ruin was complete; after which they disposed of the meeting-house and parsonage house of Kingswood in a similar manner. They then proceeded to Edgbaston hall, where they displayed their usual fury. At ten o'clock in the evening, three troops of cavalry had arrived at Birmingham, and on this intelligence being communicated to the rioters, they discontinued their lawless operations. They did not, however, at once disperse, but forming themselves into small bodies, levied contributions on hamlets and farmhouses, until finally the country-people collected together in their own defence and dispersed the ruffians.

It is quite immaterial under what watchword a body of men carry on a series of outrages on the persons and property of their fellow-citizens. The folly and wickedness of such acts can in no way be diminished or rendered less conspicuous thereby. Forty-five years ago the Birmingham rioters plundered their fellow-townsmen in the name of "church and king;" and five years ago the city of Bristol was in the hands of a mob equally ignorant and foolish, whose rallying-cry was exactly the reverse of that of the Birmingham rioters of 1791. In both cases the lamentable proceedings which took place were the results of ignorance of the most fatal description.

All men have so strong an interest in the security of property, that its possessors will never be long in aiding each other when it is forcibly attacked. However surprise or want of energy may paralyse them for the moment, a community whose best interests are in jeopardy soon assumes a defensive position. The shameful per. petrators of violence then find that their own interests have suffered not less severely than those of their injured neighbors, although in a less direct manner. During the riots at Birmingham, three of the persons who sustained the greatest damage to their property employed in their several concerns many hundred persons, who would be thrown out of employment by the derangement which such events occasion in manufacturing and commercial establishments. After a considerable interval, all those whose property had been injured by the rioters, recovered damages from the county to the extent of 26,9617.

Dr. Priestley, whom the rioters thought to have seized when they first commenced their proceedings, fortunately made his escape from his house with his wife and family. Before quitting his residence the fires were put out, in the hope that the mob, not finding immediate facilities for destroying the house, might be induced to relinquish the idea. This precaution, however, had not the desired effect, and the laborious task of hewing and tearing the house to pieces was quickly begun. Dr. Priestley first retreated to Worcester, and afterward to London, where he was ap pointed to succeed Dr. Price, as the pastor of a congregation at Hackney. He finally quitted his native land in 1794, for America, where he purchased 200,000 acres of land on the banks of the Susquehannah, about 120 miles from Philadelphia. Here he spent the remainder of his days in retirement, not undisturbed by domestic suf ferings. In 1796 his wife died of a fever, and his second son was shortly afterward cut off by the same malady. Dr. Priestley died February 6th, 1804, in the 71st year of his age. A tablet of white marble, with a suitable inscription, was erected to his memory at Birmingham, by the congregation over which he had presided. Among the public buildings of Birmingham, the town-hall calls for particular notice, being a magnificent structure of the Corinthian order, in the proportions of the temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome. Our engraving exhibits an accurate view of the elevation. The large proportions of the hall, its commanding height, and its splendid series of Corinthian columns which run completely round upon a rustic arcade, render it not only the most imposing building in Birmingham, but one with which very few modern erections can compete.

The internal arrangement of this building exhibits a large saloon or hall, one hundred and forty feet in length, sixty-five wide, clear of the walls, and sixty-five feet high from floor to ceiling, with corridors of communication running along on each side of it on its own level, and staircases leading to upper corridors to give access to galleries. The corridors are low, the two tiers being within the height of the basement externally. As the hall is intended principally for musical entertain ments, one end of it is occupied by a magnificent organ and surrounding orchestral arrangements. This organ is of enormous dimensions, and has cost £3,000. Two narrow galleries run along the sides of the hall, and a large deep gallery occupies the other end; rooms for the accommodation of the performers who may be employed, are formed at the upper end of the building and under the orchestra.

The building is lengthened externally to one hundred and sixty feet, by the projection of the arcaded pavement in front to Paradise street, over the causeway. The height of the basement above the causeway is twenty-three feet-the columns resting upon its upper surface or platform are, with their entablature, forty-five feet, and the pediment forming the frontispiece is fifteen feet high-making a total height of eightythree feet from the causeway to the acroterium. The columnar ordinance employed is in imitation of the Roman foliated or Corinthian example of the temple of Jupiter Stator; the columns are fluted, and the entablature is greatly enriched, though not to the full and elaborate extent of the original. The structure is of brick, faced with Anglesea marble, of which latter material the columns and their accessories are composed. The bricks were made on the spot of the earth taken out of the foundation. The stones were cut and worked by machinery with steam power, the flutings were made by the same means, and by the application of an invention, it is understood, of one of the contractors. Another ingenious invention, consisting of a species of craning lever-beam on rollers, was applied for the purpose of hoisting the framed tie-beams and principals of the roof from the ground up to the walls. The time given for the completion of the edifice was eighteen months, and the total cost was to be £18,000, though it is understood that the marble used in it has been supplied by the proprietor of the quarries free of cost, for the purpose of bringing the article into public repute.

Birmingham does not possess any buildings remarkable for their antiquity. The church of St. Martin, which stands at the edge of the town, on the London side, is doubtless the most ancient building in the town, though no precise date can be fixed to the period of its erection. The spire is finely proportioned, but both the tower from which it springs, as well as the body of the church, were encased in brickwork in 1690, and are therefore more remarkable for their singular appearance than any. thing else. The spire, however, was not thus disfigured, but was taken down in 1783 to the extent of forty feet, and rebuilt to its original state with a durable stone from the neighborhood of Nuneaton. In the interior of the spire there is an iron shaft 105 feet in length, which is secured to the masonry by iron braces, at intervals of ten feet. The tower contains twelve musical bells. The attempts to "beautify" this church do not appear to have been well managed, as the principal monumental memorials of the ancient lords of Birmingham were destroyed when the exterior of the edifice was repaired. The successive erection of galleries, to provide sittings for the increasing inhabitants, occasioned alterations to be made, which have caused them to be still further mutilated or removed.

The increase of the town occasioned the erection of another church (St. Philip's) in 1715, and this was surrounded by a cemetery of four acres in extent. The church of St. Philip is of the Corinthian order, and is placed on the summit of a hill, and the dome and cupola with which it is surmounted are therefore conspicuous objects. The triennial musical festivals for the support of the Birmingham general hospital, were held there from their commencement in 1778 to 1829.

St. John's chapel, Deritend, on the south side of the Rea, was erected in 1735. and the tower, in which are eight bells, twenty-seven years afterward. St. Bartholomew's chapel, on the east side of the town, was built in 1749, and St. Mary's in 1774. St. Paul's was erected in 1779, from a design by Godwin; the steeple was not completed until 1823. St. James's chapel, Ashted, was consecrated in 1810. Christ church was begun in 1805, but was not completed till 1816; it contains an excellent organ. St. George's, erected in 1822, is a Gothic edifice, with a lofty tower in the style of Edward III. The dimensions of the interior are ninety-eight feet by sixty, and it possesses accommodations for nearly 2,000 persons. The internal decorations and arrangements are executed on a superior scale. The height of the tower to the top of the pinnacles is 114 feet. Trinity chapel, in the hamlet of Bordesley, is likewise from a Gothic design. A representation of Christ at the pool of Bethesda adorns the altar. St. Peter's chapel, Dale-end, is in the Grecian style of architecture; it was finished in 1827, but the interior was destroyed by fire in 1831. St. Thomas's, also in the Grecian style, stands on an eminence called Holloway Head, and was consecrated in 1829; the height of the tower is 130 feet. The dimensions of the interior are 130 feet by 60. The ceiling is enriched with highly-ornamental panels, and is thirty-eight feet from the floor. This church possesses accommodation for more than 2,000 persons. All-Saints, on the road to Soho, was consecrated in 1833, and is a brick structure with stone pinnacles.