The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-02-15 00:00:00

THE FRIENDS WE CAN TRUST.

(FROM A FORTHCOMING VOLUME.

BY MISS MARION P. AIRD,

OF KUMAR:COCK.)

LONG, long years of trial
The faithful may prove,
The truth of the friends
Whom no change can remove;
The frost-breath of falsehood
The diamond may rust,
But true as the magnet
The friends we can trust.

All joy to the faithful—
The friends ever dear—

Who in sorrow can gladden,
In darkness can cheer;
Let others deceive thee,
And dust cleave to dust,
There are some still, believe m
"The friends we can trust."

The green leaves of summer
May wither away,
And joy melt like snow-fall

In winter's decay; The rose-bloom of beauty
May slumber in dust,
But a rock to the ocean
The friend we can trust.

Yes, earth were a desert
Unhlest with a friend,
In sadness to soothe me,
In s'cl.c.ness to tend ;
Till the last link is broken,
And dust turns to dust,
May Heaven still leave me
The friend I can trust.

Then fear not the faithful,
For truth cannot fail,
Though Satan its pillars
Of marble assail;—
The strength of the mountain
May crumble in dust,
But the shields of the earth
Are the friends we can trust,

LITER ATURE.

BOOKS FOR REVIEW, &c.—Books, New Prints, Music, &c.
intended for review, may be left at Mr. C. Mitchell's, Red-
lion-court, Fleet-street, London, addressed " to the Editor
of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD," when they will be forwarded
and receive attention.

Notes on Herodotus. By Dawson W. Turner,
M.A. London : H. G. Bohn.

This handsome volume presents at the outset two
substantial claims upon our attention. It is one of
the admirable series of books in Bohn's Philological
Library, and is, moreover, from the pen of an
accomplished Oxford scholar, who now occupies
the honourable post of head master in the Royal
Institution School, Liverpool. A third recom-
mendation will be:found in the suggestive statement
that the present, is the " second edition, with
numerous additions and corrections." Mr. Turner's
modesty prevents him from claiming the amount of
credit which he deserves for his tasteful and
judicious commentary; and, while hardly any pre-
tence is made to originality, he has succeeded in
producing a volume which, above all others treating
on the same subject, must be invaluable to students
in the universities, to the higher classes in schools,
and to the youth who is well advanced in the work
of self-education. The type is clear and bold, and,
though not costly by any means, the book is a
credit to Mr. Bohn.

Autographs for Freedom. London : John Cassell

StoWe and thirty-five other eminent: writers
have each added a stone to this little cairn of anti-
slavery testimonies. The hook has been compiled
by the Rochester (U. S.) Ladies' Anti-slavery So-
ciety, and we have no doubt that the English
edition will assist their funds considerably. The
more prominent contributors are Mrs. Stowe, the
Earl of Carlisle, the Hon. Horace Mann, Whittier
the poet, Greeley the journalist, and Frederick
Douglas, the heroic slave.

Cocks's Musical Almanack.

A very neat little pocket almanack has just been
published, for gratuitous distribution, by Messrs.
Robert Cocks and Co., the eminent music pub-
lishers. In addition to the ordinary information, it
contains some interesting notices of famous
musicians, and a long list of recently published
music.

The Pharsalia of Lucan. London: H. G. Bohn.
This is the first translation into English prose of
the Pharsalia, of which two poetical versions in
English are extant—one executed by Thomas May
in 1627, the other by Nicholas Rowe. The present
translation, on the same principle as the others in
Bohn's Classical Library, is strictly literal, and is
intended to be "a faithful reflex, not only of the
author's meaning, but, as nearly as possible, of his
actual modes of expression." Mr. Riley, the
accomplished translator, has adopted the text of
Weise, save in a few instances, where the readings
of Weber and other commentators appeared pre-
ferable ; and to enhance the historical value of the
work, the narrative has been illustrated by a com-
parison with parallel passages in the Commentaries
of Caesar, and the works of the other ancient
historians who have treated of the wars between
Pompey and Caesar. The mechanical, as well as
the literary, getting-up of the book is exceedingly
creditable to Mr. Bohn, especially considering the
low price of the volume.

The Boyhood of Great Men intended as an Example
to Youth. London : David Bogue.

To place before the reader brief sket.Ches of the
early career of those who have fought their way to
eminence in the various walks of life is the design
of this pretty little volume. For the young this is
the most attractive, and certainly not the least
useful, department of biography. The ambitious
boy loves to linger over the story of the mighty
spirits whose names stand high in the annals of
fame, and it is well that he should ponder the
lesson they afford, for in every case he must learn
that—

The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight ;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upwards in the night !
Nature does much for man, but without application
and study—without a stern, even dogged, adhe-
rence to well-planned purpose in our early years—
success can never be achieved. Inspiration may
have given to the world the poetry of Robert
Burns, but to well-regulated perseverance do we
owe the deathless works of Walter Scott and Dr.
Johnson, whose minds—though perhaps inferior
by nature, certainly not superior to that of the
Scottish bard—were nevertheless by resolution and
fixedness of purpose capable, in the long run, of
achieving more for humanity. A glance at the
gallery of great names cannot fail to prove that
patient study has frequently distanced great natural
endowments, and gained a more enduring fame in the
future. What a melancholy spectacle was the life of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose early promise was
blighted by a desultory manhood ; and, on the other
hand, what a hopeful contrast is presented to the
eye of perseverance in the career of William
Wordsworth, the plodding student of Nature, who,
with a less auspicious dawn, left his most brilliant
contemporary immeasurably in his rear, and is now
wielding a far more weighty influence upon the
Pleasing stories that seek to enforce such
facts upon the mind of youth, as that
success is granted only after sore toil and trial, and
that uncultivated gifts must prove a curse instead
of a blessing, merit a cordial welcome from all who
wish to see youth incited to industry and goodness.
And Mr. Bogue's little volume calls for especial
commendation ; for the execution is scarcely infe-
rior to the design. The incidents in the youthful
careers of many distinguished men of the past are
well chosen ; the language in which these are re-
lated is simple, clear, and forcible ; many charming
woodcuts by Birket Foster lend variety to the
volume ; and altogether a more appropriate gift-
book it would he impossible to conceive. We com-
mend it to the patronage of kind uncles and aunts
who wish to have honour reflected on the family
name—who wish to see hopeful nephews rising up
to assert success and respectability in the world, as
well as to evince mental endowments above their
fellows.
The Dodd Family Abroad. London : Chapman

wholesome

and Hall.
" The Dodd Family" are still economising on
the Continent, whence Betty Cobb indites a sor-
rowful epistle to her friend, Mrs. Susan O'Shea,
Priest's House, Bruff—an epistle strung with cha-
racteristic gems. Here is an average specimen :

HOW TO BREAK DOWN A MASTER.
If ye seen the life I sometimes lead the Mistress, you'd
you a
pity her ; but why would
and put
? wasn't I taken
away from my home and countrypenri the
down here in a
strange place ; and if I didn't s e day now and then
cryin', would she ever think of razingsperits with a
new bonnet, or a pare of shoes, or atily taor the play !
take
uallehe same.
to
yfaosut r;
Take them azy, SLusy, and they'll take
But if you show them they're in your power,
bed, sick, when they're in a hot hurry, and wantyou most;
be sulky and out of sperits when they'r all full of
and go singin' about the house the day they'v got a udllis..;
tressin' letter by the post ; keep to that, and my shure
and sartin beleef is, that you'll break down the sperit of
the wickedest Master and :Mistress that ever breathed.

Young Dodd, who has long since become a most
accomplished spendthrift, says some good things.
We select one at random : _ _ _

Here I felt I was on safe ground, for throughout life I
have ever remarked, that when an Irishman is in diffi-
culties, a reprieve is as good as a free pardon to him—
for so it is, the land which seems so thoroughly hopeless
in its destinies, contains the most hopeful population in
Europe

Mrs. Dodd, too, has her say; and this afflicted
woman would appear to have still sufficient spirit
left to give some utterances worthy of repetition :

IRISH PROSPERITY.
POI always reading in the papers about the improve-
ment of Ireland, and yet I get less and less out of it ;
but maybe that same is a sign of prosperity ; for I remem-
ber my poor father was never so stingy as when he
saved a little money ; and indeed my own conviction is,
that much of what we used to call Irish hospitality was
neither more nor less than downright desperation—we
had so little in the world, it wasn't worth hoarding.

Douglas Jerrold's New Comedy.

This comedy, acted with great success at Wind-
sor and in the Princess's Theatre, London, is about
to be produced on the Liverpool stage. ".St.
Cupid ; or, Dorothy's Fortune," carries us back
to 1715, when the young Pretender agitated Eng-
land. The first scene introduces us to a Mr. Under-
Secretary Zero and his nephew Sir Valentine May,
who are examining a pack of letters intercepted at
the post-office:—

Re-enter Trundle,

Trundle. My master will be here, Sir Valentine ; but
sends the key that,—
Val. Good. (Takes key. Exit Trundle.) As under-
secretary's secretary 'tis little enough I do : and luckily
my uncle is such a glutton at official fare, he hardly leaves
me the crumbs. (Opens box.) Why, what a batch is here !
Hawke. These the original letters—these the copies
we have taken.

Val. The true rebels, and their speaking portraits.
Undone fools ! Pandora's box without hope of clergy.
Hawke. Some of 'em droll, Sir Valentine : saving your
presence, devilish droll.
Val. Well, that government is still the safest that
makes treason laughable.
Hawke. Oh, Sir Valentine, we all laugh at the rising ;
laugh like royal subjects. Still, there's matter in these
letters that—

- Val. E.. Hawke, you are, I believe, the chief hand
at this nice surgery ?
Hawke. Surgery, Sir Valentine ?
Val. You best can operate on written men, for such
are men's letters ? Best can open the locked lips of wax
—best take out the heart of the secret—the brain of the
purpose, and that so tenderly, the patient dealt upon
dreams not of the operation, until a short way off he sees
the hurdle and the axe ? Eh, good Hawke ?

I ,
(Enter Mr. Under. Secretary Zero, leaning on Trundle.
Exit Trundle)
Not so well this morning, unee?

Zero. Well, Val ? How can Ibe well ? With me the
gout's a state barometer. I knew by my knee that the
Pretender had landed, and last night I had twinges of all
those letters in every joint of my toes.
Val. (Half-aside.) The spirit of the seer prophesying
thro' gout !
Zero. Well, what's the worst treason ?
Val. (Turning over letters.) I see none—scent none.
Zero. Ha, Val, you've no eye for a plot—no nose.
Once I was like yourself.
Val. And now you'd see Guy Faukes's tinder in a dow-
ager's snuff box ; and smell his matches in a spinster's
hartshorn.

Zero. And why not ? But the treason there awaits us.
Read, Val, read.
Val. (Reads.) "From Alexander Macthistle of the
Cannongate to Duncan Haggis, of the Golden Mull, to-
bacconist, Little Britain."
Zero. Scot to Scot. Go on.

Val. (Reads.) "Ye shall learn by these, Duncan,
that the snuffs are no yet prepared for the London mar-
ket. They yet need a little scorching to tak' the noses o'
the Southrons."
Zero. Noses of the Southerns ! Hal !

Val. (Reads.) "Am glad to ken ye're getting on so
brawly. Fergus tells me your Highlander looks bonny
in his new paint."

Zero. Highlander ! New paint ! Hm !
Val. (Reads.) "And for the glory of puir Scotland,
I hope soon to hear of a thousand mair in the streets of
London."

Zero. Now, Sir Valentine May, for a lesson in state
craft. What is really in that letter.

Val. Why, Scotch snuff in Edinburgh, and wooden
Highlanders mounting guard at the doors of snuff shops
in London.
Zero. And is that all ? Well, another.
Val. (Reads) " John Ketts, Irongate, to Simon
Quick, toyman, Covent Garden. Our advices inform us
that the ship will sail next week with your order. One
thousand common dolls ' • with fifty samples, that work
their eyes and mouths. With these, two hundred rock-
ing-horses."
Zero. Well ?
Val. Well ?

Zero. And you can't see through this ? Listen and
learn. The undried snuff is troops preparing for the Pre-
tender. The Highlanders in London. a swarm of kilts
with the Stuart.
Val. And the thousand common dolls, Sir ?
Foreign troops.
And the dolls with eyes and mouths ?
The officers to command them.
And the rocking-horses ?
Cavalry, sir ; cavalry, as I'm a statesman.
Wonderful ! (Aside.) Daylight's wasted upon
a man who can see so much better in the dark.

Zero
Val.
Zero.
Val.

SERIALS FOR FEBRUARY. - The National
Temperance Chronicle (A. Dewar, Liverpool) will
be chiefly interesting this month as the parting
legacy of the Rev. Thomas Spencer to the " temper-
ance cause." That reverend gentleman, who offi-
ciated as editor of the magazine, departed this life
on the morning of the 26th of January, after a
protracted illness borne with great Christian forti-
tude. Mr. Spencer, we believe, was a native of
Derby, and from his earliest years he devoted him-
self with praiseworthy earnestness to the promotion
of morality and happiness among the human
family. The publisher promises a memoir in the
March number. Chambers's Edinburgh Journal
(Orr, Liverpool) panders to no vitiated taste, and
yet maintains its popularity. Among the note-
worthy papers in the February part, we observe an
exposure of the Clairvoyante imposture, which must
do serious damage to the pretensions of Mr. Ber-
nardo Eagle; a biography of Mr. Franklin Pierce,
the new American President, founded on the recent
work of Nathaniel Hawthorne; and some useful
matter anent the Gold Land.—Punch possesses an
additional attraction this month, in the shape of the
almanack for 1853, albeit less smartness pervades
its pages than on many previous occasions. We
cannot be hard, however, upon the facile hunch-
back of Fleet-street, who really labours industriously
to make the public " laugh and be merry."—
Diogenes is a publication after the fashion of Punch.
In its size, type, and general scope, it is precisely
similar, though of course there is a difference in the
artistic and literary merits of the respective periodi-
cals. The new candidate for popular favour is the
most likely attempt of the kind which has been
made for many years.