commerce, and unity in the prosecution of the great interests of mankind, by a noble career which we have long pursued, at the head of the nations; all point out this as the necessary and the only course for Great Britain and America. The very voice of Nature, as well as that of duty, and of GOD, seems to dictate it in words of thunder. Foster mutual respect and attachment, promote the noble rivalry which has been so happily begun in every physical, social, and moral improvement, and seek in every department some means of advancing the glorious cause! But other means must prove of limited and doubtful success, unless a mutual acquaintance is provided for. If unknown to each other, how can we feel alike, or act together? We should become intimately acquainted with each other's condition, or we can form no definite idea of each other's character. Every book, therefore, which is calculated to diffuse ainong us historical and descriptive accounts of Great Britain, has a solid claim, we think, to the favorable regard of the patriotic and the good; and the more it is fitted to circulate and prove attractive to all classes of community, and especially to the young, the more is its intrinsic worth increased, and its extensive circulation made desirable. With views like these, and in a spirit corresponding, has the present work been compiled and written. Deeply impressed with the utility of such a publication, unwearied pains have been taken, and great expense has been incurred, to render it such as to please and instruct all. Nothing has been omitted that was considered useful or agreeable. And evidences of these views and labors may everywhere be found. The most interesting and instructive subjects have been chosen for graphic illustration to assist the letter-press description. From the materials for such a volume a large folio might have been produced; but our object has been to condense and arrange in as small a compass as possible, all the really useful information the subject can afford; thus giving to the public a work, at a comparatively trifling expense, which details all that could be learned from far more expensive and bulky volumes. Not a sentiment, or an expression, has been admitted into this volume which will not bear the test of justice, propriety, and religion. What sensible person can fail to prefer a work of this nature to the light and frivolous, and too often, alas! immoral and corrupting works of fiction, which now overflow from the press? There are more useful truths conveyed in one of these pages, than are contained in whole volumes of such writings. No taste but a perverted one could deliberately prefer the latter. The young and inexperienced can hardly be competent judges of their own reading: it is for their experienced elders, whose judgments are mature to direct and encourage them in the selection of subjects, and of books, which shall at once store their minds with valuable truths, and train their hearts to virtuous sentiments. The author feels a deep solicitude on this subject, and has endeavored to do his part for the promotion of the good of the rising generation. He here presents a work planned and composed with these considerations in view; and he hopes for the approbation and the support of many who approve of his views, and appreciate the end proposed. NEW YORK, November 1, 1846. R. S. CHAPTER IV.-Progress of Population-Health and Longevity.. CHAPTER V.-Remarkable Natural Scenery-Natural Curiosities.. CHAPTER VI.-The Isle of Wight..... CHAPTER VII.-The Isle of Portland.. CHAPTER XVIII.-University Towns... CHAPTER XIX.-Naval Stations... CHAPTER XX.-Towns of Residence and Recreation. CHAPTER XXXI.-Commerce.-The River and Port, and the Docks..... CHAPTER XXXII.-Trade.-Ludgate Street, and the Shops of the "City."-Regent A NEW AND POPULAR PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF ENGLAND AND WALES. THE ancient kingdom of England, inclusive of Wales, forming geographically the principal division of the island of Great Britain, and politically the chief division of the United Kingdom-the country in which it is no boast to say the arts and institutions of social life have made as great an advance as they have done in any part of the continent-enjoys a situation which has unquestionably tended much to make the country what it is, both politically and socially. The island, of which it is the southern and larger portion, is protected from neighboring countries by a sea of sufficient breadth in most parts, and sufficiently uncertain in its condition, to throw almost insuperable difficulty in the way of an invading force. Placed in a medium latitude, it is further saved by the surrounding ocean from those extremes of heat, cold, and aridity, to which continental countries in both higher and lower parallels are often subject. While there are some districts, chiefly in the west and north, in which an uneven surface prevails, the country may be generally described as of a level and fertile character. Almost everywhere the eye rests upon the evidences of a long-enduring cultivation, in rich corn-fields and meadows, surrounded by wellgrown hedges and rows of trees; the elm-surrounded Gothic parish church, the clean honey-suckled village, and the well-wooded park connected with the residence of the wealthy gentleman, being other notable features in the landscape, while the monthly-roses and other flowering shrubs, which climb over the cottages of those in humbler life, give an air of picturesque beauty to the rides throughout the whole of England. When we turn from merely rural scenes, we see not less striking evidences of an advanced civilization, in frequent brick towns and "towered cities," generally overhung by clouds of smoke resulting from the coal everywhere used for domestic, if not also for manufacturing purposes. The peculiar features of some of these cities-Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol, vast depots of mercantile shipping; Manchester and Birmingham, sites of extensive manufactures; London, in itself a superb port, the seat of the government, and the residence of a class of unprecedented wealth and splendor-will be more particularly adverted to in the sequel. England is situated between fifty degrees and fifty-five degrees forty-five minutes north latitude, and six degrees west and one degree fifty minutes east longitude, from Greenwich observatory. On the north, the only direction in which it is not surrounded by the sea, it is divided from Scotland by a series of rivers and a chain of |