towards manhood, my services became more profitable to my master, and my strength and courage checked that cowardly cruelty which defenceless childhood had invited, till the miscreant grew civil from selfishness, and merciful through fear. I now began to aspire to becoming a master sweep, and even to rise beyond that elevation, and I anticipated the luxury I should feel when I had boys to climb for me, to treat them with humanity, and mitigate, by gentleness, their miserable fate. I was not of a loquacious, nor very social disposition, yet I thirsted after the society of persons whose conversation might enlighten me,-but, sure that I should be repelled, I made no advances. I still continued to purchase books, stretching as far as six-penny histories. At length, after fourteen years of servitude, my master and I separated, and I began to act in a new capacity -namely, for my own benefit

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Having never learned to tipple, my habits were all of the sober and frugal kind. I had even accumulated money enough, after wandering so many years half naked, and barefooted-to purchase decent clothing, and I-resolved to go and seek my mother. I found her, poor and desolate as I left her, and with a numerous family, partly grown up. Her husband -my old tormentor, was dead. I found, by the inquiries I had made of the neighbours, he was suspected of having made away with me. I asked my mother what was become of John Davies, her first husband's child?. She was sensibly affected, and shed tears as she said that the boy had run away when very young, and had never been heard of more. I questioned her more closely;-amazed at the earnestness of my manner, she examined my features more attentively, and exclaimed, "Thou art John Davies, mine own child!"-I embraced her, gave her the kiss of peace, and sat down to listen to her tale of sorrows, and recount my own."

From this period of the early history of Mr. Davies, his Biographer must become the speaker, in the ensuing narrative: for many of the incidents were gleaned from the friends of this honest and upright character.

Having relieved the wants of his mother, and promised her, if success attended his endeavours, to protect her in her declining years from want and wretchedness, he took leave of her and of his half brothers, to whom he had shown kindness and liberality, and bent his steps towards Liverpool.

At the accession of George III. or shortly afterwards, the principal sweep in Liverpool was named Lawson; he dwelt in Stanley-street, which then formed part of the outskirts of the town, although of late years it has been enveloped in the very heart of what may be termed old Liverpool. This man attracted notice by being a wit and a rhymster ;* by wearing a suit of worsted clothes, which his wife knit for him; and by a sort of bankruptcy that consigned him to the prison in Water-street. Nearly forty years later, his widow surviving him, carried on her husband's trade, and when Mr. Davies arrived at Liverpool, he served her some time, and

* In the old Jest-books there is a story of a Liverpool climbing-boy, who exclaimed, on beholding two London players in the street," Measter, measter! Beant thay the Player-men from Lunnon?" The actors were within hearing, and the Measter, chiding the boy's rudeness, said, "Hold your tongue you dog! You don't know what you may come to yourself before you die." An old man, now nearly ninety, who was a crony of Lawson, declares he has often heard him relate the story, as having really occurred. And that the Players, instead of being offended, gave Lawson a shilling to drink their health. This anecdote, if true, indicates that at the period in question, and in Liverpool, a chimney-sweep thought himself a more respectable character than a player. The rigid Methodist thinks so yet,

was advised to take her customers, which he declined, because he cherished a hope to make his way by degrees to a more eligible situation of life. Soon afterwards he commenced master sweep, and took boy apprentices, whom he treated in a manner the antipodes of that which he had experienced. Those who well remember him at that period, give him the credit of having done his duty by them; and as nothing grieved him so much as the want of education, he taught them, at leisure hours, to read, and furnished them with materials; and on Sundays, clothed as decently as circumstances afforded, he accompanied them to some place of worship. This care and kindness was the more commendable, and indeed extraordinary, for an accurate observation of human action proves, that although misfortune and adversity softens the human heart, yet, excessive suffering, long continued, render it callous, selfish, and insensible to the misery of others. And the history of Negro slavery proves, that the enfranchised slave, when he became a slave owner, often proved a cruel remorseless tyrant, apparently delighting in an opportunity to make his dependents experience more than all the misery which unfeeling oppression had formerly made him endure.

During this epoch of his life, Mr. Davies applied, with incessant diligence to teach himself, as well as his boys; and he extended his purchase of books, until he acquired a considerable degree of useful knowledge, if not of learning. When questioned what his feelings were as to religion, he candidly owned that he knew nothing of creeds, and did not understand any subtleties of faith, but that he always had cherished a powerful belief in the existence of a supreme being, who rewarded the good, and punished the evil doer; and that there is another and a better world, where the poor and wretched, if they were honest and upright, would be estimated and treated as well as the rich and the great. It was not likely that such a character as this escaped the notice of the active and zealous Methodists. Mr. Davies himself, never spoke without great reserve on this subject, but, from persons belonging to that powerful sect, his present Biographer bas been informed that at one time he leaned strongly towards Methodism; but afterwards receded, or, more correctly speaking, changed his opinion, as by the expansion of his mind, and the accession of intellectual capacity, he outgrew his first crude notions, as children outgrow their clothes.

In recounting the hardships of his early days, Mr. Davies ever seemed to deplore the want of education as one of the greatest. And as he struggled to supply that deficiency, he considered an old newspaper, no matter how old-or even a portion, as an invaluable treasure. He did not fix the measure of elevation or of depression by the quantum of riches or extent of poverty, but between the cultivated and illiterate being. And in this he was morally correct. The man who is wholly illiterate, differs but little from the ox that breaks the stubborn glebe, and is chained to the spot where he exists, whilst as Gibbon more eloquently expresses himself, the cultivated man, multiplies his powers, avails himself of the learning of others, and lives in future ages. Nor can a stronger proof be afforded of the value of education, than the declarations of a man whose sufferings in early life had been so great and numerous, that he accounted the ignorance in which his mind was enveloped, as the most serious and truly lamentable.

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As he had never, in his worst days of misery and bondage, amalgamated with his sooty companions, so, now that he began to hold his head, he strove to make his way into more reputable society. As soon, therefore, as the labours of the day were over, and attiring himself in clean and decent apparel, by mixing with well-informed mechanics and petty trades

men, who, observing his laudable endeavours, met his advances, and courted his company he endeavoured to put himself on a level with the best informed. At this period, the events of the French Revolution, and the discussions which ensued, had given an astonishingly rapid expansion to the human mind, and particularly amongst these, so insolently denominated by a pensioned apostate "The Swinish multitude." The society most to the taste of Mr. Davies were such as may with propriety be called "thinking men," not violent fanatics, religious or political.

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As his means increased, Mr. Davies married; and his conduct as a husband and father, is said by his friends to have ever been marked by kindness and affection. As he mingled more with society, his objection to the lowly calling to which he had been reared, acquired strength; and he grew dejected from a powerful wish to get clear of it, and the difficulties which opposed his entrance into any better walk of life. His wife, who knew the source of his melancholy; and was desirous to find a remedy, and having seen how much he was addicted to reading, and what delight he took in his books, advised him to turn bookseller. How am I to get a stock to begin with ?"-" Well! if that's all that hinders you, I can tell you; take your own books and sell them in the market." He had, by this time, accumulated a large library, his rank in life considered. He reflected on the proposition, and adopted it. Cleaning himself with more than common care; and putting his library into a basket, away he marched the next day, his assiduous helpmate carrying a table which was to serve as a counter to display his ware, and thus he commenced his new calling by offering his own private library for sale. It would have been amusing. if he had made a catalogue of those books, because it must have denoted the course of reading he had adopted: but the omission admitting no remedy, bewailing its occurrence would be useless, suffice it to say that his most intimate friends believe that nothing obscene formed any part, and that he never, at any period, either bought or sold lewd books. From this humble beginning (which forms an epoch in the second-hand_book trade in Liverpool,) his new business kept increasing, but still Mr. Davies prudently retained his old calling: thus, every forenoon he acted as a master chimney-sweep; and in the afternoon he was seen at his bookstall a little to the south of St. George's Church. In the course of a couple of years, he gained custom so fast, as to enable him to lay by the soot bag, and apply himself wholly to buying and selling second-hand books; and thus, by slow degrees, he accomplished the great object of his ambition, and became a shop-keeper. By this time he had acquired a considerable knowledge of his trade, and what was no less meritorious was the number of scarce and curious books which he had accumulated. This brought a number of amateurs and collectors to his shop, and by a constant accession of select customers, Mr. Davies acquired a considerable degree of celebrity. Even some of the great traders who inserted in their pompous catalogues the titles of scarce books they did not possess, have often applied to him, and were supplied from his stores. It would look too much like puffing to recapitulate the choice works he has sold, or yet possesses, and that would neither be conformable to his taste nor that of his biographer. Very little more remains to be said, as this outline was intended to be nothing more than a sketch, and a precursor to that more ample and detailed memoir which it is supposed by his friends he has in contemplation to publish.

Nothing makes an honest man look more ridiculous than excessive praise. It is often more injurious than scurrility. The author will en

deavour to avoid this common error of those whose object is to display to the world the obscure merit they suppose they have discovered.

As his mother's second family grew up, he helped them forward in their road through life; and taking his mother to his fire side, he rendered her latter years as happy and comfortable, as if she had been to him the kindest and best of parents. Whilst she lived, she suffered no want, nor suffered any pain, in his power to remove or to mitigate, and when her last breath was gone, he put her decently under the earth.

There is one trait more in Mr. Davies's character, which, though highly meritorious in a moral point of view, may expose him to sneers and ridicule amongst the fashionables of this voluptuous age-namely:-he never forsook his wife, though many years older than himself, and less improved by cultivation; but through bad and good fortune, he has uniformly treated her as his best and most valuable friend and companion.

The following is an extract from the letter of a Liverpool friend, and it is worthy of note, that this gentleman, as a friend of mine, was the only one that I found in Lancashire, who combined, with an intimate knowledge of Mr. Cobbett, a general respect for his character.

R. C.

"MY DEAR SIR,-I am glad to find you have been gratified with your journey to the North; and still more so to learn that you have made a very favorable impression on those who have had the pleasure of your good society, which I have ascertained from those who have met you.— Nothing would have given me so much pleasure, as to have accompanied you in your various visits; not only for the respect I bear to you as a public character, but for the esteem I hold of your private one.

"You are bard upon Mr. Cobbett; his language is certainly strong, but "blocks of marble cannot be cut with razors." He wishes to create “effect," and that now! He will not wait, he will not reason on fixed principles, he will not be at the PAINS of talking over, he is virtuously impetuous! and without his energy and impetuousness you could not have the many good things he deals out. It is his style and manner; it is his province to crush, destroy, rant, tear, pull in pieces, and knock down any thing not thorough going! 'tis your's by milder methods to obtain the same end. He is a reformer temporal; you temporal and spiritual; you have to unlearn the people much, but the people know and feel the subject at which he "rails." Mr. Cobbett is not a deep searcher into things either written or said: his own practical good sense on various subjects makes him have a rich fund within himself. Were he a warrior, he would indeed be a great man! but he respects his life and property too much ever to risk either the one or the other for his country's good; any thing else he will do, and I commend him for taking care of the former.

"The most respectable and intelligent people of this place are for the most part of your way of thinking; but the present state of society forbids them acknowledging it for interest's sake. Some have the candour, to avow they were agreeably disappointed with you; whilst an obstinate few do violence to their feelings in viewing you the monster represented by the enemies of free discussion." G. H.

Printed and Published by RICHARD CARLILE, 62, Fleet Street, where all Communications, post paid, or free of expense, are requested to be left.

No. 3. VOL. 1.] LONDON, Friday, January 18, 1828. [PRICE 6d.

TRIALS OF THE REVEREND ROBERT TAYLOR AND

OTHERS.

GREAT interest has been excited this week, on the subject of these trials, and the prosecutors appear to have learnt the folly of their prosecutions before they came to trial. The 15th inst. was appointed for the trial of the second indictment, in which Mr. Taylor stands alone; and the 16th for the trial of the indictment which charges him and six others with a conspiracy to blaspheme, or to bring into contempt, the Christian Religion. On Monday, the 14th, the Attorney-General moved the Court of King's Bench to put off the trial of the first indictment, under the pretence, that the second embraced all the topics of the first.The motion was granted, and Mr. Taylor received the following notice :

"The King v. Robert Taylor, for offence on 13th February.

This cause is made a remanet, and will not therefore be tried to-morrow, but remain until the sitting after the next Term.— The Indictment against you and others for a Conspiracy stands for trial on Wednesday next, the 16th January instant, at nine o'clock in the morning.

W. L. NEWMAN,

Solicitor for the prosecution. 14th January, 1828.

To Mr. Robert Taylor, the Defendant."

On Wednesday, the 16th inst. Mr. Taylor and his alleged fellow-conspirators, made their appearance in Court. Mr. Brougham was retained for Messrs. Brookes, Saull, Brushfield, Freeman and Roome, and Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hanger kept their case in their own hands. Another special jury case was first called on, which occupied the court until two o'clock; and then the Lord Chief Justice refused to call on the case of alleged conspiracy, offering to take it on the following morning; but evidently preferring to be without it altogether. After some few observations, on the part of the Attorney-General and Mr. Brougham, Mr. Attorney also evidently disliking the job on

Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 62, Fleet Street. No. 3.-Vol I.

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