magnificent aërial structure was opened. Three processions were formed, one being military, composed principally of local volunteers, under the command of Colonel Brunker, which assembled in Queen square and marched to the bridge. The Artillery, Yeomanry (Hussars) and the Naval Reserve crossed the bridge and took up the positions assigned to them. The Rifles filed to the right and guarded that side of the new road, the Engineers guarded the left side. The civic procession consisted of the assemblage of trades and friendly societies, headed by the mayor and civic officers, and members of the corporation of the poor, who had paraded the city to Clifton down. Upon their arrival portions of the two bodies coalesced and formed the Bridge procession in the following order :THE MILITIA AND VOLUNTEER OFFICERS, THE CONTRACTORS, THE SUPERINTENDENT OF WORKS AND THE BRIDGE WORKMEN, THE FOREIGN CONSULS, THE LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL, THE MAGISTRATES OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL, THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND TOWN COUNCILLORS, THE CORPORATION OF THE POOR, THE DELEGATES OF THE TRADE AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. This procession crossed from Clifton, and was welcomed by salvoes of artillery from the Somerset side; it then recrossed the river, and the Earl of Ducie, lord-lieutenant of the county of Gloucester, and the Earl of Cork and Orrery, lord-lieutenant of the county of Somerset, on receiving an address from the chairman of the Bridge company, Mr. Mark Huish, formally declared the bridge open to the public from the following morning. In the afternoon 350 ladies and gentlemen partook of a banquet at the Victoria rooms. The height of the bridge from high water is 245 feet, the span of the chains from saddle to saddle is 702 feet 3 inches, the span between the abutments is 627 feet, its weight is 1,500 tons, it will support a burden of 7,000 tons. There are 4,200 links, of 24 feet in length and 7 inches in width, in the chains, these sweep gracefully through two pillars, 86 feet high, on each side of the river at a height of 73 feet, they are then carried more abruptly on the land side to the surface, and are securely anchored 70 feet within the solid rock, 400 bolts, 4 inches in diameter and 25 inches in length, fasten the links together, and the bridge is attached to the chains by rods of iron 1 inches in diameter, which are placed 8 feet apart, and which vary in length from 3 feet to 65 feet. The handrail is of oak, and the carriage road of Baltic timber braced together, covered with a plank floor laid transversely. The abutment on the Leigh woods' side, which commences at a height of 130 feet, is carried up 110 feet to the floor of the bridge, and with the pillar cost £13,971. Due precautions were taken to allow of the expansion and contraction of the metal, and the bridge was tested under a load of 500 tons of stone, with a result that satisfactorily proved it to be the strongest suspension bridge in the world as well as the handsomest. Its total cost has been somewhat over £100,000. A full page view of Clifton Suspension Bridge forms the Frontispiece to this Volume. CHAPTER XXI. HANOVERIAN ERA. GEORGE IV. TO VICTORIA. 1. George IV. begins his reign. First applications for Railroads. Sanitary condition of Floating Harbour-Carey's plan. 2. The right of election to offices by the Common Council tested. 3. No Popery Meeting. The Grammar School. Survey of the Bristol Channel. Election Riots. Death of George IV. and Accession of William IV. 4. Popularity of Sir Charles Wetherell-he opposes Reform, becomes an obstructive, and loses his popularity. 5. Public feeling against the Bishops. Riots in the country. Great Reform Meeting. 6. Meeting of Sailors in Bristol. Application for Military. Arrival of Sir Charles Wetherell. Commencement of the Riot. First Attack on the Mansion-house. Escape of the Recorder. 7. The Scene on Sunday Morning. The Mansion-house cellars forced. Escape of the Mayor. Colonel Brereton sends the 14th Light Dragoons out of the city. Attack on the Bridewell. The County Prison set on fire. Attack on the Bishop's Palace. 8. Firing of the Mansion-house. The north side of Queen Square burned. 9. The Excise Office fired. Return of 14th Light Dragoons from Keynsham. Arrival of Troops from Gloucester. 10. Major Beckwith's statement. The citizens demand a police. Special Commission appointed. II. The King's speech. Sir Charles Wetherell's defence. Trial and sentences of the Prisoners. Courts Martial on Colonel Brereton and Captain Warrington. Mr. Pinney, the mayor, tried and acquitted. 12. Anniversary of Passing the Reform Bill. Cholera in Bristol. 13. Reaction against Reform. Sir Charles Wetherell acts as Recorder. The Municipal Corporation Reform Act. Municipal Officers. Re-arrangement of Salaries. List of Mayors and Sheriffs since 1835. Clifton joined to Bristol. 15. Indebtedness and value of the City Property. 16. Meeting of the British Association. Death of William IV. Accession of Victoria. 17. Compensation to Slave Owners. Launch of "Great Britain." 18. Street Improvement Bill. 19. Death of a Director in an accident on the Great Western Railway. The Claim on the Long Ashton estates. Landing of the body of Lord Raglan. 20. Brief notices of incidents of local interest from 1854 to the present date, including Volunteer movements. EORGE IV. ascended the throne in his fifty-ninth year, having been eight years. Prince Regent. He was proclaimed in Bristol on February 3rd, 1820.-On February 29th, the foundation stone of the Bristol Philosophical and Literary institution was laid by the mayor, William Fripp, jun., assisted by the sheriffs, James George, jun., and John Gardiner, the Dean of Bristol, and a host of eminent men, one hundred and fifty of whom afterwards dined at the Merchant Venturers' hall.-On the 20th of August the old gaol of Newgate ceased to be used as a prison. During this year the stained glass which fills the win[VOL. III.] 14. The dow over the altar in the Mayor's chapel was purchased at Sir Paul Bagot's sale by the chamberlain. - Mr. Levi Ames, the senior alderman, died, leaving £36 a year to equip the nine watchmen and the night constables of St. Mary-le-port ward in boots, hats and great coats. In the twelve city wards there were fifteen night constables and one hundred and fifteen watchmen, the wage of the former was 188. and of the latter 108. per week; the chief and petit constables numbered one hundred and seventeen.-George Hilhouse elected mayor, and Thomas Hassell and Robert Jenkins sheriffs. In January, 1821, Mr. William Adye gave £100 to the Eye Infirmary.-On the night of the 29th a Mr. and Mrs. Norris fell into Cumberland basin and were drowned; Mr. M Norris being a Freemason, £500 was raised for their four orphan children.-On April 24th St. Mary Redcliff church was damaged during a severe thunderstorm, and several ships were stranded in the Bristol channel.-John Harwood was hanged at the new gaol for the murder of Eliza Balsham, a former sweetheart. He threw a stone at her in a quarrel, on the 26th January, at a distance of thirty yards; she lingered until February 17th in the Infirmary. He was executed on April 13th, after standing twenty-five minutes on the platform before he could summon courage to give the fatal signal by dropping his handkerchief. His skin, flayed and tanned, is in the museum of the Infirmary.-July 19th the king was crowned; there was the usual rejoicing in Bristol on the occasion.-Steampackets this summer began to ply regularly from Bristol to Ireland.—Mr. Henry Browne, banker, published a plan for cleansing the Frome; this gentleman was one of the partners in the Bullion bank. Abraham Hilhouse elected mayor, and Nicholas Roch and Thomas Camplin sheriffs. In March, 1822, the clock dial was placed in front of the Exchange.-May 15th an Act was passed for the employment and maintenance of the poor of the city; for altering the mode of assessing the rates; for paving, pitching and lighting the city, &c.-The Prince and Princess of Denmark and suite came to the Hotel, Clifton, on July 13th; after visiting some of the manufactories, they left for Longleat, on their way to Copenhagen. The freedom of the city was conferred upon Sir F. Freeling, the son of a journeyman sugar baker on Redcliff hill, who from a junior position in the Bristol Post office had risen by his talents and ability to be the directing and controlling power in the General Post office, London. "Bristol, too slowly came thy civic grace, Can well return the honour he may gain." Early this year the prospectus of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce was issued, and in February, 1823, it was organised, Mr. Joseph Reynolds being first president, Mr. Thomas Stock and Mr. Joseph Cookson vice-presidents, Mr. G. Helicar secretary.-August 12th the new church and churchyard of Clifton were consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Bristol.-This year the entrance to Park street was widened and improved by public subscriptions.-The old Hotwell house, which was erected in 1696, and which abutted on the river, was taken down, in order to widen the new road to Clifton down; a new building of the Tuscan order was erected.-The site of Newgate prison was sold for £655, subject to a ground rent of 708.-Neate, the Bristol pugilist, was beaten by Tom Spring, having fought thirty-seven minutes with a broken arm; Mrs. Fry offered him £500 to pay forfeit and expenses if he would not fight. He declined, but promised her that he would never fight again whatever the result. The love of brutal sports still lingered; when the last bull was baited in Bristol we know not, but the bull ring was the open space in which the church of St. Jude now stands. The inhabitants of that locality bore the name of "bull paunchers," and the euphonious appellation still adheres to one of its lanes.-James George elected mayor, and Gabriel Goldney and John Cave sheriffs. On January 1st, 1823, the ship Weare, of 450 tons, bound from Bristol to Jamaica, having sailed hence on the preceding morning, was wrecked at eight o'clock in the evening on the Irish coast, between Ballycotton and Youghall. Fifteen persons (including the master, pilot, two females, one infant, and three male passengers) perished. Thirteen escaped.-In June the Bristol Dock company declared a dividend of one per cent. to the shareholders.—In April the foundation-stone of the new Council-house was laid by the mayor.-The quarter-boys that struck the hours outside Christ church were sold; they are now in the possession of Mr. Braikenridge, of Clevedon.-This month Mr. James Maze, of Bristol, was killed by a fall from one of the Pyramids in Egypt.In July the reading-room of the Bristol Philosophical Institution was opened.-John Barrow elected mayor; John Savage and Charles Frederick Pinney, sheriffs. In May, 1824, the building of the Arcades between Broadmead and the Barton was commenced.-The royal assent was given to a bill for lighting and watching the parish of Clifton, and in June an Act was passed “for lighting the city with oil gas."-During this month the first exhibition of pictures in the Bristol Institution was held.-Application was made for a bill to enable the mayor, burgesses and commonalty to reduce, alter, modify, and regulate the town dues and the mayor's dues, and the charging and collecting thereof.—Wherries were established as a means of public conveyance between Prince street bridge and Cumberland basin by Mr. Davis.-Thomas Hassell elected mayor, John Gardiner and Charles Ludlow Walker sheriffs. On January 3rd, 1825, the first railroad between Bristol and Bath was projected; Sheriff Gardiner took the chair at the "White Lion" tavern, Bristol, to receive the report of Mr. J. M. Tucker, the surveyor. The capital was to be £100,000, in 4,000 shares of £25 each. Also on February 2nd a meeting of the London and Bristol Railroad company, capital £1,500,000, in shares of £100 each, was held at the "London" tavern to receive the report of Mr. John Loudon McAdam, who |