ton's Alms-House; a range of six buildings, erected for as many poor widows, in pursuance of the Will of Roger Pemberton, Esq. who was Sheriff of this county in 1620, and died in 1627; having directed that the sum of 51. yearly, issuing from his manor of Shelton, in Bedfordshire, should be paid for the maintenance of each of the said widows for ever. Over the gate of the little court before the Alms-House, is an arrow, or short spear-head, stuck upright in the brick-work; and the tradition of the place is, that the founder shot a widow with an arrow by accident, and built the Alms-House by way of atonement. He was grandfather to Sir Francis Pemberton, Lord Chief Justice of England in the time of Charles the Second. Other Alms-Houses, but of inferior importance, are established in different parts of the town. Several Schools, for the instruction of the children of the poor, have been instituted here, and are supported by voluntary contributions, and other patronage. The Grammar-School was founded under the Charter of Incorporation granted to the Borough by Edward the Sixth. Queen Elizabeth, by Letters Patent, dated at Gorhambury, on the twenty-fourth of March, in the twelfth of her reign, (1570,) empowered the Mayor and Burgesses, for the better support of the said School, to grant two wine licenses to any persons they should think fit, within the borough, permitting them," to sell all sorts of wine, by any measures and at any price," to the exclusion of all others; provided that the annual salary of 201, was paid by the Mayor and Burgesses to the Master of the School. Another wine licence was granted, by James the First, in order to augment the stipend of the Master by the sum of four marks;' and at the same time the Mayor and Burgesses were privileged to seize any wine kept for sale contrary to the grant, in any place within the borough, or the distance of two miles. These wine licenses were let by auction for three years from Christmas, 1803, for the benefit of the grammar master, at 161. per annum each; to the keepers of the White Hart, the Woolpack, and the Pea-Hen inns. Over the door of the School is this inscription: SCHOLA SCHOLA S. ALBANI. Que Diva MARIE jampridem nomine dicta est, Hinc, illinc, veræ est religionis honos. Another School, for thirty boys and ten girls, has been esta blished by the Presbyterians of this town, who have a MeetingHouse here; as have also the Quakers, the Independants, and the Baptists. The charter by which this Borough was first incorporated, was granted by Edward the Sixth, in the year 1553: it vests the government of the Borough in a Mayor and ten capital Burgesses, who were empowered to make other Burgesses at their discretion, a Steward, a Chamberlain, and two Sergeants at Mace. The provisions of this charter were somewhat altered both by Charles the First and Charles the Second, and again by James the Second; but the charter of the latter King was afterwards made void, and the Borough is now governed by that granted by his predecessor, on the twenty-seventh of July, 1664. Under this charter, the Corporation officers consist of a Mayor, twelve other Aldermen, twenty-four Assistant Burgesses, a High Steward, a Recorder, a Town Clerk, a Coroner, &c. The Mayor is chosen annually on St. Matthew's day. The first return to Parliament was made in the thirty-fifth of Edward the First; but after the reign of Edward the Third, no Members appear to have been sent by this Borough till the first of Queen Mary, when two representatives were chosen under the new charter that had been granted by Edward the Sixth: since that period the returns have been regular. The right of election is vested in the " Mayor, Aldermen, and Freemen, and in such householders only as pay scot and lot:" the number of voters at the last contested election is said to have been 516. The Town-Hall is an old building in St. Peter's Street: it had previously belonged to the Abbey, and was called the Charnel House; and it was granted by that name to the Mayor and Burgesses when the Borough was first incorporated by charter. All the public business is now transacted here; as well of the Borough as the Liberty: in the windows of the Hall, or Court of Justice, are some old shields of arms; in the lower part is the prison of the Borough, or Town Gaol. The Market-House is a plain structure, supported on wooden pillars. The Market-Cross, which is also of wood, is of an octagonal form, and is said to stand on the same spot where Edward the First had previously built one of those beautiful stone crosses which he erected in commemoration of his beloved Eleanor. Near this is an ancient square tower, called the Clock-House, principally built of flints, with strong vaulting beneath: the lower part is now inhabited; but the original destination of this fabric is unknown. The markets are well supplied, particularly with corn, butcher's meat, eggs, &c. Various improvements have been made at St. Alban's within the last twenty years: one of the principal was forming a new road through the south-east part of the town, under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1794, by which some dangerous turnings were avoided. Within the last year, several of the streets have also been paved and lighted, in pursuance of another Act passed in March, 1804; and these improvements are intended to be continued through the whole Borough. Some of the houses, especially in the higher parts of the town, are respectable buildings. The entire number in the three parishes within the Borough, as returned under the Act of 1800, was 527; that of the inhabitants, 3038. The situation of the town on the north-west road, occasions considerable business from the passage of travellers, and many principal and inferior inns have been established here. Additional employment is supplied by two Breweries, a Cotton Manufactory, and a Silk Mill: the latter occupies the same situation on the river Ver as what was named the Abbey Mill, and furnishes labor to about fifty girls of different ages. The machinery fills three rooms, and is very ingeniously contrived; some of it is constructed on a new and much-improved principle. This manufacture, though scarcely introduced above three years, promises to become flourishing: and a new Mill is now fitting up near the for mer one. At |