The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-05-28 00:00:00

SELECT EXTRACTS.

POPISH PERSECUTION.—The following paragraph is so ex-
pressive of the unchangeable character of popery in all ages,
that we could not refrain from giving it a place in our first
number. " No computation can reach the nuMbers who have
have been put to death, in different ways, on account of their
mantaining the profession of the gospel, and opposing the cor-
ruptions of the Church of Rome. A million of poor Wal-
denses perished, in France ; 900,000 orthodox christians were
slain in less than thirty years, after the institution of the order
of the Jesuits. The Duke of Alva boasted of having put to
death, in the Netherlands, 35,000 by the hands of the com-
mon executioner. The inquisition destroyed, by various tor-
tures, 150,000 within thirty years. These are a few speci-
mens, and but a few, of those which history has recorded ;
but the total amount will never be known 'till the earth shall
disclose her dead, and no more cover the slain." When to
these things we add the days of Queen Mary in England, the
Swedish butchery, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the Si-
cilian Vespers, the inquisition at Goa, the suppression,of the
reformation in Italy, the Irish massacre of 1641, the council
of Constance, the revocation of the edict of Nantz, truly we
may well rally to resist the domination of the harlot, " drunk
with the blood of the saints."

VISITATION OF CROSSBILLS.—The visits of this singular
species to our shores happen at irregular periods, sometimes
with intervals of many years ; and some curious records of
the appearance of large flocks in 1254 and 1593 are still pre-
served. I have been favoured by the Rev. L. B. Larking,
of Ryarah Vicarage, near Maidstone, with a copy from an
old MS., which refers to this subject in the following terms :
—" That the yeere 1593 was a greate and exceeding yeere of
apples ; and there were greate plenty of strang birds, that
shewed themselves at the time the apples were full rype, who
fedde uppon the kernells onely of those apples, and haveinge
a bill with one beake wrythinge over the other, which would
presently bore a greate hole in the apple, and make way to
the kernels ; they were of the bignesse of a bullfinch, the
henne right like the henne of the bullfinch in coulour ; the
cocke a very glorious bird, in a manner al redde or yellowe
on the brest, backe, and head. The oldest man living never
heard or reade of any such like bird ; and the thinge most to
bee noted was, that it seemeJ they came out of some country
not inhabited ; for that they at the first would abide shooting
at them, either with pellet, bowe, or other engine? and not
remove till they were stricken downe ; moreover, they would
abide the throweing at them, in so much as diverse were
stricken downe and killed with often throweing at them with.
apples. They came when- the apples were rype, and went
away when the apples were clean fallen. They were very
good meate."

THE Roox.—Though not eminent for their musical capa-
bilities, Mr. White says, " rooks in the breeding season will
sometimes, in the gaiety of their hearts, attempt to sing, but
with indifferent success." The female lays four or five eggs.
When the young are sufficiently strong, their education be-
gins by the parents flying repeatedly to and fro between the
nest and some near branch, calling at the same time, in a lan-
guage we may easily translate, " See how easy it is I" Doubt-
fully, and with a kind of mental head-shake, we may imagine
the young ones to look on ; but at last, the thing really ap-
pears so easy, they must, they will try. A preparatory flut-
ter on the edge of the nest, and the branch is reached, the feat
is accomplished ; and, before long, round and round it goes,
giddy with delight, at the new power it has obtained and its
enjoying. They now begin to find their own food ; and when
they no longer need assistance from their parents, they are
dismissed to shift for themselves. An old bird has been seen
to buffet heartily a young one, who, being perhaps too lazy to
forage for itself, wished to impose on the parental good nature.
Yet is the love of the rook for its young a marked trait in
its character. When seeking food for them, it will, if uncuc-
cessful in the day, still persevere until it has obtained its ob-
ject ; though there are times when all its endeavours are in
vain. " In the hot summer of 1825," says Mr. Knapp,
" many of the young breed of the season perished from want ;
the mornings were without dew, and consequently few or no
worms were to be obtained, and we found them dead under
the trees, having expired on their roostings. It was particu-
larly distressing —for no relief could be given—to hear the
constant clamour and importunity of the young for food.—
The old birds seemed to suffer without complaint ; but the
the wants of their offspring were expressed by the unceasing
cry of hunger and pursuit of the parents for supply, and our
fields were scenes of daily restlesness and lament." Mr.
Jessie observes, that " at the time when the young ones are
shot, according to the common annual custom, it is melan-
choly to watch the old birds sit apart on the neighbouring
trees, waiting until the sport' is over, and they may return
to their young, if there be ahy left for them to return to."
After the young have fully taken wing, there is a general de-
sertion of the rookery, until October, when the rooks return
for a short time, perhaps to examine their nests, and then
again remove for the winter. "In frost," says Mr. Mudie,
" the rook examines weirs, embankments, and dams, to see
if insects are there doing any damage. When the compost is
being spread over the field, he looks anxiously to see that no
insects are among it to eat up the young plants. When the
swollen stream leaves the meadow, he picks out the noxious
germs it may have left behind. In autumn, by a curious in-
stinct distinguishing the sickly plants, he delves down to the
root for the caterpillar there at work." In short, so valua-
ble are his services, that, Mr. Selby says, whenever he has
been extirpated or banished, the most serious injury to the
corn and other crops has followed from the devastations of
the gnat and the caterpillar. Then, doing all this, who is
there will say the labourer is not worthy of his hire ? " Early
to bed and early to rise" is the rooks' maxim, and they do
their best to instil it into their neighbours. If the labourer
is not forth with his plough in good time, their noise soon
awakens him as they fly cawing and c anouring about the
field for their breakfast of fresh worms he provides for them
in the new-made furrow. The rook is decidedly social and
unselfish. If they are pressed for room in the rookery, he will
allow a pair to build in the same fork of a branch with him-
self. With dignified condescension he will also permit jack-
daws and starlings to associate with him, and occasionally a
sparrow to build under his august protection. In the winter,
having been distressed for food, he has perhaps trespassed on
the sea-gells' shoreward domains ; the gull now returns the
visit in the fields, and both pick together very fraternally.—
Mr. Jesse mentions a circumstance that proves the rook to
have a depth of feeling we could scarcely credit. He observes,
the flock are much distressed when one of them is killed or
wounded by a gun. Instead of being scared away, they ho-
ver over, uttering cries of distress. If wounded, the sufferer
is animated in his exertions to escape, and by their cries and
exhortations. " I have seen" he says, " one of my labourers
pick up a rook so wounded, which he had shot at for the pur-
pose of putting up as a scare-crow in a field of wheat ; and
while the poor wounded bird was fluttering in his hand, I
have observed one of his companions make a wheel round in
the air, and suddenly dart past him so as almost to touch him,
perhaps with a last hope that he might still aford assistance
to his unfortunate mate or companion." Their knowledge
of the gun, or at least their idea of injury from an instrument
of such appearance, is unquestionable ; but that they also take
the alarm at the smell of gunpowder is, we believe, now con-
sidered a popular error. When feeding, the rooks set a sen-
tinel, who executes the duties of his post so well, that it is
difficult to get within shot. They have also a language for
by the sentinel's cry they understand, not only the danger,
but the quarter from whence it is to be apprehended, as they
prove by flying in an opposite direction ; unless we are to
suppose their vision to be so accurate and instantaneous, that
the moment their attention is arrested by the alarm being gi-
ven, they see its cause. In feeding on worms, they have been
observed to beat and break them into pieces before devour-
ing them. In hot summers they will look for grasshoppers
in the hedge sides, when pressed by hunger. In winter, the
same cause induces them to resort to the seashore, where the
periwinkle is their favourite food. They break the shell by
rising with its sufficient hight into the air, and then drop-
ping it on the hardest place they can find. In one very se-
vere winter, Mr. White mentions their resorting to dunghills
close by dwelling houses. According to Mr. Mudie, the full-
growl rook weighs about 19 ounces. It measures from tip
to tip of the outspread wings about 38 inches, and is about 19
incees long. Its coat is of the most beautiful shade of glossy
black, and a rich blue tint is perceptible, on the sides of the
neck. Its scientific name is Corvus Fragilegus.—Abridged
from the Penny Magazine.

OXFORD AT MlDNlGHT.—Night—breathless and cloud-
less night—looked down unbroken over Oxford ; and where,
oh where, throughout the peopled plains of merry England,
looks she on so fair a city ? Beautiful at all times—like
Scott's Melrose, most beautiful is she by moonlight, when
the last shout of midnight festivity has died away, and the
youthful forms that so lately thronged her streets have passed
like the daylight to their rest. For the night of Oxford is
not as the night of London. There, the rolling of the wheel,
the rattling of the dice, the gay dance flag not, till morning
dawns upon the scene. In Oxford, after the magic -hour of
midnight, the streets are deserted, and the silence unbroken
—apt emblem of the difference between the bright brief
burst of youthful excitement, and the cold, listless, unceasing
routine of the jaded veteran and professed pleasure-hunter.—
Vincent Eden, in Bently's Miscellany.

MR. MELVILL'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.—The per-
sonal appearance of the reverend gentleman is far from being
striking.' He has a small thin face, with features which are
by no means calculated to inspire the spectator with an im-
pression of his being a man of snperior intellect. His eyes
are less than the average size, and are of a light blue. His
forehead is straight, but not very high. His complexion is
of a darkish hue, and would at times lead to the conclusion-
that his ardour in the discharge of his ministerial duties, or
some other cause, had to some extent affected his health.
He wears small dark whiskers. His hair is abundant, es-
pecially on his brow, and at a distance, looks of a darkish
colour ; but on a nearer view, there are symptons not to be
mistaken of coming greyness. His age cannot exceed forty-
two or forty-three.—The Metropolitan Pulpit; by the Author
of " Random Recollections."
THE MORALITY OF NUNNERIES.—We recommend the
following fact to the especial attention of our readers. Ulric,
in his epistles, states that " Pope Gregory, when he saw six
thousand skulls of infants and upwards, (plus quam sex mine
infant= capita) taken out of a fishpond near a nunnery,
thereupon retracted that degree against the marriage of the
clergy, which had been the cause of such a slaughter ; was
much grieved at it, and purged himself by repentance."
(See Kemnisius ex concil. Trident. p. 3, de coelebater sacer-
dotum.) Now we have the authority of no less a person than
Baron Richards, not to speak of daily experience, that "what
has been may be again ; " and as there is no doubt that the
abominable immorality above-mentioned mainly arose from
laxity and liberal apathy upon the part of the laity and civil
authorities, whose duty it was to have watched narrowly over
these institutions, we infer, without meaning offence to any
individual, but with a sole view to the safety of society and
of the state, that a very keen and searching surveillance should
be exercised by the laity, the press, and the government of
this empire, over all monastic institutions tolerated within
its bounds. We will not say that they are all sinks of iniquity
at the present moment; but we say that it is their constant
and uniform tendency to become so, and for aught we know,
that tendency may have reached its natural conclusion in
many instances.
OPPOSITE CHARACTERS.—MoIe-catchers are a singular
class of men—what one would call characters—with a consi-
derable share of low wit, and a sly, cunning look ; slow and
and deliberate in all their movements, and patient speech.—
They are silent in their walk, as if the very success of their
operations depended on their not giving the alarm to the lit-
tle animal they wanted to entrap. I also observe that they
are much bent, from the constant habit they have of stoop-
ing to look for the runs of the mole. They are, however, pos-
sessed of much acuteness, and, by means of a small fee, are
generally tolerably communicative. The rat-catcher is a very
different kind of person. There is frequently an impudent,
saucy look about him, which seems to partake of the charac-
ter of the animal he destroys. His very dogs are afraid of
him, and they appear sulky and half-starved. His conversa-
tion is generally in praise of his dogs and ferrets, and the num-
ber of rats he has destroyed with them. He is a great fre-
quenter of the ale-house, and conveys all the scandal from one
village to another, in the progress of his calling. My friends,
the mole-catchers, on the contrary, are a sober and quiet race
of men, fond of accumulating money, and are seldom to be
met with in an ale-house. Their cottages are generally neat
and clean, and the implements of their calling tidily bestow-
ed in them—such as two or three spades, a bundle of tough
hazels, and some wooden traps—and in an evening may fre-
quently be seen twisting their horse-hair nooses, or cutting a
hazel stick to its proper length.—Tesses' Gleanings in Natu-
ral History.
- -

OLD MAIDS.—I love an old maid. Ido not speak of an
individual but of the species ; I use the singular number, as
speaking of a singularity in humanity. An old maid is not
merely an antiquarian, she is an antiquity ; not merely a re-
cord of the past, but the very past itself. She has escaped a
great change and sympathizes not in the ordinary mutations
of mortality. She inhabits a little eternity of her own. Ido
not like to hear her called mistress, as is sometimes the prac-
tice, for that looks and sounds like the resignation of despair,
a voluntary extinction of hope. Ido not want to know whe-
ther marriages are made in heaven—some say they are—but
lam sure old maids are. There is something about them
which is not of the earth—earthy. They are Spectators of
the world, not Adventurers nor Ramblers ; perhaps Guar-
dians, we say nothing of Tatlers. They are evidently predes-
tined to be what they are. They owe not the singularity of
their condition to any lack of beauty, wisdom, wit, or good
temper ; there is no accounting for it but on the principle of
fatality. I have known several old maids, and of them all not
one that has not possessed as many good and amiable quali-
ties as ninety-nine out of a hundred of my married acquain-
tance. Why, then, are they single ? Heaven only knows.
It is their fate. The Author of Atherton.
DR. CROLY'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.—Dr. Croly's per-
sonal appearance is striking. He is tall and athletic. He is
just such a person as one would suppose possessed great phy-
sical strength. His face is somewhat full, and his complex-
ion is fresh and indicative of health. His hair is short and
dark, with some symptoms of tendency towards a greyish hue.
The sloping form of his forehead, which is very low, strikes
the eye more on account of the shortness of his hair in front.
There is something marked in his features, chiefly in conse-
quence of the prominence of his dark eye-brows, and the un-
usually large space between them. His eyes are of a dark grey,
and are quick and penetrating in their motions. His whiskers
are small, and worn very short. The aspect of his counte-
nance conveys the idea of great boldness and energy ; attributes
which are prominent in all his conduct. His moral courage
is great : let him only be convinced of what is the path of duty,
and he will perseveringly pursue it, without wasting a thought
on the probable consequences. He wears his gown open •so
that the audience are enabled to perceive that his pocket
handkerchief is thrust into the breast of his half-buttoned
coat. I should take his age to be above rather than under
fifty.—The Metropolitan Pulpit ; by the Author of " Ran-
dom Recollections."
A HARD STUDENT.—I am assured by those who know the
Rev. Mr. Melvill; that on an average he devotes from seven
to eight hours each day, during six days of the week to the
preparation of the sermon which he delivers on the Sabbath
evening. He shuts himself up in his study, refusing to be
seen by any visitors except in very peculiar circumstances, for
the above length of time every day, from Monday till Satur-
day. And when thus as completely shut out from the world,
as if buried in one of the cloisters of some monastery, he
presses all the powers of his mind and all his varied reading
into his service, while preparing for his pulpit exhibition on
the following Sunday evening. He displays as much solici-
tude about the composition of each successive sermon, as if
that sermon, instead of being heard by only two thousand
five hundred persons were to be preached to the entire popu-
lation of the kingdom. Virgil bestowed infinite pains on his
style, assigning as a reason that he wrote for eternity. In
so far as mere style and illustration go, Mr. Melvin, of
course, dreams of no such protracted existence for his dis-
courses ; and yet he could not expend more care in their
preparation, nor display greater fastidiousness as to his dic-
tion, though every sentence he writes were penned under a
perfect persuasion that his sermons, as sermons, were to be
co-enduring with the world itself. Not only does he most
anxiously and patiently turn the matter of his discourses
over in his own mind before putting pen to paper, but he
always writes them twice, in many instances three times, be-
fore he is satisfied with them. And after he himself has
done with them, they are usually transcribed in a legible and
beautiful hand by a female relative of his own ' • and from this
lady-manuscript, which is remarkable for not having a single
break in it from beginning to end, he generally addresses his
admiring audience. The Metropolitan Pulpit ; by the
Author of " Random Recollections.
MECHANICAL SCIENCE.—The establishment of Messrs.
Fawcett and Preston, of this town, at present offers a peen
--
Early gratifying spectacle. The whole of the vast works of
this celebrated house are in full activity, in the construction
of engines, principally marine ones, of every variety of size.
Under the principal shed may now be seen engines fitting out
to meet orders from all quarters of the globe, a coincidence,
we believe, scarcely paralleled in the history_of British me-
chanical art, and affording gratifying testimony to our ac-
knowledged superiority in this its most difficult and important
branch, as well as proof equally gratifying, that whether in
war or peace, wherever the giant arm of steam extends,
Britain possesses facilities, beyond every other nation, for
asserting the dominion of the sea. Besides several engines
for use on the coasts of Europe, Asia, and America, others
are fitting out for vessels to ply on the great rivers of Africa,
and also a dredging-machine ordered for the Bey of Tunis,
for the deeping of his harbour. Among the principal engines
are two pairs of very great size. One of 74 inches diameter
in each cylinder, is designed for the splendid steam-ship, now
on the stocks, in the building-yard of Messrs. Wilson, for
the Liverpool Transatlantic Steam Navigation Company ;
the other, 80 inches diameter, and 280 horse-power each, is
for the steam-ship the President, launched by a company on
the Thames. The enormous dimensions of the castings for
the frame-work of these machines must strike every observer
with astonishment, and not less so, the powerful lathes, and
other machinery, for the turning, planing, and finishing of
the different parts. The foundation plate, to be laid on the
floor of the ship to 'support each engine, is now modelling,
and will, we believe, be the largest casting ever attempted in
Liverpool. The cranks and main shaft are of wrought iron,
and present the noblest specimens of forging we ever wit-
nessed.—Journal.

A QUAKER ELOPEMENT.—Mrs. Patten and Mulligan
conversed incessantly without exhibiting any symptoms of
weariness. At length the lady uttered an exclamation of
surprise on lOoking from the window ; her talkative com-
panion inquired the cause. "As sure as 1 live," she ex-
claimed, it's a runaway love affair ; I protest I believe it's
trying to catch the coach they are •, look out." And in or-
der to enable Mulligan to see the objects that excited her at-
tention, Mrs. Patten receded from the window. There were
two young Quakers a man and woman, in a gig, which was
driven at full speed by the Quakeress ; they had been trying
to overtake the coach, and had now succeeded ; the Quaker,
as his fair companion whipped along her tandem steeds, re-
, peatedly looked back, as if to see whether he and his young
friend were pursued. In a very few minutes the coach
stopped to change horses, and the runaway couple stopped
also. " Did I not drive thee nicely, Obadiah?' inquired the
Quakress, smirkingly, as she flung down the reins. " Verily
thou didst, Priscilla ; howbeit my heart trembleth and my
flesh queaketh, lest thy father should overtake us before we
ratify our union in presence of the Friends assembled at the
house of Friend Ephraim Bugg." " Fear not my father,
Obadiah ; he knoweth not the road we have taken • and
should he attempt pursuit, he will be much more likely to
search for us at Martha Perkins's." " Truly, Friend Pris-
cilla," replied Obadiah, trembling with -fear, " thou art a
maiden of an ensnaring eye and a seductive tongue, or I
never had adventured this for thee ; yet my heart mach mis-
giveth me that if thy father overtook us, he would lay the
full length of his oaken cudgel on my shoulders ; albeit he is
a man of peace, when the wrathful carnal Adam is not stirred
up within him." " I have taken thee out of his reach,
Obadiah, as our smoking steeds bear witness. Did I not
manage them well, for so unpractised a hand ? Verily,
Obadiah' thou owest me a kiss, for my nice charioteering."
" Yea, truly, Priscilla ; and I will pay thee when we get into
yonder leathern conveniency," (meaning, by this peri-
phrasis, the stage coach) ; " but lam now too much agitated
by the undelectable sensation of terror—it were unmeet and
indecorous to caress thee in presence of so many rude folk,
besides which, I very considerably quake, I tell thee."—
" Verily, Obadiah," said Priscilla, "if I had no more
courage than thou hast, we never would have done this
thing." " Thou speakest the truth, friend Priscilla," re-
glied Obadiah. * * * * " And are n't you
afraid, ma'am," said Mulligan, " that some old uncle, or
father, may come scampering after you, before you accom-
plish your
_purpose, which I take to be matrimony ?"
'' Friend, she who is upright in her purpose feareth nought."
" Bravely said, Miss !" exclaimed Mrs. Patten. " But this
young gentleman," said Mulligan, " he's not quite so stout
about the matter ?,' " He'll come on, said Priscilla, en-
couragingly; "he'll conquer his timidity, I promise thee."
And she smiled on Obadiah, as if to re-assure him, at the
same time patting him upon the back. " Well, I declare,
Miss, that your courage is wonderful !" said Mrs. Patten ;
" my poor dear Mr. Patten, that is gone, courted me for 15
months before I had courage to say YES." "If thy suitor
was pleasing in thine eyes, friend, I think it would have
needed more courage to say tro."—The Husband Hunter.