of the Castle gate, and the boundary is marked by the city arms, of five lions, cut in stone, and placed in the wall on each side of the street. The Castle, with its appen

was procured for these races, and has ever since been run for on the first day of the August meeting. The course is at a distance of about a mile from York, to the left of the London road, and the accommoda-dages, occupies about four acres of ground; tion both for the company and the racers is of the first order. The meetings are in May and August, in each successive year. Mr. Robert Rhodes is the clerk of the course, and Mr. Parkinson the steward of the Grand Stand. "The Stand" and the "Round House," were both built by subscription, and are open to subscribers, and non-subscribers are admitted to them during each meeting on paying a guinea.

The salubrious recreation of the Bath may be taken in York at any period of the year. Near the New Walk there is a very eligibly situated cold bath, with two convenient dressing rooms, one for ladies and the other for gentlemen; and at Lendal Tower, adjoining to the water works, there is a suite of baths, hot, tepid, and cold.

the walls are 1100 yards round, and within the walls, in front of the Castle, is an area, called the Castle yard, of the size of about an acre, in which the county meetings for the election of knights of the shire, and other public business, are held.

The buildings, which form three sides of a square, consist of the County Gaol, in front, the Record Office, &c. to the East; and the County Hall, to the West of the Castle yard; the wall to the North, which, with the lodge, completes the square, is built at the foot of the mound, formed by the ruins of Clifford's tower. The County Gaol occupies the site on which the towers of the Castle anciently stood. These towers having sunk into a ruinous state during a lapse of six centuries, they were taken down in the year 1701, and the present structure was raised in their stead. The funds for this public work were obtained by a tax of three-pence in the pound on all lands, &c. within the County; and, at the time of its erection, it was considered an edifice "so noble and complete, as to exceed all others of the kind in Britain, perhaps in Europe." This building consists of two wings, divided by the felons' court yard. The right wing is a prison for debtors, ascended by a large double series of steps, and contains twentytwo rooms, sixteen feet square, and nearly twelve feet high, with apartments for the use of the governor; which office is at present, and has been for many years filled, much to the public satisfaction, by Mr. Wm.

The prisons in York are the Castle, the New Gaol, the new House of Correction, and St. Peter's prison. The Castle is situaated at the end of Castlegate, near the confluence of the Foss and the Ouse. Formerly the waters of the Foss were drawn in a deep moat round the Castle, and in the early part of the last century, this prison was inaccessible, except by two draw-bridges; but the moat is now entirely filled up, and the access is by folding doors, and a porter's lodge, from Castlegate. According to Drake, there was a castle in York before the time of William I, at the place called "the Old Bayle;" but that fortress has now disappeared, and the present Castle was, as our historian conjectures, built on a Roman tower, by the Conqueror, and made of un-Staveley.† In a room at the entrance to this usual strength to keep the citizens and the wing, is a large closet or recess, occupied by Northumbrians in awe of their tyrant. For the under gaoler, Wilson, in which the cu some ages after the conquest this was the riosities of the Castle, quaintly called "the constant residence of the High Sheriffs of King's plate," consisting of the deadly wea the county in succession, as the Mansion-pons, and heavy chains of the most notori> house is now the residence of each successive Lord Mayor: it was likewise the storehouse for the king's magazines, and the treasury for such part of his revenue as was kept in the North. It was then a fortress, in which however, the Assizes were held; but towards the end of the seventeenth century, it was converted into a prison, to which purpose it has been ever since appropriated. Though the Assizes for the three Ridings are held here, the Castle is not within any of them, nor is it in the jurisdiction of the city; it is extra parochial, though it is assessed, and bears charges with the parish of St. Mary, Castlegate. The extent of the city's liberties are within twenty-nine yards

ous offenders, are deposited and exhibited. In the left wing of this building is a chapel, used for divine service, and ascended by

*The city arms were formerly argent, with only a cross gules. The five Lions Conqueror, in honour of the five brave were afterwards added by William the magistrates, Clifford, Houngate, Talbot, Lascelles, and Errington, who so valiantly defended the city against his arms, in 1070, until obliged to surrender through famine.

†This is considered a situation of great has a salary of £700. a year, besides the trust and responsibility, and the Governor prison fees, which amount to a consider. able sum annually.

which stands the prison, with a neat court yard in front, adorned with a cupola and vase, which are seen in various parts of the city and its neighbourhood. The building consists of three stories, part of which is occupied by felons, and the second and third by debtors. The office of governor is filled by Mr. George Rylah, who has a salary of 1504. a-year, exclusive of gaol fees; his apartments form an outshot building behind the prison, in the attie story of which is a chapel, in which the Rev. William Flower, sen. the Chaplain, preaches a sermon every alternate Sunday, and reads prayers every Thursday evening to the prisoners. Mr. George Champney discharges the duties of surgeon to this

steps, corresponding to those on the right. The Rev. William Flower, jun. is the present Chaplain, and the Rev. James Richardson, is the Lecturer. The felons' cells in the rear of the court yard, are in general about seven feet square, and eight feet high. The building on the East side of the Castle yard contains apart ments for the Clerk of Assize, the county record, an indictment office, hospital rooms, (attended by Mr. George Champney, the surgeon,) and cells for the female prisoners; it was erected in the year 1780, and considerably enlarged three years afterwards. The whole length of this building is 150 feet, and its front is adorned with an elegant colonnade, with four Ionic pillars, corresponding to the County-hall-prison. The County-hall, or Basilica, on the West side of the area, was built in 1763, at the charge of the County, John Ramsden, of Byrom, Esq. being then High Sheriff. In 1777, it was rebuilt in a more modern style of architecture, with a portico entrance of six Ionic columns, thirty feet high, surmounted by an elegant statue of Justice, and other emblematic devices. The length of this building is 150 feet, and its breadth 44 feet.

Here the business of the various courts is transacted through the year, and the Lent and Lammas Assizes are held in the crown court to the left, and the nisi prius' court to the right of the entrance. Near the Grand Jury room, in the rear of the building, with an aspect to the Ouse, is the New Drop, used for the execution of criminals. Formerly, the last and most awful sentence of the law was executed on a gallows, out of Micklegate bar, at a place called Tyburn, about a mile from the city; but, in 1802, the present platform was erected, and on the 28th of August, in that year, the first execution in this situation took place. Since that time, to August, 1822, seventy-three malefactors have been executed here, making an average sacrifice in this county alone, of nearly four lives a year to the criminal laws. The county of York is in that judicial division of the kingdom, called the Northern Circuit; and the High Sheriff for the County, for the year 1823, is Walter Fawkes, Esq. of Farnley Hall.

The New Gaol, for the City and Ainsty of York, is a handsome and commodious stone building, of modern erection, begun in the year 1802, and completed in 1807. This structure occupies part of the site of the ancient castle, called "the Old Bayle," near Skeldergate postern. The outer wall, which is of brick, incloses about three quarters of a square mile, in the centre of

The executions here are happily very rare; during the last fifteen years there have been no more than two, and when they take place, a scaffold is erected without the wall, next to the Old Bayle hill.

The Gaol for the imprisonment and correction of "lesser criminals," was formerly a part of St. Anthony's hall, on Peaseholme green; but in the year 1814, a structure was completed on Toft-green, under the direction of Mr. Peter Atkinson, architect, and city steward, which may rank amongst the best constructed prisons in the kingdom. The expense attendant upon the erection of this prison, like that for the building of the city gaol, was defrayed by a joint assessment on the City and on the Ainsty, for the use of both of which it is intended, the former contributing three-fifths, and the latter twofifths. The governor is Mr. John King; the Rev. Wm. Flower, sen. is the Chaplain, and performs service once every alternate Sunday, and reads prayers every Tuesday evening. This establishment, which admits of the classification of prisoners, may serve as a model to those who may be engaged in the erection or management of prisons.

The Courts of Justice in York are the Castle, for the County, (as has been already explained); Guild-hall for the City; and the Court of Pleas, for the liberty of St. Peter's. The Ecclesiastical Court is held in the Minster-yard, and the list of its officers will be found appended to that of the Cathedral Clergy,

The government of the City of York, like the government of the kingdom of Great Britain, is in three estates-the Lord Mayor, as Sovereign; the Aldermen and body of twenty-four, as a house of Lords; and the Common-council, corresponding in some The degree to the House of Commons. members and officers of the Corporation. for the year 1823, are :

The Right Hon. THOMAS SMITH, LORD MAYOR, (2d Time.) (Whose Office will expire on the 3d of February, 1824.)

Robert Sinclair, Esq. Recorder.

John Pemberton Heywood, and W. S. Nicholl, Esqrs. City Counsel.

Those marked thus † have served the office of Lord Mayor twice.
Those maked thus have served the office once.

Whose offices expire on the 2d of September, 1823.

Richard Townend, Esq. Town Clerk.

Gentlemen who have served the office of Sheriff, called the Twenty-four.

George Healey, gent. Gen.Dodsworth,gent Joseph Agar, gent.

Edmund Gill
Thomas Beal
G. W. Wentworth
William Oldfield

William Hornby

James Shepherd
Robert Lakeland
William Cooper
John Jackson
George Cressey

George Wilkinson

Thomas Cattley

CHAMBERLAINS-Whose offices expire the 3d of February, 1824.

COMMON COUNCILMEN.

Prothonotary, John Seymour, Esq.-City Steward, Mr. Peter Atkinson.
Esquires to the Lord Mayor-Mr. William Baynes and Mr. William Eadon.
Chaplain, Rev. William Flower, sen.

Four Officers at Mace, viz. Thomas Kimber, Francis Burr, John Sanderson, and Wm. Bell. Chief Constable for the City, Mr. William Baynes, Petergate.

Chief Constable for Ainsty, Mr. Thos. Beal, Dring Houses, & Mr. Geo. Steward, Blossom st. Porter to Lord Mayor, Geo. Lund; Police Officer, Wm. Pardoe; City Informer, Jas. Pardoe. The Coroners for the City and Ainsty, are Messrs. Samuel Cowling, Davygate, and Robert Ellison, Castlegate; and for the Liberty of St. Peter's, Mr. John Plowman, of Haxby, and Mr. John Richardson, of Colliergate, York.

The Mayor of York, by ancient pre-in front by a double tier of windows. There scription, assumes the title of Lord, which are here eight valuable portraits in excellent peculiar honour, as we have already seen, was preservation: of his present Majesty, presentconferred on this Chief Magistrate, by Rich-ed by him to the Corporation; King William III.; George II.; the late Marquis of Rockingham; Sir John Lister Kaye, M. P. and Lord Mayor, in 1737; Lord Bingley, M. P. and Lord Mayor in 1757, (when George Lane Fox, Esq.); Sir Wm. M. Milner, M. P. and Lord Mayor in 1797 and 1798; Lord Dundas, Lord Mayor in 1811, (when the Hon. Lawrence Dundas, M. P.) and in 1821, when Lord Dundas, and the only English Peer ever Lord Mayor of York. It is worthy of remark, that York had the honour to set the Corporation of London the example of erecting a Mansion House for their Lord Mayor.

ard II. in 1389. The same sovereign, in
1393, presented Robert Scroope, the then
Lord Mayor, with a large gilt mace, to be
borne before him, and a cup of maintenance
to the sword-bearer. The Lord Mayor is
the King's Lieutenant in his absence; he
takes the chair in the presence of the Judge
of Assize, who sits on his right hand: at the
Sessions he supreme; and no act or law
for the gove nment of the city can be valid
without his presence. This officer is annu-
ally chosen on the 15th of January, and on
the 3d of February, the Lord Mayor elect,
as he called during the interval, enters
upor his office. If the Lord Mayor be mar-
ried, his wife is dignified with the title of
Lady Mayoress, and in addressing her, the
My Lady," is applied. In Drake's
ime, though the husband parted with both
honour and title at the time he was divested
of office, yet by the courtesy of York, in
favour of the fair sex, her ladyship still en-
joyed her title, by no other right perhaps, but
that of an old rhyming proverb, which says
"He is a lord for a year and a day,
"But she is a lady for ever and for ay."
This courtesy towards the Lady Mayoress
has, however, now ceased; and at the expi-
ration of her husband's year of office, the
term My Lady is dropped, unless she was
previously entitled to it by marriage, or in
her own right.

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The Guild-hall is situated behind the Mansion-house, and was built in the year 1446. In this fine Gothic Hall, which is ninety-six feet long, by forty-three feet wide, the Assizes for the city are held, and it is then formed into two courts, the Crown Court at the end of the Hall, and the Nisi Prius Court near the entrance. The elections for members of parliament are also held here, and it may be proper in this place to mention, that the city of York is at present represented in parliament by Marmaduke Wyvill and Robert Chaloner, Esqrs. who, like the corporation of the city they represent, are both of the whig party. Three times a week, namely, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the Lord Mayor, and at least one alderman, sit at the Guild-hall, for the administration of justice; and the business of the Quarter Sessions for the city is also tranThe residence of the Lord Mayor is the sacted in this place. At the end of this hall Mansion-house, a stately edifice, built in are several rooms for the grand and petit juthe year 1756, and which stands at the north|ries, one of which is called the Inner Room, end of Coney street, near Lendal, and occupies the site of the ancient chapel of the Guild of St. Christopher. The revenue of the Lord Mayor was formerly derived chiefly from the toll of corn coming to the market, but that toll in 1784, was liberally relinquished by the corporation, and this mansion is the scene of his hospitalities. The stateroom, where the chief magistrate gives his entertainments, is 49 feet 6 inches in length, and 27 feet 9 inches in breadth, and is lighted

in which the County Court, for the recovery of debts in the County, not exceeding Five Pounds, consolidated with the Sheriff's Turn Court, and the Court of Common Pleas, is held weekly, usually on the Tuesday.

The Council Chambers is a building of modern erection, adjoining the Guild-hall. When the old Council Chambers of the city upon Ouse-Bridge were taken down in 1810, thesechamberswere built adjoining: the Inner Room, & the Lower House, namely, the Com

mon Council, hold their deliberations in one of them, while the Upper House, consisting of the Lord Mayor, Recorder, City Council, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and the Gentlemen of the Twenty-four assemble in the Upper Chamber. Amongst its other public institutions York enjoys the advantage of an excellent Subscription Library, containing about ten thousand volumes in the various branches of science and literature. This institution was commenced in the year 1794, but it was not till the year 1811, that the present Library Room, which is very eligibly situated in St. Helen's Square, was built. The number of members at present amounts to four hundred and seventy-seven; the mode of admission is by ballot, and the terms are ten guineas entrance, and an annual subscripscription of twenty-six shillings, paid in advance. Mr. Joseph Shepherd is the Librarian.

Christian Emperor; FLACCUS ALBANUS, the pupil of Bede and the mentor of Charlemagne; and WALTHEOF, Earl of Northumberland, and son of the gallant Siward. Amongst the latter we find the names of ROBERT FLOWER, the hermit of Knaresborough, usually called St. Robert, born in 1190; JOHN LE ROMAINE, the thirty-eighth Archbishop of York, and the natural son of John Romaine, a priest and treasurer of the cathedral; JOHN WALDEY, and ROBERT his brother, two eminent scholars, who flourished about the middle of the fourteenth century, the former of whom was the forty-seventh archbishop of this province; JOHN ERGHOM, a friar Eremite; and JOHN BATE, a friar Carmelite; both profound expositors of the holy scriptures, and authors of celebrity in the fifteenth century; VALENTINE FREES and his WIFE, rendered memorable by having, according to Fox, died for religion at the stake in the year 1531, and of whom Fuller says, that they were, according to his recollection, the only On the ground floor, under the York man and his wife ever thus married together Subscription Library, in St. Helen's Square, in martyrdom; EDWARD FREES, the brothere is a Subscription News Room, hand-ther of Valentine, born also at York, who, somely fitted up, and furnished with the London and country newspapers. Subscribers are admitted by ballot, and the members of the room have each the privilege of introducing a friend, not resident in York, for one month, on registering his name in a book kept for that purpose. The annual subscription is one guinea, and the admission fee ten shillings and sixpence. There are also two other Subscription News Rooms, one at the York Tavern, and the other, called the York Club Room, at Etridge's Hotel.

There are in York some other Libraries, Subscription and Circulating, the principal of which is, the Select Subscription Library, in Lady Peckett's yard, Pavement.

for having heretically painted some passages of scripture on the borders of several pieces of cloth, was committed to prison by John Stoaksley, Lord Bishop of London, and there, according to Fox, was fed with manchet made of sawdust, and kept in prison till the flesh of his wrists grew over his irons, his reason having in the mean time so far forsaken him that when brought for examination before his persecutor, he said, "My Lord is a good man !" GEORGE TANKERFIELD, another martyr, was born in York; Sir Thomas Widdrington says he was a cook in London, and was, by Bishop Bonner, antichrist's great cook, roasted and burnt to death.THOMAS MORTON, the son of a mercer in York, born in the Pavement, in the year 1564, rose by his merit successively to the bishopricks of Chester, Lichfield, and Coventry, and lastly to Durham: when he was a parish priest, and rector of Marston, the plague raged in York with so much fury that a number of infected persons were sent out of the city to HobMoor, where tents were erected for their accommodation, on which occasion this intrepid disciple of his divine master vi

The Cavalry Barracks, erected in 1796, are situated at a distance of about a mile S. W. of the city, on the Fulford road. The cost of these erections, with the twelve acres of ground appropriated to the purpose, has been little short of 30,000l. and the accommodation they afford is for three field officers, five captains, nine subalterns, four quarter-masters, two hundred and forty noncommissioned officers and privates, and 266 horses. The parade ground is very extensive, and in front of the range appropriated to the officers is a large grass plot, for the accommodation of the numerous and fashjonable company who frequently attend to hear the fine martial band which plays upon the parade. Mr. Anthony Lefroy is the bar-sited them daily, and administered alike rack master. to their spiritual wants and to their temporal necessities.* HENRY SWINBURNE,

York has produced several characters eminent in history, and a still larger number eminent in the ages in which they lived. Amongst the former of these may be mentioned CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, the first

The writer of this prelate's life says, that he was school fellow, at York, with Guy Faux, the famous popish incendiary, who is said to have been born at Bishops thorp, and educated in this city.