en
entrusted by John." The following year he delivered up the Castle to the
King, with all the military engines, ammunition, and jewels, committed to
his charge.--Edward the Second was removed hither from Kenelworth Castle,
when a prisoner, by order of the Queen, and her favourite Mortimer. Henry
the Seventh repaired the Castle for the residence of his mother, the
Countess of Richmond, the parliament having granted 2,000l. for that
purpose; yet it does not appear that it was ever inhabited by this
princess. It was again repaired by Sir Christopher Hatton, and most
probably by Sir John Bankes, whose lady became illustrious from the
gallant manner in which she defended it from the attacks of the
parliament's forces, in the time of Charles the First.

In the year 1645 and 1646, the Castle was again besieged, or rather
blockaded, by the parliament's forces, who obtained possession through the
treachery of Lieutenant-Colonel Pitman, an officer of the garrison. When
it was delivered up, the parliament ordered it to be demolished; and the
walls and towers were undermined, and thrown down, or blown up with
gunpowder. "Thus this ancient and magnificent fabric was reduced to a heap
of ruins, and remains a lasting monument of the dreadful effects of
anarchy, and the rage of civil war. The ruins are large, and allowed to be
the noblest and grandest in the kingdom, considering the extent of the
ground on which they stand. The vast fragments of the King's Tower, the
round towers leaning as if ready to fall, the broken walls, and vast
pieces of them tumbled down into the vale below, form such a scene of
havoc and desolation, as strikes every curious spectator with horror and
concern."[3]

[3] Hutchins's Dorset, vol. i. p. 286, 2nd edit.

The tragical murder of Edward by Elfrida, at Corfe Castle, and its
memorable defence by Lady Bankes, form two very interesting narratives in
Hutchins's Dorset. Their details would occupy too much of our present
sheet, although they are worth reprinting for the gratification of the
general reader.

Corfe Castle, as we have already intimated, is proposed to be
disfranchised by the Great Reform Bill now before Parliament.

A year or two hence, probably, the political consequence of the place will
be humbled as the Castle itself!

* * * * *

ANCIENT PARLIAMENTS.

(_To the Editor._)

In the _Literary Magazine_ for 1792 I find the following list of
places,