by Charles II. in the year 1660. The father of this gentleman experienced many calamities, in consequence of his zeal for the royal cause, in the preceding reign. The story of his exertions possesses some interest, and is thus stated by the continuator of Dugdale :-" As King Charles I. marched to Edgcot, near Banbury, on the 22d of October 1642, he saw a person hunting in the fields not far from Shuckborough, with a very good pack of hounds; upon which it is reported that he fetched a deep sigh, and asked who that gentleman was that hunted so merrily that morning, when he was going to fight for his crown and dignity? And being told that it was Richard Shuckburgh, he was ordered to be called to him, and was by him very graciously received. Upon which he went immediately home, armed all bis tenants, and the next day attended on him in the field, where he was knighted, and was present at the battle of Edghill. After the taking in of Banbury Castle, and his majesty's retreat from those parts, he went to his own seat, and fortified himself on the top of Shuckborough Hill, where being attacked by some of the Parliament forces he defended himself till he fell, with most of his tenants about him; but being taken up, and life perceived in him he was carried away prisoner to Kenilworth Castle, where he lay a considerable time, and was forced to purchase his liberty at a dear rate."

In

Sir George, W. A. Shuckburgh Evelyn, Bart. who died in 1804, represented the county of Warwick in three successive Parliaments, and was distinguished for his ardent love of science. His deep and laborious researches in astronomy and general phi losophy, rendered him a valuable member of the Royal Society, and an ornament to the literary character of his country. private life he is said to have sunk to some defects of judgment, to which an acquaintance with letters should have rendered him superior. By those well able to appreciate bis pretensions he is represented as suspicious, irritable, and selfish; as one who was habitually sedulous to ascribe the best-seeming actions of his fellow-creatures to sordid and corrupt motives. We do not believe

Thomas's Edit. of Warwickshire, &c. p. 309,

that

that the mathematics could afford him ground for such a degrading habit of opinion; and lament that science had not so far elevated his imagination, as to persuade him that it is probable men may act from a genuine love of honour, even when calculations of interest run counter to their conduct.

The church of Shuckburgh was originally, and is now, a stipendiary cure. The building is of stone, and contains many monuments to different members of the family which has so long possessed the manor. The windows are adorned with some handsome stained glass, chiefly executed by Egginton.

A district now requires notice from its locality, which is entirely distinct from Warwickshire as a county. This is

THE COUNTY OF THE CITY OF COVENTRY.

In the year 1451, King Henry VI. as a mark of especial fa vour, granted that the city of Coventry, and certain villages in its adjacency, should be constituted an entire county of themselves, incorporate both in deed and name. His charter enacts that the bailiffs of the city shall be sheriffs of the county, and the same coroner preside over both. This charter was confirmed by Edward IV.

The county of the city of Coventry is situate in the northeastern part of Warwickshire, and is chiefly encompassed by the hundred of Knightlow. "The greatest length, from Bedworth to a point near Baginton, in a north-east and southwest direction, is seven miles and a half; and the greatest breadth, from uear Nettle Hill to Brownshill Green, in about an east and west direction, is seven miles aud a quarter. The district contains in all about 18,161 acres."* The places united with the city of Coventry in the formation of this county are Anstey; Exhall; Foleshill; Keresley; Sow (part of) Stivichall; Stoke; and Wyken. The mayor and aldermen of Coventry are officially jusVOL. XV.

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tices

tices of the peace for the county, and hold quarter sessions in the same manner, and with the same powers; as counties at large. Their privileges, indeed, are numerous, and among these is one that perhaps could not be acted on with satisfaction either to themselves or the public; this is the power of sitting in judgment on capital offences. An office so important they uniformly refer to the judge who travels the Midland Circuit. Although King Henry intended an act of general kindness to the inhabitants when he granted their prescriptive rights, his bounty has obviously entailed one privation on many of them; the freeholders of this county, as freeholders, are not entitled to vote on the return of any members to Parliament; as servitude alone bestows a qualification on the citizens of Coventry, and with Warwickshire they have not any political connexion.

The CITY OF COVENTRY is supposed to have been founded at a very early period, as the final syllable of its appellation is evidently the British Tre, a town. The prefix to this simple and general term was added by the Saxons, and may rationally be concluded to express the circumstance of a covent, or convent, being erected on the spot; and such a foundation we find to have taken place in a Saxon era. Camden observes that in early history, and in the pontifical decrees, the name of the city was often written Conventria; and he instances the expression thus translated "Either the Bishop of Conventry is not in his right wits, or he seems wilfully to have quitted common sense." This, it is observed, must relate to Alexander de Savensby, who was consecrated in 1224, and who, according to Godwin, was a very learned man," but pretended to visions and apparitions scarce credible."

Coventry was certainly not used by the Romans for military purposes, and few vestiges have been discovered to favour the idea of their entering largely on a domestic and tranquil association with the original inhabitants. On excavating the spot termed Broad Gate, in the year 1792, there was found, at the depth of five or six feet from the surface," a regular pavement,

and