The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-02 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICES,

The London Almanac, Official Register and Connty Calendar
for England and Wales, for the year 1841. Scott, Web-
ster, and Geary, London ; Webb, Liverpool.
This useful and comprehensive work was banded to us
yesterday, but too late to do justice to its merits. As a
work of reference, it is invaluable ; and the information it
contains is highly important to all classes of society. Its
principal contents will be found enumerated in the advertise-

ment—but a complete list of its varied contents would occupy
more space than we have at command. To livery companies,
assurance offices, and charitable and other societies, the sta-
tistical tables and other necessary details furnished by the
volume before us are indispensable—whilst to the merchant,
clergyman, and professional gentleman of every grade, the
miscellaneous, but important contents of the London
Almanac, will be found of the greatest utility at all times.
Although called an " almanac" it reaches very nearly to one
thousand pages.

4nti-Popery ; or Popery Unreasonable, Unscriptural, and
Novel. By John Rogers. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.,
London.

This is a new edition of a work which originally appeared
under the somewhat whimsical title of " Autipopopriestian,
which produced considerable sensation from the novelty and
power of its style and arguments. Mi. Rogers appears to be
completely master of the sophistries and tortuous winding of
the antagonist he has to contend with, and taking his weapons
from the well-tried armoury of scripture, reason, and anti-
quity, he demolishes with no ordinary skill the errors, absur-
dities, and blasphemies of the Romish creed. It requires no
grasp of mind to perceive the folly and novelty of most of the
idolatrous dogmas and practices of the Popish church, but
considerable tact, perseverance, and knowledge of human
nature are indispensable requisites, for the purpose of ex-
posing the ingenious defences and ready denials put forth so
frequently by the hierarchy attached to that church, and
these qualifications Mr. Rogers. has proved himself, in an
eminent degree, to possess. He leaves no question unan-
swered, and whilst a perusal of his publication will settle
every doubt of any wavering Protestant, it will serve to con-
vince all unprejudiced Roman Catholics of the errors of
the faith they profess to adhere to, and of the nefarious pro-
ceedings of their spiritual advisers. A chronological map,
showing the postapostolic and modern origin of Popery, ac-
companies this volume.

ROCK HARMONICON.-Mr. Davis's performance on this
instrument attracted literally crowds of visitors last week.
His execution is admirable, and he produces quite novel ef-
fects upon the instrument.

DEATH OF A CHILD FROM AN OVERDOSE OF LAUDANUM.
—An inquisition was taken yesterday, before P. F. Curry,
Esq., on view of the body of John Mercer, a child of 7 mouths
old. The deceased had been sent out to nurse with a Mrs.
Lee, in Edgar-court, Edgar-street. The deceased had pre-
viously been ill in his bowels, and his mother had given him
three drops of laudanum after which he again got well. Mrs.
Lee afterwards gave him laudanum several times. She
dropped the laudanum out of a bottle into a teacup. The
deceased was ill for about a week. His mother was sent for,
but he died before she reached the house. The greatest
quantity of laudanum given to the deceased by Mrs. Lee was
four to five drops at a time, and she gave it to him frequently.
She had given the same quantities to her own children when
they were the same age, without any bad effect, and larger
quantities when they were older. Mr. Wood, surgeon, made
a post mortem- examination of the body, and gave it as his
opinion, that death had been caused by the administration of
a narcotic poison. The brain was much congested, and the
veins of the brain were very much gorged with blood. The
morbid appearances left on dead bodies where death has been
occasioned by narcotic poison were sometimes insignificant,
but in this case I have no doubt but that the death of the de-
ceased was occasioned by some narcotic poison. The coroner
summed up the evidence, and the jury, after retiring for some
minutes. returned an unanimous verdict of " Chance Medley"
against Mrs. Lee. The coroner said, that he concurred with
the jury in this verdict—as he did not think there was on the
part of Mrs. Lee that culpable neglect which would have
justified a verdict of manslaughter. He admonished Mrs.
Lee, who was deeply affected, on the impropriety of adminis-
tering any medicine stronger than castor oil or salts, without
consulting a medical man.

APPETITES OF A FUNERAL.—There was an increase in
the consumption of food in Paris in the month of Decem-
ber, 1840, amounting to 310 oxen, 44 cows, and 4,082 sheep.
The augmentation is accounted for by the great number of
strangers who arrived in Paris to assist at the funeral of Na-
poleon. The government will probably be obliged to permit
the free introduction of foreign young oxen into France.