Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/40

 of forces not equal to a third of its own number. Two or three other attempts were afterwards made to the same effect:, and with similar success, by the king's troops; and when force would not avail, the fidelity of its garrison was attempted to be shaken by bribery; but the plan being frustrated, by its discovery to the governor, all further endeavours to become possessed of the place were dropped by the royal party, and Glocester continued steady to the Commonwealth till the period of the Restoration.

The destruction of its suburbs during the troubles just mentioned had reduced Glocester to its original dimensions, as they had been marked out by the Romans; but as soon as the return of regular government and public order restored public confidence and the spirit of speculation, new buildings arose upon the scite of those which had been overturned, and the environs of the town gradually grew to the extent and beauty which they now exhibit. Including these in the calculation, the population of die city at present is estimated at eight thousand souls.

A languid manufactory of pins gives some little degree of life to the trade of Glocester, which, however, is only the shadow of what it was previously to its experiencing the paralyzing effects of