In the
castle-yard were the remains of the ancient sessions-house, in which, at
the _Black Assize_, in 1577, the lieutenant of the county, two knights,
eighty esquires and justices, and almost all the grand jury, died of a
distemper, brought thither and communicated by the prisoners; and nearly
one hundred scholars and townsmen fell victims to the same disorder.
We have been somewhat minute in the preceding description, but we hope
not more so than the exhaustless curiosity of the public on such
subjects appears to warrant. Indeed, these interesting details are only
a tithe portion of what we might have abridged. The warlike habits of
our ancestors are always attractive topics for inquirers into the
history of mankind, and their study is not
Dull and crabbed as some fools suppose,
but a treasury or depository of useful knowledge, by enabling the
inquirer to draw many valuable inferences from the comparative states of
men in the several ages he seeks to illustrate. The enthusiasm of such
pursuits is, likewise, an everlasting source of delight; for who can
visit such shrines as Netley, St.
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