horizon, clothed with so soft a radiance that the eye could gaze steadily upon him without pain. When about onethird of his form became visible, a ship under full sail, but so distant as to appear only a minute speck, passed slowly across his disc. Till it entered the edge of the sun, it was invisible; and as soon as its little transit was accomplished, became invisible again—an emblem of many things, chiefly of human life.

During the following night we took a pilot, and before morning dropped anchor in the Mersey; having been just nine days and two hours, allowing for difference of time, between New York and Liverpool. What would have been thought of this fifty years ago? When I first crossed the ocean, in 1825, we were nearly six weeks from Bristol to Quebec, and it was not regarded as a very tedious voyage. Verily, a little more speed, with the addition of the Sub-Atlantic Telegraph, would almost practically realize the Apocalyptic prophecy,' There shall be no more sea;' and whoever has experienced the horrors of sea-sickness, or seen those whom he loves writhing in the exquisite indifference of that detestable epidemic of the deep, will surely say, ' Amen.'

Two of our fellow-passengers had evidently suffered, during the night, a violent attack from Bacchus, for they were still reeling from the effect of his blows. One of them was a son of the Green Isle; and our female friend, his shrewd country woman, satisfactorily accounted for his condition, by assuring us, as Miss Edgeworth had done before, that 'drunkenness is the natural state of the Irish.' Another, who was slightly convalescent, appeared drooping and melancholy. I inquired after the cause. One of the company replied: That gentleman sat up all night watching for the pilot.' And did he see him?' said I. Oh yes,' answered my informant, he saw two.' This was a countryman of ours.

Before we went ashore, an officer, who had been sent for by the captain, came on board, and arrested one of our fellow-passengers as a swindler. He had embarked at New York without paying his fare; and when discovered, three days afterwards, had but one and sixpence in his pocket. He called himself Baron somebody, and professed to have

been an attaché of the Prussian Legation at Washington; but as he could give no satisfactory account of his condition, he was sent forward to the second cabin. His man

ner was very peculiar, and some suspected his mental sanity, while others thought he must be labouring under some great sorrow, with which a stranger might not intermeddle. The captain, however, seemed to be of a different opinion; and as the poor man had neither friends nor money, he was sent to prison, and I never learned the sequel.

Another case was still more melancholy. The second officer of the ship, soon after we came to anchor, received an accidental blow; and on Monday they bore him to his grave. He was a handsome young man, noble-spirited, and full of genial soul. I had often admired his fine open countenance during the voyage, and had a pleasant chat with him the night before the accident, in which he spoke freely of his plans for the future, and dwelt with manifest pleasure upon his prospect of success; but a sudden blight fell upon his blooming hopes, and his sun went down at noon; and how forcibly returned to me the text to which we had listened a few days before! Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.'

Of course we could not land till our baggage had passed the scrutiny of the custom-house officials. These worthy functionaries, however, were early at their posts, and fully sustained their reputation. Oh, the pity! to see piles of manufactured tobacco, and parcels of fragrant cigars, brought forth from their concealment among soiled linen and New York Heralds, ruthlessly turned out upon the deck, and remorselessly taxed from ten to twenty shillings per pound! Verily it was almost enough to make one subscribe to the long-exploded maxim, Honesty is the best policy.' And then, the unprofitable rage of some of the innocent proprietors, who of course never thought of violating or evading the law, though they had ten times the quantity of tobacco and cigars that the law allows free of duty; and the silent shame with which others of them opened their unwilling wallets, and gathered up their costly luxuries-ah, was it not 'a caution!' Sensible

6

reader, hadst thou been there, thou wouldst have forsworn Havañas for ever!

But tell me, ye travelled sages, why are these inquisitors of contraband wares so particular in the examination of ladies' apparel? Does the fact imply a tacit imputation upon the honesty of the sex? It was so here; it was so everywhere upon the continent. Frequently when my baggage passed unopened, that of my fair travelling companions was quite narrowly scrutinised. In the present instance, however, we came off much better than some of the rest. Whether it was because I waited patiently till they were weary of their cruel work, or because our trunks had a look of honest leanness, and ourselves no odour of the Indian weed; for some reason or another, these faithful servants of Her Majesty gave us very little trouble, opening only one of our three pieces, and peeping into the folds of the first robe de chambre they discovered.

Before ten the ordeal was over, a passport pasted on every box and parcel, and we prepared to set foot upon Her Majesty's soil. But the excitement of the morning, in addition to her recent sea-sickness, had proved too much for poor Sallie's nervous system, and she was found in violent spasms upon her state-room floor. This accident delayed our landing an hour or two; but when at length we landed, most marvellous were the courtesies which we received. Monsieur la Grenouille is generally reputed the politest specimen of the genus homo; but if this was a true exhibition of the character of John Bull, his neighbour across the Channel must certainly yield him the palm. No sooner had our sole-leather touched the wharf, than each of us was assailed by at least a dozen persons, men and boys; every one of whom s eemed ready, from excess of kindness, to tear us to pieces, or swallow us alive. Such pushing and pulling, such thrusting and thumping, I certainly never saw in my life; with all sorts of menacing and reviling; with noises articulate and noises inarticulate; but no bowie-knives, nor shillelahs. Taking Sallie by the two arms, we ran the gauntlet for about two hundred yards, and took refuge in the first carriage we came to; but before we had time to recover breath for mutual congratulation on our fortunate escape, a dozen heads were thrust

in at the windows, vociferously demanding pay for procuring hacks, and carrying trunks, and all sorts of services which we had not received. Jehu saved us by driving suddenly away, and left the clamorous throng gazing, and running, and shouting after us; but for which merciful incivility of Jehu, there is no telling what might have been our fate. Somehow, as by whirlwind-I never did understand the precise manner-we soon reached the Adelphi, where we found ourselves in comfortable quarters, and where we remained forty-eight hours, and had all our wants supplied, for the moderate sum of 5l. 11s. 6d.!

CHAPTER II.

MATTERS AND THINGS IN LIVERPOOL.

Docks and Shipping-Historical and Architectural-The Rev. Thomas Raffles, D.D.-The Rev. Hugh McNeile,D.D.-Charitable Institutions - Schools and Societies-Libraries and MuseumsWilliam Roscoe-Mr. Thackeray.

His words had such a melting flow.

And spoke the truth so sweetly well,
They dropped like heaven's serenest snow,
And all was brightness where they fell.

THE two things most likely to strike a stranger on entering Liverpool are its docks and its shipping. The former extend along the right bank of the Mersey nearly or quite five miles, and have cost in their construction several millions sterling. The area of one of them is ten acres and of another fifteen. They are so united that vessels may pass from one to another without entering the river. The Huskisson Dock, for the ocean steamers, is of great strength and vast extent. The shipping, crowded together, and packed as closely as possible, along the whole line, looks like a forest stripped of its verdure. The number of ships belonging to the port is reckoned at twenty-two thousand, their aggregate tonnage at four and a half millions of tons; and the exports are said to exceed by many millions not only those of London, but those of all the other ports of the kingdom.

The history of Liverpool is full of interest. The name is derived from Lower Pool. As a borough it is about seven hundred years old. It has a population of nearly or quite five hundred thousand. A hundred and fifty years ago there was only one person in it-Madam Claytonwho kept a carriage. The first public conveyance for passengers went hence to London in the year 1757, starting once a week, and performing the journey in four days. Some five or six railway trains now go every day, measuring the distance in seven hours. There was formerly a castle here and a tower, no traces of either of which are now