The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-09 00:00:00

ZARA'S EAI XFROM lOCKILLSITS ANC ,fy ear -rings I my ear-rings 1 they' ye dropped into the And What to say to Musca, I cannot, cannot tell— tdaughter, ' , Twits thus. Granada's fountain by, spoke Albuharez's The well is deep—far down they lie, beneath the cold blue water ; ab me did Musca give them, when he spake his sad farewell, And what to say, when he comes back, alas! I cannot tell! 2113, ear -rings MY ear-rings !—they were pearls in silver set, That, when my Moor was far away, I ne'er should him forget ; That I ne'er to other tongues should list, nor smile on other's tale, [pale. - Bat remember he my lips had kissed, pure as those ear-rings When be comes back, and hears that I have dropped them in the well, Ohl what will Mina think of me !—I cannot, cannot, tell ! 1 1 year-rings ! myear-rings I—he'll say they should have ITot of pearl and of silver, but of gold and glitter CfJasper and of onyx, and of diamond shit Changing to the changing _ That changeful mind unchanging gems are not befitting well ; 2111 1 a will he think—and what to say, alas! I cannot tea. ig clear, light, wit' he'll think, when I to market went, I loitered by the way ; - 3101 think a willing ear I lent to all the lads might say : he'll think some other lover's hand, among my tresses noosed, From the ears where he had placed them my rings of unloosed ; Bell think when I was sporting so beside this marble well -NY pearls fell in—and what to say. alasl I cannot tell. Bell say, I am a woman, and we are all the same ; say, I loved, when he was here to whisper of his Mut when he went to Tunis, my virgin troth had broken, And thought no more of Musca, and cared not for his token !ly ear-rings ! my ear-rings! oh! luckless, luckless well,— Jcr what to say to Musca—alas! I cannot tell. I'll tell the truth to Mnsca—and I hope he will believe— 'That I thought of him at morning, and thought of him at eve : That, musing on my lover, when down the sun was gone. Ilis ear-rings in my hand I held, by the fountain all alone ; 2'hat my mind was o'er the sea, wilco from my hand they fell, And that deep his love lies in tni heart, as they lie in the w ell. REVIEWS OF 110018 v oc i cs ' s Musical Miscellany. London : It. Cocks. A n agreeable monthly publication, containing several articles on music and musicians, in addition to a musing anecdotes and pieces of music. The i onnber for August contains the " Song of the Omer," by Kiicken ; " Valse Melancolique," by vreyshock, and the notes of some minor airs. An =tide on the revived tragedy of Sardanapalus shows that in the pronunciation the accent lies upon the last syllable but one. Xdmund Burke : being First Principles Selected from his Writings. London : Routledge and Co. The book before us is excellent in idea, and the -public is indebted for its appearance to the Rev. 'Robert M9ntgomery, M.A., the poet, who has pre xed an introductory essay on the genius and life gjf Burke—that statesman who is generally ad -Tnitted to have been one of the greatest men of the eighteenth century. Mr. Montgomery's essay is carefully and lear ne dl y wr itt en , an d conveys ' an *excellentimpression of the mental and religious character of the British Cicero. We believe it has Leen the selector's earnest wish that the "Fist Principles" these pages so eloquently inculcate, 4 H may be transcribed in all their purity, loftines, and truth into the reason and conscience of his countrymen. And among those for whose especial guidance he ventures to think the profound wisdom of these pages to be invaluable, are the rising statesmen and senators of the day, who are either leing trained in our public schools, at the univer sities, or about to enter upon the difficult but in spiring arena of the House of Commons." The work will be exceedingly useful to those who have mot the bulky volumes in which Burke's speeches are contained ; as well as to those who, with the power, may not possess the inclination to dive i n to those magnificent orations—a rare string of extracts f r om which they will yet read with avidity. 231ackwood's Magazine. Edinburgh: Blaekwoods. 'The number for August commences with a review d the late Dr. Pereira's works, under the title of ‘'‘ The Narcotics we indulge in." It treats more especially of Tobacco and Hops, the former being an article so generally indulged in, to the great Lenefit of the revenue, that a disquisition of its merits and demerits must needs excite interest. Chewing is considered the worst mode of imbibing its narcotic qualities, taking snuff less injurious, and smoking the least objectionable. With some constitutions it never agrees s vs,tt our author and Dr. Christison, of Edinburgh, agree that "no veil ascertained ill effects have been shown to .result from the habitual practice of smoking." iv' South American travel and adventure " is an amusing commentary on two books of travels by Dr. Weddell and Mr. Theodore Pavie, who describe Tern, Bolivia, and other parts of South America, which they visited, with considerable humour. '"Napoleon and Sir Hudson Lowe" is a review of 3lr. Forsyth's recently published " History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena." This revelation shows that the Ex-Emperor was any thing but a great man under circumstances in 'which true greatness of mind is displayed. He grew peevish and restless, childish in trifles, and ridiculous in his complaints, although his sympa thisers contrived to blacken the character of Sir 'Hudson Lowe, which this work seems perfectly to clear. " New readings in Shakspere " is a some svhat elaborate disquisition on the notes and .emen idations published by Mr. Collier from the M.S. ieorrections discovered by him in a folio of 1632, and the subsequent dissertations upon them. The writer, taking several plays seriatim, discusses the I)roposed emendations with much fairness, and svhile he admits some of them to be improvements, chows that Mr. Collier, by his adoption of others, as entitled to very little credit as a Shaksperian commentator. The next paper gives an interesting account of " the Insurrection in China," from a Gallery published work by two Frenchmen, M. M. ‘uallery and Yvan The continuation of " Lady Lee's Widowhood" presents an odd combination of the serious and ludicrous, but considerably advancing in the progress of the story. The :number concludes with an article on "the Marquis ,tde Laroehejaquelin," or France in 1853, and 331 ackwocd is this month without one of those political essays for which it has acquired a well deserved celebrity. This, perhaps, is good taste, considering the season of the year, and it might Le almost as well if newspapers could follow the example. Jomance of _Natural History; or, Wild Scenes rand Wild ituntere. By C. W. W eb b er. London : Nelson and Sons. The title of this handsome volume is one which, on the whole, we rather like ; it no doubt savours a good deal of the ad captandum vuiqus, but nevertheless it is expressive, and calculated to arrest attention, which, in these mercenary days, must not be alto gether lost sight of, even in literary pursuits, far less in publishing enterprise ; moreover, the titl e eally significant of much that will be found "lensed -volume is thi n the p ages o f th e wor k. Th e Chiefly composed f anec of natu ralists, e Piscdes iefl in their lives, o and brief dotes narratives of adventure encountered by them in pursuit of jheir o , inte n l. 7l,ing and exciting, though precariou s callininterA.urs—e'wthinZ' the following, illustrative of the „ took place between Audubon and -Ale xander W usell, two of the most celebrated orni thologists the world has produced, although not altogether new, will yet be read with interest. In jp , ftng of the great American naturalist, Mr. 'Webber remarks 417DrBox's MODESTY 17..“ a. • it is not the least extraordinary as characteristic of this inan's unexampled career, that he should, until even late in life, have been entirely unconscious of the powers he pos ,. _Messed. Indeed, he repeatedly asserts that it was not until 4 os meeting with Charles Lucien Bonaparte, on his visit ti° Philadelphia, in 18 24 , that he had any thought what liver of publishing, or dreamed that he had been accom gishing a n ythi n g very extraordinary. Bonaparte was 2 tslonishecl, in looking over his portfohos of drawings, and 'exclaimed, in an irrepressible burst of ad m i ra ti on an d w onder at the simplicity of his unconsciousness : " Mr. , thibon, do you know that you area great man-6 very Rvta i t man —the greatest ornithologist in the world !" this'language that first filled him with the thought 47: 1 2, 11b lishing, which, as we have seen, on his retirement i n — tc ,`""e solitudes of the Hudson, became gradually nourished But let us see the most touching instance h`r t "-o ri e; a u s s e ci . ou.sness in his own relation of the manner liv rst interview with Wilson, the ornithologist. He en — 4 :_two years in Louisville, Kentucky, which was business Paratively vrn. He was engaged in "°' a we chant ortrader, yet, nevertheless, he says: IDnrine Tr , ADDI7DON AND WILSON. ivas employed .xsidence i at Louisville,. much of my time mooted the habit pursuits. I drew and my ever favourite s collection wa B of everything which I procur e d, an d m y dail • • individual who zed a gun Y augmenting, as every sent me such birds or My portfolios Jie thought migh t already contain e d 11 1 .' Prove useful to me. My One fair raor a ir ards of two hundred drawings. g , I was- surprised by the sudden Ceram into s'Aintroom of Mr. Alexander Wilson, the celebrated author of the " American Ornithologyp of itvhose existence I h ad never until that moment been ap iprized• This happened in March 1810. How ,well do I remember mut) as ue then Walked up to me ! His long sather hooked nose , , the k eenness of his eyes, azd ent cheex-bones, sta mped his countenan ce with vll2 ! n c haracter. His d r ipecnbaress 2 too, was of a kind ,not. away seen in " 4" Part of the country —a shorf coat, 4rvaaere, ad 10414 " 9914 t 9 r PAY cloth, ilk stature WU ded to patrona when my Partner " My dear Andulx object of his visi his work. He c pccapations I and id requested my tified at the sight few of the plates, and a pen to write my name in his favour, ether abruptly said to me in French, on - to subscribe to this What induces are certainly far better 1. von must know as much of the habits of American "...man." Whether Mr. Wilson under aot, or if the suddenness with which I used disappointed him, I cannot tell ; but I clearly per ceived that he was not pleased. Vanity and the encomiums Mr. Wilson stood French or of my friend prevented - me from subscribing, asked me if I had many drawings of birds. I rose, tool down a large portfolio, laid it on the table, and showed him as I would show any other, person fond of such sub ts, with the same patience jects, the whole of t me his own engravings. reat, as he told me he never had any other individual than him- self had been engaged in forming such a collection. He asked me if it was my intention to publish, and when I answered in the negative, his su seemed to increase And, truly such was not my intention - for until long aftei, when I met the ince of lusignano in ours to the world. Mr. Wilson now examined ith care ; asked if I should have any ob- my drawings jection to lending him 'a few during his stay, to wliich I replied that I had none - he then bade me good morning, not, however, until I had made an arrangement to explore the woods in the vicinity along with him, and had pro mised to procure for him some birds, of which I had drawings in my collection, but which he had never seen. It happened that he lodged in the same house with us, but his retired habits, I thought, exhibited either a strong feeling of discontent, or a decided melancholy. The Scotch airs which he played sweetly on Ins flute, made .me melan choly too, and I felt for him. I presented him to my wife and friends, and seeing that he was all enthusiasm, exerted myself as much as was in my power to procure for him the specimens which he wanted. We hunted together, and obtained birds which he had never before seen; but I did not subscribe for his work, for even at that time my collection was greater than his. This little book, which is very elegantly got up, giving, as it were, the salient points of natural history, tinged with the romantic hues of personal adventure, and individual daring, is in many re spects admirably fitted for the instruction of youth. Its narratives are tastefully drawn and appositely introduced, and the whole is happily calculated to awaken youthful inquiry, and to stimulate a desire for further knowledge. The Complete Angler. By Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton. New Edition. London : Ingram, Cooke, and Co. The Complete Angler, by Walton and Cotton, has been so long a popular favourite, and the editions of the book which have issued from the press, con sequent on this popularity, have been so numerous, that a mere reprint of the work would not be entitled to particular notice ; the handsome edition, however, now before us possesses claims on public attention sufficient to justify, indeed to call for remark. Like many of its predecessors, this edi tion is profusely and tastefully embellished by pictorial illustrations • but, in addition to these, it possesses higher claims upon the favourable consi deration of amateur anglers, derived from a series of valuable notes contributed by the present editor, the extensively known " Ephemera" of Bell's Life. These notes are chiefly directed to practical ob servations on angling as an art ; on the natural history of some of our most valuable river and lake fish, and on the most approved mode of hand ling the rod and angle, as that, has been acquired in a long course of sedulous application. As an example, take the following instructions for SALMON FISHING. The only pleasant and surely successful way of angling for salmon is with the artificial fly . The young fly-fisher for salmon has four p r incipal parts to learn,—to k now th e fly and line, to work the fly and line against the water, to hook a fish, and finally, to play him within reach of land ing net or gaff. I advise the aspirant to salmon profi ciency to commence by fishing for salmon trout and grilse. The former he will find in abundance in the County Kerry rivers in spring, the latter plentifully in the rivers of Sutherland, Rosshire, and in Caithness, and in the rivers of the northwest of Ireland in July, August, and Septem ber. Why do I advise thus ? I'll tell. To capture those fish it requires far lighter 'gear than to slay the adult salmon. A rod of 16, nay of 15 feet, will suffice, whilst a joust on fair terms with a mature fish-foe cannot be carried on without a lance 18 or 20 feet in length. The young hand can more easily Wield the lighter weapon, and when he shall have mastered that, then let him handle the heavier one. Sea-trout and grilse are fished for in the same way as salmon, but with smaller flies and a lighter and shorter line, the throwing of which is to be done as follows :-- The straight right shoulder cast, which is the most natural one, and should be practised when fishing from the left bank of a river, is done thus : the right hand holds the rod above the winch, the left below it ; the right side is next to the river, and the right foot foremost. You bring your rod and line boldly and freely in a fine, easy, wide, semicircular sweep over your right shoulder, until your right arm is extended fully and vertically over the right side of your head, and then you send rod and line strongly forward, by communicating to the right arm sharp action, just as if you were going to strike at something elevated before you with the soft or little-finger side of your clenched hand. If all this compound action—bringing back the rod and line over the right shoulder, and then sharply sending them forward—be performed dashingly and ener getically, without nervousness, stint of sweep, and strength, your fly will be driven to its destination, which should not be at first efforts much more than twenty yards distant. If you cast that space, or say from one cricket wicket to another, well, you need not much fear but you will be able . to catch sea-trout and grilse, and ultimately succeed in throwing ten yards farther, which I think far enough, all matters considered, for the great majority of useful pur poses. Believe me that the best salmon-fi s he r i s no t h e who throws the farthest line , but he who throws it neatly a moderate distance, and when hi s fl y i s i n t h e water makes the best use of the pretty lure. I have see n long limbed louts hurl or roll their fly an i mmense di stance, three or four • yards further than I cou ld, an d yet I would stake my last florin to a farthing that I wou ld kill three fish or more for their one. The straight casts, whether from the left or right shoulder, are, generally speaking, the best. At any rate, executed by a profi perfection. Ls acc ed u un rac th y, so as to cient, they are always the neatest, and should by begin. Th ner e s y be ca t n he b fr ptelrfeagited, andwitthhengrpreag ae enable the angler to determine, almost water almost first, to and inch, enable the l precise spot on which his fly is to fall. They cause the fly and casting-line to touch h the fisher to commenc e working the fly, or 'showing it to the fish sooner and better than he could do if much of the winch-line came in contact with the water simul taneously with the casting-line, or a moment before it. The salmon-line and fly must be thrown as s t ra i g htl y down the stream as pos sible. Casting down the curren t , and completely in line with it, can only be done by stand ing in the water at the head of the stream, or on some projecting, rock, bridge, o r weir. When you cast f rom the bank, throw slantingly down and across the stream, und into a 11) e ith the current bringing the the fly re w k e d ' wor out delay. The salmon -fly is . ~ or humoured, against the current, and never with it, or down it, like the trout-fly. If it were worked downwards it would roll over, on account of the general heaviness of its wings, and frighten rather than lure salmon. When worked against the current, it seems like some nondescript, beau tiful, large insect, swimming by fits and starts a littl e beneath the sur f a ce of the water, and up-stream. The salmon-fly must be worked towards you, up and down, . The hands and through the water , b y movin g the rod u p and down, not very rapidly, or very h i g h or low. grasp ing the rod, move up and down, just as if you were pump ing leisurely with a light free-handled pump. I n a continuation of the same note the editor gives ex cellent and elaborate directions for playing and landing salmon after they have been struck ; but we regret our limits will not permit of further extract, and we must conclude our remarks on this edition of the favourite treatise by " Old Isaak" by' observing that the notes furnished by " Ephe mera," on angling for the different sorts of fresh water fish, are equally practical with that from which we have just quoted, although not quite so elaborate. As a whole, the volume is very hand somely got up in every respect, and will be found an ornament as well as an addition to the library. Paul Twenty Years in the _Philippines. By de Geroniere. Translated by Frederick Hardman. London : Longmans. The narrative of which the above is the title abounds 'in adventure, told often in a manner so bordering on the marvellous, as to savour of ro mance. The hero of the adventures commenced his oriental career as a somewhat imperfectly tutored surgeon, havinc , secured the appointment of medical 'officer on board of a French ship trading to the East Indies: His love of adventure led him at an early age to settle in the island of Luzon. Shortly after his settlement here, in October, 1820, the cholera broke out in Manilla, and rapidly spread over the whole island. Ignorance and suspicion, powerfully excited by the fatality of the scourge; led the natives to perpetrate a wanton and cruel massacre of. the Europeans resident on the island, from the fatal effects of which our author escaped with much difficulty, and in a very miserable plight. Subsequently his professional skill enabled him to secure an important public position in Manilla becoming disgusted with which, however, he retired to Jala•Jala, which he had purchased. After his settlement at Jala-Jala, circumstances, and his own roaming disposition, induced him to visit the Tin guianes, a savage tribe inhabiting an inland district, of the island. About the period of his arrival among the linguianes, that race had gained what was held in their estimation to be a great victory over the Guinanes, a rival tribe of great ferocity and rude ness. This victory was celebrated by the victors with, great and barlbarous rejoicing; part of the re volting ceremonial observed on the occasion is thus described by our author:-- linrGrulta TRSTIVAt OP V/CrOSY. o'docif,l4;4.Aieri of the NMI*, foi lwred by the ttitire plvulatiou, repsirgd t 0 the gust ham its chief at its 1 kf the combatants, loci lar k made of sugar-cane juk 1 heads of Guinanes ; the latter Iv( r. When all had tal to Laganguilan took one of fl ,ed it the chiefs of the village, wi ccompanying _ its display by belong present iipeech, - addressed to the visitors end, t. he warrior took a their places, ads he trophies of warrior d pre- o showed it to all a long laudatory iead,-split hatchet, and took out the brains. Irving the operation— not very agreeable to witness—another warrior took a second head, and presented it to the chiefs ; the same ora tion was made, and then the skull was split and the brains at. With the other two In ,one through, and then the brains w young girls into the jars containin.v. 4-1 Ids the same ceremony !re crushed by fermented can +^oli the jars 4- juice. When all was well mixed, they L, ‘o the chiefs, who dipped into them small wicker cups, and drank the contents With greedy delight. I turned horribly sick. After the chiefs it was the turn of the warriors. The jars were offered to them, and they quaffed the revolting be verage to the sound of savage songs. . There was some thing truly infernal in this sacrifice to victory. This baie; or fermented cane-juice, is yeti- ardent and intoxicating ; and the guests, who had drank immode rately of the hellish potion, sang louder than ever, accom panied by conch and tam-tam, whilst the 'chiefs divided skulls into small fragments, intended as presents to then and there made, aid the ceremony declared at an end. Danc ing then began. The savages ranged themselves in two niadmen ;an to jump about; howling like furious Besides the singular and disg,usting orgies de scribed in the above extract, the author narrates other circumstances, which leave no room to doubt the practice of cannibalism among those degraded and wretched savages. Their mode of burial is also delineated with much force. It consists, in its preparatory stages at least, in slowly drying, by a sort of roasting process, the body of the deceased, accompanied by certain rude and un couth ceremonies, which we regret want of space will not allow us further to particularise. The book, however, contains many interesting facts relative to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, and their peculiar habits. Those regard their religious belief, which appears to be a very loose kind of paganism, fluctuating in the objects of its adoration, and rude as well as ruthless in its forms of observance. As a whole, though bordering, as stated at the commencement of this notice, on the romantic and marvellous, M. Ge roniere's book is, nevertheless, one replete with interesting materials ; and as it is a very cheap work, forming one number of the series published under the name of the " Traveller's Library," we think it can hardly fail to attain an extensive po pularity. Personal Narrative of Travels to the .Equinoctial Regions of America. By Alexander Von Hum boldt and Aime Bonpland. Edited by Thomasina Ross• • Vol.. lIL London • Henry G. Bohn. This, which forms the concluding - volume of M. Von Humboldt's personal narrative, is exceedingly interesting. It abounds in philosophical specula tions, is imbued with a fine spirit of truthful en quiry, and comes upon the world now, towards the close of the veteran naturalist's long and useful labours, as a crowning trophy of his investigations and his usefulness. At all times havinc , his ob servant eye open to the impressions inspired by the stupendous magnificence of American scenery, he never permits himself to be made the slave of ex cited feeling, nor to be led away by the surpassing grandeur of the scenes and objects by which he is surrounded. On the contrary, with a truthful earnestness of thought and manner, he weighs the realities of the positions and materials amidst which he is placed, and faithfully imparts these to his readers, without exaggeration, and with a felicitous freedom from restraint. The immensity of space and the variety of reflections which force themselves upon the observation of an intelligent traveller as he traverses the vast. American plains are well displayed in Humboldt's description of the IMMENSE EXTENT OP VIEW IN THE LLANOS. After three days' journey, we began to perceive the chain of the mountains of Cumuna, which separates the Llanos, or, as they are often called," the Great Sear of Verdure," from the coast of the Caribbean Sea. If the Bergantin be more than eight hundred toises high, it may be seen, supposing an ordinary refraction of 1-14th of the arch, at the distance of 27 nautical leagues ; but the state of the atmosphere long concealed from us the majestic view of this curtain of mountains. It appeared at first like a fog-bank, which hid the stars near the pole at their rising and setting ; gradually this body of vapour seemed to augment and condense, to assume a bluish tint, and become bounded by sinuous and fixed outlines. The same effects which the mariner observes on approaching a new land present themselves to the traveller on the border of the Llano. The horizon began to enlarge in some part, and the vault of heaven seemed no longer to rest at an equal distance on the grass-covered soil. A Llanero, or inhabitant ,of the Llanos, is happy only when, as expressed in the simple phraseology of the country, "he can see everywhere well around him." What appears to European eyes a covered country, slightly undulated by a few scattered hills, is •to him a rugged region bristled with mountains. After having passed several months in the forests of the Orinoco, in places where one is accustomed, when at any distance from the river, to see the stars only in the zenith, as through the mouth of a well, a journey in the Llanos is peculiarly agreeable and attractive. The traveller expe riences new sensations; and, like the Llanero, he enjoys the happiness of "seeing well around him." But this enjoyment,' as we ourselves experienced, is not of long duration. There is, doubtless, something solemn and imposing in the aspect of a boundless horizon, whether -viewed from the summits of the Andes or the highest Alps, amid the expanse of the ocean, or in the vast plains of Venezuela and Tucuman. Infinity of space, as poets in every language say, is reflected within ourselves; it is associated with- ideas of a superior order ; it elevates the mind, which delights in the calm of solitary meditation. It is true also that every view- of unbounded space bears a ,peculiar character. The prospect enjoyed from a solitary peak varies according as the clouds reposing on the plain extend in layers, are conglomerated in groups, or present to the astonished eye, through broad openings; the habi tations of man, the labour of agriculture, or the verdant tint of the aerial ocean. An 'immense sheet. of -water, Animated by a thousand various beings, even to its utmost depths, changing perpetually in colour and aspect, move able . at its surface like the - element which agitates it, all charm the imagination during long voyages by sea ; but the dusty and creviced Llano, throughout a great part of the year, has a depressing influence on the mind by its unchanging monotony. When, after eight or ten days' journey, the traveller becomes accustomed to the mirage and the beautiful verdure of a few tufts of Mauritia, (the fan-palm, or sago tree) scattered, from league to league, he feels the want of more varied, impressions. He loves again to behold the great tropical trees,—the wild rush of tor rents,----or hills and valleys cultivated by the hand of the labourer. If the deserts of Africa, and of the Llanos or Savannahs of the New Continent filled a still greater space than they actually occupy, nature would be deprived of many of the beautiful products peculiar to the torrid zone. The heaths of the north, the steppes of the VOlga, and the Don, are scarcely poorer in species of plants and animals, than are the twenty-eight thousand square leagues of Savannahs, extending in a semicirle from north east to south-west, from the mouths of the Orinoco to the banks of the Caqueta and the Putumayo, beneath the finest sky in the world, and in the land of plantains and bread-fruit trees. The influence of the equinoctial climate, everywhere also so vivifying, is not felt in places where the great associations of gramina almost exclude every other plant. Judging from the aspect of the soil, we might have,believed• ourselves to be in the temperate zone, and even still further northward, but that a few scattered palms,_ and at nightfall the fine constellations of the southern sky (the Centaur, Canopus, and the innumerable nebula' with which the ship is resplendent), reminded us that we were only eight degrees distant from the equator." The foregoing may be taken as a specimen of the contemplative and philosophising spirit which pervades the narrative. The volume, and of course the work, is wound up by a perspicuous and charm ing epitome of the geological structure of the South American Continent. As a whole, the book is not, only an extensive and valuable addition to our scientific literature, but so interesting is the manner inwhich the various topics are treated, that it cannot fail to be as interesting to the reader of popular literature, as it is acceptable to the scien tific inquirer. Neil Songs. London : Cramer, Beale & Co. These,, eminent publishers have lately issued a number of new and popular songs of a high order, which will , no doubt, obtain that extensive popu larity to which they are entitled. Hatton's song, " Good bye sweetheart, good bye," is very effective, and the charming manner in which it has been sung by Mr. Sims Reeve, has already caused it to be much spoken of: Silas' song, like all his other composition; is of a very high class ; it is a beauti ful melody an d h as a very attractive accompani ment. " 'Twas on a Sunday morning," and " Let nobody know," are charming ballads of a. very original character, and have been rendered with great effect by the admirable singing of Miss Kathleen Fitzwilliams. Think on me," and " Hither come," written by Thomas Blake, the music by G. Linley, are already established favourites : the poetry is really good, and . the music elegant and unpretending. T hey are, with out doubt, the best of George Linley 's compositions, and promise a long run in popular favour. WALICING-STICKS. —Walking-sticks were first intro duced into fashion by the effeminate Henry 11. of France, but did not become a requisite appendage to the gentle men of fashion. in England till the year 1655, at which time they were formed with an indented head, in order to afford a more easy pressure of the hand which they supported. Ingenuity, which, in matters of fashion, is ' for ever on the alert, now crowned it with the addition of the round and hollow top, which sometimes contained nutmeg or ginger; to warm the stomach; of the valetu dinarian, and sometimes sugar-candy for the asthmatic ; but snuff soon after coming into universal use among the bon ton of society, the cavity was exclusively appropriated -to its reception, and the. meeting of two friends was in tiably marked, after the first, salutation, by the un tcreitirg of the tops rltli it walkipgiticks. ARIETIES, DAMP " The Gas and Water _ If this exper..-- ceeds, it will shortly be followed by " The Gin and Wate Advertiser," " The Soda Water Daily News," " The Milk and Water Chronicle."—Diogenes. DON'T WALK - e see a newsT) Time* ised, called SO FAST. ---I I have often used," says to slacken, or quicken the Gretry, a singular stratagem, ivalking companion ; to say t pace of fast, or too s softly an air to the tune of the and then, by degrees, either to ( )W, IS impoJ Lite save ur companion ken the time or make itslower:is a stratagem as innocent as it is con' HOT AND Coin : — Climbing over a layer of v, harder spring, I sa ne, by t ig,steam of the hot 13rieldini rock, and sending the steam high up The sight was most beautiful ; massive into the clear atmosphere, the steep bank and the boiling hot water, ing out, while flakes of snow lodged close around the eq, of it, was a strange spectacle m such a region of frost High over the edge of the bank hung ar, ;- of snow, like a monstrous featl- which shot hiss- immense quant er bed, just ready to s down by its own weight. The steam - kept licking lower pasts parts of the heap, while the sharp south-NT which blew through the dale, hardened the crust , tamed the snow in its precarious position. V The steam itself congealed, and was transformed into icicles, and thus served to prop the snow like so many columns. Out of this self-formed winter palace rose the steaming vapour, and the warm sun shining upon it, changed it into myriads of glowing pearls, tinged with the most radiant and beautiful colours of the rainbow.— Gertstaeeker's Journey' Round the World. THE SLAVERY OF TEE STAGE.--"And how are you getting on, aunty," asked Angela. "Oh ! pretty well, my dear," said Mrs. Bong, in deep a n d me l anc h o l y t ones. " The money is regular, such as it is. Bttt it is hard work to earn it. For the last six weeks, and till ate closed, I headed a conquering army, and also a band of brigands, every night, with five fights ; but that's nothing. But I had to be carried over the rocks, tied on a wild horse, which with my weight is rather nervous business ; and I have had to double a part which poor little Mrs. Scurchin was obliged to give up, being as ladies do not wish to be when they have to ride on an elephant, and slide down by his trunk. Then we have a nautical piece three nights a week, and I have rather a tiresome bit that—l have to hang from the mast, in a storm, the ship rolls and pitches up and down, and this goes on as long as the applause comes; one evening they kept me swinging for ten minutes—and the week before last the thing broke, and I fell through a trap and bruised myself sadly. I was obliged to lay up one night, but they stopped my salary, and that won't do, you know, with five mouths to feed, so I crawled to work again directly. And our rehearsals are very heavy, with so much:spectacle ; and I fully expect to break my limbs one of these mornings out of a cockle-shell of a car which they are trying to make six horses bring in on their backs, at an awful height, and me in it—the poor things kick so and get so unmerci fully beaten ; but Brax swears it is as safe as a cradle—a cradle on the tree-top I tell him. However, it's only slavery for life, that's one comfort, an d it'll be all the same a hundred years hence, that's another." "By Jove," said PauL And he became thoughtful for full three minutes, considering how hard some people worked for a morsel of bread.—Bentley's Miscellany. OBTUSENESS OF THE AFRICAN NArnms.—They have no way of distinguishing days, but reckon by the rainy season, the dry season, or the pig -nut season. When in quiries are made about how many days' journey off a place may be, their ignorance of all numeral ideas is very an noying. In practice, whatever they may possess in their language, they certainly use no numerical greater than three. When they wish to express four, they take to their fingers, which are to them as formidable instruments of calculation as a sliding rule is to an English schoolboy. They puzzle very much after five, because no spare hand remains to grasp and secure the fingers that are required for " units." Yet they seldom lose oxen. The way in which they discover the loss of one is not by the number of the herd being diminished, but by the absence of a face they know. When bartering is going on, each sheep must be paid for separately. Thus, suppose two sticks of tobacco to be the rate of exchange for one sheep, it would sorely puzzle a Damara .to take two sheep and give him four sticks. I have done so, and seen a man first put two of the sticks apart and take a sight over them atone of the sheep he was about to sell. Having satisfied himself that that one was honestly paid for, and finding to his surprise that , exactly two sticks remained in hand to settle the account for the other sheep, he would be afflicted with doubts ; the transaction seemed to come out too " pat " to be correct, and he would refer back to the first couple of sticks, and then his mind got hazy and confused, and wandered from one sheep to the other, and he broke off the transaction until two sticks were' put into his hand and one sheep driven away, and then the other two sticks given him and the second sheep driven away. When a Damara's mind is bent upon number, he is too much occu pied to dwell upon quantity. Thus, a heifer is bought from a man for, ten sticks of tobacco ; his large hands being both spread out upon the ground, and a stick placed on each finger, he gathers up the tobacco ; the size of the 'mass pleases him, and the bargain is struck. You then want to buy a second heifer : the same process is gone through, but half ;-sticks instead of whole ones are put upon his fingers ; the man is equally satisfied at the time, but occasionally finds it out and complains the next day.— Gallon's Narrative of an African Explorer. MAIMIAGE•I3LZ DAVGIITZIIEL—if anything exemplifies the vanity of hlnnaaa wishes, it ie oar effbrte to maa ,y vur daughters, and our regrets when the plans succeed. Tom goes to India, and Billy to sea, and there is scarcely a gap in the family circle. "The boys" were seldom at home— they were shooting in Scotland, or hunting in England, or fishing in Norway. They never, so to say, made part of the effective garrison of the house; they came and went with that racketty good humour that even in quiet families is pleasurable ; 'but your girls are household gods : lose them, even one of them, and the altar, is despoiled. The thousand - little unobtrusive duties, noiseless cares, that make home better a hundred-fold than anywhere else, be it ever so rich and splendid—the unasked solicitude, the watchful attention that provides for your little daily wants and habits, is all their province. And just fancy, then, what scheming and intriguing we practise to get rid of them ! You'll say that this shows we are above the selfish ness of only considering our own enjoyment, and that we sacrifice all for their happiness. There you mistake ; our sole aim is a rich man—our one notion of a good marriage is, that the husband be wealthy. Its not a man like myself who has sometimes paid fifty, ay sixty per cent. for money, that can afford , to sneer at and despise it ; but this I will say, that the mere possession of it will not suffice for hap piness. I know fellows with fifteen thousand a year that have not the heart to spend five hundred.. I know others, that with as much, are always over head and ears in debt, raising cash everywhere and any how ! What kind of life must a girl lead that marries either of these ; and yet would you or I think of refusing such a match for a daughter ? Let me tell you, Tom, that for people of small fortune, the nunneries, were flue things ! What signifies serge , and simple diet to the wearisome drudgery of a governess. If I was a woman, -I think I'd rather sit in my quiet cell, working an embroidered suit of body clothes for Father O'Leary, than I'd be snubbed by the family of some vulgar citizen, tortured by the brats, and insulted by the servants. —The Dodd Family Abroad. CHARACTER or Gomasmirn.—Who, of the millions whom he has amused, doein't love him ? To be the most beloved of English writers, what a title that is fora man ! A wild youth, wayward,' but full of tenderness and affec tion, quits the country village where his boyhood has been passed in happy musing, in idle shelter, in fond longing to see the great world out of doors, and achieve name and fortune—and after years of dire struggle, and neglect and poverty, his heart turning back as fondly to his native place, as it had longed eagerly for change when sheltered there, he writes a book and a poem, full of the recollec tions and feelings of home—he paints the friends and scenes of his youth, and peoples Auburn and Wakefield with remembrances of Lissoy.- Wander he must, but he carries away a home relic with him, and dies with it on his breast. His nature is truant ; in repose it longs for change : as on the journey it looks back for friends and quiet. He passes to-day in building an air castle for to morrow, or in writing yesterday's elegy; and he would fly away this hour, but that a cage of necessity keeps him. What is the charm of his verse, or his style, and humour ? His sweet regrets, his delicate compassion, his soft smile, his tremulous sympathy, the weakness which he owns ? Your love for him is half pity. You come hot and tired from the day's battle,' and this sweet minstrel sings to you. Who could harm the kind vagrant harper ? Whom did he ever hurt ? He carries no weapon-r-save the harp on which he plays to you; and with which he delights great and humble, young and old, the captain in' the tent, or the soldier round the fire, or the women and children in the village, at whose porches he sings his simple songs of love and beauty. With that sweet story of the " Vicar of Wakefield," he has found an entrance into every hamlet in Europe. "Not one of us, however busy or hard, but once or twice in our lives has passed an evening with him; and undergone the charm of his de lightful music.—Thackeray's Humorists. - AN IDIOT AS RE IS SUPP OSED TO BE, AND AS is.— The popular notion of an idiot would, probably-be found to vary very little, essentially, in different places, however modified by- local circumstances. To the traveller in France or Italy, the name recalls a vacant creature all in rags, gibbering and blinking in the sun with distorted face, led_ about as a possession and a stock-in-trade by some phenomenon of filth and ugliness, in the' orm of an old woman. In association with Switzerland, it suggests a horrible being, seated at a chalet 'door (perhaps possess ing sense enough to lead the way to a neighbouring water dangling from - his throat, like a great skin fall}, of stunted and misshapen form, with a pendulous caeweight in it. In the highlands of Scotland, or bagex excrescence with scen on the roads of Ireland, he becomes a red-haired Celt, rather more unreasonable than usual, plunging ferociously out of a mud cabin, and casting stones at the stranger's head. As a remembrance of our own childhood in an English country town, he IS a shambling knock-kneed man who was never a child, with an eager utterance of dis cordant sounds which he seemed to keep in his protruding. forehead, a tongue too large for his mouth, and a dreadful pair of hands, that wanted to - ramble over everything— our own face included. _ But in all these cases, the main idea of an idiot would be of a hopeless, irreclaimable, unimprovable being. And if he he further recalled as under restraint in a workhouse or lunatic asylum, he will still come upon the imaginatio aud n as wallowing in the loweSt depths of degradation neglect ; a miserable monster, whom nobody may put to death, but whom every one must wish dead, and be distressed to see alive. Until within a few years, it was generally assumed, even by those who were not given to hasty assumptions, that because an idiot was, either wholly, or in part, deficient in certain senses and instincts necessary, in combination with others, to the-due performance -of the ordinary - functions of life—and because thosesenseS and instincts could n ot be supplied--therefore nothing could be done for him, and he• must always remain an object of. pitiable isolation. But a closer study of the subject. htis now demonstrated that the cultivation of such senses and- instincts as the idiot is seen to possess, will,,besides. frequently developing others that. are lateilt within him, .but obscured, so brighten those glimmering lights; is immensely tolinProve .his condition both , with referenoe to himself and to society. Consequently_ there is no greater justification for abandon ing him, in his 'degree, than for abandoning any 'alter hiunan Catare.—.Dickettee " Houseltold Words." THE LIVERPOO STANDARD, AND GENET AL COM MERC lAL Greys are Iris-hre Tai AN ACTION FOR / &sr Nmo, the poet, ded 's father for low you run How To GET MEN TO PROPOSE.—II elarations with blank forms are t 's said til be kept s who have lov 'S too MC themselves fill.m an can refuse Si NATIONAL DE' Lackstone, the e Commentaries (A.D. 1753; Nen in Nor a badge, it mutt be owned (now the vion, unless it be reserved to remind us t our li d by a fi WEALTHY ,rssrANs.—ln a work pu hat the fami] Russian hobill s state in consequence of its large establish= ;sessesthe most colossal fortune on the C aass of malachite, ever skillen dra- put him out—of the course no seas tgning them.—Kentucky Journal. FENCES.—PEACE SOCIETY.—Sir William nninent lawyer and Judge, writing in his £sent to bills in descril ly one remainin on the f Jakovleff gold washing at nearly one hundred millions of roubles. )enaidoffs, who have on their estate a large pud (40 lbs.) of which is worth 800 roubles. Afterwards come the . fami Woronzoff, Bobrinsky, Daschkoff, Paski Petemkin, Panin, Lasareff, Sc. A great numl princely families are so fallen that they have their title and. their rank. AM. de Rischeff, for instance, still wears the princely arms and the ermine mantle, but s of Galitzin Un-arofl er of old lost both vithout enjoying the corresponding titl mar Woronop reside some peasants whc serfs. They cultivate their fields like other peasants, :hough they descend from princely blood. Thew listinguished from the others by a red cap In a village have still some [eh they sovereign fami the Czars of Georgia, the Bagradites (Bagration Girei, the direct scions of Dschingis-Khan of Mahomet resides at Tiflis and the y A. descendant 'es its ( The family of Canteknzene ;in from the old emperors of Byzantine. It's not often a man loses anything by GRIT ITI7DE.- kindness. I know a little matter of that s life, and perhaps the lives of many others at the same time." " How was that ?" asked we of our friend Raw lings, the model conductor. " Why, we had an Irishman on this road watching a tunnel. It was warm weather, so he used to go into the tunnel, to keep cool. I rather think he used to take a little liquor when he was lone some ; any way, he laid down on the track, one day, to listen for the cars. He fell asleep, and very imprudently got his head cut off by the express train. Well, there was the last of that Irishman. There was the devil's own row in his shanty when we took the poor fellow up, and t saved my s soon as we decently could, for you know it's - not agreeable to be surrounded with a distracted family, when you're neither a doctor, nor a nurse, nor a preacher. Somehow, I was always sorry when I passed ; of course I felt as if—not exactly the same thing—but just as bad might happen to me some day, and then there'd be another row in a family. I told my wife about it, and she sent the family some little things. The widow of the dead Irishman was a Catholic, and, as I was then on a very fast train, I would sometimes take up the old woman on Sunday, and carry her to church at Martins burg. I somehow thought it was a satisfaction to her to go to church, for she had but little chance in the world anyhow. I certainly did not expect to get anything for it in this world, and I expected they had so much scored against me in the other, that it wouldn't amount to any thing there. That was during the summer. One night the next winter it was very cold, and the mountains were covered with snow; we were running to make time, when, on turning a curve, the engineer saw a waving light on the track, and we soon heard some one ahead shouting. I was then on the platform. The engineer slacked up and stopped the engine, and we got out and went ahead in the dark to see what was the matter. There it was. A large landslide had fallen across the track, near the shanty of that old Irishwoman. She had built up a large fire and watched for the train, for the curves were so sharp that we might have been upon the slide before we could see it. So, when we run up there was the old lady, with her calico cap, swinging the chunk of fire, like a revolving lighthouse, and there were the little Irish carrying brush, like so many little beavers. She had watched all that night in the cold. But for her in another minute we should have run into a pile of dirt and stone as big as Barnum's HoteL I should have got a 'pit ticket,' certain, for I was on the platform. What would have become of the passengers and train you can guess as well as I can." We expressed a hope that the old widow had been properly rewarded. " The passengers made up about eight dollars ; the company afterwards gave her shanty rent free, the brakemen and engineers bought her a cow, and she made out very well. But when I handed the money to her that night she said, Gintlemen and ladies, I'm thankful, and may ye niver know the want of 1.4..6 ye give au, liut what I and was mostly on account of Aim, there. He was kind and thoughtful to the poor and the afflicted, and I'd a watched till I froze before harruin should have come to him, if I could ha helped it " " D—n the thing, it pm& me choke right up."—American we got ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE. PREFERUENTS AND APPOINTKINTS. Rev. J. T. Clarke. 8.A.. to Curacy of St. Mary's, Cardigan. Rev. J. H. Harris, late Master of Hawarden Grammar School, to the Head Mastership of King Henry VILL's (Cathedral) Grammar School. Chester. Rev. J. Incher, 8.A., to the Stipendiary Curacy of Wyers dale, near Lancaster. Rev. A. Irvine, 8.A.,t0 the Incumbency of St. Longtleet, near Poole. orset. Rev. W. F. Kaye, M.A., Rectoi of Riseholme, to be Chap. lain to the Bishop of Lincoln. Rev. J. W. Lester, to the Incumbency of Ashton Hayes, near. Chester. _ _ _ Rev. B. A. Marshall, 8.A., to the Incumbency of St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle. Rev. J. Moore. M.A., to the Rectory of Kelverstone, near Thetford, Norfolk. Rev. J. H. Noyes, M.A., to the Curacy of All Saints' Church, Stamford. Rev. H. A. Plow, M.A., to the Incumbency of Wield, to be held with the Rectory of Bradley, Hampshire. Rev. H. M. Sorley, M.A., to the Chaplaincy of her Majesty's store-ship Tortoise, at the Island of Ascension. Rev. J. Taylor, M.A., to the Rectory of Croxton Keyrial, near Grantham. _ _ Rev. H. - ETfiomas, 8.A., Perpetual Curate of Birch, near Manchester, to Rectory of Nash-cum-Upton, near Pembroke. Rev. Jonathan Tucker, 8.A., to the Curacy of Wyersdale, near Lancaster. _ _ _ Rev. J. Wynne, M.A., to the Rectory of Warnford, near Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire. OBITUARY. July 30, at Elston Rectory, near Newark, the Rev. H. R. Harrison, 8.D., aged 50, for 17 years rector of the parish. July 31, the Rev. R. Stockdale, Rector of Wilby, Northamp tonshire, second son of the Rev. W. Stockdale, Vicar of Mears Abhby, Northamptonshire, aged 36. Aug. 1, after a short illness, the Rev. John Oliver Hopkins, Incumbent of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, and Rural Dean, in his 43rd year. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Aug. 1, the Rev. Frederic Berners Roberson, M.A., aged 85. THE FIRST STONE has been laid at Lowestoft of a new church, in the decorated style, to cost £6,500. DURHAM DIOCESAN CHURCH SOCIETIES.—At the quarterly meeting, last week, it was resolved to endeavour to raise funds for a Female Training Institution for the two dioceses of Durham and Carlisle. MB. SWINDELL, a Baptist minister at Newmarket, has sent in his resignation, and has been confirmed by the Bishop of Ely, after being a Dissenter for fifty years.- - Essex Gazette. . THE BISICOP or DURHAM consecrated a new church at Bank-top, Darlington, dedicated to St. John the Evan gelist, last week. It is a district church under Sir R. Peel's Act, and £4OOO have been spent providing free ac commodation for 650 persons in open stalls. CONFIRMATION AT ST. HELEN'S.-0/1 Tuesday the Bishop of Chester held a confirmation service in St. Mary's, now the parish church. There were nearly 600 candidates, including those from the neighbouring churches of Eccleston, Parr, Sutton, Farnworth, &c. TESTIMONIAL.—A memorial of esteem has been pre sented to the Rev. John Ellison, from the congregation of St. Bartholomew's Church, of this town,•on his appoint ment to the senior curacyof Wellingborough,Northampton shire. The testimonial consisted of a handsome gold watch and appendages, with some valuable books. The rev. gentleman is a native of Alpraham, Cheshire, and took priest's orders at the last ordination at Chester. ST. MARY'S CIIIIECR, GRASSENDALE, IN THE PARISH Or CRILDWALL.—The Bishop of Chester has granted a license for performance of Divine services in this church, which has just been completed, for two years, unless it shall be ready for consecration before the expiration of that, time. The endowment and other needful prelimina ries to consecration are not yet completed, and are not expected to be sooner, but additional church accommoda tion in that neighbourhood being much wanted, the imme diate opening of the church for Divine service will be productive of considerable benefit to the neighbourhood. CLERGYMEN'S WIDOWS AND ORMANS.--011 Thurs day the friends of the above charity met in this town to celebrate its anniversary and transact the usual business of the past year. The object of the institution, which was established in the year 1697, is to support the widows and orphans of those clergymen who have officiated in the archdeaconries of Chester, Liverpool, and Manchester, and the anniversary is always held on the first Thursday in August, at Warrington, Liverpool, and Manchester alternately. Ven. Archdeacon Brooks, with other cler gymen belonging to Liverpool and adjacent towns, at tended divine service in the morning• at St. Peter's Church, where a sermon was preached by the Rev. Chas. Augustus Thurlow, rector of Malpas. A collection was made in aid of the funds of the institution, the amount ,realised being £24. In the afternoon, a number of gen tlemen, lay and clerical, dined together at the Adelphi Hotel, after the report as to the state of the funds and the other routine business had been transacted. A Wniumns D.—About a quarterabefore three o'clock 'on Wednesday afternoon, a hay-fieldbehind the residence of Mr. Thwaites, bleacher, near the Meetings, Sharples, was visited by a whirlwind. A quantity of hay, covering ground to the extent of some forty square yards, was lifted into the air to the height of apparently 100 yards, and some of it was carried out of the field in a southerly direction. NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.---ThiS company will pay a dividend of five per cent, taking £43,000 out of the reserve, and carrying over about £30,000 to the next account. The earnings are £lOO,OOO more than they were this time twelve months, but the heavy expenses inflicted by the unusual wet of last fall, and the increased expenses, chiefly in the locomotive power, owing to a greater mile age run, the rise of wages and the higher price of materials, and taking a much less sum out of the reserve than they. did this time last year, have . caused a diminu tion in the dividend of a quarter per cent. for the half-:year. SIR,-1 CORRE as pleased to o that you design tc of the abolition of the cularly for those brief an nounc are amp' ald be lar dent for the pu: greater extent tha, ,e. I feel actised, and benefit the put majority form tradesman incurs great e: •ery per, Again, t: nse to decorat, ere are many who was' I some- any cases p front , r an adverl ,sands o s of acquainting g for apartir those who have either to dispose of would give the leadin particulars in a s' re advertisement, a perusal paper would ways the public might be large gainers, if the pract los of near adopted of making all wants known the e ne`rs- I see not the slightest reason why' it should not general. For my own part, I feel so convinced of tb would prove to all, that in future, when I wish to r ything, I shall first r e tradesman to whom I shall apply samemeditim; o my a to agree with your remarks, in "the p ising," upon MAYOR gain it ore I select osophy of CHE AND WALES. kND HOLYHEAD RAlLWA.Y. — Traffic " - 31, 1853 :—Railway : Passenr goods, £1,432 4d. . --'" 13s. 4d. Increase as corn . the corresponding week last year, £2,229 9s. a SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANtE.—AIa Irish sheep, weighing ly 561b5., was slaughtered by Mr. Walters, of Birken ad, on uesday,. and one of the loins of suet weighed lin s than 171bs. The animal seemed to be healthy in every Total, £G,4 the kidney was smaller than us, §tea - m-bosft SIIREWBBURY AND CHESTED RAILWAY. — We stand that the directors of the above company intend tO apply to the Board of Trade to investigate the transactl° ll9 of the executive, in reference to transfers of bares ste-, If this be --_ very curious, )e brought before the _ ilway world.—Morning Herald. _ IMPROVEMENT IN THE STEAM ENGINE.—Mr. -G ' A, i „., "" 4 " of Brynkir, Carnarvonshire, has patented a P 6" - . __:.44,,c, the expediting steam, by assisnur, lobules to rise and emerge as soon as formed. For this • rotating curved blades are introduced into the , or tubes of tubular boilers, worked by any mot' er, and a pump is employed to draw water from the ipper level of the water, and force it at a lower one. TESTIMONIAL.—OR Wednesday, a number of the of Tranmere dined together at the Britannia on the occasion of presenting to Mr. John Blaylock, DI, assistant-overseer of the township, a handsome gold NOW' and chain, 'as an acknowledgment of his faithful semi,e°s the ratepayers during a period of fourteen Years. 11 resigned his office two or three years ago °„„, nut of his advanced age, and has carried with ...pect of a numerous population. of . —On Tuesday afternoon last, the hone ,knas Downham, of Holt-hill, Tranmere, was el l " during the absence of the inmates by some Pi? t ; erers, who, after ransacking the premises, decamped S in £9 18s., which they abstracted from a chest of drawers l" n. There was a valuable gold ring in the 6 a r°e urawer, out it was not disturbed. ROBBERY OF JEWELLER - Y.—A youth, named Georg e John Collins, was charged on Monday, at the Birkenbea4 police-court, with stealing a quanty of jewellery, valued A £4O, from the house of Mrs. Law, Holt-hill, Tranmer e ' A short time since the prisoner was employed to convey a box to the railway station, and was sent up stairs into P apartment to procure the box. It appears that whilst 5 I stairs he entered another room, and abstracted the 2,00 - . lery. He was taken into custody on Saturday whilst offer ing the property in pledge. He was committed for trial. ROBBERY AT WOODSIDE FERRY.—Shortly after eleven o'clock on Tuesday night last, Mr. Shakeshaft, residing at Holt-hill, Tranmere, upon leaving the ferry at Woodsine , was assailed by a man and a woman, who seized his gold watch, a gold guard, and a valuable breast-pin. 3 - 11. ; Shakeshaft, although somewhat unde r th e influence ni liquor at the time, managed to retain hold of the female until the arrival of a police-officer, who took her into cus tody. The guard and the breast-pin were found upon the ground, but the male assailant decamped with the watch' The prisoner, who gave the name of Eliza Judge, ye a brought up at the Police-court on Wednesday, and 1 05 committed for trial. enerating 01 itants private life the rest ROBBERI Mr. a bedroa LORD CHIEF JUSTICE CAMPBELL AND A IVELSTI JUE.T.—III a case tried the other day, at the D e nbigh assizes, the jury having been some time in considering their verdict, when the case was really a very clear one, the judge told them at once, when a jury had refused to 0 00 ; vict a prisoner who had made a plain confession, a learne", 'ridge whom he just remembered (Chief Baron Macdonald) addressed the prisoner :—" Prisoner, go and he honest, for your character is now so bad that the ,i' 3l ;von't convict you, because they- can't believe your On" LHis lordship struck his hand on the bench WI some violence while repeating Judge Macdonald's wor(-4z' which were evidently intended as a reproof for the jury) FAREWELL DINNER.—On Tuesday, about twenty gen' tlemen, friends of Mr. Jolm Roberts, lately connectedwit il the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction way Company, and who has since sailed to Canada, haul, been appointed to a high official situation connected ilk' the Grand Trunk Railway in that country, gave a farew eij dinner to him at the Adelphi Hotel, Woodside Fer_ , ' Mr. William Rose occupied the chair, and Mr. 11. ( Aspinal the vice-chair. After the usual loyal toasts, the president, in an eloquent speech, gave the health of ,31 " Roberts, and success to him in his future progreFF traffic manager of the Canadian Grand Trunk Raflwe' The toast was drunk with very great enthusiasm, and th e evening was spent in harmony and good feeling. THE Jrny FAIRS IN WALES.—The fairs held lost month throughout the Principality have been e xtremely t good and well attended. The supply of cattle has, in 0 4 instances, been limited, especially of store cattle; and, " I _,, a 'fair attendance of purchasers, the amount of busi- 1 , 6 7' transacted has been such that little, if any, has been unsold at the close of the day's proceedings. In Z s e , places the demand has been far beyond the supply on the other hand, at several fairs, though the exhibiticre. of fat cattle was limited, yet it was quite equal to thce,ittle mand, the price of beef being so high that but fewtea were , killed. All other descriptions of stock ha' o e f the eagerly bought up, in order to fill the shamble stores butchers. Milch cows have realized high rates'.., been have been in great request. Good horses im b p ' ra t es for . bought up at most remunerating prices. w ool vegetables have also been very high. The varwr „i ce s fairs have been well attended, and the present highP' have been kept up. THE TRUSTEES OF THE BIRKENHEAD Docas v. LAIRD. —The lords justices attended et the even-t of chancery oft Tuesday to hear this case, which was an appeal from an order made by the master of the rolls, on the 18th J-ly last, in consequence of an application made to them on Saturday week, and which gave them reason to suprioe that considerable inconvenience would result from dem" ing the hearing until after the long vacation ; when, how ever, the contending parties came into court this morning' none of them appeared to be exactly aware why they were there, or about what they were going to argue, the ord er appealed from not being drawn up, or indeed the terns of it so far settled as to enable any one to tell whether he was injured by it or not. All were, however, a greed !! , I thinking that the matter might very well stand over unta' Michaelmas term. The counsel at whose instance princ i et i pally the case had been put into the paper then apologds to their lordships for having given them the trouble 01 attending, and stated that his instructions had been that important works would be stopped by the order raad e l, The Lord Justice Knight Bruce : This is nothing, Fin" it has been proposed to make an Indian court of us. "" all events, we were consulted on this. BIRKEITHEAD COMMISSIONEIII3.—Mr. J. H. Green 1)1!, sided at the monthly meeting of this body, on Tuesa s when it appeared, from the proceedings of the Ferry C°.„, a . mittee, that the receipts for the past month were £27v", 12s. 9d., against £2592 16s. ld for the month of JuiP 1852. The total receipts from the 25th of April to J 11 1,,/ 31st in the present year, were £7454 15s. Bd., and for th e period of 1852, £6767 The total expendita` from the 25th of April last to the 31st of July, including working expenses, rent, and payment on account of ne; 4 ° boat, were £5644 ss. 11d. The minutes were confirm ed A lengthy discussion took place relative to the followift' resolution, proposed by Mr. Willoughby, but afterivarr, withdrawn by that gentleman :—" That a committee "' appointed to inquire into the various sources of revenue' belonging to the commissioners, as well as the whole °I; their liabilities, with a view to the adoption of Fn c , measures as may best enable them to keep their engng„`, ments with. the bondholders, without pressing too hea t fession. ADVERTISER of the Vest-all 17 a, and that ions china—, Punch. a fire wit y of expecting any advantage from the gr►tuitously circulated advertising sheets, that I have seen hundreds of them at differen I may sa ave never been opened, but to b paper ( otherwise destroye ; and feeling some I ity on the I , et found subject, I have made diligent enquiry, and one who had read or attempted to read one o .se sheets, though he had receive,' them r .gularly, and tunities There is certainly something like a temptation to advertise, when a man is told that ten thousand copies of his announcement will be printed and circulated, but the real consideration is as to their being read, and the character of the individuals before whose notice Many of the London advertisers are w with the before quantity. In illustra n of this, I may instance the fact that the John Bull, a Conservative paper, circulating among the respectable classes, enjoyed five ti :+ es more ad vertising patronage than a Radical contemporary, though the latter had twenty times the circulation of the former. That which holds good in London would equally bold good, in Liverpool, and as the Standard enjoys the el patronage, the public should feel grateful to yon, giving them the full benefit which you propose.—l am, Sir, of local as I do, for AN OBSERVER , PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT TO SAMUEL lIOLME, ESQ Sitt,—l would beg leave to urge upon the attention of your worship the necessity of pressing forward the labours of the special Improvement Committee recently appointed, in order o prepare a General Imprevement Act for tt sion of Parliament No time is to be lost, if Liverpool is to maintain her position. Let us not be behind other plaees ; London, Paris, and other cities are carrying out magnificent schemes; then why should this town remain a byf be reproached as a laggard in the march of impr this age of progress? As a seat of commerce, she stands un rivalled. In any bill that may be submitted to the Legisla ture, I would not have the dwellings of the labouringclass overlooked or omitted ; let this form a part or portion of it. To render the measure complete in a sanitary point of view, I would also suggest the present site of the old Gas Works, Dale-street, now the property of the Corporation, as a fit and proper place whereon to erect salt water museum, and library, &c -word, and !ment in ths, a public I am, Sir, respectfully your obedient servant, Liverpool, 6th August, 1853 L'INCONNU. P.S.—I have not heard whether it is the intention of the Council to provide a vegetable market, much wanted, in a central situation , THE GREEK CHURCH. TO THE EDITOR OP THE LIVERPOOL ST AN BARD Sra,—As I attempted last week to give a very succinct ac count of the origin of the Greek Church, I shall proceed this week with an elucidation of its progress from the earliest ages up to the present time. The rumours of a pacific solution to the differences existing between Russia and the Porte for the last few days may, in some measure, have drawn the minds of men from so prevailing a subject. But still, though state ments appear to show that the matter which has been so long pending will be amicably settled, that as soon as the combined Fleets shall be withdrawn from the Bay of Besika, the Rus sian troops will vacate the Turkish provinces which they now occupy.--still the grasping ambition of the Northern Bear varies not nor is at all abated, and Turkey is, most assuredly, the object of his long-cherished desires—desires which have been fondly nun. i.iked by n nny or toe prettecessors of the Emperor Nicholas. The remarkable observations which "Napoleon le Grand" has left us in O'Meara's "Voice from St. Helena," vol. 2, from pages 69 to 72, at the present juncture, are well worthy of attention. But I must proceed to the subject of my letter, viz.,—the progress and pre sent state of the Greek Church. Several of the patri archiates in the seventh century suf f ered by the Persian army under Chosroes, followed by the inroads of the Saracens, who first seized upon and conquered Antioch, (A.D. 634) then Jerusalem, (A.D. 637) and finally, _ Alexandria, (A.D. 640). In (A.D. 714.) the Saracens crossed the sea which separates Spain from Africa, routed the army of Roderic King of the Spanish Goths, and subdued the greaterpsrt of that country, and though Charlemagne (A.D. 778) marched a large army into Spain, with a design to rescue that country from them, and met with conside - rable success, yet he did not fully accom plish his wishes. In Spain, in Sardinia, and in Sicily, which they laid waste, was the power of their arms also felt ; —they possessed besides Syria, Egypt, and Palestine. (A.D. 1453) the Turkish forces advanced to Constantinople, and after a vigor ous siege won it and made it the imperial residence of their Sultan. Thus was the Eastern Church under a state of vassal age, passing through a chequered scene of persecution and repose, tolerated certainly, but exposed to scorn. To show the servility of the Greek Patriarch, it has been said that be tween the years 1620 and 1671, the Patriarchal throne was vacant no less than nineteen times. The position of rank in the Greek Church has been usually a position of danger. The martyrdom of Gregory, born in 1739, Patriarchate of Con stantinople, 1796, also the martyrdom of Jewelrius of Phila delphia, (A.D. 1637) of Dionysius of Smyrna, (A.D. 1763) and of Dionysius of Ephesus, (A.D. 1818),stafflciently show the cruelty exercised by the Turks towards the Greek Church. Though the Church suffered many trials and afflictions under the sway of the crescent, the darkness of the picture is some what relieved by the progress it made in the vast and exten sive kingdom of Russia. Tradition says that the Apostle Andrew predicted that the light of Divine grace should shine forth on the hills of Kietf, but passing over that point, credi ble historians assert that in the year 886, during the reign of Ruric, the founder of the Russian Empire, two princes of Kieff appeared before the walls of Constantinople with a force of 200 armed boats. Michael 111., by the advice of his priests, ordered in this emergency the miraculous robe of the Virgin to be produced, and to be cast into the sea. The effect caused by the miraculous robe of the Virgin was a violent st which the Russian fleet was considerably shattered nd this miracle had such an effect upon the Russ embraced Christianity. The next conversion we have was Olga, the widowed daughter-in-law of Ruric, and Queen Regent of the Empire. For above a century, Pazanisat was the most prevalent religion; hOwever, the Christian faith still progressed. Vladimir the Great, grandson to Olga, appears to have possessed a superior mind, and being impressed with the Christian religion, which appeared to him to be one of purity, and the followers of which faith appeared to lead a life so different to the Pagan worshippers, he without entirely becoming at first a convert to the religion of Olga, and being also restless and enterprising in his nature, com missioned ten of his subjects to inquire into the tenets of the , various religions, viz., Mohammedan, Jew, Romanist, and Greek, with the character and conviction of those who pro feseed them. Having a prepossession for the Greek faith, which was confirmed by the address of the Greek Envoy, who explained to him the scheme of Redemption, and also the report which his own nobles brought back of the impressiveness of the service in the Church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, decided him to embrace the Eastern form of Christianity. Space will not allow us to enter more into the subject, inter esting as it is, but next week I shall continue it to the year 1852. The subject is one with which many are unacquainted, and therefore I trust it will not be unacceptable to your readers. Errata.—ln my former letter, for " Filiogue," read " Fill oque." For "sOO years have elapsed," read "nearly elapsed." Birkenhead, August 6, 1653.,.. _ _ G. B. H. America, ,) an the ratepayers. - WALLASZY COMMMISIONERS.—The monthly meetinj was held on Thursday evening, at the Queen's AT . Hotel, Liscard, Mr. Penny in the chair. The remain portion of the report of the special committee appoint to organise committees, &c., for the new board, was fu's ,„ entertained, and, on tie motion of Mr. Hill, secon ded LI. Mr. Callow, the following committee s were d ec id e d upon' Works and health committee—M essrs. Colbourn, Pe°le9' Callow, Wilson, and Odell; finance committee—Mes o ' Fisher, Barton, Beausire, Hill, and Crump ; watcluv. and bye-law committee—Messrs. Lawrence, Neville, 5314 ... Penny, and Halliday. The next matter in the report 1 1,'"" the recommendation to appoint a special sub-commitin ac they 1 of five 410 iembers, to take into consideration the prol,- of leasing Seacombe ferry.—Mr. Neville contended to. the . committee had exceeded its powers in making 1, recommendation respecting the ferry.—ln reply to question, the Chairman said he had received a come nication from Messrs. Colbourn, in which they intiraat', their willingness to negotiate either for a lease or sale of the Egremont and New Brighton ferries, with ...t c h e , steamers and other property attached thereto. Fisher, at great length, opposed the appointment of a sun: committee. He contendedthat they could not borrow rannej for any works except those of a permanent nature, al f ; 0 the providing steam-boats7jie did not consider to be Wf o iel of n permanent nature. To purchase steamers !foil involve an outlay of. £lO,OOO or £12,000, and to rail ° a l " amount a rate of not much less than 7 s. in the poion c _. the be required. He (Mr. Fisher ) concluded by ma, ' n ' t the following resolution :—" That a case shall be stated a ny opinion of counsel, on the following points : Whether b e money to be borrowed under the Public Health Act 1 : 1 3 ,4, applied to the purchase of steamers or other mattersa may be requisite to work any ferry. Has the local h such power to work any ferry t o be- taken by them, by steam-boats :under contract, instead of purchasing steamers ? Can any toll or ferryage be taken by the ;R board ?"—A letter from Mr. Maw, requesting, on Widerbe " the Wallasey G as C om p an y, to open cer t a i n roads r e• the superintendence of the surveyor of the board, s c rod ferred.—Some routine business was then disposed °l' the board adjourned. CHANGE Or SCENE.—The Tyrawly Herald status Mr. John Hanley, who went over from London toe on tit the borough of Sligo on ultra-Protestant principles, a ' 1115 late election, is at present in gaol in that town,.tb r to hotel expenses. Mr. Hanley states that he only w isilea resist an overcharge, and he preferred going to P' rather than submit. • hall/ THE HEMP TRADE.—The entire import of Bahl; frota into Liverpool is now about 7,000 tons a-year ; att".,, jb " r tli the East Indies, Africa, the Mediterannean, and - "Age • - 3,000; altogether 10,000 tons a-year, in v " - i r .350,000, exclusive of juto. The re-exports ' la st i Ye' SS amounted to 617 tons. Liverpool now receives tlea r „ toe much hemp as London, but the imports into lino 00 1 lately fallen off considerably.—" B. P." in the .LieerP Times. THE SEA SNAKE.—This beautiful vessel is at 13 , 31' 0 11 i staple, rap idly preparing for sea, her destination at Pre s-De being Li v erpool, from which port it is expected that will obtain a freight to some distant part of the vr o i She is a perfect model as to symmetry, and thongh,Posss have a preference for the stouter built old-fashion eu _ui of vessels, over the clippers of the present day, it wo, u Da ve the diffi c e ul ffe t ct th of inia REGISTRATION OF ASSURANCES BILL . An detracting e ne a n froaltmerahetirobneawuhitych would 1 1 _,, ( Y' oe tie. A Ce. , against this bill, from Messrs. Leatham, Tew, and o ioe Wakefield, bankers, appears in the Bankers' . 31a g je tter for the present month. Not having roo m for the_ fa we can only refer our readers to it, and quote graph :—" There are three broad principles ill„,'„ e firsi which appear to us to be decidedly objectionable. Ji i ; e g i is, that it centralises ; the second, that it requi r f! the d u : sure of private affairs, which is unnecesearY , 14 ", 0r.5; tb Axentera•brealetterof security of the public, and may prove niisch2e` ity o third, that it throws daily impedimenta in al' m ay daily commerce of the country." HORTICULTURE. STOVE AND GREENROrSE.—Many plants are now going out of bloom, and must be allowed to rest ; this is done by removing them to a cooler atmosphere, and withhold ing all stimulation in the way of liquid manure, and, in some cases, such as Achimenes, some Cape bulbs, as Zephyranthus and others, of water. Pay attention to the Cinerarias, Chinese primulas, seeding Calceolarias, and other things now coming forward for winter decoration. Chrysanthemums require attention, and it is desirable to strike a number of the tops of the growing stems, so that s hort flowering plants may be obtained for decorating the conservatory shelves. FLOWER GAnDEN.—It is an excellent time for taking cuttings of such choice herbaceous plants as strike the cultivator as worthy his attention, because, if left later, they are very apt to be forgotten. There is scarcely a hardy plant which may not be now propagated with a little care. Cuttings of pansies, pipings of pinks, and various other things, should also be provided, and struck without delay. KITCHEN GARDEN.—The potato disease is showing it self again this season, therefore no time must be lost in filling every inch of ground with winter vegetables, such as the various kinds of cabbage, greens, brocoli, and turnips. Celery should receive frequent waterings with liquid manure. .ACCIMENT AT TUB 110178 ES oT PABLumrsr,—On Thursday another serious secidea occurred by the fall of one of the masons from the:scaffolding of the clock tower, by which the poor fellow bad both lege broken, A TT f'_' TT T 9, 1853.