The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-06-11 00:00:00

FINE ARTS

The Trial of the Earl of Strafford, at Westminster
Painted by W. Pisa, Esq.

The trial of this distinguished nobleman and most excel-
lent man, in Westminster-hall, in 1611, has been chosen by
the painter as a subject for his glowing pencil. " The his-
toric" is the noblest degree in art, and few there are who
dare to devote their time to the study of it; as, strange to
say, it is the least encouraged of all others. This is not
only an historical, but a truly Protestant work ; for the
martyr, who was unjustly tried, and as unjustly condemned,
was a staunch adherent to the Protestant faith, and exclaimed
on the scaffold, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, "My
lord primate, I here profess, and with that I shall conclude,
that I die a true obedient son to the Church of England, in
which I was born and educated : peace and prosperity be
ever with it." The trial of the Earl of Strafford is a memo-
rable occasion in the history of Charles First's reign; for
when his death-warrant was signed, the bill for perpetuating
the parliament received the sanction of his majesty also.
The point of time chosen by the artist is when the earl is
making his celebrated defence, unmatched and unequalled
for eloquence and power. In the course of it, pointing to
his children, he said, " My lords, I would not have troubled
you so long, were it not for the interest of these dear pledges,
which a saint in heaven has left me." Although we confess
that there are faults in this picture, it is replete with excel-
lencies. The gracefulness and beauty of the female figures—
the stern looks of the accusers—the manliness of the noble
prisoner —the intelligence of the friends about him—all
combine_to render the scene one of great interest and ex-
citement. The colours are rich—the draperies cleverly
thrown—the lights broad and judiciously dispersed, while the
shadows are deep and effective. Taken altogether, it is a
showy picture, and one that will engrave admirably. The
heads are for the most part portraits, and a studious atten-
tion has been shown to costume. Some of the figures pos-
sess extraordinary merit. We said there were faults. Is
there aught without blemish ? We object to the prevalence
of the white dresses. The Lady Strafford's dress, although the
object of the painter is plain, if of a dark and sombre tone,
would have given more solidity to the picture, without ren-
dering it heavy. The white dress of Lady Wentworth would
then have been the key colour which the eye would have
caught, and thence stolen gradually over the rest of the work.
The eye now grasps the two figures, and, in our opinion,
the effect is greatly diminished thereby.

This picture is well worth seeing, and we refer our Pro-
testant friends to the extract from the History of England,
which will be given to the visiter for a further account of
this remarkable trial. The picture will only remain a short
time in Liverpool : we therefore recommend our friends to
visit it without delay.

PARENTAL COURAGE.-0116 day last week, a large buz-
zard hawk attacked a covey of young grouse on Caiu Dul-
lock, in Stratndown. On the approach of the rapacious
bird, the cock flew to the protection of his brood, and met
their assailant ere he could reach his anticipated prey. Again
and again did the hawk attempt the covey, but in every
attack he was met, before he reached the earth, by its gallant
defender; and, from the clapping of wings, and the loud
screams given by both, it was evident that sharp wounds
were mutually exchanged. After many fruitless attacks, the
predatory bird was compelled to leave the covey, seek his
safety in flight, and search for some less guarded prey.—
Scottish Standard.

CALAMITOUS FIRE IN EXETER.—TIMEE LIVES LOST.—
On Sunday morning a fire broke out in the house of Mr.
Sellick, cabinet maker, Mary Arches-street, which has been
attended with more afflicting consequences than any fire
which has occurred in this city for many years past. Before
the arrival of the engines several individuals had been safely
rescued from the burning house by means of ladders ; one
female was being carried down a ladder by a man, when ano-
ther woman, Mrs. Twiggs, a sister-in-law of Mr. Sellick,
was seen attempting to make her escape from a second floor
window ; she first got outside, and then let herself down,
hanging by her hands to the sill of the window. Before,
however, a ladder could be raised for her assistance she
yielded her hold and fell to the ground, her fall being in some
measure broken by people underneath. The unfortunate
woman was immediately carried to a neighbour's houso. but
she was so much injured that medical aid proved of no avail.
She died in about five hours afterwards. There was another
lodger in the house, an old gentleman, of 76 years of age,
named Webber, who till recently kept a school at Crediton.
The old man was very deaf, though in no other respect infirm,
considering his years : he slept in a back room on the first
floor. About the time that Mrs. Twiggs fell from the win-
dow a desperate attempt was made to save poor old Webber
by his son-in-law, a man named Brown, who, after knocking
violently at the door, which was fastened inside, proceeded
to break through the panels, but the smoke and flame which
almost immediately burst forth from the staircase obliged him
hastily to escape for his life. The poor old man was thus left
to his fate. About seven o'clock, when the fire had been
subdued, the rttnains of the old gentleman were found in the
ruins in a shockingly mutilated state—a portion of the arms
and legs were burnt away, the head was flattened in, and the
viscera were protruding. The mutilated corpse was imme-
diately conveyed to the house of another son-in-law, Mr.
Gill, of St. Bartholomew's-yard. Another woman, named
Endiscott, the widow of a mason's labourer, was still missing ;
but after a search of two hours, her body also was found in a
shockingly mutilated condition.—Dcronport Chronicle.

FIVE. CHILDREN ♦T A BIRTH.—The Nashua Telegraph
says, that a Mrs. Ripley, of Londonderry, New Hampshire,
was some weeks since safely delivered of five children at a
birth, and they are all doing well. Tho same woman had
three at one birth five years ago, all of whom are alive and
in good condition. The editor says he at first doubted the
truth of the story, but inquiry satisfied him that it was true.—
New York paper.

GALIGNANI'S MESSKNGER.—The Post-office regulations
having recently been so altered as to allow this useful Anglo-
French newspaper to be admitted into England upon pay-
ment of a very slight postage—a halfpenny per copy—we
have been favoured with a recent file thereof up to the date
of Wednesday last.

We understand the preliminaries are arranged for the mar-
riage of Miss Peel, eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Sir
R. Peel, Bart, M.P., with Viscount Villiers, eldest son of
the Earl and Countess of Jersey.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Thursday evening the half-pas
seven o'clock train on the Sheffield and Rotherham railway
(which meets the Derby six o'clock train at Masborough on
its route to Leeds) met with a serious accident. The en-
gineer had placed the tender before his engine, and was pro-
ceeding on his way with a heavy load, when the axletree of
the tender broke, and thus stopped its progress. The engine
continued its course, proceeding with a dreadful crash corn-
ptetely over the disabled tender, and dragging after it one of
the carriages. It was of course thrown off the rails, and was
ultimately upset in an adjoining field. The engineer was
found under the engine, which was overturned ; he was dread-
fully bruised and scalded ; he was quite dead. The stoker
was also killed. A female, who was the only passenger in
the carriage next to the engine, was seriously injured.

AMERIC•N FIGURE OF SPERO:M.—The verb " to fix" is
universal. It means to do anything. " Shall I fix your coat
or your breakfast first ?" That is—" Shall I brush your
coat, or get ready your breakfast first ?" " Right away,
i "
for immediate) or at once, is very general. " Shall I fix
it right away ?"—i. e. " Shall Ido it immediately?" In the
West, when you stop at an inn, they say—" What will you
have? Brown meal and common doings, or white wheat and
chicken fixings." That is—" Will you have pork and brown
bread, or white bread and fried chicken ?" Also—" Will
you have a feed or a check ?"—a dinner or a luncheon ? " In
full blast"—something in extreme. " When she came to
meeting, with her yellow kat and feathers, wasn't she in full
blast ?"