450 



SUNDERBUNDS SUN-DEW. 



He soon collected a cuiiaidcutblc number of children, 

 distributed books among them, gave them advice, 

 settled their quarrels ; and the effects of his bene- 

 volent exertions were so striking, that his example 

 was followed by other charitable persons in different 

 quarters of the city; and in a few years Sunday 

 schools were otablished in almost every part of 

 England. -Mr Haikes made his first experiment in 

 1781, and, in 1786, it was estimated that 250,000 

 children were receiving instruction in Sunday 

 schools. (See a letter of Mr Raikes, giving an 

 account of his proceedings, in the Gentleman's 

 Magazine, vol. liv, p. 410, 1784.) A Sunday 

 school society was formed in 1785 for the encou- 

 ragement of Sunday schools by pecuniary aid, &c., 

 the schools having been at first taught by hired 

 teachers. Gratuitous instruction was a great im- 

 provement in the system, and appears to have 

 become general about 1800. In 1803, the first 

 Sunday school union was formed in London, and 

 the example was soon imitated in many large towns 

 and some of the counties. In 1826, the number of 

 Sunday schools in England under the care of the 

 established church was about 8000, with 550,450 

 pupils: the number of those established by dis- 

 senters is also very great. The Scotch Sabbath 

 evening schools (first established in Edinburgh in 

 1787) arose from the English Sunday schools, but 

 are modified by the circumstance that, as nearly all 

 the children in that country are tavight to read in 

 the parochial schools, the Sabbath evening schools 

 are more entirely devoted to direct religious instruc- 

 tion than the Sunday schools. In America, the 

 first Sunday schools were opened at New York, in 

 1816; and they have since multiplied rapidly, and 

 overspread the whole country. 



SUNDERBUNDS; an extensive, woody, inhos- 

 pitable district of Hindoostan, intersected by the 

 mouths of the Ganges, in the south part of the 

 country of Bengal. This district is about 10,000 

 square miles in extent, and is intersected by innu- 

 merable rivers and creeks, all of which are salt; 

 and through the whole tract nothing but brackish 

 water is found; and it is generally uninhabited, 

 except by tigers and deer. The navigation by boats 

 through the Sunderbunds is very romantic, and 

 boats coming down to Calcutta in the hot season 

 are obliged to take this route. The trees are all 

 of small size, not useful for timber, but very valu- 

 able in affording a supply of fuel for Calcutta and 

 other towns on the river. 



SUNDERLAND; a market-town and sea-port 

 of England, in the county of Durham, near the 

 mouth of the Wear, 267 miles north of London. 

 With Monk Wearmouth and Bishop Wearmouth, 

 it forms one connected town, the relative situation 

 of these different places resembling those of the 

 three great divisions of the metropolis; Sunderland 

 standing in the place of London proper, Bishop 

 Wearmouth of Westminster, and Monk Wearmouth 

 of Southwark. Sunderland and Monk Wearmouth 

 are connected by a fine cast-iron bridge, remarkable 

 for its height and span, and peculiar lightness of 

 construction. It consists of small segments of iron, 

 forming a magnificent arch of 236 feet span, and a 

 sufficient height to allow ships of 400 tons burden, 

 to pass under, with merely the top-gallant lowered. 



The town of Sunderland, which is of consider- 

 able antiquity as a sea-port, contains many hand- 

 some houses, and of late years it has undergone 

 many imprdvements, by the widening, lighting, and 

 repairing of tie streets. Among the public 



buildings arc two churches, one erected in 1720, 

 renovated in ISO.'J; the other built in 1827, by the 

 parliamentary commissioners ; a chapel of ease, 

 erected in 17<>7; and numerous places of worship 

 for presbyteiians. Independents, baptists, quakers, 

 methodists, and Unitarians. The other public 

 edifices and institution! are, the exchange, a theatre, 

 ;m assembly room, a custom-house, a subscription 

 library, a dispensary, an infirmary and humane society 

 incorporated in one, a charity for decayed ^ aim n 

 and their widows, a girl's school, a blue-coat school, 

 &c. On the moor to the east of the town are com- 

 modious barracks. The grand staple of Sunderland 

 is the coal-trade, more than a million of tons being 

 annually sent to London, the west of England, and 

 the Baltic. Lime also forms no inconsiderable 

 portion of the trade here ; of which about 40,000 

 tons are shipped every year for Yorkshire and Scot- 

 land ; the greater part for the latter, where it is 

 used chiefly for agricultural purposes. At the 

 river-side, above the bridge, are depots and spouts, 

 from which the vessels receive their cargoes of the 

 above articles with the greatest facility and despatch. 

 On the banks of the river are several extensive 

 manufactories for salt, glass, earthenware, ropes, 

 sail-cloths, and chain-cables. Coals used in the 

 manufacture of salt and glass are exempt from duty. 

 The grindstones of this place are likewise in great 

 repute, and numbers are annually exported. The 

 ship-building of Sunderland is very extensive ; 

 nearly a hundred vessels may be laid on the stocks 

 at the same time, and a large number of ship- 

 carpenters are constantly employed ; there are 

 numerous yards for building ships and small craft ; 

 also several dry and floating docks. The largest 

 vessels which have been built in this port were the 

 Lord Duncan, of more than 925, and the brig 

 Thomas of 574 tons burden, launched in 1798 and 

 1792. In maritime importance it is one of the 

 principal ports of the united kingdom. The im- 

 ports are corn, flour, wine, and spirits, timber deals, 

 iron, flax, and tar. About fifty years ago, the 

 salmon-fishery was a considerable part of the trade 

 of this town, and cod, turbot, ling, herrings, and 

 shell-fish are caught in great quantities. The har- 

 bour of Sunderland was seriously damaged by a 

 flood in 1771, and was much injured by a sandbank 

 in 1785, but it has within the last few years been 

 greatly improved ; it is formed by two grand piers, 

 called the north and south ; a considerable portion 

 of the latter of which was erected in 1726, and 

 greatly extended in 1765. In 1788, the former 

 was constructed at a large expenditure; and in 

 1802, a handsome octagonal lighthouse was reared 

 near the same, which is sixty-eight feet in height 

 from the base to the cap, and is lighted with argand 

 lamps. There is also a light on the south pier, 

 which is only kept burning during tide-time. An 

 extensive elevated promenade has recently been 

 formed, similar to that at Margate ; and as the pier 

 projects several hundred yards into the sea, it is 

 much frequented as a healthy and delightful place 

 of recreation. The town offers every accommoda- 

 tion as a bathing- place, and is much resorted to 

 during the season. It was here, it will be remem- 

 bered, that the malignant cholera first made its ap- 

 pearance in Britain, in 1831. Population of the 

 town and parish of Sunderland, in 1831, 17,060; 

 of Monk Wearmouth parish chapelry, 9,428; of 

 Bishop Wearmouth parish, 16,590; total 43,078. 



SUN-DEW (Jrosera). These deh'cate plants 

 are found in marshes and moist places. They 



