the capital city of Devonshire, situated on the river Ex, ten miles north of the British channel: W. Long. 3° 40'. N. Lat. 50° 44'. Anciently the name of this city was Ise, and Ise Dumnoniorum. The present name is a contraction of Excester, that is, a city upon the Ex. It is large, populous, and wealthy, with gates, walls, and suburbs: the circumference of the whole is about three miles. It is the see of a bishop, transferred hither from Crediton, by Edward the Confessor; and is one of the principal cities in the kingdom for its buildings, wealth, and number of its inhabitants. It had six gates, besides many turrets, several of which are now pulled down. It had formerly so many convents, that it was called Monkstown, till king Athelstan changed its name to Exeter, about the year 940; at which time he also fortified the city (which had before been only inclosed with a ditch and a fence of timber) with circular walls, embattlements, towers, and turrets of squared stone, encircling the whole, except the western side, with a deep moat. Besides chapels and 5 large meeting-houses, there are now 15 churches within the walls, and 4 without. St Peter's, the cathedral, is a magnificent pile; though little now remains of the ancient fabric of the church, except that part which is called Our Lady's Chapel. It has a ring of 12 bells, reckoned the largest ring of the largest bells in England; as is also its organ, whose largest pipes are 15 inches in diameter. In 1763 the cathedral was repaired, beautified, and new paved; when, in removing the old pavement, was found the leaden coffin of bishop Bitton, who died in 1307; the top of which, being decayed, afforded an opportunity of viewing the skeleton lying in its proper form: near the bones of the finger was found a sapphire ring set in gold; the stone considerably large, but of no great value, on account of several flaws in it. Near this stood a small neat chalice and paten of silver gilt, but the damp had destroyed the greatest part of the gilding. In the centre of the paten was engraved a hand, with two fore-fingers extended in the attitude of benediction. The top of the crozier was also found, but totally decayed. A most beautiful modern painted glass window has been lately erected at the western end of the cathedral, the eastern end having before a remarkable fine antique one. In the other windows there is much fine ancient painted glass. The altar is remarkable for its beautiful design and execution. On the left-hand side of it there yet exists the seat where Edward the Confessor and his queen sat and installed Leofricus his chancellor, the first bishop of Exeter; and in the south cross aisle is the monument of the same Leofricus, who died 1073, which at the time of his interment was a part of the church-yard, but by the enlarging of the church by his successors became nearly the middle of the building. The grand western end of the church is most magnificently adorned with the statues of the patriarchs, &c. The Chapter-house was built in 1439. The beautiful throne for the bishop was constructed about 1466, and is said to be the grandest of the kind in Britain. The great north tower was completed in 1485, which contains a bell that weighs 12,500 pounds; and exceeds the great Tom of Lincoln by 2,500 pounds. This city has had divers charters granted, or confirmed, by most of our kings; but it was made a mayor town in the reign of King John, and a county of itself by king Henry VIII. It is governed by a mayor, 24 aldermen, 4 bailiffs, a recorder, chamberlain, sheriffs, town-clerk, &c. They have a sword-bearer, and four wardens, four sergeants at mace wearing gowns, and staff-bearers in liveries with silver badges. It had anciently a mint; and in the reigns of king William III. and queen Anne, many pieces of silver money were coined here, which have the letter E under the bull. Here are 12 or 13 incorporate city-companies. All pleas and civil causes are tried by the mayor, recorder, aldermen, and common council; but criminal causes, and those relating to the peace, are determined by eight aldermen, who are justices of the peace. Here are four principal streets, all centring in the middle of the city, which is therefore called Carfax, from the old Norman word Quatre voix, i.e. the four ways. Near it is a conduit, lately removed from the centre to the side of the principal street, which was first erected by William Duke, mayor of the city, in the reign of Edward IV. and there are others well supplied with water brought in pipes from the neighbourhood. There is an old castle in the north-east part of the city, called Rougemont, from the red soil it stands on; from thence there is a pleasant prospect from the walls. It is supposed to have been built by the West Saxon kings, and that they resided here, as did afterwards the earls and dukes of Cornwall. This castle was remarkably strong both by nature and art. The gate, which originally led into it, was walled up by order of William the Conqueror, in token of his having reduced it to his obedience after a very obstinate resistance; and close by it an inferior gate was made in the wall, in which slates they both remain. The outward stone-facing is kept in tolerable repair; but the inside, being but earth, is gradually crumbled down. Here yet remains the ancient chapel, built in 1260, and kept in good repair, where prayers are read and a sermon preached in sessions weeks. The city itself is healthy, and pleasantly situated on the sides of a hill, having other hills to its N.W. and S., by which it is sheltered from the force of storms. The bank which sustained the ditch that in a great part surrounded the castle, is planted and gravelled, and accommodated with seats, it being the place of resort for walking for the inhabitants; and the ditch between it and the castle being filled up, is now thickly planted with elms, which form a delightful grove. The old palace is now entirely demolished, and an elegant sessions-house erected, where the assizes, quarter-sessions, and county courts are held. In the city and suburbs are prisons both for debtors and malefactors; a workhouse, almshouses, and charity-schools; an hospital for the sick and lame poor of the city and county, upon the model of the infirmaries of London and Westminster; and two free grammar-schools. It has markets on Wednesdays and Fridays; and four fairs in the year. Great trade is carried on here for ferges, perpetuanas, long-ells, and other woollen goods, in which it is computed that at least 600,000l. a-year is traded for; yet no markets were erected here for wool, yarn, and kerseys, till the 30th of Henry VIII. Before that time, the merchants drove a considerable trade to Spain and France: they were incorporated, in the reign of Queen Mary I. by the name of "The governor, consuls, and society of merchant adventurers, trading to France." Here is also a weekly ferge market, the greatest in England, next to the Brigg market at Leeds in Yorkshire: it is said that some weeks in many ferges have been sold here as amount to 80,000l. or 100,000l.; for besides the vast quantities of their woollen goods shipped for Portugal, Spain, and Italy, the Dutch give large commissions for buying up ferges, perpetuanas, &c. for Holland and Germany. It is particularly remarked of this city, that it is almost as full of gentry as of tradesmen; and that more of its mayors and bailiffs have descended from, or given rise to, good families, than in any other city of its size, nels in the kingdom; for the great trade and flourishing state of this city tempted gentlemen to settle their sons in it, contrary to the practice of many of the inland as well as northern counties, where, according to the vain and ruinous notion of the Normans, trade was despised by the gentry, as fit only for mechanics and the vulgar. The city was under the jurisdiction of the Romans, whose coins have been frequently dug up in and about it. After they left England, the Saxons drove the Britons out of it into Cornwall, and encompassed it with a ditch, besides bulwarks. The Danes attacked and spoiled it in 875; and afterwards, in revenge of the general massacre of the Danes by the English, Swain, one of their kings, came hither with a great force, put the men to the sword, ravished the women, massacred the children, burnt the city, and defaced the walls. A long time after this, just as it was reviving, William the Conqueror besieged and took it; and it was again besieged in the reigns of king Stephen and Edward IV. In the reign of Henry VII. it was again besieged by Perkin Warbeck, and battered furiously: but the citizens forced him to raise the siege. Exeter. siege; which so pleased the king, that he came hither, and presented a cap of maintenance to the city, and gave the very sword from his side to be borne always before the mayor. In the reign of Edward VI. in July 1544, it was smartly cannonaded by the rebels of Cornwall and Devon, who almost starved it by breaking down its bridges, cutting off its water, and stopping up all passages; but it held out till the lord John Russell came with a force and raised the siege on the 6th of August, which was then appointed as an anniversary day of thanksgiving by the city, and is still observed as such. King Charles I.'s queen, to whom this city gave shelter in the civil wars, was here delivered of Henrietta, afterwards duchess of Orleans; whose picture is in its Guild-Hall, as are also General Monk's and George I.'s, &c. In the south-east quarter of the city was a house called Bedford-house, wherein the above queen was delivered of the princess. This having lately been taken down, an elegant circus is built on the spot, with a theatre adjoining it; and for the convenience of the inhabitants, a passage has been made through the town-wall to Southern Hay, on which green stands the county hospital, already spoken of, besides a considerable number of new buildings. There are remains of several ancient structures, which are daily giving way to modern erections; among the rest, an old building, said to have been a palace of king Athelstan. The Guildhall is a spacious and convenient building, whose front or portico projects a great way into the street, and was first erected in 1330, to which its present front was rebuilt in 1593, and repaired in 1720. An arm of the sea formerly flowed nearly up to the city's wall, till 1316, when Hugh Courtenay earl of Devon, in revenge for an affront, ruined the navigation, by constructing weirs and dams in the river; but to remedy it, in 1539, an act of parliament passed for making a navigable canal, for the better conveyance of goods in barges to and from the city to Topsham. This was carried into execution in 1581, but not completed till 1675; nor was it after all found sufficient, till the present haven was constructed in 1697, when it was rendered capable of bringing ships of 150 tons quite to the quay, constructed near the walls of the city. In short, Exeter, by a constant adherence to its motto, Semper fidelis, has been applauded by all historians for its inviolable fidelity to its sovereigns, whether they held their crown by hereditary or parliamentary right. The city sends two members to parliament; and gives title of Earl to the Cecils.—The see of Exeter was once one of the most wealthy in the kingdom; but its revenues were most shamefully wasted by bishop Voysey, who alienated its lands. What little he left was too much incumbered, that the see has never been able to recover its former grandeur; and so small are its present revenues, that it has been found necessary for the bishop to hold some other preferment for the better support of his dignity and rank. This see hath yielded to the nation three lord chancellors, two lord treasurers, one lord president of Wales, and one chancellor to the university of Oxford. The diocese contains the entire counties of Devonshire and Cornwall, wherein are 604 parishes, whereof 239 are inappropriate. It hath four archdeacons, viz. of Cornwall, Exeter, Barnstaple, and Totnes. The diocese was formerly valued in the king's books at £1,556:14:6; but, since bishop Voysey's time, it is lowered to £1,500, and is computed to be worth annually £2,700. The clergy's tenth is £1,200:15:2½. To the cathedral belong a bishop, a dean, four archdeacons, a chancellor, a treasurer, a chantor, 24 prebendaries, and other inferior officers and servants.