INTRODUCTORY NOTE. IN the summer of 1833, Mr. Seward, as is stated elsewhere made a hurried tour through Europe, in company with his father, then ar. invalid. During his absence he wrote to different friends at home, a series of descriptive letters. The editor of the "Albany Evening Journal," who had himself been favored with several of these letters, prevailed upon Mr. Seward and the parties to whom the letters were addressed, to permit their publication. After about forty of the series had appeared, their publication was arrested under circumstances which can not, perhaps, be better explained than by inserting the following extract from the Journal of that date: "LETTERS FROM EUROPE.-In reply to numerous inquiries for these letters, it is proper to say that their publication was arrested by the 'veto' of the gentleman who wrote them. It is already known to some of our readers that the author of these letters is the whig candidate for governor. They were hastily written to several of his intimate friends, while making a tour upon the continent. On his return, the friends of Mr. Seward earnestly desired the publication of these letters in a more durable form, but this was declined. After much importunity, however, he yielded a reluctant consent to their anonymous publication in the Evening Journal.' The series, thus commenced, were continued, contributing to the interest of our readers, and adding new names to our subscription, until the whig state convention placed their author in a new relation to the public; when, unwilling, we suppose, to superadd to other offences the heinous one of writing 'Letters from Europe,' he desired us to suspend their publication. "From this decision of the author, our readers have appealed to the editor. Having read a portion of these letters, they insist upon the publication of the entire series. They do not, nor can we discover, in the whig nomination for governor, a sufficient reason for cutting off this source of interest and instruction. And besides, the assent of the author, to the publication of the whole series, having been obtained before his nomination for governor, we insist that he has not now the right to revoke it. "Under these circumstances, and at the general solicitation of our readers, we take the responsibility of resuming the publication of our 'Letters from Europe.' It is due, however, to Mr. Seward, to say, that they were written solely for the gratification of his own family, and a few intimate friends, without the slightest expectation that they would ever be given to the public. If any of his political opponents should think proper to find fault with these letters, we shall respectfully inquire who among them possesses the industry and the talent to have travelled through England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and France, within a period of less than three months, and produce nearly eighty letters (filling upward of nine hundred manuscript pages) of equal interest and intelligence?" The limited space remaining in these volumes will admit of only a small number of these interesting letters. Those which have found a place were selected without much discrimination, and have probably been somewhat marred in being taken from their original connection as well as by their necessary abridgment. Two of them have never before appeared in print.—Ed. LETTERS FROM EUROPE. LETTER I. LIVERPOOL-ENGLISH HOTEL-THEATRE-TOWN-HALL, &C. LIVERPOOL, June 22, 1833. MY DEAR J: You will recollect having told me to send you no short letters. As it is probable my earliest letters will be the longest, because, while a novice in travelling, I shall find more numerous objects which seem to be worth description than when I shall have become acquainted with transatlantic scenes and manners, I dedicate to you such part of my notes as relates to Liverpool. We took lodgings at the Adelphi, and having selected our rooms, went immediately to attend to the inspection of our baggage at the customhouse. We found the office, and all the ways of access to it, filled with immense quantities of the baggage brought by two packets and one transient ship from America. We were compelled to await our turn. During the passage, our Havana merchant had generously presented to one of the passengers from Philadelphia a box of fine cigars. The box was seized by the customhouse officers, and so large a bill of duties and charges was made, that the donor hesitated whether to pay the amount or leave the cigars. Iu coming to the conclusion to take his property, I believe he was principally determined by a sense of the complaisance due to his Spanish friend. A passenger who arrived in another ship had a large trunk, filled with new and well-selected American books: these passed, without note or comment. Immediately afterward a person entered, who, it was whispered, was an agent sent down from London to detect malpractices at Liverpool. My trunks were opened in his presence, and the officers, with reluctance, took out my books, and said they could not pass without a clearance, although they were not a fourth part as numerous as those of the other traveller, and were, most or all of them, small books of my own library, brought to relieve the tediousness of the voyage. One of the officers whispered to me, to look over them, and see if I could not find some English books among them. This, of course, was impossible, as nobody buys English books in America. So I had the pleasure of seeing my Shakspeare, and Burns, and Carter, and Silliman, thrown into the scales with Mrs. Trollope and Captain Hall, and other names more unknown to fame. The bill of duties and charges amounted to fourteen shillings sterling, which I paid, taking a resolution, that at the next inspection I would leave Mrs. Trollope and Captain Hall at the customhouse. We visited the theatre in the evening. The edifice, the arrangements, the scenery, and the performance, were all inferior to those of the best theatres in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. I must except, however, the star of the night. This was Mr. Power, who excels any actor I have ever seen in the performance of Irish characters. The characters he represented were Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Teddy the Tiler. He seemed equally happy in the genteel and low Irish characters. The bill announced that this was his last engagement before going to America, so you will soon have an opportunity to judge of his merits for yourself. At the theatre we met almost all our fellowpassengers, and were not a little surprised to see our steward and his assistant, both colored men, in the box opposite to us. Although our prejudices revolted at the association, I was pleased with the evidence that in England, the caste of men is not determined by the color of the skin. On Tuesday, having sent our letters of introduction, we commenced the grand business of seeing the lions of the town; but, before descending to particulars, it will be better to give you my observations upon the tout ensemble of Liverpool. The situation of the town has nothing imposing. The commercial character of its population is indicated by the modern style of its buildings, which differ, however, from those in New York in their appearance of greater solidity and in their less cheerful aspect. They are composed of freestone, or of very hard, dark-colored bricks. You see very little of external ornament, and the painted woodwork which is so often seen in American towns is unknown here. The only house I have seen which has light Venetian windowshutters belongs to an American. In every part of the city are manufactories, having very high chimneys constantly emitting columns of dense coal-smoke, and upon all the hills in the vicinity are numerous windmills. The display of goods in the shopwindows is very similar to what you see in Broadway, though more splendid. The streets are generally narrow and irregular, and the coal-smoke, in a very humid atmosphere, gives a sombre color to the most magnificent buildings. The aspect of the population is not different from that of New York, except the great number of females employed in servile and laborious occupations, and the greater number of liveried servants. Liverpool, you know, is a very ancient town: it was fortified by the commonwealth against Prince Rupert, nephew to King Charles I., and, for a long period antecedent to that time, was the seat of the earls of Derby and Stafford. But it acquired no great commercial importance until the latter part of the last century, when its merchants perceived the great advantages of their location in reference to Manchester, whose manufactures were now becoming greatly extended. To this branch of trade was added the unholy traffic in slaves. The former still continues to add to the wealth and importance of Liverpool. As Liverpool began to flourish at about the same time, and for a considerable period continued. pari passu with New York, the Liverpool merchants anticipated that the two cities would acquire equal importance in reference to the countries in which they were located. But more recently they have been compelled to acknowledge that there must be limits to the extent of the one, while the other has as yet but commenced an apparently interminable career of prosperity. The most magnificent public building in Liverpool is the townhall: it is of the Corinthian order, and is of quadrangular form, having a rustic basement on which are placed a range of columns and pilasters; on three sides, the spaces between the capitals of the columns are adorned with bas-reliefs, illustrative of the commercial character of the town. A dome, which rises to the height of about one hundred and fifty feet above the foundation, and is in perfect proportion, surmounts the edifice. On the summit of the |