Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

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.

[ocr errors]

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

first proprietors of the latter, had been governor of the former. The 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

A. D. 1755, at the age of ninety-three, may be ranked among the greatest and best of those who have adorned the episcopal character. His acts of benevolence, and his judicious improvements in agriculture, learning, and morals throughout his diocese, are too many to enumerate. He was an ornament to human nature. Cardinal Fleury, so highly venerated his character, that out of regard to his virtues, he obtained an order from the court of France, that the Isle of Man should not suffer any depredations from privateers, or other armed vessels of that nation. The inhabitants of this island, who may amount to about 30,000, are inoffensive, hospitable, and remarked for simplicity of manners. The language is radically Erse or Irish, but the gentry speak English. The exports are wool, hides, and tallow; the imports a small quantity of various foreign commodities. The Runic inscriptions and monuments yet to be seen, and the brass daggers and other weapons partly of that metal, and partly of pure gold, which are sometimes dug up, seem to indicate the splendour of this small island, when governed by chiefs of the Danish or Norwegian race.

These are the only considerable islands near the English coast, those of Scilly being little else than a cluster of dangerous rocks, to the number of about 140, at the distance of thirty miles from the Land's End, in Cornwall, fatally remarkable for the destruction of ships and mariners; and rendered memorable by the shipwreck of Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovel, who perished there in October 1707.

HISTORICAL VIEW.

England was first known to the Phoenicians, who traded hither for tin, at a very remote period of antiquity; and is supposed to have received from them the name of Britannia, expressive of that article, which was then the staple of its commerce. Its earliest inhabitants, undoubtedly, came from

the opposite coasts of France and Flanders, which were first peopled by the Gauls or Celts. The first authentic information respecting this country, is received from Julius Cæsar, who invaded Britain, A. A. C. 55. Cæsar informs us that the primitive inhabitants were driven into the interior; while the maritime provinces, on the south-east part of the island, were occupied by the Belga.* The Britons, at that period, are mostly considered as being in a state of absolute barbarism; but a judicious examination of Cæsar's narrative, will convince us, that although they had made no great advancement in civilization, yet they were far above the rank of savages. They had established systems of government, and the country was divided into a number of sovereignties. On the Roman invasion Cassivellannus was invested with the supreme authority. Their military discipline was far from being contemptible. They had regular forces, consisting of war chariots as well as of infantry. Cæsar allows that they fought, not only with a dauntless courage and steady resolution, but also with astonishing skill and dexterity.

The most remarkable feature in the history of the ancient Britons, was their religion, managed by the Druids. No sacerdotal body ever ruled with more despotic sway, or maintained a more absolute control over the minds and bodies of men. The Druids were the senators who directed all public affairs, and the magistrates who decided all private controversies. They were also the instructors of the people, who received, with implicit belief, whatever opinions they thought fit to inculcate.

As far as Druidism can be investigated, it appears to have been a mixture of polytheism with theism. The Druids, like all other philosophical pagans, acknowledged one supreme and self-existent being, with a number of inferior divinities. Among these the principal was the god of war, whom they worshiped with barbarous rites, and endeavoured to render propitious with human sacrifices. They not only inflicted severe penalties in this world, but also inculcated the trans

* Comm. lib. 5, cap. 10.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »