Young Americans Abroad | Page 7

is placing a fourth crown on his
sword. Ever since I read Southey's Life of Nelson, I have felt an
interest in every thing relating to this great; yet imperfect man. You
know that illustrated work on Nelson that we have so often looked at it
contains a large engraving of this monument. As Yankee boys, we
found our way to the top of the Exchange, to look at the cotton
sales-room. This same room has more to do with our good friends at
the south than any other in the world. The atmosphere would have been
chilly to a Georgian planter, as cotton was down--down.
The Necropolis is a very spacious burying-place, open to all classes,
and where persons can be interred with the use of any form desired.
The gateway is of stone, and not unlike the granite one at Mount
Auburn; and on one side is a chapel, and on the other a house for the
register. Not far from this we came to the Zoölogical Gardens, kept in
excellent order, and where is a good collection of animals, birds, &c.
The Collegiate Institution is an imposing structure in the Tudor style.
St. George's Church, which stands at the head of Lord Street, occupies
the position of the old castle, destroyed, I believe, more than one

hundred and fifty years ago, and is a very graceful termination to one of
the best business avenues of the city. Several of the churches and
chapels are in good style. But one of the best buildings is--as it should
be, in a city like this--the Sailor's Home, not far from the Custom
House. This is a highly-ornamented house, and would adorn any city of
the world.
The Custom House is thought to be one of the finest buildings in the
kingdom. It occupied ten years in its erection. It is composed of three
façades, from a rusticated pavement, each having a splendid portico of
eight Ionic columns. The whole is surmounted by a dome, one hundred
and thirty feet high, and the effect of the building is excellent. The
glory of Liverpool is her docks, and a stranger is sure to be pointed to
the great landing stage, an immense floating pier, which was moored
into its present position on the 1st of June, 1847. This stage is five
hundred and seven feet long, and over eighty feet wide. This mass of
timber floats upon pontoons, which have to support more than two
thousand tons. At each end is a light barge.
In the Clarence dock are to be found the Irish and coasting steamers,
and to the north are the Trafalgar, Victoria, and Waterloo docks; the
Prince's dock, and the Great Prince's dock basin. On the outside of all
these is a fine parade, of about one half a mile, and which affords one
of the most beautiful marine promenades in the world, and gives an
interesting view of the Cheshire shore, opposite the city. The Prince's
dock is five hundred yards long, and one hundred broad. Vessels, on
arriving, discharge on the east side, and take in cargo on the west.
Besides all these there is the Brunswick dock, Queen's dock, Duke's
dock, Salthouse dock, &c.
The Royal Liverpool Institution is a great benefit to the inhabitants. It
has a good library, fine collections of paintings, and a good museum of
natural history. Many of these paintings belong to the early masters,
and date even before the fifteenth century. We were interested to find
here a complete set of casts of the Elgin marbles. The originals were
the decorations of the Parthenon at Athens, and are now in the British
Museum. As we shall spend some time in that collection, I say no more

at present about these wonderful monuments of genius. The Athenæum
and the Lyceum are both fine buildings, and each has a good library,
lecture, and news rooms.
We were disappointed at finding the Rev. Dr. Raffles, the most
eloquent preacher of the city, out of town. He was the successor of
Spencer, who was drowned bathing in the Mersey, and his Life by
Raffles is one of deep interest. The great historical name of Liverpool is
William Roscoe, the author of the Lives of Leo X. and the Medici. I
must not omit to tell you that, during our stay, the town was all alive
with a regiment of lancers, just arrived from Ireland, on their way to
London. They are indeed fine-looking fellows, and are mounted on
capital horses. I have watched their evolutions in front of the Adelphi
with much pleasure, and have been amused to notice a collection of the
most wretched-looking boys I ever saw, brought together by the troops.
There seems to me more pauperism this week, in Liverpool, than I