There are alfo a great many steeples of curious architecture, particularly thofe of St. Bride and Bow-church at London; Salisbury fteeple, whofe fpire is the highest of any in England; thofe of St. Nicholas at Newcastle, and Grantham in Lincolnshire: which laft is fo lofty, and artificially built, that to any beholder it seems to stand ready to fall. In the county of Northampton, one can fee twenty or thirty steeples at once. awry, and And with all due refpect and reverence to our own, what country in Europe can fhew two fuch univerfities as Oxford and Cambridge, adorned with fo many and richly endowed colleges, as I have defcribed before? And, amongst the lawyers, where shall one fee fuch colleges, as the inns of court at London. As for public halls, there is no country like England. Witness Westminster-hall, a prodigy of art, the Middle-temple-hall, Lambeth-hall, Guildhall, and fo many others belonging to the feveral companies of tradesmen, which standing in bye places, are like fo many hidden palaces. If we come to hofpitals, few will be found more ftately than thofe of Greenwich for decayed feamen, and Chelsea for fuperannuated foldiers; that of St. Thomas and Guy's in Southwark, and St. Bartholomew's in London, for the fick and lame; and Bedlam, the hofpital for lunaticks. England must be praifed alfo for the vast number and beauty of her stone bridges; particularly that of London on the Thames, where the fea flows and ebbs continually; Rochefter bridge on the Medway; Briftol bridge on the Avon; and that of Burton upon Trent. At Coventry, in the county of Warwick, is to be feen the fineft crofs perhaps in Eu. rope, it being a piece of an extraordinary beauty. The grandeur of the Kings of England in former ages is worth taking notice of: when they had in most counties a castle, or royal houfe, with a park or forest to receive them. in. At this very day the king has feveral palaces in the country, at Kensington, two miles from St. James's Weftminster; at Hampton court, ten or eleven miles; and Windfor-caftle, twenty miles, which are the most remarkable, But there are others inferior to those, at Richmond in Surrey, Winchester in Hampfhire, another at Greenwich in Kent, &c. I pafs by Newmarket house, built by King Charles II. only to lodge in at the time of horse-racing. I proceed now to the country feats, belonging to the nobility and gentry of England; and I dare aver, there is no country in Europe fo full of ftately feats, confidering its extent witnefs, among others, Belvoir in Lincolnshire, Chatworth in Derbyshire, Boughton and Burleigh houfe in Northamptonshire, Petworth in Suffex, &c. But of all the counties of England, none is fo full of them as Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Northamptonshire. Amongst the curiofities of England, I reckon Salisbury-plain in Wiltshire, and that of Newmarket, upon the borders of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The firft, being of a vaft extent, feeds multitudes of fheep; and Newmarket-plain is noted for its ufual horfe-races, at Michaelmas. On Salisbury-plain is to be feen that remarkable monument of antiquity, called the Stone-henge, in Latin Mons Ambrofii. It confifts of three rows of prodigious ftones, fome of them twenty-eight feet high, and feven broad, with others laid across on the top, and framed into them. According to Camden, these stones are artificial, and were made upon the spot. He fays, the ancients had the art of making ftones with fand and a ftrong fort of lime. And that which makes it most probable, is the vaft bigness of there thefe ftones, harbly capable of any land carriage; and that they stand upon a plain, which for fome miles round fcarce affords a ftone, great or small. Near Whitney, in Oxfordshire, is a trophy, called Roll-rich-ftones, not much unlike the Stone-henge. At Bofkenna, in Cornwall, is to be seen another trophy, of 18 huge stones in a circle, at twelve feet distance from each other, with another stone in the center, overtopping them all. In Cleer parifh, in the fame county, there ftand upon a plain fix or eight ftones of a prodigious bignefs, but fo artificially fet together, that it is hard to find out their just number; and being told over again, they will be found either more or less than before. The main-Amber, near Mount's-Bay, is a main rock, which being mounted upon leffer rocks with a counterpofe, may be ftirred, but not moved out of its place. Near Salkeld in Cumberland is a trophy erected, vulgarly called Long-Meg and her Daughters, confifting of 77 ftones, Long-Meg 15 above ground, and the reft but 10. In Weftmoreland, not far from the river Lowther, there is a row of pyramidical ftones, 8 or 9 feet high, pitched directly in a row for a mile togther, and placed at equal diftances from each other. Who would not be amazed to hear of a travelling hill? a thing averred by the most famous authors. This prodigy happened by an earthquake in Herefordshire, in the month of February 1574, when 26 acres of ground moved from their place with a roaring noise for the space of three days together. By which motion a steeple and feveral trees fell down, two highways were turned, the east part to the weft and the weft to the east, pafturage being left in the place of tillage, this in the place of pafturage. This hill is called Marfley-Hill: and worth the notice of any traveller. At Badmington, in Wiltshire, there have been found nine caves all in a row, but of different dimenfions, the least of them four feet wide, fome nine or ten feet long, two long stones being fet upon the fides, and the top covered with broad ftones. Spurs, pieces of armour, and the like, have been found in these caves; which is a fufficient ground to believe, that they were tombs of some ancient heroes, Romans, Saxons, or Danes. At Ryegate, in Surrey, are still to be feen the ruins of an ancient castle, with a long vault under ground, and a room at the end of it, where the barons met in council in their war against king John. In Derbyshire is the Peak, famous for its lead-mines, quarries, and wonderful caves. These last are of a large extent, and apt to strike with horror all that come into them. There are three of these caves, one of them called Elden-hole, very fpacious, but with a low and narrow entrance, the infide full of ificles, hanging down like fo many tapers. In Westmoreland, not far from the river Lowther, is a well or fountain, which (Euripus like) ebbs and flows many times in a day. Near Oxen-hall, in the county of Durham, there are three pits, called Hell-kettles, occafioned (as it is faid) by an earthquake. Tunftall, bishop of Durham, had the cu riofity to throw a marked goofe into one of these pits, which was found afterwars alive in the river Tees, three miles from the faid pits. Oundle, in Northamptonshire, is noted for its Drumming-wells, fo called from a noise of drums coming now and then from thence, which is faid to be ominous. The city of Bath, in Somersetshire, is noted for its springs, of a wonderful virtue for the cure of many diseases, and amongst others the palley, rheumatifm, weakness of the nerves, and fcrophulous diseases, &c. The waters are of a blueish colour, have a scent, and fend forth thin vapours. There are four hot baths, with ftone feats, for fuch as ufe the waters; one triangular, being twenty-five feet long, and as broad at one end; the heat of it gentler than the reft, because it has fewer fprings. This is called the Crofs Bath, from a crofs that formerly stood in it: Another is the Hot Bath, the hottest of all, when it was not fo large as it now is. The other two are the King's and Queen's Bath, parted only by a wall; the laft having no fpring in it, but receiving the water from the King's Bath, which is about 60 feet fquare, and has feveral hot fprings in the middle of it, which make its heat greater. Each of thefe two baths has a pump for the use of embrocations. The ancient Romans had a great value for thefe waters, who had here a temple dedicated to Minerva, the goddefs of fountains, in the very place where the cathedral now ftands. At Ailewefton, in Huntingtonfhire, there are two fprings, one of fresh, and the other of brackish water; the first good for dim eyes, the other for curing of fcales and leprofy. Wonderful is the virtue of Buxton-Wells in Derbyshire, in the cure of many dif eases. Nine springs iffue out of a rock, at a small distance from each other, eight of which are warm, and the ninth exceedingly cold. About 100 yards off is another hot fpring, and near it a very cold one. Near Wirkfworth, in the fame county, there are alfo two fprings, one warm, and the other cold; but fo near one another, that one may put one hand in the warm and the other in the cold at the fame time. Kedlafton Well is faid to be fingular in the cure of ulcers, and even leprofy itself. As for Quarndon-Springs near Derby, Tunbridge-Wells in Kent, Scarborough in Yorkshire, and Stanley-Wells in Gloucestershire, they are much of the fame nature, strong of the mineral, and effectual in the operation. At Laffington, near Gloucefter, there are found certain ftones, about the breadth of a filver-penny, and the thicknefs of a half-crown : they are flat, and five-pointed, like aftar; whence the name of aftroits, or ftar-ftones. They are of a greyifh colour, and the flat fides of them naturally engraven in fine works. At Whitby in Yorkshire, it is faid, there are to be found at the foot of fome rocks ftones naturally as round as a bullet; which, being broken, ftony serpents are found in them, but, for the most part, headlefs. Gotham in Nottinghamfhire yields a fort of rugged ftone, but with fuch delicate veins, as exceed the beauty of marble. I have already obferved, that Cornwall and Staffordshire have quarries of marble, and that alabafter is to be found in Lincolnshire; but Cornwall particularly is of special note for its diamond-like ftones, found in rocks, ready fhaped, polished by nature, and wanting nothing but hardness to bear the price of diamonds. St. Vincent's Rock, near Briftol, is alfo noted for yielding plenty of cryftal. Laftly, though fome countries may exceed or excel England in fome things, yet it cannot be denied to be one of the moft plentiful parts of Europe. As it is feated advantageoufly for trade, there is nothing in the world capable of tranfportation but may be had here, to gratify the fancy of fome, and the curiofity of others. Another thing England is happy in, is her being free from thofe dangerous and voracious beafts, fuch as wolves, bears, and wild boars, which are so pernicious in many regions of Europe. There are alfo but a few ferpents, and other venomous creatures. England has had wolves formerly; but hiftory tells us, that fhe was rid of them by the Welch, whofe prince being tributary to Edgar, a Saxon king of England, to whom he paid a yearly tribute, Edgar changed that tribute into three thoufand wolves' skins : upon which, the Welch grew fo fharp in wolf-hunting, that they cleared England from thofe pernicious creatures; fo that the fheep keep the field day and night without any danger from wolves, unlefs it be from men-wolves, or fheep-ftealers. CHAP. CHAP. XIII. Of the Seas, Harbours, Rivers, Fishery, four-footed Beafts, Fowls, Birds, and Minerals. THE feas, which almost encompass the kingdom, are the German fea, the English channel, and the Irish fea, or St. George's channel. Of thefe, that which washes the eastern fhores, usually called the German Ocean, might be of infinite advantage to this kingdom. Here the Dutch laid the foundation of their greatnefs; and the fish taken here, even close to the British coafts, are ftill one of the greatest fupports of their ftate; while the English, who are indeed the proprietors of these treasures, have indolently looked on an hundred and fifty years at least. There is also in the German fea a cod-fifhery on the Dogger-bank, a fand between Britain and Holland, where both the English and Dutch take great quantities of that kind of fish. And it is by this fea London, and many other great towns in England, and other parts of Europe, are fupplied with fea-coal from Newcastle, without which they would find it difficult to fubfift. This sea also furnishes oysters, lobsters, and almost all manner of fhell-fish. But as there are few tolerable harbours on the German fide of this fea, fo neither are there many on the English; and the coaft being replenished with rocks and fands, renders it very dangerous in the winter feason. The next fea I fhall mention is the English channel, which lies between GreatBritain and France, through which all fhips pass and repass that are bound to or from the south or weft. Here alfo, at fome feafons of the year, are met with fhoals of herrings and cod-fifh, and towards the weft of England pilchards in great abundance, which are falted up and fent abroad. It alfo abounds with lobsters, oyfters, and other fhell-fifh, and mackarel in the feafon. This fea is esteemed much fafer than the former; and though there are scarce any good harbours on the French fide, there are many commodious havens on the English coaft. The third and laft fea is that lying between England and Ireland, called St. George's channel. This I do not take to be equal to the other in any respect; there is not that plenty of fifh as in the former; the fea is tempeftuous, and the coafts dangerous; nor is there a tenth part of the trade carried on through this fea as through the other. The principal harbours in these feas are Newcastle in Northumberland, Hull in Yorkfhire, Lynn and Yarmouth in Norfolk, Harwich in Effex, London, Rye in Suffex, Portsmouth and Southampton in Hampshire, Weymouth in Dorfetfhire, Dartmouth and Plymouth in the fouth of Devonfhire, Falmouth in Cornwall, Biddeford and Barnstaple on the north of Devonshire, Bristol in Somerfetfhire, and Liverpool in Lancashire. The fhips belonging to the royal navy are built and laid up at Deptford, Woolwich, Sheerness, Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plmouth. The principal rivers in England are generally divided into two ranks, in manner following: Rivers of the first rank are, Of the fecond, Running 4. Humber, Oufe, } Run S.E. 2. Dee, 4. Merfee, 5. Tine, E. Cambridge, N.E. York, N. E. through Liverpool, W. Chester, W. With feveral others fmaller than these. 6. Tweed, J 2 LE. Concerning |