of this laborious class, as the keelmen form a very consequential part of the inhabitants of this vast mart of trade, of which the coal trade is the foul and spring of every other branch of business. This useful body of men appear so far back as the year 1539, to have been a constituted fraternity. They are there termed, in a decree of the Star-chamber, "The craft of keelmen." In the year 1556 they appear to have been an independent society. In the year 1649, they occur as petitioning the hostmen to provide them with a chapel for worship, and a minister. Religion was then the fashion of the times. The number of gentlemen's carriages, as well as carriages for the various branches of trade and business, rapidly encreasing in Newcastle and its vicinity, and as the passage through Sandgate was extremely inconvenient and hazardous, a new road, in the year 1776, for carriages leading past the keelmen's hofpital, and behind the streets of Sandgate, and St. Ann's, towards the north, was made by the commiffioners and trustees of the turnpike road leading from Newcastle to North Shields, having obtained, as appears from the common-council books, a lease of the ground neceffary for that purpose, at the yearly rent of one shilling, from the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle. This improvement has been attended with the best effects; as the parents of numberless children, with which Sandgate swarms, were in continual terror of their being run down and crushed to death, by the carriages constantly driving through that street. Besides the speed of stage coaches, private carriages, &c. is greatly accelerated without dread or interruption. The The delightful and airy fituation of the NewRoad has induced many genteel people to build elegant houses there. And during these late years, when such immense quantities of foreign corn were imported, large granaries were erected on both fides of the road. These the people quaintly termed 44 Egypt," no doubt in allusion to those erected by Joseph in ancient Egypt. The proprietors, however, fo far from viewing this appellation as implying any disgraceful idea, have actually given the name of "Egypt" to this new row of dwellinghoufes. A little beyond these erections on the New-Road is a ropery upon a ballast-hill, which is said to have been the first ballast-shore without the town of Newcastle. For which purpose, and that of building limekilns upon it, it appears by records in the Hostmen's books, to have been purchased by the mayor and burgeffes of the lord of the manor of Byker. Oppofite St. Ann's chapel, (fee Churches, &c.) ad. jacent to it, is a row of good houses, agreeably fituated both for air and a delightful view of the river and fhipping, called St. Ann's Row. Going down by the turnpike road, we come to Ouse-bourn, over which is a wide stone bridge, of one arch, with a convenient foot-path on both fides. But as the tide flows up this rivulet, and confequently affords the convenience of water carriage, enterprizing tradesmen have availed themselves of this advantage, and have converted a large space of almost ufeless ground, containing a few wretched houfes for pitmen, &c. into what has the appearance of a large town. On the weft fide of the bourn, stand a large spinning factory, a newly erected steam corn-mill, &c. on the other fide are large manufactories of all kinds of pottery-ware, giving employment to hundreds of people. What is curious, in digging a foundation for the steam-mill above-mentioned, there was found a stone of about three feet in length, and about two feet square. On the end of it is an inscription, evidently Roman; but it is so much effaced, that it is next to impoffible to decypher it. One gentleman, skilled in the Latin language, seemed to think it intimated that from the termination of the Roman wall on the west, or Soleway Firth, to this station, was 60 miles. There is no doubt but that mighty barrier, in coming down Byker turnpike road, ran across the rivulet at this place, and directly up to Red-barns and Wall-knoll; and as they no doubt had a bridge over this rivulet, which poffibly was much broader in ancient times, this stone might have been one of those placed on the bridge, directive of the distances, &c. This curiofity is now placed in Mr. Yellowley's garden above Busy Cottage. Going down by Oufe-bourn, we come to a little narrow stone bridge, called the Glass-house bridge. In the neighbourhood are several dock_yards where many ships are built; passing over the bridge, we come to the glass-houses, and further down on the river fide is another large manufactory of the fame kind. See account of Glass-works. Adjoining to the upper glass-houses, is the diffenter's large burying-place. See Chapels. Further down from the low glass-houses, after passing more docks for ship-building, we come to St. Peter's Quay. It is there where Mr. William Row Row is planning a dry dock, and where he is now building a new quay. The streets are paved chiefly with Scotch blue, or grey granite stones, heavy, compact, and extremely hard. They are found to be the most durable, and fittest to bear the preffure of the vast number of waggons and heavy carriages which pass here from all parts. Yet it is remarkable, that, in a town of so much trade, with warehouses so full of valuable commodities, the corporation was so long in adopting that admirable branch of municipal police, the great convenience of having nightly lamps in the streets. A proposal was made and published in the year 1755, for lighting the town with one hundred and fifty lamps! But it was not till a subsequent period that even this took place, as we find by the following extract from the Newcastle Courant. October 1, 1763. "Thursday the lamps put up in the streets of the town were lighted up for the firit time." This was in consequence of an act lately paffed, " for lighting the streets and other places, and maintaining a regular and nightly watch, within the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne, for regulating the hackney coachmen, chairmen, cartmen, porters, and watermen, within the fame." The small number of lamps, and quantity of oil, have been a subject of complaint; how justly, is not for us to decide: it certainly would be more agreeable was the quantity of both doubled. To defray the expence attending this great convenience, the inhabitants are charged, in proportion to their rentals, at the rate of fixpence per pound. Such is a general view of the public streets, and of the most remarkable private buildings in Newcastle and its fuburbs. Of the Means of supplying the Town with Water. To obtain a fufficiency of this absolute neceffary of life, has ever claimed the attention of rulers and magistrates, in cities, towns, and even villages, in every country and in every age of the world. The ancient Greeks and Romans were careful in the extreme to have abundance of light, sweet, wholesome water. In their encampments, fites of their cities, &c. they made choice of the situation always with a view to their obtaining an abundance of this element. And when the defart, or ridges of mountains, wastes, and folitudes, intervened, they then reared the mighty aqueduct, arch upon arch, to convey the falutary stream to the thirsty inhabitants of the crowded city. It is remarkable, that with all their knowledge in geometry, and other branches of science, they were ignorant of this grand principle in hydrostatics, that water will rise horizontally to its level. Hence their lofty aqueducts, raised at vast expence, and always level with the source or spring; whereas, by observing the invariable law of nature, water, by leaden pipes, can be conveyed over mountains, through morasses, along bridges, nay, even beneath the beds of rivers, in any quantity, and at a thousandth part of the expence, But a mighty advantage resulted to mankind from the ignorance of the ancients in hydrostatics; and that is, the thorough knowledge which they have communicated to the moderns of the arch, in all its forms, circular, eliptical, catenarian, &c. by which these |