There are more town residences in a complete state in Shropshire than in Cheshire, though in Chester a number are covered up with new fronts. At one time indeed nearly all the great county families of Cheshire had residences in Chester. The Stanley Palace is still standing where the Earl of Derby was arrested and sent to execution at Bolton by the orders of Cromwell, and on each side of Watergate Street, where this palace is situated, are the remains of ancient city mansions. The tendency of families to migrate to the county town instead of London in the “season,” was partly owing to the difficulty of the roads (for nothing now in England can give an idea of the undertaking of a journey of 200 miles to London), and partly also to a singular law which forbade as far as possible any country gentleman who was not in parliament from residing in London. D’Israeli, in the _Curiosities of Literature_, mentions some remarkable features of the dread people entertained of an overgrown metropolis. “Proclamations warned and exhorted; but the very interference of a royal prohibition seemed to render the metropolis more charming;” though for all this, from Elizabeth to Charles II., proclamations continually issued against new erections. James I. notices “those swarms of gentry, who, through the instigation of their wives, did neglect their country hospitality, and cumber the city, a general nuisance to the kingdom.” He once said, “Gentlemen resident on their estates are like ships in port--their value and magnitude are felt and acknowledged; but when at a distance, as their size seemed insignificant, so their worth and importance were not duly estimated.” The England even of the present century is changed out of all possible knowledge; indeed those are yet living who can look back with a smile at the solemn county balls, which were almost as difficult of access, and as jealously guarded, as a court presentation of these days. The Grosvenors and Derbys even of a century ago fought keenly for the mayoralty of a country town.