Nor must we forget that, even in this great kingdom,
Rouen, at present, holds the fifth place among the towns; though it was
far from being thus, when Buonaparte, uniting the imperial to the iron
crown, overshadowed with his eagle-wings the continent from the Baltic
to Apulia; and when the mural crowns of Rome and Amsterdam stood beneath
the shield of the "good city" of Paris.
The population of Rouen is estimated at eighty-seven thousand persons,
of whom the greater number are engaged in the manufactories, which
consist principally of cotton, linen, and woollen cloths, and are among
the largest in France. At present, however, "trade is dull;" and hence,
and as the politics of a trader invariably sympathize with his cash
account, neither the peace, nor the English, nor the princes of the
Bourbon dynasty, are popular here; for the articles manufactured at
Rouen, being designed generally for exportation, ranged almost
unrivalled over the continent, during the war, but now in every town
they meet with competitors in the goods from England, which are at once
of superior workmanship and cheaper.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164