The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-28 00:00:00

LIFE IN LIVERPOOL.

--onciated in 'one 'word, one
' "^lings may

haw thaily him mkt,'
riariie .HOW iiiatny Seeffek thBilßilbh !mirk
it conjure Up write the Wisid &01/' and *
migiitX enirioriiirrisf Conithereial wealth apPearS to' the
mental vision. The curtain rises displaying a Modern
Tyke of Cfitiidg6, with the ihrest.riieioantila marine in
the world, beside Which that of the fbrioWned traders of
other days would be as a rivulet to
.the Amatort the
hbrook Kedron to the Mersey. In its exchange the
spirit of enterprise reigns tririmphant. Its great houses
spread their Conrieding links to the four quarters of the
globe, and unite iii bonds df rigitnal interest and *end-
ence the family of nations. Here the.ddifeated German,
away from beloved fatherland, finds scope for that per-
severing ability which reared up Hamburg, the com-
mercial metropolis of the continent. Here the French-
man may fitly display that versatility. of genius, clever-
ness, cofrettetesa, and precision which characterise his
happy and animated race. t ere the Spaniard has his
interest in shipments more varied and valuable than the
renowned galleons bore from Peru and the, Brazils,
evoking in those times from British.Forbishers, Drakes,
and Ansons, that succinct summary and practical
carrying out of international law—
" Let him take who has the power,
, . And let Min keep 4ho
Froni north or sonar, east Or west, all find a welcome in
old inOnd. .41 mingle here in' one , common
brotherhA, and Eel irioie secure troni nritional pre-
judice, more free to give expreSsiOtt ie ttfe f bvitns'enti-
PlO4 and opinions, than in any other land under the
sun. TO wander by the swift flowing Mersey, and con-
template its gigantic warehouses, containing at present,
atriongst other merchandise, not less than .one million
three hundred tirOitSriiid biles of slaVe-grown cotton—
to obserVe the continual stir on itg Wt4tei's; and nate the
various craft, from the lordly vessel of five ihorisand
tons, to the puny shallop skimming the waves like a
sea-bird, whilst the splendid St. George, with its hun-
dred guns, swings at ancher;—a powerful and watchful
protector of the fold—to view the ferry steamers darting
froM shore to shore, always thronged, and never more
so than on Sunday, when hardworking denizens of
Liverpool pass to the dells and glades of beautiful
liasthatn, to the gardens of Rock Ferry, the great park
of Biriteribead; the terraces of F;gremonti or the ram-
parts of Ibiglrtmiali this foirirs a picttire which
must rouse attentiori in the dullest, and haie-ri widening
and expanding influence on the minds of thO least
reflecting.
A Dundee arithor, fond of sparkling antithesis, *hose
works possess many charms, and whose frankness and
honesty as a writer, public speaker, and preacher, corn-
rand respect, has styled Liverpool " a great shrine to
the worship of Mamtori." •I cannot see the force of
this comparison. 'On the contrary, I consider the rile-
chant -princes of Liverpool among the most generous
and liberal minded of our public men. In no town are
there more institutions for the aged amd afflicted, the
destitrito old and young than here, and these are sup-
Ostentation, or parade, or effort, as
burthens naturally faftirig ripen the Tealthy and influen-

tial. If an act of heroism or gallantry, ag-tt the sad
destruCtion of the Sailors' Home, is performed, it Meets
at once from the Merchants on 'Change with due reward;
and one has only to ramble through the delightful
Botanical Gardens, or pause before the splended bnilding
tattled b ltr. William Brown as a Free Library, or
contemplate the ainitectual beauty and magnificent
decoratiOnsUf St. George's gall, to feel that Mt' i;;;lg.7.
men are solicitous for the general well-being and inno-
cent and healthful recreation of the masses.

I turn, however, from the bright to the dark side of
Livekpoel life. There is something most distressing
and deploratie—usomethilig which sternly recalls the
frailty and giddiness of hrithriti ifitifte iri the chronicles
of crime teeming in our newspaper. press and rising like
a pall over our courts of justice and judgment. The
Liverpool Assiies are drawing to a close, and a calendar
of murders, poisonings, turglaxies, and garottings- has
been nteseitted to the public. it is ever the same, not
seeming to become better, but rather worse, the weeds
being struck down as they prominently fiSe, but the
soil being more and more contaminated, with their
spreading and deepening roots. We vaunt our modern
civilisation and parade 'our desire fcr the repression of
outrage and wrong in other lands ; we send forth
Fionaries, devoted it may be, but often narrow-minded and
igrioratit men ; *ri attetript to grapple with superstitions
and beliefs which, far more than Christianity in Great
Britain, are from the cradle to the graie impregnated and
entwined in. the existence of these peoples, and Out
effOrts are crushed and mocked in an Indian rebellion,
-meeting a recompense of utter hate and abhorrence.
With nations as with individuals, it is cheering and
comfortable to entertain notions of comparative purity,
and by the impotent establishment of :African coast
stptadrolis, and otherwise make a blazing announcement
of the national goodness. The plague spots at home
toa may Ond theth. on the famed Glasgow
Green and i>i the alleys off the Saltmarket; you will
find them in the venerable Canotigate of Edinburgh ;
aye, and in the thergate and Bcoriringturn of Dundee ;

but the het,* 1,0 Cv..,tvd tlitau prti,th,
compared with the moral darkness and depravity which
reign in many parts of Liverpool. Eight hundred
policemen in this great emporium of commerce strive to
maintain order, strive to repress and curb the outbursts
of those who live solely by rapine and crime. Strange
it is to tell, but yet most true, that there are districts and
lOcalities id this town which it is unsafe to enter in the

blaze of noonday, and certain danger at night. These are
the habitues of the bludgeon men, the daers and vagabonds
of all sorts, who work not but want not. In these
quarters, at the entrances to courts of peculiar and diffi-
cult access, the spirit vault, the low cook-shop, and old
clothe-sman's receptacle, present the only appearance of
legitimate employment. bloated and brutal Men, and
members of the other sex in whom not a vestige of

shame remains, but whose features are stamped with a
hardened and defiant iniquity, lounge at corners or call
for a gallon of beer at their friend the publican's, and

over it become more brutal and bleated still. Leagued
in iniquity, {ll6' seldom want the means to gratify their
appetites for the plunder of one is a genet-al gain, and
many an unlucky tar—seamen are their chief prey—has
had cause to deplore his enticement to these villainous
haunts. In the throng of seafaring men of all countries,
arriving after long cruises, is to be sought the explana_
tion of much of the vice of Liverpool ; but be that as it
may, there is nought of London depravity and London
scenes of systematic vice, pourtrayed by Dickens and
others, which hate not their counterpart here.
I am Writing of those who live by ruffianism and
plunder—not of the much talked of social evil as such.
After eight o'clock at night he would be a blind man
who, walking along our principal thoroughfaresoubte. Lord
Street, Church Street, and Bold Street, dd its
existence. Many a young man, unaccustomed to the
solitude of lodgings, and freed from restraint, falls a
victim before the gilded shrines here raised. If the
wane of the dwellings of infamous Habana Street, every
habitation of ode character, mild give up the records of
the past, if they could proclaim the multitudes who, at
the altars of false pleasure, have quenched every good
aspiration, every care for the present and regard for the
future, the sad story, compared to the calendar of an
Assize, would be as a volume beside a word.
A stranger reaching Liverpool by the Lime-street
Station at midnight, acid walking along in that quarter,
will be astonished at the number of showy supper-rooms
and restaurants invitingly open, presenting an animated
scene of festivity and mirth. Should he be a shrewd
man, he will question whether midnight meetings in
churches and theatres, and appeals there made, will
have any effect with these showily-dressed, pampered,
lost creatures. There are causes in the artificial state of
society leading to these results, which do not seem on
the decrease; and with the cause is involved the continu-
ance of the effect. To attack Cho ecoolt, ;s to otra.o
baneful flower, whose roots perm,eate through society.
These meeting and efforts may secure unfortunates who
are perishing for want of food, hut the voice of the prea-
cher 16 not heard in sumptuously-furnished abodes, where
music, feasting, and song, are the order of the night.
Statements to the contrary may serve to delude
where a right knowledge of our large towns does not
exist, but these midnight meetings never so much as
touched or reached, far leSs mitigated, the talked-of
evil. They served but as the medium of obtaining food
and shelter for those who knew not how to apply
for parochial aid, or who, applying, would have been
repelled and neglected. In our large towns the
unmarried state among a certain class of young men,
who, upon limited incomes, can, to use the customary
phraseology, live and dress as gentlemen, is upon the
increase ; and their feeling, however favourable to mar-
riage in the abstract, is against it in their own case,
which is that of Legion, because it would be too expen-
sive. Theirs are prudential considerations, backed up
by the wisdom of the worldly, and arising out of an
artificial state of society, whose dictates are as influential
with the other sex as with theirs—perhaps more so.—
'Correspondent of Dundee Advertiser)

LIVERPOOL DISPENSARIES.—New cases received
advice and medicine at the institution : North, 260;
South, 139 ; total, 399. New cases visited at their own
houses and supplied with medicine : North, 66 ; South,
51 ; total, 117. Rev. Rector Campbell, A.M., Pre-
sident ; Major Bourne, Vice-President of North
Dispensary; Mr. R. A. Payne, Vice-President of South
Dispensary ; Mr. Francis Mill, Treasurer ; Mr. F. H.
Langley, Secretary.
Tun. VIRTUE OF Vows.—An Indian, after hearing a
Protestant preach on the text, " Make VOWS to Heaven,
and keep them," went up to the preacher, after the
sermon, and said : " I have made a vow to go to your
house." A little surprised, the minister answered :
"Well, keep your vow." On arriving at the house, the
Indian said : " I have made a vow to sup with you."
This was also granted ; but when, after supper, the
Indian added, "I have made a vow to sleep in your
house," fearing there would be no end to the vows of
his attentive auditor, the preacher replied, "It is easy
to do so, but I have made Et vow that you shall leave
to-morrow morning ;" to which the Indian consented
without hesitation.—Abbe Domenech,