The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-15 00:00:00

LITERARY 'NOTICES.

The Earthquake that occurred on the Island of Juan
Fernandez and Takahuana, in the Year 1835. Lon-
don: Longman, Orme, and Co. 1839.

This is a very interesting account of the appalling
phenomenon of an earthquake, from the pen of an eye-
witness, the late Governor of Juan Fernandez, Sut-
cliffe. The account which he gives of the awful event
does not bear out the exaggerated descriptions furnished
some time ago, which went even so far as to assert that
the island itself had disappeared. The work is illus-
trated by several excellent lithographic engravings. In
an appendix Mr. Sutcliffe has entered into a minute
statement of particulars, respecting the insurrection,
which took place subsequently to the earthquake, and
in which Mr. Sutcliffe himself was a great sufferer. He
has completely refuted the charges brought against
him in the Nautical Magazine. This vindication is, in
our opinion, quite triumphant.

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland. No.
64. Edinburgh : Sutherland.
We are again in possession of a fresh number of
this interestingseries of fictions, which, judging from
the novelty ofits contents, promises to last for years
to come. We speak sincereiy when we say that we
believe the public will regret its discontinuance. This
number contains several tales of considerable merit,
among which we would particularly enumerate those
of " Mr. Samuel Ramsay Thriven ; a Tale of Love
and Bankruptcy,"—" The Barley Bannock,"—and
" The Smuggler's Son."

The Poultry-Yard: a Practical View of the best Me-
thod of Selecting, Rearing, and Breeding the various
Species of Domestic. Fowl. By Peter Boswell.
Glasgow : W. R. M‘Phun. 1839.
The cui bono philosophers cannot but admire the
zeal and perseverance with which Mr. M‘Phun brings
forward so many works containing practical elucida-
tions of the every-day business of life. His admirable
publications on " The Horse, the Dog, and the Cow"
—" Blacklock on Sheep"—" Advice t 6 Purchasers of
Horses"—and his numerous " Guides," domestic and
commercial, have already obtained very great and de-
served celebrity. The work before us will be found
equally valuable. It contains a careful digest of use-
ful information respecting poultry-yards and sheds—
kinds and breeds of fowls—feeding of poultry—pair-
ing, laying, and hatching—breeding—peculiar sorts of
fowls—aquatic fowl----and diseases of poultry. It is
decidedly the best work on the subject we have ever
met with.

A General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, and Manual
of Comparative Anatomy. By Thos. Rymer Jones,
F.Z.S. Illustrated by numerous Engravings on
Wood. Part 7. London : John Van Voorst.
Our interest in this admirable work increases as it
proceeds. The illustrations which it contains are most
elaborately and beautifully executed, exhibiting in de-
tail the minutest developments of animal structure.
The present part continues and concludes the Insecta,
which has proved one of the most interesting portions
of the work. The chapter on the Arachnida, or spider
tribe, is also exceedingly instructive. The part con-
cludes with the Crustacea, which is a very numerous
class. No lover of natural history should be without
this excellent manual.

An Account of Some Experiments made for the purpose
of Ascertaining how far Voltaic Electricity may be
usefully applied to the purpose of Working in Metal.
By Thomas Spencer. Liverpool : Mitchell and Co.
1839.

This pamphlet contains the substance of a paper
read before the Liverpool Polytechnic Society on a
subject of first-rate importance—the application of vol-
taic electricity to "the purpse of working iu metal.
Mr. Spencer seems to have been very successful in his
experiments. lie has produced, by the process de-
scribed in this pamphlet, a highly finished engraving
on a block of copper, similar to a wood-cut. This dis-
covery, of which Mr. Spencer very justly claims the
priority, promises to effect a complete revolution in the
art of printing. We refer our readers for an explana-
tion of the process and an illustration of its results to
the pamphlet itself.

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

THE CORN LAWS.
(From the Morning Herald.)
At the North Essex Conservative and Agricultural
Celebration Sir John Tyrrell adverted, with becoming
pride, to the beneficial influence which the corn laws
exercise, at this moment, on the national prosperity :
" Though not a very old man, he was rather an old
member of parliament, and it had been often his for-
tune on the hustings and elsewhere to declare, that if
ever the agriculturists should cease to support the corn
bill, they would cease to support their own interests
and the best of the country. (Hear, hear.) The ob-
ject of that measure was plenty and security for plenty.
(Cheers.) It was not often that it happened to man as
it had happened to him--to see it made evident to the
senses of all that his predictions were correct. But
now those diversities of opinion which formerly existed
amongst them were in a great measure reconciled, for
they had so recently seen seven millions of hard gold
taken out of this country for the purpose of buying
foreign corn, that it was vain any longer to attempt
keeping up the delusion which the corn-law repeaters
had so industriously spread—that the continental states
would he but too happy to exchange their corn against
our manufactures. (Hear.) It had been proved over
and over again that not one of those on the continent
had received anything but gold in exchange for the
corn which they brought over to this country. They
stood on the beach and held out their hands for our
sovereigns ; and if the corn laws were repealed, and
there were to be a dearth and famine in the land, we
should have to melt our spoons, our plate, and our
watches, because they would not take a yard of cloth
or of flannel in exchange for corn, as long as we could
give them gold. (Hear.) Thus it would be seen that
not only in supporting the -corn laws they supported
their own interests, but also the best interests of the
country ; for nothing would be so prejudicial to the ge-
neral commerce and interests of the country as to de-
prive it of all its bullion. All the schemes of the free-
traders had been based upon the argument that the
money would be soon returned back to this country
and expended in the purchase of our manufactures,
and that thus the balance would then be restored to
England ; but the events of the last year had suffi-
ciently shown that they were exceedingly unfortunate
in their predictions.
Foreigners will not, as experience has shown, take
manufactured good in exchange for their corn; and as
to the assertion, that the case would be different, if the
demand for corn were regular, on our part,—can any
sane man believe, that the continential governments
will ever, for the sake of supplying a limited foreign
demand for corn, consent to destroy the manufacturing
system that has taken root throughout the greater part
of Europe ? The assumption is preposterous in the
extreme. If the corn laws were repealed to-morrow, fo-
reign corn would still be purchasable, in the greater
part, only with gold, as it is now.
Sir John Tyrrell has alluded to the delusive anti-
cipations of the free-trade party, that the gold exported
in exchange for corn would immediately find its way
back again to England, in exchange for our manufac-
tures. But Sir John might, farther, have called on
the free-traders to explain, how the fact, that the ex-
portation of gold gives right to commercial distress, may
be reconciled with the principles of the free-trade
theory ? That theory teaches that gold is only " a
commodity ;" and that its exportation or importation
affects the prosperity of a country, no otherwise than
does the importation or exportation of any other ar-
ticle ! Such is, we repeat, one of the leading dogmas
of the free-trade system. Unless, then, the free-trade
system shall be condemned as utterly false, it ought
to be maintained by the free-traders that a large ex-
portation of gold benefits England, quite as much its
a large exportation of cotton kfccAls