Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

a panorama of London as viewed from the dome of St. Paul's. The gardens of the Zoological Society are also in this park. They are elegantly laid out, and contain an interesting collection of rare animals from all parts of the world.

The churches of London have the most prominent and imposing share in its architectural splendour. St. Paul's Cathedral is the most magnificent edifice in the city, but is pent up in a narrow area, and surrounded by shops and buildings of a mean appearance. The interior of the cathedral does not equal its noble exterior. It would be little else than an immense vault with heavy columns, were it not relieved by monumental statuary.

Westminster Abbey, some distance higher up the river, is one of the noblest existing monuments of Gothic architecture. It has a vast, airy, and lofty appearance, which inspires feelings of awe and veneration. The chapel of Henry VII., at the east end of the church, is unrivalled for gorgeous magnificence. The city of Westminster and north-eastern suburb of London contain many splendid modern churches, almost all in the classic style. London has few public edifices, compared to its great size and wealth. Westminster Hall was once palace: here the kings of England are crowned, and here the parliament hold their sittings. It has the largest hall without pillars in Europe. St. James's Palace is an illlooking brick building, but contains spacious and splendid apartments.

The Tower is a vast inclosure upon the river. It contains several streets, and is surrounded by a wall and ditch. The Monument, at the foot of London bridge, is a fluted Doric column, in a bad situation: it is 202 feet high, and commemorates the great fire of London. The Bank of England, in the heart of the city, is a vast and splendid pile, covering 8 acres. Somerset House, in the Strand, is one of the largest and most splendid edifices in the city.

There are 6 bridges over the Thames: of these, Waterloo bridge is built of granite, and Southwark and Vauxhall bridges, of iron. A more remarkable object is the Tunnel, a passage under the river at a point where a bridge would be detrimental to the navigation. This work was performed by sinking a perpendicular shaft near the river, and working horizontally under the bottom of the Thames. This city has 13 theatres, of which Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and the King's theatre or Italian Opera, are among the first in Europe. It has 147 hospitals; 16 schools of medicine; as many of law; 5 of theology; 18 public libraries; 300 elementary free schools; 1700 dispensaries, where the poor receive medicine and attendance gratis; 14 prisons; and 50 newspapers, printing 50,000 daily. 15,000 vessels lie at a time in the docks and at the wharves; 1500 carriages a day leave the city at stated hours; 4000 wagons are employed in the country trade; the annual commerce of the city is estimated at 130 millions sterling. London is the principal literary emporium of the kingdom. Almost all books of importance are there printed and published, and thence distributed over the kingdom, forming a considerable branch of commerce. The annual value sold is estimated at from 1,000,000l. to 2,000,000l. sterling. The population of the city, in 1830, was 1,474,069.

Liverpool, at the mouth of the Mersey, on the Irish Sea, is an important commercial city, enjoying a vast trade by sea, and communicating with all parts of the interior by canals and rail-roads. The city stretches along the east bank of the river 3 miles, with a breadth of one mile. It is irregularly built, but the public buildings are elegant. The Exchange is perhaps the most splendid structure which a mercantile community ever raised from its own resources: it cost 100,000 pounds, and is double the size of the Royal Exchange of London. The Town Hall is another noble edifice. In the west of the city are quays and docks of great extent. The largest dock will contain 100 ships afloat. The commerce of the place employs 10,000 vessels, and pays 3,500,000l. sterling to the revenue in duties. Here are also manufactories of porcelain, soap, sugar, &c., with large breweries and founderies. The Lyceum and Athenæum have each a library of 10,000 volumes. The population in 1831 was 165,175.

Manchester, in population and manufacturing industry, ranks next to London. Its streets and lanes are crowded together, without any regard to regularity or convenience. The river Irwell passes through its centre, and there are bridges

on this and another stream in the city. The spectator here is struck with astonishment at the sight of the immense magazines of goods designed for the markets of every quarter of the globe. A subject of no less astonishment is the contrast of the poverty of the artisans, with the wealth of their employers. The manufactures consume annually 170,000,000 pounds of cotton. There are a vast number of founderies and other establishments around the city. Two canals and the rail-road to Liverpool facilitate its trade. Manchester has many literary and benevolent institutions; a public library of 20,000 volumes, and a population of 182,812.

Birmingham is situated in the centre of England. The upper part has some regular streets and handsome buildings. Most of the streets are broad and commodious. The manufactures of arms, sheet iron, hardware and jewelry, at this place, are immense; 22,000 families are occupied in them. Here is the celebrated machinery of Watt, the great mechanical inventor. It employs 1200 men, and produces every week 1500 muskets. A single machine for coining money strikes 30,000 or 40,000 pieces in an hour. Ten canals open a communication with the surrounding districts. Population 146,986.

Leeds, in Yorkshire, is a great market for fine broadcloths, which are here sold in two immense halls. York is remarkable for its cathedral, called the Minster; the largest Gothic edifice in England, and perhaps in Europe, being 528 feet long.. An insane fanatic set fire to this magnificent structure, in 1829, and a great part of it was destroyed, but most of the damage has been repaired. York has many other beautiful buildings: its streets are wide and well paved, and the city is surrounded by a wall now much decayed. The population, in 1831, was 123,393.

Bristol, on the channel of that name, is accessible for ships of 1000 tons, and has considerable foreign commerce. It is irregular, with narrow streets. The handsomest parts are the suburbs. The cathedral is richly ornamented, and gives the city a picturesque appearance at a distance. This city has brass works, pin manufactories, glass, sugar, and soap houses, distilleries, &c. Population 104,886. Portsmouth, on the English channel, is the most important naval station in the kingdom. Its magazines and docks are the most perfect in the world. The spacious road of Spithead, at this place, is capable of sheltering 1000 ships of the line. Population 50,309.

Bath is famous for its medicinal waters, which, in the fine season, attract hither crowds of invalids and thousands of dissipated idlers. The city is wholly built of light-coloured freestone. It occupies a fine situation upon a rising ground, and is esteemed the handsomest city in England. It has many beautiful promenades, and a magnificent cathedral. Being a place of mere amusement, a large part of its population is migratory. Population 38,063.

Oxford is one of the handsomest cities in Europe, and contains the most famous university in England, consisting of 24 colleges. These buildings, with seventeen churches, and numerous other academical structures, are surrounded with groves, gardens, avenues of majestic trees, and a variety of winding streams. To these are added the incessant pealing of innumerable bells, and the multitude and mystical variety of academic dresses; all combining to produce the most striking effect upon a stranger. Population 20,649.

Cambridge, like Oxford, owes its celebrity to its university, which has 13 colleges. Population 20,917.

Wales is a territory which, though united to England by early conquest, still retains the title of a separate principality, and possesses a national aspect. The verdant and extensive plains of western England here give place to the lofty mountain, the deep valley, the roaring torrent, and the frightful precipice. Wales has rivers and torrents without number, which roll through its mountain valleys, and whose banks, adorned with verdure and cultivation, combine in the most striking manner with the lofty and varied summits which tower above them. The loftiest mountains are in North Wales; its valleys are deeper and narrower; and it presents more strikingly all the characteristic features of Welsh scenery. In South Wales, on the contrary, the valleys are broader, more fertile, and fuller of towns and villages; they often even expand into wide plains, still encircled by a

mountain boundary. Agriculture, in such a country, labours under many disadvantages, and is carried on too often upon the old system of infield and outfield. Manufactures are nearly confined to the article of flannel, which has always been a fabric of the Welsh, in which they still excel their Yorkshire rivals. It is to mining, however, that the industry of Wales has been chiefly attracted, by the profusion of mineral wealth which nature has lodged in the bowels of its mountains. The lead of Flint, Caernarvon, and other counties of North Wales; the copper of Anglesey, and above all, the iron of Glamorgan and other counties in the British Channel, are objects of extensive importance. Coal is found almost everywhere, and is employed either for domestic purposes, or in fusing and refining the metallic ores.

The Welsh are a Celtic race, the descendants of the ancient Britons, who, in these mountain recesses, sought refuge from the destroying sword of the Saxons, which so completely dispossessed them of the low country of England. They could not resist the overwhelming power of Edward I., who annexed Wales to the English crown. In order to hold it in subjection, however, he was obliged to construct, not only on its frontier, but in its interior, castles of immense extent and strength. Yet they did not prevent formidable insurrections, in one of which Owen Glendower maintained himself for years as an independent prince. Within the last 300 years, the Welsh have been as peaceable as any other subjects of the empire. They have retained, of their feudal habits, only venial failings. Among these is national pride, through which the genuine Cambrian holds his country and his nation superior to all others, and regards the Sasna or Saxon as a lower race of yesterday. With this is connected, in a high degree, the pride of pedigree; even the humblest Welshman tracing his origin far above any lowland genealogy. Strong ties of friendship subsist between the land-owners and their tenants; manifested, on one side, by indulgence and protecting kindness; on the other, by a profound veneration for the representatives of the ancient chiefs of their race. The Welsh have many superstitions, mixed with much genuine religious feeling. They are hardy, active, lively, hospitable, kind-hearted; only a little hot and quarrelsome. Their English neighbours complain that they have not yet attained that pitch of industry and cleanliness in which the former place their pride. Population, in 1831, 805,236. Counties, 12.

The chief mountains in Wales are Snowdon, 3571 feet; Cader-Idris, 3550; Corned-Llewellyn, Arran-Towddy, &c. The rivers are the Severn, Wye, Conway, Towy, Dee, &c. Merthyn-Tydvil, situated in the iron-mine region of Glamorganshire, has become, from a mere village, the most populous place in Wales. Population, 22,083. Swansea has also risen to some importance, from the iron and copper works with which it is surrounded. Coal is likewise largely exported. Its pleasant situation has made it an extensive resort for sea-bathing, and led to the erection of many elegant buildings. Population, 13,694. Caermarthen, situated on the Towy, which admits to it vessels of 300 tons, is one of the most flourishing and best-built towns in Wales. Population, 9955. Caernarvon is a handsome, well-built place. Its chief ornament is the castle, a stately edifice built by Edward I., to curb the spirit of the newly subdued Welsh. Population, 7642. Some other of the chief towns in Wales are, Holywell, 8969; Mold, 8086; Pembroke, 6511; Cardiff, 6187; and Brecknock, 5026.

SCOTLAND.

SCOTLAND is bounded on the south by England, from which it is separated by a line drawn along the Tweed, the Cheviot Hills, and thence to the Solway Frith. On every other side it is bounded by the Atlantic, the Northern and the German oceans. The length of Scotland, from the Mull of Galloway, in about 40° 40′ to Dunnet Head, Caithness, in 58° 40', is 280 miles. The greatest breadth, from Buchan-Ness to a point on the opposite shore of Inverness is 130 miles.

The entire extent of Scotland is 29,600 square miles. In its general outline,

it consists of two great and perfectly distinct parts: the Lowlands and the Highlands. The former comprehends all Scotland south of the friths of Forth and Clyde. Immediately north of the Clyde, the highland ranges begin to tower in endless succession; but on the east coast, the Lowlands extend beyond the Forth and northwards for some distance. The Highlands, which comprise the whole west and centre of northern Scotland, form a region of very bleak and rugged aspect, and contain within their recesses a primitive people, who, in dress, language, and the whole train of their social ideas, differ essentially from the Lowlanders, and have retained antique and striking characteristics, both physical and moral, that are obliterated in almost every other part of Great Britain.

Among the Scottish mountains, the most considerable are the Grampians, a name which is given very generally to all those which cover the surface of the Highlands, but applied more particularly to the chain running across the counties of Perth and Argyle, and comprising Ben Lomond, Ben Ledi, of that elevated ridge which directly face the low country of Stirling and Perth. Several of these mountains exceed the altitude of 4000 feet. Ben Nevis rises to the height of 4315 feet.

The rivers of Scotland are not so much distinguished for their length or magnitude, as for the pastoral scenery through which they wind their early course, and for the magnificent estuaries which they form at their junction with the sea.

The Forth rises near the foot of Ben Lomond, flows west towards Stirling, near which it is swelled by the larger stream of the Teith; whence, after many windings through the beautiful plain overlooked by Stirling castle, it opens into the great frith on which the capital of Scotland is situated.

Some of the others are the Tay, the Clyde, the Tweed, the Spey, the Dee, &c. Lochs form a characteristic feature of Scotland; many of them are long arms of the sea, running up into the heart of the mountains. Among these, Loch Lomond is pre-eminent. The traveller admires its vast expanse, its gay and numerous islands, its wooded promontories and bays, and the high mountain barrier at its head. Loch Katrine, in a smaller compass, presents a singular combination of romantic beauty. Loch Tay, enclosed by the loftiest of the Grampians, presents alpine scenery on the grandest scale; while at Inverary, Loch Fyne unites the pomp of art with that of nature. The long chain of Lochs Linnhe, Lochy, and Ness, stretching diagonally across Scotland, comprises much fine scenery, and has afforded facilities for making a navigable communication between the German and Atlantic Oceans.

The articles cultivated are generally the same as in England. Oats are the principal crop, except in the most fertile districts. Potatoes are cultivated somewhat extensively, and in some places, hemp.

Both the commerce and manufactures of Scotland have grown into importance since the union with England. Commerce has flourished chiefly since the middle of the last century. Greenock and Aberdeen are the most important commercial places. The shipping of Scotland, in 1828, amounted to 300,836 tons, or about one-fourth less than that of the State of Massachusetts.

The manufactures consist of cotton, woollen, linen, iron, hats, paper, sailcloth, pottery, and small quantities of most of the articles made in England. At Carron, in the southern part of the kingdom, are the most important iron founderies in Great Britain. They employ 2,000 workmen and cast above 4,000 cannon annually. The total value of the yearly manufactures of Scotland is estimated at 15,000,000 pounds sterling.

The whale and herring fisheries are considerable sources of wealth. The whale ships are principally employed in the Northern Seas. The gathering of kelp on the shores of the Western Islands once employed 120,000 persons, but the business has now declined in consequence of the substitution of a cheaper alkali in manufactures. The number of herring taken on the coast is immense : the fishermen go in small crafts called busses. Salmon, taken in all the considerable rivers, and kept fresh by being packed in ice, chiefly supplies the London market.

Artificial navigation meets with peculiar obstructions from the ruggedness of

the surface, and hence canals have never become very numerous. The "Great Canal" admits vessels of considerable size to pass from the Frith of Forth to that of Clyde, and thus unite the German and Atlantic Oceans. Branches to Glasgow and to the fine coal-field at Monkland have been advantageously opened. The Union Canal, completed at an expense of nearly 400,000l., connects the Great Canal, near its eastern point, with Edinburgh, by a line of thirty miles through a country very rich in coal and lime. The Caledonian Canal, uniting the chain of lakes which crosses Scotland diagonally, allows even ships of war to pass, from the east coast, into the Atlantic, without encountering the perils of the Pentland Frith and Cape Wrath. It was finished in 1822, at an expense of nearly 1,000,000l. sterling, entirely defrayed by government. The gates of the locks are of iron; the expense of each lock was 90007. The locks are twenty-three in all, eight of which, looking down from Loch Eil, where it opens into the western sea, are called by sailors the "stair of Neptune." The canal is fifty feet broad; length twenty-two miles, with forty miles of lake navigation.

Of the population of Scotland an estimate was first attempted in the year 1755, when it was computed to be 1,265,380. The reports of the clergy for the "Statistical Account," between 1792 and 1798, gave 1,526,492; which was raised by the government enumeration of 1801 to 1,599,000. The census of 1811 gave 1,805,000; which was raised by that of 1821 to 2,093,456. In 1831, it was 2,363,842.

In point of disposition, the Scots are a grave, serious, and reflecting people; but bold, enterprising, ambitious, and imbued with a deep-rooted determination to pursue the objects of their desire, and repel those of their aversion. Under these impulses, they quit, without much regret, a land which affords few opportunities of distinction, and seek, either in the metropolis and commercial towns of England, or in the most distant transmarine regions, that wealth and fame which they eagerly covet; yet, amid this distance and these eager pursuits, their hopes and affections remain fixed on the land of their nativity; and they usually seek to spend the evening of their days in Scotland.

To their religious duties the Scots people have always shown an exemplary attention. In Catholic times, the Romish church in Scotland enjoyed more influence, and had acquired a much greater proportion of the national wealth, than in England. But they entered upon the cause of reform with an ardent zeal, which left behind it that of all their neighbours. After a desperate struggle, on which, for nearly a century, the political destinies of the kingdom depended, they obtained their favourite form of presbytery, the most remote from that pompous ritual, for which they have entertained the most rooted abhorrence. The principle of presbytery consists in the complete equality of all its clerical members, who have each a separate parish, of which they perform all the ecclesiastical functions.

Literature, soon after its revival in Europe, was cultivated in Scotland with peculiar ardour. Even in the age of scholastic pursuits, Duns Scotus and Crichton were pre-eminently famed throughout the Continent. When the sounder taste for classical knowledge followed, Buchanan acquired the reputation of writing Latin with great purity. Letters were almost entirely suppressed during the subsequent period, marked by a conflict between a licentious tyranny and an austere religious party, who condemned or despised the exertions of intellect and the creations of fancy; and literature lay dormant till the middle of the last century, when Scotland, with a church and universities alike poorly endowed, produced as illustrious a constellation of writers as had been called forth by the most lavish patronage in the great European capitals.

The public libraries are not rich. That belonging to the advocates or barristers of Edinburgh, contains upwards of 100,000 volumes, among which there are ample materials, both printed and in manuscript, for elucidating the national history. The university library is half as large; and those of Glasgow, King's College Aberdeen, and St. Andrew's, are highly respectable. Each of these universities can claim a copy of every new work.

Scotland has a native music, simple and pathetic, expressive of rural feelings

« PředchozíPokračovat »