Neither can have contained much more than ten thousand inhabitants. Worcester, the queen of the cider land had but eight thousand; Nottingham probably as many. Gloucester, renowned for that resolute defence which had been fatal to Charles the First, had certainly between four and five thousand; Derby not quite four thousand. Shrewsbury was the chief place of an extensive and fertile district. The Court of the Marches of Wales was held there. In the language of the gentry many miles round the Wrekin, to go to Shrewsbury was to go to town. The provincial wits and beauties imitated, as well as they could, the fashions of Saint James's Park, in the walks along the side of the Severn. The inhabitants were about seven thousand.92The population of every one of these places has, since the Revolution, much more than doubled. The population of some has multiplied sevenfold. The streets have been almost entirely rebuilt. Slate has succeeded to thatch, and brick to timber. The pavements and the lamps, the display of wealth in the principal shops, and the luxurious neatness of the dwellings occupied by the gentry would, in the seventeenth century, have seemed miraculous. Yet is the relative importance of the old capitals of counties by no means what it was. Younger towns, towns which are rarely or never mentioned in our early history and which sent no representatives to our early Parliaments, have, within the memory of persons still living, grown to a greatness which this generation contemplates with wonder and pride, not unaccompanied by awe and anxiety.
同类推荐
热门推荐
人间四月天(中小学生必读丛书)
本书收录了林徽因几乎所有的经典文学作品,体裁包括散文、小说、戏剧和诗歌。此外,还精选了她谈建筑的三篇文章。在她的作品中,建筑学家的科学精神和作家的文学气质交相辉映,每篇文章都是她灵动思绪和满腹才华的凝结。她的语言温婉淡雅,如行云流水,又如拂面的春风。可以说。她的文字拥有超越时间的魅力。快穿之衰神,快到碗里来
衰神云绕因为一朵花惹怒神帝,被贬下凡去各个世界做任务,任务就是----让各个世界的最恶之人倒霉,把对方给弄垮!跟她一起的还有神帝派来的小白熊。做任务就做任务,本衰神岂会怕?!“本衰神诅咒你吃饭噎到喝水呛到走路摔倒。”“我说来颗陨石,会不会真来颗陨石啊?”某次回到天庭,看着站在自己眼前的西海九皇子……“原来你就是衰神,本神决定了,我要娶你为妻。”洛九御看着云绕,笑着说道。“该死的,这个人到底是谁!他为什么不怕本衰神?”“为什么我在哪里他都知道?!”看着第N次被洛九御找到,云绕不禁欲哭无泪。“因为我的心脏会告诉我,你在哪里。”洛九御笑着说道。