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persuade Walsingham that it would be lawful to poison Mary Queen of Scots. Ob. 1588.

In the dressing-room,

Sir William Petre, secretary of state to Henry VIII. Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward VI. It is probable that he owed his good fortune, in retaining his post in reigns of such different tempers, to the politic maxim of a contemporary statesman, namely, by being supple as the willow, not stubborn as the oak."-Sir Anthony Browne Viscount Montacute. We had now reached the coal country, marks of which appeared at Lumley, where are pits and engines in the very neighbourhood of the castle. All beauty of scenery vanished from this point, and nothing occurred to make amends for the loss but two or three little villages, entirely inhabited by colliers, who are employed in the mines to supply the immense fleets of Sunderland with their freights of coal. That of Warden-Row presented a very agreeable picture, as we passed through it on the Sunday evening, peopled entirely by these sons of the earth and their families; we here saw a decency in persons and habitations, and a decorum and civility in manners and behaviour, that one seldom meets with in more refined societies of men; which told so much in their favour, when placed in comparison with most of the towns through

which we had passed, as drew from V-a similar observation with the stranger at the Athenian theatre, that though the inhabitants of other places may know what courtesy is, yet those of WardenRow practice it.

Sunderland, situated on a tongue of land, descending steeply to the river, is not seen till it be nearly approached, and offers an handsome entrance through a street of modern houses, a new creation grown out of the improving trade of the place. It consists chiefly of one good street of great length, another of less consideration in a parallel direction, and several lateral ones diverging from the principal one at right angles. An immense increase of population had arisen from the successful prosecution of the coal trade, which was rapidly increasing till the war checked the spirit of speculation. It numbers, however, at present, under every disadvantage, including the adjacent hamlets of Bishop-Wearmouth, Monk-Wearmouth, and the north side, are estimated at forty-two thousand inhabitants.

Four different bodies of people extract a profit from the Sunderland coals, before they appear in a foreign market:-The colliers, who dig them; the proprietors of the mines, who sell them to the third description of people, the fitters, a sort of middle

men, who bring the article from the mines, and deliver them to the fourth description of persons concerned the merchants. The largest profit is derived to the fitters, whose risque is nothing, and payment prompt. They receive about a shilling a chaldron for coal sold, and for the trouble of pro viding keels and keelmen, who, however, are paid for by the ship-owners; and the fortunes acquired in this place are generally by them. Indeed, of late the trade altogether was rather a losing concern; and during the Northern disagreement, when the ports of the Baltic were shut, many of those concerned in it were compelled to live upon their capitals. The truth is, a very large proportion of the coals are taken off by the Northern ports; but, by being excluded from a sale there, the merchants were under the necessity of sending them to London. Here the market was over-stocked, and the article consequently remained unsold, or at least was disposed of to disadvantage. The merchants, therefore, as the lesser evil, relinquished their speculation, and laid up their ships; but still continued subject to a considerable loss in the maintenance of the crews, who, being chiefly apprentices, were to be kept in food and cloathing, notwithstanding they could make no return by their labours. On the opening of the Northern ports, however, trade

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found its level again, and is now carried on as briskly as before. The Sunderland coals are very good, but so slow in their combustion, that they are proverbially said to make three fires.

The greatest object of curiosity in Sunderland is its iron bridge thrown across the river Wear, forming an arch so lofty as to allow large ships to pass under it with only their top-gallant masts lowered. Tom Paine (as I have before observed) was the original inventor of these extraordinary structures, the grandest specimens, perhaps, of the powers of modern art; Mr. Burdon afterwards improved upon his ideas; but Mr. Wilson, who now lives upon Sunderland bridge, put the finishing hand to the invention, by suggesting the perfect plan on which this vast fabric is constructed. It is formed of cast-iron, and cost 30,000l. The span of the arch is two hundred and thirty-six feet; height one hundred; and the spring of the arch thirty-three feet. The foundation-stone was laid on the 24th of April 1793, and the bridge opened for service on the 9th of August 1796. A man who attends at the toll-house for that purpose, introduced us to a platform which commands a view of the interior of the bridge; where our astonishment was still more excited by tracing the detail of this magnificent erection. We here observed that it

was formed by six longitudinal ribs, each consisting of one hundred and five joints nearly two feet in length, bound together by huge cylindrical tubes of cast iron, forming horizontal and perpendicular cross-pieces. Large circular rings of solid iron, gradually diminishing from the abutments to the centre of the bridge, connect the ribs with the platform. The largest of these measures in diameter forty-two feet, and weighs upwards of two tons. The obvious advantages of these structures over stone bridges—a lessened expence, a speedier erection, and a greater durability-have rendered them very common since this at Sunderland was put up. Mr. Wilson very properly enjoys nearly the exclusive advantage of designing and superintending them; and has lately shipped for Jamaica one upon an immense scale, to be erected at Kingston in that island.

Passing over this noble bridge, we changed our eastern direction, and taking a north-western route, advanced through a country deformed by collieries, curious but unpicturesque, towards Gateshead, built upon the southern steep bank of the Tyne, and separated from Newcastle only by the interjection of that river. This is a large place, containing 714 houses, 1467 families, 2806 males, and 3238 females; and enjoying the same trade,

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