WARWICK. ST. MARY'S CHURCH AND THE COUNTY-HALL. WARWICK, the capital of the very important manufacturing county to which it gives its name, is a place of high antiquity. By the Britons it was called Caer Guarvic; the Romans are supposed to have had a fort or station here; and it appears to have been strongly fortified by the Saxons at the period of the Norman invasion. Its situation, indeed, on the summit of a freestone rock, at the foot of which runs the river Avon, rendered it extremely well calculated for purposes of defence; and its castle, which is still, perhaps, the most magnificent fortified structure in this country, in former times was almost impregnable. Warwick is situated in the midst of a pleasant champaign country, and is approached by four great roads, from the cardinal points, which are cut through the free-stone rock. Our engraving affords a very favourable idea of the street-scenery of this place. In the distance is seen the beautiful tower of the church of St. Mary; the building in the centre is the County-Hall, and a portion of the County-Prison is seen on the extreme right. The streets are generally spacious and regular, and meet in the centre of the town, which is divided into the parishes of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, both in the diocese of Worcester. A religious structure, dedicated to St. Mary, occupied the same place as the present, previously to the Conquest. It was partly rebuilt subsequently to that period, and rendered collegiate in conformity with the will of Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, when a dean and secular canons were established therein. It was again rebuilt by Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, at the latter end of the fourteenth century; and in the middle of the fifteenth century, a chapel of extraordinary beauty, and richness of architectural decoration was added to it, as a place of sepulture for this munificent family. In 1694, however, the entire structure, with the exception of the choir and the chapel alluded to, was destroyed by a disastrous fire, which consumed nearly the whole town of Warwick, and caused damage to the extent of nearly £120,000. The church was in a great measure rebuilt within ten years; but with the exception of the tower, which gives an impressive effect to the edifice on a distant view, the renovation was effected in the worst possible taste. The building is cruciform; its extreme length is 186 feet; its breadth 66 feet; and the transept measures about 106 feet. The tower, which rises to a height of 130 feet, springs from four pointed arches, under which the pathway is carried, and rising in several stages, terminates in six embellished pinnacles. The interior of the choir, which is in the most perfect state, is a very beautiful example of the decorated style of pointed (or English) architecture, of which it forms one of the most florid of existing specimens. The stalls on either side,—the lofty and elaborately-finished stone ceiling, the many highlyinteresting monuments of one of the most illustrious English families which adorn it; and the "dim religious light" which is shed over the whole, are well calculated to elevate the thoughts to the contemplation of HIM to whose honour it was built. The most interesting feature in the structure, and which alone ought to obtain for it extensive celebrity, is the Chapel of our Lady, frequently called Beauchamp's Chapel, after its founder, already alluded to, of whose name, indeed, it is an honourable memorial. This beautiful building, which adjoins the south transept, has been pronounced to be, both "in its external and internal embellishment, inferior only to the chapel of Henry the Seventh at Westminster." This is high praise, but it may be safely pronounced that there are few finer examples of the architectural skill of our forefathers now in existence. This fabric was completed in the third year of the reign of Edward the Fourth, at a cost of 24817. 4s. 74d., apparently an insignificant sum; but it must be remembered, that wheat then sold at 3s. 4d. per quarter. After glancing at the exterior, which is enriched with an open-work parapet, and buttresses of great beauty, we enter the principal room, which is 58 feet long, 25 feet wide, and rises to a height of 32 feet. The roof is richly groined, and enriched with fantracery. In the centre stands the monument of the founder, which has been pronounced by Mr. Britton, inferior to none in England except that of Henry the Seventh at Westminster Abbey. It is an altartomb of gray marble, most elaborately enriched with niches, and various decorations in the purest taste; on the slab is a figure of the Earl of Warwick, one of the distinguished characters of the fifteenth century, in the proportions of life, composed of brass, gilt. The splendid monument of another celebrated person, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester*, who died in 1588, is an historical memento of high interest, especially to the readers of one of Sir Walter Scott's most touching stories, Kenilworth. The altarscreen of the chapel is adorned with a basso relievo of the Annunciation of the Virgin; on either side of which is "a shrine of the most delicate and elaborate workmanship." The southern side of the apartment is richly worked in panels, and the east window adorned with painted glass, the designs on which are very curious, and include a portrait of the founder. An oratory, confessional, and other rooms well deserving of inspection, adjoin the edifice. To the north of the church, is a venerable building called the chapter-house; which is appropriated to the somewhat opposite purposes of a mausoleum, and a national school; the latter being situated in what was formerly a chapel, in the upper story of the edifice. St. Mary's is a vicarage, in the patronage of the crown; it is valued in the king's books at 201. a year. The parish church of St. Nicholas, which was rebuilt about half a century since, is distinguished by a tower and spire, but it has no pretensions to architectural beauty. The COUNTY HALL is situated in Northgate street. The façade, which is constructed of freestone, is enriched with Corinthian pilasters, with a central portico of the same order, surmounted by a bold triangular pediment. The Hall, or principal room, is 110 feet in length, and 45 in width, and is very elegantly ornamented; the civil and criminal courts are on either side; they are neat and commodious. The exterior of the County Gaol which adjoins the hall, is also of stone, but the order is Doric. The bridewell for the county, adjoins this edifice, its internal arrangements and management are equally deserving of commendation. The male prisoners are chiefly engaged in drawing and preparing wire, for the manufacture of pins, which are headed by the boys and women. Amongst the curiosities of the place, is a large oven, capable of baking 400 loaves at one time. The Town Sessions-House (in which are assembly-rooms,) in High-Street, is also a neat edifice, in the Grecian style of architecture, well calculated for public purposes. Warwick was made a corporate town in 1554; its population, according to the census of 1831, is 9109. * See Saturday Magasine, Vol. I., p. 101. ADVENTURES OF A BRITISH OFFICER DURING THE PENINSULAR WAR. CAPTAIN Colquhoun Grant, a celebrated scouting officer was sent by Lord Wellington to watch Marshal Marmont's proceedings. Attended by Leon, a Spanish peasant of great fidelity and quickness of apprehension, who had been his companion on many former occasions of the same nature, Grant arrived in the Salamancan district, and passing the Tormes in the night, remained, in uniform, for he never assumed any disguise, three days in the midst of the French camp. He thus obtained exact information of Marmont's object, and more especially of his preparations of provisions and scaling ladders, notes of which he sent to Lord Wellington, from day to day, by Spanish agents. However, on the third night, some peasants brought him a general order, addressed to the French regiments, and saying, that the notorious Grant, being within the circle of their cantonments, the soldiers were to use their utmost efforts to secure him, for which purpose, also, guards were placed in a circle round the army. Nothing daunted by this news, Grant consulted with the peasants, and the next morning, before daylight, entered the village of Huerta, which is close to the ford on the Tormes, and about six miles from Salamanca. Here was a French battalion, and on the opposite side of the river, cavalry videttes were posted, two of which constantly patrolled back and forward, for the space of three hundred yards, meeting always at the ford. When day broke, the French battalion assembled on its alarm-post, and at that moment Grant was secretly brought with his horse behind the gable of a house, which hid him from the infantry, and was opposite to the ford. The peasants, standing on some loose stones, and spreading their large cloaks, covered him from the cavalry videttes, and thus he calmly waited until the latter were separated to the full extent of their beat; then putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through the ford between them, and receiving their fire without damage, reached a wood not very distant, where the pursuit was bafiled, and where he was soon rejoined by Leon, who in his native dress met with no interruption. Grant had already ascertained that the means of storming Ciudad Rodrigo were prepared, and that the French officers openly talked of doing so, but he desired still further to test this project, and to discover if the march of the enemy might not finally be directed by the pass of Perales, towards the Tagus; he wished also to ascertain more correctly their real numbers, and therefore placed himself on a wooded hill, near Tamames, where the road branches off to the passes, and to Ciudad Rodrigo. Here lying perdue, until the whole French army had passed, he noted every battalion and gun, and finding that all were directed towards Ciudad, entered Tamames after they had passed, and discovered that they had left the greatest part of their scaling-ladders behind, which clearly proved that the intention of storming Ciudad Rodrigo was not real. This allayed Wellington's fears for that fortress. When Marmont afterwards passed the Coa, in this expedition, Grant preceded him, with intent to discover if his march would be by Guarda upon Coimbra, or by Sabugal upon Castallo Branca. Upon one of the inferior ridges in the pass of Penamacor, this persevering officer placed himself, thinking that the dwarf oaks, with which the hills were covered, would effectually secure him from discovery; but from the higher ridge above, the French detected all his movements with their glasses. In a few moments, Leon, whose lynx-eyes were always : on the watch, called out, "The French, the French!" and pointed to the rear, whence some dragoons came galloping up. Grant and his follower instantly darted into the wood, for a little space, and then suddenly wheeling, rode off in a different direction, yet at every turn new enemies appeared, and at last the hunted men dismounted, and fled on foot through the thickest of the low oaks but again they were met by infantry, who had been detached in small parties down the sides of the pass, and were directed in their chase, by the waving of the French officers' hats on the ridge above. At last Leon fell exhausted, and the barbarians who first came up, killed him, in spite of his companion's intreaties. Grant himself, they carried, without injury, to Marmont, who, receiving him with apparent kindness, invited him to dinner. The conversation turned upon the prisoner's exploits, and the French marshal affirmed that he had been for a long time on the watch, that he knew all his haunts, and his disguises, and had discovered, that only the night before, he had slept in the French head-quarters, with other adventures which had not happened, for this Grant never used any disguise; but there was another Grant, also very remarkable in his way, who used to remain for months in the French quarters, using all manner of disguises; hence the similarity of names caused the actions of both to be attributed to one, which is the only palliation for Marmont's subsequent conduct. Treating his prisoner, as I have said, with great apparent kindness, the French general exacted from him an especial parole, that he would not consent to be released by the Patridas, while on his journey through Spain to France, which secured his captive, although Lord Wellington offered 2000 dollars to any Guerilla chief who should rescue him. The exaction of such a parole, however harsh, was in itself a tacit compliment to the man; but Marmont also sent a letter, with the escort, to the governor of Bayonne, in which, still labouring under the error that there was only one Grant, he designated his captive a dangerous spy, who had done infinite mischief to the French army, and whom he had only not executed on the spot, out of respect to something resembling an uniform, which he wore at the time of his capture. He therefore desired, that at Bayonne he should be placed in irons, and sent up to Paris. This proceeding was too little in accord with the honour of the French army to be supported, and, before the Spanish frontier was passed, Grant, it matters not how, was made acquainted with the contents of the letter. Now the custom at Bayonne, in ordinary cases, was for the prisoner to wait on the authorities, and receive a passport to travel to Verdun, and all this was duly accomplished; meanwhile, the delivery of the fatal letter being, by certain means, delayed, Grant, with a wonderful readiness aud boldness, resolved not to escape towards the Pyrenees, thinking he would naturally be pursued in that direction. He judged, that if the governor of Bayonne could not recapture him at once, he would, for his own security, suppress the letter, in hopes the matter would be no farther thought of; judging, I say, in this acute manner, he, on the instant, inquired at the hotels, if any French officer was going to Paris, and finding that General Souham, then on his return from Spain, was so bent, he boldly introduced himself, and asked permission to join his party. other readily assented; and, while thus travelling, the general, unacquainted with Marmont's intentions, often rallied his companion about his adventures, little thinking he was then himself an instrument in forwarding the most dangerous and skilful of them all. In passing through Orleans, Grant, by a species of intuition, discovered an English agent, and from him received a recommendation to another secret agent in Paris, whose assistance would be necessary to his final escape; for he looked upon Marmont's doubledealing, and the expressed design to take away his life, as equivalent to a discharge of his parole, which was moreover only given with respect to Spain. When he arrived at Paris, he took leave of Souham, opened an intercourse with the Parisian agent, from whom he obtained money, and, by his advice, avoided appearing before the police, to have his passport examined. He took a lodging in a very public street, frequented the coffee-houses, and even visited the theatres without fear, because the secret agent, who had been long established, and was intimately connected with the police, had ascertained that no inquiry about his escape had been set on foot. In this manner he passed several weeks, at the end of which the agent informed him, that a passport was ready for one Jonathan Buck, an American, who had died suddenly, the very day it was to have been claimed. Seizing this occasion, Grant boldly demanded the passport, with which he instantly departed for the mouth of the Loire, because certain reasons, not necessary to mention, led him to expect more assistance there than at any other port. However, new difficulties awaited him, and were overcome by fresh exertions of his surprising talents, which fortune seemed to delight in aiding. He first took a passage for America in a ship of that nation, but its departure being unexpectedly delayed, he frankly explained his true situation to the captain, who desired him to assume the character of a discontented seaman, and giving him a sailor's dress and forty dollars, sent him to lodge the money in the American consul's hands, as a pledge that he would prosecute the captain for ill-usage, when he reached the American States; this being the custom on such occasions, the consul gave him a certificate, which enabled him to pass from port to port, as a discharged sailor seeking a ship. Thus provided, after waiting some days, Grant prevailed upon a boatman, by a promise of ten Napoleons, to row him in the night towards a small island, where, by usage, the English vessels watered unmolested, and in return, permitted the few inhabitants to fish and traffic without interruption. In the night, the boat sailed, the masts of the British ships were dimly seen on the other side of the island, and the termination of his toils appeared at hand, when the boatman, either from fear or malice, suddenly put about, and returned to port. In such a situation, some men would have striven in desperation to force fortune, and so have perished; the spirit of others would have sunk in despair for the money he had promised, was all which remained of his stock, and the boatman, notwithstanding his breach of contract, demanded the whole; but with inexpressible coolness and resolution, Grant gave him one Napoleon instead of ten, and a rebuke for his misconduct. The other having threatened a reference to the police, soon found he was no match in subtilty for his opponent, who told him plainly, he would then denounce him as aiding the escape of a prisoner of war, and adduce the great price of his boat as a proof of his guilt! This menace was too formidable to be resisted, and Grant in a few days engaged an old fisherman, who faithfully performed his bargain. But now there. were no English vessels near the island; however, the fisherman cast his nets and caught some fish, with which he sailed towards the southward, where he had heard there was an English ship of war. In a few hours they obtained a glimpse of her, and were steering that way, when a shot from a coast-battery brought them to, and a boat with soldiers put off to board them. The fisherman was true; he called Grant his son, and the soldiers, by whom they expected to be arrested, were only sent to warn them not to pass the battery, because the English vessel they were in search of, was on the coast. The old man who had expected this, bribed the soldiers with his fish, assuring them, he must go with his son or they would starve, and that he was so well acquainted with the coast, he could always escape the enemy. His prayers and presents prevailed, he was desired to wait under the battery till night, and then depart; but, under pretence of arranging his escape from the English vessel, he made the soldiers point out her bearings so exactly, that, when darkness came, he ran her straight on board, and the intrepid officer stood in safety on the quarter-deck. After this Grant reached England, and obtained permission to choose a French officer, of equal rank with himself, to send to France, that no doubt might remain about the propriety of his escape; and great was his astonishment to find, in the first prison he visited, the old fisherman and his real son, who had, meanwhile, been captured, notwithstanding a protection given to them for their services. Grant, whose generosity and benevolence were as remarkable as the qualities of his understanding, soon obtained their release, and, having sent them with a sum of money to France, returned himself to the Peninsula, and, within four months from the date of his capture, was again on the Tormes, watching Marmont's army! This generous and spirited, yet gentle-minded man, having served his country nobly and ably in every climate, died, not long since, ex hausted by the continual hardships he had endured. [NAPIER'S Peninsular War.] OUR COUNTRY AND OUR HOME THERE is a land, of ev'ry land the pride, THE water-lily in the midst of waters, lifts up its broad leaves, and expands its petals at the first pattering of the shower, and rejoices in the rain with a quicker sympathy than the parched shrub in the sandy desert.-COLERIDGE. AN ALLIGATOR HUNT IN CEYLON. In our second volume, we gave some account of the Alligator: we now propose giving a detail of the hunting that formidable creature, as described by Captain Basil Hall. It was got up for the amusement of the Admiral, Sir S. Hood, and performed by a corps of Malays in the British service. Very early in the morning, the party were summoned from their beds, to set forth on the expedition. In other countries, the hour of getting up may be left to choice; in India, when any thing active is to be done, it is a matter of necessity; for after the sun has gained even a few degrees of altitude, the heat and discomfort, as well as the danger of exposure, become so great, that all pleasure is at an end. The day, therefore, had scarcely begun to dawn, when we all cantered up to the scene of action. The ground lay as flat as a marsh for many leagues, and was spotted with small stagnant lakes, connected by sluggish streams, scarcely moving over beds of mud, between banks fringed with a rank crop of draggled weeds. The chill atmosphere of the morning felt so thick and clammy, it was impossible not to think of agues, jungle-fevers, and all the hopeful family of malaria. The hardy native soldiers who had occupied the ground during the night, were drawn up to receive the Admiral, and a very queer guard of honour they formed. The whole regiment had stripped off their uniform, and every other stitch of clothing, save a pair of short trousers, and a kind of sandal. In place of a firelock, each man bore in his hand a slender pole, about six feet in length, to the extremity of which was attached the bayonet of his musket. His only other weapon, was the formidable Malay crease, a sort of dagger, or small two-edged sword. Soon after the commander-in-chief came to the ground, the regiment was divided into two main parties, and a body of reserves. The principal columns, facing, one to the right, the other to the left, proceeded to occupy different points in one of the sluggish canals, connecting the pools scattered over the plain. These detachments being stationed about a mile from one another, enclosed an interval where, from some peculiar circumstances known only to the Malays, who are passionately fond of the sport, the alligators were sure to be found in great numbers. The troops formed themselves across the canals, in three parallel lines, ten or twelve feet apart; but the men in each line stood side by side, merely leaving room enough to wield their pikes. The canal may have been about four or five feet deep, in the middle of the stream, if stream it can be called, which scarcely moved at all. The colour of the water, when undisturbed, was a shade between ink and coffee; but no sooner had the triple line of Malays set themselves in motion, than the consistence and colour, became like those of peas-soup. On every thing being reported ready, the soldiers planted their pikes before them in the mud, each man crossing his neighbour's weapon, and at the word "march," away they all started in full cry, sending forth a shout, or war-whoop, sufficient to curdle the blood of those on land, whatever effect it may have had on the inhabitants of the deep. As the two divisions of the invading army gradually approached each other in pretty close column, screaming, and yelling, and striking their pikes deep in the slime before them, the startled animals naturally retired towards the unoccupied centre. Generally speaking, the alligators, or crocodiles, had sense enough to turn their long tails upon their assailants, and to scuttle off, as fast as they could, towards the middle part of the canal. But every now and then, one of the terrified monsters floundered backwards, and, by retreating in the wrong direction, broke through the first, second, and even third line of pikes. This was the perfection of sport to the delighted Malays. A double circle of soldiers was speedily formed round the wretched aquatic who had presumed to pass the barrier. By means of well-directed thrusts with numberless bayonets, and the pressure of some dozens of feet, the poor brute was often fairly driven beneath his native mud. When once there, his enemies halfchoked and half-spitted him, till at last, they put an end to his miserable days, in regions quite out of sight, and in a manner as inglorious as can well be conceived. The intermediate space was now pretty well crowded with alligators, swimming about in the utmost terror, at times diving below, and anon showing their noses above the surface of the dirty stream; or occasionally making a furious bolt, in sheer despair, right at the phalanx of Malays. On these occasions, half-a-dozen of the soldiers were often upset, and their pikes either broken or twisted out of their hands, to the infinite amusement of their companions, who speedily closed up the broken ranks. There were none killed, but many wounded; yet no man flinched in the least. "Sauve The perfection of the sport appeared to consist in detaching a single alligator from the rest, surrounding and attacking him separately, and spearing him till he was almost dead. The Malays, then, by main strength, forked him aloft, over their heads, on the end of a dozen pikes, and, by a sudden jerk, pitched the conquered monster far on the shore. As the alligators are amphibious, they kept to the water no longer than they found they had an advantage in that element; but on the two columns of their enemy closing up, the monsters lost all discipline, floundered up the weedy banks, scuttling away to the right and left, helter-skelter. qui peut!" seemed to be the fatal watch-word for their total rout. That prudent cry would, no doubt, have saved many of them, had not the Malays judiciously placed beforehand their reserve on each side of the river, to receive the distracted fugitives, who, bathed in mud, and half dead with terror, but still in a prodigious fury, dashed off at right angles from the canal, in hopes of gaining the shelter of a swampy pool, overgrown with reeds and bulrushes, but which most of the poor beasts were never doomed to reach. The concluding battle between these retreating and desperate alligators, and the Malays of the reserve, was formidable enough. Indeed, had not the one party been fresh, the other exhausted; one confident, the other broken in spirit; it is quite possible that the crocodiles might have worsted the Malays. It was difficult, indeed, to say which of the two looked at that moment the more savage; the triumphant natives, or the flying troop of alligators wallopping away from the water. Many on both sides were wounded, and all covered with slime and weeds. There could not have been fewer than thirty or forty alligators killed. The largest measured ten feet in length, and four feet girth, the head being exactly two feet long. Besides these great fellows, a multitude of little ones, nine inches long, were caught alive, many of which, being carried on board, became great favourites amongst the sailors, whose queer taste in the choice of pets has freqently been noticed. [CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.] LONDON: JOHN WILLÏAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. 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