the Ratæ of Antoninus’s Itinerary was the present Leicester, but because it is one of those objects which assist the reflecting mind in connecting the past with the present; and, by confirming from sensible evidence the records of history, give greater weight and effect to the lessons she may teach.
The situation in which this stone is at present placed, has often been thought improper; for it is undoubtedly exposed to injuries from the wantonness of play, and is so little conspicuous from its place in the obelisk, that nothing appears necessarily to attract the attention of the stranger. A situation more private, though not wholly so, would be more proper; such a one as the garden of the Infirmary would afford: it would there have all the publicity the curious could wish, and all the security the antiquary could desire.
Our visitor, continuing his walk along this street, which, as he probably will know, is on the great road from the metropolis to the north-west part of the kingdom, arrives at a scene of busy traffic. Here, among numbers of newly-erected dwellings (proofs of the increasing population of the town) is the public and principal wharf on the navigable canal, near which is an iron foundery. This canal was formed, in consequence of a bill passed in 1791, for the purpose of opening a communication with the Loughborough canal, and through that, with the various navigations, united to the Trent. The line of the canal from Leicester to Loughborough is near sixteen miles in extent, and serves to supply Leicester with coal, lime, and the greater part of all the other heavy articles, which the consumption of a
place, containing sixteen thousand inhabitants, requires.
The rates of tonnage, according to the act, from Loughborough to Leicester, are—
| For coals | 1s. 2d. per ton. |
| Iron, timber, &c. | 2s. 6d. |
Quantity of the articles brought by this canal:
| tons | |
| Coal annually consumed in Leicester and its vicinity | 35,000 |
| Ditto forwarded to other canals | 18,000 |
| Merchandize for Leicester | 4,000 |
| Ditto sent down (chiefly wool) | 1,600 |
Thus, whether we consider the saving of corn, &c. consumed by the horses employed in land carriage, the comparative cheapness of the conveyance, or the improved state of our roads, relieved from such heavy weights, it must be acknowledged that this canal adds
more than might have been expected to the convenience of Leicester, and the greater part of its county. Indeed, these water-roads, as navigable canals may be termed, reflect the greatest honour on the ingenuity of man, exemplified in their formation, and prove most strikingly to the thinking mind, how boundless are the advantages of civilized life, and how inviolable the security afforded to property by laws, wisely framed and judiciously enforced.