of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig "cut"-cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger. When the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke up. Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig took their stations, one on either side of the door, and shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a Merry Christmas. When everybody had retired but the two 'prentices, they did the same to them; and thus the cheerful voices died away, and the lads were left to their beds, which were under a counter in the back-shop. SOME OLD ENGLISH TOWNS CHESTER GEORGE BORROW (1803-1881): Wild Wales ON the morning after our arrival we went out together, and walked up and down several streets; my wife and daughter, however, soon leaving me to go into a shop, I strolled about by myself. Chester is an ancient town with walls and gates, a prison called a castle, built on the site of an ancient keep, an unpretending-looking red sandstone cathedral, two or three handsome churches, several good streets, and certain curious places called rows. The Chester row is a broad arched stone gallery running parallel with the street within the façades of the houses; it is partly open on the side of the street, and just one storey above it. Within the rows, of which there are three or four, are shops, every shop being on that side which is farthest from the street. All the best shops in Chester are to be found in the rows. These rows, to which you ascend by stairs up narrow passages, were originally built for the security of the wares of the principal merchants against the Welsh. Should the mountaineers break into the town, as they frequently did, they might rifle some of the common shops, where their booty would be slight, but those which contained the more costly articles would be beyond their reach; for at the first alarm the doors of the passages, up which the stairs led, would be closed, and all access to the upper streets cut off, from the open arches of which missiles of all kinds, kept ready for such occasions, could be discharged upon the intruders, who would be soon glad to beat a retreat. These rows and the walls are certainly the most remarkable memorials of old times which Chester has to boast of. Upon the walls it is possible to make the whole compass of the city, there being a good but narrow walk upon them. The northern wall abuts upon a frightful ravine, at the bottom of which is a canal.. From the western one there is a noble view of the: Welsh hills. OLD SARUM Quoted in C. R. LESLIE'S Memoirs of John "THE present appearance of Old Sarum, wild, desolate, and dreary, contrasts strongly with its. former splendour. This celebrated city, which once gave laws to the whole kingdom, and where the earliest parliaments on record were convened, can only now be traced by vast embankments. and ditches, tracked only by sheep-walks. plough has passed over it.' In this city the wily Conqueror in 1086 confirmed that great political event, the establishment of the feudal system, and The enjoined the allegiance of the nobles. Several succeeding monarchs held their courts here; and it too often screened them after their depredations on the people. In the days of chivalry, it poured forth its Longspees and other valiant knights over Palestine. It was the seat of the ecclesiastical government, when the pious Osmond and the succeeding bishops diffused the blessings of religion over the western kingdom; thus it became the chief resort of ecclesiastics and warriors, till their feuds and mutual animosities, caused by the insults of the soldiery, at length occasioned the separation of the clergy, and the removal of the Cathedral from within its walls, which took place in 1227. Many of the most pious and peaceable of the inhabitants followed it, and in less than half a century after the completion of the new church, the building of the bridge over the river at Harnham diverted the great western road, and turned it through the new city. This last step was the cause of the desertion and gradual decay of Old Sarum. The site now only remains of this once proud and populous city, whose almost impregnable castle, with its lofty and embattled towers, whose churches, with every vestige of human habitation, have long since passed away. The beautiful imagination of the poet Thomson, when he makes a spot like this the haunt of a shepherd with his flock, happily contrasts the playfulness of peaceful innocence with the horrors of war and bloodshed, of which it was so often the scene: "Lead me to the mountain's brow, Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf Inhaling healthful the descending sun. Around him feeds his many-bleating flock, They start away, and sweep the massy mound That runs around the hill, the rampart once Of iron war.'" In a note to Mr. Benjamin Dawson of Hampstead, Constable, speaking of Old Sarum says: "Who can visit such a solemn spot, once the most powerful city of the West, and not feel the truth and awfulness of the words of St. Paul: 'Here we have no continuing city!"" OLD BRIGHTON DANIEL DEFOE (1661–1731?): Tour of FROM this Town, following still the Range of the South Downs, West, we ride in view of the Sea, and on a fine Carpet Ground, for about Twelve Miles to Bright-Helmston, commonly call'd Bredhemston, a poor fishing Town, old-built, and on the very Edge of the Sea: Here again, as I mention'd at Folkstone and Dover, the Fishermen, having large Barks, go away to Yarmouth, on the Coast of Norfolk, to the Fishing-Fair there, and hire themselves for the Season to catch Herrings for the Merchants; and they tell us, that these make a very good Business of it. The Sea is very unkind to this Town, and has," by its continual Encroachments, so gain'd upon them, that in a little time more they might reasonably expect it would eat away the whole Town, above 100 Houses having been devoured by the M |