a third part of Launt, and a part of the village of Diseworth, An act was obtained in 1759, for inclosing the open and common fields of this manor, amounting to 1336 acres, and Harry, Earl of Stamford, is described as lord of the manor, patron of the vicarage, and proprietor of the principal lands. The manor is still belonging to the Earl of Stamford, who is also proprietor of the valuable and extensive lime-works here. “Whoever,” observes Dr. Darwin*, "will inspect with the eye of a philosopher, the Limemountain at Bredon, on the edge of Leicestershire, will not hesitate a moment in pronouncing that it has been forcibly elevated by some power beneath it; for it is of a conical form, with the apex cut off; and the strata, which compose the central parts of it, and which are found nearly horizontal in the plain, are raised almost perpendicularly, and placed upon their edges, while those on each side decline like the surface of the bill; so that this mountain may well be represented by a bur made by forcing a bodkin through several parallel sheets of paper." The lime produced from this rock is of a singular quality, and is occasionally used as manure on the adjoining lands, to the amount of five or six quarters per acre. If more than this quantity be laid on, the farmers consider that it will poison the land. Here are six or seven kilns generally kept burning, and the quarries are between thirty and forty feet high, each presenting a cliff of heterogeneous rock, whence the stone is obtained by blasting. This stone is very brittle, and when broken, is laid on the kilns, in layers of about half a yard thick, between each of which layers is another of coals, five or six inches thick. The latter are obtained in abundance within three miles of the kilns, and very strong fires are constantly kept up. Each kiln burns, on an average, four loads a day. At Bredon was formerly a Priory, or rather a Cell, of Augustine Canons, subordinate to the priory of St. Oswald, at Nostell, in Yorkshire. The present church belonged to the cell, till the dissolution, * Philosophical Transactions, Vol. LXXV. p. 4. solution, when it was sold by Henry VIII. to Francis Shirley, Esq. as a burial-place for himself and his successors. This gentleman afterwards granted it to the parishioners. The porch is decorated with several small fragments of ancient sculpture, probably taken from the older church; and within the building are some fine monuments to the Shirley family. STAUNTON-HAROLD, an extensive lordship, is the seat of the Shirley family, and is now occupied by Robert Shirley, Earl Ferrers. The name of this place is evidently derived from the natural character of the spot-Stone-ton, or town, and the adjunct of Harold from the name of an ancient lord. After the Norman conquest, Staunton was given to Henry de Ferrariis; and caine into the Shirley family by the marriage of Margaret, sole heir of John and Joan de Staunton, with Ralph Shirley, Esq. in the year 1423. This family, says Burton, is of great antiquity, and descends from "an ancient Saxon line, long before the conquest." "Of the opulence and dignity, as well as the antiquity of this noble family, a copious account may be seen in three distinct MS histories preserved in the British Museum *." The mansion-house at Staunton-Harold is a large pile, composed of brick and stone. Its south-eastern, or principal front, is ornamented with pilasters and Doric columns in the centre, surmounted with a pediment. The interior of this mansion is spacious, and many of the rooms are decorated with pictures, &c. In the library, seventy-two feet by eighteen, is a splendid and copious pedigree of the Shirley family; also the complete Works of Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, in sixteen quarto volumes. Here is also a curious old bugle-horn, formed from an elephant's tooth, and adorned with representations of various field sports. Of the Bb3 pictures * Nichols's History, Vol. III. p. 11. p. 704, where are extracts from, and descriptions of, these MSS.; also an account of the chief persons of the family, with portraits of Sir Robert Shirley, Baronet, who died 1656; and a full length portrait of another Sir Robert Shirley, the celebrated traveller in Persia, from a picture at Petworth. pictures only a few can be particularized. PORTRAITS—Sir Robert Shirley, by Vandyck; and his Lady, by Lely; a small full length of King Charles the Second, in his robes, very highly finished; six Ladies, commonly called King Charles's Beauties, by Sir Peter Lely. These last seven portraits were given by that monarch to Robert Earl Ferrers. In the dining-parlour is one of Wright's best pictures, called the Lecture on the Orrery, in which, among several portraits, is that of Mr. Burdett, who surveyed and published a map of Derbyshire, and was afterwards made chief engineer to the Prince of Baden. Dead Game, &c. by old Weenix; and a landscape, with figures, ruins, &c. by Wynants, in his best manner. A large picture of the Crucifixion, by Carracci. The Last Judgment, by Rubens, a fine and highly-valued picture; two landscapes, by Berghem; and two others, with an encampment and a battle-piece by Wouvermans. A landscape, representing the effect of a storm, by N. Poussin. The house stands in a fine park of one hundred and fifty acres, in which is a large lake, that covers about thirty acres, and is adorned with a handsome stone bridge. Adjoining the house is the church, or chapel, consisting of a nave, ailes, chancel, and tower. Withinside are some monuments and long inscriptions, commemorative of the names, titles, and characters of several persons of the Shirley family interred here. COLE-ORTON, anciently written Ovretone, is a large parish, distinguished for its collieries, and whence it appears to have derived the corrupted addition of Cole, or Coal. The country is high, and commands very extensive views every way. Orton consists of two townships, called Over-town, or Cole Orton Saucy; and Nether-town, or Overton-Quatermarsh. This place has been noted for its coal-mines for many ages; and in the reign of Henry the Eighth these "did burn for many years together, and could not be quenched until that sulphurous and brimstony matter (whereupon it wrought) was utterly exhausted and consumed." In this village is an hospital and school, united in one building, and erected at the expence of the Right Honourable " Thomas Lord Viscount Beaumont of this place." Some steam engines have been erected here, to drain the mines, and pull up the coals. This village is stated to have contained, in 1800, 237 houses, and 1069 inhabitants. Sir George Beaumont, Bart. is now building an elegant mansion here. DISHLEY is a small village, rendered important in the agricultural annals of the county and kingdom, from the successful experiments and practices of the late Mr. Bakewell, who was a native of this place, and who gave dignity and a scientific character to the pursuits of the grazier and farmer which were never known or acknowledged before his time. As the history and interest of the place have arisen from this man, and as his professional practices were at once laudable, exemplary, and praiseworthy, a few particulars of his life cannot be deemed either irrelevant or uninstructive. ROBERT BAKEWELL was born here in 1726, and having inbibed a partiality, when a youth, for the pursuits of his father, was entrusted, by that respectable yeoman, with the sole management of his farm at an early stage of life, when the generality of young men in his station are almost wholly employed in the rude and boisterous sports of the field, and the less innocent pastimes of a country village or town. It may be remarked, that whenever a man of genius becomes partial to a profession, and is enabled to pursue it without any accidental or unfortunate obstructions, he will not only acquire fame to himself, but confer dignity and interest on the object of his studies. The active and enterprising mind will certainly elicit some sparks of light, and if these be kindled by fortunate coincidencies, science will be improved, and the nation benefitted. Among all the various and numerous pursuits of man, that of agriculture is certainly the most useful; for the necessaries of life are of the first importance-its luxuries and pleasures but a secondary consideration. He, therefore, who augments the former, and causes them to be rendered better and cheaper, may fairly be ranked with the greatest philanthropists and patriots. It has been repeatedly and justly remarked, that there is no class of men, above the very vulgar, more obstinately attached to old systems and inveterate prejudices than the husbandmen and farmers of this country. Among these, therefore, useful novelty and innovation became more extraordinary and praiseworthy. Before the establishment of the London Agricultural Society, scarcely any experiments in the science of agriculture had been made, or, if made, were never publicly promulgated. That society stimulated enquiry, excited competition, and ultimately provoked improvements. Other smaller societies have progressively sprung up in different parts of the country, and all have jointly co-operated in disseminating useful knowledge. The common-place complaint of reprobating these, as tending to enhance the prices of the necessaries of life, and produce superfluity of fat in animals, is scarcely entitled to serious refutation, as dogmatic and illiterate assertions are unworthy of argument. It may be confidently said, that no individual has effected so much towards the removal of prejudices from, and establishment of enlightened practices in, his profession as Mr. Bakewell. His maxims were founded on the best principles of philosophy, and he fortunately exemplified those maxims in most of his experiments and practices. His grand principle, in stock-breeding, was that " like will produce its like;" or, that well made, finely proportioned, and thriving animals, will produce others of similar qualities. He also contended and proved, that cattle and sheep, when in good condition, did not devour so much food, or cost so much for keep, as poor and starving animals. The form of these was also a point of consequence in his estimation; and he always chose those with bodies shaped something like a barrel i. e. round, large in the middle, and tapering towards both ends. Their bones and heads were to be very small, and their legs short; as flesh is more profitable and useful than offal or bone. A few particulars relative to the life of Mr. Bakewell, and of his practices at Dishley, will serve to illustrate these remarks. The instructive conversation of his father, combining with the senti ments |