The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-06-26 00:00:00

MENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STAN'

that something of this sort should pervade an election
address."

-Ufwish to Heaven you'd write it, then," said Jack, placing
a pen iu her fingers.
"Something in this fashion," said she, while her hand
traced the lines rapidly on the paper :
" Finding that a new era is about to dawn in the political
state of Ireland, when the consequences of late legislation will
engender new conditions and relations, I present myself before
you to solicit the honour of your suffrages, a perfect stranger
to your town, but no stranger to the wants and necessities of
that nationality which now for the first time for centuries, is
about to receive its due development.' "
" Or this, if you prefer it," said she, writing away rapidly as
before :
" The presumption of aspiring to your representation will,
perhaps, be compensated when I come before you deeply
impressed with the wrongs which centuries of legislation have
enacted, and which, stranger as I am in Ireland, have arrested
my attention and engaged my sympathies, impelhng me to
enter upon a public career, and, if favoured by your approval,
to devote whatever energy and capacity I may possess, to your
great and good cause.' "
" I like the first best," said Jack. " The new era and the
results of the Relief Bill will be such appetising suggestions.
There must be an allusion to the Martins and their support."
" Rather, however, as though you had brought over Martin
to your views, than that he had selected you to represent his,
in this wise :" and again she wrote—
" It is with a just pride that I announce to you that in
these professions I am strengthened by the cordial approval
and support of one who, in his rank and station, and natural
influence, is second to none in this great county ; and who,
whatever misconception may have hitherto prevailed as to his
views, is, heart and soul, a true patriot and an Irishman !"
" It will puzzle him sorely to guess what line he should
adopt to realise all this, and he'll have to come to you for his
politics !"
" You have caught up the cant of this peculiar literature
perfectly," said Massingbred, as he pored over the papers she
had just penned.
" Dear me !" cried she in a weary tone. "my great difficulty
will be to discard its evil influence, and even write a common
note like a reasonable being, again."
"But come, confess frankly : you think that a political
career is the only one worth embracing, and that any other
life offers no reward worthy the name ?"
" I think you mistake me," said she. "It is the social
position consequent upon success in a political life that I
value—the eminence it confers in the very highest and greatest
circles. If I regarded the matter otherwise, I'd not be indif-
ferent as to the line to follow—l'd have great convictions, and
hold them—l mean, if I were you !"
" Then of course you consider me as one who has none
such ?"

-7To be sure I do. Men of your measures of ability can no
more burden themselves with principles than a thorough-bred
hackney can carry extra weight—they've quite enough to do
to make their running without."
" Well, I shall certainly not be spoiled by flattery, at least
from you," said Jack, laughing.
" They who know you less will make up for it all, depend
upon it," said she quietly. " Don't fancy, Mr. Massingbred,"
added she, with more earnestness of manner—" don't fancy
that I'm insensible to the impertinences that I have dared to
address to you, or that I venture upon them without pain;
but when I perceived that you would admit me to the liberty
of criticising your conduct, character, and manners, I thought
that I might render you good service by saying what better
taste and better breeding would shrink from, and the only
cost be the dislike of myself."
The number concludes, however, with an unex-
pected rupture between the Martins and Massingbred,
and the latter resolves on going forward with his can-
vass, not only without the assistance of the Martins,
but in defiance of their influence. A contested elec-
tion, and more particularly an Irish one, promises a
rich field for the inventive and descriptive powers of
the author, and the progress of the work will, there-
fore, be looked forward to with intense interest.

The Museum, of Science and Art. London: Walton.
The sixth volume of this valuable series contains
much interesting information, conveyed in a popular
form, on clocks and watches, microscopic drawing
and engraving, the locomotive, the thermometer, and
the new planets. The concluding article, under the
head of " Magnitude and MinNiteness," shows the
wonders developed through the telescope and the
microscope, the infinite power of the Almighty in His
works, as the extent of scientific investigation has not
been able to discover a limit either to magnitude or
minuteness. The chapter on microscopic drawing treats
of the instrument invented by M. Froment, of Paris, in
which a legible inscription has been made in a circle
the 40th of an inch in diameter. This is, however,
exceeded by an instrument made by Mr. Peters, of
the firm of Masterman and Co., the bankers, of Lon-
don, in which the Lord's-Prayer has been legibly
written in a space the 200,000 th part of an inch, a
minuteness requiring the highest powers of the best
microscopes to render the letters readable.

'DARD.

Chambers' Journal. Chambers : Edinburgh.

This ably-conducted periodical is always welcome,
from the variety and value of its contents. In the
part for June, we may notice more especially " The
English Thugs," which should be read by every one ;
" The Fens in England ;" " The Coup de Jarnac ;"
" Industrial History of a Straw-bonnet ; ' " Sea-weeds
—their flowering and fructification," Sze. ; not forgetting
another chapter of " American Jottings," by W.
Chambers. The work well maintains its long-
established reputation.

The Mercantile and Bankrupt Law of -France.
London : Effingham Wilson.

In• this age of law reform, when the accumulated
errors of ages are being removed from the practice of
the law, and every department is undergoing revision,
that which affects the mercantile world is not without
its interest. We should hesitate to receive instruction
from our French neighbours, from the belief that our
position as a commercial nation is so infinitely superior ;
but the law on the subject is comparatively little
known, and, therefore, any information as to how they
manage those things in France must be of some
importance in devising the best means of reforming
the acknowledged defects in our own system. This
information is most ably supplied in the work before
us, the joint production of an English solicitor and a
French advocate. It gives intelligible explanations of
the French laws relating to sales and purchases,
transfer and delivery, warranty, carriage, payment,
bills and promissory notes, factors, credit, insurances,
partnership, commercial suits, law-suits, law.charges,
failures and bankruptcies. The student is also further
assisted by comparisons between the laws of the two
countries, showing wherein they differ, and the corres-
ponding advantages or disadvantages. The book is
well deserving a careful perusal by every man in
business.