The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-18 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Oriential manners are scarcely less clearly indi-
cated than in the scene which we hud previously
extracted. His observations on manners and
customs, however, were not confned to the city,
or even to the immediate neighbou, hood of Damas-
cus. He traversed consideralg portions of the
Desert ; and encountered, un, different circum-
stances, encampments of the nomade tribes who
roam over its vast tracts, or more correctly
speaking, who hover aLoat , its borders. Of
these he gives several descriptions which,
although characterised by the freshness and
fidelity of narrative which forms the most
attractive features of his book, we cannot
afford space for, yet cannot resist the tempta-
tion of accompanying him in some of his re-
searches among the world-renowned ruins of
Palmyra. These he visited and examined with
great care, and he displays both pains-taking and
sagacity in describing them. The ruins of Pal-
myra, which occupy an immense area of ground,
are white as snow, and in general silent as the
tomb ; no blade of grass nor other form of
vegetation interposing to mar the impressive
though scarcely monotonous solitude. Lonely
avenues of stately and elegant columns ; broken,
arches and recumbent pillars ; fragments of por-
ticoes, and fallen cornices and entablatures,
mingle strangely with the features of the Desert.
On each and all of these striking contrasts Mr.
Porter gazes with the feeling of the moralist and
the eye of the artist and philosopher. He thus
describes

The Museum of Science and Art. Edited by
Dionysius Lardner, D.C.L. Vo). VIII. Lou-

don c Walton and Maberly.

The eighth volume of this scientific library is
now before us, and that volume is probably one
of the most interesting and valuable of the series.
It commences with a rapid glance at the stellar
universe, in which the nebular and other theories
receive further illustration than they have ob-
tained in any of the previous volumes. The sub-
ject next considered is " Man." This compli-
cated and interesting subject of inquiry is traced
through its varying branches, physical and moral,
and the material and mental relations of the
species Man with the inferior races of animals are
clearly and cleverly traced. In considering the
physical superiority of the human organisation
over that of the lower animals, a clear analogy is
traced with the mental results of those superior
organisms, and throughout the whole the benefi-
cient wisdom of the great Creator is powerfully
manifested. On the intricate subjects of instinct
and reason we have elaborate and well-digested
speculations. The merely animal instincts are
considered in their various relations to self-
preservation and love of offspring, very remote
indications of which are traceable in even the
vegetable kingdom. They are then examined
more in detail, as the expanding instincts of the
infant are gradually absorbed in the experiences
and reasonings of the man. The inquiry is sub-
sequently pursued in considering the relations
which exist between instinct and intelligence, as
these are exhibited among the insect and ornitho-
logical tribes.
Besides the matters referred to, the volume
before us also contains clearly written and highly
instructive, as well as amusing, chapters on mag-
nifying glasses, in which the principles of the
microscope are felicitously unfolded. The camera
obscura and magic lantern also meet with an able
and interesting exposition ; and, as a whole, the
eighth volume of the " Museum of Science and
Art" sustains the character of the work as an
admirable repertory of popular science, and vin-
dicates the • character of Dr. Lardner, its editor,
as one of the most eloquent and lucid expositors
of physical science.

Memoirs of the Life and Writings of James
Montgomery : including Selections from his
Correspondence, Remains in Prose and Verse,
and Conversations on Various Subjects. By
John Holland and James Everett. Vols 111.

and IV. London : Longman and Co.
To be a work published under the imprimatur
of a respectable publishing firm, the two volumes
under remark are singular specimens of the art
of book-manufacture. For the purpose of swell-
ing the work into an imposing magnitude, the
Sheffield Iris, a newspaper which acquired some
celebrity under the editorship of Montgomery, is
drawn upon to an extent which is altogether
unpardonable. Want of judgment and an excess
of zeal may have misled the two gentlemen who
have, conjointly, undertaken the life of the unob-
trusive and delicately-minded author of " The
Pelican Island" into a belief that all he said and
all he did was worthy of preservation and repro-
duction. In this they have been mistaken, and
greatly erred. Two-thirds, indeed three-fourths,
of what is put forth under the heads of Cor-
xespondence and Remains, are unmitigated
twaddle. Tliat he was delicate in his mental
susceptibilities, and dainty in his more elaborate
literary efforts, is true, and it is well that it should
be known ; but most of the reproduced matter in
these volumes, on subjects which could lead to an
appreciation of his mental physiognomy, are as
unimportant as was the colour of the handker-

chief with which he wiped the perspiration
finely-rounded brow. An acceptable bi
of James Montgomery, in a condense
generalized form, would be interesting,
yet
not but prove instructive ; but it bas
written.

A REAL ROMAXCI.

SOME years ago, Mr. Catlin, the -„iri
exhibitor of North American Indian rue
exemplifier of the manners and 015100
people, in his anxiety to cater for the 5 bet'
if not instruction, of the British public'cui,
him of collecting a band of real live
and of carrying them to that most elsl'its
tion of the globe, London, and to b(
civilized quarter, Regent-street itself :
might show to astonished multitudes h
man in his native wilds danced his NC% $t
sung his war-song, tomahawked a of
tortured and triumphed over his victiraidtio
in less ferocious mood, he danced theo
smoked the calumet of peace, drove
paddled his canoe, or harangued 111'
family. The idea was excellent, dolibt-;
its execution far from easy. An hyellit't
the laughing species, may be caught, if 11,°,s
an elephant may be tamed to stand on 111,(
and a lion or tiger may be made to lie u
their keeper's bidding ;
but the wild 11103,
forest, savage though he be, is one of t"
of the creation, and believing in the -
liberty, is too wary to be caught, or, if..
to be tortured into the habits of civil
still less to obey the orders of a
whiOteitb
such a pittance as he could offer- ,Isvar(
indefatigable exhibitor soon becallie
though he could not bring over a ""
tain and his band of Red braves, he e°'__
comparative ease tempt any number of taw;
pewas, or their brown-tinted descendsll
magnificent promises of an unlimited
rum, to follow him round the world, to
sing, or scalp, either in fact or in fictiaPo
ever he might bid them. The requisite ti
to perform the scalp-dance of war, ft. oe
jump of peace, were soon collected 10 °leo'
of the " Soo " itself ; but a ebiefto dee,
ing who might in appearance, if not
dignity to his exalted rank. be
Now, there dwelt at the said town O'„t
a fine-looking fellow, a carpenter 1-1:4(
French descent, whose mother, or ghr-ito,
rather, was a squaw. Besides _Frenclier
lish he spoke the Chippewa and otmi
dialects, and havinc, been much l'iv°lc)i
was completely conversant with their lici9g,
customs. He had, too, been empl°,Yecbea
preter on those occasions when the In
assemble to receive presents from the gc,,
as bribes to keep them on their good
Here was the very man to suit the
to,
purpose. If not a real chieftain, ads,
fee
supply of red and yellow ochre, bileio
foxes' tails and teeth, deers' skins,iiit #AS
bears' claws, would make him every sc, to
as one, besides being much better fibleaticl
to all inquisitive inquirers the custnipsioos
of the tribe whom he and his cones 010
mirably represented. An overture ilias
terms were agreed on, the bargain nat.
and Luis Cadotte, laying aside his saw,' for it
turned his talents, evidently intende" for'
d
sphere, towards a new field more suite
play. In course of time the exhibitor, 'cc.'
rove
Indians and other stage properties, s
don ; and there, I need not tell 110.vfht'el.
they competed in interesting an enhrtijov
with Bushmen, Siamese twins, ',.,4ttaotte
phants, and the happy family. Luis'