The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-01-25 00:00:00

" THE ENGLISH OPIUM-I

cey, one of t

pdring.for publ
1 bab'

most remarkable men of the day, is pre-
tion "Autobiographial Sketches," pro-
ublished in

y an extension of cer

n papers rec

gh periodical.

THE Athenaum protests against the practice of authors
and students being charged, like attorneys, when they
wish to make extracts in the ecclesiastical courts from
documents deposited there : on the substantial ground
that the author does so for the national, and not for a
private, interest.

MR. ROBERT FORREST, a self-taught Scottish artist,
born at Carluke, Lanarkshire, and bred as a stonemason,
died on Wednesday week. His first great work was a
statue of the national hero, Sir William Wallace. Mr.

• • •.•4•l4vv• ...a •
Forrest had a permanent exhibition of his own statuary
on Calton Hill, Edinburgh.

TURIN

says the last number of the Athenceum,
" has become the capital of Italian ideas. Gas—railways

—teiegrapns—toieration—popular literature—reoresenta-
tive institutions—all the chief features of the modern
world have been welcomed there." A society of political
economy has recently been founded in Turin.

LORD. JOHN. RUSSELL some years ago spoke sneeringly
of " the writers in the daily newspapers ;" now his lord-
ship is a member of a ministry which includes in its ranks
as secretary of the Board of Control, one of the same
writers, namely,Mr. Robert Lowe, the colonial contributor
to the Times, and now M.P. for Kidderminster. Mr.
Lowe was, we believe, born at Bingham, in Nottingham-
shire, of which parish his uncle is at the present time
incumbent.

GENERAL CASS, the democratic leader in the American
• Congress, on the 3rd of January current, introduced a me-
morial from the Baptist Union of Maryland, praying the
interposition of the United States to secure religious
freedom for Americans abroad. Mr. Hale, " a free-
Boiler," said "he thought the object sought a most•com-
mendable one. He would be glad that all nations should
be taught that there was a God, whose laws and commands
were supreme ; but he did not think this was the nation
to send forth missionaries to preach that doctrine. We
were the last people in the world to make that appeal."
" Mr. Cass.—lf I understood what the Senator meant, I
would perhaps reply to him." " Mr. Hale—The difficulty
is, that I meant just what I said, which is such an unusual
thing here, that the Senator cannot understand me."
(Laughter.)

AMONG THE REMARKABLE PERSONS who died during
1852 were the following:—Mrs. Harlowe, the actress;
the Prince de Broglio, Eliot Warburton, G. N. Rodwell,
Thomas Moore, Vice-Admiral Sir W. A. Montague,
Armand Marrast, Lady Jane Dalrymple Hamilton,
Marshal Marcnont, Duke de Raguse, John Landseer, the
engraver.; Madame Thiers, Miss Berry, the Queen
Dowager of Denmark, Duchess Ida of Saxe Weimar,
Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, Nicolo Gogel, a Russian
author ; Arthur O'Connor, the Grand Duke of Baden,
Henry Clay, Sir James M'Adam, Duke of Hamilton,
Dr. Hubert Mayo, G. R. Porter, Ada Byron (the
Countess of Lovelace,)Abbe Gioberti, Prince deLeuchten-
burg, Vincent George Dowling, Marshal Etienne Maurice
Gerard, Alexander Mackay, author of "The Western
World ;" Prince Paul of Wurtemburg, Countess de
Buffon, Alfred Count D'Orsay, Daniel Webster, Thomas
Thomson, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Review ;
the Bishop of Moray and Ross; the Bishop of Meath;
and His Grace the Duke of Wellington.

AMUSING ANECDOTE OF GEORGE lII.—In looking
over an old English journal the other day, we found an
amusing anecdote of a social concert in the family of
George 111., the party composing a quintette, under the
direction of the monarch himself. The Princess of
Wales presided with grace at the harp, the Duke of New-
castle played the first violin, the Duke of Devonshire, the
tenor, and the facetious Philip Dormer discoursed on the
flute. The story proceeds as follows :—lt so happened
that the king had his own notions of time and tune,
therefore every member of the concert, while giving his
eyes to his own music, was obliged to give his ears to the
king's, and as rapidly as possible to follow the direction
e royal performer. On the present occasion it
however, that the concerto was going

became evid

rong, but t

most acute of these select amateurs could
not imagine where they were in error. The royal bass-
viol was proceeding on its course with all due sedateness ;
the violin looked in vain, backwards and forwards for
several bars, to see where he could glide in, but could
discover nothing resembling what he had heard ; the
tenor, knowing there was a difficult passage just passed
over, and being well aware of the royal practice with
regard to such, boldly went back and repeated it; the
harpsichord, believing the time had been altered from
fast to slow, slackened its pace ; and the flute, entertain-
ing a different opinion, went away at double speed. Such
a strange medley was never heard before; nevertheless,
the king was seen leaning forward, with his eyes fixed on
the music, evidently too absorbed in his own performance
to heed the confusion that distracted the audience, and
made the other musicians feel extremely uncomfortable.
The Duke of Newcastle, a studious courtier, knew not
what to do ; he played a few notes here and there, whis-
pered to the Duke of Devonshire, nudged Philip Dormer,
whose blowing had become desperate ; he glanced at the
music of the princess, without obtaining any clue to the
cause of the inextricable disorder ; but still he plied on,
knowing that matters could not be worse than they were.
The king, at last, brought the concert suddenly to a close,
by finding himself suddenly and unexpectedly at the end
of his symphony. The princess, who alone dared to
speak, discovered that the king had turned over two leaves
at once ; the monarch, with the utmost composure,
turned back to the part which had not been played, and
without uttering a word set to work, followed by the
other musicians, who were well up at the finish, and in at
the death with tolerable exactitude.

REMARKABLE OBITUARY NOTICES.—The following
are among the most singular obituary notices published in
the course of 1852:—Lydia Burnham, in Groton, 'U.S.,
aged 104 years and 9 months. She retained her faculties
to a remarkable degree until a few mouths before her
death. There are ten children now living, descendants of
the deceased, of the fifth generation.--Elie Kurbander, in
Prague, on the Etbe, aged one hundred years. He was
the oldest pianist, and probably the o!dest of all musi-
cians. He was one of the first music masters to Meyer-
beer.—Mrs. Mehitable Currier, in Danbury, U.S., aged
103 years 9 months. She survived her husband forty-six

ren, tw

Christina Paterson, one of Rob,
whose name, at the time he wrote, was Morton, at ..uauch
line, Scotland, aged 87.—John M'Lean, in Inverness,
Scotland, aged 105 years. He recollected the first post-
chaise, and when the first coal was burned.—Captain
Rowland R. Crocker, in New Bedford, of disease -of the
heart, aged 82, for many years a popular shipmaster out
of New York, and was one of the first commanders of the
" Black Ball" line of Liverpool packets.—Mrs. Margaret
Lagedon, near Mount Savage, Maryland, aged 101 years.
She removed to that section when it was a wilderness, and
containing few inhabitants save Indians. She left 500
descendants.—John Wilson, in Edinburgh, Scotland,
aged 101 years and 11 months. He was a mechanic.
Until the last few months he was able to read, and occa-
sionally to walk out by himself.—Francis Russell, in
North Eaton, Massachusetts, aged 67. Ho was born
February 29, 1784, and has had, therefore, only seventeen
birthdays.—Elizabeth Douglas, in Kirkcudbrightshire,
Scotland, aged 105 years.—David Rennison, in Chicago,
Illinois, aged 115 years 3 months and 7 days. He is said
to have been the last of the " Boston Tea Party." He
was engaged at the battle of Bunker Hill.—Henry Gibson,
of Newberg, New York, aged 101 years and 14 days. He
was one of Washington's Life Guards.—Jose Francisco
Rodrigues, in Havana, Cuba, aged 112 years and a few
days. He was a negro.—Janet M'Donald, at Inverness,
Scotland, aged 105 years. She could thread a cambric
needle to within a short period of her death.—Marguerite
Boatillier, at Genzie, near Cognac, aged 102 years. She
laboured in the fields to within a few weeks of her death,
and preserved her faculties to the last.—Tibby Renton, in
Edinburgh, Scotland, aged 102 years and 3 months. She
was " hale and weel" to within a few days of her death.—
Reuben Edmondson, in St. Louis, U.S., aged 63. He
was better known as " Jack Bowers," the most noted
thief in the Mississippi Valley. Ho had been arrested
115 times, and incarcerated in various prisons 61 times.—
Charles Bouches, near Montreal, Canada, aged 106 years.
He was married to three wives, with whom he had sixty
children. He leaves forty-three children, sixty-six grand-
children, thirteen great grandchildren, twenty-eight ne-
phews, seventy grand nephews, and eighteen great grand-
nephews.—M. A. Mieville, at Berne, aged 86, called by
his countrymen " the Nestor of Swiss journalism."—•
Peter Minotto, in Turin, aged 83 years. He was the last
member of the ancient Venetian nobility, and the only
living Senator of Venice when she was the Queen of the
Adriatic Sea.—Mrs. Mary Pritchard, at Cre'ngilach,
Scotland, aged 108 years. She was married when she was
twenty-seven years old, and lived with her first husband
forty years. She remained a widow two years. She lived
thirty years with her second husband. Her sight failed
her three years before her death—her other senses and
faculties were unimpaired.—Joseph Swinden, near Blythe,
England, aged 100 years 11 months and 25 days. Had
not had three days sickness during his life, and only a
day before his death was busy sawing and chopping wood.
—Ann Kelly, in Lewisham, Kent, England, aged 103
years. From early youth she was a member of the thea-
trical profession, and- acted at various theatres in Eng-
land, Ireland, and Scotland. She was in the same com-
pany with the late EdmundhiKs
briefean, careerandalso with James,
.
Sheridan Knowles duringas an ac-or
her eudiest boast that she had often played
"Jane Shore" of Mrs. Siddons. About
a,,nAd
liietiaw,,atsethe
townu wawsi tyhreAplrri was then residing in the same
tlihnequagisehotfbGeo
sstlaiegelo;stshleerhearing, and was obliged to re-
ltehs.e—fPa
famous
LiNs
eicaotlientg, ipnalPaeaerise,ar_ler.adnotchee.
came to Paris, with whip an,
" Petit Ram- 'tonneau." Twentyb-one
sey, etaor ss
seek
ko
his
c le t
tiCo rn °o
fcv
for-
tune
as a cabdriver. For many years he has dined ten
thousand, and sometimes twenty thousand, in a day. The
ordinary consumption of the house was a dozen calves,
twenty sheep,
quantities of beef fish and poultry, and
about twenty ho,
gsv,...eads of wineper day. Pere Nicolet
was his own head cook, and might be seen daily in his
ample kitchen directing the labours of same eight or ten
aide-de.camps. His own enormous bulk was a standing
advertisement of the generous qualities of his meat. Many
curious observers might be daily seen
kitchen windows, to marvel at the euriO
euespii,n g through the
he supported his immense " corporation," He is said to
have died worth £40,000. efts with which

rt Burns's heroines,
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