of forces not equal to a third of its own number. Two or three other attempts were afterwards made to the same effect, and with similar success, by the king's troops; and when force would not avail, the fidelity of its garrison was attempted to bé shaken by bribery; but the plan being frustrated, by its discovery to the governor, all further endea vours to become possessed of the place were dropped by the royal party, and Glocester continued steady to the Commonwealth till the period of the Restoration.

The destruction of its suburbs during the troubles just mentioned had reduced Glocester to its original dimensions, as they had been marked out by the Romans; but as soon as the return of regular government and public order restored public confidence and the spirit of speculation, new buildings arose upon the scite of those which had been overturned, and the environs of the town gradually grew to the extent and beauty which they now exhibit. Including these in the calculation, the population of the city at present is estimated at eight thousand souls.

A languid manufactory of pins gives some little degree of life to the trade of Glocester, which, however, is only the shadow of what it was previously to its experiencing the paralyzing effects of

war.

Before our present contests, the markets of France, Spain, and Portugal, kept its pin-merchants in active employ, and poured a considerable quantity of money into the city; but the halcyon season is over, and four-fifths of the workmen formerly employed in this branch of business have long since been obliged to turn to other methods of labour for a subsistence.

The two most remarkable public edifices which arrest a stranger's attention here, are the cathedral and the gaol; the former a fine specimen of ancient architecture, the latter a noble instance of modern philanthropy. Nothing can exceed the beautiful lightness of the tower of the cathedral, relieved by open worked pinnacles at each corner; nor is a grander example of the fine Saxon style (as it is called) to be found, than in the nave of the building. These members are the most ancient of the structure, the one raised by abbot Henry Foliot in 1237, the other by abbot Serlo one hundred and fifty years before. Built by Norman architects, the form of the edifice is similar to that generally adopted by this people-a cross, consisting of a nave, two side-ailes, a transept, and choir, with a Lady's chapel afterwards added; a form suggested by that of the engine of torture on which the salvation of mankind was effected. Its length east

of the tower,

Eight enor

and west is four hundred and twenty feet; north and south, one hundred and forty-four feet; the breadth of the body, eighty-four feet; the height of the choir, eighty-four feet; and that two hundred and twenty-two feet. mous Saxon pillars on each side, upwards of twenty-one feet in circumference, separate the nave from the side-ailes. The most remarkable features of the structure are the grand East Window, said to be the largest in the kingdom; the Lady's Chapel, of extraordinary dimensions; the beautifully ramified Roof of the Choir; and the singular Whispering-Gallery, which stretches from one side of this part of the cathedral to the other, at the eastern end. Its form is a semioctagon, and its length seventy-five feet; the phanomenon which we were directed to remark here, is the circulation of a whisper in a clear and distinct manner, delivered by a person placed at one end of the passage, and received by the ear of one placed at the other extremity. This effect is the more difficult to be accounted for, as the gallery contains several openings in it, by which it should seem the volume of sound would be interrupted or dissipated. General opinion, however, attributes it to the repercussion produced by the angles which the form of the gallery occasions in its interior.

Our ancestors observed the effect without troubling themselves to ascertain the cause, and applied it to the purposes of religious instruction, by inscribing the following lines upon the wall:

"Doubt not but GoD, who sits on high,

66

Thy secret prayer can hear;

"When a dead wall thus cunningly

"Conveys soft whispers to the ear."

The cathedral contains several curious ancient monuments, surmounted by the effigies of the departed great; amongst the rest are, a crowned figure representing Osric king of the Huicii, with an inscription explaining the reason of his bones. finding a resting-place in this hallowed spot: "Osricus Rex primus fundator hujus Monasterii, "681."-Robert, the unfortunate eldest son of William the Conqueror. Richard, his youngest son.-Aldred, the builder of the first abbey church of Glocester, which was afterwards destroyed.Parker, the last abbot of the monastery.-The alabaster effigy of Edward the Second, under a very handsome canopy of free-stone.-A beautiful tomb and figure in alabaster of abbot Scabroke; and another of the great Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford, who died 1367, and his lady. The cloisters form a large square of one hundred and fifty feet every way, of elegant architecture, and

in the most perfect preservation; the beauties of which are secured to posterity by an admirable little engraving published by Mr. Bonnor of Glocester, amongst others of different parts of the cathedral, and buildings connected with it.

Our visit to the gaol produced a mingled emotion of pity and gratification; commiseration for those whom the laws of society render it necessary to punish or to deprive of the inestimable blessing of personal liberty; and pleasure in observing the humane and judicious regulations adopted to rob the melancholy interval between commitment and trial of unnecessary rigors, and to render confinement the parent of industry and the nurse of reflection. Built a few years since on a plan suggested by the venerable philanthropist the late Mr. Howard, Glocester gaol embraces every accommodation and convenience of building, and every internal arrangement that sagacity united with humanity could contrive for the comfort and improvement of its unhappy inmates. The admirable disposition of the whole strikes the mind on the first glance; and an attention to its detail to the different parts of crime confirms the impression which it has received. Here we observe a due regard to the gradations of vice, in the manner of grouping the prisoners; nor are the more venial