108 STATE OF BRITAIN 



medium of modem pride. The style of Castle 

 architecture, the style of Cathedral architecture, 

 the style even of the cottages that still remain, 

 evince the flourishing state of those arts, vv^hich 

 infer a corresponding convenience in others, 

 vv^hose evanescent nature precludes us from more 

 direct evidence of their perfection.* * The con- 

 tinual recurrence of Castles, some built for 

 strength, and others for magnificence, but all 

 with demonstrations of skill extorting the acknow- 

 ledgments of inferiority from the candid work- 

 man of these days, is of itself sufficient proof, 

 how considerable must have been the population, 

 how great the warlike force of the district.* 



' In England, our ancestors have left us, disr 

 persed in vaxious places, splendid remains of 

 their greatness, but in Wales you can scarcely 

 travel ten miles without coming upon some 

 vestige of antiquity, which in another you would 

 go fifty to trace out. Nor is it alone in the 

 palaces of the lords, that these features of civil- 

 zation are to be found. The ruins of ancient 

 farms and barns, are particularly to be noticed, 

 as unquestionable evidence of opulence and 

 fertility.* 



These remarks of the traveller, have reference 

 to a period comparatively recent, and when the 



