Birmingham and Highbury 
THE DRAWING-ROOM—HIGHBURY 
of the setting sun, glancing athwart those mosque- 
like minarets whose metalled roofs yet retained 
their pristine freshness. We see the royal stand¬ 
ard as it proudly floats from the highest turret, 
as if in defiance of all gainsayers. We hear the clash 
of arms, the loud flourish of martial music, the joyous 
ringing of the old church hells, the glad acclaim of a 
loyal assemblage who raise the shout which erst 
greeted the ear of the Jewish King; and we look on 
the somhre, pensive countenance of him in whose 
honor all this demonstration is made, as he courte¬ 
ously acknowledges the deferential obeisances of the 
assembled throng.” 
In 1654, Sir I'homas Holte died, and from that 
time on nothing of further interest occurred to add to 
the history of the town until the estate was broken 
up, and the land used as the site of a prosperous 
district. 
1 he King’s nephew, Prince Rupert, was sent, in the 
year 1642, to open communication between York and 
Oxford, and bis passage through Birmingham was 
strongly resisted by the small force of Parliamentary 
soldiers who were stationed in the town. 
Various accounts are given of the battle, and tbe 
following title is to my mind most (piaint: “Prince 
Rupert’s burning love to England, discovered in 
Birmingham’s Flames.” 
Among famous men whose names are connected 
with Birmingham is that of Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
who wooed and wed a Adrs. Porter of that town. 
Another was John Rogers, who received his earliest 
religious instruction m the chapel of St. John the 
Baptist, and was the first martyr in the reign of Oueen 
Mary. 
Many persons are in ignorance of the fact that 
one of the earliest of that hand of hard-working, 
persevering men, to whose industry and genius the 
England of the eighteenth century owed the rapid 
advance in mechanical skill and ingenuity which 
placed her at the head of the world, was James Watt. 
I'hen too, William Shakespeare made many a 
visit to the place, as it held deep interest for him on 
account of its being tbe birthplace of bis ancestors on 
tbe maternal side. 
Very cbaracteristic is an anecdote concerning tbe 
Rev. Jobn Wesley, the founder of the Methodist 
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