The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-08-31 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

REMINISCENCES OF A TOUR TO ENGLAND.

BY THE REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN.

(Brom Flogg's Weekly Instructor.)

The first spot of English ground on which we touched
was the shore of Liverpool, and in the course of three
weeks' sojourn we managed to see much of it and its
neighbourhood, and to form certain tolerably distinct and
decided impressions about both. Coming from Scotland,
we were, of course, immediately struck with the points of
dissimilarity between Liverpool and our great Scottish
cities. Its vast windmills, carrying on their endless
mimic warfare with the air; its tall black horses, with
long sweeping tails, reminding you of that described by
John, whose rider had " a pair of balances in his hand,"
hurrying hearses along the street ; its funerals, attended
by women as well as men ; its spired churches, so visibly
and so ostentatiously " established ; " its boys, beggars,
raggamuffins, policemen, "and porters—all speaking out
their glee, or wants, or wickedness, or coarse conceptions,
or brutal fun, in English, in an accent and language we.
had been accustomed to associate with gentility and re-
finement—all contributed to throw a strange and foreign
air about the place. The presence, too, of a great empo-
rium was proclaimed perpetually, in its warehouses and
stores, in its gigantic . docks, in its teeming quays, in its
multitudinous vessels, and in the strangers, principally
from America, who crowd its streets, and make it, as even
its inhabitants say, a " half Yankee city." It might move
a Jonah or a Paul to see a city so wholly given to the
worship of Mammon—the "least erected spirit from heaven
that fell," and to whose honour this town is little else
than a mighty shrine, for true, heartfelt, and unwearied
homage.
Liverpool, sooth to say, is little of a literary or intel-
lectual town. Antiquities it has few or none ; it derives
little grandeur from the past, little lustre from the genius
of the present, and the only future to which it distinctly
points is that of multiplied gain, and not of accelerated
spiritual progress. Still, as a hive of busy humanity, as
the link connecting us with that " vast old world beyond
the deep," and as the love and mistress of the hoary At-
lantic, it has around it far from a vulgar glory •, and if
earth, " which proudly wears the parthenon as the best
gem upon her zone," can hardly be called proud, she is
not entirely ashamed of this modern Tyre, this " mart of
nations," and haven of ships. We propose to conduct
our readers to some of the more prominent places we saw,
and then to some of the more remarkable persons whom
we met or heard in or about Liverpool.
We are bound first to say something of the Mechanics'
Institution. This institution is certainly one of the re-
deeming features in the city. It is under excellent
management, and seems in a very flourishing condition.
Its numerous schools are under the care of able teachers
of both sexes. Dr. Hodgson, formerly editor of the _bile
Herald, and well known in Scotland as a lecturer on
phrenology, is the president of the institute. He still
frequently lectures on his favourite topic and others, and,
generally, his energy and zeal are the moving spring of
the establishment. He is ably seconded by Mr. Thomas
Hogg, the secretary, who is also a Scotchman. Lectures
are delivered in the Institution hall twice a-week, during
part of autumn, all winter, and on till the middle of sum-
mer. Of these we saw and heard enough to be satisfied,
in the first place, that they do not to any considerable de-
gree reach the class for which they are professedly de-
signed—they ire attended more by the middle classes than
by mechanics ; and, secondly, to confirm us in an opinion
we expressed long ago, that lecturing, as a source of in-
tellectual advantage, is mightily overrated, and that as a
medium of communication between the higher minds of
the age and the, community, it is worthless, and ought
forthwith to be abandoned by these to the glib declaimers,
the impudent quacks, the needy literateurs, and—save
the mark !—the ladies who are driving in it so brisk and
profitable a trade.
We saw, besides, most of the usual sights of Liverpool.
Nelson's Monument struck us, as it does most people, as
the grossest piece of affectation in stone we had ever seen;
and affectation in sculpture, like affectation in the pulpit,
is particularly offensive. It insults the severe and naked
majesty of the art, and changes that pure and terrible
tool, the chisel, into the toy of an ambitious child. As
fitly almost conceive of the tongue of the lightning be-
coming a flatterer of greatness or the instrument of con-
ceited conception as the point of the chisel ! The Town-
hall is a splendid edifice, and our fancy fired as it conceived
the immense lustre suspended from its ceiling lighted up,
and pouring a richer day upon the guests who are favoured
at times to feast below it. In the Park we had a deli-
cious walk on one of the last evenings of May, and the
cool and silent water, the rich grassy fields, the stripes of
shrubbery and wood, the cheerful faces of the company,
composed a scene from which the red, rayless sun seemed
slowly and reluctantly to retire. Another very pleasant
night was passed 'at the Zoological Gardens.=These,
though not equal, it is said to the gardens in London, in-
terested us much, who had never seen any similar sight
before. We admired the sweet winding walks, did not
inquire too severely into the pretensions of the gaily
dressed throngs of ladies and gentlemen we met, paid due
devoirs to the wolves, bears, lions, leopards, eagles, owls,
&c., which were doing their best for the amusement of
the company, and were particularly struck with the ele-
phant—the largest we have yet seen, and which amazed
us precisely as a Cockney is amazed at the first sight of
a mountain. It seemed some huge dream of nightmare
stalking across the view. We felt disposed to rub our
eyes and then go forward and test by touch its objective
reality, till lo ! the dream began to move and move to-
wards us. and soon its crushing contact might have taught
us that it was no mere vision. And then he looked
like a half-animated mass, made not of the fiery dust,
whence the tiger and lion are taken, but of the dough of
nature ; his eye seemed scarce awake, and his principal
life concentrated in that " serpent between his eyes "
the restless trunk, which moved as if impatient of confine-
ment to such a lumpish frame. We were transported to
the days of Pyrrhus, and could easily figure the Roman
soldier trembling through his mail at the sight of the tall
towered monster, as though an Apennine were in motion.
After asking its keeper if they kept a Pegasus in these
gardens, and being solemnly assured that they did not, we
proceeded to the great show of the night—the fireworks ;
and there certainly we found a very pretty caricature of
Pandemonium, We stood, as it were, in the midst of a
whole world of tickled flame—of laughing gas, and wild
was the mirth of the exploding rockets, the dancing lights,
the showering, shivering sparkles, and fantastic and fairy
forms that seemed self-assumed by the tipsy element ;
and great the glee of the crowd, delighted to see the
object of their terror nodding and doing them courtesies,
and becoming so tame, tractable, and amusing, as to
brighten every eye, set off every fair face, convulse every
chest with laughing wonder, without singeing one hair or
burning one finger. And behind us, meanwhile, the
evening star and Jupiter were shining. Was it in mild
reproach at us for so admiring the aspiring cinders that
were flashing into everlasting darkness all around ? Be
patient, we thought, ye bright tremblers ; shine on in
your courses, and, like great poets momentarily eclipsed
by shallow rhymsters, say "we bide our time," Nor was
that time long to come. The lights speedily paled, the
mimic conflagration burned out, the palace of the king of
France sank like a dream, the last rocket came hissing
down, and then again, not un-noticed even by that frivo-
lous multitude, appeared, in their calm immortality, the
" street lamps of the city of God." And yet the thought
arose, are there not beings who, from their high vantage
ground, see in those stedfast seeming stars only a flight of
larger rockets, and in those heavens burning themselves
out, the true and only general conflagration already be-
gun Pondering this speculation, we returned, pensive
but much pleased, from that evening's entertainment.
On the bright and burning afternoon of a holiday in
the town, in company with a gentleman, to whose un-
ceasing attention and kindness we owed much of the plea-
sure we derived in Liverpool, we sailed up the river to
Eastham. This is a favourite resort of the Liverpoolians
on holidays. We liked the scene for its intensely English
character. There was, close to the shore, an elegant inn ;
all its windows open, and all its rooms crowded with
pleasant parties. Beside it were tea-gardens, looking so
temptingly cool amid the heat of the day, and all flutter-
ing with the gay dresses and lively motions of the citizens.
Behind, through woods, you reached a wide rich common,
commanding an extensive prospect of the interior
,of the
country and of the river, from Liverpool to Runcorn. A.
female school, turned loose on the green to enjoy them-
selves, added a peculiar interest to the scene. A mile or
two inwards lies the village of Eastham. On our way to
it we met numerous donkey parties in high glee, whosemerry shouts of laughter might have made old' Giant
Despair smile, even when his fits were on him. Eastham
we found a very fair specimen of the southern village.
We entered a little house in it, and had a tolerable tea for
not above twice what it was worth. We then leaped the
dyke of the churchyard, and delighted ourselves with peer-
ing into the windows of the church—a plain old edifice—
with examining a large yew-tree literally mouldering be-
fore our eyes, and with studying the march of intellect
and the state of " British Literature " in the epitaphs on
the tombstones.

Another day we drove to the village of Hale, a village
which lies to the east of Liverpool. On our way we
halted at Wavertree, once the abode of Mrs. Hemans.
Having all along had a deep interest in this beautiful
writer, and having so recently written on her merits, we
could not choose but stop and see the spot where she had
• spent two or three years of her life. The house stands at
the west end, somewhat apart from the village, and is
marked and shaded by some large trees. A decent-look-
ing elderly Englishwoman gave us a very cordial recep-
tion. She showed us the room where Mrs. Hemans was
wont to write her poetry. It has now become a snug
kitchen, and, had time and tide permitted, we should
have liked to have verified our conviction that the steaks
now produced in it were quite as good in their way as the
songs had been. The spot is quiet and cool, but hardly
retired enough for the purposes of a poetess. The hoarse
sough of the city is too audible. To this place Mrs. Hu-
mans was allured by her intimacy with the family of
Henry Park, Esq., then resident, at Wavertree. Lodge, and
Mrs. Laurence, of . Wavertree Hall. Here she wrote the
" Songs of the Affections." She left it in the spring of
1831 for Dublin, whence she was never destined to return.
It is much visited, we are told, by Americans, who vent
on Mrs. Hemans a peculiar portion of their cheap entusy-
musy. We ourselves " felt, or deemed we felt, no com-
mon glow," as we fancied the form of the dove-like
poetess standing before the window, through which an
afternoon sun, split by the trees into a thousand glorious
fragments, was streaming in ; or hurried, on the soft warm
wind of her gentle afflatus, into the inner apartments to
record the thoughts and feelings which those intense
atoms of brightnes‘ awakened in her mind.

On Tuesday, Alexander Hume, a child three years and
a-half old, living in Bayhorse-lane, was burned to death
in the absence.of the ,parents.
and lard, from London and Liverpool,
The importations in the last week include beef, pork,
le
harns,
Leweohoe,a, in his work on the microscope, says
frh.iietkheeiro
rtoista2ii
,
that the mite makes 500 steps in a aecond. Each leaf on
a tree 'az a coi'vy of insects grazing on it like oxen on a
autadow. Pete articles of .export from Limerick.—Linze-

STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION ON THE THAMES•

SEVERAL LIVES LOST.

An accident of a most terrific and unusual nature, we
regret to say attended with a serious loss of life, occurred
on Friday morning, about half-past nine o'clock, at the
pier of the halfpenny steam-boats, below Hungerford
bridge. As the Cricket, halfpenny steam-boat, with the
deck crowded with passengers, was about to start for Lon-
don bridge, a fearful report, which was heard at great
distances around drew all eyes in the direction of the
steam-boat, and, to the horror of the beholders, fragments
of the vessel and human beings were seen scattered in the
air in every direction. The boilers had burst, and the
explosion sent all behind the paddle-box to,atoms. Only
the keel of the after part of the boat remained, all the
rest having been scattered about in pieces in every direc-
tion. The unfortunate passengers shared the same fate ;
some were precipitated into the river, and others cast upon
the shore and the numerous craft lying near the spot.
The boilers burst into fragments, and parts of them were
thrown to a distance of twenty or thirty yards.
Immediately on the explosion being heard, crowds
rushed to the spot from all parts of the Strand and the
neighbourhood, and a great many boats came from the
Surrey side of the river to behold the dreadful scene. For
at least ten minutes after the fatal event, several persons
were busily engaged in taking up the unfortunate passen-
gers. Very few of them were able to walk—not one
escaped unhurt—several had heads, legs, arms, or some
other members broken or injured ; a great many who were
precipitated into the river, although not killed by the
explosion, were unable, from the effect of the shock, to
attempt to extricate themselves, and were drowned before
their bodies were discovered, or assistance could be ren-
dered to them ; and there were others who were killed
directly by the accident.
The Cricket, at the time of this terrible explosion, was
crowded with several hundred passengers, and there were
a great many running along the pier to get on board, but
who fortunately escaped uninjured. The engines of the
Cricket were high-pressure engines.
One of the parties injured, the call boy, received a
fracture of the skull, and died soon afterwards. Four
bodies were taken from the vessel and the river, and two
on Saturday, and it is feared that the river may yet have
other corpses to yield up.
On Saturday an attempt was made to raise the vessel,
and soon after ten o'clock three barges were moored along-
side the steamer. By twelve o'clock the chains were set
underneath the boat, and it was then fixed upon to raise
the remains at the ensuing tide. At half-past three the
attempt was made, when she was raised up as far as the
paddle-wheels. She was then examined, but no person
was found in either cabin. The head of the boat was then
turned towards shore, when the chain at midship slipped,
and the other broke; the result of which was, that the
boat went down with great force. As a considerable time
elapsed before the chains gave way, several of those em-
ployed were enabled to make not only a minute examina-
tion of the boat, but also to remove some portions of the
engine.

Although the boat was raised in the course of the day,
she broke in half, and thus added to the losses of the
company, which will be compelled, under Lord Campbell's
act, to make compensation to the families of those who
have been killed.

The deceased persons have been identified, one of
whom is John Littleton, costermonger, who resided at No.
6, Bloomsbury-street ; others, George Shute, Farmer's-
buildings, Mile-end, also a costermonger ; John Blunt,
watchmaker ; Thomas Shade, the call-boy ; and John
Buckley, aged 19, the engineer.
In the course of the morning, a widow lady called at the
hospital, and stated that her son, William Smith, aged 39,
and her son-in-law, John Beadle, aged 25, left home on
Friday morning to proceed to the city by one of the early
boats, neither of whom had since been heard of, and she
was afraid they were drowned.
Fourteen persons were taken to the Charing Cross Hos-
pital after the accident, of whom two are dead.
There were two boilers in the steam-boat, abreast of
each other, one of which (the starboard boiler) exploded.
The boilers are tubular, the fire being placed in a large
tube, say of 3 or 4 feet in diameter within the boiler, and
therefore surrounded by water. The flame or heated air
is returned to the front of the boiler by about 60 or 70
tubes of about 2 inches in diameter, and it is the use of these
small tubes that gives the boilers the name of " tubular."
The chief advantage of these boilers is. that a larger
heating surface is obtained in a smaller space than when
the old-fashioned flues were exclusively used. It is said
that a saving of not less than one ton of coals per day is
gained by the description of engines used on board the
Cricket. The boilers were three-eighths of an inch thick
in every part except the steam-chest or dome, which was
five-sixths of an inch thick. The tube-plates were three-
quarters of an inch thick. The boiler case was six feet
six inches long, the fire tube two feet six inches, and the
smaller tubes one-eighth of an inch thick.

A DAY AT AIGBURTH ;
WITH A PEEP AT THE MYSTERIOUS MACHINE.

BY HUMPHREY JOHNSON.

Eager to procure a relaxation from the bustle and toil of
every-day life, and, at the same time, to inhale as much as
possible of a purer atmosphere than that of Liverpool, I
determined, a few days ago, to " sink the shop" for a time,
and seek some retreat where my enjoyments should have
as little of the alloy of care as possible. The representa-
tions of a friend having induced.me to select Aigburth as
the scene of my rustication, I stept into one of Laurence's
omnibuses, which, in due course of time, deposited me
safely at the door of the Aigburth Hotel. The day was
one of nature's best and brightest, and contributed no
little to enhance the beauty of the scenes through which I
had passed ; and, I must confess that, in all my perambu-
lations, I have rarely travelled over six miles of country
better calculated to call forth admiration than those be-
tween Liverpool and Aigburth. The long avenue of stately
trees, whose boughs project from either side of the road,
mingling their branches at the centre, and bearing a strong
resemblance to a grand triumphal arch, forms an agreeable
adjunct to the handsome villa residences of the merchant
princes of Liverpool, which so thickly stud the locality,
and burst upon the view in rapid and pleasing succession.
My first care, on reaching the hotel, was to bespeak a share
of creature comforts" from mine host's larder and cellar.
That (to an Englishman) the most important part of a coun-
try excursion being done, I strolled into the gardens which
I found laid out with taste and judgment, and abounding
in choice specimens of plants and flowers, decked in all the
gorgeous colours of high perfection. In the centre of the
garden is a fountain, the waters of which fall into a basin,
tenanted by gold and silver fishes. Several good speci-
mens of statuary effectively placed over the grounds, give
a pleasing variety to their appearance. A full length
statue of Psyche, with busts of several eminent men well
known in Liverpool, Manchester, Chester, &c., hold
prominent positions ; nor must I forget a well executed
statue of a bull, whose appearance induces a belief that
the hero of the china shop has abandoned his crockery
destroying propensities, and,become the domesticated guest
of Flora. Numerous grottos and arbours admirably suited
for the enjoyment of " cigars and cold without," are
placed in convenient and picturesque situations. As I
approached one extremity of the garden, my eye fell upon
a huge structure, having the appearance of a booth ; on
enquiring what it was. I was told it contained " The Mys-
terious Machine," of which I had heard so much and of
which I was exceedingly anxious to get a sight. My
wishes were scarcely expressed, when the gentleman under
whose superintendence the machine is being produced,
offered to show me over it ; this he did in the most cour-
teous manner possible, but at the same time exhibiting
so much reserve in answering my questions, that I must
acknowledge I left the spot little wiser than when I
entered upon it. The whole affair is to me involved in
deep mystery, and whether this strange piece of mechanism
is intended to mount upon the winds or descend into the
sea, this deponent knoweth not, but may say with the
showman, it must be seen to be believed." I will
attempt a description.
It is tubular in form, and upwards of 120 feet long, and
36 feet in circumference at the broadest part, being con-
siderably broader at one end than the other. It is built
of pine planks, free from knots and made air-tight. From
the little I could gather from my conductor, " I guess "
that the small end is intended for the stern, at which I ap-
prehend the propelling power will be placed. The en-
trance-door is at the side :and near the widest part ; on
entering I found a door on my left, opening into a small
state or anti-room, intended to be fitted up in a superior
style. This room will receive light from a glass door;
there is also a window in the roof (to which there is a
winding staircase) to enable a good look out to be kept.
The remaining portion of the interior is, I understand,
intended for a public saloon, capable of containing con-
sideably more than 100 persons, for whose accommodation
seats will be placed on each side. This saloon will be
lighted by dead lights and furnished in an unique and
suitable manner. At the stern there is another opening
to the roof or deck. Of the propelling power I could
learn nothing. In fact everything with this strange
" nondescript," save its accommodation for pas-
sengers, is shrouded in mystery, the development of
which will, doubtless, prove an interesting epoch in this
scientific age. I ascertained that no less than two years
will elapse before the completion of the machine.
Although longing, with almost a woman's curiosity, to
know more, good breeding prevented me from prying any
further into a secret the divulging of which might expose
the projectors to the risk of rivalry. I was, therefore,
compelled to rest satisfied with what I had seen, and,
after thanking my conductor, I quitted the building yard
and hastened to discuss what was far less mysterious to
me—a good dinner. I must here remark that the repast
was all the most fastidious could have wished, and at a
reasonable cost. After sitting a while I betook myself to
the grounds, where I found numerous parties of well
dressed visitors, including a fair sprinkling of the far-
famed Lancashire witches, whose sparkling eyes and joy-
ous looks gave a decided finish to the picture. A green,
upon which several parties were enjoying the once classical
game of bowls next attracted my attention, as also did
several specimens of wild animals, birds, &c. After some
time spent in a second interview with my conductor of
the morning, ( for the mysterious machine still ran in my
head,) the "last buss" was announced, and I took leave
of Host Prest perfectly satisfied with my day's enjoyment.
The ride home, though last, was not least in its contribu-
tion to my pleasure. The beautiful and picturesque
avenue through which I passed lost nothing by the ab-
sence of old Sol. On the contrary, the scene was ren-
dered far more interesting when bathed in the silvery light
of the moon, riding in a cloudless sky, mingling in its soft
beams with the foliage of the trees, and producing an
effect at once grand and magnificent. I was vet in the
midst of a reverie, induced by the scene I had just left,
when the rattling of the vehicle over the broad pavement
indicated my:approach to Liverpool, and the termination
of my rural excursion. "
I cannot close " A day at Aigburth without express-
ing my unqualified approbation of the attention and cour-
tesy of all parties connected with Host Prest's establish-
ment, with whom I came in contact. I have, therefore,
no hesitation in recommending all who wish to "leave the

gay and festive scene," and " hark to the woods away,"
to try Aigburth, where pleasure awaits them on econo-
mical terms, and at a cost for conveyance of one penny
per mile, in first-class omnibuses. In fact, it is a matter
of great surprise to me, that whilst other places of a
similar description are held forth to the public in glow-
ing terms, so little is heard of a locality possessing facili-
ties for enjoyment of more than ordinary description. I
confess a strong partiality for the place, and promise my-
self many a repetition of " a day at Aigburth."