1829.] 



Staffordshire, Shropshire, Bedfordshire, SfC. 



239 



At a meeting Iield at the OUl Library, Birming- 

 liam, July IG, it was resolved to form a Botanical 

 and Horticultural Society in that town. The re- 

 quired outlay to be raised by shares of .£5 each. 

 A number of shares were subscribed for, and a 

 provisional committee appointed to make inquiries 

 for the most eligible situation for the gardens, 

 and for framing a code of regulations for the 

 government of the society. 



At the general quarter sessions at Warwick, J. 

 Harris, indicted for refusing to assist a constable 

 in quelling a disturbance, when charged by him 

 so to do, was found guilty, and sentenced to be 

 imprisoned seven days in gaol. The court ob- 

 served that the object of this prosecution was not 

 so much to punish the prisoner, as to inform the 

 public that they were bound to assist a constable 

 when called upon by him, and if they refused, they 



did scat theirperil.aud were liable to be punished. 



» 



STAFFORDSHIRE.— At the quarter sessions, 

 the learned chairman said — " It would be well for 

 the fact to be generally known, that tlie magis- 

 trates of the county had come to the determination, 

 as conservators of the public peace, tn put a stop 

 to prize-fighting. They have ordered that direc- 

 tions shall be given to the high constables of the 

 county, as well astoall petty constables, to inform 

 the nearest magistrates of any intention which 

 may come to their knowledge of any breach of 

 Ihe peace of this description ; and it should be 

 ■ well understood that it is the duty of constables 

 to appi'ehend persons whose evident intention is 

 to oommit a breach of the peace, without waiting 

 until they have committed the offence." 



The new church at Sedgeley, was opened 

 June 13. The Bishop of the diocese preached 

 in the morning, and the vicar and the curate 

 in the afternoon and evening. Tlic collections 

 amounted to £130. The parishioners are deeply 

 indebted to the Earl of Dudley, who, at an e.x- 

 pence of j£lo,oOO.. has given them a church not 

 only ample in its accommodations, but of great 

 architectural beauty. 



SHROPSHIRE.— At the quarter sessions held 

 for this county, the chairman addressed the grand 

 jury at some lenuth. He congratulated the court 

 on the cviilent diminution of crime in this great 

 county, compared with other counties similarly 

 situated, and expressed his belief that it arose 

 chiefly from the total absence of the pernicious 

 practice so prevalent elsewhere, of paying the 

 wages of labourers from the poor rates. So long 

 as this nurse of idleness, poverty, and crime, was 

 kept from Shropshire, he believed the county 

 would continue to show the same paucity of 

 offences, and decrease of criminal convictions. 



BEDFORDSHIRE.— The county expences from 

 Easter sessions, 1828, to those of 1829, amounted 

 to .fS.OlS. 6b. 5d. which was used for criminal 

 jiiris|>rudence, allowing only about .£1,200 for 

 bridges and their repair. 



IIEREFORnSHIRE.— In the course of \Mt 

 week, tlie ."Mayor of Hereford made a visitation to 

 the dilTereiit bakers and other sluips in the city 

 for the sale of bread, tn investigate a matter of 

 some consequence to the poorer classes, at this 

 period, namely, whether the legal weight of each 

 biaf was correct, according to the charge made for 

 It. M'e regret to slate the result was the seizure 



of nearly a cart load of bread deficient in weighty 

 and the infliction of fines on 9 individuals only, to 

 the amount of £b. l/s. We refrain on this oc- 

 casion from inserting the names of those fined, 

 but in future they ehall appear in compliance 

 with the wishes of the magistrates, who are de« 

 termiued to prevent such frauds on the poor.— 

 Hereford Journal. 



NORTHAIMPTONSHIRE.— Atthe last meet- 

 ing of the managers of the Savings' Bank for this 

 county it appeared that the cash received by de- 

 posits, and by interest, from the opening of the 

 institution, August 3, 1816, to July 1, 1829, 

 amounted to ,£326,021. 6s. I4I., out of which 

 j£184,250. I83. 9|d. had been repaid to depositors. 



\yORC£STERSHIRE.-The ancient church 

 at Ombersley, in this county, having become 

 ruinous, was, with the exception of the chancel, 

 some time since taken down, and a new church 

 has been erected on ground adjoining the north 

 side of the old church-yard. Tiie new and very 

 beautiful structure was consecrated by the bishop 

 of the diocese, June 22 ; it is built of white stone 

 in Ihe decorated English style of Edward III., 

 and consists of a nave and side aisles, with a 

 transept and chancel to the eastward; and two 

 porches, and a lofty steeple at the west end, with 

 tower and spire, and a set of six bells. The church 

 will contain about 1,000 persons ; it is adorned 

 with beautiful windows, all of stained, painted, 

 and ground glass, and has a vei7 handsome fine- 

 toned organ. 



CAMBRIDGESHIRE. — The gentleman who 

 has carefully collected every thijig he could that 

 is rare and interesting from the very extensive 

 Roman villa, lately discovered at Litlington, in 

 this county, is shortly about to submit them to the 

 inspection of the public. 



HANTS. — The ceremony of laying the foun- 

 dation stonQ of the new church in the forest of 

 Bere, took place July 13, and attracted an assem- 

 blage of persons, in number not less than 2,000, to 

 witness the commencement of this work of utility. 



The fourth annual report of the Hampshire 

 Fiiendly Society is just published, by which it 

 appears, that during the last 12 months there has 

 been an increase in the funds of upwards of 

 £^1,000. The number of districts at present 

 formed in the county, is 14 ; and of members en- 

 rolled 1,010; the total ainoujit of the funds is 

 .£7,607. Gs. lod., a considerable portion of which 

 was fubscribed by the nobility, gentry, and clergy ; 

 160 of whose names appear in the annual sub- 

 scription list. 



The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of 

 the Portsmouth and Portsea Literary and Philo^ 

 sophical Society, took place, June 30, attended by 

 a very large concourse of respectable persons ; 

 the Mayor and corporation proceeded in grand 

 procession from the Town Hall, with the members 

 of the institution, to the site of the building in 

 St. Mary's-street, when the stone was laid by the 

 Mayor. Several interesting speeches were made 

 on the occasion, in one of which it was aptly ob- 

 served, that, " the scenery of tlie moral and intel- 

 lectual world is rapidly undergoing a mighty 

 change ; fertility succeeds to barrenness, and the 

 stagnant waters of ignorance, which formerly sent 

 foith the pestilential vapours of crime and misery, 

 have now given place to those fountains of know- 



