their respective merits. Of one feature in the plan which has been adopted we know not how to speak too highly, we mean its simplicity: by which it was adapted to existing circumstances and existing conveniences. In effecting similar improve ments in other parts of the kingdom,* immense sums have been expended in the purchase of houses which were to be removed before the alterations could be begun, and when they were finished new warehouses in contiguous situations became necessary. In Bristol two navigable rivers were converted into immense floating docks; the warehouses however, which were erected by our fathers, so far from being deserted only became the more valuable, and the transactions of commerce acquired an additional certainty, expedition, and facility. From the history which we have thus given of the successive improvements in the harbour of Bristol, it appears in a great measure to be the creation of art. Nature indeed had formed the *To construct the New London Docks for instance, several hundred houses were removed, and immense expences incurred before they could be begun; and when finished, new warehouses became necessary to give to commerce all the expedition which present circumstances render essential almost to its existence, but certainly to its success. harbour secure, but art has rendered it commodious and convenient. The history of its improvements is honourable to the enterprize, perseverance, and public spirit of the citizens. It shall be granted that its harbour is a principal source of that wealth, which gives Bristol its pre-eminence in the commercial world; but it is at the same time gratifying to be able to record, that the wealth which has been thus acquired has not been dissipated in luxurious gratifications, but has been employed in procuring advantages, in which the community and the country participate. History of the Church of St. Michael; its Monuments; Biographical CHAPTER THE SIXTH. In the history of a city, historical and descriptive notices of its churches, are of indispensable necessity, and may at the same time be rendered sources, either of instruction or of amusement. To combine these objects, as far as we were able, biographical notices of such individuals as are connected with the history of the churches of Bristol were introduced into our narrative. In the present chapter we propose to proceed upon similar principles; preserving, however, that regard for conciseness, of which the limits assigned to our work will, in all cases, compel us to be particularly studious. The ancient church of St. Michael was origi |