diamonds. In one corner, a party was discovered, separating the mineral from the rock with pick-axes, the fragments illuminating the spot with their coruscations; in another, we heard the thunder of a blast, where the hardness of the salt required the force of gunpowder to tear it to pieces. 66 Enchantments and genii naturally rushed on our fancy; and the almost forgotten intellectual delights of infancy, which had long lost their power over the mind, came back for a moment in the dear delusions of fairy palaces and wizard's wands. "Here we could contemplate the labours of the miners with pleasure, who pursued their avocations, soothed by the society of their comrades, in wholesomeness and safety; in a room whose grandeur, ornament, and extent, no monarch dwelling upon earth could equal. The number of men at work here was about fifteen; the best of the salt was sent to Liverpool, and the coarsest thrown into the brine-pans, to strengthen the liquor of the salt-springs, many of which are also found hereabout, whose produce is boiled, and crystallized on the spot. The mine is ventilated by a second shaft." The above account gives a tolerably clear description of the salt-mines in this neighbourhood, which may vary in their dimensions, but little in their process, or appearance. The brine-springs are from fifty to one hundred and twenty feet deep; their liquor, in general, is fully saturated, producing a prodigious quantity of salt, of the finest quality. The process of obtaining it is by evaporation. The average produce of the salt-mines in this neighbourhood, at that time, was about one thousand tons per week, which the government thought worthy of being taxed, to the extent of about threepence per pound; but, notwithstanding the vigilance of the officers appointed to collect it, a great deal of smuggling was practised, in which I had afterwards some personal experience. On our arrival at Runcorn we quitted the barge, and were speedily conveyed by a sailing-boat to Liverpool. The premises selected for the business my father was appointed to superintend, were situated on the quay, by the side of the Old Dock, and the principal article of manufacture was a light description of gun, with a well-polished exterior; but, being only intended as an article of barter, to have fired them with ball would have been a dangerous experiment. Some thousands of these were sent to the coast of Africa, and given to the chiefs there, in exchange for slaves for the supply of our West Indian possessions; where they, at that time, fetched a heavy price. Our establishment was also patronized by the owners and captains of privateers and merchant vessels, as the war, then raging, rendered it imperative that every ship should be in a position to defend herself; and, I believe, the most lucrative part of our business was, repairing the ships' arms on their return from a voyage. I was one day overhauling a chest which had been deposited in our first-floor ware-room, and, taking up a heavy pistol, I snapped it off several times, not supposing it to be loaded. Finding some loose powder, I put a little in the pan, to have a flash; and then, pointing the pistol towards a ship in the dock, where a man was at work as a rigger, I said to a lad who was with me at the time," See me shoot that man." I pulled the trigger, and the pistol exploded, with a report so loud that I have since thought there must have been more than one charge in it. The bullet passed within an inch or two of the man's head against whom I had foolishly, but innocently, aimed, and lodged in the block he was fixing at the time. As soon as it was discovered where the shot came from, some of them rushed up to secure the miscreant, who, as they thought, had contemplated murder; but when they saw me lying on the floor, bleeding at the mouth from the rebound of the weapon: they thought, perhaps, that I was already sufficiently punished, and let me go home. A change of situation now awaited me, my father having a particular friend, named "Smallshaw," a shipbuilder, who took a fancy to and wanted me as an apprentice; but, as I was too young for that, it was determined that I should go with him for a time on trial. I was very glad of the change, and was not a little proud of myself in the new dress provided for me—in the costume of a shipwright. The vessel on the stocks at the time, was what was called a "Guinea Brig," intended for the transmission of slaves from the coast of Guinea to the West India Islands. And so little was thought generally of the cruelty and infamy of this traffic in human flesh that, with all their boasted kindness and philanthropy, some of the most eminent of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were deeply implicated in it; and unfortunately, at the present time, ministers of the Gospel are to be found, in the Slave b States of America, who can quote Scripture to sanction the continuance of slavery. "O that heaven would place a whip in every honest man's hand, to lash such rascals naked through the earth." I was quite pleased with my new employment, and continued in it until the vessel was launched; and, that being rather an important event in a shipbuilder's yard, a handsome reward was promised to the lad who should first convey to our mistress (confined at home by illness) the important fact that the brig was safely transferred to her natural element. As soon, therefore, as the vessel had glided securely from the stocks, and was seen floating majestically on the waves, myself and another lad started off on our important mission. My competitor in the race was older than I, and from the progress he made at starting, there was every probability of his winning the prize. Our way was over the dock gates, but, being high-water, and a spring-tide, the gates were thrown open, and my opponent thus lost the advantage he had gained at starting. As there was a chance of our being detained some time, he suddenly ran off to go round the dock; I did not follow him, but, watching my opportunity, as a large ship was passing through, I sprang from the shore to her rigging, and, skipping lightly over the deck, leaped from her bulwarks to the opposite shore. I was thus enabled to outstrip my rival by a quarter of a mile; but, as we still had some distance to go, he rapidly gained on me : so, that when I reached my master's house he was within a few yards of me. The door being closed, I availed myself of an aperture left in the cellar-door for the fowls, rushed through the kitchen to the great alarm of the cook, and so I made my way up to the parlour, just as a knock at the door announced the arrival of my antagonist. Our mistress, though rather alarmed at the abrupt mode of entrance, was highly gratified with the intelligence we brought, and rewarded us both handsomely. In a shipbuilder's yard, the time between the launching of one vessel and the commencement of another, the work is of rather a miscellaneous description, and, being summer time, I often availed myself of the opportunity which our position afforded, of bathing in the river; and, on one of those occasions, a youth who was with me met with a fright which was near proving fatal to him. A frigate was stationed in the river for the defence of the port, and as a depôt for men-ofwar sailors, obtained by the infamous system of impressment. Among the number of those detained on board was a powerful black man, who was anxious to regain his liberty, and, watching his opportunity, made his escape through one of the lower deck port-holes; and, by swimming and diving alternately, had, unperceived, gained the spot where we were bathing. On emerging from his last dive, he brought up his great black woolly head alongside the lad, and said, "It's only me, massa ;" then, making the best of his way on shore, got clear off. The poor lad was so frightened at the apparition that it was with great difficulty we could get him on shore. The system of impressment was carried on at that time to very great extent; the press-gangs going through the streets, sweeping all before them. I was an eye-witness to a circumstance which was near producing a great deal of bloodshed:A young mate of a ship just returned from a voyage, was making the best of his way to his friends, when he was stopped by two men of the pressgang, who demanded an inspection of his protection paper; it wns shewn to them; they kept possession of it, and, taking hold of him, one on each side, were forcing him along an old woman was leaning on her halfdoor, looking on, and two sailors were passing on the other side, who did not seem disposed to interfere until the old woman, addressing them, said: "I suppose you are Americans; Englishmen would not pass quietly by and see their fellow-creatures dragged along in that manner." : The men, thus appealed to, who were really Americans, lost but little time in releasing the young sailor, who made the best of his way home. A long and desperate encounter then ensued between the press-gang and sailors; each party being strongly reinforced, and armed with cutlasses, staves, sticks, and knives. The pressmen were eventually beaten off, and fled to the frigate for safety, and the sailors assisted by numbers of the townsmen, broke into the rendezvous of the several gangs and demolished the furniture and effects. They next selected some vessels which they thought most suitable, and having got an ample supply of guns, ball, cartridges, &c., they were proceeding to attack and board the King's ship, or at least of demanding, that the pressgang who had taken refuge on board, should be delivered up to them. They were fortunately dissuaded from this rash project by some influential gentlemen of the town, who with the mayor promised them that the system of impressment should not be carried on again in the same reckless and arbitrary manner as before. No town in the kingdom, perhaps in the world, has progressed more rapidly than Liverpool has done during the last sixty years. Within my recollection it scarcely was a third of its present size. The opposite side of the river was then free from buildings of any description, excepting here and there an isolated farm house, and an old church or two in the distance, and the light-house, with its signal poles; but now, how different! Birkenhead, with its splendid docks, capacious warehouses, handsome streets, showy shops, and rapidlyincreasing population, all evince the great importance of the place in a maritime and commercial point of view, and the public spirit of its inhabitants. Some short time before I was in Liverpool, an event took place, which proved that the town was not so well defended as it ought to have been. An Irishman, of good family connexions, had attained the rank of Lieutenant in the British navy; but, for some breach of discipline, was dismissed. Influenced by feelings of the most deadly hatred towards England, he went to France, and through the influence of an uncle of his, who had been many years naturalized in France, and had attained high military rank, he had but little difficulty in inducing the French War Minister to intrust his relative with the command of a frigate, and he conceived the daring project of boarding the British lion in his den. Watching his opportunity when he could have a spring tide and favourable wind, he entered the Mersey, hoisted English colours, while passing the "Princess" (such being the name of the frigate stationed there), and when abreast of the Old Dock, being then high water, he tacked about, fired a broadside into the town, killing an old woman, wounding three or four men, and injuring some of the buildings. On repassing the frigate he saluted her with his shotted guns, hoisted the French flag, and before either the frigate or the batteries could bring their guns to bear on him, he had got safely round the rock, out of reach. Since then a |