NEWCASTLE, a small market-town of South Wales, in the county of Carmarthen, 216 miles from London. It stands on the river Teifi or Tawy, and is situated in a dreary mountainous district, but has a well-attended market on Monday. The fine castle which stood here is now in ruins.

Newcastle is also the name of a handsome town in the county of Limerick and province of Munster, on the high road to Kerry, 145 miles from Dublin. It consists of a large square, where markets and fairs are held, and possesses a handsome church, Catholic chapel, market-house, and barracks. Here the knights templars formerly had an establishment, the ruins of the walls and fortifications of which still remain. The population at last census amounted to 2866.

Newcastle-under-Line, a town of the county of Stafford, in the hundred of Pirehill, 149 miles from London. It is situated on a small branch of the Trent. It had once four churches; but these, with much of the town, were destroyed in the civil wars. The chief trade of the town consists in making hats; but as coal is abundantly obtained near it, a great quantity of pottery ware is made in the neighbourhood. It is a corporate town, governed by a [7:16:151]mayor, two justices, and twenty-four common council men, and returns two members to parliament. It has a good market on Monday. The population amounted in 1801 to 4604, in 1811 to 6175, in 1821 to 7031, and in 1831 to 8192.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne is an extensive and wealthy town in the county of Northumberland, of which it is the metropolis; but it is also a county of itself. As its name denotes, it is situated on the river Tyne, to which circumstance it is principally indebted for its flourishing condition. That river is formed out of two branches, one called the North Tyne, which rises upon the borders of Scotland near Keilder, and, after passing Falstone, Greystead, and Bellingham, receives the water of the river Reed, and near Woodburn is joined by the South Tyne, which rises behind Crossfell, on the borders of Cumberland, and passing Haltwhistle, forms the united stream at Warden near Hexham. The mass of water then passes Newcastle, and empties itself, after a course of near seventy miles, into the German Ocean, between the towns of North and South Shields, which stand on the banks at the mouth of the river. At the extreme point on the northern bank is the town of Tynemouth, with its haven. This latter place is known to seamen in the day by a castle in ruins on the northern side, and in the night by a revolving light, which is constantly kept burning, and exhibits a face every minute.

Within the river, near the town of North Shields, there are two lighthouses for the use of vessels passing over the bar. There are three warping buoys within the river, two on the south and one on the north side; and in addition to these, there is a distinguishing buoy on the north side, where the low light is situated. The tide flows up the Tyne from Shields to a distance of eighteen miles; and at Newcastle Bridge it generally runs upwards about four hours and a half, and downwards about seven hours and a half. The perpendicular rise at the bar, at Tynemouth is about eighteen feet, and at the bridge from eleven to twelve feet. It is high water on the bar, at the full and change of the moon, at about three o’clock if the weather be settled; but a strong northerly wind will sometimes make it high water an hour sooner, and a strong southerly wind an hour later, than the regular course; and there will be at times two or three feet more water on the bar with a strong northerly wind than with a strong southerly one. The corporation are making great exertions to improve the navigation of the river, and employ a powerful steam-engine for the purpose of dredging.

Due precautions against accidents to shipping have been rendered necessary by the vast number of vessels that pass up and down the Tyne; and an association, formed in 1825, at the Trinity House, has for its object the preservation of lives from shipwreck, and the maintenance of a life-boat at South Shields. The pilots on the river are remarkable for their skill and carefulness, and are under the regulation of the corporation of the Trinity House, who have an office on the quay. The bridge was founded in very ancient times, and consisted of wood. It was once burnt, and at subsequent periods was more than once carried away by the floods. The existing bridge was built between the years 1775 and 1799. It was only twenty-one feet wide, which, as the population and trade increased, was found very inconvenient; and in 1801 it was enlarged and widened, and is now thirty-three feet six inches in width. It connects the town of Newcastle with its suburb Gateshead, which is in the county of Durham.

From the bridge a fine quay extends along the river 500 yards in length. The new corporation have commenced a most important improvement, by lengthening the quay one thousand yards eastward, and a still greater extension is intended. When completed, it will make this the finest quay, for commercial purposes, in Europe. The buildings on the quay consist of shops, warehouses, and taverns; the custom-house stands on the quay, and in lanes leading from it' there are a number of extensive warehouses belonging to private merchants, and also a large bonding tobacco warehouse under the care of the custom-house.

Newcastle is to be chiefly viewed as a trading town; and as the principal foundation of its trade is the shipping of coals, we shall first take a view of the growth and extent of that branch. It is doubtful when coals were first discovered and applied to serve as fuel; but by some ancient documents it seems to be shown that in the year 1280 the revenue of this town arising from the sale of coal amounted to L.200 per annum. In 1306 it must have been introduced in London, as the parliament complained to the king of its infecting the air with noxious vapours, in consequence of which the use of coal was prohibited, and strict orders given to destroy all furnaces and kilns in which it was used. Coals, however, must have again come into use in 1327, as at the coronation of Edward III. a debt appears to have been due for this mineral; and in the same reign orders were issued relating to the measuring of coals, and such as were got in the field of Gateshead were to be taken across the Tyne in boats, and, after paying the custom-duty, to be sent to any port of the kingdom, but to no port out of the kingdom, except to Calais. About the year 1338 the prior of Tynemouth granted colliery leases. In the year 1582 Queen Elizabeth obtained a lease for ninety-nine years of the manors and royalties of Gateshead and Whickham for L.90 per annum, which caused the price of coals in London to rise to nine shillings the chaldron; upon which the lord mayor made application to Lord Burleigh that the price might be reduced to seven shillings. In 1615 the trade appears to have employed 400 sail of ships, some of which sailed to France, and others to the Netherlands. During the civil wars the trade and the prices of coal fluctuated much, as at one time London was with the parliament and Newcastle with the royal party. In 1675 the shipping of Newcastle was estimated at 80,000 tons. In 1710 the annual average export for the three preceding years had amounted to 178,143 chaldrons, and in 1776 to 260,000. The following account will show the vast but gradual increase since that time.

An Account of the quantity of Coals shipped at Newcastle from 1794 to 1836, distinguishing those sent Coastwise and those over Sea.
[table]

The preceding account is given in Newcastle chaldrons, which weigh fifty-three hundred, but the London chaldron [7:16:152]weighs only twenty-eight hundred. The former contains sixty-eight, the latter thirty-six Winchester bushels. Since the duty on coals water-borne has ceased, the account of the quantities shipped has been kept with less correctness.

It may be observed in this place, that whilst describing the shipping and trade of Newcastle, the transactions of the towns of North and South Shields, and of Tynemouth, are comprehended, as far as regards the official returns, because these returns are taken from the books of the custom-house, which is at Newcastle alone. These towns, which are ∙a portion of the port, contain together nearly 30,000 inhabitants. The larger ships are, in fact, mostly loaded and discharged near them, though vessels of 300 or 400 tons burden may at high water reach the bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The whole extent of the port is such that two thousand sail of vessels may lie in a state of security within its limits.

It is very difficult to estimate with accuracy the proportion which the coals raised in the vicinity of Newcastle, and shipped from its port, bears to the whole quantity raised in the kingdom. We must trust to estimates by no means deserving of implicit confidence, when we state that the trade of digging coals, and of conveying them to the ships, gives in this vicinity employment to 75,000 persons; that a capital amounting to L.4,000,000 is invested in it; that the weekly value of that which is sold amounts to L.60,000; and that the duty paid on it in 1831, when it ceased, was about L.600,000.

As Newcastle is a kind of metropolis to a considerable portion of the northern counties of England, it has very extensive commerce in almost every other branch of trade. It has, however, one branch of most extensive value, as connected with our naval defence, that of ship-owning, under which some of our best operative seamen are trained up with a skill, activity, and perseverance that is exceeded by no sailors in the world. The extent of this branch of industry may be seen by the following table.

Vessels registered at the Port of Newcastle.
[table]

It has been estimated that this town has belonging to it one sixteenth part of the whole tonnage of the British empire. In the year 1836 there were registered in the port of Newcastle ninety-one steam-vessels.

If the amount of duty collected at the custom-house be the proper scale by which to measure the foreign trade at the respective ports of the kingdom, Newcastle stands the fifth on the scale of English towns, and next after London, Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull. In 1836, the annual net amount was L.275,369. 9s. 4d.

In Newcastle and its neighbourhood are carried on various important manufactures, which are chiefly fostered by the abundant supply of coal. Amongst these may be enumerated glass bottles and crown and plate glass, patent shot, and all the preparations of lead, whether for pigments or otherwise. The manufacture of iron is carried on upon the most extensive scale, as is the construction of steam-engines, especially those of a locomotive kind, the reputation of the builders being so high that they manufacture not only for all parts of England where railways are established, but also for the continent of Europe and the United States. Mills for the crushing of linseed, manufactories of copperas, coal pitch, spirits of tar, varnishes, soda, aquafortis, whitening, glue, vinegar, and soap, are numerous and extensive.

Since the year 1816 a most important business has arisen in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, namely, the making of crystals of soda and mineral alkali by the decomposition of common salt. For such a manufacture, as well as those of glass and iron already noticed, the banks of the Tyne are, it is true, most favourably circumstanced; but the history of its establishment is curious, and affords an instance of the way in which important trades sometimes owe their origin to little more than individual energy and enterprise.

In the year 1794, Lord Dundonald, who had previously directed his attention to various chemical manufactures, represented to Mr William Losh of Newcastle, the advantage, as he conceived, of a process of his own for making alkali by the decomposition of certain refuse salts; and accordingly a company was formed, consisting of Messrs John and William Losh, and Messrs Surtees, bankers, under the firm of William Losh and Company, who begap the trade of making alkali at Bell’s Close, on the Tyne, “three miles above Newcastle. The refuse salts procured were sulphate of potash from makers of oil of vitriol, and sulphate of soda from makers of marine acid, both of which were at that time to be obtained in great plenty; and Lord Dundonald’s process was to decompose them by saw-dust, forming alkaline sulphurets, which, by lixiviation, evaporation to dryness,' and exposure to heat, with more carbonaceous matter, he expected to convert into carbonated alkali. In this, of course, he failed; but it is interesting to observe how nearly his lordship approached to success; for if in the first part of his process a little lime had been used, the decomposition would have been accomplished exactly as it is at present. Lord Dundonald then proposed to decompose muriate of soda by potash, obtaining thus carbonate of soda and muriate of potash, both valuable products; and this mode of obtaining soda from common salt was pursued for some time. At the end of little more than a year from the establishment of the works at Bell’s Close, Lord Dundonald, who was not a partner, left the neighbourhood of Newcastle. At this time there was known to exist in a colliery at Walker, three miles below Newcastle, a salt spring of very great strength and copiousness, capable, it was said, of furnishing salt enough to supply the consumption of the whole kingdom; and Lord Dundonald, previously to leaving Bell’s Close, made the important suggestion to William Losh and Company, of endeavouring to obtain from government a grant of salt for the purpose of making alkali, duty free, from this spring at Walker. Accordingly the application was made, and the company succeeded, in the year 1796, in obtaining a grant of salt to be made from this salt spring, at a duty of thirty shillings per ton. The present alkali works at Walker were soon afterwards commenced, and the establishment at Bell’s Close discontinued. Here alkali-making was carried on from potash as above mentioned, and also for some time from oxide of lead, until, about the year 1799, the price of lead became too high to admit of its continuance. About this period the works at Walker became the property of Mr John Losh of Woodside, Cumberland, and were placed under the entire management of his brother, Mr William Losh, who soon afi terwards made many important alterations, and who may justly be considered as the father of soda-making on the Tyne. But it is not suitable in this article to trace very minutely the history of soda-making, and it may be sufficient to say, that at Walker the trade was carried on gradually increasing until the year 1816, when Mr William Losh visited France, and brought from thence the process [7:16:153]now followed universally, which he immediately put into operation at Walker. <

This process, for which we are entirely indebted to our intelligent neighbours the French, consists in making oil of vitriol from sulphur, and with the sulphuric acid decomposing muriate of soda, to obtain dry sulphate of soda, which salt is mixed with certain proportions of chalk and coal in powder, and the whole heated in a proper furnace until a sort of incipient fusion takes place, after which the mass is drawn out and suffered to cool, forming an impure carbonate of soda called ball alkali. This ball alkali being lixiviated, boiled down, heated in a furnace to redness, with or without carbonaceous matter, again dissolved, and crystallized, yields the soda of commerce. From 1816 to 1822 alkali-making was carried on only at Walker; but at the latter date Messrs Cookson and Company commenced the manufacture at South Shields, and were speedily followed by other enterprising individuals at various places on the Tyne.

At present there are nine soda manufactories on the Tyne, at which upwards of 1000 workmen are employed; and the quantity of crystallized soda made per week is upwards of 250 tons, besides at least 100 tons of alkali or soda ash, containing from 25 to 45 per cent, of soda, which is sold in an uncrystallized state to bleachers, soap-makers, and others. To produce this quantity of alkali there is burned into sulphuric acid per week 120 tons of sulphur, and the common salt decomposed weekly amounts to nearly 400 tons. The price of crystallized soda was, in the early days of alkali making, 60s. per cwt.; but it is now sold at one fifth of that sum, or 12s. per cwt.; and as society are only beginning to experience the usefulness of the article for domestic purposes, and the demand is consequently likely to increase, it is probable that this branch of manufacture on the Tyne has not yet reached its fullest extent.

The town is supplied with excellent beer from several breweries, which together make about 30,000 barrels of strong, and about 18,000 barrels of small beer, and use in the fabrication about 19,000 quarters of malt. Paper of various kinds is made, and some of it printed; and there are a great number of coaches and other kinds of carriages built. The spinning of linen and woollen thread employs about 300 persons, but chiefly in the surrounding villages, and the salmon fishery on the Tyne is considerable. From this sketch of the numerous products of industry, the export trade may be seen to be extensive in other articles besides coals, cinders, culm, the preponderating commodities of this important trading town.

The imports are various, but the principal articles are corn, wine, spirits, fruits, sugar, tobacco, tea, coffee, butter, cheese, tallow, hides, oak-bark, rags, flax, hemp, linen yarn, mahogany, deals and other timber, spars, masts, cordage, tar, iron, and what is necessary for the equipment of shipping. This view of exports and imports accounts for the number of vessels which have entered this port in successive years from foreign countries.

The municipal government of Newcastle has from a very remote period been conducted by an incorporated body originating in royal charters, and composed of a mayor, aldermen, and common councilmen, with various subordinate officers. Having been originally a Roman station, it became under the heptarchy a regal villa, one of the residences of the Northumbrian kings, styled by Bede, Ad murum regia villa illustris. It afterwards obtained the name of Monkchester; but soon after the Conquest, on the construction of a new fortress, it acquired the name which has been continued to the present time. william II. converted the town into a royal borough, conveyed to the burgesses considerable fee-farm rents, and conferred some privileges which were extended by Henry I. Several additional immunities were granted by successive charters, all of which were, in the reign of Elizabeth, in 1660, condensed and confirmed by what was known then as the great charter; and that, being afterwards slightly changed in the reign of James I., continued till the passing of the existing law in 1835. By that law the town has been divided into seven wards for the purposes of that act, and has now fourteen aldermen, forty-two councillors, a mayor, and sheriff, with justices of the peace nominated by the crown.

The revenue of the corporation is very large, arising from a tonnage on coals, a duty for depositing ballast, actual possession of land and houses, and some other sources, amounting together to L.40,000 per annum. The corporation has the superintendence of the river Tyne, which, with the other necessary expenses, and interest on loans, amounts to near!y the same as the income. Besides the corporation, there are many guilds or companies having chartered privileges, and halls for their assembling. There are the Twelve Mysteries, founded between the years 1215 and 1621; the Fifteen By-trades, founded between 1426 and 1626; and the various companies, eight in number, created at different periods, like the others, between the years 1454 and 1675. These companies choose annually sixty-nine stewards, out of which a body of nine is nominated, who are called the Herbage Committee, whose duty it is to superintend the improvement and enforce the regulations respecting the free commons, upon which the burgesses have the privilege of pasturing two cows each, and a free pasturage is thus afforded to 700 fine cows, and also to watch over the interests of the freemen, and of their respective fraternities. They have a revenue of about L.100, derived from ground and dunghill rents, and from other sources.

Newcastle is a county of itself, and the courts of assize and nisi prius are held twice a year for each division; those for the town at the guildhall at the Exchange, and those for the rest of Northumberland in the county courts at the Castle Garth. They are held at the same time. There are also some inferior courts of justice held, such as the mayor’s court, in which only free burgesses or their widows are sued, and in which are tried all cases relating to real or personal actions to any amount arising within the town; the sheriff’s court, in which all actions are brought as in the mayor’s court, but with this distinction, that they may be instituted against all other persons than free burgesses; the court of conscience to determine all debts or actions not exceeding in amount forty shillings, which extends to all persons residing within the liberties of the town; and the court of guild, the chief business of which now is the admission of persons to their freedom, whether they are entitled to it by birth, or by an apprenticeship during seven years. Besides these, a court of admiralty is occasionally held, the principal duties of which consist in preventing injury from being done to the river or to the salmon fishery. The corporation have lately established a body of police upon the London plan, which has been found very effectual.

The population of Newcastle has advanced in nearly the same proportion as that of the other towns of the kingdom. It appears, by the comparative account of the population of Great Britain in the years 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831, printed by order of the House of Commons, 19th October 1831, that the number of the inhabitants at those periods amounted in 1801 to 28,366, in 1811 to 27,587, in 1821 to 35,181, and in 1831 to 42,760. But each of these accounts is materially deficient, owing to their exhibiting only the number of inhabitants within the limits of that portion of the town which is within the county of the town of Newcastle, and not giving the numbers of the town of Gateshead, which, though one of the suburbs, is within the county of Durham, nor the population of those parts of the [7:16:154]parishes of the town which are not within the limits of the county. By the enumeration abstract of the population, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on the 2d April 1833 (vol. i. p. 472), the population is thus shown:

Parishes. Males. Females. Total.

All-Saints 7887 9176 17,063

St Andrews 4984 6452 11,436

St John 3912 4223 8,135

St Nicholas 2877 3249 6,126

19,660 23,100 42,760

To this must be added the inhabitants of Gateshead in the county of Durham, which is a suburb only divided by the bridge 15,177

Besides this must be added that portion of the parish of All-Saints which is in the east division of the ward of Castle 5,677

Those portions of St Andrew’s parish which are in the east and west divisions of the ward of Castle 2,424

The portion of St John’s parish which is in the west division of Castle Ward 5,061

Total number of inhabitants in 1831 71,099

If the past rate of increase has been maintained since that period, the whole population at the present time must exceed 80,000 persons.

The public buildings for religious purposes are numerous. Those of the established church claim the first attention. Of these, the mother church of St Nicholas is probably the oldest, and certainly the most striking. It was founded in the year 1091, by Osmond, bishop of Salisbury, and placed under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Carlisle. The edifice was burned in 1210, and the present structure finished in 1359. The interior of the church is 242 feet, and on entering it by the great western door, the spectator is struck with mingled impressions of delight and solemnity, from the general and noble effect produced by the view. Some considerable improvements in the arrangement of the pews made in 1783 have adapted it for accommodating a congregation of more than 1200 persons. The organ is a remarkably fine instrument. The frame-work is mahogany, and the two pillars in front are magnificent; the centre is surmounted by the figures of two recumbent angels, and the compartments of the front are embellished with a variety of richly gilt pipes. There are several fine specimens of modern sculpture lately erected on this edi ∙ fice, and these marble monuments have been very costly. A public library is attached to this church, formed by donations at different periods since the year 1661, but principally by Dr Thorburn.

St John’s church is an ancient structure, and supposed to have been built in the latter end of the thirteenth century; but it has since been enlarged and beautified at different periods. The great eastern window contains some curious ancient specimens of stained glass. By the erection of some new galleries and other arrangements of pews, it has been made capable of seating, including scholars in the aisles, more than 1400 persons. It has a square steeple with four pinnacles, a clock and six bells, with a large burying-ground adjoining.

St Andrew’s church is said to have been built by David king of Scotland, who died in 1153. It still exhibits some specimens of Anglo-Norman architecture, though many alterations have been made at different periods. Being near the town wall, it suffered much during the siege of 1644, and was long afterwards closed. It has lately been furnished with a new organ, and the interior so arranged as to accommodate 1300 hearers, besides 200 children. Near to it is the burying-ground, which, by the destruction of some houses in 1824, is laid open to public view, and handsomely surrounded by palisades.

All-Saints’ church is a modern structure, having been erected between the years 1786 and 1796, at an expense of L.27,000, raised by an assessment upon the owners of houses in the parish. It has a stately Doric porticoat the entrance, from which there rises an elegant spire to the height of 202 feet from the ground. It has a fine set of bells and a clock. It contains a spacious gallery, and the whole seat-room will accommodate near 1200 persons, and 270 children of the charity schools, who have seats in the gallery. This building was erected on the site of an ancient church which existed before the year 1284, but which was considerably larger, and capable of containing 2000 persons.

St Ann’s church is, properly speaking, a chapel of ease to the parish of All Saints. It was erected in 1768, on the foundation of an ancient building, at the expense of the corporation. It has a large school attached to it, in which boys are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, on very cheap terms. The church has seat-room for about 500 persons.

St Thomas’ church is a chapel of ease to the parish of St Nicholas. It was begun in 1828, and finished in 1830. It is an elegant structure, built in the style of one of the earliest examples of ecclesiastical architecture. The church is 135 feet in length and sixty-three feet in breadth, and has a tower 138 feet in height. It can accommodate from 1000 to 1100 persons. In the suburb or town of Gateshead is the church of St Mary, 'a new steeple to which was built on an old foundation in 1740. Its chief ornament is an elegant window of stained glass in the southern transept, which was presented to it in 1824. There is seat-room for 800 persons, including that for the charity children.

The places of worship for the various classes of dissenters from the established church are numerous. From the vicinity to Scotland, the adherents of the Presbyterian form of worship are the greatest in number, occupying nine meeting-houses, most of them being of the Scotch kirk, and others secessions from it. The next largest portion of worshippers are the Wesleyan Methodists of the new and old connection, who have six chapels, one of them the largest place of worship in the town. The Independents occupy three chapels, the Baptists three, and the following persuasions one each, viz. the Roman Catholics, the Quakers, the Glassites, the Unitarians, and the Swedenborgians.

To the enterprise of Mr Richard Grainger the inhabitants of Newcastle owe the creation of almost a new town, built in a style of architectural beauty not inferior to any in the kingdom. After having built Eldon Square, Blackett Street, and several others of minor importance, Mr Grainger’s first exertions in an embellished style of architecture were made on a large piece of ground adjoining the Leazes. Upon this he erected a parallelogram, consisting of upwards of fifty houses, all faced with polished stone, and of great elegance of design, and some of them of large dimensions. This undertaking was carried through by him at the same time that a spacious and splendid arcade was constructed in the centre of the town. The next attempt of this individual was more gigantic, and incurred an expenditure of half a million sterling. There existed in the very centre of the town a large piece of ground, about thirteen acres, which had originally been the gardens of the Grey Friars, and of a convent of Benedictine nuns, but some time ago was the garden of the house of Sir Walter Blackett, Bart., and, latterly, of Major Anderson. This completely cut off’ the communication between the opposite sides of the town, except by circuitous streets, and was partly occupied by stables, cow-sheds, and other nuisances. Mr Grainger conceived the idea of covering this [7:16:155]extensive piece of ground with houses and markets of elegant construction. The purchase of the ground was effected, and the work begun, in the summer of 1834; and its completion will probably not require more than twelve months from the present time (1837). This extraordinary undertaking consists of seven streets, some of them eighty feet broad, and all of stone, and highly embellished; besides a butcher-market and a vegetable-market, which alone occupy a space of more than two acres, and are entirely covered in. These markets are unquestionably the most elegant and commodious in the world. The butchermarket consists of four avenues, nineteen feet four inches wide, twenty-seven feet high, and extending in length 338 feet. The vegetable-market is connected with the butchermarket, and consists of one stupendous hall, 318 feet long, fifty-seven feet wide, and upwards of forty feet high. A new theatre of great architectural beauty, a chapel for the Methodists of the new connection, a new dispensary, and a church, are also included in the plan. The number of houses will exceed 300. Such are the outlines of what has been done, and is in the course of completion. At the top of the principal street, named Grey Street, in honour of Earl Grey, workmen are at present (1837) employed in building a column, which will be 150 feethigh,and surmounted by a statue of Earl Grey. This elegant, memorial is from a design by Messrs John and Benjamin Grecn of Newcastle, and the statue is by Bailey of London. The cost is defrayed by public subscription. Within the last ten years there has been erected a large and massive building for the jail and house of correction, which cost L.49,000; and during last session of parliament an act was passed by which twenty new streets are to be made and altered.

Newcastle is quite as well supplied with those institutions which tend to the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge as any other place of its extent in the kingdom. The Literary and Philosophical Society was founded in 1793. Its objects were the discussion of the several branches of polite literature, and making inquiries into the situation and properties of the mineral productions of the neighbourhood, with the elucidation of the sciences applicable to commerce, antiquities, local history, biography, nautical inquiry, and other subjects. A new institution for delivering lectures has been united with it since 1802. A library of more than 12,000 volumes has been collected, and a valuable apparatus purchased for the illustration of chemistry and other branches of physics. The Natural History Society has erected an elegant building, which contains a museum, of very great value. The published Transactions of this Society have raised the character of its members to a high rank in that science. In the same building the Newcastle Antiquarian Society hold their meetings.

There is also an establishment recently formed, called the Literary, Scientific, and Mechanical Institution, of which young persons may become members, and attend classes appointed for drawing, mathematics, chemistry, and the languages, at a very small expense. This society is also gradually forming a library, and various collections to assist in science and in art. There are likewise several subscription rooms for newspapers, especially a very good one at the Exchange.

There is a well-endowed royal free grammar school, in which Greek and Latin were intended to be taught gratuitously; but a small fee is now paid by the scholars. It has access to some exhibitions at Lincoln College, Oxford. In several other schools many boys and girls are taught on the Lancasterian and Madras plans, and most of the churches and chapels have schools connected with them.

The institutions for benevolent purposes are numerous, of which the most prominent are Jesus’ Hospital, which provides for forty old persons; Blacket and Davison’s Hospital, for six poor widows of clergymen or merchants; Westgate Hospital, for aged freemen and widows; the Keelman’s Hospital, formed by that class of persons for the relief of their destitute, and chiefly maintained by a duty of one farthing per chaldron on all coals exported from the river Tyne; and the hospitals of St Mary Magdalen and of the Virgin Mary.

The establishments for administering relief to the diseased or infirm poor are, the Infirmary, to which is now annexed a Lock Hospital, and which extends relief to the sick and lame poor of the counties of Newcastle, Durham, and Northumberland, the average annual .number of in-patients being 800, and of out-patients 700; the Dispensary, founded in 1777, supported by voluntary contributions, the object being the administration of medical and surgical aid to all diseased applicants, and the promotion of vaccine inoculation; the House of Recovery, for the reception of persons afflicted with febrile diseases; the Lunatic Asylum, for thirty-eight males and the same number of females; the Lying-in-Hospital, for poor pregnant women; the Eye Infirmary; and St Luke’s Hospital.

The markets are well supplied with provisions of all kinds, which are sold at very cheap rates; and the market for corn is one of the largest in the north of England. Water is abundantly supplied by the Water Company, from resources and reservoirs in Gateshead. There are no less than twelve public fountains, here called pants, in different parts of the town. These are ready to furnish water for the fire-engines, which are under good regulation. There are companies for insurance against fire, as well as for ship and life risks. The town is well watched, and lighted for the most part with gas.

The places of amusement are not numerous; the most prominent being the theatre denominated royal. The former house was opened in 1788, and was pulled down in 1836 to make way for the building of Grey Street. The new theatre, which is a structure of great beauty, was opened in February 1837. The assembly-rooms, built in 1766, are comrnodiously planned, having a ball-room ninety -four feet by thirty-six, with a music gallery; adjoining are cardrooms, a room for private assemblies, and on the lower story is a supper-room, in which 460 individuals have been accommodated at the same time. There is a music-hall appropriately fitted up, with the requisite auxiliary apartments. The Northern Academy of Arts is solely appropriated for the public exhibition of pictures, and for the purposes of a diorama. The first exhibition of paintings in Newcastle was opened in September 1822.

The communication between Newcastle and the western coast will be greatly facilitated by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railroad, which it is expected will be completed in 1838, and, with the Brandling Junction Railroad, will connect the towns of South Shields, Monk-Wearmouth, Bishop-Wearmouth, and Sunderland, and increase the trade very considerably. The Newcastle and Carlisle Railroad, in its present unfinished state (thirteen miles in the centre not being completed), yields a revenue of L.50,000 a year; and, when completed, it is estimated to produce an annual income of L.100,000. The length of this railway, including the Brandling Junction, will be sixty-five miles from sea to sea.