the many pleasant glades and sunny
spots in and around it. Harborne gardeners have long been famous for
growing gooseberries, the annual dinner of the Gooseberry Growers'
Society having been held at the Green Man ever since 1815. But Harborne
has plucked up heart latterly, and will not much longer be "out of the
running." With its little area of 1,412 acres, and only a population of
6,600, it has built itself an Institute (a miniature model of the
Midland), with class rooms and reading rooms, with library and with
lecture halls, to seat a thousand, at a cost of L6,500, and got Henry
Irving to lay the foundation-stone, in 1879. A Masonic Hall followed in
1880, and a Fire Brigade Station soon after. It has also a local railway
as well as a newspaper. In the parish church, which was nearly all
rebuilt in 1867, there are several monuments of olden date, one being in
remembrance of a member of the Hinckley family, from whose name that of
our Inkleys is deducible; there is also a stained window to the memory
of David Cox. The practice of giving a Christmas treat, comprising a
good dinner, some small presents, and an enjoyable entertainment to the
aged poor, was begun in 1865, and is still kept up.

~Hard Times.~--Food was so dear and trade so bad in 1757 that Lord
Dartmouth for a long time relieved 500 a week out of his own pocket. In
1782 bread was sold to the poor at one-third under its market value. On
the 1st of July, 1795, the lessee of the Theatre Royal, Mr. McCready,
gave the proceeds of the night's performance (L161 8s.) for the benefit
of the poor. The money was expended in wheat, which was sold free of
carriage. Meat was also very scarce on the tables of the poor, and a
public subscription was opened by the High Bailiff to enable meat to be
sold at 1d. per lb. under the market price, which then ruled at 3d. to
6d. per lb. In November, 1799, wheat was 15s. per bushel. In May, 1800,
the distressed poor were supplied with wheat at the "reduced price" of
15s. per bushel, and potatoes at 8s. per peck. Soup kitchens for the
poor were opened November 30, 1816, when 3,000 quarts were sold the
first day. The poor-rates, levied in 1817, amounted to L61,928, and it
was computed that out of a population of 84,000 at least 27,000 were in
receipt of parish relief. In 1819 L5,500 was collected to relieve the
distressed poor. The button makers were numbered at 17,000 in 1813,
two-thirds of them being out of work. 1825 and 1836 were