The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-21 00:00:00

ittruttatt with whit* Cr., stomp, and pm/tenting to the cisitor
a noble and striking appearance I these are all the creation
of one man ; and the inhabitants of Newcastle will be un-
grateful if they do not perpetuate the name of Grainger by
some testimonial worthy of his character and his talents.
We of Liverpool may learn much by a visit to that town ;
and I hope that our future improvements may not be put to
the blush by the achievements of a town of minor impor-
tance. _

Liverpool possesses one commanding site, which, if judi-
ciously laid out, will be of great importance. A good be-
ginning is made, and I hope it will be continued. I allude

to the vacant land in Lime-street, on which the new assize
courts are being erected. It is the very centre of the town,
and ought to be the place around which should be clustered
our handsomest edifices, and within the area of which our
pablic monuments ought to be placed.
The corporation has most judiciously selected this site for
our new assize courts, and it will be approached from Ranelagh
Place by a street of twenty yards broad. Uniformity of
elevation will be characteristic of the new edifices to be
erected on the west side, which is to be thrown back, but
with a slight alteration on the east side, to ease the obtuse
angle at the bottom of Skelliorn-street. I regret to add, that
although the act of parliament gives power to alter the eleva-
tions on that side, we are told by the Finance Committee the
funds are wanting; and the improvement will, so far, be
incomplete, one side presenting a handsome appearance, the
other rendered more hideous by the contrast. Without any
intention of introducing a subject which may have the
slightest tendency to bear a political complexion, I must
remark, that the corporation are much crippled by the re-
striction imposed by the Municipal Reform Bill, which only
gives power to the council to employ the surplus revenue of
the estate for the public benefit of the inhabitants ; and the
charge for our police and other matters connected with the
government of the town is so heavy, that I fear the surplus
revenue will be exceedingly small. Added to these, it being
compulsory on their to build a new gaol, the greatest economy
will be necessary to prevent the imposition of a borough rate.
But this need not hinder a well-digested plan for the improve-
ment of the locality in question, to be carried out by degrees,
as the funds of the corporation may admit of. I think the
time has arrived when the whole of the business connected
with the administration of justice ought to be removed from
the immediate neighbourhood of our Exchange. That
neighbourhood is required for commercial purposes ; and
I trust that the Bridewell, the Sessions-house, and the Po-
lice-office will speedily be sold, all occupying the most
valuable land in the town ; and that these may be con-
centrated in a more suitable spot, and on land of much
less value. It is high time that the disgraceful practice
of haling all the vagabonds of the town across the area
of our Exchange, and through such crowded streets as
Castle-street, Lord-street, and Dale-street, should cease
for ever; and that the most valuable situation in Liverpool
should be occupied as a bridewell, more particularly when
the site is most inconvenient from the great spread of the
town in a contrary direction. The plan I should propose is
this. Let the Islington Market be destroyed ; because, from
its proximity to St. John's Market it is useless; and, when
the market in Gill-street is ready, it will not be necessary.
On this spot I would erect the daily courts, the magistrates
rooms, and offices, together with the station for our police,
and the various other accommodation necessary for the ad-
' ministratior of justice and of local government. This edifice
ought to be in perfect keeping with our assize courts, and its
architectural character made to assimilate. It would then
form the north end of a splendid quadrangle, and with the
assize courts on one side, and the grand facade of the railway
on the other. we should have a most magnificent place in the
centre of the town, which every stranger entering from the
railroad might look upon with admiration. The view from
Lime-street would be imposing, having the beautiful colon-
nade of the assize courts seen in perspective, its southern
portico entirely visible from Ranelagh-place, and, from the
position of the two buildings, they would come gradually into
view, until the whole would burst upon the sight in all their
symmetry and beauty. Who has not admired the view in
High-street, Oxford, where every step reveals new beauties;
or the cluster of splendid edifices visible from Carlisle Bridge
in Dublin ? Why should we be behind any other town, when
we have an excellent site, and means for carrying out the ne-
cessary designs ? I would place the bridewell on the elevated
site occupied by the windmills and paltry houses in Mill-
lane, enclosing the building within walls, having a suitable
entrance, and affording yards for airing,; for, let it be recol-
lected that prisoners confined in bridewell are taken there
before trial, and many instances have occurred of innocent
persons, and even of respectable females, having been confined
in bridewell on mere snspicion, against whom there has been
no charge of criminality proved. From a bridewell so placed
there may be a tunnel communicating both with the daily
courts and the assize courts; and the foundation being of
rock, the situation will be dry and airy, having great facilities
for drainage ; and one great advantage will be, that prisoners
will never be seen in their passage to the assize court or the
daily court. In addition to which their safe custody will he
provided for. The present bridewell reminds me of Dicken's
description of the Prison of the Tombs, in America, and it is
totally unfitted for its present purpose.
Much was said, a short time ago, about providing public
parks for the working classes and their families; but I am
convinced that a park at a distance from their habitations
would prove inoperative. The working man, after a hard
day's toil, will not walk a mile or two from his habitation ;
but give him a place of recreation near his home, and be will
avail himself of it. If then, the miserable buildings between
St. John's Churchyard and Shaw's-brow were removed, in-
cluding those between the Churchyard and the Old Haymar-
ket, and the intervening space was laid out as a walk ; and
if, in addition, a bridge was thrown across the bottom of
Byrom-street, so as to do away with Shaw's-brow altogether,
we should have a noble entrance, almost level, directly
through the heart of the town ; we should have the splendid
edifices to which I have alluded visible on all sides, from
distances favourable for viewing them, and a place of recrea-
tion would be provided where 20,000 persons could enjoy
themselves, surrounded by the graces of architecture, and
close to their own homes. This would be a project worthy
of the munificence of Liverpool, and a standing monument
of our local taste.
It will be admitted by all that sewerage is of vital import-
ance to a large town. There must be the great leading arte-
les through the principal thoroughfares, and the various
mailer veins, extending in every direction, capable of carry-
off all impurities into the cloaca maxima of the
..__. And if so, how important it is that attention be paid
,o ventilation. It is part of great improvements to provide
ipacious streets and promenades, and it is well known that
liseases are more difficult to eradicate from crowded neigh-
sourhoods and narrow streets than from situations, where
there is free scope for the air. Well have the parks and
squares of the metropolis been designated the lungs of Lon-
don. Liverpool, possessing an open front to the river, might
be one of the best ventilated towns in the world if we had
spacious streets running eastward from the river, and being
continued onward with the extension of the town. The wid-
ening of Lord-street and James's-street was, in this respect,
a great improvement, and when Hanover-street is widened,
great benefit will result from it. I have ever been of opinion
that the continuation of Cook-street to the bottom of Man-
chester-street was highly desirable in two respects :—First,
to admit a free current of air through one of the closest and
most filthy portions of the town ; and, secondly, to throw
open, in a central position, a most convenient and advanta-
geous position for trade. A. 20 yard street, carried in this
direction, would dislodge the occupants of Preston-street and
other streets, which are constantly filled with fever ; and the
frontage being in a direct line from the top of Brunswick-
street, would be most valuable for shops and places of busi-
ness, which would tend to concentrate trade in the very heart
of the town, and would give a direct passage to the Railway
Station. The intervening property between this new street
and Dale-street on the one side, and Whitechapel on the
other, would be materially increased ; much would be gained
by the thousands who every day walk round this neighbour-
hood instead of walking through it, and a great air vent would
be created in one of the worst ventilated parts of the town.
If another street was opened from Strand-street, and Ather-
ton-street was widened, so as to form another great leading
artery, connected with College-lane and Seel,strget, the be-
nefit would he felt, not only in creating a locality for trade,
which is now occupied by dwellings of a miserable descrip-
tion, but in promoting the salubrity of the low, swampy
neighbourhood through which it would pass. Itis high time
that such places as Litherland-alley and Crooked-lane were
abolished, and I believe it was at one time seriously contem-
plated to continue Fenwick-street through to the Old Dock,
on what is now termed Benn's-gardens ; and if that im-
provement had been carried out, and our Custom-house had
occupied the intervening space between that intended street
and Strand-street on the one side, and between Redcross-
street and the Old Dock on the other, the edifice would have
stood on an elevated and commanding site, and the improve-
ment would have been complete. When I remember that
the foundations alone of the New custom-house cost
£70,000, and that we lost a dock worth at least £lOO,OOO, it
clear that there would have been greater economy in placing
the edifice in the position to which I have alluded ; that it
would have been more advantageous to the public ; and a
much greater ornament to the town. It would be useless for
me to point out other portions of our public streets which are
capable of great improvement, because at present I can only
treat of the matter in general terms, and because there are
no corporate funds to carry them out if adopted : but all who
have to deal with the public improvement of the town, may
comprise them in few words—Width of streets—beauty of
elevation—harmony of parts—ventilation and drainage.

We should have given the remainder of Mr. Holme'
dress, but it is of great lengthunderstand that, at
the desire of many gentlemen, it is el to bp publishod in
the form of a pamphlet.

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than
to have words without a heart.
THE STRIDE OF A RACE-HORSE.—The average stride, at
full speed, is twenty-one feet. But there are many excep-
tions to the rule. Flying Childers was the swiftest horse, it
is generally admitted, that ever ran a course. That opinion
is somewhat questionable. Nevertheless, the ground co-
vered by Flying Childers at the utmost stretch of his stride
was five and twenty feet. The stride of Filho da Puta, when
he won the St. Leger in 1815, was twenty-four feet three
inches and a half. The stride of Blacklock—the next stride
after he had passed the post when he was defeated by Ebor,
unseen by Jackson, was twenty-four feet eight inches. The
stride of Harkaway—the finest horse of modern days—at the
top of his speed, with his neck level with his back, his head
on one side, and whisking his tail—with Bst. Sib. on the sad-
dle, was twenty-five feet exactly.
JOURNEY FROM INYERN7SS IN 1740.—1 came off on
Wednesday, the 30th of July, from my own house, dined at
your sister's, and did not halt at Inverness, but came all
night to Corribrough, with Evan Bailie and Duncan Fraser,
and my chariot did very well. I brought my wheelwright
with me the length of Aviroore, in case of accidents, and
there parted with him, because he declared that my chariot
would go safe enough to London ; but I was not eight miles
from the place when, on the plain road, the axletree of the
hind-wheel broke in two, so that my girls were forced to go
on bare horses behind footmen, and I was obliged to ride
myself, though I was very tender, and the day very cold. I
came with that equipage to Ruthven late at night, and my
chariot was pulled there by force of men, when I got an
English wheelwright and a smith, who wrought two days
mending my chariot ; and, after paying very deer for their
work, and for my quarters two nights, I was not gone out
four miles from Ruthven when it broke again, so that I was
in a miserable condition till I came to Balnakeardach, where
my honest landk,rd, Charles M'Glassian, told me that the
Duke of Athole had two as good workmen at hairs as were
in the kingdom, and that I would get my caariot as well
mended there as at London. Accordingly I went there, and
stayed a night, and got my chariot very well mended by a
good wright and good smith. I thought then I was pretty
secure till I came to this place. I was storm-stayed at
Castle Drummond, by the most tempestuous weather of
wind and rain that I ever remember to see. The Duchess
of Perth and Lady Mary Drummond were excessively kind
and civil to my daughters and to me, and sent their chamber-
lain to conduct me to Dumblaine, who happened to be very
useful to us that day, for I was not three miles gone from
Castle Drummond when the axletree of my fore wheels
broke in two in the midst of the bill, betwixt Drummond
and the Bridge of Erdsch, and we were forced to sit in the
hill with a boisterous day till Chamberlain Drummond was
so kind as to go down to the strath and bring weights, and
carts, and smiths, to our assistance, who dragged us to the
plain, where we were forced to stay five or six hours till
there was a new axletree made, so that it was dark night
before we came to Dunblane, which is but eight miles from
Castle Drummond, and we were all much fatigued. The
next day we came to Litligovv, and the day after that. we ar-
rived here, so that we were twelve days on our journey by ,
our misfortunes, which was seven days more than ordinary.
Letter of Lord'Loyat, published by the Spaldnig Club.
Caledonian Mercury.