SUFFOL . THis is a maritime county, bounded on the north by Norfolk, from which it is separated by the Little Ouse and the Waveney livers; on the south by Essex, the liver Stour forming the divtsion; on the east by th~ German ocean, and on the west by Cambridgeshire. Its figure is an irregular oblong-from Aldborou~h, o~ the east, to Newmarket, on the borders of Cambridgeshire, on the west, about forty-seven miles ir. length; and from north to south the extent is about twenty-seven miles: its circumference has been estimated at one hundred and furty-four miles, and its area to comprise 1,512 square miles, or 967,680 statute acres. In size it ranks as the eleventh county in England, and in population as the seventeenth. NAME and ANCIENT HISTORY .-In the time of the Romans the inhabitants of this part of the country were called the Iceni or Cenomanni, descended from the Cenomanni of Gaul. Under the Roman dominion it was included in the province of Flama Cmsariensis. Under the Saxons it formed a part of the kingdom of East Anglia, and was designated Suffolk from Sud-folk literally 'southem folk' or 'people.' The whole of this and some of the adjacent counties experienced little respite from foreign and domestic depredators till !lome time after the death of Edward the Confessor: this county, in particular, suffered much from Sweyne, King of Denmark, who spared neither churches nor towns, unless redeemed by the people with lru·ge sums of money; though, to compensate in some measure for this cruelty, Canute, his son and successor, shewed it particular kindness. When William the Conqueror was settled on the throne of the kingdom, he divided the manors of Suffolk among his officers. Suffolk was one of the eastern counties that were associated in the cause of the parliament against Charles I, and placed under the command of the Earl of Manchester: there were a few mfluential gentlemen of the county who endeavoured to raise a force to secure it for the king~ but were sur~ prised and reduced to obedience by Cromwell. In 1665 the memorable engagement between the English and Dutch fleets, in which tl1e latter was defeated, occurred off Lowestoft; and in 1667 the Dutch landed three thousand men under Felixstow cliff, but were put to flight, after an ineffectual attempt upon an adjacent fort. Southwold bay was the scene of an obstinate conflict between the united fleets of England and France, on the one side, and the Dutch fleet on the other; the French soon left the English to bear the brunt of the action, which terminated without any decided advantage being obtained by either the English or Dutch. Some of the towns of this county are of great antiquity, and the remains of its once massy castle:5 possess high interest with the antiquary. Dunng the intestine broils between King Stephen and the barons, Bungay castle, erected by the Bigods, Eru·ls of Norfolk, was so strongly fortified by Hugh Bigod (a turbulent nobleman) against his sovereign, as to be rendered almost impreg-nable. Bury St. Edmunds is supposed to have been the Villa Faustinii, or ~the seat of Faustinius ;' by the Saxons it was called Beoderic IVeord, or 'the Court of Beodericus :' this town is famous for its abbey, which, when in its splendour, is said to have exceeded all other establishments of the kind in England, Glastonbury excepted. Ipswich (or, as it is written in Domesday-book, Gyppeswiz,) was originally fortified, and enclosed by a rampart and ditch, which was broken down by the Danes when they pillaged the town in the years Y9l and 1000. Dunwich, now an inconsiderable village, was once a most Important Roman station: in 630 it was an episcopal see; and it is recorded by tradition that at one time it haajifty-two churches and monasteries-all of which, but one, have been swallowed up by the sea! SOIL and CLIMATE, PRODUCE and MANUFACTURES.-There is in this COUnty a very great variety of SOIL; the whole, howel·er, may be conveniently divided jnto four sorts clay, sand, loam and fen. The first descrip­ tion of soil comprehends the whole midland part of the county, through nearly its entire extent from ea..<:t to west, and forms about two-thirds of the land; the district over which this soil prevails is ca1led 'High Suffolk/ 'Ihe next sort of soil consists chiefly of sand, and lies in opposite sides of the county-some in the maritime part; much of this district is highly culth·ated, and is one of the most profitable; the rest of the sand district lies on the western side of the county, and comprises nearly the whole of the nm·th-western angle; it contains a kw spots of such rich sand-lands as are found on the coast, but abounds with warrens and poor sheep-walks; towards the borders of Norfolk it is very light and blowing. The third district, that of loam, forms but a small portion of the county, and is not so clearly discriminated as the others; it is composed of a vein of friabl~ putrid, -regetable mould, of extraordinary fertility. The fen dh·ision is merely the north-west corner; its .-;mface, to some depth, is common peat-bog, and in different places is under water, though much expense has. been incurred for draining. The CLIMATE of this county has lons: been noticed as the driest in the kingdom; the frosts, also, are severe, and the north-east winds, which prevml in spring, are generally sharp: but though, like the western extremity of this island, Suffolk is not calculated to favour the weak and consumptive stranger, it is upon the whole extremely healthv, which has been proved by calculating the average mortality of the county for ten years. The roads in evei·y part of Suffolk are excellent, the impmvements on them within the last few years being almost inconceivable. 1\Iany modern enclosures have been made by acts of parliament. and these examples will no doubt be followed in favomable times, the success having been such as to encourage the practice; and as to landed property, there is no estate in Suffolk that can be considered as overgrown. "The agriculture of t!Jis county approaches more nearly to perfection than, perhaps, any other in the kingdom; in the lighter lands the Nortolk system is pursued; and in the heavier, beans and wheat, cabbage and other vegetables, are grown in rotation. The farming st(){'k is highly valued-the cows being excellent milkers, and the horses strong, active, and capable of vast exertions. By a spirited cultivation, and the free use of clay, much valuable land has been reclaimed in the noith-west part of the county. The woods of Suffolk hardly deserve mention, except for the fact that in general they pay but indifferently; and nothing but the expense and trouble of grubbing prevents large tracts of land, thus occupied, from being applied much more beneficially. Hemp is cultivated in the district extending from Eye to Beccles, spreading to the breadth of about ten miles-s­ which oblong part of the country may be considered as its seat: land for the growth of this useful article is in the hands ofboth fanners and cottagers; but it is very rare to see more than five or six acres in the occupation of any one person; it is singular that no weeding is ever applied to it, the hemp destroying every other plant: the fabrics wrought in this county from its own hemp have!rea.t merit. The MANUFACTURES of Suffolk are not extensive or various light stuffs, buntings, crapes an yarns being the principal under this head, with hempen cloth for home consumption; the combing and spinmng of wool likewise prevail to some extent. The sea-ports depend much on the exportation of malt and corn: some are noted for making fine salt, burning lime from fossil shells, &c.; other maritime towns derive considerable advantage from the mackerel and herring :fisheries, and in the Orford river there are considerable oyster beds. The curing of fish employs ~eat numbers of the inhabitants, of both sexes, in several towns on the coast, especially at Lowestoftt upon wh1ch branch the prosperity of that town may be considered almost entirely to depend. RIVERS, CANALS and RAILWAYs.-Water is very plentiful all over this county; for there are not only rivers in every part, but a great number of fine springs and rivulets. The principal RIVERS are, the STOUR, the LEssER OusE, the WAVENEY, the ORWELL, the ALDE, the BLYTHE, the DEBEN, the GIPPEN and the LARKE. The Stour rises from two sources, at Great Bradley and at 'Vethersfield; it passes Haverhill, Clare and Sod­ bury at the latter town it becomes navigable; thence pursuing its course to Nayland, and afterwards meeting the Orwell at Harwich, it falls into the German ocean : during its whole course the Stour forms the south boundary of the county. The Lesser Ouse rises on the north boundary of the county, near the source of the Waveney, from which it is separated only by a causeway; it passes the towns ofThetford and Brandpn, and forms in its course the north-west boundary of the .county, till it empties itself into the Great Ouse. The WaveneJ pw·sues a north-eait direction, and is the boundary on that side of Suffolk; it watecs the towns of . 527 • ~uttnllt. t~tgot ~ ~o. 'S -- .Har1eston, Bungay and Beccles, meets the Breedon water near Yarmouth, below wl1ich town the German -ocean receives the united streams.