TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 



83 



the town. In the reign of Elizabeth, the fleet destined to oppose the Armada was 

 assembled in the port of Plymouth. Some of the most distinguished captains were 

 natives of the town or its neighbourhood. Under the auspices of Sir F. Drake, but 

 at the expense of the corporation, the river Mew was brought twenty-five miles 

 from Dartmoor, and from this source the town still continues to receive an abundant 

 supply of fresh water. The increasing prosperity of the town was proved by the forma- 

 tion of the Plymouth Company for colonizing North America, in union with the Lon- 

 don Company. It was under their auspices that New Plymouth, U.S., was founded. 

 In 1577 the merchants of Plymouth engaged in the slave trade, as records still exist 

 of their having in that year chartered several vessels to Guinea. The great civil 

 war was injurious to its prosperity ; the people of Plymouth embraced the popular 

 side, while the gentry of the neighbourhood were decided royalists. To punish the 

 townsmen, and to check their republican propensities, Charles II. erected a citadel. 

 Some of the regicides were imprisoned on St. Nicholas Island, where, according to 

 tradition, they were treated with great severity. In the reign of William III. the 

 naval advantages of Plymouth, which had been noticed by Sir Walter Raleigh a cen- 

 tury before, were first appreciated by the government. A dockyard, victualling 

 oflSce, gun wharf, and hospital, were erected, which laid the foundation of the pre- 

 sent town of Devonport. In the same year, 1 696, the first lighthouse was constructed 

 on the Eddystone. Mr. Woollcombe then detailed the history of the several light- 

 houses built upon this rock. In 1812 the Breakwater was commenced, but Mr. 

 Woollcombe stated that fears were entertained that this structure would eventually 

 injure the anchorage ground. The population of Plymouth had increased from 

 20,000 in 1812, to 31,000 in 1831, and to 36,000 according to the present census. 

 The houses are better built than formerly, the appearances of domestic comfort more 

 striking, and the literary and charitable institutions greatly multiplied. The returns 

 of the Custom-house for the last official year amounted to 135,930Z. 15s. Id. Stone- 

 house has risen from a population of 3667, in 1801, to nearly 10,000 at the present 

 time ; while Devonport, which could scarcely be said to exist at the beginning of the 

 century, now contains 34,000 souls. The chief wants of Plymouth and Devonport were 

 church accommodation for the poor, and education. The author's returns on both 

 subjects were incomplete, but it appeared that there are five churches in Plymouth, 

 two in Stonehouse, and four in Devonport. There are eighteen dissenting chapels and 

 one Jewish synagogue in Plymouth, but the numbers for Stonehouse and Devonport 

 had not been ascertained. There is only one Roman Catholic place of worship in 

 the district, the chapel at Stonehouse. The education returns were confined to the 

 higher classes of schools, and, therefore, are no t^st of the intellectual condition of 

 the community. Mr. Woollcombe added a rough estimate of the government expen- 

 diture, from which it appeared that 2300/. are paid every Friday night in wages to 

 the naval operatives. He had not procured the Ordnance returns. 



Statistical Report of Patients of the Plymouth Public Dispensary^ during 

 the years 1838, 1839, and 1840. By Samuel Derry, Surgeon. 

 The author presented a series of Tables of the number of cases of each disease, and 

 the relative number of males and females afl'ected ; the number of deaths, the relative 

 number of males and females who died, and their ages at the time of death. 



On the Agricultural Products of Cornwall. By Sir C. Lemon, Bart. 

 This paper had been commenced some years ago, but on account of unexpected 

 difficulties it was laid aside for a time ; but reflecting that many statistical records 

 which have little value at the present day may in a future age possess importance, 

 the author resumed his labours. Cornwall being nearly surrounded by sea, he 

 hoped to have been able, for a series of years, to compare the progress of population 

 with the imports of grain and corn, but he found that the books at the Custom-house 

 in Falmouth had been destroyed, by order of the Government, fourteen years ago, 

 and nothing preserved but a few extracts, which were of no value in the present in- 

 quiry. From the various records and itineraries of Cornwall it appeared, that down 

 to the date of Eraser's Agricultural Report in 1794, the agriculture of the county 

 was neither deficient nor redundant, but nearly sustained the population. He read 

 extracts from Leland's journey in the reign of Henry VIH. ; from Carew, who states 



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