The Guildhall.

Is situated in St. Edmund Street, near what was formerly called Babbridge Square, is a plain inelegant structure with evident tokens of a deficiency of taste in its architectural erection; is used for all the magisterial business of the borough, for the election of the parliamentary burgesses, for the mayor's court leet and other local meetings; it has a wooden turret, in which hangs a bell used for the above purposes, has an inner chamber where the corporation transact their business and an outer one, where the town meetings are held, it has the appearance of having being erected about the time of the union of the town, for on the mayor's chair, (which is a very plain one) is this date 1571, and the following inscription 66 REMEMBER. T. CAILYNG. OBEYE. THY. PRYNSE." the arms which are immediately over the chair has the date 1721. In one corner of the hall, is erected a plain white marble statue by Theakston of the late Wm. Weston, Esq., stiled in the charter the first or modern mayor," it represents him sitting in his robes of office as mayor, holding in his left hand the charter granted by his late majesty. On the key stone above are the arms of Weymouth, and on the plinth, the sword and mace with the pelican, allegorical emblems of justice and benevolence; the figure is in alto relievo 6 feet 6 inches high, and the pedestal with the tablet of inscription 3 feet 6 inches, it cost £360, and was exhibited in Somerset house. The following is the inscription on the tablet.

To the Memory of

SAMUEL WESTON, ESQ.

66

A Member of the Corporation for 33 years,
And four times Mayor of this Borough and Town;
Who died the 19th day of September, 1817,
In the 62nd Year of his Age.

Penetration united with a sound and discriminating judgment,
With tender sympathy and diffusive benevolence,
Formed the more prominent features in his character,

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These excellent and amiable qualities,
As a Man, a Citizen, and a Magistrate,

Commanded and secured respect in life, and veneration in death.
In commemoration of these virtues,
And as a memorial of affectionate Friendship,
This Monument has been erected

By Public Subscription.

It was erected 1821, and there is an anecdote connected with it, which is not a little ludicrous, in December, 1821, a country lad was sent into the Guildhall, by his master to an inindividual whom his master wanted, the lad on entering, seeing the monument which he mistook for a gentleman, thus addressed it," Sir, is Mr. here," to this question of course no answer was returned, the lad again repeated it, still remaining mute, the lad calls out "Wont ye speak," shortly after finding the individual he wanted, he told his master, that he found Mr. in the justice room, but the old gentleman in the corner would not answer him."

The town gaol is underneath the hall, and in the cellars, (which were formerly a workshop of a son of St. Crispin, for which a rent was paid to the corporation,) are kept the market stalls, &c.

For such a fashionable watering place as Meicombe has arisen to, the Guildhall is far, very far from being an ornament; it stands in a very tottering state, and is obliged to be artificially supported at every trial of the elective franchise; some few years since a member of the corporate body offered to erect a handsome edifice, upon certain conditions, which were not acceded to, it is to be hoped that some public spirited chief magistrate will set on foot some plan, to adorn the town with a respectable Guildhall.

THE ALMS-HOUSES.

ERECTED by Sir J. Thornhill, were intended by him for decayed mariners, but owing to their not being endowed, the benevolent intentions of the founder were rendered abortive, though still they were occupied by individuals as a charitable bequest; they were situated at the entrance of the town, and were built of Portland stone with a semispherical boundary, and were of low structure, it came into possession of the Johnstone family, and as the town increased in population, this spot was eagerly seized upon for erecting houses, the paupers were obliged to vacate their residences, and were pro

vided with other dwellings; the alms-houses were demolished and the ground was taken by the trustees, who demised the land to builders for 99 years or three lives for near £500, and buildings to the value of £4000 have been erected on the spot, the rents of the dwellings to which the paupers were removed from 1814 to 1824, for 5 houses at £6 6s. per annum amounted to £338 12s. 8d. there is still some small portion of the almhouses remaining, and also a part of the yard, which in the course of a few years will most probably be swallowed up by the same manœuvering.

THE FORTS.

MELCOMBE and Weymouth being a maritime port, frequently lay open to the incursions of predatory vessels of all nations which landing a few armed men, laid wait and carried off what ever they could, this induced forts and castles to be erected; in the history of Weymouth is given an account of several that were constructed for its defence, and commanded the sea approaches to Melcombe, which required few as compared with its neighbour, yet there were some, that were absolutely necessary; one was erected at the then entrance of town upon the spot now occupied by Charlotte Row, it was a square fort built of stone, and called the Block-house, there were embrasures for eight guns, though only five were mounted. 10th of Queen Elizabeth the office of gunner (Vibellator) was granted to Richard Smith for life.

There was another erected northward of the town, there was a rampart on which were mounted three guns, it was called Cotton fort.

There was a third at the extremity of the pier, opposite another on Weymouth side, these defended the Harbour.

Another was erected on the spot of ground, where Mr. Ellis the surgeon's house is, in Grosvenor place, it was called the Round house and commanded the then back entrance to the town, these are all now demolished, and at the present time there is neither castle or fort to defend the town.

Melcombe gave title to the celebrated Bubb Doddington, who made so conspicuous a figure in the annals of this town and as a courtly aspirant.

He was the nephew of George Doddington Esq., of Somerset, who dying without issue left him a considerable property, conditionally, that he would assume his name and arms, which he accordingly did, he possessed a magnificent seat at Eastbury in this county, which he begun in 1724 and finished in 1738, at the expense of £140,000, the gardens were extensive in the extreme, and ornamented with canals and various plantations of fir, oak, and laurel, many of which were brought hither from other grounds after 50 years growth and from a considerable distance, the extent of the mansion in front and its different offices was 570 feet; after his decease this superbdomain fell to Lord Temple, who offered £200 per annum to any gentleman that would occupy and keep the mansion in repair, but this generous offer not being accepted, it was determined to pull it down and the materials produced little more than the prime cost of the plumbers' and glaziers' work.

He was a wary but an able politician, yet prompted by vanity and spurred on by ambition he made one false step in deserting the service of his majesty George II. for the expectation of leading the councils of Frederick Prince of Wales, this turned out a vain hope, the courtiers about the prince considering him as an intruder, would hold no friendly communications with him, and the two years he remained in that court was a continued scene of bickering and intrigue; his diary from which some extracts have been taken, was not published till 1684, it contains various specimens of royal pastimes, such as visiting conjurers for the purpose of prying into futurity, and it exhibits a grand display of the political intrigues which took place at the British court from 1749 to 1761, it exposes the secret machinery, which was set to work to establish the ministry, which misled the councils of his late majesty on his accession to the throne, and shows up the mean and paltry machinations of a court sycophant.

4th Geo. I., 1715, was appointed plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to the court of Spain, M. P. for Melcombe several times, re-appointed by the king, treasurer of the Navy, December 22th, 1755, created baron Melcombe Regis, April 13th, 1761, as a reward for his borough interest.

Doddington resigned into his late majesty's hands, March 11th, 1749, his appointment as treasurer of the Navy, and in July 18th, 1749, was appointed by his new master Frederick Prince of Wales, governor of the chambers with a salary of £2000.

It is mentioned that upon his appointment to the court of Spain, a friend of his told him that he would make but a feeble impression on the Spanish court. "Why?"

asked Doddington. "Because your name is against you, the Spaniards you are aware are a nation fond of their titles and names, now yon are plain Bubb, Bubb, Bubb. I would earnestly advise you to increase the length of this monosyllable." "How ?" "Add sylly to it, and then it will be

sylly-bubb."

January 18th, 1762. His majesty's birth-day was celebrated with an uncommon degree of splendour, and among the title throng was found Lord Melcombe; his lordship was no mean adept at the art of booing at all times, but whether on this important occasion of presentation, he bowed too low, or had been too negligent on adorning himself, is a matter of little moment; but most certain it is, that to the great discomfiture of the statesmen and horror stricken dismay of the noble fair, the band of his inexpressibles gave way at a very critical moment, which obliged his lordship to support them with both his hands, and he retired from the royal presence" bearing his blushing honours thick upon him," meeting his majesty shortly after, he began to apologize to him for this indecorous occurrence, but the king in the most good natured manner interrupted him, saying "Pooh! Pooh! Doddington, don't mention it, don't mention it, you managed it very well indeed, but remember you deduct for the band, when you pay your tailor's bill.".

During the time he was attached to the court of Frederick Prince of Wales, when they resided in Leicester house, the poet Thomson was frequently a visitor at the house, and when once on being called upon to recite a piece of poetry before the family, he performed it with so little credit to his own powers, that Doddington, who had a considerable share of acumen, snatched the MSS. from his hands, and finished the reading of it. "It appears," says the poet, "that an author cannot always read his own works." "It matters not" replied the prince, "if others can read them and enjoy their beauties."

Some extracts from his diary having already been inserted where allusion has been made to the explanatory charter, which he obtained for the town, it might not be ill-placed to insert it here :

George the Second, by the grace of God, &c. To all to whom these presents, shall come greeting.

"WHEREAS, our trusty and well beloved the mayor, aldermen, bailiffs, burgesses, and commonalty of our borough and town of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, in the county of