BELPER, on the Derwent, is noted for its cotton mills belonging to Messrs Strutt. Their construction is worthy of notice. About 1200 or 1300 persons are constantly employed in them. About a mile and a half distant are two other cotton mills, a bleaching-mill, and an iron-forge, all belonging to the same proprietors, who have provided for the comfort and instruction of their workmen in a very praiseworthy manner. Pop. of chapelry, 9885.

ROTHERHAM is pleasantly situated near the confluence of the Rother and the Don. It carries on a considerable trade in coals and lime. On the opposite bank of the river, in the village of Masborough, are the extensive iron-work established by Messrs Walker in 1746. The iron-bridges of Sunderland, Yarm, and of Southwark, in the metropolis, were cast in these founderies. Rotherham has a college for the instruction of Independent ministers, a spacious church, erected in the reign of Edward IV., several meeting-houses, free grammar and charity schools, &c. Pop. of town, 5505. About four miles distant is Wentworth House, the magnificent seat of Earl Fitzwilliam, adorned with numerous antiquities and paintings by the best masters. Near the entrance to the mansion, is the mausoleum erected by Earl Fitzwilliam in honour of his uncle, the Marquis of Rockingham.

Two miles from the Wakefield station near the river Calder, is the town of WAKEFIELD, considered one of the most handsome towns in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parochial church is a spacious Gothic structure with the highest spire in the county. There is a very beautiful and richly adorned Gothic chapel on the bridge over the Calder, built by Edward IV. in memory of his father and followers who fell in a battle near this town. Wakefield has long been noted for its manufacture of woollen cloths and stuffs. It has also a considerable trade in corn and coals. Archbishop Potter and Dr Radcliffe were natives of this town Pop. of township, 14,754, One M. P.

LEEDS, the largest and most flourishing town of Yorkshire, on the Aire, is the metropolis of the woollen manufacture, and the fifth town in England in point of population and commercial activity. It is an ancient town, and was probably a Roman station, but has been the scene of no historical events. Its situation is highly advantageous for manufacturing and commercial purposes. The chief articles of manufacture here are superfine cloths, kerseymeres, swan'sdowns, shalloons, carpets, blankets, &c. ; plate-glass, earthen-ware, and the spinning of flax to a great extent. Its merchants also buy extensively the woollen and stuff-goods made in the neighbouring towns and villages, and get them finished and dyed; so that Leeds is a general mart for all these fabrics. The Leeds cloth-halls form an interesting spectacle on the market-days. Machine-making is a flourishing business in Leeds. The Leeds and Liverpool canal connects Leeds with the Western sea, and by means of the river Aire it has a communication with the Humber. By means of the railways which have been formed and are projecting, this town will enjoy every advantage which can be given, by

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the most rapid communication with all parts of Great Britain. Leeds has eight churches, numerous Dissenting chapels, a free-grammar school, a national school, a philosophical and literary society, a mechanics' institute, a theatre, and various charitable institutions. Leeds was the native-place of Dr Hartley, author of "Observations on Man," Wilson, the painter, and Smeaton, the celebrated engineer. Dr Priestley, the distinguished philosopher, officiated for several years as the minister of the Unitarian chapel here. Leeds gives the title of Duke to the family of Osborne, which sprung from this town. Two M. P. Pop. of town and liberty, 152,054.

About three miles from Leeds are the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, picturesquely situated in a vale watered by the Aire. This abbey was founded in 1157 by Henry de Lacy for monks of the Cistertian order.

XCVI. YORK RAILWAY, 234 Miles in length.

This Railway, which was commenced and opened at the same time as the North Midlands, joins it at the Altofts Station on that line.

YORK is a very ancient city, and is said to have been founded 983 years B. C. Little is known of its history till A. D. 150, when it was one of the greatest Roman stations in the province, having an imperial palace, a tribunal, and a regu

lar government within its walls. The Emperor Severus lived in the palace three years, and died there. He was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, the former of whom murdered the latter in York, and returned to Rome. About a century after, Carausius landed in Britain, and was proclaimed emperor at York. Constantine the Great was born in this city in 272, and his father Constantius died there in 307. York has had a conspicuous share in all the national troubles, especially in the civil wars of Charles I. The walls, gates, and posterns are still to a considerable degree remaining. The walls, which are three miles in circumference, have a delightful promenade on the top of them, which commands a beautiful prospect of the surrounding country. The cathedral is the finest Gothic building of the kind in Europe. It was first founded in 626 by Edwin, the Saxon King of Northumberland, and through succeeding ages has been enlarged, repaired, and improved with great taste. It suffered severely from fire in 1829, and again in 1840. From the time of Paulinus, the first archbishop, who was appointed in 625, up to the present moment, there have been no fewer than eighty-five archbishops of York. Besides the cathedral, there are twenty-one parish churches within the walls, and three in the suburbs. The other objects of public interest are the city walls, the castle originally built by William I. and now used as a gaol; the ruins of Clifford's Tower, said to have been raised by the Romans; the ruins of St Mary's Abbey; the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens; the Assembly Rooms; the public cemetery, &c. The charitable institutions of the city are numerous. It contains eleven Dissenting chapels, one Catholic chapel, and a nunnery. York carries on a considerable river trade, and has some traffic in gloves, linens, glass, and drugs, as well as in printing and bookselling, and it derives great advantage from the influx of visitors to the assizes and the races. The learned Alcuin was a native of York, as also Flaxman and Etty the academicians. York gives the title of Duke to the second son of the sovereign. Two M. P. Pop. of city, 28,842.

XCVII. LEEDS AND SELBY RAILWAY, 20 Miles in length.

SELBY is a flourishing town near the banks of the Ouse, by means of which and of vessels, it carries on a considerable trade. In this town there are the re

mains of an abbey, founded by William I., whose son Henry I. was born here. There is a curiously constructed timber bridge over the Ouse.

cess.

HULL, or Kingston-upon-Hull, situated at the mouth of the river Hull, where it enters the Humber, is one of the principal sea-ports in the united kingdom. Its distance from London is 174 miles by way of Lincoln, and 236 miles by way of York. It was anciently called Wyke or Wyke-upon-Hull, but its name was changed to Kingston-upon-Hull by Edward I., who prevailed on the Abbot of Meaux, who was lord of the manor, to sell him the lordship of Myton, with the town of Wyke. He afterwards made it a royal borough. The town was regularly fortified in the reign of Edward II. During the civil war it was held for the parliament, and was twice besieged by the Royalists but without sucThe old part of the town, with the exception of the fine market-place, in which there is a handsome equestrian statue of William III., is ill built, with narrow streets, but that portion near the Docks consists of handsome streets and houses. Hull is admirably situated for trade, being at the mouth of the great rivers Humber, Hull, Ouse, and Trent. It has three docks and a harbour, which are capable of yielding accommodation for upwards of 300 vessels. The Docks occupy the forts of the ancient fortifications, and thus surround the old town, with water from the Hull to the Humber. Hull has, within these few years, become a principal steam-packet station, and has various steamers, which sail at regular intervals for Hamburgh, Rotterdam, London, Leith, Aberdeen, Berwick, Newcastle, and Yarmouth. It employs a number of vessels in the whale-fishery, and carries on an extensive traffic in coals, oil, corn, and timber. It has also a considerable foreign trade to the Baltic, the southern parts of Europe, the