THE INNS,

of which there are four, are well conducted. The Rose and Crown and the White Hart are both good posting houses. Also the White Lion and the Vine inns, besides several other houses, which, varying in their accommodations, are adapted to all ranks and descriptions of travellers.

THE POLICE

The

of the town may be said to be well regulated. magistrates are appointed by the lord bishop, the custos rotulorum, and are justices within the isle. Those acting for the Wisbech division meet for the transaction of public business on every Wednesday and Saturday, at the new town hall, and sit from twelve to three on each of those days, to inquire into and determine respecting offences, as well as to hear and adjust differences; and it may truly be said that it is their wish to be looked upon with, and to uphold, a feeling of respect amongst their neighbours, by preserving the peace between the several classes of society.* Sessions are held every quarter, at Wisbech and Ely alternately, on the Wednesday in the usual week appointed for Sessions; and assizes are held for the isle twice a year,+ at which

returns from Wisbech on Wednesday and Sunday mornings, taking passengers and goods. It is commodiously fitted up, and the fares are moderate, being 2s. 6d. each person, from Wisbech to Peterborough, in the cabin, and 3s. 6d. in the fore part of the vessel.

* The present acting magistrates at Wisbech are the Rev. Abraham Jobson, D.D. Robert Hardwicke, esq. M.D. William Watson, esq. F.A.S. the Rev. William Hardwicke, M. A. and Henry James Nicholls, esq.

In queen Elizabeth's time, it seems assizes were held twice a year at Ely, and once at Wisbech. Cole's MSS.

the chief justice, appointed by the lord of the franchise, presides. Counsel attend from the Norfolk circuit, both at the assizes and sessions.

HOT AND COLD SALT WATER BATHS.

A subscription, supported with considerable spirit, was last year entered into for the establishment of baths of the above description, for the accommodation of the inhabitants. The building, which is a neat and commodious structure, is already finished, and it is hoped the baths will contribute in no small degree to the health, comfort, and convenience of the town and neighbourhood. The expense was about £700., raised by shares of £ 10. each.

MANUFACTURES.

There are none carried on to any extent in Wisbech, though cordage for the shipping is made in considerable quantities. Property being minutely divided, few persons hold any extensive possessions, but there is a very numerous and respectable class of independent proprietors.

The Lighting and Watching of the Town, with the Market and Fairs.

Wisbech is well lighted* and watched, without any expense to the inhabitants, the charge being paid out

* In the year 1417, under the reign of Henry V., the streets of London were first lighted. A decree of the council commanded, that at the door of every house in the city a lighted candle should every evening be placed in a lantern. In this decree originated the present brilliant illumination of The gas light was introduced about the year 1814.

our streets.

of the funds of the capital burgesses. As early as the year 1708, watchmen were appointed. The cleansing of the town, so far as regards the draining of the waste water, is performed by covered sewers communicating with the river, the streets having channels for the passage of the water into them: and it is needless to remark that scavengers are employed to sweep the streets, which are in general kept very neat. The town is supplied with water from wells, rain-water cisterns, and the river. It has a most plentiful market on Saturdays. There are several fairs, viz. on Saturday before Palm Sunday and Saturday before Lady-day, for hemp and flax, which continue to be held every six weeks for a certain period, but they may be merely considered as so many larger markets. A very considerable horse fair is held on the Wednesday before Whit Sunday, which is still attended by numerous London dealers, but not so well supported by them of late years, since the day of the horse shew was altered, which is attributed to other fairs in the neighbourhood clashing therewith. A very important fair for cattle is held on the 12th of August, to which it has been known that 3000 head of cattle have been brought. There is a variety of excellent shops in the town, for the sale of all descriptions of articles. The tradesmen are not only attentive, civil, and industrious, but of a most respectable character; they may not abound with sumptuous wealth, as some of the metropolitans, but all live in a happy, reputable, and creditable manner. The trade of the town increases with the improved state of the country, and the consequent augmentation of produce and consumption. There are several public pumps kept in order by the capital burgesses, for the general use and benefit of the inhabitants; amongst

others, is one at a place called the Low, leading from the North Brink into Pickard's Lane, where formerly stood a cross called White Cross; the water supplied by this pump is considered to have some medicinal qualities, and is particularly recommended in cases of weak eyes.

POPULATION.

The first census recorded to have been taken was in the latter end of the seventeenth century, about 1676, when the number of inhabitants in Wisbech appeared to be 1705. Upon an account taken in the year 1801 of the population of England and Wales, in pursuance of an act of parliament passed for that purpose, the numbers returned in Wisbech were 4710,* and 1008 inhabited houses. In 1811 there were 1237 houses and 5309 inhabitants. In the year 1821 the return made was 1418 houses and 6515 inhabitants, viz. males 3017, females 3498, having increased nearly 2000 in twenty years. It may not be improper to notice the mode of taking the census in 1821, which was different from that observed on former occasions. The actual population at the day appointed by the act for that purpose was taken of every place in the kingdom, and consequently the strangers in Wisbech on that day were included in the account, and the inhabitants absent on that day were excluded. The town on this occasion was divided into nine districts, and traversed by the churchwardens and overseers, sidesmen, and such other inhabitants as volunteered their services, to the number, in the whole,

Viz. 2,124 males, 2,586 females,-total, 4,710. By a record kept in the last century, it appeared that there were fifty-two instances of longevity in persons resident in Wisbech between the ages of 80 and 94.

of eighteen, viz. two for each district, and the whole was thus completed agreeably to the directions of government. At the last census, forty persons were between the ages of 80 and 90, and three from 90 to 100, shewing that several have exceeded four score years; and yet many are fearful of entering the fens of Cambridgeshire, lest the Marsh Miasma should shorten their lives." The Marsh Miasma above mentioned induces the compiler to trespass, by noticing a recent publication of Dr. Brown's, of Boston, in Lincolnshire, on "Intermittent "Fevers;" which, he very properly says, are not of so frequent occurrence as they were half or a quarter of a century ago; an observation made not only by the older inhabitants, but by the medical practitioners: the cause of which is naturally to be attributed to the great improvements effected in the drainage of the country, by the increase of a fertile and productive soil, although it is acknowledged that the ague still exists; but, prior to such improvements, few families escaped having their inmates labouring under the ague, even in some instances throughout the year. In employing a remedy for the cure of such intermittents, the bark has been heretofore

Several of the abbots, who presided over the religious houses in this low country, attained remarkable periods of longevity. In the year 973, it is recorded that five monks were alive in Croyland abbey, the youngest of whom was 113 years old; the long protracted lives of so many of its members is a matter truly astonishing. Of eight monks massacred by the Danes in 870, two were centenaries. Gough's Appendix. In the population returns in 1821 for the whole kingdom, there were 313 people living who had attained the age of 100 years, viz. 106 males and 207 females. The enumeration of the population of Wisbech here made is of course independent of the considerable increase in New Walsoken, which may be called a suburb of the town, though in a different parish. For the general returns of the population of the isle of Ely and county of Cambridge, see • Appendix.'