winter residence of a great number of the gentry of those parts. York is eminently distinguished in history, and few have suffered more grievous calamities from war, especially during the Danish invasions. This city has been honoured with the presence of several Roman emperors. Adrian fixed there his head quarters, during his stay in Britain; Severus lived for some time, and at last died at York; and Constantius Chlorus made it, for several years, the imperial residence. Constantius ended his life at York, and there the great Constantine, his son, was invested with the purple. This city, of which the walls are yet nearly entire, is nearly three miles in circuit; but its population is far from corresponding with its extent, and its trade is inconsiderable. In the time of the Romans, York was not only the focus of their power and the central point of their military stations; but also the emporium of the northern parts of England. The largest vessels, used in the Roman, Saxon, and Norman times, could sail up the Ouse as far as York; but when the science of naval architecture was improved, and ships of much larger dimensions were constructed, the situation was found unsuitable to a mercantile city. The trade was gradually removed to Hull, and in proportion as the latter increased, York declined. Its cathedral is the largest and most magnificent Gothic structure in England.

Manchester was anciently a small Roman station. It long remained in obscurity, and in the reign of Elizabeth first began, by its manufactures, to rise into notice. In the middle of the last century, its population fell short of 20,000; but since that time, it has been quadrupled. The cotton manufactures of this place are known and esteemed throughout Europe. The stupendous machinery, to which they owe so much of their improvement, exhibits an astonishing display of the powers of human art and industry; and are a splendid monument of the original and self-taught genius of Arkwright.*

* This distinguished and extraordinary character, whose admirable ingenuity and perseverance raised him from the humble occupation of a barber

Birmingham, a large manufacturing town of Warwickshire, is situated on the side of a hill in a dry and pleasant country. It may be considered as a vast assemblage of manufactories in all the various branches of hardware, buckles, buttons,

to honour and affluence, was born A. D. 1732, at Preston, in Lancashire, where a considerable manufacture of mixed linen and cotton goods was carried on, of which he had an opportunity of viewing the various operations. Considering the process as imperfect, he directed his thoughts to the improvement of the mode of spinning which had, probably for ages, been conducted on the same plan; and by an unwearied application of his uncommon natural powers, at length, produced an invention, which, in its consequences, has proved a source of national and individual wealth, seldom paralleled in the annals of the world. The difficulties which Mr. Arkwright experienced, during a long season of intense application, were immense. Even, after the construction of his machinery was sufficiently complete to demonstrate its value, he was too poor to bring it into action, by commencing business on his own account; and few were willing to risk the loss of capital on untried projects. Having, however, at length procured some coadjutors, he obtained A. D. 1769, his first patent, for spinning by means of rollers. In conjunction with his partners, he erected, at Nottingham, his first mill, which was wrought by horses; but this method being found too expensive, he erected another, at Cromford, on a larger scale, the machinery of which was put in motion by water. Mr. Arkwright made, afterwards, many improvements in the mode of preparing the cotton for spinning, and invented a variety of ingenious machines for effecting this purpose in the most correct and expeditious manner; for which in 1775, he obtained another patent. He thus completed a series of machinery, so various and complicated, yet so admirably combined, and so well adapted to produce the intended effect, as to excite the admiration of every person who is capable of estimating the difficulties of the undertaking. But that all this should have been accomplished by the unassisted efforts of a man, without education and without any mechanical instruction or experience, must be considered as a most extraordinary circumstance, and as an exhibition of the powers of native genius, equal to any on record in the history of the human mind. The effects were not less wonderful, than the means by which they were produced. His improvements constitute a distinguished feature in the manufacturing system, and are an inexhaustible source of national wealth. Sir Richard Arkwright died at Cromford, in Derbyshire, A. D. 1792, aged sixty, and, although his projects at the first had been ridiculed by some of his acquaintance, he lived to see his conceptions realized in their benefits, both to himself and the public. To this extraordinary man, the inhabitants of the Carolinas and Georgia owe much of their wealth. His machinery increased the demand for cotton, and of course increased its intrinsic value to the great emolument of its cultivators.

plated articles, jewellery and trinkets, which are here made in so endless a variety, and held in so high estimation, that Mr. Burke called it "the toy shop of Europe." At Mr. Egginton's works, about a mile and a half from the town, we find the lost art of painting glass revived, with a glow of colouring equal to the most beautiful specimens of former ages, and a decided superiority in the design. Near this place, and about two miles from the town, is the Soho, belonging to Mr. Bolton, one of the most remarkable manufactories in the kingdom. It consists of four squares with connecting ranges or streets of shops, ware houses, &c. capable of employing a thousand workmen. The improved steam engines, made by Mr. Bolton and Mr. Watts, may also be ranked among the grand productions of human ingenuity. The air of Birmingham and its neighborhood is remarkably pure; and the instances of longevity are strikingly numerous. Birmingham is, next to Manchester, the greatest manufacturing town in England. Its present population is computed at 60,000. Between the years 1741, and 1790, it received an augmentation of seventy-two streets, containing 4172 houses.*

Sheffield has, ever since the thirteenth century, been distinguished for its manufactures of knives, and various other articles of cutlery; but that of plated goods commenced only about the middle of the last century. In the year 1615, this town contained no more than 2152 inhabitants; in 1755, the population amounted to 12,983: in 1789, it had increased to about 30,000; and, at present, is computed at 45,000. In 1751, the river Don was made navigable to within two miles of Sheffield. This was an incalculable benefit to the town, in facilitating the export of its manufactures, which, until that time, were carried weekly to London on pack horses.

Chester is a place of great antiquity, being of a Roman origin, and is remarkable for the singular construction of its principal streets, which are excavated out of the rock, on which the city is founded, to a considerable depth below the level of the ground. The shops and warehouses are beneath, on a

* Hutton's Hist. of Birmingham. Aikin's Manchester. VOL. VI.

5

level with the street, to which the passenger descends by stairs, placed at proper distances. This peculiarity of construction gives to the city a singular and striking appearance in the eyes of a stranger.

Exeter, the capital of Devonshire, is for extent and importance, next to Bristol, the principal city in the west of England, and a favourite residence of the gentry, as well as the seat of a considerable foreign and domestic commerce, which consists chiefly of woollen goods manufactured in the counties of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset, and exported to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and Germany.

Dorchester is chiefly remarkable for the relics of antiquity in its neighbourhood, and for the beautiful sheep country by which it is surrounded. No less than 170,000 sheep and lambs are supposed to be kept within eight miles of the city, and about 800,000 in the whole county.

ENGLISH ISLES.

The Isle of Wight, situated in the British Channel, is of an oval form, its greatest length from east to west, being about twenty-three, and its greatest breadth, from north to south, thirteen miles. The air is salubrious, and the soil so fertile that, some years ago, its produce, in corn, equalled eight times its consumption. The landscapes are delightful, and several gentleman's seats in this island are constructed in an elegant style. In 1777, its inhabitants were found to amount to 18,024.

Guernsey is about thirty miles in circuit. The face of the country is hilly, the soil not very fertile, but the air is exceedingly salubrious. Jersey is nearly of the same extent, but extremely fertile. Its butter and honey are excellent, and in some years 12,000 hogsheads of cyder have been produced from its numerous orchards. This island gave its name to one of the United States. Sir George Carteret, one of the

mer.

first proprietors of the latter, had been governor of the forThe inhabitants of Guernsey and Jersey, with Sark and Alderney, their appendages, are computed at about 40,000. Their language is French, with an intermixture of English words. Their principal manufacture and staple commodity is knit stockings. These islands, being the remains of the Norman patrimony, preserve the feudal forms, and have an assembly of the states, exhibiting a miniature picture of the British parliament.

The isle of Anglesea, the Mona of Tacitus, the celebrated seat and last refuge of Druidism, merits attention. A person, whose imagination can recal the scenes of ancient days, will not traverse this island, the theatre of a bloody religion, without feeling a kind of awful horror in viewing those places, where, in the gloom of the thickest woods, the Druids performed their tremendous rites, and bathed their altars with the blood of human victims. This island is about twenty-five miles in length, and eighteen in breadth.

The Isle of Man is situated at nearly an equal distance from England, Scotland, and Ireland; and it is said that from the hills in its central part, these three countries may be seen. This island is thirty miles in length, and from eight to fifteen in breadth, and well stored with black cattle and sheep. This small island was seized by the Norwegian rovers in the ninth, and continued till the thirteenth century, an independent kingdom under princes of that nation. Alexander II. king of Scotland, rendered it tributary, and obliged Owen, its king, to acknowledge himself a vassal of that crown. The Scots were expelled in the reign of Edward I. From that time, the kings of England claimed the sovereignty over the island, although it appears to have been for some time possessed by the posterity of its ancient princes, who held it as vassals to the English crown. Passing, afterwards, through various changes, to the ducal family of Athol, the sovereignty was purchased, and annexed to the British crown. One of the most interesting periods, in the history of this island, is the long space of fifty-seven years, during which Dr. T. Wilson presided over its diocese. This excellent prelate, who died