the arches, which are ten in number, have been walled up, and formed into dwellings; the bridge is covered with a penthouse roof, and backed by perpendicular rocks, in which the mines are excavated. Numerous workmen continually pass and repass, and low cars, laden with coal or iron ore, roll along with their broad and grooved wheels; these objects, losing themselves under the roof of the bridge, again emerging, and then disappearing in the subterraneous passages of the rock, form a singular and animated picture, not unlike the moving figures in a camera obscura. The mountainous district which contains these mineral treasures, is held by the Earl of Abergavenny, under a lease from the crown. It was formerly let to the family of Hanbury, of Pont y.Pool, for less than £.100 a year; and as the value of the mines was not sufficiently appreciated, no works were constructed; but the masses of ore found near the surface were conveyed to the forges of Pont y Pool. Soon after the expiration of the term, the district was granted by another lease to Hill and company, who began these works in 1788, and expended forty thousand pounds before any return was made; this expence, 'however, has been amply repaid by the produce. On considering the rise and rapid progress of the iron manufac tories in this district, as well as in the neighbouring mountains of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, it is a matter of wonder that these mineral treasures should have been so long neglected. This wonder will increase, when it is known that iron was manufactured in this country at a period beyond the reach of tradition or history. Large heaps of slug or cinder have been repeatedly discovered, some of which are evidently the product of bloomeries, the most ancient method of fusing iron; in other places are traced the sites of furnaces long disused, of which no account of their foundation can be collected. The appearance of these iron cinders, and the vestiges of ancient furnaces, indicate that many parts of this mountainous district, now wholly bare, were formerly covered with large tracts of wood; charcoal being the only species of fuel originally used in the operation of smelting, both in the bloomeries and furnaces. This conjecture is corroborated by numerous names, alluding to woods and forests, in places which have never been known to produce trees; and is still farther ascertained by the discovery of trunks and branches, with their leaves, under the boggy soil in the vicinity of Blaenavon, and on the neighbouring hills. The lands being cleared, and the forests neglected, their destruction was hastened by numerous herds of goats, maintained in these mountainous regions; the want of fuel occasioned the gradual decline of the bloomeries and furnaces, and for a considerable period little or no iron was manufactured. About forty years ago the iron works suddenly revived, from the beneficial discovery of making pig iron with pit coal, instead of charcoal, which was soon afterwards followed by the improvement of manufacturing even bar iron by means of pit coal: hence a district, which contained such extensive mines of ore and coal, prodigious quantities of limestone, and numerous streams of water, could not fail of becoming the seat of many flourishing establishments. Besides these local advantages, the progress of the manufactories has been powerfully aided by the application of mechanics; particularly by the use of the steam engine, and the great improvement of water machines; but in no instance have they derived more advantage than from the adoption of rollers, instead of forge hammers, now used for the formation of bar iron, with a degree of dispatch, as well as exactness, before unknown. From this concurrence of circumstances, the success has been no less rapid than extraordinary: fifteen years ago the weekly quantity of pig iron made in this part of Monmouthshire, and in the contiguous district of Glamorganshire, did not exceed 60 tons; at present it scarcely falls short of 6co; at that period no bar iron was manufactured; but now the quantity amounts weekly to more than 300 tons. The works are still rapidly increas ing in extent and importance, and appear likely to surpass the other iron manufactories throughout the kingdom." Pont y Pool town and manufactory, with the principal house and park, are next visited; and the traveller is informed that he should not quit the country without enjoying the singular and almost boundless prospect which the latter affords.--Aberystwith is also explored; the grounds of Mr. Waddington, at Lanover, are noticed as beautiful; and the mention of Cold brook House introduces anecdotes of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. The following picture of farm-house living ought not to be overlooked in a work of this nature: In visiting the farm houses, as well in the hilly districts as in other parts of Monmouthshire, I was struck with the enormous quantity of bacon with which they are stored, frequently observing several ranges of flitches suspended from the cieling of the kitchen. Bacon is almost the only meat served at the tables of the farmers, and with vegetables and the productions of the dairy, forms their diet. Thin oat cakes are a common substitute for bread, and the repasts are enlivened by the cwrw, their national liquor, which the classic writers have dignified with the name of cerevitia, and which is immortalized in the songs of the bards; to descend to common language, it is new ale in a turbid state, before it is clarified by fermentation. To persons accustomed to clear and old malt liquor, this beverage is extremely forbidding to the sight, and nauseous to the taste; but I had so much of the blood of the ancient Britons in my veins, that I soon became accustomed to their cwrw, and preferred it to our Saxon beer.' After having fully examined all that deserves attention in the neighbourhood of Abergavenny, the tourist shapes his course towards the town of Monmouth (the antient Blestium); of which the charter, population, &c. are detailed, as on former similar occasions. The building shewn as the study of Geoffrey of Monmouth affords Mr. Coxe an opportunity of making some observations on Geoffrey's history, and particularly on the merit of his work; which, it is here decided, and we 14 believe believe with great justice, ought no more to be cited as historical authority, than Amadis de Gaul or the Seven Champions of Christendom.' Diverging from Monmouth in various directions, each ruined castle is sought out: but we must pass over the details which are thus occasioned, and attend Mr. Cox and his companion in their excursion down the Wye; the banks of which have been long celebrated for their picturesque scenery: The serpentine course is so considerable, that the distance from Ross to Chepstow, which in a direct line is not more than sixteen miles and four furlongs, is thirty-seven miles and seven furlongs by water. The effects of these numerous windings are various and striking; the same objects present themselves, are lost and recovered with different accompaniments, and in different points of view: thus the ruins of a castle, hamlets embosomed in trees, the spire of a church bursting from the wood, forges impending over the water; and broken masses of rock fringed with herbage, sometimes are seen on one side, sometimes on the other, and form the fore ground or back ground of a landscape. Thus also the river itself here stretches in a continuous line, there waves in a curve, between gentle slopes and fertile meadows, or is suddenly concealed in a deep abyss, under the gloom of impending woods. Another characteristic of the Wy, is the almost uniform breadth of the channel, which seems to have been scooped by the hand of nature, in the midst of surrounding hills. Hence in the whole course of this navigation, except in the vicinity of Ross and till it receives the tide, the stream, unlike other mountain torrents, is not scattered over a wide and stony bed, but rolls in one compact and accumulated body. This uniformity of breadth is however broken by the perpetural sinuosity of the river, and enlivened by the diversified scenery of the banks, which forms the third characteristic of the Wy. The banks for the most part rise abruptly from the edge of the water, and are clothed with forests, or broken into cliffs. In some places they approach so near, that the river occupies the whole inter mediate space, and nothing is seen but wood, rocks, and water; in others, they alternately recede, and the eye catches an occasional glimpse of hamlets, ruins, and detached buildings, partly seated on the margin of the stream, and partly scattered on the rising grounds The general character of the scenery, however, is wildness and solitude; and if we except the populous district of Monmouth, no river perhaps flows for so long a course through a well cultivated country, the banks of which exhibit so few habitations.' On the borders of the Wye, stand the well-known and striking ruins of Tintern Abbey. These are in course visited, and the impressions which they produced are delineated. Hence Mr. Coxe proceeds to Chepstow, and its Bridge, Church, and Castle have due attention paid to them;-as have also Harry Marten's tower, and the apartment in which he was confined, which lead to some anecdotes of his life.-At last, we arrive at the beautiful grounds of Piercefield; with a description of which, which, and the biography of its several proprietors, the tour concludes. In 1784, Piercefield was bought by George Smith, Esq. of Burnhall in the county of Durham, and in 1794 by the present pro prietor Colonel Wood, formerly chief engineer of Bengal, and member of Parliament for Newark. Colonel Wood has increased the property by different purchases in the vicinity, particularly part of the peninsula of Lancaut; the whole consisting of not less than three thousand acres, of which a considerable portion is woodland; the timber alone on the estate of Piercefield was estimated at £8,000. He has likewise considerably improved the place, and restored many of the walks, which were choked with underwood, to their former beauty under Valentine Morris.' The name of Piercefield never occurs to us without exciting an additional sigh, on the recollection of the melancholy and unmerited fate of its former generous and magnificent owner! An Appendix is subjoined to this work, containing Remarks on the Structure of the Welsh Language, &c. by Mr. Owen,an Extract from the Myvyrian Archæology of Wales,-Abstract of the Charter of Newport,-Papers relative to the Trade of Chepstow,-curious Subjects of Antiquity, &c. Though Monmouthshire has been much frequented by travellers, Mr. Coxe assures us that they have generally confined themselves to the districts contiguous to the high roads, while the remoter parts have seldom been visited and never described; and hence the reader may expect to find something new in these volumes. The part which fell within Mr. Coxe's province has certainly been executed in such a manner, that the book must find a permanent place in the library, and not be considered as a production calculated merely for transient amusement; - and while we offer the just tribute of commendation to the valuable talents of the author, we must not withhold that praise which is equally due to the elegant and indefa tigable pencil of his companion; who has decorated the work with so large a number of beautiful designs, that, after the length to which this articls is extended, it is impossible for us to give even a catalogue of them. Suffice it to observe that Sir Richard Hoare took drawings of almost every interesting object; and that from them copper-plates have been engraven either by, or under the direction of, that eminent artist, Mr. Byrne of Titchfield-street. Those which are executed by Mr. Byrne himself are truly beautiful.-In addition to the views, we have also a General Map of the County, by Nathaniel Coltman,-Plans of each Town,-Ground Plans of antient Castles and Encampments, Portraits of illustrious Persons, &c.;and, indeed, we have seldom seen a publication so richly embellished. ART. ART. II. The Millenium, a Poem in Three Cantos. THE 8vo. pp. 208. 7s. 6d. Boards. Carpenter and Co. 1800. HE Poem here presented to us is intended to satirize those hopes of the perfectibility* of mankind in this life, which have been excited by some modern writers. The Kantian Philosophy, as it is called, to which the author refers in his preface, would indeed be an admirable subject of ridicule, in proper hands but the present Bard does not seem to have made himself sufficiently master of it for this purpose; though even by considering Mr. Kant's books as specimens of the art of writing unintelligibly, he might have extracted some amusement from them. Mr. Dobbs's mystical publication + forms also an object of this writer's attack; and here, as the points are more obvious, he has collected more of his strength. He has committed an error, however, in supposing that Mr. Dobbs invented the notion of an adulterous intercourse between Eve and the Tempter; this is, we believe, a rabbinical doctrine; and it would have been strange, indeed, if the discovery of so capital a piece of nonsense had been reserved for modern times. The writer is pleased to inform us, that we have every reason for believing that the happy period of the Millenium has actually commenced; and he thus ironically celebrates our fortunate age: Heavens! what a goodly prospect laughs around? All priests have since, with ever-varying cluc, *This new word is a barbarism, and is particularly objectionable because it expresses a false idea. An alchemist might as well insist on saying Projectibility. + Sec M. R. vol. xxv, N. S. p. 290. How |