The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-22 00:00:00

With the exceptions of his struggles in early life, Can-
ning's residence at Hinckley extended over one of the most
gloomy periods of his life. Retirement from office, under
circumstances of painful notoriety, had been the result of
his duel with Lord Castlereagh. Early in May, 1812, Mr.
Percival was shot by Bellingham. The Prince Regent then
laid his commands on Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning to
form an administration. The project failed. The task was
then entrusted to Lord Liverpool, who strongly urged
Canning to join him ; and such was the anxiety of the existing
administration to secure his services, that the foreign office was
offered to him—Lord Castlereagh being a consenting party to
an arrangement which would leave it open to Mr. Canning's
a...:eptatice. This tempting proposal was firmly negatived,
solely upon conscientious grounds. It was understood that
the administration was pledged, as such, to oppose catholic
emancipation. To this compact Canning declined being a
party—and thus, while he preserved his consistency, and
showed by the costly sacrifice which it entailed, the sincerity
of his desire to carry the catholic question, he lost the oppor-
tunity of presiding over the foreign relations of the country,
at a period when " events crowded into a few years the
changes and revolutions of an age."
But this interval, though spent in retirement, was fraught
with preparation. There is a walk as beautiful as it it se.
eluded. stretching from Burbach towards the village of Stoke
Golding, known as Canning's walk. Along this he was seen,
morning after morning, wending his way, always alone, ab-
sorbed in thought, and not unfrequently thinking aloud. He
invariably declined having a companion for his walk, disliked
amazingly being interrupted in the progress of it, and to any
chance salutation by the way, his invariable reply was a silent
bow.

It was Lis hour of study. He was then forging weapons
for the coming fight, in.pecti-g• his stores, and polishing his
armoury. No weather deterred him. Through shower and
sunshine he paced rapidly on. What subjects might not these
long silent walks embrace ! In them how many a topic, ar-
gument, simile, invective, rebuke, was deliberately sought out
and carefully laid up. Of the exquisite and elaborate finish
bestowed on many of his lengthened speeches, who shall
show how much may be traced to the severe scrutiny and re-
peated revision of his solitary rambles ! The music of his
periods, the easy flowing language with which he rounded the
the most unmanageable details, the remark of caustic irony,
and the flash of cutting sarcasm, the epigrammatic point of
a crushing, reply, when a word more or less would have mar-
red its force,—these are excellencies which could not have
been attained in the perfection which he possessed them,
without long and severe study. Was this his workshop ?
About a mile and a half from m Burbach stands ln old hall,
to which some interest attaches, as being the residence which
peculiarly attracted Canning's attention, and which he was
most desirous to purchase, as " an asylum for his old age."
Alas !

The offers which he made to induce the infatuated posses-
sor to part with it were beyond its value, and can be justified
only by the extraordinary predilection which Mr. Canning
had conceived for it. The more you examine Wyken Hall,
the greater difficulty you experience in discovering its attrac-
tions for the statesman. It is a quaint old building, in the
Elizabethan style, with huge and somewhat unshapely wings,
much dilapidated by time, and, when I saw it, rapidly sink-
ing to decay from continued and undeserved neglect. It
stands close upon the horse-road leading to Stoke Golding,
in an exposed and rather bleak situation. On each side of
the principal entrance are two yew trees of prodigious growth
and great age, which throw a sombre air over the building,
and materially darken the lower rooms. A plantation rises
on one side, and some unsightly farm-buildings on the other.
In the back-ground is the straggling, filthy, poaching village
of Stoke Golding, perched on the summit of a high hill, top-
ped with its handsome church and splendid spire. In the
foreground is a home view of pasture land, skirted to the left
by Burbach Wood, and embracing to the right the town of
Hinckley, its parish church and tapering spire.
Wykcn Hall is now a farm-house ; the little lawn before
the principal entrance is converted into a fold yard. Poultry
ravage the 'pleasure garden—weeds flourish ad libitum in
the plantation—the litter of a large farm is scattered thickly
around the premises—and not one feature does it present,
within or without, to corroborate the fact that it was once
the coveted residence of one of the most accomplished of
British statesmen.—Metropolitan.

CAPABILITIES AND RESOURCES OF BRITISH

GUIANA

(From Schomburgk's Description, Si^c.)

Among thi; British possessions in South America, Hon-
duras takes a great share in the export of timbers ; and
though British Guiana neither possesses the log-wood nor
the mahogany, it possesses other timber-trees and dyes
equally useful; while Guiana has the advantage, that it may.
be approached with less danger to the navigator than Hon-
duras, and is never subjected to hurricanes.
In the foregoing remarks I have endeavoured to snake the
reader acquainted with some of the trees which, with refer-
ence to their timber, are of importance to commerce. Of
equal, if not greater value, are the trees and planks from
which medical substances may be obtained, and which, at
present unheeded and unsought for by the colonists, do not
profit mankind, and may be considered buried riches. It
would be in vain to attempt a description of all the medical
plants with which the dense forest a the interior abounds.
I shall therefore satisfy myself with enumerating the most
remarkable. _ _

Trees which belong to the Laurel tribe arerytebreyieneurmerot7s
in Guiana, and are not only important fe
and stomachic qualities, but likewise for the volatile oil
which is obtained merely by making incisions in the bark ;
this oil is used in rheumatic complaints, or in general exter-
nally as a discutient, and internally as a diuretic and diapho-
retic. It commands in the colony a price of ten guilders
(145.) per quart : several quarts may be obtained by a single
incision.
The bark of Laurus Cinnamomides is warm and aromatic.
The Mabaima or Amabaima of the natives, or Casca preci-
osa of the Brazilians, is a sweet, aromatic bark which comes
from a tree that belongs likewise to the Laurel family. I
have no doubt that the tree which furnishes the Sassafras
nuts of the London shops (Laurus Pucheri) will be found in-
digenous in Guiana.
The forests of Guiana produce plants which possess power-
ful febrifugal properties. On the banks which border the
river Berbice in the fourth and fifth parallel the Quassia
amara, or bitter ash' and further south, the Portlandia hex-
&mire, are to be obtained in abundance. Several of the
Anonaceae as Uvaria febrifuga (Frutta de Burro of the Co-
k'bians),, are used as a febrifuge. The Indians of the Ru-
Pill!nuni set a great value on the bark of a tree which they call
g.
uniaisnseanu;sisin the absence of its flowers I considered it to be-
tpornogvetoustehfeu,
mlßfouaircpktbuhiegtibrriibe (Diosmae.) The Simaruba,
Tuchia
afefbetbirfiufguegiap, and numerous others,. would
The violet tribe comprisesi a plant which furnishes the
Ipecacuanha, namely II( iutn parvillorum. The root of
sfioi
eusn dtbien
btehset
the Cephaclis Ipecacuanha,
forests of the interior, furnishes
, a species of Vandelldial
small creeping plant
emTeitliec
dbiyurtehteielanidldiadnesnwinitiehegurteait Ipecacuanha.m
is
ps
aul dedshadede An
powersuc'eosfs.the Sarsaparilla are
well known ; aid the Sarsa de Negrover
al kminodsst,eastnedemtehiel
for that purpose. Guiana possesses
Duroquaro, one of the indigenous species,sesi is used with great
shouldtrirctei hniocth
bi
es
effect by the Indians. If the Sirnilax
considered to furnish the best sarsaparilla,
s Sacarotha,sh Guiana
found, it might be cultivated with success in
The root of the Phiolakca decandra, Helieteri
Waltheria Douradinha, are used in siphilitic diseases.
That valuable substance Caoutchouc is yielded by. divers
trees and plants, viz., a species of fig-tree, several of the fa-
mily of Euphorbiaceze, and the hya-hya or milk-tree, which
affords a milky secretion, possessing a small quantity of
caoutohouc, and has been used as a substitute for milk.
Many trees of the forests of Guiana are famed for their
fragrant resinous juice and healing qualities. The balsam
lopaiva is yielded by the genus Copailera, of which there are
divers species in Guiana. I have met frequently in the Ca.

I have remarked, and Gil Blas' mother did the same thing,
that women generally bear a great dislike to their sons' wives.
This is the more remarkable, as they are almost always fond
of their sons-in-law. Can any person explain the why and
the wherefore of these singular facts ?—Maenish.
DRAMATICS.—OId Wewitzer was joking and laughing at
rehearsal, instead of minding 'the business of the scene.
Raymond, who was stage-manager, took him to task for this,
and said, " Come, Mr. Wewitzer, I wish you would pay a
little attention." " Well, sir," answered Wewitzer, "so I
am ; I'm paying as little as I can."
A shopkeeper in Piccadilly, determined to astonish the
world, had put up a motto from Euripides over his window.
Bannister happened to be passing with Porson. " That is
Greek," said Bannister. " What ! are you acquainted with
Greek ?" asked the professor, with a laugh. " I know it by
sight," was the reply.
THE SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD.—A warehouseman, in
Wood-street, Cheapside, London, wrote the other day to a
correspondent in the country, requesting him to send up a
pattern of a chintz which he had previously forwarded to
him. The answer he received in return was as follows :
" Sir, my clerk has took and Lin and gone and lost it."
A silver coin, of Titus, was found in the rubbish of an old
house, which was lately pulled down in Eastgate-street, in
the city of Chester. In digging the foundation for the new
building, a pavement was discovered at about 8 feet below
the present' level of the street. This gives strength to the
prevalent opinion, that the level of the city was originally
that of the floor of the ancient cathedral, to which persons
have now to descend by several steps.
A new arithmetical table has just been published. It is
extremely correct, and contains several very valuable minute
divisions of time, which have been found necessary, in con-
sequence of the extreme velocity at which we were going
ahead. The following is the new method, viz.:-50 slicks,
1 idea; 20 ideas, 1 notion ; 60 notions, 1 calculation ; 2 cal-
culations, 1 guess ; 4 guesses, 1 probability ; 2 probabilities,
I second ; 60 seconds, 1 minute.—Connecticut Atheneum.

CAPITAL OF GREAT BRITAIN.—The grand total capital
represented by all property in Great Britain and Ireland is
estimated at £3,620,000,000. The value of all sorts of pub-
lic property is £103,000,000. The value of lands, ships,
canals, railroads, mines, horses, timber, crops, &c., is esti-
mated at £2,945,000,000. The value of all sorts of furni-
ture, apparel, plate, specie, money in chancery, savings
banks, &c., is estimated at £580,000,000. The national debt
is about £764,000,000.

THE IRISH AND SCOTCH.—" I canna say that 1 dinna
like whiskey toddy," said the doctor ; " in the cauld winter.
nights it's no sae bad." "Ah ! that's it," said Power;
'' there's the pull you Scotch have upon us poor Patlanders ;
cool, calculating, long-headed fellows, you only come up to
the mark after 15 tumblers; whereas we, hot-brained devils,
with a blood of 212 degrees of Fahrenheit and a high pressure
engine of good spirits always ready for an explosion—we go
clean mad when tipsy ; not but I am fully convinced that a
mad Irishma❑ is worth two sane people of any other country
under heaven."—Charles O'Malley, No. 6.

A CHINESE DANDY. —Many persons have supposed, who
only know the Chinese superficially, that a nation so grave,
so sedate, and so monotonous, cannot include either fops or
bon vivants. They are, however, mistaken ; few countries
possess more of those worthies than China, though perhaps
their talents are not carried to so great an excess as in other
parts of the world. The dress of the Chinese petit maitre is
very expensive, being composed of the most costly skins or
carpets ; his boots or shoes are of a particular shape, and
are made of the richest black silk of Nankin, the soles are of
a certain height ; his knee-caps are elegantly embroidered ;
his cap and button are of the neatest cut ; his pipes elegant
and high-priced ; his tobacco of the best manufacture of Fo-
kien ; an English gold watch, a toothpick hung at his but-
ton, with a string of valuable pearls ; a fan from Nankin,
scented with chulan flowers. Such are the appointments of
a Chinese dandy.
SINGULAR JEWISH CUSTOM.—Burkhardt in his 6` Travels
through Syria, &c, informs us that at Tiberias, one of the
four holy cities of the Talmud, the Jews observe a singii!ar
custom in praying. While the rabbi recites the Psalms of
David, or the prayers extracted from them, the congregation
frequently imitated by their voices or gestures the meaning
•of some remarkable passages ; for example, when the rabbi
pronounces the words " Praise the Lord with the sound of
the trumpet," they imitate the trumpet's blast through their
closed fists. When " a horrible tempest " occurs, they puff
and blow to represent a storm ; or, should he mention " the
cries of the righteous in distress," they all set up a loud
screaming ; and it not unfrequently happens that while some
are still blowing the storm, others have already began the cries
of the righteous, thus forming a concert which it is difficult
for any but a zealous Hebrew to bear with gravity.

TRANSPOSITION.—The number of varied arrangements
which a given number of articles will admit of is astonishing,
and the astonishment increases as the number of articles
to be varied in arrangement is increased, because the ar-
rangements do not bear the same proportion in one case to
the number to which they belong as they do to their number
in another case. The numbers of articles 1,2, 3,4, 5,6, 7,
8,9, 10, admit of the varied arrangements respectively of 1,
2,6, 24, 120, 720, 5040, 40,320, 362,880, 3,628,800. Who
would believe that ten volumes of a book arc capable of three
million, six hundred and twenty-eight thousand, eight hun-
dred varied arrangements? Such is the fact. The rule for
finding the number of varied arrangements belonging to a
given number of articles is this :—Multiply the given num-
ber of articles to be transposed by itself less one, and that
product by the last multiplier less cne, and so on till two has
been the multiplier, and the result is the answer.
THE GREAT RECOINAGE OF 1690.—Clipping and false
coining had for some time been carried on to an alarming ex-
tent and at length aroused the attention of parliament, who
appointed a committee to inquire into the abuse. The com-
mittee recommend a general recoinage as a remedy for the
evil, when their recommendation was debated in the house,
and finally adopted. The great coinage occupied nearly four
years, and was completed in 1699. The total amount of
silver coined was—in the Tower Mint, £5,091,121 7s. 7d. ;
in the country mints, £1,791,787 12s. ; total £6,882,908 19s.
7d. The Mint charges amounted to £179,431 65., and the
charges and the consequent losses are supposed to have been
equal to £2,700,000. In our own time the extensive coin-
ages in the Royal Mint from the year 1816 to 1822 amounted
to £7,402,236 lls. 6d.—Akerman's Numismatic Manual.

THE GREAT WHITE EGRET.—A splendid specimen of this
very rare bird was shot by Mr. Martin on Tyningbam Sands,
on the 9th June, and is the only individual of this species ever
obtained in Scotland. Although the species is mentioned by
all writers on British birds, it does not appear that any of
them ever saw a specimen procured in this country, or that
any exists in our museums. It is said to be abundant in
some of the southern and western parts of Europe, but in the
eastern and northern to be of very rare and merely accidental
occurrence. In size it exceeds the common heron, although
of a more slender form ; its plumage is pure white, and the
elongated filamentous plumes of the back extend about two
inches beyond the end of the tail.

ARCHITECTURE OF LONDON.—At the present time it is
extremely difficult to trace the domestic
fire
architecture of. Lon-
don through its different eras, as the
epcceilrnei:ssaitapyheairc/;.neti.of
sst.toc most
ancientChtir Charles
emcoi
ms totallytens n owdestroyedremaining the
a r
e city
the,
lodg-
ings belonging to Westminster. Abbey in Dean
y
are hardly in point; yet we think there are no others' to
found. They were in existence before the year 1336, a• be
Abbat Lettingen, who built them, died in that year. The
windows windows are small and pointed, and in this they are different
from those till lately on the western side of Westminsteif
Hall, built by Richard 11., which were of brick, and were
the oldest specimens of the employment of that material in
England, certainly in London. From the time of Richard
11. brick buildings continned to increase. In the reign of
Henry VII. the style of architecture became so expensive,
through the fashion of excessive ornament, that it could go
no further, and a different taste succeeded, and after the de-
struction of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII.
stone was but little used, and the houses of the rich, whether
in the city or the country, were almost always of brick.
Among the exceptions to the use of that material in the man-
sions of the rich in London, was the splendid house of Sir
John Crosby, in Bishopsgate-street, built in 1466. The
knight surpassed the monarch in his ideas of grandeur.—
Polytechnic Journal. '