tion, which must produce a stronger effect on every mind than the most laboured address to the feelings : "Remember the poor blind!" These are the institutions which do honour to mankind, and shew the active efficacy of Christian benevolence. A SLAVE SHIP. The friend who had brought me to this interesting place, went with me to a large Guinea ship, a thing which I had always wished to see, with a curiosity like that which would have led me to the Bastile. We descended into the hold, and examined the cells where human beings are confined under circumstances which equally disgust decency and shock humanity. But I will not enlarge on a subject which, though trite, is awfully involved in guilt and infamy. Our country, so nobly jealous of its own liberties, stands disgraced in the eyes of mankind, and con. demned at the bar of Heaven, for being at once active in carrying on this monstrous traffic, and prompt to receive every cargo of imported Africans.* I did not come to England to see Guinea ships because there were none in America, but accident had never thrown one in my way before. Liverpool is deep, very deep in the guilt of the slave trade. It is now pursued with more eagerness than ever, and multitudes are, at this moment, rioting on the wealth which has been gained by the stripes, the groans, the tears, and the blood of Africans. . There will be a day when these things shall be told in heaven! * 1819. This is now illegal by our laws, but there is reason to believe the censure is still in a degree deserved. No. III.-LIVERPOOL. Sketch of the town-the Exchange-Streets-Public buildingsPopulation--Pursuits--American trade--Difficulties of the port-Guard ship-Press gangs-Impressment grossly inconsistent with English liberty-Docks-Mode of admitting shipsAnecdote-Dry docks-Hackney coaches--Anecdote-General appearance of the people. SKETCH OF LIVERPOOL. May 8.-Mrs. at whose house I have met a degree of frankness and hospitality, which, if a fair sample of English domestic manners, does much credit to the country, informs me that there is an interesting circle of literary people here; but, to a stranger, Liverpool appears almost exclusively a commercial town. Under the guidance of Mr. Wells, an English gentleman who had visited America, I have been to the Exchange, the great scene of the commercial transactions of the second trading town in the British dominions. The Exchange stands at the head of the handsomest street in Liverpool, and has strong claims to be considered an elegant building. It is, however, much too small for the commerce of the place, and for this reason they are now making an extensive addition to it. We ascended to the top of the building, where we had a good view of the town. It extends between two and three miles along the eastern bank of the Mersey. The country rises as it recedes from the river, so that a part of the town is built on the declivity of the hill. The streets contiguous to the river, which are principally on level ground, are narrow and dirty; they are crowded with carts and people, and in some of them the ware-houses are carried up to a very great height. The streets on the slope of the hill are sufficiently wide, clean, and handsome, but the houses, although substantial and highly comfortable, are generally inelegant in their exterior appearance. They are constructed with bricks of a dusky yellow colour, obscured by the dust and smoke of coal; the bricks are not polished, but have a degree of roughness, which makes the town appear somewhat rude, and we look in vain for the highly finished surface which is presented by the finest houses of New-York, Philadelphia, and Boston, to which towns Liverpool is inferior in the beauty of its private buildings. The public buildings are, however, with few exceptions, elegant. They are constructed of hewn sand stone, furnished by a quarry immediately contiguous to the town. There are several handsome churches, some of which have lofty spires of stone, and there is a magnificent one, with a vast dome, modelled and named after St. Paul's at London. Liverpool is said to contain about eighty thousand inhabitants,* who are almost exclusively employed in commerce, and the various businesses immediately connected with it; for, although the town is not destitute of manufacturers, most of those articles which are sold in America, under the general name of Liverpool wares, are brought to from Staffordshire, and other interior counties. On the hill back of the town are a number of beautiful situations. There is, on the highest part of the hill, a place called the Mount, where there is a public garden, with serpentine gravel walks, and in front of the garden is this port *The population is said to be now considerably larger, 1818. a wide gravelled area, used as a promenade, which commands a fine view of the city, the river, the opposite county of Cheshire, and the distant mountains of Wales. The city is surrounded by lofty wind-mills, which are among the first objects that strike a stranger coming in from sea. On the hills are a multitude of signal poles ;-each principal merchant has one, by which a ship's name is announced some hours before she arrives in the river. There is a very great number of vessels, and among these the American flag is very frequent. The American trade to this port is probably greater than to all the other ports of Britain: it has become highly important to the merchants of Liverpool, and of this they are sufficiently aware. The port is difficult of access. The tides rise from 12 to 30 feet, and, at low water, a great part of the road is bare. The currents are therefore very rapid, and it is only at rising water that ships can get in; there are, besides, so many shoals and sand banks, that, even then, it requires all the skill of the pilots to bring a vessel up to the town. When a ship comes round Holyhead, and a gale immediately succeeds, blowing in towards the shore, she is in danger of being lost. These circumstances form the principal defence of the town against an attack by sea, and are much more important to its security, than a battery of heavy cannon at the lower part of the town, and a large guard ship which is moored in the channel. Although stationed there ostensibly for the defence of the town, the most interesting object of the government is to afford a floating prison for the reception of impressed seamen. There are press gangs now about Liverpool, and impressments daily happen. I saw a sailor dragged off a few evenings since; he was walking with one who appeared to be a woman of the town, and he of course was considered as a proper object of impressment; for it is the uniform practice of the press gangs to take all whom they find in such society, and all who are engaged in night brawls and drunken revels, not that the press gangs have any peculiar solicitude for the preservation of good morals, but because such things afford somewhat of a pretext for a practice which violates equally the laws of natural liberty, and the principles of English freedom. I grant it is necessary, but it is still grossly unjust, and were consistency regarded when it interferes with national policy, the English courts of justice would grant prompt and full redress. No doubt every country has a full right to the services of its citizens, but this right should be enforced according to some principle of impartial selection, which would place every man under the same degree of liability. England would rise in arms, should the military impress for the army, citizens of every rank, from the fields, the streets, and the public roads; but, one particular class of men seem to be abandoned by society, and relinquished to perpetual imprisonment, and a slavery, which, though honourable, cuts them off from most things which men hold dear. In Liverpool, as might be expected, American sailors are often impressed, but they usually get clear if they have protections, which are here more regarded than at sea. The press gangs have a rendezvous on shore, to which they bring their victims, as fast as they find them; they have no secrecy about the matter, for the place is rendered conspicuous by a large naval flag hung out at a window. One would suppose that popular vengeance would be excited by this triumphant display of the effrontery of power trampling on personal liberty, but, I believe the |