The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-07 00:00:00

THE MEMORIES OF OLD. How we linger by the shades Of the peaceful scenes of yore, Rambling through those pleasant glades Fancy fain would now restore; All those sunny dwelling-places Dreamy visions still unfold While we view their verdant traces Thro' the memories of old. How they rise and pass before us, Scenes that make the heart sublime ; Bearing now, as then they bore us, Visions of that golden time. Forms familiar pass and pass us, Where in lazy mood we stroll'd; View we in life's mellowing glasses All those memories of old. Where we first in boyhood sported Thoughtless, over lawn and lea, We in after years resorted, Far more staid and thoughtfully ; All those pleasant dreams we planted, Air-built castles, fair and bold, From their ruins rise enchanted 'Mid the memories of old ; Joys on which our loves have thriven, Binding closer heart to heart; Tears with which our souls have striven, When we felt that we must part ; All the themes of by-gone years, All the music that we troll'd, Fill once more our vacant ears Thro' the memories of old. Yet how sally we pursue All the joys of former years ; Now they come in dark review, In deep mourning and in tears. See them in the darkened room, Where mortality lies cold, Wreathing with sepulchral gloom, Fondest memories of old. Gentle forms that once were gay, And in native beauty shone, Like a vision passed away, Meekly faded and—are gone l Yet the loves by time removed, Spurning still to becontroll'd, Live again, and are beloved 'Mongat the memories of old. Tho' the heart be chilled with care, And grows old with weight of years, Like sunshine on far ambient air, Shining through the mist of tears ; Many a picture still revives In imaginary mould, And in wonted lustre lives 'Mongst the memories of old. Black Sea in the Autumn of 1852," from both of which works it gives copious extracts, accompa nied by comments so judiciously applied and inter woven as to throw considerable light on the ques tion, which all must admit is even yet involved in no thin robe of mystery. In this paper the conduct of the Czar meets with rigorous investigation ; and the candour and singleness of purpose to which he ostentatiously lays claim are shown to wear a very questionable aspect. The paper merits, and will repay, an attentive perusal. It is followed by a smartly written and fascinating gossippy sort of narrative, designated " British Spinsterhood Abroad," in which the eccentricities and goodness of heart displayed by several of our countrywomen in Italy are amusingly marshalled and pleasantly recited. Other papers of varying interest follow ; but THE PAPER of the number is " Our Portrait Gallery," and is devoted to a biographic sketch of Captain 2J`Clure, RN., the discoverer of the North West Passage. From this sketch we learn that the intrepid and gallant navigator is a native of Wexford, the son of a brave military officer, and in the forty-seventh year of his age. That, although so young a man, he is a veteran arctic navigator, and that his career as an exploring voyager in the arctic seas has been one beset by dangers, encountered with courage, and rendered , so far successful by dauntless intrepidity. The first expedition to the polar seas, shared in by M`Clure, was that commanded by Captain, now Sir George Back, in 1836. In this he sailed in the Terror—" the same whose fate afterwards with Sir John Franklin is still so painful a mystery." The good ship during this, the first adventure of M`Clure, was exposed to many and imminent perils among the ice of those stormy seas, from some of . which her escape was little less than miraculous. I The greatest miracle of all, however, being that experienced at the CONCLUSION OF HER HOMEWARD VOYAGE. When within a week of home further dangers perilled their lives. A violent, storm arose; the water rushed in so violently that, even with all the unceasing exertions of the crew, the ship could scarcely be kept afloat. Chains and ropes were bound round the rent sides ; but, as suc cessive seas rolled over them, they watched with intense solicitude the coil of seventeen turns of strong whale-line , that had been passed round the injured part, well knowing that if it gave way the vessel must go down. A last effort was made to reach Lough Swilly, on the Irish coast. A sail came in sight, but there was no time to make signals, they were pressing onward for their lives. At length land was announced. They signal for a pilot, none came ; so they glide on past the lights in the fishermen's huts, and at midnight, on the 3rd of September, 1837, dropped anchor, the first time for fifteen months, in Lough Swilly. The sudden change to security from the terrors of death, left them that night in a state of feverish excitement. When morning came the exhausted crew were landed, housed, tended, cared for by the hospitable inhabitants. The ship was then going fast down by the head ; three hours later, and they must all have sunk. She was run ashore, and then a frightful opening was discovered—keel and stern-post were rent and driven asunder, leaving a passage several feet wide for the free ingress of the water. And thus they had traversed the Atlantic. ROBERT H. BROWN REVIEWS OF BOOKS. The Colonist's and Emigrant's Handbook of the Mechanical Arts. By Robert Scott Burn, Engineer. Edinburgh :- Blackwood and Sons. The work of which the above is the title comes before us with the prestige of many recommenda tions—the first is the great value of the subjects on which it affords information ; the next is the extent of practical and theoretical knowledge which the author brings to bear on these subjects ; the third, the amount of personal experience in colonial requirements by which he has been fitted for his self-imposed task ; and the last, which we shall here allude to, is the perspicuity and con densed amplitude of description and delineation with which he illustrates the various topics arising for consideration in the course of his treatise. Starting with the subject of "House Arrange wilt,' he discusses in an eminently practical and useful manner the different kinds of dwelling re quired'by emigrants of different means, and with varying objects in view. These are copiously illustrated by ground-plans, elevations, sections, and details for log-huts, cottages, and farm huildings, with all the requisites for comfort and cleanliness as well as convenience of the various es. He next passes on to construction, in ding under that head carpentry and joiner work, brick-making, drains, ventilation, well sinking, fencing, and road-making. Each one of these separate sections receiving so ample an illus tration as to render those studying it sufficiently acquainted with its principles to enable him to apply them in any direction ; and although mere theoretical information will never so far supply the place of practical knowledge as to render the unin structed emigrant a match for the skilled mechanic, a careful study and thorough comprehension of Mr. Burn's book will enable him to do many things in so substantial a way, as by their inherent excel lence to much more than compensate for the absence of mechanical skill, as that is displayed in tasteful and elaborate finish. To the agricultural or mining emigrant such a book as Mr. Burn's must prove indeed a treasure; but while its aim is directed towards the information and comfort of these classes, its value and utility are by no means confined to them. Within its few pages are col lected and arranged a mass of facts, and an aggre gate of constructive mechanical principles, which will be found eminently useful to even our best skilled artisans at home or abroad. Indeed we have seldom seen so well-digested a compilation of the constructive mechanical arts, or one in which their leading principles are so briefly, clearly, and comprehensively laid down. It is a book which will be invaluable to mechanics' institutes, and to the reading societies and clubs of agricultural and pastoral districts. ---. Thus terminated the first arctic voyage of the great maritime discoverer, who, nothing daunted, again set sail in the beginning of 1850, as conductor of an enterprise to the stormy seas and inhospitable regions in which he had encountered such previous peril, in search of Sir John Franklin, and from the result of which he has earned an imperishable renown. The memoir of Capt. M'Clure is appropriately opened with a brief but spirited narrative of Arctic Exploration, in which it is rapidly traced from the earliest dawn of maritime adventure in that direction to the present time. This sad narrative of human enterprise, privation, suffering, and death, is, notwithstanding its horrors, one of much interest, and one which contains much, though necessarily abbreviated information, conspicuous among which is the gloomy prelude to that mourn ful tragedy which there is but too much reason for believing has overtaken Sir John Franldn and his brave, though unfortunate associates. PRA.NKLIN'S LAND EXPEDITION. Cotemporaneous with this voyage of Parry's (1820), was a land-expedition, conducted by Sir John Franklin, full of the strangest horrors upon record. The present Sir John Richardson, Sir George Back, and Mr. Hood, along with guides and Canadians, accompanied him. They set out early in summer from the Copper-mine River in canoes, to search the coast line of America, supplied, as they thought, with ample provisions and materials for hunting. But in a month provisions began to fail, and by September they were all exhausted. The party now left the canoes for land travelling, and subsisted merely on what they could gather of tripe de roche, or rock moss. Sometimes they came upon a skeleton carcass left by the wild animals, and lived upon the putrid marrow and pounded bones. Then the canoes were flung away, for the bearers had no strength to carry them, so when they reached the river back again they had no means of crossing. Three days, six days pass, and they have only the rock-moss and the remains of a putrid ox left by the wolves. At length a raft js constructed, and they get across. Then began the journey to the hut, Fort Enterprise, where provisions had been promised. This hope kept them alive. Herds of rein-deer came in sight, but they had not strength to lift a gun. So days passed, and they travelled on. Their buffalo cloaks, the sledge covers, their old shoes, the bones left by the wolves—on these they lived. Some dropped by the way, and the others had not strength to help them on. At length, Richardson, Hepburne, and Mr. Hood, offered to remain at any spot where rock-moss could be had, while Franklin and his party proceeded to the fort, and sent them back provisions. Michel, an Irequois guide, and the Canadians, went with Franklin. Next day, three of the Canadians, too weak to travel, said they would return to Richardson ; Michel volunteered to accompany them. Of this party none were ever seen after but Michel, who arrived at Richardson's hut alone. The others, he said, had left him, and one had died. Franklin and the rest went on. They reached the fort —it was deserted. Not a trace of food or help, or human being near. They sank to the ground in helpless despair ; but the old bones and skins they had left five months before were still there, and welcomed with rapture. Daily they watched and hoped for help, for Back had gone another route in search of Indians who might aid them. Thirty-one days passed and no help came. Two fell dead, and the others had not strength to bury them; they sat in the hut with the dead men. The Poetical Works of Goldsmith, Collins, and T. Warton. With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes. By the Rev. George Gilfillan. Edinburgh : J. Nichol. The volume before us is the one which closes the issue of the series of the Library Edition of the British Poets for the first year. Some time ago, in allusion to the progress of this series, we felt warranted in expressing general approbation as to the style of beauty and accuracy by which its text and appearance were distinguished, and also as to the extraordinary, indeed, marvellous cheapness with which it was got up. At that period, although the major portion of the year's issue was before us, we could hardly divest ourselves of a misgiving that, from the lowness of its price, the issue would either cease, or be continued under some deprecia tion of care, quality, or aspect. This misgiving, which was fostered only by what appeared the dis proportionate cheapness to the excellence of the work, has been completely set at rest. Every promise a s to the unexceptionable character of the work, by both publisher and editor, has been amply redeemed. A library edition of the works included, of great beauty, accuracy and uniformity, has been produced at a price so low as to excite surprise. The second year of the series is now about to commence, under, we are informed, very encouraging auspices. This we are glad to learn, secure in the knowledge that, by continuing , the work as it has b een b egun , no extent of public patronage will exceed its deserts. And Richardson, meanwhile, with his two friends, were awaiting the provision that never came. Each day they picked their scanty meal of rock-moss ; and on this they were dying, not living. But Michel, the Irequois, grew fat and strong ; yet, though he absented himself fre quently on pretence of hunting, he never brought in game. Hood lent him his gun ; he shared his buffalo cloak with him at night, for the Indian was strong and able to hunt, and they looked to him for preservation. Still, the missing Canadians never appeared. Michel said they must have died by the way. One day he brought them in what he said was part of the flesh of a wolf, and bade them eat. Then their sus picions were aroused, and they watched for evidence, till the whole horrible truth was revealed—the murders and the cannibalism. Their own fate was now before them. Michel's manner became strange and fierce, and his glaring eyes seemed constantly fixed on them. Hood was now unable to leave the hut from weakness. One day, Hep burne and Richardson were outside cutting wood, when a gun was fired. They turned ; Michel had just shot the young man through the head. The two friends knew they were too weak for an open struggle with the mur derer ; but they took counsel together, and watched their opportunity. A few days after, they observed Michel cleaning his gun assiduously ; then he advanced to them, with what object they knew well by his expression ; but just as he came up quite close, Richardson boldly placed his pistol at the head of the savage, and shot him dead. The two friends travel on alone to come up with Frank lin. Six days thus onward, with nothing to subsist on but the remnants of poor Hood's buffalo cloak. They arrive. Franklin is seated in the desolate hut with the unburied dead; but the faces of the living are as ghastly, and each recoils in horror at the aspect of the other. At last, deliverance comes. The Indians sent by Back arrive with food and help, and they are saved, after a six months' agony. Amid such terrible scenes did Sir John Franklin become disciplined to Arctic horrors. The Poetical Works of _Alexander Pope. Edited by Robert Carruthers. Illustrated by Portraits and Original Designs. London : N. Cooke. This very handsome edition of Pope's Poetical Works has now been completed in four volumes ; and along with the three volumes previously issued by the same publisher, and in all respects uniform with the present, containing Pope's Translation of the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, it forms a com plete as well as very beautiful edition of the mental labours and scholarly acquirements of the great English poet of the eighteenth century. In the performance of his arduous task as a biographer and commentator, Mr. Carruthers has displayed great skill and aptitude. His research has been laborious and discriminating ; good taste has been accompanied by good feeling ; impartial judgment has been aided by well-directed assiduity, and the result of the combination has been a biography in which the intellectual and personal peculiarities of its subject are passed in careful but not offensive review. No effort seems made to represent Pope other than as he was, a man of keen and subtle wit an d judgment—many amiabilities and no few infirmities of temper—sterling independence and great knowledge of the world. His good qualities are s hown, not paraded—his weaknesses and short comings are gently handled, i and though s h a d e d , are not concealed. Such s the spirit in which biography ought a t all times to be written, an d only when written in such a spirit can its teach ings prove of real interes t or utility. Many of th e explanatory, notes by wh ich Mr. Carruthers has been enabled to enrich this edition of Pope contain interesting matter, not generally known, and the whole indicates a learned spirit of human d ealing, and adds much to the store of literary intel ligence. The Dublin University Magazine. Dublin : Mournful and heart-rending discipline indeed, where brave men sink beneath the rigours of a dreadful climate, or escape that frightful fate only to become the victims of an associated murderous cannibal ; and the whole of these evils augmented by, if they did not actually arise out of, a miserably ill-organised and inadequately provided expedition. Dare we venture to hint the frightful suspicion, that a similar want of precautionary forethought to that which in 1820 caused his expedition to suffer from want of provisions within a month after it started, and which exposed them all to such privations and suffering, and some of them to death, may not have existed and accelerated the fate of himself and his companions of 1845, when he started on his last, and, we fear, fatal voyage. 111`Glashan: The contents of the March number of this ably : conducted and favourite periodical are inaugurated by a well-timed article on the "Eastern Question," founded chiefly on two works recently published, one in London the other in Edinburgh, entitled respectively "The Frontier Laws of the Christian And the Turk," and " The Russian Shores of the THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. THE NATIONAL SOCIETY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. Sxn,—l shall feel much obliged if you can kindly find room in your next publication for the following account of the schoolmasters trained in St. Mark's College. It has recently appeared as an appendix to a statement put out by the Bishop of London, as Chairman of the Council. It is most satisfactory, as direct testimony that the great bulk are steadily pursuing their calling as teachers, and that not one has quitted the communion of the Church of England. May it not be fairly argued, that the teaching which they have received in the College, including the " Chapel Services,"—which, to use the words of Mr. Moseley, the Government inspector, are "in his opinion priceless,"—has, under the blessing of God, sent these young men out into the world, true and faithful sons of our reformed Protestant Church ? I am, Sir, your obedient servant, FREDERICK S. WA.REEN. Liverpool, March 2, 1854. " Summary account of the Schoolmasters trained in St. Mark's College, Chelsea, and recommended to ap pointments from Christmas 1843, to Christmas 1853. "From May, 1841, when the College was opened, till Christmas, 1853, 285 students have been admitted, after probation. Of these, 211 have been recommended to ap pointments ; 24 have failed through ill-health, or other disqualifications, or from inability to continue their pay ments, or from death, to complete their training ; 50 are still under training. Thus 21 students have been recom mended to appointments each year, on the average, and of these about six-sevenths have been trained for three years. Of the above 211 trained teachers, 176 are masters of elementary schools ; 17 hold normal appointments, connected with elementary education. Of these-2 are organising masters • 2 are principals of t ra i n i ng sc h oo l s ; 3 are vice - principals ; 2 are normal masters; 7 are tutors and assistants ; 1 is a teacher of church music. 6 are masters of middle schools, of various descriptions • 3 are dead ; 4 have quitt e d th e voca ti on o f a schoolmaster, viz. :-1 to be a mi ss i onary on th e L a b ra d or Coast, his health having failed as a schoolmaster in England; 1 to succeed his father as parish clerk, after five years' service ; 1 to succeed his father in his business, after six years' service ; and 1 to be a private tutor under peculiar cir cumstances, after five years' service. 5 are believed to be unemployed, three of them from ill health. Of the entire number, nine are in holy orders, and six are pursuing their vocation in America and the Colonies. Not one has quitted the communion of the English Church." VARIETIES. HEREDITARY TRA.N£I3IIBS ION OE DEBATING POWER.— It is remarkable that, within less than fifty years, four Earls of Canarvon, in lineal succession, have now taken a distinguished part in the debates of the House of Lords. Certainly no quality of the human mind is more decidedly hereditary than the power of debate, as we have seen in the Fox family for three generations, in Lord Chatham and his son William Pitt, in the late and the present Lord Grey, in the late Sir Robert Peel and his two sons Sir Robert and Mr. Frederick Peel, in the present Lord Derby and Lord Stanley, and, we may add, in the late William Wilberforce and the present Bishop of Oxford.-2lforning Chronicle. A MAN AND HIS DOUBLE.—An Italian farce, which has attained considerable popularity, is distinguished by the following somewhat conical incident :—A traveller reaches an inn, and finds it crowded with occupants; his choice lies between no bed at all or one in the same room where a black man is sleeping : he adopts the latter, and orders the servant to call him at a very early hour. In the middle of the night a mischievous wag wanders into the room, and amuses himself with blacking the traveller's face. When the servant wakes him, his first action is to look in the glass, when he exclaims, "The fool has woke the wrog man and calmly goes to bed again. 'ls your house a warm one ?" asked a man in search of a tenement. "It ought to be ; the painter gave it two coats recently," was the reply. WOMAN AND HER BIT OF BONNET.—A savage observer of female life has bitterly observed that—paradoxical as it may seem, it is nevertheless true—the less a woman shows of her bonnet, the still less she exhibits of her brains. — Punch. ABERNETHY'S FlGS.—When Abernethy was canvassing for the office of surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, he called upon a rich grocer. The great man addressing him, said, " I suppose, sir, you want my vote and interest at this momentous epoch of your life." "No, I don't," said Abernethy, " I want a pennyworth of figs ; come, look sharp and wrap them up. I want to be off!" OUR JACE TARS AND THE RUSSIANS.—Our sailors who have visited St. Petersburgh and other ports of Russia, have generally a poor opinion of the seamen of that coun try. They speak of them with a contempt bordering on pity, representing them as feeble in body and devoid of pluck. How do you account for it ?" we asked a veteran English tar the other day, who had given us the above estimate of the Muscovite mariners. " Why, do you see, sir," was the answer, "it can't be otherwise. They have nothing to put spirit into them—their mind's not their own, but the Emperor's ; and they're not fed as we are. It's the sense of independence and the good solid food he gets that makes the British sailor what he is, and for want of which the Jack-a-Rooshian is weak and spiritless."— Sunderland News. MRS. NEWCOME AND HER "RECEPTIONS."—" I try to do my best, Colonel Newcome," said the lady of the house. " I hope many a night we may see you here; and, as I said this morning, Clive, when he is of an age to appreci ate this kind of entertainment. Fashion Ido not worship. You may meet that amongst other branches of our family ; but genius and talent I do reverence. And if I can be the means—the humble means—to bring men of genius together —mind to associate with mind--men of all nations to mingle in friendly unison—l shall not have lived altogether in vain. They call us women of the world frivolous, Colonel Newcome. So some may be; I do not say there are not in our family persons who worship mere worldly rank, and think but of fashion and gaiety ; but such, I trust, will never be the objects in life of me and my children. We are but merchants ; we seek to be no more. If I can look around me and see as Ido (she waves her fan round, and points to the illustrations scintillating round the room), and see as I do now—a Poski, whose name is ever connected with Polish history —an Ettore, who has exchanged a tonsure and a rack for our own free country —a Hammerstein, and a Quartz, a Miss Rudge, our Transatlantic sister—who I trust will not mention this modest salon in her forthcoming work on Europe,—and Miss Pinnifer, whose genius I acknow ledge, .though I deplore her opinions; if I can gather together travellers, poets, and painters, princes and distinguished soldiers from the east, and clergymen, re markable for their eloquence, my humble aim is attained, and Maria Newcome is not altogether useless in her gene ration. Will you take a little refreshment ? Allow your sister to go down to the dining-room supported by your gallant arm." She looked round to the admiring congre gation, whereof Honeyman, as it were, acted as clerk, and flirting her fan, and flinging up her little head, Con summate Virtue walked down on the arm of the colonel. The refreshment was rather meagre. The foreign artists generally dashed downstairs, and absorbed all the ices, creams, &c. To those coming late there were chicken bones, table-cloths puddled with melted ice, glasses hazy with sherry, and broken bits of bread.— The Newcomes. A SKfamisn WITH KAFFIRS.—The road being exceed ingly steep, narrow and rugged, the cavalry in front marched down at a foot's pace, the infantry following, and the Fingoe Levies bringing up the rear. The enemy con cealed in the thick bush opened fire upon us the moment we entered the pass, wounding one of our men. We re turned their fire whenever the smoke -showed us where they lay ; and thus continued our descent, with a desultory fire on both sides, till half-way down, when they showed in still greater force, filling the bush on both sides of us. The Fingoes in the rear now evinced their fears so strongly as to encourage a party of Kaffirs armed with assegais, to rush in among them. This completed their panic, and firing right and left at random, they hurried headlong down the path, en masse upon our rear, with such force as to knock down and trample on many of our men, while by crushing through the ranks they hindered others from loading. Emboldened by this, the main body rushed from their cover, hurled a discharge of their lighter throwing assegais, and then, with the heavier kind, used for stab bing, threw themselves upon us. Our steady fellows had little to depend on but their bayonets, to the use of which they had fortunately long been regularly trained, and now used most effectually. The underwood swarmed with Kaffirs ; they were perched in the trees, firing upon us from above, and rushed from the bush below in hundreds, yelling in the most diabolical and ferocious manner, his sing through their white teeth ; their bloody faces, brawny limbs, and enormous size giving them a most formidable appearance. The narrow road was covered with a mass of troops, Levies, and Kaffirs ; the ringing yell of the latter heard above the din of the firing. Some, wrestling with the men for their firelocks, were blown almost in pieces, and many were felled and brained by the butt ends of clubbed muskets. Our gallant fellows fought most bravely ; one man with an assegais deeply buried between his shoulders, singled out its owner, and shot him through the head, with the weapon nearly portruding through his chest. A grenadier killed four Kaffirs with his own hand. The huge fellow already mentilked appeared sud denly among us, and seizing a soldier in his powerfnl grasp, hurled him to the ground, but the man, jumping to his feet in a moment, buried his bayonet in the fellow's back, and he fell dead on his face. Three Kaffirs had caught one of our men by the blanket folded on his back, and were dragging him into the bush, when the straps slipped over his shoulders, released him, and he threw himself, unarmed, on the nearest, and wrestled with him for his assegais, both rolling over and over, seuffling on tho ground ; the well-greased body of the Kaffir giving him the advantage over the dressed and b e lted soldier, whose death wound was, however, amply avenged. The ground was soon thickly strewn with the black corpses of the enemy ; a score lay in the path, and here and there the lifeles form of a dead or dying Highlander, eight of whom fell, while as many more were wounded. Fighting our way through hundreds of the infuriated savages, we effected the descent of the pass; by the time we had reached the foot the enemy's fire had almost ceased.—Captain King's Campaigning in Kaffirland. A PEEP INTO THE GARDEN OF THE HAREM.—I was cautious with regard to showing myself M the window, but I confess that I did take one little peep through a chink. Two negro harem-slaves, well armed, sat on the boughs of a large fig tree; strange unseemly fruit. Three old women unveiled, and with bundles in their hands, stood beside it, looking ominously important. And still the sweet soft voices chattered at a little distance. . . First came, with footsteps gentle, and light as falling snow, a young girl richly dressed. She had no veil. Her face was an oval of the purest outline, with the most loveable of dimples on the fairest of cheeks. Her features were regularly and finely formed, and her hair, which fell in a perfect avalanche on her shoulders, was of a rich light brown, evidently soft and silky. Bat such eyes—such beaming eyes of tender hazel, when seen, must rivet all attention, and once seen can scarcely be for gotten. There she stood some time before me, leaning against a bank, and waiting for others to join her; and so motionless that our busy pencil never had a better model; certainly never one so beautiful. A settled shade of melancholy was on her lovely countenance, and the merry sounds could not have issued from that pretty but pensive mouth, but this did not detract from the undefinable charm which stamped the fair apparition as one of nature's own nobility—perhaps it heightened it. In every move ment, too, of her rather tall than short figure, there was grace. The costume, to be sure, was eminently propi tious. A pale yellow silk robe, heavily embroidered in gold, and lined with purple, was closed at the waist by a splendid diamond brooch ; rose-coloured satin trousers flowed wide beneath it; and a bright cashmere shawl hung, loosely thrown as a sash around her. Yellow slip pers, a green handkerchief with golden fringe, and a costly necklace, completed her very becoming attire. But this was nothing. A resistless power of interesting those who crossed her path resided in the deep attractive expression of her large eyes. They were thoughtful, yet candid ; re signed, but affectionate ; and above all they were an unerring index that the spirit within was superlatively endowed with that heaven-born faculty of feeling strongly, which must necessarily make of this earth a paradise or a hades to herself, according as it is developed by the foster iug hand of warm and real sympathy, or blighted and crushed by the withering storm that so often assails un appreciated gentleness. There was something in her mild and lovelike glance which militated powerfully in favour of the latter category in this case, and we had just come to that mournful conclusion when our rough outline was about finished and new actors appeared on the scene of our psychological reflections. A nice little roundabout, laugh ing, black-eyed, bright-complexioned thing of sixteen, at most, came dancing along. She w as come ly withal to look upon, but she seemed in our dazzled eyes to owe her charms, like Saturn's ring, to the vicinage of a brighter light, and like the piece of day, in the Persian apologue, that had always been near the rose, to derive a faint trans fusion from another's sweetness.—Anadol, the Last Home of the Faithful, SOCIETY IN FLORENCE.—Here we are going it, and in about the very "fastest" place I ever set foot in. In any other city, society seems to reserve itself for evening and lamplight; but here, Bob, you make "running from the start," and keep np the pace till you come in. In the morning there's the club, with plenty of whist : all the gossip of the town—and such gossip, too—the red article, by Jove !—no shadowy inuendos—no vague and half-mys tified hints of a flaw here or a crack there ; but home blows, my boy—with a smashed character, or a ruined reptitation, at every stroke. This is, however, only a breathing canter, for what awaits you at the cascini—a sort of " promenade," where all the people meet in their carriages, and exchange confidences in scandal, and invi tations to tea—the cascini being to the club what the ballet is to the opera. After this, you have barely time to dress for dinner; which over, the opera begins. There you pay visits from box to box—learn all that is going on for the evening —hear where the prettiest women are going, and where the smartest play will be found. Mid night arrives, and then—but not before—the red life of Florence begins. The dear contessa, that never showed by daylight, at last appears in her salon ; the charming marchesa, whose very head-dress is a study from Titian, and whose dark-fringed eyes you think you recognise from the picture in " the Pitti," at length sails in, to receive the humble of—what, think you ? a score of devoted worship pers !—a band of chivalrous adorers !—nothing of the kind, Bob; a dozen or so of young fellows, in all manner of costumes, and all shapes of beards and moustaches ; all smoking cigars or cigarettes, talking, singing, laughing, thumbing the piano, shouting choruses, playing tricks with cards—all manner of tomfoolery, in fact; with a dash of enthusiasm in the nonsense, that carries you along in spite of yourself. The conversation—if one dare to call it such—is a wild chaos of turf-talk, politics, scandal, litera ture, buffoonery, and the ballet. There is abundance of wit—plenty of red smartness on every side. The fellows who have just described the cut of a tucker, can tell you accurately the contents of a treaty; and they who did not seem to have a thought above the depth of a flounce or the width of a sandal, are thoroughly well versed in the politics of every state in Europe. There is no touch of sarcasm in their gaiety —none of that refined, subtle ridi cule, that runs through a Frenchman's talk--these fellows are eminently good-natured : the code of morals is not severe, and hence the secret of the merciful judgments you hear pronounced on every one.—The Dodd Ffimilp Abroad. FASHIONS FOR STARCH. (FROM LE FOLLET.) FASITIONS have an incontestable affinity one with the other ; thus we perceive that the vogue for trains, queues, or manteaux de cour, has necessarily brought back orna ments of the last century ; and feathers, which for the last fifty years have been exclusively reserved for the trimming of bonnets or the hair, are now a great attrac tion, and accessary for ornamenting court or full evening dresses. Bouillonnes of crepe lisse, or tulle, generally ac- , company the feather trimming, and nothing lighter or more graceful can be imagined than this style. Agraffes of small feathers are usually composed of three, the ends of which are concealed under a rose, camellia, or chrysan themum, the colour of the flower forming a beautiful con trast with the dazzling whiteness of the feathers. Nothing can be more imposing or elegant than a head gracefully dressed with either a bird of paradise or plume, tied with barbes of gold or silver lace. The eyes of the bird are formed of brilliants, and the gentle waving of the wings renders this a most becoming coiffure. With such coiffures, the richest robes of moires d'argent, thick silks with velvet patterns woven in the material, the most exquisite Brussels or Alencon lace, should be worn. In the same style, bdt lighter in texture, are brocades of silver and gold woven in bouquets of splendid colours, tied with ribbon, the work of which is so perfect, and the shades so well blended, as to give the appearance of being applique on the robe. Dresses for young ladies for balls, or soirees dansantes, tulle de Lyon, or gauze worked in patterns of stamped velvet in colours. Sometimes the velvets have patterns in silver or gold stamped upon them, producing the effect of guipure. Nothing can be fresher or more elegant than robes of tulle, worked with velvet flowers. Plain taffetas are also much in demand, with flounces printed with wreaths of bright-coloured flowers. In promenade dresses plain tissues appear destined to open the spring season. The bodies are high, with bas quines. Notwithstanding the continuation of cold wea ther, many of our fashionables may be seen in pelisses, mantelets, and pardessus ; among which the newest style we have seen is the pardessus bizantin, bearing a slight resemblance to a short Turkish pelisse ; it is made of fawn-coloured cachemire, with a broad border of velvet. The sleeves are in large plaits on the shoulder, and are, consequently, very open at the bottom. The pardessus is lined throughout with silk, but not wadded. The obligeante is a kind of very small mantelet to be thrown over the shoulders in-ddors ; it is also made of cachemire, and ornamented with embroidery and braid. Ball dresses occupy much attention at the present time; and the Empress Eugenie, who is noted for good taste, gives much employment, both for the display of elegance and style, by the various costumes she is con stantly adopting. At a ball lately given she was seen in a simple but beautiful toilette, composed of a white crape dress with three flounces ; on the edge of each was a wreath of sweet pease. A bouquet of the same flowers placed on the corsage, and another was fastened by a comb at the back of the head, and long bunches falling loosely over the shoulders. A beautiful robe may be made of blue tulle, with three skirts, the two upper ones raised on one side, with bouquets of small blue feathers, separated by a sheaf of cornflowers in diamonds. The same flowers in diamonds ornament the front of the body, which is a draperie. Small tufts of blue feathers placed very backward on each side of the hair, with ornaments in diamonds. At the late court balls flowers predominated in all styles of toilettes. Robes of tulle had the flounces crossed here and there with small branches of heath; others, in place of the same, were trimmed with violets, resembling a parterre of flowers. The coiffure is a coronet of violets, mixed with ears of corn, composed of diamonds, slightly in the Ceres form. Bouquets of violets and diamonds on the corsage drape. A robe of pink crape, with three skirts, trimmed with leaves of white lilac. The top skirt is raised on one side nearly to the waste by boquets of lilac. The body is drape, with three very small wreaths crossing the plaits at the waste, which spread, fan shape, over the chest. The fashion for flounces has become general, both for ball and walking dresses ; the elegance depending on the variety and richness of the ornaments. Bonnets are more graceful than ever, although placed rather back on the head. The crowns have but little orna ment, all the trimming being bestowed on the front, espe cially on the edges, which are almost always ornamented with ruches of blonde, ribbons, or feathers. Concert bonnets are made entirely of lace, or lame vel vet trimmed with feathers. The inside ornaments are blonde flowers or gauze ribbon, worked with gold. A very pretty and elegant bonnet is composed of pink tulle bouillonnee, each bouillonnee separated by a narrow gathered blonde. Two bunches of white and shaded pink feathers, placed on each side of the front, are united behind by a narrow wreath of feathers over the curtain. A bow of pink taffetas ribbon, with long ends behind. Trimming of blonds mixed w ith toques o pink taffetas ribbon inside. Pink, blue, and felt-coloured velvet are much employed for bonnets, trimmed with feathers, velvet flowers with drooping foliage of crape, or fontanges bows of ribbon. Coiffures are much in vogue, and of infinite variety. The rounds of silver guipure are very elegant. They cover the back of the head like the crown of a small cap, termi nating in points, which are slightly raised by a wreath of roses; bunches of the same flowers are placed between the bandeaux and knot of the back hair. On the middle of the round is a bow of silver guipure, the ends of which fall over the shoulders ; ears of corn composed of emeralds escape from the bunches of roses on each side, and hang lightly over the neck. The resille of pearls is very elegant, in the middle of which is a broad pale blue ribbon bow, with very long ends reaching the waist • on each side branches of en q ues of ribbon are fastened with a star of pearls. Negliges capotes of black plush are worn, trimmed round with ruches of pink ribbon with a black edge. A ruche, fuller than the one at the edge of the bonnet. crosses the bead, and is fastened under the curtain, which is also trimmed with a very narrow ruching of ribbon. Bunches of field roses in velvet, with crape foliage mixed with blonde, inside. A chesnuticoloured plush bonnet, also trimmed with a ruche of blue ribbon; but, in place of the second niche, a single iris flower ornaments each side. A double row of coques of narrow blue ribbon inside, between ruches of tulle. The make of negliges dresses alters but little. The bodies are always made to open or close at will over the chest, and invariably terminate with basques. The sleeves vary infinitely, and always accord with the style of robe. In rich materials, such as velvet, &c., the Spanish sleeve is much in favour. The mousquetaire or pagoda sleeve continues to be adopted, as more simple, the most graceful, and easy of harmonising with half dress toilettes.' The edge of the sleeves and cuffs are richly ornamented, and match the trimming on the basques. Dresses are made very long, especially those destined for in -doors, when they form a short train behind. In order to give width at the bottom and sustain the full plaits, they are worn over heavy taffetas skirts with two flounces; these skirts do not exclude those made of cam bric muslin trimmed with deep embroidery, which are in dispensable in distinguished toilettes. As visiting dresses, the robes a nceuds are greatly ad mired. We have seen one of these of black brocade, with bouquets in shades of violet. The front of the skirt hal three rows of violet satin bows, with black velvet designs stamped on the ribbon ; each bow is fastened in the middle with an agraffe of black velvet. The bows are four cc ques with two ends not longer than the bows, but falling to wards the bottom of the dress, and diminishing in size as they approach the waist ; they form an apron, and termi nate under the basques, which are trimmed round plaited ribbon, or a ruche formed of three narrow black laces. The body is very open over the chest ; and the revers, trimmed to match the basques, are held together by an echelle of three ribbon bows, showing the chemisette be tween each row. The sleeves are slashed and united by bows. Large collar and under-sleeves of guipure or em broidered muslin. Robes of black or dark -coloured moire antique form very pretty negliges. Some are bordered with three rows of shaded plush, the same colour as the dress ; others have two rows of black curled feathers. Upon black moire, the latter trimming is very stylish. Plain brocart dresses are made with three velvet flounces, either black or the colour of the dress. In order that this style should be pretty, care must be taken not to make them too full, but sufficiently modulated to avoid the appearance of flat biases. The revers, basques, and trimming on the sleeves must also be of velvet. Black - moire antique is very much in fashion for all kinds of toilette. Pelisses are made of it, trimmed with several bands of curled plush, or deep fringe mixed with chenille and silk. Cambric lace, however, is mostly in vogue as garniture. The designs now are very beautiful. COURT AND FASHION. BARON BRITAIN/3N, the Swedish ambassador, died on Friday afternoon. Tam liAmzusx , at the Mansion-house to the gallant officers (naval and military) ordered upon foreign service, is fixed for Saturday next. PRINCE ALBERT TAKEN TO THR TowEß.—On Wednesday afternoon, Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Albert, and two of the Royal Princesses, paid an almost unexpected visit to the Tower. At a few minutes before three the party left Buckingham-palace in two private carriages, the first drawn by a pair of bays, containing Her Most Gracious Majesty, Prince Albert, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice. The Royal party minutely inspected the jewel-house, the ramparts of the Tower, the armouries, and the court-yard. Her Majesty was attired in a very unassuming habit, and his royal highness wore a blue frock coat with gold buttons. THE Couar.—There is nothing of moment to record in the court movements during the past week. The Queen has had small dinner parties daily at Buckingham Palace, and on Wednesday paid a visit to the Tower of London. LIEUT.-GENERAL JAMES HAY, C. 8., Colonel of the 79th Highlanders, died at Kelburne, near Longford, on Friday, the 24th ult. LADY ELIZABETH LASCELLES died at Goldsborough Hall, Yorkshire, on Sunday, last week, in her 28th year. She was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Clanricarde, and granddaughter of the celebrated George Canning, and married, three years since, Viscount Lascelles, eldest son of Earl Harewood, by whom her ladyship has left a youthful family. THE REFORM CLUB Will entertain Vice-Admiral Sir C. Napier, commanding the Channel Fleet, at (ruiner this day. Lord Palmerston will take the chair. REAR ADMIRAL SIR F. BEAUFORT, K.C.B. has retired from his post of hydographer to the Admiralty, to which office he was appointed in 1832. He is succeeded by Cap tain John Washington. THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER remains in a very un satisfactory state. During two nights in the past week her royal highness enjoyed some quiet sleep, but on other nights has been distressed by her cough, and the want of rest has rendered her weaker. Her Majesty and the different members of the royal family have called or sent daily to Gloucester House. A LADY entered a shop, some days back, inquiring for an article which she had forgotten. The facetious pro prietor asked her if she had missed anything else, and upon receiving a reply in the negative, he reminded her that she had left her bonnet behind, NOTES, NOTICES, AND OPINIONS. BY JOHANNES EITSTICUS. XXI. THE NEW REFORM — BILL.—So Lord John Rus sell has abandoned this new scheme for revolutionising the country. Good : but never to have introduced it would have been infinitely better. The question now arises—was it ever intended by its noble (or ignoble ?) author to be carried ? Men of all parties say No ! Its introduction was a solemn farce, unworthy of a statesman —a trifling with the representatives of the people, most discreditable to a minister. But the monster is defunct, and it behoves us to be thankful. The demon of mischief is easily evoked, and a discussion of the demerits of the measure would probably have stirred up a thousand ill designing demagogues to overrun the country with their long tongues, spouting blasphemy and socialism. Though it is impossible to say to what lengths some will not go to oppose the constitutional party, even though at the same time they go far to destroy their own ; yet it is scarcely credible that the Liberals generally would have voted for a measure of so sweeping a character. The enfranchise ment of the six-pound renters would, virtually, have disfranchised all other classes. Every merchant in Liver pool would have suffered the nullification of his vote by the voices of his own workmen—taught, as these are, by the same parties as are agitating for their enfranchisement, to consider the interests of their employers as in direct opposition to their own. Even a fusion of all the existing electors into one party, representing the whole property of the town, would not be sufficient to secure for that property the advantage of a representative in parliament. How would our Liberal merchants, and shipowners, and shopkeepers like this ? Would it not be better at once to adopt the proposal of the Preston " turn-outs," and create ' a labour parliament, whose functions should supersede those of the House of Commons, and whose decisions should be imperative on the House of Lords, and irrever sible even by the Queen herself ! XXII. PROTESTANTISM IN TITAM.—No wonder Pro testantism is spreading so rapidly in Tuam; for it appears from a statement made by Lord Monteagle in the House of Lords, that no less a person than the Romish Arch bishop himself has for some time past been engaged in translating and printing an edition of the Holy Scriptures in Irish, and which it is said has been widely circulated throughout his diocese. This important work has been carried on so secretly that, until the fact was elicited in the parliamentary discussion, no one knew anything about it—the Romano-Irish papers were studiously silent on the subject, and no Scripture reader ever communicated a dis covery of the interesting and important circumstance to any of the Protestant journals. If Dr. M`Hale had con fined himself to translating the Scriptures for his own private use and the use of his priests, it would not have been so serious a matter—but that the Romish laity should be, as the "Freeman" asserts, invited and urged to read and digest them, must be a crime so heinous in the eyes of the Roman Pontiff, that it is no wonder it should have been kept as secret as possible. Will Pius the 9th excom municate Dr. M`Hale ? We shall see. Meantime prose lytism goes forward, and by the blessing of God the diocese of Tuam shall ere long be a stronghold of Protestantism. OUTRAGE UPON ENGLISHMEN IN ROME. THE following statement of the treatment of two British subjects by the Papal authorities, at Citta della Pieve, on the Papal and Tuscan fron tier, is furnished in a letter by Mr. John Duncan, one of the sufferers, to Mr. Freebody, the British Consul at Rome. Mr. Duncan says : We entered Italy in the month of October, 1853, each furnished with a Foreign-office passport. We travelled through Piedmont, Lombardy, Parma, Modena, and part of the States of the Church, to Florence. There we ob tained the vista of the Papal Nuncia for Rome. Thus our passports were perfectly en regle. We passed through Leghorn, Siena, and Chiusi, where we obtained the vista of the Tuscan authorities for leaving Tuscany, and arrived at half-past ten o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 31st of January, at Citta della Pieve, intending to pro ceed at once to Orvieto, en route for Rome. In the two leather bags, all the luggage we then had with us, were the following Italian books —Ettore Tieramosca, pub lished at Florence ; I Promessi Sposi, published at Florenqe ; an Italian and French dictionary ; two Italian Bibles, one with the name of my friend, the other with my own, written in the beginning ; and a few other English and French books, secular and religious. In one of my pockets were three copies of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans in Italian. The two Italian Bibles were at once seized and taken to the bishop, as about an hour afterwards were the other books. I accompanied them to the palace, and after a short conversation with the bishop returned to the Dogana, where my friend and myself were both immediately arrested. We were then taken by the marshal of the police force, accompanied by two or three gendarmes, to another house, where we were searched. Everything was taken from us except our watches, keys, pencils, pocket handkerchiefs, gloves, and silver money. Our clean letter paper and envelopes were passed over fire. We were then taken, escorted as before, to the governor, by whom we were separately examined for about two hours. To every ques tion, except one—viz., who had given us the Italian Bibles—we gave full answers. These were at once taken down. We also made a declaration that the Biblesjvere not intended for distribution. At the end the governor requested us to go to Perugia, which we declined to do. We were then requested to go up stairs that we might dine. We went up and found ourselves in the criminal prison. We were not, however, confined with the other prisoners, but in the kitchen of the gaoler. It was now two o'clock. I often demanded to know the reason of our imprisonment—l was never informed. I asked for " Ettore Tieramosca," or any other of my books to read ; none was brought to me. I thrice asked to see the governor ; the gaoler replied that he would come after dinner ; he never came. I thrice asked for paper to write to my friends; it was never brought. We had to sleep together on a bed about two feet and a half broad. Next morning, at half-past four o'clock, the under gaoler desired us to get up and go off to Orvieto. This we refused to do, both because it was too early and because we wished first to see the governor. About half-past five the marshal of the police force, accompanied by three gensdarmes, came in and bade us rise and go. I replied, " Not without seeing the governor." He threatened to bind me with iron hand and foot, and to carry me by force. I replied that being his prisoner I must obey him. Before leaving the prison I said to him, " You understand that, though I go, Ido not go of my own free will—l go on command—l go by force." He said that this was what he wished me to do. I asked, " Where do we go ?" He replied, " Where you said you wished to go." I said, "To Orvieto ?" He replied, " Yes—to Orvieto." This last statement was repeated by the gendarmes. We were taken, not to Orvieto, but to Perugia. The marshal and two gendarmes kept us strict and close prisoners on the way. We were never allowed to leave the carriage un guarded, and while they breakfasted at a roadside inn I was recalled from walking up and down the room, and compelled to sit by their side. We reached Perugia about two o'clock, and were imme diately lodged in the " Carceri Criminal" I requested from the head gaoler paper to write to my friends. He formally refused it. I requested a book to read—it was refused. I asked the same person when we should be taken before the delegate. He replied " perhaps to morrow—perhaps the day after —perhaps I don't know when." I asked where we should spend that night. He replied, " With the other criminals." We were then searched, our watches and pencils which had been left with us at Citte. della Pieve were now taken from us, on the ground that the prisoners with whom we were to be confined were a wicked lot, and would rob us. Our shoes were taken off and examined. We were now told that, though we should be confined with the criminals—(the stench which issued from the window of one of the rooms in which these criminals were confined was intolerable to us at a distance of three or four feet)—yet we should be placed in different rooms. And all this was to be done, the gaoler expressly said, not from his own will, but by order of the superior. We were being led away to be confined separately and with criminals, when, being much alarmed for my friend, whose health was the object of our journey, I represented the danger to the head gaoler. He was inflexible. I besought him that he would at least either put us in the same room or confine my friend apart from the criminals. He said it was impossible, as he had the command of the superior for what he did. I entreated him, prayed him, pleaded with him in every way for my friend, and he at last consented to speak to his superior on the subject. ...We heard no more; but, about an hour after, during which the descriptions of our persons were taken, we were brought before the delegate. His first words were, " You are at full liberty ;" but, so far as I understood him, he made no apology for the treatment we had received. Up to the last moment we were not informed, either by the bishop or governor of La Pieve or by the delegate of Perugia, of the cause either of our detention or of our confinement. We learned from the delegate that the two Italian and the one English Bible had not been sent to him by the Bishop of La Pieve; we have not yet received them. All the rest of our books and papers (so far as we can remember) were at once returned to us by the delegate, except one copy of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, in Italian, which he retained on the ground that one for each was sufficient. SINGULAR INDICTMENT BOR LIBEL AND CONSPIRACY. —At the Hampshire assizes, at Winchester, two men, named George Brown and William Knighton, labourers, were indicted for libel and conspiracy, at Portsea, on the 6th of April, 1853. Mr. Poulden, describing the nature of the case to the jury, created considerable laughter in the court. The prosecutrix kept a public house in St. George's-square, in the town of Portsea. The defendants had formerly been engaged as railway labourers, or "navvies ;" but after residing same little time in the town they opened a beershop almost opposite the house of the prosecutrix, and some jealousy was excited between the parties. After some time had elapsed, it transpired that spirits had been sold at the house of the defendants, and the prosecutrix's family gave information to the ex cise officers, which led to the detection of the defendants, and a fine of £l4 was afterwards inflicted by the magis trates. As a piece of revenge the defendants resorted to the following expedient. They secured the services of an artist, and a painting was executed, being a likeness of the prosecutrix, who is not pretty, and throwing out some peculiarities in her physiognomy supposed to betray propensities for liquid refreshments. The painting was brought into court, amidst much laughter, it was a large picture. The defendants h a d pl ac ed thi s board on the front of their house, using it as the "sign" of the beer house, it being surmounted with the words, " The Hand some Woman." Crowds of people congregated in the locality in consequence, and besides other annoyances, the prosecutrix's property sustained serious damage. The worst part of the case against the defendants was that they had agreed to take down the painting for a considera tion of £26, which sum would have been paid by the prosecutrix; but a solicitor advised her otherwise, and the present indictment was preferred.—The judge suggested that the " handsome woman" be painted out, and so end the case.—After the prosecuting counsel had concluded 121 lia speech, a consultation between the parties ended in the case being arranged by the defendants promising to discontinue all manner of nuisance.—The jury having been directed to find a verdict of guilty of the libel and not guilty of the conspiracy, the defendants were ordered 4 0 be discharged on their own recognisance's not to repeat til'he offence. THE SUGAR DUTIES. —lt having been represented to the Lords of the Treasury, by the Board of Inland Reve nue, that, as the practice of refining duty-paid sugar for exportation might be expected to become general after the 6th of July next, it would be expedient to extend to duty. paid sugar refined for exportation the advantages in regard to the allowance of drawback on the paper used in packing the same, which were conceded in 1842 to sugar refined, in bond for exportation ; and the board having suggested, with a view to effect this object,lhat the sugar drawback should be allowed on the gross weight of the sugar includ ing the paper and string in which it is packed, by which a small gain might be expected to accrue to the revenue, their lordships have been pleased to sanction this proposal, and they have issued directions to the commissioners of customs for the necessary steps to be taken to carry the proposition into effect. Tn PEACE DEPuTe.nox.—The following is said to be the substance of the replies of the Emperor of Russia to the solicitations of the three Quakers who waited on him recently :—" We received the blessing of Christianity from the Greek empire, and this has established and main tained ever since a link of connexion, both moral and religious, between Russia and that power. The ties that have thus united the two countries have subsisted for 900 years, and were not severed by the conquest of Russia by the Tartars ; and when, at a later period, our country succeeded in shaking oft' that yoke, and the Greek empire in its turn fell under the sway of the Turks, we still con tinued to take a lively interest in the welfare of our co religionists there; and when Russia became powerful enough to resist the Turks, and to dictate the terms of peace, we paid particular attention to ,the well-being of the Greek Church, and procured the insertion in suc cessive treaties of most important articles in her favour. I have myself acted as my predecessors have done, and the treaty of Adrianople, in 1829, was as explicit as the former ones in this respect. Turkey, on her part, re cognised the right of religious interference, and fulfilled her engagements until within the last year or two, when, for the first time, she gave me reason to complain. I will now advert to th e p ar ti es w h o were h er pr incipal instigators on that occasion. Suffice it to say, that it be came my duty to interfere, and to claim from Turkey the fulfilment of her engagements. My representations w ere . pressing, but friendly, and I have every reason to believe that matters would soon have been settled if Turkey had not been induced by other parties to believe that I had ulterior objects in view,—that I was aiming at conquest, aggrandizement, and the ruin of Turkey. I have solemnly disclaimed, and I do now as solemnly disclaim, every such motive. . . . Ido not desire war. I abhor it as sin cerely as you do; and am ready to forget the past if only the opportunity be afforded me. . . . I have great esteem for your country, and a sincere affection for your queen, whom I admire, not only as a sovereign, but as a lady, a wife, and a mother. I have placed full confidence in her, and have acted towards her in a frank and friendly spirit. I felt it my duty to call her attention to future dangers, which I considered sooner or later likely to arise in the East, in consequence of the existing state of things. What, on my pa r t, was prudent foresight has been un fairly construed in your country into a designing policy, and an ambitious desire of conquest. This has deeply wounded my feelings and afflicted my heart. Personal insults or invectives I regard with indifference. It is beneath my dignity t o notice them, and I am ready to forgive all that is personal to me, and to hold out my hand to my enemies in the true Christian spirit. I cannot understand what cause of complaint your nation has against Russia. lam anxious to avoid war by all possible means. I will not attack, and shall only act in self defence. I cannot be indifferent to what concerns the honour of my country. I have a duty to perform as a sovereign. As a Ch r i s ti an I am rea d y t o com ply w i th the precepts of religion. On the present occasion my great.duty is to attend to the hlterepts aUsl 1. 1 9419 1 r a my country: TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1854' CHESHIRE AND IT'ALES. —The fief" CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY. -- ." - (o trs 11010_'' the week ending 26th February, 1854, was as g s . Passengers, parcels, &c., per railway, 02°1 5 d • go* steam-boats, £3Ol 9s. Bd. ; total, £2314 19s. • 'trafac, Pet £1476 18s. 4d.: total, including Carnarvon cor• rail, £3490 Bs. ld. ; steam-boat, £3Ol 9 s• 16 00 1 responding week last year, per rail, £2 845 .4 steam-boat, £lB9 17s. 9d. Increase, £75 5 3s. pni ble THE ROYAL CHESHIRE MILITIA Will 3S S %O Chester, on Tuesday nex t, f or twenty-eight d , ere d rut ing in military exercises. Billets have been eru 1,074 men. em Mr. RITDD, the manager of the Woodside r tb been appointed to the office of superinte ndent steamers belonging to the Brazilian line. W' A MELANCHOLY CASE OF SELF -D E S TRITC.If place at Little Neston, on Sunday last week. 3,,,r,iggi Lee, a respectable farmer, who has beensunielisb4os some time from derangement of mind, went from soir6) and, as he did not return in a seasonable in:0.8011W was made, when his body was di s covered in 3 P i neighbourhood. THE RECENT LIFEBOAT ACCIDENT.—On Sun he the bodies of two of th e men l a t e ly d r owned by_l' foo setting of the Steam Tug Company's lifeboat n' o e ua 00, on the shore at Hoylake. One of them was 3 Y ro gpir e ' ? named Davies ; the name o f th e o ther has not r tb An inquest was held on Monday at Hoylake, :7, 0 0 jury returned a verdi c t o f acc id en tal death.---"Sj body was picked up on W e d nes d a y ; it was idenn;bact being that of the father of the young man Davie s ' named. Both were river boatmen. CANAL FROM RUNCORN TO WESTON re l , l ' l , o rW, Bridgewater trustees have at length commence(' " 08 ,1 V out the line of canal, for which an act was nb tBl . o session, from their locks at Runcorn to the We ° e a fro ° at Weston Point. The s u rf ace so il i s being repo! b r ito, a portion of the land, fo r th e p ur p os e of oakingoot, It is also rumoured that a n e w d oc k or an enla r t e l the present one is in contempl a tion. This w accommodation, which has for many years been tiy required ; the trade of the port having been grey pled for want of adequate dock and quay *n ee ; 011 151 ,; BEBINGTON.—A soinfe of th e B e bington provement Society took place in the School - r e° '?° Bebington, on Shro v e T ues d ay . About 120 P e the down to tea. After tea, the chair was taken by All"; R. M. Fielden, rector, and president of the societijo a few remarks from the chairman, the menti,lo, , t '', dressed by the R ev . D r . B ay l ee, th e R ev . A. '''',Derri Rev. J. M. Brown, J. D. C ase, E sq , and several n'fileirt. tlemen. The society's b an d played several 0 , 1 ,e; vourite airs: Several glees were also sung ri a .10 7 .,' evening, Mr. J. Waring presiding at the IN't fori"; Great credit is due to the secretary, Mr. Colbee;'bte4l." untiring labours, for the society is not only t for him for both its vocal an d i ns t rumen t a l mirsie , ,," - j0 existence of the soc i e ty it se lf ; an d, throng' or management, the evening was m ad e both inreres d agreeable to all present. rir 4 WALLASEY LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTIL--',";: f(P' presided at the meeting of the board on Thur su f s h d e after the transaction of some routine business' "ado:) , committee were instructed to take the necessarifor obtaining payment for the services of the police e p ing and securing some wrecks on the eoast. — T b il4 ings of the special postal arrangements Comm' ipt c is l ote i read, including the report of a deputation afril. 4 wait upon the postmaster-general, from which it c ro . " .k that the postmaster-general quite admitted DT, the district to a double delivery and despatch._,o'd to it , been conceded, and the question which reniau ofe t p settled was, merely whether the district was ° ,,,p00 , communication by way of Birkenhead or l i ,, c f p'et,7. l 4 penny postage, or whether it was to have ad" tie t bt office. The chairman said he believed that, were prepared to prove that Liverpool was bet L ,,, v e t w t y parish, and more economical, than a district r ec l, o f and, consequently, the question was now nar r° ,: : 0 0 ,4! point whether Liverpool was to be their Pe' fe " .t they were to have a district post-office. The P ,.0 . oa e ro b ol were confirmed, and the following resolution, P-.," Mr. Hill, and seconded by Mr. Odell, adopted r t 0 1 .1 the board, having carefully considered the elf,eo deputation appointed to wait upon the postman o re entirely concurs in the view therein expressed, IT f ollA a cially as regards the i m p or t ance o f q uick r!_ u t he N r ;:f communication with Liverpool, t o se cure wino is of opinion that, if necessary, the inhabitants or 0; would willingly assent to a delay of one, to hours in the transmission of l e tt ers for other 1 14 ,„, er et t that the committee are requested to co ntinue,;, ono'' tions, with a view to attai n thi s object. S u j business'was disposed of, an d th e board a djourn`"' „- t ECCLESIASTICAL INTELL"-"`" C 41. Ersf rs To : PREFERMENTS AND APPOIN x .,„rsoll - ' Rev. J. Anderson. M.A., to the Rectory of " Moor, near Newcastle under-Lyne. of S t ' ' Rev. W. Barber, M.A., to the Incumbency ,c,t, tf' Leicester. near D r°l Rev. J. Bearcroft. M.A., Rector of Hadsor, ire. to be Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Worcesters wtoe , v Rev. F. Bennett, M.A., to the Vicarage of Shre 000 , Rev. B. G. Bridges, 8.A., to the Rectory of Blin „ij, colnshire. , Vor n os i 1., • li t - Rey. D. Brown, M.A., to the Rectory of How.c., e tsc Rev. W. Davies, 8.A., to the Curacy of LlangY. ,1 5 1 f Swansea. Cblwh tobe Rev. F. Fitzpatrick, M.A., of Bailieboroug , 11- 1 to the Marquis of Headfort. 5 rl SO W Rev. P. J. F. Gantillow, 8.A., to the Second .0, , Leicester Grammar School. r re nt' Rev. T. U. Gibson, M.A., Vicar of Barton, nea r ~t,4 ' be Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Westmorelall...„ Ow Rev. R. Glover, to the Perpetual C uracy o f Trio' ' cit' Maidstone. 4 i' Rev. N. Greenwell, to the Incumbency o r tho 12a,,iopet,g Mark's, Leeds, on the petition of the parisiiesv Rev. E. R. Hampden, M.A., to the IneutnbencY° , Herefordshire. losh ire. es' Rev. J. Hart, to the Rectory of So mer b y, LiticLiail ,° Rev. W. T. Harte, M.A., to the C uracy of Wu- Leominster. aeclO" 0" Rev. J. Hamstead, M.A. Vicar of Seagry, to the '' .. Gratwich St. Mary, near Vttoxeter, Staffordshi r F • y C Tool ' b url' Rev. C. S. Hassells, M.A., late Curate of ~„..e t. t o Lambeth, to be Colonial Chaplain at the Gold tAll 101 tt 6' f sii o Rev. W. N. Heathcote, M.A., to the Curacy o a Rev. H. J. Jackson, 8.A., to the Incumbency d Frystone, Yorkshire. bill. v Rer. J. R. Jones, M.A., to the Vicarage of Burg 0 . 00 ford. of ' Rev. H. P. Leakey, M.A., t o th e I n cumbency IP 4c) , Church, Swansea. /11cfr Rev. S. Minton, M.A., I ncum b en t o f St. Si'A uenn thedi) Liverpool, to be Chapl a i n t o th e Hi g h Sheriff of ' tioo Rev. W. Poole, M.A., t o th e I ncum b enc y 0-f n lii ' pl 3 t Little Dewchurch, near Hereford. Beret ° Ili Rev. S. Powell, M.A., Rector of Stratford, 0 to be Chaplain to the Hi Sheriff of Radnorshirf.; an d it e Rev. R. R. Rackham, M.A.M, Curate of Hunviortn , e (c, to be Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Norfolk. ~e r ,o'to nev. J. B. Sellwood, to the Curacy of Bicky.„°'„' 00' j Rev. C. J. Willoughby, M.A., Rector of v" . poP" Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Yorkshire. N ee s Rev. W. Wilson, M.A., Minor C anon an d Vicar, oo , ' in Rev. J. MancheW ilson, M.A.ster Cathedral, to the Incumbency of . . it not 4 fi , Church, Preston. t s y Rev. H. Woodward, to the Incumbency of St.Jolin Church, Doddington, Salop. fcs"" DIOCESE OF CHESTER. I l o I(' e, CoNsitcßA.Trolf.—The new church of Tile to, • cents, Liverpool, erected at the cos t o f HarnO d ot 1/ Esq., of this town, a n d i n t en d e d t o be mine tecl Orphan Asylum for boy s an d g i r l s, i s t o b e CO the Bishop of Chester, on M on d ay nex t , the 15' -t at eleven o'clock. ft or ORDINATION. — The examination f o r the e -05vi nation of the Bishop of Chester' will come /ell St' Episcopal Palace at ten o'clock on Thursdaill e VACANCY.—The perpetual curacy of st• tee I v Church, Wigan, by the resignation of the Ref. Simmons, the incumbent. 00 ' `t 1 ,1 ST. MARY'S CHURCH, WAVERTREE, NE-* — e 1 : , 4 —The Bishop has renewed the li cens e for Di iro ti°,' in this church for another ye ar , before the OP, which time it is fully expected that the ch illy LIC ready for consecration. Ol e 0 4 NEW PARISH CHVBCH AT DONCASTERP ag tet/ h ", tion stone of a new parish church at Dear - , feyf i place the edifice destroyed by fire on the 2 0 w - f ibi .A c last year, was laid on Tuesday. The cerenly oe:/ A performed by the Archbishop of York, exci o bsev A ott of attention in the town, and the occasion a'Se the :f a general holiday. The procession comprisr o o of the district, the mayor, and the leading Pr'r ri ! he' ' 0 1" town. The new church is designed by Mr. vino V. of Spring-gardens, London. A liberal subscriP o r the expense of it has already been raised. 1)7 a contributed £lOO, and th e corporat i on an d IA" - Doncaster have given upwa r d s o f £ 12,000. a 6rev 1 NEW CLERICAL SOCIETY.—We see , fro m oft te the Rev. J. B: Sweet, that his appeal, in favour ids tong to 4.01 oration of a Society to assist poor clergyme n maintenance in sickness and old age, has been mi,je o ok siderable progress. A draft of resolutions, ect o o fundamental rules forsuch anassociation, approved" by the Bishop of Oxford, and wit' a public meeting i n L on d on on t h e fi rst Thurs , St• at which the Bi s h o p o f L on d on h as consen ted IV et , ' The support of th e Bi s h ops o f S t. A saP -, 4 1 Gloucester and Bri s t o l, S a li s b ury, W o rcester , $: chester, has also been given to the project. 1 1 13e ie 4 TESTIMONIAL TO THE REV. C. F. Sual i o 'lC9je Charles F. Smith, the newly-appointed vicar lar_lisN previous to his leaving the scene of his foriae l ; a i Pendlebury,. near Manchester receiv ed sev e fe e ' a a r ea and gratifying testimonials of 'the respect an pi te_ ite d his late congregation. A subscription aTI I , - ;eP t itti t j among the more wealthy of his friends, whic h his being presented with a sum of money I ,!„°' 0 11 ,, nearly £ 2OO, with plate of the value of g°"' 1 13 : tot i; mark of respect was not confined to this ele s !' itec`.o of £lO was raised by another subscription - er iir tf pence from each person, and an elegant B'lll o o , rl was presented to Mr. Smith, b ear i ng the 1 Sta l e scription :—" Presented to the Rev. Charles _ c liebtA,, some of the less wealthy parishoners at dres s dtriO,ri grateful remembrance of his pastoral ki nd : s eat r jA period of eleven years." He was also P"' bsrl.;op parting gifts from the members of the Pendle o rc and reading-room, of which Mr. Smith was tool, and from the children in the day and Sunday sel l ' the girls of the Sunday school. HORTICULTURE' require ~E i STOVE PLA.NTS at this season of the Year,,,, wit l3 ,„ -0 attention to cleanliness. Any species infest'' leso;e t should be well and carefully sponged over the,bieh especially in the arils of the leaves. Those a 9* - 4 active growth should have a little weak P7oer e r erg occasionally administered. In many atov es i sizo t t° ,slU are grown, the f ru it will now be of sufficie ll pigo". v thinning desi r abl e , an d th e t em perature atdegre „ not be lower than 65 degrees, with abou t ,e 0 9 44 in day time. rs e te d v- FLOWER GARDEN.—The plantin r - c on ' at 11'4 other shrubs should be immediate cr i t . ,' - v it4 already planted should be well mailar'" gl" especially those which do not make ver3c . raP A udy, KITCHEN GARDEN.— rinitsh PrO 4n fr i cot, P pot''' fruit trees, and take care. to protect e arl! ctor nectarine trees from, night frosts. Pmt other on borders favourably situated, 2,1A1 gO vf peas, THE MEETING AT THE SESSIONS-HOUSE. TO THE EDITOR OP THE LIVERPOOL STA N'IDARD. observe that your Radical contemporaries, writing about the unruly Romanist and Radical mob at the Sessions-house, on the 24th ult. (which they call a "town's meeting "), say, "that it was very improper" of our worthy Mayor to call a public meeting on the ground of " a party requisition," mentioning as the "only" precedent the Papal aggression meeting in 1851. Oh ! innocent Radicals ! allow me to show you some Radical "precedents" for municipal authorities dabbling in politics. 1. The Mayor and Corporation of Birmingham sent a petition to parliament, last year, in favour of admitting the Jews!, 2. The Mayor of Southampton, when entertaining as his guest the rebel Kossuth, gave a toast, " The Liberal members of the House of Commons !!" 1861. 3. The Mayors and Corporations of Leeds, Greenock, Manchester, Paisley, and other Radical boroughs, in presenting addresses to Lord John Russell, Mr. Gladstone, M.P., in 1853, made use of party language, congratulating them for their efforts in the cause of " civil and religious liberty," " reform," " free-trade," &c., &c. I could show numberless other instances in which Radical municipal authorities have, in their official capacity, acted as political agitators ; but the innocent Radicals can think of no other precedent than the Papal Aggression meeting, three years ago ! —I remain yours, &c., Liverpool, 2nd March, 1854. G. W. M. " INSULT TO A FRENCH CAPTAIN." TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—In the Mercury of last Tuesday, there appeared a letter signed by Mr. Purnell, dock-master, addressed to Capt. Galteau, of the Prince Jerome, lying in the Queen's Dock, appealing to his good sense whether a flag bearing an insulting emblem upon it should not be withdrawn, surrounded as he was by Russian vessels, to whom he was, by his flag, hurling defiance. Now, Sir, I contend that this said captain had no right to hoist that flag in an English port. We are not at war with Russia, and I trust it will yet be avoided ; and no Englishman with any spirit would allow insult to be thrown at any class of people who are at present standing in amicable relations to each other. The device upon the flag is indicative of the lowest black guardism, and is in use only amongst the most degraded of our population. Had the aborigines of New South Wales devised a flag, I question if they could have used a more degrading figure. Instead of calling it "an insult to a French captain," it should be "disgusting impu dence of a French captain." It excited the ire of an English sailor, who said he had a good mind to cut the signal halyards, he was so angry about it. The paltry attempt to make a national grievance of it is ludicrous in the extreme, and shows very little sense. It is too bad that a desire to remove a grievance, and prevent unplea santness between the natives of two countries, should recoil upon the head of the agent in this matter. Ido trust, however, that this captain will be shown the impropriety of thus acting in a friendly port before he leaves here. Yours respectfully, AN ENGLISHMAN. [The letter to which our correspondent refers was brought to our office yesterday week, but we refused to insert it, on the ground that it was an ex parte statement, and we felt convinced that the Dock-master would not have interfered unless he had more grounds than was stated to us by the French captain, who said the flag bore only a half-moon, and was simply intended as a signal flag to designate his own ship. It now appears, from the above letter, that the Dock-master was fully justified in ordering the removal of such an offensive exhibition ; and in order that no doubt may remain, we subjoin a rough drawing of the design upon the lag. It will be seen that it is a grossly vulgar design, evidently intended to be insulting to the Russian vessels in the port, while the representation made to us as to its innocent charac ter was a positive falsehood.]