Liverpool was, a long time ago, as far as relates merely to the Customs' regulations, under the officers of the Customs of Chester; but the following entry appears on the Liverpool Corporation Records, as early as the 15th January, 1646, from which it should appear that, from that date at least, it was no longer the case: "It is desired that, Whereas this port is a free and Independant Port, that all Officers for Customs may be properly belonging to this port; and that the Officers of Chester, may not hereafter usurp anie power, or authoritie, in this port, as from Chester; or Charters and auncient grants and customs are, that we shall enjoy all such liberties and priviledges as anie other port within the King's dominions."(1) In 1658, is an entry in the Corporation Records referring to a difference which had arisen between the officers of the Customs of Chester and of Liverpool, and stating that "The matter having been referred, the 29th October, 1658, to Mr. Samuel Sandford, the Surveyor General for the Customs and Excise, he declared and concluded that the liberties of Liverpool reached to the accustomed place, on the further side of Redstones."(2) The Banking Houses which existed in Liverpool, in 1775, and for several years afterwards, were that of Messrs. Charles Caldwell and Company (subsequently Messrs. Caldwell, Smythe and Co.) in Paradise-street; that of Messrs. William Clarke and Son, on the east side of Derby-square; and that of Messrs. Arthur Heywood, Son and Co. in Castlestreet; the banking hours of the latter were stated in the Directory of 1777, as "hours of attendance from nine to one, and from three to six. No business done on Thursday."(3) Afterwards, Messrs. Thomas, Samuel and Joseph Crane, had at one period a bank in Dale-street, near the Exchange. (1) Printed Report of the Proceedings at Liverpool before the Commissioners of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations, in 1833, page 284. (2) Ibid. page 286. (3) From J. Gore's Liverpool Directory of 1777. About 1790, the bank of Messrs. William Gregson, Sons and Company, was established, in Paradise-street, near the lower end of College-lane; at the close of 1795, or the commencement of 1796, the firm was changed to that of William Gregson, Sons, Parkes and Clay; in 1805, it was again changed to that of Gregson, Clay and Company; and, in 1807, not being successful, the bank was discontinued. Messrs. Staniforth, Ingram, Bold and Daltera, were also Liverpool bankers in 1793, but did not carry on the business for a long time: their bank was in Pool-lane, now South Castle-street, nearly opposite the end of King-street. In 1793, in consequence of the prevalence of great commercial distress, both in Liverpool and elsewhere in the kingdom, a plan was taken into consideration, for obtaining a legislative permission for the issue of negotiable notes, by the Corporation of Liverpool, and on that occasion, a statement and explanation were made of the property and income of the Corporation, as being a sufficient security for the payment of the notes, as will be more fully explained in another chapter, (2) The permanent property of all descriptions, including debts owing to the Corporation, the items of which were exhibited, and after deducting the debt owing by the Corporation, amounted to £821,959 8s, and the gross annual income amounted to £25,000 17s 11d, and an act of parliament was passed May 10, 1793, in the thirty-third year of George the Third, chap. 31, empowering the Corporation to issue negotiable notes, to an extent not exceeding £200,000, for a limited time; which judicious measure had the happy effect of assisting in restoring confidence; not a moiety of that amount was required, and the notes which had been issued were in due time paid off. (1) For a short time about that period, the firm was William Gregson, Sons, Parkes and Morland. (2) Chapter V. During the period which elapsed, between 1775 and the close of the 18th century, the periodical observance of old customs, festivals, and holy days, was much more attended to than at present. The recurrence of the timehonoured festival of Christmas, was commemorated in Liverpool, to an extent much beyond what is now the usage, though in a degree inferior to the manner in which it was observed in the age which was gone by. In this town the boar's head, garnished with rosemary, and with a pippin in its mouth, had ceased to be a standard dish at the table, it was not then considered essential for the yule log to blaze on the hearth, and morris-dancers and mummers no longer contributed to the rude mirth of the Christmas guests; but the churches and houses were still profusely decorated with holly, laurel, ivy, and other evergreens, hospitable and convivial meetings, visits of relations and friends, and the Christmas carols, marked the anniversary of the season, which was one of enjoyment, festivity, and (1) The account given in Mr. Washington Irving's Sketch Book, of the manner of celebrating Christmas, in England, is erroneous, and is also objectionable, as having a tendency to mislead persons who may not be conversant with English habits or customs. The Author of this Work had some acquaintance with him and his brother, Mr. Peter Irving, when they resided in Liverpool, in 1817, and is confident that there is not any material difference between the ages of Mr. W. Irving and the Author; and he feels no hesitation in asserting, that the mode of celebrating Christmas, by a combination of so many old ceremonies, observances and pastimes, as are there described, has never existed in England during the life time of either of them. It is true that the Sketch Book is merely a work of imagination and not of history, and that it describes Mr. Bracebridge as an eccentric elderly gentleman, who was fond of keeping up or reviving ancient customs and old pastimes, but it is so expressed that a stranger to English habits, on reading it, can scarcely avoid falling into the error of imagining that such a mode of celebration, was observed at Christmas, in some parts of England, at the time when that book was written, or at least, in very modern times. Even if all the ceremonies, sports and observances which are there described, ever were commonly practised at Christmas, in English families, it was in an age long since past, and there is no reason to believe that the mode of observing or celebrating Christmas, described in the Sketch Book, ever occurred in England, within the last hundred years. relaxation. The interest excited by the recurrence of this festival did not escape the notice of Shakespeare, who makes a most beautiful, although wild and fanciful, allusion to the night preceding Christmas-day, and who appears desirous to inculcate a degree of religious veneration for the season: in mentioning the disappearance of the ghost of the deceased King, he introduces the following passage : "It faded on the crowing of the cock. The custom of having supper parties on new year's-eve, to let in, as it was termed, the new year, was then very prevalent; as the clock struck twelve at midnight, a loyal or appropriate song was commonly sung, and sometimes the ceremony was gone through, of opening the window for a few seconds, to let in the new year. This custom still lingers in some places, though much less observed than formerly. A similar ceremony was not unfrequently observed on Christmas-eve, on letting in Christmas. The other seasons of enjoyment, Easter and Whitsuntide weeks, were also much more observed in Liverpool, as periods of relaxation and recreation, than they now are. In Easter week, the fair, called Folly Fair, before noticed, (2) was held in the neighbourhood of London-road and Islington. An idle and blameable practice also existed, on Monday and Tuesday in Easter week, amongst the lower classes, called lifting, which is not yet quite abolished (1) Hamlet, act 1, scene 1. It is remarkable, that in Bell's edition of Shakespeare, a considerable portion of that exquisitely beautiful passage is omitted. (2) Chapter I, page 113. in some remote and rude places; and which consisted in the ceremony of lifting persons into the air, sometimes in a chair, and at other times without one, unless they purchased impunity by a pecuniary gratuity. It is supposed that if there be any meaning at all in so foolish a practice, it is a reprehensible allusion to the resurrection, or the ascension of our Saviour. The anniversary of the gunpowder plot, the 5th of November, was celebrated by bonfires and fireworks. That of the restoration of monarchy, the 29th of May, was commemorated by the usual honours of oak leaves; the Liverpool people probably thinking, like many others, that although there was nothing to admire in the conduct or character of a licentious and despotically-inclined monarch like Charles the Second, yet, that the nation in recalling him, and discarding the Puritan Parliament, chose the least of two evils, and not being then sufficiently ripe or experienced to invite over some other prince, as was afterwards done in 1688, who would accept the crown, on the condition of governing on constitutional principles, acted judiciously, in preferring one tyrannical king, rather than remaining under the government of many tyrannical rulers. During a considerable part of the concluding quarter of the 18th century, the dress of the bankers, merchants, and others, of the upper and middle classes of Liverpool, was very different from anything now seen there. They then commonly wore coats cut much in the form of court dress-coats, often with stand-up collars, and usually with gilt, silvered, twist, or basket buttons; waistcoats of very great length, of the kind called flap waistcoats, the flaps being large, and containing pockets with a small cover or flap over each pocket, and often with ornamented basket buttons; short breeches, with buckles of gold, silver, or false stones, at the knees, and large buckles of gold or silver, or gilt or plated to resemble |