The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-12-28 00:00:00

"M•cF•Mir2. VARIETIES INR.—The black sea on which thought rides at anchor. PEDANTRY.—lntellectual tight-lacing. MONEY.—The largest slavebolder in the world. How TO PUT DOWN REPEAL IN IRELAND.—Agitate for it in England. DIRECTION FOR HUSBANDS.—AII the wards of a latch key should be home-wards. Dr. Holland says, " That if persons are always suppos ing that they are liable to a certain distemper, the nerves will so act on the part that it is likely to come upon them." A WHOLE SERMON.—Beloved Brethren, the Scriptures tell u% that the wages of sin is death. Now, my advice is, that you leave off sinning and strike for higher pay.— Independent Democ-rat, 11-g- Not to give to the poor is to take from him ; not to feed the hungry, if thou hast it, is the utmost of thy power to kill him ; that therefore thou mayest avoid both sacrilege and murder, be charitable.—Quarles's Enchiridion. A poor corset-maker, out of work and starving, thus vented his miserable complaint—" Shame that I should be without bread—l that have stayed the stomachs o thousands !" FULL-FLAVOURED SIMILE.—Men are frequently like tea—the real strength and goodness is not properly drawn out of them till they have been for a short time in hot water. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, if bad fish were sold to the poor, the knavish fishmonger was decorated with a necklace of his unsavoury commodity, and was then perched on a stand in the market. FINE WRITING !—The Bradford Observer says,—" The firmament looked on Sunday evening as if it had been dragged through the sea, and imagination might easily see in the dark, jagged, restless clouds, its dishevelled hair scattered over its agitated forehead." THE TRUE PHILOSOPHY.—" What do you mean to do with K ?" said a friend to Theodore Hook, alluding to a man who had grossly vilified him. "Do with him ?" re plied Hook ; why, I mean to let him alone most severely." . . . CHINESE MANNERS.—When admitted to an audience of a mandarin, whatever is your first remark, he repeats your own words, and instead of answering, asks, `• How old are you )" This is considered a form of politeness, and a necessary compliment.—Fortune's China. A merchant, examining a hogshead of hardware, on comparing it with the invoice, found it all right except a hammer less than the invoice. " Oh! don't be troubled, my honey," said the Irish porter, " sure the nager took it out to open the hogshead with." Lieut. Burke, of the Bombay engineers, has published a pamphlet, in which he states that one of the salt beds of Scinde contains an area of 300 miles of salt, of an average thickness of three feet, or a supply equal to the consump tion of 100,000,000 of people for 1600 years. The Bristol Times reports the following conversation between two " fast " urchins under fourteen years of age, as having actually been overheard in a confectioner's shop the other day : "Tom — do you smoke much now? " " No—the cigars are so bad now, that unless a man() imports his own tobacco, he can't get on with comfort." SUPERFINE PROOFS. -A Proof of Kindness.—Getting any one to accept an Art-Union engraving. A Proof of Gratitude.—Getting a person, not only to accept one, but actually to say " Thank you, and afterwards to frame it. A Proof of the latter is exceedingly rare, and would, we are confident, fetch a very high price among connois seurs.—Punch. METROPOLITAN CHURCHYARDS.—Mr. Walker has given notice to the Government that he shall keep a watchful eye upon the floor of the House of Commons, and if it is overcrowded with the bodies of the Irish mem bers, who have threatened to die there, he certainly shall do everything in his power to remove the nuisance. If he could do it before they die, we should not mind.—Punch. WHEWELL AND THE WAGER.—There was a notice put up in Trinity College, Cambridge, the other day, Saying that if any undergraduate were found with a betting, book on his person, it should be sent up to the master (Profes sor Whewell). One having been discovered, was so dealt with, and when opened by the doctor, the first bet that met his eye was, Ten to one that Whewell does not get Hereford." ABORIGINAL PPECOCITY.—AII those who have ex pressed an opinion on the subject seem to agree, that the children of most native races are fully or more than. a match for those of Europeans in aptitude for intellectual acquirement. Indeed it appears to be a singular law of nature, that there is less precocity in the European race than almost any other. In those races in which we seem to have reason for believing that the intellectual organ ization is lower, perception is quicker and maturely ear lier. And it is easy to perceive the very great benefits which would result from the association of Europeans and natives in early life.—Merirale's Lectures on Coloniza tion. THE INTERIOR OF SHARSPEARE'SHOUSE.—AII around is dark and heavy. The square shop—if it may be called a shop—is rudely flagged with broad stones, round which in the winter time the water oozes up. The white-washed walls stand about dimly under the shadow of the window screen which slopes downwards to the street. A massive chimney, with its hold ingle, comes out into the floor; and an open door at the back, reached by a single stone step, leads at once into the kitchen. This is warmer, smaller, and still more shut up in ancient characteristics. The vast fire-place on one side, and the oakstairs on the other, winding up through the wall into the room where Shakspeare was born, are unmistakeable evidences of the rude and enduring architecture of a remote age. HUNTING SCENE IN A LAND OF FREEDOM.—A female runaway slave had been missed some days by her master. lie employed some " nigger-catchers" to take her, put ting them, as near as he was able, on her track. After a short time, the hounds scented her, and opened mouth in full cry. They tracked her to a house, which was nearly finished, but not occupied, in which the poor woman had taken shelter, and was lying secreted in a chimney. The dogs leaped in at a window, and discovered a foot protru ding from the chimney. The leading dog seized her by the foot, and dragged her down, the rest tore her to pieces, before their master could come up to prevent it. I re ceived this account from a person of respectability at Co lumbia, in whose veracity I have every confidence.—Re port of an English Traveller. THE LlYkßtitiot STANDARD. Ettrraturr. years before the Christian era, I see no reason why this rare bronze instrument may not be 2400 years old : tit that time Romulus added the Trojan and Phrygian deities to those of the aborigines, and the rape of the Sabine women took place during a grand festival intonour of the Equestria Neptuna ! The two figures at lop, and the eight others at the sides, might also have some allusion to the ten months fixed by Romulus, for it was not until the time of the excellent Numa Pompilius that January and February were added to the year. It the two bulls' heads, be, which from their imperfect preservation some sag are lions, still it will apply to the mysteries and festivals' of Cybele : she is figured as drawn by two lions. The Eleusinian mysteries were known 1580 years before the Augustan era. But not to go back so far as that, this cu rious instrument might have been used at (and its ten heads to symbol) the Decennalian festivals celebrated every tenth year, introduced by Augustus, with sacrifices, games, and largesses to the people. During these solem nities the emperors surrendered up their power to the people, who joyfully returned it (might not this elegant bronze instrument have been the sign of power ?) to the emperors. I have alluded more particularly to this in strument, as by, its figure I had introductions to many learned persons—Padre Marchi at Rome, and Professors at Florenee, Bologna, Padua, Venice, and other Italian, cities, all said, upon seeing the sketch, " Multa curiosa," but none could accurately describe its origin, aim, and end. Mr. Roach Smith considers this relic to be a lcind of forceps, used probably for sacred purposes ; the heads on the sides he explains as those of deities which presided over the days of the week, as Apollo, or the Sun, Dies Solis—Sunday; Luna, or the Moon, Dies Lunce—Mon day, &c. ; and the heads on the top, those of Juno and- Cybele, who were the tutelary deities of the month and the year. It was found in the Thames, with other Roman bronzes, more or less mutilated, doubtless by the early Christians, who were taught to destroy the works of Pagan art. Should any studious antiquary read this brief and crude statement, I hope he will inspect it at my valued friend's private museum, 5, Liverpool-street, City, where the learned proprietor will, with his usual urbanity and courtesy, shew any true lover of antiquities the rarest col lection of Roman remains in England. To re turn to Florence and its novelties. One night I was strolling along, and saw an unusual number of lights in a small church, and many persons were going in and out. In the centre of a large crowd' was a basket-cradle ; in which, lying beautifully dressed, was what I at first thought a wax doll, surrounded with a large circlet of beautiful flowers ! but I soon discovered it was the dead body of a little girl. The casquet was there—the precious jewel, its life, gone. My sympathy was soon destroyed by some wag observing that it was very much like the priest who officiated at this church : this caused a general titter, and I left precipitately. ►_ . Who h POETRY: CHRISTMAS )RERT ROSE, THE BARD OF COLOUR. rig sound of thunder hailed the God, ,nmgs flashed, no mountains did there nod; Vh . i)e shone afar le shepherds on their hopeful way, to the world this happy day— ill most blest throughout the year, flash yo' nether sphere ant dominions, n high Heaven to cart): it year I Lghhis celestial grace, , nd, our yearly guest, a shade. map fall— them all our 'glee? Oh 1 some, al - al! on earth no more we'll see And V en better days ) tear should drop; he darts the yearning gaz And wanders :e by his long-lost home, while he must roam, Strangers are revelling tl A lonely outcast, pelted by the storm. That makes sad havoc with his shivering form At Christmas-time let none forget the poor— We know not half the evils they endure— For He was thus Who ransomed us; The Son of God - When earth He trod Had not a place whereon to rest His head. Then think of Him, and to the poor give bread, For our Redeemer's sake this day is His — This day the pledge of our immortal bliss. ON THE DEATH OF A BABY, WHO SURVIVED ITS BIRTH ONLY A FEW HOURS. Rest thee, baby, child of clay How brief has been thy troub Bud of beauty—fair and swee Rest thee in thy winding shed Ohl what a life of mystery thine What destinies in thee combine 1 A breath—a sob- Convulsive pang a feeble cry and thou - inust die I Thy birth baptized in sorrow's tears, Thy life a dream—not marked by years A few short hours thy mournful span, Thou touching type of mortal man Then rest tli Baby, signed with grace From out the font's most holy place, Thy Saviour's arms thy sure retreat, Oh! rest thee in thy wit:ding-sheet! by tiny frame thy new name— Within thy coffin walls enshrined, Leave deathless memories behind I By thy draught of painful breath, By thy birth to early death, By thy slumber, soft and sweet, Rest thee in thy winding sheet I Not always shalt thou speechless be, Nor bound with death's infirmity; Not always shall thine eye and ear Be thus denied to see and hear. For thee the trumpet's voice shall sound, To wake thy sleep in hallowed ground: From thee shall young hosannas rise, To perfect praise through all the skies! Then rest thee, baby, in the Lord. Who loves by babes to be adored : Sweet flowers of spring thy rave shall greet With perfume o'er thy winding sheet! Dark clouds thy morn have overcast, Thy early night in pain has passed; But with thy morrow joy shall stay, And sunbeams gild thy rising day I Meanwhile, in God's own dwelling-place Thine angel sees thy Father's face; And though to parents' love unknown, Thou'lt feel no want before the throne So, rest thee, innocent, by grace We once again shall see thy face— In glory hold communion sweet, No more enwrapt in winding sheet Liverpool, Dec ORBATUS SKETCHES OF A TRIP TO THE CONTINENT, ITALY, AND EGYPT, BY EDWIN KEET, ES4 No. XX. (Written for the Liverpool Standard.) The stranger may have access to all the five libraries of Florence by a proper application, and what treasures of Italian literature, engravings, and manuscripts, are open to the traveller ! I met, by the kindness of the Rev. Mr. Latouche, with a precious vellum copy of the " hundred Italian tales," from which Shakspeare, or his friend Earl Southampton, took so many plots of his Italian dramas. The many ponderous tomes upon Roman, Grecian, and Xtruscan antiquities I had free access to, with all their 'rare and splendid illustrations, were astonishing ; but what -puzzled all the Italian literati was a pen and ink drawing of a curious bronze instrument found in the bed of the -river Thames, in the possession of my esteemed friend Charles Roach Smith, F.Q.A. This gentleman is a rare arample of what great talent and liberality, accompanied by profound study and untiring perseverance, may effect, and this notwithstanding the opposition, and ungenerous, mean thwartings of agents of the Corporation of London, -a set of men who have been for years utterly indifferent to the many interesting discoveries of Roman remains in 'London, consisting of bronze statuettes, busts, pictorial bavements ! coins, medals, vases, & c. They have, as a ody, not only done literally nothing, but have allowed to be broken up and carted away as rubbish the richest treasures of antiquity ; nor is this all, they have discou raged a gentleman who, under every difficulty, at the ex pense of more than two thousand pounds, has got together a-choice and well-arranged museum of antiques, that per fectly illustrates Roman London, which has been admired by some of our most learned English antiquaries. and sited by many foreigners of high distinction and profound kterary attainments. I have only a few months since seen in the rubbish and stone-yards of the City of London Corporation, a mutilated marble group of the three wood nymphs ! fates, or weird sisters I charities, or syrens ! drawn by my friend, E. B. Price, and engraved and pub lished in the " Journal of the Archeological Association." (Bohn, York-street, Covent-garden.) The drapery so towing and graceful, the baskets of fruit, each different and beautifully cut, held in the laps of these three mythic matrons, should have secured them a better fate than being thrown among the rubbish in a stone-yard, and bad covered with dirt as I saw them the last autumn. This one fact, among a multitude of other similar ones, may be proved to demonstration. At Cologne, Aix-la-Cha- Ealle, Bohn, and many of the continental museums, I re seen these three goddesses carefully housed, but in ndon they are left to moulder and perish in the open air, and in a stone-yard ! The following is an illustration of the.bronze instrument : 1 I . ~,,,: . • .• , I, ' el, lilt(f , it . . 41 1 / i , I 1 il i . / _ 'Tkim ik "rr" %W\ - I.#!'l ‘ t, ~lllli~l ~ ,gl7 [, _ \ . \ , \ Mr. Millengen, the late antiquary, and author of many works published at Florence, said, " they are two ornamented legs of a tripod, where is the third ?" Two they of the A ca d emy o f A r t s di ff ere d : one th oug ht they were compasses to draw circles for magical incanta tions ; the other, that they were parts of the centre of a Roman chariot-wheel. One learned person said they were 'rests for reins of the charioteer, and part of the. harness ; another, that they were for measuring the heads of chil dren, and predicting their futurefate; another thought they were like our steelyards, for weighing. One learned gen tleman I met with at Malta told me they were for the pur pose of preventing haemorrhage in the rite of castration, and preparation of the priests for worship in the t emp l e of Cybele ; but my opinion is that they were used as a calendar, and for calculations astronomically. The fig-u re , of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Luna, Terra, Apollo, and Juno, are the eight heads on the sides of this bronze instrument or compasses. The two heads at the top may be Saturn and his wife Ops, called Cybele bona-dea, Rhea, Magna Mater ! Tellus, and Thya, by all which names this -sister and wife of Saturn, the daughter of Coelus and Terra, was designated. The horses' heads may be in allusion - to the sacrifice of those animals to Mars annually, and the bulls' heads symbolical of the cultivation of the earth, or to what is said of Romulus, who with a bull and cow ploughed with a brazen coulter the furrow which formed the boundary of Rome : wherever a gate was to be made the people lifted up the plough and carried it; hence ;MU, Real or gate. M Roinulus founded Rome 748 A walk upon the walls of Florence is very pleasing. A great variety of prospects open to the stranger's view. In those calm, clear, lovely moonlight nights, I have gone my solitary round, only disturbed by the challenge of the sentinel, and the distant convent-bell nealing sweetly and solemnly through the tranquil air, like a summons to Heaven ; but the deep, awful tones of the Borgella prison bell rings every night at 11 o'clock, and at every execution or exposure of criminals : it has a dismal, terrific, and ap palling sound—Great Tom of Oxford is but a Tom Thumb to it. • How delightful, too, were my morning walks out of the noble gate, the Porta Gallo, to see the sun rise from the lofty hills of Fiesole, scattering before its life inspiring rays the rolling clouds of mist over bill and val ley, the birds, insects, frogs, and cattle, all joining in one joyous matin song—high and low—of thanksgiving to the Lord and Giver of Life. Groups of merry peasants are laden and bearing their burdens of fruit, vegetation, and poultry to the market, and every day there is such a busy, noisy market, such a sprinkling and splashing of water to keep their commodities in that hot climate cool and fresh. The flower-girls, with their broad-brimmed, slouching, jaunty Leghorn bats, so arch, so liberal, so trusting, in the gratuitous distribution of their fragrant, beautiful po sies ! Then that very beautiful promenade and drive to the Casina, along the banks of the Arno, the sun setting behind the Carrara mountains, where the noble quarries are so abundant, front which, as from a rich mine, so many glorious groups, statues, and busts, have been hewn• and chiselled. The Grand Duke, when in town, is almost, daily at the Casina, bowing graciously and kindly to the uplifted hat of the Englishman. The bigotry of Roma nism is less visible here than at Rome; but there are " plenty of proud, presuming Romish priests, taught to believe they only cannot err. Bred in scorn of reason! and the whole lay world ! instructed to hate whoever dis sents from what they teach, to purge the world from heresy by blood, to massacre a nation and believe it an act well pleasing to a God of mercy—these are thy laws, oh, Rome! and this thy faith. And shall we tamely yield ourselves to bondage ? bow down before these holy purple tyrants ?" In the name of the massacre of St. Bartholo mew, and the assassinations of the ignorant, priest-led Irish, I emphatically answer Dr. Pusey, No A VILLAGE EPICITRE.—" And h i owwo . uld you like the trout, sir ? asked the hostess : would you like them fried. or boiled with sauce 1" " Both ways, my good woman, both ways," said the Amtschreiber, taking snuff, " that is, if they are fine and fat—first, half-a-dozen of the finest you have got, with a sauce, and then a plate of them fried. I know you are a capital hand at them. I don't get them any where as I do' here—though the last time they were a little, just a leetle too brown. You must know the colonel there is quite a gourmand, and I've brought him here just on purpose. He maintained to me that we lived like pigs; and I told him I could take him to a place where we should have a better supper than he could get in France or Holland either. And a propos, my good hostess, don't forget to put a good glass of wine in the sauce, and let the bread be well toasted, and see that there be plenty of onions—these old soldiers always like a strong flavour, and their throats are lined with leather. And a propos, the last time some of the fish—just about the head—not what I call quite enough done; just let them be perhaps a thought longer on the fire, and take care that the smaller ones are not kept down quite so long as the others, a - .1e.,"—" I tell you what, sir," said the hostess, turning round short, " you seem to know a gre.t deal more about it than I do, and so the best way will be for you to come into the kitchen and cook 'em yourself, and then you'll be sure to be right, I suppose. '—Got theffs Tales. HARVEST-TIME IN EGYPT.—Theyliave been gathering in the golden grain just now—it is a meet season to re member Egypt, and to stand again in thought beside the brink of its dark river of plenty—to recall the mantle of green and gold which the earth bore upon its kindly bosom 'as I stood first by the deep rolling flow of the Nile at Afteh. On swept the mystical river, which the sun set ting will purple with its deep ruddy glow, until the miracle of Moses may seem to be wrought again, t'..e waters to be changed into blood. On it swept that river of life; rich, fat, sensuous, and earthy, which the kiss of its waters kindles in the lap of the twin deserts that border on their flowing. On either side of the deep dark stream lay wav ing crops of the richest green, a verdure in which, as one has well said, the eye, weary of eastern glare, bathes with indescribable delight. The masts and yards of a whole fleet of boats lay dark as ebony against the glowing sky, and there was wealth and fatness also, loads of cotton and grain sinking the barks to the water's edge; and as if in very wantonness of profusion, great mounds of wheat lay heaped up on the quays of the Mahmoudieh canal, which at this point branches off to the city of Alexander. Brown as pismires, with whom they seemed to vie in busy industry, the swarthy children of Egypt, Copts mingled with an Arab ra....) ' swarmed upon the boats and along the banks of the canal: one might have thought the days of Joseph were come again, and that the seven years of plenty were storing up their riches against the leanness of the threatened famine. The whole scene might seem to be laid in a dream land—and not the less so because of the presence of that strange hissing smoking craft which lies amongst the quaint fantastic boats of the Egyptians. She, too, is a mystery, and no unfit feature in a mystic vision—a type of the domination of those Anglo-Saxon men whose tar-distant northern hunger the corn which lies here heaped up in Egypt is gathered to feed—the clank ing of her engines seeme to me a fit sound to hear upon the banks of the almost fabled Nile.—Oxford and Cam bridge Review. FEAST OF LANTERNS.—We find the following account of the celebrated Feast of Lanterns, by which the termina tion of the Chinese New Year holidays is marked, in the Rev. George Smith's " Visit to each of the 'Consular Cities of China :"—" Towards sunset we explored the various streets and places of public resort, amid a con tinual discharge of fireworks, the frequent assemblage of play-actors, the noise of gaining -tables, the universal signs of feasting in the families, and a profuse display of lanterns of every imaginable pattern and design. Some were made of glass, others of,glue, and some of paper, in the shape of birds, beasts, fishes, and dragons; or so arranged as to be carried round by a constant current of raritied air, and representing different kinds of animals and junks in motion. In all the principal temples, and in the houses of rich men, huge candles were to be seen, some of which were two feet in circumference. Bands ; of pipers, with sounds of gongs and cymbals, were to be heard in all directions. The principle table in each temple was covered with large cakes, made in the form of a tor toise, the sacred symbol of Buddhist mythology. The burghers of each of the eighteen wards of tne city levied a contribution of money to defray the expenses of fire works in their respective districts, and vied with each other in imparting a grand and imposing effect to the occa sion. Rich men also defrayed, from their personal re , sources, the expense of some pyrotechnic design, which was exhibited in the vicinity of their own dwellings. We entered the south gate of the citadel too late to see a large firework, representing a lion, which had been just dis charged before the admiral's palace ; and were only in time to meet the crowds moving off to the scene of the next similar display. After retracing our steps from the military parade ground, abutting on the eastern wall, we passed through the western gate into the outer city. On our way we came to several immense bonfires, the flames of which rose several feet in height. The crowd were eagerly engaged in leaping across the fire, in order to ob tain the benefit of good luck, amid the sound of gongs and the plaudits of the people. We were attracted, by sounds of music, to an open space in front of the temple, where there were several other such heaps of wood, coal, and other materials ready to be lighted. Here the crowd rapidly increased, being from time to time joined by a procession of additional pipers, with lofty poles hung round with flaming crackers. Here the usual signs of feasting and merriment were to be seen. In a gallery erected near the temple, some Chinese ladies were sitting to view the pageantry and fireworks below. Some idols, and tha -usual apparatus of incense and nffPrings, lay on s table in the open space of ground. We sat for several minutes on this table, till at length two chairs were brought to us through the crowd from some adjoining houses, and we were politely invited to sit on them. We were about to decline the civility, and to keep our former seat, till a Chinese acquaintance whispered to us that we had better accept the offer, as perhaps the feelings of his countrymen would be shocked at our sitting on the idol table. The crowd then formed a little circle around us, and listened to my companion, as he explained to them the object of Missionaries in coming to China, and the nature of their message to the souls of the Chinese. A few of the more ignorant, finding that we were professedly de vout men, wanted us to salute and worship the idols. this, of course, drew on them the remonstrance of the Missionary, and the laughter of some of their own coun trymen, who had previously become acquainted with the objections of Christians to idol-worship." ANALYSIS OF DRESS.—What a monstrous contrast of extremes has been exhibited, from the tight pantaloon, such as we see it in some old pictures, to the great breeches worn in the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth ! In the " Pedigree of the English gallant," an account is given of a man whom the judges accused of wearing breeches contrary to law. His defence of himself is cu rious. "He arawed out of his sloops the contents," viz. a pair of sheets, two table-cloths, ten napkins, four shirts, a brush, a glass, and a comb, with night-caps, and other things, saying, " Your worships may understand, that be cause I have no safer a store-house, these pockets do serve me for a room to lay up my goods in, and though it be a straight prison, yet it is big enough for them, for I have many things of value yet within it." He was discharged, as he should have been, with his merchandise, and allowed to trade freely on his own bottom. Hudibras carried some such a cupboard. Small must have been the popu lation when these inexpressibles, great inexpressibles, gallanted with the ladies' large hoop farthingales. A few pairs must have occupied no small space. A courtship in those days must have resembled a siege, where the prin cipal defence lay in the outworks, and the difficulty of ap proach was not a little enhanced by the encumbrances of the advancing party. Who was the first coxcomb ? Was dress, in its origin, a modest or immodest appendage to t a h p e r p ot e e r c so ti n on ; or or r r a o t o h o e o r a w lt h o e oo n t d ? id fi Is rst cea se vim=l,3reeerkin; aural virtue, or a superinduced vice ? I T h ese a in so somewhere sitdculoaft,iownhs.ichTrteprreeseisntaso our rd first t y perfectly nude, and so were they exhibited, and in pub lic, without shame. The subsequent acts introduced parents in them dressed ; and the last act, I believe, in the fashion of the day in which the play was acted. As all plays were then serious, was this representation a satire on cox combry, and intended to exhibit the progress of personal degradation ? What does a man propose to himself when he goes to the tailor's ? Is it to be clothed or adorned ? Is it to hide a defect, that he may not appear worse than he is, or that he may appear better than he is? To at tract observation or escape it. Is the pride in dress, or in undress ? Ingenious in self-deceit was the reply'of the man reproved for the badness of his dress, " Oh ! every body knows me here ;" and his reply when seen in the same suit far from his home, "Oh ! nobody knows me here." This was a true amateur ; he loved slovenliness for its own sake. Few believe themselves so ill-made, as that the " dogs will bark at them." Even Richard 111., who owned to his deformity, gets a little in love with himself, and thinks of adorning his person. "I do mis take my person all this while. ' He determines to act the exquisite. "I'll be at charges for a looking-glass; And entertain a score or two of tailors, To study fashions to adorn my body, Since I have crept in favour with myself, I will maintain it with some little cost." THE FORMATION OF HABITS THE PRIMARY OBJECT IN THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR. I Their faculties, to form liabits of self-labour, assiduous perseverance, and voluntary application. In truth, the amount of facts committed to memory during the period of school attendance is of very inferior value indeed when compared with the habits which may be formed in ac quiring them—not fora moment to be placed in competi- Lion win' a wen rormeu namt or exercising tne powers o the understanding at will. One may be too much as well as too little taught ;to explain everything, and leave nothing to be worked out by the independent action of the mind is a grave error in didactics. There is, besides, a great temp tation to cultivate the powers of a mechanical memory to excess. It ministers to display, and exhibits the seem ing of progress without the reality. Its excessive culti vation has been often promoted, because it tends to re lieve the teacher from trouble, and from the duties of explanation and illustration. Another consideration will show that no undue importance is attached to the views here advocated. When a boy in whom habits of self. instruction and industry are well formed, leaves school, those habits stick to him with all their characteristic adhesiveness. He is in a position to turn his mind with advantage and effect to any subject of study, for which he can find inclination and leisure • while another lad, we shall suppose of equal talents, and a far more varied stock of ideas, (for of principles youth have very imperfect notions—to then. they are facts, not principles.) is quite helpless. He has been taught everything by others, and learned nothing himself; when his corks are removed, and he is cut adrift, he at first endeavours to augment the stork of knowledge which he had so easily acquired : but not knowing how to set about it—unskilled in bringing his faculties to bear on the subject in hand,—looking always for external assistance,—he flounders on, until at last he gives up all hope of progress, becomes disgusted with reading, and sinks at last into a state of ignorance little removed from what we may suppose it would have Or does the satirical and successful Richard merely laugh at your fop woers, and, proud of his own superiority, contemn them, by imagining their dress on his own per son ? One would really think, from the figures one sees, that there are people who dress purposely to spite the tai lors, as there are those who are paid to be walking pla cards of recommendation. The butcher who ran after the fat man, and stopped him, crying, " Be so good, sir, as to say you buy your meat of me," was not more aware of the benefit of such a personal recommendation, than is our fashionable tailor. A well-made man, if he is in tolerable fashion, may be supplied with clothes, as I am credibly informed, for nothing but the merely notifying the makers. They are the decoy-ducks; excepting that, though they have fine feathers, they have no bills. I am told that a fashionable tailor would be quite shy of an ill-made and vulgar-looking customer ; and generally charges his dislike in his bill, that he may lose him. I knew a portrait painter, that professed to decline painting ugly people, upon that principle, and consequently his success was quite astonishing ; every one he did Paint was in better humour with himself, and was proud of his certificate of beauty when he named the artist. Were you and I, Eusebius, to presume to enter the saloon of a fashionable cutter, and order suits, they would be pur posely so ill-made, that no one should suspect from whence they came. And we should ever wear them with a hitch of discomfort in some part or other. So that, were we to try our best at foppery, we could not now succeed. I have tried it upon various occasions, and convinced myself that I was not born to it, and certainly neither of us has acquired a second nature that any tailor would recognise. A tailor's man, like the poet, must be born with nature's fit, or nothing else will fit him,— " nascitug non fit."—./ilacktoood's Magazine. been had he never received an liOur i s instruction. How often may we hear the labourer exclaiming, I learned all those things when I went to school ; but I know not how it is, I have forgotten them all !" or using words to the like effect. Any one who has been much in the habit of examining classes in the schools of the poor, must have often witnessed with pain the immobility of feature, the expressionless eye, and the monotonous voice, all too plainly indicating that he had then before him mere animal machines, not living intelligences. ,To what cause, other than this, was it owing that the old Grammar Schools, with all their antiquated absurdities, so often sent forth men of energy, learning, and talent: for, while the matter learned was often worthless, the habits formed during the progress were invaluable. I repeat that the main object which should be kept in view in a national system of education—at least so far as secular teaching is concerned—is not so much to give an acquaintance with facts often unconnected by any principle, and seldom digested into order, as to form habits of steady applica tion and persevering industry, a determination not to be overcome by difficulties. Such habits, well formed in a youth on leaving school, and entering on the world, would be of more value to him than if he had committed to memory all the facts contained in all the popular recep tacles of useful knowledge. _ _ It is, it must be granted, quite true that but little can be done without earnest and zealous schoolmasters, care fully and systematically instructed in the technical duties of their calling. I say systematically instructed, because it would be as hopeless to expect to train efficient school masters without the aid of Normal Institutions, as it would be to teach the art of healing without theatres of anatomy or hospitals. It is, however, no less true, that the schoolmaster cannot accomplish everything ; the active and hearty co-operation of the pupil is, at least, as equally essential to success. This co-operation, then, should be sedulously promoted by every legitimate means. How CROMWELL DEALT WITH IRELAND.—The diffi culty of the Wellingtons, the Peels, and the Greys,—the grand problem ofWhig and Tory, was no problem to him ; he suffered resistance neither moral nor physical ; he would have banged the orators and the gatherers of the " rent," on the same tree. His remedy was simple. He led his battalions at once into Ireland ; stormed the rebel garrisons, hanged the rebel leaders ; sent the rebel priests in droves to the West Indies ; and in six months he made Ireland a place in which it was possible for an honest man to live ; and this was while Ireland was still shouting for joy at Protestant massacre—while she was in the full riot of 1641—while legates, and prelates, and Jesuits were crowding the soil, and while tens of thousands of Protes tants were weltering in bloody graves. The bold brewer of Huntingdon settled the country at once, and Ireland was obedient for a century to.conr.—B/ac.ktfood'sMaq. SH AKSPEARES PLAYS,-The dramas of the " Immor tal Bard " came very irregularly from the press, viz., three in 1597, two in 1598, six in 1600, one in 1602, and another in 1603, one in 1608, two in 1609, and one in 1612. Whv six separate productions were crowded into 1600, while in various years none at all appeared, is a matter of curious and interesting speculation ; five of these six were printed from good manuscripts, whether derived from the theatre or from any other source ; while the sixth was in disputably surreptitious, and never could have been au thOised by anybody. The Athenceum remarks upon this, that " we are not to suppose, though Shakspeare never blotted a line, that the six plays were all written in one year ; but the fact that six of his plays were printed in one year is a circumstance in Shakspeare's life which his biographers have hitherto neglected to relate, or at least to remark upon in the way which a fact of the kind, as we take it, would seem to deserve." PARLIAMENTARY PASTIMES.—TWO new games have been introduced into the House of Commons since the commencement of the extraordinary session, and played with much spirit by hon. members. The first is called " Hunt the Pressure," and is thus played :—Members having taken their seats, all the events of the last two years are called in, and set down before the house. They conceal " the Pressure" among them, and the game con sists in finding out under which of them it is hidden. The house presents the most animated appearance while the hunt is going on, and the greatest amusement is caused by the wild attempts of members to guess where " the Pres sure" really is bidden. " I've got it !" cries Lord George, seizing furiously on Free Trade. " Here it is !" and he brings to light something which turns out to be " Plenty" instead of " Pressure." " Nonsense !" cries Sir William Molesworth, " here it is under Railways," and he pulls out " Employment." " it's under " Fa mine !" shouts another hon. member. " It's under Bank Restriction !" interpose half-a-dozen members at once, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to lug the act of 1844 out of its place, to seize on " the Pressure" under r a e r s e piss Railways nothing . and de Famine struggle a v; waxes ,w.iar?rrn his er c . on l c d - J t it.ioa them. h a n T t h g h ant is knows exactly where " the Pressure is, but somehow nobody heexy. example e e sh followedi en t y m 2 t o s missing r object T between c is The other, and equally fa vouritelnieoer e v bl e oe r d: c f o ce rn g av a t i e m n cili g t e e :t s a c u o r i n l iTe e c h i l u e ts:if,oPunßsnY.l: of the rtvAhYle: Member's a,bvmeerre,vsc_booßndsuyi ffs d t.s e , ci n _a rieAt its is Member is blindfolded. The Pressure is allowed to run about the house, with Famine, Free Trade, Railway Works, the Bank Act, and the others who have just formed the circle for " Hunt the Pressure." The object is to catch the Pressure. Of course the Blinded Member is continually catching the wrong thing, and the fun of the house is excessive at his assertions that he has got hold of the Pressure, when he really is grasping one or more of the bewildering crowd about him.—Punch. MUSICAL EDUCATION OF MENDELSSOHN.—The steps by which the youthful artist accomplished that complete readiness of eye and hand, of musical intellect and ear, which rendered him as a practical musician the wonder of our age, are abvious. Difficulty had at length no place in his vocabulary ; he had learned to anticipate all the com binations of piano -forte music; and his early industry so far, of late, superseded the necessity of practice, that he has been known to play both the organ and piano-forte in public after intermitting practice for months. He sus tained to the end all the assaults of the most inveterate mechanism ; and, with Liszt and Thalberg in the field, was incontestibly the first piano-forte player of his day. Mu sic, whose true votary he was, never deserted him, and . taught the most industrious saloon players, when he was present, to know their place. The plan pursued to form young Mendelssohn as a composer was directed also by great intelligence. He had been placed for this branch of art under Zetter, of the singing academy, a thoughtful master, and the correspondent of Goethe and Zetter thought too highly of his charge to fetter his genius by scholastic rules. The exercises he made under Zetter were chiefly little symphonies in four parts, for stringed instruments, in composing which he followed the bent of his genius. After what fancy and imagination had achieved for the music of modern Germany, it was feared that the systems might stifle some important poetical new birth. In spite of the license to run wild, order, clearness, and regularity still distinguished the produc tions of the student, and were the index to the character of his mind. The domestic musical habits of Mendel ssohn's family were still more happily disposed to excite his enthusiasm for composition than the approbation and encouragement of his preceptor. Every fortnight there was a concert at Mendelssohn's, at which a quartet of good artists performed a variety of classical compositions, and together, with them, the last new symphony of " Felix." What an advantage this ! Surely, the music of a young composer was never before nursed in such soft ness and delight, amidst such kind family sympathy, and so much encouragement from musicians. By the time he reached twenty, he was not only the greatest player of the day, but the character of his compositions entitled him to occupy that place in the interest of the public which Beethoven and Weber had not long resigned. Be fore his first published works, two piano-forte quartets, had reached us, his name and promise were familiar in England, through the medium of foreign musical journals, and the connections of the British embassy at Berlin. His first English associations were, probably, formed at the parties of Mrs. Austin, then resident in that city ; and when he arrived in this country (in 1829) to verify . the prepossessions of his admirers, he still lived in great mtk niacy with her family.—Fraser. WHAT AMERICA CAN PRODUCE The public journals, and authentic private advices re (From " Examination the Province of the State," by ceived from the United States by last mail, contain much Dr. Booth, F.R.S.) important information regarding the condition of those If then, the formation of habits of patient study and states, of deep import ance t o th e genera l i nterests o f t hi s persevering application are amongst the primary objects country, and different branches of our manufactures and of a wise education, when applied even to the highest, so commerce. The produce from agriculture is everywhere should they, in an especial manner, be looked upon as most abundant. The cotton crop has been concluded such in the education of the poor. On those whose edu- under most favourable circumstances ; and the amount cation extends over no inconsiderable portion of their is given at the most accurate extent to be £2,235,000, or lives, such habits will, from the very nature of things, 1,105,7 50 , 000 lbs. force themselves imperceptibly into vigour—they will The internal consumption vill, it is stated, be 800,000 grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength, bales, viz., 600,000 bales in the northern and 200,000 and this, too, in general, whether much or little external bales (average 450 lbs. each) in the southern and the pains be taken. But with the poor it is far otherwise: western states, for the year ending June 30, 1848. there is no time for the spontaneous but tardy formation " Every where," say th ese j ourna l s , " co tt on m ill s are of good habits ; their natural growth is slow ' • they must springing up as by th e wor k o f mag i c ," th roug h out t h e be forced to meet the exigencies .of the case. As the stay union, especially in the southern and south-western of the poor at school must, even under the most favour- states, in the places where the cotton is produced. • The able things, be necessarily short, it is of incomparable im- American consumption will therefore shortly equal, and portance to them that they should be taught to exercise soon exceed, that of - Great Britain. The sugar crop of Louisiana is also most abundant, and greater than ever before known. The produce of this crop will exceed 250,000 hhds., about 130,000 tons. The yield is very great, in some places exceeding two tons per acre. The produce of Indian corn is immense -600,000,000 bushels (75,000,000 qrs.), worth at rates f I quoted 73 to 76 cents. per bushel, £112,500,000 ! The production of iron goes on of a rapidly increasing rate. It was boldly stated in Congress in 1843, that in the state of Philadelphia they had neither capital nor skill to produce and manufacture railroad iron. In 1845 the first bar of this description of iron was produced at Ma nayuk, Norriston Valley Forge, and " under the efficient protection of the bill of 1842 " the produce this year is about 60,000 tons, almost equal to the entire wants of the country," which, as the American journals justly boast, has already " saved millions to the country." The iournals proclaim with exultation that while agriculture is the strength of every country, it is especially so of theirs. For the space of 100 miles- above New Orleans, both banks of the Mississippi, to the extent of two miles on each side, are covered with the most luxuriant sugar plantations, while similar plantations extend to a distance of more than 50 miles below that city. Would this country but take a lesson from American patriotism—protection and industry—how fortunate it would be for her ! In the trade with our British West India colonies, exclusive of Guiana, Honduras, Bahamas, and Bermuda, the imports into the United States, inclu ding freights, &c., were only 833,678 dollars, but the exports were 4,947,557 dollars, exclusive of freights and charges. This we call reciprocity, and of the utmost advantage to our national interests. The American journals generally copy and notice with the utmost care, the various articles which appeared some time ago in the Times journal, describing the poverty of this country. They dwell on these confessions, put for ward by the ministerial organ, with prophetic exultation of the vast advantages which the United States must in evitably and directly gain from the state of things in England, and the difficulties which now surround her. We must do them the justice, however, to say that they generally do not speak in any spirit of hostility, but rather of regret at the present sad state of this country ; but they unequivocally declare and believe that the policy which this country is pursuing will effect, and rapidly, a complete revolution in Great Britain, which will over throw everything that is established in State or Church, in colonies, in commerce, and manufactures, and which three latter they consider must inevitably fall into their hands, and snake them the greatest nation on earth. We dare not acknowledge that Uncle Sam's expectations and anticipations are wholly groundless. r , kAIN at tw % . etntral tatilanp. Two corn-mills were, last week, burned down, in the isle of Man. One, a windmill, took fire by friction. Several beautiful primroses, in full blossom, were ga thered near Worcester, on Monday last. _ _ The Jews of Exeter are preparing an address, thanking the Pope for his kindness towards their brethren in Rome. THE SHORTEST DAY.—The 22d December was this year the shortest day, the sun on that day having attained his greatest degree of south declination. In the report by the chaplain of the Aberdeen prisons, it is stated :—" As usual, drunkenness far exceeds all other causes of crime put together." On Thursday afternoon a stout gentleman, apparently 60 years of age, came to the Euston Railway station to meet a train, when he instantly fell down and expired. On Friday, at York, sentence of death was recorded against Thomas Ridehalgh, a tall, stout man, for the murder of James Hudson, a sawyer, at Bradford. There are five Sabbaths in each of the following months of 1848, viz., January, April, July, October, and De cember. The corn mill and hat factory of Mr. Mason, Londcn road, Newcastle-under-Lyne, have been destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at £3,000. A mysterious but most diabolical attempt was made last week to set on fire the new inn at St. Bees. The damage done was about £lOO. The abandoned ship Lady Kennaway has been brought safely into a British port, and the statement of the captain shows that no blame was attributable to the crew. The East India Company have announced their inten tion of exporting the extraordinary quantity of 236,953 gallons of London porter to . Bombay _ _ BRISTOL DOCKS.—A Committee has been formed to make these docks free. The docks cost £600,000, and the year's receipts are £35,000, paying £2 12s. per cent. The number of bankrupts in the two Edinburgh Ga zettes of last week was 33—a number unprecedented since 1620. The Exeter Water Company have offered to supply water gratis to the baths and washhouses about to be established at Exeter. The money-order department in the post-office through out the kingdom has been placed by the Postmaster-Ge neral in the hands of Mr. Rowland Hill. The total number of British steam-vessels which en tered the ports of the United Kingdom, from France, in the year 1846, amounted to 47, the voyages to 1651, and the tonnage of the vessels to 228,189 tons. Dr. Wigan, author of the work " On the Duality of the Mind," died last week after a short illness, brought on by standing over an open drain in the neighbourhood of Re gent-street. So abundant have haws been this year that in Notting hamshire they have been used to feed pigs, a purpose for which they are said to be well adapted when crushed and mixed with barley-meal. _ . A FACT FOR THE SANATORY COMMISSION.-It is a re markable fact, that whilst the influenza has proved so fatal in the metropolis, not excluding the west-end, Brighton has been entirely exempt from the epidemic. LARGE AMERICAN ClLESE. — Amongst a quantity of American cheese recently imported, one cheese measures in diameter three feet one inch, is one foot one inch thick, and weighs 4931 b. nett. A discussion on teetotalism is about to take place be tween the Rev. Joseph Rayner Stephens and Dr. Lees, of Leeds, the former maintaining that the system is unscrip tural, and tending to infidelity. ISLE OF DOGS.—On this tract of land our monarchs kept their hounds, during their residence at Greenwich. Parts of the royal kennel, with gatehooks, and of the dwellings of the attendants, have been discovered. Messrs. Trueman and Cook have arranged with their creditors to pay 20s. in the pound, by five payments ; the B . ch on Thurs day, a trial in the Court of Queen's fe mtieh to the ec are is l ar as e t x t 3 o 7 917001:Ion, and d e t l h B n t h assetsA pri are 8 £3 4 9 8 . 1 .:00 The t ) ot d a , l liabilities j orre tice por ( t D er e s nm an a d n reports in the furtherance of truth o a P r i a" newspapers j out opinion justice." L at::t rht nee eCs very eh ec An adjourned meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Coates, Hillaird and Co., was held on Friday. The liabilities are £65,828, and £22,255 assets only. An offer of 3s. 6d. in the pound was made, but it was rejected, and the estate will be wound up in bankruptcy. During the week ending on Saturday week, there died, in London, 1,946 persons, being exactly 900 above the average of the corresponding period during the last five years ; but 470 below the number of deaths in the week ending the 11th instant. From the report of a County Court case in the Shrop shire Conservative, it appears that the costs attending a plaint for the recovery of £5 Is. Bd., entailed upon the defendant, although he immediately paid the amount, costs amounting to £8 Bs. 6d. besides the original debt ! A reward of £5O has been offered for the apprehension of Lord William Paget. It appears that a true bill was found by the grand jury, at the Central Criminal Court, on Sep. 20, against Captain Lord William Paget, R.N., for obtaining money under false pretences." RELEASE OF BARBER, THE LATE CONVICT.-011 Sa turday information was received by private letter in the metropolis, that the late convict, Barber, who was ba nished from this country some years since, has received a free and unconditional pardon, and that he left Sydney on the 16th August last. The Western Times says, that at a late meeting of Pu seyite clergymen, in the diocese of Exeter, a suggestion was made and applauded, that the water used in baptism should be saved for the purpose of washing surplices, as it would be &desecration to waste it after it had been con secrated. In the case of a lad, named J. W. Ward, who had been convicted at the Old Bailey, and sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing his grandfather's watch, it now turns out that his uncle had induced him to perpetrate the theft, and that he (the uncle) had pocketed the principal portion of the money obtained for it. Disease and death are still frightfully prevalent at Hull. Typhus and scarlet fever are found in almost every unpaved, ill-drained alley in the town. Within a few days, in a confined court in Collier-street, containing only 10 houses, thirteen persons have been attacked by scarlet fever, which in most cases ends fatally. Mr. Conway, a gentleman living in Monmouthshire, has declined—on religious scruples—to be made a magis trate. He is a Baptist, and says, that "if elected to that r by : the having sect, previously bell, a rnp honourable office, he would have to put in force laws for the support of a legalized establishment for the advance ment of religion, which is a great moral and social wrong." DISSENT.-Mr. Benjamin Newton, one o f the preachers amongst the " Plymouth Brethren," has left Pl ymouth, with the determination of not again re sumin g his minis terial labours. This last sece ss ion completes the retire mentbel l, of w i a g l r l a m t le7 n original arri s seceded from Ebrington - stre et Me eting - house. INFLUENZA.—This disorder , now so prevalent through out the country, has attacked, with consid era bl e v i o l ence , both the officers and men belonging to the Royal Horse Guards, and the first battalion of the Grenadier Guards, stationed at Windsor, but very few in either regiment , laeandders De rby, f having escaped its visitation. Only one case throughout the large number who have been allacked has proved fatal. The disease has been equally prevalent in the towns of Windsor and Eton and the neighbouring villages. A morning paper mentions that Brighton has entirely es eaPed this epidemic. bee. 28, 1841. CHANGE OF FORTITNE.:--Mr. M‘Donald, lateen officer in the British army, now in Montreal, has been declared heir to the dukedom of Tarentum, and the propertY attached thereto. The dukedom is situated in Italy, and was created by Napoleon in favour of Marshal M'Donald. Mr. M'Donald's good fortune was announced to him br his Excellency Lord Elgin. CONVERSION OF PROTESTANT DISSENTERS TO ROMAN" Ism.—ln the list of recent converts to the Church of Roelof published in the Reman Catholic Directory, for 1848, atr the names of " the Rev. S. S. Wilson, pastor of an Index pendent congregation ;" " the Rev. J. Bell, a Presbyter ian minister ;" and "J. M. Gibson, Es q., a member of the Society of Friends." At Marlborough-street Police-court, on Tuesday,. a nobleman, Lord William Vane Poulett, w as c h arg having stolen from a shoemaker's s hop tw o em b ro idered slippers, one red, and the other y e ll ow. H e h a d put thou in his pocket when the for eman was up s t a i rs, b ut it a p : peared that he had only taken th em t o try them on, sea his lordship was discharged. CARPENTERS' STRIKE.—AIm os t the whole of the ship carpenters in Greenock have been o ut on s t r ik e for two weeks past, and at present there is no a pp earance of any arrangement. The difference has aris e n u p on a proposal for reducing the wages from 4s. t o 3 s. 6d . per d ay. Th. men are willing to accept 3s. 9d., but this the mast decline. es! with GOOSEBERRIES IN DECEMBER.--Mr. G. Lord, Of Booth, near Newchurch-in Rossendale, has, now in hill vossession a gooseberry tree which is fifty years old, stands in the open air and quite bereft of its leaves, anti positively now bearing fruit—the sizes of some of which are that of a pea, and others less. From twenty/to thirty have been produced. The Edi;?burgh Post relates that, on Monday week, at the Dean Cemetery, the wind overthrew a fine old tree s , which was saved from total prostration by falling against a neighbouring tree. On the following Thursday, the wind blew hard from an opposite quarter, and replaced the fallen tree in azi upright position, which it seesur likely to retain. A New York paper mentions that three children, age. s three, five and seven years , were l a t e ly f oun d i n t h e sh ip Liverpool, and no one could divine how they came there, until it was ascertained that their mother, who resides io Ireland, had smuggled them on board in barrels, and had entrusted them to the charity of the steerage passenger% until they could rejoin their * father, who is living at Near York. TEST OF GIRDER-BRIDGE TENSION -BARS, &C. gir HYDRAULIC POWER.-Mr. Cubitt, of Thames Bank, be sides important experiments on the strength of bricks, Caen stone, &c., has recently instituted a series of experi• ments on the usefulness, or otherwise, of wrought-iron tension bars, employed in the manner in which they fre quently are, to assist wood and east-iron bums. The re. suit shews their worthlessness.—The Builder. At Bath, on Monday, a gentleman named E. Buche• nan was charged at. the police-court with stealing a toilet bottle from the shop of a fancy warehouseman in that city. The prisoner was represented as a person of consi derable property, and his defence was that the bottle dropped into his pocket whilst he was intoxicated. This, however, was denied, and the prisoner was committed for trial. He had 4t sovereigns and some silver inhis pocket. A deranged person named H. Watson. was on Saturday taken up in Westminster for threatening to•shoot Lord George Bentinck. He is the same person , who uttered a similar threat against Sir Robert Peel about' tato yeart ago. Ho remains in custody. Singularly enough, the man's enmity towards Lord George arose out of his having " opposed Lord John's measures," whereas his lordship has been "assisting" the Premier in the only really serious business of the session, the admission of the Jews to, parliament. On Aonday, Capt. Charretie was found guilty of haves ing corruptly received the money for the sale of ail cadetship ; and Sir W. Young, an East India director, was convicted of a conspiracy. The short facts of the case are, that three years ago a solicitor residing in Edi ß ; burgh paid £l,OBO into the hands of a lady to be em ployes in the purchase of a military commission for his son, that a cadetship in the Madras Presidency was the result of the bargain, and that, in consequence of some suspicionli attending the appointment, inquiries were instituted , which eventually led to the trial before us. HORRIBLE MURDER.—MT. Copeman, jun. son of Mr- Copeman, farmer, of Blyb oroug h, Lincolnshire, sial found on Sunday morning, on the road leading from Kirton to Blyborougb, quite dead. His throat was cut , and the body was afterwards dreadfully mangled ; a piece of flesh was knocked or cut off his face, and was lying O il the ground near the body. The young man had a dog with him, which had also been very much cut and bruised: but it was not quite killed. Mr. Copeman left the Re? Lion Inn, Kirton, about 12 o'clock on Saturday night , to go home to Blyborough, and it appears that he had no gone far before he met ith his assassins. ESCAPE OF SEVEN PRISONERS.—On the night of Wed nesday week, seven male prisoners effected their e scape from the gaol at Huntingdon. They were all locked the cells at the usual time, in one of the most secure ward' of the gaol. Nearly all the locks of the cells had bees forcibly opened, the straw beds emptied on the floor, and the bedcases applied as a roe, pe being securely attached 0 to each other by a " sailor's knot," and by which the! scaled the boundary wall, having first, with great force broken asunder a solid iron bar in the fence of the ward' inches square, and ten feet long, passing through et; area, where a most powerfel and fierce watch-dog ranged the interior of the prison. wasG r d e o a damage t o o d t o h n e S sshipping n i i g n h t S u w n e d e e k rl . a n s d h h i p a s r b a l c r i other craft below the bridge were torn from their mooring!: cast adrift, and hurled before the fury of the_wAters in- 4" cliirctionz tnc trantr was nrcatilitl, ar aas the w ate rs were rushing irresistibly to the mouth of the river, the ships were driven against each other, and caused the most serious damage. It is said more than twenty vessels ars complete wrecks, and that about thirty more are greatly' damaged. Four vessels are sunk near the pier, and one was driven to sea and went on shore near the north pier, the crew of which was taken out by means of the rocket apparatus. _ The average price of wheat, were the new duties noir in operation, would make the duty ss. per quarter ; as there is a possibility the duty may reach Ios., import will be checked, as there is no doubt the sliding scale will come into operation in March. It will now be sees what stocks we have. It is to b e f eare d, however, tha" from the great misery prevailing, consumption has de creased. It should however, be remembered that red!!! or Indian corn, is not incl u d e d i n th a t sca l e, b u t is sub ject by the law of 1846 only to a permanent re gistration duty of one shilling per quart er , an d I n di an mea l to 41 01 . per cwt., and these will therefore continue the same after March. 1848. On Wednesday a meeting of the Ayrshire Iron Colo° l was held in Glasgow, when it was authoritatively stated to the shareholders that the liabilities of the concern were £236,719, whilst the assets were only £155,872, leaving a deficiency of upwards of £BO,OOO. The difficulties of the company appear mainly to have been occasioned by the purchase of the stock of the Blair Iron Company, absurdlf valued at £200,000, to liquidate which; iron had been purchased on credit, sold for cash, and the proceeds pald. to the Blair Company. The Ayrshire has claims againo_ the latter for over-payment, which are to b e demanded o f its solvent partners. The Ayrshire is to make a pay men! of 10s. per pound on 15th January, to meet which goat £lOO,OOO has been raised by subscription. parliament,formallyth e METROPOLITAN SEWAGE MANURE COMPANY .— The c onsent of the commissioners of sewers, as requi re d b y the works of the company, which will b e commenced forth with, with every prospect of th e i r b e i ng so far completed act t th of the course f n e hasxt summer been as to permit given to of th t he proposed applica tion of the sewage to the immediate neighbourhood of tio, station at Stanley Bridge. It i s ca l cu l ated that calls o f less than half of the shares already taken will be sufficient to complete this portion of the works, and give the gres 6 experiment a trial. The Earl of Ellesmere, having wit' nessed the advantages of the application of sewage water to portions of his own estates, has joined the Metropolitan Sewage Manure Company, by becoming a shareholder• Four or five provincial towns are about to apply to parlia ment this session for acts having similar objects with thig company. INTRAMURAL INTERMENTS.—A short t i me since, S deputation from the metropolitan clergy waited upon Lord Morpeth, as chief commissioner of the Health 0 Towns Commission, with reference to intramural inter; ments. In consequence of this interview, a variety of meetings of the reverend gentlemen interested in eccle• siastical property have been held, the Dean of Manchester in the chair; the result of which is, that an application will be made to parliament for-a loan of money sufficient to enable the united body of the metropolitan clergy to purchase a quantity of land in the environs of the metro.. polis, for the purpose of forming catacombs and cemete• ries for the reception of the dead. From a point of which St. Paul's is to be the centre, divisions are to be struck to the outer line of a circle embracing all the parishes, te . which burial-grounds will be attached. Another portion: of the plan in contemplation is to purchase the interest of existing companies and the repayment of the loan, go' be made within a given term, upon the security of all various livings. THE NATIONAL DEFENCES.—In all the preparations 0 .! the minister, on the coast, noticed by the Standard, 1 " does not appear that any plan, in our land force, contemplation for a well-disciplined militia of no,ow„ 'bayonets, available in a few hours' notice. The history n` the world will prove that Adam Smith was right:when 10 said that " soldiers must be soldiers—and weavers / 03 weavers." We admit all that could be required,by th e enthusiast, as to the impatient national spirit that would be called forth in an invasion ; but unless that spirit be made subsidiary to the method and efficiency of a power' ful embodied military force, that would have nothing to (1 0 but shoulder their firelocks and muster, popular action would be only a billowy movement of convulsive power. without direction or cohesion, that would break, like the monster wave upon th e roc k , aga i nst t h e practised stee' legions of Fran ce . Th e pract i ce of war is unfortunatelf necessary, in a powers. Fra nce i s by th e force of . habitude and expel!: great degree, to the- developement of itn. ence, naturally, as it were; the most military land porf in the world ; as England is the ascendant naval pawl' The battle a Waterloo teaches us nothing, if it do n od prove to us how necessary it is for us to have something like a regular equal force against a regular French aria: The narrowness of the Channel that divides—the exterr of the opposite coasts—the length of winter nights — Wl k withal, the powers of steam,, _ _ _ That ask no aid of wind or tide— will give a new feature, as well as. new element!, 'to next war with France—relative advantages and disadvs:, tages, that can be appreciated, as well as provided for, 4 our military and naval chiefs—if ministers will listerS o them. Our fears are more for the C a b' Lnet than ttbe country. The old cumbrous machinery,, by which .4 militia was levied, must be done away_ NO: altogether , 6 4 ., something more of the " conscription" lative geographical position with F rance will, f o r 1 ., future, test both nations in a di' l y ereut struggle to which they have ever yet ellegUrAterd. adopted. Our:ZA Dec ARRIVE Catania—, —Amelia, SAILED, Elgin, Hei leans—Exi Sydney, N tuck, and ion, Char: —Volunte( )ierwene, chicola—S, Selina, f November Firefly, 1 bulwarks, Mischief Frances, Sailed for I Sauter of Cassiope Elvira, I October. Princess October. Gunga Mermaid Braziliat Peru, Srr loss of sail! Cuba an( Gorernoi 18th install Acadia, ( Moffatt, Nov. Julinda, this port 4t Sandersv Hanniba' 31st Oct,lb, Guisicha Mary HE from ditto Enima, F Frances Walton. 1 'October. Ohl Enel Emily. hE New Zea Litherian 37th Sept. The sclux from Thrall Clonakilty hands, witl Cargo is a tc CAPE OF Liverpool, I Sale on the fluently got at her foram Verpool, for loss of fore /mists, in a Which comn intermissiot WATEkVI Benin, for I *kellig Bay. to be saved. RAMSEY, Prince Edw leak ten mil WEDN ARRIVED. lion. Wheel( SAILED.— Virakeham, Badger, Mnt Mona, Perki . Etricland, LE John Bu Vellore, Be Palatine, S Calcutta for Athol, Bra and Robert Canopus,? Protidence October. William Pr ath October I Athens, Or Menzies, Mt. for China Gwalior, Ei Edward Bo for this port and Bangalor Seranknore, New Marg October. _ Litherland, Eliza Killic Oct. ' Bland, from October. bum r's choke Schooner B toy Bay, has 1 Margaret, ( Iris;Penriy Cobden, Si for Trieste. Mercurius, WEXFORD, logged, and a xrien and brc Sa'tee Islandi SKIBBEREI Rusher_talls. became wetei vessel on th e picked ofo}l'men tht ",ss, and lam el Wrecke MILFO RD , VerPOol, whip JURA. Dec. of to Perth, sly this mon THURE Wright, Boy, _ Wright, Bail( Sit Lin.—C Ulare, Poy. St _Agnes, Robin! pauntless, Jo tionduras—A! _Ca!ipso, for N u rande—Emn Zoston—Hort, Nevzam, Rig Sappho, Eas Thalia, Rog( 6th, both for t Martha, Wil Sailed 6th Dec Alert, Bell, t Industrians, Liverpool; Bai from Callao—l leaky—and.En Yard and buhr "—all at Cove. Hoop Kronii Relit and leaky 44 ils Mii-ry-- c ,fioni , &. ~4i7 b erria, (st 45 -11!sale 19th in t Stains Castle ""th at Port PI ,Itugard Park %lion, for Hon! fi ...1 7 1 - (3CYHEAD , nbe, frofrom, 71 the.S. W. sl "Werable dame ItEvaL, Dec. b erg for Liver ner throwing port, but will F New "ew Orleans— SAILED.—W ibert, Bernal' Ogers, Brazils Emilia , Dadson York—Maria Grant, Ale Aork—Maria E tend—Sphyn flPles—Neptu a. Rent, Hart, f Lady Duff, St Samuel, Spyv Star, from St . Corriere di CI Lancashire L, Struan, Nutk . Trinity Yacht Ferdinand, G Robert Burt° Albert, Baile3 Luckii iluth instant. ,Ernigrant, Hi 4ur Cy Itrd sails 26: cARDT.A. N.B. for LivA., tlkarged part of SATURDA J ackson, g H. - agt ; SSurer,b er, 41 I e l O lih 8 rß n i D i Do d o nL.b r i an Welch, from Ne Nary, Welch, ft B remen —Ann I „,.'unrn, and Celt Niable, from Trii SAILED. —Du Wattle, and En b , , Zl e am m ;; e c r e, Cox ----• ta ßomeo, Pauli outh. ylitchman's Bai 14 1 from Liver UOULLERSA Y j ,"riey, from Liv( butt side of thi *stet-. Crew ss SUNDAY, fiattivED.—M Uotn Alexandri k'ikrctow , and M 48 , Brown, Quc Z . - Barmonie, fro Ooh Antwerp—. 1 Ise na • to r, hence woceeded OCI Alexander, Ma 51 . 1. e &c., bound k•UerlitOre, wl th logs of huh,