e grandfather of the members for East Somerset
and Bristol, and founder of the great Bristol banking house, went out to
Barbadoes as a journeyman cooper. If we add to these instances that the
first Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Brotherton (who himself told the House, in a
debate on the Factory Time Bill, that he had commenced life as a factory
operative), beside many others, too numerous to mention, it will be found
that our House of Commons is not so far out of the reach of industrious merit
as foreigners usually imagine.

In conclusion, we may note that Liverpool, which gave very cold and niggard
support to the Great Exhibition (chiefly because the project was ill received
by the ducal house which patronizes the fashionables of the town), sent a
contribution which very completely represented its imports, specifying the
scientific and commercial name of each article, country of production, and
quantity imported.

This collection occupies a considerable space, but it will be found, on
examination, that a few staples employ the greater part of the shipping
inwards. Cotton occupies by far the largest place, the air is filled with
floating motes of cotton all round the business quarters of the town; timber
probably stands next in the tonnage it employs; West Indian produce is less
important than it was formerly; a great trade is done with South America, in
hides, both dry and salted; tobacco, both from the United States and Cuba,
arrives in large quantities. There are several great snuff and cigar
manufactories in Liverpool. The hemp and tallow trade is increasing, as is
the foreign corn trade. The Mediterranean, and especially the Italian,
trade, has been rendered more important by steam communication. The China
trade has not increased as much as was expected.

When the Docks and Public Institutions have been examined, and the places of
interest on the Cheshire shore visited, Liverpool presents nothing to detain
the traveller who has no private claims on his attention.

It must be acknowledged that the general appearance of the town and of the
people is more agreeable than that of Birmingham or Manchester, although
Liverpool can claim none of the historical and antiquarian interest in which
Bristol and Chester are rich. There are parts of the town devoted to low
lodging houses, and accommodation for the poor Irish and emigrants, as bad as
the worst parts of St. Giles's or Spitalfields. Indeed, the mortality is
greater