NEWCASTLE-upon-TYNE, a port and market-town and borough (ancient), and a county (of itself), locally in Castle ward, county of NORTHUMBERLAND, 276 miles (N.N.W.) from London, and 117 (S.E.) from Edinburgh, containing, exclusively of the townships of Byker, Cramlington, Heaton, and Jesmond, in the eastern division, and of Benwell, Elswick, Fenham, and Westgate, in the western division, of CASTLE ward, 35,181 inhabitants, and, including the environs, about 60,000. This place was anciently called Pons AElii; from a bridge erected by the Emperor Adrian, on his return from [an expedition against the Picts and Scots, to whose incursions this part of the island was particularly exposed, and as a barrier against which, the Emperor Severus afterwards constructed the wall called after his name, which, reaching from the mouth of the Tyne to Solway Frith, passed through this town, and was defended by numerous forts and exploratory towers, of which one at Pandon gate was remaining till the year 1796, when it was removed for the purpose of widening the passage. During the Octarchy the kings of Northumbria held their court here and, in 653, Peada, King of Mercia, on a visit to Osweo whose daughter he obtained in marriage, was converted, with all his retinue, to the Christian faith, and baptized by Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarn. From being a fortified place, and from having afforded protection to numerous ecclesiastics from the neighbouring convents of Tyne- mouth, Jarrow, Lindisfarn, and Wearmouth, which had been ravaged by the Danes, it obtained the name of Monkchester; but, in turn, it experienced the devastations of those barbarians, who destroyed its sacred edifices, and massacred the monks and nuns who had foundan asylum within their walls. From the union of the several kingdoms of the Octarchy under Egbert till the Conquest, it was the residence of the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland; and on the partition of the kingdom between Edmund Ironside and Canute, it fell, together with the rest of Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia, into the possession of the latter. In 1068, Edgar Atheling, and Malcolm, King of Scotland, with a numerous retinue of native insurgents and foreign auxiliaries, marched from this town to oppose the sovereignty of William the Conqueror, who, hastening to crush the conspiracy formed against him, met the insurgents at Gateshead Fell, and, entering the town after the defeat of his opponents, levelled it nearly with the ground. Robert Curthose, eldest son of the Conqueror, built a fortress here in 1080, which, in contradistinction to the old Roman castrum of Pons /EZii, was called the New castle, and hence the present name of the town. The barons, who under the conduct of Earl Mowbray had conspired to dethrone William Rufus, took possession of this castle, which was besieged by that monarch and taken by storm, in 1095. After the death of Henry J., the town was seized by David, King of Scotland, in sup-; port of the claims of Matilda, and continued in the possession of the Scots till 1157, when it was restored by treaty to Henry II.; against whom, in 1173, William. of Scotland, surnamed the Lion, marched into England, with an army Of eighty thousand men, but was made prisoner by a small number of troops under the com-; mand of Ralph de Glanville, sheriff of Yorkshire, and brought into this place. Newcastle, from its situation as a frontier station, has participated largely in all the border feuds, and has been frequently selected as the place of rendezvous for troops destined for the invasion of Scotland, and of interview between the contending monarchs. Balliol, King of Scotland, in 1292, did homage for that crown to Edward I. in the hall of the castle, before !a numerous assembly of the nobles of both countries. To arrest the progress of the Scots under Wallace, who had pillaged the neighbourhood, the parliament assembled at York, in 1298, summoned the military force of the country, and collected here in eight days an army of one hundred thousand men, which, marching into Scotland, defeated the enemy at Falkirk. During this reign the town was erected into a borough, and fortified with strong walls, which were begun by an inhabitant who had been carried off by an incursion of the Scots, and completed by his fellow townsmen, who, stimulated by his efforts, joined with him in the work. Edward II., in 1311, retired hither with his favourite Gavestone, from the pursuit of the exasperated barons, where they remained till the arrival of the baronial troops headed by the Earl ol Lancaster. In 1322, the town was besieged by the Scots, who, renewing their attempts a few years afterwards, were vanquished by Edward III., who, marching hence, obtained a signal victory over them in their own territory. It was again attempted by David II., King of Scotland, during the absence of Edward in France; but his queen Philippa, assembling at Newcastle a body of sixteen thousand forces, marched against the assailants, and defeated them at Neville's Cross, with the loss of fifteen thousand of their men, and the capture of their king. In the reign of Richard II., a grand rendezvous of the military was appointed here, in 1388; and in the same year, the Scots having advanced to Durham, encamped on their return before this town, from which, after several skirmishes, they were compelled to retreat. In the reign of Henry IV., an army of thirty-seven thousand men was assembled at this place, in 1405, to oppose an insurrection under the Earl of Northumberland 5 and, in that of Henry VI., commissioners met in the vestry-room of St. Nicholas' church, to arrange the terms of a treaty of cessation from hostilities between the English and the Scots, which was signed in August 1451. Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., was sumptuously entertained here, in 1503, on her way to Scotland, to celebrate her nuptials with James IV., to whom she had been affianced; and, in 1513, the Earl of Surrey passed through the town, with an army of twentysix thousand men, on his way to Flodden Field, where a sanguinary contest took place, in which the Scottish king and the chief of his nobility were slain; the royal corpse having been embalmed at Berwick, was brought through Newcastle on its way for interment at Richmond, in Surrey. The town continued to maintain its importance as a frontier, till the union of the two kingdoms in 1603, by the accession of James of Scotland to the English throne. In the insurrection of the Covenanters, during the reign of Charles I., it was surprised and taken possession of by the Scottish army, under Leslie, Montrose, and other disaffected leaders, who are said to have destroyed most of the public documents. When the war broke out between the king and the parliament, the inhabitants declared for the former; and the town, having been put into a state of defence, was besieged by the Earl of Leven, and after a gallant resistance was taken, in October 1644, and continued in the possession of the parliamentarians till the conclusion of hostilities. In the beginning of 1646, King Charles having surrendered himself to the Scots at Newark, was conveyed to Newcastle, where he continued till the arrival of the parliamentary commissioners, to whose custody he was transferred in 1647, on the departure of the Scots, and by whose directions he was conducted to London. Tedcastle, which occupied a lofty eminence, was a building of great strength and, with its several wards, comprised an area of more than three acres: the walls were of a thickness varying from fourteen and a half to seventeen feet. After being dismantled it was used as a prison, and for holding the assizes for the county and, though the town had been made a county of itself, the castle and its precincts still formed part of the county of Northumberland: the site and remains of this ancient building were purchased by the corporation in 1812, since which time considerable alterations and additions have been made, but not in harmony with its original character, which was in the early Norman style of architecture. In the rebellion of 1745, Newcastle was the head-quarters of the king's forces under General Wade, prior to their advance into Scotland, where the insurgents were defeated at Culloden, in April 1746. The town is situated on the summit and declivities of three lofty eminences, rising abruptly from the northern bank of the river Tyne, over which is an elegant stone bridge, finished in 1781, of nine elliptic arches, built at an expense, with subsequent alterations, of £60,000, and connecting Newcastle with the suburb of Gateshead; it extends nearly two miles along the banks of the river, from east to west. The streets in the more ancient part are inconveniently narrow, and the houses irregularly built in the Elizabethan style; in the modern parts are spacious streets and squares, containing handsome and uniform ranges of elegant building, among which, Eldon and Charlotte squares, and Mosleystreet, Dean-street, Blackett-street, the Leazes Terrace, and others, have been recently erected, and other plans are now in progress for the enlargement and improvement of the town: it is well paved, and lighted with gas. The inhabitants are amply supplied with water, by aqueducts from Spring gardens, Coxlodge, the town moor, and other places in the vicinity. A Literary and Philosophical Society was instituted in 1793; a part of the funds is appropriated to the maintenance of a lectureship, commenced in 1802, under the title of the New Institution, and a course of lectures is periodically delivered on subjects of natural and experimental philosophy; the buildings, erected in 1825, at an expense of £13,885, and forming a handsome structure of the Doric order, comprise a museum, a library, and a room for an extensive philosophical apparatus, with other apartments and offices: the library contains nine thousand volumes, and is ornamented with a marble bust of the late Dr. Charles Hutton, by Chantrey; a bust of Mr, Thomas Bewick, by Bailey; and a cast from the bust of the late Mr. James Watt, presented by his son. The Antiquarian Society was established in 1813, and the members hold their meetings in a part of the buildings of the Philosophical Society 5 they have a museum of coins, Roman altars, funereal inscriptions, &c., and a library of works on philosophical and antiquarian subjects; and a volume of Transactions is annually published, under the title "Archaelogia JEliana." An institution for the promotion of the fine arts, formed in 1822, is under the direction of a president and a committee, and exhibition rooms, of elegant proportions, have lately been erected. A Botanic and Horticultural Society was established in 1824, a Law Society in 1826, and a Natural History Society in 1829. In addition to the New library, already noticed, are various others containing valuable collections, among which are those of St. Nicholas, the Trinity House, Hanover-square chapel, besides numerous congregational libraries, and a medical library: thereare several subscription news-rooms, billiard-rooms, a racquet-court, and similar sources of amusement. The theatre royal, a handsome building, erected at an expense of £6281, was opened in 1788, and is generally open four months in the year, there being performances during the assizes and races: the interior is well arranged and appropriately decorated, and is capable of accommodating one thousand three hundred and fifty persons. A circus also, for equestrian exercises and the performance of pantomimes, was opened in 1789. The assembly-rooms, an elegant edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, with a lofty Ionic portico rising in the centre of the front to a considerable height above the wings, and supporting a tri- angular pediment, form a handsome suite of apartments, of which, the principal is ninety-four feet long, thirtysix feet in width, and thirty-two feet high; it is lighted by brilliant chandeliers of cut glass; the card and refreshment rooms are of corresponding character, and are ornamented with a good painting, by Downman, of Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor: the building, with its furniture, cost.about.£6700, of which sum, the corporation subscribed £200. A Philharmonic and Choral Society hold occasional meetings. Races take place annually in July: the course is well adapted to the purpose, and the grand stand, a handsome building of stone, erected by subscription in 1800, affords good accommodation to the numerous visitors. Public baths of every kind were erected in 1781, near the West gate, and are provided with every requisite accommodation. The artillery barracks and dep6t form an extensive range of building, enclosed within a stone wall: they were erected in 1807, at an expense of £40,000, and are chiefly occupied by cavalry. The environs are pleasant, and contain much diversified and romantic scenery, particularly the vales called Pandon, Jesmond, and Heaton deans. Bridges have been constructed across the deep dells in several parts, which have a picturesque appearance: the bridge over Pandon dean was erected in 1812, at an expense of £7448. 12. 10. Newcastle has been one of the principal seats of trade from a very early period: the extensive mineral districts abounding with coal, of which prodigious quantities are exported, not only to London and every part of Great Britain, but also to France, Holland, and Germany, and the numerous foundries and manufactories, for the establishment of which the abundance of that mineral has afforded the greatest facility, have contributed materially to the increase of the trade. The harbour, which is deep, and affords secure shelter, is accessible to ships of four hundred tons' burden: the quay, which is commodious and well adapted to the loading and unloading of merchandise, is five hundred and forty yards in length, and is, with the exception of that of Yarmouth, the largest in the kingdom. The principal exports are coal and the produce of the various manufactories in the town and neighbourhood, namely, tin, brass, and other metals, lead, cast and wrought iron, glass, pottery, chemical productions, copperas, soap, colours, grindstones, salt, and salmon from the fisheries; the annual produce of the lead mines is estimated at twenty thousand tons, at the least; the value of glass manufactured, in its different varieties, is about £ 500,000 annually, and the quantity of coal sent from the port in 1826, was eight hundred and sixty-three thousand and fifty-seven Newcastle chaldrons, containing each sixty-eight Winchester bushels; of which, eight hundred thousand four hundred and thirty-seven chaldrons were sent coastwise, and sixty-two thousand six hundred and twenty were exported. This branch of trade affords employment to about seventy-five thousand personsits weekly produce has been estimated at £60,000 and the annual duty at £600,000. The chief imports are wine, spirituous liquors, and fruit from the southern parts of Europe; corn, timber, flax, tallow, and hides from the Baltic, and various other commodities from the opposite coasts; there is also a considerable trade with North America. A few vessels sail annually to Davis Straits, on account of the whale fishery. The number of vessels which cleared out, in 1819, was, coastwise eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight; and to foreign ports, nine hundred and ninety-five; the number which entered inwards from foreign ports, in 1826 was three hundred British, and two hundred and twentysix foreign; and of those which cleared outwards, eight hundred and eighty-five British, and four hundred and forty-five foreign. The number of vessels belonging to the port, in 1830, was nine hundred and eighty-seven ships, and fifty-nine steam-boats; and the amount of tonnage was two hundred and two thousand three hundred and seventy-nine. The jurisdiction of the port extends over the river Tyne, from Sparhawk in the sea to Hedwin streams, and its extent is navigated annually by the corporation, who are conservators of the river, and in whom the jurisdiction was vested on the abolition of the admiralty court, by Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England, and admiral of the port. A plan for the improvement of the navigation of the Tyne has been produced by Mr. Rennie, the engineer, the probable expense of which is estimated at £519,320, but it has not yet been carried into execution. The Newcastle Association, in connexion with the " Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck," have ten stations along the coast, extending from South Shields to Berwick upon Tweed, at each of which life boats and apparatus are placed, in constant readiness to render assistance to vessels in distress. Ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent: there are large manufactories for ropes and sail-cloth: fire-bricks, coal-tar, and brown paper, are made in large quantities; and there are numerous tanneries, breweries, iron-foundries, and various other works. The salmon fishery, for which the .town was distinguished, has materially declined, which is attributed to the construction of locks at Bywell and Winlaton mills, whereby the fish are prevented ascending the smaller streams during the spawning season; to the pollution of the Tyne, by the discharge of foetid mineral and other deleterious water from the great number of manufactories upon its banks; and to the agitation of the river, by the steam-boats which daily ply between this town and Shields. On the banks of the river are numerous mills for grinding corn. The customhouse, built in 1765, having become insufficient for the increased trade of the port, it is now being enlarged, and improved in its external appearance: it is situated nearly in the centre of the quay. The duties paid in 1772 were £56,000, and in 1824 they had increased to nearly half a million sterling per annum. A chamber of commerce was established in 1815. The inland trade is also very considerable, and is likely to be greatly extended by the construction of a rail-road from Newcastle to Carlisle, which is now dn progress. The. market days are Tuesday and Saturday: the market for wheat and rye is held in St. Nicholas' square, for oats in the Bigg market; the grain is pitched in sacks; the fish-market is held in a handsome and commodious building, supported on a circular range of Doric columns, at the east end of the exchange, and general markets for provisions of every kind are held daily. The fairs commence on August 1st and October 29th, for woollen cloth, hardware, and toys, and continue nine days, on the first of which horses and cattle are sold; August 13th and October 30th, for leather; and November 22nd, which is called the Stone's fair, and is chiefly for fat cattle. Among the numerous improvements in contemplation is the formation of a spacious corn-exchange, this being one of the greatest corn markets in the kingdom. Newcastle, which is a borough by prescription, was first incorporated by Henry II., separated from the county of Northumberland and made a county of itself by Henry IV., under the designation of " The Town and County of the Town of Newcastle upon Tyne," and was exempted by Henry VI. from the jurisdiction of the high constable, marshal, and admiral of England: these several privileges were confirmed and extended by Queen Elizabeth, who granted them, in 1589, a new charter, ratified by succeeding sovereigns, under which the government is vested in a mayor, recorder, ten aldermen, a sheriff, twenty-four common councilmen, assisted by a town clerk, under-sheriff, sword bearer, eight chamberlains, two coroners, water-bailiff, quay-master, eight Serjeants at mace, and other officers. The mayor and other officers are chosen annually, by a body of twenty-four electors, who are them- selves appointed annually, under the regulations of the charter. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen, are justices of the peace within, the town and county of the town. The borough is divided into twenty-four wards, for each of which two constables are appointed. The incorporated fraternities, several of which have separate halls, exercise important privileges; of these the twelve principal send two deputies,;and the fifteen by-trades one each, to the election of the officers of the corporation. The freedom of the borough is inherited by all the sons of freemen, and is obtained by servitude to a resident freeman, or by gift of the corporation, but the power of conferring the franchise by gift is rarely exercised: among the privileges are exemption from -toll and quay-dues, and the liberty of depasturing cattle on the town moor is secured by act of parliament to resident burgesses, and resident widows of deceased burgesses. Courts of assize and quarter session for .the town and county of the town are held, for the trial of all offenders} two courts of record, for the recovery of debts and the determination of pleas to any. amount; one held every Monday, at which the mayor presides, in causes relating to free burgesses or their widows; and the other on the Wednesday and Friday in every week, at which the sheriff presides, in causes relating to such inhabitants qf the town or county of the town as are not free burgesses: in both these courts the recorder sits as judge, or assessor. A court of requests is held, on the first Wednesday in every month, by commissioners, under an act passed in the 1st of William and Mary, for the recovery of debts under 40s,, the jurisdiction of which extends over the town and liberties. A guild is held thrice a year, for the purpose of proclaiming the names and titles of persons seeking admission to the freedom of the borough. The court of pie-powder has fallen into disuse. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward I., since which time it has returned two members to parliament; the right of election is vested in the free burgesses, whether resident or not, the number of whom is about three thousand five hundred: the sheriff is the ireturning officer. The guildhall,, in which the .assizes, sessions, and other courts for the town and county of the town are held,'forms part of an extensive range of buildings, which fnclude also an exchange, merchants court, and various other offices: they were erected in 1658, at an expense of £10,700; and, in 1809, underwent considerable alteration and enlargement. The hall is a spacious room ninety-two feet long and thirty feet widej the ceiling is ornamented with paintings, and the floor laid with chequered marble; at the foot of the grand staircase is a statue of Charles II., in Roman costume $ above the bench are full-length portraits of Charles II. and James II., between which is that of George III.; on one side of the hall is the portrait of Lord Chancellor Eldon, and .on the other that of Lord Stowell, Judge of the Admiralty court; and at the east end, above the entrance to the merchants' hall, is a portrait of Admiral Lord Collingwood. The grand staircase leading to the merchants' court is in a handsome style, and lighted by a dome; the court is thirty feet square, with a richly groined roof, twenty-two feet high j above these are offices for the town cleric and other officers of the corporation, and an apartment fire-proof, in which the town records are deposited. The mansionhouse, erected in 1691, at an expense of £6000, is a handsome edifice of brick, with quoins and cornices of stone, and has a pleasant terrace overlooking the river on the south; the grand saloon is ornamented with va - rious kinds of armour tastefully displayed; the principal staircase, of black oak, leads into a room forty-two feet -in length, handsomely decorated, and used as a ballroom on public occasions 5 the banqueting-room is fifty feet long, and .ornamented with two views of the town, painted by Richardson, and with engraved portraits of several distinguished characters; the mayor's parlour contains the regalia; the drawing-room is splendidly furnished, and the other apartments are of corresponding style. The mayor resides in the mansion-house during his mayoralty, and has an allowance of £2100 per annum, a state coach and barge, and an elegant service of plate. The common gaol and house of correction for the town and county of the town is a spacious building of stone, commenced in 1823, and completed in 1828: the exterior has a characteristic appearance of massive strength; the entrance in the centre is through a square gateway tower leading to the keeper's house and other offices, from which diverge six radiating wards, with day-rooms and airing-yards, for the classification of prisoners.: the expense of the building, which is in every respect well adapted to its purpose, was £35,000. The new courts for the county of Northumberland, erected on that part of the precincts of the castle which is .included within that county, were commenced in 1810, .and form a handsome range of building, one hundred and forty-four feet ju length and seventy-two in breadth, -having on the south front a noble portico ,of six lofty fluted columns ,of the Doric order, supporting a handsome frieze, cornice, and architrave, and on the north, a similar portico of four columns, leading into the grand entrance hall, on the right of which is the Crown court, and on the left the Nisi Prius court, commodiously arranged, and having large galleries for the admission of the public; beyond these arc the grand jury room, with which both the courts have communication; in the wings are rooms for the judge, petty juries, and witnesses, above which are apartments for the gaoler and other officers connected with the courts; under the courts are ranges of cells for prisoners, from which is a communication with the Crown bar. These buildings, which are in -the purest style of architecture, were erected at an expense of £52,000, of which the Duke of Northumberland, whose portrait is in the grand jury room, contributed £3000. In digging for the foundation, two Roman altars, some coins, and other relics of antiquity were found. The town, originally comprising but one parish, is now divided into four parochial districts, St. Nicholas', the original parish, All Saints', St. Andrew's, and St. John's, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham. The living of St. Nicholas' is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at £ 50, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Carlisle. The church, originally built in 1091, was burnt down in 1216, and the present structure was rebuilt in 1359. It is a spacious cruciform structure, two hundred and forty feet long, and seventy-three broad, principally in the decorated style of English architecture, with a steeple one hundred and ninety-five feet high, of singular beauty, in the later style; from the battlements of the tower rise octagonal turrets, crowned with crocketed pinnacles, of which the central are lower than those at the angles; from these spring four flying buttresses of graceful curve, meeting in a point, and supporting an elegant lantern turret, unequalled in beauty, and surmounted by a small crocketed spire, terminating in a vane: the interior retains many vestiges of its former antiquity, among which are the carved oak roofs, the font, and other relics; in the east window is a painting of our Saviour bearing his cross, presented, at the cost of £ 50, by the corporation; over the communion table is a fine painting of the Last Supper, by J. Tintoretti, presented by Sir M. W. Ridley, Bart. During the occupation of the town by the Scottish army, many of the ancient monuments were destroyed, and others were removed in the repairs and modernizations which have taken place; of those that remain, the principal are to the memory of Sir Matthew White Ridley, M.P., Vice-Admiral Collingwood, the Rev. Hugh Moises, A.M., Calverley Bewicke, Esq., and several others. On the southern side of the church is a building erected by the late Sir Walter Blackett, Bart., who bequeathed a salary for a librarian, for the preservation of a very ancient collection of books, the ancient library of works on Divinity, bequeathed by Dr. Thomlinson: the lower part is used as a vestry-room, and the upper for Thomlinson's library. The church, dedicated to All Saints, situated on the summit of an eminence rising abruptly from the river, was founded prior to 1286, and rebuilt in 1786: it is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, with a lofty tower, surmounted by a light and elegant spire; the south entrance is through a noble portico of four Doric columns, on one side of which is a chapel for the performance of the funeral service, and on the other a large vestry-room, forming two handsome wings; the body of the church is of an elliptic form, with a circular portico at the west end, corresponding with the projection of the chancel at the east; the interior is beautifully arranged, and derives peculiar advantage from its elliptic form; the galleries and pews are of mahogany: the living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £1600 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar. St. Andrew's is a very ancient structure, with a low square embattled tower of large dimensions, the date of which is not known; it displays portions in various styles of architecture, from the early Norman to the later English; it suffered much in the siege of the town, in 1644, and has undergone repeated alterations and repairs; the interior contains numerous ancient monuments; the living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £2200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar. The church of St. John the Baptist is a spacious and ancient cruciform structure, founded prior to 1286, in the early style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower; the windows, which are of large dimensions, were formerly ornamented with painted glass, of which there is scarcely any vestige: there are several ancient monuments, and an ancient font, in this church: the churchyard contains the remains of John Cunningham, the pastoral poet, who died here -in 1773; the living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £1800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar. The pious Robert Rhodes, who died about 1490, was a liberal benefactor to this, as well as to most of the other churches in the town. St. Anne's chapel was built in 1768, by the corporation, who endowed a lectureship in it, and also make an annual voluntary payment to the minister; who is appointed by the vicar, bnt the payment being at the will of the corporation, their nomination of a candidate is always attended to. The ancient chapel near the bridge, dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket; and annexed to the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, after being repeatedly curtailed in its dimensions, was taken down, and a handsome edifice, in the decorated style of English architecture, erected in the Magdalene meadows; it is a beautiful structure, with a lofty tower of elegant design and proportion, having slender octagonal buttresses at the angles, carried above the battlements, terminating in canopies, and surmounted by pinnacles: the belfry windows are lofty, and ornamented with tracery; over the western entrance, which is through a stately arch, with deeply receding mouldings, is an elegant triple shrine, finely sculptured; the sides of the church are strengthened with panelled buttresses of two stages, ornamented with canopies, of which those at the angles rise considerably above the roof, the interior is lighted on each side by a noble and lofty range of windows of two lights, enriched with tracery, and corresponds in every respect with the general beauty of style for which the exterior is distin- guished; the master of the hospital, who is appointed by the corporation, is the incumbent. There are two places of worship for Baptists, one for the Society ot Friends, three for Independents, two forWesleyan and one each for Independent and Primitive Methodists, and those of the New Connexion, five for members of the Scottish Kirk, and one each for the Scots relief congregation, the Seceders, and Separatists from them, .one each for Burghers, Antiburghers, Sandemanians, Swedenborgians, and Unitarians, and a Roman Catholicchapel. The free grammar school was founded by Thomas Horsley, who was mayor hi 1525 and 1533, and made a royal foundation in the 42nd of Elizabeth; and a part of the buildings of St. Mary's hospital was appro- priated to its use by the corporation, who added four marks per annum to the original endowment; they have the appointment of the master, who has a salary of £,120 per annum: it is open for the gratuitous instruction of all boys of the town, and has, in common with other schools in the diocese, an interest in twelve exhibitions, of £20 per annum each, to Lincoln College, Oxford, founded by Lord Crewe; two exhibitions to either of the Universities, of £10 per annum each, founded "by Dr. Hartwell, for boys from this town and Durham; and a scholarship in Emanuel College, Cambridge, founded for boys from the same schools by Dr. Michael Smith. Bishop Ridley, the Protestant-martyr, is stated to have received the rudiments of his education in this school, though more probably in some similar establishment in the town, prior to its foundation; since which period Lords Eldon and Stowell, Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood, Sir Robert Chambers, WilliamElstob, an antiquary and divine; the poet Akenside; the Rev. George Hall, Bishop of Dromore; and the Rev. John Brand, author of a history of Newcastle, and Secretary to the Antiquarian Society of London, received the early part of their education in this school. The Trinity House school was established in 1712, and rebuilt in 1753, for the instruction of the children of members of that fraternity, in writing, arithmetic, and the mathematics; the master has a salary of £ 80 per annum, with a house, and the privilege of taking twenty boarders, or of instructing twenty scholars in addition to those on the foundation. A charity school was founded in the parish of St. Nicholas, in 1705, by Mrs. Eleanor Allen, who endowed it with a certain sum, which, being augmented by subsequent benefactions, is appropriated to the clothing and instruction of forty boys and forty girls; this school was incorporated with the Clergy Jubilee school, founded in 1819, in commemoration of the attainment of the fiftieth year of his prelacy by the late Bishop of Durham, for an indefinite number of children, who are instructed on Dr. Bell's system. There are about four hundred and eighty-five boys and one hundred and fifty girls in the school; the boys on the foundation, at fourteen years of age, are put to some trade or sent to sea: the revenue, including a penny a week paid by scholars not on the foundation, is about £425 per an- -num; the building is substantial, handsome, and commodious. St. Andrew's school was founded, in 1705, by Sir William Blackett, Bart., for the education of -thirty boys, clothed from a fund appropriated by his son in 1728; the number has been augmented to thirty-four by subsequent endowment. A similar establishment, for fifteen girls, was instituted in this part'of the parish, in 1772. St. John's charity school was founded, in 1705, by Mr. John Ord, who endowed it with property producing about £54 per annum, for the clothing and instruction of twenty boys, each of whom receives an apprentice-fee of forty shillings on leaving the school. All Saints' charity school, established in 1709, and supported by subscription, affords clothing and instruction to forty boys and forty girls; the boys receive an apprentice-fee of forty shillings, and the girls a donation of twenty shillings, on leaving the school. St. Ann's chapel school was built, in 1682, by the corporation, by whom it is supported. Hanover-square school, in which fifteen boys are educated and clothed, is chiefly .supported by subscriptions. The Royal Jubilee school was established in 1810, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the accession of George III., and a handsome building erected for the purpose, at an expense of £2195; a good library was annexed to it in 1822; the master's salary is £ 120 per annum; the scholars are instructed on the Lancasterian plan, and the school is supported by subscription. The Improved school for girls was established in 1812, and is supported by subscription; the building, erected in 1814, is neat and commodious. The Carpenter's Tower school, instituted in 1822, is chiefly supported by the Wesleyan Methodists; the Union day school affords instruction to one hundred girls; and there are numerous similar establishments and Sunday schools (the latter under the superintendence of a Sunday-school Union, formed in 1815), supported by the members of the established i church, and the various congregations of dissenters. Infant schools have been established in various parts of the town since the year 1825, and are liberally supported and numerously attended. The infirmary was instituted in 1751, and a commodious and handsome building was erected (on a piece of ground presented by the corporation, who also subscribe £100 a year), in 1752, at an expense of £3700, and a chapel, dedicated to St. Luke, was consecrated in 1754: in 1801, a plan for enlarging the buildings was adopted by the governors, and £5329 was subscribed for the purpose. The building, which is situated at a short distance from the town, is a plain but neat edifice of stone, four stories in height, with a wing of brick two stories high; it contains warm baths on an improved principle, and every accommodation requisite for the patients and the recovery of their health; in the governors' room are portraits of Sir Walter Blackett, Bart., by Reynolds; Matthew Ridley, Esq.; Dr. Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham; Dr. Benson, Bishop of Gloucester, and other benefactors to the institution; it is principally supported by subscription, and a fund arising from benefactions, among which is a sum bequeathed by Mrs. E. Davison, of Durham, for the relief of patients dismissed as incurable: the average number of in-patients is about one hundred and twenty, and the annual expenditure about £3000. The dispensary was established in 1777, and an appropriate building was purchased and adapted to its use in 1790; a department for the recovery of persons apparently drowned was, in 1789, added to the original institution; it is supported by subscription, and gratuitously visited by members of the medical profession resident in the town and neighbourhood. The lying-in hospital was founded in 1760, and the present building erected, at an expense of £1550, in 1826: it is supported by subscription, and, under good regulations, is open to the poor married women of the town and neighbourhood. The society for the relief of pregnant women at their own houses was instituted in 1760, and is liberally supported. The house of recovery from fever, and other contagious diseascB not admissible into the infirmary, was erected in 1804, at an expense of £1800, on a site of land granted for that purpose by the corporation: it is well regulated and amply supported by subscription, and is open to persons not objects of charity, on payment of a moderate remuneration. The Lock hospital, instituted in 1814, and the infirmary for diseases of the eye, established in 1822, are supported by subscription. The lunatic asylum was erected, by subscription, upon a part of the Warden Close, granted by the corporation, in 1767, and was greatly enlarged and improved by that body in 1824: it contains a complete suite of wards for the classification of the patients, who are provided with every accommodation requisite for their health and consistent with their condition; the establishment comprises warm, cold, and shower baths, and is conducted on a system combining humanity and skill in the treatment of that malady. Jesus' hospital was founded by the corporation, in 1681, for the maintenance of freemen, their widows, and children: the premises are neatly built of brick, three stories high; in front is a piazza, forming a pleasant walk ninety-one feet in length, and in front of the upper stories are galleries extending the whole length of the building: it contains forty-two apartments, for the reception of as many inmates, who receive each £ 13 per annum from the corporation, with an allowance of coal and other necessaries. Mrs. Davison's hospital was founded in 1719, and endowed by her with £940, in consideration of which an annuity of £55 per annum is paid by the corporation, who erected the present buildings, in 1754, for the accommodation of a governess and five sisters, widows of Protestant clergymen, merchants, or freemen of the town, who are -appointed by the corporation, and have an annual income of £13, with a supply of coal. An hospital was also founded, in 1754, by Thomas Davison and his sisters, who gave £1200 in trust for that purpose to the corporation, who erected apartments, adjoining the two former hospitals, for six unmarried women, daughters or widows of burgesses, who have an allowance of £ 13 per annum, with a supply of coal and other necessaries. Sir Walter Blackett's hospital was founded in 1754, for six unmarried burgesses, and endowed by him with £ 1200, given in trust to the corporation, by whom the building was erected, and by whom the inmates are appointed; they have the same allowance as the inmates of Jesus' hospital. The Westgate hospital, containing twenty apartments, arranged in a quadrangular building of stone, in the ancient style of English architecture, was founded by the corporation, to celebrate the peace with France, in 1814, and in 1817 it was augmented by twenty additional rooms, fora governor and twenty brethren and sisters, who receive each five shillings per week, paid monthly, and a supply of coal, the governor having £2 per annum extra. The Trinity almshouseswere founded by the guild, or fraternity, of the Blessed Trinity, originally incorporated in 1492, and refounded in the reign of Elizabeth, in 1584, for the regulation of the pilotage of the harbour, and the erection of lighthouses on the coast: the buildings comprise a hall for the transaction of business, a chapel, and two ranges of dwellings for thirteen aged men and thirteen widows, who receive each £1. 8. per month, with other necessary supplies: connected with this institution are two classes of outpensioners, the first of which receives £7, and the second £5, per annum each, with Etn extra allowance of £1 per annum for every child under fourteen years of age: the total number of brethren is about three hundred and forty. The association for the preservation of life from shipwreck was instituted, under the patronage of this society, in 1825. The Keelmen's hospital was founded in 1788, and is under the management of twenty-one guardians, who are empowered to levy one penny per chaldron on the freight of all keels laden with coal at the port; these funds are augmented by the payment of one farthing per chaldron on all coal exported from the Tyne, by the owners or lessees of the mines, according to agreement, confirmed by act of parliament in 1820; the buildings, which were erected in 1701, on ground granted by the corporar tioh, at an expense of £2000, comprise an office, a club-room, and sixty dwellings for the reception of poor keelmen, whose weekly allowance varies, according to circumstances, from one to five shillings. The Society of the Sons of the Clergy of the diocese of Durham and Hexhamshire was instituted in 1709, and, in 1725, united with a similar institution for the deaneries of Alnwick and Bambrough; the anniversary meetings are held alternately at Durham',and at Newcastle. A fund for the widows of Protestant dissenting ministers was established in 1764; the society hold their meetings in this town, at Alnwick, and at Morpeth, in rotation. There are numerous societies for the relief of the poor and indigent of every class, among which are the Friendless Poor Society, formed in 1797; the-Benevolent Society, in 1811; the Society for clothing distressed females, in 1815; the Strangers' Friend Society, in 1821; the Repository for the sale of the work of industrious females, opened in 1825; the Society for the relief of the indigent sick, instituted in-1827, and various others. Among the provident societies are, the" Association of Protestant schoolmasters of the North of England, established in 1774; the Liberal Society of Tradesmen, in 1791; the Clerks' Society, in 1807; the Roman Catholics' Friendly Society, in 1823; and numerous benefit societies, consisting in the aggregate of about sixteen thousand members. Of the varioxis monastic establishments existing here at a very remote period of antiquity there are scarcely any vestiges; and of several the memorial is preserved only in the names which they have given to different parts of the town; among these was a small Benedictine nunnery, founded in the reign of William the Conqueror, and dedicated to St. Bartholomew, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £37. 4. 2.; a convent of Dominican friars, founded in 1260, by Sir Peter Scot and his son, of which there aye some remains; a convent of Franciscans, founded in the reign of Henry III.; a priory of brethren of the order De Pcenitentia Jesu Christi, of which the first notice occurs in the year 1268; a priory of Carmelites, supposed to have been founded here in the reign of Henry III.; an establishment of Augustine friars, said to have been founded, in 1290, by Lord Ros, Baron oi Wark upon Tweed; and the priory of St. Michael, founded in 1360, for brethren of the order of the Holy Trinity, i associated for the redemption of captives. There still exist two hospitals, one founded by Henry I., and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, for a master and three brethren, to which was annexed the hospital of St. Thomas, near the bridge; and the other, called the hospital of St. Mary the Virgin, m Westgate, for a master and six brethren, the remains of which are still apparent, and the ancient chapel is now appropriated to the use of the free grammar school. Newcastle has been distinguished as the birthN place of many eminent characters, among whom are the celebrated Dr. John Scot, usually called " Duns Scotus," who received his education in the Franciscan convent in this town; and his disciple and panegyrist, Hugh of Newcastle, a native of the town, and a friar of the same convent j Dr. Nicholas Durham, a resident in the convent of the White friars, in 1360, and a zealous opponent of Wickliff; William Elstob, a learned antiquary and divine, who was born in 16?3; and his sister Elizabeth Elstob, born in 1683, and eminent for her knowledge of Saxon literature; Dr. Richard Grey; author of the Memoria Technica, who was born in 1694 j Mark Akenside, poet and physician, born in 1721; the Rev. Henry Bourne, historian of the town, who died in 1733; the Rev. John Brand, a subsequent historian, born in 1743; Sir Robert Chambers, Judge' of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta, born in 1737 j Dr. Charles Hutton, born in the same year, an eminent mathematician, author of the Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, Tables of Logarithms, a Course of Mathematics, and numerous other works, and one of the compilers employed in the abridgment of the philosophical transactions of the.Royal Society; John Scott, Earl of Eldon, and late Lord High Chancellor of England, born in 1751; and his brother, William Scott, Baron Stowell, born in 1745; and Cuthbert, late Baron Collingwood, Vice-Admiral of the Red, born in 1748: Mr. Thomas Bewick, the celebrated engraver on wood a native of Cherryburn, fourteen miles from Newcastle, resided in this town from 1767 till his decease.