The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-25 00:00:00

LITERARY EXTRACTS.

WORSE THAN NATURE INTENDED.—Nature has
sometimes made a fool, but a coxcomb is always of a
man's own making.---Addison.

THE USED KEY.-" The failure of the mind in old
age," says Sir Benjamin Brodie, " is often less the result
of natural decay than of disuse. Ambition has ceased
to operate ; contentment brings indolence ; indolence
decay of mental power, ennui, and sometimes death.
Men have been known to die, literally speaking, of
diseases induced by intellectual vacancy."
STONEHENGE.—These stones have not been quarried
at all, being boulders collected from the Downs. It is
supposed by eminent geologists that they belong to the
tertiary formation, and that the strata in which they
were embedded have been swept away by some great
catastrophe. The outer circle probably contained thirty
upright stones, of which seventeen are standing ; and
the number of their lintels in their original position is
about seven or eight. Of the five large trilithons, only
two are now complete.---Notes and Queries.

31111031MED'S DISLIKE TO ONIONS.--. Mahommed
never would eat these strong-smelling vegetables, on
account of his converse with the angels, even as
modern " spiritualists " refuse to smoke tobacco ; at
the same time he allowed his followers to do so, ex-
cept when appearing in his presence, entering a
mosque, or joining in public prayers. The pious
Moslem still eats his onions with these limitations.
Some sects, however, as the Wahhabis, considering
them abominable, avoid them on all occasions.—
Burton's Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah
and Meccah.

WHIG AND TonY.—Whig, or Whaig' is the Scotch
for Whey, which became a sobriquet of drovers, and a
representative of bandits. It was first applied as a
nick-name to those who attempted to resist the
oppressions practised against Scotland. Tory came
from " toory, ' in Irish " give me," and like the " per-
dioses" of Spain, was applied to beggars and then to
outlaws. It became the sobriquet of those who
resisted the oppressions of Ireland. In both cases the
contemptuous appellation was accepted with pride by
those to whom it was applied ; in both cases it re-
presentedin the origin justice and integrity.---Familiar
Words by D. Urquhart.

COMFORT FOR THE HOMELY WOMAN.—" Beauty,"
says Lord Kaimes, "is a dangerous property, tending
to corrupt the mind of a wife, though it soon loses its
influence over the husband. A figure, agreeable and
engaging, which inspires affection without the ebriety

oe sprioo
of love, is a much safer choice' At
lose their influence like beau* 010:4
forty, nay fifty years, a virtuoto
agreeable wife charms her fir liore
The comparison of love to
respect—that the fiercer it burll9 a
tinguished."
,beteso4l
tir

4

[SrPT°I3

" Row, BROTHERS, ROVV."-,-,„51."-t ''.j V
Moore's undying " Cunadian oemt u'df44
wrote on the fifth day of his des,three itoy
rence, from Kingston. ThirtYure of stiti'
wrote this song, I had the Pleus hodeef4
the original manuscript,which he as ti,icci,
He had pencilled the lines near,..,l/1, 114
work, in the blank page of a ""`" tontr I
be in his canoe, from whence lI,S 6,25441
night. The sight of the origiuna 011ie; 0
lines, recalling youthful day Poet,°`— ' r
produced a great effect on the
edso ili
touching manner to his Passim iiiiit;4l
life.---Weld's Vacation, Ibur*
~011 resit le,
CURIOUS RUSSIAN CVSTO3I* is a 40,0.
nle
and the following Sunday, there br, t•'04;,,,, tq
in the Summer Gardens, n•p °I/ oef,
tw,oefl
brides. The Rnssian tradesto,pe ;$ ill 0.1',-
pose their marriageable daugll"; tDP,',,get'it)
them, or, as they term it, to g".l. ii.vir,theA
the lime trees of the princiPSoflP;pll..' oir;
rows of gaily-dressed girls, paf;#ll4llel till'
the pipes of an organ. Behind Oui,,' fo-,.,',
maker, and the third row thecioik,fl!';, 1
female relatives. Through this.ooo 6'tit:bliti°.
tors and the wife-seeking ns PieTu'' s.f, 0'
latter notice any face tha t »lir,
matchmaker belonging to if' ~the?c*
till a late hour.
gi; SC_A•efl 4, l'i' 1
A LEGEND OF WINCI{EST"-_,ow the - eOl
chamber, with the adjoinil4,,M, illoirl,det,
school-room, the stone " but es.00111:(1;
dows still remaining buy I 0 VI frdo,
scarely more than 90 bogs' .a.lit „.01, 0,
the western wall, is a red lierou'O` ei I
tred
tradition was, that it was %jjetoi $ (1110,1310 t,
by, when two scholars, br°oo". pre&-
whom a savage prefect e%eber, e °P St i
until one night the elder 10t of ti1ete3,t,,..0
determined upon the destlijr_ip 0, t. ehell
armed with a dagger, st'll-sleeiker„:ll '
fierce, into the unconscious., ; or, cisiii
was made, and as the b i• o thi','ee 1",iill
light upon the bed, the sgre#lo,' re roeroi°,it
livid features of his own ;pert, tile lqr ; iri
compelled to change his'`; bs $0110"Ws '
pressor. So ran the stortfitle°' 1
bably of some baronet, a " / 'olli
• 01 ~
is now, a blood-red hulla 0111, ifc'° tio
College. Teo Al 4Ai
Were,biel"ei'efill
PORTRAIT OF Sartr..-;" P ~,or ;, fol',.,Vi
down the signalement of feet PlotewosTiel
nearly the result :_Five chiollstter6cel',
piercing, complexion Pale' •recl ' the - e'i(
in adding mouth middle'sloot tu isicleV.
have given a descriptiou,t4 this is l'tel,/
Bureau des Passports. ki.,' orotorop firooicv,
p,entleman ; that of V.iftlearosue wifeti,°llo'
When you behold that little eJ: insi;itird:
is impossible to suspectgiere is Iiis,00:01:?
ble of converting it. 3-I.aheati.,,,is e11',.,.'
Juvenal, of Pindar, oftail les ; ' his V' ii'
th 100 11.4
and biting; his poetrY,iing.s for 13, t ,et ,
you away. When lie 0 whoa is iluP4prot
smile contracts his liPs":ben lle,_e 00 ;011,ii
dart forth lightnings-- when tal,
_...0,11
_its d
inir;ilitti
joosrinv,osil
ee:oo4otratoe:re
ci,:jritt :le
ocli,e
of :1,
butgo fe
tphoaewrperrofprofound
sublime.uids P
abruP ' Wi 41'i,
His gesture is quick,
,ct oisotsesse hi, ,
but it is always in Per' shiel I,?',..oitilu,', 01
as he has to express. ~riati oi! 104,1! 05.,
degree the surprisin:!niasvitho:ll:oo,llslB y I
very verge, of delirlu t his, sit treivoot oot
Dv as a Io 111 .
self-possession. all his vn ;daiii t
more than once I saw „se„ssioo d,',P. ireiVij
after he resumed the aintgegerit„,„l,ol joil
sure than ingennitY. •• isi..ooo°Pj fouje,l2,lol
WELLINGToN AND whir the taboo vil.
this evening to Goethel, 0 tile
Goe •.
t 'al' 0
1
lington, who wa,
i
room.
y.estlerstydi7unitihsYss:.7.o,tobtrotallec 0,0

° cieterith
'i
hellattiNiZsliOndeed !" said Goethe, with animation,_oes
ft ter Mt lilte his 'lke P Tell me all about. him., D it! at 1-1.-with more portrait ?,,
It
At° see hie, all tii°4llloarrtke.d, ch‘a‘rlarcetser". sallfdylOu everbut look
-
',nes hem °nee , rails are naught. One. need
.only
'
brillia, irtake. iver te forget him, such an impression
l'
/110iith-,e,,Y. , One fis,eYes are brown, and of the serenest.
111 I -Peak evens the effect of his glance. His
ft al
nialasy' evtbell Whenitis closed. He looks a man
1 kik' est deeds ~,Tghts and has lived througeahlmthlye
,
lie serenely ' "'4° new can handle the world
i: hie see
t' an whom _.e oin oin nothing more can disturb.
1 4ft; •By h; eas hard and tempered as a
.Damascus
1 .es, is
..ts aphe__
~
lw Ili, 11Pri..ht t',..trance, he has far advanced in the
71 as se,_ eiLLliiilte I,Buni, and not very tall or stout. I
, kill 'get ng into his carriage to There
1," 1)(A,, Pas hang tF Ilacconimonly cordial in. i
i
Ws salutation
depart.
t°
b'".1:11leil ,11-41'"gli the crowd, and, wiGthoea,tvhe_erlyisstlight
seet,-1 4seeti." 'lig hat with his finger."
It
liel rall:t111 /4tiOn with visible interest. You Y listened
1 acne 11 1, ° lilore " said he, " and that is saying
c° he, illat pre 'then talked of Napoleon,
,a,nd.dl
ft`4l4-11) h',:`‘. had never seen him. " Truly, said
I,
`Se?'„`44l4
of also was worth the
Dthide
htreoulobolke.
Li Goeth ask
e.,, the world !
replied
likWhe soamt. ea-
-1 lc"
.4' el
c a ett
T. "He was something,"
litterkeNct44,lle looked what he. was—that was all."
° g'eh -h.Li 8 Conversation with
.!_.,
14? oe ,tl, ha't,lG.lol`l OF TEE SERFS.—The serfs, m
nor ;I, aS the very limited ideas on the subject
read
~. bea,rite; tP', for the greater part, can neitherof re-
I fast del, .LleY go to church, where they repeat with
ii I eat
hic'ttil,°ll acertain number of Ayes and Pater-
WI. s the,- 'en' own language, or rather Slavonic,. and
%1 the is do lees while the priest is celebrating mass,
a : Ilteasi cician with more or less pomp, according to
li
reaas -°4 or the riches of the church. If you ask
',,"' °' thi, at, Wh • God Phe will point to the corner
va etch-roe - roe ere is .
I 0 all,' elite,' 4', where there are hanging. one or_
_more. badly
1* 71)„ wiliriti,aintings, representing some of their saints,d
hat sill lie is firmly persuaded. are. so . many g:o s.
p haps, create a smile of pity in England,
.•(1 iittvtlielitt pis;tileer natural result of their uneducated state
ti,eks. Tlleelmes them from understanding all abstract 0,1 tv'ee, ,Y Cali The
have something corporeal—something
i* I 1 b eeaand feel • consequently to abolish these
4 It4n t -%•.: aot° -Lee away with: all religion in their eyes.
c'virii WY tli
i' si, it,o°)ll pt e,y are very religious; I have even
1 no' B'4 cover 0 `-111 who, when about to commit a
Illbghtheeier Wilatts,tflaZeNly their images, that God may
yneither
j z, butter, e -hick
aarbeout. They are ver strict
very severe, as
: I VSll3B4lldiesu Perg.illg'sit'te°dr anything that is produced by
and of course, animalisfooodf
the'r, Lem Tile principal and longest fast, ~ le tit, fir'
'.,' when they do not even eat fish during
444 ' frOmuliklalast week, nor on Wednesdays and Fri-
F.i itiVaany—ason, d• Friday till after mass on Easter-
-1 Vellin,;" L.Laem eat nothin but spend their time
I. Ns eci thaV tasting and praying, being firmly per-
A ktle. But'ist dies an rise again every year at
4" 1') t, when the mass is over (generally about
~t ah'' ," ' 4t,,g4Ple amends is made for the long fast by
4 I.ty" a degree that is really disgusting to look
ti ink
ten • for
sill Pg oink
of; nor is the brandy-cup forgotten , . a
)' tiett!Let tjthree days that Easter lasts it is almost .
Nikirk. the drunk ; nor are the priests backward in
l' 1110 Is example in both eating and drinking._
cille 'tie aanther curious custom, which is universal
'' 1 LAI nt t .
' ~ti see two empire—that of kissing. You fre-
' CliN,ti) men, who can hardly keep their
Lial.(ltlr'est v:eliskdr uncover in the streets, one saying,
the other answering, " Vi-istion
leirehsehe'CeY kiss each other three times on alter-
qaphohy s',a„ntl then walk on to perform the same
tetien to with the next acquaintance they
tmh aiyr
4ttitci • Iri,eet. They are blin attached
_tooye _
ekto-
°V.
' 1° e their this has been th elmean pi d
F, ir
enthusiasm for the present war.—Blac
4 N*4)\‘,,t,s
N Ce fair
~Alci) PASHIONS.--Flowers are like fashions.i.
ii' ovetieality,
each who set and wear them ; eacdh rseigtihe
Ittlit tp,st am 44.11 fresh-blown mode, is admire
tl7ll the %Re most becoming. What
.more charm-
-11 kit), e Nilo sPIPIe unaffected stile of dress introduced
Li kid itase ? livpl'OP, the crocus, the hepatica, and the
IP tiles eanties But, as dogs have their day, so have flowers
Lk4a, 4.
4.t" Like the waves 'of the summer, as one
I "qteh/ve thiltufer as bright and as fleeting comes on."
I - the first'uelli all the brightest for the time being.
generation of spring blooms are turned
I

INitER 25, 1855.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

to hay and withered leaves, we rapturously admire and
ecstatically adore the glories of the tulip, the voluptuous-
ness of the rose, the luxury of the carnation, and the
noble presence of the dahlia. And when they are
standinc, with one foot in the grave, ready to be swept
to their funeral amidst the compost heaps of autumn,
we console ourselves for the loss of our dear departed
flowers, by gazing with rapture at the expandin,, petals
of chrysanthemums, dwarf, tall and middle-sized,'' white,
yellow, orange, red, brown, blush ; in short, of every
colour of the rainbow except the best,—blue and violet,
for those are the hues of love and friendship. Exactly
so with milliner's fashions. Did you ever know a
pretty and amiable woman look otherwise than charm-
ing, whether she wore a ruff, a farthingale, a hoop or
a Mary Stuart cap ? Her hair, whether dusted with
a bushel of powder, frizzed into a cloud, tortured into
cork-screws, braided into long cows'-tails, plastered
stiff with Bandoline, or puffed into rolls like Bolonga
sausages,—her hair still constituted the head-dress of
a beauty ; and you admired its arrangement while you
beheld it, however absurd that arrangement might be.
Were not you taken in your youth, with coal-scuttle
hats, skin-tight sleeves, low-cut bosoms, and high
waists on a level with the armpits P Have you not
been pleased with decorous dresses buttoned tight
round the throat ; with gigot-sleeves, which only
require inflation with gas to make your dearly beloved
Jenny jump over the moon; with shot-silk-skirts, which
answer as admirable substitutes when the street-
sweeping machines are out of order ; with multiple
series of graduated flounces reaching almost to the ears
of the wearer, as iF a lady were a sort of pyramido-
comical obelisk, whose pinnacle was to be reached by
climbing up a flight of external steps ? I again assert
that women, fashions, and flowers, admit of no degrees
of comparison. They are all superlative while they
last. The flower season is a succession of brilliant
noons, a compressed epitome of many bright summers,
a reiteration of culminating points, zeniths, climaxes,
from which all shadows of morn and eve, all sunset and
autumn, are temporarily and provisionally excluded,
till at last old Winter comes to wave his white wand
again, and scatters his hoar-frost over the earth, like
burning ashes.---Dickens's Household Words.
HABITS OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.—The principal
part of the life of this monarch was spent in camp, and
in a constant struggle with a host of enemies. Yet
even then, when the busy day scarcely afforded a vacant
moment, that moment, if it came, was sure to be given
to study. Let the young shopocracy of Glasgow never
forget that Frederick had very early formed an attach-
ment to reading, which neither the opposition of his
father—who thought that the scholar would spoil the
soldier—nor the schemes of ambition and conquest
which occupied him so much in after life, were able to
destroy or weaken. When at last, therefore, he felt
himself at liberty to sheathe the sword, he gave him-
self up to the cultivation and patronage of literature
and the arts of peace, as eagerly as he had ever done
to the pursuit of military renown. Even before his
accession to the throne, and while yet but a young man,
he had established in his residence at Rheimsberg
nearly the same system of studious application and
economy in the management of his time to which he
ever afterwards continued to adhere. His relaxation
even then were almost entirely of an intellectual charac-
ter; and he had collected around him a circle of literary
associates, with whom it was his highest enjoyment to
spend his hours in philosophic conversation, or in
amusements not unfitted to adorn a life of philosophy.
In a letter written to one of his friends, he says—"l
become every day more covetous of my time ; I render
an account of it to myself, and lose none of it
without great regret. My mind is entirely turned
toward philosophy ; it has rendered me admirable
services, and I am greatly indebted to it. I find myself
happy, abundantly more tranquil than formerly ; my
soul is less subject to violent agitations; and Ido
nothing till I have full considered what course of
action I ought to adopt." Let the ardent and pains-,
taking youth contrast such conduct NVith what they
read, or may have read, of the follies, the frivolities,
to say nothing of the immoral conduct of certain scions
of royalty ; and resolve, in the strength of a power
higher than themselves, to cling to her whose ways are
pleasantness, and whose paths are peace. I shall con-
clude this paper with a sketch of his doings for the
ordinary four-and-twenty hours. Dr. Towers, who has
written a history of his reign, informs us that it was
his general custom to rise at five o'clock in the morn-

1

1

7

ing, and sometimes earlier. He commonly dressed his
hair himself, and seldom employed more than two-
minutes for that purpose. His boots were put at the
bedside, for he scarcely ever wore shoes. After he was
dressed, the adjutant of the first battalion of his guards
brought him a list of all the persons that had arrived
at Potsdam, or departed from thence. When he had
delivered his orders to this officer he retired into his
inner cabinet, where he employed himself in private
till seven o'clock. He then went into another apart-
ment, where he drank coffee or chocolate, and here he
found all the letters addressed to him from Potsdam.
and Berlin • foreign letter were placed upon a separate.
table. After reading all these letters he wrote hints
or notes on the margin of those which his secretaries
were to answer, and. then returning into the inner
cabinet carried with him such as he meant to write or
dictate an answer to himself. Here he employed him-
self until nine o'clock. At ten the generals who were
about his person attended. At eleven he mounted his
horse and rode to the parade, when he reviewed and
exercised his guards; and at the same hour, says
Voltaire, all the colonels did the same throughout the
provinces. He afterwards walked for some time in the
garden with his generals. At one o'clock he sat down
to dinner. He had no carver, but did the honours of
the table like a private gentleman. His dinner-time
did not much exceed an hour. He then retired into his
private apartment, making low bows to his company.
He remained in private till five o'clock, when his reader
waited on him. His reading lasted about two hours,
and this was succeeded by a concert upon the flute
which lasted till nine. He supped at half-past nine
with his favourite literati, and at twelve the king went
to bed.— Vedder.

INEXHAITSTIBLE LONDON. The magnitude of
London astonishes foreigners ; they never can get to
the end of our houses. They perch themselves on
omnibuses, and go careering onwards and onwards
they know not whither, in the hope of getting some-
how a glimpse of green trees, and a breath of air,
with a flavour of flowers or hay-stacks in it; but it is
still houses, houses, houses—interminable brick and
mortar, varied, as they touch the suburbs, by a
ghastly lilac, or a consumptive creeper nodding its
funereal tresses into a parlour window on the road
side. They go down the river, and up the river in
pursuit of the picturesque; and find it pretty much
the same thing everywhere, for they have no sooner
arrived at a pastoral break on the banks, and begun to
congratulate themselves on having come to a bit of
country at last, than a new mist of houses, a fresh
city, suddenly looms out over the water, and dissipates
the delusion. The magnitude of London is the grand
thing : they are astounded and bewildered by the
length, breadth, and depth of London ; and having
gone east, west, north and south, without being able
to extricate themselves from the labyrinth, they are
tempted into the horrible suspicion, that the whole of
England is covered with London.---Fraser's Maga-
zine.

ELOQUENCE.—EIoquence is the language of excite-
ment---the language of sincerity and power. " Words
that burn" are spoken when hearts swell. The orator
is the highest and noblest of the world's great ones -
and nature is never grand where she is peaceful':
Excitement makes us sincere; and sincerity is always
eloquent. All admire the sincere---all sympathise
with the sincere---all are moved by the sincere. More-
over, it is a fact o f experience and a principle of
philosophy, that excitement develops the high excel-
lences, the trong powers, the warm energies of the
character. It gives activity to the slow, and strength
to the weak, and wisdom to the fool. Power is
beautiful, and therefore pleases; and animates, and there-
fore is eloquent. Power is mighty, and therefore moves
and persuades, and therefore .
is eloquent. Every one is
eloquent at some time of his
; for in the pathway
of every destiny there is some great occasion. Excite.
ment is the exponent, and the law, and the condition
of human life. Genuine, effective eloquence, never
reasons; The forced; and vague, and vapid definitions,
which most authors have rendered of the term " elo-
quence," express or imply argument its
. as end and
excellency. The logician convicts—the orator awes ;
argument suggests—eloquence concentrates ; reason
directs---passion urges ; excitement clings to one
thought, one idea : it dies when the attention is
diverted by relations, when the mind reasons and
argues. Whence, then, is the might of the orator.--
that might which makes the ".warrior's laurel" yield