Portsmouth, Hampshire


England Described , being a Concise Delineation of Every County in England and Wales etc. (1818) by John Aikin M.D.

On tracing the sea-coast from the East, we are at first brought from an island forming Chichester bay to the island of Portsea at the point of which the great sea-port of Portsmouth is seated. This is the most considerable haven for men of war in the kingdom, and has been fortified with particular care against all foreign attacks. Many of the largest ships are always laid up here; and in time of war it is the rendezvous of the great channel fleet. The docks, arsenals, store-houses and all the warlike apparatus are of capital magnitude; and kept in perfect order. The town itself is supported by the resort of the army and navy; and the country round to great extent is benefited by the demand which they create. The great increase of the naval establishments in Portsmouth having rendered the town too small for its necessary inhabitants, a common o its northern side was built upon as a suburb, which became so rapidly peopled that it formed the new town of Portsea and was comprehended within the fortifications . Its population now exceeds that of Portsmouth.

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Quotations
 Chapter 8 
"But you, yourself, brought Mrs. Harville, her sister, her cousin, and the three children, round from Portsmouth to Plymouth. Where was this superfine, extraordinary sort of gallantry of yours then?"
 Chapter 12 
"Not till the first week in August, when he came home from the Cape -- just made into the Grappler. I was at Plymouth, dreading to hear of him; he sent in letters, but the Grappler was under orders for Portsmouth. There the news must follow him, but who was to tell it? -- not I. I would as soon have been run up to the yard-arm. Nobody could do it, but that good fellow," (pointing to Captain Wentworth). "The Laconia had come into Plymouth the week before; no danger of her being sent to sea again. He stood his chance for the rest -- wrote up for leave of absence; but without waiting the return, travelled night and day till he got to Portsmouth, rowed off to the Grappler that instant, and never left the poor fellow for a week. That's what he did, and nobody else could have saved poor James. You may think, Miss Elliot, whether he is dear to us!"
 

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