ROBERT, a distinguished clergyman of the Church of England, was born at Hackney, in Middlesex, in 1633. He seems from his boyhood to have been attached to the reigning monarchy, for, in the school of Westminster, where Dr Busby was master, he prayed for his majesty, Charles I., by name, on the day of his execution. In 1651, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, at the same time with the distinguished John Locke. He took his bachelor's degree in 1655, and wrote, on that occasion, a copy of Latin verses, congratulating Oliver Cromwell on his late peace with the Dutch. The apology usually offered for this indiscretion on South's part is, that it was then usual to impose such a task upon baccalaureates. He took his degree of M.A. in 1657, not without some opposition from the dean of Christ Church, Dr John Owen. South was appointed university orator in 1660; domestic chaplain to Chancellor Clarendon shortly afterwards; prebendary of Westminster in 1663; and canon of Christ's Church, Oxford, in 1670. His "Scribe Instructed" is as good a specimen of his sermons as one could wish for. Although written while the author was a comparatively young man, it displays all the sharp clear sense of his mature years. It is full of insight, vivacity, perspicuity, copiousness and force. In the latter qualities, he has very few equals among English writers. But the sin of his sermons was the sharp, keen, cutting wit and sarcasm with which they abounded. If his hearers refrained from occasional bursts of laughter, it said much for their gravity, and is more than a reader of the nineteenth century would be capable of. He is perpetually down upon the poor dissenters, mocking them, holding up their defects to the jeers of his audience, and their merits not unfrequently to their bitterest scorn. But a short specimen from the sermon already alluded to will put this in a clear light. The teachers of those days, he says, "first of all seize upon some text, from whence they draw something (which they call doctrine), and well may it be said to be drawn from the words, forasmuch as it seldom naturally flows or results from them. In the next place, being thus provided, they branch it into several heads, perhaps twenty, or thirty, or upwards. Whereupon, for the prosecution of these, they repair to some trusty Concordance, which never fails them, and by the help of that, they range six or seven Scriptures under each head; which Scriptures they prosecute one by one; first amplifying and enlarging upon one for some considerable time, till they have spoiled it; and then, that being done, they pass to another, which, in its turn, suffers accordingly. And these impertinent and unpremeditated enlargements they look upon as the motions, effects, and breathings of the Spirit, and therefore much beyond those carnal ordinances of sense and reason, supported by industry and study; and this they call a saving way of preaching, as it must be confessed to be a way to save much labour, and nothing else that I know of."

South accompanied Lawrence Hyde, son of Clarendon, on his embassy to John Sobieski, the King of Poland, as his chaplain. The long letter which South wrote home, descriptive of Poland, is both curious and interesting. Sobieski, he says, in addition to his own language, was acquainted with French, Italian, German, and Turkish, and could speak Latin with great fluency. South on his return to England was made rector of Islip, and continued to preach up divine right and no quarter to Protestant dissenters or to Roman Catholics; yet curious to say he would accept of no preferment either from Charles II. or James; and it is said some of the highest dignities of the church were laid at his feet. He is reported to have had the best of the discussion which was carried on with Dr Sherlock, with more wit than wisdom, and with more sarcasm than solemnity. The latter had written a book entitled, A Vindication of the Holy and Ever-blessed Trinity; and South attacked him for having promulgated tritheism. The war of words ran so high that the king had to interpose. South died on the 8th of July 1716, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a very intemperate and injudicious biography of South prefixed to Cull's edition of his works, published in 1717. The Sermons of Dr South will be found in the 7-vol. edition of Oxford, 1823, or in any of the recent issues of them. SOUTHAMPTON is situated on the south coast of Hampshire (Lat. 50° 55′; Long. 1° 32′), at the junction of the small river Itchen with a straight arm of the sea, which runs inland from the Solent. This inland sea, called the Southampton Water, extends for four miles above the town to the village of Red Bridge, and for seven miles below it to the promontory of Calshot Castle, a small fort nearly opposite Cowes in the Isle of Wight, which commands the entrance. The width of this arm varies from one and a half to two miles, and being skirted on the north bank by the wooded heights about Netley Abbey, it forms a beautiful sea-approach to Southampton. Being, from its position, completely land-locked, it is exempt from the swell of the open sea, from whichever direction the wind may blow; and possessing at the same time a straight channel, with considerable depth of water and good holding-ground, it is not surprising that the Southampton Water should be regarded as one of the safest and most commodious harbours on our coasts.

To this fortunate peculiarity is due the present thriving condition of the town, its population having increased by nearly one-half since the year 1840, when it was selected as the port of departure for the mail steam-packets to India and the West Indies. To the same cause must be also ascribed the very marked alteration which has taken place in the character of the town, which, before the opening of the famous docks in 1842, was a fashionable watering-place, much resorted to by the county families in the neighbourhood, as well as by visitors from London. Steam has now brought about a complete revolution in this respect. Modern Southampton, though still cheerful and attractive, has assumed the graver habits of a mercantile community; her well-stored shops being tenanted by a shrewd bustling class of tradespeople, who depend, to a great extent, upon the custom of the large steam-shipping companies, and on the whimsical wants of the crowd of Indian passengers who sojourn here for a few days on their way to and from the east.

Such at least is the character of the business portion of the town below the “Bar-gate”; but Southampton yet owns an aristocratic section, occupying the high ground to the north, where the town begins gradually to merge into the beautiful country beyond. This quarter is mostly tenanted by the families of retired military and naval officers, and others not connected with the trade of the port, but who are attracted to this pleasant town by its own intrinsic merits. Still further removed from business, and beyond the limits of the borough rates, which add materially to the expense of a town residence, are the suburbs of Portswood, Highfield, Bassett, Shirley, Millbrook, which are built over with villas of moderate pretensions, and are rapidly absorbing the finely wooded parks and grounds of the numerous country-seats in the immediate neighbourhood. The open country beyond is undulating and woody, with occasional downs and common-land, presenting a variety of beautiful rides, walks, and drives.

Crossing the Itchen, from Southampton, by the steam floating-bridge, we gain the suburbs of Bitterne, West End, Woolston, and Netley, surrounded by an equally pleasant country.

The approach to Southampton by the London road is through a very fine avenue of old lime-trees, about a mile in length; and beyond this distance the road enters the broad expanse of Southampton Common, planted with picturesque groups of the Scotch fir, many of them of great age and size. The holly and laurel here flourish luxuriantly, in a wild state, in company with furze, brambles, and broom.

The general appearance of Southampton is that of a clean, well built, well ordered town, with little architectural display; it is true, but with a certain picturesque irregularity of style and outline in the streets and houses, which has a Southampto lively and pleasing effect. It can boast of at least one handsome, wide, bustling thoroughfare, the High Street, leading from the quays on the south of the town to the commencement of the “Avenue” on the north. This street is about a mile in length, and is chiefly occupied by shops of a superior description, whose well-stored windows present a tempting display. It is divided in the middle of its length by the Bar-gate, a relic of the ancient city-walls, like the Temple-bar in London, and the street is called Above or Below-bar, according to its position with reference to this gate. Southampton is not remarkable for the beauty of its churches or public buildings, which scarcely accord with the wealth and importance of the modern city; but it excels in those more essential works of public utility—sewerage, gas-lighting, and water-supply, each of which is tolerably perfect in its kind. Within the last few years a “park” has been enclosed and planted for the recreation of the citizens, and a corner of the beautiful Southampton Common has been appropriated as a cemetery. The town is supplied with excellent water from the river Itchen, at about 4 miles from its mouth. The water is pumped up by steam power, at the rate of 1000 gallons per minute, into two large reservoirs on the Common, which have an elevation of 180 feet above the sea, being about 80 feet higher than the upper part of the town. About 1,500,000 gallons of pure water are thus supplied per day of 24 hours, which is equal to 20 gallons per day for each person.

The educational establishments of the town are numerous and respectable, but of only local celebrity. Mention should be made, however, of the munificent bequest of the late Mr. H. R. Hartley, once a resident of Southampton, who has recently left a sum of £105,000 to the mayor and corporation upon trust, “to employ the yearly proceeds thereof in such manner as may best promote the study and advancement of the sciences of natural history, astronomy, antiquities, and classical and oriental literature in the town of Southampton—such as by forming a public library, botanic garden, observatory, and collections of objects in connection with the above sciences.” This will, unfortunately, was disputed by the relations, and became the subject of an expensive suit in the Court of Chancery, which terminated in 1858; when, after settling the terms of compromise with some of the claimants, and paying the lawyers to the amount of about £35,000, the sum finally secured by the corporation did not exceed £40,000. The testator left, in addition, his books, manuscripts, and antiquities, and three houses and furniture, for the same object. It is proposed to spend about £10,000 in the new building, to be called the Hartley Institute, which will comprise two lecture-theatres, a laboratory, museum, library, reading-room, picture gallery, model-room, class-rooms, and observatory, the remainder of the money being spent in furnishing and endowing the same.

This town has been selected by government for the headquarters of the staff of royal engineers engaged in making the Ordnance surveys of Great Britain and Ireland. A spacious building for their accommodation was erected in 1857, where the maps are drawn, reduced, and engraved to three different scales, being afterwards printed and coloured on the premises, and prepared for distribution to all parts of the country. Colonel Henry James, R.E. and F.R.S., is the superintendent of the ordnance map office, about 300 persons being employed under him. The process of reducing the maps to the required scales is effected with great expedition and accuracy by the aid of photography. An institution of this kind is of great benefit, as tending to raise the standard of education and intelligence amongst the middle classes.

The South Hants Infirmary (with which the names of Drs. Joseph and William Bullar are so gratefully remembered) honourably associated) is located at Southampton, and is one of the best managed and most extensively useful institutions of its kind. It makes up sixty beds, and during the past year it has relieved 521 in-patients and 1788 out-patients.

The principal feature of modern Southampton are undoubtedly the docks, which were opened in 1842. They consist of an open or tidal basin, and an inner or close basin. The tidal dock has an area of 16 acres of water, with a depth of 18 feet at low water, and about 31 feet at high water. Its entrance from the Itchen estuary is 150 feet wide, and will admit the largest steam-ships at high water. The quays round the dock measure 3000 feet, and are formed of very substantial granite masonry. Three large graving-docks enter from the tidal basin, one of which is the largest drydock in the world, measuring 425 feet long on the floor, and 80 feet wide between the gate cells. Even the royal navy require to use this dock occasionally. In the inner basin, which enters from the tidal basin, the water is always retained at the level of high-water by means of a pair of dock-gates closing the passage between the two basins. The inner basin has an area of 10 acres, and a depth of 25 feet. The docks were designed by Mr Francis Giles, and completed by Mr Alfred Giles, C.E. The Southampton docks have four tides every 24 hours, a peculiarity not found in any other seaport. This is caused by the Isle of Wight being situated across the entrance to the Southampton Water. A portion of the great tidal wave, in its progress up the Channel, becomes separated from the main body, and, flowing up the Needles passage into the Solent, reaches Southampton, and causes the first tide about the same time that the main body arrives at Dunnoose Point. This tide, beginning to ebb, is stopped and driven back again by the main stream from Spithead, and this causes the second tide, about 2 hours later, and 6 inches higher, than the first tide. Low water is about 3½ hours after the second tide-flood. These "double tides" are very valuable to the port, as they allow an additional two hours for docking and undocking ships. The mean rise of water is 18 feet at spring-tides, and 8 feet at neap tides. The tides here are highest about 48 hours after the full and new moon. In the Hamble estuary, which falls into Southampton Water about 5 miles below the town, the flood-tide remains stationary for two hours. At low water extensive mud-banks are left bare on each side of Southampton Water, but the anchorage in the offing is good, with nearly 4 fathoms of water at spring-ebb; and the clear-way within the buoys is deep, and about half a mile broad.

The number of ships which entered the docks during the year ending 31st March 1859 was as follows:—Entered inwards, 1017 ships, 323,361 tonnage; outwards, 918 ships, 323,965 tonnage. The value of exports is upwards of six millions; duties received, L127,072.

The manufacture for which this town is most noted is that of carriages, of which above 500 are annually built here, and exported to all parts of the world. This branch of industry is chiefly indebted for its local celebrity to Mr Andrews, the late patriotic mayor of Southampton, and a very successful coach-builder. The requirements of the numerous steam-ships frequenting the port have naturally led to the establishment of engineering works (of which there are several) for the manufacture and repair of machinery and iron-vessels. These works employ a great number of skilled mechanics, of whom a large proportion are Scotch; and as the majority of the engineers afloat were bred on the Clyde, it will be perceived that Scotchmen muster very strongly in Southampton.

Southampton has a mild climate, and a rain-fall somewhat above the average, although the number of rainy days is not so great as in most parts of England. There is a marked difference between the air of the lower portion of the town and that of the higher; the former being moist and relaxing; and occasionally redolent of exhalations rising Southcoast from the mud-banks exposed at low-water. The upper part of the town, and more especially the suburbs of Portswood, Highfield, and Basset, enjoy a much drier and purer atmosphere, partly due to the gravelly nature of the soil, which admits of quick surface-drainage.

The population of Southampton, according to the census Population of 1851, was 35,305, exclusive of the suburbs, which, as we have seen, are very numerous. As the town has been rapidly increasing since that time, the population of the borough is now calculated (in 1860) to amount to 45,000; and if we include the surrounding neighbourhood, it is probable that a population of 50,000 souls is not in excess of the reality.

Though not of Roman origin, Southampton is still a place of great antiquity, and probably may date its rise and antiquities from the decay of the Roman station Clausentum, at Bitterns, on the opposite side of the river Itchen, about 1½ miles N.E. of the town. Its name was probably derived from Anton, the ancient name of the river Test, whose estuary forms the upper part of Southampton Water, the latter being supposed to represent the Antona mentioned by Tacitus. In Doomsday Book the town is spelt Hantun, the prefix South probably arising from its relative position to Northam, a hamlet within the borough, on the banks of the Itchen, opposite the Roman Clausentum, and believed to be the oldest part of Southampton. The earliest mention of the town occurs in the Saxon Chronicle, from which it appears that it was attacked by the Danes in 873, who landed here from 33 vessels; but after committing many atrocities, they were repulsed and driven back to their ships. All the more interesting remains of antiquity (with the exceptions of the Bar-gate and St Michael's Church) stretch along the shore of Southampton Water, where a strong castle, the remains of which are still extant, protected the town from the land side. That wise and pious Danish monarch Canute, when he became king of England, had a palace at Southampton, and here it was that he reproved the impious flattery of his courtiers. The ancient town, comprising about one-sixth part only of the present town and suburbs, was surrounded by an embattled wall of 1½ miles in circumference, having several gates and posterns. The greater part of these fortifications have long since been cleared away, but many interesting portions still remain. The Bar-gate, which crosses the High Street, was the principal entrance into the town from the north. It is a large and handsome tower-gateway, which appears to have been repeatedly strengthened and altered, in many different styles of architecture, since its first erection by the Normans. On the projecting buttresses are two paintings, executed more than 180 years ago, and representing the Saxon knight Sir Bevois, and his gigantic squire Assapart, who figure conspicuously in the legendary history of Southampton.