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<h2>Letter 54.</h2> Liverpool. Dear Charley:— Well, this looks like the back track; and here we are at the Adelphi, ready to take our passage in the noble Atlantic, which is as good as new again, and will sail on the twenty-third. We left Bristol with much regret, for we there have formed acquaintances which we shall often remember with affection and gratitude; and I wish we could meet them in America, and have an opportunity to reciprocate some of the many kindnesses we met with at their hands. We took the railroad for Cheltenham, and passed through some charming country before we reached the old city of Gloucester. On our left were the flint towers of Berkeley Castle, where the second Edward was so savagely murdered by his wife's command. Cheltenham is about forty miles from the city of Bristol, and we found it all that Dr. C. had described it—a very nice modern town indeed. It is like our Saratoga, but much more beautiful. The population is about thirty thousand, and the strangers who resort there in the season are probably five thousand more. The waters are in high repute, and are regarded as strongly cathartic. The buildings are very fine, and the entire air of the place is unlike any thing we have seen in England. Other places seem old. This is new, and looks fresh and American in that respect, but vastly more elegant and permanent than our towns usually are. We had very kind attentions here from the Rev. Mr. Gilby, the rector of the parish church, and who strongly urged us to stay over the day; but we resumed the cars, got to Birmingham at ten o'clock, and went to our old quarters at the Hen and Chickens. The next day we devoted to the survey of this vast toy shop. Our greatest gratification was at the royal papier maché and japan works of Jennens & Bettridge. To this firm we had introductions, and we went through every department of the establishment. When we came to the show-rooms we were all tempted by the beauty of the finished wares, and made several purchases. Here, too, are other manufactories for pins and pens; but I must pass them by. We called on the Rev. John Angell James, who has lived here so long, and made a world-wide reputation. He looks very hearty and vigorous, and shows no signs of age. He has lived in his house forty-five years. We obtained his autograph. We also called on Rev. Mr. Swan, an old friend of the doctor in early days, and had a pleasant chat. Mr. Swan was once a professor in the college at Serampore, in India. He is full of life and animation; and it seems to me that people here are more vivacious and sprightly than with us—old folks and middle-aged ones certainly are. We took dinner with Mr. Vanwart, brother-in-law to Washington Irving, and shall not soon forget the elegant hospitality of his mansion. He resides about two miles from the town; and his lawn gave us a fine view of the English thrush and blackbird, of which birds there were plenty on the grass. It was so cold that we had to have fires, although the 19th of July. Mr. Vanwart was one of the saved, when the Atlantic was lost in the Sound, November 26, 1846; and he made the kindest inquiries after you and the family, and said that when he next visited America he should find you out. That evening we reached Liverpool, and had a quiet Sabbath, but a very stormy one. It rained harder than any day since we have been abroad. We attended church in the morning, and heard a very eloquent sermon from Mr. Birrel, and Dr. C. preached for him at night. The Europa arrived on this day, and we met friends from Boston—among others the Rev. Dr. Peck. On Monday we went to Chester, the finest old city in England, with a population of twenty-four thousand. It claims an antiquity equal to any city in the world; for they say it was founded by the grandson of Japhet, two hundred and forty years after the flood! Any how, it was great in Roman days—great in the days of Alfred. No town in the country has a more thorough history; and we have two very interesting octavoes filled with it, and richly illustrated with antique engravings. It is a walled city, and has undergone many sieges and blockades. The castle has great celebrity, and is of Norman origin. Its walls are one mile and three fourths in length, and there are four great gates. The bridge over the Dee has seven arches, and is as old as the Norman conquest. The cathedral was built in the days of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. It is composed of red stone, and has a fine front. The chapter-house in the cloisters is universally admired by antiquarians. We went into one very old church, which was undergoing restoration. The town, like Berne, has rows in front of the houses, supported by pillars so that, in shopping, you walk under covered galleries. We returned to Liverpool, and dined with a gentleman who has been very polite to us—Mr. Thomas Davies, a celebrated maker of gold watches. From him I obtained one, preferring an English to a Swiss timepiece. Here we saw the cultivation of plants in the house in greater perfection than I recollect elsewhere. To-morrow we are to take our departure; and, though very glad to return home, yet I feel sorry at leaving a country where there is so much that is excellent and noble and beautiful. I have learnt, certainly, that England and America have too much in common to justify the indulgence of hatred and prejudice; and I find the tone of feeling here, among wise and-good people, very kind towards America. I have rarely heard a reflection upon our country, excepting upon our slavery. That they must talk about; and they are a little like the man who, having just got rid of the irritable affection supposed to trouble the North Britons, could not for his life help speaking of sulphur. An Englishman is sure to tell you that he is free from this sin—yes, washed, but scarcely dry. Our hotel is filling up with Americans, and, we expect to meet many friends on board the Atlantic. I am much pleased with the appearance of Captain West; he looks every inch an admiral. And now, my dear fellow, I shall see you, perhaps, before you read my letter; but I have kept my promise to tell you what we saw and did. Of course many things will occur to our memories when we get home, and will furnish matter for chitchat which I hope soon to have with you, as in days of old. Well, you are now at the business of life, and I am yet a little longer to spend my time in preparation for it. I wonder how we shall come out, Charley? But time will tell, and let us do our best. Yours affectionately, weld. P.S. I must not forget to tell you that, while at Bristol, the doctor and I ran up to Windsor to see the royal agricultural exhibition, held this year in the Home Park. James stopped with our friends, and we were anxious to see the great show of England in her farming interest. The display was very great, and the cattle were wonderfully fine in all the departments—Durham, Hereford, Devons, and Channel Island. The last are very nice animals for a paddock, and give good milk. The horses were good; and I longed to bring home one or two that I saw, and felt strongly tempted. But the sheep and swine were the most remarkable things there. Really, we know little about sheep. They are monstrous, and yet very symmetrical and beautiful; whilst there are pigs, strange as you may think it, that have established high claims to beauty and perfection. I greatly preferred the Sussex breed to any other. Never was a town so crowded as this same Windsor. Thousands upon thousands were flocking into it; and how and where they fed I cannot divine. Money seemed useless, and waiters hardly looked at half crowns for retaining fees. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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