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September, A. D. 1698. A bust of him, with a large flowing wig and cap, is attached to the monument.

On a grave-stone, in this Church, is a pompous inscription, commemorative of the various offices and transcendant virtues of Thomas Covell, who was "six times mayor of the town, forty-eight years keeper of the Castle, forty-six years one of the coroners of the county; captain of the freehold land of the hundred of Lonsdale, on this side of the sands, &c. and died August 1st, 1639."

"Cease, cease to mourn, all tears are vain and void,
He's fied, not dead, dissolved, not destroy'd;

In heaven his soul doth rest, his body here
Sleeps in this dust, and his fame every where
Triumphs: the town, the country farther forth,
The land throughout proclaim his noble worth.
Speak of a man so courteous,

So free, and every where magnanimous ;
That story told at large here do you see
Epitomiz'd in brief, COVELL was he."

"This is given as a specimen," says Mr. Pennant, "of an Epitaph so very extravagant, that the living must laugh to read; and the deceased, was he capable, must blush to hear. Lancaster Church was one of those reserved by Henry the Eighth as a sanctuary after the abolition of that dangerous privilege in the rest of England*?

The situation of Lancaster being on a gentle ascent, and the summit adorned with the Church and Castle, the general appearance is commanding; yet Mr. Gilpin observes, that the portals of the latter are neither well shaped, nor well combined." The river Lune makes nearly an acute angle on the north side of the town, whence several regular streets procced to the south, leaving the church and castle in some measure detached. Many of the former are narrow, but the houses are generally good, constructed of free-stone, and covered with slate †. Besides which there are several

* Tour in Scotland, 4to. Vol. II. p. 25.

+ For the annexed View of the Town, from a painting by Ibbetson, I am indebted and obliged to John Dent, Esq. M. P. for Lancaster.

several handsome mansions, the residence of men of independent fortune. An extensive quay, large warehouses, and many neat houses, have recently been erected; and some of the streets are well paved. Indeed the town of Lancaster is at present in a very improving and prosperous state. The public buildings, exclusive of those already mentioned, consist of a chapel dependent on the established church; in addition to which, the Quakers, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Roman Catholics, have each their respective places of worship.

Amongst the conveniences peculiar to this town, the Shambles deserve particular notice, as they resemble a street, where every butcher occupies a shop, with his name inscribed over the door. An ancient Bridge, now in ruins, connected the opposite shores of the Lune, near St. George's quay, but the increasing opulence and population of the town, rendered a new and more commodious one necessary. This was erected from the extremity of Cablestreet to Skerton, at the expence of nearly 12,000l. which was paid by the county. The design was by Mr. Harrison; and the arches, of equal size and eliptical, are five in number: the length of this superb structure is 549 feet. Lancaster contains a Theatre, situated in St. Leonard's gate; and an Assembly-room in Buck Lane. The latter place is also the site of twelve Alms-houses, founded March 2nd, 1715, for twelve poor men, who receive sixteen shillings and eight-pence per quarter, and new coats annually. These are the charitable acts of William Penny, Alderman. In addition to this, the town is distinguished by several other benevolent institutions, particularly four alms-houses, called Gardner's chantry, founded in 1485, and rebuilt in 1792; six other almshouses were founded in 1651 by George Johnson; and Common Garden-street Hospital, consisting of eight houses for maiden ladies, who are allowed 31. per annum, and a new gown each, for which they are indebted to the donation of Mrs. Ann Gillison of Lancaster, who died at the age of seventy-two, in 1790. The inhabitants, long impressed with a just sense of the value of mental improvement, have at different periods established a Free-school, and two Charity-schools; the first, for the education of sixty boys, was VOL. IX. rebuilt

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rebuilt by subscription in 1682, under the auspices of Bishop Pilkington, and has a master and an assistant.

One of the Charity-schools is for fifty boys, who are cloathed, educated, and allowed the sum of 61. as an apprentice fee. The master of the school receives an annual salary of 351. and a residence, from the amount of the voluntary subscriptions which support the school.

The other school, supported by similar means, is situated in the High-street, where forty girls are cloathed and educated.

The Manufactories of the town are inconsiderable, and chiefly consist of cabinet making, spinning of twine, cotton printing, and weaving of sail-cloth. Ship-building has been greatly encouraged, and many large vessels constructed, particularly by Mr. Broockbank, who has sent ships, launched at his dock-yard, to London, of 450 tons burthen. Unfortunately for the traders of Lancaster, the river Lune is obstructed by shoals, which, in their present undisturbed state, prevent vessels of considerable bulk from approaching within six miles of the town; nor can those above 250 tons reach the quays. Lancaster trades to America with hard-ware and woollen manufactures, in vessels of seventy tons. Forty or fifty ships trade also to Norway. Besides the cabinet goods, a considerable quantity of candles are exported to the West Indies. Much wheat and barley is imported. It appears from the custom-house entries, that in the year 1799, fifty-two vessels cleared out of this river for the West Indies, with 11,669 tons of goods, in more than 90,000 packages. These cargoes were estimated at a value of two and a half millions of pounds sterling. The Custom-House is a small neat building, with a portico supported by four Ionic columns. Each of these is fifteen feet and a half high, and consists of a single stone. It was designed by Mr. Gillow, architect.

Nearly in the centre of Lancaster is the Town-Hall, a large commodious building, ornamented with a bold portico, which was designed by Major Jarrat. In the Council-room is a full length portrait of the gallant Admiral Nelson, painted by Mr. Lonsdale, an artist of very promising talents, who is a native of this town. This

gentleman

gentleman presented it to the corporation, who have since ordered a full length portrait of that eminent statesman, Mr. Pitt, as a proper companion.

The borough of Lancaster originated from a grant made in the fourth year of the reign of Richard the First; and members were first sent to Parliament in the twenty-third of Edward the First. Others were returned the twenty-sixth, thirty-third, and thirty-fifth of the same king's reign; and again in the eighth and nineteenth of Edward the Second, and the first, second, third, and fourth of Edward the Third, from whose reign, till that of Edward the Sixth, no members were returned. After this period it was restored, with Preston, Wigan, and Liverpool. The returning officers are the mayor and two bailiffs. It has been already mentioned that King John granted the burgesses privileges similar to those possessed by the citizens of Bristol, to which Edward the Third added permission for the mayor and bailiffs to hold the Pleas and Sessions at Lancaster, and no where else in the county. The corporation is composed of a Mayor, Recorder, twelve Aldermen, two Bailiffs, twelve Capital Burgesses, twelve Common Burgesses, a Town Clerk, and two Serjeants at Mace. Lancaster contains 1611 houses, and 9030 inhabitants.

In the vicinity of this town is an excellent Salt-marsh, adjoining the banks of the river Lune; of which about five hundred statute acres belong to eighty of the oldest freemen of Lancaster, or their widows, being held in trust by the corporation. This marsh is pastured, and divided into what are termed orl grasses; that is, a privilege of turning one horse, or two cows, of any size, to summer upon this common: a poney being reckoned equal to two oxen, however small the horse or large the ox. The number of grasses, or gates, is equal to that of privileged burgesses, with two more for the trustees; eighty-two in the whole, which, if let, are worth at present from 11. 10s. to 11. 11s. 6d. each per summer. They would not, seven years ago, have produced twenty shillings. This marsh is so fertile, that, if divided into fields of proper, size, it would immediately be worth three pounds per acre, per annum; and if judiciously improved, five pounds.

By the late inland navigation, Lancaster has communication with the rivers Mersey, Ribble, Ouse, Trent, Darwent, Severn, Humbers Thames, Avon, &c. which navigation, including its windings, extends above five hundred miles into the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, York, Westmoreland, Chester, Stafford, Warwick, Leicester, Oxford, Worcester, &c. All the country from Kendal, in the course of the Lancaster canal, for sixteen miles, is full of limestone; and from Chorley to West Houghton, there are immense mines of sea and cannel coals. The whole country north of Chorley, through which the canal passes, is very much in want of coals, and the country south of Lancaster is in want of lime; hence, by opening a communication between the port of Lancaster, and so large a tract of inland manufacturing country, this new navigation must materially benefit the whole, by improving the lands, manufactures, and commerce of this part of the kingdom.

About one mile north-east of the town is a grand AQUEDUCTBRIDGE, which conveys the Lancaster-canal over the river Lune. This stupendous fabric was designed, and successfully executed, by Mr. John Rennie, civil engineer, who has hereby manifested the possession of much skill and science. It is justly considered the most magnificent structure of this kind that has ever been erected in Great Britain, and may fairly vie with any of the pompous works of the Romans. At the spot where the present bridge is built, the architect had to encounter and surmount depth of water in the bed of the river, and a soft muddy bottom. It was therefore found necessary to lay a foundation at the depth of twenty feet beneath the surface of the water. This consists of a flooring of timber, supported by piles 30 feet long. The foundation alone is said to have cost 15,000l. and the superstructure above double that sum, although the stone was obtained within about one mile and a half of the place. The bridge consists of five circular arches, springing from rusticated piers, with Gothic ends. Each arch is of seventy feet span, and rises thirty-nine feet above the surface of the river. The whole bridge has a handsome cornice, and every part of it is designed with strict regard to strength, durability, and elegance. The total height from the surface of the river to that of the canal

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