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The Infirmary was founded for the eradication of one species of evils; but here is a building for the suppression of evils of another description. The City Gaol, for such is the gloomy-looking structure before us, is an erection of the present century, having supplanted the old and ruinous prison which formerly stood upon the site of the present North Gate. Over the handsome Doric entrance is an iron railing, within which the last sentence of the law is occasionally executed on condemned criminals. Surely the day is not far distant when “death by the hangman” will be a punishment unknown to the criminal code of England! What adds to the evil, so far as Chester is concerned, is that the authorities of the City are compelled, by some antediluvian charter, to see execution done on every condemned criminal within the County, though for what reason this especial honour was first conferred on the citizens, is an enigma susceptible of no clear solution.

A short distance hence is Stanley Place, a double row of genteel residences; at the head of which, within that ponderous gateway, is the old Linen Hall, once the great mart for Irish linens, but of late, owing to the decay of that branch of trade, consecrated to the sale of the famed Cheshire cheese. What! have you never yet tasted a bit of “prime old Cheshire?” Let us recommend you then to do so, on your return to the Inn; and if your fancy does not gloat over it for a month or two to come, our belief in your good taste will be considerably modified.