mense inclosure or basin, formed by a heavy wall of stone. It is 1500 feet in length, and several hundred large vessels can float in it, at once,

Liverpool is about two thirds as large as New York. It is a great market for cotton, a large part of that which is used in Manchester, and other manufacturing towns being received at this place.

I had been at Liverpool before, and therefore did not remain there long. I visited the exchange, which is a very fine building, and there I saw, spread out upon a long table, the dinner service used by the mayor and aldermen of the city, at their feasts. It consisted of various silver dishes, richly wrought, and some of them lined with gold.

I went to see the cemetery, or burial ground, which is on a hill at the back of the town. It covers a little bending valley, and is charmingly laid out with many winding walks. It is a quiet and beautiful spot, and seemed a pleasant resting place for those who have done with the cares of life.

I went also to see the blind asylum, for I love all those institutions where the unfortunate are made happy. It reminded me of our blind asylum in Bos

ton. The inmates had a look of content, and a little girl told me that she thought it better to be blind and live happily in the asylum, than to have eyesight, and be obliged to go forth amid the noise and bustle of the streets. On the whole, the Liverpool asylum seemed well conducted, but I did not see there any of those curious books and maps which Dr. Howe has contrived for the pupils of Boston asylum, and which they learn to read by tracing out raised lines and letters with their fingers.

From Liverpool I went to Manchester upon the railroad, a distance of 36 miles. This is a large city, filled with manufacturing establishments, which look almost like palaces. They are lighted up at night, and they are so numerous, that at such a time the city seems illuminated.

The cotton which is raised in the southern states is here manufactured into ginghams, calicoes, shirtings, sheetings, and various other fabrics. I suppose several millions of yards are made every day.

From Manchester, I went to Birmingham, a distance of about 80 miles. Of this, I shall tell you in the next chapter.

CHAPTER V.

Parley's tales about Birmingham and its Manufactories.

BIRMINGHAM is called the Toy Shop of Europe, so many fancy articles are made there. It is also famous for hardware, locks, hinges, shovels, tongs, buttons, and brass work, as well as japanned wares. I went through many of the manufactories. The lock on that door, the drawer nobs on that table, and the set of fire irons yonder were all make at Birmingham. The place was once well known for the buckles of all kinds that were made there, but when shoe strings came into fashion, the buckle trade was hardly worth attending to.

Birmingham has also an extensive trade in fire arms, and in time of war the demand is so great, that upon one occasion the gunsmiths of Birmingham delivered to government fourteen thousand muskets in a single weeks. Bilboa sword blades used to be much talked of, but I suppose they make blades now quite as good at Birmingham. I went to see them make

swords; the method of trying whether they are well tempered is very curious. A man lays hold of a sword and strikes the edge of it with all his might across a strong iron bar; he then strikes the blade flatways on an iron anvil; the sword is, in some cases, bent until the point of it touches the hilt; if the sword will bear this trial, it is supposed to be able to endure all that it will ever be called upon to perform. I went also to see the making of guns; the welding, the boring, and the grinding of the barrels; the forging, the filing, and fitting together of the locks; and the shaping and beautifying of the stocks. Perhaps you never heard how they prove the gun barrels, to prevent accidents afterwards. I will tell you. They lay down a great number of them on a frame, a little distance from each other, inside a building. Every barrel has a ball and a larger charge of powder and wadding put into it, than it is ever likely to be loaded with again. A train of gunpowder is laid all along the touch-holes, and when this is done, every man goes out of the building, and shuts the door. A red hot iron is then thrust through a hole in the wall, and off go the barrels in a roll like thunder. Ali that are

heads of

He was

good are found whole, but all that are bad are burst in one part or another. Sometimes a good gun sells very high, but the price at which swords have been sold, especially in the East Indies, would astonish you. I will tell you what some have sold for. A sword with a straight blade, that had cut off the several buffaloes, belonged to a great man. offered ten thousand pounds for it, but he would not take it! Sir Gore Ousely says that another great man, who was the Nawaub of Oude, gave twenty-four thousand pounds for a scimetar. If I had the best sword in the world, I should be glad to sell it for one tenth part of the money.

I went to see Soho, which is very near Birmingham. It is a very large manufactory, and looks like a little town of itself. Captital steam engines are made there, as well as medals, buttons, and a hundred other articles. I saw every thing belonging to the place. While at Birmingham I met an old friend, who would nave me go with him for a short time to Herefordshire; off we set, and I had no reason to repent my journey. You shall hear my story of it.