HISTORICAL NOTICES AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BIRMINGHAM. "BIRMINGHAM is the toy-shop of Europe," as it was said, nearly half a century ago, by the celebrated Mr. Burke. But it has now become, with Wolverhampton and Sheffield, "the toy-shop of the world." This great town is admirably situated in the centre of the kingdom, upon a rising ground, on a good soil well supplied with excellent water, and within a few miles of the inexhaustible coal and iron mines of Staffordshire. This vast manufactory is reported in ancient records to have been a place noted for the furnishing of warlike instruments, from a period more remote than the first invasion of Britain by the Romans.

Birmingham was a place of some note at the time of the Conquest, and it gave name to the ancient family of "De Birmingham," repeatedly mentioned in the history of England. Leland mentions it as a town of manufacturing importance in the reign of Henry VIII., when it was also a great emporium for leather; still its present fame is of much more recent origin, and connected immediately with the interests of Christianity, and particularly the ecclesiastical history of England.

Nonconformists, in the reign of Charles II., being punished by various cruel statutes, especially "the infamous Oxford Five Mile Act," by which, under grievous penalties, the ejected ministers were driven from the corporate towns, and forbidden to come within five miles of their former residences; and several of these persecuted servants of Christ settled in Birmingham, followed by their congregations. By the accession of these new settlers, the toy trade

VOL. V.

in Birmingham received such an impetus as to lead to its present flourishing condition, and to acquire its present deserved renown for manufacturing ingenuity and skill.

Fire-arms have been manufactured to an amazing extent in Birmingham: that branch of business was introduced into this town in the reign of William III. and to so great an extent was this carried by its skilful workmen, that, during the late war, they produced 416,000 muskets per annum, or 8000 weekly, for the government; 156,000 in the year, or 3000 weekly, being made at the same time by the government workmen in London.

Working in brass was introduced into Birmingham in 1740; and one branch of manufacture after another has been so established, that almost all kinds of articles needed for ornament or use in gold, silver, brass, and iron, are now produced in immense quantities by the ingenious artizans of Birmingham.

Messrs. Boulton and Watt's celebrated "Sоно WORKS," at the north-west side of the town, established in 1764, have added greatly to the fame of Birmingham as a "toy-shop:" for besides their amazing improvements in the steam engine, which have rendered the name of their manufactory famous throughout the civilized world, their extensive manufacture of costly plate, and various articles in gold, silver, polished steel, and cut glass, placed their name, for a long period, at the head of their several branches of business. In further illustration of the ingenuity and skill of Boulton and Watt, it will only be just to mention their vast mint, at which they have coined prodigious quantities of gold, silver, and copper, for many of the goverments and states in South America, the East Indies, and other parts,

M M

and also very large quantities of money, especially in copper for Great Britain and Ireland.

Auxiliary to the trade of Birmingham are the numerous branches of canal navigation; as by this means the readiest facilities are opened for communication with the mines of Staffordshire with all parts of the country, and with both seas, by those great emporiums of foreign commerce, Bristol, Hull, Liverpool, and London.

Birmingham has been improved in its public appearance during the last thirty years, probably more than almost any town in the kingdom: vast masses of old buildings have been removed and the principal streets in the centre widened, especially around "the old (St. Martin's) church," and the removal of the unsightly habitations from the wall of that venerable fabric, with the taking down of the "shambles" and the "old cross" in front of it, has afforded a spacious area for a commodious market place, and thrown open the church to public view.

Near the centre of the market-place is a splendid bronze statue of the late lamented admiral lord Nelson, by Westmacott. On the west side of the market-place is the new Market-hall, a prodigious building, worthy of the town, and sufficient to receive the dealers of all the portable articles needful for the population with their various wares. The Townhall for the convenience of public and musical meetings of the inhabitants of Birmingham is a noble structure, exhibiting a noble front from the causeway to the aeroterium of a total height of eighty-five feet. Birmingham possesses a General Hospital, a Dispensary, an Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, Public Libraries, a Philosophical Society, the members of which occasionally deliver lectures, and a Mechanics' Institution. The Birmingham Institution for the encouragement of the fine arts, has a chaste and elegant building, the two fronts of which are supported by ranges of bold projecting fluted columns. The principal recent improvements in this great town are on a large piece of ground, which lay unoccupied for many years except as a receptacle for scavengers' manure; but on account of its elevated and most eligible situation, it now contains an elegant church, a new post-office, and several new streets, with many of the most elegant public buildings, banks, &c.

THE TOWN-HALL, BIRMINGHAM.

POPULATION OF BIRMINGHAM.

Birmingham, about a century ago, had but a small population, somewhat less than 5000 inhabitants. In 1700, it had increased by the reception of the industrious nonconformists, and contained 2,504 houses. By the progress of trade it continued to increase, and in the middle of the last century it contained about 50,000 inhabitants. In 1811, the population was 85,753; in 1821, it was 106,722; and in 1831, it was 146,986; so that it cannot now contain less than 160,000 souls. The last annual valuation of its rental, which took place in 1826, was 239,4077.; and it is probably now not less than 300,000/. per annum.

STATE OF RELIGION IN BIRMINGHAM,

Birmingham exhibits in many parts much ungodliness; but it is probably not inferior to any large town in Great Britain for the spirit and power of religion. Some have supposed that we must except Glasgow; but certainly not Manchester nor Liverpool.

State of Religion in the Established Church in Birmingham.

Birmingham contained one parish with only one church (St. Martin's), until the reign of queen Anne, when the parish of St. Philip was constituted out of that of St. Martin's, by act of parliament in 1711. The church, which is of an embellished, but chaste and elegant style of architecture, stands in an open area, on an elevated site, by means of which it is seen to considerable advantage. The churchyard occupies four acres, and is planted with trees; so that altogether, this is one of the finest churchyards in the kingdom: the living is a rectory, and in the gift of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. Elegant and commodious as is this church, neither the present nor the former rector has been reputedly evangelical in doctrine, and of course not a supporter of the Bible Society or the Church Missionary Society.

St. Martin's, or the Old Church, has for its present rector the Rev. T. Moseley, for whom the living was purchased by the late T. Hawkes, Esq., of Piccadilly, London. This gentleman has occupied the living only a few years, but he is esteemed evangelical in doctrine, and consequently a supporter of those great institutions. The following is a list of the places of worship, several of them of very recent erection, belonging to the church of England in Birmingham.

1. St. Martin's Church, 2. St. Philip's, ditto.

3. Christ's, ditto.

4. St. George's, ditto.

5. St. Thomas's, ditto.

*6. St. Peter's, ditto.

7. St. Bartholomew's Chapel.

8. St. Mary's, ditto.

9. St. Paul's, ditto.

10. St. James's, ditto.

11. St. John's, ditto. 12. Trinity, ditto.

Religion is believed to flourish in several of these places of worship, especially under the faithful

*St. Peter's church was considerably injured about four years ago by fire, the damage amounted to about 10007, which, it is reported, the par s'ioners offered to pay on condition of some arrangement for the appointment of a popular curate; but the rector being unwilling to comply with their wishes, the church has remained unrepaired, and still being closed, appears a dishonour to the town.

OUR BELIEF IN GOD.

To believe in God on the Christian scheme, is not merely to believe in a first cause, or to believe in his existence, we must also believe in his attributes, his promises, his threatenings, his Son, his Word, his Spirit; to believe in those attributes especially which harmoniously meet in the glorious union of truth and mercy, the blessed combination of righteousness and peace in the person of his divine Son; those promises which are eternal life to as many as keep his commandments; those threatenings which say to the ungodly, "Depart from me, I never knew you;" that holiness without which no man shall ever see his face.

MY SCRAP BOOK. LEAF XCII.

"The Bee that wanders, and sips from every flower, disposes what she has gathered into her cells."-SENECA. ATTENDING THE THEATRE INCOMPATIBLE WITH CHRISTIANITY.

Continued from page 254.

HAVING in my last leaf quoted the well known predication of Aristotle, that, the design of tragedy was to purify the heart by pity and terror; and in juxtaposition with that predication, Mr. Addison's opinion of the adaptation of christian tragedy for that end; the reader cannot but have observed how the heathen has put the christian to the blush. An objector however may urge that, though Mr. Addison's censure of the tragedies of his time, might be perfectly just, it by no means follows that our present tragedies are open to the same condemnation; but on the contrary, that the stage has long since been greatly reformed. In reply to this objection, and to show to what extent this alleged reformation has been carried; I will adduce the testimony of an eminent author, to the moral tendency of the tragedies of our own times; and more especially as regards the very point in question, viz. The purification of the heart.

There is (says he) no doctrine of our blessed Saviour that more concerns all christians or is more essential to salvation than this: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Now, take the stage in its best state, when some admired tragedy is upon it; are the extravagant passions of distracted lovers, the impure ravings of inflamed heroes, the joys and torments of love, the refined descriptions of lusts, the indecent actions, the amorous transports, the wanton address of the actors, which make so great a part of the most sober and modest tragedies: are these things consistent with this christian doctrine of purity of heart? Verily, our pious author favours us with a beautiful picture of the stage in its present reformed state.

Christian lovers of the drama! I pray you behold how admirably these our most sober and modest tragedies!' harmonize with the exhortation of St. Paul, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may administer grace unto the hearers.' Eph. iv. 29. It has been said that 'The pleasures and diversions of people are certain means for judging of the state of their minds.' What then must be the state of our minds, if obscene speeches, if wanton gestures, if profane rant, if oaths, and curses, and blasphemies, instead of filling us with disgust and horror, can afford us amusement and delight!

The unprejudiced reader, I presume, will think enough has been advanced to prove that tragedy, so far from inculcating morality, has a directly, and a fearfully opposite tendency. And as the advocates of the Excellent school of morality' now under investigation, rest its pretensions to a beneficial influence, mainly upon its tragic exhibitions, it would be waste of time to discuss at any length, the moral tendency of its comic representations: but nevertheless, as there are to be found not a few defenders of the moral influence of even this branch of the drama, and whose subtleties may for a time deceive the thoughtless and inexperienced; I will for the benefit of such unwary persons, submit to their calm and serious consideration, the following illustrative anecdote.

Some years ago, upon my calling on a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted, and who was the

author of several successful dramatic pieces, he told me he had just returned from one of our three principal, or as they are technically termed, regular, metropolitan theatres, and that the following curious dialogue had passed between him and its manager. Manager. I sent for you Mr. to say that I intend to distribute the parts of your afterpiece to morrow; and next week I hope to put it into rehearsal, but in the meantime, as we are all of opinion that it wants life, I wish you would take back the manuscript and spice it a little.

Author. Spice it Sir! I don't understand you. Manager. What! You an old stager, and not know what I mean by spicing?

Author. It is even so Sir; I assure you I really am thus ignorant.

Manager. Pshaw! Sprinkle it here and there with a score or two d-ns to give it a zest, that's all. Author. Excuse me Sir. I am not at all au fait at such kind of spicing, and must therefore leave that to the taste of the performers.*

Having I trust satisfactorily disposed of two of the departments of our Excellent school of morality,' I come now to the third and last, viz.

Before the Curtain.

An attractive view of this department is exhibited in the number of the Antijacobin Review for June 1800. Behold it Englishmen and blush; not only for the religion, and for the morality of your country, but for your country itself. The front boxes (says the reviewer) are almost exclusively devoted to women of the town; the lobbies swarm with them; they occupy every part of the house, with the solitary exception of the side boxes and the first circle; the rooms intended for the purposes of refreshment, are like the show-rooms of a bagnio; and it is next to impossible for a virtuous woman to walk from her box to her carriage, without having her eyes offended, and her ears shocked, by the most indecent gestures, and the most obscene language. And in this most profligate exhibition, the young men are as bad, if not worse than the women. At a summer theatre, we have seen the performance absolutely stopped by the noise of these male and female prostitutes, and the front boxes rendered the scene of action fit only for a brothel.'

That this is a faithful, unexaggerated description of the frightful outrages upon common decency nightly witnessed within our English theatres, is too notorious to be denied. But what is still more horrible, they are not permitted only, they are absolutely sanctioned by the proprietors; and the spa. cious and splendid saloons are fitted up in a style of eastern magnificence, for the express accommodation of the vitious and debauched alone: no virtuous female dare (nor was it intended that she should) even for an instant, plant her foot within them.

*How true is the following observation of DR. WITHERSPOON. The stage is not only an improper method of instruction, but all, or the far greater number of pieces there represented, must have, upon the whole, a pernicious tendency. This is evident, because they must be to the taste and relish of the bulk of those who attend it. The difficulty of getting good authors for the theatre, I shall not insist upon; but whatever the authors are able or willing to do, it is certain that their productions in fact can rise no higher in point of purity, than the audience shall be willing to receive. Their attendance is not constrained, but voluntary; nay, they pay dearly for their entertainment: and therefore, they must, and will have it to their taste.' Works. Vol. I. p. 292.

Now, by the concurrent testimony of numerous tra vellers, it appears that, to the honour of all foreign nations, no such abominations are permitted to disgrace their theatres: in them, at least before the curtain,' the utmost decency and order are universally enforced. And is it England! proudly-vaunted, moral, religious, England! that thus exhibits her pre-eminence in infamy, by raising and munificently supporting costly temples of such revolting profli gacy, that every virtuous foreigner turns from them with disgust and abhorrence! Alas! such is, to her shame, the humiliating, the iniquitous truth. Am I not then justified in calling upon Englishmen to blush for England?

In corroboration of my assertion that these abominations are sanctioned by the proprietors and managers of our theatres, I cite from the pages of the excellent author whom I have already quoted, the following awful fact.

The theatre, in every age of its history (he truly says) has been the resort of the licentious and profane. Some may attend this amusement for the purpose of intellectual gratification, to pronounce on the merits of the performers, or to dispose fashionably of an idle hour; but the majority, it is to be feared, is attracted by other and less harmless motives. As one evidence of the correctness of this statement, reference has been made to a committee report of one of the royal theatres, from which it appears, of a certain character from the house, in compliance that when a proposition was made to exclude females with the wishes of many persons, who on account of such admissions were compelled to withdraw their sanction; THE MEASURE WAS OVERRULED, UNDER THE CONVICTION THAT, IF ADOPTED, THE INSTITUTION COULD NOT BE SUPPORTED !*

Here then, is the open, unblushing avowal of a committee of management of one of our boasted chief † 'schools of morality,' that, without the powerful co-operation of troops of harlots and their abandoned paramours, their establishment would fall to ruin. But, when we call to our recollection, that among the most active and zealous members of this very committee, were included several distinguished senators of both our houses of parliament; then, does this shameless avowal assume a still deeper shade of turpitude. 'Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation us this ?' Jer, v. 9.

To be continued.

S. J. B

REFLECTIONS ON OLD AGE,

Suggested by an Alpine Female, Aged 117 Years. AT Laus-le-Bourg where we reached the foot of that "Giant of the Alps," Mont Lims, we had the visit from an antiquated dame without any other introduction than that which she assumes on the strength of her patriarchal length of years, of these she had reckoned 117, and if I might judge from appearance, she did not seem at all disinclined to add eighty-three to those she had numbered, and fill up two centuries of life. She did not seem to be at all weary of existence, or disposed to agree in the sentiment that such unusually protracted life is but "protracted sorrow and still added woe." In the number of her progeny she was no less patriarchal than in her length of years, for she had seventeen daughters,

Fashionable Amusements, p. 32. + The Theatre Royal, Drury-lane.

one of whom became a bride at the mature age of sixty-six, and afterwards entered the state of matrimony twice again.

When this aged individual had departed, I could not help reflecting how singular it is that those whose existence is one varied monotonous course, are frequently found to be less weary of life than those who possess, or seem to possess, all that renders life desirable. Yet the impatience of the latter under the abated enjoyment, if not absolute privations which lengthened years bring along with them, may be ascribed in some measure to the very advantages they possess. The external means continue the same, but the power of enjoyment itself is fled. They have partaken of the banquet of existence "not wisely but too well"-partaken of it to satiety -yet are unwilling or afraid to retire. They have lived in the world, and for the world, till that world rejects them: other competitors for distinction more active than themselves press by them: other interests have sprung up along with other generations; and although they may not be rudely excluded from the scenes of their former vanities and gaieties, they feel that they can shine there no longer. The earlier part of their career having been one of continual and undue excitement, what should be tranquillity in after life assumes for them the character of joyless apathy, or a state of mingled regret and envy. They are craving for fresh stimuli, when they should be content with ease. Truly wretched is the old age of a mere man of the world, of one whose pursuits whose whole thought and aspirations, have been given to the present life and its fugitive enjoyments! -Records of a Route through France and Italy, with Sketches of Catholicism, by W. Rae Wilson, F.S.A., M.A.R.

THE CHRISTIAN MASTER'S AND SERVANT'S PATTERN.

Boaz, an opulent farmer of Bethlehem Juda, was a person of high character in his day, and makes a conspicuous figure in the book of God. In the time of harvest, Boaz went into the field to see his reapers. When he came among those his men who bore the burden and heat of the day, he saluted them in a manner that did hononr to him as a religious master, who knew what the presence of God was, and valued his hope of an heavenly inheritance above all that this world could give. He said to his servants, "The Lord be with you;" which was as if he had said, "Brethren, I am thankful to our God, for placing me in a situation above such labour as you now bend under; as the season is hot and the harvest heavy, and requires great exertion, I pray the God of Israel to support and strengthen you under your toil, preserve you and yours from dangers and diseases, and cheer your hearts with believing views of your relation to him, and of your interest in that eternal rest which remains in the heavens for the people of God."

The pious reapers, as if the good wishes of their religious master were instantly heard and answered by heaven, returned immediately a most grateful and becoming answer, by saying, "The Lord bless thee." As if they had said, "Sir, the harvest indeed is heavy and the day warm: God has returned you many fold this year, for your vallies stand thick with corn. He has also distinguished you by placing you above this toil and labour. But you feel so much for us, and have so many good means of easing us, and rendering our necessary burdens light as possible, that we take pleasure in serving you; and

instead of repining at your abundance, we pray our God to give you a thousand-fold more in this life, and in the Canaan above eternal life. May you and yours be happy for evermore.'

This is religious superiority and subordination. This is the state that will make happy all who are in it. How unlike this is the almost general practice of both masters and servants! On the master's side we see haughty and profane rigour; on the servant's side, hatred, envy, cursing, and reviling. Boasted reason and human philosophy will never make these things better; nothing but religion will banish proud oppression; nothing but religion will cause masters and servants to be happy in and pray for each other.

It is religion alone that posseses that great secret of impressing the mind with a due sense of the equality of all men before God; and gives the mutual feeling, that we are all brethren; and yet enforces and supports a proper subordination among men; such as kings and subjects, masters and servants. It is religion alone that makes men as happy in being governed, as they who govern, by disposing the hearts that are under its influence, to act with propriety, and in the fear of God, in every station of life. P.

AN AWFUL WARNING TO RICH
OPPRESSORS.

In the year 1762, happened in France an extraordinary instance of avarice and peculation. Mr. Foscue, one of the farmers general of the province of Languedoc; who had amassed an immense fortune, by grinding the faces of the poor within his province, and by every other means, however low, base, and cruel, that could tend to increase his ill-gotten store; was one day ordered by the government to advance a considerable sum; upon which, as an excuse for not complying, he pleaded extreme poverty: but fearing lest some of the inhabitants of Languedoc, among whom he was extremely unpopular, should give information to the contrary, and his house should be searched, he resolved on hiding his treasure in such a manner as to escape the strictest examination. He dug in his wine cellar a kind of cave, which he made so large and deep that he used to go down to it with a ladder, and at the entrance was a door with a spring-lock on it, which, on shutting, would fasten of itself. Soon after this, Mr. Foscue disappeared; diligent search was made for him in every place, the ponds were dragged, and every method which human imagination could suggest, was taken for finding him, but all to no purpose. In a few months the house was sold, and the purchaser beginning either to rebuild or repair it, the workman discovered a door in the cellar, with a key in the lock, which the owner ordered to be opened, and on going down, they found Mr. Foscue lying dead on the ground, with a candlestick near him, but no candle in it; and on searching further, they discovered the vast wealth he had amassed. It is supposed that when Mr. Foscue went into his cave, the door, by some accident, shut after him; and being out of the call of any person, he perished from want of food. He had entirely consumed the candle, and even gnawed the flesh off both his arms, for subsistence.

Such was the wretched, and not altogether unmerited death of this miser and oppressor; who died in the midst of the immense treasure he had collected, and which he neither enjoyed himself, nor would bestow on others.-Rider's History of England, vol. xlix., p. 103.

P.