The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-22 00:00:00

THE SEA-BOY'S FAREWELL

Wait, wait, ye winds! till I repeat
A parting signal to the fleet
Whose station is at home;
Then waft the sea-boy's simple prayer,
And let it oft be whispered there,
While in far climes I roam.

Farewell to Father! reverend hulk,
In spite of metal, spite of bulk,

Soon may his Cable slip;
But while the parting tear is moist,
The flag of gratitude I'll hoist,
In duty to the ship.

Farewell to Mother! "first-class" shel
Who launched me on life's stormy sea,
And rigged me fore and aft;
May Providence her timbers spare,
And keep her hull in good repair,
To tow the smaller craft.

Farewell to Sister, lovely yacht!
But whether she'll be "manned" or not,
1 cannot now foresee;
May some good ship a tender prove,
Well found in stores of truth and love,
And take her under lee.

Farewell to George! the jolly-boat!
And all the little craft afloat
In home's delightful hay;
When they arrive at sailing age,
May wisdom give the weather-guage,
And guide them on their way.

Farewell to all ! on life's rude main
Perhaps we ne'er shall meet again,
Through stress of stormy weather ;
But, summoned by the board above,
We'll anchor in the port of love,
And all be moored together!

H. G. Bohi.

London and

Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.
Liverpool : Orr.
Among the contents of the part just issued of
this popular periodical we may notice " Climate
and Health in Australia ;" "Storm Phenomena,
Cyclones ;" "Glass Walls," a subject interesting to
horticulturists ; " The Queen's Money-makers," a
description of the Royal Mint ; an account of
" The Grape Blight " in Madeira ; and an interest-
ing description of "An Oldfashioned Swedish
I,Vml A ;

Intellectual and Moral Development of the Present

Aye. Edinburgh and London : Blackwoods.
The origin of this little work was a request to
the author, Mr. Samuel Warren—better known as
the author of "The Diary of a late Physician"—to
lecture at the Mechanics' Institute of Hull ; and
the greater part of it was read on the 28th of last
December. The author argues for the intellectual
development of the age, not so much in literature,
as in scientific discoveries; in astronomy, geology,
chemistry, electricity, &c.; and in his own beau-
tiful language he shows the testimony which they
bear to the truth of Revelation. We do not un-
hesitatingly coincide with all his opinions, but we
cordially commend his work to general perusal, for
that genuine Christian spirit which pervades it. It
is, indeed, the graceful tribute of literary genius to
the truths of religion.

The Dodd Family Abroad. No. VII. London :
Chapman and Hall.
Kenny Dodd the Elder, mystified by the
mysterious Mrs. Gore Hampton, elopes from his
wife and family to accompany her on a gallant
expedition in Germany, and for his pains is put in
Galignani as an old reprobate, and branded by his
wife as a monster. Kenny's epistle, touching this
unlucky adventure, is about the raciest piece of
wit ever penned by the humorous Harry Lorrequer.
Some of the passages describing the scenery of the
Rhine are really eloquent, while scattered through.
not 1.4+0r tiler* aro not a fctr auggestlVe and
thoughtful remarks.

SOCIAL TRANSACTIONS ABROAD.
It may sound very strange that we should have formed
such a close alliance while in ignorance of these circum-
stances, and, doubtless, in our own country, the inquiry
would have preceded the ratification of this compact, but
the habits of the Continent, my dear Tom, teach very
different lessons. All social transactions are carried on
upon principles of unlimited credit, and you endorse
every bill of passing acquaintanceship with a most reckless
disregard to the day of presentation for payment. Some
would, perhaps, tell you that your scruples would only
prove false terrors. My own notion, however, is less
favourable, and my theory is this : you get so accustomed
to " raffish " intimacies, you lose all taste or desire for
discrimination ; in fact, there's so much false money in
circulation, it would be useless to " ring a particular rap
on the counter."

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF A CONTINENTAL TRAVELLER.
1 was always in intercourse with foreigners who live
and trade upon English travellers, who make a livelihood
of ministering to John Bull's national learnings in dress,
cookery, and furniture; and who,so to say, get up a kind of
artificial England abroad, where the Englishman is pain-
fully reminded of all the comforts he has left behind him,
without one single opportunity of remembering the com-
pensations he is receiving in return. To this cause is
attributable, mainly, the vulgar impression conveyed by a
first glance at the Continent. It is a bad travestie of a
homely original.

1 DANCING WITHOUT MUSIC.
Have you ever stopped your ears, Toni, and looked at
a room-full of people dancing ? The effect is very curious.
What was so graceful but a moment back is now only
grotesque. The plastic elegance of gesture becomes
downright absurdity. She who tripped with such fairy_
like lightness, or that other who floated with swan-like
dignity, now seem to move without purpose, and, stranger
still, without grace. It was the measure which gave the
soul to the performance—it was that mystic accord, like
what binds mind to matter, that gave the wondrous
charm to the whole : divested of this it was like motion
without vitality—abrupt, mechanical, convulsive. Exactly
the same kind of effect is produced by witnessing fashion-
able amusements, with a spirit untuned to pleasure. You
know nothing of their motives, nor incentives to enjoy-
ment; you are not admitted to any participation in their
plan or their object, and to your eyes it is all " Dancing
without Music."

LIFE AND THE GAME OF CHESS.
I have often thought, Tom, that life is like the game of
chess. It's a fine thing to have the " move," if you
play well, but if you don't, take my word for it it's
better to stay quiet, and not budge. This will give you
the key to my system ; and if I ever get into public life,
this, I assure you, shall be " Dodd's Parliamentary
Guide."

SERIALS.—The Home Companion (London : John
Bennett) contains some excellent articles, and the
Proper measure of variety to ensure the patronage
of a desultory public. The proprietor promises
improvements in future numbers.—The Cheerful
Visitor dispenses wisdom and cheerfulness at the
hearths of both rich and poor. Some of the articles
display ability, and they are all pervaded by good
and correct feeling. William Hurton contributes a
paper on the prizes obtained in the lottery of
authorship, from which we learn that Lady Morgan
received 2,000 guineas for her "France in 1839 ;"
Bulwer, £1,600 for his "Rienzi," written in two
months; Captain Marryatt, £2,000 for " Peter
Simple ;" Ainsworth, £lOOO for " Jack Sheppard ;"
Dickens, £5,000 for his " Nicholas Nickleby," and
£3,000 for " The Battle of Life," which the dis-
tinguished and lucky Boz is said to have written in
a fortnight. Facts like these eloquently disprove
the complaints of Jerdan, that literature (by which
he has benefited so much) is an ill-rewarded and
thankless profession.

,liirsir BALLS.—I got a scrape o' the pen from Larry
0 Kane, enclosin' a sort of a card he found outside the
1 coort-house door at Ennis, after a grand ball given by
the bachelors o' the town. There was a long list o'
thunes for dances printed on one side, and the lady that
owned it had pincelled down on the other the name of
the jintleman she was ingaged to for the next set ! keep-
ing an account, as it were, of her " hop" thransactions
thro' the night. And, dear me, but that was the variegated
list. " Mr. James A----," "Air. Chas. C------,"
" An officer !" and so on, thro' all the fluctuatin' gra-
dashins of counthry-town society ! That wasn't the way
we managed such things in our day—only walked up to
the girl, and made her a bow that a Frinch dancin'-
masther might be proud of, givin' the flure a scrape o'
the right foot, at the same time, that id rise dust enough
m'
to set the company cough ; and then, instead of sendin'
insthructions to the band to play the " Douro Polka," or
" Florence Quadrille," the damsel herself would call for
" Haste to the weddini " Cash in both pockets," or
" The wind that shakes the barley ;" and down you went,
yer twenty or thirty couple, till every bead o' parspar9-
shin on yer forrid was as big as a pea, and the piper id
have to refresh himself so often, thro' the means o' the
heat, the drooth, and the fair fatigue, that he'd begin to
play hornpipes before the counthry-dance was over; aye,
and maybe grow personal and abusive, if none o' the
Clargy happened to be present.—Terry Driscoll.

brings them within the reach of all who thirst after
this kind of knowledge. The present number of
this series is the second volume of the English
History, by that quaint old chronicler, Matthew
Paris, the period treated of being from the year
1235 to 1273. It has been translated from the
Latin by the Rev. J. A. Giles, D.C.L., and as it
has often been quoted as an authority by modern
historians, there are many who will, no doubt,
gladly seize the opportunity of making the re-
ference for themselves.

Stories of English
_and Foreign Life. London :

The work before us, which is profusely illustrated
with engravings, is the joint production of William
and Mary Howitt, and forms one of the attractive
series of publications known as "Bohn's Illustrated
Library." Although William Howitt is no favourite
of ours, yet there is much which he has written in
a peculiarly attractive form, and he has treated of
subjects which have always an interest and a charm
for a thoroughly English reader, while Mary Howitt
is still more popular among a very numerous class.
We may therefore safely predict for this work a
very extensive circulation, particularly as it is
brought out in a neat, compact form, with all the
appliances which render modern publications so
attractive in appearance, and at a price which places
it within the reach of almost all.

Milton's Prose Works. (London: Henry G. Bohn.)
The fourth volume of the prose works of
John Milton contains the first book of a
treatise on Christian doctrine, compiled from
the Holy Scriptures alone. The original manu-
script of the work, in Latin, is supposed to have
been deposited, from motives of friendship, in the
hands of Cyriack Skinner, and afterwards all traces
of it were lost until the latter part of 1823, when it
was discovered by Mr. Lemon, in the course of
researches in the Old State Paper-office, in White-
hall. The present translation is by the Lord Bishop
of Winchester. Dr. Sumner has revised and cor-
rected the work for the new edition, which is
printed correctly, and bound in a neat and sub-
stantial manner.

The Steam Nary. London : Saunders and Stanford.
A pamphlet, by Commander Hoseason, R.N., in
the form of a letter to the First Lord of the Ad.
miralty, on the application of screw-propellers to
sea-going-line-of-battle-ships. The author gives
many interesting details as to the comparative
advantages of various applications of steam-power,
and argues that for national defences it were better
to use large steam-ships to tow men-of-war into
action, than by placing either small engines on
board the latter, which effect little as regards speed,
or large ones, which gives them too great a weight
in engines and fuel.