1828.] Warwick, Northampton, Worcester, Hereford, 



221 



The King ha presented the Birmingham Musi- 

 cal Festival Committee with a copy of Dr. Ar- 

 nold's edition of Handel's works in 43 folio 

 volumes. 



The silk trade in Coventry has been in a tole- 

 rable slate of activity for the last twelve months; 

 the price of the artizan's labour, though subjected 

 to some trifling fluctuations, has not been lowered, 

 nor would the manufacturer have much to com- 

 plain of, was it not for the excessive speculations 

 in the gauzes, by which the home-makers have 

 sustained considerable losses. In consequence of 

 this the trade is flatter than is generally usual at 

 this season of the year. 



The Magistrates of Warwickshire, assembled at 

 the Epiphany Sessions, have resolved to petition 

 Parliament upon the alarming increase of crime, 

 and the necessity of s>me alteration in our pre- 

 sent criminal jurisprudence ; one of them (Sir E. 

 Wihnott) stated that the number of convictions 

 during t!ie seven years ending Michaelmas 1826, 

 was 3,840! and that nearly one-half were under 

 21 years of age, and many scarcely above the age 

 of childhood!!! At these sessions (just closed) 

 there were 160 prisoners for trial ! and at the 

 present moment there are no less than 320 per- 

 sons imprisoned in the county gaol and Bridewell, 

 a large proportion of whom are under 20 years 

 of age !!! The expenses of prosecutions, and con- 

 victions, &c. during the last seven years, includ- 

 ing the disbursements at the gaol and Bridewell, 

 amount to -82,4731!! 



Married.'] T.Caldecott, jun., esq., of Rugby- 

 lodge, to Ann Catherine, daughter of Lieut.-Col. 



wT. 



Died.'] At Harpole, the lady of the Hon. and 

 Rev. T. Dundas. At Daventry, 86, Mrs. Wild- 

 gose. 



WORCESTER AND HEREFORD. 



The carriage and horse tolls at Worcester 

 bridge ceased at 12 o'clock at night, Dec. 31, after 

 having been levied 46 years. When the clock 

 announced the hour of twelve, hearty cheers 

 burst from the multitude, the bells of the churches 

 commenced a merry peal, and "God save the 

 King" and " Rule Britannia" were bugled forth. 



The tonnage during the last year of the Wor- 

 cester and Birmingham Canal, increased .4,000 

 compared with the previous year. 



Holt Fleet Bridge, which crosses the Severn 

 about five miles above Worcester, was opened to 

 the public on New Year's Day; it consists of one 

 iron arch, the span of which is 150 feet, sup- 

 ported by two stone arches at each end, for as- 

 sisting the flow of the water during flood time. 



The Paul Pry steam vessel lately started from 

 Hereford on her first voyage to Chepstow; the 

 novelty of the spectacle drew a large concourse 

 of persons on the banks of the Wye, on the pas- 

 sage, at the various places on the river. 



The banking-house of Messrs. Webb and Son, 

 at Ledbury, has been robbed of property to the 

 amount of .10,000. 



The Agriculturists of Herefordshire are about 

 to petition the Legislature on the Game Laws. 

 The petitioners state that they are, generally, 

 tenants of land at rack-rent ; that the quantity of 

 game preserved upon their lands has latterly be- 

 come most materially destructive to their pro- 

 duce ; and that, although they have not any in- 

 terest in the game itself, and are heavily bur* 



thened with national and parochial taxes, they 

 are compelled to pay, in form of county rates, the 

 expenses of prosecuting poachers, and of sup- 

 porting or transporting them after conviction ; 

 and it prays the House of Commons to make such 

 alterations in the Game Laws, as may tend to 

 lessen their pressure upon agricultural property, 

 and to throw the cost of prosecutions under them 

 upon those to whose benefit or enjoyment they are 

 calculated to contribute!!! 



GLOUCESTER AND MONMOUTH. 



The subscriptions for a new church at the Hot- 

 wells, Clifton, are proceeding with great spirit. 

 It is calculated that 8,455 inhabitants are desti- 

 tute of the means of attending the public worship 

 of the Established Church ; at least so the Com- 

 mittee reports ; further adding the state of the 

 population in 1801 to have been 4,457; in 1811, 

 6,886; in 1821, 8,844; and in 1826, no less than 

 10,772. 



At the last meeting of the Subscribers to the 

 Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway, it was re- 

 solved, " that the Committee prepare and solicit 

 an Act of Parliament for power to do all such acts 

 as may be necessary, and so to frame their pro- 

 ceedings in Parliament, that they may not be pre- 

 cluded from effecting the railway on a single or 

 double line, as may be ultimately thought best." 



Married.'] Major E. Watkins, 9th regt., of 

 Alveston, to Elizabeth, third daughter of the late 

 Vice- Admiral Lech me re. 



Died.] At Bristol, 84, J. Noble, senior alder- 

 man of that place. 



SOMERSET AND DEVON. 



On Christmas Day, a little before three o'clock, 

 a terrible fire was discovered at the York Hotel, 

 Bath, which soon spread itself over and destroyed 

 the whole of this immense pile of building. Dur- 

 ing the dreadful conflagration, four men were so 

 injured as to be taken to the hospital. 



The new market at Exmouth was opened Dec, 

 29, in grand ceremony. 



A general meeting of noblemen and gentlemen 

 was lately held at Wells, for the purpose of esta- 

 blishing Friendly Societies in Somersetshire, 

 when, after several resolutions had been passed, 

 a subscription commenced for promoting the ob- 

 ject of the meeting, amounting t to more than 

 .700. 



January 7, a public meeting was held at the 

 Assembly Rooms, Taunton, for the purpose of 

 receiving the Report of the Committee of the In- 

 fants' School, when, after it had been read, a 

 long debate followed, when it was finally resolved 

 " That the original Infants' School having been 

 instituted under the united judgments of church- 

 men and dissenters, established clergy and dis- 

 senting ministers, upon the principle of extending 

 its benefits to professing Christians of every deno- 

 mination, this meeting sees no reason for esta- 

 blishing an Infants' School upon the principles of 

 the Church of England, exclusively, until the 

 original school shall have been found deficient in 

 the beneficial results contemplated at its for- 

 mation." 



The consent of the parties having been ob- 

 tained, the formation of the new road from Yar- 

 combe to Chard has been commenced, without 

 waiting for Parliamentary sanction, and is to be 

 finished by the 1st of June. 



