The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-03-02 00:00:00

A MAN FOR THE UNITED STATES

He knew no 3 uhject very deeply or accurately, hut some-
thing about almost every subject in the schedule of human
knowledge ; and whatever he did know, was always at his
command and ready to be made the most of. He could
write newspaper and magazine articles, critical, political,
or financial, with vast facility. -

.ng restrained by no mo-
dest doubts or scruples; and could stand up and harangue
any number of people about any topic, without notice (a
faculty, it may be here remarked, which comes by nature
to all Americans, educated or uneducated). He did his
own marketing, and collected his own rents and interests.
He could shew his cook how to prepare a new dish. and
draw patterns of carriages for his coachmaker. Half the
time he cleaned his gloves and varnished his dress-b ots
himself, bving fully persuaded that he could do them bet-
-"- man. He drove about the country in his
t a servant; and if he had occasion to stop

ter than

occupied, unharnessed his own trotter with little diffi,'-ulty,
and less scruple. He was always well up in the prices of
stocks and real estate. When he chose to play Sybarite,
he surrounded his friends with all the comforts that.
—ire, while he was still independent of
and could ' .1 it at

RR rue mirusrers of luxury, . —.O nave rougher.
any motwnt with the most enterprising traveller, though
in the daily enjoyment of silken ease at home.

AMERICAI,

CHARACTER

The feeling of dislike to English manners would na-
turally diminish in succeeding generations, whereas the
Gallicism of our people is on the increase—in fact its
origin is of comparatively recent date. But we really are
more like the French in some senses. Politically, the
American is very Anglo-Saxon. So he is morally but

socially, so far as you can separate society from Morals,
be is very French. The Englishman's first idea of his
duty in society is non-interference; the Frenchman's and
American's amusement. An Englishman does not think
it his business to endeavour to amuse the company in
which he happens to be ; an Englishwoman does not
think it her duty to make any attempt to entertain a man
who is introduced to her. A Frenchman will rather talk
trash, knowing that he is talking trash, than remain silent
and let others remain silent. So will an American. But
an Englishman, unless he is sure of saying something to

the point, will hold
possession of the 1

The imperturabl

dish gentleman is not generally un-
any more than it is by the French. His

derstood by us,

ttributeil to s

Ifish indiffer-

man, very

courageous, and fuli of learning ; but devoid of all the arts
and graces of life, and caring for nobody but himself.. It
is a great pity that there is not a better understanding ;
but, unfortunately, the best Englishmen who come here
seldom stay lone enonah to he annrerinted nriri the heat

Americans who go to England seldom stay there long
enough to appreciate the country. Whenever an Ameri-
can chances to stay some years among you, he ends by

gland very much ; but it is very seldom that he
has any provocation, unless compelled by business, to
stay some years, for acquaintances are harder to make in
London than in any other city, while it has less resources
for a man without acquaintances than any other city—
besides being so dear.

The Heir of Ardennan. A Story of Domestic Life in
Scotland. By the Author of " Anne Dysart." Lon-
don : Colbourn and Co.

The characters in this novel are transcripts from real
life, delineated with a keen appreciation of those various
phases of individuality which make up the diversity of

•
human character. The writer displays great powers of
description, both in incident and scenery. A spirit of
deep reflection and true moral feeling pervades the whole,
rendering it greatly superior in intrinsic worth to this

class o 5 writing in general. The interest of the story is
maintained throughout, without once violating what is
probable or what is natural. To the English reader, un-
accustomed to Scotch scenery and Highland manners,
these volumes possess the additional charm of novelty.

Among the INCOMPLETE PUBLICATIONS, those of the
veteran Charles Knight claim the foremost place, for they
are not only good throughout, but they reach us with the

Part 30, gives us the interesting drama of an interesting
most praiseworthy regularity. The Half-Hours of Eng-
lish History, whether for the schoolboy who would receive
a vivid picture of the times, or for the scholar who would
revive in brief space the readings of former years, are
filled with attractions.—Part V. of the Curiosities of In-
dustry ought to be interesting, for it treats of the modern
varieties of Printing, some of which are both curious and
useful ; and of cotton and flax. with the former of which
the merchant is bound up, and with the latter the agricul-
turist.—The " Country House," Part 111., treats of the
Ox and the Dairy : and both the woodcuts and the let-
terpress shew a high degree of merit.—Mrs. Cowden
Clarke gives us Imogen the Peerless, in the" Girlhood of
Shakespeare's Heroines;" and it appears that this closes
the interesting series.—Mr. Chas. Knight has commenced
two new works, in shilling numbers of uniform appear-

ance, and each containing about 160 12mo. pages. The
first is a re-issue of " Half-Hours wills the Best Authors,"
as an " illustrated edition ;" and the second the Bat
Story-Tellers, acoliection of popular fictions of all nations.
Messrs. Houls'on and Stoneman have commenced, in
Grandfather TVlsitehead's Catechisms, a simplification of
the facts of science. The present gives us a taste of Natural
Philosophy.—They also issue the first number of Aunt
Mary's " Story Books for Young People ;" consisting of
" Reynar'l the Fox." The comical preparations of ani-
mals, by Ploucquet of Stuttgard, which attracted so much
attention in the Great Exhibition, are engraved as illus-
trations to this number. The Home Circle possesses the
usual amount of interest ; and the Parlour ltiagazine ful-
fils its promise pretty well, as a specimen of " the litera-
ture of all nations ;" 219 the present number contains that
of seven.—The Temperance Chronicle is good, as usual.
—The Controversialist, of which two numbers have
reached us, is a magazine adapted for the members of de-
bating clubs. There is a part of every young man's life
when he is emphatically a speaking animal, what Dickens
calls a " budding Chatham ;" and this is the style of lite-
rature to suit him while in that state. The two sides of a
question are frequently discussed here ; but there are
strong disadvantages connected with making " the worse
appear the better argument."

...kUSTRALIANTIIIIIRIL—It is of no value. It is almost
uniformly uneven and rotten within. In Sydney and
some other large towns, where fire-wood is scarce, and
consequently dear, any sort of timber would readily find
a purchaser. But how to get it to Sydney is the question.
It cannot be conveyed in rafts, even supposing the set-
tler's land was contiguous to some navigable river, or the
sea-shore. Our Australian timber Will not float, its
specific gravity being greater than that of water. This is
a serious loss to the colony. There is, however, one ad-
vantage resulting from the peculiar character of our tim-
ber—viz. that notwithstanding the carelessness and drun.
kenness of many of our domestic servants, we seldom suf.
fer any loss by fire. So hard is the wood, that I have re.
peatedly kindled a fire and performed several chemical ex-
periments on the wooden floor of my study-room.—
Mackenzie's Ten Yeats in 4tatralia.