New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-05-07


GREAT city Of Great Britain at that time the com.
hined population of Manchester and SaIoIo mas
only 95, 000 Liverpool nearly tnrog i . b,
large rs Bristol, only exceeded 1t IN popui eroe Iy
10000; and Birmingham. now twice ne IA CIas
10 600 The great metropolis OF ScOtianst. y Ia
cow With over half million nnpulation III oonsl
but n 900. Nottingham aud brahior1' shan v1ere
in Importance and population 20 bHst9i ' t.s no
small towns of 600 and 5000 inna O.,I ION
sneefively Leeds and Sheffield bad less p9puiaslot
than Bristol to-day they each eAceeu '"'
The trade of Bristol with the United states Is
growing less and less The value 81 tDe LOU" .hs
sends in ten years would not exceed the Fa,ue "
exports of Bradford for three months. C;Iu fbs
form the principal articles or eSpcft. SinJ IN
ycissitudes Of trade are like TIC vcissltuaes Oh .u
yeption discovery and genius. a bristVp i wah
horn first sets foot on Newfounl Hand and Brltisn
steamer first crosses the Atlantic. lo-daS to as
of Bristol with America Is dying out. bils t. and
once famous for casting iron ana DraSS po''' way
brought to perfection a ne ,'a onIvb
OF casting iron-Oelled pots in 'sanu oni{{ IN
1t takes no leading part in the iron trade now
deed the inventor himself left the town and touhee
vast factory at Goa brOokdale in shropshire
is to-day famous for its iron ware In
shared the same fate. AT one time brs'ou pp;esty
was powerful enough to persuade us mdyooUy,
George Ill. TO delay the pTorOgatlon OIL farhfh ~,
m order that bis appeal for the extension OF nS
patent might have effect But no got tlrea .,
toll and sold his patents to company OF ,ra
shire potters. To-day old Bristol china Is Hois
eagerly sought after than any other porcelain sss
within the last two years Elm; tnrg Art, Club
and valued at over $1,000. Other pieces na nays
realized thrice the value of their weight ~ 9Viu,
Bristol had one of the most remarkaoie poSiIs s. 20
age. Chatterton, but he was neglected ana eIt u
suicides fate in London garrett wbiie to-uay VIC
Bristol people honor him with costly Se aD,IIs
editions" and monuments stu brlstofS an apd
page" is 'rich with the spoils of time Kings anu
queens have tarried there. 1t boasts. says ~.
DOran, of natives of the greatest dlshnctloI Ia
commerce literature, and other ennoDnng p uiI
and 1t snot only famousforits milk but forts MIX
woman pOetess. Anne 1earsley poetesS eIoni .i
noYel-writer whom Hannah More upheld tor t,me
but she ultimately set her heel upon ch.fiantv
with as much stamp in it as her gentle ChIlstlanty
would allow. The two women were not Wiaer apart
than the Bristol bards. COttle and Soutney out
Bristol once admired Cottle as much as 1t ala Anne
Yearsley. 80, IT
Pepys, who was in Bristol in 1868. with wife
and "our girl Deb" said of the city: III ~ IN
a good word to say for everything IN Bristol
except the sermon which he heard IN the gIsae
cburch-"a vain, pragmatical fellow preacneo 4
ridiculous affected sermon, and made me angry anu
some gentlemen that sat near me-" ana III tne
evening the same idle fellow preached, and slept
most OF the sermon" Dr. Doran, "hen ne 20 nind
the fact that there a time when the bIlsUoI
Yenuses not held in much estimation for tnelr
Doctor goes so far as to assert that the Bristol
bride-market slack of profitable business
that a stimulus was given to IT by onerog Ine
freedom of the city to any one who would venture
to take to wife Bristol maid or widow" VI course
this was calumnOus satire. Hume the historian.
tried in vain to like learning to be meTcantile
clerk. perched on high stool at Bristol But ne
disliksd the place well as his apprenticeship,
which he soon abandoned. In his history, Under
the date 1860. he gives an account oil tne MOCK VII
umphal entry into Bristol of the fanatic Quaker,
Naylor, who bore a certain resemblance to the por,
trait gwen that OF Jesus: " He entered Bristol
ticaIy " from the difficulty in that place of finding
an assr Horace WalpOle probably gives, In 1900,
the most unfavorable judgment on Bristol: Il did
vi With b So ,i foul a river that had seen, the
least appearance of cleanliness L should nave
concluded they washed all their linen IN H.
"a they do in Paris Going into the town was
struck by large Gothic building, coal black, ana
striped with white. took It for the deYiFs cathe-
dral. When came nearer found IL was an UNI
form castle lately built, and serving for stables
and offices TO a smart false Gothic house on the
other side of the road" =
The municipal government is one of the most
uni0ne I'm England, and the charters are ancient
and numerous. dating from the twelfth century
The Mayor is to this day great dignltary ana IN
Entertained mHaTls at the city's expense. The
impecunious Richard IL. used to borrow money
of the city of Bristol and in return for u ne Would
honor the city by q visit. When Henry vi visited
the city the Mayor actually broke opeo The city
narsmonious Henry VII. visited the place in 1885
amid great pageantry, and liked II so we'll that he
came again five years later. and made every man
worth coo nav him 3 per cent on his property be-
canse the Bristol wives were finely dressed. This
did not cool the loyalty of the cty, ana since then
iuuunerable crowned heads nave gone
tbither: indeed the wife of James /.
eTaciously remarked to the worshipful Mayor:
NAY. could not feel myself to be Queen till l
came 10 Bristol go
| cannot close this rather desnltory letter with
out "A word for the charitable societies. l suppose
in city of size in the world are there so many
admirable charities and Bristol the benevolent"
is fitting title for this ancient and loyal old city >
declining lndustrally, 1t must DO admitted but
nevertheless rich IN antiquity, and with rare old
history worth the most careful study
ROBERT y. PORTER.