Thus far we have mainly written of the rural and historical attractions
of Warwickshire, but its great city must not be passed by without
notice. The "Homestead of the Sons of Beorm" the Saxon, while rising
from small beginnings, has had a prodigiously rapid growth since the
coal, iron, and railways have so greatly swollen the wealth and
population of manufacturing England. It was at the time of the Conquest
the manor of Bermingeham, or, as the Midland English prefer to pronounce
it, "Brummagem." It was held for many years by a family of the same
name, and had an uneventful history till the townsfolk ranged themselves
on the side of Parliament in the Civil War, in revenge for which Prince
Rupert captured and pillaged Birmingham: it was then a market-town,
built mostly along one street, and noted for its smiths and cutlers, who
were kept busy in forging pikes and swords for the king's opponents. The
great growth of the city has been in the present century, when the
population has trebled, and now approaches four hundred thousand. The
main features of its history relate to trade and manufactures, otherwise
its annals are comparatively commonplace. There is little remaining of
the old town, almost all the structures being modern. St. Martin's
Church, replacing the original parish church, or "Mother Church," as it
is called, is a fine modern structure, and contains some interesting
monuments of the Bermingeham family. There are several other attractive
churches, including the Unitarian church of the Messiah, which is
supported on massive arches, for it is built over a canal on which are
several locks: this has given cause for a favorite Birmingham witticism:
"St. Peters world-wide diocese
Rests on the power of the keys;
Our church, a trifle heterodox,
We'll rest on a 'power of locks.'"
[Illustration: ASTON HALL.]
[Illustration: THE "GALLERY OF THE PRESENCE," ASTON HALL.]
Birmingham has many fine public and private buildings and some
attractive streets, though much of the town is made up of narrow lanes
and dingy houses, with huge factories in every direction. There are
several small parks, the gifts of opulent residents, notably Aston Hall.
This was formerly the residence of the Holte family, and the fine old
mansion which still stands in the grounds was built by Sir Thomas Holte
in the reign of James I. Charles I. is said to have slept here for two
nights before the battle of Edgehill, for which offence the house was
cannonaded by the Puritans and its owners fined. The grounds, covering
about forty-two acres, are now a park, and a picturesque little church
has been built near the mansion. Some of the factories of this
metropolis of hardware are fine structures, but when their product is
spoken of, "Brummagem" is sometimes quoted as synonymous for showy sham.
Here they are said to make gods for the heathen and antiquities of the
Pharaoh age for Egypt, with all sorts of relics for all kinds of
battlefields. But Birmingham nevertheless has a reputation for more
solid wares. Its people are the true descendants of Tubal Cain, for one
of its historians attractively says that the Arab eats with a Birmingham
spoon; the Egyptian takes his bowl of sherbet from a Birmingham tray;
the American Indian shoots a Birmingham rifle; the Hindoo dines on
Birmingham plate and sees by the light of a Birmingham lamp; the South
American horsemen wear Birmingham spurs and gaudily deck their jackets
with Birmingham buttons; the West Indian cuts down the sugar-cane with
Birmingham hatchets and presses the juice into Birmingham vats and
coolers; the German lights his pipe on a Birmingham tinder-box; the
emigrant cooks his dinner in a Birmingham saucepan over a Birmingham
stove; and so on _ad infinitum_. A century ago this famous town was
known as the "toy-shop of Europe." Its glass-workers stand at the head
of their profession, and here are made the great lighthouse lenses and
the finest stained glass to be found in English windows. The Messrs.
Elkington, whose reputation is worldwide, here invented the process of
electro-plating. It is a great place for jewelry and the champion
emporium for buttons. It is also the great English workshop for swords,
guns, and other small-arms, and here are turned out by the million
Gillott's steel pens. Over all these industries presides the magnificent
Town Hall, a Grecian temple standing upon an arcade basement, and built
of hard limestone brought from the island of Anglesea. The interior is
chiefly a vast assembly-room, where concerts are given and political
meetings held, the latter usually being the more exciting, for we are
told that when party feeling runs high some of the Birmingham folk "are
a little too fond of preferring force to argument." But, although famed
for its Radical politics and the introduction of the "caucus" into
England, Birmingham will always be chiefly known by its manufactures,
and these will recall its illustrious inventors, Boulton and Watt. Their
factory was at Soho, just north of the town. Here Watt brought the
steam-engine to perfection, here gas was first used, plating was
perfected, and myriads of inventions were developed. "The labors of
Boulton and Watt at Soho," says the historian Langford, "changed the
commercial aspects of the world." Their history is, however, but an
epitome of the wonderful story of this great city of the glass and
metal-workers, whose products supply the entire globe.
[Illustration: THE TOWN-HALL, BIRMINGHAM.]