THIS is an extensive, fertile, and manufacturing county. It partakes
both of Welsh and English in its soil and inhabitants; presenting the
most sublime and sequestered scenes, as well as the most primitive and
distinct race of people, in the recesses of the mountains; while rich
pastoral landscapes, adorned with waving woods, shelter the assembled
dwellings of a manufacturing population that occupy the campaign country.
The great Plinlimmon, fruitful in springs, the parent of the Severn, the
Wye, and the Rheidol, hangs over the southern boundary, and aspires to
the height of two thousand four hundred and sixty-three feet. The Berwyn
hills rise between this county and Merioneth, and the central district is
varied and adorned with the pleasing forms of the Breddyn hills.
Montgomeryshire extends about thirty miles in length, by the same in
breadth, and occupies a surface of four hundred and ninety-one thousand
acres. The counties of Denbigh and Merioneth form a northern boundary;
Shropshire joins it on the east; Radnor and Cardiganshires bound it on
the south; and it touches both Cardigan and Merionethshires on the west.
In this county the manufacture of Welsh flannel is established on a
permanent basis and extensive scale. Valuable minerals abound in the
interior regions; and traffic in these, as well as in agricultural
produce, is greatly promoted by a line of inland navigation, which
carried through the country.
Montgomery, the capital and assizes town, is by no means the largest or
most prosperous. It is a place of no trade, possess no advantages from
position, and is totally eclipsed by Newtown, the Leeds of Wales, and by
Welsh Pool, a large, flourishing, and handsome town.