large collection left by the original founder, none of which are allowed to be removed from the library on any account. The inner room, equally large with the other, contains the books purchased by the monies arising from the entrance deposit and the annual subscriptions; these are arranged against the sides, and divided into two parts by a gallery. The books in this room may be taken out by the subscribers, and carried home; returnable, however, after a certain time. Two librarians are appointed to regulate the establishment; the chief of whom has a house appropriated to his use, and a salary of 70l. per annum. Nor should I forget, whilst thus enumerating the good points of Bristol, to mention its many humane establishments for the comfort, solace, and relief of poverty and sickness. The celebrated Colston, a second Man of Ross, has immortalized the character of the Bristol merchant by some of the most noble institutions that a private individual ever had either ability or liberality to establish. His school, in particular, which gives education, board, clothing, and subsequent settlement in life, to the children which it receives under its protection, does honour to his understanding as well as his heart; and at once attaches to his character the two most glorious titles of-wise and good. Another most interesting charity, only to be found, I believe, in this place and Liverpool, adds to the respect we feel for the Bristol character. It is a School of Industry for the Indigent Blind, formed in 1793, and supported by the voluntary contributions of the public. Here those unfortunate beings, who, (the blessing of sight being denied to them) may apply to themselves the pathetic lament of Milton: "For with the year "Seasons return; but not to us return Day, nor the sweet approach of ev'n or morn, "Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, "Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine; "But clouds instead, and ever-during dark "Surround us; from the cheerful ways of men "Cut off, and, for the Book of Knowledge fair, "Presented with an universal blank!". Here they are taught to earn their livelihood by the labour of their hands; and by these means relieved from that most distressing of all convictions, the conviction of being a burthen on society. Their employments are of several sorts; that of the males is chiefly basket-making; of the females spinning, and making laces for women's stays. No sight can be more interesting or affecting than this little seminary, its scholars busied in their respective avocations. All is cheerfulness, anima tion, and industry; escaped from that melancholy mental vacuity, that necessary inaction which the privation of sight induces, these unfortunate objects feel a felicity in employment not to be conceived by those who are in possession of vision, The eagerness with which they receive instruction, and the inflexible patience and perseverance they display in endeavouring to profit by it, strongly mark those natural principles engrafted in man, to the love of action, and the desire of independence. The institution only extends to the instruction of the blind in the manner of living by their own exertions, but the expences even of this limited plan, and of articles necessary for their work, amount to 500l. per annum. You will be pleased, however, to see by the following statement of the annual profits of their labour since the first formation of the establishment, that they have been gradually increasing in the yearly amount, and promise soon to be sufficient of themselves for the support of the school, without the aid of voluntary contributions:Receipt from Sales of Articles manufactured in Almost as soon as we have fairly quitted Bristol, and stretched beyond the heavy atmosphere of black smoke which generally involves it, we enter upon one of the richest spots of English ground-the Vale of Glocester watered by the Severn, and spreading before us a carpet of unbounded fertility, for twenty miles in length. Centuries back, before the bounty of nature had been aided here by judicious agriculture, the fertility of Glocester Vale was the theme of the historian's praise, and the subject of the poet's encomium. The honest and sensible William of Malmsbury tells us, that it produced in great abundance fruits and grain, the joint effects of its fine soil, and the labour of its hinds; who were stimulated to work, by having their exertions rewarded with a produce of one hundred fold. "In this favoured spot you GC may behold," says he, "the public highways "shaded and adorned with trees loaded with fruit, "not placed there by the hand of man, but by "the generosity of nature. The earth spontane ઃઃ ously brings forth her gifts, fruits of the richest "taste and brightest beauty; which, almost im perishable, may be preserved from the time of "their being taken in, till the season of gathering 66 again returns. Grapes, famous for their flavour, "are here produced in quantities, and manufac "tured into wines of the highest relish, equally "luscious with those of France. Numerous towns "overspread the vale, which is further enriched "with populous villages, and costly places of public "worship." Drayton, too, in his Polyolbion, personifying this fertile tract of country, makes it boast an excellence, which it may assert with truth and justice: "Of all the British vales, and so have ever been Divided, for the most part, into small farms, this happy tract of country has hitherto been preserved, in some measure, from that unnatural rise in the prices of the articles of life which those districts labour under, where, the land being thrown into a few hands, combination is easy, and the markets are at the mercy of a junto of overgrown farmers, whose only object is to fill their coffers at the expence of the country around them. Cheese, the boasted produce of the Vale, still sells as low as 43, 44, and 45s. per cwt.; and butter, equally excellent in its kind, at iod. id. and 18. per lb. Little arable husbandry is to be seen as we pass through this extensive flat; and where it does |