st the bestowal of this benefit upon them, and
unfortunate enough to be successful in their resistance. In after years,
when experience had rendered fools wise, they were glad to obtain the present
branch through to Peterborough; but the injury of the ill-judged opposition
can never be cured.

The church of All Saints, in the centre of the town, has an ancient embattled
tower which escaped the great fire of 1675. St. Peter's, near the West
Bridge, a remarkably curious specimen of enriched Norman; St. Sepulchre's, a
round church of the twelfth century, all deserve enumeration. There are also
two hospitals, the only remains of many religious houses which existed before
the Reformation. St. John's consists of a chapel and a large hall, with
apartments for inferior poor persons; St. Thomas's is for twenty poor alms-
women. No vestiges, beyond the earthworks, remain of the castle built by
Simon de St. Liz, who was created Earl of Northampton by William the
Conqueror. Northampton was a royal residence during the reigns of Richard
I., John, and Henry III.; a battlefield during the wars of the Barons and the
wars of the Roses; but the ancient character of the town was almost entirely
destroyed by the great fire of 1675,--not without benefit to the health,
though at the expense of the picturesqueness of this ancient borough.

Northampton is important as the capital town of one of our finest grazing and
hunting counties, where soil and climate are both favourable to the farmer.

Large numbers of the Scotch, Welch, and Herefords sold in Smithfield, are fed
in the yards and finished in the pastures of Northamptonshire.

The present Earl of Spencer keeps up, on a limited scale, the herd of short-
horns which were so celebrated during the lifetime of his brother, better
known as Lord Althorpe,--at his seat of Althorpe, six miles from the town, and
also carries on a little fancy farming. The late Earl of Spencer was much
more successful as a breeder than as a farmer; indeed, it may be questioned
whether the prejudices of that amiable and excellent man in favour of pasture
land, did not exercise an injurious influence over the proceedings of the
Royal Agricultural Association.

Northampton returns two members to Parliament, and has a mayor and
corporation.

The railway route from Northampton to Peterborough presents a series of
pleasant views on either side,--so pleasant that he who has leisure should
walk, or ride on horseb