seems were for the Preservation of the Memory of Two Centuriont that had so many Years faithfully and worthily served the Romans there In the Year 1692 under the Root of an Oak in Med-Lock near Knot-Mill was found a Stone Three Quarters long Fifteen Inches broad Eleven Inches thick with the Letter'd side downward which Mr. Cambden saw not at least before the Finishing his Britania but is now to be seen in the Garden of Holme the Seat of Sir Iohn Bland Bar to whom that Estate descended the same formerly belonging to the Moseley's in Right of his Wife a Lady of great Temper Piety and Prudence The Inscription of the Stone is thus FORTVNAE CONSERVA TRICI LVCIVS SENACIANIVS MARTIVSBLEG VI. VICT. This seems to be an Altar dedicated to Fortune by Lucius Senecianus Martius Brutus a Commander in the Sixth Legion which remained in York in the Time of Severus his being there after he had vanquished Albinus General of the Britains and reduced their State under his Obedience It was surnamed Victrix and is plac'd by Dio in Lower Britain and the Twentieth Legion surnamed also Victrix remain'd at Chester which was plac'd in Higher Britain This Division it seems was made by the said Severus and the Country about it where these Legions were were divided into little Regions since call'd Hydes This was part of the Kingdom of Deiara several of whose Youth being sent to Rome and Pope Gregory admiring their Beauty sent over Augustine to convert the English Edward the First King of the West Saxons and afterwards of the Mercians sent into the Kingdom of the Northumbers an Army of the Mercians saith Hoveden ordering that they should fortifie the City of Manchester and place valiant Soldiers in it it being defac'd by the Danes It was a Frontier Town betwixt the Mercians that inhabited Cheshire and Derbyshire and the Northumbers inhabiting Lancashire and Yorkshire and in their Wars and mutual Incursions was sometimes possessed by the Mercians and sometimes the Northumbers Thus far our Author proceeds As to the present State of the Town it is vastly populous of great Trade Riches and Industry particularly for the Fustian Manufacture and Printing them as for those likewise which are call'd Manchester Wares both which are now sent all over the Kingdom as well as to the Indies It is watered by the Rivers Erwell and Irke Little can be added of Lancaster for Antiquity save that it was doubtless a Roman Fortress as appears by the Roman Wall and Road leading to it it is at this time a very thriving Corporation and an improving Port Its Eminency chiefly lies in this that many Branches of the Royal Family have enjoy'd Titles deriv'd from it which for the Dignity of the County in general I will enumerate as briefly as possible The First that was stiled Lord of the Place in the Beginning of the Norman Government was Roger of Poictou surnamed Pictarensis because his Wife came out of Poictou in France He was succeeded in that Honour by William Earl of Morton and Warren upon whose Death King Richard the First bestow'd it on his Brother Iohn afterwards King of England of whom Gualter De Hemingford and R. Hoveden gives this Account That King Richard shew'd great Affection to his Brother Iohn for besides Ireland and the Earldom in Normandy he bestow'd upon him such great Preferment in England that he was in a manner Tetrarch there For he gave him Cornwall Lancaster Nottingham and Derby with the adjacent Country and many other Things After this King Henry III. Son of King Iohn promoted his younger Son Edmund Crouchback he having been prevented of the Kingdoms of Sicily and Apuleia to the Earldom of Lancaster giving it in these Words The Honour Earldom Castle and Town of Lancaster with the Cow-Pastures which at this Day they call Vaccaries from thence and Forest of Wiresdale Lownsdale New-Castle under Lime with the Mannor Forest and Castle of Pickering the Mannor of Scateby the Village of Gormancester and the Rents of the Town of Huntingdon Edmund had Issue Thomas Henry and Iohn who died unmarried which Thomas was Second Earl of Lancaster and was succeeded in that Honour by his Brother Henry whose Son Henry was in Parliament created Duke of Lancaster being the Second Dukedom that was erected in England that of Cornwall being the First in the Person of Edward the Black Prince and left Two Daughters Maud Dutchess of Bavaria and Blanch married to Iohn of Gaunt so call'd because he was born at Ghent in Flanders Fourth Son of Edward the Third who thereby coming to the whole Estate and being now equal to many Kings in Wealth was created Duke of Lancaster by his Father he also obtain'd the Royalties from him and the King then advanced the County of Lancaster into a Palatinate By this Rescript wherein after he had declar'd the great Service he had done his Country at Home and Abroad he adds We have granted from Us and our Heirs to our Son aforesaid that he during his Term of Life shall have within the County of Lancaster his Chancery and his Writs to be issued out under his own Seal belonging to the Office of Chancellor his Justices likewise as well for Pleas of the Crown as for other Pleas relating to Common Law to have Cognizance of them and to have Power of making all Executions whatsoever by his Writs and Officers and to have all other Liberties and Royalties whatsoever appertaining to a County Palatine as freely and fully as the Earl of Chester within the said County is known to have Nor was he only Duke of Lancaster but by Marriage with Constantia Daughter to Peter King of Castile sometime bore the Title of King of Leon and Castile but by Contract he parted with this Title and in the Thirteenth of King Richard the Second was created Duke of Aquitaine by Consent of Parliament to the great Dissatisfaction of the Country At that Time his Titles were Iohn Son to the King of England Duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster Earl of Derby Lincoln and Leicester and High Steward of England After this Henry de Bullingbrook his Son succeeded in the Dutchy of Lancaster who having deposed Richard the Second obtained the Crown and conferr'd that Honour upon Henry his Son afterwards King of England and that he might entail it upon him and his Heirs for ever he had an Act of Parliament made in these Words We being unwilling that our said Inheritance or Liberties by reason of our now assuming the Regal Seat and Diguity shou'd be any ways chang'd transferr'd diminish'd or impair'd but that our said Inheritance with its Liberties and Rights aforesaid shou'd in the same Manner and Form Condition and State wherein they descended and fell to us and also with all and singular Liberties Franchizes and Priviledges Commodities and Profits whatsoever which our Lord and Father in his Life-time had and held it for term of his Life by Grant of the late King Richard and wholly
being much greater and consequently the pressure more To these I shall add what has been observ'd by our Learned Warden the Rev d Dr. Wroe who for several Years has kept an exact Diary of the Weather-glass He always observ'd the Quicksilver upon its ascending to alter its Surface insomuch as in very dry Weather to become perfectly Convex and upon an Alteration of the Air to a wet Temper to alter to a plain Surface and in extreme wet Weather to a perfect Concave the Mercurial Particles hanging on the sides of the Glass By this it should seem that besides the Ascent made by the Pressure there is another also made by the intestine Fermentation of the Quicksilver and in this I am the farther confirm'd since Quicksilver in Glass Tubes Hermetically Seal'd has been observ'd to Rise and Fall which could not be was the Ascent by Pressure wholly upon the Surface of the Quicksilver contain'd in the Cup. Another thing remarkable in the Air is the exposing openly dry'd Leaves of Tobacco which in the hottest Days do soonest grow Moist for which no other Reasons can be assign'd but the Exhalations in hot Weather are far greater and consequently the aqueous Particles more numerously ranged in the Atmosphere And this I take to be the reason why the Drops of Rain are then usually larger and perhaps for the same reason the Bigness of Hailstones may in some measure be solv'd CHESHIRE a County Palatine and amongst other Things Famous for its Earls who had a Palatine Jurisdiction belonging to them and all the Inhabitants held of them as in Chief and were under a Sovereign Allegiance and Fealty to them as they to the KING This County was anciently Inhabited by part of the Cornavii The Air there may be said to be more Healthful and Mild than in Lancashire this County not so much abounding with Fens Salt-Marshes and Mosses What is said more of the Air in Lancashire may serve as to this Place and as to its farther Antiquities the following Account may be added According to Sir Thomas Elliot the First Name given to this City was Neomagus so call'd from Magus Son of Samothes Son of Iaphet its Founder see Lambert pag. 17 th about 240 Years after the Flood Were this Account true for ought I know it may stand in Competition with the most antique City in the Universe Its Second Name was Caerleon see Albion Mareoticus so nominated from Leon Vaur or Gauer who as some will have it was a Giant in Albion and One of its Restorers The reason of this Conjecture I suppose may in some measure be grounded upon the following History i. e. upon a Giant 's Skull being dug up in Pepper-street with the rest of the Bones Upon the Britains coming over and settling there it was afterwards call'd Caerleil and afterwards Caerleir because these Two British Kings were Enlargers and Beautifiers of it according to Iackson Stow and others Before the Arrival of the Romans here it is probable this City was call'd Genuina or Gunia as will more fully appear from the Inscription of a Votive Altar dug up in this City and Dedicated to Iupiter Tanar that is in the Welch Language the Thunderer which language it is likely the Romans might make use of in this Inscription to demonstrate their Conquests over the Britains After the Romans had six'd here their conquering Legion stiled Valens Victrix it was then stiled Caerlheon Caerlegion or as 't is otherwise commonly call'd Ardourdwy and Caer by way of Excellence as Mr. Cambden observes to distinguish it from the other Caerleon or Caerusk in South Wales The Latin Historians stile it Cestria that is a Castris which the Romans had fix'd there and Leincestria that is the City of the Legions It has likewise been stiled as is evident from the Roman Tiles dug up there Deunana Deva and Devana Civitas and these Names I presume to be attributed to it from its Proximity to the River Dee In later Ages it was stiled Legan-Chester Lege-Cestre but in these Days West-Chester or Chester as the Greeks express it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to denote its Preference to Dorchester or Rochester By Ptolomy it is sometimes call'd Oxcellum Uxcellum Plegimundham and Leogria or Locrinus Land of which the Three first denote no more as Hollingshed observes in the First Volume of his Chronicles of England than a Rock an Island or Place of strong Defence by which we may easily observe that this was the Boundary of King Locrinus's Kingdom Westward This was the chief City of the Ordovices before the coming in of the Romans as most of our ancient Historians do affirm those People were the Inhabitants of North Wales The Greatness of this ancient City is still the more conspicuous from those stately Remains of its Ruins I mean the subterraneous Vaults in Cellars through Free-stone Rock the Entrances into them are ranged into several Angles and by what I can learn from the Descriptions of the Catacombs in Italy we may reasonably conclude these to have been made for the same purpose This Instance sufficiently demonstrates the Greatness of the Roman Power at Chester and likewise that it is probable since by their Conquering Legion there they had Block'd up the Britains in Wales that they were resolv'd not only to keep Incorporated while living but likewise to preserve even their very Ashes together In these Passages have been found several Roman Coins as I have been inform'd which more fully illustrates these Vaults to have been Heathen and not those subterraneous Passages made use of by the Monks which may be observ'd in various Monasteries This may be seen in a Cellar in Bridge-street belonging to Mr. Iohn Minshull DERBYSHIRE was anciently Inhabited by the Coritani who these were as well as the Cornavii is uncertain The Air in the Peak of that Country is more subject to Rains and Winds than in Lancashire and Cheshire and it s not unpleasant to see the Clouds riding after the sides of the Mountains which by dashing upon them are frequently forced down in Showers and by the sudden Rarefaction of the Meteors in the Air pent up betwixt the Hills and the Clouds and getting vent in the spaces betwixt the Hills I think may fairly illustrate why Winds are in those Parts so frequent but this will be more easily conceiv'd if we consider those Artificial Winds which are made by an Aeolipile which Instrument it was gave me the first hint of Dulcifying Salt-Water which Experiment I shew'd to the University of Oxford some Years before Mr. Fitz-Gerald had a Patent for doing it who Communicated this Experiment to him I know not but it s most certain it was not his own Having now given Account of what is most remarkable in the Air I shall proceed to consider the next Element and that is Water But before I enter upon that must beg leave to add Two remarkable Observations The first is to illustrate the Elasticity of
to make my self so far Master of the Language that I write in as to adapt my Expressions to the subjects that I treat off How far these kind of Actions are reconcileable either to Justice Honour or Learning I freely submit to the common Censures of Mankind nay even to their own Sentiments And would gladly be inform'd by what unaccountable Methods they have so totally Monopolized all natural Learning that the freedom of thought shall not be allowable to another Notwithstanding their wonderful assurance I will once again venture to affirm their Petrefactions many of them at least are not so exquisitely like the Shells which they represent but we may as reasonably suppose that the Espousers of this Fiction may be as much mistaken as the Bird which peck'd upon the Grapes drawn by Zeuxes And am apt to think that upon a serious Consideration of the whole matter The one will be found as starving an Entertainment as the other 'T is true some of these Gentlemen have very choice and curious Collections of Natural Curiosities and in their Collections of petrified Shells as they term them even outstrip all the Trophies of Caligula when he made that vast Collection upon the Belgic Shore but if these Gentlemen cannot be certain that those Shells are the Exuviae of those Fishes they take them for they do but impose upon their own Judgments and only entitle themselves to a spurious Off-Spring wherefore considering the many absurdities that inevitably arise from that Hypothesis that Learning is built upon I shall not expatiate upon them here but leave the further disquisition of those matters to the Unbiassed Readers This to be incerted as a Postscript at the end of the First Book after the Explication of the Cuts THE Natural History OF LANCASHIRE CHESHIRE AND THE Peak in DERBYSHIRE BOOK II. CHAP. I. Of Quadrupeds unusual Phoenomena in Human-Kind of Persons noted for Arts Professions and Acts of Charity THAT there shou'd be a Species of Quadrupeds in these Parts different from others in England is scarce to be imagin'd I shall therefore only take notice in this Treatise of what are most remarkable amongst us In a Park call'd Stiperly in Cheshire belonging to Iohn Legh of Adlington Esq from which Family my Ancestors had the Honour to descend are an unusual kind of Sheep they are of a larger size than most others and bear rather a kind of Hair than Wooll They have all Four Horns and some of them of an Extraordinary size the Two Horns next the Neck are erect like those of Goats but larger the other next the Forehead are curved like those of other Sheep whether or no these be a particular Species of Sheep or perhaps might come at first by Goats and Sheep engend'ring together I cannot determine their Flesh is agreeable enough yet different from other Mutton yet more resembling that than Goats Flesh Not far from thence lies Lime-Park belonging to Peter Legh of Lime Esq in which there are a great Number of Red-Deer of which this is remarkable that once a Year the Keepers drive them together upon a grass Plain before the Gates of the Hall a thing I believe not practis'd upon these Wild Creatures in any other part of the World The wonderful consent there is betwixt the Horns and Testicles of these Creatures is scarce to be imagin'd as likewise their Yearly casting their Horns it is most certain if these Deer be gelded before the Eruption of their Horns they never produce any afterwards and if before the usual time of casting them they then never cast those they are possest of which Phoenomenon to me seems to argue that the principal occasion of casting their Horns is that about Rutting time their Testicles are more pregnant than at other Seasons hence their Blood being raised to an higher Ferment nay indeed to so touring a Pitch that Nature it self is almost unhing'd hence the Blood Vessels being distended beyond their Natural Tone are uncapable to contain any longer but are forcibly burst asunder by the disruption of these the Horns which abound with them are dispoiled of all possible Communication of Nourishment by which means the Nerves are render'd Weak and Languid the Horn consequently by its own Weight declines and falls off these Horns afford us in Chymical Preparations an Oil and a Spirit which is indeed nothing but the Volatile Salt dissolved in Phlegm and a Volatile Salt which are all of them of Extraordinary use in Languors and Convulsive Distempers or in any Malady of the Nerves It is affirm'd by the Learned Dr. Brown in his Travels in Hungary that in Servia where the Plague frequently rages they find no better Antidote against it than Eating the Flesh of these Creatures for which there may be this Reason it is probable the Flesh of these Creatures contains a greater quantity of Volatile Salt than other Flesh may by which means it becomes a more generous Food and by a more than an Ordinary Volatilized Chyle prevents Coagulation of the Blood which causes that Pestilental Distemper those Volatile Alkalies destroying the other Saline Acid particles that make the Coagulum The Horns of these Creatures by their own Effluvia are Convertible into a Jelly which is of great use to Emaciated Persons and a noble Food to any it may be it was from this Preparation that Monsieur Papin received the first hint of his New Digester by which he Converted Bones into Marrow by their own Effluvia which I have seen frequently Experimented by that Excellent Chymist Christopher White of Oxford Operator in the Publick Laboratory of that most Flourishing University it is affirm'd by the Huntsmen that these Creatures when they find themselves Encompassed by the Dogs and no possibility of escape will weep most Mournfully a sight that to a Tender Spirit wou'd damp the Divertisement of that days Recreation so endearing a Principle is Life to all Creatures In the Park near Mannor in Lancashire are spotted Deer There are some of these likewise in Dunham-Park belonging to the Right Honourable the Earl of Warrington in the County of Chester In a Park near Bury in Lancashire are Wild Cattel belonging to Sir Ralph Ashton of Middleton these I presume were first brought from the high-lands of Scotland They have no Horns but are like the Wild Bulls and Cows upon the Continent of America of which Monsieur Hennipin has given us a full account in his Travels up the River Mesashippi upon the Banks of which great Herds of these are frequently seen Grasing and are Hunted by the Indians as the Deer by us The defect of Horns in these Beasts brings into my Mind a very remarkable Phoenomenon of one Alice Green whose Picture I have seen in Whalley-Abbey in Lancashire this Woman had Two Horns which grew out at the back part of her Head they grew backwards like those of Rams and were about three Inches long these she cast once in three Years and had always intolerable
a Nitro-aerial Spirit and for that Hypothesis recites the same Experiments Dr. Willis does for that of Fire the same difficulties therefore lying against that Notion as the Doctors I shall not recapitulate but pass it over these are the most remarkable Authors that have writ on this subject I shall therefore in the last place propose my own Sentiments on that Head my Thoughts are that in all living Creatures whatever there is a Spiritual immaterial Being that thinks and actuates them To this some may reply if so where then is the difference betwixt Man and Beast There Souls must be both equally immortal with sounds contrary to Revealed Religion To those I answer that these Creatures have only a lower degree of Reason not comparable to that of Man even as we can imagine ours to be Inferiour to the Intuitive Knowledge of Angels their Allegations therefore on this account are Foreign to the purpose but suppose I allow farther that the Almighty may Annihilate the Souls of these Creatures after Death but whether he do or not or in what future State they are like to be since his Infinite Wisdom has not condescended to Reveal his Actions so far to Mankind does it at all concern me And therefore I can easily conclude with the Philosopher Quae supra nos nihil ad nos and it wou'd be much better to acquiesce in a modest ignorance than disturb our selves and amuse the World with these unaccountable Theorems Having thus far accounted for Phoenomena preternatural in Animals in the next place I shall descend to give an account of Persons in these Parts that have been Eminent for their Learning and Inventions in Natural Philosophy or Mechanicks Amongst these the Learned Dr. Pearson may justly be placed the first witness his most Learned Exposition on the Creed and his unanswerable piece de successione Patrum which at this day is receiv'd in the Vatican it self though he a Bishop of a different persuasion from him that presides there and esteemed as Sacred as a general Councel or any Authority of the most noted Father For Learning likewise and Pious generosity Bishop Smith and Dean Nowel have immortaliz'd their Names the former was one of the Founders of Brazen-Nose College in Oxford the latter gave several Scholarships to it which to this day are called the Nowellians to these Men of Learning we may justly add Sir Peter Leicester of Tabley to whom the World owes a great deal of Thanks for his History of the Antiquities of Buckley-Hunder'd and I hope it may be Pardonable though I add my great Grandfather William Legh Parson of Standish he was Tutor to Prince Henry and Chaplain to Henry Earl of Derby As to Pious and Charitable Foundations there are three very remarkable in Manchester in Lancashire viz. a College a Publick School and an Hospital The College was first founded Ann. Dom. 1421. By Thomas De la Ware first Rector of the said Parish Church and Brother to the Lord De la Ware whom he succeeded in Estate and Honour and then Founded a College there consisting of one Master or Keeper Eight Fellows Chaplains Four Clerks and Six Choristers in Honour of St. Mary St. Denis of France and St. George for England to whom the said Parish Church was formerly Dedicated This Foundation was dissolved 1547 in the first Year of King Edward VI. the Lands and Revenues of it taken into the King's Hands and by him demised to the Earl of Derby and the College House and some Lands sold to the said Earl The College was refounded by Queen Mary who restored most of its Lands and Revenues only the College it self and some of the Revenues remained still in the hands of the Earl of Derby it was also Founded a new by Queen Elizabeth Ann. Dom. 1578. By the Name of Christ College in Manchester consisting of One Warden Four Fellows Two Chaplains Four Singing Men and Four Choristers the number being lessened because the Revenues were so chiefly by the Covetousness and False dealing of Thomas Herle then Warden and his Fellows who sold away and made such long Leases as cou'd never yet some of them be retrieved It was last of all refounded by King Charles I. Ann. Dom. 1636. constituting therein One Warden Four Fellows Two Chaplains Four Singing Men and Four Choristers and incorporating them by the Name of the Warden and Fellows of Christ's College in Manchester the Statues of the same being drawn by Arch-Bishop Laud. The Hospital was Founded by Humphry Chetham Esq that great Example of industrious improvment and incorporated by King Charles II. designed by that bountiful Benefactor for the Maintenance of Forty Poor Boys out of the Town and Parish of Manchester and some other Neighbouring Parishes but since then it is enlarged to the number of Sixty by the Governours of the said Hospital the Boys are to be taken in betwixt the Age of Six and Ten thereto be maintained with Meat Drink and Cloaths and at the Age of Fourteen to be bound Apprentices to some honest Trade or Calling at the charge of the said Hospital for the maintenance of which he endowed the same with the Yearly Revenue of 420 l. which is since improved by the care and good Husbandry of the Feoffees or Governours to the Yearly value of 517 l. 8 s. 4 d. they having laid out in the purchase of Lands 1825 l. which was saved out of the Yearly income over and above the maintenance of the Poor Children and others belonging to the said Hospital wherein there are annually near Seventy Persons provided for Within this Hospital by the Bounty of the said Founder is also erected a fair and spacious Library already furnished with a Competent stock of choice and valuable Books to the number of near four Thousand and are daily encreasing with the income of 116 l. per Annum setled upon the same by the said worthy Benefactor to buy Books for ever and to afford a Competent Salary for a Library Keeper there is also a large School for the Hospital Boys where they are daily instructed and taught to read write and keep Accounts The Publick School was Founded Ann. Dom. 1519 by Hugh Oldham D. D. and Bishop of Exeter who bought the Lands on which the School stands and took the Mills there in Lease of the Lord de la Ware for 60 Years afterwards with the Bishop's Moneys Hugh Bexwick and Ioan his Sister purchased of the Lord de la Ware his Lands in Ancoats and the Mills upon Erkes and left them in Feofment to the Free-School for ever which Revenues are of late very much encreased by the Feoffees of the School who out of the improvments have as well considerably augmented the Masters Salaries as the Exhibitions annually allow'd towards the maintainance of such Scholars at the University as the Warden of the College and the High-Master shall think requisite and have besides for some Years past added a Third Master for whom they have already
Duke of Mercia and the Danes hitherto continu'd their Usurpations He was deposed from his Dukedom by King Canutus and that Part of the Kingdom of Mercia was afterwards govern'd by Earls commonly stiled the Earls of Chester Of the Earls of Chester Leofric the Son of Leofwin the Danes still continuing in these Parts was a great Lover of Chester and adorn'd it with several Buildings Algar the Son of Leofric succeeded him he died in the Year 1059 and was buried at Coventry Edwin the Son of Edgar succeeded him in his Earldom but after the Defeat of Harold by William the Conqueror the Saxon Nobility ended and this Earl was by the Conqueror carried into Normandy from whence he attempted to make his Escape into Scotland but was slain in his Journey thither as Hoveden testifies Gherbod a Fleming was the First Earl of Chester after the Conquest then Hugh Lupus had the Earldom and he was succeeded by Richard his Son Ranulph Nephew to Hugh Lupus succeeded him in the Earldom then Ranulph Son of the former Ranulph receiv'd that Dignity in 1141 was poisoned and succeeded by Hugh Kevelioc his Son then Ranulph the Third surnamed Blundevill succeeded his Brother Hugh John Scot Nephew to Ranulph succeeded him he likewise was poisoned died at Darnel Grange in the Hundred of Edsbury in Cheshire and was buried at Chester After his decease Henry the Third held that Earldom in his own Hands till he created Edward his Son Earl of that Palatinate Edward the First Son of Henry the Third succeeded him who mightily delighted in the Pleasantness of the City of Chester and for that Reason termed the Country the Vale-Royal of England he was succeeded by Simon de Montfort who was a Warrior as appears from his Battle at Lewes in Sussex wherein he defeated the King and afterwards receiv'd the Earldom of Chester he was slain at Evesham and his Honours return'd to the Crown in 1265. Edward the Second born at Carnarvan in Wales succeeded him he was Earl of Chester and Flint Edward the Third his Son was created Earl of Chester as likewise Prince of Wales and Duke of Aquitain Edward the Black Prince ensu'd next then Richard his Son born at Burdeaux likewise assum'd the Title of Prince of Chester as Wallingham testifies Henry the Fifth was after him Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester Henry the Sixth succeeded him in that Earldom the next Earl was Edward Son of Henry the Sixth he was murthered at Tewksbury by Richard Crouchback Edward the Fifth succeeded him who was likewise murthered by his Uncle Edward the Son of King Richard the Third was next Earl of Chester then Arthur Eldest Son to Henry the Seventh who was succeeded by Henry the Eighth his Brother afterward Edward the Sixth then Prince Henry Eldest Son of King James the First and he was succeeded by King Charles the First and he by Charles the Second his Eldest Son Thus it remains Titular to the Royal Family and for ought appears may continue so for a Series of endless Generations The Bishops of Mercia The Two First Bishops were Diama and Ceollah Two Scotch Men the Third was Tramkere an English Man but ordain'd by the Scots after him Iarnman or German as Bede relates it To these succeeded Bishops who had sometimes their Sees at Coventry sometimes at Chester but most commonly at Litchfield Those were all in the Saxon Government of whom there is a full Account in Ingulphus Bede and others The First after the Conquest was Petrus who removed his Seat from Litchfield to Chester but was afterwards alter'd by Robert Pecaam who had Three Seats Chester Litchfield and Coventry but the Episcopal Seat was again restor'd to Chester in King Henry the Eighth's Time and that of St. Werburgh appointed the Cathedral Church and the Bishop made a Suffragan of York The Catalogue of the Bishops after that Time may be seen at large in Godwin and others The Barons of Chester The First Barons we read of were Nigell Baron of Haulton Robert Baron de Mount Hault Seneschal or Steward of the County of Chester who dying without Issue it came to Isabell Queen of England by Settlement and Iohn de Eltham Earl of Cornwall and his Heirs thence to William de Malbedenge Baron of Malbanc whose Great Grand-daughters transferr'd this Inheritance by their Marriages to the Vernons and Bassetts and for want of an Heir Male to Vernon Baron of Sipbroke it came by the Sisters to the Willburhams Staffords and Littleburys Robert Fitz-Hugh Baron of Malpas Hammons de Massey Fittons de Bolin Gilbert Venables Baron of Kinderton Warrens of Pointon Barons of Stockport descended from the Noble Family of the Earls of Warren and Surrey succeeded in Right of Marriage I have not met with any farther Antiquities of Chester or the County but by what has already been discover'd we may assuredly conclude the City of Chester to have been the most Ancient and August Colony in these Parts Derbyshire especially the Peak which in the Saxon Language fignifies Eminence part of the famous Mercian Kingdom whose Inhabitants were call'd Coritani will afford us but a slender Scene of Antiquities the very Nature of the Place rendring it inhospitable to Mankind and at the same time indulgent to Wolves and Beasts of Prey yet withal we may with Admiration contemplate the Conduct of wife and provident Nature where amidst all this unpolish'd Rubbish of the Globe she her self sits in State and displays her Works equally compatible with the most desirable Objects Those uneven Mountains she has made pregnant with a very useful and necessary Mettal and as useful Minerals she has here and there scatter'd her Disports for the Diversion of the Curious and cut out large Themes for Philosophical Enquiries she liberally affords Hot and Mineral Waters for the Relief and Comfort of infirm and decrepid Mortals so that these untractable and dispeopl'd Parts become frequented with numerous Crouds who yearly arrive here either through a Prospect of Ease from their Pains and Infirmities or for the pleasing Entertainment of the Mind with new Objects of which these Parts are very prolifick I will as briefly as I can give you my Thoughts of what is most remarkable I have not heard of any Roman Antiquities save that Place call'd Little Chester mention'd by Mr. Cambden where Coins of several sorts and different Mettals are sometimes dug up some of Copper Silver and Gold and an Altar mention'd by Mr. Gibson dug up near Bakewell in the Grounds belonging to Haddon House the present Seat of the Right Honourable the Earl of Rutland with this Inscription DEO MARTI BRACIACAE OSITIUS CAECILIAN PRAEFECT TRO V. S. As to the Tooth Skull and Bones found in digging a Grove mention'd by Mr. Gibson I have spoke of such Forms before and take them to be only the Lusus Naturae in Sparr and other indurated Bodies which unquestionably at the first were all fluid and capable of any Impression We