of Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, and the insurgent barons, in the reign of Henry III., as from its having been the abode of Elizabeth's favourite, Robert Dudley, and the scene of the festivities and events connected with her visit to him described in the romance of Sir Walter Scott, to which it has given its name. The keep, called Caesar's Tower, the most ancient portion of the castle, has walls in some places 16 ft. in thickness. The large banquetting-hall, 86 by 45 ft., built by John of Gaunt, may still be traced. The buildings of Leicester, although the most recent, are in the most dilapidated condition, through the bad quality of the stone, with the exception of the Gatehouse, which has been kept in habitable condition.

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COVENTRY (Hotel King's Head) is only 12 minutes by railway from Kenilworth. It is 9 miles from Leamington and 23 from Birmingham. This town was formerly the great seat of the ribbon manufacture, which has much fallen off of late years, since the alteration of the duties on foreign silks in 1861. Watch, fringe, and trimming making, with the above, now afford employment to a great part of the population. It has two ancient churches, of which the finest is St Michael's, with a beautiful tower and spire, 303 ft. in height, and some good modern stained-glass windows, in memory of the late Queen Adelaide, and another commemorative of E. Ellice, formerly representative of the city in Parliament. St Mary's Hall is the Guild Hall, in the Gothic of Henry VI.'s time, of very considerable dimensions, with a fine carved timber roof. Below the north window is a piece of tapestry, 36 ft. long and 10 ft. high, containing eighty

heads, and representing Henry VI., Queen Margaret, Cardinal Beaufort, Humphry Duke of Gloucester, and the principal court personages of the time. It has an oriel window, with some stained glass; and there are some suits of armour.

There are some popular proverbs connected with this place; one, "true as a Coventry blue,' based upon the stability of a blue dye, for which it was once celebrated; the other, in "sending to Coventry" all persons with whom further conversational intercourse is declined. The latter expression may probably owe its origin to Shakespeare, as he makes the renowned knight Falstaff say, in reference to his tatterdemalion troop of recruits, "I'll not march through Coventry with 'em, that's flat; a person "sent to Coventry," therefore, is one with whom the speaker would not be seen to associate.

The place which Coventry holds in the popular mind is mainly due to the legend of Lady Godiva, the wife of one of its early lords, Leofric, a Saxon Earl of Mercia, in memory of whom, within the present century, an annual pageant, which has now become an occasional one, was kept up. The inhabitants, much oppressed by his feudal exactions, applied to his lady, Godiva, for intercession on their behalf. Thinking to evade compliance with his wife's request, whilst professing willingness to grant it, he offered to remit the tolls and customs of the town of Coventry, on the condition that she should, on a certain day, ride through it in a state of perfect nudity. She accepted the condition, and fulfilled it (commanding all persons to keep within their houses, and to refrain from looking upon her), by riding through the town, veiled only by her long hair. One individ

ual only, who is said to have been a tailor, and who lives in legend as "Peeping Tom," having ventured to transgress the command, is declared to have been struck blind on the spot, and a grotesque figure, representing him peeping through a hole in a wall, is still preserved. On the occasion of the pageant's taking place, a very lightly-clad female is still the leading character. From Coventry, 18 miles, and 23 miles from Leamington, is the flourish ing town of

BIRMINGHAM.

(For particulars of direct trains from London to Birmingham, see page 42, ante.) (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST.")

This place, like Sheffield, was early known for the excellence of its manufactures. During the Civil War it must have been a place for the manufacture of arms, as we read that whilst it supplied swords to the parliament it refused them to the king. Although since playing a leading part in the furtherance of all the great questions which have occupied the attention of the statesmen of the age, having long been represented by John Bright, who may be taken as a typical exponent of its school of politics, it has only attained the dignity of a municipal and parliamentary borough since the Reform Bill. It is the centre of what is known as the "Hardware" district, in which numberless towns have sprung up through the contiguity of the Staffordshire coalfield, and have become celebrated for metal manufactures of various kinds, but of which Birmingham still remains the emporium. It was called by Burke "the toy-shop of Europe." For guns, steel pens, buttons, and other manufactures, no town in the world can be named in competition with it. To the man of business these are sufficiently well known, and to the

tourist their enumeration would be simply tedious; suffice it to say, that anything into the composition of which metal largely enters may be obtained here. Gas was first successfully used here by Boulton and Watt, whose names are so honourably known in connection with the perfection of the steam engine. The old church has been so overlaid by modern additions that none of its original characters are recognizable, although it contains some old monuments. The principal modern buildings are the Grammar School, the market, and the Town-hall. In the latter is one of the most powerful organs in England, and the Birmingham Musical Festival held here has long held a conspicuous place amongst periodical entertainments of the kind. The organ

is 45 ft. high and 40 ft. wide, has 4000 pipes (the longest 35 ft. in length), 4 sets of keys, and nearly 80 stops.

The Grammar School is one of the most important foundations here, having a revenue of £10,000 per annum, and 10 Exhibitions at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There are about 450 scholars. Queen's College, founded in 1843, by charter, is a school of medicine, theology, and law. The Roman Catholic College is a handsome building designed by Pugin. The Birmingham and Midland Counties Institute, near the Town-hall, founded in 1855, contains a museum, lecture, news, and class rooms.

(In addition to its railways, Birmingham has canal communication with Liverpool, Hull, London, and Gloucester. It now returns three members to parliament.)

EAVING London from the King's Cross Station, we reach Hatfield (17 miles). On the right we see Hatfield House, the splendid residence of the Marquis of Salisbury. It was once the property of James I., who gave it to an ancestor of the Marquis in exchange for another estate in the same county (Herts) called Theobalds. On the left we observe Brocket Hall, the seat of the late Lord Palmerston, and a short distance further, Knebworth Park, where the great novelist, Lord Lytton, resided. On the right, near Stevenage (28 miles), we see Panshanger Park, the seat of Earl Cowper. The pleasure grounds and picture gallery are shown to visitors. We next arrive at Hitchin (32 miles), where branches go, on the right to Cambridge, and on the left to Bedford and Leicester. Passing Huntingdon (561 miles), the next place of any importance at which we stop is PETERBOROUGH (761 miles), (Hotels: Great Northern, Crown). The only object to delay the tourist here is the Cathe dral, which is of large size and of exceedingly massive structure, the body of the building being Norman, enriched with a magnificent western front in the early English style. Most of the monuments and shrines were destroyed by the Puritans under Cromwell,

and the church generally suffered, but there are still some of interest. Katherine of Arragon, the first Queen of Henry VIII., was buried here; and for a time, before her removal to Westminster Abbey, the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots.

There is a painting upon the wall near the western entrance, of Robert Scarlet, the sexton who buried both the above queens, and a quaint old epitaph commemorative of the circumstance. He died aged 98.

Passing sundry places of no interest, we reach GRANTHAM (105 miles), (Hotel: Angel). A Parliamentary borough, said to have been founded in the fourth century. Money is said to have been coined here by King Canute. Its principal trade is in corn, for which there are two Exchanges. Sir Isaac Newton was a native of Woolsthorpe, in this neighbourhood, and received some education in Grantham Grammar School. It has a handsome Parish Church, of the thirteenth century, with a lofty and elegant spire, and is connected with the Trent by a canal 30 miles long.

Belvoir Castle, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Rutland, containing one of the best collections of pictures in the kingdom, is about 5 miles from Grantham. The next place of any importance is NEWARK-ON-TRENT (120 miles) (Hotels: Saracen's Head, Clinton Arms), a Parliamentary borough. The castle of this place has been famous in history. Built by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, in the twelfth century, it was taken from him for rebellion, and held by the crown. When besieged by the Barons, in the reign of John, he came to its relief, and died here in 1216. It sustained three several sieges in Charles's interest, in the civil war,

and was only surrendered by his command to the Scottish army, after which it was dismantled. The parish Church is very large and elegant, in a great part rebuilt during the reigns of Henries VI. and VII., but still preserving some traces of its previous Norman character. It contains some brasses and other ancient monuments. The town has a very largecorn-market, inwhich article, and in malt, its trade chiefly consists. The branch of the Trent on which the town stands, is navigable for barges.

[From Newark a branch goes westward to LINCOLN (15 miles). (Hotels: Great Northern, Saracen's Head). This ancient city was a Roman station, and a place of great strength at the time of the Conquest. The Cathedral, standing upon a hill, can be seen from a distance of many miles, and is one of the finest in England. It was founded originally in the reign of William Rufus, and rebuilt by Henry II. There is a Roman pavement in the cloisters. Amongst the monuments, are those of Catherine, wife of John of Gaunt, and Joan, Countess of Westmoreland, their daughter. There is a ruined Castle here, built by William Rufus. Amongst other points of attraction are the Chapter House, the ruins of John of Gaunt's Palace, and Newport Gate; this last a fine specimen of ancient Roman architecture. In one of the public libraries is preserved a very ancient copy of Magna Charta.]

We presently reach RETFORD (138 miles). The point where the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line unites with the Great Northern. Retford is an ancient town, but has no attraction whatever to delay the tourist. It has a trade in corn, hops, and cheese. Large fairs for the sale of horses, cattle, sheep,

&c., are held here at stated periods.

[From Retford, by the railway above-mentioned, we may visit SHEFFIELD (24 miles), (Hotels: Victoria, Royal).

This important town became a Parliamentary borough under the Reform Act of 1832, but only received its charter as a municipality in 1843. It had acquired a reputation for iron manufactures at the close of the thirteenth century, especially for faulchion heads, arrow piles, and the kind of knives called whittles. Its leading branches of industry were permanently settled here before the invention of steam, to which it owes their great perfection and extension. It has long been known for its manufactures of cutlery of all kinds, white metal, plated, and especially electroplated goods. Every kind of artificer's implement is made here upon the largest scale, however minute or ponderous. It is here that the rolled armour-plating for war-ships, now so indispensable in naval architecture, is principally made; the works of two firms alone covering more than 40 acres, and employing several thousand men. It is impossible to enumerate here the various kinds of metal manufactures and industries in which Sheffield is pre-eminent. All its public buildings are modern. James Montgomery, the poet, and Ebenezer Elliott, the

Corn-law Rhymer," were inhabitants of the town, and have public monuments erected to their memory.]

Resuming our journey at Retford, we shortly arrive at

DONCASTER (156 miles), (Hotel: Angel).

The town is pleasantly situated, and is famous for its races, held the third week in September, the "St Leger" being one of the greatest races of the year, and