ENGLAND. 



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finds himself mounted above the tops of the trees, and looks round over a wide expanse of 

 country. The road then makes a slight curve, and ascends an inclined plane a mile and a half 

 long, in a straight line ; but the rise is very gradual. Half a mile beyond this plane, the Liver 

 pool and Manchester turnpike road passes over the railway, on a stone bridge. Beyond this, 

 is an inclined plane, descending as much as the last-mentioned rises. 'J'he road then crosses 



a marshy tract, and passes over the Sankey 

 valley and canal, by a magnificent viaduct 70 

 feet high, with 9 arches, each 50 feet span. 

 Beyond this is another bridge, a cut through a 

 hill, a junction with the Kenyon and Leigh 

 Railway, and a wide marsh called Cliat Moss. 

 Several other bridges and embankments carry 

 the road into the city of IManchester. The 

 track is double. The rails are of wrought 

 iron, laid sometimes on stone, but where 

 the foundation is less firm, upon wood. The 



The Liverpool and Manchester Railroad across Chat Moss, ^hole WOrk COSt 820,000 pounds Sterling. 



4. Cities. A stranger may approach the city of London by land, or by way of the 

 Thames. In eitlier case, everything is calculated to impress him with the vastness of the 

 capital which he is about to enter. If he is mounted on the top of a stagecoach, and whirls 

 along over the smooth road at the rate of 12 miles an hour, the thickening tide of villas and 

 villages, which seem to swim by him on either hand, announce the vicinity of the great 

 metropolis. Everything now assumes a hurrying, and almost portentous aspect. Multitudes 

 of stagecoaches, loaded with people on the outside, dash by, like the billows that break 

 around a whirlpool, or the waters which are about to rush over a cataract. Tilburys, coaches, 

 and carriages of various forms are passing and repassing. A cloud of dust hangs over the 

 scene, and a loud roar pervades the air. The spectacle has a bewildering effect upon the 

 traveler, and weary, dejected, and oppressed, he reaches the city, which he expected to 

 enter with delight. The voyager, as he enters the Thames and ascends that river is scarcely 

 less affected with the scene. The whole valley on either side is sprinkled with towns, vil- 

 lages, country seats, and palaces. The river is thronged with vessels of every size, and the 

 thousands of sails that are spread before the wind, suggest to the imagination, that the great 

 metropolis has a magnetic power by which it draws them, from every ocean and every sea on 

 the face of the globe, into its harbor. 



London lies on both sides of the river Thames. It is 7 miles long, 5 miles wide, and con- 

 tains an area of about 30 square miles More particularly, it is considered under 3 divisions: 

 the City proper in the east, Westminster in the west, and Southwark on the south side of the 

 river. The buildings are generally of brick. The streets in some parts are wide, and few 



are so narrow as not to admit two carriages 

 abreast. At the west end they are mostly 

 straight, and sufficiently broad for 5 or 6 car- 

 riages. Here are the residences of the nobil- 

 ity and the rich. Regent street, in this quar- 

 ter, is probably the most magnificent street in 

 the world. In the city, or the central and 

 oldest part, the streets are narrow and crooked, 

 but here the great business of London is 

 transacted. Temple bar is one of the old 

 city gates. The east end is occupied by 

 shops, victualling-houses, and people con- 

 nected with commerce. Here are immense 

 limber-yards, docks, and magazines. 



London contains a great number of squares, 

 Temple Bar. j|^g handsomest is Grosvenor square, an area 



of 6 acres, and containing an equestrian statue of George the Second. The buildings around 

 it are the most superb in London. The largest square is that called Lincoln's Inn Fields, which 

 occupies a space just equal to that covered by the great pyramid of Egypt. The finest public 

 walks are at the west end ; Green Park, Hyde Park, St. James's Park, and Regent's Park, 

 are bpantifiil fields or fcnnipii?, ovnamrnipd wilh trees ; these are the resort of thnusards who 



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