i>hungry</i>, is sometimes only another +word for giving to the <i>idle</i>. We know of but two ways in +which this excellence can exert itself; improving the <i>mind</i>, +and nourishing the <i>body</i>. To help him who <i>will not</i> +help himself; or, indiscriminately to relieve those that want, is +totally to mistake the end; for want is often met with: but to +supply those who <i>cannot</i> supply themselves, becomes real +charity. Some worthy Christians have taken it into their heads to +relieve <i>all</i>, for fear of omitting the right. What should we +think of the constable who seizes every person he meets with, for +fear of missing the thief? Between the simple words, therefore, of +WILL NOT and CANNOT, runs the fine barrier between real and +mistaken charity.</p> +<p>This virtue, so strongly inculcated by the christian system, +hath, during the last seventeen centuries, appeared in a variety of +forms, and some of them have been detrimental to the interest they +were meant to serve: <i>Such was the cloister</i>. Man is not born +altogether to serve himself, but the community; if he cannot exist +without the assistance of others, it follows, that others ought to +be assisted by him: but if condemned to obscurity in the cell, he +is then fed by the aid of the public, while that public derives +none from him.</p> +<br> +<a name="image17.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image17.jpg"><img src= +"images/image17.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>General Hospital</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<p>Estates have sometimes been devised in trust for particular +uses, meant as charities by the giver, but have, in a few years, +been diverted out of their original channel to other purposes.</p> +<p>The trust themselves, like so many contending princes, ardently +druggie for sovereignty; hence, <i>legacy</i> and <i>discord</i> +are intimate companions.</p> +<p>The plantation of many of our English schools sprang up from the +will of the dead; but it is observable, that sterility quickly +takes place; the establishment of the master being properly +secured, supineness enters, and the young scions of learning are +retarded in their growth.</p> +<p>It therefore admits a doubt, whether charitable donation is +beneficial to the world; nay, the estate itself becomes blasted +when bequeathed to public use, for, being the freehold of none, +none will improve it: besides, the more dead land, the less scope +for industry.</p> +<p>At the reformation, under Queen Elizabeth, charity seemed to +take a different appearance: employment was found for the idle; he +that was able, was obliged to labour, and the parish was obliged to +assist him who could not. Hence the kingdom became replete with +workhouses: these are the laudable repositories of distress.</p> +<p>It has already been observed, that three classes of people merit +the care of society: forlorn infancy, which is too weak for its own +support; old age, which has served the community, without serving +itself; and accidental calamity: the two first, fall under the eye +of the parish, the last, under the modern institution of the +General Hospital.</p> +<p>The shell of this plain, but noble edifice, was erected in 1766, +upon a situation very unsuitable for its elegant front, in a narrow +dirty lane, with an aspect directing up the hill, which should ever +be avoided.</p> +<p>The amiable desire of doing good in the inhabitants, seemed to +have exceeded their ability; and, to the grief of many, it lay +dormant for twelve years. In 1778, the matter was revived with +vigor; subscriptions filled apace, and by the next year the +hospital was finished, at the expence of 7137<i>l</i>. 10s. Though +the benefactions might not amount to this enormous sum, yet they +were noble, and truly characteristic of a generous people. The +annual subscriptions, as they stood at Michaelmas, 1779, were +901<i>l</i>. 19s. and, at Midsummer, 1780, 932<i>l</i>. 8s. During +these nine months, 529 patients were admitted, of which, 303 were +cured, 93 relieved, 112 remained on the books, only 5 died, and but +<i>one</i> was discharged as incurable; an incontestible proof of +the <i>skill</i> of the faculty, which is at least equalled by +their <i>humanity</i>, in giving their attendance gratis.</p> +<p>The rules by which this excellent charity is conducted, are +worthy of its authors: success hath fully answered expectation, and +the building will probably stand for ages, to tell posterity a +favourable tale of the present generation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PUBLIC_ROADS."></a>PUBLIC ROADS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Man is evidently formed for society; the intercourse of one with +another, like two blocks of marble in friction, reduces the rough +prominences of behaviour, and gives a polish to the manners.</p> +<p>Whatever tends to promote social connection, improve commerce, +or stamp an additional value upon property, is worthy of +attention.</p> +<p>Perhaps, there is not a circumstance that points more favourably +towards these great designs, than commodious roads.</p> +<p>According as a country is improved in her roads, so will she +stand in the scale of civilization. It is a characteristic by which +we may pronounce with safety. The manners and the roads of the +English, have been refining together for about 1700 years. If any +period of time is distinguished with a more rapid improvement in +one, it is also in the other.</p> +<p>Our Saxons ancestors, of dusky memory, seldom stepped from under +the smoke of Birmingham. We have a common observation among us, +that even so late as William the Third, the roads were in so +dangerous a state, that a man usually made his will, and took a +formal fare-well of his friends, before he durst venture upon a +journey to London; which, perhaps, was thought then, of as much +consequence as a voyage to America now.</p> +<p>A dangerous road is unfavourable both to commerce and to +friendship; a man is unwilling to venture his neck to sell his +productions, or even visit his friend: if a dreadful road lies +between them, it will be apt to annihilate friendship.</p> +<p>Landed property in particular, improves with the road. If a +farmer cannot bring his produce to market, he cannot give much for +his land, neither can that land well be improved, or the market +properly supplied. Upon a well formed road, therefore, might, with +propriety, be placed the figures of commerce, of friendship, and of +agriculture, as presiding over it.</p> +<p>There are but very few observations necessary in forming a road, +and those few are very simple; to expel whatever is hurtful, and +invite whatever is beneficial.</p> +<p>The breaking up of a long frost, by loosening the foundations, +is injurious, and very heavy carriages ought to be prevented, 'till +the weather unites the disjointed particles, which will soon +happen.</p> +<p>But the grand enemy is water; and as this will inevitably fall, +every means should be used to discharge it: drains ought to be +frequent, that the water may not lie upon the road.</p> +<p>The great benefits are <i>the sun</i> and the <i>wind:</i> the +surveyor should use every method for the admission of these +friendly aids, that they may dispel the moisture which cannot run +off.</p> +<p>For this purpose, all public roads ought to be sixty feet wide; +all trees and hedges within thirty feet of the centre, be under the +controul of the commissioners, with full liberty of drawing off the +water in what manner they judge necessary.</p> +<p>The Romans were the most accomplished masters we know of in this +useful art; yet even they seem to have forgot the under drain, for +it is evident at this day, where their road runs along the +declivity of a hill, the water dams up, flows over, and injures the +road.</p> +<p>Care should be taken, in properly forming a road at first, +otherwise you may botch it for a whole century, and at the end of +that long period, it will be only a botch itself.</p> +<p>A wide road will put the innocent traveller out of fear of the +waggoners; not the most civilized of the human race.</p> +<p>From Birmingham, as from a grand centre, issues twelve roads, +that point to as many towns; some of these, within memory, have +scarcely been passable; all are mended, but though much is done, +more is wanted. In an upland country, like that about Birmingham, +where there is no river of size, and where the heads only of the +streams show themselves: the stranger would be surprised to hear, +that through most of these twelve roads he cannot travel in a flood +with safety. For want of causeways and bridges, the water is +suffered to flow over the road, higher than the stirrup: every +stream, though only the size of a tobacco-pipe, ought to be carried +through an under drain, never to run over the road.</p> +<p>At Saltley, in the way to Coleshill, which is ten miles, for +want of a causeway, with an arch or two, every flood annoys the +passenger and the road: at Coleshill-hall, 'till the year 1779, he +had to pass a dangerous river.</p> +<p>One mile from Birmingham, upon the Lichfield road, sixteen +miles, to the disgrace of the community, is yet a river without a +bridge. In 1777, the country was inclined to solicit Parliament for +a turnpike-act, but the matter fell to the ground through private +views: one would think, that the penny can never be ill laid out, +which carries a man ten miles with pleasure and safety. The hand of +nature hath been more beneficent, both to this, and to the Stafford +road, which is twenty-eight miles, than that of art.</p> +<p>The road to Walfall, ten miles, is rather <i>below +indifferent</i>.</p> +<p>That to Wolverhampton, thirteen miles, is much improved since +the coal-teams left it.</p> +<p>The road to Dudley, ten miles, is despicable beyond description. +The unwilling traveller is obliged to go two miles about, through a +bad road, to avoid a worse.</p> +<p>That to Hales-Owen, eight miles, like the life of man, is +checkered with good and evil; chiefly the latter.</p> +<p>To Bromsgrove, thirteen miles, made extremely commodious for the +first four, under the patronage of John Kettle, Esq; in 1772, at +the expence of near 5000<i>l</i>. but afterwards is so confined, +that two horses cannot pass without danger; the sun and the winds +are excluded, the rivers lie open to the stranger, and he travels +through dirt 'till Midsummer.</p> +<p>To Alcester, about twenty, formed in 1767, upon a tolerable +plan, but is rather too narrow, through a desolate country, which +at present scarcely defrays the expence; but that country seems to +improve with the road.</p> +<p>Those to Stratford and Warwick, about twenty miles each, are +much used and much neglected.</p> +<p>That to Coventry, about the same distance, can only be equalled +by the Dudley road. The genius of the age has forgot, in some of +these roads to accommodate the foot passenger with a causeway.</p> +<p>The surveyor will be inclined to ask, How can a capital be +raised to defray this enormous expence? Suffer me to reply with an +expression in the life of Oliver Cromwell, "He that lays out money +when necessary, and only then, will accomplish matters beyond the +reach of imagination."</p> +<p>Government long practised the impolitic mode of transporting +vast numbers of her people to America, under the character of +felons; these, who are generally in the prime of life, might be +made extremely useful to that country which they formerly robbed, +and against which, they are at this moment carrying arms. It would +be easy to reduce this ferocious race under a kind of martial +discipline; to badge them with a mark only removeable by the +governors, for hope should ever be left for repentance, and to +employ them in the rougher arts of life, according to the nature of +the crime, and the ability of body; such as working the coal mines +in Northumberland, the lead mines in Derbyshire, the tin mines in +Cornwall, cultivating waste lands, banking after inundations, +forming canals, cleansing the beds of rivers, assisting in harvest, +and in FORMING and MENDING the ROADS: <i>these hewers of wood and +drawers of water</i> would be a corps of reserve against any +emergency. From this magazine of villiany, the British navy might +be equipped with, considerable advantage.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CANAL."></a>CANAL.</h2> +<br> +<p>An act was obtained, in 1767, to open a cut between Birmingham +and the coal delphs about Wednesbury.</p> +<p>The necessary article of coal, before this act, was brought by +land, at about thirteen shillings per ton, but now at seven.</p> +<p>It was common to see a train of carriages for miles, to the +great destruction of the road, and the annoyance of travellers.</p> +<p>This dust is extended in the whole to about twenty-two miles in +length, 'till it unites with what we may justly term the grand +artery, or Staffordshire Canal; which, eroding the island, +communicates with Hull, Bristol and Liverpool. The expence was +about 70,000<i>l</i>. divided into shares 140<i>l</i>. each, of +which no man can purchase more than ten, and which now sell for +about 370<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>The proprietors took a perpetual lease of six acres of land, of +Sir Thomas Gooch, at 47<i>l</i>. per annum, which is converted into +a wharf, upon the front of which is erected an handsome office for +the dispatch of business.</p> +<br> +<a name="image19.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image19.jpg"><img src= +"images/image19.jpg" width="100%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>A Plan of the Navigable Canal from Birmingham to +Autherley.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="image20.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image20.jpg"><img src= +"images/image20.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>Navigation Office</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<p>This watery passage, exclusive of loading the proprietors with +wealth, tends greatly to the improvement of some branches of trade, +by introducing heavy materials at a small expence, such as pig iron +for the founderies, lime-stone, articles for the manufacture of +brass and steel, also stone, brick, slate, timber, &c.</p> +<p>It is happy for the world, that public interest is grafted upon +private, and that both flourish together.</p> +<p>This grand work, like other productions of Birmingham birth, was +rather hasty; the managers, not being able to find patience to worm +round the hill at Smethwick, or cut through, have wisely travelled +over it by the help of twelve locks, with six they mount the +summit, and with six more descend to the former level; forgetting +the great waste of water, and the small supply from the rivulets, +and also, the amazing loss of of time in climbing this curious +ladder, consisting of twelve liquid steps. It is worthy of remark, +that the level of the earth, is nearly the same at Birmingham as at +the pits: what benefit then would accrue to commerce, could the +boats travel a dead flat of fourteen miles without interruption? +The use of the canal would increase, great variety of goods be +brought which are now excluded, and these delivered with more +expedition, with less expence, and the waste of water never felt; +but, by the introduction of twelve unnecessary locks, the company +may experience five plagues more than fell on Egypt.</p> +<p>The boats are nearly alike, constructed to fit the locks, carry +about twenty-five tons, and are each drawn by something like the +skeleton of a horse, covered with skin: whether he subsists upon +the scent of the water, is a doubt; but whether his life is a scene +of affliction, is not; for the unfeeling driver has no employment +but to whip him from one end of the canal to the other. While the +teams practised the turnpike road, the lash was divided among five +unfortunate animals, but now the whole wrath of the driver falls +upon one.</p> +<p>We can scarcely view a boat travelling this liquid road, without +raising opposite sensations--pleased to think of its great benefit +to the community, and grieved to behold wanton punishment.</p> +<p>I see a large field of cruelty expanding before me, which I +could easily prevail with myself to enter; in which we behold the +child plucking a wing and a leg off a fly, to try how the poor +insect can perform with half his limbs; or running a pin through +the posteriors of a locust, to observe it spinning through the air, +like a comet, drawing a tail of thread. If we allow, man has a +right to destroy noxious animals, we cannot allow he has a right to +protract their pain by a lingering death. By fine gradations the +modes of cruelty improve with years, in pinching the tail of a cat +for the music of her voice, kicking a dog because we have trod upon +his foot, or hanging him for <i>fun</i>, 'till we arrive at the +priests in the church of Rome, who burnt people for opinion; or to +the painter, who begged the life of a criminal, that he might +torture him to death with the severest pangs, to catch the +agonizing feature, and transfer it into his favourite piece, of a +dying Saviour. But did that Saviour teach such doctrine? Humanity +would wish rather to have lost the piece, than have heard of the +cruelty. What, if the injured ghost of the criminal is at this +moment torturing that of the painter?--</p> +<p>But as this capacious field is beyond the line I profess, and, +as I have no direct accusation against the people of my regard, I +shall not enter.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="DERITEND_BRIDGE."></a>DERITEND BRIDGE.</h2> +<br> +<p>Cooper's-mill, situated upon the verge of the parishes of Afton +and Birmingham, 400 yards below this bridge, was probably first +erected in the the peaceable ages of Saxon influence, and continued +a part of the manorial estate 'till the disposal of it in 1730.</p> +<p>Before the water was pounded up to supply the mill, it must have +been so shallow, as to admit a passage between Digbeth and +Deritend, over a few stepping stones; and a gate seems to have been +placed upon the verge of the river, to prevent encroachments of the +cattle.</p> +<p>This accounts for the original name, which Dugdale tells us was +<i>Derry-yate-end:</i> derry, low; yate, gate; end, extremity of +the parish; with which it perfectly agrees.</p> +<p>The mill afterwards causing the water to be dammed up, gave rise +to a succession of paltry bridges, chiefly of timber, to preserve a +communication between the two streets.</p> +<p>But in later ages, the passage was dignified with those of +stone. In 1750, a wretched one was taken down, and the present +bridge erected by Henry Bradford and John Collins, overseers of the +highway, consisting of five arches; but the homely style, the deep +ascent, and the circumscribed width prevents encomium.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<a name="SOHO"></a> +<h2>ADJACENT REMARKS.</h2> +<h3>SOHO.</h3> +<br> +<p>If we travel two miles from the centre of Birmingham, upon the +Wolverhampton road, which may be called, the road to taste, and is +daily travelled by the nobility and gentry, we shall arrive at the +epitome of the arts.</p> +<p>Though this little spot lies in the county of Stafford, we must +accept it as part of Birmingham; neither is it many yards distant +from the parish.</p> +<p>The proprietor, invited by a genius, a fortune of +30,000<i>l</i>. and a little stream, which promised to facilitate +business, has erected the most elegant works in these parts, said +to accommodate seven hundred persons. Upon that hungry ground, +where, in 1758 stood one paltry cottage, we now behold, a city in +miniature.</p> +<p>From this nursery of ingenuity, originated the Soho button, the +single wheel clock, the improvement of the steam engine, the +platina button, the method of taking exact copies of painting, +writing, &c. also, the productions of fancy, in great variety; +with which some of the European princes are well acquainted.</p> +<p>To the genius of the place is owing the assay-office, for +marking standard wrought plate, which, prior to the year 1773, was +conveyed to London to receive the sanction of that office; but by +an act then obtained, the business is done here by an assay master, +superintended by four wardens: these are annually chosen out of +thirty-six guardians, whose chief duty consists in dining together, +at least once a year; for it appears from the chapter upon +government, that feasting makes a principal part of a Birmingham +office; and, however unwilling a man may seem to <i>enter in</i> we +generally find him pleased when he <i>is in</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="DANES_CAMP:"></a>DANES CAMP:</h2> +<h3>DANES BANK, OR BURY FIELDS.</h3> +<br> +<p>About five miles south of Birmingham, and five furlongs off +Solihull Lodge, is a place called <i>The Danes Camp</i>. But +although neither history nor tradition speak of this particular +event, it probably was raised in the ninth century.</p> +<p>The situation is well chosen, upon an eminence, about nine +acres, nearly triangular, is yet in tolerable perfection; the ditch +is about twenty feet wide; the base of the bank about the same; +admits but of one entrance, and is capable of being secured by +water. From the bottom of the ditch, to the top of the mound, was, +when made, about twenty feet; and is a production of great +labour.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="GENTLEMENS_SEATS"></a>GENTLEMEN'S SEATS.</h2> +<br> +<p>This neighbourhood may justly be deemed the seat of the arts, +but not the seat of the gentry.</p> +<p>None of the nobility are near us, except William Legge, Earl of +Dartmouth, at Sandwell, four miles from Birmingham. The principal +houses in our environs, are those of Sir Charles Holte, late member +for the county, at Aston; Sir Henry Gough, member for Bamber, at +Edgbaston; George Birch, Esq; at Handsworth; John Gough, Esq; at +Perry; and John Taylor, Esq; at Bordesley and at Moseley; all +joining to the manor of Birmingham. Exclusive of these, are many +elegant retreats of our first inhabitants, acquired by commercial +success.</p> +<p>Full fed with vanity is an author, when two readers strive to +catch up his work, for the pleasure of perusing it:--but, +perchance, if two readers dip into this chapter, they may strive to +lay it down.</p> +<p>I have hitherto written to the <i>world</i>, but now to a small +part, <i>the antiquarians</i>; nay, a small part of the sensible +part; for a fool and an antiquary is a contradiction: they are, to +a man, people of letters and penetration. If their judgment is +sometimes erroneous, we may consider, man was never designed for +perfection; there is also less light to guide them in this, than in +other researches. If the traveller slips upon common ground, how +will he fare if he treads upon ice?--Besides, in dark questions, as +in intricate journies, there are many erroneous ways for one +right.</p> +<p>If, like the mathematician, he can establish one point, it +ascertains another. We may deem his pursuit one of the most +arduous, and attended with the least profit: his emoluments consist +in the returns of pleasure to his own mind.</p> +<p>The historian only collects the matter of the day, and hands it +to posterity; but the antiquarian brings his treasures from remote +ages, and presents them to this: he examines forgotten +repositories, calls things back into existence, which are past; +counter-acts the efforts of time, and of death; possesses something +like a re-creative power; collects the dust of departed matter, +moulds it into its prestine state, exhibits the figure to view, and +stamps it with a kind of immortality.</p> +<p>Every thing has its day, whether it be a nation, a city, a +castle, a man, or an insect; the difference is, one is a winter's +day, the other may be extended to the length of a summer's--an +<i>end</i> waits upon all. But we cannot contemplate the end of +grandeur, without gloomy ideas.</p> +<p>Birmingham is surrounded with the melancholy remains of +extinguished greatness; the decayed habitations of decayed gentry, +fill the mind with sorrowful reflections. Here the feet of those +marked the ground, whose actions marked the page of history. Their +arms glistened in the field; their eloquence moved the senate. Born +to command, their influence was extensive; but who now rest in +peace among the paupers, fed with the crumbs of their table. The +very land which, for ages, was witness to the hospitality of its +master, is itself doomed to stirility. The spot which drew the +adjacent country, is neglected by all; is often in a wretched state +of cultivation, sets for a trifle; the glory is departed; it +demands a tear from the traveller, and the winds teem, to sigh over +it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THE_MOATS."></a>THE MOATS.</h2> +<br> +<p>In the parish of King's-norton, four miles south west of +Birmingham, is <i>The Moats</i>, upon which long resided the +ancient family of Field. The numerous buildings, which almost +formed a village, are totally erased, and barley grows where the +beer was drank.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BLACK_GREVES."></a>BLACK GREVES.</h2> +<br> +<p>Eight miles south west of Birmingham, in the same parish, near +Withod Chapel, is <i>Black Greves</i> (Black Groves) another seat +of the Fields; which, though a family of opulence, were so far from +being lords of the manor, that they were in vassalage to them.</p> +<p>The whole of that extensive parish is in the crown, which holds +the detestable badge of ancient slavery over every tenant, of +demanding under the name of harriot, the best moveable he dies +possessed of--Thus death and the bailiff make their inroads +together; they rob the family in a double capacity, each taking the +best moveable.</p> +<p>As the human body descends into the regions of sickness, much +sooner than it can return into health; so a family can decline into +poverty by hastier steps, than rise into affluence. One generation +of extravagance puts a period to many of greatness.</p> +<p>A branch of the Fields, in 1777, finished their ancient +grandeur, by signing away the last estate of his family.--Thus he +blotted out the name of his ancestors by writing his own.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ULVERLEY_OR_CULVERLEY"></a>ULVERLEY, OR +CULVERLEY.</h2> +<br> +<p>Four miles from Birmingham, upon the Warwick road, entering the +parish of Solihull, in Castle-lane, is Ulverle, in doom's-day +Ulverlei. Trifling as this place now seems, it must have been the +manor-house of Solihull, under the Saxon heptarchy; but went to +decay so long ago as the conquest.</p> +<p>The manor was the property of the Earls of Mercia, but whether +their residence is uncertain.--The traces of a moat yet remain, +which are triangular, and encircle a wretched farm-house of no +note: one of the angles of this moat is filled up, and become part +of Castle-lane; which proves that Ulverley went into disuse when +Hogg's-moat was erected: it also proves that the lane terminated +here, which is about two hundred yards from the turnpike road. The +great width of the lane, from the road to Ulverley, and the +singular narrowness from thence to Hogg's-moat, is another proof of +its prior antiquity.</p> +<p>If we pursue our journey half a mile Farther along this lane, +which by the way is scarcely passable, it will bring us to</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="HOGGS-MOAT"></a>HOGG'S-MOAT.</h2> +<br> +<p>At Oltenend (Old Town) originally Odingsell's-moat, now +Hobb's-moat, the ancient manor-house of Solihull, after it had +changed its lords at the conquest. The property, as before +observed, of Edwin Earl of Mercia, in the reign of Edward the the +Confessor.</p> +<p>William the First granted the manor to a favourite lady, named +Cristina, probably a handsome lass, of the same complexion as his +mother; thus we err when we say William gave all the land in the +kingdom to his followers--some little was given to those <i>he</i> +followed.</p> +<p>This lady, like many of her successors, having tired the arms of +royalty, was conveyed into those of an humble favourite; Ralph de +Limesie married her, who became lord of the place, but despising +Ulverley, erected this castle.</p> +<p>The line of Limesie continued proprietors four descents; when, +in the reign of King John, it became the property of Hugh de +Odingsells, by marrying a co-heiress.</p> +<p>The last of the Odingsells, in 1294, left four daughters, one of +whom, with the lordship, fell into the hands of John de Clinton; +but it is probable the castle was not inhabited after the above +date, therefore would quickly fall to decay.</p> +<p>The moat is upon a much larger plan than Ulverley, takes in a +compass of five acres, had two trenches; the outer is nearly +obliterated, but the inner is marked with the strongest lines we +meet with. This trench is about twenty feet deep, and about thirty +yards from the crown of one bank to the other.</p> +<p>When Dugdale saw it, about a hundred and fifty years ago, the +center, which is about two acres, where the castle stood, was +covered with old oaks; round this center are now some thousands, +the oldest of which is not more than a century; so that the timber +is changed since the days of Dugdale, but not the appearance of the +land.</p> +<p>The center is bare of timber, and exhibits the marks of the +plough. The late Benjamin Palmer, Esq; a few years ago, planted it +with trees, which are in that dwindling state, that they are not +likely to grow so tall as their master<a name= +"FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7">[7]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a> +He measured about six feet five inches, but was singularly short in +the lower parts: his step was not larger than a child's of ten +years old. His carriage, by its extraordinary height, looked at a +distance like a moving steeple; he sat as high in a common chair, +as a man of the middle-size stands: he was as immoderately heavy as +he was tall, and as remarkable for good-nature as either. As a man, +he shone by his bulk; as a magistrate, in a dull but honest +light--his decisions were <i>intended</i> to be just. He seemingly +dozed as he walked; but if his own eyes were half shut, those of +every other person were open to see him.</blockquote> +<p>It lies in a pleasant situation, upon a descent, so that the +trench in one part is dry, and in another three or four yards deep +in water.</p> +<p>A place of such desolation, one would think, was a place of +silence--just the reverse. When I saw it, Feb. 23, 1783, the trees +were tall, the winds high, and the roar tremendous.</p> +<p>Exclusive of Ulverley and Hogg's-moat, there are many old +foundations in Solihull, once the residence of gentry now extinct; +as Solihull-hall, the Moat-house, and Kynton, the property of the +Botolers; Bury-hall, that of the Warings; who both came over with +William: Henwood, belonging to the Hugfords; Hillfield-hall, the +ancient seat of the Greswolds, as Malvern was their modern.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="YARDLEY."></a>YARDLEY.</h2> +<br> +<p>At Yardley church, four miles east of Birmingham, is <i>The +Moat</i>, now a pasture; the trench still retains its water, as a +remembrance of its former use.</p> +<p>This was anciently the property of the Allestrees, lords of +Witton; but about thirty years ago, the building and the family +expired together.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="KENTS-MOAT"></a>KENT'S-MOAT.</h2> +<br> +<p>One mile farther east is Kent's-moat, in which no noise is heard +but the singing of birds, as if for joy that their enemy is fled, +and they have regained their former habitation.</p> +<p>This is situate on an eminence, like that of Park-hall, is +capacious, has but one trench, supplied by its own springs; and, +like that, as complete as earth and water can make it.</p> +<p>This was part of Coleshill, and vested in the crown before the +conquest, but soon after granted with that to Clinton, who gave it +with a daughter to Verdon; and he, with another, to Anselm de +Scheldon, who kept it till the reign of Edward the Third: it +afterwards passed through several families, till the reign of Henry +the Seventh, when it came into that of De Gray, Earl of Kent, +whence the name; though, perhaps, the works were erected by +Scheldon.</p> +<p>It is now, with Coleshill, the property of Lord Digby; but the +building has been so long gone, that tradition herself has lost +it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SHELDON."></a>SHELDON.</h2> +<br> +<p>One mile east is Sheldon-hall, which anciently bore the name of +East-hall, in contradistinction from Kent's-moat, which was +West-hall. This, in 1379, was the property of Sir Hugh le +Despenser, afterwards of the family of Devereux, ancestor of the +present Viscount Hereford, who resided here till about 1710. In +1751, it was purchased by John Taylor, Esq; and is now possessed by +his tenant.</p> +<p>The moat, like others on an eminence, has but one trench, fed by +the land springs; is filled up in the front of the hall, as there +is not much need of water protection. The house, which gives an +idea of former gentility, seems the first erected on the spot; is +irregular, agreeable to the taste of the times, and must have been +built many centuries. All the ancient furniture fled with its +owners, except an hatchment in the hall, with sixteen coats of +arms, specifying the families into which they married.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="KINGS-HURST"></a>KING'S-HURST.</h2> +<br> +<p>Two furlongs east of Sheldon-hall, and one mile south of Castle +Bromwich, is <i>Kings-hurst</i>; which, though now a dwelling in +tenancy, was once the capital of a large track of land, consisting +of its own manor, Coleshill, and Sheldon; the demesne of the crown, +under the Saxon kings, from whom we trace the name.</p> +<p>The Conqueror, or his son William, granted it; but whether for +money, service, caprice, or favour, is uncertain; for he who wears +a crown acts as whimsically as he who does not.</p> +<p>Mountfort came over with William, as a knight, and an officer of +rank; but, perhaps, did not immediately receive the grant, for the +king would act again much like other people, <i>give away their +property, before he would give away his own</i>.</p> +<p>If this unfortunate family were not the first grantees, they +were lords, and probably residents of King's-hurst, long before +their possession of Coleshill, in 1332, and by a younger branch, +long after the unhappy attainder of Sir Simon, in 1497.</p> +<p>Sir William Mountfort, in 1390, augmented the buildings, erected +a chapel, and inclosed the manor. His grandson, Sir Edmund, in +1447, paled in some of the land, and dignified it with the +fashionable name of <i>park</i>.</p> +<p>This prevailing humour of imparking was unknown to the Saxons, +it crept in with the Norman: some of the first we meet with are +those of Nottingham, Wedgnock, and Woodstock--Nottingham, by +William Peveral, illegitimate son of the Conqueror; Wedgnock, by +Newburg, the first Norman Earl of Warwick; and Woodstock, by Henry +the First. So that the Duke of Marlborough perhaps may congratulate +himself with possessing the oldest park in use.</p> +<p>The modern park is worth attention; some are delightful in the +extreme: they are the beauties of creation, terrestrial paradises; +they are just what they ought to be, nature cautiously assisted by +invisible art. We envy the little being who presides over one--but +why mould we envy him? the pleasure consists in <i>seeing</i>, and +one man may <i>see</i> as well as another: nay, the stranger holds +a privilege beyond him; for the proprietor, by often seeing, sees +away the beauties, while he who looks but seldom, sees with full +effect. Besides, one is liable to be fretted by the mischievous +hand of injury, which the stranger seldom sees; he looks for +excellence, the owner for defect, and they both find.</p> +<p>These proud inclosures, guarded by the growth within, first +appeared under the dimension of one or two hundred acres; but +fashion, emulation, and the park, grew up together, till the last +swelled into one or two thousand.</p> +<p>If religions rise from the lowest ranks, the fashions generally +descend from the higher, who are at once blamed, and imitated by +their inferiors.</p> +<p>The highest orders of men lead up a fashion, the next class +tread upon their heels, the third quickly follow, then the fourth, +fifth, &c. immediately figure after them. But as a man who had +an inclination for a park, could not always spare a thousand acres, +he must submit to less, for a park must be had: thus Bond, of +Ward-end, set up with thirty; some with one half, till the very +word became a burlesque upon the idea. The design was a display of +lawns, hills, water, clumps, &c. as if ordered by the voice of +nature; and furnished with herds of deer. But some of our modern +parks contain none of these beauties, nor scarcely land enough to +support a rabbit.</p> +<p>I am possessed of one of these jokes of a park, something less +than an acre:--he that has none, might think it a <i>good</i> joke, +and wish it his own; he that has more would despise it: that it +never was larger, appears from its being surrounded by Sutton +Coldfield; and that it has retained the name for ages, appears from +the old timber upon it.</p> +<p>The manor of King's-hurst was disposed of by the Mountforts, +about two hundred years ago, to the Digbys, where it remains.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="COLESHILL."></a>COLESHILL.</h2> +<br> +<p>One mile farther east is <i>Coleshill-hall</i>, vested in the +crown before, and after the conquest; purchased, perhaps, of +William Rufus, by Geoffrey de Clinton, ancestor to the present Duke +of Newcastle. In 1352, an heiress of the house of Clinton, gave it, +with herself, to Sir John de Mountfort, of the same family with +Simon, the great Earl of Leicester, who fell, in 1265, at Evesham, +in that remarkable contest with Henry the Third.</p> +<p>With them it continued till 1497, when Sir Simon Mountfort, +charged, but perhaps unjustly, with assisting Perkin Warbeck with +30<i>l</i>. was brought to trial at Guildhall, condemned as a +traitor, executed at Tyburn, his large fortune confiscated, and his +family ruined. Some of his descendants I well know in Birmingham; +and <i>they</i> are well known to poverty, and the vice.</p> +<p>In the reign of Henry the Seventh, it was almost dangerous, +particularly for a rich man, even to <i>think</i> against a crafty +and avaricious monarch.--What is singular, the man who accused Sir +Simon at the bar, succeeded him in his estate.</p> +<p>Simon Digby procured a grant of the place, in whose line it +still continues. The hall is inhabited, but has been left about +thirty years by the family; was probably erected by the Mountforts, +is extensive, and its antique aspect without, gives a venerable +pleasure to the beholder, like the half admitted light diffused +within. Every spot of the park is delightful, except that in which +the hall stands: our ancestors built in the vallies, for the sake +of water; their successors on the hills, for the sake of air.</p> +<p>From this uncouth swamp sprung the philosopher, the statesman, +and tradition says, the gunpowder-plot.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="DUDDESTON."></a>DUDDESTON.</h2> +<br> +<p>Four furlongs north-east of Birmingham, is <i>Duddeston</i> +(Dud's-town) from Dud, the Saxon proprietor, Lord of Dudley, who +probably had a seat here; once a considerable village, but long +reduced to the manor-house, till Birmingham, swelling beyond its +bounds, in 1764, verged upon this lordship; and we now, in 1783, +behold about eighty houses, under the names of Duke-street, +Prospect-row, and Woodcock-lane.</p> +<p>It afterwards descended to the Paganalls, the Sumeris, then to +the Bottetourts, and was, in 1323, enjoyed by Joan Bottetourt, lady +of Weoley castle, a daughter of the house of Sumeri.</p> +<p>Sir Thomas de Erdington held it of this lady, by a chief-rent, +which was a pair of gilt spurs, or six-pence, at the option of the +tenant.</p> +<p>Erdington sold it, in 1327, to Thomas de Maidenhache, by whose +daughter, Sibell, it came in marriage to Adam de Grymforwe; whose +posterity, in 1363, conveyed it for 26<i>l</i>. 13s. 4d. now worth +20,000<i>l</i>. to John atte Holt; and his successors made it their +residence, till the erection of Aston-hall, in the reign of James +I.</p> +<p>It is now converted into beautiful gardens, as a public resort +of pleasure, and dignified with the London name of Vauxhall. The +demolished fish-ponds, and the old foundations, which repel the +spade, declare its former grandeur.</p> +<p>In 1782 it quitted, by one of the most unaccountable alignments +that ever resulted from human weakness, the ancient name of Holte, +familiar during four hundred and nineteen years, for that of +Legge.</p> +<p>Could the ghost of Sir Lister re-visit his departed property, +one might ask, What reception might you meet with, Sir Lister, in +1770, among your venerable ancestors in the shades, for barring, +unprovoked, an infant heiress of 7000<i>l</i>. a year, and giving +it, unsolicited, to a stranger? Perhaps you experience repeated +buffetings; a sturdy figure, with iron aspect, would be apt to +accost you--"I with nervous arm, and many a bended back, drew +40<i>l</i>. from the Birmingham forge, with which, in 1330, I +purchased the park and manor of Nechels, now worth four hundred +times that sum. I planted that family which you have plucked up by +the roots: in the sweat of my brow, I laid a foundation for +greatness; many of my successors built on that foundation--but you, +by starving your brother, Sir Charles, into compliance, wantonly +cut off the entail, and gave away the estate, after passing through +seventeen descents, merely to shew you had a power to give it. We +concluded here, that a son of his daughter, the last hope of the +family, would change his own name to preserve ours, and not the +estate change its possessor."--"I," another would be apt to say, +"with frugal hand, and lucrative employments under the crown, +added, in 1363, the manor of Duddeston; and, in 1367, that of +Alton. But for what purpose did I add them? To display the folly of +a successor."--A dejected spectre would seem to step forward, whose +face carried the wrinkles of eighty-four, and the shadow of tear; +"I, in 1611, brought the title of baronet among us, first tarnished +by you; which, if your own imbecility could not procure issue to +support, you ought to have supported it by purchase. I also, in +1620, erected the mansion at Afton, then, and even now, the most +superb in that neighbourhood, fit to grace the leading title of +nobility; but you forbad my successors to enter. I joined, in 1647, +to our vast fortune, the manor of Erdington.--Thus the fabric we +have been rearing for ages, you overthrew in one fatal +moment."--The last angry spectre would appear in the bloom of life. +"I left you an estate which you did not deserve: you had no more +right to leave it from your successor, than I to leave it from you: +one man may ruin the family of another, but he seldom ruins his +own. We blame him who wrongs his neighbour, but what does he +deserve who wrongs himself?--You have done both, for by cutting off +the succession, your name will be lost. The ungenerous attorney, +instead of making your absurd will, ought to have apprized you of +our sentiments, which exactly coincide with those of the world, or +how could the tale affect a stranger? Why did not some generous +friend guide your crazy vessel, and save a sinking family? +Degenerate son, he who destroys the peace of another, should +forfeit his own--we leave you to remorse, may she quickly <i>find, +and weep over you</i>."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SALTLEY."></a>SALTLEY.</h2> +<br> +<p>A mile east of Duddeston is <i>Saltley-hall</i>, which, with an +extensive track of ground, was, in the Saxon times, the freehold of +a person whom we should now call Allen; the same who was Lord of +Birmingham. But at the conquest, when justice was laid asleep, and +property possessed by him who could seize it, this manor, with many +others, fell into the hands of William Fitz-Ausculf, Baron of +Dudley-castle, who granted it in knight's-service to Henry de +Rokeby.</p> +<p>A daughter of Rokeby carried it by marriage to Sir John Goband, +whose descendants, in 1332, sold it to Walter de Clodshale; an +heiress of Clodshale, in 1426, brought it into the ancient family +of Arden, and a daughter of this house, to that of Adderley, where +it now rests.</p> +<p>The castle, I have reason to think, was erected by Rokeby, in +which all the lords resided till the extinction of the +Clodshales.--It has been gone to ruin about three hundred years, +and the solitary platform seems to mourn its loss.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WARD-END."></a>WARD-END.</h2> +<br> +<p>Three miles from Birmingham, in the same direction, is +<i>Wart-end</i>, anciently <i>Little Bromwich</i>; a name derived +from the plenty of broom, and is retained to this day by part of +the precincts, <i>Broomford</i> (Bromford).</p> +<p>This manor was claimed by that favourite of the conqueror, +Fitz-Ausculf, and granted by him to a second-hand favourite, who +took its name.</p> +<p>The old castle has been gone about a century; the works are +nearly complete, cover about nine acres, the most capacious in this +neighbourhood, those of Weoley-castle excepted. The central area is +now an orchard, and the water, which guarded the castle, guards the +fruit. This is surrounded with three mounds, and three trenches, +one of them fifty yards over, which, having lost its master, guards +the fish.</p> +<p>The place afterwards passed through several families, till the +reign of Henry the Seventh. One of them bearing the name of +<i>Ward</i>, changed the name to <i>Ward-end</i>.</p> +<p>In 1512, it was the property of John Bond, who, fond of his +little hamlet, inclosed a park of thirty acres, stocked it with +deer; and, in 1517, erected a chapel for the conveniency of his +tenants, being two miles from the parish church of Afton. The +skeleton of this chapel, in the form of a cross, the fashion of the +times, is yet standing on the outward mound: its floor is the only +religious one I have seen laid with horse-dung; the pulpit is +converted into a manger--it formerly furnished husks for the man, +but now corn for the horse. Like the first christian church, it has +experienced a double use, a church and a stable; but with this +difference, <i>that</i> in Bethlehem, was a stable advanced into a +church; this, on the contrary, is reduced into a stable.</p> +<p>The manor, by a female, passed through the Kinardsleys, and is +now possessed by the Brand-woods; but the hall, erected in 1710, +and its environs, are the property of Abraham Spooner, Esq.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CASTLE_BROMWICH."></a>CASTLE BROMWICH.</h2> +<br> +<p>Simply <i>Bromwich</i>, because the soil is productive of +broom.</p> +<p>My subject often leads me back to the conquest, an enterprize, +wild without parallel: we are astonished at the undertaking, +because William was certainly a man of sense, and a politician. +Harold, his competitor, was a prince much superior in power, a +consummate general, and beloved by his people. The odds were so +much against the invader, that out of one hundred such imprudent +attempts, ninety-nine would miscarry: all the excuse in his favour +is, <i>it succeeded</i>. Many causes concurred in this success, +such as his own ambition, aided by his valour; the desperate +fortune of his followers, very few of whom were men of property, +for to the appearance of gentlemen, they added the realities of +want; a situation to which any change is thought preferable; but, +above all, <i>chance</i>. A man may dispute for religion, he may +contend for liberty, he may run for his life, but he will +<i>fight</i> for property.</p> +<p>By the contest between William and Harold, the unhappy English +lost all they had to lose; and though this all centered in the +Normans, they did not acquire sufficient to content them.</p> +<p>History does not inform us who was then the proprietor of Castle +Bromwich, but that it belonged to the Mercian Earls scarcely admits +a doubt; as Edwin owned some adjoining manors, he probably owned +this. Fitz-Ausculf was his fortunate successor, who procured many +lordships in the neighhood of Birmingham; Castle Bromwich was one. +He granted it to an inferior Norman, in military tenure; who, +agreeable to the fashion of those times, took the surname of +Bromwich.</p> +<p>Henry de Castel was a subsequent proprietor. Dugdale supposes +the village took its name from a castle, once on the premises; and +that the castle-hill yet remains: but this hill is too small, even +to admit a shelter for a Lilliputian, and is evidently an +artificial trifle, designed for a monument. It might hold, for its +ancient furniture, a turret, termed a castle--perhaps it held +nothing in Dugdale's time: the modern is a gladiator, in the +attitude of fighting, supported by a pedestal, containing the +Bridgeman arms.</p> +<p><i>Castle</i>, probably, was added by the family of that name, +lords of the place, to distinguish it from <i>woody</i> and +<i>little</i> Bromwich. They bore for their arms, three castles and +a chevron.</p> +<p>Lord Ferrers of Chartley, who was proprietor of Birmingham in +the reign of Henry the Sixth, enjoyed it by marriage; and his grand +daughter brought it, by the same channel, into the family of +Devereux, Lords of Sheldon. Edward, about the latter end of Queen +Elizabeth's reign, erected the present building, which is +capacious, is in a stile between ancient and modern, and has a +pleasing appearance.</p> +<p>The Bridgeman family acceded to possession about eighty years +ago, by purchase, and made it their residence till about 1768. We +should naturally enquire, Why Sir Harry quitted a place so +delightfully situated? Perhaps it is not excelled in this country, +in the junction of three great roads, a a desirable neighbourhood, +the river Tame at its back, and within five miles of the plentiful +market of Bimingham--but, alas, <i>it has no park</i>.</p> +<p>The gentry seem to have resided in our vicinity, when there was +the greatest inducement to leave it, <i>impassable roads</i>: they +seem also to have quitted the country, now there is the greatest +inducement to reside there; roads, which improve their estates, and +may be travelled with pleasure. It may be objected, that "the +buildings become ancient." But there is no more disgrace in an old +house, than in an old man; they may both be dressed in character, +and look well. A gentleman, by residing in the family seat, pays a +compliment to his ancestors.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PARK-HALL."></a>PARK-HALL.</h2> +<br> +<p>Six miles north-east of Birmingham, and one from Castle Bromwich +chapel, is a spacious moat, with one trench, which, for many +centuries guarded <i>Park-hall</i>. This is another of those +desolate islands, from which every creature is fled, and every +sound, except that of the winds; nay, even the very clouds seem to +lament the desolation with tears.</p> +<p>This was possessed by none but the Ardens, being part of their +vast estate long before the conquest, and five hundred years after. +A delightful situation on the banks of the Tame; to which we are +led through a dirty road.</p> +<p>We may consider this island, the treasury into which forty-six +lordships paid their tribute. The riches of the country were drawn +to this center, and commands were issued from it. The growth of +these manors supplied that spot, which now grows for another. The +lordships are in forty-six hands; the country is in silence; the +island ploughed up, and the family distressed--At the remembrance +of their name, the smile quits the face of history; she records +their sad tale with a sigh; while their arms are yet displayed in +some of the old halls in the neighbourhood.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BERWOOD."></a>BERWOOD.</h2> +<br> +<p>Crossing the river, one mile farther east, is +<i>Berwood-hall</i>, where the forsaken moat, at this day, +guards--nothing. This, with the manor to which it belongs, was also +the property of the Ardens; one of which in the reign of Henry the +Second, granted it to the canons of Leicester; who added a chapel, +which went to decay four hundred years ago. After the grant, the +Ardens seem to have become tenants to the canons for the land, once +their own: we frequently observe a man pay rent for what he +<i>sells</i>, but seldom for what he <i>gives</i>.</p> +<p>At the dissolution of abbies, in 1537, Thomas Arden, the head of +the family, purchased it of Henry the Eighth, for 272<i>l</i>. 10s. +uniting it again to his estate, after a separation of three hundred +and fifty years, in whose posterity it continued till their +fall.</p> +<p>Thus, the father first purchased what the son gave away, and his +offspring re-purchased again. The father lays a tax on his +successor; or, climbs to heaven at the expence of the son. In one +age it is meritorious to <i>give</i> to the church, in another, to +<i>take</i> from her.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ERDINGTON."></a>ERDINGTON.</h2> +<br> +<p>Three miles north-east of Birmingham, is <i>Erdington-hall</i>, +which boasts a long antiquity. The manor was the property of the +old Earls of Mercia: Edwin possessed it at the conquest, but lost +it in favour of William Fitz-Ausculf, who no doubt granted it in +knight's service to his friend and relation, of Norman race, who +erected the hall; the moat, took his residence in, and his name +Erdington, from the place. His descendants seem to have resided +here with great opulence near 400 years.</p> +<p>Dugdale mentions a circumstance of Sir Thomas de Erdington, +little noticed by our historians. He was a faithful adherent to +King John, who conferred on him many valuable favours: harrassed by +the Pope on one side, and his angry Barons on the other, he +privately sent Sir Thomas to Murmeli, the powerful King of Africa, +Morocco, and Spain; with offers to forsake the christian faith, +turn mahometan, deliver up his kingdom, and hold it of him in +tribute, for his assistance against his enemies. But it does not +appear the ambassador succeeded: the Moorish Monarch did not chuse +to unite his prosperous fortune with that of a random prince; he +might also consider, the man who could destroy his nephew and his +sovereign, could not be an honour to any profession.</p> +<p>The manor left the Erdington family in 1472, and, during a +course of 175 years, acknowledged for its owners, George +Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, Sir William Harcourt, Robert Wright, +Sir Reginald Bray, Francis Englefield, Humphry Dimock, Walter Earl, +Sir Walter Devereux, and was, in 1647, purchased by Sir Thomas +Holte, in whose family it continued till 1782, when Henage Legge, +Esq; became seised of the manor.</p> +<p>As none of the Lords seem to have resided upon the premises +since the departure of the Erdingtons, it must be expected they +have gradually tended to decay.</p> +<p>We may with some reason conclude, that as Erdington was the +freehold of the Earls of Mercia, it was not the residence of its +owners, therefore could not derive its name from them. That as the +word <i>Arden</i> signifies a wood, the etymology of that populous +village is, <i>a town in the wood</i>. That one of the first +proprietors, after the conquest, struck with the security offered +by the river, erected the present fortifications, which cover three +parts of the hall, and the river itself the fourth. Hence it +follows, that the neighbouring work, which we now call +Bromford-forge, was a mill prior to the conquest; because the +stream is evidently turned out of its bed to feed it. That the +present hall is the second on the premises, and was erected by the +Erdingtons, with some later additions.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PIPE."></a>PIPE.</h2> +<br> +<p>One mile north-east of Erdington, is <i>Pipe-hall</i>; which, +with its manor, like the neighbouring land, became at the conquest +the property of Fitz-Ausculf; and afterwards of his defendants, +Paganall, Sumeri, Bottetort, and St. Leger.</p> +<p>It was common at that fatal period, for one of these great +barons, or rather great robbers, to procure a large quantity of +land for himself; some of them two or three hundred thousand +acres--too much for one man to grasp. He therefore kept what he +pleased for his private use, and granted the other in +knight's-service, reserving annually a rent. These rents were +generally small, so as never to hurt the tenant: however, the lord +could order him to arms whenever he pleased.</p> +<p>A few of the grants were procured by the disinherited English, +but chiefly by the officers of William's army, being more +respected, and more proper to be trusted: they were often +relations, or favourites of the great barons. The lord could not +conveniently sell, without the consent of the crown, but he could +set at what price he pleased. Time made this chief-rent permanent, +and gave the tenant stability of title.</p> +<p>The manor of Pipe, with some others, was granted to William +Mansell, who resided in the hall, and executed some of the chief +offices of the county.</p> +<p>The last of the name, in the reign of Henry the Third, left a +daughter, who married Henry de Harcourt; and his daughter married +John de Pipe, who seems to have taken its name.</p> +<p>Henry, his descendant, had many children, all of whom, with his +lady, died of the plague, except a daughter, Margery. He afterwards +married, in 1363, Matilda, the daughter of George de Castell, of +Castle Bromwich; but soon after the happy wedding, he perceived his +bride was pregnant, which proved, on enquiry, the effect of an +intrigue with her father's menial servant; a striking instance of +female treachery, which can only be equalled by--male.</p> +<p>The shock proving too great for his constitution, brought on a +decline, and himself to the grave, before the birth of the +child.</p> +<p>John was the fruit of this unlawful amour, whose guardian, to +prevent his inheriting the estate, made him a canon of Ouston, in +Leicestershire; and afterwards persuaded the unhappy Margery to +grant the manor to the abbot of Stonely.</p> +<p>Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, afterwards purchased it +for 133<i>l</i>. 6s. 8d. It came to the crown by attainder, in the +reign of Henry the Seventh; then to Sir William Staunford, one of +his judges, John Buttler; Edward Holte, in 1568; Francis Dimock, +whose daughter married Walter Earl; then to Walter Devereux, by +marrying Earl's daughter; afterwards to Sir Thomas Holte, by +purchase; and is now in the family of Bagot.</p> +<p>Though the hall is antique, its front is covered in the modern +barbarous stile, by a clump of venerable trees; which would become +any situation but that in which they stand. It is now inhabited by +a gentleman of Birmingham, who has experienced the smiles of +commerce.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="ASTON."></a>ASTON.</h2> +<br> +<p>Two miles north of Birmingham, is Aston (East-town) being east +of Westbury (Wednesbury) it lies on a steep descent towards the +river Tame.</p> +<p>This place, like that of Erdington, belonged to the Earls of +Mercia in the Saxon times; and, at the conquest, was the property +of the unfortunate Edwin. Fitz-Ausculf became his successor in +this, and in other lands: the survey calls it eight hides, valued +at 5<i>l</i>. per annum; a mill, 3s. and a wood, three miles long, +and half a mile broad. The mill, I make no doubt, stood where a +mill now stands, near Sawford-bridge; but neither the hides, nor +the wood, could be confined within the boundary of Afton; the manor +is too little for either. The lordship extends about a square mile, +and that part which is now the park, I have reason to think, was +then a common, and for ages after.</p> +<p>A Saxon, of the name of Godmund, held it under the Mercian +Earls, and found means, at the conquest, to hold it under the +Norman.</p> +<p>One hundred yards north of the church, in a perfect swamp, stood +the hall; probably erected by Godmund, or his family: the situation +shews the extreme of bad taste--one would think, he endeavoured to +lay his house under the water. The trenches are obliterated by the +floods, so as to render the place unobserved by the stranger: it is +difficult to chuse a worse, except he had put his house under the +earth. I believe there never was more than one house erected on the +spot, and that was one too much.</p> +<p>Whether this Saxon family of Godmund became extinct, or had lost +their right, is uncertain; but Sumeri, Fitz-Ausculf's successor, +about 1203, granted the manor to Sir Thomas de Erdington, +Ambassador to King John, mentioned before, who had married his +sister; paying annually a pair of spurs, or six-pence, as a nominal +rent, but meant, in reality, as a portion for the lady.</p> +<p>The family of Erdington, about 1275, sold it to Thomas de +Maidenhache, who did not seem to live upon friendly terms with his +neighbour, William de Birmingham; for, in 1290, he brought an +action against him for fishing in his water, called Moysich +(Dead-branch) leading into Tame, towards Scarford-bridge +(Shareford, dividing the shares, or parts of the parish, Aston +manor from Erdington, now Sawford-bridge) which implies a degree of +unkindness; because William could not amuse himself in his own +manor of Birmingham, for he might as well have angled in one of his +streets, as in the river Rea. The two lords had, probably, four +years before been on friendly terms, when they jointly lent their +assistance to the hospital of St. Thomas, in Birmingham.</p> +<p>Maidenhache left four daughters; Sibel, married Adam de +Grymsorwe, who took with her the manor of Aston; a daughter of this +house, in 1367, sold it to John atte Holte, of Birmingham, in whose +family it continued 415 years, till 1782, when Henage Legge, Esq; +acceded to possession.</p> +<p>This wretched bog was the habitation of all the lords, from +Godmund to the Holtes, the Erdington's excepted; for Maud Grymsorwe +executing the conveyance at Aston, indicates that she resided +there; and Thomas Holte, being possessed of Duddeston, proves that +he did not: therefore I conclude, that the building, as it ought, +went to decay soon after; so that desolation has claimed the place +for her own near four hundred years. This is corroberated by some +old timber trees, long since upon the spot where the building +stood.</p> +<p>The extensive parish of Aston takes in the two extremes of +Birmingham, which supplies her with more christenings, weddings, +and burials, than were, a few years ago, supplied by the whole +parish of Birmingham.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WITTON."></a>WITTON.</h2> +<br> +<p>Three miles north of Birmingham, and one from Aston, is +<i>Witton</i>, (Wicton) from the bend of the river, according to +Dugdale: the property of a person at the conquest whose name was +Staunchel. Fitz-Ausculf seized it, and Staunchel, more fortunate +than the chief of his country men, became his tenant; valued in the +conqueror's survey at 20s. per ann.</p> +<p>It was afterwards vested in the crown: in 1240, Henry the third +granted it to Andrew de Wicton, who took his name from the place, +for in Dooms-day it is Witone; therefore the name being prior, +proves the remark.</p> +<p>Andrew, anxious after the boundary of his new purchase, brought +an action against his neighbour, William de Pyrie (Perry) for +infringing his property. Great disputes arise from small +beginnings; perhaps a lawyer blew the flame.</p> +<p>The king issued his precept to the Sheriff of Staffordshire, in +which Perry lies, to bring with him twelve lawful and discreet +knights; and the same to the Sheriff of Warwickshire, of which +Witton is part, to ascertain the bounds between them.</p> +<p>Which was the aggressor, is hard to determine, but I should +rather suppose Squire Perry, because <i>man</i> is ever apt to +trespass; he resided on the premises, and the crown is but a sleepy +landlord; not so likely to rob, as be robbed.</p> +<p>There is a road, where foot seldom treads, mounded on each side, +leading over the Coldfield, from Perry-bridge towards the Newlands, +undoubtedly the work of this venerable band of discreet +knights.</p> +<p>The stranger, of course, would deem the property between the +contending parties, of great value, which, twenty-four of the +principal characters of the age, the flower of two counties, +marshalled by two chief officers, were to determine. But what will +he think of the quarrelsome spirit of the times, when, I tell him, +it was only a few acres, which is, even at this day, waste land, +and scarcely worth owning by either.</p> +<p>In 1290, Witton was the property of William Dixley; in 1340, +that of Richard de Pyrie, descendant of him, who, a hundred years +before, held the contest. In 1426, Thomas East, of Hay-hall, in +Yardley, was owner; who sold it to John Bond, of Ward-end, of whose +descendants William Booth purchased it, in 1620: an heiress of +Booth brought it by marriage to Allestree, of Yardley, who enjoyed +it in our days; it was sold to John Wyrley, and is now possessed by +George Birch, Esq; of Handsworth.</p> +<p>The house, left by its owners, is in that low, or rather boggy +situation, suitable to the fashion of those times. I can discover +no traces of a moat, though there is every conveniency for one: We +are doubly hurt by seeing a house in a miserable hole, when joining +an elegible spot.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BLAKELEY."></a>BLAKELEY.</h2> +<br> +<p>Five miles north-west of Birmingham, is <i>Blakely-hall</i>, the +manor house of Oldbury. If we see a venerable edifice without a +moat, we cannot from thence conclude, it was never the residence of +a gentleman, but wherever we find one, we may conclude it was.</p> +<p>Anciently, this manor, with those of Smethwick and Harborn, +belonged to the family of Cornwallis, whose habitation was +Blakeley-hall: the present building seems about 300 years old.</p> +<p>The extinction of the male line, threw the property into the +hands of two coheirs; one of whom married into the family of +Grimshaw, the other into that of Wright, who jointly held it. The +family of Grimshaw failing, Wright became then, and is now, +possessed of the whole.</p> +<p>I am unacquainted with the principal characters who acted the +farce of life on this island, but it has long been in the tenancy +of a poor farmer, who, the proprietor allured me, was <i>best</i> +able to stock the place with children. In 1769, the Birmingham +canal passing over the premises, robbed the trench of its water. +Whether it endangers the safety is a doubt, for <i>poverty</i> is +the best security against violence.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WEOLEY"></a>WEOLEY</h2> +<br> +<p>Four miles west of Birmingham, in the parish of Northfield, are +the small, but extensive ruins of <i>Weoley-castle</i>, whose +appendages command a track of seventeen acres, situate in a park of +eighteen hundred.</p> +<p>These moats usually extend from half an acre to two acres, are +generally square, and the trenches from eight yards over to +twenty.</p> +<p>This is large, the walls massy; they form the allies of a +garden, and the rooms, the beds; the whole display the remains of +excellent workmanship. One may nearly guess at a man's consequence, +even after a lapse of 500 years, by the ruins of his house.</p> +<p>The steward told me, "they pulled down the walls as they wanted +the stone." Unfeeling projectors: there is not so much to pull +down. Does not time bring destruction fast enough without +assistance? The head which cannot contemplate, offers its hand to +destroy. The insensible taste, unable itself to relish the dry +fruits of antiquity, throws them away to prevent another. May the +fingers <i>smart</i> which injure the venerable walls of Dudley, or +of Kenilworth. Noble remains of ancient grandeur! copious indexes, +that point to former usage! We survey them with awful pleasure. The +mouldering walls, as if ashamed of their humble state, hide +themselves under the ivies; the generous ivies, as if conscious of +the precious relics, cover them from the injuries of time.</p> +<p>When land frequently undergoes a conveyance, necessity, we +suppose, is the lot of the owner, but the lawyer fattens: <i>To +have and to hold</i> are words of singular import; they charm +beyond music; are the quintessence of language; the leading figure +in rhetoric. But how would he fare if land was never conveyed? He +must starve upon quarrels.</p> +<p>Instances may be given of land which knows no title, except +those of conquest and descent: Weoley Castle comes nearly under +this description. <i>To sign, seal, and deliver</i>, were wholly +unknown to our ancestors. Could a Saxon freeholder rise from the +dead, and visit the land, once his own, now held by as many +writings as would half spread over it, he might exclaim, "Evil +increases with time, and parchment with both. You deprive the poor +of their breeches; I covered the ground with sheep, you with their +skins; I thought, as you were at variance with France, Spain, +Holland, and America, those numerous deeds were a heap of drum +heads, and the internal writing, the <i>articles of war</i>. In one +instance, however, there is a similarity between us; we unjustly +took this land from the Britons, you as unjustly took it from us; +and a time may come, when another will take it from you. Thus, the +Spaniards founded the Peruvian empire in butchery, now tottering +towards a fall; you, following their example, seized the northern +coast of America; you neither bought it nor begged it, you took it +from the natives; and thus your children, the Americans, with equal +violence, have taken it from you: No law binds like that of arms. +The question has been, whether they shall pay taxes? which, after a +dispute of eight years, was lost in another, <i>to whom</i> they +shall pay taxes? The result, in a future day will be, domestic +struggles for sovereignty will stain the ground with blood."</p> +<p>When the proud Norman cut his way to the throne, his imperious +followers seized the lands, kicked out the rightful possessors, and +treated them with a dignity rather beneath that practiced to a +dog.--This is the most summary title yet discovered.</p> +<p>Northfield was the fee-simple of Alwold (Allwood) but, at the +conquest, Fitz-Ausculf seized it, with a multitude of other manors: +it does not appear that he granted it in knight's-service to the +injured Allwood, but kept it for his private use, Paganall married +his heiress, and Sumeri married Paganall's, who, in the beginning +of the 13th century, erected the castle. In 1322, the line of +Sumeri expired.</p> +<p>Bottetourt, one of the needy squires, who, like Sancho Panza, +attended William his master, in his mad, but <i>fortunate</i> +enterprize, procured lands which enabled him to <i>live</i> in +England, which was preferable to starving in Normandy. His +descendant became, in right of his wife, coheir of the house of +Sumeri, vested in Weoley-castle. He had, in 1307, sprung into +peerage, and was one of our powerful barons, till 1385, when the +male line dropt. The vast estate of Bottetourt, was then divided +among females; Thomas Barkley, married the eldest, and this ancient +barony was, in 1761, revived in his descendant, Norborne Barkley, +the present Lord Bottetourt; Sir Hugh Burnel married another, and +Sir John St. Leger a third.</p> +<p>Weoley-castle was, for many years, the undivided estate of the +three families; but Edward Sutton, Lord Dudley, having married a +daughter of Barkley, became possessed of that castle, which was +erected by Sumeri, their common ancestor, about nine generations +before.</p> +<p>In 1551, he sold it to William Jervoise, of London, mercer, +whose descendant, Jervoise Clark Jervoise, Esq; now enjoys it.</p> +<p>Fond of ranging, I have travelled a circuit round Birmingham, +without being many miles from it. I wish to penetrate farther from +the center, but my subject forbids. <i>Having therefore finished my +discourse, I shall</i>, like my friends, the pulpitarians, many of +whom, and of several denominations, are characters I revere, +<i>apply what has been said</i>.</p> +<p>We learn, that the land I have gone over, with the land I have +not, changed its owners at the conquest: this shuts the door of +inquiry into pedigree, the old families chiefly became extinct, and +few of the present can be traced higher.--Destruction then +overspread the kingdom.</p> +<p>The seniors of every age exclaim against the growing corruption +of the times: my father, and perhaps every father, dwelt on the +propriety of his conduct in younger life, and placed it in +counter-view with that of the following generation. However, while +I knew him, it was much like other people's--But I could tell him, +that he gave us the bright side of his character; that he was, +probably, a piece of human nature, as well as his son; that nature +varies but little, and that the age of William the Conqueror was +the most rascally in the British annals. One age may be marked for +the golden, another for the iron, but this for plunder.</p> +<p>We farther learn, there is not one instance in this +neighbourhood, where an estate has continued till now in the male +line, very few in the female. I am acquainted with only one family +near Birmingham, whose ancestor entered with William, and who yet +enjoy the land granted at that period: the male line has been once +broken--perhaps this land was never conveyed. They shone with +splendour near six hundred years. In the sixteenth century, their +estate was about 1400<i>l</i>. a year; great for that time, but is +now, exclusive of a few <i>pepper-corns</i> and <i>red roses</i>, +long since withered, reduced to one little farm, tilled for bread +by the owner. This setting glympse of a shining family, is as +indifferent about the matter, and almost as ignorant, as the team +he drives.</p> +<p>Lastly, we learn that none of the lords, as formerly, reside on +the above premises: that in four instances out of twenty-one, the +buildings are now as left by the lords, Sheldon, Coleshill, Pipe, +and Blakeley: two have undergone some alteration, as Duddeston and +Erdington: five others are re-erected, as Black Greves, Ulverley, +King's-hurst, Castle Bromwich, and Witton; which, with all the +above, are held in tenancy: in eight others all the buildings are +swept away, and their moats left naked, as Hogg's-moat, Yardley, +Kent's-moat, Saltley, Ward-end, Park-hall, Berwood, and Weoley; and +in two instances the moats themselves are vanished, that of +King's-norton is filled up to make way for the plough, and that of +Aston demolished by the floods. Thus the scenes of hospitality and +grandeur, become the scenes of antiquity, and then disappear.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="SUTTON_COLDFIELD."></a>SUTTON COLDFIELD.</h2> +<br> +<p>Though the topographical historian, who resides upon the +premises, is most likely to be correct; yet if <i>he</i>, with all +his care, is apt to be mistaken, what can be expected from him who +trots his horse over the scenes of antiquity?</p> +<p>I have visited, for twenty years, some singular places in this +neighbourhood, yet, without being master of their history; thus a +man may spend an age in conning his lesson, and never learn it.</p> +<p>When the farmer observes me on his territories, he eyes me +<i>ascance</i>; suspecting a design to purchase his farm, or take +it out of his hands.--I endeavour to remove his apprehensions, by +approaching him; and introduce a conversation tending to my +pursuit, which he understands as well as if, like the sons of +Jacob, I addressed him in Hebrew; yet, notwithstanding his total +ignorance of the matter, he has sometimes dropt an accidental word, +which has thrown more light on the subject, than all my researches +for a twelvemonth. If an honest farmer, in future, should see upon +his premises a plumpish figure, five feet six, with one third of +his hair on, a cane in his left hand, a glove upon each, and a +Pomeranian dog at his heels, let him fear no evil; his farm will +not be additionally tythed, his sheep worried, nor his hedges +broken--it is only a solitary animal, in quest of a Roman +phantom.</p> +<p>Upon the north west extremity of Sutton Coldfield, joining the +Chester road, is <i>The Bowen Pool</i>; at the tail of which, one +hundred yards west of the road, on a small eminence, or swell of +the earth, are the remains of a fortification, called <i>Loaches +Banks</i>; but of what use or original is uncertain, no author +having mentioned it.</p> +<p>Four hundred yards farther west, in the same flat, is a hill of +some magnitude, deemed, by the curious, a tumolus--it is a common +thing for an historian to be lost, but not quite so common to +acknowledge it. In attempting to visit this tumolus, I soon found +myself in the center of a morass; and here, my dear reader might +have seen the historian set fast in a double sense. I was obliged, +for that evening, February 16, 1783, to retreat, as the sun had +just done before me. I made my approaches from another quarter, +April 13, when the hill appeared the work of nature, upon too broad +a base for a tumolus; covering about three acres, perfectly round, +rising gradually to the center, which is about sixteen feet above +the level, surrounded by a ditch, perhaps made for some private +purpose by the owner.</p> +<p>The Roman tumoli were of two sorts, the small for the reception +of a general, or great man, as that at Cloudsley-bush, near the +High Cross, the tomb of Claudius; and the large, as at Seckington, +near Tamworth, for the reception of the dead, after a battle: they +are both of the same shape, rather high than broad. That before us +comes under the description of neither; nor could the dead well be +conveyed over the morass.</p> +<p>The ground-plot, in the center of the fort, at Loaches Banks, is +about two acres, surrounded by three mounds, which are large, and +three trenches, which are small; the whole forming a square of four +acres. Each corner directs to a cardinal point, but perhaps not +with design; for the situation of the ground would invite the +operator to chuse the present form. The north-west joins to, and is +secured by the pool.</p> +<p>As the works are much in the Roman taste, I might, at first +view, deem it the residence of an opulent lord of the manor; but, +the adjacent lands carrying no marks of cultivation, destroys the +argument; it is also too large for the fashion; besides, all these +manorial foundations have been in use since the conquest, therefore +tradition assists the historian; but here, tradition being lost, +proves the place of greater antiquity.</p> +<p>One might judge it of Danish extraction, but here again, +tradition will generally lend her assistance; neither are the +trenches large enough for that people: of themselves they are no +security, whether full or empty; for an active young fellow might +easily skip from one bank to another. Nor can we view it as the +work of some whimsical lord, to excite the wonder of the moderns; +it could never pay for the trouble. We must, therefore, travel back +among the ancient Britons, for a solution, and here we shall travel +over solid ground.</p> +<p>It is, probably, the remains of a British camp, for near these +premises are Drude-heath (Druid's-heath) and Drude-fields, which we +may reasonably suppose was the residence of a British priest: the +military would naturally shelter themselves under the wing of the +church, and the priest with the protection of the military. The +narrowness of the trenches is another proof of its being British; +they exactly correspond with the stile of that people. The name of +the pool, <i>Bowen</i>, is of British derivation, which is a +farther proof that the work originated from the Britons. They did +not place their security so much in the trenches, as in the mounds, +which they barracaded with timber. This camp is secured on three +sides by a morass, and is only approachable on the fourth, that +from the Coldfield. The first mound on this weak side, is +twenty-four yards over, twice the size of any other; which, +allowing an ample security, is a farther evidence of its being +British, and tradition being silent is another.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PETITION_FOR_A_CORPORATION."></a>PETITION FOR A +CORPORATION.</h2> +<br> +<p>Every man upon earth seems fond of two things, riches and power: +this fondness necessarily springs from the heart, otherwise order +would cease. Without the desire of riches, a man would not preserve +what he has, nor provide for the future. "My thoughts," says a +worthy christian, "are not of this world; I desire but one guinea +to carry me through it." Supply him with that guinea, and he wishes +another, lest the first should be defective.</p> +<p>If it is necessary a man mould possess property, it is just as +necessary he should possess a power to protect it, or the world +would quickly bully him out of it: this power is founded on the +laws of his country, to which he adds, by way of supplement, +bye-laws, founded upon his own prudence. Those who possess riches, +well know they are furnished with wings, and can scarcely be kept +from flying.</p> +<p>The man who has power to secure his wealth, seldom stops there; +he, in turn, is apt to triumph over him who has less. Riches and +power are often seen to go hand in hand.</p> +<p>Industry produces property; which, when a little matured, looks +out for command; thus the inhabitants of Birmingham, who have +generally something upon the anvil besides iron, near seventy years +ago having derived wealth from diligence, wished to derive power +from charter; therefore, petitioned the crown that Birmingham might +be erected into a corporation. Tickled with the title of alderman, +dazzled with the splendour of a silver mace, a furred gown, and a +magisterial chair, they could not see the interest of the place: +had they succeeded, that amazing growth would have been crippled, +which has since astonished the world, and those trades have been +fettered which have proved the greatest benefit.</p> +<p>When a man loudly pleads for public good, we shrewdly suspect a +private emolument lurking beneath. There is nothing more +detrimental to good neighbourhood, than men in power, where power +is unnecessary: free as the air we breathe, we subsist by our +freedom; no command is exercised among us, but that of the laws, to +which every discreet citizen pays attention--the magistrate who +distributes justice, tinctured with mercy, merits the thanks of +society. A train of attendants, a white wand, and a few fiddles, +are only the fringe, lace, and trappings of charteral office.</p> +<p>Birmingham, exclusive of her market, ranks among the very lowest +order of townships; every petty village claims the honour of being +a constable-wick--we are no more. Our immunities are only the +trifling privileges anciently granted to the lords; and two thirds +of these are lost. But, notwithstanding this seemingly forlorn +state, perhaps there is not a place in the British dominions, where +so many people are governed by so few officers; nor a place better +governed: pride, therefore, must have dictated the humble petition +before us.</p> +<p>I have seen a copy of this petition, signed by eighty-four of +the inhabitants; and though without a date, seems to have been +addressed to King George the First, about 1716: it alledges, "That +Birmingham is, of late years, become very populous, from its great +increase of trade; is much superior to any town in the county, and +but little inferior to any inland town in the kingdom: that it is +governed only by a constable, and enjoys no more privileges than a +village: that there is no justice of peace in the town; nor any in +the neighbourhood, who dares act with vigour: that the country +abounds with rioters, who, knowing the place to be void of +magistrates, assemble in it, pull down the meeting-houses, defy the +king, openly avow the pretender, threaten the inhabitants, and +oblige them to keep watch in their own houses: that the trade +decays, and will stagnate, if not relieved. To remedy these evils, +they beseech his majesty to incorporate the town, and grant such +privileges as will enable them to support their trade, the king's +interest, and destroy the villainous attempts of the jacobites. In +consideration of the requested charter, they make the usual +offering of <i>lives</i> and <i>fortunes</i>".</p> +<p>A petition and the petitioner, like Janus with his two faces, +looks different ways; it is often treated as if it said one thing, +and meant another; or as if it said any thing but truth. Its use, +in some places, is to <i>lie on the table</i>. Our humble petition, +by some means, met with the fate it deserved.</p> +<p>We may remark, a town without a charter, is a town without a +shackle. If there was then a necessity to erect a corporation, +because the town was large, there is none now, though larger: the +place was not better governed a thousand years ago, when only a +tenth of its present magnitude; it may also be governed as well a +thousand years hence, if it should swell to ten times its size.</p> +<p>The <i>pride</i> of our ancestors was hurt by a petty constable; +the <i>interest</i> of us, their successors, would be hurt by a +mayor: a more simple government cannot be instituted, or one more +efficacious: that of some places is designed for parade, ours for +use; and both answers their end. A town governed by a multitude of +governors, is the most likely to be ill-governed.</p> +<br> +<a name="image21.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/image21.jpg"><img src= +"images/image21.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>The New Brass Works</i>.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BRASS_WORKS."></a>BRASS WORKS.</h2> +<br> +<p>The manufacture of brass was introduced by the family of Turner, +about 1740, who erected those works at the south end of +Coleshill-street; then, near two hundred yards beyond the +buildings, but now the buildings extend about five hundred beyond +them.</p> +<p>Under the black clouds which arose from this corpulent tunnel, +some of the trades collected their daily supply of brass; but the +major part was drawn from the Macclesfield, Cheadle, and Bristol +companies.</p> +<p>'Causes are known by their effects;' the fine feelings of the +heart are easily read in the features of the face: the still +operations of the mind, are discovered by the rougher operations of +the hand.</p> +<p>Every creature is fond of power, from that noble head of the +creation, man, who devours man, down to that insignificant mite, +who devours his cheese: every man strives to be free himself, and +to shackle another.</p> +<p>Where there is power of any kind, whether in the hands of a +prince, a people, a body of men, or a private person, there is a +propensity to abuse it: abuse of power will everlastingly seek +itself a remedy, and frequently find it; nay, even this remedy may +in time degenerate to abuse, and call loudly for another.</p> +<p>Brass is an object of some magnitude, in the trades of +Birmingham; the consumption is said to be a thousand tons per +annum. The manufacture of this useful article had long been in few, +and opulent hands; who, instead of making the humble bow, for +favours received, acted with despotic sovereignty, established +their own laws, chose their customers, directed the price, and +governed the market.</p> +<p>In 1780, the article rose, either through caprice, or necessity, +perhaps the <i>former</i>, from 72<i>l</i>. a ton to 84<i>l</i>. +the result was, an advance upon the goods manufactured, followed by +a number of counter-orders, and a stagnation of business.</p> +<p>In 1781, a person, from affection to the user, or resentment to +the maker, perhaps, the <i>latter</i>, harangued the public in the +weekly papers; censured the arbitrary measures of the brazen +sovereigns, shewed their dangerous influence over the trades of the +town, and the easy manner in which works of our own might be +constructed--good often arises out of evil; this fiery match, dipt +in brimstone, quickly kindled another furnace in Birmingham. Public +meetings were advertised, a committee appointed, and subscriptions +opened to fill two hundred shares, of 100<i>l</i>. each, deemed a +sufficient capital: each proprietor of a share, to purchase one ton +of brass, annually. Works were immediately erected upon the banks +of the canal, for the advantage of water carriage, and the whole +was conducted with the true spirit of Birmingham freedom.</p> +<p>If a man can worm himself <i>into</i> a lucrative branch, he +will use every method to keep another <i>out</i>. All his powers +may prove ineffectual; for if that other smells the sweet profits +of the first, <i>he</i> will endeavour to worm himself <i>in</i>: +both may suffer by the contest, and the public be gainers.</p> +<p>The old companies, which we may justly consider the directors of +a south sea bubble in miniature, sunk the price from 84<i>l</i>. to +56<i>l</i>. Two inferences arise from this measure; that their +profits were once very high, or are now very low; and, like some +former monarchs, in the abuse of power, they repented one day too +late.</p> +<p>Schemes are generally proclaimed, <i>for public good!</i> but as +often meant, <i>for private interest</i>.--This, however, varied +from that rule, and seemed less calculated to benefit those +immediately, than those remotely concerned: they chose to sustain a +smaller injury from making brass, than a greater from the +makers.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PRISON."></a>PRISON.</h2> +<br> +<p>If the subject is little, but little can be said upon it; I +shall shine as dimly in this chapter on confinement, as in that on +government. The traveller who sets out lame, will probably limp +through the journey.</p> +<p>Many of my friends have assured me, "That I must have +experienced much trouble in writing the history of Birmingham." But +I assure them in return, that I range those hours among the +happiest of my life; and part of that happiness may consist in +delineating the bright side of human nature. Pictures of deformity, +whether of body or of mind, disgust--the more they approach towards +beauty, the more they charm.</p> +<p>All the chapters which compose this work, were formed with +pleasure, except the latter part of that upon <i>births and +burials</i>; there, being forced to apply to the parish books, I +<i>figured</i> with some obstruction. Poor <i>Allsop</i>, full of +good-nature and affliction, fearful lest I should sap the church, +could not receive me with kindness. When a man's resources lie +within himself, he draws at pleasure; but when necessity throws him +upon the parish, he draws in small sums, and with difficulty.</p> +<p>I either <i>have</i>, or <i>shall</i> remark, for I know not in +what nich I shall exhibit this posthumous chapter, drawn like one +of our sluggish bills, <i>three months after date</i>, "That +Birmingham does not abound in villainy, equal to some other places: +that the hand employed in business, has less time, and less +temptation, to be employed in mischief; and that one magistrate +alone, corrected the enormities of this numerous people, many years +before I knew them, and twenty-five after." I add, that the ancient +lords of Birmingham, among their manorial privileges, had the grant +of a gallows, for capital punishment; but as there are no traces +even of the name, in the whole manor, I am persuaded no such thing +was ever erected, and perhaps the <i>anvil</i> prevented it.</p> +<p>Many of the rogues among us are not of our own growth, but are +drawn hither, as in London, to shelter in a crowd, and the easier +in that crowd to pursue their game. Some of them fortunately catch, +from example, the arts of industry, and become useful: others +continue to cheat for one or two years, till frightened by the grim +aspect of justice, they decamp.</p> +<p>Our vile and obscure prison, termed <i>The Dungeon</i>, is a +farther proof how little that prison has been an object of notice, +consequently of use.</p> +<p>Anciently the lord of a manor exercised a sovereign power in his +little dominion; held a tribunal on his premises, to which was +annexed a prison, furnished with implements for punishment; these +were claimed by the lords of Birmingham. This crippled species of +jurisprudence, which sometimes made a man judge in his own cause, +from which there was no appeal, prevailed in the highlands of +Scotland, so late as the rebellion in 1745, when the peasantry, by +act of parliament, were restored to freedom.</p> +<p>Early perhaps in the sixteenth century, when the house of +Birmingham, who had been chief gaolers, were fallen, a building was +erected, which covered the east end of New-street, called the +Leather-hall: the upper part consisted of a room about fifty feet +long, where the public business of the manor was transacted. The +under part was divided into several: one of these small rooms was +used for a prison: but about the year 1728, <i>while men slept an +enemy came</i>, a private agent to the lord of the manor, and +erazed the Leather-hall and the Dungeon, erected three houses on +the spot, and received their rents till 1776, when the town +purchased them for 500<i>l</i>. to open the way. A narrow passage +on the south will be remembered for half a century to come, by the +name of the <i>dungeon-entry</i>.</p> +<p>A dry cellar, opposite the demolished hall, was then +appropriated for a prison, till the town of all bad places chose +the worst, the bottom of Peck-lane; dark, narrow, and unwholesome +within; crowded with dwellings, filth and distress without, the +circulation of air is prevented.</p> +<p>As a growing taste for public buildings has for some time +appeared among us, we might, in the construction of a prison, unite +elegance and use; and the west angle of that land between +New-street and Mount-pleasant, might be suitable for the purpose; +an airy spot in the junction of six streets. The proprietor of the +land, from his known attachment to Birmingham, would, I doubt not, +be much inclined to grant a favour.--Thus, I have expended ten +<i>score</i> words, to tell the world what another would have told +them in <i>ten</i>--"That our prison is wretched, and we want a +better."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CLODSHALES_CHANTRY."></a>CLODSHALES CHANTRY.</h2> +<br> +<p>It is an ancient remark, "The world is a farce." Every +generation, and perhaps every individual, acts a part in disguise; +but when the curtain falls, the hand of the historian pulls off the +mask, and displays the character in its native light. Every +generation differs from the other, <i>yet all are right</i>. Time, +fashion, and sentiment change together. We laugh at the oddity of +our fore-fathers--our successors will laugh at us.</p> +<p>The prosperous anvil of Walter de Clodshale, a native of this +place, had enabled him to acquire several estates in Birmingham, to +purchase the lordship of Saltley, commence gentleman, and reside in +the manor-house, now gone to decay, though its traces remain, and +are termed by common people, <i>the Giant's Castle</i>. This man, +having well provided for the <i>present</i>, thought it prudent, at +the close of life, to provide for the <i>future</i>: he therefore +procured a licence, in 1331, from William de Birmingham, lord of +the see, and another from the crown, to found a chantry at the +altar in St. Martin's church, for one priest, to pray for his soul, +and that of his wife.</p> +<p>He gave, that he might be safely wafted into the arms of +felicity, by the breath of a priest, four houses, twenty acres of +land, and eighteen-pence rent, issuing out of his estates in +Birmingham.</p> +<p>The same righteous motive induced his son Richard, in 1348, to +grant five houses, ten acres of land, and ten shillings rent, from +the Birmingham estates, to maintain a second priest, who was to +secure the souls of himself and his wife. The declaration of +Christ, in that pious age, seems to have been inverted; for instead +of its being difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of +heaven, it was difficult for him to miss it. We are not told what +became of him who had nothing to give! If the profits of the estate +tended the right way, perhaps there was no great concern which way +either <i>Walter</i> or <i>Richard</i> tended.</p> +<p>The chantorial music continued two hundred and four years, till +1535, when Henry the Eighth closed the book, turned out the +priests, who were Sir Thomas Allen and Sir John Green, and seized +the property, valued at 5<i>l</i>. 1s. per annum. Permit me again +to moralize upon this fashionable practice of ruining the family, +for the health of the soul: except some lawful creditor puts in a +claim, which justice ought to allow, a son has the same right to an +estate, after the death of his father, as that father had before +him.</p> +<p>Had Walter and Richard taken <i>equal</i> care of their souls, +and their estate, the first might have been as safe as in the hands +of a priest, and the last, at this day, have been the property of +that ancient, and once noble race of Arden, long since in distress; +who, in 1426, married the heiress of their house.--Thus, a family, +benefited by the hammer, was injured by the church.</p> +<p>Had the hands of these two priests ministered to their wants, in +the construction of tents and fishing-nets, like those of their +predecessors, St. Paul and St. Peter, though their pride would have +been eclipsed, their usefulness would have shone, and the world +have been gainers by their labour. Two other lessons may be learnt +from this little ecclesiastical history--</p> +<p>The astonishing advance of landed property in Birmingham: nine +houses, and thirty acres of land, two hundred and fifty years ago, +were valued at the trifling rent of 4<i>l</i>. 9s. 6d. per annum; +one of the acres, or one of the houses, would at this day bring +more. We may reasonably suppose they were under-rated; yet, even +then, the difference is amasing. An acre, within a mile of +Birmingham, now sells for about one hundred pounds, and lets from +three pounds to five, some as high as seven.</p> +<p>And, the nation so overswarmed with ecclesiastics, that the +spiritual honours were quickly devoured, and the race left hungry; +they therefore fastened upon the temporal--hence we boast of two +knighted priests.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="OCCURRENCES."></a>OCCURRENCES.</h2> +<h3>EARTHQUAKE, &c.</h3> +<br> +<p>It is a doctrine singular and barbarous, but it is nevertheless +true, that <i>destruction is necessary</i>. Every species of +animals would multiply beyond their bounds in the creation, were +not means devised to thin their race.</p> +<p>I perused an author in 1738, who asserts, "The world might +maintain sixty times the number of its present inhabitants." Two +able disputants, like those in religion, might maintain sixty +arguments on the subject, and like them, leave the matter where +they found it. But if restraint was removed, the present number +would be multiplied into sixty, in much less than one century.</p> +<p>Those animals appropriated for use, are suffered, or rather +invited, to multiply without limitation. But <i>luxury</i> cuts off +the beast, the pig, the sheep, and the fowl, and ill treatment the +horse: vermin of every kind, from the lion to the louse, are hunted +to death; a perpetual contest seems to exist between them and us; +they for their preservation, and we for their extinction. The +kitten and the puppy are cast <i>into</i> the water, to end their +lives; <i>out</i> of which the fishes are drawn to end +theirs--animals are every were devoured by animals.</p> +<p>Their grand governor, man himself, is under controul; some by +religious, others by interested motives. Even the fond parent, +seldom wishes to increase the number of those objects, which of all +others he values most!</p> +<p>In civilized nations the superior class are restrained by the +laws of honour, the inferior by those of bastardy; but, +notwithstanding these restraints, the human race would increase +beyond measure, were they not taken off by casualties. It is in our +species alone, that we often behold the infant flame extinguished +by the wretched nurse.</p> +<p>Three dreadful calamities attending existence, are inundations, +fires, and earthquakes; devestation follows their footsteps, But +<i>one</i> calamity, more destructive than them all, rises from man +himself, <i>war</i>.</p> +<p>Birmingham, from its elevation, is nearly exempt from the flood; +our inundations, instead of sweeping away life and fortune, sweep +away the filth from the kennel.</p> +<p>It is amasing, in a place crowded with people, that so +<i>much</i> business, and so <i>little</i> mischief is done by +fire: we abound more with party walls, than with timber buildings. +Utensils are ever ready to extinguish the flames, and a generous +spirit to use them. I am not certain that a conflagration of +50<i>l</i>. damage, has happened within memory.</p> +<p>I have only one earthquake to record, felt Nov. 15, 1772, at +four in the morning; it extended about eight miles in length, from +Hall-green to Erdington, and four in breadth, of which Birmingham +was part. The shaking of the earth continued about five seconds, +with unequal vibration, sufficient to awake a gentle sleeper, throw +down a knife carelessly reared up, or rattle the brass drops of a +chest of drawers. A flock of sheep, in a field near Yardley, +frightened at the trembling, ran away.--No damage was +sustained.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PITMORE_AND_HAMMOND."></a>PITMORE AND HAMMOND.</h2> +<br> +<p>Thomas Pitmore, a native of Cheshire, after consuming a fortune +of 700<i>l</i>. was corporal in the second regiment of foot; and +John Hammond, an American by birth, was drummer in the +thirty-sixth; both of recruiting parties in Birmingham.</p> +<p>Having procured a brace of pistols, they committed several +robberies in the dark, on the highways.</p> +<p>At eight in the evening of November 22, 1780, about five hundred +yards short of the four mile-stone, in the Coleshill road, they met +three butchers of Birmingham, who closely followed each other in +their return from Rugby fair. One of the robbers attempted the +bridle of the first man, but his horse, being young, started out of +the road, and ran away. The drummer then attacked the second, +Wilfred Barwick, with "Stop your horse," and that moment, through +the agitation of a timorous mind, discharged a pistol, and lodged a +brace of slugs in the bowels of the unfortunate Barwick, who +exclaimed, "I am a dead man!" and fell.</p> +<p>The corporal instantly disappeared, and was afterwards, by the +light of the show upon the ground, seen retreating to Birmingham. +The drummer ran forwards about forty yards, and over a stile into +Ward-end field. A fourth butcher of their company, and a lad, by +this time came up, who, having heard the report of a pistol, seen +the flash, and the drummer enter the field, leaped over the hedge +in pursuit of the murderer. A frey ensued, in which the drummer was +seized, who desired them not to take his life, but leave him to the +laws of his country.</p> +<p>Within half an hour, the deceased and the captive appeared +together in the same room, at the Horse-shoe. What must then be the +feelings of a mind, susceptible of impression by nature, but weakly +calloused over by art? This is one instance, among many, which +shews us, a life of innocence, is alone a life of happiness.</p> +<p>The drummer impeached his companion, who was perhaps the most +guilty of the two, and they were both that night lodged in the +dungeon.</p> +<p>Upon the trial, March 31, 1781, the matter was too plain to be +controverted. The criminals were executed, and hung in chains at +Washwood-heath, April 2; the corporal at the age of 25, and the +drummer 22.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="RIOTS."></a>RIOTS.</h2> +<br> +<p>Three principal causes of riot are, the low state of wages, the +difference in political sentiment, and the rise of provisions: +these causes, like inundations, produce dreadful effects, and like +them, return at uncertain periods.</p> +<p>The journeyman in Birmingham is under no temptation to demand an +additional price for his labour, which is already higher than the +usual mark.</p> +<p>There is no nation fonder of their king than the English; which +is a proof that monarchy suits the genius of the people: there is +no nation more jealous of his power, which proves that liberty is a +favourite maxim. Though the laws have complimented him with +<i>much</i>, yet he well knows, a prerogative upon the stretch, is +a prerogative in a dangerous state.</p> +<p>The more a people value their prince, the more willing are they +to contend in his favour.</p> +<p>The people of England revered the memory of their beloved Saxon +kings, and doubly lamented their fall, with that of their +liberties.</p> +<p>They taxed themselves into beggary, to raise the amasing sum of +100,000<i>l</i>. to release Richard the First, unjustly taken +captive by Leopold.</p> +<p>They protected Henry the Fifth from death, at Agincourt, and +received that death themselves.</p> +<p>They covered the extreme weakness of Henry the Sixth, who +<i>never said a good thing, or did a bad one</i>, with the mantle +of royalty; when a character like his, without a crown, would have +been hunted through life: they gave him the title of <i>good king +Henry</i>, which would well have suited, had the word <i>king</i> +been omitted; they sought him a place in the kalendar of saints, +and made <i>him</i> perform the miracles of an angel when dead, who +could never perform the works of a man, when living.</p> +<p>The people shewed their attachment to Henry the Eighth, by +submitting to the faggot and the block, at his command; and with +their last breath, praying for their butcher.</p> +<p>Affection for Charles the First, induced four of his friends to +offer their own heads, to save his.--The wrath, and the tears of +the people, succeeded his melancholy exit.</p> +<p>When James the Second eloped from the throne, and was casually +picked up at Feversham, by his injured subjects, <i>they remembered +he was their king</i>.</p> +<p>The church and Queen Anne, like a joyous co-partnership, were +toasted together. The barrel was willingly emptied to honour the +queen, and the toaster lamented he could honour her no more.</p> +<p>The nation displayed their love to Charles the Second, by +latticing the forests. His climbing the oak at Boscobel, has been +the destruction of more timber than would have filled the harbour +of Portsmouth; the tree which flourished in the field, was brought +to die in the street. Birmingham, for ninety years, honoured him +with her vengeance against the woods; and she is, at this day, +surrounded with mutilated oaks, which stand as martyrs to +royalty.</p> +<p>It is singular, that the oak, which assisted the devotion of the +Britons, composed habitations for the people, and furniture for +those habitations; that, while standing, was an ornament to the +country that bore it; and afterwards guarded the land which nursed +it, should be the cause of continual riots, in the reign of George +the First. We could not readily accede to a line of strangers, in +preference to our ancient race of kings, though loudly charged with +oppression.</p> +<p>Clubs and tumults supported the spirit of contention till 1745, +when, as our last act of animosity, we crowned an ass with turnips, +in derision of one of the worthiest families that ever eat +them.</p> +<p>Power, in the hand of ignorance, is an edge-tool of the most +dangerous kind. The scarcity of provisions, in 1766, excited the +murmurs of the poor. They began to breathe vengeance against the +farmer, miller, and baker, for doing what they do themselves, +procure the greatest price for their property.</p> +<p>On the market day, a common labourer, like Massenello of Naples, +formed the resolution to lead a mob.</p> +<p>He therefore erected his standard, which was a mop inverted, +assembled the crowd, and roared out the old note, "Redress of +Grievances." The colliers, with all their dark retinue, were to +bring destruction from Wednesbury. Amazement seised the town! the +people of fortune trembled: John Wyrley, an able magistrate, for +the first time frightened in office, with quivering lips, and a +pale aspect, swore in about eighty constables, to oppose the rising +storm, armed each of them with a staff of authority, warm from the +turning-lathe, and applied to the War-office for a military +force.</p> +<p>The lime-powdered monarch began to fabricate his own laws, +direct the price of every article, which was punctually obeyed.</p> +<p>Port, or power, soon overcome a weak head; the more copious the +draught, the more quick intoxication: he entered many of the shops, +and was every where treated with the utmost reverence; took +whatever goods he pleased, and distributed them among his +followers; till one of the inhabitants, provoked beyond measure at +his insolence, gave him a hearty kick on the posteriors, when the +hero and his consequence, like that of Wat Tyler, fell +together.--Thus ended a reign of seven hours; the sovereign was +committed to prison, as sovereigns ought, in the abuse of power, +and harmony was restored without blood.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THE_CONJURERS."></a>THE CONJURERS.</h2> +<br> +<p>No <i>head</i> is a vacuum. Some, like a paltry cottage, are ill +accommodated, dark, and circumscribed; others are capacious as +Westminster-Hall. Though none are immense, yet they are capable of +immense furniture. The more room is taken up by knowledge, the less +remains for credulity. The more a man is acquainted with things, +the more willing to <i>give up the ghost</i>. Every town and +village, within my knowledge, has been pestered with spirits; which +appear in horrid forms to the imagination in the winter night--but +the spirits which haunt Birmingham, are those of industry and +luxury.</p> +<p>If we examine the whole parish, we cannot produce one <i>old</i> +witch; but we have plenty of young, who exercise a powerful +influence over us. Should the ladies accuse the harsh epithet, they +will please to consider, I allow them, what of all things they most +wish for, <i>power</i>, therefore the balance is in my favor.</p> +<p>If we pass through the planitary worlds, we shall be able to +muster up two conjurers, who endeavoured to <i>shine with the +stars</i>. The first, John Walton, who was so busy in calling the +nativity of others, he forgot his own.</p> +<p>Conscious of an application to himself, for the discovery of +stolen goods, he employed his people to steal them. And though, for +many years confined to his bed by infirmity, he could conjure away +the property of others, and, for a reward, reconjure it again.</p> +<p>The prevalence of this evil, induced the legislature, in 1725, +to make the <i>reception</i> of stolen goods capital. The first +sacrifice to this law was the noted Jonathan Wild.</p> +<p>The officers of justice, in 1732, pulled Walton out of his bed, +in an obscure cottage, one furlong from the town, now +Brickhill-Lane, carried him to prison, and from thence to the +gallows--they had better have carried him to the workhouse, and his +followers to the anvil.</p> +<p>To him succeeded Francis Kimberley, the only reasoning animal, +who resided at No. 60, in Dale-End, from his early youth to extreme +age.--An hermit in a crowd! The windows of his house were strangers +to light! The shutters forgot to open; the chimney to smoak. His +cellar, though amply furnished, never knew moisture.</p> +<p>He spent threescore years in filling six rooms with such +trumpery as is just too good to be thrown away, and too bad to be +kept. His life was as inoffensive as long. Instead of +<i>stealing</i> the goods which other people use, he +<i>purchased</i> what he could not use himself. He was not anxious +what kind of property entered his house; if there was <i>bulk</i> +he was satisfied.</p> +<p>His dark house, and his dark figure corresponded with each +other. The apartments, choaked up with lumber, scarcely admitted +his body, though of the skeleton order. Perhaps leanness is an +appendage to the science, for I never knew a corpulent +conjurer.</p> +<p>His diet, regular, plain, and slender, shewed at how little +expence life may be sustained.</p> +<p>His library consisted of several thousand volumes, not one of +which, I believe, he ever read: having written, in characters +unknown to all but himself, his name, price, and date, in the +title-page, he laid them by for ever. The highest pitch of his +erudition was the annual almanack.</p> +<p>He never wished to approach a woman, or be approached by one. +Should the rest of men, for half a century, pay no more attention +to the fair, some angelic hand might stick up a note, like the +artic circle over one of our continents, <i>this world to be +let</i>.</p> +<p>If he did not cultivate the human species, the spiders, more +numerous than his books, enjoyed an uninterrupted reign of quiet. +The silence of the place was not broken: the broom, the book, the +dust, or the web, was not disturbed. Mercury and his shirt, changed +their revolutions together; and Saturn changed <i>his</i>, with his +coat.</p> +<p>He died, in 1756, as conjurers usually die, unlamented.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="MILITARY_ASSOCIATION."></a>MILITARY ASSOCIATION.</h2> +<br> +<p>The use of arms is necessary to every man who has something to +lose, or something to gain. No property will protect itself. The +English have liberty and property to lose, but nothing to win. As +every man is born free, the West-Indian slaves have liberty to +gain, but nothing to lose. If a rascally African prince attempts to +sell his people, he ought to be first sold himself; and the buyer, +who acts so daringly opposite to the Christian precept, is yet more +blameable. He ought to have the first whip, often mended, worn out +upon his own back.</p> +<p>It may seem unnecessary to tell the world, what they already +know; recent transactions come under this description; but they are +not known to the stranger, nor to posterity.</p> +<p>Upon a change of the Northean ministry, in 1782, the new +premier, in a circular letter, advised the nation to arm, as the +dangers of invasion threatened us with dreadful aspect. +Intelligence from a quarter so authentic, locked up the door of +private judgment, or we might have considered, that even without +alliance, and with four principal powers upon our hands, we were +rather gaining ground; that the Americans were so far from +attacking us, that they wished us to run ourselves out of breath to +attack them; that Spain had slumbered over a seven years war; that +the Dutch, provoked at their governors, for the loss of their +commerce, were more inclinable to invade themselves than us; and +that as France bore the weight of the contest, we found employment +for her arms, without invasion; but, perhaps, the letter was only +an artifice of the new state doctor, to represent his patient in a +most deplorable state, as a complement to his own merit in +recovering her.</p> +<p>Whatever was the cause, nothing could be more agreeable than +this letter to the active spirit of Birmingham. Public meetings +were held. The rockets of war were squibbed off in the news-papers. +The plodding tradesman and the lively hero assembled together in +arms, and many a trophy was won in thought.</p> +<p>Each man purchased a genteel blue uniform, decorated with +epaulets of gold, which, together with his accoutrements, cost +about 17<i>l</i>. The gentleman, the apprentice, &c. to the +number of seventy, united in a body, termed by themselves, <i>The +Birmingham Association</i>; by the wag, <i>the brazen walls of the +town</i>. Each was to be officer and private by ballet, which gives +an idea of equality, and was called to exercise once a week.</p> +<p>The high price of provisions, and the 17th of October, brought a +dangerous mob into Birmingham. They wanted bread: so did we. But +little conference passed between them and the inhabitants. They +were quiet; we were pleased; and, after an hour or two's stay, they +retreated in peace.</p> +<p>In the evening, after the enemy were fled, our champions beat to +arms, breathing vengeance against the hungry crew; and, had they +returned, some people verily thought our valiant heroes would have +<i>discharged</i> at them.</p> +<p>However laudable a system, if built upon a false basis, it will +not stand. Equality and command, in the same person, are +incompatiable; therefore, cannot exist together. Subordination is +necessary in every class of life, but particularly in the military. +Nothing but severe discipline can regulate the boisterous spirit of +an army.</p> +<p>A man may be bound to another, but if he commands the bandage, +he will quickly set himself free. This was the case with the +military association. As their uniform resembled that of a +commander, so did their temper. There were none to submit. The +result was, the farce ended, and the curtain dropt in December, by +a quarrel with each other; and, like <i>John</i> and +<i>Lilborn</i>, almost with themselves.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="BILSTON_CANAL_ACT."></a>BILSTON CANAL ACT.</h2> +<br> +<p>Envy, like a dark shadow, follows closely the footsteps of +prosperity; success in any undertaking, out of the circle of +genius, produces a rival.--This I have instanced in our hackney +coaches.</p> +<p>Profits, like a round-bellied bottle, may seem bulky, which, +like that, will not bear dividing: Thus Orator Jones, in 1774, +opened a debating society at the Red Lion; he quickly filled a +large room with customers, and his pockets with money, but he had +not prudence to keep either. His success opened a rival society at +the King's-head, which, in a few weeks, annihilated both.</p> +<p>The growing profits of our canal company, already mentioned, had +increased the shares from 140<i>l</i>. in 1768, to 400 guineas, in +1782. These emoluments being thought enormous, a rival company +sprung up, which, in 1783, petitioned Parliament to partake of +those emoluments, by opening a parallel cut from some of the +neighbouring coal-pits; to proceed along the lower level, and +terminate in Digbeth.</p> +<p>A stranger might ask, "How the water in our upland country, +which had never supplied one canal, could supply two? Whether the +second canal was not likely to rob the first? Whether one able +canal is not preferable to two lame ones? If a man sells me an +article cheaper than I can purchase it elsewhere, whether it is of +consequence to me what are his profits? And whether two companies +in rivalship would destroy that harmony which has long subsisted in +Birmingham."</p> +<p>The new company urged, "The necessity of another canal, lest the +old should not perform the business of the town; that twenty per +cent. are unreasonable returns; that they could afford coals under +the present price; that the south country teams would procure a +readier supply from Digbeth, than from the present wharf, and not +passing through the streets, would be prevented from injuring the +pavement; and that the goods from the Trent would come to their +wharf by a run of eighteen miles nearer than to the other."</p> +<p>The old company alledged, "That they ventured their property in +an uncertain pursuit, which, had it not succeeded, would have +ruined many individuals; therefore the present gains were only a +recompense for former hazard: that this property was expended upon +the faith of Parliament, who were obliged in honour to protect it, +otherwise no man would risk his fortune upon a public undertaking; +for should they allow a second canal, why not a third; which would +become a wanton destruction of right, without benefit; that +although the profit of the original subscribers might seem large, +those subscribers are but few; many have bought at a subsequent +price, which barely pays common interest, and this is all their +support; therefore a reduction would be barbarous on one side, and +sensibly felt on the other: and, as the present canal amply +supplies the town and country, it would be ridiculous to cut away +good land to make another, which would ruin both."</p> +<p>I shall not examine the reasons of either, but leave the +disinterested reader to weigh both in his own balance.</p> +<p>When two opponents have said all that is true, they generally +say something more; rancour holds the place of argument.</p> +<p>Both parties beat up for volunteers in the town, to strengthen +their forces; from words of acrimony, they came to those of +virulence; then the powerful batteries of hand-bills, and +news-papers were opened: every town within fifty miles, interested, +on either side, was moved to petition, and both prepared for a +grand attack, confident of victory.</p> +<p>Perhaps a contest among friends, in matters of property, will +remove that peace of mind, which twenty per cent. will not +replace.</p> +<p>Each party possessed that activity of spirit, for which +Birmingham is famous, and seemed to divide between them the +legislative strength of the nation: every corner of the two houses +was ransacked for a vote; the throne was the only power +unsolicited. Perhaps at the reading, when both parties had +marshalled their forces, there was the fullest House of Commons +ever remembered on a private bill.</p> +<p>The new company promised much, for besides the cut from +Wednesbury to Digbeth, they would open another to join the two +canals of Stafford and Coventry, in which a large track of country +was interested.</p> +<p>As the old company were the first adventurers, the house gave +them the option to perform this Herculean labour, which they +accepted.</p> +<p>As parliament have not yet given their determination, and as the +printer this moment raps at my door, "Sir, the press waits, more +copy if you please," I cannot stay to tell the world the result of +the bill; but perhaps, the new proprietors, by losing, will save +50,000<i>l</i>. and the old, by winning, become sufferers.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="WORKHOUSE_BILL."></a>WORKHOUSE BILL.</h2> +<br> +<p>I have often mentioned an active spirit, as the characteristic +of the inhabitants of Birmingham. This spirit never forsakes them. +It displays itself in industry, commerce, invention, humanity, and +internal government. A singular vivacity attends every pursuit till +compleated, or discarded for a second.</p> +<p>The bubble of the day, like that at the end of a tobacco-pipe, +dances in air, exhibits divers beauties, pleases the eye, bursts in +a moment, and is followed up by another.</p> +<p>There is no place in the British dominions easier to be governed +than Birmingham; and yet we are fond of forging acts of parliament +to govern her.</p> +<p>There is seldom a point of time in which an act is not in +agitation; we fabricate them with such expedition, that we could +employ a parliament of our own to pass them. But, to the honor of +our ladies, not one of these acts is directed against them. Neither +is there an instance upon record, that the torch of Hymen was ever +extinguished by the breath of Marriot in Doctors-Commons.</p> +<p>In the present spring of 1783, we have four acts upon the anvil: +every man, of the least consequence, becomes a legislator, and +wishes to lend his assistance in framing an act; so that instead of +one lord, as formerly, we now, like the Philistines, have three +thousand.</p> +<p>An act of parliament, abstractedly considered, is a dead matter: +it cannot operate of itself: like a plaister, it must be applied to +the evil, or that evil will remain. We vainly expect a law to +perform the intended work; if it does not, we procure another to +make it. Thus the canal, by one act in 1767, hobbled on, like a man +with one leg; but a second, in 1770, furnished a pair. The lamp +act, procured in 1769, was worn to rags, and mended with another in +1773; and this second has been long out of repair, and waits for a +third.</p> +<p>We carry the same spirit into our bye-laws, and with the same +success. Schemes have been devised, to oblige every man to pay +levies; but it was found difficult to extract money from him who +had none.</p> +<p>In 1754, we brought the manufacture of pack-thread into the +workhouse, to reduce the levies; the levies increased. A spirited +overseer afterwards, for the same reason, as if poverty was not a +sufficient stigma, badged the poor; the levies still increased.</p> +<p>The advance of bread in 1756, induced the officers to step out +of the common track, perhaps, out of their knowledge; and, at the +expence of half a levy, fit up an apparatus for grinding corn in +the house: thus, by sacrificing half <i>one levy, many would be +saved</i>. However, in the pursuit, many happened to be lost. In +1761, the apparatus was sold at a farther loss; and the overseers +sheltered themselves under the charge of idleness against the +paupers.</p> +<p>In 1766, the spinning of mop-yarn was introduced, which might, +with attention, have turned to account; but unfortunately, the yarn +proved of less value than the wool.</p> +<p>Others, with equal wisdom, were to ease the levies, by feeding a +drove of pigs, which, agreeable to their own nature--ran +backwards.--Renting a piece of ground, by way of garden, which +supplied the house with a pennyworth of vegetables, for two-pence, +adding a few cows, and a pasture; but as the end of all was +<i>loss</i>, the levies increased.</p> +<p>In 1780, two collectors were appointed, at fifty guineas each, +which would save the town <i>many a hundred</i>; still the levies +increased.</p> +<p>A petition is this sessions presented, for an Act to overturn +the whole pauper system (for our heads are as fond of new fashions, +in parochial government, as in the hats which cover them) to erect +a superb workhouse, at the expence of 10,000<i>l</i>. with powers +to borrow 15,000<i>l</i>. which grand design is to reduce the +levies <i>one third</i>.--The levies will increase.</p> +<p>The reasons <i>openly</i> alledged are, "The Out-pensioners, +which cost 7000<i>l</i>. a year, are the chief foundation of our +public grievances: that the poor ought to be employed <i>in</i> the +house, lest their morals become injured by the shops; which +prevents them from being taken into family service; and, the +crowded state of the workhouse."--But whether the pride of an +overseer, in perpetuating his name, is not the pendulum which set +the machine in motion? Or, whether a man, as well as a spider, may +not create a <i>place</i>, and, like that--<i>fill it with +himself</i>?</p> +<p>The bill directs, That the inhabitants mall chuse a number of +guardians by ballot, who shall erect a workhouse, on +Birmingham-heath--a spot as airy as the scheme; conduct a +manufacture, and the poor; dispose of the present workhouse; seize +and confine idle or disorderly persons, and keep them to labour, +till they have reimbursed the parish all expences.</p> +<p>But it may be asked, Whether spending 15,000<i>l</i>. is likely +to reduce the levies?</p> +<p>Whether we shall be laughed at, for throwing by a building, the +last wing of which cost a thousand pounds, after using it only +three years?</p> +<p>Our commerce is carried on by reciprocal obligation. Every +overseer has his friends, whom he cannot refuse to serve; nay, whom +he may even wish to serve, if that service costs him nothing: +hence, that over-grown monster so justly complains of, <i>The +Weekly Tickets</i>; it follows, whether <i>sixty</i> guardians are +not likely to have more friends to serve, than six overseers?</p> +<p>Whether the trades of the town, by a considerable manufacture +established at the workhouse, will not be deprived of their most +useful hands?</p> +<p>Whether it is not a maxim of the wisest men who have filled the +office, "to endeavour to keep the poor <i>out</i> of the house, for +if they are admitted, they become more chargeable; nor will they +leave it without clothing?"</p> +<p>A workhouse is a kind of prison, and a dreadful one to those of +tender feelings--Whether the health of an individual, the ideas of +rectitude, or the natural right of our species, would not be +infringed by a cruel imprisonment.</p> +<p>If a man has followed an occupation forty years, and necessity +sends him to the parish, whether is it preferable to teach him a +new trade, or suffer him to earn what he can at his old? If we +decide for the latter, whether he had better walk four hundred +yards to business, or four miles? His own infirmity will determine +this question.</p> +<p>If a young widow be left with two children, shall she pay a girl +six-pence a week to tend them, while she earns five shillings at +the mops, and is allowed two by the parish, or shall all three +reside in the house, at the weekly expence of six, and she be +employed in nursing them? If we again declare for the latter, it +follows, that the parish will not only have four shillings a week, +but the community may gain half a crown by her labour.</p> +<p>Whether the morals of the children are more likely to be injured +by the shops, than the morals of half the children in town; many of +whom labour to procure levies for the workhouse?</p> +<p>Whether the morals of a child will be more corrupted in a small +shop, consisting of a few persons, or in a large one at the +workhouse, consisting of hundreds?</p> +<p>Whether the grand shop at Birmingham-heath, or at any heath, +will train girls for service, preferable to others?</p> +<p>Shall we, because the house has been crowded a few weeks, throw +away 15000<i>l</i>. followed by a train of evils? A few months ago, +I saw in it a large number of vacant beds. Besides, at a small +expence, and without impeding the circulation of air, conveniency +may be made for one hundred more.</p> +<p>Did a manufacture ever prosper under a multitude of inspectors, +not one of which is to taste the least benefit?</p> +<p>As public business, which admits no profit, such as vestry +assemblies, commissions of lamps, turnpike meetings, &c. are +thinly attended, even in town; what reason is there to expect a +board two miles in the country?</p> +<p>The workhouse may be deemed <i>The Nursery of Birmingham</i>, in +which she deposits her infants, for future service: the unfortunate +and the idle, till they can be set upon their own basis; and the +decrepid, during the few remaining sands in their glass. If we +therefore carry the workhouse to a distance, whether we shall not +interrupt that necessary intercourse which ought to subsist between +a mother and her offspring? As sudden sickness, indications of +child-birth, &c. require immediate assistance, a life in +extreme danger may chance to be lost by the length of the road.</p> +<p>If we keep the disorderly till they have reimbursed the parish, +whether we do not acquire an inheritance for life?</p> +<p>We censure the officer who pursues a phantom at the expence of +others; we praise him who <i>teaches the poor to live</i>.</p> +<p>All the evils complained of, may be removed by <i>attention in +the man</i>; the remedy is not in an act. He therefore accuses his +own want of application, in soliciting government to <i>do</i> what +he might do himself--Expences are saved by private acts of +oeconomy, not by public Acts of Parliament.</p> +<p>It has long been said, <i>think</i> and <i>act</i>; but as our +internal legislators chuse to reverse the maxim by fitting up an +expensive shop; then seeking a trade to bring in, perhaps they may +place over the grand entrance, <i>act</i> and <i>think</i>.</p> +<p>One remark should never be lost sight of, <i>The more we tax the +inhabitants, the sooner they leave us, and carry off the +trades</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="THE_CAMP."></a>THE CAMP.</h2> +<br> +<p>I have already remarked, <i>a spirit of bravery is part of the +British character</i>. The perpetual contests for power, among the +Britons, the many roads formed by the Romans, to convey their +military force, the prodigious number of camps, moats, and broken +castles, left us by the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, our common +ancestors, indicate <i>a martial temper</i>. The names of those +heroic sovereigns, Edward the Third, and Henry the Fifth, who +brought their people to the fields of conquest, descend to +posterity with the highest applause, though they brought their +kingdom to the brink of ruin; while those quiet princes, Henry the +Seventh, and James the First, who cultivated the arts of peace, are +but little esteemed, though under their sceptre, England +experienced the greatest improvement.--The man who dare face an +enemy, is the most likely to gain a friend. A nation versed in +arms, stands the fairest chance to protect its property, and secure +its peace: war itself may be hurtful, the knowledge of it +useful.</p> +<p>In Mitchly-park, three miles west of Birmingham, in the parish +of Edgbaston, is <i>The Camp</i>; which might be ascribed to the +Romans, lying within two or three stones cast of their +Ikenield-street, where it divides the counties of Warwick and +Worcester, but is too extensive for that people, being about thirty +acres: I know none of their camps more than four, some much less; +it must, therefore, have been the work of those pilfering vermin +the Danes, better acquainted with other peoples property than their +own; who first swarmed on the shores, then over-ran the interior +parts of the kingdom, and, in two hundred years, devoured the +whole.</p> +<p>No part of this fortification is wholly obliterated, though, in +many places, it is nearly levelled by modern cultivation, that +dreadful enemy to the antiquary. Pieces of armour are frequently +ploughed up, particularly parts of the sword and the battle-axe, +instruments much used by those destructive sons of the raven.</p> +<p>The platform is quadrangular, every side nearly four hundred +yards; the center is about six acres, surrounded by three ditches, +each about eight yards over, at unequal distances; though upon a +descent, it is amply furnished with water. An undertaking of such +immense labour, could not have been designed for temporary use.</p> +<p>The propriety of the spot, and the rage of the day for +fortification, seem to have induced the Middlemores, lords of the +place for many centuries, and celebrated for riches, but in the +beginning of this work, for poverty, to erect a park, and a lodge; +nothing of either exist, but the names.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="MORTIMERS_BANK"></a>MORTIMER's BANK.</h2> +<br> +<p>The traveller who undertakes an extensive journey, cannot chuse +his road, or his weather: sometimes the prospect brightens, with a +serene sky, a smooth path, and a smiling sun; all within and +without him is chearful.</p> +<p>Anon he is assailed by the tempests, stumbles over the ridges, +is bemired in the hollows, the sun hides his face, and his own is +sorrowful--this is the lot of the historian; he has no choice of +subject, merry or mournful, he must submit to the changes which +offer; delighted with the prosperous tale, depressed with the +gloomy.</p> +<p>I am told, this work has often drawn a smile from the reader; it +has often drawn a sigh from me. A celebrated painter fell in love +with the picture he drew; I have wept at mine--Such is the chapter +of the Lords, and the Workhouse. We are not always proof against a +melancholy or a tender sentiment.</p> +<p>Having pursued our several stages, with various fortune, through +fifty chapters, at the close of this last tragic scene, emotion and +the journey cease together.</p> +<p>Upon King's-wood, five miles from Birmingham, and two hundred +yards east of the Alcester-road, runs a bank for near a mile in +length, unless obliterated by the new inclosure; for I saw it +complete in 1775. This was raised by the famous Roger Mortimer, +Earl of March, about 1324, to inclose a wood, from whence the place +derives its name.</p> +<p>Then that feeble monarch, Edward the Second, governed the +kingdom; the amorous Isabella, his wife, governed the king, and the +gallant Mortimer governed the queen.</p> +<p>The parishes of King's-norton, Solihull, Yardley, uniting in +this wood, and enjoying a right of commons, the inhabitants +conceived themselves injured by the inclosure, assembled in a body, +threw down the fence, and murdered the Earl's bailiff.</p> +<p>Mortimer, in revenge, procured a special writ from the Court of +Common Pleas, and caused the matter to be tried at Bromsgrove, +where the affrighted inhabitants, over-awed with power, durst not +appear in their own vindication. The Earl, therefore, recovered a +verdict, and the enormous sum of 300<i>l</i>. damage. A sum nearly +equal, at that time, to the fee-simple of the three parishes.</p> +<p>The confusion of the times, and the poverty of the people, +protracted payment, till the unhappy Mortimer, overpowered by his +enemies, was seized as a criminal in Nottingham-castle; and, +without being heard, executed at Tyburn, in 1328.</p> +<p>The distressed inhabitants of our three parishes humbly +petitioned the crown, for a reduction of the fine; when Edward the +Third was pleased to remit about 260<i>l</i>.</p> +<p>We can assign no reason for this imprudent step of inclosing the +wood, unless the Earl intended to procure a grant of the manor, +then in the crown, for his family. But what he could not accomplish +by family, was accomplished by fortune; for George the Third, King +of Great Britain, is lord of the manor of King's-norton, and a +descendant from the house of Mortimer.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>F I N I S.</h2> +<br> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13926 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13926-h/images/image01.jpg b/13926-h/images/image01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..12fc03d --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image01.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image03.jpg b/13926-h/images/image03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2279581 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image03.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image04.jpg b/13926-h/images/image04.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..08b9278 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image04.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image05.jpg b/13926-h/images/image05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ee77c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image05.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image06.jpg b/13926-h/images/image06.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ef76bf --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image06.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image07.jpg b/13926-h/images/image07.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f89a216 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image07.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image08a.jpg b/13926-h/images/image08a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc1fb11 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image08a.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image08b.jpg b/13926-h/images/image08b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a31ba03 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image08b.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image09.jpg b/13926-h/images/image09.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3614e6b --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image09.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image10.jpg b/13926-h/images/image10.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9fd10b --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image10.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image11.jpg b/13926-h/images/image11.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8d71df --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image11.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image12.jpg b/13926-h/images/image12.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..013ae68 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image12.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image13.jpg b/13926-h/images/image13.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2e5231 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image13.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image14a.jpg b/13926-h/images/image14a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fba7ac8 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image14a.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image14b.jpg b/13926-h/images/image14b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1946022 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image14b.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image15.jpg b/13926-h/images/image15.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bd6e9a --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image15.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image16.jpg b/13926-h/images/image16.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9d2f37 --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image16.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image17.jpg b/13926-h/images/image17.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..540a07b --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image17.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image19.jpg b/13926-h/images/image19.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3a0d4a --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image19.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image20.jpg b/13926-h/images/image20.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2976ec --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image20.jpg diff --git a/13926-h/images/image21.jpg b/13926-h/images/image21.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbbe10f --- /dev/null +++ b/13926-h/images/image21.jpg |
