W E S 



From Weftmeath ; then in its courfe paffing; through the 

 loughs Derveragh and Iron, it is at length loft in that vaft 

 expanfe of the Shannon, called Lough Ree, or the Royal 

 Lake. The Brofna, rifing in Lough Iron, flows from it 

 to Lough Hoyle, after quitting which it paiTes the town of 

 Mullingar; it then expands into Lough Ennel, and when 

 again contradtcd, flowing by the town of Kilbeggan, it en- 

 ters the King's county, through which it proceeds to the 

 Shannon. As Weftmeath is nearly central, fo its dreams 

 flow in both direftions. Thofe which have been already 

 mentioned, joining the Shannon, are mixed with the Atlan- 

 tic ocean ; whilft other fmall ilreams, being collerted in the 

 river Dele, take an eailern direftion, and being united with 

 the Boyne, flow to the Irifli fea. 



Befides Lough Shelin on the north, and Lough Ree on 

 the weftern boundary, there are iix confiderable lakes in this 

 county, and feveral fmall ones. Thefe are well ftored with 

 fifh of various kinds, and afford a number of beautiful pro- 

 fpefts ; yet it is to be regretted that fo many acres fliould be 

 almofl an unprohtable wafte. The fifh found in thefe lakes 

 are, perch, pike, bream, tench, trout, and very fine eels. 

 The trout are often of ten pounds weight, and as red as a 

 falraon. Such is the abundance, that Mr. Young tells us 

 that a child with packthread and a crooked pin is able to 

 catch perch enough in an hour to fupport a family for a day. 

 This territory once belonged to Mortimer, earl of March, 

 who married the daughter and heirefs of Lionel, duke of 

 Clarence, third fon of Edward III. This nobleman re- 

 fided much in Ireland, and was probably induced by the 

 beauties of the fituation to build a palace at Fahatty, on the 

 banks of Lough Derveragh, one of the fineft of thefe 

 lakes, the remains of which were faid above a century ago 

 to retain " the lineaments and footfteps of ancient ftate and 

 magnificence." When Richard II. was depofed by Henry 

 of Lancafter, Mortimer was the next in fuccefiion to the 

 throne, and he found it necelTary to conceal himfelf, which 

 he did by retiring to Fahatty. By a marriage with his 

 daughter, Richard, duke of York, fucceeded to his Irifh 

 property, and to his right of fucceffion. This nobleman 

 refided in Ireland for fome years as lord-lieutenant, before 

 circumftances enabled him to urge his claim to the crown, 

 which, after a long and bloody civil war, was obtained by 

 his fon. The attachment of the fettlers in Ireland to this 

 family was fliewn in the reign of Henry VII., by their 

 readily embracing the caufe of Simnel and Warbeck. 



Mullingar is the (hire town of Weftmeath ; but Athlone 

 is a place of more confequence. For an account of thefe, 

 and of Kinnegad, Kilbeggan, Fore, &c. fee their refpeftive 

 articles in this work. Weftmeath has three reprcfentatives in 

 the imperial parliament, two for the county, and one for the 

 borough of Athlone. — Beaufort, Young, CoUettanea, &c. 



WESTMINSTER, a fpacious, populous, and im- 

 portant city of the county of Middlefex, England, is 

 fituated on the north bank of the river Thames, and con- 

 ftitutes the weftern extremity of the metropolis. Although 

 in every refpeft, local pofition alone excepted, independent 

 of London, Weftminfter conftitutes a moft eflential portion 

 of the great metropolis of the Britifh empire. The line of 

 demarcation between thefe two cities has long indeed, by 

 the rapid increafe of buildings, ceafed to be perceptible to 

 general obfervation ; but it is not the lefs real and efficient. 

 The inhabitants of Weftminfter, it is true, confider them- 

 felves, in a general fenfe, as belonging to London ; but for 

 the purpofe of internal difcrimination, they confine the term 

 Weftminfter to its original fignification, the fcite and the 

 environs of the prefent collegiate, formerly the abbey- 

 church of St. Peter. Confidering the city in this reftrifted 



Vol. XXXVIII. 



W E S 



fenfe, and St. Peter's church as the centre, the. latitude of 

 Weftminfter is 51° 29' 52" N., and the longitude 0° 7' 32" 

 W., from the meridian of the royal obfervatory in Green- 

 wich-park. St. Peter's church bears from St. Paul's in 

 London W.S.W. 2900 yards, or above one mile and five 

 furlongs. The form of Weilminfter, in its prefent extended 

 ftate, is triangular, having the bafe along the line of Oxford- 

 ftreet, which feparates it from Marybourne on the north ; 

 and the vertex on the Thames, where the buildings termi- 

 nate at Millbank on the fouth. The bafe, from Tyburn 

 turnpike, at the weftern extremity of Oxford-ftreet, to the 

 vicinity of Chancery -lane, at Lincoln's-inn, meafures nearly 

 two miles. The fide on the weft from that turnpike to the 

 vertex on Millbank, is alfo about two miles. The remaining 

 fide on the eaft, in a right hne from the vertex to Chancery- 

 lane, is one mile and fix furlongs. The ground occupied by 

 the buildings of the city and liberties therefore contains one 

 fquare mile and a half, or about one thouland acres. Weil- 

 minfter and London come into contaft at Temple-bar, the 

 boundary of the former city commencing at the Thames on 

 the weft of the Temple-buildings, and running north to 

 Lincoln's-inn. There quitting London, it turns weftward 

 to the eaftern extremity of Oxford-ftreet, excluding the 

 church and parifh of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, which belong 

 to the county of Middlefex. 



General View of IVeJlmiiiJler From the extent of ground 



occupied by the city and hberties, and from the general po- 

 pulation, amounting, by the enumeration of 181 1, to 

 162,085 perfons, Weftminfter would, in another pofition, 

 be fully entitled to rank high among the fecondary ca- 

 pitals of Europe. In common language, the great aggre- 

 gate of Weftminfter is termed a city ; bu tthat term belongs 

 only in ftriftnefs to the immediate environs of St. Peter's 

 church, while all the other parts of the community are 

 fpread over the diftrift or liberties belonging to the mo- 

 naftic eftablifhment, of which that church was a principal 

 member. The city is of great antiquity, in the fenfe in 

 which antiquity is eftimated in Britain ; but the occupation 

 of the liberties is of comparatively late date. This portion of 

 Weftminfter may alfo be diftinguifhed, as to its age, into the 

 old and the new towns, by a line running north from 

 Charing-crofs up St. Martin's-h-ine into Crown-ftreet, Soho- 

 fquare, and terminating near St. Giles's church, at the eaft- 

 ern end of Oxford-ftreet. On the eaft of this line lies the 

 old town, and on the weft fpreads out the new. The dif- 

 tribution of the ttreets, and the conftrutfion of the buildings 

 of the city, fufBciently indicate their early origin ; an ob- 

 fervation not unfuitable to the extremities of the old town. 

 The new town, on the other hand, having been formed 

 when better notions of diftribution and arrangement began 

 to prevail, poffeffes a high proportion of all the advantages 

 which fuch notions were calculated to produce. The abbey- 

 church of St. Peter is diftant from the limits of London at 

 Temple-bar, by the prefent ftreets along the Strand and 

 Whitehall, about 2400 yards, or one mile and three fur- 

 longs ; but from Temple-bar to the extremity of the Strand, 

 at Charing-crofs, is only 1500 yards, or feven furlongs. 

 The origin of this ftreet is manifeil from its name, having 

 been only a road along the ftrand, or bank of the Thames, 

 leading through the village of Charing to Weftminfter. 

 Without keeping however precifely along the margin of the 

 water, the road, owing to the iteep fall of the bank, was 

 carried forward at fuch a diftance as to permit fpacious 

 houfes and gardens to be formed on the flope between it 

 and the river. The refidence of the court, in early times, 

 was frequently in the Tower of London, or at fome place at 

 a diftance from the capital ; but under Henry III., who 



S f reigned 



