Читать книгу The Norwich Directory; or, Gentlemen and Tradesmen's Assistant [1783] онлайн

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This city, though abounding in opulence and fashion, has long laboured under great inconvenience on account of the difficulty of ascertaining, precisely, the address of its inhabitants, whether in trade or independent: and this has been chiefly owing to want of public Improvements. The vague and general name of a parish being the only direction to persons of every denomination; so that the enquirer may perambulate the boundaries of three or four adjoining parishes before he can ultimately determine; as it frequently happens that one side of a street is in one parish, the other in another. To remedy this, in some degree, the names of the streets have been put up in a few of the parishes; but even this has been done in so partial and improper a manner, that little benefit can accrue to the complainant.

That spirit of improvement so generally felt, has been greatly damped by the attention to, and gloomy appearance of, national affairs; but now that Peace, the much-favoured handmaid of Heaven, smiles on the industry of the citizens of Norwich, we hope they will, again, turn their thoughts to that very desirable object. We are well aware that there are persons who, holding every species of rational and polite advancement in contempt, are willing to creep through life without a single ray of light, that does not center in their own narrow focus of human perfection! To these, as lumber thrown from the stock of mankind, we recommend an emigration to the sandy plains of Arabia, or to the craggy mountains of Lapland. To be serious: the present publication has not only the merit of being highly useful to the mercantile and curious of this day, but may hereafter be remembered as having tended to the ease and ornament of posterity.