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a charter from queen Elizabeth in 1590, which was
renewed and modified in 1794. According to this
charter, it is governed by a mayor, eight aldermen,
and twenty-four common councilmen ; and sends
two members to parliament.
The situation of Bath affords every advantage
for architectural effect; and the arrangement of
its streets and terraces, the splendour and richly
ornamented character of the buildings, together
with the luxurious beauty of the intervening gar-
dens and villas, form one of the loveliest scenes
that can be found in any city of these northern
climes. The hills on which it is built open on
the two opposite sides to admit the Avon, which,
flowing through the valley, and being the princi-
pal channel For the trade of the neighbouring
counties, adds greatly to the beauty and liveliness
of the prospect. As the streets rise one above the
other, according to the gradual elevation of the
hills, the principal part of the city at a distance
has a close resemblance to the interior of a mighty
theatre, which gave rise to Smollet’s well-known
sarcasm, “ an antique amphitheatre turned in-
'side out.” The opinion of the novelist has not
been unsupported by others ; and it is argued by
persons of the best taste, that however imposing
the prospect of Bath is at a distance, the architec-
ture, when more closely inspected, is greatly de-
fective in taste and correctness of design.
The city is divided into four parishesxe2x80x94St. Pe-
ter’s and St. Paul, St. James’s, St. Michael’s, and
Walcot; besides which there are some out-parish-
es, now closely connected with the more ancient
part of the town. The abbey church is regarded
as one of the most beautiful specimens of the rich-
ly ornamented style of Gothic architecture that
exists, but its numerous windows, amounting to
fifty-two, have gained it the appellation of the
lantern of England. Some of the monuments it
contains are very much admired; and the oratory
of prior Bird, who died in the early part of the
sixteenth century, is extremely rich in monumen-
tal beauties. Among the tombs which generally
attract attention in this church, are those of lady
Waller, wife of the celebrated sir William Waller;
of the noted comedian Quin, of bishop Montague,
and Beau Nash, the well-known originator of
most of the regulations of Bath etiquette. There
are few names connected with the history of the
city better known to fame than that of this cele-
brated master of fashion; and his fortunes are
well calculated to point a moral for the place of
which he was the hero. He was born in 1674, at
Swansea in Glamorganshire, and was intended
for the law, but entered the army ; which, taking
disgust at the discipline and his subordinate rank,
he soon forsook, and took chambers in the Tem-
ple. Here he devoted himself entirely to pleas-
ure and fashion ; and when king William visited
the Inn, he was chosen as master of the pageant
with which it was customary to welcome the mon-
arch. So pleased was William with the enter-
tainment, that he offered him the honour of knight-
hood ; but Nash refused it, saying, “ Please your
majesty, if you intend to make me a knight, 1
wish it mav be one of your poor knights of Wind-
sor, and then I shall have a fortune at least equal
to support my title.” In 1704 he was appointed
master of the ceremonies at Bath : and immediate-
ly instituted a set of regulations, as remarkable for
their strictness as for their judicious adaptation to
the wants ^nd society of the place. While in the
plenitude of his power and popularity, Nash lived
>n the most splendid style of elegance, supporting
his expenses by a long run of success at the gam-
ing table. His dress was covered with expensive
lace, and he wore a large white cocked hat. The
chariot in which he rode was drawn by six grey
horses, and attended by a long cavalcade of ser-
vants, some on horses, others on foot; while his
progress through the streets was made known by
a band of French horns and other instruments.
His common title was the King of Bath; and his
reign continued, with undiminished splendour,
for more than fifteen years. His health then
began to decline, and his resources grew less
plentiful. As the change in his spirits and cir-
cumstances became more evident, his former
acquaintances gradually forsook him ; and he died
at the age of eighty-eight, in comparative indi-
gence and solitude. His character, however, was
so estimated by the corporation of the city, that
he was buried with great magnificence at its ex-
pense, and his epitaph, a neat tribute to his memo-
ry, was written by Dr. Harrington.
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The Crescent, the North and South Parades, the
Circus, and Pulteney-street, are the principal
public avenues; but the great points of attraction
for the visitors of Bath are the pump and ball-
rooms : the former is 85 feet long; the interior is
surrounded by three-quarter Corinthian columns,
crowned with entablatures and surmounted by a
five-feet coving. At the west end is a music gal-
lery ; and a recess at the east is occupied by a
statue of Nash. In the centre of the south side
stands the marble vase, from which the water is
taken by an attendant and handed to the com-
pany.
The public baths are, the king’s and queen’s,
the hot bath, and the cross bath ; besides which
there are the duke of Kingston’s, the corpora-
tion’s, and some other private ones. The king’s
is on the south side of the pump-room, and is
rather more than 65 feet long and 40 broad, con-
taining, when filled, more than 346 tons of water:
it is surrounded by a Doric colonnade; and in the
centre, where the spring rises, is a brass hand-
rail. In the hottest part of the hath the thermom-
eter stands at 111; in the coolest, at 100. The
hot bath raises it to 117.
There are several public charities in this city
of great utility. The general hospital, which was
founded at the benevolent instigation of Nash,
receives poor persons, to whom the waters are
likely to be beneficial, from all parts of the king-
dom. Two or three establishments also exist for
the support of aged men and women ; and early
in the last century the venerable Robert Nelson
founded a charity school for fifty boys and fifty
girls. Nor is Bath wranting in provisions for lit-
erary and scientific pursuits : it has a large public
library, a society for the promotion of agriculture,
and a philosophical society.
Bath is 107 miles west from London, and 12
miles east from Bristol. Lat. 51. 23. N. Ion. 2.
22. W. Pop. 37,000.
Bath, p.t. Lincoln Co. Me. on the Kennebec, 12
m. from the sea, has considerable commerce and
ship building. It has two academies and two
banks. Pop. 3,773.
Bath, p.t. Grafton Co. N. H. on the Connecti-
cut; 148 m. fr. Boston. Pop. 1,626.
Bath, p.t. Berkeley Co. Va. 100 m. N. W. Wash-
ington. In this town are the Berkley Springs.
There are also towns of this name in N. Y., Pa.,
N. C. and Ohio.
Both, a County in the centre of Virginia, among
the Apalachian mountains, but comprised in the | |
