entury, and Bristold in the reign of Henry III. When the original
owners concluded that it was time to come down from the hills, they
founded the city in the valley at the junction of the two rivers. A
market-cross was erected where the main streets joined, and Bristow
Castle was built at the eastern extremity, where the Avon makes a
right-angled bend. The town was surrounded with walls, and in the
thirteenth century the course of the Frome was diverted in order to make
a longer quay and get more room for buildings. Few traces remain of the
old castle, but portions of the ancient walls can still be seen. In the
fifteenth century the city-walls were described as lofty and massive and
protected by twenty-five embattled towers, some round and some square.
The abbey of St. Augustine was also then flourishing, having been
founded in the twelfth century. Bristol was in the Middle Ages the
second port of England, enjoying lucrative trade with all parts of the
world, and in the fifteenth century a Bristol ship carrying nine hundred
tons was looked upon with awe as a leviathan of the ocean. Sebastian
Cabot, the great explorer, was a native of Bristol, and his expeditions
were fitted out there, and it was Bristol that in 1838 built and sent
out the first English steamer that crossed the Atlantic, the Great
Western. It still enjoys a lucrative trade, and has recently opened new
docks at the mouth of the Avon, seven miles below the city, so that this
venerable port may be considered as renewing its prosperous career. It
has over two hundred thousand population, and in past times had the
honor of being represented in Parliament by Edmund Burke. When ancient
Bristol was in its heyday, Macaulay says the streets were so narrow that
a coach or cart was in danger of getting wedged between the buildings or
falling into the cellars. Therefore, goods were conveyed about the town
almost exclusively in trucks drawn by dogs, and the wealthy inhabitants
exhibited their riches not by riding in gilded carriages, but by
walking about the streets followed by a train of servants in gorgeous
liveries and by keeping tables laden with good cheer. The pomp of
christenings and funerals then far exceeded anything seen in any other
part of England, and the hospitality of the city was widely renowned.
This was especially the case with the banquets given by the guild of
sugar-refiners, where the drink was a rich beverage made of Spanish wine
and known as "Bris