The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-13 00:00:00

INGvEutER 13, 1€55.] 171 SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD 11111:tient, but designed as the essay has been tor th est __,_ stud of youth, it becomes a duty to ex hollownests of the hollowness of its assumed philosophy, • 0 Protest against the unsafe conclusions it ineateates. 47T0-132-OGRAPHY OF A -" RABA A VIS." h , . --- in h , L ia a glorious, but, at the same time, a very r .,a nv., thin g , to form an exception to the geaerai squ ' L l the ,„ r tlie'uf one's kind—to be, if I may use . Oa ir ess ion, being French, not Irish, a wh i te IC f i, 6l . 1 am by no means a fabulous bird. tlie e -1511fon has described me; but it is very N :ult to find me : I wish, as a great snuff- music biped, without feathers, once said of a for Music, it were impossible ! And here, once .4 4 7' j may remark, that having, in the course 4 oci et . , 4 ed life, mingled a good deal in literary tret itu ' I n, Y readers are not to be surprised at my eusto'at'Y introducing allusions to the manners, f br a i 4 l l llB, and opinions of the plumeless and often Nose-sea creatures , called men, who, for scribbling .ea 141 1(4' h ave hitherto enjoyed so exclusiv go se ' Y iu the quills of my worthy friend the oat i_that T i -, on the present occasion, am fain to the ii ll e ; I : i lly claw a chance feather dropped from Ile ithb;! 111 , Y extremely noisy and impertinent 1 , 1 Afy f a T ti ," t ue crow. But this is a digression. uLaekbirrr„and mother were an honest pair of grown ga rden ing' Liv at one end of a retired, os-er- Ver e ail, near the centre of France. They e,ae,llYearehtlll,Plary couple ; making their . nest rCh i alla - 1; L.ue. i nterror of an old broken watering- Prin n e iPles, Z i pag up their young ones in good Ifl,ll°-3T' S oon ' W ith the utmost peace and har ' -tiler, f or --- afttr I came into the world, my he A 63 ; 14t ° 11 1s a t : I) ,rst time in his life, showed t a t donb t i t e rntber sand g re l y 7lper. My colour was a so i rt Q uit e different from that of n y SCIA T , 4 sisters he ' o gli lle a d' a (I,irtY-10.oking little thing it is . !" said `` I th. ay, ionk in A IDIc h e ,„ ing at me with much disfavour. 'last - Lust go on purpose, and roll himself Non r. ,, and l ime, or he would not be such a , Well ot thZ I 'IJ dear,,, replied my mother, hopping e does T 41 , ge of the family mansion, " and if %elfltbs" uaresay it is only what you did your yo C li 37°11 Were his age. Nestlings are al ell Nell 8 11 tnischief. Wait till he grows up, and oh ee he'll attend to his toilette." _ t i le gong, 1 ,,, Etta conk ! ..ly mother thus spoke in my detence, hie b 4 ot help being shocked herself at the Yet ,t, aPPearance of growing white plumage ; h .44 41 :9' d f • my I t N or _ e_ormity seem to endear to her °, bre pl e ' a nd she sought, b redoubled affection, n e - ;) a „ 8 it were, the hardships ' _ of my future lot. ,!ith er Lue time came for my first moulting, my 44thers\vatehed me attentively, and, while in m a y cher he re falling, and I sat shivering as my Poor ' treated me kindly, but, as soon fe ar pin. white hers, I ath. lolls began to be covered with 14 1, I t041:1 11e flew into such a rage, that I thought Not 'lit -' have plucked them out every %at • I& remirror, I was sadly Oh," ason of his anger.. . puzzled etioleu.nder -44 811 any morning, , 1 1 , t 11841, I unluckily began feeling in to sing. better At P t i m r t i h t e e s . IS c' it te d! `'carbied, my father darted towards )rtZt blackbiirdhsear?' t ie?”that I he cried. "Is that the , way Whistle .Is / that the way tabl,,eouclid,dieseilrin,"gsmaiedrrly, humbly, " y I , sung as well Ying eaten too many flies; fine da and perhaps ti A ct , family d on ' t sinp. ~ voice ha s b 0 so, retorted my father. c ountl ess r_ • een hereditary among us for vb I , generations . e ll beg m t „ • 'and now, in the evenings, il t v si n ar the house, ..? ' see the old gentleman and his daughter, who live there, open the windows in order to hear me. Is it not a sufficient trial to my feelings to have your frightful white feathers constantly under my eyes, without having your very disagreeable noise offending my ears ? For my part, I don't believe you're a blackbird at all." " What am I then ?" I asked, in despair. " I'm sure I don't know, but you're certainly not a blackbird ; and, if I had not the most patient temper in the world, I would long since have driven you away." During this time my poor mother sat bowing her head in sorrow, but not daring to interfere ; and, when my father had done speaking, I flew away, with a breaking heart, to take refuge in a neighbouring coppice. Passing by a clear stream, I saw my form reflected in it, and perceived too clearly how little I resembled my family. I perched in a tree. It rained heavily that night, and, in the morning, I felt half dead from cold, grief, and hunger. Another wretched-looking bird came and placed himself near me ; he was very thin, and his ruffled feathers were, as well as I could judge, of the same colour as my own. His body was larger than mine, yet he had scarcely sufficient plumage to cover a sparrow. He appeared to me at first like a poor mendicant ; but, when I looked more closely at him, I disco vered an air of innate dignity in his whole bearing, and especially in his man ner of carrying his bald head. I made him a profound and reverential bow, which he returned by a thrust of his beak, which nearly threw me off the branch. Seeing that I merely rubbed my head, and drew back without retaliating, he said to me, in a hoarse voice, " Who are you ?" " Alas, my lord," I replied, fearing a second push, " that's more than I can tell you. I thought I was a blackbird, but it seems I am not." The singularity of my reply, joined to my air of sincerity, interested him. He came close to me, and made me relate my history, which I did, in the fulness of my heart. " If you were a carrier-pigeon like me," he said, when I had ended, " you would not trouble your head about such trifles. We are constantly on the wing, travelling from country to country, and we neither know nor care who were our fathers. We fly like an arrow through the air, from one well-known point to another, and we never tease ourselves about domestic concerns." " But, sir," I said, " may I take the liberty of asking what that crushed-looking packet is, which hangs from your neck ?" " Papers of importance," replied the pigeon, " which I am carrying to a celebrated banker in Brussels, and which, I can tell you, will lower the funds." " Yours must be a pleasant life," I said, " and Brussels, I am certain, must be well worth seeing. Could you not take me with you ? Since lam not a blackbird, who knows but I may be a carrier pigeon ?" If you were," replied my friend, "you would have returned me the blow I gave you." " Well, sir, I'll owe it you, and, if you like, with interest. We wont differ about a trifle. See, the storm is lulled ; for pity's sake, let me go with you. If you refuse, I'll just go and drown myself." " Come on, then ; follow me, if you can." I gave a last look towards the garden where my mother slept. Tears filled my eyes, but the wind dried them up, and, spreading my wings, I flew away. My pinions were not yet strong, and, as my companion sped along rapidly, I soon felt unable to keep up with him. I bore on, panting, for a while, but at length I felt ready to sink with fatigue. ‘"Jlave we far to go ?" I quavered forth. " No, only about sixty leagues." Summoning all my strength, I managed to get on for another quarter of an hour, but then I felt completely spent. " Sir," said I, " could you have the kindness to stop just for one moment? I feel terribly thirsty, and if we perched on a tree-" - " Get away with you! You're nothing but a blackbird !" shouted the angry pigeon ; and, with out deigning to look round, he continued his flight. _As for poor me, I fell half dead into a corn-field. For a time I remained in a stupefied state, and when I recovered, I found myself too weak either to walk or fly. As I sat amongst the corn, in a very disconsolate frame of mind, I saw, tripping towards me, through the poppies and bluebottles, two very charming ladies. One of them was a smart, coquettish little magpie, the other a rose coloured turtle-dove. The latter paused at a little distance, and looked at me compassionately ; while her companion hopped towards me, with the pleasantest air possible. " Poor fellow ! what's the matter with you ?" asked the black and white lady, turning up her roguish eye. " Please your ladyship, I am a poor weary traveller, ready to die of hunger." " Oh, but that's dreadful !" replied she, and immediately began to flutter and hop to and fro, bringing several berries and wild fruits, which she piled up next me, at the same time continuing her questions. " But who are you ? Whence do you come ? And whither are you going ? So young, too, and alone in the world ! 'Tis really enough to make one's feathers stand on end," While she spoke, I was eating with an excel lent appetite. The turtle-dove looked at me with a gentle eye of pity. Knowing that I must be thirsty, she dipped her bill into a little reservoir, formed in the hollow of a leaf, and brought me some fresh, clear water. But for the exigency of the case, so reserved a young lady would never have made so free with a stranger. I ate and drank with much satisfaction ; but, as everything in this world has an end, even the appetite of a convalescent, I at length finished my repast, and then satisfied the little magpie's curiosity by telling her my history with the same frankness that I had used towards the pigeon. But when I came to speak of my doubts as to what I was, my . lively auditor interrupted me. " You are jesting. You a blackbird ! you a pigeon ! Fie, fie, my friend ; you are a 'magpie—and a very pretty magpie, too," she added, giving me a playful little slap with the tip of her wing. " But, madame," I replied, "it seems to me that my plumage—don't be offended—is not exactly that of your tribe." " A Russian magpie, my dear ; you're a Russian magpie. Don't you know that they are white ? Poor child ! how ignorant you are of the world !" " But, madame," I persisted, "how can I be a Russian magpie, seeing that I was born in France, in an old broken watering-pot ?" " Because, child, your ancestors came from the north. Depend upon it, lam right. You cannot do better than come and be introduced to my family, and settle amongst us. Our colony con sists of about one hundred birds ; and I assure you we are not like those great vulgar magpies who go hopping about on the highways. We are very genteel and very select ; and, having each of us exactly seven black marks and five white, we feel entitled to look down upon our neighbours. You unfortunately want the black marks, hut that will be overlooked, on account of your Russian extraction. We pass most of our time in chatting together, and in arranging our plumage. In the midst of our forest stands a fine old oak, inhabited by our king, Magpius 5;