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knighthood of one of the lord's fons, and the marriage of one of his daughters. They were to find him twelve men for his military array. They were to hold watch and ward. They could not enter the foreft with bow and arrow. They were restrained from cutting off their dogs feet within the borough, as being a neceffary and cuftomary defence: on the borders, the dogs appointed to be kept for defence were called flough dogs: this reftriction points out, that, within the limits of forefts, the inhabitants keeping dogs for defence were to lop off one foot or more, to prevent their chacing the game; which did not spoil them for the defence of a dwelling. A fingular privilege appears in the cafe of a burgefs committing fornication with the daughter of a ruftic, one who was not a burgels, that he fhould not be liable to the fine impofed in other cafes for that offence, unless he had feduced by promife of marriage. The fine for feducing a woman belonging to the borough was 3s. to the lord. By the rule for infpect.ng the dyers, weavers and fullers, it feems thofe were the only trades at that time within the borough under the character of craftimen. The burgeffes who had ploughs were to till the lord's demefne one day in the year, and every burgess to find a reaper: their labour was from morning, ad nonam; which was three o'clock, as from fix to three.' Vol. 3. P. 25.

The history and defcription of Whitehaven occupy many pages. In the year 1633, this place confifted only of nine or ten cottages. Sixty years afterwards, there were 450 families in it, amounting to 2272 perfons. In 1785, the number of inhabitants exceeded 16,0co. The town owes its com mercial importance to the exertions of the fucceffive heads of the Lowther family, from fir John, who lived in the reign of Charles II. to the earl of Lonfdale, now the chief proprietor of land in this neighbourhood. The ftate of fhip-building at this port is noticed with fome degree of partiality.

There are fix fhip-builders yards at Whitehaven; and it is not unufual to fee ten, or twelve, new veffels upon the ftocks. The. reputation of the mafter-builders at this port is well known. If proof were wanting, one might refer, to Liverpool, where fuch numbers of the Whitehaven-built veffels are conftantly upon freight, and especially felected for the tranfporting of dry cargoes. We have nothing to do with the comparative merits of any place, or any fet of artificers; but we feel much fatisfaction in paying a fmall tribute of refpect to the acknowledged merits of this ufeful, this important clafs of mechanics, profecuting their bufinèfs at Whitehaven, with a zeal for improvement, and an industry feldom feparated from real genius; and, we may add, with an ap-. probation which cannot fail of promoting their interest and cha.. racter, as the fpecimens of their art become more widely diffeminated.

• It may be proper to observe, that the first characteristic of the Whitehaven fhip-building is ftrength :-in this particular, the veffels are faid to excel all others. The next is burthen, with a small draft [draught] of water; as the port is dry at low-water. - Perhaps, only within these twenty years, the lefs important circumstance of fhape was confidered :—we prefume, that speed is a defideratum in all fpecimens of naval architecture.-The art of happily combining all these properties, fo as to produce a machine the most ufeful in navigation, is undoubtedly the ne plus ultra of the fcience; and, perhaps, the building-yards of Whitehaven (in proportion) furnish more inftances of fuch combination than can elfewhere be met with.' Vol. ii. P. 83.

For the defcription of the lake and vale of Kefwick, ample contributions are brought from various works. Little judgment, however, is evinced in the difpofition of these borrow

ed ftores.

In the account of the parish of Kirk-Andrew, due praise is bestowed on the late Dr. Robert Graham of Netherby," whofe conduct as a landlord did honour to his character. The confequences of his zealous endeavours are thus mentioned:

Instead of an half cultivated wafte, he lived to fee his pro perty affume the appearance of a rich and fertile domain, provided. with roads and adorned with plantations.

Inftead of the miferable hovels and poor village that once diffigured his profpect, he faw comfortable dwelling houses, and a neat market-town. The rent-roll of the eftate was more than quadrupled, and yet the wealth of the tenants was increased in a fill higher proportion.

• The number of inhabitants was augmented by above a third, but their value as citizens was augmented in a ratio which is incalculable; they were changed from being idle to be industrious; from wretched cottagers, grovelling in dirt and poverty, into contented husbandmen and opulent farmers :-ftill more, they were changed from loose and ignorant barbarians, ever quarrelfome and diforderly, into a peafantry, peaceable and regular; a peasantry, perhaps, more intelligent and better educated than most others in the island.

• Such have been the effects of doctor Graham's exertions. If an enlightened hiftorian thought it a fubject of which the greateft of the Roman emperors might jufly boaft, that he "found his capital built of brick, and left it conftructed of marble," what praife is due to an individual, in a private ftation, who has been able to meliorate the appearance of a country, and to improve the morals of its inhabitants ? Vol. ii. p. 556.

The capital of the county is juftly the object of particular attention. Like a zealous antiquary, Mr. Hutchinson says,

It is reasonable to apprehend, that in fo fine a fituation, on the confluence of three rivers, and the grand estuarie of the Frith, this place was of fome ftrength and diftinction before the coming of the Romans.' Vol. ii. P. 587.

There might have been a town upon this spot before the Roman invafion; but it is more probable that it was a mere collection of huts than that it was a place of any strength or importance. Of its ftate during the fway of the Romans, we have no certain account. It was, however, a place of fome confequence in the reign of Egfrid the Northumbrian; and, when the town had been deftroyed by the Danes, it was rebuilt by William Rufus, whofe fucceffor made it an epifcopal

fee.

Of the state of Carlifle, about the beginning of the present century, the reader may judge from the following particulars. At that time, the city

im

Exhibited no marks of modern convenience and elegance. The buildings, moftly of wood, clay, and laths, bespoke the poverty and bad taste of the inhabitants. The gabels fronted the ftreets, the doors were generally in the centre, and many of the houfes had porches which projected two or three yards into the ftreet, doubtlefs for warmtinefs. The front door was arched, or Gothic, formed to correspond with the gabel; and the diminutive windows, which gave light to the inner apartments, were very properly placed, but of the fame order. The doors were of oak, very ftrong and clumfy, put together with large wood pins, a part of which projected an inch or two from the door. Thefe pins were many in number, and fometimes placed in figures romanticly irregular. Houfes were not then painted either within or without; this being only a modern improvement. The ftreets, though fpacious, were paved with large ftones, and the centre part or caufeway, rofe to a confiderable height. The fronts from the houfes were paved in the fame manner, the confequence of which was, that the kennels or gutters were deep trenches, and ftone bridges were placed in many different parts, for the convenience of paffing from one fide of the ftreet to the other. Thefe gutters were the refervoirs of all kinds of filth, which when a fudden heavy rain happened, by ftopping the conduit of the bridges, inun' dated the streets fo, as to render them impaffable on foot.' Vol. ii. P. 659.

The town remained in this ftate till the middle of the century. A woollen, manufactory was then eftablished on a large fcale; and, though it failed, the fuccefs of other branch

es of manufacture made full compenfation. Various improvements now began to take place. A more elegant ftyle. of building was adopted; and many inconveniences and nuifances difappeared from the city. At the fame time, the frugal manners of the inhabitants gave way to the encroachments of luxury.

The population of Carlifle, in 1763, amounted to 4158 perfons, the occupants of the fuburbs being included. In 1780, 6299 were enumerated; and, in 1787, 1000 more were reckoned.

Accounts are given of the perfons who have occupied this fee, to the number of fifty-three. Archdeacon Palcy furnished the sketch of bithop Law, of whom he thus speaks:

The life of Dr. Law was a life of inceffant reading and thought, almost entirely directed to metaphyfical and religions inquiries; but the tenet by which his name and writings are principally diftinguished, is "that Jefus Chrift, at his fecond coming, will, by an act of his power, reftore to life and confcioufnefs the dead of the human fpecies, who, by their own nature, and without this interpofition, would remain in the state of infenfibility, to which the death brought upon mankind by the fin of Adam had reduced them." He interpreted literally that faying of St. Paul, I Cor. xv. 21. "As by man came death, by man came alfo the refurrection of the dead." This opinion had no other effect upon his own mind than to increase his reverence for Christianity, and for its divine founder. He retained it, as he did his other fpeculative opinions, without laying, as many are wont to do, an extravagant stress upon their importance, and without pretending to more certainty than the fubject allowed of. No man formed his own conclufions with more freedom, or treated those of others with greater candour and equity. He never quarrelled with any perfon for differing from him, or confidered that difference as a fufficient reafon for queftioning any man's fincerity, or judging meanly of his understanding. He was zealously attached to religious liberty, because he thought that it leads to truth; yet from his heart he loved peace. But he did not perceive any repugnancy in these two things. There was nothing in his elevation to his bishoprick. which he spoke of with more pleasure, than its being a proof that decent freedom of inquiry was not discouraged.

He was a man of great softness of manners, and of the mildeft and most tranquil difpofition. His voice was never raised above its ordinary pitch. His countenance feemed never to have been ruffled; it preserved the fame kind and compofed afpect, truly indicating the calmness and benignity of his temper. He had an utter diflike of large and mixed companies. Next to his books his chief fatisfaction was in the ferious converfation of a literary com

panion, or in the company of a few friends. In this fort of fociety he would open his mind with great unreservedness, and with a peculiar turn and fprightlinefs of expreffion. His perfon was low, but well formed; his complexion fair and delicate. Except occafional interruptions by the gout, he had for the greatest part of his life enjoyed good health; and when not confined by that diftemper, was full of motion and activity. About nine years before his death, he was greatly enfeebled by a fevere attack of the gout in his ftomach; and a fhort time after that, loft the ufe of one of his legs. Notwithstanding his fondness for exercise, he refigned himself to this change, not only without complaint, but without any fenfible diminution of his chearfulness and good humour. His fault (for we are not writing a panegyric) was the general fault of retired and studious characters, too great a degree of inaction and facility in his public ftation. The modefty, or rather bashfulness of his nature, together with an extreme unwillingness to give pain, rendered him fometimes lefs firm and efficient in the adminiftration of authority than was requifite. But it is the condition of human mortality. There is an oppofition between fome virtues which feldom permits them to fubfift together in perfection.' Vol. ii. P. 637.

Lifts of the animals, plants, and minerals of Cumberland, fcientifically arranged, are added to the work; and biographical memoranda are inferted in various parts of it. Some account of a remarkable native of the county we will transcribe from one of these sketches.

to any

At Little Broughton, in 1714, was born Abraham Fletcher; a man of fome celebrity, though but a tobacco-pipe-maker, and the fon of a perfon of the fame occupation. The father had a fall paternal eftate; on which, with his trade, he was barely enabled to live, and bring up his family, without their becoming burthenfome to their parish. It is not certain, that his fon Abraham ever went fchool. We mention it on the authority only of a common report, that, very early in life, before he was able to do any work, his parents once fpared him for three weeks, to attend a fchool in the village, where youth were taught at the rate of a fhilling for the quarter. If this report be well-founded, all the education he ever had that was paid for, coft three-pence. By fome means or other however he learned to read: and, before he had arrived at manhood, he had alfo learned to write. With thefe humble attain. ments to fet out with, it does him infinite honour, that, at length by dint of induftry alone, Abraham Fletcher became a man of fcience, and a man of learning. He was of a thinking, inquifitive mind; and, having taught himself arithmetic, in `preference to any other fcience, only because he met with a book of arithmetic and no other, for the fame reafon he applied himself to mathematical inveftigations. Whatever he attempted, he attempted with all his

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