overthrow of the party he had engaged to support, yet after he had left the kingdom his successful encounter with the Dutch fleet, under De Ruyter, drew from Dryden and other contemporary poets, as well as from the chroniclers of those times, encomiums which might seem extravagant, if it were not known that his bravery was above all praise.

This Prince is celebrated for the invention of mezzotinto engraving, of which he is said to have taken the hint from a soldier scraping his rusty fusil. The first print of this kind ever published was done by his Highness, and may be seen in the first edition of "Evelyn's Sculptura." The secret is said to have been soon after discovered by Sherwin the engraver, who made use of a loaded file for laying the ground. The Prince upon sight of one of his prints suspected his servant had lent him his tool, which was a channelled roller, but upon being satisfied to the contrary, he made him a present of it. The roller was afterwards laid aside, and an instrument with a crenelled edge, in shape like a shoemaker's cutting knife, was used instead of it. The glass drops invented by him are well known. He also invented a metal called by his name, of which guns were cast; and contrived an excellent method of boring them, for which purpose a watermill was erected at Hackney Marsh. He communicated to Christopher Kirby, the secret of

tempering the best fish-hooks made in England. Prince Rupert, who was a man of harsh features, a great humorist, and of little elegance in his manners or dress, was but indifferently qualified to shine in the court of Charles II. He made a much better figure in his laboratory; or at the head of his fleet; in which station he was equal, in courage at least, to any of the sea officers of this reign. He died at his house in Spring Gardens, 29th of November, 1692. On his death Somerset, Marquis and Earl of Worcester, was a second time appointed to the Presidency by King James II. and in 1684 Sir John Bridgeman was President. He was a very severe man, frequently committing persons to the Porter's Lodge for trifling offences; on which account one Ralph Gittins, who had probably experienced his severity, composed the following distich.

"Here lies Sir John Bridgeman, clad in his clay.

God said to the devil, sirrah, take him away.'

He was buried in Ludlow Church.

Charles, Lord Gerard of Brandon, Viscount Brandon, and Earl of Macclesfield, was the last Lord President; he was descended from the very ancient family of Geraldine, or Fitzgerald, in Ireland, he raised a regiment of foot and a troop of horse for Charles I. in the Civil War, and fought in many battles, with the ardour of a volunteer, displaying at the same time all the conduct of a veteran. He particularly signalized himself in Wales, where he took the fortresses of Cardigan,

Emblin, Langhorne, and Roche; as also the strong town of Haverfordwest, with the castles of Picton and Carew. James II. began his reign in 1684, and three years afterwards visited Ludlow in his progress through the country. It is remarkable that during his stay at Ludlow on this occasion, his Majesty was the guest of Sir Job Charlton at Ludford House. In endeavouring to account for this circumstance, it must be remembered that the Earl of Macclesfield was one of the Lords who had a few years before presented the King, whilst Duke of York, as a popish recusant, at the King's Bench bar in Westminster Hall. The apparent design of his Majesty on this occasion was to gain popularity, and he every where manifested a wish to conciliate the good will of his subjects by a courteous behaviour, professing it to be his earnest wish to give full liberty of conscience, settled as firmly as Magna Charta had been.

In 1688, December 4th, The Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Sir Edward Harley, and most of the gentlemen of Worcestershire and Herefordshire met at Worcester, and declared for the Prince of Orange: Ludlow Castle was taken for the Prince by Lord Herbert; and Sir Walter Blount and the popish Sheriff of Worcester secured in it by that Peer.

The Court for the Government of Wales was dissolved by Act of Parliament in the year 1689.

THE liberties of the Borough of Ludlow extend on the east to the township of Rock, to the township of Overton on the south, to further Halton on the west, and to the township of Stanton Lacy on the north. The Town, like Shrewsbury, is on a hill, with a declivity on

every side. It is spacious and well built, having a cleanly and cheerful appearance; surrounded by a country, which, in every direction, affords prospects highly beautiful.

Lloyd, in his "Breviarie of Britayne," describes this place, as the "fayre Towne and Castel of Ludlaw, vpon Themis in Screupshyre, in olde time called Dinav." Formerly this town was inclosed by a strong wall, about a mile in circumference, including the Castle: which, to use the words of Leland, "hemmeth in part of the town," and forming the most interesting object, first attracts attention.

The Castle rises from the point of a headland, and its foundations are ingrafted into a bare grey rock. The north front consists of square towers, with high connecting walls, which are embattled with deep interstices, and the old foss and part of the rock have been formed into walks, which in 1772 were planted with beeches, elms, and lime trees, at the expense of the late Countess of Powis. These trees having now grown to maturity, form a soothing and grateful shade, and add exceedingly to the beauty and dignity of the scene.

A bare and precipitate ridge runs parallel on the western side, and is beautifully crowned with wood, above a chasm through which the broad and shallow river Teme pursues its course. Having walked round the Castle, we enter the