ent power competent to the superintendence of such matters. The mode of remedying the evil had much that was remarkable about it. A body of "Commissioners" was formed, comprising the mayor, bailiffs, and four junior aldermen of Liverpool for the time being, and about sixty persons more particularly interested in Birkenhead itself. Provisions were made as to the qualification of persons to fill the office of commissioners, and as to the election of new commissioners by the rate-paying inhabitants of Birkenhead; and the times for the commissioners to hold their meetings, the mode of conducting the proceedings, the record of the proceedings, the enforcing of orders and operations, &c., were all duly set forth. The commissioners, acting in a corporate capacity, were to purchase a piece of land from the lord of the manor, and build a market thereon; they were also empowered to make all the necessary arrangements for paving, draining, cleansing, lighting, and watching the town; and two rates were established the "Improvement Rate," and the "Watching and Lighting Rate," to defray the cost of all these works.

In 1838, matters were so far modified by another Act of Parliament, that the commissioners were reduced to twenty-four; of whom three were to be annually elected by the town-council of Liverpool out of their own body; and of the remaining twenty-one seven were to be re-elected annually by the inhabitants of Birkenhead. A few additions were at the same time made to the powers entrusted to the commissioners. Four years afterwards the commissioners were empowered to purchase Woodside Ferry, on the ground that much of the prosperity of Birkenhead depended on the maintenance of good and cheap communication across the Mersey. In 1843 an extension of the sphere of operations entrusted to the commissioners was made by allowing them to include the neighbouring township of Claughton-cum-Grange, and part of the neighbouring township of Oxten, in the district under their control. They were also empowered to purchase and lay out land for the beautiful Park, and also for public baths; they had a control given to them over the sanatory regulations of the streets and houses of the town, and they had likewise power given them to construct public slaughter-houses. Another parliamentary enactment in the same year related to the purchase of a piece of ground near the spot where the workmen's dwellings are now situated, for the construction and maintenance of a cemetery; and in the following year further powers were given to the commissioners for the purchase of Monks' Ferry.

Up to this time, then, Liverpool had a hand in the improvement of Birkenhead. For eleven years the Liverpool section of the commissioners took part with the others, and the infant town was so far fostered by her great neighbour. But when the Docks came on the theatre of public discussion, a new element entered the account, and Birkenhead began to carve out a future by and for itself. The Act of 1844, which sanctioned the construction of the Docks, after reciting

the advantages likely to accrue from the proposed transformation of Wallasey Pool, directed that the commissioners of Birkenhead, except those appointed by the Town Council of Liverpool, should be the commissioners of the new Docks; so that the Town commissioners, minus the three Liverpool corporate members, became the Dock commissioners; but the two commissions were wholly distinct in their powers and duties. The whole of the operations connected with the gigantic Docks were sanctioned by this Act; as well as the tolls and dues to be demanded for shipping making use of them; or rather it should be said that the works nearest to the Mersey were so sanctioned; but the Great Floating Harbour, higher up the Wallasey, was the subject of a separate Act, passed in 1845.

Still another link was added to the commercial chain, by instituting a third body of persons, who formed a joint-stock company for the construction of wharfs, warehouses, quays, and minor docks, on the southern side of the Wallasey harbour. This Company received their Act in 1845, by which they were empowered, like any other joint-stock company, to enter on a commercial speculation; raising a capital of one million sterling, and planning the various warehouses and quays and wharfs, which are necessary for the conduct of shipping enterprise. The warehouses already constructed are the property of this Company.

The last corporate tie, which bound Birkenhead to Liverpool, was severed in 1846, by the passing of an Act for the exclusion of Liverpool corporate members altogether; the Town Improvement Commissioners' being lessened to twenty-one in number, all of whom are elected by the inhabitants of Birkenhead. In effect, therefore, the Town Commissioners and the Dock Commissioners are now the same body; while the Dock Warehouse Company and the Railway Company are joint-stock enterprises, deeply interested in the future welfare of Birkenhead.

Such, then, are the steps by which this remarkable town has gradually accumulated around and within it the elements destined to form its future greatness. Such are the modes in which the Mersey will add another to the busy scenes of industry on its banks. The very circumstances included in the past and present affairs of the town, will ensure an enlightened and liberal course in respect to the management of the docks. Unless the docks grow, the town will not grow: unless the docks become busily filled with shipping, the houses will not become occupied by well-todo townsmen: unless all possible facilities be offered for the lading and unlading of cargoes, Birkenhead the young will be no match for her opposite neighbour. It is well that such should be so; for it is at all times a wholesome discipline, to feel and to know that success depends on an enlarged and comprehensive principle of action. Such discipline is a wonderful polisher: it rubs off that commercial rust and stagnancy, which so many of our old corporate towns exhibit. Those who are at the head of the new enter

Ir an English town would lay claim to the honour or credit of antiquity; if it would show that it has arrived at a genteel old age, and has chatted with the Normans and perhaps the Saxons of early times, and has taken a bustling part in the turmoil of warlike days-one of the first objects of its local historians would be, to find its name in Domesday-book. William the Conqueror employed the six years, from 1081 to 1087, in a thorough survey of the kingdom, whence resulted an entry of all the towns and manors in the so-called Domesday-book.

Alas, for LIVERPOOL! If her merchants dived into the records of past centuries, to find something to her honour in the days of chivalry and feudalism, they would be sadly at fault. Liverpool is not mentioned in Domesday-book; and Mr. Baines thinks this a sufficient ground for the opinion that no such town existed in the Conqueror's days. It struggled into existence, however, by degrees, as a small fishing village; and we have a most ample assemblage of names by which to designate it; for we find at various times, that it was called Lyrpul, Litherpul, Lyverpull, Lyverpol, Lyferpole, Lirpoole Lierpul, Litherpoole, Leverpul, Liverpole, and, at length, Liverpool. That it was situated on the side of a pool, which gave rise to the latter part of the name, seems to be admitted; but whether the first part relates to the lever bird, or to a Saxon adjective, implying a "gentle" pool, the antiquaries do not seem to have determined.

LIVERPOOL IN PAST AGES.

As in many other cases, castles and their lordly owners are talked of before the people were deemed worthy of a note of record. Roger of Poictiers is said to have built a castle at or near this spot soon after the conquest; and to king John is attributed the building of another structure, long known as Liverpool Castle, which was not finally destroyed till 1721 it boasted of its embattled walls, towers, fosses, and drawbridges, and doubtless took part in many a baronial struggle. The fishery of the Lancashire side of the Mersey was given to the Abbots of Shrewsbury; so that we may well suppose the individual position of Liverpool to have been an humble one.

Mr. Baines, in his 'History of Lancashire,' draws attention to some of the circumstances which originally determined the localization of commerce in England. He says:-"From the disturbed semi-barbarous and ignorant state of the people, it was long before any part of England rose to commercial eminence. When, however, the impulse was first given, it operated principally on the southern and eastern coast of the kingdom, the parts nearest to the continent of Europe, and especially to Flanders, France, the Spanish peninsula, and the commercial republics of the Mediterranean. At an early period, London became the seat, not only

of government, but of the principal commerce of the kingdom; Bristol, from its excellent position, the ready communication which it afforded with Ireland, the early rise of the woollen manufactures of the west of England, and the general wealth and tranquillity of the southern and western districts of the kingdom, also became a place of great importance. Hull, from its position opposite to the coasts of Holland and Flanders, and the Hanseatic towns, then the great seats of manu facturing and commercial prosperity, also rose rapidly; whilst the Cinque Ports, and our great naval stations, were left little behind. For many years, however, the ports of the north-west of England were destitute of all these sources of prosperity. No manufactures existed in the interior; no means of communication with the districts where manufactures now exist; no capital for distant enterprises; no communication with Holland, beyond the occasional sailing of a military expedition. A few fishing boats and coasting vessels formed, for ages, all the commercial marine of the port of Liverpool, which now sends forth its ships by thousands to all parts of the world, and from which not less than four hundred vessels have been known to sail with a single tide." The same writer collects the scattered allusions to Liverpool found in our early annalists and topographers; and the paucity of such allusions sufficiently indicates the small importance of the spot. King John granted a charter and a common seal to Lyrpul.' The town paid a tollage to Henry III., of eleven marks, seven shillings, and eight pennies; and the same monarch, on the payment of a fee of ten marks, granted certain municipal privileges to the town. In the same reign a building called the 'Tower' was erected it stood near the bottom of Water-street, on a site now occupied by commercial warehouses: and it is supposed to have served as a watch-station for the Lancashire coast: it served afterwards for several ages as an occasional residence for the earls of Derby and Man, then as an assembly-room, then as a prison; until, in 1819, it disappeared for evercommerce killed it!

Edward I. commanded that no precious metals should leave the kingdom, and he sent an order to this effect to sixty different ports: yet Liverpool is not named. Ten years afterwards he ordered all the ports on the western coast to send ships to aid him in an attack on Ireland: yet Liverpool is not named. The truth is, that in 1272, Liverpool contained only 168 houses, and about 800 inhabitants. Half a century later, when Edward III. levied an armament for his expedition to France, Liverpool made a bold effort, and supplied one barque and six men," at a time when Bristol supplied 24 ships and 600 men! It was shortly after this that the church of St. Nicholas was built: near it was a statue of that saint, the patron of seamen, who used to present a peace-offering to him when about to depart on a voyage, and a wave-offering on their

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There is a curious incident to show how much more lordly influence prevailed than commercial influence, in the fifteenth century. The Stanleys owned the Tower,' in Water-street; and the Molyneuxes held Liverpool Castle; and these two powerful families had a feud respecting the limits of their domains, which they were disposed to settle by force of arms. The justices of the peace, hearing of a commotion in Liverpool, in 1424, went thither, and found the representatives of the Stanley family surrounded by two thousand adherents. "We asked him," say the justices, in a report sent to the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, "the cause of that assemble of king's people, and he us informed, that the said Richard Molyneux would come hither with great congregations, riots, and great multitudes of people, to slea and beat the said Thomas Stanley, his men and his servants; the which he would withstand, if he might. And he, the said Thomas, said that he would find sufficient surety of the peace for him, and all his, so the said Richard would find the same; and hereon, the Friday next after, the sheriffs arrested the said Thomas, and committed him to ward; and the said sheriff made cry that the people that there was should go with him to help him to execute his office; after which he proceeded to West Derby Fen; and there, in a mow, within the said town, he saw the said Richard, with great congregations, route, and multitude, to the number of 1000 men or more, arrayed in manner as to battle, and coming on fast towards Lierpull town; and the said sheriff arrested the said Richard, and committed him to ward." The Government found means to check these ebullitions; but they are worthy of record as a mark of the times.

Down to the time of Henry VIII., baronial quarrels and municipal privileges are the chief matters to which the Liverpool annalists draw attention. Leland tells us that, in his day, "Lyrpole, alias Lyverpoole, a paved town, hath but a chapel." He also speaks of a "small custom paid that causeth merchants to resort;" and says that there was "good merchandise at Lyrpole, much Yrisch Yarn that Manchester men do buy there." This latter statement is curious; for it exhibits to us Liverpool as an agent in supplying Manchester with the materials for textile manufactures —a small beginning of the great results since exhibited. The "Irish yarn" here alluded to was most probably flax, and formed one of the items of Liverpool imports from Ireland, which have always constituted a notable portion of the commerce of that port. Still the shipping arrangements must have been exceedingly small; for we are told that, even so late as 1565, the vessels belonging to Liverpool amounted only to twelve, manned by seventy-five sailors.

It was in the year 1561 that a circumstance arose, which may be said to have been the commencement of dock operations. A dreadful storm occurred, which destroyed the only haven of which Liverpool could

from whence the town had in part derived its name, was turned into a much better haven than had before existed. The town seems to have advanced a little after this; for Camden, writing in 1586, says :-" The Mersey spreading, and presently contracting its stream from Warrington, falls into the ocean with a wide channel, very convenient for trade, where opens to view Litherpole, commonly called Lirpoole, from a water extending like a pool, according to the common opinions, where is the most convenient and most frequented passage to Ireland: a town more famous for its beauty and populousness than for its antiquity." What the evidence may have been for this character of "beauty and populousness," we are not told; but Camden must have judged by an humble standard. In the commencement of the next century, Liverpool had a cause of dispute with Chester, in which her insignificance was made very apparent, contrasted with the position of her ancient and proud neighbour. Even in 1634, when ship-money was levied, the High Sheriff wrote to the Government to the effect that, "if you shall tax and assess men according to their estate, then Liverpool being poor, and now goes, as it were, a begging, must pay very little.”

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When the troubles of Charles I. commenced, Liverpool soon fell into the power of the Parliamentarians; but Prince Rupert besieged it. We are told, at that time," the fortifications of Liverpool consisted of strong and high mud walls; and a ditch, twelve yards wide, and nearly three yards deep, enclosed the town from the east end of Dale-street, and so westward to the river. Dale-street end, at that time, south and south-east, was a low marshy ground, covered with water from the river." Prince Rupert called it, in derision, a crow's nest;" but it proved to be strong enough to bear a severe siege: he took Liverpool; but had to surrender it up again to the Parliamentarians very soon afterwards. During the Commonwealth, Liverpool advanced steadily as a shipping port, but still remained in a subordinate rank. In the next reign we hear of a Liverpool merchant carrying on a vigorous suit at law against king Philip of Spain, on account of damage sustained from a Spanish man-of-war.

mere

A description of Liverpool was written in 1673, by Blome, from which we gather the following particulars concerning its condition at that time :—“ Lerpoole, or Leverpoole, commodiously seated on the goodly river Mersey, where it affords a bold and safe harbour for ships, which at low water may ride at four fathoms, and at high at ten; which said river is navigable for many miles into the country, and affords abundance of all sorts of fowl and fish, especially great quantities of lampreys and smelts of the largest size, so plentifully taken, that they are commonly sold at twenty a penny,

Its church (though large and good, wherein were four chantrys of ancient and honourable foundation) is not enough to hold its inhabitants, which are many, amongst which are divers eminent merchants and tradesmen, whose trade and traffic, especially into

There is a good deal in the above passage which indicates that the commerce of Liverpool had begun to assume an important position before the end of the seventeenth century. The allusions to the West Indies and to Ireland, to sugar and to cottons, are all significant, and have an immediate bearing on the later history of the port. These "cottons were probably woollen stuffs, and not the vegetable fibre now known by that name. The town appears to have felt its growing importance, and to have been impatient of subserviency to other places. Until 1699, Liverpool was a chapelry dependent on Walton-on-the-Hill, but in that year it was raised to the rank of an independent parish, and a new parish church (St. Peter's) was

built.

LIVERPOOL IN THE 18TH CENTURY.

The year 1700 is a convenient one in marking the progress of the commerce of Liverpool; for in that year the first ship entered the dock, since called the Old Dock-the former place of anchorage having been rather a small haven, or creek, than a dock. In the Act of Parliament which allowed the corporation to receive dues for the use of this dock, it was stated that "the entrance to the port of Liverpool has been long experienced to be so dangerous and difficult, that great numbers of strangers and others have frequently lost their lives, with ships and goods, for want of proper landmarks, buoys, and other directions into it; and more especially for want of a convenient wet-dock, or basin therein." At this time the inhabitants are said to have numbered 5714. There was only one church, for the second structure was not yet finished. The only dock was very little more than a pier, enclosing a kind of harbour. The number of ships belonging to the port was about sixty.

The prosperity of Liverpool began to set in, and has never since flagged. By the choking up of the Dee, Chester lost its former supremacy as a port; and Liverpool gained by the loss of her neighbour. By 1709, the ships belonging to Liverpool had increased to 84, manned by 900 sailors; and the vessels which frequented the port amounted to about 350 annually. The same year witnessed the commencement of a system which was a moral blot on the character of the town, though not so regarded by society in those days: viz., the employment of Liverpool ships and capital in the transport of African slaves to the West Indies.

this period, speaking of the Liverpool merchants, says; "They drive so great a trade to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and the Caribbee Islands, and also to Virginia and Maryland, &c., that their customs have been the greatest in England, next to those of London and Bristol; and in some years, not long since, they have equalled those of Bristol. Their unsuccessful voyages of late, occasioned by their losses from French privateers, have not discouraged them from setting upon making a dock, or quay: the ordinary station of ships by the town side being insecure, and their ships often damaged as they lay therein." Here, then, we have, so long back as a hundred and forty years, the phenomenon of Liverpool being third on the list of English ports, in respect to customs' duties: we shall see, by-and-by, that she now scarcely yields to the metropolis itself in this matter, and far outdoes every other port.

To trace the steps of Liverpool greatness during the last century and a half, is more than we here undertake. The misfortunes and the struggles of the town were over, and her onward career was to be one of almost unchecked progress. First came the Irwell and Mersey navigation, to connect her with the Manchester district, and the Weaver navigation to open communication with the salt districts of Cheshire; then came the Sankey Brook navigation, the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, the Grand Trunk Canal, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, to give her water communication with the chief seats of manufacturing industry. The one dock being insufficient, a second (the Salthouse) dock was constructed in 1738. Yet we find that, in 1750, no stagecoach came nearer to Liverpool than Warrington, and that there was only one private carriage in Liverpool!

New

The latter half of the eighteenth century exhibited the rapid spread of commerce, and the spread of the town and its institutions to accommodate this commerce. Exchange and other commercial buildings were founded; new churches were built; a newspaper was started; and a coach ran from Liverpool to London in four days. A Mr. Derrick, writing in 1760, thus speaks of Liverpool in his day :-"There are here three good inns. For tenpence, a man dines elegantly at an ordinary, consisting of ten or a dozen dishes. Indeed, it must be said that, both in Cheshire and Lancashire, they have plenty of the best and most luxurious food at a very cheap rate. The great increase of their commerce is owing to the spirit and indefatigable industry of their inhabitants, the majority of whom are either native Irish, or of Irish descent-a fresh proof that the Hibernians thrive best when transplanted. The merchants are hospitable, nay, friendly, to strangers, even to those of whom they have the least knowledge; their tables are plentifully furnished; and their viands are well served."

In the interval of sixty years which elapsed from the beginning of the century to the beginning of the reign of George III., the shipping belonging to the port of Liverpool increased from sixty to two hundred and thirty-six vessels, while the tonnage increased from