(Earl of Derby ;) Croxteth Park (Earl of Sefton ;), Ince Blundell, the seat of the Blundell family; Childwall Abbey (Marquis of Salisbury;) Speke Hall (Mr. Watt;) Hale Hall (Mr. Blackburne ;) Woolton Hall, &c.

"At Everton is the cottage where Prince Rupert established his head quarters when he besieged the town in 1644."-Black's Tourist of England, pp. 194, 195.

The literary and charitable institutions of Liverpool are ample and well endowed. It contains thirty-six churches belonging to the Establishment; besides which, there are eight belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists, seven to the Baptists, seven to the Welsh dissenters, six to the Scotch Kirk and dissenters, three to the Unitarians, five to the Independents, five to the Roman Catholics, three to the New Connection Methodists, one to the Society of Friends, and three to other dissenters.

The condition of the poor in Liverpool is said to be decidedly bad. The proximity of this port to Ireland brings into it multitudes from Dublin, who are often left in circumstances of extreme want. A large proportion of these persons are miserably lodged. There are not less than eight thousand cellars in this city, in which are lodged from thirty-eight to forty thousand, all of which are miserably ventilated, and most of them dark, damp, and filthy. Exclusive of these places, there are said to be twenty-four hundred courts, in which about seventy-two thousand persons are lodged. The filth of these courts is not removed oftener than once a year, though it produces an intolerable stench; and they are seldom free from pestilential diseases.-M'Culloch.

This mass of poverty and wretchedness is not indigenous. It comes from Catholic Ireland, the source of an abundance of the same sort in all our Atlantic cities. While all countries are indebted to Ireland for many useful and thriving laborers, they are at the same time infested with her paupers, and cursed with the moral degradation and corruption which they carry with them wherever they go.

Our course lay from Liverpool to Bristol, through Birmingham. The country nearly the whole way exhibits a high state of cultivation, and is without the appearance of domestic wretchedness. The farm houses are generally small, but neat and comfortable. It was the first of August, and the hay and the greater part of the wheat were housed. A few Irish laborers were seen reaping, but the farmers generally seemed to be employed in preparing their fallow grounds. The grass fields exhibited a freshness scarcely equaled in this country in June. The cattle and sheep were all

fat and plump--not one of Pharaoh's lean kine could be seen. We could easily see why Englishmen are so fond of roast beef and boiled mutton.

From Liverpool to Birmingham we took seats in the first class of cars. A well-fed gentleman, whom we believed to be an Englishman, took a seat by our side. We supposed that we should have no privilege of plying the stranger with questions, for we had learned from travelers that Englishmen are always reserved and cautious. And the reader may judge of our surprise when our fellow-traveler inquired for Dr. Peck. We immediately answered to the name, and asked, "What knowledge have you of me, sir?" "0," responded our friend, smiling, "I never had the happiness of a personal acquaintance with you, sir, but I saw your name upon your trunk, and being an American, I felt as though I had met an old acquaintance." The spell was broken-our fellow-traveler was the captain of a packet from Philadelphia, and a highly intelligent gentleman, well acquainted with the localities which were constantly coming under our observation. So the society of our

new acquaintance was to us as profitable as it was agreeable. Birmingham is the principal hardware manufacturing town in England. In 1839 it contained one hundred and ninety thousand inhabitants. Like all the manufacturing towns in England, it presents a dingy appearance, and the most prominent objects are the high chimneys, and the vast clouds of black smoke which they vomit forth. There are in this city, in addition to the immense manufacturing establishments, many objects of interest,-such as churches, schools, hospitals, libraries, &c., which, as we could not take time to examine, we will not attempt to describe. In taking a run through the city, an ingenious blind beggar attracted our attention. He had a small dog with a strap about his neck, the end of which he held in his hand, while the sagacious little animal held in his mouth a tin kettle of the capacity, perhaps, of a gill, into which those who were disposed cast their alms. The poor man was piteously crying out, "He crowneth the year with plenty, he filleth your barns with good things," &c. Beggars in Europe often seem to be such by profession; and they certainly carry the art to a high state of perfection. They sing a song, repeat poetry, deliver a rhapsody, quote Scripture, or perform some odd prank, or call to their help some tractable animal for the purpose, first, of exciting attention, and then moving sympathy.

Birmingham has been somewhat celebrated for riots. In 1791 a riot arose from a festival in commemoration of the French revolution, in which the library of the celebrated Dr. Priestley was

destroyed. This eminent philosopher and heterodox divine emigrated to America and settled in Northumberland, Pa., where his sepulchre remains to this day; and, if his epitaph tells the truth, he there "sleeps until the morning of the resurrection." In later times there have been great disturbances among the operatives, some idea of which may be formed by reading Dr. Durbin's "Observations."

The only really pretty things we saw in this town-for we did not go into the toy manufactories-were the vegetable gardens on the outskirts of the town, which are leased and cultivated by the better sort of persons engaged in the manufactories. They consist in parcels of ground of a few rods square inclosed by hedges, with every nook and corner of them filled with esculents, which appeared to be well cultivated, and were beautifully fresh and flourishing. In the corner of each of these gardens is a little brick building of perhaps six feet square, where the garden implements are kept. These garden plots not only furnish the operatives who lease them with vegetables, but afford them means of interesting and healthy exercise.

From Birmingham to Bristol we took seats in the second class of cars. The company was decent and respectable. We found many who conversed freely, and asked a multitude of questions about America. All sorts of matters were discussed, from the genius of our republican institutions down to the right way of making a corn-cake. The last item here mentioned may seem ludicrous to an American reader. But we found everywhere in the United Kingdom much inquiry with regard to the use of cornmeal. The general opinion seemed to be that it made a most wretched species of bread, scarcely fit for horses. We told them what was the plain truth, that the whole difficulty was in the cookery that our American women could make most delicious and nutritious food of Indian corn-meal in twenty different ways. To this we often saw indications of strong doubts.

At Bristol we took lodgings at "The Full Moon," a small, but rather comfortable, hotel. Arriving on Saturday evening, Aug. 1, we paid our respects to Dr. Newton, and found him very kind and cordial. He assured us that in due time we should be introduced to the conference; but advised us that such were the circumstances of that particular period of the conference, that there might be some little delay in the matter.

On the sabbath we had the happiness to hear four sermons. At 7 A. M. we listened to Mr. Rule, late missionary to Gibraltar. He is a short, dark-complexioned man, not remarkably fluent or ani

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mated in manner. But he preached an instructive sermon, and one which could not fail to make a good impression. In the mean time we should not forget to mention the fact that when we reached the chapel, as it was not quite time for the commencement of the service, a prayer-meeting was in progress in the vestry. We listened to one prayer for several minutes with great delight. It was appropriate, copious, and fervent, and was responded to by many hearty amens, which altogether made us think of most blessed scenes we had witnessed at home, and left upon our mind a sweet conviction that the God of Wesley and Fletcher was still with the parent branch of the great Wesleyan family.

At 10 o'clock we heard Mr. Atherton, the president of the conference. This gentleman is between sixty and seventy years of age, hair white, and face wrinkled, of full habit, inclining to corpulency. He stands erect in the pulpit, and speaks with ease and fluency. The sermon was characterized by perspicuity of style and exactness of expression. If the preacher had exhibited anything like an effort to recollect himself, we should have supposed that the whole discourse had been written and carefully committed to memory. His positions were clearly stated and well sustained, and, as a whole, the sermon was a capital specimen of evangelical preaching. His manner was dignified, and the better sort of his hearers must have gone away to think, to pray, and to resolve upon a closer adhesion to the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity.

The whole service occupied more than two hours. Dr. Newton read the church service. A long hymn was then read by the president, all of which was read and sung at intervals, two lines at a time. Then followed a copious prayer, the whole of which seemed to proceed upon the supposition that, after reading prayers in relation to all possible cases and contingencies, it was then necessary to pray over the same things in such language as spontaneously arose. We observed the same thing whenever we heard the church service performed in the Methodist chapels; after reading the long prayers out of the book, the preacher goes directly to God, with a prayer indited by the Spirit, and coming from a full heart. Though this makes the service, to an American Methodist, tedious, it still shows, what was to us a very interesting fact, that the Wesleyan ministry in Great Britain are not likely to exchange the spirituality of worship for the mere form. Though we could very well have dispensed with the reading, we should not have been willing to spare the praying. When the Methodists shall cease to be, as our fathers were, "mighty in prayer," we hope God will grant us another revival of pure primitive Christianity.

At three, P. M., we listened to a discourse on the subject of "Christian joy," from the Rev. Mr. Roland, in "Mr. Wesley's chapel." Of the chapel we shall speak hereafter, only noting, at present, that it was the first chapel which Mr. Wesley built in England, and is consequently a most interesting relic of olden times. The sermon was well studied. The style was chaste, the argument clear, and the thought and illustrations often elevated. Though the congregation was a medley, and was small, the preacher seemed to lay himself out to make a deep and permanent impression, and if we could judge from the state of our own feelings, he succeeded in his object. Mr. R. is a small man, of about fifty-five, considerably marked from small-pox, of some originality, and considerable fire in the region of his sensibilities, though of a kind and unobtrusive spirit.

At night we traveled nearly across the town to hear the celebrated Dr. Beaumont. The large chapel was filled to suffocation. We, through the kindness of a friend, secured a seat in front of the pulpit, where, though we could hear very well, we could not see the speaker without assuming an unnatural and painful position. But, notwithstanding this, we caught many a glimpse of the orator when in his highest flights. Dr. B. is an extraordinary man-a man of genius and of a most brilliant imagination. There is about his discourses--proceeding upon the supposition that the one we heard was a fair specimen-a luxuriance of imagery which not only approaches, but actually reaches, the extravagant. His figures, his language, his gestures, are marked, strong, often violent. A stranger, however much he may be delighted with the corruscations of Dr. B.'s genius, and the power of his eloquence, is nevertheless painfully affected with his laborious utterance, violent jestures, and bodily contortions. His voice is sometimes high and sometimes low; his enunciation sometimes excessively rapid, and at others drawling. But the greatest fault in his elocution is the painful extent to which he prolongs some of his sentences, and hangs upon the last word. This is carried to such an extent in some instances, that he seems to have pumped from his lungs the last particle of air, and occasioned a collapse of the vital organs from which they will never recover. His countenance is flushed and distorted, and you have time to ask yourself, Will he ever breathe again? When, all at once, he raises himself up, draws in a long breath, shakes his head back and forth most violently, and then sets off upon another excursion.

The above were our reflections upon the first hearing we gave Dr. B. Upon subsequent information that some of the defects of