The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-09-21 00:00:00

ladies opening the windows to obtain a peep at the heroes—
" soldiers in peace, citizens in war."- The military are for a
minute obstructed by six gaily-painted covered carts, filled
with merchandise, which their owners, the "western mer-
chants," are carrying home; one "fresh spring-water" loco-
motive from Long island, an "American ginger champagne"
waggon, and a dirty cart carrying the mail of "U. S." (Uncle
Sam, or United States.) The placards on the wall are—
" American Theatre. Native talent!"-- "American Museum."
—" American fire-grates,"—" American blacking,"—Ame;
rican paper hanging."—and two political bills,—" Strike fo
freedom ! Congress meets on the 10th instant. Jackson-men,
do your duty!"—" Democrats, Anti-masons, Whigs, beat
George the Third 1776,—beat tyrant Jackson 1836.—Elec-
tive monarchy—ruin—despotism—rouse to the fight—or slaves
for ever—could beat the British." The picture will now be
complete with the addition of a grocery store, on the outside
of which is printed the following announcement:—" French
brandy, London gin, Monongahela whiskey, Jamaica spirits,
Yankee ruin, pine-apple cider. Albany ale, Philadelphia
porter, Saratoga spring-water, Congress water, sarsaparilla
soda, ginger champagne, sling, toddy, sangaree, cocktail,
mint julep, apple tack." The winter picture is, of course,
very different. The snow is on the ground from four totwelve
inches deep; business is at a stand-still; the wheeled vehic-
les disappear, and "sleighs', (sledges) of all descriptions,
some of them very-handsome, and drawn by from one to four
horses, with bells round their necks to warn passengers of
their otherwise noiseless approach over the snow, are used in
their stead ; the rivers and canals are blocked up, and the ice-
houses replenished; the theatres and ten-pin alleys (nine-pins
being a prohibited game) fill to overflowing ; and those who
have sweethearts take them out on " sleighing frolics," co-
vered up in large bearskin wrappers, in which the warmest
courtship is carried on over the ice, and snow. The winter-
season is peculiarly propitious to Hymen in the United States,
as time is not then so valuable to men of business at it is in
surnmer.—Bentley's Miscellany.

THE SHOW-ROOM.-It happened that an old lord of grea_
family, who was going to marry a young lady of no family in
particular, came with the young lady and the young lady's
sister,,to witness the ceremony of trying on two nuptial bon-
nets which had been ordered the day before; and madame
Mantalini announcing the fact in a shrill treble through the
speaking-pipe, which communicated with the workroom,'
Miss Knag darted hastily upstairs, with a bonnet in each
hand, and presented herself in the show-room in a charming
state of palpitation, intended to demonstrate her enthuSiasm
in the cause. - The bonnets were no sooner fairly on, than
Miss Knag and Madame Mautalini fell into cenvulsions of
admiration. "A most elegant appearance !" said Madame
Mantalini. " I never saw anything so exquisite in all my
life !" said Miss Knag. Now the old lord, who was a very
old lord, said nothing, but mumbled and chuckled in a state
of great delight, no less with the nuptial bonnets and their
wearers, than with his own address in getting such a fine
woman for his wife; and the young lady, who was a very
lively young lady, seeing the old lord in this rapturous con-
dition, chased the old lord behind a cheval-glass..and then
and there kissed him, while Madame Mantalini and the other
young lady discreetly looked another way. But,,peadiag the
salutation, Miss Kong, who was tinged with curiosity, stepped
behind the glass, and encountered the livejy young lady's
eye just at the very moment when she kissed the lord; upon.
which the young lady, in a pouting manne.r, murmured some-
thing about " An old thing," and "Great impertinence,"
and finished by darting a look of displeasure at Miss Knag,
and smiling contemptuously. "Madame Mantalini," said
the young lady, " Ma'atn," said Madame Mantalini. " Pray
have up that pretty young creature we saw yesterday." "Of
all things in the world, Madame Mantalini," said the lord's
intended, throwing herself languidly on a sofa, " I hate being
waited on by frights of elderly.persons. Let rue always see
that young creature, I beg, whenever I come," " Oh yes,
do," said the sister. "By all means," said the old lord ;
"the lovely young creature, by all means:" "'Every body
is talking about her,"-seirl the young lady, in the same care-
less manner; " and my lord, being a great admirer of female
beauty, must positively see her." " She is universally ad-
mired," replied Madame Mantalini. " Miss Knag, send up
Miss Nickleby. You need not return." " I beg your par-
' pun, Madame Mantalini, what did you say last ?" asked Miss
Knag trembling• " You need not return," repeated the su-
perior, sharply. Miss Knag vanished without another word,
and in all reasonable time was replaced by Kate, who took
off the new bonnets and put on the old ones, blushing very
much to find that the old lord and the two young ladies were
staring her out of countenance all the time. " Why, how
you colour, child !' said the lord's chosen bride. "She is not
quite so accustomed to her business as she will be in a week
or two," interposed iNlaiiitme Mantalini, with a gracious
smile. "I am afraid you have been giving him some of your
wicked looks, my lord," said the intended. " No, no, no,"
replied the old lord; " no, no, 1 nagoing to be married, and
lead anew life.' Ha, ha, ha! a new life—a new life ! ha, he,
ha !" It was a satisfactory thing to hear that the old gentle-
man was going to lead a new lire; for it was pretty evident
that his old one would not last touch longer. The mere exer-
tion of protracted chuckling reduced hint to a fearful ebb of
coughing and gasping, and it was some minutes before he
could find breath to say that the girl was too pretty for a mil-
liner. "I hope you do not think good looks a disqualifica-
tion for the business," said Madame Mantalini, simpering.
"Not by any means," replied the old lord, "or you would
have left it long ago." " You naughty creature," said the
lively lady, poking the peer with her parasol, " I won't have
you talk so. How dare you?" This playful inquiry was ac-
companied with another poke, and another, and then the old
lord caught the parasol, and wouldn't give it up again, which
induced the other lady to come to the rescue, and some very
pretty sportiveness ensued. " You will see that those little
alterations are made, Madame Mantalini," said the lady.
"Nay, my lord, you shall positively go first ; I wouldn't leave
you behind
.with that pretty girl,not for half a second. I
.know you too well. .Jane, mydear, let him go first, and we
shall be quite sure of him." The old lord, evidently much
flattered by this suspicion, bestowed a grotesque leer on Kate
as he passed, laud receiving another tap with the parasol for
his wickedness, tottered down stairs to the door, where his
sprightly body was hoisted into the carriage by two stout
footmen.—From Nicholas Nickleby.
A HEMARKABLE AFRICAN HUNTREt.-11 the evening,
Henrick came from his hats to visit me. He was a square
made and athletic Namaqua, of forty yeara of age, about five
feet eight inches in height, nose low, but inclined to aquiline,
teeth rather prominent, but covered with his lips; a good-
humoured smile about his mouth, and altogether with a very
amiable and intelligent expression of countenance. He was
beautifully formed, deep cheated, small waist, and muscular
arms, thighs, and calves, without any extra flesh beyond
what was necessary to give perfect symmetry to his figure.
His feet were small,- as is usual among the Namaquas, but
his instep was particularly high, and even rose in a sort of
nob in the middle : this may have added to his astonishing
power as a runner. The reader must not imagine 1 indulge
in a traveller's license when I say that Henrick could catch
and kill zebras by fleetness of foot. I believe he has often
done this; for I have seen him turn zebras towards the guns;
and when I tell you be managed to catch them. I may be
believed—if not, I must lie under an evil imputation, which
I would willingly avoid—for, " Flora et sempre," now and
always, "Truth me guide." When Henrick's poWder an
short, he took a hunting knife in his left hand (for he was
left handed, and continued so, though it was through his left
arm he had received a ball at the skirmish at Bethany), and
knowing there were zebras in his neighbourhood; be went
out to the field to seek them, to their grazing ground, to run
them down. Walking on his toes with an elastic springing
step, at the rate of upwards of five miles an hour, he paced
over the plain, glancing at the ground for foot marks, and on
each side of him, with his keen eyes. The prints of the
compact-hoofed zebras are observed on the sands, and pre-
sently the troop itself is seen grazing near. Henrick stoops,
disencumbers himself of every skin covering which might
encumber him, even to his leopard skin cap, and steals lik
near as he can to the game without being perceived; but t
watchful eye of the stallion discovers the hunter, when he
leaves the cover of the bushes, and giving the alarm to the
rest, the whole gallop off. Henrick, without putting himself
to the top of his speed at first, follows them : the zebras stop
to graze; Henrick running like a race horse, with his sto-
mach near to the ground, bounds towards them. Away they
rush again, snorting and tossing their striped heads in the
air, and switching their light and mule-like tails in the pride
-of intic ied fleetwaca- wilco ad, The ll wit er •o it their
skirts," and relaxes not from his pursuit for a moment: he
clears stones, bushes, and other impediments: after three or
four miles he is in perfect wind; the ground seems to fly from
him; and, as he expressed it, as new unable to distin-
guish the heaven from the earth. The zebras stopt to graze
occasionally, as before ; but it is now but for an instant, for
their enemy is closing with them: he drives them towards a
steep face of rock; they hesitate about the means of escape;
Henrick is amongst them in a moment, and seizing one of
the striped troop by the tail, he swings it to one side, throw-
ing the whole weight of his own body towards the ground at
the same time. The zebra falls on its side, when Henrick
instantly plunges his knife into its chest, and tben allows it
to rise and run off: it keeps up with the rest for a short dis-
tance, then gradually falls behind the troop, weak from the
loss of blood. Its comrades wait for it till Henrick again
dashes forward, repeats his fatal thrust, and if two stabs are
not sufficient to stretch the zebra dead on the plain, a third
is given, which rolls the beautiful body lifeless on the ground,
covered with dust and perspiration, The successful hunter
then returns to his huts, to send his people with pack-oxen to
bring home the prize.—Ale.vander's Expectitioßinto Africa.
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