ESSEX. THIS is a maritime county, lying north of the estuary of the Thames; its length from east to west is about sixty miles; its breadth from north to south about fifty miles; its circumference nearly one hundred and thirty miles. On the north side it is bounded by Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; on the west by Hertford and Middlesex; on the south by the river Thames, which divides it from Kent, and on the east by the German Ocean. It is situated in the Home Circuit; in the diocese of London, and the province of Canterbury Chelmsford is the county town. This county, previous to the landing of Julius Cæsar, formed part of the territory of the Trinobantes. After the subjugation of Britain by the Romans, it was included in the province called Flavia Cæsariensis, and was the seat of some of their most flourishing colonies. From the Itinerary of Antoninus, it appears that they had five principal stations in this county,-Durolitum, Cæsaremagnus, Canonium, Camelodunum, and Ad Ansam. On the Saxon Conquest, one division of the Heptarchy was denominated East Seaxa, or the East Saxons, which included Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire; this appellation became in time to be restricted to the county which now bears the name. still manufactured to a considerable amount, principally near Coggeshall. There are a great number of beautiful and extensive views in this county, but their extent arises from the wide expanse of level country which the eye travels over, rather than from the height of the spot from which the view is taken. The Thames, of course, forms a prominent feature in almost every view, and the constant liveliness of the scene is greatly enhanced by the numerous vessels of every class, from the Dutch schuyt to the lofty East Indiaman, which are constantly arriving from every part of the globe, or departing from the greatest emporium of commerce in the world. Southend is a fashionable watering-place not far from the mouth of the Thames, it is opposite to the mouth of the Medway, and the town of Sheerness; but during the time of low water, a vast extent of shingles and mud forms a foreground to the perspective which is anything but pleasing; but when the tide is in, the scene is lively and amusing in a great degree: the new town of Southend is situated on a high cliff, so as to have the advantage of a very extensive view. East and West Tilbury are situated a short distance from the Thames, the banks of which are in this part extremely low and marshy. West Tilbury appears to have been the episcopal seat of Cedda, bishop of the East Saxons; he was among the first to plant and extend the doctrines of ChristThe land of this county is in general dry, and of a qua-ianity, and was the founder of many churches, especially in lity highly favourable to the labours of agriculture, and by means of its rivers, the facility of exporting its produce, and its vicinity to the metropolis, it enjoys advantages of no trivial importance. The river Colne rises near Clare, in the county of Suffolk, and, passing by Colchester, to which it gives its name, falls into a creek between Mersey Island and the main. The Blackwater has its source near Saffron Walden, and flowing by Coggeshall and Witham, discharges itself into an arm of the sea below Maldon. The Chelmer passes Chelmsford, to which it gives its name, and falls into the same estuary as the Blackwater. The Crouch is a small river with extensive oyster-beds at 'its mouth: it flows into the main sea. a city called by the Saxons YTHANCESTRE, which it is supposed was situated at the mouth of the Blackwater, but the site of which has for many ages been completely overwhelmed by the encroachments of the sea. At that remote period Tillaburgh, or Tilbury, was probably a town of some importance, but it has subsequently dwindled into an inconsiderable village. In the parish of Tilbury, on the bank of the Thames, and exactly opposite to Gravesend, is TILBURY FORT, an old but regular fortification, which entirely commands the navigation of the river. So long ago as the time of Henry VIII. a kind of block-house was situated here, which was greatly enlarged and strengthened as it now appears, by Charles II., who was urged to this measure by the sailing of the Dutch fleet up the river, in 1667, when they burned the men-of-war at Chatham. At Tilbury, Queen Elizabeth. The Cam rises at three springs near Newport, and had a camp in 1588. Here she assembled her army, and passing Chesterford, takes a northerly course into Cam-addressed to them the speech which appears in the following bridgeshire. The Roddon joins its tributary stream to the Thames, near the town of Barking in this county. The Lea and Stort form the western boundary of the county, dividing it from Middlesex and Hertfordshire. The Stour separates it on the north from the county of Suffolk. The estuaries and creeks are famous for their oysters, in which an immense trade is carried on with London, and a never-failing supply of fish is found on every part of the coast. The climate is very mild, and generally healthy but the islands at the mouth of the river, and the low lands along the coast, to a distance of eight to twelve miles from the sea and the Thames, are subject to the insalubrious effects of dense fogs; and although much has been effected by embanking, draining the marshes, and a highly-improved system of cultivation, yet the aguish character of the hundreds of Essex, particularly in the autumnal months, is not likely to be wholly obviated. This is so completely an agricultural county, that little attention is paid to manufactures. Large quantities of baize and other woollen stuffs used to be sent from this county, but that branch of trade has mostly quitted it for the manufacturing districts of the west and north. Silk is, however, article. リ The legislative representation of Essex, under tl e Reforma provost and eight priests, by Robert Bourchier, lord chan- South Division .... Essex, North Division ... Colchester Total.... Members. N222 2 10 cellor of England; this institution remained until the dissolution of the religious houses. The church is an ancient edifice, and has its tower surmounted by a wooden spire, which is the third that has been raised upon it: the first was destroyed by lightning the second was erected in 1717, at the expense of an apothecary of the name of Firk, on which occasion Prior wrote the following lines, which seem to have a prophetic character, as the spire they commemorate was destroyed by The former representation was eight members, the addi-lightning; after which the present was built. QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SPEECH TO HER ARMY. WHEN the Spanish Armada was in the English Channel in the year 1588, threatening an immediate landing on our shores, Queen Elizabeth established her camp at West Tilbury, where she assembled her forces, and addressed to her armed subjects the following right royal and patriotic speech, alluded to in the foregoing article: 66 My loving people,-We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not live to distrust my loving and faithful people. "Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself, that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. "And therefore I am come amongst you, as you see at this time, not for any recreation or disport, but being resolved in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom and my people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and the stomach of a Kingand of a King of England too! and think foul scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any Prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms; myself will be your general, judge, and recorder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already for your forwardness you have deserved crowns; and we do assure you on the word of a Prince, they shall be duly paid you. "In the meantime, my Lieutenant-General shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded more noble or worthy subjects; not doubting but by your obedience to my General, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a most famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and my people." HALSTEAD SPIRE, ESSEX. HALSTEAD is a large and populous town, seated on the The name Halstead is Saxon, denoting a healthy place. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. ON HALSTEAD SPIRE. View not this. SPIRE by measures given : Whose basis on devotion stands. Will ever in our works appear. Blest be he called among good men, Who to his God this column raised; MAY. THE name of this month is usually derived from Maia, the mother of Mercury, as sacrifices were offered to her op the first day of this month. The Saxons called it "Tri-milki moneth," because in this month they began to milk their kine thrice in the day: and indeed the abundant juices of the young-springing grass contribute to render the milk more abundant and of a finer quality; the dairy therefore occupies great attention, and this is the season in which the greatest quantity of cheese is made. SUN RISING AND SETTING EVERY TENTH DAY. May 1,.. Sun rises.. 4h. 37m... Sun sets. .7h. 23m. il,.. 31,.. The sun enters the sign GEMINI, or the TWINS, on the 21st of this month. This month is remarkable for the profusion of verdure which it exhibits: a May morning is frequently as beautiful as can possibly be imagined; a serene sky, a pure air, a refreshing fragrance, from the delightful verdure of the carpet which covers the face of the earth, the feathered tribe in full melody, and everything which can exhilarate the spirits, and attune the mind to gratitude and adoration. The latest species of the summer birds of passage arrive about the beginning of this month; and the whole feathered tribe is full of activity, bustle, and solicitude, in providing for the welfare and sustenance of their offspring. The insects are adding to their numbers, and the earliest swarms of bees are leaving the parent hive. The insect youth are on the wing, And float amid the liquid noon: no But it frequently occurs that in our northern clime this description of May is procrastinated until the name longer answers to the description; and although a few days of beautiful weather may lead to the supposition that summer is really come, yet a relapse into the chill, and dreariness, and damp, and showers, and sleet of the wintry season, usurps the place of a clear blue sky and an enlivening sun. But it would be unpardonable to dismiss May without noticing its initiative May-day. In London little is known of this mark of the season beyond the Milk-maid's Garland, now rapidly falling into disuse, and the Chimney-sweeps' Holiday, accompanied by Jack-in-the-Green. It is supposed that the Druids had many ceremonies appropriate to this day, from which the Beltein, a sort of rural sacrifice, is still retained in Scotland and the North of England. Our Saxon forefathers also used to hold an anniversary. on May-day; and the Column of May, whence some derive the May-pole, was set up as a signal for convening the nation to a congress, where the people, if they saw cause, deposed or punished their governors, barons, or kings. DEAR Brother, while weaving your birth-day address, For what the true feeling of love can express, The tear, should it fall on the track of my pen, The smile give me credit till Christmas, for then And why should I try in a song to enclose A sister's affection, the hope and the fear IMPORTED. Now, a most delightful series of occupations engages the PRICES OF TEA IN CHINA, AND QUANTITIES mind and employs the attention of the serious in the British Metropolis, as a long train of Annual Meetings, for the purposes of benevolence, takes place in this month: the THE following curious statement of the prime -cost prices Societies for the distribution of the Sacred Scriptures, and quantities of this article, which now seems to constitute Missionary Societies, School Societies, and every class of one of the necessaries of life for our English population, may institutions which can be devised to alleviate the moral probably possess the advantage of novelty to most of our wants of the human race. No nation but England can readers. show such activity of good: and if the most atrocious depravity, and deepest misery, require the aid of correctives, certainly no nation more requires such redeeming efforts than England itself. 3,778,012 Average price per lb. in Canton. s. d. Qualities or names Pounds imported. Bohea... 07 Congou 20,142,783 0 11 Campoi Souchong TO MAY. Hail, lovely May! youth of the year! Thy gayest tints again appear, Thy gales, thy fostering showers! The infant blossoms now expand, Borne on thy purple wings, again Thy dewy fingers still combine Each gift for nature's throne, Total ..... The duties to Government, payable on teas, amount to a sum equal to what they sell at in bond: the cost of the teas must therefore be doubled in order to show what the expense is to the wholesale buyer. The Exchequer therefore receives a sum equal to the gross produce of the East India Company's total sale. annually amounts to the astonishing mass of upwards of three hundred millions of pounds weight! The exports of cotton goods and yarn, in 1831, amounted VOTES OF THANKS BY THE NATIVES OF LIONS;-and the number of manufacturers, and their fami- OUR readers need not be informed that the Suttee was a rite prevalent in the Indo-British territories, in which the living widow of a deceased person was consumed on the same funeral pile as her husband's corpse. This inhuman custom has been recently abolished by the British Govern ment. At a public meeting of NATIVES at Calcutta, the following resolutions were proposed and passed : "First. That an address be presented to the King, expressing the grateful sentiments of the liberal Hindoos of Calcutta. "Second. That another address be sent to the Honourable the Court of Directors for defending the cause of humanity. "Third. That an address be presented to Lord William Bentinck, congratulating his lordship on the confirmation of this humane regulation. "Fourth. That an address be also sent to Rajah Rammohun Roy,* offering him a vote of thanks from the liberal portion of his countrymen, for his indefatigable zeal in the cause of humanity, and requesting him to present the two addresses, mentioned in the First and Second Resolutions, to the authorities in England." This remarkable series of resolutions certainly exhibits an extraordinary_advance in the public opinions of the native classes of our Eastern possessions. PROGRESS AND PRESENT EXTENT OF THE THE almost incredible increase of this peculiar branch of national industry naturally causes this question,—“ What peculiar laws, or prohibitions, or bounties, or other legislative protections, has it received?" The remarkable reply is, "None." To what then does it owe its prodigious augmentation? To the principle of free emulation and exertion only. FRAUD INGENIOUSLY DETECTED. CHRISTOPHER ROSENKRANDS applied to the widow of Christian Juul for payment of a debt of five thousand dollars. The widow, conscious that her husband owed him nothing, refused; but Rosenkrands produced a bond, signed by her deceased husband and herself, which she declared to be a forgery. A law-suit commenced, and judgment was given in favour of Rosenkrands; upon which the widow appealed to Christian IV., King of Denmark, solemnly assuring his majesty, that the bond in the possession of Rosenkrands had neither been written, nor signed, by her husband or by by herself. The king promised to investigate the matter with the closest attention, and ordered Rosenkrands to appear, whom he questioned and admonished, but without effect; Rosenkrands insolently pleaded his right to payment of the bond. The king then desired to see the instrument, which he viewed attentively, and told Rosenkrands it should be returned to him the next time he saw him. Christian, in the mean time, continued to investigate the paper in question, and having minutely compared it, he at length found that the paper-maker, whose stamp was on the paper, had established his manufactory at Fredericksborg, at a period long subsequent to the date of the bond. The paper-maker was called, who fully satisfied the king, that he had never manufactured paper of that description when the bond was dated. This was indisputable evidence against Rosenkrands. Still the king said nothing, but soon after summoned Rosenkrands before him, and represented to him, that he ought to be compassionate to the widow, and consider that the wrath of Heaven would dreadfully visit him were he the cause of her sustaining so serious an injury. Rosenkrands continued inflexible, and even murmured; when the king granted him a few days to reconsider the business, but in vain. Rosenkrands was then apprehended, the fraud completely exposed, and the delinquent punished with exemplary severity. REMARKABLE COPY OF THE KORAN. The cotton manufacture was introduced into Great Britain in the commencement of the seventeenth century: but it did not make any noticeable progress until about the middle of the eighteenth century: then, the numerous mechanical inventions which followed in quick succession urged forward its advance with inconceivable rapidity. The yearly import of raw cotton at the commencement of THE following is an account of a transcript of this celethe eighteenth century hardly amounted to 1,200,000 lbs.: brated Mohammedan book, which is probably without a about 1760, the value of all the cotton goods manufactured parallel, at least as to size, in the annals of letters. It is a did not amount to more than 200,000l. annually. In the copy of the Koran, executed by a devoted follower of the -year 1780, the import of raw cotton had arisen to about Prophet, named Gholam Mohgoodeen, and his two sons, 5,200,000 lbs.: at the present time, the quantity imported who lately passed through Moradabad, in their way from Peshawar to Mecca, with their ponderous, and, no doubt, to them, precious charge. This highly-talented individual is at present in England. The letters in which it is written are about three inches long, and the Book itself is a foot thick, and four feet eight inches long by two feet eight inches broad. The text, which was written entirely by the father, occupied him six years; it is interlined with a Persian translation by one of the sons: the binding is, literally speaking, "in boards." The book is carried on the back of a camel, under a canopy of crimson cloth; when they halt, it is taken off and set on a sort of frame; the padlock which secures the wooden covers is then unlocked, and the leaves are opened for the inspection of the curious or the devout, until the hour of departure arrives, when it is replaced on the back of the camel, and proceeds towards its destination. EXTRAORDINARY ANTIPATHIES. WHAT jarring chord of the human fabric is struck? and how is it struck-to produce effects both involuntary, irresistible, and unaccountable, similar to the following remark able sensations? Gresham, Knight, Alderman, Sheriff, and Lord Mayor of London, an opulent merchant, and a man of great public spirit. Thomas was born in 1519, in London, and bound apprentice to a mercer when young; but that he might acquire an education suitable to his future prospects, he was sent to Caius College, then Gonvil Hall, Cambridge. He remained there some time, and made such great proficiency in his studies, that Cains, the founder of the College, styles him doctissimus mercator, "the most learned merchant." Nevertheless, his love for learning did not distract his attention from mercantile concerns, while the large estates acquired by traffic in his own family did not a little contribute to decide his choice. His father was agent for Edward VI. in the business of raising money in Antwerp, and in procrastinating the payment of sums already borrowed his son succeeded him in this branch of his concerns. This was, in most instances, a most galling office, and he was repeatedly greatly vexed by the irregularity with which and his royal master was compelled to purchase of the engagements made by him were frequently disappointed: bitant rate, as a premium to induce them to forego the claim lenders jewels and other valuable commodities at an exor-for the due payment of their demands. Some idea of the disadvantageous nature of these transactions may be formed from the fact, that the current rate of interest was then six teen per cent, per annum. HENRY III. of France could not stay in a room where there was a CAT, although he was so immoderately fond of dogs that he was seen to go about with a basket of young puppies suspended from his neck by a black string. The Duc D'Epernon fainted at the sight of a LEVERET. Marechal D'Albert could not endure the presence of a WILD BOAR, nor even that of a SUCKING PIG. Uladislas, king of that in a very short period of the reign of Edward VI. he The activity of his business may be inferred from this, Poland, was distracted at the sight of APPLES. Erasmus made forty voyages from London to Antwerp, and he succould not smell FISH without being greatly agitated. Sca-ceeded at length, by rigidly enforcing punctuality, to raise liger trembled at the sight of WATER-CRESSES. Tycho the character of the English government in pecuniary transBrahe felt his limbs sink under him when he met either a actions so as to command any sums of money the exigencies HARE or a Fox. Bacon swooned at an ECLIPSE of the of the state might require. MOON. Boyle fell into convulsions on hearing the sound of WATER drawn from a cock. James I. of England could not endure the sight of a DRAWN SWORD; and Sir Kenelm Digby narrates that the King shook so vehemently in knighting him, that he would have run the point of his sword into the eye of the knight elect, if the Duke of Buckingham had not guided it across his shoulder. M. La Motte de Vayer could not endure Music, but delighted in the sound of THUNDER. An Englishman of the seventeenth century was nearly expiring whenever the 53rd of ISAIAH was read A Spaniard about the same period fell into a syncope whenever he heard the word LANA (wool) mentioned, although his coat was made of that material. to him. SIR THOMAS GRESHAM.-WITH A PORTRAIT. WHEN individuals arise whose talents seem to alter the accustomed course of public business, their conduct proves them to have possessed that insight into the principles of the affairs they were engaged in, and to exhibit their talents in a most prominent point of view, as outstripping the age in which they lived. The subject of this brief sketch was one of these; for whereas, before his time, the Sovereigns of England were compelled to have recourse to foreign money-lenders, Sir Thomas Gresham was the first who counselled his Sovereign to apply at home, and by his influence prevailed on the monied interest to assist the Sovereign in pecuniary matters, thereby keeping at home the exorbitant interest which, before that period, had been sacrificed for the advantage of aliens. Sir Thomas was descended of an ancient and most respectable family, which tooks its name from a town so called in Norfolk; he was the youngest son of Sir Richard Elizabeth, who employed him on all occasions: also to provide He filled the same post under Mary, and also under hood, and appointing him her agent in foreign parts. He arms for her troops, conferring on him the order of knight. lost an only son at the age of sixteen. Having observed the convenience and utility of the covered exchange at Antwerp, and contrasting it with the chants were exposed, they meeting for the transaction of great annoyance of bad weather to which the London merbusiness in Lombard-street and the courts adjacent, he offered to build a covered edifice, at his own charge, provided the City of London would furnish the site: this noble offer was gladly accepted, and it was completed with great promptitude, as it was opened in 1569; and on January 29, 1570, Queen Elizabeth, attended by her court, visited the building, and caused it to be proclaimed by a herald, with sound of trumpet, "The Royal Exchange," a name which it has ever since retained. Having been engaged in raising money at Antwerp for the Queen, and perceiving the great loss accruing from paying such exorbitant interest abroad, he advised applying to our own merchants; but, when first started, his plan was rejected by the merchants, and was negatived at a Common Hall. However, through Sir Thomas's influence, several of the merchants subscribed sums to the amount of sixteen thousand pounds, at an interest of six per cent. per halfyear; and when the first six months were expired, she renewed the same loan for a similar period, at the same rate of interest, with brokerage or premium. To show her great regard for his character, Queen Elizabeth appointed him, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and other persons of eminence, assistants to the Lord Mayor for the government of the city of London during her progress through the country. |