Littlethorpe - Liverpool

Littlethorpe

LITTLETHORPE, a hamlet, in the parishes of Cosby and Narborough, union of Blaby, hundred of Guthlaxton, S. division of the county of Leicester, 6 miles (S. W. by S.) from the town of Leicester; containing 334 inhabitants.

Littleton

LITTLETON, a township, in the parish of Christleton, union of Great Boughton, Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester, 2½ miles (E.) from Chester, on the road to Tarporley; containing 48 inhabitants, and comprising 245 acres of a good arable soil. Littleton-Hill House, with about 29 acres around it, belongs to Thomas Dixon, Esq., banker, of Chester. Mr. James Dixon is also a proprietor of land in the township.

Littleton

LITTLETON, partly in the parish of Blandford St. Mary, hundred of Coombs-Ditch, and partly in that of Langton, hundred of Pimperne, union of Blandford, Blandford division of Dorset, 1½ mile (S. E. by S.) from the town of Blandford. This place, once an independent parish, now contains only a single house and farm. The last rector of the living was inducted January 10th, 1427.

Littleton (St. Mary Magdalene)

LITTLETON (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Staines, hundred of Spelthorne, county of Middlesex, 2 miles (N. E. by E.) from Chertsey; containing 111 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 1060 acres of arable and pasture land, much of which, from the supposed sterility of the soil (a light gravel), was not brought into cultivation till within a comparatively recent period; the surface is flat, and the lands bordering on the river Thames are subject to partial inundation. Part of the mansion here of the Wood family, was one of five manor-houses in the neighbourhood which belonged to Cardinal Wolsey. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14; net income, £320; patron, Thomas Wood, sen., Esq. There are 50 acres of glebe in the parish, an allotment of three acres in Laleham, and glebe lands in the parish of Shepperton; and the rector is entitled to the tithe of 25 acres in the parish of Laleham. A school is endowed with £355. 1. 2. South Sea annuities, purchased with various benefactions.

Littleton (St. Mary Magdalene)

LITTLETON (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Winchester, hundred of Buddlesgate, Winchester and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles (N. W. by N.) from Winchester; containing 135 inhabitants. It comprises 1293 acres: an act of inclosure was passed in 1843. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £76; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, whose tithes have been commuted for £703, and who have a glebe of 10 acres.

Littleton

LITTLETON, a chapelry, in the parish of SteepleAshton, union of Melksham, hundred of Whorwelsdown, Melksham and N. divisions of the county of Wilts, 3½ miles (E. N. E.) from Trowbridge; containing 86 inhabitants.

Littleton-Drew (All Saints)

LITTLETON-DREW (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chippenham, Chippenham and Calne, and N. divisions of Wilts, 8 miles (N. W.) from Chippenham; containing 251 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 900 acres, of which the soil is generally clayey and cold: there are some quarries of stone, for mending the roads. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 6. 9., and in the gift of the Bishop of Salisbury: the tithes have been commuted for £120, and the glebe comprises 70 acres. The church is an ancient structure.

Littleton, High (Holy Trinity)

LITTLETON, HIGH (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Clutton, hundred of Chewton, E. division of Somerset, 9½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Bath; containing, with the hamlet of Hallatrow, 1116 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 7. 8½.; net income, £97; patrons, J. G. Mogg, Esq., and the Rev. H. H. Mogg, incumbent; impropriators, J. G. Mogg, Esq., Mrs. James, and Miss Hodges Mogg. The great tithes have been commuted for £199, and the vicarial for £13. 6. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is an ancient structure; in the chancel is a monument to the Mogg family, erected in 1584, from which time they have been owners of the greater part of the parish. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Mrs. Mary Jones, in 1787, left £500 to the poor.

Littleton, Middle

LITTLETON, MIDDLE, a township, in the parish of North Littleton, union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Evesham; containing 58 inhabitants. It lies on the east of the river Avon, and between the villages of North and South Littleton.

Littleton, North (St. Nicholas)

LITTLETON, NORTH (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 5 miles (N. E.) from Evesham; containing 296 inhabitants. The parish is situated in the south-eastern part of the county, between the left bank of the river Avon and a detached portion of Gloucestershire; and comprises with the township of Middle Littleton, 1512 acres, arable and meadow land. The living is a perpetual curacy, united to that of South Littleton, and valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 9.: the tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in the year 1811. The church is cruciform, of moderate size, and with a substantial tower; the interior presents several interesting relics of ornamental work. At a little distance from the church stands an extensive and remarkable barn of stone, in the form of a cross, and measuring 150 feet in length from east to west; it was erected by one of the abbots of Evesham, to receive the tithe of corn from the two parishes of Littleton, belonging to the abbey.

Littleton-Pannell

LITTLETON-PANNELL, a tything, in the parish of West Lavington, union of Devizes, hundred of Potterne and Cannings, Devizes and N. divisions of the county of Wilts, 1½ mile (W.) from East Lavington; containing 507 inhabitants.

Littleton, South (St. Mary and St. Nicholas)

LITTLETON, SOUTH (St. Mary and St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Evesham; containing 189 inhabitants. The parish lies near the borders of a detached portion of the county of Gloucester, and contains about 821 acres of land, principally growing wheat and beans. The small village is of neat appearance. The living is a perpetual curacy, with that of North Littleton united, valued in the king's books at £4. 1. 10½.; net income, £258; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for land and cornrents in 1811. The church is a small unpretending structure, with a chapel on the north side, and a neat embattled tower on the west; in the interior are many features of primitive simplicity.

Littleton-Upon-Severn

LITTLETON-UPON-SEVERN, a parish, in the union of Thornbury, Lower division of the hundred of Langley and Swinehead, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 2 miles (W.) from the town of Thornbury; containing 195 inhabitants. The navigable river Severn runs on the western side of the parish. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 4. 9½.; net income, £52; patrons, the family of Lippincott.

Littleton, West

LITTLETON, WEST, a chapelry, in the parish of Tormarton, union of Chipping-Sodbury, Lower division of the hundred of Grumbald's-Ash, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 2¼ miles (N.) from Marshfield; containing 158 inhabitants. It comprises 1009 acres, of which 88 are common or waste. The tithes have been commuted for £220.

Littleworth

LITTLEWORTH, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish and union of Farringdon, partly in the hundred of Shrivenham, and partly in the hundred of Farringdon, county of Berks, 2 miles (N. E.) from Farringdon; containing, with the tything of Wadley, 325 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Bishop of Oxford; net income, £80. The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Ascension, was consecrated on the 29th of May, 1839, and contains 200 free sittings, the Incorporated Society having granted £150 in aid of the expense. Oriel College, Oxford, gave £1000 towards the endowment.

Littleworth

LITTLEWORTH, a hamlet, in the parish of Stone, union and hundred of Aylesbury, county of Buckingham; containing 20 inhabitants.

Littleworth

LITTLEWORTH, a hamlet, in the parish of Wing, union of Leighton-Buzzard, hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham; containing 90 inhabitants.

Littleworth

LITTLEWORTH, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Gloucester, Middle division of the hundred of Dudstone and King's-Barton, E. division of the county of Gloucester, and adjacent to the city of Gloucester; containing 427 inhabitants, and 30 acres of land. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Littlington (St. Catherine)

LITTLINGTON (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Armingford, county of Cambridge, 3½ miles (W. N. W.) from Royston; containing 722 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 2200 acres, of which much the greater portion is arable. The soil is a light white loam, on chalk, and has been much improved by draining; the surface is undulated, and the scenery good. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 13. 7.; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge. The great tithes have been commuted for £550, and the vicarial for £225; the impropriate glebe contains 34½ acres, and the vicarial 8¾. The church is principally in the early, with some insertions in the later, English style. A Roman cemetery has been discovered, whence many cinerary urns and other ancient vessels have been obtained; and several Saxon coins, principally of the reign of Burhred, have also been found.

Littlington

LITTLINGTON, a parish, in the union of Eastbourne, hundred of Longbridge, rape of Pevensey, E. division of Sussex, 10 miles (S. E.) from Lewes; containing 140 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by the Cuckmere river, which separates it from the parish of Alfriston; and comprises by computation 720 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 13. 6.; net income, £100; patron, the Rev. Thomas Scabett. The church is in the early English style, with a spire springing from the western gable; in the chancel is an arched recess of elegant design, and opposite to it, on the other side, are two small stalls, with a piscina.

Litton

LITTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Tideswell, union of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, ¾ of a mile (E. S. E.) from Tideswell; containing 864 inhabitants. Bagshaw, the celebrated nonconformist divine, commonly called the Apostle of the Peak, was born here in 1628. The population is principally engaged in weaving, framework knitting, and in the large cotton factories in the township.

Litton (St. Peter)

LITTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Clutton, hundred of Wells-Forum, E. division of Somerset, 6¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Wells; containing 430 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 12. 8., and in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells: the tithes have been commuted for £160.

Litton

LITTON, a township, in the parish of Arncliffe, union of Settle, W. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 11 miles (N. E.) from Settle; containing 107 inhabitants. The township is beautifully situated in Littondale, and comprises by computation 6850 acres, of which a considerable part is inclosed and under good cultivation: the village stands on the Skirfare, one of the streams that form the source of the river Wharfe. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £58. 17. 2., payable to University College, Oxford, and there is a glebe of three acres.

Litton-Cheney (St. Mary)

LITTON-CHENEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bridport, hundred of Uggscombe, Dorchester division of Dorset, 6¾ miles (E. S. E.) from the town of Bridport; containing 463 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £33. 7. 8½., and in the gift of the Rev. James Cox, D.D.: the tithes have been commuted for £650, and there is a glebe of 117 acres. The church is in the later English style, and has a fine tower with battlements and pinnacles. In 1690, Robert Thornhill bequeathed £25 per annum for the maintenance of a free school here, and £75 per annum for apprenticing children of various places. In 1771, Thomas Hollis gave two acres of land, and a house for the schoolmaster's residence.

Liveden.—See Aldwinkle St. Peter's.

LIVEDEN.—See Aldwinkle St. Peter's.

Livermere, Great (St. Peter)

LIVERMERE, GREAT (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Thingoe, hundred of Thedwastry, W. division of Suffolk, 5¾ miles (N. N. E.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing 320 inhabitants. The parish, with that of Little Livermere, comprises 3000 acres; the soil is light but fertile, and the surface is generally level. The living is a rectory, with the living of Little Livermere united, valued in the king's books at £15. 8. 11½., and in the patronage of the family of Middleton; net income, £443. There is a considerable feoffment estate for the benefit of the inhabitants.

Livermere, Little (St. Peter)

LIVERMERE, LITTLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Thingoe, hundred of Blackbourn, W. division of Suffolk, 6¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing 172 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, united to the rectory of Great Livermere, and valued in the king's books at £6. 12. 11. The parish includes part of the well-wooded park of Livermere, the property of the Middleton family, the remainder of it being in the parish of Great Livermere.

Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, a sea-port, borough, market-town, and union of itself, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of West Derby, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 31 miles (W.) from Manchester, 53 (S. by W.) from Lancaster, and 201 (N. W. by N.) from London; containing, in 1841, 223,003 inhabitants, and, including the contiguous townships of Everton, Kirkdale, West Derby, and Toxteth-Park, 294,389. This celebrated town has, within the last century, by a progressive increase in extent, population, and commercial importance, obtained the first rank after the metropolis. Baxter, in his Glossary, calls it Segantiorum Portus ad ostium Amnis Mersey sive Tinnæ, a statement which is contradicted by Whitaker, the Manchester historian, who places the Sistuntian port on the river Ribble: the ancient name of the Mersey is also a subject of difference of opinion, Beli-sama being adopted by Whitaker, whilst Baxter gives that name to the Ribble. Liverpool is not noticed in any of the Roman Itinera, nor does the name occur in the Norman survey; its site was contained within the limits of the West Derbyshire Forest, which was royal demesne, at one time in the possession of Edward the Confessor. After the Conquest it was bestowed by William, together with all the land between the Ribble and Mersey, upon Roger de Poictiers, by whom it was subsequently forfeited. It was then granted to the earls of Chester: on forfeiture by their descendants, it was given to Edmund, son of Henry III., as parcel of the honour of Lancaster; and it continued an integral part of the duchy possessions until its alienation by Charles I., in the year 1628. Regarding the etymology of the name, various opinions have been entertained. John, whilst Earl of Morton, and in possession of the honour of Lancaster, confirmed a grant made by his father Henry II. to Warin de Lancaster, of Liverpul, with other places, under a certain reddendum. In subsequent records the name is written Lyrpul, Lytherpul, Lytherpole, &c.; signifying probably, in the ancient dialect of the county, the "lower pool." Some have deduced its etymology from a pool frequented by an aquatic fowl called a "Liver," and others from a sea-weed of that name.

Camden informs us that the castle was built by Roger de Poictiers, about the year 1089, and that he appointed Vivian de Molines, ancestor of the Earl of Sefton's family, the castellan. In October, 1323, Edward II. dated some orders from it; and in April, 1358, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, made it his residence for upwards of a month. It was demolished by order of parliament during the Commonwealth, and subsequently was granted by Queen Anne to the corporation, who erected St. George's church upon the site. The tower formerly at the bottom of Water-street was most likely built by the De Lathom family, of whom Isabella, heiress of Sir Thomas de Lathom, about the latter end of the fourteenth century married Sir John Stanley, who, in the 7th of Henry IV., obtained permission from the king to embattle and fortify his house built of stone and mortar at Liverpool. It was subsequently the occasional residence of the Stanleys, earls of Derby, and after having been successively converted into a suite of assemblyrooms and a prison, was taken down in 1819, when warehouses were erected on the spot. King John, in the 9th year of his reign, gave to Henry Fitzwarin de Lancaster an estate near Preston, forming part of the possessions of the honour of Lancaster, in exchange for Liverpool; upon which occasion he granted a charter to the place. Henry III., in 1229, made the town a free borough, instituted a guild-merchant, and bestowed additional privileges. Little is known of the state of Liverpool during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; Leland, writing in 1558, describes it as a paved town, much frequented as a good haven by Irish merchants, and as supplying Manchester with yarn imported from Ireland. From this period, however, till the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, it appears to have declined. In 1571, the inhabitants petitioned the queen to be relieved from a subsidy imposed on them, and in their petition described it as "Her Majesty's poor decayed town of Liverpool;" and so late as 1630, when writs were issued by Charles I. for the levying of ship-money, the town was rated only at £26, while Bristol was assessed at £1000. At the time of the civil war, the place was defended for the parliamentarians by Col. Moore, against Prince Rupert, by whom it was besieged; after an obstinate resistance, it surrendered, June 26th, 1644, but it was soon retaken by the parliament. During the rebellion in 1745, Liverpool raised several regiments to oppose the Pretender; and within twelve months after the war with France broke out, in 1778, 120 privateers, carrying in the aggregate 1986 guns and 8754 seamen, were equipped here.

The town is situated on the east bank of the river Mersey, along which it extends for more than three miles. On its west side are immense ranges of docks, wharfs, and warehouses, in the neighbourhood of which the streets are mostly narrow, and the houses inferior in appearance to those of more recent erection. On the east side, for upwards of a mile, are spacious streets, squares, and crescents of modern houses, built chiefly of brick and roofed with slate, and of which many are elegant mansions. The town is well paved, and is brilliantly lighted with gas, by two companies, one established in 1818, for the supply of coal gas, and the other for the preparation of oil gas, in 1823. The inhabitants, and the shipping in the docks, are supplied with water from springs at Bootle, about four miles distant, by the company of the Bootle water-works, and from springs in or contiguous to the town, by the company of the Liverpool and Harrington water-works. An act was passed in the year 1847, for a better supply of water, and authorizing the corporation to purchase the works of the two companies. The air is highly salubrious, and the convenience of sea-bathing is afforded by baths of every description, erected by the corporation; by private establishments of a similar nature; and by numerous machines. Steamboats are constantly plying across the Mersey to and from the Cheshire shore; and every facility for aquatic excursions may be obtained by packets and pleasureboats. A new landing-stage has just been completed, for the use of certain of the ferries, at a cost of about £50,000; it is parallel with George's pier, is 507 feet long, and is connected with the pier by two iron bridges 150 feet in length, which are so constructed as to allow the enormous stage to rise and fall with the tide. The docks afford delightful promenades, commanding extensive views of the river and of the shipping; and Prince's pier, or Marine parade, is one of the finest marine walks in the kingdom. At the entrance into the town by the London road, is an equestrian statue of George III., originally raised in Great George-square, where the first stone of the pedestal was laid by the mayor and corporation, on the 25th of October, 1809; it is of bronze, a copy of that of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius at Rome, and the expense, amounting to nearly £4000, was defrayed by subscription. The public buildings, which are extremely handsome, give an air of grandeur to the town; and its many sources of refined amusement and social intercourse, render it, independently of its mercantile attractions, a desirable place of residence. The environs are pleasant, abounding with interesting scenery, and with seats and villas. Some notion of the recent increase of Liverpool may be formed from the fact, that not fewer than 2450 houses were erected within the parliamentary boundaries in 1844, and the still more extraordinary number of 3728 in 1845; additions chiefly to be attributed to the disuse of cellars as dwellings. In 1846, the population was nearly double of the amount fifteen years previously; and in no place in the kingdom have greater public works been undertaken of late. Among the chief works executed during the last few years, may be mentioned the Assize Courts, the Daily Courts, the Collegiate Institution, Music Hall, the Albert and other docks, the reservoirs in Green-lane, the Industrial Schools at Kirkdale, the several asylums, and various erections connected with railway communication.

The public Subscription Libraries are numerous and well selected. The Athenæum, a neat building of stone, erected in 1799 at an expense of £4400, contains a newsroom, and a library of above 16,500 volumes. The Lyceum, a handsome edifice of the Ionic order, was erected by subscription in 1802, at a cost of £11,000, and contains a library of 31,000 volumes, conveniently arranged in a circular room, tastefully decorated with busts, and lighted by a dome. The Union Newsroom, a substantial building, was erected by subscription in 1800, at an expense of £6000, and contains a spacious coffeeroom, with two recesses at the end, ornamented with Ionic pillars: over the entrance to the bar, is a painting by Fuseli, emblematical of the Union; and on the parapet above the entrance are the Union arms, finely sculptured. The Exchange Newsroom occupies the lower story of the east wing of that splendid edifice. The Royal Institution, a spacious and handsome structure, purchased and adapted to its purpose at a cost of £14,000, raised in shares of £100, consists of a centre and two wings, and contains, on the ground-floor, reading, lecture, and committee rooms; and on the firstfloor, a large room for the Literary and Philosophical Society, a library, a museum, a drawing schoolroom, and a committee-room. The museum is very valuable, and behind the principal building are a laboratory and a theatre for chemical and philosophical experiments. This institution was formed in 1814, for the advancement of literature, science, and the arts; and the members were incorporated by royal charter in 1822. Opposite is a building erected for a Gallery of Art, originated by the committee of the Royal Institution, and containing a valuable collection of casts from ancient marbles, and some fine pictures. Under the auspices of the Liverpool Academy, an annual exhibition is held in the town, of the works of living artists. The Mechanics' Institute, the most successful association of the kind in England, dates back to the year 1825, when it was formed under the patronage and mainly through the exertions of Mr. Huskisson. After having carried on its meetings for ten years, steps were taken to provide a building more worthy of the enlarged scope of the society; the corporation of the town gave a site, and the first stone of the present building was laid by Lord Brougham, in July 1835. In March 1837, an accidental fire nearly destroyed the interior; but the whole having been insured, the means were at hand to rebuild the damaged portion immediately; and the restored edifice was formally opened on the 15th of September, 1838. Including various additions which have since been made, the cost has amounted to £15,000. The number of members and subscribers averages from 3500 to 4000; the teachers and officers are nearly 70 in number, and the annual income amounts to above £9000: the library consists of about 14,000 volumes. The Literary, Scientific, and Commercial Institution was founded in 1835; the Statistical Society was founded in 1838. The Medical Institution is a new edifice at the angle formed by Hopestreet and Mount-street, in the south-eastern part of the town; and contains a lecture-room, library, and three museum-rooms. The Apothecaries' Company was formed in 1837, and a hall in Colquit-street was completed for it in 1838. The Museum, in the same street, consists of two apartments, in one of which a collection of natural productions is displayed, and in the other a variety of ancient armour and warlike instruments. The Botanic Gardens, situated in Edge-lane, about a mile from the town, afford not only a practical illustration of the lectures delivered on the subject of botany in the town of Liverpool, but an interesting and pleasing source of recreation. They were formed in 1836, and were purchased of the proprietors in 1846 by the municipal corporation, at whose expense they are now maintained, for the free admission of the public. In these gardens, containing 11 acres, are from 6000 to 7000 specimens of plants, many of them rare exotics; there is a valuable library of botanical works, also an extensive herbarium. The Zoological Garden was opened in the summer of 1833, and is laid out with great taste. The public park called the Prince's Park, is noticed under the head of Toxteth.

The Public Baths, on the west side of George's dock, built by the corporation of Liverpool in 1829, at an expense of about £40,000, form a neat range of stone, 239 feet in length, and 87 feet in depth; and in front is a good promenade, on the margin of the river. Besides these, are other baths, with washhouses, erected by the corporation for the use of the poor, at the south end of the town: they cost £2650, exclusively of the land, and were opened on the 1st of June 1842; being the first establishment of the kind, provided in the whole country. More recently, baths and washhouses have been erected by the corporation on a larger scale, at the north end of the town; they cost about £6500, and occupy a site of 1620 yards. The building is in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and is constructed of brick, with cornices, &c., of stone. The principal front is towards Paul-street; its central portion is two stories in height, with a gable ornamented with the crest of the corporation, and inscribed with the name of the establishment: the front towards Bevington-hill contains the superintendent's house.

The Collegiate Institution, for the education of the commercial, trading, and working classes, in accordance with the doctrines of the Church of England, and of which the first stone was laid by Lord Stanley in 1840, is a fine structure in the Tudor or later English style. The principal front, in Shaw-street, 280 feet long, consists of a centre and two slightly-projecting wings; the central range is three stories high, lighted by windows of elegant design, and has a boldly-projecting porch, forming the chief entrance, above which is a lofty arch, rising to the battlement, and surmounted by an ornamented gable. The wings are each adorned with a lofty oriel window, surmounted by a canopied niche containing a statue on a pedestal; and the whole structure, which is of red sandstone found in the neighbourhood, has an impressive aspect. It was opened with much ceremony on the 6th January, 1843. The institution comprises the upper school, affording an ample routine of education; the middle school, having a somewhat narrower range; and the lower school, in which the more elementary branches are taught. There is likewise an evening school; and the building contains an excellent college library, a lecture-hall, a museum, and a painting and sculpture gallery: the lecture-hall is an octagonal structure, capable of containing nearly 3000 persons. This noble establishment has already done much towards elevating the tone of the education of the middle classes in Liverpool, and occupies a high place among the scholastic institutions of the kingdom.

In the months of June and July 1843, an exhibition of a very attractive kind took place in the various rooms and galleries of the Collegiate Institution, comprising an immense number of articles of vertu, and specimens and processes illustrative of the mechanical and productive arts; a finer collection of pictures than had ever before been exhibited in Liverpool; and a variety of miscellaneous and curious objects. In 1847 a still more interesting exhibition was formed, styled the Grand Polytechnic Exhibition. On this occasion the objects collected were almost countless, the catalogue of them, closely printed in octavo, containing about eighty pages. The picture gallery consisted of nearly 500 paintings by British and foreign artists, the whole contributed by private individuals, like the other portions of the exhibition, on loan: another important department was that of natural history; the department of antiquities comprised above 700 articles, that of Chinese curiosities about half the number, and an entire room was appropriated to autographs from the collection of the Rev. Dr. Raffles. Besides these, were a vast number of mechanical contrivances and manufactured specimens, machinery of various descriptions, naval and architectural models, stained glass, &c. The wonders of science were displayed with great effect, and electrical, galvanic, and other philosophical experiments were performed and explained by a competent lecturer. Altogether, the exhibition was calculated to convey useful practical lessons to the many visiters who resorted to it, and fully answered those purposes of entertainment and information which the contributors of its contents had in view.

The Theatre Royal, on the east side of Williamsonsquare, opened in 1772, is a neat edifice of brick, with a circular stone front, ornamented with the royal arms, and with emblematical figures in bas-relief; in 1837 it was entirely re-decorated and embellished: the season commences in May, and closes in December. The Amphitheatre, in Great Charlotte-street, is the largest theatre in the town, and is open during the winter: the Liver Theatre was opened in 1825, and in Christianstreet is the Theatre Royal Adelphi, which has been lately much improved. The Wellington Rooms were built by subscription in 1815: in the centre of the front, which is of stone, is a lofty circular portico of the Corinthian order, with two doors opening into an octangular vestibule, beyond which is an ante-room leading on the right and left into card and supper rooms, and in the centre into a ball-room. The Philharmonic Concert Hall, erected in 1846, is of oblong form, in the Romanesque style, and capable of accommodating an audience of 2000 persons, besides 300 performers; its estimated cost was upwards of £18,000. The Music Hall, at the junction of Hope-street with Myrtle-street, commenced in 1847, is a splendid pile of Italian architecture, 175 feet by 110 feet, erected at a cost of £30,000. The pit is calculated to contain about 1000 persons, and the orchestra 200 performers; making, with the boxes and galleries, a total accommodation for 2700: there are also refreshment-rooms, and apartments devoted to other purposes. The Rotunda is a handsome circular building of brick, now used as a billiard-room by a select number of subscribers. The Races take place in May, July, and October: the course, at Aintree, five miles north-north-east of the town, is a mile and a half in length; and there is a smaller course used as a training ground, in the inner circle. Six common stands have been built, capable of accommodating 6000 persons: the grand stand, erected in 1829, is four stories in height; the leads, commanding a view of the whole course, and a most beautiful and extensive prospect of the surrounding country, can accommodate as many as 2000 persons.

The most remarkable feature in the history of Liverpool is, the extraordinary rapidity with which it has risen into importance. Among the causes which have produced its elevation to a rank but partially inferior to that of the metropolis, are, its situation on the shore of a noble river which expands into a wide estuary; its proximity to the Irish coast; its central position with respect to the United Kingdom; its intimate connexion with the principal manufacturing districts, and with every part of the kingdom, by rivers, canals, and railroads; and the persevering industry and enterprising spirit of its inhabitants. For the collection of customs, &c., due to the crown, Liverpool was anciently a member of the port of Chester; but, as is evident from records belonging to the corporation, it was an independent port so early as the year 1335, though for some centuries it made but little progress. The commerce may be divided into several distinct branches. The trade with Ireland appears to have been established, or greatly promoted, by the settlement here of a few mercantile families from that country, about the middle of the 16th century; at that time, only 15 vessels, of the aggregate burthen of 259 tons, belonged to the port, whereas Liverpool now imports of Irish produce alone an amount equal in value to several millions annually. Another principal branch is the trade with the United States. The chief article of commerce in respect of that country, is cotton, which indeed may be considered as the staple of the town; Manchester and the other cotton manufacturing districts are supplied from the port with the raw material, and manufactured cotton goods form more than half of the entire exports of Liverpool. In the year 1846, the cotton imported was 1,134,081 bales. The United States also send hither tobacco, rice, dyewares, and numerous other varieties of American produce. The West India trade was one of the earliest which developed the energies of the merchants of the town; next to London, this port engrosses a larger portion of the traffic than any other of our sea-ports, there being an annual import of about 50,000 hogsheads of sugar, 20,000 barrels and bags of coffee, and 10,000 puncheons of rum, all brought from the West Indies to Liverpool. A great traffic is carried on with British America, comprising the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, &c.; while the South American states of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres consign their sugar, cotton, coffee, and tobacco to Liverpool, and receive in return cottons, woollens, linens, and hardware. The trade with the ports of the East Indies and China is on the increase; considerable intercourse is maintained with New South Wales, and with the principal ports in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Levant Seas, also with Portugal and other parts of Europe. The Isle of Man traffic employs a large number of vessels, as does the coasting-trade generally. The fisheries do not appear ever to have been very extensive: in 1764, three ships were engaged in the Greenland whale-fishery, and the number had increased in 1788 to twenty-one, but from that time the trade declined; the home fishery, also, has diminished materially.

The importance of the provision trade with Ireland, and the cotton trade, has been already mentioned. The timber trade is also very considerable; the number of vessels exclusively employed in bringing timber from British America, in 1845, was 453, and from the Baltic 113, with a total tonnage of 273,646. In that year, 28,840 logs of mahogany were imported. Among other articles of import, may be named tobacco, in respect of which Liverpool ranks next to London, of the 25 ports of the United Kingdom into which tobacco is allowed to be received. The quantity of tea on which duty was paid, at the port, in the year 1847, was not less than 4,578,397lb. An article of export which seems likely to increase, is salt: in 1845, about 472,150 tons were shipped. The number of steamers which are despatched from Liverpool, is immense; there is frequent communication with various ports in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and with North America, the chief routes being the Transatlantic, the Dublin, and the Glasgow: a steam-vessel called the Liverpool, of 1150 tons' burthen, and 461-horse power, sailed on her first voyage to New York on the 28th of October, 1838. Of the sailing vessels, the American liners are remarkable for the excellent accommodation which they afford for passengers. The British and North-American Royal Mail SteamPacket Company originated in a contract entered into with the government by Mr. Samuel Cunard of Halifax, Mr. George Burns of Glasgow, and Mr. David MacIver of Liverpool, to carry the mails between Liverpool and Halifax, in Nova Scotia. Previously to the commencement of this contract in July, 1840, there were other steamers, namely, the Sirius, Great Western, British Queen, President, Royal William, and Liverpool, some of which had crossed the Atlantic with more or less success, but only in the summer, and the capability of steamers to traverse the North Atlantic with regularity in winter as well as summer remained to be proved. Indeed, from the experience acquired by the voyages of the beforenamed vessels, it was generally held to be impracticable for steamers to navigate that ocean during the winter months, not in point of regularity alone, but of safety. The result of the winter passages of the company's vessels was highly satisfactory, and the government, with a view to the public benefit, entered into a fresh contract, commencing 1st January, 1848, with Messrs. George Burns, Samuel Cunard, and Charles MacIver (vice Mr. David MacIver deceased), for an increased service. A steam-ship of the first class now sails from Liverpool to Boston and New York, alternately, every second Saturday, during the months of December, January, February, and March; and to the same ports alternately on every Saturday during the other eight months of the year. The general expectation, founded upon past experience, is, that the service under the new contract will exhibit as strikingly as the past seven years' performance of the company's ships, the speed, regularity, and perfect safety, with which well-managed steamers may navigate the Atlantic.

The progress of the port of late years is strikingly exhibited in the returns as to its shipping: in the year 1831, the total number of vessels which entered the docks of Liverpool was 12,537, and their tonnage 1,592,436; while in 1847 the number had increased to 20,889, and their tonnage to 3,351,539. On a certain day in June, 1844, there were 755 vessels in the docks, exclusively of steam-vessels in Clarence dock, and smaller steamers on the river; the total tonnage being about 184,000. Of these 755 vessels, 52 were loading for different ports in England and Wales, 30 for Irish ports, 37 for ports in Scotland, 90 for America, 50 for various parts of Europe, 15 to Africa, 30 to the East Indies, 5 to the Levant, 4 to China, and 2 to New South Wales. From the Dock financial statement for the year ending June 1845, it appears that the port had made an advance of 383,819 tons on the preceding year; the six months from June to December, 1845, showed a still more extraordinary increase of 600 vessels and 209,409 tons over the corresponding six months of the previous year. The customs' receipts of the port exceed four millions annually; and it has been estimated that the import and export trade in respect to which these duties are realised, amounts to about thirty-five millions sterling.

The harbour is capacious and secure. At the entrance of the river is the Black Rock lighthouse, erected on a point of rock on the western coast, which is covered at quarter flood, and above the surface of which the water at high spring tides rises 20 feet. This lighthouse was built at the expense of the corporation, from a design by the late Mr. John Foster, at an expense of £34,500, and was assigned to the Dock estate at a nominal rent: the structure is of limestone brought from Beaumaris, and was completed, and the light first exhibited, on the 1st of March, 1830; it is triangular, and presents successively two lights of a natural colour, and one of brilliant red, every minute. Floating lights, also, have been placed eleven miles seaward from the mouth of the river Mersey, by the committee for the management of the docks; and pilot-boats stationed there are constantly on the look-out. A new channel called the Victoria Channel, near Formby Point, was opened by dredging in 1835; and at Crosby Point is a lighthouse which, in conjunction with a light-vessel moored in the Crosby Channel, renders the port easy of access at all times of the tide either by day or night. Since the opening of the Victoria Channel, 240,000 vessels have passed through, and the channel still maintains its maximum depth without further dredging: in 1845, 7910 vessels passed through the Rock Channel, and 28,861 through the Victoria Channel. A telegraph is established, by means of which, communications have been interchanged between this town and Holyhead, distant 72 miles, in the space of a minute.

For the security of the shipping in the port, and for the greater facility of loading and unloading merchandise, an immense range of docks and warehouses, extending along the bank of the river, has been constructed, on a scale of unparalleled magnificence; forming one of those characteristics of commercial greatness in which this town is unrivalled. The docks are of three kinds, the wet, the dry, and the graving, and there are also half-tide docks. The wet docks are principally for ships of great burthen, employed in the foreign trade, which float in them at all states of the tide, the water being retained by gates: the dry docks, so called because they are left dry when the tide is out, are chiefly appropriated to coasting-vessels; and the graving docks, admitting or excluding the water at pleasure, are adapted to the repair of ships, during which they are kept dry. The Old dock, which was the first of the kind constructed in England, was opened in 1710, and closed in 1826, when its site, being filled up, was appropriated to the erection of the custom-house, and other offices connected with the trade of the port. The Canning dock, which was a dry dock till 1832, was constructed under the authority of an act passed in the 11th of George II., and was deepened nine feet in 1842: it is now capable of receiving the largest vessels frequenting the port, but is chiefly occupied by coasting-vessels, which bring corn, provisions, and slate, and convey back the produce of the West Indies, the Mediterranean, Portugal, and the Baltic; it has a quay 500 yards in length, and communicates with two graving docks. The Salthouse dock, so named from some salt-works formerly contiguous to it, was constructed about the same time as the Canning dock; it was rebuilt and deepened in 1842, and is now used by vessels in the Levant, West India, and Irish trades. The quay is 730 yards in extent, and is provided with convenient warehouses, with arcades for foot passengers on the east side, and extensive sheds on the west side. George's dock, constructed in the 2nd of George III., at an expense of £21,000, was originally only 246 yards in length, and 100 yards in breadth, with a quay 700 yards in extent, but it has been enlarged, and the quay is now 1000 yards in length. On the east side is a range of extensive warehouses, in front of which is an arcade for foot passengers; at the north and south ends of the dock are handsome cast-iron bridges; and a parade is continued westward for a considerable distance. This dock has a communication with the two preceding docks, and also with the Prince's dock, by basins, which preclude the necessity of returning into the river.

The King's dock, constructed in the 25th of George III., is 270 yards in length and 95 in breadth, and is partly appropriated to vessels from Virginia and other parts, laden with tobacco, which is exclusively landed here. The new tobacco warehouses extend the whole length of the quay, on the west side, and cover an area of more than four acres; the old warehouses, on the opposite side, have been converted into sheds for the security of merchandise. Across the entrance is a handsome swivel bridge of cast-iron. This dock has a communication on the south with a dry dock and two graving docks, one of which has gates 70 feet wide for the accommodation of steamers of the largest class. The Queen's dock, constructed at the same time, is 470 yards long and 227½ in breadth, with a spacious quay, and is chiefly occupied by vessels employed in the Dutch and Baltic trades; at the south end it communicates with a small dock called the Union dock, which is also connected with the Coburg dock. This last was made by placing gates 70 feet wide, on to the entrance to an old dry basin; these gates are wider than those at any other port, and are adapted for steamers of the largest size. On the south of the Union dock is a dock of greater dimensions than any of the preceding, named the Brunswick dock, which is peculiarly fitted for vessels laden with timber, having a half-tide basin on the west. It is also furnished with two spacious graving docks, into which vessels can enter at any. state of the tide; each graving dock is capable of containing three large ships. To the south of the Brunswick dock, which was completed in 1832, is the Toxteth dock, chiefly used by vessels with cargoes of mahogany: this small dock, and the land for 600 yards further to the south, including the new Harrington docks, are proposed to be formed into a dock for the further accommodation of the timber trade, under an act obtained in the year 1846. Under this act, likewise, it is intended to form a dock at Wapping, having a water area of 5 acres 235 yards, and a basin adjoining, having a water area of 1 acre 1671 yards; and to make an addition of 1 acre 3412 yards to the water area of the Salthouse dock. These works will connect the King's dock, Queen's dock, and other docks on the south, with the docks north of the Salthouse; in other words, will form a link uniting the whole south range of docks with the north range, and thus prevent the necessity of a vessel's passing out into the river in order to remove from one division to the other. The same act authorizes the formation of a dock with a water space of more than 3½ acres, at Nova Scotia, between the Canning and George's docks.

The Prince's dock, constructed under an act passed in the 51st of George III., was opened with great ceremony on the 19th of July, 1821, the day of the coronation of George IV.; it is 500 yards in length, and 106 in breadth. On the north is a spacious basin belonging to it, and on the south it communicates with the basin of George's dock: at the north end is a handsome dwelling-house for the dock-master, with suitable offices; and at the south end a house in which the master of George's dock resides. Spacious sheds called "transit sheds" have been recently built on the west quay, into which a ship may discharge her cargo immediately on her arrival, under the surveillance of the custom-house officers, the goods to be afterwards distributed to the different owners: by this convenience, much delay is avoided. Northward of the basin belonging to this dock are three docks called the Waterloo, the Victoria, and the Trafalgar; the first was opened in 1834, and the two others in 1836: the Trafalgar dock is principally used for steam-vessels. Still further in the same direction are the Clarence dock and half-tide basin, completed in 1830, and appropriated solely to steam-vessels frequenting the port; also two capacious graving docks. Beyond these graving docks, a vast accession of accommodation is now in course of construction, under the provisions of an act passed in the 8th Victoria, consisting of eight separate docks and six graving docks, the former having an aggregate water area of above 60 acres, and quay space measuring 3 miles and 257 yards in length. These splendid docks will be capable of admitting steamers of the largest class, and will communicate, by a series of locks, with the Leeds canal, an improvement of the greatest importance.

The Albert dock, between the Salthouse dock and the river, was commenced in 1842, and opened with much ceremony by his Royal Highness Prince Albert, on the 31st of July, 1846. The water space is 7¾ acres; the quay length, 885 yards. The warehouses erected upon the margin, five stories in height, are entirely constructed of stone, brick, and iron, are vaulted throughout, and are perfectly fire-proof; they occupy an area of 4½ acres, and have an aggregate area of floor accommodation equal to 21½ acres. The dock has a commodious halftide basin, with double entrance gates, which allow vessels arriving, and vessels departing, to pass at the same time. The total cost was £800,000. The Duke's dock, between Salthouse and the King's docks, is a small one belonging to the trustees of the late Duke of Bridgewater, for the use of flats, with commodious warehouses. The several carriers by water have also convenient basins on the river, for their barges, with quays for loading and unloading goods.

The whole range of the docks completed and in actual progress is four miles in length, stretching along the bank of the Mersey, and the total area of water space contained in them is about 200 acres. It has been calculated that the cost and expenses of the several docks constructed, or in progress of construction, from the commencement of the 18th century to Midsummer, 1847, amounted altogether to nine millions sterling. The internal management of each dock is intrusted to a master resident upon the spot, acting under two harbourmasters; and the government of the whole is vested by an act of parliament obtained in 1825, in a committee of 21 members, of whom 13 are members of the municipal council, elected by that body, and the remaining 8 are elected by the dock ratepayers. John Bramley-Moore, Esq., by whom the formation of the new north docks was first proposed, is chairman of the committee. The engineers of the docks are, Messrs. Jesse and John B. Hartley, the former of whom has designed all the additions and improvements since 1824: the contractors for the works now in course of erection, are Messrs. Murray and Bowers, who also constructed the docks at Kingston-upon-Hull.

The Custom-house, the foundation stone of which was laid on the 12th of August, 1828, was erected on the site of the Old dock, at the joint expense of government and the corporation, and under the superintendence of Mr. John Foster; it is in the Grecian style, and presents, from every point of view, an object of great magnificence, unrivalled by any public building of the kind. The eastern wing has apartments allotted for the dock-trust, the excise, and post-office; the western wing and centre are occupied by the customs: in the eastern wing, upon the landing-place, is a large model of a man-of-war. In front of the Custom-house is a bronze statue of Mr. Huskisson, presented to the town by the widow of that distinguished statesman: it was cast in Holland, from designs sent from Rome by Gibson; and was placed in its present position in Oct. 1847. The Exchange Buildings, erected also by Mr. Foster, at a cost of £110,848, subscribed in shares of £100 each, were completed in 1809, and occupy three sides of a quadrangular area, the north front of the town-hall forming the fourth side. The three sides have a piazza 15 feet in width; and in the centre of the quadrangle is a monument to the memory of Lord Nelson, erected by subscription in 1813, at an expense of £9000, and having a circular pedestal of marble, round the base of which are four figures of captives, emblematical of the four principal victories gained by the admiral. In the spaces between these figures are representations, in basso-relievo, of some of his naval exploits; and on the pedestal is the figure of Nelson, receiving on his sword a fourth naval crown from Victory, while, at the same moment, a figure of Death appears rising from behind the drapery of the fallen standards of the vanquished enemy.

The manufactures of the town are principally such as are connected with the port and the shipping, the promotion of its commerce, and the supply of the inhabitants. There are two sugar refineries carried on upon a very large scale, some extensive glass-houses, breweries, tanneries, salt and copperas works, iron and brass foundries; foundries for cannon, anchors, chain-cables, and the several parts of machinery connected with steam-engines; manufactories for steam-engines, steamboilers, and machinery of all kinds, and for guns, small arms, nails, files, ropes, sails, and cordage; also numerous corn-mills, and mills for grinding mustard, colours, and dye-woods. The manufacture of soap exceeds that of any other place in England, and the manufacture of tobacco and snuff is very extensive; the number of watches made annually, on an average, amounts to 11,500, a number greater than that of any other town, except London.

Among the immense ship-building yards on the banks of the Mersey, are the works of Messrs. Vernon and Company, in Sefton-street, employing about 700 men. Of the numerous steam-ships of the first class built by this firm, which was established in 1828, may be mentioned the frigate "Wladimir," of 900 tons' burthen, belonging to the Emperor of Russia, and employed as a mail-boat on the Cronstadt and Stettin station; and the "Guadalquivir," of 600 tons' register, belonging to the government of Spain, and now plying amongst the West India Islands. Messrs. Vernon and Company also built the mail-ship "Haddington," of 1600 tons' register, the property of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam-navigation Company, plying between Suez and Calcutta. The fiftieth vessel constructed here was launched in October 1847, and is one of the four mail-steamers intended for the Holyhead and Kingston station, to compete for a prize offered by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company to the best and fastest vessel. In the yard of Mr. Thomas Royden upwards of 100 hands are employed; the concern was established in the year 1820, and since that time about fifty vessels have been launched, some of which are now trading between Liverpool and the East Indies. Besides merchantmen, several steam-ships have been built; one of about 900 tons and 300-horse power has been just completed for the Emperor of Brazil. Mr. Royden also constructed five of the pilot-boats of the port of Liverpool, forming nearly half of the total number employed, there being only twelve. Messrs. Thomas Wilson and Company have built some of the finest ships in the mercantile navy. Of the steam-ships launched by them, may be named the "United States," originally intended as a New York liner, but afterwards called the "Oriental," and placed as a royal mail-steamer on the Alexandria station: it was launched on the 7th of March, 1840, and was the largest then built at Liverpool, measuring 235 feet in length, and 60 feet in breadth, including the paddle-boxes. The same firm constructed the "Hindostan," of 2017 tons, and having engines of 520-horse power, built for the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and launched April 26th, 1842; and the splendid steam-ship "Bentinck," of about 2000 tons' measurement, intended for the Bombay and Suez station, launched January 19th, 1843. The firm of Messrs. Thomas and Robert Clarke was established about the year 1810, and has been constantly engaged since that period in building merchant-vessels and steam-boats, a number of which, of from 300 to 700 tons' burthen, are at present trading to the East and West Indies. Another concern which may be noticed, is that of Messrs. Cato, Miller, and Company, who are builders of ships as well of iron as of wood, boiler and tank makers, ship-smiths, &c. In the yard of this firm was repaired, in 1847, the fine screw-steamer the "Sarah Sands," designed by Mr. Grantham, and named after the wife of the proprietor, Thomas Sands, Esq. Messrs. W. Buckley Jones and Company, ship-builders and manufacturers of iron knees, employ 150 hands: they have built several vessels both for the home and the East India trade; also lighters for the dock trust, and a large "lump" for the Steam-Tug Company, for the purpose of raising sunken vessels, in which service it has proved very effective. The works of the Mersey Steel and Iron Company, in Sefton-street, were established in 1820, and now employ about 400 hands, in the manufacture of the various large forgings used in the erection of marine, locomotive, and other steam-engines, and in the manufacture of rolled, bar, and scrap iron, rivet-iron, &c. The large shafts and other parts of the "Great Britain" steam-ship, were forged here. Mr. William Beattie's works for the manufacture of every description of railway vehicle and the iron-work connected therewith, were established in the year 1836, and give employment on an average to 350 hands.

Liverpool was the first town in England in which steam-power was applied to the sawing of timber; every description of sawing is now done by steam, and the operation has been brought to such perfection, that 24 veneers are obtained out of the thickness of an inch. The Park saw-mills of Messrs Gregson and Company, situated in Harrington-street, Toxteth, near the timber docks, were erected in the year 1823, and are the largest in the kingdom; about 150 men are employed, and the extensive machinery is propelled by two powerful lowpressure engines. The Brunswick steam-mills of Messrs. John Mc. Nicoll and Company, also in Harrington-street, were erected in 1844; they are fire-proof, and comprise all the recent improvements, the result of the experience of the last thirty years. The whole of the premises are covered with travelling cranes, so that timber is received, stored, sawed, and delivered out, by means of machinery; and for the purpose of economising fuel, canvas rollers are ingeniously placed so as to collect the sawdust from every machine, and deliver it at the feet of the stoker. About 80 men are employed by the firm. There are six other saw-mills in Liverpool, but they are of minor importance.

The trade of the town is greatly facilitated by an extensive line of inland navigation in every direction, and by railways, by which it is connected with the manufacturing districts and the principal towns in the kingdom. Not less than five artificial lines of communication by water join the river Mersey; viz., the Mersey and Irwell navigation, the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, the Sankey canal, the Chester and Ellesmere canal, and the Weaver navigation: the first communicates with Manchester, and with Bolton and Bury by a canal from Manchester to those towns. The Duke of Bridgewater's also connects Liverpool with Manchester; by the Rochdale canal, it communicates with Hull and the southern parts of Yorkshire, and by means of the Grand Trunk canal, with almost every other canal or inland navigation south of Lancashire. The Sankey canal runs in the direction of the extensive coal-mines of St. Helen's and its neighbourhood. The Chester and Ellesmere canal, now united to the Birmingham canal in Worcestershire, opens a traffic with the southern parts of England, and with the mining districts of North and South Wales. The Weaver is the great medium of conveyance for the produce of the salt-mines at Northwich and its neighbourhood. In addition to these is the Leeds and Liverpool canal, affording intercourse, by the Lancaster canal, with the north part of Lancashire; by means of a cut made to the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, with Manchester; and communicating, as the name imports, with Leeds, and consequently with the principal manufacturing towns in Yorkshire. The Liverpool and Manchester railway appears, from the complete success with which the undertaking was attended, to have led to the introduction of railways generally, not only into different parts of England, but also of Europe and America; it was commenced in May, 1826, completed at an expense of £1,407,170, and opened to the public in September, 1830. The line proceeds from the station in Lime-street, under a portion of the town, through a tunnel 2000 yards in length, to the suburb of Edge-Hill, where are two fixed engines for working the trains, and from which point two other tunnels branch off, also passing under the town. One of these is 290 yards long, 17 feet wide, and 12 feet high, and ascends to Crown-street, where is a station for cattle. The other, 2216 yards in length, 22 feet broad, and 16 feet high, descends to Wapping, and the King's dock quay, where are a very extensive depôt and range of warehouses, offices, sheds for 420 wagons, and other requisites. A fourth tunnel will lead from just above EdgeHill to the north end of Liverpool. The station in Limestreet is a handsome range of the Corinthian order, with lofty gateways for the reception of passengers and merchandise: there are four lines of way, above which are ranges of building for the construction and repair of carriages, supported on cast-iron pillars; and within the area are refreshment and waiting rooms for passengers, and the booking-offices; the whole erected at an expense of £120,000. An act was passed in 1845, for the construction of a railway to Wigan, Bolton, and Bury, to join the Bury branch of the Manchester and Leeds railway; in 1846 an act was obtained for a line to Ormskirk and Preston, and in 1847 an act for a line to Southport.

The chartered market days are Wednesday and Saturday, but there are markets for provisions every day in the week. The days for corn are Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, from ten o'clock in the morning till one; the market being held in the Corn-exchange, a neat building opened by subscription August 4th, 1808, with an entrance in the centre into the lower area, and the basement story ornamented with Doric columns, supporting a cornice and entablature. Numerous covered market-places have been formed: of these, the principal is St. John's market-place, a splendid pile nearly in the centre of the town, begun in August, 1820, and completed in February, 1822, by the corporation, at an expense of £36,813; the building is of brick, with entrances and cornices of stone. St. James' market, erected by the corporation at a cost of £13,662, is used by the inhabitants of the south part of the town, Harrington, and the Park; while St. Martin's, built by the same body at an expense of £16,500, accommodates the northern portion of the town, Everton, and Kirkdale. The Gill-street market was built by the corporation at an expense of £18,886. In addition to these are, a fish market opposite to the eastern entrance of St. John's market, in Great Charlotte-street, completed at a cost of £19,435, and opened February 8th, 1837; the open markets in Cleveland-square and Pownall-square; the hay market in Great Nelson-street; a pig market, in Great Howard-street; and an extensive cattle market, formed by subscription, about two miles and a half from the town, and which covers an area of five acres, with pens for 14,000 sheep, 1600 head of cattle, six offices for salesmen, and a good hotel attached. The Fairs are on July 25th and Nov. 11th: ten days before and after each fair, a hand is displayed in front of the town-hall, during which time every person entering or leaving the town on business connected with the fairs is free from arrest for debt within its liberties.

King John, in the 9th year of his reign, as already observed, bestowed a charter upon Liverpool; Henry III., in 1229, confirmed this grant, made the town a free borough, instituted a guild-merchant, and conferred other privileges. The two charters were ratified by Edward III., Richard II., Henry IV., and Philip and Mary; and others were bestowed by Charles I., James II., William and Mary, William III., and George II., III., and IV.; under which the control was vested in a mayor, recorder, two bailiffs, an indefinite number of aldermen, a town-clerk, and others, composing a common-council of 41, assisted by subordinate officers. The borough is now governed by a mayor, 16 aldermen, and 48 councillors, under the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, and is divided into 16 wards, the municipal boundaries being co-extensive with those for parliamentary purposes; the number of magistrates is about 35, and there is also a stipendiary police magistrate, who is a barrister. The freedom is inherited by birth, or acquired by servitude; and confers, among other privileges, that of exemption from payment of the town duties. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward I., but made no other return till the reign of Edward VI., since which time it has continued to send two members to parliament. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the right of voting was extended to the £10 householders of an enlarged district, comprising an area of 4570 acres, and including parts of the townships of Everton, Kirkdale, West Derby, and Toxteth; the old borough contained only 2160 acres. The mayor is returning officer. Six courts of sessions of the peace are held in each year before the recorder. The borough court of record for the trial of causes to any amount, regulated by several local acts, is held every Thursday before the mayor or town-clerk, for the transaction of general business (process, &c., being issued daily), and on the second Thursday in every month for inquiries to assess damages. Five courts of Passage for the trial of causes are held in the year before the assessor, who is a barrister. The court of bankruptcy, established in 1842, and held daily, embraces part of Lancashire and Cheshire, and the whole of six counties in Wales: the powers of the county debt-court, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of Liverpool and West Derby. A regular system of police was established under the Municipal Reform act; the two forces previously distinguished as Borough and Dock Police were formed into one body, consisting of a head constable, 8 superintendents, 37 inspectors, and 720 constables. The stipendiary magistrate, assisted by the borough justices, one of whom acts in weekly routine, attends daily at the police-office, for the transaction of business. The revenue of the corporation property, in 1847, was £59,336; the town dues amounted to £97,219. The Dock Estate, which is separately managed by trustees, yields £300,000 per annum, applicable to the payment of the interest on a large bonded debt, and to the maintenance of the important branches connected with the establishment. The trust, however, differs from the trusts of the London and St. Katherine's docks, no beneficial interest arising at Liverpool to any corporate body, and the income being strictly applicable to trust purposes alone.

The Town Hall, commenced in 1749, and of which the ground-floor was originally designed for an exchange, occupies an elevated situation at the north end of Castlestreet: the whole of the interior was destroyed by fire in 1795, and was subsequently restored by the corporation upon an improved plan, at an expense of £110,000. It is a stately and magnificent structure in the Grecian style, with four elegant fronts, of which the north forms one side of the Exchange buildings, and the south, which is the principal, comprises the grand entrance: the whole edifice is surrounded with a rustic basement, from which rise handsome ranges of Corinthian pillars, supporting an entablature and cornice; between the pillars are tablets, in which the emblems of commerce are finely sculptured in bas-relief. The interior of this noble building contains on the ground-floor a councilroom, apartments for the mayor, committee-rooms, and offices for the town-clerk, treasurer, and other officers of the corporation. The grand staircase leads into a spacious saloon splendidly fitted up, opening on the east and west sides into two magnificently furnished drawing-rooms, and on the north and east sides into two large ball-rooms, also superbly decorated. On the west of the saloon is the banquet-room; the arched ceiling is richly panelled in compartments, and the whole is disposed in the most costly style. The refectory, adjoining the smaller ball-room, is of proportionate elegance. The grand staircase is embellished with a fine statue of Canning by Sir F. Chantrey, and with Hilton's picture of the Crucifixion, painted by him for the corporation. The Borough Sessions-House, near the west wing of the Exchange buildings, erected at a cost of £18,269, exclusively of the purchase of the land, is a neat plain structure in the Grecian style. The Borough Prison, built at an expense of £67,348, is capable of containing from 500 to 600 prisoners.

St. George's Hall, and the Courts in which the assizes for the county will be held, form a spacious and magnificent range of building, of which the foundation was laid in 1841; it is in the Grecian style, 500 feet in extreme length, and of very lofty elevation. The east front, 420 feet in length, is embellished with a stately and boldly projecting portico of sixteen columns of the Corinthian order, supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, which surrounds the whole of the building, and affording an entrance by a flight of steps into St. George's Hall, which is in the centre, and the roof of which rises to a considerable elevation above the rest of the structure. This hall is 169 feet in length, 75 feet in width, and 75 feet in height, and during the assizes is open to the public; it communicates at the north and south ends with the assize courts, each of which is 60 feet long, 50 wide, and 45 high. On each side of the portico are façades of square pillars, between the lower portions of which are ornamented screens rising to about onethird of the height. The south front consists of a noble and boldly projecting portico of circular columns of the Corinthian order, rising from a richly-moulded surbase ten feet in height (which surrounds the whole pile), and surmounted by a pediment whose apex has an elevation of ninety-five feet from the ground. The north front, which is semicircular, is also embellished with Corinthian columns; this part of the building contains a concert-room, seventy-two feet in length, and nearly of equal breadth. The edifice, in addition to the principal divisions, contains the vice-chancellor's court, the sheriff's-jury court, a grand-jury room, a barristers' library, and other apartments; the whole, for the grandeur of its dimensions, the loftiness of its elevation, and the elegance of its style, forming one of the most sumptuous and magnificent structures in the kingdom. The estimated cost of the building is £153,000, exclusive of the site: architect, the late Mr. H. L. Elmes; contractor, Mr. John Tomkinson. The emblematical sculpture of the south portico is from the designs of Mr. Cockerell, R.A., and was executed by Mr. G. W. Nicholl, of London: the brick arches over the hall and the assize courts will be constructed by Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E. The County House of Correction is noticed under the head of Kirkdale.

Liverpool was a chapelry in the parish of Walton until 1698, when it was constituted a distinct parish, and a rectory divided into medieties respectively belonging to the incumbents of St. Peter's church and the parochial chapel of St. Nicholas. In 1838, an act was passed for uniting the two portions, upon the decease of one of the rectors, and for the better endowment of the living, and of other churches in the town, of which, on the avoidance of the present incumbents, the stipends, &c., will be altered. Since the period of separation from Walton, many new churches have been erected, and the parish has of late been divided, under act of parliament, into numerous districts for ecclesiastical purposes. The original, and prior to 1698 the only church, was that of St. Nicholas: the time of its foundation is not known; but in 1361, a licence was obtained from the Bishop of Lichfield to bury in the churchyard during the plague, which then raged in the town. The body of the church was rebuilt in 1774. In 1810, the spire and the upper part of the tower fell upon the roof, a few minutes before the hour of service, and killed several persons who had assembled in the church or were entering at the time; a new tower in the later English style, surmounted by a lantern, was erected from a design by the late Mr. Harrison, of Chester. There were anciently four chantries in the church, but few monuments of antiquity now remain. St. Peter's church is a plain edifice, with a low square tower surmounted by an octagonal turret crowned with pinnacles; it contains some good specimens of carving in oak, and on the south side of the chancel is a costly marble monument to Foster Cunliffe, merchant. The living is a rectory not in charge, formerly in the patronage of the Corporation, who lately disposed of the advowson to John Stewart, Esq., for £8150: the income of each mediety is £710; and £720 per annum are paid, in addition, to four curates.

The livings of the eight following churches are perpetual curacies, formerly in the gift of the mayor and corporation, but of which all the advowsons have been sold under the Municipal Reform act. St. George's, at which the mayor and council usually attend divine service, was erected in 1734, on the site of the ancient castle, and was rebuilt in 1821, under the superintendence of Mr. John Foster; the prevailing character is the Doric, and in the elevation of the steeple that style has been blended with the Ionic and the Corinthian. The east window is of painted glass, representing the Crucifixion, a copy of Hilton's picture in the town-hall. The living is in the gift of J. Fletcher, Esq.; income, £420. The church dedicated to St. Thomas, in Parklane, built under the authority of an act passed in the 21st of George II., and consecrated in 1750, is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style, with a tower formerly surmounted by a very lofty spire, which was taken down in 1822, and replaced subsequently by a new steeple. The living is in the patronage of Trustees; income for the chaplain, £220, exclusively of £80 from pew-rents and £39 from Queen Anne's Bounty; income for lecturer, £165, exclusively of £45 from pew-rents. St. Paul's church, erected at the expense of the inhabitants, in 1769, is a well-constructed building, with a dome rising from the centre, and porticoes of the Ionic order, forming the principal entrances: it is a miniature imitation of St. Paul's cathedral, London, and cost £14,000. The living is in the gift of George Ramsden, Esq.; income of the senior minister, £220, and of the junior minister, £180, exclusively of fees; income of a Welsh curate, £155. St. Anne's, Great Richmond-street, erected in 1772, under an act of the 36th of George III., at the cost of two gentlemen of the town, is a neat building of brick, in the early English style, with a square tower crowned by pinnacles; the east window is of painted glass. The living is in the gift of the Rev. T. Stringer; income, £175. St. John's church, in the Old Haymarket, erected in 1784, under an act passed in the 2nd of George III., is a neat structure, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles: patrons, the Rev. Hugh M'Neile and others; income, £170. St. Michael's, erected under an act of the 54th of George III., amended by an act in the 4th of George IV., is an elegant structure, completed in 1826, in the Grecian style, with a steeple of two receding turrets, surmounted by a neat spire; it has a noble portico of six lofty Corinthian columns, supporting a pediment, and at the east end are four Corinthian columns supporting an entablature and cornice, which are continued round the building: the cost was £46,267, of which £10,267 were paid by the corporation. The living is in the patronage of J. Lawrence, Esq., mayor of Liverpool in the year 1844; income of the minister, and of the chaplain, £250 each. St. Luke's, completed in 1831, at an expense to the corporation of £53,418, after a design by Mr. Foster, is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower having turrets at the angles, which rise considerably above the battlements; the interior is much embellished, and the chancel, which is after the model of Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick, is a beautiful specimen of the decorated style. The living is in the gift of Charles Lawrence, Esq.; income, £400, exclusively of £100 for a curate. The church of St. Martin's-inthe-Fields was erected in 1828, by the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £20,037, and is a handsome structure in the later English style, adorned with a square embattled tower with angular turrets, surmounted by an octagonal spire: the structure forms a striking ornament at the entrance into the town from the Ormskirk road. The interior presents a highly enriched appearance, and has some peculiar features worthy of notice. The chancel extends into the nave, and is fenced by parclose screens of carved oak; it is raised above the level of the nave, and the sacrarium three steps above the chancel, the entire area being paved with encaustic tiles. The east window has been filled with stained glass by Wailes, of Newcastle, at a cost of £350, and contains not fewer than 180 figures. The prayers are intoned from the most western stall, and the responses chaunted antiphonally from each side by a surpliced choir of twenty voices; on the chancel step is a lectern, from which the lessons are read, and in the nave a desk, where the litany is sung. Open sittings, with ample kneeling accommodation, have just been substituted for the pews. Close to the church are handsome schools, in the Elizabethan style, erected at a cost of nearly £3000. The living is in the gift of the Trustees of the Rev. Charles Simeon; income, £300, exclusively of £100 for a curate.

The eight following churches, of which the livings are likewise perpetual curacies, will, at the expiration of certain periods of primary presentation, be in the gift of the Municipal Council, who will then offer them for sale. The church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, erected by private subscription, under an act of the 32nd of George III., in 1792, is a neat edifice of stone, with a tower: net income, £250; patron, the Rev. C. Davies. ChristChurch, erected under an act of parliament passed in the 40th of George III., is an elegant building of brick, ornamented with stone, and having a handsome cupola and dome; the chancel is lighted by a large Venetian window, and contains a marble tablet to the memory of John Houghton, Esq., by whom the church was built, at an expense of £21,000, and by whom it was endowed with £105 per annum: patrons, Trustees. The church dedicated to St. Mark, erected in 1803, at a cost of £18,000, raised by subscription, is a plain edifice of brick, with a square tower, and has an east window representing Our Lord's Ascension: net income, £300; patrons, five Trustees. St. Andrew's church, erected in 1815, by Sir John Gladstone, at an expense of £12,000, is a neat edifice, with a turret surmounted by a dome supported by eight columns: net income, £295; patron, Sir John Gladstone. The church dedicated to St. Philip, built in 1816, by John Cragg, Esq., at a cost of £12,000, is in the later English style: net income, £400; patron, Mr. Cragg. St. David's church is a neat edifice, erected in 1827 for the accommodation of the Welsh residing in the town, the service of the Church of England being regularly performed in the Welsh language: net income, £113; patrons, Trustees. St. Catherine's church, in Abercromby-square, was built by subscription in 1831, at an expense of £10,000; the entrance is through a portico of six handsome Ionic columns, and the interior is lighted by a dome in the centre, supported by Corinthian columns: net income, £250; patrons, Trustees. St. Bride's church, erected also by voluntary contributions in 1831, at an estimated expense of £5000, is likewise in the Grecian style, with a portico of six Ionic columns: net income, £305; patrons, Trustees.

St. Stephen's church, originally built for a congregation of Protestant dissenters, but purchased and fitted up for the Established religion, is a plain building, with a small turret surmounted by a cupola: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rectors of St. Nicholas' and St. Peter's, with a net income of £150. St. Matthew's, also purchased from a congregation of dissenters, was taken down in 1847 by the Bury Railway Company, who purchased in lieu of it the Scottish church called St. Peter's, in Scotland-road, for the sum of £5510: the living is a perpetual curacy, likewise in the gift of the two Rectors; net income, about £200. St. Mary's church, for the school of the indigent blind, with which it communicates by a subterraneous passage, was erected by subscription, after a design by Mr. Foster, in 1819, and is an elegant structure in the Grecian style, with a noble portico of six massive columns of the Doric order, supporting an enriched entablature and triangular pediment, an exact copy of the portico of the temple dedicated to Jupiter Panhellenius, in the island of Egina. The interior is beautifully arranged, and contains a splendid monument to the late Pudsey Dawson, Esq.; one-half of the pews are for strangers, whose contributions are received for the benefit of the charity. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of five Trustees, including the mayor and the two senior aldermen. St. Matthias' district church, Love-lane, in the Grecian style, was erected in 1834, at an expense of £3173; but, the building standing in the line of the Bury railway, it was taken down by the company, and a new church was erected in the early English style, with a square tower, and a spire rising to the height of 120 feet, from the designs of Arthur Hill Holme, Esq. The living is a perpetual curacy; patrons, the two Rectors; income, £90, with pew-rents. St. Bartholomew's church, Naylor-street, built at a cost of £4000, by subscription, and opened February 9th, 1841, is a neat stone edifice in the early English style, with an hexagonal tower and a spire: the living is presented to by Five Trustees, and has an income of £200. St. Barnabas' district church, Parliament-street, opened July 18th, in the same year, is also in the early English style, and is built of red stone, with a tower and spire 135 feet high; the whole completed at a cost of £5100. The living is endowed with the interest of £1500, and the pew-rents produce £250 per annum; patrons, certain Trustees. The population of the district is about 12,000; and for the instruction of the numerous poor, are national, daily, and Sunday schools, which are attended by about 600 children: they cost £2800, and were opened in May, 1845. St. Silas' church, in Pembroke-place, completed in 1841, is a handsome edifice in the early English style, the body built of brick, with ornaments of stone, and a tower and spire wholly of stone: patrons, Five Trustees. St. Saviour's chapel, Falkner-square, which is not consecrated, is a plain stuccoed edifice in the Roman style, with a small tower, completed in 1839: patron, Miss Simmons; income, £200. St. John the Evangelist's chapel, Hope-street, another unconsecrated place of worship in connexion with the Established Church, is also a plain structure, with a stuccoed front. It was built in 1836, for the Christian Society, but was purchased by Mr. Cargill, and opened March 21st, 1841, as an episcopal chapel; that gentleman died in the year 1843, and the chapel is now leased from his widow by Henry Winch, Esq., who is patron: the surplus proceeds are applied towards the support of the Female Orphan Asylum.

In 1845, three new districts, namely, St. Simon's, All Saints', and Bevington, were formed and endowed under the act of 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37; each of the livings is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Chester, alternately. St. Simon's district is close to the railway terminus, and comprises a population of 6600. The church was commenced in July 1846, and completed in 1847 at a cost of £6000; it is neatly fitted up to accommodate 1200 persons, and the whole of the ground-floor is appropriated to the poor. The architect presented a beautiful chancel window of stained glass; and the contractors of the building, in an equally liberal spirit, gave a window for the west end. All Saints' district comprises a population of about 6000: a church was commenced in 1847. The district of Bevington contains 8000 persons, and is bounded on the east by Scotland-road, on the north by Burlington-street, and on the west by Vauxhall-road: the site for a church cost £1700. In the year 1847 a fourth district was formed, named Vauxhall, which is bounded by the Bury railway. Other livings, in the environs, are noticed in the articles Toxteth, Everton, West Derby, Edge-Hill, &c. In George's dock is a floating chapel connected with the Established Church.

In addition to the churchyards are three public Cemeteries in Liverpool. One of these, which is called the Necropolis, was formed in 1825, at a cost of £6000; it is of oblong shape, about 6 acres in extent, and has an entrance in the Grecian style. The ground is inclosed by lofty walls, and within are two buildings of handsome elevation, one used as a chapel or oratory, and the other as a residence for the chaplain. A number of monuments, in marble and stone, executed by an artist on the premises, ornament the burial-ground. The proprietary consists of the holders of 600 shares of £10 each; and at the meeting of the body, held in January, 1847, it was reported that the total number of interments for the previous year had been 2043, a larger number than had been interred in any prior year; and that, since the commencement, there had been interred the large number of 29,586. St. James' cemetery, the site of which was given by the corporation, is a large tract of ground originally excavated as a quarry for stone used in building the docks, and converted into a depository for the dead at an expense of £21,000; it contains 44,000 square yards, inclosed by a stone wall and handsome iron palisades, having four stately entrances. The interior is intersected by roads wide enough to admit a carriage, which lead to catacombs excavated in the rock. In the centre is an ornamental building containing a full-length statue of Mr. Huskisson. The oratory, or chapel, built after a design by Mr. Foster, is an elegant edifice in the Grecian style, and of the Doric order; at the west end is a portico of six massive columns supporting a rich entablature, which is carried round the building, and surmounted by a triangular pediment. The chaplaincy is in the patronage of John Stewart, Esq.; income, £100 per annum, with a residence. St. James' church, erected in 1774, nearly adjoining St. James' cemetery, and from which it takes its name, is in Toxteth-Park. The third cemetery, called St. Mary's, is in Kirkdale.

Liverpool contains numerous places of worship for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, the Wesleyan Association, Welsh Calvinistic Methodists and other Welsh dissenters, Unitarians, and the New Connexion of Methodists. There are several Roman Catholic chapels, several places of worship for Scottish Presbyterians, a synagogue, a meeting-house for the Society of Friends, a New Jerusalem church, a seamen's church in Rathbone-street, and a meeting-house in King's dock. Some of the buildings are exceedingly spacious and handsome. The Independent chapel in Great Georgestreet, of which the Rev. Thomas Raffles, D.D. and LL.D., is minister, was built from the designs of Joseph Franklin, Esq., surveyor to the corporation of Liverpool, and is of the Corinthian order, with a semicircular portico, which forms the main feature of the edifice, and is terminated by a handsome turreted dome. The cost was £12,000, and the building was opened in October, 1841. The Crescent Independent chapel, Everton, was built from designs by Mr. Franklin, in 1846, at a cost of £9000, and is a noble structure in the Grecian style, of the Ionic order, with a handsome portico. Near it is a range of school buildings, erected in the following year, by the congregation, at a cost of upwards of £6000, for the education of boys, girls, and infants: the average weekly attendance is about 700. The place of worship in Rodney-street was erected by the late Mr. Foster, at a cost of £14,000, as the Scottish church of St. Andrew: in the year 1847 it was purchased by the Wesleyan body, of the mortgagees, for the sum of £4500. This elegant structure has a receding portico of the Ionic order, and, at each end of the front, a turret surmounted by a dome. The Pembroke Baptist place of worship, also from Mr. Franklin's plans, was completed in 1842, at a cost of £8000, and is of the Ionic order. St. Peter's Scottish church, Great Oxford-street, was built in the year 1848, at a cost of £2600, from the designs of John Hay, Esq.; it is in the pointed style, with a tower and spire, and underneath the building are some schools. The Unitarian chapel in Hope-street, erected in 1847-48, is a cruciform edifice in the decorated English style, with a spire 160 feet in height: connected with it, and supported mainly by the subscriptions of the congregation, are two day schools for children of all denominations, in which, respectively, 100 boys and 100 girls are educated. Before the erection of the present place of worship, the congregation assembled in their chapel in Paradise-street, erected in 1791.

The Roman Catholic chapels are as follows. St. Mary's, in Edmund-street, erected a century ago, was rebuilt in the year 1845, from designs by Mr. Pugin, and is a handsome edifice in the style that prevailed in the early part of the 14th century, with a square tower on which a spire will be raised. The interior is beautifully arranged, and has a fine east window designed by Wailes, of Newcastle; in the Lady chapel is a rich window presented by the Lynch family, and at the end of the south aisle, a third window, the gift of James Gibson, Esq., a great benefactor to the chapel. The font is of Caen stone, and carved with representations of the Seven Sacraments. St. Peter's, in Seel-street, was built about 1788. Its interior is of chaste design, and contains an altar painting of the Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, by Du Jardyn, and another painting of the Holy Family; the screen is of white Italian marble, and there is a good font. St. Nicholas' chapel, on Copperas-hill, was raised in 1815, at a cost of £10,000; the interior is highly enriched, and has five superbly painted windows by Wailes, recently inserted at an expense of £730. St. Anthony's, in Scotland-road, in the style of the eleventh century, was built in 1833, at a cost of about £10,000; the interior of this is also much adorned, and the windows, of stained glass, are exceedingly rich: under the building is a crypt. Behind the chapel are schools for the poor, built at an expense of £3000. St. Joseph's, in Grosvenor-street, was built in 1798 as the Protestant church of All Saints; it is a plain structure. St. Anne's, at Edge-Hill, in Walton parish, is a fine building, with a square tower, and an interior elaborately embellished; a spire is about to be raised. Other chapels in the suburbs are noticed under the heads of Everton, Stanley, Toxteth, &c. On Mount Vernon, Low-Hill, is the convent of St. Ethelburga, erected in the year 1843, from Mr. Pugin's designs, in the early English style, at a cost of £5000; it belongs to the order of the Sisters of Mercy, and attached to it is a House of Mercy for females of good character, who are provided for when out of service.

The Blue-coat Hospital established in 1709 for the clothing and instruction of children, was in 1714 extended to their entire maintenance; and the present substantial building, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, was erected for that purpose by subscription. The endowment of the school arises from a bequest by William Clayton, Esq., of £1000, a bequest by the Cleveland family of premises which sold for £1706, and donations by the late Mr. John Horrocks, amounting to £3022; its support being further provided for by subscription. The school for the Indigent Blind was founded in 1791, and the present spacious premises were erected by subscription in 1808; they comprise a substantial dwellinghouse for the conductor, behind which is a large range of building for the residence and employment of the inmates, for whose accommodation, and as a means of increasing the funds for their support, the church already noticed was erected. An institution for the Deaf and Dumb was opened in 1825; and many children of the poor are also instructed in various branches of trade in the House of Industry, founded in 1770: to the east of the building is a house of recovery from Fever, a spacious stone edifice, occupying an elevated situation. A School of Industry for females was established in 1809; the Female Penitentiary was instituted in the same year, and a handsome brick building has been erected by subscription. The Female Orphan Asylum was established in 1840, and in 1844 a new building was completed for its use, which will accommodate 150 girls: a similar institution, erected in the same year, is supported by Roman Catholics, and will accommodate 100 girls. The Infirmary, which is an excellent school of medicine and surgery, was originally established in 1749, but the building being found inadequate to the object, the present edifice of stone was erected by subscription in 1824; it consists of a centre and two receding wings, comprising three lofty stories, and the whole, from the chaste elegance of its design, produces a pleasing effect: the cost, exclusively of the land, was £27,800. The Lunatic Asylum, near St. John's church, originally founded in 1792, was found inadequate to the accommodation of the patients, and a new building was erected in 1830, from the plans of Mr. Foster, at a cost of £11,000; opposite to it is the Lock Hospital, opened in 1834. The Northern Hospital, a noble institution, presents a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of the Tudor period; its bold turrets, lofty gables, and projecting windows, have a very imposing effect, and the interior is exceedingly well arranged. The Southern and Toxteth Hospital is another valuable charity, more particularly beneficial in cases of accident: the number of patients admitted in 1846 was 573.

The Marine Humane Society was established in 1823, for the encouragement of boatmen and fishermen to adventure for the relief of vessels in distress in the river and upon the coast, by the distribution of suitable rewards for their success in rescuing the lives of crews; it has been productive of great benefit. The Strangers' Friend Society, established in 1789, originated with the Wesleyans; and is open, without distinction of religious denomination, to all objects of distress. The Marine Society is for the relief of reduced or aged masters of vessels, and for the support of their widows and children. The Seamen's Hospital was established in 1752, for the maintenance of decayed seamen, their widows, and children; it is conducted on the plan of the Trinity-house, and is supported by a permanent fund of £35,000, the amount of unclaimed prize money, and by a contribution of sixpence per month from the wages of every seaman belonging to the port: 700 individuals receive monthly pensions from the funds. An hospital for the relief of sick and wounded American seamen was opened in 1820, and is supported by the American government; and a Military Hospital, for the relief of any regiment either quartered at. or marching through, the town, is maintained at the expense of the country. The Merchant Society consists of 274 members, associated for the relief of widows of its decayed members. The Sailors' Home, the first stone of which was laid by Prince Albert, Aug. 1846, is a fine building in the later Elizabethan style: the west or principal front, towards Canning-place, is 95 feet long; the east, 53 feet; the south, 168; and the north, 175 feet. At each of the four angles is a tower surmounted by a dome, rising to the height of 104 feet.

There are also numerous provident and benefit societies; and the charitable society administers relief to the poor at their own houses. The society for ameliorating the condition and increasing the comforts of the poor is under the direction of a committee of twenty-one members, who have opened a savings' bank in Bold-street, a handsome building, with a rustic basement story, from which rise four Doric columns, supporting an enriched entablature and triangular pediment, with an ornamented architrave. The Diocesan Society, for the relief of the widows and orphan children of the clergy, has been established several years. The Charitable Institution house, a commodious building, was erected at the joint expense of Sir John Gladstone, and James Cropper and Samuel Hope, Esqrs., for the gratuitous accommodation of the committees of the various charities; the lower part is used as a depository by the Auxiliary Bible Society.

Among the Distinguished Natives of the town may be noticed, Jeremiah Horrox, an eminent astronomer, who was born at Toxteth-Park, in 1619; George Stubbs, a celebrated painter of animals, and author of a work on comparative anatomy, and of a series of drawings and engravings illustrative of the anatomy of the horse, born in 1724; William Sadler, who invented the method of applying copper-plate prints to the embellishment of earthenware; Edward Rushton, an admired poet, born in 1756; John Deare, an eminent sculptor, born in 1760; Joseph Whidbey, civil engineer; Matthew Dobson, M.D., F.R.S., and his wife, both respectable authors; Dr. William Enfield; Dr. John Bostock; the celebrated Mrs. Hemans; Wm. Roscoe, author of the Life of Leo X., and of Memoirs of Lorenzo de' Medici; and the Rev. Legh Richmond, author of the Dairyman's Daughter. Liverpool gives the title of Earl to the family of Jenkinson.