its cabinet ware, which employs a large number in its manufacture. This town is rising in importance as a railway centre.

BIRMINGHAM, the chief town in the kingdom engaged in metallic manufactures, is situated in Warwickshire, at the distance of 109 miles from London. The lower part of the town consists chiefly of old buildings, is crowded with workshops and warehouses, and is inhabited principally by manufacturers; but the upper part has a superior appearance, consisting of new and regular streets, and containing a number of elegant buildings. Among the public buildings the town-hall calls for particular notice, being a magnificent structure of the Corinthian order, in the proportions of the temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome. The population of Birmingham in 1841 was 182,922, being all, except a small fraction, engaged in trade and manufactures.

Among the principal manufactures are buttons, in immense variety, buckles, cloak-pins, and snuff-boxes; toys, trinkets, and jewellery: polished steel watch-chains, corkscrews, &c.; plated goods for the dining and teatable, now in the way of being superseded by similar goods of mixed metal; japanned and enamelled articles: brass work of every description; swords and fire-arms; medals and coins of various kinds; copying machines and pneumatic apparatus; grates, fire-irons, gas-light burners, nails, and steelpens. Besides almost every metallic article which can be considered as curious, useful or ornamental, cut crystal is produced to a large extent, while certain branches of the cotton trade connected with hardware, as the making of the cloth for umbrellas, braces, girths, &c., have also fixed themselves here, in order to facilitate the preparation of those articles.

The operations of the Birmingham manufactures are carried on chiefly by means of founderies, rolling-mills, die-stamping machines, and turninglathes. From the founderies proceed all heavy iron goods, and even a considerable quantity of small wares, though the work required in trimming these articles after they leave the sand causes a constant tendency towards the use of the die-stamp in preference. By the latter machine, not only are buttons and other small articles produced, but likewise complicated decorative articles of many various kinds, to which it might be supposed that the process was inapplicable. The rolling-mill is a ponderous engine, for pressing out ingots of metal into sheets of requisite thinness. The lathe, a conspicuous machine in the workshops of Birmingham, is used for the preparation of articles of correctly circular, and also of oval form. It is usually driven by steam; and in many instances this power is not generated in the premises of those who use it, but is obtained for a rent from some engine kept by a different individual in the neighborhood.

To give an idea of the extent of some branches of trade, and the activity of some kinds of machinery at Birmingham, it may be stated that, at the pin-works, some years ago, 50,000 pins could be made from the wire, in an hour; that there is a coining-mill which produces between thirty and forty thousand pieces of coin in the same time; and that, from 1805 to 1818, 5,000,000 stands of arms were made for public and private service. The making of steel-pens, which, before 1821, was scarcely known, is now a great manufacture. Probably not less than 5,000,000 are made annually. The article was originally sold at the rate of one shilling each pen; and now, from improvements and facilities in the manufacture, 144 are sold at the same money.

SHEFFIELD, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, ranks only second to Birmingham as a seat of metallic manufactures. It is a town of above 130,000

inhabitants, great part of whom are engaged in the business for which Sheffield is remarkable. The situation of the town, upon a swelling piece of ground near the confluence of the Sheaf and Don, gives it health and cleanliness, but only the newer streets and suburban villas are neat, and the town is constantly involved in the smoke arising from the manufactories. A music hall, post-office, and medical hall, together with a building called the cutlers' hall, in which the members of that trade meet for an annual banquet, are the chief public buildings boasting of any elegance of exterior.

Sheffield was famous in the middle ages for producing knives and arrow heads. From such small beginnings, it advanced in the course of ages to its present distinction. An immense quantity of knives, scissors, implements of husbandry, and surgical and mathematical instruments, is now made in it. The manufacture of plate, and of goods in imitation of it, as also of carpenters' tools, printing types, hair-cloth, and many other articles, is carried on to an immense extent. The manufactures of Sheffield have the peculiarity of being chiefly in the hands of men of moderate capital and limited business, thongh there are also a few houses which engross a vast quantity of the principal trade. The establishments for the grinding and polishing of cutlery are among the most striking objects of curiosity to a stranger; and the show-room of the Messrs. Rogers, cutlers to the Royal Family, is a splendid museum, where all the local manufactures may be seen, of the best quality, and in the finest order.

COVENTRY, an ancient city in Warwickshire, 91 miles from London, is a great seat of the manufacture of ribbons, and also of watches. Some other manufactures, carried on to a great extent in the last century, including gauzes and calimancoes, have declined, leaving these alone flourishing.

Coventry is an ancient town of note, and contains, besides some good modern public buildings, an old church of remarkable beauty as a specimen of Gothic architecture, and a very curious old hall (St. Mary's Hall,) used for festive purposes, having a grotesquely carved oak roof, and a piece of tapestry, wrought in 1450, measuring 30 feet by 10, and containing 80 figures. The town was remarkable in early ages for the performance of the grotesque religious dramas called Mysteries, and for the shows and pageants which took place in celebration of the visits of royal personages. One pageant of an extraordinary character has been performed annually ever since the reign of Charles II. It is designed to commemorate a real or imaginary incident, which is thus related: Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who possessed the property of the tolls and services of Coventry, exacted his dues so rigidly, that the inhabitants were greatly aggrieved, and at length Godiva, his pious wife, became their advocate. The earl, wearied by her solicitations, promised to grant her request, if she would ride naked through the town at mid-day. His terms, according to the legend, were accepted, and the countess rode through the town with no covering but her flowing tresses. It is added, that she had modestly commanded every person to keep within doors and away from the windows, on pain of death, but that one person could not forbear taking a glance, and lost his life for his curiosity. The procession commemorative of the occurrence includes the whole of the officials of the corporation, besides a female of easy purchase, who rides in a dress of linen closely fitted to her limbs and colored like them. The curious person who stole the glance is called Peeping Tom, and a wooden image of him is to be seen on a house in the city.

DERBY, the capital of Derbyshire, is an ancient but now considerably modernized town, situated on a pleasant slope and irregular ground, on the

south side of the vale of the Derwent, a river tributary to the Trent, pursuing a winding course through the county, and of great value in moving millmachinery. Derby is the centre of one of the most productive and industrious districts in England, particularly as respects the manufacture of iron and other minerals. In the town and its neighborhood there are large manufactories of lace, galloons, broad silks, silk hosiery, china, marble, jewellery, &c.; several extensive mills and manufactories have been built within these few years, and the machinery is equal to that of any other part of the kingdom. The town is irregularly built, and excepting some new erections in the corn-market, an infirmary, and an old church, with an elegant and conspicuous tower, it owns no public building worthy of remark. Though placed in the midst of a stone district, the houses are as usual built of brick. Within these two years, Derby has come prominently into notice, by being on the line of the extended series of railways from Durham and Yorkshire to London, and the station here is of magnificent proportions; the distance from London, 126 miles, is performed by railway in about seven hours. In 1840, the town received from Mr. Joseph Strutt the munificent gift of a pleasure-ground, eleven acres in extent, and called by him the Arboretum. It is replenished with walks, seats, and every way fitted up for promenading and recreation; it is opened freely two days in the week to all classes, and on other days is accessible on payment of a small fee.

CARLISLE, which in early times was distinguished as a bulwark against the invasions of the Scottish armies, and as a cathedral city, has latterly acquired some note as a seat of manufactures, particularly in the department of cotton-spinning, calico-printing, and the weaving of ginghams, &c. The establishment of railway communications has within the last few years added to its commercial prosperity.

LIVERPOOL, next to London, is the greatest port in the empire. It is situated in Lancashire, on the east bank of the estuary of the Mersey, at the distance of 36 miles from Manchester, and 204 from London. The town extends for about three miles along the Mersey, and rather more than one mile inland, the situation enjoying a slight slope towards the river. On the side next the country, the town extends into numerous suburban dis. tricts, comprehending many villas, the residences of the more wealthy citizens. Liverpool, in 1841, contained 286,487 inhabitants; but, inclusive of the immediate environs, and the persons engaged in navigation, the whole number is believed to be not less than 300,000. Its rise has been surprisingly rapid. In the reign of Elizabeth, it was only a small village: in 1700, there were about 5,000 inhabitants; in 1760, 26,000; and in 1801, 77,653.

Liverpool is the grand medium through which the trade of England with Ireland and America is carried on; and a vast quantity of business is transacted by its merchants with the ports of the Mediterranean, East Indies and other parts of the world. The leading article of import is the cotton so extensively used in the manufactories of Lancashire. The rural produce of Ireland, cattle, bacon, poultry, eggs, &c., forms the import next in amount. The duties paid at the custom-house of Liverpool, average about a fifth of those paid throughout the whole kingdom. About 10,000 vessels, of all kinds, averaging about 200 tons each, visit the port annually. Liverpool is the great outlet for the goods manufactured in Lancashire and Yorkshire for sale in America. It is stated that one mercantile house in the American trade, has in one year shipped and received goods to the amount of a

million sterling. In connection with the commerce carried on with the United States, there is a large transit of passengers. This is carried on by means of a periodical series of well-appointed and quick-sailing vessels, usually termed "liners;" but for ten years past, it has been conducted also by means of steam-vessels. There are also steam-vessels conveying passengers, daily, to and from Dublin, Glasgow, and several Welsh ports, and only a little less frequently to other Irish harbors, and to several ports in the south-western division of England.

The town, thus so extensively concerned in that commerce from which England derives its chief glory, presents many external features not unworthy of its mercantile character. Of these the chief is the docks, a magnificent series of deep-water harbors, extending along the whole front of the town. They are 12 or 13 in number, with an aggregate superfices of 30 acres, and eight miles of quays! In the year ending June 24, 1840, the dues paid by vessels entering and leaving them was £197,477 18s. 6d. The sight of these docks, bristling with numberless masts, and a scene of constant bustle, from loading and unloading, fills a stranger with astonish

ment.

The town contains several handsome streets, the chief being Castle-street and Dale-street. The Town-Hall and Exchange buildings form an elegant and impressive assemblage of objects, having a bronze group in the intermediate court, commemorative of the death of Lord Nelson. The CustomHouse is, as might be expected, a conspicuous edifice, but in a heavy style of architecture. The other public buildings-the Corn-Exchange, Lyceum, Athenæum, Wellington Rooms, Infirmary, &c., are goodly structures. There are upwards of thirty churches belonging to the establishment, many of them of much architectural beauty; a greater number of chapels belonging to various denominations of dissenters; with six Roman Catholic chapels, a meeting-house for Quakers, and a Jews' synagogue. The charitable institutions are numerous and well-conducted. About 3,000 patients are admitted annually into the Infirmary. The Blue-Coat Hospital maintains and educates 200 boys and girls. The school for the blind is on a most extensive scale. Several handsome and spacious theatres, and a circus, are open during a great part of the year. At the Royal Liverpool Institution, public lectures are given; and attached to it is a philosophical apparatus and a museum of natural curiosities. A botanic garden was established in 1801, at an expense of £10,000. There is also a mechanics' institution of unusual extent and elegance, having been erected at an expense of £11,000. It includes schools for the young, as well as for the adolescent; and in the amount of its funds, and variety of the branches of knowledge taught, the establishment may be described as a kind of university for the middle and working classes of Liverpool. Among the remarkable objects connected with the town, the ornamental Cemetery of St. James's, formed out of an old stone quarry, is worthy of particular notice. It contains a statue of Mr. Huskisson, who was interred in it. The Manchester and Liverpool Railway was the first of any extent built in England, and is still considered as one of the best.

BRISTOL, a large sea-port town, is situated partly in the county of Somerset, and partly in that of Gloucester, at the junction of the rivers Avon and Frome, and about ten miles from the junction of the former (which is navigable) with the Bristol Channel. It is one of a few English towns which possess the dubiously-acknowledged privilege of being counties in themselves, and it is also the cathedral city for the diocese of Bristol. Bristol

is an ancient town, and has long enjoyed distinction as a sea-port. Previous to the rise of Liverpool, to which it is now greatly inferior, it was the chief port of the west of England. It still possesses considerable trade, and has further of late years become the seat of some active and thriving manufactures. Sugar, rum, and tea, are the chief foreign imports, while the chief exports are the native manufactures, and cotton, woollen, and linen goods. The chief native manufactures are soap, glass bottles, various metallic wares, drugs, dyes, and soda. It is honorable to Bristol that, as in its ancient days of supereminency as a port, it sent out the first English vessel across the Atlantic, (that of Cabot, which discovered North America,) so, in these days, it was the first to establish a communication by steam with the same continent. This was done in 1838, when the Great Western performed its first voyage. The population of Bristol, in 1841, was 122,296.

Bristol is a well-built town, containing many spacious streets and squares, and extending into several beautiful suburban villages: as Clifton, Kingsdown, and St. Michael's, where the residences of the wealthiest citizens are placed. The city contains many public structures of an interesting character. The cathedral is a fine specimen of the Gothic architecture, and the Church of St. Mary Radcliffe is considered one of the most beautiful in England. The "floating harbor," formed out of the ancient beds of the two rivers, and surrounded by an immense extent of quay, is a most impressive object; the cost of its construction was not much less than £700,000. The Guildhall, Jail, Commercial Rooms, and Institution, (which contains a library, hall for lectures, &c.,) are other public buildings of an elegant appearance. Clifton, being the site of a well-known hot well, contains a suit of baths and pump-rooms.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, an ancient and prosperous seat of commerce, occupies a somewhat incommodious situation on the left or north bank of the Tyne, at the distance of about ten miles from the sea. It is locally in the county of Northumberland, and by means of a bridge across the Tyne is connected with the populous borough of Gatehead, in the county of Durham. It owes the origin of its name to Robert, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, who erected a fortress on the high bluff which here overhangs the river, and gave it the name of Newcastle. For ages the town was surrounded by strong walls, as a protection against invading Scottish armies: these, however, have disappeared, and in modern times the town has spread over the irregular acclivities and upland which border the river. The old fort or castle still exists, also the ancient Gothic Church of St. Nicholas, whose elegant turret is conspicuous at a considerable distance. The main cause of the increasing importance of Newcastle, is its fortunate situation in the midst of the great coal-field of Northumberland and Durham, the produce of which finds a ready outlet by the Tyne. The plentifulness of coal has led to the establishment of numerous manufactures, among which are numbered cast and wrought iron, machinery, lead, glass, chemical productions, pottery, soap, and glue. The older parts of the town near the river exhibit a busy scene of industry; here are crowded together ship and boat-building yards, wharfs for vessels, iron-founderies and machine-manufactories, and all the usual works connected with a great seaport. The streets in this quarter are dirty and smoky, but other parts of the town are of great elegance. Since 1834, by the extraordinary energy and taste of Mr. Richard Grainger, a speculating architect, a large portion of the town has been taken down and rebuilt with handsome stone-houses,