spirit of their former proprietor, though we fear the cause is to be found in the accursed spirit which generally pervades Englishmen, inducing them to record their visits; injuring monuments, trees, and buildings, by inscribing their names thereon in ineffaceable characters. This barbarism no man will allow to be perpetrated in his grounds, while he has the power of prevention; thus the man of taste is excluded by the rudeness of these Vandals. The manufacture of nails, chains, chain-cables, every description of hardware, and glass, form the staple trade of the town. Here are two Churches: the one dedicated to St. Thomas was rebuilt in 1819, in the later style of English architecture, with a lofty spire, at an expense of £23,000. Of this sum, £7,600 was collected by subscription, including the munificent gift of the Earl of Dudley, viz., £2,000; the rest was raised by a rate. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester; K. B. £7 18s. 6d; patron, the Earl of Dudley. The Church of St. Edmund is used as a chapel of ease to St. Thomas, the parishes having been united. There are chapels for various denominations of Dissenters, and for the Society of Friends. This borough had the privilege of sending two members to Parliament, in the reign of Edward. The inhabitants, at a subsequent time, it does not appear from what cause, petitioned for the abolition of the privilege, which petition was granted, and they remained unrepresented until the Reform Bill gave them
