The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-02-23 00:00:00

THE NEW ORLEANS ETHIOPIAN SERENADERS.—This
justly celebrated band of American melodists have con-
cluded their engagement at the Adelphi Theatre, where
their performances throughout drew forth enthusiastic and
encouraging bursts of applause. We are happy to say
that they purpose to prolong their stay in the town yet a
little longer. They have taken the Liver Theatre, in
which they last night gave the first of a new series of their
amusing and highly interesting concerts. The audience
was numerous and respectable, and the "niggers" ap-
peared to excel their former selves, and were repeatedly
and loudly encored. We have not room to enter into de-
tails of their several feats, vocal, instrumental, and, we
may add, gymnastic. Suffice it to say that they exhibit a
versatility of talent which is truly astonishing ; that they
far surpass all former essayists in depicting negro character,
agility, and song in its more civilised condition, with a
just perception of its quaintness and drollery, as
well as of the occasional pathos that, in common
with the white man, is exhibited by the Ethiop.
There is nothing of coarseness, but much of originality,
the pieces being varied nightly. Amongst the perfor-
mances of last Week, which we noticed as peculiarly ex-
cellent were " Mary Blane," (as an American,) by Mr.
Swain ; " Charmin' Susiana," by Sandford ; solos on the
violin, by Ole Bull, a mere youth, but very talented ;
" Lucy Neal," &c. The Ethiopians, in fine, must be
seen and heard to have their merits duly appreciated. We
happen to know, however, that the whole corps are gen-
tlemen in education and manner; that they are linked
together as brothers ; and that their main object is to
impart a just idea of negro feeling and talent in the
principal cities in England and on the continent of
Europe.
RAIN UNKNOWN BEFORE THE FLOOD.—May I request
(through the medium of your columns) from my clerical
brethren, the statement of any reasons they may have to
offer, in refutation of an opinion I hold that rain was
unknown in the world till the time of the deluge. This
opinion I ground on Genesis ii. 5,6, compared with Ge-
nesis ix. 13, and 14. In the former passage we are told
that " the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the
earth," but that He " watered the whole face of the
ground by a mist " that went up from the earth ; and in
the latter passage it was intimated that the rainbow was
seen for the first time, not till after the deluge. Hence
it appears to me easier and safer to suppose that there had
been neither rain nor rainbow before the flood, —than to
suppose that the fall of rain had been an ordinary occur-
rence for upwards of 1,600 years, without the rainbow
being frequently seen as it is now ; and the conclusion to
which I am led is, that, previously to the universal deluge,
there had been no rain; but that instead of it, " there
went up a mist from the earth, and watered the
whole face of the ground," and that, consequently,
not till after the deluge was the rainbow seen.
when the Lord God said unto Noah, " I do set my bow
in the cloud, and it shall come to pass," &c. What form
of words can, indeed, more plainly intimate, rather I
would say, declare, that it was then so " set" for the
first time, and that, therefore, both it and that, wherein
it was " set," were objects alike unknown before the
flood ? Had the rainbow been manifested before the
flood, how could it be a sign that there should be no
repetition of the same awful catastrophe ? On the other
hand, how could it have been otherwise than manifested
had the fall of rain, one of the causes of it (as its name
imports), been an rdinary occurrence ? To suppose that
rain had been constantly falling from the days of Adam
until the time of Noah, without having o,nce—not to say
often—in the course of one thousand six hundred years
by the refraction of the rays of the sun, produced a rainbow,
woule. be, it appears to me, to suppose the intervention of
a repeated miracle to prevent it. Correspondent of
Charchlmd State Gazette.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND
THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.—A remarkable interview took
place between the Emperor of China and Alexander the
Great, an account of which has been translated from a
Persian work by the late Sir John Malcolm. After Alex-
ander had made war against Paor or Porui, and slain him,
he marched against the Emperor of China. That monarch
did not consider himself equal to the conflict, and went in
disguise to the Grecian camp. He was discovered, and
brought to Alexander, who asked him how he could act
in such a manner. The Emperor replied : " I was anxious
to see you, and your army ; I could have no fear on my
own account, as I knew I was not an object of dread to
Alexander ; besides, if he were to slay me, my subjects
would instantly raise another king to the throne. But of
this I can have no fear, as I am satisfied Alexander can
never be displeased with an action that shows a solicitude
to obtain his friendship." The conqueror was completely
overcome by this truly Chinese flattery, and concluded a
treaty by which China was spared on condition of paying
tribute. The emperor returned to his capital to make
preparations for the entertainment of his great ally ; and
the third day he returned with an army, the dust of which
announced its great numbers, which made Alexander pre-
pare his force for battle. When both lines were opposite,
the Emperor of China, with his ministers and nobles,
alighted and went towards the Grecian Pilhce; who asked
him why he had broken faith. " I wished," said the
Emperor, "to show the number of my army, that you
might be satisfied I made peace from other motives than
an inability to make war. It was from consulting the
stars, that I have been led to submit. The Heavens aid
you, and I war not with them." Alexander was so grati-
fied; that he released the Emperor from paying tribute, as
he was too wise, too pious, and too great a prince ; he was
perfectly satisfied to have his friendship. The Emperor
took his leave, and sent a present of jewels, gold, and
beautiful ladies, to the conqueror. [From a Persian work
called Zeenut-ul Tuarikh.]—MontgomeryMartin's China.
TIIE MEXICAN HORSE-TAMER.-From infancy the
vaquero is trained to horsemanship ; his legs can no sooner
cross a horse than his father fastens him with a handker-
chief to the back of the saddle, and rides over hill and val-
ley with him. He grows up thus. , A clay comes when
his legs are bowed along the, sides of the horse, and his
whole body made supple by its uneven pace. The va-
quero then learns in ins wanderings to throw the lasso, to
kiwi- the ground (saber la tierra), that is, to join the
reasoning of man to the instinct of the horse, which dis-
cerns .at a distance of twenty .leagues the odour of the
plants he is accustomed to tread, the emanations of the
trees which shade him nightly, and takes a direct course
over plains mountains, or torrents, towards the querencia
he likes best. Amidst the solitudes in which he spends
his life, without regular roads, unacquainted with the
spots where a keen pursuit may lead him, the-vaquero
never hesitates as to the road he ought to follow. The
moss on the trees, the course of the rivers or of rivulets,
the position of the sun, the leaning of the grasses, the
sighs .of the wind, are so many signs which the desert
seems to multiply under his feet to indicate his road. To
this singular keenness of perception the vaquero addsunu-
sual moderation. Scraps of tortillas (cakes of maize baked
on an iron plate, which almost every where take the place
of bread), a bit of dried meat, a pomegranite, a pimento,
a cigarette of maize straw, sustain him a whole day; pud-
dles of reddish water, forgotten by the sun. in some print
of a bull's or horse's hoof, refresh him ; he is equally in-
sensible to the chilly nights and scorching days. Once in
pursuit of sonic animal, nothing stops his career ; neither
ravines, torrents, nor forests. Clothed in leather froth
head to foot, lie gallops intrepidly through the forests as
if in the• middle of plains. Sometimes bent to the right
or left over his steed as if his body were without bones,
sometlines his torso bent over the fore part of his saddle,
or with his head thrown back over the horse's croup so as
to avoid contact with the large branches, which would
`otherwise dash out his brains, he never slackens the iMpe-
limsity -of his course. When his 'inevitable lasso has
caught the he is in pursuit of to tame, intrepidity
spews itself united to suppleness and vigour. Then the
business of the vaquero becomes perilous ; but, at the end
of a two hours' struggle, the horse returns docile, his body
covered with foam, his eyes sunken—broken in, in short.
Sometimes he brings hack lifeless the•horseman whom he
has dashed against a rock, : but the vaquero died as he
ought—on his home !—Fra4er'4. Magazine.