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Caernarvon. The principal town in the county ofCaernarvon, North Wales. It is built on the MenaiStrait, has a good harbour, but is difficult of access.The castle, of which we give an accurate delineationin the accompanying engraving, was erected by Ed-ward I., near the spot where the Roman Segontiumformerly stood.

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According to the chroniclers of that period, in 1283,very near to the castle, was found the body of Con-stantius, father of the great Constantine, which kingEdward caused to be magnificently buried in the churchwhich he had previously built in this city.

Edward II. was born in a small dark room in theEagles’ Tower, in the year 1284. It is so called fromthe rude representations of eagles, which surmount thesmall turrets over the great tower of the castle, conti-guous to the Menai Strait. The walls of the castle areseven feet nine inches thick, having w ithin their thick-ness a gallery with narrow slips, for the discharge ofarrows and other missiles. Caernarvon castle wasbesieged by the parliamentary troops under generalMytton, and on the 2nd of June, 1646, was surrenderedto him on the most honourable terms, by Lord Byron,the governor. Mytton was afterwards besieged in thiscastle by Sir John Owen, who, in attempting to pre-vent succours reaching the castle, was himself takenprisoner. After this the whole of North Wales sub-mitted to the Commonwealth. Although this castlehas suffered considerable dilapidations, it is still anoble ruin. The dilapidated state into which it hasbeen suffered to fall, called forth the regret of the his-torian Speed, who says, in the quaint language of theperiod, “ Great pitie it is that so famous a work shouldnot be perpetuous, or ever become the ruin of time,which is much feared, for the mercilesse underminingof the sea, that with her daily and forcible irruptionsnever ceaseth to wash away the foundations of thekey.”

Caernarvon sends one member to the British par-liament ; Conway, Cricceith, Pwllheli, Bangor, andNevin sharing tfie election. It contains 7642 inha-bitants. The annual value of the assessed property is9642/. Distant from London 253 miles. Lon. 4°30' W, lat. 53° 6' N.

Caernarvonshire, a county in North Wales. Itis bounded on the north by the sea, on the east byDenbighshire, on the south by Merionethshire and thesea, and on the west by the Irish sea and the MenaiStrait. It is about forty-five miles long and thirteenbroad, and 150 in circumference, containing nearly310,000 acres of land. The principal rivers are theConway and Seiont. This county is in general cold,on account of the number of high mountains, rocks,and lakes; but there are also many fruitful valleysand some excellent pasturage land. The most cele-

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brated mountain in Caernarvonshire is Snowdon, whichis 3658 feet above the level of the sea. The inhabit-ants live in a state of great simplicity, manufacturingtheir own clothes from the wool of their flocks.

This county sends one member to parliament, andhas a population of 65,758 persons. The pollingplaces for the electors are Caernarvon, Conway, CapelCerrig, and Pwllheli.

Caerphilly, or Caerphili. A market town inthe county of Glamorgan : it is distinguished for theruins of one of the most magnificent castles in GreatBritain, as may be seen in the annexed engraving.

The date of its foundation is unknown; but, till thetime of Henry III., it was called the castle of Song-honydd. The great hall is seventy feet by thirty,and the hanging tower, nearly eighty feet high, andinclining about eleven feet from the perpendicularare remarkable objects. The position of the latter issaid to have been produced by the steam of a quantityof water which was thrown upon a furnace of meltediron beneath the tower. Caerphilly has a populationof 2818 persons ; and is 158 miles from London.

Caerwent. A village of England, supposed tohave been the Venta Silurum of Antoninus. Thevestiges of a large Roman camp are visible. A mo-saic pavement of blue, white, yellow, and red wasdiscovered here some years ago. Distant seventeenmiles N. W. of Bristol.

Qaerwys. A small town of North Wales, is distin-guished for the celebration of the Eisteddfod, or com-petition of the hards. See Bards. They recitedtheir odes, or performed on the harp, in presence ofjudges appointed by the native princes. The prizewas a small silver harp. It has a population of 985persons. Distant 212 miles N. W. from London.

C.-lsarea , the ancient name of many cities.—1. Csesarea Philippi, or Paneas, built by Philip, te-trarch of Galilee, son of Herod the Great.—2. CaesareaStratonis, on the shores of the Mediterranean, aboutseventy-five miles north-west from Jerusalem. Herodthe Great enlarged it, and it became the metropolis ofPalestine, and the seat of the Roman proconsul. It isthe place where Herod Agrippa was smitten by theangel {Acts xii. 20—23), where Cornelius the centu-rion resided (x.), and St. Paul was imprisoned twoyears (xxiii.—xxv). It is now, according to Clarke,in utter desolation.-—3. The capital of Cappadocia,and now called Kaisarich. It was once supposed tocontain 400,000 inhabitants. Lucas says that all themountains in the environs are perforated with grot-toes, which serve as summer residences, and thatthere are 200,000 little pyramids in the vicinity. Ithas now 25,000 inhabitants, and carries on a consider-able trade in cotton, &c.—There were many othertowns of this name.