HISTORY OF NEWCASTLE-CASTLE AND TOWN
WALLS-CHURCHES-LITERARY SOCIETIES.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, which within the memory of man was not undeservedly called "the Coal-hole of the North," has within the present century become one of the most beautiful towns of England, rivalling the metropolis itself in its architectural decorations. Its situation on the crest of the eminences on the north side of the Tyne, pointed it out to the Romans as a desirable military post; and they occupied it to protect the Ælian bridge, and defend the flank of the wall erected to repel the invasions of the Picts and Scots. The modern bridge over the Tyne occupies the place of the Roman structure, and the termination of the Roman line of fortifications is still called Wall's End, a name sufficiently familiar to the citizens of London, who procure their best coals from a colliery in its vicinity. After the Saxon invasion, Newcastle became one of the chief seats of the kings of Northumberland, who adorned it with so many monastic institutions that it received the name of Monkchester. When the Danes invaded England, a great body of them settled on the banks of the Tyne, and made Northumberland a principality enjoying a qualified independence. The Anglo-Danes were a more warlike people than the Saxons: they continued their resistance to William the Conqueror after the rest of England had submitted; but being defeated on Gateshead Fell, the cruel Norman levelled Monkchester with the ground. In the course of the Conqueror's subsequent wars with Scotland, the importance of having a fortress to protect the passage of the Tyne became apparent, and a new castle was erected by Robert Curthose, the Conqueror's eldest son, on the height which commands the bridge, and VOL. XIII.

from this structure, which still exists, the town derives its present name. During the wars between the English and Scotch many sanguinary battles were fought in the vicinity of Newcastle, and it is plausibly conjectured that many of the pestilences which wasted the town during this period were caused by the heaps of slain left unburied, or but partially buried, after these ruinous combats. But it is not necessary to dwell upon these almost forgotten struggles; and we turn with pleasure to a much more important and interesting subject, the origin of the coal-trade, to which Newcastle owes its wealth and celebrity.

The first notice on the subject is found in a charter of Henry III., which grants permission to the burgesses of Newcastle to work the coal-mines in their neighbourhood. So eagerly did they avail themselves of this grant, that in 1306 the parliament complained to the king that the atmosphere of London was dangerously infected by the burning of northern coals, and begged that the use of this fuel should be restrained; and in 1325 coals were exported from Newcastle to France.

During the long struggle between Charles I. and his parliament, the citizens of Newcastle were distinguished by their fidelity to the royal cause; and when the unfortunate monarch had surrendered to the Scotch, and was brought a prisoner into the town, they received him with all the usual honours of royalty, and showed much sympathy for his sufferings. One anecdote of the fallen monarch, during his captivity at Newcastle, deserves to be recorded. In order to conciliate the Scotch, Charles was constant in his attendance at Presbyterian places of worship, although the Scotch preachers virulently assailed him from the pulpit, and ascribed his misfortunes to the vengeance of heaven. One minister, after a sermon

412

tish version begins

Why dost thou, tyrant, boast abroad,

Thy wicked works to praise ?

destruction of the memorials of antiquity, especially when their removal is not demanded by imperative necessity. The removal of Westgate in 1811 was not, we think, required by public convenience; we

fifty-sixth psalm

Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray,

For man would me devour.

The congregation, in defiance of the tyranny then exercised by the presbyterian clergy, showed greater deference for fallen royalty than for the minister, by singing the psalm for which the king had called.

At the time of the Revolution the people of Newcastle were conspicuous for their zeal to establish a protestant government. They hurled into the river a beautiful statue of James II. in copper, which had had been erected in front of their Excnange; and when it was subsequently taken up, they used the metal to cast bells for the churches, as we find by the following curious entry in the books of the corporation:-"Ordered, that All Saints have the metal belonging to the horse of the said statue, except a leg thereof, which must go towards the new casting of a bell for St. Andrew's parish." Ever since that time the burgesses of Newcastle have been zealous adherents to the Hanoverian succession, and have embraced every opportunity of proving their loyalty. Turning from the history of Newcastle to a description of its present condition, the most remarkable characteristic that we observe is the mixture of ancient and modern styles; all the features of an old feudal garrison existing amidst the bustle of commerce, the most sumptuous modern edifices, and a forest of masts from every quarter of the globe. This is peculiarly remarkable in the vicinity of the Castle, which, though frequently altered and repaired, has not lost much of its original character as a border fortress. Its chapel especially is an exquisite specimen of the rich and beautiful style of architecture adopted by the Normans in their ecclesiastical edifices, and there is no difficulty in tracing

The battled towers, the donjon keep,

The loophole grates where captives weep, The flanking walls that round it sweep. These outer walls were of great strength, and enclosed an area of three acres and one rood. The grand entrance was through the Black Gate, which was an outwork of considerable strength, defended by two portcullises, two drawbridges, and two barbicans, or flanking towers. Its remains are so surrounded by masses of houses huddled together without system or design, and by no means remarkable for their cleanliness, that it is difficult to determine its dimensions. There were three other entrances through posterns; the southmost of which led to the Castle Stairs, an immense flight of steps leading from the top of the hill to the river, with houses at each side, nearly all of which are tenanted by cobblers, so that the visiter can scarcely divest himself of the notion that he is ascending or descending a pyramid of old shoes.

The town-walls were twelve feet high on the inside, and eight feet thick; their extent from end to end was about two miles and one-eighth; they were defended by embattled gates and bastion towers, which, united to the natural fortifications of the Ouseburn glen and Pandon Burn ravine, rendered Newcastle one of the strongest places in England. Since 1745, the last time that they were put into a state of defence, great masses of the fortification have been removed, either to open commercial thoroughfares, or to make room for new edifices. However we may be pleased with

cence of Roger de Thornton had been spared. It is said that he rebuilt and beautified this gate to commemorate the time when he entered the town in a state of great indigence, as the rhyming tradition states,At the West gate came Thornton in With a hap, a ha'penny, and a lamb-skyn. The more recent removal of Newgate in 1822 was opposed by many of the inhabitants, who appealed in vain to the council for its preservation, but since that time the people of Newcastle have become chary of their remaining antiquities, and anxious to preserve all existing memorials of the time when their town was the great fortress of the North.

Among the ancient edifices of Newcastle, the church of St. Nicholas is most conspicuous; the original structure, erected by Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, A.D. 1091, was destroyed by fire A.D. 1216, and the present building was not completed until A.D. 1359, since which it has received frequent and extensive repairs, not always in the best taste. The steeple of this church is one of the most singular creations of Gothic architecture; from the base of the four pinnacles on the top of the tower spring two lofty arches which intersect each other, and bear on their vertex a light square lantern, decorated with pinnacles similar to those of the tower. From the top of the lantern a tapering pyramidal spire rises tipped with a light vane, which gracefully harmonizes with the surrounding pinnacles. No description can convey an adequate idea of its effect, and accordingly Ben Jonson amused himself by describing it in the following enigma, which has been preserved traditionally, and is therefore pobably corrupted:

My altitude high, my body four-square,

My feet in the grave, my head in the air,

In my sides are my eyes, I've five tongues of my own, Thirteen heads on my body, and all of hewn stone; I can direct you where the wind it doth stray, And I tune God's precepts through twice in the day; I am seen where I am not and heard where I is not, Tell me now what I am, and see that you miss not. St. Andrew's Church is said to have been erected by David, king of Scotland, who occupied Newcastle from 1135 to 1153: it suffered considerable damage in the siege of 1644. This church, and those of St. John's and All Saints, have been so modernized, that they have quite lost their original character.

Passing over the episcopal chapels and those belonging to various classes of dissenters, we shall now direct attention to the edifices built for secular purposes, and first notice the Guildhall, or Exchange. This edifice is situated in the lower and old part of the town, on the Sand-hill, near the south entrance of the town by Tynebridge. The houses in the neighbourhood are interesting and picturesque specimens of the old English style of architecture, but they are in many cases crowded together and pierced by lanes and passages, dark, dirty, and inconvenient. The original edifice was erected by Robert Trollop, an eminent architect. He lies buried in Gateshead churchyard, on the opposite side of the river, and the following quaint epitaph alludes to his building the Guildhall and Exchange:

Here lies Robert Trollop,
Who made yon stones roll up;
When death took his soul up,
His body filled this hole up.

See Saturday Magazine, Vol. III., p. 41.

Trollop added to these buildings á picturesque tower
or steeple, said to have been very beautiful; but it
was removed at the close of the last century, and its
place supplied by an unmeaning front of plain ma-
sonry. The old tower obtained some notoriety from
the circumstance of a pair of crows having built
their nest on the weathercock in March, 1783. The
nest was attached with great ingenuity to the hollow
tube on which the vane was then fixed, and the nest
was therefore turned round with every change of the
wind;
for several years the same crows built their
nest and reared their young ones in this singular
position.

The Mansion House is not far distant from the Exchange; it was rebuilt in 1691 at a cost of 6000l., and was fitted up very sumptuously; its wainscots and staircase of carved oak are particularly worthy of notice. After the Municipal Reform Act, the new town council came to a resolution not to continue the establishment; the furniture was sold by auction, and the mansion itself let as a lumber warehouse. Fortunately the present tenant takes all possible care of the carvings and decorations, but he cannot prevent the accidents resulting from the passing and repassing of labourers with heavy loads, and unless the staircase and wainscots be speedily removed, their destruction is inevitable.

Newcastle being a county in itself, it has courthouses of its own in the Town Hall; but the courthouses for the county of Northumberland are erected on the Castle Hill, at a very inconvenient distance from the Town Hall; the nearest communication between them being up an almost precipitous ascent. The county courts are very convenient and elegant, but as they are within the precincts of the old castle, the access to them is very unpleasant. It has been proposed to erect both town and county courts in one building in the new part of the town, and it is to be wished that this useful improvement may encounter no obstacle from local interests or prejudices. The Library of the Literary and Philosophical Society, stands near the junction of Westgate-street and Collingwood-street. No provincial town in Britain, and perhaps not even the capital itself, possesses an institution better managed, and in every way more creditable to its founders and supporters, than the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle. It was founded in the year 1793, principally by the exertions of the Rev. William Turner, who still survives to witness its beneficial effects. The street front gives a very inadequate notion of the extent of the accommodations within. The principal entrance is from Westgate-street. The ground-floor contains a law library, a medical library, a spacious lecture-room, capable of accommodating five hundred persons, and an apparatus-room containing an extensive selection of chemical, electrical, optical, and mechanical instruments, for the use of lecturers and the members generally. The separation of the professional from the general library is a very great advantage; it is obviously capable of further extension, and we believe it is contemplated to add both military and naval libraries, amply provided with plans, maps, charts, &c. A handsome double staircase, ornamented with casts from the Elgin and other marbles, leads to the principal floor of the building. The library is eighty feet in length, by forty in breadth, and is forty feet high; it contains nearly fourteen thousand volumes. The books are allowed to circulate among the members, who may, if they choose, take out all the volumes of any work at the same time. The council, with very creditable liberality, affords additional facilities to persons engaged

in preparing works for the press, such as permitting them to have several sets of books at a time, and to retain them for a longer period than ordinary readers. In the library are two noble pieces of statuary, the work of a native artist named Lough, who worked as a stone-mason at the building of the library, but who has since carried a very high reputation by his works as a sculptor. It contains, also, the busts and portraits of several eminent persons, mostly natives of Newcastle.

The rooms of the Natural History Society adjoin the library, and comprise a Museum of Natural History, a Geological Museum, the meeting-room of the Antiquarian Society, a room of Egyptian antiquities, a gallery of Roman altars, &c., and several store-rooms. All these are open to the public, free of charge, every day except Sunday, from eleven to four o'cock; they are, also, occasionally opened in the evening, to afford labourers and mechanics an opportunity of visiting them; and it is truly gratifying to add, that for several years no instance of ingratitude or dishonesty has occurred. It deserves to be added, that the taste for literature is widely disseminated in Newcastle, and that the average sale of books in proportion to the population, is greater than in any other part of the world.

THE HYDRAULIC RAM.

THE Hydraulic Ram is a simple machine, by which water can be raised to a considerable height above its natural level; it is more frequently employed in France than in this country, but the simplicity of its construction, combined with its self-acting power, make it a desirable means for its intended purpose, where there is an abundance of water, and where the water which it would otherwise waste can be employed for other purposes. Montgolfier, the celebrated aëronaut, was the inventor of the Hydraulic Ram. He had observed, that if water was conducted, by means of a leaden pipe, from a cistern placed at a considerable height, immediately its flow was stopped by turning the cock, a sudden shock was felt, which, in many cases, would burst the pipe by its violence; this arose from the impetus the water had received in its descent being suddenly checked; reasoning on this fact, he contrived to avail himself of this power, which would otherwise have been lost, in the construction of his Hydraulic Ram.

Professor Millington mentions a circumstance, which produced similar results, and which occurred before Montgolfier's invention, It was necessary to conduct the water from a cistern, placed about halfway between the ground and the top of a large building in Bristol, to a place in the lower part of the house; this was effected by means of a long leaden pipe, but it was found that almost every time the cock was turned the pipe burst. To remedy this, a smaller pipe was soldered to the lower end of the supplying pipe, and conducted upwards to the cistern from which the water descended; this was done to prevent the waste of the liquid. When the success of this contrivance was put to the test, it was found that the force acquired by the water in its descent, was not only more than sufficient to drive a portion of it back again to the cistern through the smaller pipe, but capable of carrying a jet of water to a considerable height above that level; the small pipe was then continued to a considerable height farther, but still a jet of water was produced; advantage was taken of this result, and a reservoir of water was kept constantly supplied at the top of the house without any additional exertion. Many improvements have been made

effected by means of the glass pillars which support the cylinder and conductors, and the necessity for which will be seen in a moment on attaching a chain to both conductors, thus making them communicate with the floor. In that case the electricity excited by the friction of the cylinder against the rubber will pass from the negative to the positive conductor, and thence down the chain to the floor, so that it will be impossible to obtain the slightest indication of its presence. The same will happen if we connect the two conductors, by a chain or wire, without letting it touch the stand of the machine; the electricity then passing from the negative to the positive conductor, and back from the positive to the negative, in an uninterrupted circuit, so long, as the rotation of the cylinder continues.

But whilst the efficiency of an electrical machine is destroyed by connecting both conductors with the floor, or with each other, it is necessary that one of them should be in communication either with the floor or the walls; and as it is more convenient to operate with the positive than with the negative conductor, the latter most commonly has a chain attached to it, as already described. The use of this chain is to keep up a supply of electricity to the rubber, for without it, after turning the cylinder for a few minutes, the machine would become almost inactive, in consequence of the electricity of the rubber being exhausted. It is true that electricity is always present in the atmosphere, sometimes in greater proportions than at others; but as air is a very slow conductor, excepting when it is heavily charged with moisture, the supply from thence would be inadequate and uncertain. From the earth electricity may be obtained in any required quantity, at all times, and in all places.

Before we proceed further, it may be as well to enter a little more into detail respecting positive and negative electricity. We have shown that when glass and silk, or sealing-wax and woollen cloth, are rubbed against each other, electrical excitation ensues; that produced by the friction of the two former being called positive, that of the two latter, negative, electricity. We have also stated that on holding an excited glass rod near to a feather, or other light substance, placed under favourable circumstances, the latter is first attracted and then repelled. The same happens when excited sealing-wax is used in a similar manner. If, however, the excited glass and wax are alternately brought near the feather, it will be found that when repelled by the glass, it is invariably attracted by the wax, and when repelled by the wax, it is with equal certainty attracted by the glass. Hence we learn that whenever the electricity excited upon glass is communicated to some other substance, that substance immediately exhibits a repulsive habit in reference to all others similarly electrified; whilst with equal energy, but of an opposite kind, it attracts substances in a quiescent state, as it does also those imbued with electricity produced by the friction of wax.

It is difficult to define the precise meaning of the terms positive and negative, as applied to electrical phenomena. Some maintain that there are two distinct kinds of electricity. Others contend that there is only one kind, which exists in opposite states. According to the latter theory, electrical excitation is supposed to depend on certain properties of bodies, which admit of the accumulation of electricity among the particles of one class, and the separation of it from those of another class. Hence when, by contact, by friction, or by some other means, electricity is excited, that body which has received more than its ordinary share, is said to be positively electrified, and that which has been deprived of a portion of what it previously contained, and consequently has less than its ordinary share, is said to be negatively electrified. Without entering at length upon this subject, we remark that our chief business is to investigate, and endeavour to understand the facts of the science. In pursuing a series of illustrative experiments, it matters not which theory is most correct, provided our practice is conformable to well-ascertained principles. Whether there be two kinds, or two states, of electricity, we must ever bear in mind that bodies similarly electrified always repel, those dissimilarly electrified always attract, each other; that both kinds, or states, of electricity, are produced simultaneously, and in equal proportions; and that the electricity we intend to operate with can be subjected to our control only by means of an insulated or nonconducting substance.

In the cylindrical machine the rubber is always negative, the cylinder always positive; the hair with which the rubber is made, and the silk flap attached to it, answering precisely the same purpose in reference to the cylinder, as a silk handkerchief does in reference to a glass rod. By the insulation of the negative conductor we are enabled to operate, if we wish to do so, with negative electricity; but if there be only one kind of electricity, that which appears to proceed from the negative conductor must in reality be passing towards it. Excepting for the sake of illustrating a few matters connected with the elements of electrical science, there is no necessity for a negative conductor. The plate machine for general purposes is more convenient, more easily excited, and with the same amount of labour yields a greater quantity of electricity than the cylindrical machine. In the plate machine, as it is commonly made, the only part requiring to be insulated is the conductor. The electrical relations of the rubbers and the plate are the same as we have just described; but although we know the rubbers are charged with negative electricity, we have no means of exhibiting its effects separately. The rubbers of the plate machine being in contact with the frame of the machine, they of course communicate directly with the floor. In this respect they resemble the rubber of the cylindrical machine when a chain is attached to the negative conductor. It will therefore be seen that the action of both machines is exactly alike when positive electricity is required from them.

HE that wants good sense is unhappy in having learning, for he has thereby only more ways of exposing himself; and he that has sense, knows that learning is not knowledge, but rather the art of using it.-TATLER.