SWANSEA, or EGLWYS-FAIR-ABERTAWY, a parish, comprising the Upper and Lower divisions, and the Franchise of Swansea (which last contains the important borough, market, and sea-port town of the same name), in the hundred of SWANSEA, and the township of St. Thomas, in the hundred of LLANGTVELACH, and the head of a union; in the county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 44 miles (W. by N.) from Cardiff, 68 (E. by S.) from Milford, and 209 (W.) from London; and containing 18,992 inhabitants, of which number 16,448 are in the Franchise, 1054 in the Higher, and 807 in the Lower, division of the parish, and 683 in the township of .St. Thomas; the entire population having increased above one-fourth since the census of 1831. The town, called by the Welsh " Abertawy," from its situation at the mouth of the river Tawe or Tawy,- which here discharges Its waters into the great bay of Swansea, in the BristolChannel, derived the' appellation of if swinesea," or " Swineseyi". according to Camden, from the number of porpoises with 'which this part of the channel abounded; and of this designation its present name is only a slight modification. After the defeat of Rhys ab Tewdwr by the united forces of Iestyn ab Gwrgan, Prince of Glamorgan, and the Normans under the' command of Fita-Hamon, Conan, natural son of Rhs, having escaped from the scene of carnage with someof his troops, wits drowned in the lake of Cremlyn, now an extensive marsh bcy tween this place and Briton Ferry, in attempting to pass it in his flight towards- Carmarthen. The castle of. Swansea, or Abertawe, according to Caradoc of Llancarvan, was built in the year 1099; by Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, with a view to secure possession of those lands, in the province of Gower, which he had wrested by force of arms from the sons of Camdec ab Iestyn;. and on the completion of that fortress, the town is said to have been built by the same nobleman, who,- having subsequently reduced the whole province under his dominion, introduced into it'colonies of English and Flethings, to garrison the various castles' which he had erected for its defence. To -these his dependents be gave a large portion ef. territory, and their descendants, who still retain the ancient settlements, were, until of late years, distinguished by their language,- manners, and customs, from the aboriginal inhabitants, with whom they seldom intermarried. The town; from the peculiar advantages of its situation, and its early maritime importance, soon became the capital of the province Of Gower; its inhabitants enjoyed many valuable privileges, which were conferred by the early Norman lords; and for some time it continued to flourish with increasing prosperity: Its importance, and its being regarded as the key to the English possessions In Glamorgan, exposed it to all the horrors of frequent warfare, and subjected it to repeated desolation and rapine. In 1113, the place was furiously assaulted by Rh's ab Grufydd, who, after fruitless attempts to reduce the castle, which, from the strength of its fortifications and the number of its garrison, resisted all his efforts, set fire to the town, and laid waste the surrounding country. Early in the thirteenth century it was more successfully attacked by Rhys Vychan, who, being assisted by Uewelyn ab Iorwerth, finally succeeded -in destroying all the fortresses that had been erected by the Normans within the province of Gower.. In reference to the desolation which Swansea suffered upon these occasions, Llywarch ab Llewelyn, in a panegyrical ode addressed to the victor, has these remarkable words: " In Swansea, that peaceless town, the towers are rent, and now peace prevails there; in strongly fortified Swansea, the key of England, all the women are widows." From this dreary state of devastation the town, however, soon recovered, and was again besieged, in the year 1260, by Llewelyn ab Grufydd, the last prince of North Wales, who, coming against it with a powerful army, entirely demolished the castle, which, according to the testimony of most historians, lay from that time in ruins till the prelacy of Henry Gower, Bishop of St. Dkvid's, who restored it, besides building the palace of St. David's, and enlarging and embellishing the episcopal residence at Lamphey. A similar Style of architecture and embellishment is observable in these three structures, which are all distinguished by a beautiful open parapet, pierced alternately in pointed and circular Norman arches, a peculiarity of feature characteristic of all the buildings erected by that munificent prelate. In 1331, Bishop Gower, who was a native of this province, founded an hospital at this place, in honour of St. David, which continued to flourish till the dissolution, when its revenue was estimated at £20. After the death Of that prelate, &lenses, being so remote from the Seat of the diocese, and there being not less than seven palaces in different places belonging to the see, the castle, during the prelacy of his successor, was neglected, and went rapidly to decay. In the reign of Henry IV., the town suffered materially during the insurrection raised against that monarch by Owain Glyndwr, by whom it was burnt, and the neighbourhood reduced to a state of desolation. During the parliamentary 'war in the reign of Charles 1., Oliver Cromwell visited this place, on his route to embark for Ireland, and is said to have taken up his abode in a house in the High-street, which, till lately, was occupied as a place of worship by a congregation of Wesleyan Methodists. The TOWN is beautifully and advantageously situated in an angle between two lofty hills, on the western bank of the river Tawy, which is here navigable for ships of large burthen, and at the head of a noble bay to which it gives name, stretching for nearly nine miles in breadth from east to west, and sheltered by an amphitheatre of hills from the most unfavourable winds. The principal thoroughfare through it extends for more than a mile in a line parallel with the river; and the streets diverging from it, which are numerous, and in some instances spacious, are well paved, and lighted with gas, under the provisions of an act of parliament passed for that purpose in 1809. The houses are neatly and 'substantially built, especially those in High, Castle, and Wind streets, which are the principal for business. From these many smaller streets branch off in various directions, some of them leading to a populous district towards the west, in the neighbourhood of the. new market-place. Among the numerous magestof building in the mere retired parts of the town are, Belle Vue, an assemblage of detached houses of handsome elevation, with several pleasing villas, occupying a delightful eminence, and coramanding-a fine view of the sea and the distant-coasts of Somerset and Devon the Burrows, comprising several ranges of respectable houses of Modern erection, inhabited by genteel families; and a continuation of good buildings, both in the upper and lower roads leading to the Mumbles, an agreeable village about five miles from the town, the road to which is, throughout the whole distance, under an elevated ridge, thickly studded with elegant seats and substantial dwellings. Considerable additions have been made to the town within the last few years, several new streets having been formed, and many detached residences erected: a very large portion of land in the neighbourhood has also been appropriated as building-ground, and some streets of neat houses and ornamental cottages upon it are already occupied. In 1837 an act was obtained for better supplying the borough with water. The beautiful situation of the town on the margin of a fine open bay, with extensive, firm, smooth, and level sands forming an interesting marine promenade, the salubrity of the air, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the excellent accommodation the town affords, have contributed to render it a favourite resort for sea-bathing: and the opportunities of aquatic excursions which the bay presents, and the numerous pleasant rides and walks in the immediate vicinity, extending through a tract of country abounding with picturesque scenery and romantic beauty, attract to this place, during the summer season, a large company of fashionable visiters, for whose amusement adequate provision has been made in the erection of public rooms, and hot and cold sea-water baths, furnished with every requisite appendage. The Cambrian Society, for the encouragement of researches in geology, mineralogy, and natural history, was established in 1821, under the patronage of the Duke of Beaufort, and the nobility and gentry of the vicinity, and includes a number of eminent scientific honorary members. A geological arrangement of the several rocks, according to the Wernerian system, and a geological map of England and Wales by Greenhow, were purchased for the use of the society, and deposited in a room at the infirmary, where they have remained for some years in disuse, the non-residence of most of the members, and a want of energy in the others, having retarded the progress of the society, which, though professedly existing, seldom holds any regular meetings, or makes any advances in the prosecution of the original design. A society for the cultivation of pure Welsh literature, and a critical study of the Welsh language, was instituted some few years ago; but for want of sufficient support it has been suffered to decline, and is at present but little regarded. A branch of the Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire Horticultural Society, for the encouragement of improvements in the growth of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, by a distribution of premiums among the most successful candidates, was formed some time since; but the society held its last meeting a few years ago; no further proceedings have taken place, and it appears, like the others, to be falling into disuse A mechanics' institute is also on the decline; no meeting of its members having been held, nor any affairs transacted, for some time. The Issembly-rooms, in Cambrian-place, comprise a suite of five spacious and handsomely arranged apartments, consisting of a ball-room elegantly fitted up, in which concerts are sometimes performed, and a card-room on the first floor, and having on the basement story, a reading-room, billiard-room, and club-room, which are well attended. The theatre, a neat and commodious structure, is entitled to rank among those of the second class out of the metropolis; it. is opened during the season by a portion of the Bath and Bristol company, and is occasionally visited by some of the principal London performers, who, during the recess of the winter theatres, attend here in their provincial tours. Races take place on the Cremlyn Burrows, and are continued for two days at a time, regulated by the English races, with which they are in a great measure connected. The principal prizes are, a tradesman's plate, of which the value is uncertain, and a subscription purse; and the course, which is well adapted for two-mile heats, is upon these occasions numerously attended; but the races are so entirely dependent upon the influence and liberality of the stewards, that they cannot be considered as fixed, either with respect to the period of being held, or to the stakes which may be run for. An annual regatta takes place, generally in August, and lasts three days, during which, as also during the races, balls and concerts are held at the assembly-rooms, and _dramatic performances are exhibited at the theatre. This town has risen, with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of the principality, from a comparatively insignificant place to a degree of COMMERCIAL and MANUFACTURING importance, which may well entitle it to be considered, not only as the chief town in the county of Glamorgan, but as the metropolis of South Wales. About a century ago it had only a manufacture ofstraw plait, which was carried on upon a very limited scale; and its port, at that time a creek dependent on the port of Cardiff, was noted only for the exportation of coal, which was conveyed from the pits in the neighbourhood to the shipping-place by means of pack-horses; and so deeply-rooted was the prejudice of the inhabitants, at this time, in favour of this their accustomed mode of conveyance, that, on the introduction of waggons by an ancestor of the present Sir John Morris, in the early part of the last century, they threatened to indict him for a nuisance, affirming that "the motion of his cumbrous machines disturbed the beer in their cellars." For its advancement and almost unprecedented commercial prosperity, the place IS not less indebted to the mineral treasures abounding in its neighbourhood, than to its highly advantageous maritime situation. The vast stores of coal, culm, iron-stone, limestone, rotten-stone, flags, fire- clay, and other mineral productions throughout the district, combining with its local facilities of intercourse by sea, first attracted public attention, and led to the establishment of furnaces for the SMELTING of copper-ore, which were conducted with such complete success, that Swansea soon became the principal seat of the copper trade of Great Britain. The whole annual produce of the copper-mines of the United Kingdom is estimated at sixteen thousand tons of fine copper, of which the mines of Cornwall and Devonshire yield fourteen thousand, the remaining two thousand tons being obtained from the mines of Anglesey, Cumberland, and Ireland; and of this Anglesey furnishes by far the largest portion. The average richness of the ores is about 8 per cent., and the number of tons of ore smelted annually, including the poor ores containing fluor spar, and smelted as a flux, is about two hundred thousand tons. Of the whole ore produced in Great Britain, nineteen-twentieths are smelted at Swansea, and at Llanelly, Neath, Aberavon, and Loughor, all within twelve miles of this town; and the other twentieth part is smelted in Anglesey, where are furnaces for reducing the ores found in that island. With the exception of some recently erected near Liverpool, for smelting the ore from the Bolivar mines in Columbia, there are no other copper smelting-furnaces in the empire than those above enumerated; and of these so much more extensive are the works at this place than all the others taken collectively, that of the whole quantity of ore produced in Great Britain, five-sevenths are smelted in Swansea alone. Although it has been supposed that the art of manufacturing copper was known in this country at a very early period, and some old excavations for copper-ore in Anglesey have been attributed to the Romans, yet the practice was entirely neglected, and the art altogether lost, till within the last one hundred and seventy years, when it was restored by Sir Clement Clarke, who, in 1670, first erected works for the smelting of copper-ore, in Cornwall; but, from the scarcity of fuel, they were soon after removed to the Hot Wells, near Bristol. Other furnaces and smelting-works were soon after built at Crew's-hole, near Bristol, and subsequently at Redbrook, on the river Wye, near Monmouth. At this time the Cornish miners were unacquainted with the true nature of the copper-ore, which they called 44 Poder," and when they met with it, in working for tin, it was thrown away as useless. To Mr. Coster, the agent and successor of Sir Clement Clarke, is ascribed the discovery of the value of the 46 Poder," or copper-ore, the promulgation of which has tended so greatly to increase the prosperity of the county of Cornwall, and of the copper-smelting districts of South Wales. From such inconsiderable beginnings has the copper trade of the kingdom advanced to its present extent and importance; the annual produce of this trade, estimated at the present low price of copper, amounting to between a million and a quarter and a million and a half sterling, of which about £800,000 are received annually for what is exported to foreign countries, as Great Britain supplies at least one-half of the copper used in the known world. The first WORKS for smelting copper-ore, established in South Wales, were erected in 1700, by Mr. Turner, near Neath Abbey; the next were built at Melingryddan, near Neath, by Sir Henry Mackworth and Co.; and the first which were erected in the immediate neighbourhood of this town were built on the site of the present Cambrian pottery, by Mr. Phillips, in 1719. To these succeeded the Landore works, on the site of the present Landore foundry, and afterwards were successively erected, the Forest, White Rock, Middle Bank, Upper Bank, Ynis, Rose, and Hiivod works. Villages have arisen in the vicinity of all these establishments, and the town of Swansea has, within the last forty years, increased in population from 6099 to 17,131. At this place there are at present, in full operation, the following extensive smelting- works: viz., the Forest,Ynis, Rose, Landore, Upper Bank, Havod, Middle Bank, and White Rock works; and there are also four very large rolling establishments on the Swansea river, for the manufacture of sheet copper. A considerable number of vessels are constantly employed in conveying the ores from the mines in England and Ireland to the several smelting places in South Wales; and in transporting the copper, when smelted, to the different markets; and it is calculated that the average expense of conducting the entire copper trade, in South Wales, is at least £300,000 per annum, exclusively of purchasing the ores. The number of persons occupied in all the copper-mines of Great Britain is about ninety thousand. The ore raised in the greatest quantity is the pyrites of copper, or yellow copper-ore, which, upon analysis, is found to contain a third part of copper, a third of iron, and a third of sulphur. In separating the copper from this proportion of sulphur, which is effected by sublimation, sulphureous and othei gases are evolved, and very large sums of money have been expended in repeated attempts to obviate this result, but only with a trifling degree of success, and experiments are still being made in the hope of ultimately accomplishing so desirable an object. Though the smoke emitted from the copper- works is injurious to vegetation, it has not been found prejudicial to health; but, on the contrary, it appears that agues and fevers, which were formerly endemic in the low and swampy grounds in the neighbourhoods where these works have been erected, have, since their establishment, materially decreased; and no situations have been found more generally favourable to health and longevity. The bituminous and stone-coal of the district are peculiarly adapted to the purpose of smelting copper, and carrying on the numerous other works here. In addition to the copper-works there are, the ironworks belonging to the Milbrook and Landore Iron Companies, two very extensive potteries, and other establishments, in which collectively not less than three thousand men are regularly occupied, exclusively of those engaged in the mines and in the shipping. The adjacent district abounds with collieries, employing a very considerable number of men, though the continual fluctuation to which they are liable renders even a remote estimate of the exact number impracticable. The produce of these collieries gives rise to a trade of such extent as to afford business in the harbour for 'nine shippers of stone- coal, seven of binding coal, and four of culm. Ship-building and the repairing of vessels are also carried on to a large extent; and commodious and spacious yards have been formed for these purposes, in which many persons are constantly employed. There are also rope-yards, tanneries, breweries, lime-works, and numerous other establishments. connected with the manufactures and general commerce of the town. From these various sources arises the trade of the PORT, which is consequently very extensive, and has been for several years rapidly increasing; the number of vessels of above 50 tons, now registered at Swansea, being 86, and their aggregate burthen amounting to 10,116 tons. The principal exports are copper, iron, coal, culm, lime, and earthenware, which are shipped hence to various parts of the kingdom, but the copper chiefly to London; and the chief imports are, copper-ore from Cornwall, Devonshire, Cumberland, and Ireland; timber, from America and the Baltic; hemp, tallow, flour, and miscellaneous goods from London, Liverpool, and Bristol; and also flour, grain, and provisions from the south of Ireland. The situation of the port is in every respect admirably adapted for carrying on a' very extensive commerce, and considerable sums have been expended in its improvement. The first attempt of this kind was made under the authority of an act of parliament obtained in the year 1791, for "enlarging and preserving. the harbour of Swansea," the original powers of which were extended by two additional statutes subsequently passed. Under the provisions of these acts two massive stone piers were constructed at the mouth of the river; one on the western side, extending three hundred yards in length, and the other on the eastern, extending six hundred yards, leaving an entrance between them eighty yards in width. At the head of the western pier is a lighthouse, which by night displays a light, and by day a black ball, as long as there is a depth of eight feet of water above the bar. At high water the harbour forms a noble and spacious basin, capable of containing a great number of vessels of large burthen; but at low water, and for two hours before and after, it is nearly dry, the river during this time being fordable. Among other numerous and important improvements which have been undertaken to promote the commercial prosperity of the town, much has been done within the last century towards enlarging and deepening the harbour; and in 1836 an act, amending several previous acts for its provement, was obtained. The custom-house and the commercial rooms, though spacious, and internally well adapted to the purposes to which they are respectively applied, are not distinguished by their archittcture from private houses. On the north-east of the harbour is Port Tennant, so named from the gentleman by whom it was originally projected, and at whose expense it was constructed, in the year 1826: it contains two spacious docks, in which the water is of sufficient depth for vessels of two hundred tons' burthen, .opening on one side into the basin, and communicating on the other with the Swansea and Neath Junction canal, which is also the property of H. T. Tennant, Esq., of Cadoxton Lodge. The river Tawy is navigable, for vessels of three -hundred tons' burthen, for two miles from its mouth, and one mile further for small, sloops and barges; and on the western bank of the river are commodious quays, wharfs, warehouses, stores for timber, a dry dock, and every accommodation requisite for the prompt despatch of business. Great facility of communication between the various works and the harbour is afforded by means of CANALS and tram-roads, by which the produce is conveyed to the port, in order to be shipped to its destination. The Swansea canal, constructed under the provisions of an act of parliament passed in the year 1794, and completed in 1798, commences near the mouth of the Tawy, and extends up the valley of that river for seventeen miles, passing by Landore and the copper-works at Morriston, crossing the stream Twrch by an aqueduct of four arches, and terminating at Hen Noyadd, in the parish of Ystradgunlais, in the county of Brecknock. In the line of its course from Swansea to Pon t-ar-Dawy, a distance of eight miles and a quarter, there is a rise of a hundred and five feet; and from that place to Pont Gwaynclawdd, a length of eight miles, a rise of two hundred and thirty-seven feet; making, together with thirty-one feet in the remaining distance, a total rise in its whole extent of three hundred and seventy-three feet. The.Swansea and Neath Junction canal, constructed in 1789, by H. T. Tennant, Esq., originally formed a direct communication between Swansea and Briton-Ferry, falling into the Neath river. at a short distance above that rillage_;_ it was subsequently, however, diverted up Cwm Neath by an abrupt turn to the north- east, and now joins the Neath canal at a place called Aberdylaisi about two miles above Neath, after crossing the river by a magnificent stone aqueduct of thirteen arches, the only one on ,a line nine miles in length; this alteration was completed, and the new line opened, in 1824. Numerous rail-roads from the collieriesin the neighbourhood of the canals and the river complete the chain of inland communication, and afford a facility of conveying the produce of the various works in this extensive mineral and manufacturing district to-the ports of Swansea and Neath; a tramroad has alio been constructed from the lower extremity of the Swansea canal to the limestone quarries at Oystermouth, a distance of more than five miles. The MARKETS are held on Wednesday and.Saturday; the latter' for corn, but also abundantly supplied with provisions of every kind and fish is exposed for stile daily, though not considered to be of so good a quality here as on other parts of the coast; a circumstance which is attributed to the prevalence of sand in the neighbourhood of the shore. Fairs occur on May 2nd, July 2nd, August 15th, and October 30th. The new market-place, opened tothe public in 1830, occupies a plot of ground given for that purpose by Calvert Jones,., and comprises a quadrilateral area, three hundred and twenty feet in length, and two hundred and twenty wide, inclosed by a lofty stone wall with spacious and convenient entrances; along the walls are ranged the shambles for butchers' meat, consisting of eighty-nine stalls. The central portion of the area is divided into compartments furnished 'with long tables, each sheltered by a penthouse roof, 'supported by cast-iron pillars; and in these compartments are exposed for sale fish, poultry, eggs, butter, fruit, vegetables, flannel, boots and shoes, and almost every. other article of provisions, pedlery, and merchandise; the area is flagged, and in the, centre has been erected a market-house containing a committee-room and other requisite apartments, which is surmounted by a hand-. some turret. The whole expense of erecting this building, which is of such essential importance to so populous a town, was defrayed by the corporation, and was supposed, at a moderate estimate, to amount at least to the sum of £20,000. Swansea is a BOROUGH by prescription, and the various privileges which it had acquired at different times have been confirmed and extended by Niecessive sovereigns. There are in the possession of the corporation charters granted by Henry ILI. in the 18th year of his reign; by Edward IL in the 6th of his reign; by Edward. III. in his 6th year; by Oliver Cromwell, dated February 20, 1655; and by James II. in his first year; together with a translation of a charter, bestowed in 1305, .by Breos, lord of the seigniory of Gower, upon .the burgesses of Swansea; and a .translation of .another obtained 'from Edward III. in. the 2nd year of his reign, by Alive, wife of John de Mowbray, of the land of Gower. The charter of Edward to Ali* is a confirmation of a grant by William de Breos to John and Alive de Mowbray, and recites and ton+ firms gifts by various kings of England to de Breos, or his ancestors, of the land. of Gower, with the royal liberties, free customs, and jurisdiction. attached to it: the charter of de Breos .confers 'numerous immunities upon -the burgesses of Swansea, including estovers,of wood for firing, and for building. ships and houses; permission to hold the meadow of Crosswood and part of that of Portmead; power to elect a portreeve; and exemption from the assize of ale. Henry's charter merely confers upon the town freedom from toll, pontage, and other customs; and this grant was ratified by Edward IL and III., who only confirmed previous liberties, without altering the constitution, or conferring on the borough increased facilities for improving its trade. The charter of Cromwell, however, after reciting that the town was an ancient port, and time out of mindcorporate, and that it had enjoyed. important privileges by the gifts of kings and lords marchers, grants that the people of the place, previously known by the style of the Portreeve Aldermen, and Burgesses," should henceforth lie a body politic under thername of the " Mayor, Aldermen,. and Burgesses;" declares that they should possess the town to fee farm, rendering a yearly rent of, twenty shillings, and that they should have a free .guild of mer&ants, and be governed by a mayor, high steward, recorder, twelve aldermen, and twelve capital burgesses; appoints a court of record; institutes four fairs and two weekly markets; and finally directs that the customs payable for any goods brought into the port, should be appropriated for the benefit of the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses. The next charter respecting which anything certain is now known, is that of James, alluded to above,. which, having proclaimed that the borough had, by deed under the seal. of the commonalty, surrendered all their different charters, proceeds. to reconstitute the corporation, reserving to the crown the power of displacing, by order in council, any mayor, alderman,' capital burgess, or chamberlain; restores the liberties and immunities which had been given up and grants to the town the right of purchasing lands not exceeding the yearly value of £100. From this time--till the year 1835, when the. Municipal Corporations' Act was passed, no alterations were made in the government, which was, up to that-period, vested in a steward, portreeve, twelve aldermen, a recorder, two common attornies, a layer keeper, two sergeants-at-mace, and an indefinite number of burgesses; under the simple style of " The Burgesses of the borough of Swansea." By the act of 1835, however, the corporation is now named the " Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses," and consists of a mayor, six' aldermen, and eighteen councillors, together forming the council of the borough, which is divided into three wards, and of which the municipal and. parliamentary boundaries are the same.. The council elect the mayor annually on - November. 9di out of the aldermen or councillors; and the aldermen triennially out of the councillors, or persons qualified as such, one-half going out of office every three years, but re-eligible: the councillors are chosen on November 1st, by and out of the enrolled burgesses, one-third retiring annually. The aldermen and councillors must have each a property qualification of £500, or be rated of £15 annual value. Occupiers of houses and shops, rated for three years to the relief of the poor, are entitled to be burgesses, if resident within seven miles; and a valid title to be a burgess is acquirable by descent, marriage, marriage-settlement, devise, or promotion to any benefice or office, in which case occupancy and payment of rates by the predecessor may be reckoned. The recorder is appointed by the crown; two assessors for each ward, and two auditors, are elected annually on March 1st, by and from among the burgesses; and the council appoint a town-clerk, treasurer, and other officers on November 9th: the number of borough justices is seven. The corporation possess a considerable estate in land; and also claim all the waste within the limits of the borough, and a right to certain customary tolls and dues, sanctioned by immemorial usage; producing in general from £700 to £800 per annum, which sum is enjoyed by the mayor for the time being, to defray the contingent expenses of his office. The borough, together with Aberavon, Cowbridge, Kenvig, Llantrissent, Loughor, and Neath, was made contributory to Cardiff, as the county town, in returning a member to parliament, by the 27th of Henry V III., and the right of voting vested in the burgesses generally. During the interregnum it sent a representative independently of the other places; as it appears that, in 1658-9, William Fox, one of Cromwell's judges of assize on the Brecknock circuit, was chosen for Swansea exclusively. After the Restoration, however, it resumed its former character as contributory, and has continued to participate with the other boroughs in the return of a member to the present time; the right of election having, till 1832, been in the burgesses generally, in number about one hundred and ten. By the act of that year, " to Amend the Representation," Swansea was made the head of a new district of boroughs, including those of Swansea, Aberavon, Kenvig, Loughor, and Neath; and the right of exercising the franchise was vested in the resident burgesses only, in number about sixty, if duly registered according to the provisions of the act, and in every person of full age occupying, either as owner or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of at least ten pounds, provided he be capable of registering as the act demands. The present number of tenements of this value, within the extended electoral borough, is about one thousand. The new limits, which are minutely detailed in the Appendix, include, on account of the increased populousness of the vicinity, in addition to the ancient town and franchise of Swansea, the parish of St. John, the township of St. Thomas, part of the parish of Lower Llansamlet, and the modern town of Morriston, in the parish of Llangyvelach. The freedom is inherited by all the sons of a free384 man, born after his admission; obtained by marriage with a freeman's daughter, and acquired by a servitude of seven years apprenticeship to a resident freeman. The corporation hold a court of pleas by prescription, recognized by statute of the 34th and 35th of Henry VIII., every month, for the recovery of debts above the amount of forty shillings, in which the mayor presides, either in person or by deputy, together with the recorder, or the steward of the lord of the manor: this court has power to issue process to hold to bail in actions for debt, the amount to be not less than twenty pounds, as altered by statute of the 7th and 8th of George IV., and its Jurisdiction extends over the town and franchise. The steward of the manor holds a court baron every three weeks, for the recovery of debts under forty shillings, the jurisdiction of which extends over the seigniory of Gower and the manor of Kilvey; and the county magistrates hold a petty-session for the hundred of Swansea, every Tuesday, in the town-hall, where also are held the Michaelmas quarter-sessions for the county. Swansea is likewise one of the places at which, under the Reform Act, the poll is taken at the county elections. The town-hall, erected in 1827, at the expense of the burgesses, is a neat substantial building, with a front of freestone, ornamented with a receding portico of the Doric order, and contains a well-arranged suite of rooms for the holding of the several courts, and for the transaction of the public business of the corporation. The house of correction for the western part of the county, also erected in the year 1827, at an expense of £3750, defrayed by the county, and situated in a healthy spot on the shore, within a quarter of a mile of the town, is a substantial stone building, well adapted for the reception of fifty prisoners, for the proper classification of whom every facility has been provided; it comprises thirty-six sleeping-cells, four day-rooms, and six airing-yards, in one of which is a tread-wheel. The LIVING is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £7. 14. 44., and endowed with £200 private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant; present net income, £291; patron and impropriator, Sir John Morris, Bart. The tithes, recently commuted for a rent-charge of £424, formerly belonged to the hospital of St. David's, in this town, but in the reign of Edward VI. they were, together with the other possessions of that establishment, after its dissolution, granted to Sir George Herbert, and are now divided between the impropriator and the vicar, of whom the former has two-thirds, and the latter one-third. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, from which circumstance the parish derives its Welsh name of " EgIwys Vain Aber-Tawy," having become greatly dilapidated, fell down in the year 1739, and was then almost entirely rebuilt. The present, a plain neat structure, in the later style of English architecture, is well arranged and appropriately embellished: in the chancel, which is the only remaining portion of the old edifice, is an east window in the decorated style; and the altar is ornamented with a valuable Madonna, presented by the late Thomas Bowdler, Esq., editor of the Family Sbakspeare, and according to a tablet recording the gift, supposed by the donor to have been an original painting by Sassaferat, the companion picture of which was sold for £750; some connoisseurs, however, ascribe it to Ludovico Caracci. The interior is well adapted to the reception of a numerous congregation; but since the amazing increase in the population, which has been progressive for some years, it is quite inadequate to the accommodation of the parishioners. The parochial church of St. John junta Swansea is also situated within the town, and, from the service being performed in it in the Welsh, as well as the English, language, is of considerable benefit to the inhabitants of this part of the town, who are mostly of the poorer class, and speak only Welsh, and also in a great degree compensates for the deficiency of sittings in the church of St. Mary. There are two places of worship each for English and Welsh Baptists; two for English, and one for Welsh Independents; two each for the Society of Friends and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists; and one each for members of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, Unitarians, and Unitarian Baptists; a Roman Catholic chapel; and a Jews' synagogue. A Free grammar school was founded in 1682, by the Right Rev. Hugh Gore, D. D., Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, who assigned to it lands in the parish of Llandyvodog, in this county, now producing about £70 per annum, which endowment has been augmented with £20 a year by the corporation. The bishop appointed Bussy Mansel, of Briton-Ferry, Esq., tiustee and patron of the school, with power to choose and remove the master, which power he made perpetual in the proprietors of that estate, and during their minority, in the Bishop of St. David's; the master becomes ineligible as soon as he obtains a benefice. The school is open for the gratuitous instruction of twenty boys, sons of the most indigent burgesses, and, in the event of a dissolution of the corporation, to sons of the poorest inhabitants of the town. The property at Llandyvodog consists of a wild and mountainous tract, little adapted for agriculture, but will be of immense value when means are afforded for working and conveying the coal with which it and the vicinity abound. A school for the instruction of girls of all religious denominations, on the plan of the British and Foreign schools in London, was established in 1822, by subscription among the Society of Friends, the funds and the superintendence being vested in trustees, members of that sect; and a commodious room has been built, capable of receiving from two hundred to three hundred children: there are at present a hundred and fifty girls in the school, who are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, plain needlework, and knitting, by a mistress who receives a salary of £40 per annum, raised by annual donations, and by weekly payments of a penny from each of the scholars. There are also two other day schools, supported in the same manner, and containing 380 children; and about 600 are educated in 29 day schools, wholly at the expense of their parents. Eleven Sunday schools also are gratuitously conducted; one consists of about 160 females, who attend the Established Church; and in the other ten, appertaining to dissenters, are about 1340 persons. An infants' school was established in 1831, and, under the patronage of the Duchess of Beaufort, is managed by a committee of ladies of the town and neighbourhood, and held in a room which was built by subscription, aided by the proceeds of a bazaar, at a cost of about £440, the site being granted by the Duke of Beaufort on a lease for sixty years at a nominal rent. The school contains about 215 children, and is partly maintained by donations, averaging about £60 per annum, and partly by payments of 2d. per week for one child, and ld. per week for every additional child of the same family; this payment, however, is not received from twenty poor children, who are instructed gratuitously: the salary' of the master and mistress is £60, exclusively Of coal and a cottage rent-free. In addition to the above-mentioned schools, which apply only to the town and franchise of Swansea, there are in other parts of the parish three day schools, in which about 50 children are taught at the expense of their parents; and three Sunday schools, supported by voluntary contributions, in one of which are 45 males and females, who attend the Established Church; and in the other two, connected with Independents, are 130 persons. An Infirmary for the relief of the sick and lame poor from every part of the kingdom, whose cases require the aid of warm or cold sea-bathing, was instituted in 1817, and is principally maintained by subscriptions, amounting at present only to £500 per annum, a sum veryinadequate to the accomplishment of the object in view, upon a scale commensurate with its importance, as the only establishment of the kind in the principality. The affairs are under the management of a committee, and the medical department comprises the gratuitous attendance of two physicians and two surgeons, exclusively of a resident surgeon, who receives a regular stipend. The funds have not yet been sufficient to warrant the erection of a separate building for its use, and the business of the infirmary is at present therefore conducted in a part of the house of industry. There are also other benevolent institutions in the town, among which are the Infants' Friend Society, founded some years since for the relief of distressed women during their confinement, and for supplying infant apparel; and the Dorcas Society, for clothing the destitute poor. Among the religious associations are, the Bible and Religious Tract Societies, the Seamen's , Bethel Union, and the Association in aid of the Irish Sunday schools. Gabriel Powell, in 1735, bequeathed a tent-charge of £J, t6 be disc tributed among twenty-five poor persons; Captain John Price left £200 for apprenticing children; and Rebecca Miller left a rent-charge of £1. 4.; but these and a few other small Charital)le donations have been lost, and the only tharity how in operation is a distribution of wheaten bread among the poorest inhabitants, in St. Mary'S Church on sacrament Sundays, arising from a bequest of £10 pet irihum by William Thomas, in 1787. The poor law action, of which this town is the head, was formed October 23rd, 1836, and comprises the following 27 parishes and townships; namely, Town and -Franchise of Swansea, Highet and Lower Swansea, St. John's, St. Thomas'; Higher and Lower Clic, Higher and Lower Mawr, Higher and Lower Pender*i, Mid Higher and Lower Rbingdwy-Clydach, in the parish of Llangyvelach; Penrice, Oxwich, Port- Eynon, RV/silly, Knelston, Llanddewi, Reynolditon, Llangennith, Llarrmadotici Chetiton, Bishopston, Pennarth, Ilston, Penmaen, Oysterinoutli, Llanrhidian Higher and Lower, islicholaston, and Llandello. It is under the superintendence of forty guardians, and Contains a population of 38,041. The REMAINS of the ancient castle, situated on an eminence, now nearly in the centre of the town, are so surrounded with buildings, that little mare of them can be seen, to any advantage, than a lofty circular tower, from the summit of which a beautiful view is obtained over the bay of Swansea and the adjacent country: to the east of this tower are extensive re-; mains of the ancient state apartments, distinguished by the elegant open parapet said to be the work of Bishop Gower: the rooms which are still habitable are appropriated to the confinement of debtors. Near the castle were, until lately, the ruins of the Manaion of the lords of Gower, formerly occupying a spacious quadrangular area, through which a street has been carried, leaving but few remains by which any thing more than the extent of the buildings can be traced; and even these have been recently removed, and the whole site appropriated to dwelling-houses. On ex= cavating the ground under one of the walls of the old building on 9th May, 1840, a jar Or bottle wail found, Containing silver coins of the time of Tan, Henry, III., and Edward /. and IL; perhaps in- tended as a deposit under the foundation Stone. Here, also, was once an ancient hospital, dedicated to St. David, and endowed for twelve poor people, the original foundation of which is by some writers attributed to Bishop Gower, and by others to Elinor de Breos, in the reign of Edward II.; it was endowed with the tithes of the parish, With the lordship of Brinavel, and with lanai and tenements in the hamlet of Shifty, hi the parish 'of Swansea, and also in the environs of the town, and at the disioltition liM a revenue estimated at £20: There are httmerbtni gentletheit'S SEATS and elegant Villas in the iintrrea diate vicinity of the With. iffagktoti, situated at the distatiee of tWo miles, on the road to the Munablea, an elegant and Spacious Mansion, in the lister style of English firchiteetate, erected at differefit period by the present proprietor, and ofie of the Bloat &kit. plete and best built houses in the county& The grounds, which are very ekterative, ate laid slit With great taste; and embellished with some detente§ Mkt Swiss and Italian deaight; the variety and beauty of the scenery within the Hittite of the dentesne are judiciously displayed in the construction of the Wand through the pleasure grounds; and the distant viewe obtained from several points are strikingly pietutu esqae. grotty Part) is a handsome and substantial 'Mansion' ih finely varied grounds of cotisidetable extent; Melly Hall, and Vert/Mai are elegant real& ences, pleasingly situated amidst flourishing plants. dons; and among others which constitute a rich assemblage in the vicinity, too ninnetotiN fat a de., tailed description, are Park Wetti Bryn-y-Mot, St. Helen's; Upland Villa, Patit-y-GWydiri and Hill House; all on the toad between &valises and the beautiful village of Oystettilotith, in which it the seat Woodlands Castle. Near the town is a ehalybeete called Swiftyea Spa, which was formerly resorted to rot the highly medicinal properties of the waters though it present it is not much frequented; having almost fallen into disese. In the Caswell rocks upon the toast, and within six nIlleS of the town, is a remark-- ably fine spring, which, though always oVerdoWed by the sea at high water, retains not, on its intitirig, the slightest Saline 'admixture. to the parish of Swansea, and the lordship of GoWer, Within Whit% it is fir-eluded, Many eminent and highly distinguished clividuals have been bard. Hertry Goode' D. D.3 Bishop of St. David's, celebrated net less for the eleu gance of his taste, that' for his Munificent pattenage of the fine arts, was a native of one of then?, as alit Was probably Jolla Gotoer, the pout, who flourished towards the close of the fo utteenth century. Beth were descendants of Graff/id de dower, a Welsh chieftain of one Of the ancient fdyal houses, and founder of a flunk in Gower, noted alike fir epit+ lence and power, in the beginning Of, the thirteenth default. Henry de Stitesey, abbot of Glastonbury, *hese epitaph on the tomb of the re owned Arthur at Glastonbuty, is noticed by LAVA Watt a native of the town. Richard Nash, more generally known by the appellation of Beau Nash, was both at a house la Goat-street, in the year 1073. His mother *as niece of the unfortunate Colonel Poyer, Who, after the taking of Pembroke Castle by the parliatnenfatians, deft the civil win in the reign of Charles I., was shot al Covent Garden, in Landon. Mr. Nash acquired MS celebrity at Bath; Whier0 for Many teats he filled the sawn( -miter of the ceremonial with so mash di aided urbanity, and scrupulous impartiality, that its gained the esteem and respect of all Tooke; he died at lidatb, in 1700, end wits bewared with * public femora in the abbey church of that city. Aregli Gorr, D. D., founder of the grammar school, and once rector of the *risk of Oxwirl, in the lordship of Gower, being ejected fa hie living dwing the usurpation of Cromwell, retired to Swansea, were he for some time kept a school. After the Resew tiou he was advanced to the see of W.aterford and Lismore, which he held till the reign of JamesU., when he resigned his bishopric, anxi (wand at this town, where he died, and was buried.