records of the Exchequer, states the boundaries of the port of Liverpool to be "from the Red Stones in Hoy Lake, on the point of Wirrall southerly, to the foot of the river called Ribble Water, in a direct line northerly, and so upon the south side of the said river to Hesketh Bank easterly, and to the river Astland and Douglas there; and so all along the sea coasts of Meols and Formby, into the river Mersey, and all over the rivers Mersey, Irwell, and Weaver."

The income arising from the dock duties, during the last twenty years ending the 24th June, 1830, amounted to £2,035,452 10s. From the great extent of her docks, and the wealth and enterprise of her inhabitants, Liverpool may be justly entitled to the character of being the second seaport in the kingdom.

THE LIVERPOOL ROYAL INSTITUTION.

This structure which was originally a gentleman's dwelling, is situate in Colquitt-street, and was purchased by the present proprietors for the sum of £9000, but has since undergone various alterations, according to the directions of the late Mr. Edmund Aikin. The whole expense including that of the improvements and additions, has been estimated at about £14,000.

On the ground floor is an elegantly furnished

Reading-room, ornamented with several ancient pictures, formerly belonging to the collection of the late William Roscoe, Esq. These paintings are the productions of some of the early masters, and are strikingly illustrative of the progress made in this pleasing art at different periods down to the beginning of the fifteenth century. This apartment is also supplied with a select library, and many of the periodical works, and is designed for the use of the subscribers. The lobby, which communicates with several other rooms on this story, leads to the Lecture-room, which is 30 feet broad and 50 feet long, having seats formed in an ascending order, similar to an ampitheatre, and is capable of holding more than five hundred people.

The upper stories are alloted to the Museum, which contains a great variety of subjects in natural history and all in the finest state of preservation. There are about one thousand birds, and a very numerous collection of mamalia, with nearly two thousand five hundred specimens in mineralogy. These collections are the most extensive in this part of the kingdom, and are daily receiving new contributions.

The Statue Gallery adjoins the Museum, and contains a complete set of casts from the Elgin marbles, which were presented to this institution by the late King George 4th. The justly-admired originals formerly decorated the tympana

of the east and west pediments of the Parthenon at Athens; but during the siege of that city by the Venetians, in the year 1687, they were thrown down by the bursting of a bomb. The Earl of Elgin, while on his embassy to the Ottoman Porte, obtained permission to remove these splendid specimens of sculpture to this country, and in the year 1816 they were purchased by the parliament, for the sum of £35,600, and deposited in the British Museum. These relics of Grecian art, are ranked among the finest productions of human genius; and the exquisite taste and masterly execution displayed by the artist, have called forth the warmest expressions of delight and admiration from the most eminent sculptors and painters.

Mr. West the late president of the Royal Academy says, " Had I been blessed with seeing and studying these emanations of genius at an earlier period of life, the sentiment of their preeminence would have animated all my exertions; and more character, and expression, and life would have pervaded all my humble attempts in historical painting." Pursuits, pp. 54, 55.

And the most distinguished of modern sculptors, Canova, bears the following testimony to the superior excellence of these productions ; "I think that I can never see them often enough: and although my stay in this great capital must be extremely short, I dedicate every moment

that I can spare to the contemplation of these celebrated remains of ancient art. I admire in them the truth of nature united to the choice of the finest forms. Every thing here breathes life, with a veracity, with an exquisite knowledge of art, but, without the least ostentation or parade of it, which is concealed by consummate and masterly skill."

These casts represent the chariot of the sun emerging from the ocean, a recumbent figure supposed to be river god Ilissus; a group imagined to be emblematic of Ceres and Proserpine; a back of the Torso of Neptune; another group, representing the Fates; and a figure of Theseus. The Metopes present a representation of the conflict between the Centaurs and Lapithæ ; together with the Panathenaic procession, which was cellebrated at Athens every fifth year in honour of Minerva.

The late A. Littledale, Esq. presented casts of an Apollo di Belvedere, a Venus de Medicis, a Gladiator, and a Diana.

Mr. John Foster, jun. gave to the institution the casts of the Egina and Phygalian marbles; the former were discovered at the temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, in the island of Egina, in the Saronic Gulf, in the year 1811; and the latter were found at the temple of Apollo Epicurius, on mount Cotylius, near Phygalia, in Arcadia, in the year 1812, by Messrs Foster, Haller, Linckh, and Cockerell.

Besides these there are two productions by John Deare, who was a native of Liverpool,-one in alto relievo, representing Satan starting up at the touch of Ithuriel's spear, while Adam and Eve are asleep; the other in bas-relief, in which queen Eleanora is seen applying her mouth to the wound of king Edward, which has been inflicted by a poisoned arrow.

The first public meeting for the formation of the Liverpool Royal Institution, was held on the 31st March, 1814, when B. A. Heywood, Esq. was called to the chair, and it was unanimously resolved, "that a building should be erected in a convenient situation, apparatus provided, a museum founded, and a permanent fund formed; that lectures should be delivered, and that £20,000 should be raised, in shares of £100 or £50 each with proportionate privileges annexed.” On the 20th June in the same year a second meeting was convened, and Lieutenant-General Dirom took the chair. On this occasion it was announced that £20,000 had been subscribed, and that the books would remain open until £10,000 more should be raised. Afterwards the present premises were purchased, and the institution (which was incorporated by royal charter on the 24th Nov. 1822) was regularly opened on the 25th Nov. 1817, when an appropriate address was delivered by William Roscoe, Esq.

The design of the founders of this institution was the dissemination and advancement of