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shire, near the head of the Don, owes its importance to its manufactures of cutlery and plated ware. Its popu

lation is 45,000.

77. Exeter. Exeter, on the river Ex, in the south west of England, was the residence of the West Saxon kings. It is a large city, and the seat of an extensive commerce in woolen goods, manufactured in the vicinity.

78. Salisbury. Salisbury, the chief city in Wiltshire, is an ancient town, situated in a valley watered by the upper Avon, and built with regularity. It has manufactures of cutlery, hard ware and flannels; and Wilton, in the same county, gives name to an excellent species of carpets. The cathedral, built in 1258, is the most elegant and regular Gothic edifice in England. It is 478 feet in length, 76 in bredth, with a beautiful spire of free stone, 400 feet high.

79. Other towns. Portsmouth, in the south of England, is the grand naval arsenal of England, upon a safe and capacious harbor. Norwich, in Norfolk, on the east, is an opulent city, noted for its manufactures of worsted, stuffs, camblets, and damasks. Chester, on the Dee, in the north west of England, is a considerable city of Roman origin. Leeds, in Yorkshire, is the seat of the best woollen manufactures; and Hull, in the same county, is a place of considerable trade.

80. Caernarven. Caernarven, the chief town in North Wales, is celebrated for the beauty of its situation, the regularity of its streets, and especially for the grandeur of its castle, which was founded by Edward I. in 1282. In this castle, was born Edward II. his mother being sent there for the purpose; for the king had promised the Welch a prince born in their own country, who could not speak a word of English. His son was called Prince of Wales, a title still retained by the eldest son of every British king.

81. Of the chief edifices. Windsor-castle, a royal resiidence,situated on an eminence near the Thames, 22 miles from London, has a grand appearance, and commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. It contains many excellent paintings. Hampton Court is ornamented

with acqueducts, and filled with valuable paintings. The hospitals for disabled seamen and soldiers at Greenwich and Chelsea, are works of noble magnificence, intended to support in ease and comfort, those who have lost their health or their limbs in the service of their country. 82. Iron Bridges. England was the first to erect bridges of cast iron. A bridge of this sort is erected over the Severn, at Colebrook Dale, in Shropshire. It rests on abutments of stone; the main rib, consisting of two pieces, each 70 feet long, connected by a dovetail joint, fastened with screws. The span of the arch is 100 feet; the height is 40 feet; and the iron employed, 378 tuns. An iron bridge over the harbor of Sunderland has an arch 100 feet high, with a span of 236 feet. Others have been erected, but of less celebrity.

83. Inland Navigation. England is every where intersected by canals, for the purpose of conveying boats laden with commodities from place to place. The San key Canal, in Lancashire, 12 miles in length, was designed to convey coals to Liverpool. A canal from Worsley to Manchester, nine miles in length, is cut through hills, and carried over the river Irwell, by an arch of 39 feet. The Lancaster Canal, from Kendal to West Houghton, is 74 miles in length. A canal from Leeds to Liverpool winds through an extent of 117 miles. The Rochdale Canal, from Halifax to Manchester, is 31 miles long. The Grand Trunk, so called, which connects Hull with Liverpool by the river Trent, is 99 miles in length. A great number of other canals, of the like importance in all parts of England, facilitate inland navigation, and do honor to the genius and industry of the nation.

84. Agriculture. In no country is agriculture carried to a greater degree of perfection than in England. The lands, tho owned by the nobility, are leased at fixed rents; the tenants are free; and landlords generally reside on their estates in summer, affording every encouragement to improvement by their wealth and their example, Nearly 40 millions of akers are under cultivation, and the intermixture of green and white crops by continual rotation, the watering of lands, and the art of draining,

are among the modern improvements for which England is distinguished.

85. The grain and plants of England. The principal kinds of grain raised in England are wheat, rye, barley and oats. Maiz will not ripen in England, the summers not being sufficiently hot. For the same reason, melons do not come to perfection. Peaches, apricots and nectarins ripen, but require the artificial warmth of a wall. Apples come to maturity, and excellent cider is made in the southern countries. The gooseberries in England are far superior to those produced in the United States. With these exceptions and differences, the vegetable productions of England are nearly the same as those of New-England.

86. Gardening. Horticulture, or gardening, is cultivated with great expense and taste, by the nobility and gentry of England, many of whom have extensive gardens laid out in elegant style, and enriched with every species of ornament which nature and art can furnish. The royal gardens of Kew are a noble specimen of rich and various elegance; the ground, tho level, is diversified by art; and every plant, even from a distant climate, finds here its native soil, furnished by art.

87. The rental and income of England. The landed rental of England amounts to 33 millions sterling, or more than 146 millions of dollars. The tythes amount to five millions; the mines and canals produce nearly four millions; the rents of houses, about six millions; profits of professions, two millions; the income drawn from foreign possessions in the Indies, &c. five millions ;, the annuities from the funds, about 14 millions; the profits on capital employed in foreign commerce, 12 millions; the profits on domestic capital, 28 millions; making in the whole 109 millions.

88. Animals for use. The English take great pains to procure and cultivate the best breed of horses, cattle and sheep. The Arabian breed of horses is distinguished for beauty and fleetness; and the large Holstein breed is employed for heavy draft. The cattle of England are of the best kind; while vast numbers of sheep are raised to supply the manufacturers of wool. The interior and

northern counties are remarkable for the number of cows they feed, which supply butter and cheese of an excellent quality.

89. Manufactures. England is distinguished for the number and amount of its manufactures. Of these, woollen cloths were among the most ancient manufactures, and they still form the most considerable branch. The whole value of the manufactures is estimated at 63 millions sterling, of which wool furnishes 15 millions; lether, ten; iron, tin and lead, ten; and cotton, nine. The articles of less importance are steel, plating, copper, brass, silk, potteries, linen, glass and paper.

90. Commerce. England is the greatest commercial nation in the world. Her trade extends to every country on the globe. Her chief exports consist of woollen cloth, cottons, hardware, potteries, &c. From England the United States obtain a large part of the clothing worn by both sexes, and most of their hard-ware. The value of the exports from England in 1801, was computed at 37 millions sterling, or nearly 165 millions of dollars. Her imports consist of articles not produced in England, or not in sufficient abundance, as cotton, rice, tobacco, indigo, hemp, flax, iron, pitch, tar, lumber, pot and pearl-ash; and the numerous productions of the Indies.

91. Navy. Great Britain can boast of the greatest naval power that ever existed. Being inferior in population and territory to France, her rival and neighbor, she depends chiefly on her navy for protection.-It has therefore, been her policy for more than two centuries to encourage commerce, fisheries and the coal trade, as the nurseries of seamen. The navy of England consists of about 200 ships of the line, and from 5 to 600 smaller ships and frigates. To man these ships in time of war, requires more than 100,000 mariners.

92. Army. The number of men in military service in Great Britain is very different at different times. Her numerous foreign colonies, which require garrisons, the discontents in Ireland, and the apprehensions of invasion, have lately required a great augmentation of her

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land forces. In 1801, the effective soldiers were 168,000
the volunteers 60,000.
93. English Government. The seven independent
kingdoms of England, in the Saxon times, were united
into one by Egbert in the year 828; since which time
the government has been a monarchy, hereditary in the
eldest male child of the prince, and in defect of males,
the crown is worn by a female. From the earliest times,
the princes have summoned councils of the chief men
in the realm to advise them in the framing of laws. In
Saxon, this council was called Wittena ge mote, a meeting
of wise men.

94. Parliament. After the Norman conquest, the great national council was called by the French name, Parliament, which signifies a meeting of barons; for none but persons of the rank of barons, or of superior rank, had originally a seat in that council. The word Parliament was primitively the appropriate name of the House of Lords or Nobles; but in the 13th century represen tatives of the counties, cities, and boroughs began to be regularly summoned to the council; the representatives, called Commons, assembled separate from the Lords, forming a distinct branch of the Legislature, and the name Parliament was applied to the united body of Lords and Commons.

95. House of Lords. The House of Lords, called also House of Peers, (which word signifies Barons) is composed of the nobility of the five degrees of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron, who are called temporal Lords. These are the ancient hereditary counsellors of the crown, and have a seat in the House of Lords by hereditary right. To these have been added, in more modern times, the Archbishops and Bishops, who anciently procured Baronies, then claimed and obtained seats in the House of Lords in right of their Baronies. Their right is now established, and they are called spiritual Lords.

96. House of Commons. The House of Commons consists of knights, citizens, and burgesses, chosen by the counties, cities, and boroughs, once in seven years, or oftener, if the King sees fit to dissolve the Parliament

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