M O N 



Montgo- 

 meryshire. 



Roads. 



Manufac- 

 tures. 



arable husbandry is followed ; in the east part of the 

 county hemp is much grown. Few cattle are fattened ; 

 the genuine breed are bad ; the best sheep are peculiar 

 to the Corry hills ; their wool is tolerably fine. The 

 hilly tracts are almost entirely sheep walks ; " and the 

 flocks, like those of Spain, are driven from distant 

 parts to feed on them during the summer ; the farms 

 in the small valleys being only a sort of appendages 

 for winter habitations and provisions." A horse pecu- 

 liar to the hilly parts of this country and Merioneth- 

 shire is a small pony called myrlyn ; they are very 

 hardy and active, and well adapted for the team upon 

 mountainous farms. The roads are far from good ; 

 from the returns to parliament it appears that in 1814 

 the length of the paved streets and turnpikes was 



666 M O N 



Families employed in agriculture, 



in trade, , 



All others, . 



Length of all other turnpikes, 



Total, 



The estimated value of the labour on them, 

 Composition money, . . 



Highway rates, 

 Law expences, ... 



Milet. 

 356 

 961 



Furl. 

 2 

 G 







4231 



429 



568 



39 



Total, 5267 



The principal manufactures are flannels, and other 

 coarse cloths ; the principal manufactories for flannels 

 are within twenty miles round Welspool ; at this town 

 a large quantity is sold annually, chiefly the produce 

 of manual labour, though latterly about forty carding 

 and several spinning machines have been erected. The 

 flannels of this county are from 100 to 120, and some 

 of them 132 yards long, and seven-eighths of a yard 

 wide. They are sent from Welspool in a rough state 

 to Shrewsbury, where they are finished. There is a 

 great market for woollen yarn at Llanydloes. The fol- 

 lowing are the results of the returns relative to the poor 

 for the year 1815: 



Annual value of real property, . 207,286 



Poor and other rates, . . 33,488 



Expended for the poor, . ; 28,830 



in law, removals, &c, . 1,958 



for militia purposes, . . 81 



Church rates, . . i 2,927 



Total expenditure, 



Number relieved out of work-houses, 

 ^ in ditto, . 

 .- ^ -^ occasionally, 



274,570 



3887 



184 



1319 



Donations for parish schools, 

 i for other purposes, 



Total relieved, 5390 



341 

 497 



838 



The following are the results of the returns respect, 

 ing the population : 



Population in the year 1700 

 in 1750 

 in 1801 

 in 1811 



27,400 

 37,000 

 49,300 

 51,931 



One baptism to 36 persons ; one burial to 63 ; and 

 one marriage to 152 persons; this last is a smaller pro- 

 portion than any other county in England or Wales, ex- 

 cept Monmouth and Flint ; the average of Wales is 122 . 



Houses inhabited, . 



Families inhabiting them, 

 Houses building, . 



uninhabited, 



93,49 



103,05 



40 



174 



Females, 



Total in 1811, 

 in 1801, 



6369 



3164 



772 



25,373 

 26,558 



51,931 

 49,300 



Increase in 1811, 2631 



See Davis's Agriculture of North Wales. Beauties of 

 England and Wales, vol. xvii. (w. s.) 



MONTGOMERY, the county town of Montgo- 

 meryshire, is situated on the declivity of a hill, not far 

 from the east banks of the Severn ; it is governed by 

 two bailiffs, and a town clerk, and returns one member 

 to Parliament ; the right of election is vested in the 

 burgesses of the town only, who amount to about 

 eighty ; it is a small neat town. The castle was for- 

 merly a strong and majestic building ; it stood on the 

 extremity of an eminence on the north side of the town, 

 the projecting rock being very high. During the civil 

 wars, a general and hard contested battle took place 

 near Monmouth, which terminated in the defeat of the 

 royalists ; soon afterwards the parliament ordered the 

 castle to be dismantled. Till very lately Montgo- 

 mery was nearly destitute of trade, but by means of 

 its canal it now imports a vast number of various kinds 

 of goods from Chester, and exports limestone, lead, 

 slate, &c. The following are the population details 

 for the year 1811 : 



Houses inhabited, . 



Families inhabiting them, . 



Houses building, . . 



uninhabited, . 



Families employed in agriculture, . 



in trade, 



All others, 



Males, 



Females, . . 



Total, 4611 (w. g.) 



MONTPELLIER, MONS PESSULANUS, or MONS 

 PESTELLARIUS, a city of France, and capital of the de- 

 partment of Herault, is finely situated upon a height, 

 which it entirely covers. Its houses rise in the form 

 of an amphitheatre, and the river Lez waters the rich 

 plain on which it stands. The streets of the town are 

 narrow, dark, and winding, and the squares are small, 

 and few in number. The houses are in general black 

 and gloomy, and the principal edifices, such as the palace 

 of justice, the ancient bishop's palace, now the palace of 

 the Prefecture, the hotel de ville, and the cathedral, 

 are of a bad style of architecture. The fauxbourgs, 

 which surround Montpellier, are nearly as large as the 

 town itself, and contain many good houses. The town 

 is watered by a great number of fountains. 



Montpellier is celebrated principally for its universi- 

 ty, which was established in 1289, by Nicolas IV. who 

 divided it into the three faculties of law, medicine and 

 the arts. In 1410 the faculty of theology was substitu- 

 ted for that of the arts. At the revolution the univer- 

 sity was abolished, and the faculty of medicine was es- 

 tablished under the title of the Special School of Medi- 

 cine. The school of surgery, founded by Lapeyronie, 

 is now united with the school of medicine. During the 

 ministry of M. Chaptal, a superb amphitheatre was 

 constructed for it on the model of the M useum of Na- 

 tural History at Paris. The chair of the professor of 

 anatomy is placed in a superb seat of marble which 

 was brought from Nismes more than 100 years ago. 

 The library is only in its infancy. The botanic gar. 



