The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-18 00:00:00

210 [DEcE3MEIt 18, 1 It _B, 1855' Pi . P 4.1 , :t, ration off ' t - ,e biogrq: ,r4rt t idensecl l' i,_tia, as o g, and COI, q t r qll as yet to ,ai_ au le . ii led : e ::lts _ , 7 is.to wh \ foil Well:10° ' t t eSt suriositi', itliell, a f toras 0- t 1 Pitt esea artitiseral, 4, :tin .c, betho,: . I kth f In cbippew • n( t'eolviliitiseclit'rb'cio: 1011. 1 .11 , 4:ei : where ~,,,i , prat he jr-4 Come IiOW free" )!, the ~YeAedt 4g c Roa ' yep'' 4 le lad ja; of ee of 4, yec the 'l'l'l iall, VvT vi e his sec 44. a I D i, tribe Vteke I) )abtless'o Zs. c end' eyed .g, her d riot It' ll e , iitlees w on his i l 1 -re ii o gul lied o"''t . lO Us ear I mall 0 f from trrom i of the'. I,lier. ,-. he sWeet' t th e ,' el Dr, if cile' , ,sktid "ei eivilizflo ' 4 l 4 4. lite Oil ' Ils.rpe, or tbis e;aielo aware, sed le, . t -wild ,0 Ii e couldo, or wi tatoen ti I 'fitness ladtinti'if ,e I !d siece, ) 11) an totto Ilell the °ke 4 11 li, ictioo, tob e ' 1 isite I I " p . hin t or te,i Iv 4 the ou' ic . - 0 for no j o was, of r lc jo cleea, v S, earfi 0 So' j t l , (li n ' i f the ,ie Od t o bs , too ;, to 'loo3° 4c: and gri a f,' a r ose L:t111:1; 5 l't'lllll.7aii .100115,, .{,Ni .er 1 0)/9 \ of' her, si :red,y 001' t 4 et r 1na1°1,,,, It: dIIE crovec,, Illetec 1 bell Itititor Notiohav ,e esllolit ~; t o 11, an 0 13 0 .Ifitso,cv CO r a s , fe a t i it „.11 d c , beoP , 'i Or Cillid -, ,Or 4 th whit ~1., hi_ e ,le top, Itirl,: fa os g" 0 0 , a %'a a' a nion •IR 11 P t tent Its 111° t o 4ii at a nt vas 04 t,litc, he 1 ancilli°lif' l e e b t l th e I ' ifr i'inpie to 'el of r tvY ,t(1011:t 1 wioll ttiltcirt rived"! N it 'Y o in socce6oo le, actir telletir I 1 g. 1 •-•if, 4144 c' Tl, [I,IIIP olb . philor. c iciottel 11,,igh ter 6. g i the inilai SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. Oriential manners are scarcely less clearly indi cated than in the scene which we hud previously extracted. His observations on manners and customs, however, were not confned to the city, or even to the immediate neighbou , hood of Damas cus. He traversed consideralg portions of the Desert ; and encountered, un, different circum stances, encampments of the nomade tribes who roam over its vast tracts, or more correctly speaking, who hover aLoat , its borders. Of these he gives several descriptions which, although characterised by the freshness and fidelity of narrative which forms the most attractive features of his book, we cannot afford space for, yet cannot resist the tempta tion of accompanying him in some of his re searches among the world-renowned ruins of Palmyra. These he visited and examined with great care, and he displays both pains-taking and sagacity in describing them. The ruins of Pal myra, which occupy an immense area of ground, are white as snow, and in general silent as the tomb ; no blade of grass nor other form of vegetation interposing to mar the impressive though scarcely monotonous solitude. Lonely avenues of stately and elegant columns ; broken, arches and recumbent pillars ; fragments of por ticoes, and fallen cornices and entablatures, mingle strangely with the features of the Desert. On each and all of these striking contrasts Mr. Porter gazes with the feeling of the moralist and the eye of the artist and philosopher. He thus describes The Museum of Science and Art. Edited by Dionysius Lardner, D.C.L. Vo). VIII. Lou- don c Walton and Maberly. The eighth volume of this scientific library is now before us, and that volume is probably one of the most interesting and valuable of the series. It commences with a rapid glance at the stellar universe, in which the nebular and other theories receive further illustration than they have ob tained in any of the previous volumes. The sub ject next considered is " Man." This compli cated and interesting subject of inquiry is traced through its varying branches, physical and moral, and the material and mental relations of the species Man with the inferior races of animals are clearly and cleverly traced. In considering the physical superiority of the human organisation over that of the lower animals, a clear analogy is traced with the mental results of those superior organisms, and throughout the whole the benefi cient wisdom of the great Creator is powerfully manifested. On the intricate subjects of instinct and reason we have elaborate and well-digested speculations. The merely animal instincts are considered in their various relations to self preservation and love of offspring, very remote indications of which are traceable in even the vegetable kingdom. They are then examined more in detail, as the expanding instincts of the infant are gradually absorbed in the experiences and reasonings of the man. The inquiry is sub sequently pursued in considering the relations which exist between instinct and intelligence, as these are exhibited among the insect and ornitho logical tribes. Besides the matters referred to, the volume before us also contains clearly written and highly instructive, as well as amusing, chapters on mag nifying glasses, in which the principles of the microscope are felicitously unfolded. The camera obscura and magic lantern also meet with an able and interesting exposition ; and, as a whole, the eighth volume of the " Museum of Science and Art" sustains the character of the work as an admirable repertory of popular science, and vin dicates the • character of Dr. Lardner, its editor, as one of the most eloquent and lucid expositors of physical science. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of James Montgomery : including Selections from his Correspondence, Remains in Prose and Verse, and Conversations on Various Subjects. By John Holland and James Everett. Vols 111. and IV. London : Longman and Co. To be a work published under the imprimatur of a respectable publishing firm, the two volumes under remark are singular specimens of the art of book-manufacture. For the purpose of swell ing the work into an imposing magnitude, the Sheffield Iris, a newspaper which acquired some celebrity under the editorship of Montgomery, is drawn upon to an extent which is altogether unpardonable. Want of judgment and an excess of zeal may have misled the two gentlemen who have, conjointly, undertaken the life of the unob trusive and delicately-minded author of " The Pelican Island" into a belief that all he said and all he did was worthy of preservation and repro duction. In this they have been mistaken, and greatly erred. Two-thirds, indeed three-fourths, of what is put forth under the heads of Cor xespondence and Remains, are unmitigated twaddle. Tliat he was delicate in his mental susceptibilities, and dainty in his more elaborate literary efforts, is true, and it is well that it should be known ; but most of the reproduced matter in these volumes, on subjects which could lead to an appreciation of his mental physiognomy, are as unimportant as was the colour of the handker- chief with which he wiped the perspiration finely-rounded brow. An accepta ble bi of James Montgomery, in a condense generalized form, would be interesting, yet not but prove instructive ; but it bas written. A REAL ROMAXCI. SOME years ago, Mr. Catlin, the - „ ir i exhibitor of North American Indian rue exemplifier of the manners and 0151 0 0 people, in his anxiety to cater for th e 5 bet' if not instruction, of the British publ ic 'cui, him of collecting a band of real live and of carrying them to that most el s l' its tion of the globe, London, and to b( civilized quarter, Regent-street itself : might show to astonished multitudes h man in his native wilds danced his NC% $t sung his war-song, tomahawked a o f tortured and triumphed over his v ictiraid t io in less ferocious mood, he danced th e o smoked the calumet of peace, drove paddled his canoe, or harangued 111 ' family. The idea was excellent, dolib t- ; its execution far from easy. An hyell it ' t the laughing species, may be caught, if 11 , °, s an elephant may be tamed to stand on 111 , ( and a lion or tiger may be made to lie u their keeper's bidding ; but the wild 111 03 , forest, savage though he be , is one of t" of the creation, and believing in the - liberty, is too wary to be caught, or, if .. to be tortured into the habits of civil still less to obey the orders of a whi O te i tb such a pittance as he could offer- , Isv ar( indefatigable exhibitor soon becalli e though he could not bring over a "" tain and his band of Red braves, he e°'__ comparative ease tempt any number of taw; pewas, or their brown-tinted descendsll magnificent promises of an unlimited rum, to follow him round the world, to sing, or scalp, either in fact or in fictiaPo ever he might bid them. The requisite ti to perform the scalp-dance of war , f t. o e jump of peace, were soon collected 10 °le o' of the " Soo " itself ; but a ebieft o d e e , ing who might in appearance, if not dignity to his exalted rank. be Now, there dwelt at the said town O'„ t a fine-looking fellow, a carpenter 1-1 : 4 ( French descent, whose mother, or g h r- ito , rather, was a squaw. Besides _Fren c l ie r lish he spoke the Chippewa and o t m i dialects, and havinc , been much l'i v°l c)i was completely conversant with their lici9g, customs. He had, too, been empl°,Y e c bea preter on those occasions when the In assemble to receive presents from the g c ,, as bribes to keep them on their good Here was the very man to suit the to , purpose. If not a real chieftain, ad s , fe e supply of red and yellow ochre , bil ei o foxes' tails and teeth, deers' skins , ii it #A S bears' claws, would make him every s c , to as one, besides being much better fibleaticl to all inquisitive inquirers the custnipsioos of the tribe whom he and his cones 010 mirably represented. An overture ilias terms were agreed on, the bargai n n at. and Luis Cadotte, laying aside his saw,' fo r it turned his talents, evidently inten de " fo r' d sphere, toward s a new fi e ld more sui te play. In course of time the exhibitor, 'cc.' ro ve Indians and other stage properties, s don ; and there, I need not tell 1 10 . v f ht ' e l. they competed in interesting an enhr ti j o v with Bushmen, Siamese twins, ',., 4 tt aott e phants, and the happy family. Luis' A PALMYRENE MAUSOLEUM. A handsome doorway, with a small pediment, admits to a hall or chamber 27 feet long by 10 wide, and about 20 high. Along each side are four fluted Corinthian pilas ters, with tiers of recesses between them for the recep tion of the dead! Opposite the door is a shallow apse, with a semi-column on each side supporting a plain cornice. Within this are busts in mezzo-relievo, with Palmyrene inscriptions. Above the apse is another, similar in character, but smaller. It is in great part filled up with a projecting slab, like the side of a sarco phagus, upon which are four busts, with inscriptions. On the left of the entrance is a staircase leading to the upper stories, and over it are five busts, two in one row and three in another. On each side of the door is a pilaster, and over it a large bust. The ceiling is of slabs of stone, beautifully panelled and painted the 'divisions being coloured brown and the panels blue, with a white star-like flower in relievo in the centre. The middle part of the ceiling is broken away, but at the distance of two panels from the side and three from the end are large squares, each divided into four, and in each of these four is a bust in relievo on a blue ground. The ornaments are well designed and tastefully executed, and the effect of the whole is rich and even gorgeous. The colours are still clear as when the painter completed his work. Having followed Mr. Porter thus far in his ex plorations, want of space compels us to desist from going further ; but we have said and shown a sufficiency to 'warrant us in commend ing the book to the serious and attentive perusal of those who wish to obtain information of an exact and interesting character, relative to district whose tistory, past and present, is deeply inwoven with those incidents which connect the existing generation with the times of prophecy. Besides being a missionary and a traveller, Mr. Porter aims also at being a scholar and a learned topographer; that he is, not both we shall not pretend to say ; but we must not hesitate in declaring that to us, at all events, the least seduc tive portions of the work are those on which, in all probability, he bestowed the greatest attention and expended the greatest amount of labour. These are the portions in which he theorizes, we had almost said dogmatizes, on points of scriptural geography, and aims at the display of historical criticism. As a whole, however, he has produced a book which does himself much credit, and which will convey no small amount of rational and well-digested intelligence to numerous readers.