The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-27 00:00:00

ied I 1 lovrsreEß 27, 1855.) ' ti even, steady disposition of mind to be pre iie 0 profound grief or immoderate joy ? The , e Path will be the most easily trodden, and with ~„14 1l i .1g satisfaction to one's self, and one's rzi..io.ls, in life's journey. abedof climate upon health and civilisation by . all who have ever duly thought or read subject, and hence it is that we remark the .I , tlt 3r of the p or ti on o f th e g l o b e i n w hi c h we Nht di stinguished f rom th e equa l extremes, the di stinguished the torrid regions. The very name, tent jl°ne, exhibit s it s c h arac t er ; an d with this 1 4 °4 ill mind, as connected with our proverb, L cliiire s -- t i i „ 4t w . r e no temperate region to be shown ~I xt the torrid and the frigid zone? lit l i t te from sordid filth and gilded care, 4 ,„ , virtue, wi s d om , com p e t ence , d we ll there. pr6',all the good th a t i n di v id ua l s fi n d, Ite4Nwor Nature meant to mere mankind, th e ~ „4 g Whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, t,, ea "tiltee words, Health, Peace, aud Competence. , il l our own country the air which we inhale l kt' re atest elevation, or in the bottom of a mine, \ 1 4 , 4 1 i,,15e i ,e1l adapted for the maintenance of life as Pervades the general surface of the earth. Ci. 4 ,nner man's moral and relative character is 'Ne, 1,,' t j differently when affected by extremes, even 0 pears most desirable. 11,,1t;,, t( 27 of Thomas a Beckett and Cardinal vet r`• iug. ° ce 111 cg , rg , tlyi j ides is* ti 0 1111 n [ol sc , ri sil/ ' r_fi I 4 G~I~ L'ild )or ce! tifwa r IT tvit.,', 019 t" 6"*,,,... '4l Ot ;t oc here, 1 ' - 'tv i , - tr,q ii, ° of England's most renowned eccle,sias- V 7 -44 r day—is familiar to us. Humility, I V ead cheerfulness of temper, graced the early k 4l lcl h e form er prelate, while his latter days (which Ilij i av e been his best), although crowned with tN'' ' 4 honours of Church and State, witnessed hA l lee unbounded, and a disposition of mind C', 4 ti t °°lll and withering remorse. Well, as re ,Nl latt er is it not well known that the Car- Nt. ter k i lqo 4 Y attainment of the subject of his high t it kis k , B e,rved only to plunge him in utter disgrace p ti 'ill: A. touching soliloquy, truly, does Shaks- , p la o his mouth ,aN Well,tV a long farewell to all my greatness. 1 4L;,', ventured, 1 10, - 'lttle wanton boys, to swim on bladders, t i ,iy summers, in a sea of glory; At i wheyond my depth :my high-blown pride W ea e t il init broke under me; and now has left me, 1 Of 4 Y, and old with service, to the mercy 4 ItiL l 't l (l ,. e stream, that must for ever hide me. 4 4 :4(n1y be granted then, that, Lt . dual mediocrity of life most to be wished ; Peer gorgeous state, Ill l .thout danger glides it on to age: i ils d lls protection in its very name, AL, h appiness dwells with it. - 4 , er s • b e i llraming up of our remarks on the subject 1 ko m „ ''''lnd than in the words of the English 1 ; 4 . : ..._ -° Writer was more conversant with human ; N ' l I l, ll t I Bee, they are as sick that surfeit with too oey that st arve w ith no thi ng . It is no mean hap 4SOrefore, to b e sea t e d i n th e mean . Superfluity comes 7 White hairs, but competency lives longer. , Nov., 1855. G. D. Okll/411etLITERARY EXTRACTS. ._ TO LADIES VISITING THE POOR.---N . ev d er fro say of you— Yes, it is all very kin ; , Pt to gees not behave to me as she would to one ' , o '' 7 ll quality." Piety, earnestness, affectionate ,Onence—all may be nullified and stultified by ‘. .Keeping a poor woman standing in her cottage Nee l Sit, or entering her house, even at her own ; siV v hile she is at meals. She may decline to I4l'l;F na Y beg you to come in ; all the . more reason tl„ -s i/Ig utterly to obey her, because it shows . that . i.Y a il) ward gulf between you and her still exists in A -1.1 ,' , Which it is the object of your visit to bridge lit t , If you know her to be in trouble, touch on Njoubl e as you would with a lady Woman's tl e Is alike in all ranks, and the deepest sorrow is h o 4l of which she speaks the last and least. We i. ,tav,„ 4 11 . 0t like any one —no, not an angel . from e ' io di, l o come into our houses without knocking at ' 3 7 N 411 : 1 Say, " I hear you are very ill off, I will ° , 11 , 1 1 . 1 4 ,° 0 . I think you are very careless of - ( s ;" a r e take your accounts into my own , Profli ot : l4 l less again---" Your son is . a very ' and disgraceful fellow, who is not fit SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. to be mentioned ; I intend to take him out of your hands and reform him myself." Neither do the poor like such unceremonious mercy, such untender tender ness, benevolence at horseplay, mistaking kicks for caresses. They do not like it, they will not respond to it, save in parishes which have been demoralized by indiscriminate benevolence, and where the last remaining virtues of the poor—saving self-help and independence—have been exchanged (as I have too often seen than exchanged) for organised begging and hypocrisy.---Kingsley. VERBOSITY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. Our writers for the press, especially the periodical press, have no conception whatever of style, as an art. Hence they heap up a huge collection of sentences, in the most tumid and tumultuous way, in which all idea of sequence is lost soon after starting, and the graces of simplicity and clear-flowing speech are merged in a torrent of verbose and windy loquacity. So wide-spread has become this disease, that the ap pearance of any book, .discourse, review-article, or newspaper leader, written in terse and vigorous English, excites universal remark. Not only is our literature thus burdened with the vices of a cumbrous and chaotic style, but our language is suffering from a growing plethora of vicious forms of expression and slang phrases. Pure idiomatic English has become almost obsolete, and its place is usurped by a mongrel and depraved dialect, composed of the oddest jumble of French, German, fustian, and Billin g sgate, with long words ending in ology, osity, and ation. This frightful medley of the worst materials seems first to have risen from the gutter into ordinary conversation, then to have been imitated in the newspapers, and finally to have been produced in more permanent forms. Their permanence, however, thanks to the preserva tion of the better models, and to the moral sanity of the human intellect, is not yet an established fact ; and we congratulate our countrymen, in view of the vast daily spawn of the American press, and the enormous editions of irreclaimable trash which are daily sold, that probably there are no books which the world will more willingly let die.—The North. American Review. THE "LAUGHING JICKASS."—We laughed at the pompous inscription, " General store and provision warehouse," scrawled in whitewash over the door of a wretched little bark hovel, where were exposed for sale on a sheet of the same material, a cabbage-tree hat or two, a few bottles of ginger -beer, a tumbler full of bull's eyes and lollipops, and half-a-dozen shrivelled oranges. Nor did we look particularly grave while deciphering with difficulty the abstruse sentence, " Tailor, habitmaker," chalked on a plank, which was nailed against a tree, above an equally small and soli tary sheeling, perfectly out of humanity's reach. and more particularly of any human entitled to wear a habit. But we laughed, held both our sides, when at the Solitary Creek, where we stopped for breakfast, we heard the ludicrous song of the " Laughing Jackass." It is no uncommon thing for a writer to pronounce an object to be utterly indescribable, and forthwith set to work to describe it. I must try my hand at a descrip tion of this absurd bird's chaunt, although no words can possibly do him justice. He commences, then, by a low cackling sound, gradually growing louder, like that of a hen in a fuss. Then, suddenly changing his note, he so closely imitates Punch's penny trumpet that you would almost swear that it was indeed the jolly " roo-to-to-too" of the public favourite you heard. Next comes the prolonged bray of an ass, done to the life ; followed by an articulate exclamation, apparently addressed to the listener, sounding very like—" Oh, what a Guy !" And the whole winds up with a sup pressed chuckle, ending in an uproarious burst of laughter, which is joined in by a dozen others hitherto sitting silent. It is impossible to hear with a grave face the jocularities of this feathered jester. In spite of all reasoning, I could never help feeling that it was myself he was quizzing. The Laughing Jackass, or Dacels gigantea, is a large species of woodpecker, black and gray in colour, with little or no tail, and an enormously disproportionate head and bill—a most ugly and eccentric-looking fellow.— Our .Antipodes. ORIGIN OF THE FILIBUSTERS.—The Filibusters first began by associating together in bands of from fifteen to twenty men. Each of them carried the buccaneer musket, holding a ball of sixteen to the pound, and had generally pistols at his belt, hold ing bullets of twenty 'or twenty-four to the pound, and besides this they wore a good sabre or cutlass. 189 When collected ae some preconcerted rendezvous, generally a quay or small island off Cuba, they elected a captain, and embarked in a canoe, hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree, in the Indian manner. This canoe was either bought by the association or the cap tain. If the latter, they agreed to give him the first ship they should take. As soon as they had all signed the charter-party, or mutual agreement, they started for the destined port off which they were to cruise. The first Spanish vessel they took served to repay the captain and recompense themselves. They dressed themselves in the rich robes of Castilian grandees over their own blooded shirts, and sat down to revel in the gilded saloon of the galleon. If they found their prize not seaworthy, they would take her to some small sand island and careen, while the crew helped the Indians to turn turtle, and to procure bull's flesh. The Spanish crew they kept to assist in careening, for they never worked themselves, but fought and hunted while the unfortunate prisoners were toiling round the fire where the pitch boiled, or the turtle was stewing. The Filibusters divided the spoil as soon as each one had taken an oath that nothing had been secreted. When the ship was ready for sea they let the Spaniards go, and kept only the slaves. If there were no negroes or Indians they retained a few Spaniards to wait upon them. If the prisoners were men of consequence they detained them till they could obtain a ransom. Every Filibuster brought a certain supply of powder and ball for the common stock. Before starting on an expedi tion it was a common thing to plunder a Spanish hog yard, where a thousand swine were often collected, surrounding the keeper's house at night, and shooting him if he made any resistance. The tortoise fisher men were often forced to fish for them gratuitously, although nearly every ship had its Mosquito Indian to strike turtle and sea-cow, and to fish for the whole boat's crew. "No prey, no pay," was the buccaneers' motto. The charter-party specified the salary of the captain, surgeon, and carpenter, and allowed 200 pieces of eight for victualling. The boys had but half a share, although it was either their duty or the surgeon's, when the rest had boarded, to remain behind to fire the former vessel, and then retire to the prize.—From the Monarchs of the Main. • A FALL INTO THE CRATER OF MOUNT VESUVIUS. — Some Germans of good family had toiled to the summit of Mount Vesuvius, and after resting them selves on that sulphureous bed, they descended the steep incline to the mouth of the crater. There was little smoke that day, and the scientific gentlemen began to get into danger without being aware of it. The guides having had enough of soft ashes and hard work in the ascent,. sat down on the upper rim of the crater, not feeling at all inclined for more exertion. So many people had gone to peep into this chimney of the infernal regions, day after day, without an accident, that these lazy guides preferred some sour wine, and a slice or two of lemon sprinkled over with salt, a very common comestible amongst the lower orders of Neapolitans, and a little siesta, to looking after the souls and bodies of those entrusted to them. One of the most adventurous of the Germans, finding he could bear the little sulphur which seemed emitted from the crater, resolved to penetrate further ; but scarcely had he placed his foot upon an apparently solid projection, than the whole crumbled beneath him, and he was precipitated at least one hundred feet. The interior of the crater seems to be as soft as the exterior, for the first words heard from the unfortunate man were " that he was not hurt." In vain he tried to extricate himself ; whatever he grasped it mouldered in his grasp, he could not regain his feet—of this his friends above were in formed, but they seemed to have become more stupified than the unfortunate victim : for, instead of despatching the guides to the Observatory or the Hermitage for rope, or assistance of some kind, they stood listening to their friend below, who gave them the idea of going elsewhere than where they remained useless and spell-bound. There is everything at Naples but what is required ; and at the Observatory, although ropes must always be in request, and at least a precautionary utility, yet none could be ob tained either there or at the flermitage, and the guides were obliged to go to Regina for that which cught always to be at hand. In the mean time the sulphur began to operate on the poor fellow in the crater, and he felt himself gradually sinking, not only in strength, but in position : with a wondertnl self-command he took leave of his friends, being per-